So Genesis chapter 2 and we'll read from verse 1. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. May God bless his word to us this morning. The French atheist Voltaire wrote, if you wish to destroy the Christian religion, you must first destroy the Christian Sunday. He understood what a powerful, sanctifying influence the widespread observance of the Lord's Day has upon a society. Pity not enough people today understand that power of the Lord's Day. But throughout history, anti-Christian revolutionaries have sought to abolish the Lord's Day, particularly by means of abolishing the seven-day week. The French Revolution instituted a ten-day week. Then later the Soviet Union instituted a five-day week. didn't last long. In each case, the health and productivity of their societies was weakened and they eventually returned to a seven-day week. Now, it's curious, why is the week seven days? We understand why, how a year, we gauge a year because that's the orbit of the Earth around the sun, so that unit of time makes sense. A month is based loosely upon the phases of the moon. Of course, the day, the 24-hour day, is based on the Earth's rotation, so there's all natural reasons for those units of time, but there's nothing in nature that gives us a seven-day week. And so this is confusing to a lot of people. And there was an article in The Atlantic by Joe Pinsker where he tried to figure out why the week is seven days long. The title or the heading of the article was, we live by a unit of time that doesn't make sense. Talking about the week. He says, the seven-day week has survived for millennia despite attempts to make it less chaotic. And he quotes a historian, David Henkin, who says, the week is this bizarre unit of time. It's the only one that doesn't fit neatly into the fraction of any larger unit, like everything else does from seconds to centuries. It became what is in some ways the most stabilising calendar unit that we have. When you think it's a Tuesday and it turns out to be a Wednesday, you feel disoriented in a way that you don't typically if you think it's the 26th and it turns out to be the 27th. You mess your weekdays up, that really messes you up. In answer to why attempts to reform the calendar have failed, Hankin said, the main answer is a religious answer. Because no Christian, Muslim, or Jew who's attached to the idea that you can count seven day weeks all the way back to creation is going to think that you can just move it around. And he said, all we can say, it's just these religions. And if it weren't for these religions, we could get rid of it. Well, that's not quite right. But we would ask the question, well, why is there a seven day week? The answer is not found in nature or science, but in the Bible. It is because God made it so and has so ingrained this principle in his creation that rebellious man cannot override it. God said a week is seven days. And he's imprinted that in nature, he's imprinted that in our very beings, of his creatures, in man who's made his image. Man cannot override the seven-day week. Now we've looked at each of the six days of creation, and we will consider more concerning the sixth day, as most of Genesis 2 deals with events on the sixth day. So we understand that Genesis 2 is not a separate later work of creation to Genesis 1, nor is it contradictory to Genesis 1, but rather complementary. It simply describes in greater detail certain events of Chapter 1, especially relating to Adam, Eve, and the Garden of Eden. So when we read from verse 4 onwards to the end of Chapter 2, this is dealing with the sixth day and events in the garden and so on there. But we come to the seventh day. Now the seventh day is, oh, but here in the opening verses of Genesis 2, we're given details concerning the seventh day of the creation week. And the seventh day is in stark contrast to the previous six days. How's it different? Well, nothing is created on this day. Every other day there's things created, but nothing on this day. There's no mention of evening and morning. All the six days, the previous six days, evening and morning were the first, second, third day, but nothing like that in this day. And this day particularly is blessed, and this day particularly is sanctified. It's a very special day. the seventh day. And that number seven is the most significant number in scriptures. It denotes divine completeness and perfection. The number seven is in contrast to the number six which is the number of what? The number of a man. Man is the number six. God is the number seven, and so man comes short of God, comes short of God's glory. God is above man. And so we understand those things. These numbers have significance, but particularly number seven. The number seven is used in over 600 passages in scripture, just all through the Bible. Revelation, all these sevens in Revelation, there's a book of sevens. But there are sevens all throughout these opening chapters, which give further weight to the reality that God has performed and completed a perfect work. That number seven denotes these things. So for instance, Genesis 1-1 consists of seven Hebrew words. Genesis 1-2 consists of 14 words, multiple of seven. Genesis chapter 2, in the verses we're looking at today, there's 35 words, another multiple of seven. God is mentioned 35 times, Earth occurs 21 times, and Heaven or Firmament also 21 times. All multiples of 7, aren't they? And the number 7 dominates Genesis 1-1 to 2-3. in a startling way, not only in the number of words in a particular section, but also in the number of times a specific word or phrase recurs, which in all comprises the sevenfold pattern of this section. And so you can go through these verses, chapter one, and the opening verses of chapter two. The fulfillment formula, it was so, occurs seven times. The execution formula, and God made, occurs seven times. The approval formula, God saw that it was good, occurs seven times. the subsequent divine word, God's naming or blessing occurs seven times. And so all these seven, you could dig deeper and you just find seven after seven and multiples of it, and this is God putting his fingerprint on his word because this is the inspired word of God. Now, in chapter 2 verses 1 to 3, it draws from Chapter 1, verse 1, the first verse, providing a conclusion to what began on the first day. So it begins there, and now, like another bracket, it rounds things off and brings things to a conclusion. In 1.1, God created the heaven and the earth, while in 2.1, the heaven and earth were finished. There's the created, there's the finished. In 1.1 is the beginning, while in 2.2, God ended his work. Beginning, ended. You can also see some chiastic structures in these chapters. If you look at the whole section, Genesis 1.1 to 2.3, you see a chiasm there. Created lines up in the first verse with chapter 2, verse 3. You can see God in 1.1 lines up with God in 2.2. Heaven and earth in 1.1. heavens and earth in 2.1, and in between all those is the forming and filling of the earth. And then in chapter two, verses one to four, you see another chiastic structure there as well, which I've put there on your outline. But let's consider this seventh day, this day of rest. So first of all, it is the day of completion. God finished and ended his work. See in the text there, look in verse one. See that word finished. And then look in verse two, ended. Two key words there we're thinking about under this heading. God finished and ended his work. This shows clearly that all of the universe, the heaven and earth and all things in them were created within six days, not over long ages. It's all confined in those six days. Scientific laws accord with the scripture's revelation that nothing is now being created. That was happening in those six days. There's nothing being created ever since. And that fits in with the scientific laws. The first law of thermodynamics is the law of conservation of energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It is only converted to a different form of energy. That's what science says, that's what observation says. Then the second law of thermodynamics is the law of entropy. Processes tend toward decay and disintegration. And obviously we see that all around us too. And things wearing down and decaying. And so this is accords with what the scripture says. God has ceased from his work of creation. But he continues his work of conservation and providence. In John 5 verse 17, Jesus said, my father worketh hitherto, and I work. So he sees from his work, it says here, but that's the work of creation. God is still working. So he created all things, and now he governs all things by his providence. By him all things consist. He upholds all things by the word of his power. His work of conservation or providence, but also his work of redemption. He's performing his work of redemption. But we see from this truth here that God finished and ended. It's a fact that God leaves nothing unfinished. When God begins a work, he finishes it, he completes it. It's how different to man. You know, all the great artists just about have an unfinished work. And you look at the great artists of history. You look at Michelangelo. All these paintings, all these sculptures, they're not completed. And people are left to wonder, well, I wonder how he would have finished this work of art. But he died before he finished it. or in music. Bach left an incomplete fugue when he died at the age of 65 and one day he's just finishing it and he's working through it and then he's dead and it's just left there, it's not finished. How few people can say they have finished their work in this world before death interrupts it. But not so with God. God leaves no work unfinished. What he begins, he completes. That is true of the creation. At the end of the sixth day, his work of creation was completely finished. God didn't need to spend part of the seventh day finishing off what he didn't get done in the previous days. He's not like us. He finished everything. And the seventh day was complete rest because God had finished and ended his work. So that's true of the creation. It's true of his covenants. The promises he has made, he will fulfill. And so God makes covenants with man, God will fulfill those covenants. And this is true of his work of redemption of mankind. And what a work that is. In John 4 verse 34, Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. John 17 verse four, I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And upon the cross, What did the Lord Jesus say when he received the vinegar? He said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. What was finished? His work of atoning for our sins upon the cross. It was finished. He completed the work. And then, so he died, he was buried, he rose again. And Hebrews 1 verse 3, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. He sat down because his work of atonement is finished. So he finishes his work of redemption. And it is also true of his gracious work of salvation in his people. talking about us as individuals, God completes his work of salvation. He doesn't start saving us and then leave it incomplete, does it? Philippians 1 verse 6, being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. that work that begins at justification and regeneration, it continues. It continues that work through sanctification and ultimately at glorification. He will perform it. 2 Timothy 1 verse 12, for the which cause I suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. And Jude 24 and 25, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling. and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. So he is able to present us faultless. What a wonderful thing that God finishes his work. So we see first of all, it is the day of completion. God finished and ended his work. But we see secondly, it is the day of cessation. God rested from his work. And so again, in the second verse, it says, and he rested on the seventh day. Also in verse three, because in that in it, he had rested from all his work. So there's this idea of rest. God rested. Now this does not at all indicate that God was wearied and required a day to replenish his energy. It's not like the rest we take. I'm worn out, I need to rest. No, that's not the rest that we're talking about here. Isaiah 40 verse 28, hast thou not known, hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of his understanding. God is never weary. God never faints. In Exodus 31 verse 17, it puts it this way. Now he's refreshed. Again, that's not the refreshing that we require when we become weak. No, refreshed being an anthropomorphism to illustrate the Sabbath principle. It's using human terminology to help us to understand God rested, but not resting to replenish energy. No, it's really a rest of completion. And so the word for rest, Shabbat, means to cease, to still, to desist. God in his seventh day rest surveyed his works with satisfaction and pleasure, beholding that everything he had made was very good. And so he rested and beholds his work. And he beholds it and he says, it's all very good, as we saw there in the last verse of chapter one. Now I just point out here that some old age creationists who deny that these are 24 hour days of creation claim that the omission of reference to the evening and morning of the seventh day indicates that it was not a literal day but a long period of time and that therefore the other six days were also long periods of time. It's a pretty tenuous argument, but this is what they need to resort to. Hugh Ross is one such old age creationist. This misses the purpose of the evening and morning formula in days one through six, which is a rhetorical function marking the transition between the days of creation. No such marker is required on the final day of the creation week. The terminus of the final day is marked by the toledoth, that is, the generations, in verse four. That's the division mark there. So there's no issue with there being no evening and morning mentioned there. Obviously, there was an evening and morning. It's just not revealed there. But we think of this idea of rest and this concept of rest. The reference to rest in this verse illustrates the rest that God gives to his people. We see throughout the Bible references back to this verse here in chapter 2 verse 2 and 3 about God resting. It illustrates the weekly rest of the Sabbath day. You find that in Exodus 20 verse 11. So you're saying, God rested the seventh day, now this is what the Sabbath is for you. It's you to rest on this seventh day. And also Exodus 31 verse 17. So you see those things there. So it represents the Sabbath day, represents the spiritual rest of salvation. Remember the Lord Jesus, he said, So look at that a bit more in a moment. And then the eternal rest of heaven. the rest that continues forever in the presence of the Lord in Revelation 14 verse 13. Now look over in Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter four, just turn over there if you will. And now, you know, certain chapters in the Bible have a distinct theme to them. So, you know, first Corinthians 13 is the love chapter and Hebrews 11 is the faith chapter. Well, Hebrews four is the rest chapter. And this really teaches us about the spiritual aspect of rest and what God is working towards. So let's look at Hebrews 4 verse 1. left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them. But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest. As he said, as I've sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world, for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter it therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief. So I'll stop reading there. So what you have there is he talks about the rest of Canaan for the children of Israel. So God brought them out of Egypt, brought them through the wilderness, and they were to enter into Canaan. And that was to be that promised land. It was to be the land of milk and honey, and they were to be given rest and safety and peace and all those things there. But he also mentions that Because of unbelief, a generation didn't pass in. And he's using that as a warning to the Hebrews that he's writing to here. And so it's true of Israel who were given the rest of Canaan, but the greater rest that God offers to his people is the rest of salvation through Christ. So this is the ultimate rest. Look at verse 7. Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time, as it is said, Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus, and it's actually talking about Joshua there, same name there, it's talking about Joshua, for if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day? There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his. So there again, another reference to God ceasing from his works on the seventh day. But basically the teaching there is Canaan was not the ultimate rest because David says later, well after Joshua, that there's still a rest. And he's saying, oh, there remains a rest. And this is the greater rest of salvation through Christ. And we come unto him for rest. All right. And so what is the nature of this rest that we receive from Christ? Well, it is rest from the guilt and the burden of sin. And so as unregenerate lost sinners outside of Christ, we are burdened by our sin and we bear that guilt of sin. But in Hebrews 9 verse 14, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? A purged conscience, a cleansed conscience. It is also rest from the condemnation of God. In our lost state, we're not at rest because we're condemned by God, condemned as sinners. We're under his condemnation, but John 5, 24 says, Romans 5.1, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, we are relieved of our condemnation, we find rest. It is rest from dead works of religion that have no justifying power. Hebrews 6.1 talks about repentance from dead works. All these dead works, people are trying to make themselves accepted with God by their dead works, but we find rest from those things. And it is rest from the fear of death and judgment. which the whole world outside of Christ is under Hebrews 2 verse 15. And he brings us to rest in many other things, but we find that rest in Christ. And so you see how the seventh day rest, when God rested from his work, that's a picture of the rest that he gives to us in Jesus Christ. What a beautiful picture there. So it's the day of cessation. God rested from his work. And then we'll see thirdly, it is the day of consecration. God blessed and sanctified the day. So back in Genesis 2 and verse 3, and God blessed the seventh day. So we saw God blessing in the first chapter in two places. God blessed the sea creatures and the fowls of the fifth day in verse 22, and blessed man on the sixth day in verse 28. But here he's blessing the day, the seventh day. This one day of all the days is blessed, showing its significance to God as well as God's favor, goodness, and grace extended toward it. God said this day is blessed. But not only blessed, it says and sanctified it. The word for sanctified denotes consecrated, hallowed, dedicated. So God established here the principle that man must not only rest on one day out of seven, but sanctify this day, setting it apart specifically for the worship of God. So you see the two points there. It's a day of rest, but it's also a day of worship. It's a sanctified day. All right, so how does this play out as history progresses? Well, God gave Israel the seventh day Sabbath. The first mention of the Sabbath is found in Exodus 16, verse 23. It's not found in the rest of Genesis. But when Israel comes out of Egypt, then you see the Sabbath being mentioned and being instituted. And in that instance in Exodus 16, it's with reference to not to gather manna on the seventh day, gather twice as much on the sixth day, and nothing on the seventh. Of course, some did go out on the seventh, and they found none. And so really when Moses, by inspiration, penned these verses here in Genesis chapter 2 is what we might call a prolepsis. That's an anticipation or representation of a thing existing before it actually did so. So Moses writes about in reference to the Sabbath in his day as he pens these words in Genesis 2. Now the Sabbath commandment was made known to Israel at Mount Sinai through Moses. You find that in Nehemiah chapter 9. He made us known unto them thy holy Sabbath. So he's revealing something. This is something that he's giving to the nation in the wilderness there at Sinai. The Sabbath was an outward sign showing that Israel was Jehovah's covenant people, distinguishing them from the heathen nations round about them. So that's a critical thing in understanding a Sabbath. It's a sign of his covenant with Israel. You find that in Exodus 31. It is a sign between me and you throughout your generations. He says, it is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. You notice it's a sign between God and who? Not all humanity, between God and the children of Israel. You find it also in Ezekiel chapter 20 and verse 12. I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them. and also in verse 20 of that same chapter. So repeatedly God is stating that the Sabbath was given as a sign between himself and Israel of his covenant with them. Because that Sabbath would distinguish Israel from the heathen round about them. The heathen would be working on the seventh day of the week or doing whatever, while the Israelites would be honoring the Lord by resting, not only benefiting themselves, but being a testimony to the heathen. So it's a sign there. And God gave that Sabbath for man's benefit. In Mark 2, verse 27, the Lord said the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So to a day of rest, to recover our health and to recharge, as it were. And it was made for men, to benefit men. But the Jews had turned it into a burden grievous to be born. And they had all these rules. They had over 1,500 rules concerning the Sabbath, all these intricate little rules. For instance, tying of certain knots was forbidden. Those knots that required two hands could not be tied on the Sabbath. But knots that could be tied with one hand were permissible. I mean this is what the man brought in about the Sabbath and God never intended it to be such a burden. Of course Christ refuted them and you see Christ coming and healing on the Sabbath and you see them losing their minds and wanting to kill him because of it. But the Sabbath commandment is part of the ceremonial law, along with the annual feasts, and is fulfilled in Christ. Colossians 2, 16 and 17 makes that clear. He says, What he's saying is, Annual feast days, the monthly new moon feasts, and the weekly Sabbath days, he says, they're a shadow of things to come. But the body that is the actual substance that they represent is Christ. And so all those feasts, they all point to Christ. And the Sabbath also points to Christ. It's a shadow of Christ. And so what does it mean? It means that Christ is the ultimate rest. The Sabbath points to Christ and his rest. So that tells us about the seventh-day Sabbath. But Christians, in the new covenant, keep the Lord's Day, the first day of the week. So we can see parallels with the Sabbath and the Lord's Day. But the Lord's Day bears resemblance to the Sabbath, but it is something far better and of far greater significance. And I put some little comparison there. So the Sabbath is connected to the Earth. And so it's resting from all these earthly labours and it's related to the things that you're to do and not to do and there's a very earthly aspect to it. But the Lord's Day is connected to heaven because it's the Lord from heaven that we look to and his resurrection and his ascension and all those things, the Lord's Day is connected to heaven. The Sabbath is earthly, it's about physical rest, but the Lord's Day is heavenly, it's about our spiritual rest. We come unto him for rest, you see. The Sabbath is part of the old covenant of law, whereas the Lord's Day is the new covenant of grace. What a contrast there. Now, this is interesting as well. You note the order of work and rest. When it comes to the Sabbath, the old covenant Sabbath, you have work first, then you rest. But not so with the Lord's Day. With the Lord's Day, we find rest first when we come to Christ for salvation, but then the next step is we work. That is, we serve the Lord. You see that the order is changed around. We rest in Christ and then we work and we labor for him. We see that in Ephesians 2, 8 to 10. We know those verses, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. There is abundant evidence that the Christians in the New Testament worshipped on the Lord's Day and not on the Sabbath. Here's a whole, you see the significance of the Lord's Day. Let me run through this list very quickly. On the first day, Jesus rose from the dead. Praise God. The first day of the week, he rose from the dead. And that's the key thing. On the first day, Jesus first appeared to his disciples. On the first day, Jesus met with the disciples at different places and repeatedly. On the first day, Jesus blessed the disciples. On the first day, Jesus imparted to the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit. On the first day, Jesus commissioned the disciples to preach the gospel to all the world. On the first day, Jesus ascended to heaven, was seated at the right hand of the Father, and was made head of all. On the first day, many of the dead saints arose from the grave. The first day became the day of joy and rejoicing to the disciples. On the first day, the gospel of the risen Christ was first preached. On the first day, Jesus explained the scriptures to the disciples. On the first day, the purchase of our redemption was completed. This is the day of resurrection. But then we move forward. On the first day, the Holy Spirit descended. Pentecost was on the 50th day after the Sabbath, following the way of offering. So Pentecost was on a Sunday on the first day of the week. when the Spirit empowered the church. The Christians met to worship on the first day. Sunday is the Lord's Day, referred to in Revelation 1 verse 10. And so we see the great significance to us as believers in Christ with that first day of the week. The Lord's Day, in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ, has been the day of Christian worship from the time of the apostles until today. So instead of the seventh day Sabbath, we have something far greater. We have the Lord's Day. The Lord's Day then is to be sanctified by a holy resting, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship. That's what the Lord's Day is to us. The Lord's Day is sometimes referred to as the market day of the soul. The market day of the soul. Now, during the week, you have markets and you go to a market day and you get your provisions for your body. And we have those market days for the body. But here, this here today, this is a market day for the soul. Aren't we feasting on the marvellous truths of God as we worship the Lord? What a feast we're enjoying on this Lord's Day, the market day of the soul. What a wonderful description of the Lord's Day. And so we should sanctify. God sanctified this day and we should sanctify this day. It should be a mark of our devotion to God that we love the Lord's day and we devote our day to his worship. You've heard of Eric Liddell, a great athlete, a marvellous athlete. He was not just a runner, he was a football player. He played international football and so just a marvellous athlete, but he was a believer. Now he used to race in the Paris Olympics. And he saw the schedule and he said, he's to race on a Sunday. And he said, well, I'm a Christian. I'm not going to defile the Lord's day. And he refused to compete. This was what he'd been training for his whole time. And of course he was mocked and people thought he was an extremist and all these things, but he did not waver in his resolution. But instead he ran a different race to what he was supposed to run. He ran the 400 metres and he won it. And he later commented that, he said, when I was about to run in the finals, the trainer handed me a little note. I opened it and read the words, them that honour me will I honour. Them that honour me will I honour. And he took a stand for the Lord's Day and refused to use it for amusement or for sport and those things, and God honoured him. Of course, he became a missionary and died on the mission field. And of course, the film was made chariots of fire about his life. But what a witness, because he wouldn't capitulate. He wouldn't put something else before the Lord's day. And we should do that too. And we'll face different situations where we're pressured to be involved in something when Priscilla applied for a job. at where she's working now. And as part of the application, she said, I cannot work on the Lord's Day. I cannot work on a Sunday. And you say, well, what if they said, you've got to work on a Sunday? That would have been God saying, well, that job is not for you. That would have been God closing the door. And then someone says, well, yeah, but how do you pay your bills? How small is your God? Do you think God is bigger than saying no to working on the Lord's day? God can provide for our needs. What does he say? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things, what we'll eat, what we're with will be closed, closed, all these things will be added unto you. Seek him first, put him first, honour him. He is more than able to provide for all our needs if we would honour him. And you know, you get people, You get visitors, you get relatives come, and they come and they're not believers, and, hey, we're coming for the weekend, and, hey, we thought we might catch up on a Sunday. And you say, yeah, yeah, let's do that. Let's catch up on 15 Hilton Street at 9.30 AM. 15 Hilton Street, what's there? Doesn't matter, just come along, you'll have a great time. They work it out, it's like, oh, it's like that, is it? Yeah. This is the Lord's day. Who are we going to put first? Are we going to put the Lord first or are we going to put friends and family? Didn't the Lord say you've got to love Him first? above all things. And so you see this principle and it can cause conflict and we can get a backlash from it. But you know, the Lord, the Lord must come first and he sanctified this day and we should too. Now, just a few thoughts in conclusion. Many people think that their works will make them accepted by God on the Day of Judgment. And this is the idea, if we work and we labor, God will accept us. Someone yesterday said, we think it's like God will weigh the good against the bad. No, we've got no good to offer God. We've only got our sins to offer God. It doesn't work that way. There was another lady yesterday and it was a stark picture. She was walking along and she had in one hand, she had like a grocery bag or some bag with some goods she'd bought and she had a handbag. On the other hand, she had a little girl, might have been a daughter, might have been a granddaughter. And so I offered a gospel tract. I said, here's a gospel tract. And she's like, my hands are full. My hands are full. I thought, what a description of hers and of mankind generally, the attitude and the response to the gospel. What does what does what do you say? God says, come unto me. And people say, my hands are full. I can't come unto you. My hands are full. When Christ calls sinners to repentance and faith in him, when he calls them to come unto him, when he calls them to receive him, when he says, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, what does man say? No, my hands are full. I'm not letting go of this. I'm not letting go of that. Whether it's wealth and possessions, whether it's their sins, whether it's relationships, whether it's their self-will, whether it's the fear of man, All these things, people say, I'm not going to let go of that. And so they're going to perish because they held on to these things. They wouldn't let go. They wouldn't come to Christ. I thought, what a picture. My hands are full. What a sad statement. My hands are full. And she'll be reminded of that on the Day of Judgment unless she repents. But no, people think, if I work hard enough, God will accept me. The only work Only the work of Christ on our behalf, received by faith, can justify sinners. Listen to John 6, verses 28 and 29. Then said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? People are asking that. How do I work my way to heaven? Jesus answered and said unto him, this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. That's the only work. Believe. Trust in what Jesus did for us. Let me ask, do you remain in the guilt of your sins, burdened by guilt, without peace, without joy, without hope? And that's the state of most people. That might be your state here today. Heed the invitation of Christ, he says, come unto me, all ye that labour. And a heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest under your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. When you look at what he's saying there, it's almost... Contradictory, he says, come unto me, I'll give you rest. But then he says, take my yoke upon you. He says, you're heavy laden with these burdens. I'll give you rest. Now, put this yoke upon you. And he says, but he says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. You see, Jesus, he takes that burden of sin and the guilt of sin that none of us can can bear and it will take us down to hell. He takes that heavy burden, but then he he he puts his light burden and his his easy yoke upon us. And that's we're yoked up together with Christ and we serve him not as a burden, but with joy. And so he saves us to work and to labour in his service. And then let me ask you, are you honouring the Lord's Day or are you dishonouring it? Here's some principles we should apply. Make this day your priority. Make it the most important day of the week. It's the Lord's Day. Prepare for it. Prepare for this day. Even before you get to Sunday, prepare for it beforehand by ensuring the day will be free from anything that would diminish its sanctity. Get all those things finished and out of the way. Don't leave it till Sunday. They're all out of the way on Saturday. Prepare for it by using Saturday evening for spiritual activities. You want to get our heart and our mind in the right place. That's not through watching whatever or engaging in this activity. Engage in a spiritual activity. Word of God, prayer, I'm preparing to worship God because this day is important, this day is sanctified. Prepare for it by getting adequate sleep. We want to have our full faculties about us so we can worship God with our body, soul and spirit. And then on the Lord's day, be faithful to the corporate meetings of the church. Don't forsake the assembly. Don't forsake the assembly, be faithful. And during worship, give yourself heartily to the singing and praying of the assembly. Don't just switch off. No, we're engaging, we're worshipping the God of heaven. Carefully attend to the preaching with the attitude that God is speaking to me through his word. This is the way God speaks to us, through the word of God, through the message, through the preaching. And then seek for opportunities to serve in the church. So that we, even as God sanctified this day, we might sanctify it also, not only for rest, but for worship of our God. Oh, what a blessed thing that God has given us in this Lord's Day.