It seems that one of the easiest things in this world to do is follow the crowd and let others do our thinking for us.
The lost world is convinced we are so dumb we can not think for ourselves.
For example, we cannot even listen to the president of the United States address this nation on television with out the news media telling us what he said during his speech. The news media assumes we can not think for ourselves, so they tell us what the president said.
We are constantly being told what we are to think and how we are to live our life.
Satan wants us think like the world, so he has cleverly brainwashed the average person so now he is accustomed to allowing everyone to do his thinking for him.
When God delivered the children of Israel from bondage and allowed them to enter the promised land, He gave them the ten commandments because He wanted them to govern their lives by them. He did not want them to listen to anyone else.
Look at the fourth commandment that the Lord gave to the children of Israel.
Look at Exodus 20:8-10, we read "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.”
People of the world have secularized everything, including the Lord's day! Christian are being squeezed into their mold.
Greedy merchants, who worship the almighty dollar, are taking God's day and making it like any other day.
Let me give you an example.
Illus: Years ago in the State of South Carolina they had the “Blue Laws”. The laws forbid most stores from opening on Sunday. Some politicians who were being pressured by greedy merchants began to appear on the evening news to tell us that those laws were archaic and should be done away with. Lost people who did not honor God or His day joined right in and began to talk about doing away with those laws. Well, they did away with the “Blue Laws” while claiming those who did not wish to work on Sundays would not have to. However, merchants have gone back on their word. Now we hear citizens of this state saying, "I was told if I would not work on Sunday I would loose my iob.” All across this nation, young people, and adults alike, who were once in church on God's day now have to work to please the boss man, instead of pleasing God. That is, unless they are willing to quit their jobs and trust the Lord to give them jobs that do not force them to work on Sundays.
KEEPING HIS DAY IS NO SMALL THING WITH GOD!
When He gave them the ten commandments for the purpose to tell them this is how they were to live their life, He included His instructions about the Lord’s day.
When He gave this fourth commandment, He was saying that He had a certain way He wanted them to live their life.
HOW WAS THAT?
To "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Let’s look at-
I. THE COMAND.
Again, what is the command? "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
A. Look at the word, “remember.”
Many are quick to point out that one can worship God anytime, or anyplace.
While that is true, God, in His wisdom, saw fit to designate a particular day for worship and worship only. Why?
Two reasons:
1. PHYSICAL REASONS.
God designed our bodies so that they need certain times of rest.
Smart corporation recognize that.
For example, The Ford Motor Company on one occasion went back to the six day work week. “Company spokesman said that seven days of toil had its ill effects on workers.” -Moody Monthly
Satan knows if he can get people all worn out physically he can bring them down easily spiritually.
Illus: Every seventh day is a Sunday, therefore: every seven years one lived a full year of Sundays.
• A person 21 years old has had 3 years of Sundays.
• A person 35 has had five years of Sundays.
• A person 70 has had 20 years of Sundays.
If a person has spent these Sundays by keeping them “Holy” as God commanded, he is in better shape physically and spiritually than he would have been without them.
The lost world will try to squeeze us into their way of thinking. But we need one day a week to cease from all that we do during the week to re-gain our strength and clear our minds of the things we have to deal with in the other six.
God knew we needed such a day, for PHYSICAL REASONS. But also because of-
2. SPIRITUAL REASONS.
While people can worship God on their jobs, in their cars, and even as they cut their grass; God saw fit to take one day a week out of seven and designate it as a day of worship.
Under the law, the Jews laid aside the sabbath as their day of worship.
When our Lord Jesus Christ rose victor over sin and death, the need for observing certain feast days, and for observing the Sabbath day terminated.
A NEW DISPENSATION BEGAN.
Paul wrote to the Colossians about this very thing.
Look at Col. 2:14-17, we read, Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
After the resurrection, Christians began to worship the Lord on the first day of the week, and we follow their example, of setting aside Sunday to worship Him and celebrate the resurrection.
God, in this commandment, is saying that for two reasons, He wanted them to “Keep the sabbath holy” because of:
• Physical reasons.
• Spiritual reasons.
For these two reasons we should keep the Lord’s day a holy day.
B. Look at the words, “...keep it holy."
Voltaire, the atheist, said, “We cannot destroy Christianity until we destroy the Christian sabbath.”
That was a long time ago, and today, still the devil is doing all he can do to destroy God's day and have people regard it to be as any other day of the week.
For example, many refer to Saturday and Sunday as the "week end". Implying this is a time for people to do what they want to do.
But God told Israel that the Lord’s day was to be different from any other day. This was a day set aside for SPIRITUAL REJUVENATION.
However, the fact He commanded they keep His DAY HOLY was not to imply in any way that they were to keep the other DAYS UNHOLY.
It would seem that some people would think that is exactly what He is implying. Because they live an ungodly all week, but on the Lord’s day they put on their church clothes and they live godly on the Lord’s day.
The reason God tells us this is to be a “Holy” day is because during the week people have to take care of the necessities of life during the week.
But God’s day is different from the rest. It is not a business day, pleasure day, fishing day, hunting day, camping day, it is a “Holy” day.
Our nation has recognized this in the past.
For example, an astonishing legal decision, handed down by an Alabama court, freed a forger because the check he had written and with intent to defraud, happened to carry a Sunday date. As Alabama law voids any contract made on Sunday, the court decided that the check was invalidate by its date and, therefore, could not be the subject of forgery.
Our forefathers recognized, when writing those first laws of this land, the need to, "Remember... " to keep God's day holy. Much of the history of our nation reveals that leaders of this country kept God's day holy.
Illus: President-elect Zachary Taylor was scheduled, according to the Constitution to take office on March 4. He refused to be inaugurated that day because it was a Sunday. Politicians pleaded in vain for the devoutly religious Taylor to change his mind. Why? The Constitution forbade President James Polk from staying on another day. There was no alternative but for the Senate to elect a president to serve from Sunday to Monday at noon, the time scheduled for Zachary Taylor to take office. The senators chose David Atchison, the head of the Senate.
Atchison was so tired after the ordeal he told the house keeper not to disturb him for any reason. He slept all day Sunday and into Monday. He slept through his entire term of office as president of United States.
Illus: George Washington, in the Revolutionary War. Lincoln, in the Civil War, and Wilson, in the first World War, all gave orders relieving troops as far as possible from duty on Sunday, giving them opportunity to attend worship services.
Illus: President Grant refused to attend a horse race on Sunday.
Illus: Thomas Edison worked in his laboratory on Sundays until God convicted him of desecrating His day, and he never did it again.
Illus: When President McKinley was invited to attend the opening of the State Centennial of Tennessee, he refused a trip up Lookout Mountain, saying, “I do not go sightseeing on Sunday.”
Illus: President Truman, fishing on the Columbia River, refused to cast a Iine on Sunday.
Illus: Wilbur Wright's airplane was carried to Europe by ship. When they came to Spain the King of Spain sent them a special command for them to exhibit their airplane by flying before him. Wilbur Wright refused because the day he requested they fly was Sunday.
God's day is a special day. We must always remember to keep holy.
IT IS NEVER TO LIKE THE OTHER DAYS IN THE WEEK, NEVER!
This is THE COMMAND from God. But also, let us look at-
II. THE CHALLENGE.
Look at verses 9-11. We read, Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
These verses give the people of God some very specific instructions, such as:
A. WHAT THEY SHOULD DO.
Look at verse 9, we read, Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Obeying this commandment has benefited those who would obey.
Notice, along with this command to rest on the Lord's day comes the command to work six days.
Many are disobeying God’s command.
Illus; We have raised a generation of young people who do know how to work. To them the job is simply a place to go collect a pay check.
God intended that we work for what we receive as wages.
Regardless what some may think, it is not a sin to work. God said, “Work six and rest one.”
This is something WE SHOULD DO with our lives. Also, look at-
B. WHAT WE SHOULD NOT DO.
Look at verse 10, we read, But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.
Notice, God said in verse 10, “…In it thou shalt not do any work…”
That is we are to WORK SIX, but God’s day is to be different, this day you do no work.
We benefit in many ways when we keep God’s day holy.
Illus: Farmers will tell you that they can produce more crops if they will plant for six years and on the seventh year leave the land bare so that it can replenish itself. This is the “sabbath" of the land.
Illus: Businessmen have discovered that their employees are more productive if they are given God's day off to worship and rest. Those who practice this find it solves the problem of turnovers in their hiring.
Notice God says this day is different from the other six? The other six day are for people to take care of the secular things of life. But on this day God tells each household manager he is responsible for seeing to it that everyone in his home keep this as a holy day.
God still expects parents to make sure their household does not desecrate God’s day.
They should teach them by word and by example.
They should not allow the world to squeeze them into the world’s mold of shopping, working, etc., on Sunday.
God's day is not a day for carrying on business as usual.
Also, we need to consider-
C. WHAT THE LORD DID.
Look at verse 11, he set the example for us. We read, For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
When we work hard we go home an rest because we are tired. We have to rest because our bodies cannot keep on going without taking rest to re-gain strength.
Because we humans are this way, we assume that God, after creating all the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them in six days, was exhausted and had to lay down for day and re-gain His strength. NOT SO!
When the Bible speaks of God resting, the word “rest” here has a different meaning.
The word “rest” when it refers to God means, He ceased doing those things that He had been doing during the six days.
Illus: If you are familiar with music you know the song writers will often place what we call “rests” note in the music. The person singing, or playing know when he/she sees this that he is to stop, and not do anything for the time signified by "rest.
God gave us an example to follow. He ceased from all the thing He had done in the six days creating the earth, etc., and made seventh day a holy day.
Conclusion/summary:
Are you keeping His day holy, worshipping Him and laying aside the work of the other six days?
I. THE COMMAND. (Verse 7)
A. Look at the word, 'Remember."
1. Physical reasons.
2. Spiritual reasons.
B. Look at the words, “…Keep it holy."
II. THE CHALLENGE. (Verses 9-11)
A. What we should do.
B. What we should not do.
C. What the Lord did.
