“REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY” (EX. 20:8)
1. When Moses gave the ten commandments to the Jewish people,
2. He told them to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
3. This commandment is unique.
4. If you were to carefully read all of the ten commandments,
5. You would find that only this commandment starts off with the word “remember”.
6. God wanted the Jews to remember the Sabbath.
7. The Sabbath was the 7th day of the week.
8. Scripture says quite a bit about this day.
9. In fact, if you have turned to Ex. 20, let’s look at vss. 9-10. READ.
10. The seventh day of the week, which was Saturday, was a day of rest.
I. IN THIS LESSON, I WANT TO PRESENT SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE SABBATH DAY. THIS INFORMATION FALLS UNDER TWO HEADINGS: (1) WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE SABBATH? (2) AS CHRISTIANS, WHAT IS OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SABBATH?
A. Let’s start off with general knowledge about the Sabbath.
B. We have some information about the Sabbath day in Ex. 20.
1) The Jews were to remember it.
2) The Jews were not supposed to do any work on the Sabbath.
C. If we continue on in the book of Ex. we get more information about the Sabbath.
D.
Ex.
E. The Sabbath offered people a fixed time for rest and worship.
F. Let’s suppose that people didn’t want this fixed time.
G. Let’s suppose that people wanted to disobey the Sabbath law.
H. How serious was this kind of disobedience?
I. The answer to this question is in the book of Exodus.
J. Ex. 31:15. READ.
K. If people didn’t obey the Sabbath, they were to be killed.
L. Someone might say, “That seems to be pretty harsh.
M. God would not have killed someone just because they worked on Saturday.”
N. Oh, really?
O. I am going to be coming back to Ex. 31.
P. For a moment, I want to take a detour to Num. 15:32-36.
Q. Listen carefully to the story that is recorded in these 5 verses.
R. READ.
S. God meant what He said in Ex. 31:15.
T. A man did a very small chore on the Sabbath day – picked up sticks.
U. To me this seems like such a small thing.
V. God pays attention to small things.
W. When people violate His will, there is a price to be paid.
X. The man gathering sticks paid with his life.
Y. Some of us spend Saturday working; we are still alive.
Z. Why isn’t God striking people dead in our day and time?
A. Let’s go back to Ex. 31:16.
B. READ.
C. Notice what is said by the writer:
1) The “children of Israel” were to keep the Sabbath.
2) Sabbath observance was not required before Moses’ time.
3) In fact, Neh. 9:14 says that Moses made the Sabbath known.
4) There is a religious group that tries to teach that:
5) Sabbath keeping started back in the Garden of Eden.
6) This is false.
7) Sabbath observance started with Moses and the children of Israel.
8) And, the Sabbath was never for anyone but the Jews.
D. Having said this, let me pile on one more fact.
E. Today the Jews are not to keep the Sabbath day.
F. Hear what Paul said in Gal. 3:19 – QUOTE.
1) Sabbath keeping was part of the law.
2) How long was this law (which included Sabbath) to last?
3) Till the seed should come.
4) What is the “seed” of Gal. 3?
5) Gal. 3:16 says that the seed is Christ.
G. The law was to stay in force until the seed (Christ) came.
H. Christ has come—Gal. 4:4- QUOTE.
I. Christ has come and the law is now gone.
J. Keeping the Sabbath day is not right for our day and time.
K. This is why all people can work on Saturday and not be killed.
L. From what I have read, an erroneous conclusion may have been drawn.
M. God said “do no work on the Sabbath day”.
N. This sounds like a command where everything was prohibited.
O. If your conception of the OT Sabbath is that people did nothing,
P. I want you to reconsider your position.
Q. I want you to entertain this possibility:
R. The Sabbath was a time for work restriction but not total rest.
1) The best illustration I have for this is Jesus.
2) Jesus restricted His work on the Sabbath day.
3) However, Jesus did not totally rest.
4) Matt. 12:10 says that Jesus healed a withered hand on the Sabbath.
5) READ vss. 10, 13.
6) Jesus taught in the synagogue (Mk. 6:2).
7) I do not know of anyone who says that teaching is not work.
8) When I get through with a Sunday, I’m about wiped out.
9) Lk. 4:31 says that Jesus taught on a Sabbath day.
10) Lk. 6:6 says the same thing as well as Lk. 13:10.
11) Lk. 13 also tells of a woman who had been sick for 18 yrs.
12) Jesus healed her on the Sabbath.
13) The ruler of the synagogue was angry about this.
14) I’m sure that man stood up and said, “Sabbath violator”.
15) Jesus did not totally rest on the Sabbath. He worked.
16) Lk. 14:4 says that Jesus healed a man who had dropsy on the Sabbath.
17) John 5 tells us about a man who had been sick for 38 years.
18) Jesus healed him on the Sabbath day.
S. This information may be supplement with two additional verses:
T. John 7:23 and Matt. 12:5 say: READ.
U. Priests worked on the Sabbath and they were not killed.
V. Circumcision was done on the Sabbath; no one was killed.
W. The Sabbath was a day of restricted work, but not total rest.
II. WITH THIS INTRODUCTION TO THE SABBATH WE ARE IN A POSITION TO ASK,WHAT IS OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SABBATH AS CHRISTIANS?
A. Our relationship cannot be that the Sabbath is a day for us to keep.
B. The Sabbath was for the Jews, and it now no longer applies to them.
C. Though the Sabbath is not a law for us to live under now,
D. We can still learn from it—Rom. 15:4. What does the Sabbath teach us?
1) Man needs to work.
2) This is one of the things learned from this law.
3) This truth is found within the pages of the New Testament.
4) In 2 Thess. 3:10 we have, QUOTE.
5) Also, in 1 Tim. 5:18 the Bible says, QUOTE.
6) Being a “laborer” is a good thing.
7) Working is healthy.
8) I was in the Air Force for four years.
9) I worked with several men who dreamed of retirement.
10) I saw some of these men retire;
11) The retirees who stopped working often died within 6-12 months.
12) Work is good for people.
E. However, work is not supposed to consume our lives.
F. Ex. 20:8-9 teaches that people were and are to sometimes REST.
G. Our bodies need to be recharged.
H. Sleep is required; food is required; rest is needed.
I. In our time and culture we keep schedules;
J. Days often begin early and end late.
K. Rest is often nothing more than trying to overcome exhaustion.
L. We need to learn how to rest.
M. God made us and He said that rest is important.
N. Work and rest are essential to being a complete person.
O. These two things are not in and of themselves sufficient.
P. The Sabbath day was a day of worship for the Jews.
Q. The Jews got together and honored God.
R. People listened to the scriptures.
S. God was praised.
T. For humanity to be complete and whole today,
U. It needs rest, work, and worship.
1) We cannot take work alone and be whole.
2) Work and rest are not enough to make us whole.
3) We need rest, work, and worship.
V. If your life does not have these three parts, you need to make some adjustments.
W. Some people have tried to make this adjustment by using an invention.
X. This invention is the Christian Sabbath.
Y. I often hear people refer to Sunday by this expression.
Z. I cannot find this expression in the dictionary or World Book.
A. Thus, I do not have a precise definition for what people mean.
B. When people use this expression, the meaning seems to be clear.
C. People think that Sunday is to be a day of rest/inactivity.
D. Sunday is the equivalent of the OT Sabbath.
E. Though this belief is common, it is without foundation.
F. The NT never mentions a Christian Sabbath.
G. The only thing that is says, that I know of, is what is in Heb. 4:9.
H. The Sabbath rest of Heb. 4 is future. The truth is,
I. God has not restricted our activity level on Sunday.
J. Scripture simply says this about the first day of the week:
K. IT IS THE LORD’S DAY – REV. 1:10 – READ.
1) Let’s draw a parallel.
2) Let’s say that today is mother’s day.
3) What does this mean?
4) This day is set aside for mom;
5) She is the object of attention for this day.
6) Does mother’s day mean that we could not do any work?
7) No.
8) We have an obligation to honor mothers.
9) If we fulfill our obligation, we may have some free time.
L. This is true of the Lord’s day.
M. Sunday is God’s day; we need to honor Him.
N. We do that by meeting at this building twice on Sunday.
O. Between Sunday services, we might do some of the Lord’s work.
P. Or, we may work. I have mowed my grass on a Sunday afternoon.
Q. Some past neighbors thought that this was pretty strange.
R. They believed in the Christian Sabbath idea,
S. And when they saw a preacher pushing a lawnmower, they really wondered.
CONCLUSION:
1. There is no Christian Sabbath.
2. Sunday is a day that we need to worship, perhaps work, and certainly rest.
3. God wants His people to be healthy.
4. The commandment that He gave to the Jews was designed to do just this.
5. How are we doing?