The Sabbath: Sign, Gift, Promise

Well as we make our way now into the beginning of Genesis chapter 2 we're going to focus in on the first three verses of the chapter

Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished So we've come to the completion of the creation week 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 because in it he rested from all his work, which

God had created and made that's really a threefold repetition of the fact that God rested he ceased from the work of creation and Therefore he sanctified or set apart this day so this morning we want to consider these verses and discuss the

Sabbath at creation and then specifically how the Lord's Day Intersects with and really becomes the

Sabbath of Redemption Sabbath of creation Sabbath of Redemption We want to consider that in three parts and I hope you'll remember these three words as key words when we think of the

Sabbath When we think of this day that the Lord has set apart And that is the sign of the

Sabbath the gift of the Sabbath and the promise of the Sabbath So sign gift promise,

I think these three words are worth remembering whenever we talk about the Sabbath So first the sign of the

Sabbath Noticed again this language God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it

Because in it he rested from all his work, which God had created and made God finished his work of creation

And on that seventh day, he made it holy He separated it he sanctified it

He set it apart from every other day in which he had created and as God rested from his creation labor

Adam and Eve who are again imaging God Reflecting God would have known to likewise rest from their labors amidst

God's creation So God labors in creation and on the seventh day he ceases that labor

And the images of God Adam and Eve Infer from that reflect that in the way that they cease on the seventh day from their labors in the midst of what

God had Created and this is a sign then This is the sign to Adam and Eve that the labor in which they were employed would not be without end

The labor would not be ceaseless, but that there was be this rest in the

Lord This is very important the way I'm framing it now is just sort of matter of fact but it takes on significance when we talk about the whole destiny of mankind when we talk about the purpose of mankind in terms of the glory that mankind was meant to possess and the presence of God that The man the man and the woman was meant to inhabit.

So there's this sign From God that man's labor is not ceaseless

But there's a rest There's a rest That remains for them

What would that rest have been? Did God take a nap? after the six days of creation and Adam and Eve Reflecting that take an afternoon snooze as many of us do lately in a

Sabbath me included And what sense did God cease from his labors?

We have to be reminded that in a sense. God never stopped working I remember when

Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5 and he says for this reason the Jews persecuted

Jesus and Sought to kill him because he had done these things on the Sabbath, but Jesus answered them My father has been working until now and I've been working so it wasn't a rest of ceasing from any sort of work

It was rather specifically tied to the works of creation Robert Raymond And his systematic theology observes rest cannot merely merely mean ceasing from labor

Much less recovery from fatigue. We're talking about an infinite God So it's certainly not recovery from fatigue

We remember that for Adam and Eve they're gaining bread not by the sweat of their brow at this point

This is a rest before the fall So there's there's no sweat or exhaustion in that sense, but rather a blessedness

So the rest that Adam and Eve would have imitated and enjoyed was not in activity But rather new activity it was communing with God In a way that was distinct from how they communed with God in the other days of the week

This time was to set apart For them to worship their creator and this is what

Jesus taught in Mark chapter 2 verse 27 The Sabbath was made for man not man for the

Sabbath notice the order of creation here The Sabbath was created for Adam God created

Adam and then he created a Sabbath for Adam That's very important in other words God created

Adam and Eve and then gave them a day of rest to commune with him and enjoy the purposes of worship with him

And this is what our confession as Reformed Baptists upholds. This is from our confession in chapter 22 paragraph 7

We're gonna unpack this a little bit as it is the law of nature We're going to talk about that that in general a proportion of time by God's appointment

Be set apart for the worship of God. So by his word in a positive moral and perpetual

Commandment binding all men in all ages He has particularly appointed one day and seven for a

Sabbath to be kept holy unto him Now notice what this chapter is stating the

Sabbath they're saying is a law of nature The language that's more more familiar to me or that perhaps you'd come across is the

Sabbath is a creation ordinance This is something that God gives to mankind at creation and that's why they can say it's universal

It's morally binding upon all because it was given to man at creation

And then it goes on to state the purpose of this day that God gave to mankind at creation as it is a law of nature in general a proportion of time by God's appointment be set apart for the worship of God God sets apart a time for his worship

This was the case from the very beginning of mankind and it will be to the very end of this world

In the garden Adam and Eve had joyful service in the labor of God But on this day, they imitated his rest

They rested in him. They ceased the worshipful labors of Dominion and rested in a more concentrated worship and communion with God So then man is morally bound to the

Sabbath because of God's example in creation But as the Bible unfolds, we find the

Sabbath taking on a new dimension And this is specifically Israel and it's very important.

You understand theologically that there's a sense in which Israel is Adam Israel is singled out by God to to be the the hope for humanity if we can put it that way now

We know theologically it's going to become the hope in that it will Eventually bear the seed that was promised to the woman as we'll see in chapter 3

But specifically there's a there's a parallel between Adam and Israel Right, and then that corresponds to Christ as the last

Adam and as the true Israel out of Egypt. I've called my son Out of Egypt.

I've called my son as Matthew quotes that line. He's understanding. There's a sense in Which Christ is

Israel and Christ is also the true man as we talked about last week the true

Adam So this dimension is part of the story of Israel when

God's sign of the Sabbath is not just about creation Exodus 31 beginning in verse 12 the

Lord spoke to Moses saying speak also to the children of Israel saying surely my

Sabbath 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 You shall keep the Sabbath. Therefore. It is holy to you

So again, the fourth commandment is given to Israel in light of the fact that God is their creator

But we've already said what God establishes that creation is true for all mankind and not just Israel Not just the

Israelites So the fourth commandment just like the other nine commandments is given to mankind a reflection of the moral law

And if you read Exodus 20 beginning verse 8, you'll see how that's tied to God as creator But there's something more

As far as Israel's concerned that makes God's Sabbath a unique sign to them

Not only a sign of creation, but also a sign of redemption Exodus 6 beginning in verse 5.

I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage And what is that bondage?

slavery It's it's hard labor And God is hearing their groaning

I Have remembered my covenant therefore say to the children of Israel.

I am the Lord I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. You see now they're being burdened by their work

Deuteronomy 5 15 Remember you were 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. Do you see what's being connected to the

Sabbath? They're not just creation Redemption from slavery freedom liberation from Egypt That is why the

Israelites are to keep the Sabbath as well Not just by virtue of being created by God and reflecting him

But also by the fact that they've been liberated by God redeemed from the burdens and the groaning of their slavery

When the people were in bondage in Egypt, they didn't dare stop working unless they wanted to be lashed

And pummeled and ground down even further there's no accruing vacation time when you're a slave, right?

There's no company picnics. This was groaning slavery And so the weekly

Sabbath Was a picture to them of redemption You are now freed no longer to groan and to grovel but to rest in the redemption that the

Lord God has brought So to break the Sabbath As God has finally brought them out of Egypt and is now settling them into a land of promise

To break the Sabbath then in effect is to say Lord. I don't want your rest. I didn't want your redemption

I want to be working and groveling. I Want to go back to the burdens of Egypt. I want to be a slave.

I Don't want this sign of your rest and your redemption. It's a burden to me a

God gives the Sabbath that creation as a declaration of his preeminence over all of time

He stamps out a day to be made holy unto him And if the

Ten Commandments are summarized rightly so as loving God and loving neighbor in the

Sabbath In that first table is at the center of how we love

God It displays not only his reign over us as our creator as the one who puts a purpose to all of our days

Not just the Sabbath day, but every day he reigns over us as creator

He's Lord of our time and of our days and years But there's also the sense in which it reflects the sign of his mercy toward us as our

Redeemer Ezekiel 20 12

Morals moreover also I gave them my Sabbath to be a sign between them and me that they might know

I am the Lord who sanctifies them I Set apart this day to be holy and when my people set apart this day as holy unto me

They know I am the one who makes them. Hopefully They reflect me they commune with me they worship

So the Sabbath is a sign of creation and redemption. That's the first part

And Bruce Ray writes as a sign of grace The Sabbath declares that salvation depends upon the power of God not human works

The Israelites did not liberate themselves from bondage God did Anyone who worked on the

Sabbath day effectively denied that God was not only their creator they symbolically rejected salvation by grace that's why the prophets are constantly persecuting and Prosecuting the people of God But it's not only a sign

It's also a gift as we continue to unfold this the gift of the Sabbath secondly the gift of the

Sabbath The Sabbath when we understand it in this way Not only the merciful day in which we commune with our

Creator But also the sign that shows we've been redeemed by him liberated from the course and the slavery of this world

We begin to understand it as a gift The Sabbath is a gift to mankind a gift, especially to those that have been saved redeemed by God It is a rest from labor to delight in the communion and worship of God When you view it this way from its foundation all the way to its awaiting future as a gift

You can understand why the Lord's anger was kindled on those who began to treat the Sabbath as a weariness

And God's people began to view the Sabbath as a burden What was meant to be freedom became tyranny?

Lord this day of rest. It's so exhausting. I have so much to do. I'd rather be working Can you imagine that that's seventh year

Sabbath? Can you imagine how? Burdensome that would have felt for people that had fields to sow and fields to plow and fields to harvest

The contemporary church like Israel has come to view the Sabbath the Christian Sabbath the

Lord's day as a curse of the law instead of a gift Imagine having a full workweek planned

You know you you've got your outfits ironed your lunchbox packed You know nine to five you have to hammer it out on Monday through Friday And then right before you leave the the phone buzzes, and it's a manager, and he says listen

Listen, I want you to take I want you to take Friday off I know you've planned the whole week, and you've got these days ahead, but I want you to take

Friday off Just just just enjoy that day spend it with your family and your loved ones. Just enjoy that day and rest you go

I Plan my whole week Are you some sort of legalist can

I come in at least for a few hours? Let me do half a day at least I mean I've I've got so much to do

I need to do it You haven't understood this was a gift This was meant to be a mercy to you

And that's why when the Lord through Isaiah prosecutes the people he says call the Sabbath a delight

This is why I've given it to you You're complaining about it Malachi 3.

Oh, what purpose is to there and following your ordinances? Excuse me. This was a gift to you

This is a mercy to you. It's not just a sign It's actually meant to bless you and nourish you and encourage you and to give you time devoted time with me without the

Distractions of the week closing in I know you have things to do You have needs to meet and responsibilities to fulfill

But I'm carving out this time that you can spend with me that you might be rest blessed and rested and refreshed

Call a Sabbath a delight With the giving of the law at Sinai this

Sabbath rest took on the deeper dimension as we said of God's deliverance Israel had been enslaved in Egypt, but then they were redeemed by the blood of the

Lamb And so the Sabbath was this great gift of redemption It was the day on which they celebrated

God's redemption It was the time in which they came to him with worship and thanksgiving

But then of course as generations rolled and rolled we we see the Encrustations of the flesh the the designs of man the default nature of man to turn blessings into burdens

To turn what is meant to be joyous and celebratory into something wearisome into something

Difficult to bear and that's what we see with the Pharisees by the time Jesus begins his ministry

And it's that saying don't be don't be hard on the Pharisees We're all Pharisees in one way or another don't be hard on them

Sympathize with them because they're a lot more reflective of us than we want them to be They have that same fleshly default that we have what was meant to be this joyous delight

Became this brittle old wineskin and it became a dreaded list of do's and don'ts

And cutting through that heavy yoke is the pronouncement of Jesus as we've already said the

Sabbath was made for man Man wasn't made for the Sabbath That's like the greatest one -line shutdown of the whole pharisaical system on the

Sabbath Jesus is just a master of Pugilism The Sabbath was made for man your system makes it as though we were created to fulfill the

Sabbath Call the Sabbath of the light. This was made for us When Jesus rebukes the skewed view of the

Pharisees He gives this further revelation of his identity and if they had ears to hear it

They would have understood just how jaw -dropping the claim is the next verse. So the

Sabbath was made for man Not man for the Sabbath The Son of Man is

Lord of the Sabbath if they had ears to hear what he was being claimed here They would know what he's saying.

The Son of Man is the Lord of creation The Son of Man is identical to the

Creator The Son of Man was he who from the beginning created all that is and all that is was created for him

I am the Lord of the Sabbath Now when you look at this verse in this way, it astounds me that there's some who reject

God's claims on their time according to his moral law He ordains a specific day for worship in his moral law and we maintain that this is binding upon all

It's binding as a creation ordinance, but how much more so for those who've been redeemed It takes on all of all of that beautiful truth of our redemption and therefore it becomes a celebratory filled with Thanksgiving purposeful

Some reject this with the well -meant but very misleading claim that they worship God every day Which is wonderful like well,

I do devotions and family worship every day I don't need to devote a whole day full of all your restrictions in order to worship

God. I worship God every day But again here we are in Genesis 2 Unfolding the

Adam would have worshipped God every day as well He would have worshipped God and everything he did truly Adam was one who could eat and drink to the glory of God But even with Adam In a world without sin in a nature that was not depraved

Adam and Eve made with God's original righteousness Still required a day set apart for the concentrated worship of God Not only this

But you effectively empty the moral law of God as it was given in the Ten Commandments Makes the fourth commandment optional or a shadow and type which is not how we understand any of the other ten commandments

That's quite a dangerous thing to do in the way that we approach the scriptures Remember the

Sabbath to keep it holy That's the command remember the Sabbath To keep it.

Holy consider this the Sabbath was a gift to Israel it was a rest from their labor an opportunity to trust in the provision of God a

Picture and celebration of the redemption that was reflected to God in worship and thanksgiving

How much more is the Sabbath a gift to the church If this was true for Israel and God commanded them remember this

Sabbath keep it Holy how much more so for the true Israel the Israel of God the church? Sabbath is a gift to the church arrest from the labors of the week a picture of our salvation a

Worship that includes the foretaste of our great hope as we'll talk about in the third section. So let me ask the question

Are you viewing the Lord's Day as a gift? Or is it something wearisome to you

Do you count the blessings of the Lord's Day or the prohibitions?

If you have prohibitions All these things I would do but the Sun hasn't set yet We have jokes about the three stars

It could be that we're so preoccupied with the demands of the week to come That we cannot even see the

Lord's Day as a gift We do not even reflect upon it for its purpose Not just in terms of our creation, but in terms of our redemption

Now there are many different views on the Lord's Day even among the reformed if we we take the kind of broad swath of Protestant Christianity and we get as narrow as reformed which is pretty narrow even within the reformed camps

There's different approaches and applications of keeping the Lord's Day. Holy There's what we call the continental view and then perhaps the

Puritan view There are many different views and applications But what

I'm saying to you is don't go for the view As some reason which view lets me go to the movies and play sports and miss church.

That's that's the view I am You're not the Lord's Day as a gift Ryan McGraw Has an excellent book on the

Sabbath and and it's very approachable I'd recommend to you if you're if you're a meat -eater, so to speak and what you read

I think the best work on this topic and it actually would be an excellent book for you to read in terms of Genesis 1 through 3

Is Richard Barcellos B a r ce ll o s getting the garden, right?

by Founders Press excellent Excellent. He's a 1689 er, but it's it's heavy going

Ryan McGraw The day of worship. I believe that's the title. I might be off on the title

Ryan McGraw, I'd recommend him very approachable. You could do it as a family very practical and helpful He says this

I Maintain that our aversion to Sabbath -keeping is not always an exegetical or theological problem.

And this is true of most problems in the church It's rather a symptom of the greater problem of worldliness that entered into the church

When you read some of the older church historians like Philip Schaaf, he's interestingly coming out of a Lutheran perspective

Preachers like Thomas Peck, they all maintain The Sabbath the Christian keeping of the

Sabbath is the pillar of righteousness in society Very interesting, isn't it?

That was their way of looking at it Jesus is the Lord of the

Sabbath just to say that now is meaningless for most Christians Well, you know

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and the Sabbath was made for you. Oh, yeah, that's nice. I worship God every day

I think we're talking past each other here Jesus is the Lord of the

Sabbath if you run that by your unbelieving neighbors and co -workers. It just sounds bizarre You keep the

Sabbath what kind of cult do you belong to whereas this has been the historic practice of Protestant Christianity Therefore it is the church's failure that we've let what used to be a faithful torch that actually put pressure on the civil

Magistrate we would not be facing MacArthur's Church would not be facing some of the battles that we're facing today if the church had allowed the torch to remain aflame

Because we used to have a cultural impact Sunday I was too young You know by the time

I was young all this was beginning to erode but many of you in this congregation remember blue laws You remember that Sunday was a ghost town as far as businesses were concerned

Now there's precious even banks are beginning to open on Sunday There's almost nothing that's close to you on a Sunday and therefore even businesses are beginning to view

Sundays as workdays And we're beginning to as a society work ourselves to the bone. There's now no rhythm, but but profit and profitability

I need you to come in. I need you to work seven days a week I need you to keep hunting down that overtime and now all of a sudden

Your employment and your ability to provide is the Lord of your life Not the God who carves out time and says these days you work, but this day is my day

This day you commune with me It is the church's failure

What was once a great flaming torch that was impact in the culture has been reduced to a smoking ember and the

Lord's authority Therefore and the necessity of all of mankind to worship the true

Creator God Has now been marred as a witness The Lord of the

Sabbath barely has authority in our lives much less the culture and the world that he made

J. C. Ryle Says it so well, and he's writing again in the 19th century in England There is nothing in all of this to warrant the rash assertion of some that our

Lord has done away with the fourth commandment He's just saying again. This is moral law. It's abiding He manifestly speaks of the

Sabbath day as a privilege and a gift and only regulates the extent to which its observance should be

Enforced he shows that works of necessity and mercy may be done on the Sabbath day he being

Jesus But he says not a word to justify the notions that Christians need not remember the day to keep it.

Holy Let us be jealous Over our own conduct in the matter of observing the

Sabbath there is little danger Of the day being kept too strictly in the present age

He's writing in the 1800s. Oh that he would live to see our day There is far more danger he writes of its being profaned and forgotten entirely now was

Ryle a prophet I think so or is he just someone who understood the nature of humanity?

Let us contend earnestly for its preservation among us in all of its integrity Jesus is

Lord of the Sabbath And then it brings us to our third and last section the promise of the

Sabbath The promise of the Sabbath because as I said from the very beginning when

God Established this day and Genesis 2 1 through 3 emphasizes three times

Twice in very similar language and once with a little development and this is this is huge. This is emphatic

This is a red flag popping up and saying this is very important Because it takes on redemption and because of Christ it actually becomes a foretaste of a new heavens and a new earth

Which is rest entirely The promise of the Sabbath. Let me just again point to our confession and kind of show you the logic here.

Okay? We've already rehearsed this. I'll read it again as it is the law of nature That in general a proportion of time by God's appointment be set apart for the worship of God So by his word in a positive moral and perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages

He is particularly appointed one day and seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him. Now, here's the logic

Which from the beginning of the world? to the resurrection of Christ Was the last day of the week and from the resurrection of Christ Was changed into the first day of the week

Which is called the Lord's Day and is to be continued to the end of the world as the

Christian Sabbath The observation of the last day of the week being abolished now what's going on here?

The Sabbath was given as the seventh day at creation the end of the creation week and our confession states rightly

I believe That from the beginning of the world until the resurrection of Christ that was the Sabbath The idea was

God had finished the original work of creation and then he rested on that seventh day And so that seventh day was meant to be holy unto him

But notice what our confession says the Sabbath from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ Was the last day of the week.

So why don't we hold it on the last day of the week? It's because of the resurrection of Christ from the resurrection of Christ.

It was changed into the first day of the week from Adam to the end of Christ's earthly ministry

Old creation was still in view and therefore the the promulgation of the last

Sabbath the last day Sabbath the end of the week Sabbath was emphatic but now

Redemption has been accomplished Redemption has been applied Christ has come and the grave could not hold him and the last

Adam Has begun a new creation And he has risen victorious over all of his enemies even our last enemy which is death itself

He won this victory on the first day of the week as the true Adam the head and firstfruits of a new creation

Such that all those who are made in him are new Creations and look forward to a new heavens and a new earth the old creation has passed away because Jesus is the first fruits of this

Great. Hope therefore the resurrection is a whole new order of creation And what we're saying rightly so is the resurrection of Christ parallels creation in importance

That Christ rose at the beginning of the creation week as the

Harbinger of a new creation Is why

Christians? Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy the first day of the week

We see this pattern throughout the New Testament I won't belabor the point but Christians gather on the first day of the week

John 20 Luke 24 Disciples gathering on the first day of the week assembling on the first day of the week

John 20 26 Acts 2 1 as the Gospels being spread acts 20 verse 7 1st

Corinthians 16 to Revelation 1 10 John is in the spirit on the Lord's Day on the day of the

Lord By the end of the lifetime of the Apostles Christians referred to the first day of the week as the

Lord's Day What Lord the Lord of the Sabbath? the last

Adam The Creator God who's bringing a new heavens and new earth We gather to worship him as new creations new creatures made in him

We worship him we commune with him we celebrate him we anticipate the promise of our full redemption

And in that way the Christian Sabbath is a promise. It's not just a sign of Our original creation and it's not just the gift of time carved out from work for worship, but it's also a promise

It's a promise of who Jesus is as the last Adam and what he's come to do Jesus as the last

Adam takes his seed where the first Adam could not where he failed God created

Adam to be the glory and and God's goal for mankind, but he fell from that He lost that Aspect of God's image as we talked about he fell from original righteousness, and he could not be that glory because of his sin

Eden was this glorious place, but it was not the end It was rather a beginning to an end

And as Richard Barcellos writes it had within it Eden had within it the seeds of a better world a world where sin could not enter a

World that was not susceptible to lapse into a curse in the words of William D 'Ambryo

Eden Is a representation of what the world is to become? And what the world is to become is this eternal state of glory a new heavens?

A new earth that is the promised rest Even in Genesis 2 verse 3 that is the promised rest

Jesus the last Adam Jesus the one who brings his people into that glorious promised fulfillment of what the rest was always meant to be

Where do we see this? Psalm 95 we open the service of Psalm 95

We ended at verse 7 But if we take up verse 8 and following listen very closely

Psalm 95 verse 8 and following this is David Today If you will hear his voice

Do not harden your hearts As in the days of the rebellion as in the day of trial in the wilderness when your father's tested me they tried me

Though they saw my work For 40 years. I was grieved with that generation

And I said it is a people who go astray in their hearts And they do not know my ways and I swore in my wrath.

They shall not enter my rest So here's

Psalm 95 David is writing this psalm he's reflecting upon the wilderness generation and he says today

If you're hearing God's voice don't harden your hearts Remember that rebellious generation that God brought out of Egypt remember how they saw his works and yet in their hearts

They went astray from him and he swore they shall not enter my rest Now what's the rest

Well, you might answer if you're looking at Psalm 95, well the rest was apparently the promised land You know, this is this isn't the rest of Genesis 2, you know the

Sabbath This is the promised land right because that generation went astray and God swore in his wrath

He will not enter my rest and and they were prevented from entering the promised land. So the promised land is the rest It's a different kind of rest

When we come to Hebrews 4 and look at what the writer of the Hebrews explains Therefore this is beginning in verse 1

Hebrews chapter 4 therefore since a promise Sabbath has a promise

Since a promise remains of entering his rest Let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it

Now the writer of Hebrews is writing to Christians who are feeling the pressure of apostatizing from the faith

Can't we just go back to Judaism, you know, it's a little hot to be in the Christian kitchen

Can't we just go back to kind of following God and our Jewish ways. The Romans are cool with that. Is that okay with you

Paul? Therefore since a promise remains of entering his rest

Let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it for indeed the gospel was preached to us

As well as to them But the word which they heard did not profit them not being mixed with faith in those who heard it for we who have believed

Do enter that rest? What's this rest we're entering now, is it the rest of salvation as he said

Quote so I swore in my wrath. They shall not enter my rest. Do you see what Hebrews 4 is doing? It is quoting

Psalm 95 We Christians now, let's fear God that we don't come short of the gospel, which we've heard but they heard it, too

Let us persevere knowing what God said to them. We as Christians we enter that rest

But they don't God said to them. I swore in my wrath. They shall not enter my rest And he picks up again, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world

He understands that the rest is the creation Sabbath, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world for he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day in this way and God rested on the seventh day from all his works.

Do you recognize that? That's Genesis 2 The rest

Of Psalm 95 is not the promised land Exclusively as something separate.

It's the rest that was already promised in Genesis 2 and Again in this place, they shall not enter my rest

So the rest of Genesis 2 is not fulfilled when Adam and Eve Kept the Sabbath and it wasn't fulfilled when

Israel was brought into the promised land Therefore it remains that some must enter it and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of just disobedience

Again, he designates a certain day saying in David today After such a long time

Now this is in Genesis 2. This is David's generation. They're in the promised land. They entered the rest, right?

No today if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts for if Joshua Remember Joshua's leading the people into the promised land the land of rest if Joshua had given them rest

Then he would not after would have spoken of another day. Therefore there remains a rest for the people of God For he who has entered his rest has himself ceased from his works as God did from his let us therefore be diligent to enter

That rest. Do you see what Hebrews 4 is doing? The Sabbath is a promise it always has been a promise

But it was a promise that could not be revealed until we understood that Rest was set apart from the very beginning of creation as a time to be in the presence of God in the blessed of his communion

But of course Adam fell from that and so God made an Adam into Israel as it were and he said

I'm releasing you from the bondage of this fallen world from the evil empire and tyranny of Egypt and I'm going to lead you into this sort of New heavens new earth a land flowing with milk and honey a place where you can finally commune with me and have the bliss of my presence

But they did not conquer sin in the land and indeed they rebelled and their hearts went astray And so they didn't enter into the rest

But that rest was never just the promised land the promised land was a type in a shadow of a new heavens and a new

Earth and the writer of Hebrews is saying Jesus our last Adam our

Joshua He's leading us toward that promised place He's leading us into that rest that was given to Adam and Eve.

He is the Lord of the Sabbath So then the whole Sabbath is a promise

It's a promise in a nutshell what I'm saying is this

Jesus as The last Adam is the Lord of the Sabbath the first fruits of God's salvation rest

That's rest the fullness of not just being in the presence of our

Creator Enjoying and communing with him But but even our Redeemer the one who at the cost of his own blood of his own life spent has brought us into the state of rest

Culminating in a new heavens in a new earth and he is presently leading us to that promised

Rest Every time you as a Christian keep the Sabbath you're declaring this hope this promise

Jesus is leading me. May I be diligent to enter into that rest? Jesus help me

Jesus lead me The Lord's Day is this powerful means of grace

It trains us in righteousness, but it also teaches us to the light and the fact that Christ is leading us to a rest that He has won

That he has purchased for his people When we set apart a day to worship our

Creator and our Redeemer with grateful and Heartfelt worship we are pronouncing this promise to the world man was not made to work himself to a bone and then cease to be

Man was made always for the rest and the light of communing with God To live in his presence and worship him man was made for this glory

And though we work and set this part We're looking forward to a new heavens a new earth when all of this will be fulfilled

Let me say to you brothers and sisters practically as we come to a close The more we call the

Sabbath of the light The more will naturally sanctify it I'm convinced that the way you set this day apart of the way you sanctify it

It's not by making a list of do's and don'ts taking the Pharisee route It's it's rather by delighting in it and the more you delight in what the

Sabbath is And what the Sabbath is as a sign and as a gift and as a promise you will begin to naturally

Intuitively sanctify it you won't need a list of do's and don'ts because it'll be coming out of your heart so to speak

You'll already understand the purposes and therefore the callings of the day. I don't want to do a sermon giving papal declarations of the minutest details about what counts as Sabbath observance

Because I don't think that's the right way to actually follow God's command when our sole focus is on devoting a day to communing with God and and worshiping him even through the means of Being with friends and family and doing works of mercy and all these other things that Jesus taught us are a part of this day

We begin to realize how the glorious gospel of his son is the very center of the Sabbath Not only in that I cannot keep the

Sabbath as I meant to without Christ But also in the sense that it's a day of enjoying and celebrating the truth of that gospel

It's all about the glorious gospel. Remember what Bruce Ray said as a sign of grace

The Sabbath declares that salvation depends upon the power of God it depends upon this last

Adam Bringing us preparing us for a new heavens in a new earth The Sabbath rest is a picture of the gospel

Not just that I cease from my nine -to -five But that I cease from this this bent default of trying to earn my way to God's presence

When I see it as a sign of what's been done for me God just plucked me out of Egypt because he heard my groaning when

I see it as as this gift God wants me to know him more and to spend time in his presence and to commune with him

When I see it as his promise, this is what he's doing in my life My Jesus is leading me into a conquest and I need to get rid of these

Canaanites in my body so to speak so that I can dwell in this promised rest when I view it as a

Sign and as a gift and as a promise I begin to radiate the rest that pictures the gospel

The Sabbath brothers and sisters what I'm saying is the Sabbath is meant for weary and heavy laden sinners

You should feel refreshed and nourished Not just because you're not doing the work that you do the other six days of the week

But because you've encountered God through the gospel of Christ his son again And there's a sense in which you've come to him heavy laden and weary from the week not just the works the practical works

You're you know handling your toddlers and scrubbing applesauce stains and things like that But what you've come to him through the gospel and all these works of trying to merit and earn his favor

You realize all of that's put aside. Now. You've come to embrace him as a gift that he is

And therefore the rest is not just finally a day off the rest is I'm satisfied in him because he's satisfied in me through Christ Christ is the

Lord of the Sabbath He's the joy of the Sabbath, he's the rest of the

Sabbath Joseph Hart penned these words

Come ye sinners poor and needy Weak and wounded sick and sore Can you not hear the

Israelite slaves groaning in this kind of way in Egypt? And God says

I'm gonna give you a Sabbath Come ye sinners poor and needy we can wounded sick and sore

Jesus ready stands to save you full of pity love and power come ye thirsty Come and welcome

God's free bounty glorified true belief and true repentance every grace that brings you nigh

Including a day set apart unto him Come ye weary heavy laden lost ruined by the fall

If you wait until you're better You will never come at all The Sabbath is this invitation you're weary.

You're groaning. You're enslaved You've been lost and ruined by the fall come come to him.

Don't wait till you're better come Come to this Lord of the Sabbath come to this rest rest in the gospel of his son commune with him

Spend time devoted to him And the refrain is I will arise and go to Jesus He will embrace me in his arms in the arms of my dear

Savior. Oh, there are 10 ,000 charms. I Have not always kept the

Sabbath in my life for most of my church life. The Sabbath had nothing to do There was no thought toward that.

It was just our what we do as Christians as we go to church And that's our holy part of the week And I had an elder that began to sit me down without explaining things in this kind of detail

He just encouraged me to vote the whole day. Just you know prepare ahead of time to just Maximize your ability to be present with people from church present with family and friends

Make it as restful and delightful a day as possible Even as you're mindful throughout the day of the means of grace that God has given to you and And when

I read this line in the arms of my dear Savior, oh, there are 10 ,000 charms I mean, I've only been keeping the

Sabbath a handful of years and struggling to keep it frankly. I Wonder if you like me feel like you've taken some steps backward

Because of that I feel like I've only experienced maybe eight and a half charms That are in the arms of my dear

Savior Brothers and sisters when you set apart this day to commune with them there are 10 ,000 charms waiting for you

The Sabbath rest is a picture of the gospel That's the beauty of it at creation, it's it's the law it's reflected in the moral law, but for the

Christian it's the gospel It's the gospel Calling for weary and heavy laden sinners not just workers sinners

To come to Jesus and to commune with him and to begin to enter into his rest

Knowing that the fullness of it is only shortly ahead May the

Lord of the Sabbath help us to keep his day as a sign and as a gift and as a promise.

Let's pray Father we thank you for your word

Lord We thank you for the intricate beauty of things that take us from the very beginning of your

Bible to the very end of it This Sabbath Lord that as soon as it was given in Genesis 2 was already speaking about the end time fulfillment of Jesus that the rest that you gave to mankind

From the very beginning was only ever a shadow and a type of the fullness of the rest that would come through the last man through the last

Adam Jesus Oh Lord what bliss is there to be found in a day set apart

Devoted exclusively to communing with you as a pronouncement as a declaration and also as an experience of The salvation rest that you have wrought through Christ As he's leading us toward this promise rest

Lord like Joshua led the Israelites were reminded that there are many enemies to subdue There are threats within through weakness and disobedience and straying hearts, but there are threats without Lord we live in a hostile world a world that does not recognize your authority over time

Your declaration of why we work and what we work for your purpose is for humanity

Lord We've rebelled against those and therefore we self -enslaved we make ourselves miserable purposeless

Groaning and wearying ourselves and so Lord we're thankful That you give us the Sabbath as a gift and you remind us when you come in the flesh

To see all those do's and don'ts lists and all those things that made the Sabbath so burdensome you remind us

That man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man. You've told us Lord that you are the

Lord of the Sabbath Help us as a church to know more what that means Help us as families

Lord to to take some time even today to reconsider ways that we have not understood and perhaps not

Fruitfully practice a separation of this day making it wholly unto you and unto your purposes

Help us as individuals Lord to experience The rest of coming as we are weary and heavy laden from works and from sins

And coming into the glorious gospel rest of our Savior finding the charms of resting in communion with him

Saved and washed clean by his blood able to enter his presence with boldness Help us to keep that Sabbath to remember it and make it holy