Keep The Sabbath Holy Series

Keep the Sabbath Holy

The Sabbath in the Old Testament

The Sabbath was given to man as a Blessing

The Sabbath was given for man to imitate God’s rest

The Sabbath was given to man as a sign of the Old Covenant

The Sabbath was given for man to imitate God’s Mercy

The Sabbath in the Gospels

Jesus Corrects the Sabbath interpretation of the Pharisees

God is working on the Sabbath

The Sabbath in the Epistles

Jesus Fulfills the Sabbath

Honoring the Sabbath today?

Rest in Christ

Rest from Routine

Gather in Worship

Show Mercy to others

Slide

Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

Out of all the commands of God, the application of this command under the New Testament goes from one end of the spectrum to another.

There are some today who believe that this command must still be followed according to the letter of the law. These followers of the New Testament will still meet on Saturdays to worship the Lord, they will do no work and no play.

There are others who think that the Sabbath commandment applies, but Sunday is the new Sabbath. They meet on Sundays to worship the Lord and they too will do no work and no play, only moving the required day to Sunday.

There are others who think that the Sabbath commandment has no application whatsoever to Christians since it is the only commandment of the 10 that finds no New Testament Support.

So which is it? What does this command mean for those who are part of the ne w Covenant through Christ?

Well, today we are going to learn about the Sabbath.

We are going to learn about why God gave it.

We are going to see what Jesus has to say about the Sabbath in the Gospels

Then we are going to see what we can learn about the Sabbath from the Epistles and see if there are any principles that we should apply that we might Honor the Spirit of the Sabbath under the New Covenant.

So, Turn with me to Exodus 20.

Slide

I want to start this morning then, by reading the 4th commandment as found here and look at the reasons that God gives this command and then move on to other reasons we learn about in the Old Testament about why this command is given.

Exodus 20:8-11

8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Ok, so God tells the Israelites to remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy, set it apart from the other days by refraining from work, because God made the heavens and the earth in 6 days and rested from his creative work on the seventh day.

Now, this is not the first time we hear about the Sabbath.

Manna

The first time “Sabbath” is spoken of is back a few chapters right after the Israelites were brought out of Egypt, out of slavery, and they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground while the Egyptians perished, and even as they continued to complain about lack of water and food, God said He would provide bread from heaven for them. And He provided just enough for each day. If they collected more than they needed it would rot, except on the 6th day, when they were to collect what they would need for 2 days.

Listen to what is says in Exodus 16 and is where we find the very first mention of the Sabbath in the Bible.

Exodus 16:21-23

21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much--two omers for each person--and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: ’Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’"

Now imagine this for a moment.

You have been in a land of slavery where you are making bricks every day, all day, no days off, no rest.

Now God gives you a day of rest every 7 days. What a blessing.