• The story was told some years ago of a pastor who found the roads blocked one Sunday morning and was forced to skate on the river to get to church, which he did. When he arrived the elders of the church were horrified that their preacher had skated on the Lord's day. After the service they held a meeting where the pastor explained that it was either skate to church or not go at all. Finally one elder asked, "Did you enjoy it?" When the preacher answered, "No," the board decided it was all right!
Mark 2:23-28 - One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" 25 And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?" 27 And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath."
• Jesus and those who served with Him lived in a fishbowl.
• Now that the Pharisees had determined they were going to oppose Jesus, the watched everything He did.
• Do you feel like that sometime? That those who only want to criticize you are watching you to chop you down?
• Christianity is meant to be a fishbowl.
• Mat 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
• The problem comes when critics who hold different values watch to judge you by their standards and rules.
• This was the case when Jesus and His disciples were walking on day.
• The disciples, hungry, stepped into a neighboring field and grabbed a snack.
• KJV, ear of corn. Stachus can be ear of corn or head of grain. Luke 6:1 indicates grain.
• They rubbed them between their hands and began eating them.
• “Your disciples are violating the Sabbath.”
• The Pharisees were dismayed at the disregard of the rules of the Talmud.
• I remind you that, although the Talmud held a sacred place in the hearts of the Pharisees, it was not scripture, but tradition.
• On the Sabbath, you could not travel more than 3,000 feet from your house. You were not allowed to carry anything that weighed more than a dried fig. You couldn’t carry a needle for fear you might sew something. Taking a bath was forbidden. Water might splash on the floor and wash it. Women were not to look in a mirror; they might pull a gray hair.
• Actually, what the disciples were doing was legal in the Laws of God.
• Deu 23:24-25 "If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. 25 If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.
• Jesus responded with a story from I Samuel 21:1-6
• David was running away from King Saul, who sought to kill him.
• David and his men were hungry, so David went to Ahimelech the priest, told him a lie, and asked for bread for his men.
• The only bread available was holy bread, for use in the tabernacle only.
• Yet David took it and fed his men.
• The Pharisees had, in their study of the old scripture, determined that David was guiltless in this, even though he told a lie (that he was doing a task for Saul).
• Jesus used this and said, “This is all my boys are doing, eating what their hands can grasp on the Sabbath.”
• Then Jesus gave two principles that the legalism of the Pharisees had forgotten.
• First, the Sabbath was given for the benefit of man, not that man was to create suffering in order to observe the rest provided by God.
• Second, That Jesus is the Lord of everyday, including having authority over the rules of the Sabbath.
I. What was the Sabbath?
• Origin: God created the earth in six days, and on the seventh day, He rested from His labor.
• It was made part of the Law of Moses, Exodus 20:8.
• During the years of slavery in Egypt, the Isrealites worked every day making bricks. No rest.
• Deu 5:15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
• Rest, worship and reflection.
• It was part of the Covenant God had with Israel.
II. Why do we not meet and worship on the Sabbath?
• J. Vernon McGee tells this story about a man who wanted to argue about the Sabbath. The man said, "I'll give you $100 if you will show me where the Sabbath day has been changed." McGee answered, "I don't think it has been changed. Saturday is Saturday, it is the seventh say of the week, and it is the Sabbath day. I realize our calendar has been adjusted, and can be off a few days, but we won't even consider that point. The seventh day is still Saturday, and it is still the Sabbath day." The man got a gleam in his eye and said, "Then why don't you keep the Sabbath day if it hasn't been changed?" McGee answered, "the DAY hasn't changed, but I have been changed. I've been given a new nature now, I am joined to Christ; I am a part of the new creation. We celebrate the first day because that is the day He rose from the grave." That is what it means that the ordinances have been nailed to the cross, Colosians 2:14.
• There is no command in the New Testament for the Church to observe the Sabbath.
• The Sabbath was the seal of God’s covenant to Israel.
• We are working under a new covenant.
• First, Every one of the four gospels make a point that Jesus, our Savior and covenant, was raised from the dead on the First day of the week.
• Secondly, the early church came together, not on the Sabbath, but on the first day of the week.
• Act 20:7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.
• Paul further verified our worship on the first day of the week when he told the Corinthians that when they came together on the first day of the week, bring their offerings and tithes, I Cor. 16:2
• And John the Apostle, many years later, when on the Isle of Patmos, worshipped on the first day of the week, Rev. 1:10.
III. What is the lesson for today?
A. Our service for God is not at the expense of human need.
• Religion burdens you down.
• Mat 23:1-4 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, :4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
• What a contrast to what Jesus promises with His service.
• Mat 11:28-30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
• Where our worship and service is true, there is joy, rest and freedom.
• 2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
B. Man still needs time of rest, worship and reflection.
• That’s what the Lord’s Day is for, for rest, worship and reflection.
• All three must go together. Why?
• You can not worship properly if you are not rested and do not reflect on what God is saying.
• You cannot reflect on what God is saying to you if you do not worship Him and be at rest (quiet).
• You cannot rest in your soul if you do not worship, trust and reflect on what God says.
• Any way you slice it, you need rest, reflection and worship.
• Another part of the worship package was mentioned by the writer of Hebrews.
• Heb 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
C. Jesus is Lord of everyday.
• Listen to these verses, and carefully follow the thoughts.
• You also have them in your notes to study them later.
• Rom 14:5-6 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
• Gal 4:8-11 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
• Col 2:13-17 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. 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 a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
• Seriously, we all have a desire to have rules to follow. We can evaluate the rules ahead of time.
• We can evaluate our steps with the rules in mind.
• We can review our steps, looking back, to see how well we followed the rules.
• This is what we craved, and this is what Jesus has called us away from.
• Many religions will give you a set of rules, don’t and do’s, to follow.
• We find comfort in rules.
• But Jesus calls us to freedom. Instead of giving us rules to restrict our flesh, HE says, walk in the Spirit and you will not walk in the flesh.
• He is calling us to plug so closely into Him that we DO what is pleasing to God without rules.
• Like walking a high wire without a net, it scares us to death.
• But this is the victorious life God has called us to, the abundant life.
• As long as we have a net under us, we are not walking by faith.
• If we are not walking by faith, we are not pleasing God or finding God.
• Fear of falling is robbing Christians of the joy of victory.
• The Sabbath was a net. To make Sunday a Christian Sabbath just another net.
• It is displeasing to God.
• To walk in freedom, yes, we have to let go of our self-dependency,
• But we also have to let go of our rules.
• We have to simply (and only) abide in the vine for our victory.
• Any other prop is SIN, because it is not walking by faith.
• Rom 14:23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
• God is calling some of you to pull down your nets and get on the wire.
• God is calling some of you to get serious about seeking a victorious life.
• Some of you have unconfessed sin that is blinding you to the truth.
• Pray for God to remove the blinders and see life through His eyes alone. (Hans the taylor)
