God's Rest
Notes
Transcript
Good morning
When I was younger, I had a job as a shop window mannequin. I held that position for a long time.
Anadarko Revival - talk about it. Monday night - 167 people and there were a total of 969 people for the 5 nights. God is working in Anadarko.
Yesterday afternoon we took 9 kids to the Happy Day Farms in Terral. It is a very nice place and the kids had a great time.
Tomorrow night the men will meet at my house instead of Steve’s. We are giving Karol a break from all us men.
Today we are going to be in Genesis 2:1-3.
This is one of the most divisive subjects in the Bible. It divided one Baptist group into three groups.
It shouldn’t be either and hopefully at the end of this message you will agree with me.
Does it seem like the days are getting shorter and the weeks are getting longer?
Who likes naps?
It is funny as kids we fight to not have to take a nap and as adults we fight to take one!
We all need rest. We were made that way.
We spend about a 1/3 of our lives asleep.
If we choose to not rest and continue to work, our bodies will eventually force us to rest. We need rest.
God could have made us so that we didn’t need rest.
He could have made us so that we could work 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We could work 3-4 jobs if that were the case.
He chose to not do that.
He chose to make us so that we need rest. It is part of His big plan.
Today we are going to look at God’s rest, which is different than the rest that we need.
Please stand as we prepare to hear God’s Word.
1 And so the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their heavenly lights. 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. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Pray
I think it is unfortunate that these 3 verses are not the end of chapter 1. This is part of the creation story and the final day.
We can see that God finished His work. The heavens and the earth are finished and all the lights in the heavens as well.
If repetition is a sign of importance, then God finishing is very important. It is repeated 4 times that He finished His work, and 3 times it said that this included all His work. There was nothing left unfinished on the seventh day. Everything was created that needed to be created in the first 6 days. From day 6 to today, God has been sustaining creation. Hebrews 1:3
3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Jesus holds all things together, He is the Word of God. We can see that in John’s gospel. God rested from creating not from working. If God ever stops working, all life will end and the galaxy will fly apart! His is not only the creator, but the Sustainer also!
I want us to see three things about the seventh day.
There is no mention of evening and morning. It is as if the day has no end. God’s Sabbath rest would have no end. Unfortunately, sin entered and interrupted God’s rest, and God had to go and search for Adam and Eve and deal with them. It didn’t interrupt God’s rest, but it did interrupt man’s rest in God.
This is the first day that we are told that God blessed. In blessing this last day of the week, He made it a blessing.
He not only blessed the seventh day, He sanctified it and set it apart for His special purposes.
Every living thing that God created lives one day at a time except for mankind made in His image. People rush around in the frantic “rat race” of life, always planning and saying that they will rest but never seeming to fulfill their plan.
It has been said that most people in our world are being “crucified between two thieves”: the regrets of yesterday and the worries about tomorrow. That is why they can’t enjoy today. Relying on modern means of transportation and communication, we try to live two or three days at a time, only to run headlong against the creation cycle of the universe, and the results are painful and often disastrous.
There was a famous Chinese scholar who came to America to lecture and during the course of his tour was met at a busy metropolitan railway station by his university host. “If we run quickly, we can catch the next train and save ourselves three minutes,” said the host. The scholar quietly asked, “And what significant thing shall we do with the three minutes that we save by running?” A good question that could not be answered.
God had done so many wonderful things during the six days of creation, but the climax of all of creation was the seventh day and His rest. We will see that God sanctified work and rest, but it seems to be that rest is the greater need in people’s hearts today. The early church father Augustine wrote this, “ Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”
Notice that there is no command to kept this rest. Adam was not under the law, sinless, he was in God’s rest. It wasn’t until sin entered and he was separated from God that he would need God’s rest.
We don’t see the command to keep the sabbath until Exodus 16:23
23 then he said to them, “This is what the Lord meant: Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.”
Manna.
God gave the law at Mt. Sinai, the Sabbath was connected with creation. Exodus 20:8-11
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 For six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
God was a generous giver and He provided all that they needed and they must acknowledge Him by worshipping the Creator and not the creation. Moses even mentioned that the servants and animals were to rest as well. The Lord also commanded His people to observe every seventh year as a Sabbatical Year and every 50th year as a year of Jubilee. This would allow the land to enjoy its Sabbaths and be renewed.
The Sabbath was not only connected with creation, but at the end of the giving of the law, it was vested with special significance as a sign between Israel and Jehovah. Exodus 31:12-17
12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Now as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You must keep My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 Therefore you are to keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 So the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a permanent covenant.’ 17 It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”
There is no evidence that God required any other nation to observe the Sabbath, because the Jews alone were the chosen people of God. The people whom His Son would be born into the world.
Another connection between the Sabbath and the Jews is when Moses connected it with the deliverance from Egypt. They had been slaves for hundreds of years without rest. Now, as God chosen people, they are to rest on the Sabbath and remember all that God has done for them.
The nation of Israel would fail to keep God’s laws including the Sabbath. God eventually punished them for their disobedience and the northern kingdom was swallowed up by Syria and the southern kingdom was taken into captivity by Babylon.
After the rebuilding of the temple, the scribes and Pharisees had added their traditions to God’s Word and turned the law in general and the Sabbath in particular into religious bondage. The few prohibitions found in Exodus 16:29 Exodus 35:2-3
29 See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; for that reason He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain, everyone, in his place; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.”
2 “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
From these the religious leaders added thousands of prohibitions that became such a heavy burden that there was no rest in the Sabbath.
Some of the ridiculous rules for the Sabbath.
You could only walk so far, but if you had some food placed under bush or tree, then you could restart you distance because that is your home away from home.
No tearing toilet paper: Tearing along the perforated line of a toilet paper roll is forbidden because it resembles cutting or shaping an item. Many observant households use pre-cut sheets or tissues instead. [1]
No carrying things outside: You cannot carry keys, phones, tissues, or even a baby in a public space unless a symbolic boundary called an eruv surrounds the neighborhood. [1, 2, 3]
No turning lights on or off: Because completing or sparking an electrical circuit is viewed as a form of igniting fire, standard light switches cannot be touched. Lights must be left on or set with automatic timers ahead of time. [1, 2, 3]
No squeezing water from hair: Washing hair is fine, but wringing or squeezing water out of your hair or a wet cloth is prohibited as a form of laundering.
No moving pens or scissors (Muktzah): Objects whose primary purpose is doing prohibited work (like writing or cutting) cannot even be moved or picked up from where they sit, just to keep you away from using them. [1]
Clever Solutions and WorkaroundsTo honor the strict rules while navigating modern life, observant communities use several creative adjustments detailed by the Orthodox Union: [1]
Sabbath Elevators: Many high-rises in heavily Jewish neighborhoods use special elevators programmed to stop automatically at every single floor so people don’t have to press buttons. [1]
Shabbat Lamps: Instead of turning a bedside lamp off, these lamps feature a movable opaque sleeve or shield that you twist to physically block the light bulb's glow from escaping into the room. [1]
Refrigerator Tape: Some people place a small piece of tape over the interior fridge door switch so that opening the door doesn't trigger the internal light bulb to turn on. [1]
Don’t spit on the ground on the Sabbath because it might roll and be considered plowing.
No healing on the Sabbath, unless it was a life-threatening situation. Putting a band-aid could be debated.
Jesus, rejected their traditions and even performed miracles on the Sabbath.
He healed several times on the Sabbath and they were not life threatening situations.
He healed the blind man by spitting on the ground and making mud and placing it on the man’s eyes.
Jesus told them in Mark 2:27
27 Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Jesus also said in Matthew 12:8
8 “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Sabbath was made to serve man, not the other way around. It was for us so that we could have the rest we needed. Every one of the 10 commandments are repeated in a way that we are to keep them except the Sabbath. If someone knows where that is, please let me know.
Remember how the seventh day doesn’t have an end, that is signifying that God’s spiritual rest with man was meant to last eternally, but sin ended it.
Jesus restores that spiritual rest in His work on the cross. We can see this in Hebrews 4:1-11
1 Therefore, we must fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also did; but the word they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united with those who listened with faith. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,
“As I swore in My anger,
They certainly shall not enter My rest,”
although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this passage, “They certainly shall not enter My rest.” 6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who previously had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 He again sets a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
“Today if you hear His voice
Do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9 Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience.
Hebrews brings together God’s creation rest (v.4) 4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and Israel’s Canaan rest (v8) For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.
to teach us about the spiritual rest that believers have in Christ (v9-11) 9 Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience.
When you trust in Jesus Christ, you enter the new creation 2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
and into His spiritual rest Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”
Believers are not under bondage to keep the law. Galatians 5:1
1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
because the Holy Spirit in us fulfills the righteousness of the law in us as we yield to Him. Romans 8:1-3
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
The seventh day of the week, the Jewish Sabbath, symbolizes the old creation and the covenant of law: first you work, then you rest. The first day of the week, the Lord’s day, symbolizes the new creation and the covenant of grace: first you believe in Christ and find rest, then you do the good works. Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
In the new creation, God’s Spirit enables us to make the entire week an experience of worship, praise, and service to the glory of God.
The Jewish Sabbath was fulfilled by Christ on the cross and is no longer binding on God’s people. Galatians 4:1-11
1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
8 However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again? 10 You meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.
16 Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day—17 things which are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Some believers may choose to honor the Sabbath day” as unto the Lord”, and Christians are not to judge or condemn one another in this matter. When good and godly people disagree on matters of conscience, they must practice love and mutual acceptance and grant one another liberty. Romans 14:1-15
1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not to have quarrels over opinions. 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but the one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and the one who eats, does so with regard to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and the one who does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat, and he gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you regard your brother or sister with contempt? For we will all appear before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord, to me every knee will bow,
And every tongue will give praise to God.”
12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let’s not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this: not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s or sister’s way. 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to the one who thinks something is unclean, to that person it is unclean. 15 For if because of food your brother or sister is hurt, you are no longer walking in accordance with love. Do not destroy with your choice of food that person for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For the one who serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and approved by other people. 19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. 20 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the person who eats and causes offense. 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother or sister stumbles. 22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is the one who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.
1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not just please ourselves. 2 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written: “The taunts of those who taunt You have fallen on me.” 4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one purpose and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us, for the glory of God.
Before Adam sinned, he was living in God’s eternal rest. Sin ended that for mankind. It wasn’t until Jesus came to earth and died on the cross that we may once again live in God’s eternal rest. God made the Sabbath for us, it is a rest that is supposed to serve us and not be a burden. It is through Jesus that we have Sabbath.
We must obey the commands that Jesus clearly gives us and give grace in all else. We are so easy to divide over things that are not essential. Remember we are to maintain the unity that the Spirit brings.
A good example of this is John MacArthur and RC Sproul. They disagreed on baptism, but they were best of friends. It is extremely unlikely that we will agree on everything and we don’t have to, we just have to agree on what Jesus tells us is essential.
I hope I did a good job in explaining this. If you feel compelled to keep the Sabbath, then by all means keep it. If you do not feel compelled to keep the Sabbath then don’t. But never judge another person as to whether they do or don’t!
Just to show you that Sabbath rest is good for the body, scientist have been study the effects of Sabbath rest and they are seeing real benefits to resting one day a week from work.
Also the silicone valley people are beginning to recommend a say of Sabbath rest from screens and technology!
Rest is good.
We were created to rest.
You need to figure out what that looks like for you.
I know I need to make changes to my life so that I can have better rest.
Let’s pray.
