Give It a Rest

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Exodus 20:8-11 (KJV)

8. 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:
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.

This morning we are going to discuss a controversial subject -- the Sabbath. Many people believe you and I are sinning against God because we are in violation of this commandment in that we work and play on Saturday (the Shabbat) and worship on Sunday. Others, who call Sunday, "The Christian Sabbath" believe we violate it by watching or playing sports, eating out, or going to the lake. Is the Sabbath for Christians?

1. The Sabbath day was for Israel . . .
   Don't be confused one bit regarding this. The laws of the Sabbath were for Israel only.
   1. The Sabbath was the sign of the covenant between God and Israel.
      God said "It is a sign between thee and the children of Israel" (Exodus 31:17). He reiterated through Ezekiel, "I gave Israel my sabbaths, to be a sign" (Ezekiel 20:12).
   2. Violations of the Sabbath resulted in death for the individual.
      Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word "shabbat" which means "to rest" or "to cease from exertion." This was the Law of God for Israel so that God said, "he who does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall be put to death" (Exodus 31:15).
   3. If the Sabbath were still in effect it would be the seventh day of the week.
      The seventh day of the week, later called Saturday, was, and is, the Sabbath. The Seventh-Day Adventists and the Seventh-Day Baptists have it exactly right: "The great principles of God's law are embodied in the Ten Commandments, and His unchangeable law requires the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath as the day of rest."
2. The Sabbath day has ended . . .
   Old Covenant laws which were "written and engraven in stone" are "done away with" or abolished (I Corinthians 3:7,11). The writer of Hebrews says that since there is a change in the priesthood (all believers are now priests) there is also "a change of the law" (Hebrews 7:12) so that we no longer sacrifice animals, keep sabbaths, etc. . . . The concept of a Christian Sabbath cannot be supported from the New Testament. "Men are not justified in returning to the rules provided for the Sabbath in order to secure directions for the observance of the Lord's Day" Lewis Sperry Chafer.
3. The principle behind the Sabbath remains . . .
   1. A person should rest from labor one day out of the week.
      God knows our needs! He created man in His image. In Exodus 31:17 we are told that God "was refreshed" when He rested from creation. It is a principle of creation, not Mosaic law, that a person should not work seven days a week.
   2. A person should rest in Christ everyday of the week.
      Christ is the Lord of rest. "Come unto me all ye that labor -- I will give rest." Are you working to obtain the favor and acceptance of God? Do you constantly seek to earn His blessing by doing, promising, serving, or striving? Do you? If you do, then you have not learned what it means to rest in the work of Christ. The fourth commandment foreshadowed the meaning of RESTING in Christ.