Well, I was going to say you could open your Bibles up to Exodus chapter 20, but you might as well go ahead and open up to Genesis chapter 2. That's where we'll actually begin. And I don't want to spend a lot of time in introduction, which you know, unfortunately, is my practice. But just to set the stage for where we're going to go today, this is sermon number two on the fourth commandment. God's rest for us, the Sabbath day, which is now the Christian Sabbath, or the Lord's Day for us. And we're going to have another one after this. And part of the reason is because there is a little bit of controversy over, is this for us today? How is this applied to the New Covenant Church? Isn't this just an old covenant sort of a thing that we could care less about? There's that sort of thing, but there's also, the more and more I study, the more I understand that there's just not much teaching on the foundations and the character and the conviction of what the Sabbath is. And therefore, we're largely, and I'm speaking about myself as well, we're largely an ignorant folk about, what do I do on a Sunday? How do I enjoy the gift and the blessing that God has given us? on this day? How does it apply to us now? I think in order to do that, I wanted to go back and really focus on the foundations. Last week, what did we spend our time on? Those who are younger than 20. Do you remember what we focused on last week? At least I've got you awake now. We focused on the creation, that the Sabbath is a creation ordinance, that it was founded at the end of the six days of creation and before sin, before the law was given in the Ten Commandments. It was founded on that. It was based on God and His practice and what He did and what He had purposed for us. And so we're looking back at the foundation so we would have the right convictions about the day. It's hard to obey something or it's hard to do what is best about something unless we really have a conviction about it, unless we understand what's the foundation to it, what's the character of it. And we said last week that part of the concern then is if we don't get this right, on one side we can get to Well, some people call it antinomianism, or lawlessness, or libertinism, that we see the day as really nothing. So I can just do whatever I want, it doesn't matter. Every day is a holy day, every day is God's day, so what does it matter? Or we can get to the other side and we can say, we must only sit on the couch 12 hours a day on Sunday and do absolutely nothing. We can be very legalistic and strict about it. And we can actually then look more like the old covenant Jewish Sabbath, which significant parts of that have been fulfilled in Christ. And so we want to understand what is this, so we can obey it freely and with join with conviction. And so I'm spending much of the time not, and you're probably disappointed, because we like to, okay, we want to go to the last chapter of the book. What can I do and get away with? And that kind of thing. We might get to that next Sunday. I want to focus more on just the character and the background of the Sabbath itself. And so we talked about that last week. And so last week then, we began with Genesis chapter 1 and 2 to see the creation of all things in six days. And after every day, God said, this is good. But then after that sixth day, He said, this is very good. So if you turned it to Genesis chapter 2, We'll start there, and as you're turning there, a brief outline of what we're going to do today is we're going to look at the Old Testament. What do we see in the Old Testament, and specifically in the Book of Exodus? What does that tell us about this day? And then, next week, we'll look to the New Testament. What did Jesus do and say? And then, if we have time, we'll have some practical applications. How does this really fit for us? What are some good rules to live by? on our third sermon, which will be next Sunday. And so I'd just like to read in Genesis chapter 2. Now remember, at the end of chapter 1, we see that man was the crowning achievement of God's creation. We even read about that and sang about that at the beginning of our worship service from Psalm 8 in our hymn of the month. But here God, after making man, who is made in His image, Last week we said that God's creation, His name, His signature is stamped on His creation, and God is glorified in His creation, but even more so on mankind, because in a personal way, man can reflect the glory of God by his image. And after all that was made then, at the end of Genesis 1, verse 31, it says, Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was Kids? Oh, say it with feeling. It was very good. And so it was evening and morning, the last day. And you get this impression by the wording is that God stops, and we even can see that. We looked at some of the other verses in Exodus chapter 31 especially, where there's this whole impression of God stopping. and admiring everything he had done for his glory and seeing all of it was finished exactly like he had planned and thought to it. This is very good. And so then in chapter two, thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, which means made it holy or set apart, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. So rather than relive the whole sermon of last week, just the points. This is a day where God steps back and He glories in His creation. He delights in it. It says in Exodus 31, He was refreshed by it. And therefore, because he sees this, he rests on that seventh day and he blesses it. And we said, for God to bless a day means that he's blessing man to enjoy it. Blessing is meant for the creatures, not how can a day be blessed? It's meaning that he's blessing man. And Jesus even says later, he says, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It's a blessing and a gift, and God does this, and because He rested on the seventh day, He sanctifies and blesses it for His creatures. And so we see the phrase that the Sabbath day and its institution was meant to be a happy day and a holy day. It was set apart as a holy day, but it was set apart as a blessed day. We also said because sin entered into the picture soon, it was hard to get happy and holy in the same sentence, wasn't it? So we saw last week that the Sabbath was laid down, instituted in creation before sin. Therefore, it's not going to pass away because one covenant goes away and another one replaces it. It's there for all of creation. It's a creation ordinance, just like marriage is, just like being fruitful and multiplying is. And we can see other places in the New Testament where the creation is referenced to be a foundation to some significant doctrines that we hold dear. And so it's a creation ordinance. And I would dare say even work is a creation ordinance. Maybe we don't want to hear that. But work itself is a gift of God to man. And so God gives us a pattern. The one who we're made in an image of is giving us a pattern to live by. Work on six days, have a seventh day of rest. That's his pattern. We're in his image. That's what we do. That comes from Genesis chapter 1 and 2. There's more I'd like to say there, but we'll continue on. What I want us to go next, though, is the next time we see any reference to a Sabbath is in Exodus chapter 16. So if you could turn to Exodus chapter 16, I think this will be rather enjoyable, hopefully keep the attention of our significant number of younger folks we have today. Exodus chapter 16 is one of those stories, it's just fun to read. And we praise God that not only did He give us food that's good to taste and creation that's enjoyable to look at, He gave us the Word of God that so much of it is just a joy to read. He doesn't just give us oatmeal to read. For those of you who like oatmeal, I'm sorry. It's not that we don't like oatmeal, it's just that it's just there. But God gives us creation and the Word of God that we can enjoy. I do say, though, that as you go through Genesis and Exodus, you do see some hints of this pattern of a seven-day week. And just like, where did Cain and Abel get this idea of a sacrifice? The idea of the Sabbath had to have been taught to Adam, and he had to teach it to his offspring. That there was this idea of a seven-day week, and there had to be an idea of a Sabbath. And I think we see this in Exodus chapter 16, because God then reintroduces the Sabbath to a people who were enslaved for over 400 years in Egypt and had to be apart from all of this. He reintroduces the Sabbath. It's really not a shock. There's no, what's this? Seven-day thing? Work six? It seems very matter-of-fact. And so, as we look in Exodus chapter 16, this is after in Exodus 14, the Red Sea is crossed. Exodus chapter 15, Moses and Miriam have songs to sing. And then the people complain about some bitter waters in Exodus chapter 15. In Exodus chapter 16, it's about 30 days past their delivery from Egypt. And this is where the what-is-it comes from the sky. Now, what is the what-is-it? What is that more commonly known as? Manna! What is it? One pastor said, try that at your dinner table. Kids say, Mom, what is it? That's what the Bible says we can call food. What is this? Well, that's what the manna was. And so here we have in Exodus chapter 16 that they're complaining again. We have nothing to eat. I wish we were back in Egypt where we had buffets and everything we could possibly want. And now we're just going to be left out to die. I'd rather we would have been dead in Egypt. Isn't that like us? We exaggerate how bad things are now. We exaggerate how good things might have been. Now keep in mind they had animals. I don't think manna was the only thing they had to eat. I think they had access to milk and meat as well. I think they're exaggerating how bad it is. But already in a month's time they've forgotten the joy of being delivered from Egypt. And so they're complaining that they don't have food. So if you start in verse 4, Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." So already setting on the preparation of gathering twice as much on a sixth day, so they don't have to do anything on the seventh. And again, there's already introduction of language that it just seems matter of fact. This would seem to be a new and different thing to be saying, if it was actually a new and different thing. But it doesn't appear to be that way. And in verse 6, Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord." I like that phrase. Both of those. In the evening, I'm going to bring you quail and you'll know that the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. Didn't they know that already? I'm going to remind you who I am. I can provide for you. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord. Isn't that interesting? You see the glory of the Lord in the morning when the manna comes. For He hears your complaints against the Lord, but what are we that you complain against us? Also Moses said, this shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full. For the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us, but against the Lord. Isn't it interesting here that God is being gracious and merciful on His people in the midst of their complaints? What a gracious and merciful God we have. I'm reminded of our brother Wednesday night who was speaking that his offspring had such wonderful spouses, even though he can't remember praying that diligently when they were younger. And here's God giving them great gifts, even though they didn't ask for And here you have God giving great gifts even when they're complaining against Him. What a God we serve. Then in verse 9, Then Moses spoke to Aaron, saying to all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints. Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. It's interesting that the glory of the cloud didn't seem to faze them much anymore. They're getting used to it. It's hard to read through this because there's so many devotional comments that could be made. This is a wonderful chapter for that, actually. Verse 11, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them saying at twilight, you shall eat meat and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God." Now, some commentators have said that when God brought the plagues on Egypt, it was so that they might know that God is God. When God then brought the meat and the bread to His own people here, it is so that they might know that He is their God. That He is giving them blessings in a personal way. Isn't it interesting that we might know the mercy and the glory of God by His provision? Earlier, He said that you'll see the glory of the Lord when the manna comes and is providing. We've talked endlessly, I think, that we see the glory of the Lord in His creation. And we see the glory of the Lord in His redemption. But do you understand you see the glory of the Lord in His provision? In His providence? In His care for us? God is glorified in all three, his creation, his providence or his provision and his redemption. You might call it the CPR that God gives us CPR in his creation, his provision and his redemption. And at creation, he rested from one of those three in his creation, but he's still at work. And Jesus even says that in John, the father is still at work to this day and his redemption and his provision for his people. I think it also comes in handy when we think about the Lord's Day. God is glorified in His provision of the Lord's Day for us. His provision, and we'll see that, that God provides everything His people would need, in this case, and He even provides them a day off, and they can celebrate that day, not worrying about, am I going to have enough the day after? God takes care of these things for us, and He did for His people here. So as we go on to verse 13, so it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp. Now, kids, can you picture this? What kind of pictures in your mind do you have? Quail. You know what quail are. They're birds. I'm picturing them as little plump birds in this case. But they're birds, and they're covering the camp. That had to be an interesting sight. And in the morning, the dew lay all around the camp. Now, they'd seen the birds before. They'd seen quail before. They'd never seen before. And when the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a small round substance as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, What is it? For they did not know what it was." This was not a natural occurrence. It's interesting how so-called scholars try to look at the miracles of God and try to describe how this could have naturally happened. I don't think there's any need to go there. What is this? And Moses said to them, This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded. Let every man gather it according to each one's own need. One omer, which is maybe like a quart or two, maybe a little less than two quarts. One omer for each person according to the number of persons. Let every man take for those who are in his tent. Then the children of Israel, in verse 17, did so and gathered some more, some less. So when they measured it by Omer's, he who gathered much had nothing left over. And he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had according to each one's need. Isn't that just like our Lord? He gives what you need. You have nothing left over. You have no lack. Isn't there a proverb that speaks about that? Give me just enough so I'm not coveting by wanting more, but so I'm not greedy by having too much, or not getting slothful by having too much, that God gives what we need. And here we can see that very clearly in this example in the Old Testament, giving what they needed. And Moses said, let no one leave any of it till morning. Notwithstanding, they did not heed Moses. Now what happened when they actually tried to save some to the next day? It stank, and there were even worms that came into it. It wasn't so good then. Disobeying God and abusing His provision doesn't quite work out. So in verse 21, they gathered every morning, every man according to his need, and when the sun became hot, it melted. as if now the leftover manna would just go back up into the atmosphere and become seeds to be coming back down the next day. So from this we can see that God provides just what we need, just what they needed. And do you understand how the Israelites were then taken out of Egypt, that they'd been enslaved and in bondage for 400 years, and now they're in the presence of God, and God said, I want my people so they can come and serve me and worship me. But God had to start all over with these people. They were so far away from God's presence. They were in a culture that did not know God or even hated God. And so the practices of God and the holiness of God could not be practiced very easily in Egypt. And so we're starting from scratch. We're getting these people ready to serve and to be His people. It's interesting. He starts by saying, I'm going to provide for you just what you need. And one day at a time. Don't worry about it. And in the midst of that, I'm going to give you one day off. And I'll show you how important it is by giving you twice as much on the day before, so you'll be taken care of. Trust me, I'm providing for you. What a beautiful picture of God's provision. Well, in verse 22, And so it was on the sixth day that they gathered twice as much bread, two lomers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, This is what the Lord has said. Now here we have more details giving and preparing his people. And I think this is reintroducing the Sabbath to his people, renewing it, explaining to him what was explained many years before as he starts anew with his people. And he said in verse 23, tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today and boil what you will boil and lay up for yourselves all that remains to be kept until the morning. So they laid it up till the morning, as Moses commanded. And it did not stink. Remember when they tried to save a little extra for the next day, because they weren't quite sure they could wait till the next day to gather some more? It stank. And worms were in it. And we don't really like to eat stinky, worm-filled manna. But on this day, the seventh day, the stuff that we saved the day before was wonderful. God provided miraculously. This had to have quite an effect on the people. It's good. We can trust Him, and He can provide this day off. So it didn't stink, and there are no worms in it. Then Moses said, Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none. Sound familiar? I hope so. Now, it did happen on that seventh day. It said in verse 27 that some people did go out to gather, but they found nothing to gather. There was nothing to do. And the Lord said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for the Lord has given you the Sabbath. Remember, the Lord has given us the Sabbath as a gift, as a blessing. Therefore, He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. I'll provide. Let every man remain in his place and let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day. So again, we see here in this chapter, we see there's really no language of, I'm giving you a new decree, I'm giving you a new command, something you've never heard of before. It all seems to be in matter-of-fact language, Sabbath, six days and a seventh day rest. It seems to fall on the whole line that, no, the Sabbath was instituted on creation and this was known, but now we're reinstituting it to a people that have been away from God, who have forgotten or perhaps even lost the desire for the Sabbath day. But God did provide and He miraculously gave them manna and enough on the sixth day that they would not have to gather any on the seventh day. And I think this gives us a pattern for us as well. You think of some of the practical things we do on the Lord's Day? Well, it makes sense. I'm not being dogmatic that you can't walk more than this far on a Sunday, or whatever kind of details, but it makes sense to prepare during the week, and to work hard during the week, and the day before the Sabbath to be prepared, so the Sabbath is a day that's set aside to be a day that we delight in the Lord, we rest in the Lord, and we rest from our labors as the blessing and happy and holy day that God meant it to be. It's interesting to note that God continues His own pattern, even this. He provides them twice as much on the sixth day, but what does God do on the seventh day? Nothing! Well, in relation to the manna. So even here He's still giving this pattern of six days I'll provide, on the seventh day you'll be taken care of. And so we still have this pattern of six and then one. Well, what can we learn from this? We can learn then that the Sabbath was indeed given for a blessing. It was given by the Lord to His people, a blessing. Do you understand? I would think that the Israelites had to be rejoicing when they came to understand this. How many days off did they get in Egypt? How easy was their job in Egypt? Oh, they're already complaining about how good the food was there. I wonder about that. But have they already forgotten how, I would assume, seven days a week they're working, they're enslaved, they're in burden? They're in bondage. Now God says, you know, you've got a seventh day of rest on me. And since I'm your God who's delivered you out of Egypt, I want you to rest in me on my day. So it is for us. They work for six days and then the rest is provided. This is not a new ordinance. This is a renewing of an old ordinance. And God's glory is seen and is providing for us during the six days and is providing for us a day of rest. Do you see how the Sabbath can teach us to trust in the Lord? In our very, very busy lifestyle, our busy culture, you've got to keep working, man. You can't take a day off. You can't prepare and have a day off. You can't keep ahead that way. Well, I think God's big enough to give us enough and provide for us a day of rest that we can truly rest in. There's a quote by Bill Gates, asked why he wasn't a Christian, why he didn't have any religion. He said, well, just looking at it, Just practically, it's not a very efficient time of time management to take a Sunday off and not do anything. That doesn't seem practical to me. Now, he said it in a much more pointed way, actually, I believe. But that's the attitude of the world. I don't have time for a day, or even a morning, or even a day to set aside. Well, but God says, yes you do, and I'll provide for you. I think a wonderful aspect we have of the manna that we can't bypass right now is the bread from the skies. What did that represent? The bread from heaven, which Jesus says in the book of John that your fathers, they ate of that bread from heaven, they ate of that manna and they died. But whoever eats of the true bread from heaven, me, will never die. I'm the fulfillment of the manna as well as the fulfillment of the Sabbath, so to speak. You're not to live by bread alone. And the manna that was provided was not the only thing, but it was the bread from heaven and Jesus Christ. And on the Lord's Day, isn't that what we do? We nourish ourselves on the bread from heaven, Jesus Christ. We rest in Christ. We rest what he provides for us in his word and with his spirits, in fellowship with his people, just like our Old Testament brethren were nourished by the manna, the bread from heaven. Well, quickly then, if we go to the next part where we see the Sabbath mentioned is Exodus chapter 20, and that's where the commandments come from. So we don't have to spend much time, and I'd like to, but I think we've already covered this quite well. But if you go to Exodus chapter 20, verse 8, in chapter 16, we see the reintroduction of the Sabbath, in preparation of God's people after they were delivered from Egypt, and now in Exodus chapter 20, as part of the moral law part of God's law that was written by His finger into stone, that was meant to be perpetual between the Old and the New Covenants, we see commandment number four, that has the idea of the Sabbath, which in itself would mean, no, it's not something we just toss out the window. And so just to read it, remember the Sabbath day in verse 8 to keep it holy. And we said last week to remember means just remember from creation. Remember from Exodus chapter 16. Remember this? But also it means remember it. This is a weekly thing. Other religions had maybe a day a year that they'd commemorate some certain event. But God's people do something strange. You mean once a week? Once a week we commemorate our Lord and we spend time with Him. That's different, that's odd. Remember this, otherwise we forget. Remember to praise God for His redemption, to praise God for His creation. And now from our perspective, the new creation, and the final redemption in Christ, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And remembering involves doing something. We said, if your wife says, remember it's our anniversary tomorrow, Well, that doesn't just mean, yeah, okay, yeah, I almost forgot that. That means there's something to be done. There's some activity involved with it. And so we see the positive aspects of remember it and keep it holy. Keep it set apart. That's what holy means, set apart. Taking the common things and set apart as holy. Leave the common things behind. That's another day, but now we have this day set apart as a specific day, as a blessing. Verse 8 was the what do we do? We remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Verse 9 and 10 was how do we do it? Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Let me stop right there. Do you understand kids especially? Maybe adults too. But if I say it to the kids, you won't feel as bad. Work is a gift from God. Part of this commandment is not just fighting about what do we do on that Sabbath day. Part of this commandment is working for six days. Christians should be diligent to work hard. to work diligently on those six days. It doesn't necessarily mean we had this question in our Sunday school class. It doesn't necessarily mean you have a six-day work week. It means whatever you're doing for those six days, the common labors of your life at work, your chores around the house, if you're a student, your studies, whatever it might be, you work at it to the Lord, to His glory. And since God is a God who works, it gives work dignity. And it's a good thing to work. We should have a whole sermon on work. But understand, work is part of this as well. It's a good thing. But it says in verse 9, But on the seventh day is the Sabbath day of the Lord, and in it ye shall do no work. Now we get to the negative aspect. You, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. So you see here that that this is for all people, whether you're an employee, whether you're an employer, whether you're a husband or a wife, or whether you're a housewife, whether you're a child, whether you're a student, whether you're unemployed. Those six days, you're diligent at them, whatever God has you to do. But then on that seventh day, it's a day of rest. You can't help but miss the family aspect of this, can you? I think the Sabbath day, the Lord's day, is a family day as well in the Lord. It should be a blessed day, a day that we as a family look forward to. And think, how do we spend this? To the glory of God, but to enjoyment of God as well. Do you ever have visitors that come by on a Sunday? You think, well, I've got visitors, I can't do what I normally do. Well, as I look at this commandment, it says, even the stranger who is within your gate, it seems to me like, if I have a visitor, Come and join me on my Sabbath day. What better way to witness and to show them a glimpse of the enjoyment we have in God rather than being so quick to adjust what we do because somebody else might be around. The last part then is, for in six days, it's the why do we do this? For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth. We've already covered that because God is a creating God who in six days created all things and on the seventh day rested. That's our pattern. That's our foundation. It's interesting to note in Deuteronomy, chapter five, when the law is given a second time here, God says, observe the Sabbath day rather than remember it. They've already been introduced to it. They've been taught several times. So observe it. But then the reason why is because remember that you are a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord, your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day." So there's where the idea of redemption becomes in a foundation of why do we hold the seventh day, the seventh day of rest. I think there's also in there, why could they be generous to the stranger who's in their gate or the servant? God's saying, remember, you were once there, you were once treated that way, so now you treat others in the way that I have treated you. And this is part of the Sabbath day teaching. Well, it's hard to buzz through that, but we did talk about that last week. I want to go to the last section of Exodus now, which is Exodus chapter 31. This will be our last stop in Exodus chapter 31. I think Exodus chapter 31 has another aspect of the beginning and the institution and the aspect of the Jewish Sabbath that I think is extremely important for us to see. And when we see it in the Old Testament examples, it's easier for me anyway To have that picture in my mind, to remember it. It comes back to my mind. Thomas Watson is very good about that. If you ever read his commentary on the Ten Commandments, there's picture after picture that, yeah, I'll remember that. In Exodus chapter 31, the flow is, in Genesis chapter 1 and 2, we have the institution of the creation ordinance of the Sabbath. In Exodus chapter 16, we see it then reintroduced to God's people as preparation. In Exodus chapter 20, we see the Sabbath is part of the moral law that doesn't quit. In Exodus 23, the Sabbath is then given again in the sense of the civil law, the judicial law. This is part of the laws that aren't permanent, but they're given specifically for the Jews, in the Old Testament covenant. So we see the Sabbath given to them as part of the judicial law, the civil law. And now in Exodus 31, we see the Sabbath then given again in the midst of giving ceremonial laws. And so we see that the Jewish Sabbath is going to be slightly different in some of its implementations because the moral law is permanent, but the civil laws expire. The ceremonial laws are fulfilled in Christ. So there will be some aspects of how the Jews were given the Sabbath that might be different than what we do. And you'll have to come back next week to see that more fully. And so we're in Exodus chapter 31, where now the instructions are given to the artisans, to the craftsmen, in building the tabernacle. And that's significant. As the tabernacle is being built, finally we're going to have a place for the presence of God and for the worship of God. That should be the utmost important thing to do. We should never take a break from that. Isn't that a work of piety? We'll talk about that next week. Well, in the midst of telling the artisans what to do in making the tabernacle, God says, Even you, I want you to take a seventh day off. I want you to adhere to the Sabbath as well. Stop working on the tabernacle on the seventh day. It gives us a little pause to think as we're so quick to find reasons about what we can do and not do. But even the making of the tabernacle, no, stop on the seventh day. And in verse 12, then, at the context, it says in chapter 31, verse 12, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, Surely my sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who sets you apart. You shall keep the sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you." It's not just holy to me, the Lord says, it's holy to you. It sets you apart. Did you catch that? The sabbath is going to be a sign between you and me. for all generations. Do you see the importance of that? That this Sabbath I'm giving you is a day of blessing, a day of rest, a day of delight, a day to spend time with me. Do you see the joy of that, just by saying that? I want a day where you can rest in me. And we can rest on the seventh day. And this is going to be a sign that you're mine. And I am yours. This is the sign of our covenant. Isn't that a beautiful picture? Do you see the importance, then, of the Sabbath? The importance of the Lord's Day? It's a sign that shows that we're His. It shows us who we serve, and who we are, even in the Lord's Day in Christ. Our time is going short. I'm not trying to avoid the rest of that, where it talks about if you profane the Sabbath, you'll be put to death. Now, do you see there? Do we adhere to that part of the Sabbath? I should hope not. We would have a much smaller group this morning. In fact, I don't know who would be preaching. It shows you though that, again, the implementation of the Sabbath for the Jewish Old Covenant is going to have some differences. But the core is the same. The law of the Sabbath is the same. And we'll see more of that next week. I'm going to whet your appetite if you want to come back next week and we'll maybe talk about that more. The Sabbath, as you can see then, it's founded in creation. It's given as a moral law. It's written on our hearts in some way that we know we're to be spending time with the Lord in worship and maybe even a day of the week. But God in His providence and His revelation is going to tell us which day He prefers. Some of the aspects of what we're reading here then are going to pass. In the ceremonial aspects of the Old Covenant Law and the civil aspects of the Old Testament Law. But the purpose and the foundation is still there. In verse 17 he says, It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth. On the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. Because our time is short, I want to emphasize that whole idea and have this be more of an emphasis of the conviction that we should have on the seventh day, on the character of this day. Do you understand how our adherence to a Lord's Day, as Scripture tells us to, is a delight and a blessing? It promotes the knowledge of God. God said that by doing this you may know that I am your God. You may know me through the Sabbath. That makes sense if we take time on His Day to read and to study and to worship. There ought to be more of a refreshment in Him and in His Word and in His Spirit. But do you see, then, the aspect of it being a sign? Do you see the power of the witness of the Lord's Day? That when God sets His people apart, and we act so oddly and differently on this Sunday, for us, on the Lord's Day, do you see how it makes us so different from everybody else? It didn't used to be quite that way. It's only been the last several decades that Sunday's been thrown out the window. Now, you younger folks might not remember this. You couldn't. There were days when you couldn't buy stuff on Sunday. Nobody was open. But we as the Church of God, we've given it up. I don't think the culture has stolen it from us. I think we've given it up. And we said, no, we don't need this. It's not important. And the culture rushes in and now everything happens on Sunday. And it makes it harder for us. That's okay. It's still a day to be set apart. It's a positive help. when we hold to the Lord's Day and we treat it as it's meant to be, it's like we're proclaiming to the world that we are loved and owned by the God who in six days created the heavens and the earth and created us. But on the seventh day, He rested. Do you see how we're proclaiming that God by imitating the same pattern like He has told us to? Why do you treat your Sundays this way? If your neighbor says, how come you don't mow your yard on Sunday like everybody else? Because my God worked on six days and the seventh day is free. This is the day I've set aside to the Lord because that's what He wants. I love Him. He loves me. You see the witnessing opportunities. You see just by our actions, not only our words. And so on that seventh day, we can proclaim that this is the God we rest in and who is our Redeemer. We can proclaim this is the God who is our provider that we can take this day off. That we can afford to take the time of the day off. And this is the God who is a God of joy. Because the day off is meant to be a day of joy. Especially in the New Testament edition of the Sabbath. Because our Lord was raised on the Sunday, on the day that we serve as our Sabbath. And it's a day of rejoicing. We remember His resurrection and what He's done for us. It's a day of joy. I believe Pastor Mike preached once in going through Haggai about how when they were rebuilding the temple, and it wasn't really as good as the old one. Even before that, they started, but then they quit. And other people, other religions, they had their magnificent temples, and they looked at the Jewish temple, and it was just like a junkyard. That's what you think of your God. I see it as an example of how we treat our Sundays. Do we really love our Lord? Do we love the blessings that He's given us in the Lord's day? Do we have a Lord's Day that people look at and say, wow, that's pretty good. Or is it, that doesn't look any different than mine. We also see with Israel that whenever they fell away from adhering to a Sabbath, they fell away from their God. And time after time, the scriptures in the Old Testament say, you've profaned my Sabbath, you don't care, you've left me. And there's judgment. And I believe Pastor Mike even spoke once about Nehemiah and the struggles he had. And he was angry with his people. They were buying and selling and treating their seventh day like any other day. And he took physical action. He closed the gates and put guards. No, you're not going to do that. Well, we don't do that quite physically. That's not what I'm advocating, but it takes some serious thought and planning to see the importance of the day. One last thing to see how this is a conviction. The Sabbath day might be the one commandment of the Ten that makes unconverted people cringe the most. What would be the last thing an unconverted person would want to do? Spend a day not doing what I would like to do, but spending it with God? Do you see why the unconverted would want to run away from that? A whole day? And so do you see how this part of the law is just as valuable as any other part of the law to present the gospel to folks? If you have no desire, no desire to think about the Sabbath, to think about the Lord's Day as a blessing, as a delight, I'm not talking about the individual ways you might spend it, but if there's no desire, if this doesn't seem appealing to you, you're going to really hate heaven. And I wonder about your heart. It's a way of showing where your heart is. If you have no desire for the blessing of the Lord's Day. Well, in trying to stop now, our time is up. In trying to stop now and close with the thought of Christ. We spoke last week of the different editions of the Sabbath. And how you have the creation edition of the Sabbath. Then you have the Jewish edition of the Sabbath. And there's aspects, we've already seen that haven't we? There's aspects of the ceremonial law and the civil law that was kind of mixed in. But then we said the third edition, and Pastor David Campbell in Pennsylvania was the first person I heard say this, the third edition would be the unauthorized edition of the Sabbath, the Pharisaical edition, where we put all the man-made rules and regulations in it. Now doesn't that make sense though? Because God had put the Sabbath on His people in Israel and so many of them were not converted. They cringed under it. How could you? I don't want to do this. And so the Pharisees themselves, it's very natural for them to put man-made rule upon man-made rule upon the Sabbath to try to say, look, I'm going to try to make this be bearable by making it be my rulemaking. And then I can judge if you've actually obeyed the Sabbath or not. And so we have these seeds of legalism that we still deal with even today in the church if we're not careful. So it makes sense why we have problems having the unauthorized edition of the Sabbath with all of these man-made restrictions and burdens put on the Sabbath that God didn't mean to have put there. Well, we'll talk about this next week, but when Jesus came, He never complained about the Sabbath itself. He complained about what man had done with it. That's why I said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. He came then to tear away all the stuff that had been put on the Sabbath day, and then to renew it in the way it's meant to be in the New Covenant. And we'll look at that next week. I want you to look at Colossians chapter 2, because this is a verse that's actually used often to say, oh, we can just ignore the Sabbath. Well, in Colossians chapter 2, verse 15 and 16, the context is this. that there are aspects of the Jewishness of the Old Covenant that are gone. Don't be constrained by those things. And that's okay. And we've just seen, haven't we, that part of the Sabbath in the Jewish edition had some of those ceremonial and civil laws stuck to them. But Christ came and took away of that. And so don't be worried when you read in verses 16 and 17 in Colossians 2, so let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths. which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Yes, the Jewishness of the Sabbaths, and if this is a singular Sabbath or a plural Sabbath, I'm not sure it makes any difference. The point of this passage is saying the Jewishness of the Sabbaths is passed away. It doesn't mean the Sabbath is abrogated, but the Jewishness has been passed away, and the ultimate fulfillment of the Sabbath day is in Jesus Christ. But I dare say it's not there yet. We're still waiting for the eternal Sabbath day. It's not just one in seven, but it's one all the time in heaven. That's where our true rest is coming. We see that in Hebrews chapter four. And so when Christ comes, he comes then and his work on the cross, his work fulfills what we can never do. He fulfilled the law in all of its glory, in everything that we could not do. He did, and he also fulfilled it in what we were to suffer for our sins in breaking the law. And he came, and one pastor said that when Jesus came, then the old covenant law that had the book of the law, that had the tablets of stone, the old covenant law was set aside, but the tablets of stone, the moral law that is permanent now is written on the hearts of God's people, that still includes the Sabbath day of rest. And Christ has come to do that for us. And so we look then, in Matthew chapter 11, as I close, this is right before Matthew 12, where Jesus is dealing with the Sabbath again, saying He's the Lord of the Sabbath. But in Matthew chapter 11, He says, All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Isn't the Sabbath a picture of that? How man put burden after burden on the Sabbath itself, and Jesus came and restored it and recovered it, and his perfect work gave us perfect rest even from that. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I'm not sure I've done well this morning in presenting the joy and the blessing and the conviction and the character of the Sabbath day that you have given us. I pray, Lord, that your word and your spirit would do its work, however, that we would see from the scriptures and from the examples in the Old Testament that you've given us a gift. You've given us a great gift in one day out of seven to rest from our labors, to rest from the world, but more importantly, to rest in you. Oh Lord, in the first commandment you say, I am the only God, there's none like me. I deserve all your attention and love and glory. In your second commandment then you say, I want to be worshipped how I say, and I'm jealous of you and I want you to do it this way. In the third commandment, you express to it that nothing should be done in vain, that we are to worship the one and true God in the way you say, but then with a true heart, with a heart that loves you. What a glory it is that you would choose us to do this. There's no greater gift in all than this. But then on the fourth commandment, you love us so much that you would say, and I set aside a day and seven that I want us to spend together for your benefit, for your blessing, and for my glory. Oh, help us to see that from the scriptures in the Old Testament. and next week help us to see more of the details of the New Testament and help us to be a people who love you and look forward to your day that we could rest and worship you and rest in you and rest together in perfect fellowship with each other on your day. And Lord, we ask that it would be a witness to the world that they would see the joy we have on the Lord's Day, that they would see what they would consider a sacrifice, but to us it's a joy to set aside all of the stuff of life and the stuff of the world to enjoy you and what you have given us on your day, the Lord's Day. It would be a witness to the world. And you'd use it as a means, yet another means, to draw lost souls to Christ. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.