If you could look on the back page of your bulletin, I want to call to your attention the dates of our conference, be here just in a few weeks. We'll have services Friday night. Sean Reynolds will come and preach for us Friday night, and then Saturday morning and Sunday morning with lunch afterwards, and Caleb Hickman and Todd Neither will be preaching for us on Saturday and Sunday. So just wanted to remind you to ask the Lord now and often as you're able to bless that time for his glory and entire hearts.

Also, several of you have asked about our daughter, Jennifer. She's home not doing well. She has a major procedure coming up at Mayo Clinic this Friday, the day after Christmas. And we covet your prayers for her. Adam asked me to lead you together as a church family in prayer for her this morning. So I want to do that. Let's pray together.

Our Heavenly Father, We thank you for the healing of our sin. We thank you, Lord, that by the stripes that the Lord Jesus suffered at Calvary's cross, we have been healed, and that we are in Christ Jesus, whole, perfect, and sinless before thee. Lord, what comfort, what hope, and what peace speaks to our hearts by your spirit when we meditate on these things. We also know, Lord, that you have the power to heal physically and how often you have blessed us with physical healing and with the blessings that we need not only for our life eternal, but for our life here in this world. Lord, we pray that you would direct the hands of the physicians that will minister to Jennifer on Friday of this week, and Lord, that you'd make them skillful. We know that they are instruments of healing in your hand. Lord, we pray that you would direct them, and we pray that your hand of strength and healing would be upon Jennifer's body. And we ask, Lord, that you would speak peace and comfort and hope and grace and joy to our hearts as we wait on thee. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.

If you'd open your Bibles with me to the ninth chapter of John. The ninth chapter of John. I've titled this message, Christ Divides. Christ Divides.

We have a neighbor that has a very large sign in their yard a Christmas holiday season sign. And it says what we hear so much in the world today. In great big letters, it has the word peace, peace. And I'm sure that those words are taken from what the angels said when they announced the birth of the Lord Jesus to those shepherds and said to them unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And with that angel came a multitude of heavenly host, a multitude of heavenly host, crying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, peace, goodwill to all men. Who doesn't want peace on earth? And yet later on, the Lord tells us There will be wars and rumors of wars until I come again.

30 years after those angels made that announcement that there would be peace on earth, the Lord Jesus stood up and said this, suppose ye that I came to bring peace on earth, I tell you, nay, Not peace, but division. What happened in that space of 30 years? Why to the natural ear does that message seem opposite? Well, it might seem opposite because what the angels were declaring is not that this one born in Bethlehem would bring peace among men, but that he himself would be the prince of peace with God. That the only way that a sinner could be at peace with God would be to be found in him. Not having their own righteousness, which is by the works of the law, but that righteousness which is by the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who would obey his father faithfully, the one who would establish a righteousness that would be pleasing to God, the one who would satisfy God's justice by putting away the sins of his people and offering himself up as the only sacrifice so that God would be able to say, when I see the blood, I'll pass by you. I'll pass by you.

We have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture says that men love the praise of men more than the praise of God, and most people are more concerned about having peace on earth with men than they are with having peace with God in heaven.

But to have one, peace with God in heaven, means that In many, many ways, the peace with men and our peace in this world, the comforts and joys and pleasures of life that men are able to rest in for us will be but fleeting moments that provide really no lasting comfort and no lasting peace.

Suppose ye that I came to bring peace on the earth, I say unto thee, nay, not peace, but division. You're going to experience division, first of all, with yourself. You're going to be a contradiction to yourself. Having peace with God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're gonna see an old man that you never saw before. You're gonna see a dead corpse strapped to your back that you're going to be burdened with and bearing the rest of your life that you never knew was there. And you will have a spirit that will war against your flesh and a flesh that will war against your spirit so that you cannot be what you want to be. Perfect, sinless, at perfect peace with God, not just in the person of your substitute, but in your experience.

and you'll look beyond this world in which you have no peace. And you will long for that day when the fullness of God's peace will be made. That day when you will be made like him. And that body of death that you're carrying about, that body of dust will go back to where it came from. From dust you came and to dust you shall return. And the mortal will be made immortal and the body will be made eternal. What a day, what a day.

You see the peace that men are looking for in this world cannot be for the child of God. There will be, as the Lord said, members of your own household that you'll not be at peace with because of the gospel. Now, we're not looking for contention. The scripture, the Lord said, be at peace with all men whenever possible. And we ought to make every concession in the world to love and be at peace with anybody and everybody that we can. But when it comes to the truth of the gospel, here, we must draw the line. Here, we must stand with God. And wherever that leaves me with other men, so be it. If God be for me, who can be against me?

Our Lord had just healed a blind man on the Sabbath day. On the Sabbath day. You have your Bibles open to John chapter nine. Look at me, verse 16. Therefore some said of the Pharisees, this man is not of God. because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. And others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. The division among them was over the keeping of the Sabbath. It was over the keeping of the Sabbath.

Now, I had heard that Charlie Koch wrote a book before he was murdered on Sabbath keeping. So I looked it up in preparation for this message. I didn't read the book, but I scanned a good bit of it. and come to find out is the number one bestseller on Amazon this month. And in that book, Charlie Kirk talks about unplugging, recharging, reconnecting with God, reconnecting with family, reconnecting with yourself, restoring moral renewal and communal wellbeing. strengthening your relationships, nourishing your soul, and clarifying your priorities, reducing your anxiety, restoring balance in a chaotic world.

And if you'll take, as God prescribed, one day a week and unplug yourself from all the rat race of this world, all the distractions of this world, it'll be profitable to you. Emotionally it'll be profitable, it'll be profitable to your family.

You ever have a conversation with somebody and after the conversation you realize what they were saying but you didn't really catch on why you were having that conversation? I had a conversation with the owner of Chick-fil-A one time. And I had just preached the gospel and he heard it. And he came up to me afterwards. And we had about a 10 or 15 minute conversation. And in the course of that conversation, he reminded me on several occasions how much heat he was taking in the world and through the media as a result of him not willing to open his restaurants on Sunday. And he brought it up two or three times and, you know, I invited him to come to services. He vacations over here at New Smyrna and he wasn't interested. But afterwards it struck me. He had just heard the gospel And he was fishing for me to affirm to him that closing his restaurants on Sunday was going to give him an advantage with God. And that all the persecution that he was suffering as a result of that was going to help him get into heaven.

I didn't say it. I thought it, again, after the conversation, you're thinking so many things. But the truth is that the reason why his business is so successful and the reason why he is a multi-billionaire is because that he's prescribing to the very things that Charlie Kirk was talking about, you know, honor that day of the week and it'll be good for you. And it will be in this world. Will it earn you points with God? Will it help you to get into heaven? The title of his, well, I thought I wrote it down. I don't see where I did. Transforming your life in this world by keeping the Sabbath. Maybe it will. Those are all good things. I recommend them. I recommend everything that he recommends. It'll be beneficial to you. But will that give you eternal life? Will the keeping of the Sabbath in any way merit you favor with God?

And we don't have to shame believers to come to church on Sunday by telling them that if they don't, they're violating the Sabbath. Believers are hungry and thirsting after righteousness. Believers know that this is where the manna comes down from their heavenly father. Believers Believers don't come because they're being shamed to come out of fear that somehow they're gonna break the Sabbath and no, we don't do that. Don't need to.

The word Sabbath is the word rest. Rest, and as profitable it may be to, it is, it's as profitable as it is for us to take one day a week and unplug, as Charlie Kirk says, and rest. The rest that the Sabbath is talking about is not that.

Turn with me to Leviticus chapter 23. Leviticus chapter 23. I hope in the next few moments, we can see some things in God's word about the Sabbath that you will not find in that bestseller. It will not be a word of what we're about to see from God's word. in transforming your life by keeping the Sabbath. But this is what God says. It's not what Charlie Kirk says, it's what God says. That's who I'm interested in hearing from.

Leviticus chapter 23, look at verse three. Six days shall work be done. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work therein. It is the day of rest of the Lord in all your dwellings. It is the fourth commandment. Remember the Sabbath. to keep it holy.

There were very strict rules given to the Israelites in the Old Testament about not working on the Sabbath. And shortly after God gave to Moses the law, there was caught in the camp of Israel, as they were in the wilderness, a man that was picking up sticks on the Sabbath. They brought the man to Moses because he had violated the law of God and was working on the Sabbath. Moses took the case before the Lord and asked the Lord what to do. And God said, stone him. Make an example of him. stone him and all of his family. He was picking up sticks so he could make a fire, so he could fix a meal for his family. God said, do no work on the Sabbath.

Now, let me interject this right now before our minds get too far out there. Most people today, in their attempt to keep the Sabbath by not working are actually violating the Sabbath. They take pride like Bubba Cathy, the owner of Chick-fil-A. They take pride in the fact we're not working on the Sabbath. And in their very attempt to keep the Sabbath, they have violated the Sabbath. What do you mean by that, preachers, preacher?

Well, the Jews expanded what God had given in the law about keeping the Sabbath and in the, in the Torah Talmud and in the Mishnah, the other writings other than scripture that the Jews had, they had over 600 specific laws, 660 I think exact, most of which related to what could be done and not done on the seventh day of the week. So they took the what God gave them about the Sabbath and they made it into a very strict life of, and these Pharisees saw what the Lord Jesus did in John chapter nine. And they said, he cannot be of God because he's not keeping the Sabbath. And there was a division among the people.

Now, if you'll turn with me to Exodus chapter 31. God made it clear, don't do any work on the Sabbath. When work was done, God said, stoning. What does all this mean for us?

The fourth commandment is sandwiched in the in the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, between those first three commandments concerning our relationship with God and the fifth through the tenth commandments concerning our relationship with man. And so that commandment is right in the middle. Chapter 31 at verse 13. Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths you shall keep. And it is a sign. Make note of that. It is a sign. Honoring thy father and thy mother is not a sign. Thou shalt not kill is not a sign. Thou shalt not use the Lord's Name in vain is not a sign. I shall not have any other gods before me is not a sign. I shall not bear false witness is not a sign. Those are moral laws. Those are commandments that we love God's law. Those are moral mandates that must be perfectly kept if we're to be saved. The law of God. You remember the rich young ruler came to the Lord Jesus? What must I do to inherit eternal life? Well, what's the commandment say? What's the law say? And the rich young ruler recanted the law. And the Lord Jesus said, you do that and you'll live. You keep the moral law perfectly and you will have eternal life. And the rich young ruler said, these things have I done since my youth. I've been doing these things all my life. What else can I do? I still don't have any peace.

Truth is, he nor you and me have ever, ever kept one of God's commandments, not one single time. Not before God. The Lord Jesus said, you have heard that it's said that thou shalt not commit adultery. I say unto you that if you lust after a woman, you've already committed adultery in your heart. You've heard it said in the law, thou shalt not murder. But I say unto you, if you have ought against your brother without a cause. How many times you've had ought against somebody just because you didn't feel good? There wasn't any cause in them. You've already murdered them in your heart.

You see, man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart. Paul was able to say, concerning the law, I was blameless. But when the commandment came, when God sent the commandment to my heart, sin revived and I died. I saw for the first time what the commandment really required of me. It didn't require just some outward performance to impress myself and other men. It required perfect obedience in thought, in attitude, in heart. In speech, everything, God sees it all. I got to perfectly keep God's law before him if I'm going to be saved. There's no salvation apart from it.

And now we have the Sabbath day in which you shall not work at all. Right in the middle of the Ten Commandments. and the only of the commandments that God says it is a sign. What does a sign do? It's simple. What's a sign do? It points you to something. You pass a sign on the interstate, it tells you how far you have to go to a place, or you pass a sign that has an arrow, or tells you there's a curve in a road. A sign points to something. So what God's telling us is that this Sabbath commandment that he's given to his church is a sign to something else. It's a sign to something else.

But men like the rich young ruler and like the Pharisees who were saying about the Lord Jesus that he cannot be of God because he's not keeping the Sabbath. We just saw him heal someone on the Sabbath day. We know that that is forbidden by the Sabbath law. Verse 13, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations. not just in this generation, but all generations to come, that you may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." These Pharisees were trying to sanctify themselves. They were trying to set themselves apart. That's what Pharisee means. Pharisee translated means separated one. The self-righteous Pharisees separated themselves from the common man and believed themselves to be worthy of heaven because they were the arbiters of the law. They were the keepers of the Sabbath. They were the ones that had done what God required.

And now the Lord says, the Sabbath is a sign unto you and to every other generation in order that you might know that I am the one that sanctifies you. So this Sabbath keeping, that's why I say, people think that they're keeping the Sabbath, they violate the Sabbath in their attempt to keep it because they are sanctifying themselves. They are sanctifying themselves. They are setting themselves apart.

Verse 14, you shall keep the Sabbaths therefore, for it is holy unto you. Everyone that defileth it, he shall surely be put to death. And whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul should be cut off from among his people. Six days. May work be done, but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest. Holy to the Lord, whosoever doeth my work in the Sabbath, whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generation. For a perpetual covenant, it is a sign. between me and the children of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed."

Did God rest on the seventh day because he was tired? No. He rested because he was finished. He was finished. The work was done.

Turn with me to Ezekiel chapter 20. Look at verse 12. Many years after Moses spoke, Verse 12 of Ezekiel chapter 20, moreover also, I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign. No other moral commandment, no other obligation God gives us is called a sign. To be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them.

But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They walked not in my statutes. They despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live even in them." You do the law. If you're gonna be saved by the law, you gotta do the whole law. Paul made that clear in Galatians. And my Sabbaths, they greatly polluted. They polluted my Sabbaths. They added work to what was finished.

Then said I, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness to consume them. Look down at verse 16. Because they despised my judgments and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my Sabbath, for their hearts went after their idols. You see, God's looking at the heart. He's accusing these people of having polluted the Sabbath because their hearts are not resting in Christ.

Look at verse 20. of this same chapter. Hollow my Sabbaths, for they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding the children of Israel rebelled against me, they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. They have polluted my Sabbaths, therefore I'll pour out my fury upon them.

There was a division among them, and this division was over the Sabbath. It was over the Sabbath. The Pharisees, the self-righteous, the ones who had sanctified themselves, the ones that were glorying in their own righteousness, said, he can't be of God, he's broken the Sabbath. Others said, how can a man do what this man has done except it be from God?

Now turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. I was having another conversation with a man that was a popularly known Bible scholar. He was reformed. He was a Calvinist. And he said in his pride and in his ignorance, If I was stranded on a desert island and I only had one book of the Bible, I would want to have the book of Hebrews because it's the one book I don't understand. That's what he said to me. R.C. Sproul said that. I'll just tell you his name. I'd want the book of Hebrews because I don't understand it.

Now, the reason he doesn't understand it is because it clarifies all those Old Testament laws. It puts them in the context of the New Testament. You see, that old Reformed covenant theology, holding to all those, all they've done is, well, we could talk about the Reformation wasn't a Reformation. The reformers just, they held on to a lot of that Old Testament stuff. We won't get into that. But I thought it was interesting. He didn't understand the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews is so clear. Especially when you understand that the Sabbath was a sign. It was a sign. It was pointing to something else. It was never intended to be a work. that man would earn his salvation by keeping, that God was taking this matter of rest and this matter of working, it had to be seen with the spiritual eyes. It had to be seen in Christ.

Now let's read these simple words together. Hebrews chapter four, verse one. Let us therefore fear, lest a promise be left us of entering into his Sabbath. That's the word. Entering into his rest. I want rest. I need peace. Let the world talk about peace on earth. The Lord Jesus said, you think I came to bring peace? I didn't come to bring peace. Nay, but division, but division. You want peace with God or you want peace on earth?

Being 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 that was preached to them did not profit them because it wasn't mixed with faith in them that heard it." They didn't see through the eye of faith what the sign was really pointing to. They just looked at the outward appearances. and thought, well, if I keep this law, that'll somehow get me into heaven. If I can just be a Sabbath keeper. But they didn't mix what they were hearing with faith.

Faith is the gift of God. Faith is what enables us to look not on the outward appearances, We look not on the temporal things. We look not upon those things which are seen with the natural eye, for the things which are seen with the natural eye are temporal. They are temporary. They have temporary benefits. We look upon those things which are not seen, which the natural man cannot see. This is the spirit of God. The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit, for they are eternal.

These Old Testament Israelites, all they could do was put into practice what they could see with the natural eye. They didn't have it mixed with faith. They didn't have the eye of faith to see what the sign, they saw the sign, but they didn't see what it was pointing to. For we which have believed, verse three, do enter into His Sabbath, we enter into His rest. As He said, as I have sworn in my wrath, that they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished before the foundation of the world, before the seven days of creation, before the stars were made, before the earth was made, before Adam, the Lord Jesus entered into a covenant promise with his heavenly father and became our surety. And the scripture calls him the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.

So before the cross, before the world was made, the Lord Jesus agreed to shed his precious blood, to finish the work I must finish the work which the Father has given me to do." And what was the last thing he said at the cross? It is finished. Everything that God has sent me to do, I accomplished it.

Verse four, but 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 on this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not because of their unbelief. Outward appearances of keeping the Sabbath, thinking that you're going to earn favor with God, or get to heaven because of you set yourself apart, that's not faith. That's not faith.

Again, he limited a certain day saying in David, today, after so long a time, it is said, today, if you will hear his voice. Harden not your heart. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the word of God. And God said, I'm gonna send a famine of hearing in the land. Men can't hear. Oh, they can hear what they should do and not do on Sunday or Saturday, as many interpret it.

Fastest growing denomination, as I understand, Christian, Christian, I use that word very broadly, denomination in the world, Seventh-day Adventist. Some of you passed a huge Seventh-day Adventist here on 436. There's nobody there today. Why? Because they were all there yesterday, places packed on Saturday. The only thing you have to do to get to heaven is go to church on Saturday and you'll get to heaven. That's the outward pierce. That's the Seventh-day Advent. Boil it down. Oh, you say, well, that's not, yeah, that is what they believe, and that's why they're so popular, and that's why so many people go. Just go to church on Saturday, and that'll get you into heaven. Keep the Sabbath. That's not faith.

Verse eight, and Jesus and Joshua the same word in the in the Bible language it's the same word Jehovah saves you shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins he will accomplish their salvation he will finish the work he will do everything that God requires and everything that God demands in order for us to be saved and he will get all the glory but most People believe that though Jesus is behind Joshua, obviously, but that this verse is probably making a reference to what Joshua did when he brought the children of Israel, which is a spiritual picture.

Joshua brought the children of Israel across the Jordan River into the promised land. There's a picture of our Joshua, our deliverer, our Christ. The law could not bring the children. Moses had to die on the east side of the Jordan. God had to hide Moses' body. Joshua brought the children of Israel into the promised land. There we have Christ bringing us into heaven.

For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterwards have spoken of another day. That historical physical picture of Joshua bringing the children of Israel into the promised land. That's not what God was talking about when he talked about the Sabbath and the rest and the sign. That's not what he's talking about. Children of Israel taking their leisure in the promised land. They think, okay, the promise has been fulfilled. No, that's not it. The sign's pointing to something else.

There remaineth therefore a rest, a Sabbath, to the people of God, for he that entereth into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works as God did from his. You bring one work that you have performed, you bring one decision, you bring one prayer, you bring one stick that you picked up in hopes of earning God's favor, and you will be stoned for it.

Here's what faith does. Faith rests in Christ. Faith says Christ is all, and he is in all, and he has done it all, all by himself, and he gets all the glory and all the praise, and I'm resting resting in the person of my substitute. And every time I look to myself to see how my performance is, I lose my rest. I lose my peace. I lose my comfort. I find myself fearful and afraid that maybe I haven't done enough yet. Verse 10, let's read it again. For he, that's you and me, that entereth into his rest, that's Christ, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

We are the true circumcision. We have no confidence in the flesh. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. Christ is everything in our salvation. So what do we do? This is where the labor comes in. Because there's a part of us that keeps wanting to look to something. There's a part of us that keeps wanting to observe that which is observable by the physical eye and wants to comfort in the things that the world has to offer.

This is fighting the good fight. This is the fight of faith. It's hard to look to Christ. Let us labor. It's a spiritual labor, it's not a physical labor. It's not what you do or don't do. This is all a matter of the heart. This is all a matter of the soul, the mind, the thoughts, the spirit. Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of their unbelief.

The Sabbath. pointed to the Christ. In closing, let's go back to our text. I just want to show you one passage. Go back with me to our text. John chapter seven, go back just a page to John chapter seven, because these two things are inseparably linked. These two things are inseparably linked.

The division among the people was over the Sabbath. There's no division with us over the Sabbath. All believers believe that Christ is my Sabbath. He's my rest. He's all my salvation. He's done it all and he gets all the glory. But we're divided with the world and we're divided with religion because they're promoting a works freewill gospel and we can have no part of that.

Look in chapter 7 of John, verse 40. Many of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying, said of a truth, this is the prophet. And by that they meant this is the Christ. Others said, this is the Christ. And some said, shall Christ come out of Galilee? Had not the scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was, so there was a division among them because of him. Some of them said he's the Christ, and some of them said, no, he's not the Christ. The Christ has to come out of Bethlehem, which is where he was born, not out of Galilee. and there was a division among them over whether or not he was the Christ.

John chapter four, the woman at the well, she said, I know, I know that when Messiah comes, which is the Christ, he will teach us all things. He's gonna settle everything. And the Lord Jesus looked at her and said, I am, speaketh unto thee. And she went back down into Sychar and she said, come, meet a man who told me everything that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Is not this the anointed one? Is not this the promised Messiah? The one who would save all of Israel? The one who would sit upon the throne of David and get all the glory for having saved us.

I know that when Messiah comes, which is the Christ, he's gonna settle this. He's gonna make it clear. And there was a division among them, whether or not he was the Christ. And there was a division among them about the Sabbath. And these two things cannot be separated. The Lord Jesus is the Christ who fulfilled everything that the sign of the Sabbath pointed to. And we go to the scriptures. God's pointing us to Christ. You search the scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life. These are they which testify of me. of me. You keep the Sabbath, you've kept the whole law. You keep the Sabbath, you've kept the whole law. Amen? Amen.

Tom? 27 in the Sproul Hymnal. Let's stand together.