Rememberthesabbath

REMEMBER THE SABBATH               EXODUS 20:8-11

            We gather on another Sunday morning to worship the Lord. I hope you have your Bibles as we tackle another commandment this morning. It is found in the 20th chapter of Exodus beginning in the 8th verse through the 11th verse. You follow along as I read this commandment to you. This is known as the fourth commandment. Before we look at this command, I want to remind you quickly of the other three. 1) You shall have no other gods before Me. 2) You shall not make for yourself an idol. 3) You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.

            No commandment has caused more confusion and debate than this one. No commandment has created new denominations like this one. So I hope this morning to show you the meaning of this verse and how it relates to us as Christians today.

            All of us, in this place, when we were young remember our parents giving us a list of do’s and don’ts. We remember that most commands were clearly stated and strictly enforced. That list of do’s and don’ts looked like this. The do’s were obeying your parents, respect those in authority above you, remain quiet in the school line, etc. The don’ts were don’t run into the street, don’t put your finger in the socket, don’t hit your sister, etc.

            So as we approach this fourth commandment, there are many who have their list of do’s and don’ts as they relate to keeping the Sabbath. Also, many apply the same rules of do’s and don’ts to the Lord’s Day. In fact, a majority of people associate the Lord’s Day (Sunday) as a day that if there is any fun in it, then it should not be done. Therefore, the logic sounds like this, “if you enjoy doing it, then don’t do it; and if you don’t enjoy doing it, then this is the day to do it.” But is this really what this command implies in the Scriptures. In order to understand this command and the implications for us today as believers in Christ, then we need to know the context in which they were given.

            God commands the Israelites remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. In the Ten Commandments, you will notice that the first three commands deals with our relationship with the Lord and the last six commands deal with our relationship with others, but this command deals with a day. A day which is special and set apart from the six days of the week. As you read the Old Testament this command given to the covenantal people, Israel (God’s chosen nation, elect) served a purpose. There was a reason behind this command that God was giving the people of Israel. What was this purpose?

            The reason behind this command for the people of Israel is that they belonged to LORD. They were His people. He delivered them from the bondage of Egypt, from the house of slavery by His grace and as a result of that deliverance makes a demand upon the totality of their being. He is Yahweh their God. He had absolute sovereignty over them by this very redemption. He was not only over their lives, but their time (calendar) and the priorities of their lives. He signified by setting aside one day that was to be observed by them. It was a special day. A day that was to have meaning and significance for them.

            In verse 11, God tells why this day was set aside by Him. 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. This text takes us back to the Genesis account of creation in which this pattern was set. In Genesis 2:1-3, the Bible says, “Thus the heavens and earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. 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.”

            So the question that arises from this text is “Is it a universal principle or is it established for the covenantal people of Israel in the Mosaic Law?” There are some who argue that this pattern of a seven day week is established in the story of creation, but evidence of this being observed by all people is not found throughout history. The sinful man does not recognize a seven day week as a part of their calendar. In different cultures around the world you will discover that some societies had a four day week, five day week, six day week, eight day week and in Egypt in which Israel was rescued they based their week on ten days. There was no countdown to the weekend like we have in our culture. The seven day week was established by God at creation and apart of the covenant that God made with Israel. Therefore, we have to conclude that this was a pattern established by God for his people.

            Imagine being God’s chosen people and living in Egypt during their slavery. The people will have worked ten days only to start over with no day of rest. Once the tenth day was over, you just simply began another week. So God, in his mercy, gave Israel a gift. The gift was a day of rest. So the pattern was work six days and rest on the seventh. Do all your labors for six days and then take off a day to observe the Sabbath.

            So the Sabbath was established during the Mosaic period in Exodus. You remember that God had delivered Israel from Egypt and they wandered in the wilderness. In that time God provided manna for his people. He would rain manna down everyday from heaven for people to gather and sustain their lives. He specifically instructed them to only gather what they needed for that day and those who gathered more would find worms in this bread the next morning. But on the sixth day, God told them to gather enough for that day and the seventh because he would not send manna on the seventh day. Those who did not gather enough but only for the sixth day found out the next morning that there was no manna just as God had said.

            So when we get to the twentieth chapter of Exodus, God commands the people to remember (recall) the pattern that was established by the Lord their God. It was a day which looked back to the account of creation in which God created the world and everything in it in six days and therefore rested on the seventh day. So God says work six days. We live in a society that values work, in fact there are people who are workaholics.

            Now there is nothing wrong with work. In fact, before the fall there was work to be done in the garden and after the fall work is still commended but now it is done with the sweat of one’s brow. Paul, in the New Testament, said that the man who does not work does not eat. Also, the man who does not provide for his family is worse than an infidel. So work is commended in Scripture and the work we do we are to do as unto the Lord.

            Yet, we need to remind ourselves that work is temporary. What we work for does not last. Material things rust and corrode over time, money quickly flees, the things we own is given to others. So there is more to life than work. God wanted the children of Israel to set aside a day to observe Him. He wanted them to remember that in six days he created everything. He could have done in less time, but he was establishing a pattern. But there is more than just looking back; there is a future implication to this Sabbath which we will talk about later.

            So this command was to mark Israel as the people of God. It was to establish them as distinct from the other nations. This was to be observed by all who were in the nation of Israel. No one is to work on this day. No slave or foreigner or even livestock was to work. They were to cease from their labor.

            The Sabbath played an important part in the nation of Israel and was tied to their ceremonial laws. In fact, there were dire consequences for those who broke the Sabbath. Also, the keeping of the Sabbath was tied to the welfare, safety, and security as a nation. In fact, the children of Israel were brought into captivity because they broke the Sabbath. This is why they served seventy years in Babylon because they had violated the Sabbath.

            Nehemiah provides great instruction to us about the seriousness of the Sabbath. If you will turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah 13. Listen as I read verses 15-22. You see God took this Sabbath keeping seriously. There breaking of the Sabbath sent them off to exile and here they had just returned and they are violating this command. Nehemiah warned them that greater wrath would fall on them if they are not careful.

            And in the New Testament, you read that the Sabbath was still an important part in the life of Judaism. Yet, there was now swirling around this command all kinds of man-made traditions. There were traditions that made the keeping of the Sabbath burdensome. For example, one couldn't ride his donkey unless he saddled it the previous day. Women couldn't wear jewelry lest they be tempted to work by taking off the piece of jewelry to show to a friend. You could dip your radish in salt but if you left it there too long you were pickling it, and thus working. You could brush dirt off of your dress but not rub the dirt off; that would be work. One who threw something in the air had to catch it with the same hand, lest if the other hand was used work would take place.  You could not rescue a drowning person on the Sabbath. Untying knots that needed only one hand was permissible, but if two hands were required, it was forbidden. If a man's ox fell into the ditch, he could pull it out, but if the man fell in, he had to stay there. One could take a sup of vinegar for food, but if he took a sup in order to help his aching toothache, he had broken the Sabbath. If a man was bitten by a flea on the Sabbath, he had to allow the flea to keep on biting. If he tried to stop the flea from biting or killed it, he was guilty of hunting on the Sabbath." There were 1521 things that were not permissible on this day.

            So you can see the context in which the religious leaders and Jesus butted heads on. If you will turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 12. Here Jesus is questioned by the Pharisees about breaking the Sabbath and in this passage Jesus declared that He is Lord of the Sabbath. Let us read beginning in verse 1. In other words, Jesus reminds them that they have not read their Bibles by citing the example of David. Also, Jesus healed many on the Sabbath Day and reminds us that man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man. So Jesus observed the Sabbath and kept the Sabbath by being with the people in the synagogue.

            By the time of the 1st century there was much debate among the religious people as to what was lawful and unlawful on the Sabbath. This is why their way of thinking was so ridiculous. So Jesus corrected the misunderstanding about the Sabbath put on the Jews by man-made rules.

            Now concerning the church in the book of Acts, you will not find the church observing the Sabbath, but you will find them celebrating the Lord’s Day. Why? Well, the reason is that Christ was raised from the day on the third day which is not the Sabbath, but the first day of the week. The last time you see the apostles observing the Sabbath was prior to his resurrection on the next day. In fact, Luke said they observed the Sabbath as commanded. So in Acts, the believers worshiped and celebrated this event on the first day of the week.

So, there is a reason why we meet on the first day--a good reason. This becomes the pattern of the early church, look at Acts 20, a very interesting passage, a fascinating passage. We go to Troas with Paul; the Gentile church has been established. And we go to Troas, verse 7, it says this, “And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread.” Gathered together for the Lord’s Table, most likely, to have the love feast and to worship. “First day of the week,” by now it is the pattern. I mean, it couldn’t be any other day, there is just absolutely no way it could be any other day, because this day is the day of resurrection; this day is the day of the second appearance of Christ; this day is the day when the Lord established the Church and sent the Holy Spirit, and gifted His people. This is the day!

                  And they were gathered, “and Paul began talking to them, and he prolonged his message until midnight.” Oh, great! So they had an evening service. “And there were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together,” and it got real stuffy in there. It was warm and smoky and you could just feel the environment stifling. “And there was a certain young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep.” It is also somewhat comforting to know that even the Apostle Paul had people fall asleep on him! “And as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and fell on him and after embracing him, he said, ‘Don’t be troubled, for his life is in him.’” He raised him from the dead! Perhaps we could suggest that’s because he wasn’t through with the sermon and he wanted to get back up. Well, that’s what verse 11 says, “And when he had gone back up, and broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while, until daybreak!”--you got to love that! It sounds like Russia. “They took away the boy alive, (verse 12) and were greatly comforted.” What a story he had to tell when he got home. Meeting on a Sunday night, the church at Troas--worshipping on Sunday.

                  Look at First Corinthians 16--there’s never any variation from this, Paul writes to the Corinthians, and he says, “I’m going to come, and I want some money to take back to the poor saints in Jerusalem; they are having a lot of struggles there and you folks, I want you to get some money together that I can take it.” So he is talking about the collection for the saints in verse one. In verse two, he says, “On the first day of every one of you should put aside, as you may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.” In other words, he is saying, “when you meet on the first day of the week, give your money, store it up, so that when I come, I don’t have to take a special offering.” Again, an indication that the Church met on the first day of the week. That’s when they came together for their worship; that’s when they gave as an act of worship.

                  Revelation one, John the Apostle is on the island of Patmos, where he has been exiled as a prisoner for the testimony of Christ and the Word of God. In verse 9, John says, “I, John, your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” Wow! Now all of a sudden this day has a name--it’s the Lord’s day--I love that; that’s what I always call it. I don’t refer to it as Sunday, unless I do that unthinking, it’s the Lord’s day. What does that mean? It’s a Possessive; it belongs to Him; it’s unique to Him; it’s His possession, not by Law, but to celebrate grace. It’s the Lord’s day. I don’t worship the sun, but I do worship the Lord. It’s the Lord’s day.

                  Also, the New Testament teaches there is a fulfillment of the Sabbath in Christ. In Psalm 95, God warns that those who will not heed and hear his words will not enter his rest. Yet, in the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews states there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God. So this Sabbath pointed to the Messiah, in who, there is complete rest. In other words, this is a salvation rest. A rest from works, deeds, and actions that one would think would get them to heaven. Why, because our works fall short in meeting the demand of God, so there is only One in who complete rest can come and his name is Jesus. So salvation is based on what he has done for us rather than in what we do for him to get to heaven. Therefore, we are saved by grace through faith.

                  So what is the controversy over this command today? Well, I suggest that there are three main views for this commandment. The first is seven day sabbatarianism. These are people who call themselves seven day Adventists or seven day Baptists or seven day this or that. These hold to an unaltered view that the Sabbath is continual. This is why they meet on Saturday rather than Sunday. This is why if you are in a discussion with them that they will ask why you are a Sabbath day breaker. Or why do you worship on Sunday.

                  Yet, I am certain from Scripture that early believers gathered on the first day of the week as I have already stated. In fact, Paul warns us in Colossians “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 shadows of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Col. 2). Also, in Romans 14 Paul tells Jewish believers that it is perfectly fine to observe the Sabbath, but it is wrong to bind the church to the observance of the church.

                  The second option is Lord’s Day Sabbatarianism. In this view there is a shift in the day. In other words, there is a transfer from the seventh day to the first day of the week. There is much tradition in the church as to viewing it this way. But Scripture does not clearly state that this has happened nor is it implied that this was happening when the church gathered on the first day of the week. The Sabbath was given to Israel as a day of rest and in the New Testament the Lord’s Day was a day of worship. Ex. Paul on Sabbath

                  So the third option is Lord ’s Day observance. You see in the New Testament that worship, the study of Scripture, a gathering of the saints, a fellowship with like believers, the Lord’s Table was important. So the purpose was different. Just look at the day in which Jesus rose from the dead, the women worshipped early that morning, the two disciples on the way to Emmaus were enlightened with Scripture, the disciples huddled together and Jesus teaching them Scripture.  

                  Yet, this day was positive in the minds of the early believers. It was a day of expectation. It was a day in which they endured the week of suffering and persecution to get together to worship and study and fellowship. But today, people see the Lord’s Day as an imposition which cramps their lifestyle. It is merely an inconvience because it is the only day they have to catch up or rest. And so we are reminded in Scripture not to forsake the assembling of each other, so we can sing songs and hymns, listen to the Word.

                  Today, people go to the house of the Lord to be able to get to the other activities on their busy schedule. The early believers looked forward to it and this day even has eternal significance when those who belong to the Lord will enter that final and complete rest. The rest in which we will cease from our labors, be alieved from all struggles and trials, and every tear will be wiped away and all sorrows gone. You see the sin we are guilty of violating is not breaking the Sabbath law, but becoming a Lord’s Day breaker.