4th Commandment AWANA

This evening we will cover the 4th commandment

What is the 1st through 3rd?

What is the first commandment?

Remember the first commandment is to have no other gods before God

What is the second commandment?

You are to not have any idols

What is the third commandment?

You shall not take the Lords name in vain

See how these commandments are building on the one before

If you are to have no other Gods before you then you shouldn’t come up with a picture of what you think God looks like and worship the picture

If you shouldn’t worship a picture then you shouldn’t misuse Gods name

And if we shouldn’t misuse Gods name then we should set time aside just for Him right

What is the 4th commandment?

Exodus 20:8–11 NASB95

8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

So what is the Sabbath Day?

Sabbath is a holy day set aside as a day of rest and set to worship the Lord

We are to remember the sabbath day

The Sabbath Day is modeled by God Himself

It is a complete day of rest from the secular work following six days of labor

And church we are to remember it

It was molded by God Himself

Remember the day so creation?

Day 1: God created light

Day 2: God created the sky

Day 3: God created dry land, plants, and trees

Day 4: God created the sun, moon, and stars

Day 5: God created sea creatures and birds

Day 6: God created land animals and humans

What happened day 7?

Genesis 2:2 NASB95

2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

When we read the story of creation it is a no wonder God rested

This is the beautiful thing about creation

It did not wear God out that He needed the rest but He did it as an example to us

We are already so busy busy busy and God wants us to rest and to come away with Him and spend time with Him

Which is why it is in the 10 commandments

To rest is to allow your physical body to rest and recharge

To rest is to allow your spirit to rest, when you are doing ministry it is not only physically taxing but it can be spiritually taxing as well

God modeled what it is to take a sabbath for us, and He also modeled resting for us

After a big ministry event Jesus would often go off by Himself and rest, He would spend time praying and in fellowship with the Father

But notice it was always go off by Himself and rest, recharge, and fill up His cup

A sabbath is more than just physical rest

It is an opportunity for you and I trust God through our rest and to reconnect with Him, to get our cups filled up

You and I cannot expect to grow in our walk with Christ if we are taking time each week to rest in Jesus

Now we think of sabbath as Sunday

So going to church is important

But when going to church is all about checking the box then you are not taking a sabbath

Going to church is not about showing up so people see you at church

Going to church is for you to spend time with God

To spend time resting in Christ

To spend time worshiping Christ

To spend time learning from Christ

To spend time fellowshiping with fellow believers

Now we could take this and be completely legalistic about it that you and I are to do no work on it but that would go against the spirit of what God had designed

We could say that you are to do absolutely no work on the Lords day that the Lord Himself set aside from work

Remember how Jesus transformed and fulfilled the law from just the physical to adding the heart of the matter to that

Are there times when you miss Church?

Yes

When you do miss church are you still to have a Sabbath?

What does that look like?

Remember these commands deal with our relationship with God

And they build off of each other

Part of growing in relationship with God is to spend time dedicated to Him with Him

When we give up on that special time solely dedicated to God our relationship with God begins to decay and wouldn’t you know it then becomes easier and easier to walk away from God

Do you understand how important this day is for your Spiritual growth

You own personal Spiritual Growth

DL Moody had this to say

You show me a nation that has given up the sabbath and I will show you a nation that has got the seed of decay.

Dwight L. Moody

When you and I give up on our Special Day with the Lord

That was set aside for the Lord our own personal relationship with the Lord will begin to decay

When church stops being important for parents it stops being important for kids

and so on and so on

So I want to encourage you make church a priority

Not to just check the box

But to worship God

To be obedient to God

To Rest in God