The fourth commandment

Introduction

Read the doctrines

The fourth commandment is both the longest commandment as well as the commandment most quoted and alluded to in the Bible.

It is incredibly important, and yet there is still so much confusion around it. For many Christians, this command brings forth a lot of questions.

Is this still binding?

Is it about a specific day?

Is it rest,

worship,

or something else entirely?

Those questions are not new.

From the earliest days of the church,

believers have wrestled with these things.

I have spent a lot of time studying different positions and how Christians have understood the Sabbath across history.

My expectation for this sermon was that it would go deep into these questions.

But as I prepared this sermon,

I became convinced that what we need most is not to find agreement in the deeper theology of the commandment but in the clear,

practical,

biblical understanding of how we are to apply this to our lives here in Beijing.

So because we won’t go in deep on this, I will go ahead and give you the summary conclusion of where we stand on some of the deeper questions.

We do not hold that Christians must worship on Saturdays,

nor that the New Testament replaced the the sabbath with Sundays and that we must rest on it now instead.

We hold that the principles of the Sabbath are still binding,

but the Sabath was fulfilled in Christ in ways that has changed how we practice it today.

There are many reasons for this, and let’s have these discussions, but that is not the topic today.

Instead, we will examine scripture to see that…

Christians are still called to keep the Fourth Commandment by resting in Christ and having a day set aside for worship and rest as an act of trust in God’s provision.

With that in mind, we will examine the fourth commandment this morning by looking at three parts.

I. The Sabbath Reveals Who God Is

II. The Sabbath Reveals Who We Are

III. The Sabbath Revealed in Christ

I. The Sabbath Reveals Who God Is

As we read the fourth commandment, we should notice that the first thing it reveals is not something about us, but something about God. We have week after week been looking at what these commands teach us about God and how our doctrine of God is shaped in them. Today we see that the eternal triune God is one we can fully trust because He provides.

The command to rest is grounded not in our weakness but rather in God’s strength.

We see this in this morning’s text.

After commanding Israel to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, the Lord explains why:

Exodus 20:11 (ESV)

11 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.

By placing the Sabath within the creation account, we are seeing it tied to the power and provision of God.

He made everything,

and then… He rested.

We see this all the way back in the Genesis creation account.

Genesis 2:2–3 (ESV)

2 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.

3 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.

Notice the language carefully.

God “ended His work.”

God’s rest is not the rest of exhaustion,

as if God could be exhausted,

but the rest of completion.

He rests because His work is complete.

And He rests to model a day of rest.

The Sabbath is holy because it reflects God’s finished work and God’s sovereign rest.

It testifies that the world is not held together by frantic effort, but by the settled power of God.

We see this in Psalm 127.

Psalm 127 ESV

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. 1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

As we will see in the next point, Labor matters. Work is important.

But we must do this with the understanding that our work is in vain without the Lord.

But verse 2 shows that even our rest is in vain without God. Apart from Him there is anxious toil but it is God who gives true rest.

Rest is presented as a gift from God.

Taken together, these texts reveal a great truth.

The Sabbath proclaims a God whose work is complete and sufficient.

The Sabbath proclaims a God who we can trust to provide.

Pastor Rick has shared with us that the first three Commandments are the vertical relationships and the latter five are about the horizontal relationships with each other. the Sabath is the bridge between them.

The Sabath shows us our relationship to God because it reveals God’s character and as we will see in point two, how we are to see ourselves before Him. we will later see how it connects horizontally as well.

But first, let us take a look at our second point.

II. The Sabbath Reveals Who We Are.

Remember that When this commandment was given,

societies were still almost entirely agricultural.

In an agricultural society,

if you don’t work,

you die.

There was no stock market,

no savings account,

no safety net.

If the crops failed or you didn’t gather food,

there was no food to survive with.

That is what makes this command so radical.

God is telling His people to stop working one day a week,

not because work is unimportant,

but because their survival does not ultimately depend on their labor.

It depends on Him.

Do you see a radical mindset change here?

This is the same radical mindset Jesus taught us in the model prayer where we are told to show our reliance on the father for our daily bread.

But we need to be careful here and not take away the wrong message.

The command assumes that work matters.

God does not condemn labor.

I have a horrible memory but I somehow remember random things from my childhood.

I remember Dale Rodgers once said at a men’s Bible study that they graciously allowed my teenage self to attend that Christians should be the best workers on any job site. I have always held that close and tried to live by that.

So yes, work Hutong, work hard. But know that God does set a boundary and we need to honor that boundary.

Just as we saw the Sabath in creation, we see it too in back in Exodus 16 with the manna.

God promises daily provision,

but He forbids hoarding extra.

They were to daily, except for the sabath, go out and gather their food GOD PROVIDED.

Some of the people could not accept that dependence on God though.

Scripture says,

Exodus 16:20 ESV

20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

Their attempt to find security in their own work failed.

Later, some even tried to go out and collect on the Sabbath, which was forbidden.

We see God’s reaction in verse 28.

Exodus 16:28

28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

The issue was not ignorance, for they knew the law.

The issue was fear due to a lack of trust in God’s provisions.

You see, Rest requires trust.

To stop working,

especially when survival feels at stake,

is to say, “I trust God will provide”

I can stop working because I trust in the God who has told me to rest.

It is to say… I am dependent on God for all things.

But how often do we fail to trust Him and take that day to rest and worship?

At its core,

our resistance to Sabbath rest is not a scheduling problem,

or a modern work culture problem,

it is a sin problem.

We do not merely struggle to rest; we struggle to fully trust God.

We believe,

functionally,

that if we stop,

or if we refuse to set aside time specifically focussed on resting in Worship to God

things will fall apart.

We won’t be able to provide for ourselves or our family.

We won’t be able to get the promotion.

We won’t be able to keep our job.

We won’t be able to keep the lifestyle we want.

and honestly guys, some of that may be true.

But do we trust God enough to say that He will provide according to His Will for us and that is far greater than whatever plans we have for our lives?

Guys, I want to be lovingly direct here, with the full knowledge that I am as guilty as any one else in here…

That what we are describing here is sinful unbelief.

The Sabbath exposes our desire to be self-sustaining,

self-securing,

and self-reliant.

In our modern world, this command can feel less urgent than farm or die.

But let’s not pretend modern Beijing work culture is also not demanding.

996 jobs,

Teaching,

Government jobs,

Student work,

And on and on we go

are all incredibly demanding.

It is incredibly common in Beijing to be called into work everyday of the week.

The Sabbath declares that before we rely on our labor, we rely on Him.

We live in a city shaped by so much pressure to perform and produce.

Productivity is a must for many of us is it not?

Rest feels irresponsible.

Stopping can feel dangerous.

We worry about falling behind

Or

losing opportunities.

I was talking to a friend yesterday and he made a great point that we too often feel we are failing if we are not busy, or that being super busy makes us more Holy or important.

We take pride in our busyness over taking joy in the command to rest.

And this is not just a theoretical struggle.

It is difficult for me.

I stand here preaching on Sabbath rest,

and I will be the first to admit that I have not been good at this, even this week.

I allow myself to become so busy that I develop tunnel vision.

Tasks pile up and rest is pushed aside because everything feels urgent and necessary.

I have a horrible tendency to pile so much on myself that I get overloaded.

Several of you have expressed similar struggles as well.

We live busy lives with real responsibilities and demanding jobs. The Sabath doesn’t ignore this.

But the Sabbath presses a question we cannot avoid:

Do we trust God enough to rest?

Enough to stop?

Enough to say that even with unfinished tasks and unmet demands, God is still faithful?

The Sabbath reveals who we are,

dependent creatures,

fully dependent on God for our needs.

Before I move on, I will say that what it means to rest may look different for some of you.

For some, it is taking a day to not leave the house.

For some, like myself, that is not always restful.

So maybe going out for a walk, a movie, brunch, a game you like, or whatever it may be is more restful.

But regardless what you choose, the idea is deeper than just not working.

We are to keep it Holy.

We are to rest in the Lord.

When you have your sabath, do you take intentional time to meditate on the goodness of God?

Do you take time to reflect and repent in the areas you have failed?

Do you take time to stop and worship God?

If not, we are missing the fullness of the Sabbath.

Because The fullness of the Sabbath is revealed and fulfilled in Christ.

III. The Sabbath Revealed in Christ

This is an important point because if we were to leave it where we are, the conclusion is pretty sad.

Because purely from what we have said so far…the Sabbath has exposed something uncomfortable. God provides perfectly. We depend imperfectly.

So the question remains: How can we, who are dead in our sin

and do not trust God perfectly

ever enter His rest?

This can only be fully answered through resting in Christ and His vicarious death on the cross as we read in our core doctrine this morning.

Jesus speaks to this in Matthew 11.

In Matthew 11:28–29

Matthew 11:28–29 (ESV)

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Notice what Jesus does not say. He does not offer a technique. He does not offer a 12 point outline on how to properly rest.

He offers Himself.

The rest He promises is not first physical rest, but soul rest. Rest from guilt. Rest from fear. Rest from the burden of trying to secure life,

righteousness,

and peace through our own effort.

This is why Jesus can say in Mark 2:27–28

Mark 2:27–28 (ESV)

27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

The Sabbath was never meant to dominate humanity as a crushing demand. It was given as a gift.

And Jesus declares that He stands as Lord over it all.

That statement would have been shocking. Jesus is not merely correcting Sabbath abuses. He is claiming authority over the institution itself. In other words, the Sabbath finds its meaning,

purpose,

and fulfillment in Him.

We see this also in Colossians 2:16–17 “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 book of Hebrews develops this further. In Hebrews 4:9–10,

Hebrews 4:9–10 (ESV)

9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,

10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Do you see the pattern Hutong?

God rested after His work was finished. Those who enter God’s rest cease from their works.

This spiritual rest is received by faith, and Hebrews warns us not to harden our hearts, but to persevere in that faith.

To enter God’s rest is to stop trying to earn what God freely gives. It is to stop laboring for acceptance,

security,

and righteousness before Him.

It is to rest in what He has already accomplished.

This is the heart of salvation.

Rest before God is not earned through obedience or effort, it is received by faith in Christ’s finished work, just as we read in our core doctrine this morning.

That is why the climax of the gospel comes with Jesus’ final words on the cross. In John 19:30

John 19:30 (ESV)

30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Notice the wording here.

Jesus does not say, “I am finished.” He says, “It is finished.”

The work is complete. The debt is paid. The sacrifice is sufficient.

Just as God rested because creation lacked nothing, Christ declares rest because redemption lacks nothing.

For the Christian, Sabbath rest flows from the gospel. We rest because we are redeemed.

So in conclusion, I want to give you some practical ways to keep the Sabbath holy.

First, Make weekly corporate worship a priority.

The early Church almost right away started to meet on Sundays as a fulfillment of this commandment and to celebrate the resurrection weekly.

The point here though is not what day to worship on, but that we make it a point to meet and worship.

Use your arms to show vertical and horizontal.

If the Sabbath reveals God as our gracious Provider,

then let us gather together and Worship Him as a Church community.

This is the horizontal part of the Sabbath.

You keep the commandment by showing up, week after week, to worship God with His people.

Again, we don’t want to be legalistic and make Church attendance a burden.

But rather we want to align our hearts in worship so that we desire to come before God in worship.

Second, cease from ordinary labor and actually rest.

Take a day each week and rest.

For some of us, Saturdays are not necessarily rest.

I worship on Saturdays and rest on Sundays.

Whatever day you rest on, don’t skip it.

Setting aside work,

productivity,

and constant activity

is a way of declaring that God sustains us, not our effort.

Now does this mean that we can’t respond to an email on our day of rest?

I don’t think we have to become too legalistic here.

If a quick email is helpful to somebody and does not become a burden or take away from our rest, then go for it.

But we must also put guardrails in place because if we do not, we will naturally fall into a mindset of work instead of trusting and resting in God.

You keep the commandment by stopping your ordinary work and receiving rest as a gift from God.

Finally, and most importantly, rest in Christ’s finished work every day.

The Sabbath ultimately points beyond itself.

True rest is ceasing from self-saving labor and trusting Christ alone for righteousness and acceptance.

You keep the commandment most fully by trusting Christ instead of yourself. This is not a burden. It is an invitation to rest in the God who provides, and in the Savior who has finished the work. we will celebrate this more in a second through communion.

But let’s first prepare our hearts in prayer.