God's Design in Rest Part 1 Exodus 20:8-11

The Sabbath as God’s Design for Rest

Life is busy. Everyone here knows it. It's non-stop. During the week you have work schools coming up. Sorry to break it to you young children family obligations. Bills need to be paid and you need time for people whether it's family or friends.

Sometimes it seems like there isn't enough time During the week to accomplish what you need to and to accomplish what you want to. We're so often driven by a fear that if everything doesn't get done Then everything will fall apart.

With all that is on our plate it becomes survival. Just to keep up. In order to keep up something has to be sacrificed. Something has to be cut off from your schedule and what is typically cut off is rest.

Rest not partial rest but full Rest a day where you completely give it over to the Lord and do restful Activities where the focus is on worshiping him. We think the idea of having one day off with no work is Not an option because work needs to be done and deadlines need to be met.

You know like the old Harry Chapman song cats on the cradle bills to pay right planes to catch. Bills to pay. It just seems like there's too much. There's too many deadlines life is too busy. When you read the Bible though you see that God created the universe in six literal 24-hour days.

He created the the world and everything in it in one week. And when you read the creation account in Genesis 1 what you learn is that the Lord took a day off. He worked for six days. He created everything in six days and then he rested on The seventh if you can if you think you can get a lot done in one week.

Think of what the Lord did in six days. He created everything in six Days, he created hundreds of billions of galaxies. Including the incredible place of planet Earth that we live on. We need to ask the question.

Why did God create everything in six days and rest on the seventh? He did this for a specific reason. He didn't have to do it this way, but he chose to do it this way. He did this as a model for you and me for mankind.

The creatures that alone and all of creation are created in his own image. He set it up as a model that you would work hard for six days. And then one day a week you would devote it to rest. And be rejuvenated.

For another week of work and during this week you are to accomplish everything that he designed for you to accomplish. And you will never run out of time. Because God has a design for your life and has designed that during that week of six days of work.

And one day of rest. You would accomplish Everything that he planned for you to accomplish now this morning. We are focusing on the fourth commandment to Observe the Sabbath two Sundays ago. We did the first two commandments.

We did that one sermon because they really tied closely together. The first commandment is you shall have no other gods before me. The second commandment is you shall not make for yourself a carved image or any human likeness.

In other words no idols. The third commandment Was one week ago and we saw we are not to take the Lord's name in vain. And what we saw is it is it's not just Using God's name in vain like oh my god or God I mean I'm using it as a swear word.

Taking the Lord's name in vain is so much more than that. When we carelessly worship him that's taking in the Lord's name in When we use his name to our advantage For some selfish reason that's taking in the Lord's name in vain.

So we saw that one week ago. Now what's interesting is that when you look at the Ten Commandments This fourth commandment keeping the Sabbath is the most unique of them all and This is so because we are not under The Old Covenant Which is also known as the Mosaic?

Covenant the Mosaic law. Because we live at a different time in history we live during the church age and when Jesus came to the earth and accomplished his finished work at the cross and Through his glorious resurrection that age the Old Covenant age came to an end.

This is symbolized with the curtain of the temple being torn in two as Matthew 2751 describes happening as Christ died on the cross the old age left and the new age came as Hebrews 8 13 says in speaking of a new covenant.

He makes the first one obsolete in other words the new covenant accomplished in Christ Replaces the Old Covenant that God gave to Moses and the people of Israel. What this means is that God's people no longer need to offer sacrifices for sins at the temple because Hebrews 727 says Christ's sacrifice on the cross was once for all.

There's no need also for ceremonial sacrifices because all these sacrifices Pointed ahead to Christ. There's no longer a need to keep the feasts as obedience to God because every Old Testament feast Pointed ahead to the Messiah as you can understand this.

What's the whole point of the sacrificial system? What's the whole point of the feasts? All of this pointed ahead to one person Jesus Christ the Messiah. It all finds its fulfillment in him whether literal fulfillment or Pointing ahead to this picture That he was going to fulfill.

So the Sabbath is similar to everything. I just mentioned these ceremonial Commands that were given to the people of Israel that they were to follow and to not follow them in the Old Testament period was to sin.

The Lord laid down these rules they were to do these very things and one of those things was To keep the Sabbath. The Sabbath is unique in the list of the Ten Commandments. What this means is that nine of the Ten Commandments are moral Universal laws and they apply to every person at every point in history.

Obviously Murder was wrong for the Israelites and it's wrong for us today. But Cain killed Abel long before the law was given. It was wrong. There's no debate on murder. Although as I wrote this I'm like, oh apparently apparently there is a debate on murder because Abortion is murder.

But there should be no debate. Stopping a beating heart in the womb is murder from conception to the birth date. But obviously if anybody is walking around and someone shoots that person, okay, everybody's gonna agree.

Okay, that was bad. Even the most radical people even to this point Agree with that, but when it comes to the Sabbath, it is different because it isn't a moral law. So the question is does this apply to us today?

If it is commanded to God's people in the Old Testament. Then this is something that we should pay attention to as God's people who live under the New Covenant. So this time I encourage you to turn in a Bible with me to Exodus chapter 20.

We will be looking at verses 8 through 11. Some of these commands are a little bit longer than others. Some are most of them are just one verse but this one is in fact four verses. This sermon is titled God's design and rest at this time.

Let's read This command the fourth commandment that the Lord gave to the people of Israel verses 8 through 11. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it. Holy Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God on it.

You shall not do any Work you or your son or your daughter? Your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner? Who is within your gates? For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and Made it holy.

Here's what this Text what this sermon is calling each of you to do who live in 2024. Yeah, they lived long ago. We live in 2024. There still is something that we are to take away from this and that is this devote one day each week fully to the Lord.

Devote One day each week fully to the Lord and we're gonna see four reasons. Why this is gonna take us two Sundays to get through we're gonna get through to the first two reasons why today? The first reason why is this and you'll see this in your outline to remember God's works in history.

This first statement in verse 8 of Exodus 20 tells us that this is something that God mentioned to Israel. Beforehand you see it with the word remember remember the Sabbath in Exodus 16 verse 23 God mentioned to Israel that they should should work six days and rest on the seventh.

This is what the Lord commanded. This is what the Lord commanded. Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil and all that is left over lay aside.

To be kept till the morning so the Lord Even before he's delivered the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel. He's already told them to do this in Exodus 1623 and. So we see that repeated in the Ten Commandments to Moses and the people of Israel.

What we learn is that this command this command already given is a very important one. The ten it's one of the Ten Commandments. Keep the Sabbath. One of the big Ten Commandments, it's interesting when we talk about the United States Constitution.

What people are most familiar with in the entire Constitution is what? The Bill of Rights the first ten amendments. What's interesting about if you're gonna look at all the laws in the Bible. What laws are people most familiar with it is the Ten Commandments and the Sabbath is one of those commandments.

The Sabbath remembrance would come around not once a year, but once every single week. It is a day to take a special focus to praise and to thank the Lord. The day of remembrance to the Lord is to be a purposeful day.

We are to remember what we are called to remember something significant from the past and of course in our lives we have significant events from the past and in our country we have significant events from the past in Late May the last weekend of May on Monday.

Every single year we observe Memorial Day. This is a day of remembrance. Every year as we remember those who served our country in the armed forces and we remember specifically those who died so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have in this land a Memorial Day people have different traditions.

One tradition in our area is that people go to New Home Cemetery, which is a couple miles away where we remember those who lived in Eureka and Served our country and fell in battle. In fact, if you go by Kyle and Abbey's house, there's a.

There's a memorial a sign there. I think I think Bob put that up, right? One of those men who died in World War two served he lived in Eureka and we every every Memorial Day his name is called at that cemetery as As the gun salute takes place as he is remembered and everybody who has fallen for our freedoms.

Fort Snelling near Minneapolis Airport, by the way, not a great place to be buried but my we joke about it because my dad's gonna be buried there like it's like the least peaceful place, but It is a solemn place because this is a place where all the military Have died and and this is where they are honored.

It's a popular place to visit. People also put up flags in their yards every year. People are purposeful on Memorial Day. We have traditions like this in our society where we set aside a day of remembrance and What God did is he set up this seventh day of rest to be?

Purposeful for the people of Israel and as we have a day of rest we are to be purposeful also. So what are we supposed to remember? There are two clear things from Scripture that you are to remember on your day of rest.

The first is that you are to remember God the Creator. That he created the world in six days and then he rested on the seventh. So every time you observe the Sabbath you are reminded of Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 2.

Which describes the creation? Thank you the Lord Lord, thank you for all that you have created and how wonderful it is. Now Genesis chapter 1 there's a big debate. Concerning whether Genesis 1 is figurative and whether it is literal and I do think it ties in with as we as we look at the Sabbath.

Because when we talk about the Sabbath, we got a look at Genesis 1. I mean that the two go hand-in-hand and This debate I'm going to tell you right now. It shouldn't really be a debate because it's pretty obvious.

It should be interpreted literally. God created the world in six literal 24 hour days. Genesis 1 is telling history as it happened. Do you know why people say that these days are not literal? It's not because of careful exegesis a careful effort to understand the text they are trying to reconcile Genesis 1 with secular modern science and The key word there is secular.

We shouldn't care what secular science says. If the Bible says that God created the world in six literal 24 hour days and the earth is in fact young. Then we should expect to see that in the study of the world.

This is clearly seen. Alan Walker our resident scientist I call him. Yeah, he could tell you all about that. In fact Heather Taylor did an assignment in school where she made a brochure Explaining why science actually tells us why the earth is young.

And what I have found interesting is that the people that have Compromised in recent years on social justice being really soft on homosexuality and other societal issues. Almost all of them believe the earth is old.

Coincidence, I think not. When you've already bought into worldly thinking it's not shocking that when the world comes around and pushes another idea. Pushes another agenda these Christian leaders go right along with the new agenda.

This past week. I was on a podcast where we talked about big big Eva corruption. And here's not here's how I understand it. They have one eye on the Bible and one eye on the world. Okay, one eye on the Bible one eye on the world.

We're supposed to have two eyes on the Bible. And not pay attention to what the world is saying. Very important if we're gonna be faithful to Christ so Genesis 1 describes God's creation as it happened historically in Genesis 2 verses 1 through 3 summarizes this creation as those verses read thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them and on the Seventh-day God finished his work that he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation so every time Israel would take off one day a week. They would be drawn back to this event God creating everything in Six days and resting on the seventh.

This is what they were brought back to the other thing that the people of Israel Were reminded of every single Sabbath is that God redeemed them from? Egypt this great historical event that took place Right before the Ten Commandments were delivered to them.

Remember they're taken out of the land of Egypt. They were held in bondage by Pharaoh. They're taken out of the land and as they are wandering in the wilderness the Lord gives them at Mount Sinai. He gives them these Ten Commandments.

Deuteronomy 5 verses 12 through 15 says observe the Sabbath day to keep it Holy as the Lord your God commanded you six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your Livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God Brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Okay, so that's very interesting. He wants them to remember the creation account. He wants them to remember what he Accomplished that he delivered them out of Egypt and he did it. Of course. He gets the glory.

It was he who led them out and he wants them to to give him praise. Every week when they come together on the Sabbath day this day of rest Devoted to the Lord. Now we live at a different time in history and we should praise God.

Yes for what he did to Israel when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. When he brought them across the Red Sea and eventually to the promised land but we live on the other side of the cross and The redemption that God accomplished by bringing Israel out of Egypt shows something about the Lord's character.

He is a God that redeems that redeems his people that takes them out of the slavery that they are in and Brings them to freedom. He did that with the people of Israel when they were in Egypt and he does it to us With the slavery that we are in because of our bondage to sin.

Anyone who believes in Jesus and his finished work what he did at the cross Through his glorious resurrection if you believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose From the dead for you if you believe this.

Well, then you're saved your sins are forgiven. His righteousness is your righteousness. You are free. Jesus said this in John 8. The truth will set you free and you will be free indeed. Everybody is a slave on planet earth.

The question is who is your master? You're either a slave to Sin and Satan and the world or you are a slave to Jesus Christ and he is your master. But the amazing thing about being a slave to Jesus Christ is that is the greatest thing that could ever happen to you.

His yoke is easy and his burden is light. With him is fullness of joy. He is the master you've always wanted. So as we observe the Sabbath, we are to remember what he did on our behalf when he went to the cross.

God's redemption accomplished through Jesus Christ. So we give praise to God for his works and history chiefly among those is what? Happened at Golgotha when Christ Accomplished our salvation for us. So in this sermon that is calling you to take off one day a week for the Lord specifically remember God's creation and remember the redemption that the Lord has accomplished on your behalf in Jesus Christ.

So the first reason why you must devote one day each week fully to the Lord is To remember God's works in history. Remember God's works in history. And here's the second reason why and this is the the the only the only other one.

We're going to look at today. The second reason why you must devote one day each week fully to the Lord and that is this to rest from your work. God has a plan for you to work and to rest. But when you only rest do we call that rest?

What do we call it? Laziness. It's only arrest if you work and As I have mentioned the Lord modeled this in creation. He worked six days and rested on the seventh. God could have created everything instantly.

And he said I create everything but instead we have this elaborate account of him. This is what he did on day one. This is what he did on day two. This is what he did on day three. It's like a carpenter.

This is what he did on day one day two day three day four. I mean you look at your work week. This is this was what the Lord did. He had a work week when he created everything. The Lord modeled this he worked six days and then after six days he rested on the seventh day.

Not because he got tired. But because he was setting us an example. Now when I was younger My father used to work out downstairs. He had all this Workout equipment down there. He was a weightlifter and you could tell by looking at me right that he was a weightlifter.

No, I'm kidding in fact. My father I got more of the Swedish genes when it comes to my build because I got more of a I was a runner. He was a weightlifter and at one time. This doesn't have anything to do with the sermon, but I'm just gonna tell you because I want to break on my father.

He actually lifted close to 400 pounds. He could bench almost 400 pounds and The bronze could tell you how much that is. That's a lot. But down in the basement, he had all this workout equipment and as he worked out.

He had friends from church who would come and work out and as a child I used to go down and bother them as they worked out. I was this little annoying kid who sat on the stairs and watched them. But what I didn't understand as a child is Why didn't they work out every day?

They wouldn't be down there every day. They would they would go down there three four days a week and Then they would rest the other days. Why is this? This is the case. Because this is how God designed it.

You're not supposed to work out seven days a week. Because your body needs time to refresh and recover so that your muscles are able to grow stronger and I mentioned, you know Jordan and Sierra and Lucy and and Hannah, right?

I mean you're all into this lifting. They could tell you how this works when one lifts weights the muscle tissue tears and you need rest. For the muscles to maintain strength and to add more strength now I have run a lot in my life and Followed distance running as well.

And as I have watched races over the years you hear how some runners train and it's very interesting. You can tell that they haven't read the Bible. Some runners run seven days a week. And when I hear this, I'm thinking what in the world are they doing?

They're working against their creator. They're going against his design. But sometimes Christian runners I've heard of. You know, Eric little would have been one of these the famous Olympian who competed in the Paris Olympics 100 years ago, and I'm gonna talk a little bit about him next week.

Eric little understood we're supposed to rest one day. It's best for your body to rest one day a week. So so when I and during my running years the peak of my running years I would run six days and I would rest one day and it worked well for me.

And by doing that I increased my performance not decreased like some think. This is how it is with exercise and it's also this way with work. We are not to work seven days a week. If you work seven days a week.

What happens is that your productivity will go down? Your longevity will go down. Your mental state will not be at its sharpest level. This goes against how we might think. We have to think if I just keep working and working hard.

I'll get more done and I'll feel better. But this is not so. Because this isn't how God made it. Work hard. Yes but rest rest now in our area. I Don't need to preach a sermon on lazy people because I don't know if we have lazy people.

I mean Now back where I used to live we had lazy people out here. I don't see lazy people. But what we do have are workaholics. In fact when I came here, I Learned that people thought a good man or a good woman was someone who just worked.

They're a hard worker and just worked hard and just worked hard and Without taking a day off and I'm thinking oh that that that's a that's a flawed thinking that needs to be corrected. Because that's not what the Bible teaches and I say this in love.

We should not work seven days a week. Please understand this if you work seven days a week. You are going against God's to good design for work in creation. Now. There might be a dairy farmer here. I understand that there are some jobs where it's like, okay, we have to milk the cow.

But there still needs to be rest as much as you can within that day. Sometimes people ask the question Will there be work in heaven. And as I'm as I'm talking about work, I want to talk about this for a second.

And I think the answer is yes. Because work is good. The reason we know this is because Adam and Eve worked in the garden before the fall of mankind in Genesis chapter 3. Genesis 2 15 says the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work and to keep it.

So Adam worked before the fall so we know that work is good. However, you might be thinking how could work be good because I don't like work. Work is hard. You might have a job you don't like and. Well, some work days might be okay or even good other work days are miserable.

The reason your work is miserable some days is because you work during the fall. The fall of mankind brought this about this is one of the curses of mankind. Anytime you have a bad day of work. Understand this.

Genesis 3 verses 18 through 19 describes this curse on man thorns and thistles. It shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face. You shall eat bread till you return to the ground.

You have some days where you're thinking did I accomplish anything? You're just hitting your head on the wall you're gonna have days like that because that's a part of the curse. That we see in Genesis chapter 3.

But even though this is your experience some days work in itself is a good thing. What we know about work and rest is that you only feel good resting when you work hard. When you have days where you do something enjoyable, it is enjoyable.

But if you did leisure activities every single day All throughout the day you should think what am I doing? I'm supposed to be productive. That's how God made it to be. He made it so that we work to make a living to provide for ourselves and our families.

Too much leisure Leaves you with an empty feeling but when we have the right balance of work and rest. Ideally working six days and resting on the seventh. We have this deep sense of satisfaction. God made it that way you earned your rest.

This is how we feel because this is how God set it up. What is interesting is that the first explicit blessing that God gave in the Bible is rest as Genesis 2 3 says God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.

It is a blessing from God that he commands us to rest. He is telling us don't work and work and work rest rest. But we think there's so much to do yes, there is a lot to do and there's always gonna be a lot to do.

The day you die, there's gonna be a lot to do. But someone else is gonna have to do it for you. Think about the end of your life. Will you think I wished I worked more? Only if you're truly lazy might you say that.

But you're not going to say that because I'm not talking to lazy people here. You're not gonna say I wish I got that extra day of work. There is the blessing of rest that God has set aside for you to enjoy.

It's a blessing. But the question is are You taking advantage of it. The Hebrew word Sabbath literally means to cease from work in Verses 9 and 10 of Exodus 20. We are told that no work must be done. The Lord goes out of his way in explaining what this means.

So that it was crystal clear to the Israelites because they may be thinking. Oh, well, maybe I could do this. Maybe I could do that. This is this is what he tells them. It says your son your daughter your male servant your female servant your Livestock even and even the sojourner should not be working.

The command of the people of Israel is that all of them were to rest from their labor. I Think what can be easy and I fall prey to this is that we can mix a little bit of work in with time of rest on.

The day that is supposed to be set aside as a day of rest and this is what Israel did after the Babylonian exile as They now lived in Jerusalem. Israel historically was taken into captivity by the Babylonians in 605 BC and there are many reasons Israel was taken in that captivity.

Yeah. Yes. It was because of their idolatry. But one of the reasons they were taken in that captivity is that they stopped observing in the fourth commandment. After they came to Jerusalem out of exile Nehemiah the governor Went after the people of Israel.

Because they were disobeying God in this same way once again by not Observing the Sabbath and this is what Nehemiah said in chapter 13 Verses 15 through 18. This is the book of Nehemiah in those days.

I saw in Judah a people treading wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on the donkeys and and Also wine grapes figs and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

I warned them on the day when they sold food. Tyrians also who lived in the city Brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem itself. Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them.

What is this evil thing that you are doing? Profaning the Sabbath day did not your father's act in this way and did not our God Bring all this disaster on us and on the city. Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath so the people of Israel were doing a little bit of work and a little bit of resting.

But this is the rebuke they were given they were not devoting one day this one day fully to the Lord. Instead they were working. They were still doing work. And Nehemiah is telling them this is one of the reasons why we were judged in such a severe way.

By being taken into exile by the Babylonians. So learn from history the mistakes of your forefathers. Resist the temptation to work on the one day a week that is fully devoted to him and this one hits me.

I know what it's like to do that Brianna could tell you I'm not. I'm not real good at this. Okay. So I'm in this with you we need to to pay attention to this and Take this seriously. It is a physical day of rest, but it's also a spiritual day of rest.

It's supposed to rest you in multiple ways. Psalm 62 one says for God alone. My soul waits in silence from him comes my salvation. The NIV says for God alone. My soul rests in Silence and The place I love to go to and I think about Sabbath rest is psalm 23.

Psalm 23 the most famous psalm there is the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

That's what the Lord is in the business of doing. He is in the business of restoring our soul. Not just rejuvenating in our physical health but our soul. If our soul is tired our body will be tired too because they're so interconnected the body and soul that God created our soul needs to be in the right place with the Lord and By devoting one day each week fully to him He accomplishes that in us.

That's his design. So the Sabbath is not just a day of physical rest, but a day of spiritual rest to the Lord. It is a day to have communion with the Lord to enjoy him because he is to be enjoyed above all else and to be refreshed and We'll talk more about this Next Sunday when we look at point three.

Where we talk when we look at what does it look like to worship the Lord on? This day of rest and I love looking at this because it's such a joy because I think deep down. We're all longing for this rest.

Our soul gets tired. We get tired physically. We're all longing for this and the Bible has the answers to this. And so next week we're gonna dig even deeper into this as we look at the third and fourth reason why?

We are to devote one day fully to the Lord every single week and we're also going to answer the question what day? Can we choose a different day? We'll look at that one Sunday from now but at this time.

Let's bow our heads in prayer. Father in heaven as we look at this we are reminded of what Jesus said. Come all to me who are weary and heavy laden. For I will give them rest and they will find rest for their souls.

And that's what we all need. When we come to faith in Christ we find rest, but this is a continual Journey of finding rest in you as we go through our sojourn on this earth. And Lord help us. To devote one day fully to you every single week.

To have one day that's special just as you told the Israelites to have one day devoted to you. It's not as if we just completely disregard this fourth Commandment even though it does change it does change, but we are not to completely disregard this.

So my prayers that you would apply this to everyone today right where they're at and Also prepare our hearts to hear what we're gonna hear next Sunday as well on this in Jesus name Amen.