The Sabbath/The Lord’s Day

Nathan Pifer

Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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Intro

Good morning,

We are continuing our series on the first 11 chapters of Genesis entitled “In the Beginning”.

Where we are discovering what God reveals about Himself,

his creation,

and the foundational events that begin the story of salvation.

Last week we witnessed God’s final work of creation, mankind, on day six of the creation week.

and saw that Man was made in God’s Image,

man was made male and female,

and man was made to rule the creation under God.

This morning we are looking at the final day of the creation week day 7.

So would you please turn with me to Genesis 2:1-3.

The Book of Sports

The book of sports is not as fun as it sounds.

In 1618, King James I of England had ordered that a rulebook be written,

to outline which sports and games were appropriate for Sunday and which were not.

This was in an effort to settle a fight between two groups of Christians.

One group wanted the freedom to enjoy all kinds of recreation on Sunday,

the other group were the Puritans who wanted all athletic recreation to be banned on Sunday.

The book gave permission for activities like dancing, leaping and vaulting, and archery as long as they didn’t interfere with religious services.

While activities like bear and bull baiting, and lawn bowling were prohibited.

While the Book of Sports was initially ignored,

James’ son Charles I, during his reign, forced pastors to read the book from the pulpit on Sunday mornings.

This added fuel to the fire of an already vicious culture war,

and eventually led to the English civil war.

And ultimately to Charles’ head landing in a basket.

While I like a lot of what the puritans taught and stood for,

their legalism about what is counted as rest on the sabbath in this instance,

is an example of the many times that legalism ruined a very good blessing from God.

A blessing that God even demonstrates for us in the creation week.

Which takes us to our short passage this morning.

Genesis 2:1-3

Exposition

Creation Finished (v. 1)

We have finally arrived at the seventh and final day of the creation week.

After God had miraculously made the heavens and the earth,

the sky, the land, the seas,

the sun, moon and stars,

the trees and plants,

the fish, birds, beasts,

and mankind,

we read in Genesis 1:31

Genesis 1:31 ESV

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

So chapter two of Genesis begins with this statement in v. 1.

Genesis 2:1 ESV

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.”

God finished his work of creation in six days,

He created everything miraculously,

he created it with beauty and purpose,

and he declared it to be very good.

But it’s in v. 2 that we see the focus of the last day, the seventh day, of the creation week.

God Rested (v. 2)

In v. 2 of our passage we read,

Genesis 2:2 ESV

“And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.”

Now, when it says that God rested, this doesn’t mean he was tired from his work of creation.

Remember, God created everything miraculously.

He spoke everything into being, effortlessly.

As Romans 1 tells us, God demonstrates his eternal power and divine nature in the things he has made,

And we can see that he also demonstrates his eternal power and divine nature,

in the making of them.

So God did not rest because he needed to.

God simply ceased from his work of creation on the seventh day,

that is what is being said here.

But he ceased his work for a reason.

God rested in order to introduce a principle into his creation, and to set a pattern for his people to follow.

And the principle he introduced was intended to be a blessing for his people.

God Blessed (v. 3)

We read in v. 3

Genesis 2:3 ESV

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Now this is not something to just skim over.

Not only did God rest on the seventh day,

but because he rested on it, he blessed the day itself,

he blessed it and made it holy, that means set apart from the other days of the week.

And remember he did this because he rested on it.

When you see the word “rested” here in v. 3, that is translated from the Hebrew word “sab-bat”.

Meaning to “cease, to stop, or to rest.”

In the New Testament the greek word σαββατισμὸς is used to communicate the same thing.

A Sabbath rest, a day of ceasing from work.

The Principle

This is the principle that God introduced into his creation.

The principle of rest.

Ceasing from ones work for the purpose of resting.

The Pattern

But God also introduced a pattern to how the principle is expressed.

The pattern he demonstrated was to take one day of rest.

One day in seven, the last day in particular.

The Controversy

Now that brings us to the end of our passage.

But here we run into a controversy.

Do we as Christians keep a sabbath?

Do we take a day of rest once a week?

Three Expressions

There are all sorts of ways Christians have tried to tackle this question.

But I want to try to make this as simple as possible.

God instituted the principle and the pattern of sabbath rest at creation.

And we see three expressions of that sabbath rest for God’s people in the Bible.

1. The Mosaic Sabbath

The first expression we see in the scriptures is the Mosaic Sabbath.

This is the Sabbath rest that God commanded Israel to observe through his servant Moses.

After the events of creation in Genesis 2,

We don’t actually see the sabbath spoken of again until Exodus 16.

Even though that is the next book of the bible,

what takes place in Exodus 16 happens nearly 2500 years after the creation week.

In this passage in Exodus, Moses speaks to people of Israel just after they have come out of slavery in Egypt.

We read in Exodus 16:23-

Exodus 16:23 ESV

he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord;’

This first Sabbath since the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt,

set the stage for what would later be later commanded in the law at Mount Sinai.

Sinai

At Mount Sinai, Moses received the 10 commandments, that are recorded for us in Exodus 20.

And the fourth commandment is the commandment to observe the sabbath.

We read in Exodus 20:8-11:

Exodus 20:8–11 ESV

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and 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.

Purpose

Before they had been set free by God through Moses, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt.

That means that they would have had to perform grueling labor every single day of the week.

But now God had rescued them, and so God gave them the gift of a day off from their work.

A day of sabbath, a day of rest.

But as a friend of mine likes to say:

“God didn’t just need to get the Israelites out of Egypt,

he needed to get Egypt out of the Israelites.”

This is why God gave the Israelites very strict laws about sabbath keeping.

Even commanding death in some instances,

for those who blatantly disobeyed the laws about the sabbath.

The spirit of the law was to give everyone,

one day a week for rest from their work.

This was for everyone including foreigners, slaves, and even animals, they were not to be made to work on the sabbath day.

The day was also to be set aside for worship as the focal point of the religious calendar.

In Leviticus 23:2-3 we read God’s instructions to Israel, He says:

Leviticus 23:2–3 ESV

“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts. “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

And then he continues to list may of the other religious feast throughout the year.

But the Sabbath is the most basic feast day, or holy convocation celebrated by Israel.

Up until the time of Jesus, the sabbath was observed on the seventh day,

the last day of the week, our Saturday.

That is the first expression of Sabbath Rest that we see for God’s people in the scriptures.

The Jewish Sabbath.

Corruption

By the time of Jesus’ ministry, even more rules about the sabbath were recognized among the Jews.

But these were not laws given to the Jews from God himself.

These were rules from the rabbinic tradition.

What had happened was Israel was disobedient to many of the laws God had given them.

So after the Babylonian captivity, holiness movements like the one lead by Ezra,

sought to bring God’s people Israel back into conformity to the law of God.

But over time this led to groups like the pharisees,

who enforced man-made rules beyond those given by God.

The law given to Moses had certainly very strict rules about keeping the sabbath.

But the pharisees in their legalism, went even further than the law of God.

and put rules around the laws that God had given to his people Israel.

Even rules about how many steps you could walk on a sabbath day.

They added the traditions of man to the commands of God, forcing heavy burdens on the people.

This is something that Jesus condemns them for in for Matthew 15:9,

teaching the commandments of men as if they were doctrines from God.

Jesus On The Sabbath

By seeking to uphold the sabbath law through their rules,

the pharisees and teachers of the law had violated the spirit and purpose of the sabbath.

It became, not about receiving rest, but about following rules.

Kind of like the puritans and their prohibition of sports on Sunday.

This is why Jesus and the Pharisees clashed so much about the sabbath.

Healing and Doing Good

See, Jesus did not follow the Pharisees rules about the sabbath.

Jesus healed people on the sabbath, often in front of the pharisees.

He did this to show them that it was lawful both to heal, and to do good, on the sabbath.

One amazing instance of Jesus doing this right in the face of the pharisees was in Luke 14,

we read there in vv. 1-6.

Luke 14:1–6 ESV

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy (thats a great amount of fluid in his body).

Luke 14:1–6 ESV

And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.

See, It is godly to both heal, and to do good on the sabbath.

Sabbath Made For Man

In Mark 2:23-28 we see another example of the pharisees getting triggered by what Jesus does on the sabbath.

In this instance Jesus not only teaches them about the purpose of the sabbath itself.

We read in Mark 2:23-28

Mark 2:23–28 ESV

One Sabbath [Jesus] was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

Jesus responds to these pharisees, these experts in the law, with an absolutely savage line…

Mark 2:23–28 ESV

And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?”

Jesus here was pointing out the fact that the hero of Israel, King David himself, along with his men,

ate bread that was reserved only for priests,

when he and his men were starving.

Jesus was making the point that just like forbidden bread can be eaten by the starving,

even on the sabbath, genuine needs can be met.

And then in the same passage we have Jesus essential teaching on the sabbath day in vv. 27-28,

Mark 2:27–28 ESV

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Now there are two things I want you to notice here.

The first thing is that Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

This goes to the core of what sabbath rest is for:

not so that rules can be followed,

but that God’s people would have a rest from their works,

just as God did on the seventh day.

But the next thing that Jesus says is that,

Since the sabbath was made for man,

the Son of Man, that is Jesus himself, is Lord of the Sabbath.

And it is through the works of Jesus, the Son of Man,

that the Sabbath changed forever.

2. The Lord’s Day

Jesus would eventually be crucified and killed at the order of the Jewish rulers.

But then he rose from the dead three days later, defeating death itself.

And that changed everything.

We saw the first expression of sabbath rest for God’s people in the Mosaic law.

But Jesus set another pattern - because he is Lord of the Sabbath

Resurrection on the First Day

The Second expression of Sabbath Rest that we see in the scriptures began at the resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus rose from the dead on the day after the Jewish sabbath, the first day of the week, which is our Sunday.

We read about this in Mark 16:9, where it says:

Mark 16:9 ESV

“Now when [Jesus] rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene.

The Gospel writers actually make a point to mention several times that Jesus rose from the dead,

and appeared to them on the first day of the week.

We see again in John 20:19 that,

John 20:19 ESV

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Jesus rose from the dead and presented himself to his disciples on the first day of the week.

Showing Up On The First Day

And he presented himself to his disciples the next Sunday as well.

In John 20:26 we read about the next time Jesus presented himself to his disciples. It says,

John 20:26 ESV

“Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”

The study note in the ESV study Bible says that when the passage says,

“Eight days later” this refers to the following Sunday, one week after Easter, because the starting day was also included in counting the number of days.”

Jesus was setting a new pattern here.

Spirit Given on the First Day

Not only did Jesus keep presenting himself on the first day of the week,

but the church was born on the first day of the week as well.

The church was born on the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church - the Jewish day of pentecost.

Which Leviticus 23 tells us began the day after the sabbath - the first day of the week.

The Lord’s Day

Jesus rose on the first day of the week,

he appeared to his disciples on the first day of the week,

and God poured out his Holy Spirit on the church on first day of the week.

This is why the early church began to have their sabbath of rest and worship on the first day of the week,

what had come to be known as the Lord’s day.

The Apostle John even referred to the Lord’s day in the book of Revelation,

as it was the day that he received his visions.

He writes in Revelation 1:10

Revelation 1:10 ESV

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet…”

Jesus changed everything - Because he is Lord of the Sabbath.

This is the second expression of the Sabbath Rest: The Lord’s Day.

And the church has been remarkably consistent,

in celebrating the Lords day on the first day of the week,

throughout church history.

Though we hardly seem to agree on anything, we somehow agree on this.

Jesus, through his resurrection from the dead, changed the day of rest,

from the last day after six days of work,

to the first day before we do our works for him.

And ultimately this points to the third and final expression of Sabbath Rest.

3. God’s Rest.

Ultimately all who put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation enter into eternal Sabbath Rest. God’s Rest.

Hebrews 4 tells us all about this.

We read in Hebrews 4:3

Hebrews 4:3 ESV

For we who have believed enter that rest.

God introduced the principal of Sabbath Rest at the creation.

And instituted expressions of it in the old covenant of Moses,

and in the new covenant in Christ.

But ultimately the principal of sabbath rest is pointing forward to the eternal sabbath,

given to those who have been saved by faith in Jesus Christ.

Where we will rest for eternity in the presence of the God who created us,

and with Christ who saved us.

As Hebrews 4:9-10 says,

Hebrews 4:9–10 ESV

“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”

So let us strive to enter that Rest.

Application

Invitation

If you have not entered that rest for your weary soul,

you can receive God’s gift of eternal rest today through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

Repent of your sins and believe in the lord Jesus Christ,

and you will receive forgiveness from your sins, and a new life, as a new creation,

experiencing temporal rest today,

but looking forward to rest in the presence of God for all eternity.

Celebrating The Lords Day

For those of us who are in Christ:

Today, as on every Sunday that we are able to, we celebrate the Lords Day.

But let’s actually celebrate it, lets not observe it legalistically.

Its silly that when we are given the gift of a day of rest,

what we want is for God to give us a list of things we can’t do.

God, in his kindness gave us very few laws and requirements for how to celebrate the Lord’s day.

I believe it is because, he did not want us to observe it legalistically.

We are not even to be legalistic about the day on which we worship.

Romans 14:5-6 says,

Romans 14:5–6 ESV

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honour of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honour of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honour of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

This demonstrates that God’s new covenant people have freedom to worship on any day of the week,

because Jesus has filled the laws requirements for us.

Though traditionally we celebrate on the first day of the week as our Christian sabbath,

we have freedom to rest and worship on other days.

This is especially helpful to Christians undergoing persecution,

where they must worship in secret when they can,

and to those who for whatever reason must worship on another day.

Pastor Toby Sumter puts it this way,

“In the new covenant, we celebrate the first day of the week as our christian sabbath, but it is the sabbath resurrected. It really is a day of Christian worship and rest, but it is sanctified by our worship and not the other way around. Sunday is the day that Jesus rose from the dead, but in the new covenant every day is equal ceremonially. What this means is that if you are on call as a police officer or a nurse in a hospital on Sunday, you may attend another worship service on Wednesday or Saturday and your worship is exactly the same as your worship on Sunday. It is all received by Jesus, and offered up in perfect holiness by the Spirit.”

We should not be dower and legalistic about how we celebrate the Lord’s day.

Nor should we pass judgment on those who observe it differently than us.

One time I was talking with a friend who went to a dutch reformed church near where I grew up.

I said to him “we used to drive by and be amazed to see a bunch of you smoking outside your church,”

and he said back, “and we were amazed to see you baptists driving by, heading to Swiss Chalet.”

We had a good laugh about that.

But it shows that we were judging one another, for enjoying Christian liberty.

Colossians 2:16-17 says,

Colossians 2:16–17 ESV

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

The Lords day is not a day for making a bunch of rules, nor is it a day for judging.

But it is a day of resting, it is a day of offering, and it is a day of worship.

A Day for Resting

It is a day of resting.

That means, prioritize taking rest on the Lords day as you can.

If you can’t rest on the Lord’s day, find another day during the week to take a rest.

Take a nap, have a feast with your neighbours, play with your kids, enjoy recreation with your friends, including sports.

Maybe skip the bear and bull baiting, but lawn bowling is totally cool.

Rest is a gift from God,

He demonstrated it on the seventh day after his work of creation,

not because he needed it,

but because we do.

A Day for Offering

It is a day of offering.

The Apostle Paul gave these instructions in 1 Corinthians 16:2,

1 Corinthians 16:2 ESV

On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

The Jews gave their offering at their synagogues on the sabbath,

in the same way Paul tells the church to give their offering on the Lords day.

Give your tithes offerings to the Lord worshipfully, and sacrificially, when we gather on the Lord’s day.

A Day for Worship

And finally it is a day for worship.

Prioritize worship on the Lord’s day.

Though it is a day of rest, feasting, and recreation,

don’t let those take priority over the worship of God.

It’s a good thing to enjoy recreation like sports on the Lord’s day,

but if sports takes you away from the gathering of the saints in the presence of God,

that shows where your priorities lie.

Hebrews 10:25 tells us “not to neglect meeting together, as is the habit of some.

The Lord’s day is a day for Christian worship,

prioritize worship on the Lord’s day.

Conclusion

Luke describes the church worshipping on the Lord’s day in Acts 20:7, he says:

Acts 20:7 ESV

“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.”

Don’t worry I won’t be prolonging my speech until midnight,

But we are going to break bread.

Because this is the Lord’s day,

lets celebrate it joyfully as the gift that it is!

Communion

We are now going to celebrate the Lord’s supper, so let’s take a moment in silence to ready our hearts to approach the table. [Silent Prayer - End with Prayer]

[Invite ushers forward]

The Lord’s Supper is for those who have come to repentance and faith in Christ,

for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to remember what he did on the Cross of Calvary.

If you have not yet put your faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation, I would ask that you just let the bread and the cup to pass by,

and observe how we remember and proclaim our Lord’s broken body and shed blood.

as 1 Corinthians 11:26 tells us,

1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

The Bread

1 Corinthians 11:23-24 Tells us

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 (ESV)

The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Lets Give thanks for the broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[Pray over bread]

[Bread distributed]

Take and eat, in remembrance of Christ broken body

The Cup

[Invite ushers forward]

1 Corinthians 11:25 continues,

1 Corinthians 11:25 ESV

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Lets Give thanks for the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[Pray over cup]

[Cup distributed]

Take and drink, in remembrance of Christ shed Blood.

Please stand with me as we are dismissed with prayer.