10 Commandments 4

Exodus 20:8–11 CSB

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

The Sabbath is an act of worship.

(CSB) 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:

The sabbath is more than a day of rest, it is a day of rest in God.

(CSB) 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:

Illus: If the sabbath was just a day of rest, then you should feel free to pursue whatever activity you enjoy.

What is so wrong with taking the boat out on the lake on Sunday morning?

Is it a big deal to sleep in on Sunday morning and watch the NFL in your PJs?

How about regularly being out because the kids sports, cheer or activities are scheduled?

Golf, fishing, hunting, cars, and sleep are all great places of rest.

God calls us to more than simply resting on the sabbath.

HE calls us to rest IN HIM.

Perhalps the best way I have heard it explained, the sabbath is not a day, but instead a person.

God is our sabbath. The sabbath is a day where we come together to find rest in the healing and life through worship, fellowship and the Word of God.

(CSB) 23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

Taking a sabbath is an admission of your own weakness.

(CSB) 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:

Illus: We as christians have this bad habit of thinking that we have our lives together. We often pretend that we are good enough on our own.

Think about the way we come to church. All of us are struggling in sin, are exhausted by life, live never measuring up, but the moment we get to church we pretend that we don’t sin, are all good and don’t need others around us for support.

We come in pretending we don’t need a sabbath.

normal in church is not that you have your life together. Normal in church is that you come because you are weak and you find life in the sabbath of the church. The church should be rest for the believer, not a place where you feel like you are putting on pretenses.

(CSB) 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”

Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Sabbath is an act of obedience.

The Sabbath is an act of obedience.

(CSB)

9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates.

Though the sabbath is an act of obedience, it is for our own good.

(CSB) 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates.

Illus: I remember when I was a teenager my parents would put a curfew on me. I thought my parents were so unfair.

I was a trust worthy kid. 9:00 on weeknights and 11:00 on weekends. Who could handle such restraints.

Truthfully, my parents put a curfew on me not to be unfair, but out of love. I did not understand why at the time, but my parents knew what was best for me.

When God asks us to sabbath it is for our own good. It is a day to stop and place ourselves in God’s hands. It is a day to go to God in need.

Many times when we come on Sunday mornings wore out? Why because we have been up late into the previous night, and then we gripe that sunday mornings wear us out.

This shows how little importance sabbathing is to us.

In the bible sabbath did not start at midnight, it started at sundown. Why? Because your ability to worship is directly affected by the sleep you get the night before.

(CSB) 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day. 2:1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.,

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

2 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.,

Do we enable people to sabbath, or do we prevent people from sabbath?

(CSB) 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates.

Illus: I am about to preach about something that I am not practicing. When we go out to eat, go grocery shopping, get gas, or whatever we do on Sundays, we are keeping people from getting a sabbath.

About a year ago I praised Moo’s for closing on Sunday. By doing this they enabled their employees to worship.

Most of us will applaud Moos and Chick-fil-a for being closed on Sunday, drive right by them and go out to eat at the a restaurant.

You know what that makes us, hypocrites.

I have talked with waitresses and waiters and invited them to church. Their common response is to tell me that of all the days they can take off, Sunday is not one of them.

What if we all pulled out our slow cookers, fired up our grills, and cooked on Sundays instead of creating a culture which prevented people (even christians) from worshiping.

(CSB) 12 Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Do not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident alien who lives within your city gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.

12 Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Do not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident alien who lives within your city gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.

The Sabbath is an act of faith.

(CSB) 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

God calls us to faith in every part of our lives, including the way we work.

Illus:In a time when we scrap for every dollar, jobs are scarce and our calendars are booked solid with kids events and other obligations the thought of taking an entire day to rest and worship seems preposterous.

Which is why it is an act of faith. Taking a sabbath is placing your life under God’s control. It is saying that God knows best. That He is your rest.

(CSB) 28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

How can you make the sabbath a day of rest in your life?

How can you make the sabbath a day of rest in others lives?