Let's begin tonight in the book
of Exodus. Exodus chapter 31. My text I'll
be working to in Hebrews chapter 4. Now I want you to hear carefully
my opening comment. Nothing revealed in this book
is more important than Sabbath keeping. Nothing revealed in this book
is more important than Sabbath keeping. So I ask you, do you
keep the Sabbath? This is not a matter of indifference.
It's not one of those areas about which the scriptures give no
specific instructions. In fact, the instructions given
in the Word of God about Sabbath keeping are very specific and
very clear. The Lord God established the
Sabbath in the Old Testament, and you were to do no work in
the observance of the Sabbath. A man was not allowed to walk
but just a very short distance for any reason. You weren't allowed
to go out and gather sticks, even to build a fire to stay
warm or to cook a meal. If anyone violated the Sabbath,
death was the penalty. Not only was the man who broke
the Sabbath to be put to death, but if a son broke the Sabbath,
the first ones required to take up stones and stone the Sabbath
breaker was the mother and father of that son. God put people to death for breaking
the Sabbath. Not only were the mother and
father required to take up stones to stone him to death, but all
the congregation of Israel joined in executing the Sabbath breaker. Why would God make such a law? Why would God give such a law? Why would God require that a
man's own parents be involved in his slaughter? Why would God
require that the whole nation of his people be involved in
executing his judgment upon the guilty? Because God would have
us to understand that his justice and his truth and his judgment
is that which is the universal consent of his people when God
has finished all things. We will at last say amen to the
damnation of all who perish in rebellion to our Redeemer. Now
this law of the Sabbath was given for a specific reason. Look here
in Exodus chapter 31. like circumcision, the Passover,
and all other aspects of legal ceremonial worship during the
Old Testament. The legal Sabbath day was established
by our God to be a sign, a picture, and a type of his grace and his
salvation in Christ. Exodus 31, 13. Speak thou unto
the children of Israel, saying, Verily, my Sabbaths ye shall
keep, for it shall be a sign between me and you throughout
your generations. Remember now this law of the
Sabbath was given to the children of Israel. It was only given
to the children of Israel. No Gentile was ever required
to observe a Sabbath. In fact, Gentiles were specifically
excluded from the ceremonies of Israel. So this law was given
only to God's chosen nation, that nation which was typical
of and representative of God's elect, the Israel of God. It
shall be a sign throughout your generations. For what purpose? Why is the sign given? Now watch
this. That ye may know that I am the
Lord that doth sanctify you. I give you this law to teach
you that salvation is my work. I give you this law to teach
you that I am the one who alone, by my work alone, with no contribution
from you, make you holy, make you righteous, make you perfect. Because Sabbath keeping was a
legal type of our salvation in Christ during the age of carnal
ordinances, like the Passover and like circumcision, once Christ
came, Once Christ came and fulfilled the type, the carnal ordinance
ceased forever. When Christ came, he fulfilled
the law, the commandments of the law, the ordinances of the
law, the ceremonies of the law, the sacrifices of the law, and
the days of the law. And the law being fulfilled by
Christ has forever ceased. so that in the New Testament,
we are strictly forbidden of God. We are strictly forbidden
of God to keep any of those carnal ordinances. The scriptures declare
Christ is the end of the law. The scriptures declare that repeatedly. Christ is the end of the law.
He's the finishing, the terminating point, the fulfilling of the
law. And now that Christ has fulfilled all, We are forbidden
of God to keep any of those carnal ordinances. We're forbidden of
God to live by legal rules, by legal ceremonies, by legal dogma. Circumcision is specifically
forbidden. Turn to Galatians chapter five,
if you will. Galatians chapter five. The Apostle Paul writes here
and tells us Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath
made you free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage
Now watch what it says in verse 2 Behold I Paul say unto you
that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing You
keep the law of the circumcision you miss Christ altogether You
keep the law of circumcision, you miss salvation altogether. Verse 4, Christ is become of
no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law,
ye are fallen from grace. What a strong declaration. Throughout
this book of Galatians, Paul is dealing with those Judaizers
who came in corrupting the gospel, teaching believers, yes, we must
be saved by grace. Yes, we must be justified by
faith in Christ. But that doesn't mean you don't
have anything to do. That doesn't mean there's no
responsibility for you to keep the law. Oh, no, no. We must
believe on Jesus and keep the law. And Paul says here, if you
believe Christ, you can't keep the law. You dare not keep the
law. You do not revert to the law.
If you do, it's because you do not have faith in Jesus Christ. Those who today bring their babies
to the front of a church and sprinkle a little water on their
faces and call it baptism. They call that the New Testament
equivalent of circumcision. That's what they, in their creeds,
say it is. Baptism is the New Testament
equivalent of circumcision. If that's the case, by bringing
those babies to the preacher or to the priest and sprinkling
a little water on their heads, by which they say they are sealed
into the covenant of grace, they deny altogether the faith of
the gospel. Circumcision is not that which
we perform, but none of you are likely to be involved in physical
circumcision. The word goes far beyond that. If you do something, if you do
something, if you do something to make yourself righteous before
God, if you do something to make yourself more righteous before
God, if you do something to give your conscience peace with God,
if you do something by which you think you have God's favor,
you've missed the gospel altogether. You've missed it altogether.
Do you remember what happened to Uzzah when David was bringing
the ark of God up to Jerusalem? And Uzzah saw the ark start,
looked to him like he was fixing to fall over. Looked like he
was fixing to fall to the ground. And he reached out his hand just
to steady the ark. And when he touched that ark,
God killed him. Do you really think God would
kill a man for putting his hand on a box? And that's all the ark was. It's
just a box. It was just a box. Oh, but what
a box. It was a box that represented
and typified God's salvation in Jesus Christ, the Lord. And
when Ezra put his hand on the box, when he touched the ark,
he said, God's salvation means something for me. And when he
did, God sent him to hell. Understand the teaching of this
book. God still sends folks to hell for putting their hands
to his salvation. And he always will. Salvation
is not something to which you contribute anything. It is the
free gift of God's grace in Jesus Christ the Lord. Passover observance,
like circumcision, is forbidden in this gospel age because Christ,
our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Some people are so light
in the head that they think observing the Lord's Supper is keeping
the Passover. Sometimes I see certain seasons
of the year, uh, Baptist churches advertising. They're going to
have what we would call the Lord's supper. And they said, we're
going to keep the Passover feast. No, no, a thousand times. No Christ. Our Passover was sacrificed
for us. Once we make no sacrifice to
God by which we seek to obtain his favor. We make no sacrifice
to God by which we seek to turn away his wrath. We make no sacrifice
to God by which we seek to make ourselves righteous before him.
We make no sacrifice to God by which we would atone for our
sins. You can't, by anything you do, make up to God. Christ, our Passover, is sacrifice
for us. Now, turn to the book of Colossians.
Colossians chapter 2. In exactly the same way, those
who attempt to sanctify themselves, to make themselves holy before
God, to make themselves more acceptable to God, to make themselves
more righteous before God, to give themselves peace before
God, to assure them of their salvation. Those who keep the
Sabbath day by such things totally deny by their actions that Christ
is enough that Christ is all. That Christ is enough to give
perfect righteousness, perfect acceptance, perfect peace with
the thrice holy God. Christ is enough. As Paul puts
it in Colossians 2.23, they make an outward show of spirituality
and wisdom, but it's all will worship. Such pretenses of humility,
Are nothing but the satisfying of the flesh Not only that The
whole matter of sabbath keeping is strictly forbidden by god
the holy spirit right here in colossians chapter 2 verse 16
sabbath keeping Any carnal sabbath keeping doesn't matter whether
you call it the lord's day and you keep the sabbath on the lord's
day Or you call it a sunday sabbath or you keep a seventh day sabbath
sabbath keeping is forbidden It is forbidden in the word of
God. You just as well go to Jerusalem,
find you a goat and find you an altar and sacrifice a goat
or a lamb or a book upon an altar in Jerusalem and call it keeping
the Passover as to keep the Sabbath day. It is a total reversion
to law and to works. And it is totally forbidden right
here in the book of God. The Colossians 2 16. Let no man
therefore judge you, condemn you, hold you in bondage, put
you under judgment in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an
holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath. But no man
judge you with regard to the Sabbath. The word days is in
plural. And Paul is saying here, you
don't keep a Sabbath or any Sabbath day, none of the Sabbath days
required in the Old Testament, which are a shadow. All of these
things, the meat, the drink, the Holy days, the new moon,
the Sabbath days, they are shadow of things to come, but the body
is of Christ. Since Christ, by his death at
Calvary, blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, since he nailed the broken law of God to the cross and put
away our sins, he alone is our Sabbath, and we rest in him. Oh, God teach you now to rest
in Christ. We don't keep a legal Sabbath,
a ceremonial Sabbath of any kind, because it's strictly forbidden.
All carnal Sabbath-keeping is forbidden because Christ is the
end of the law. Yet the New Testament does speak
of Sabbath-keeping. Turn to our text in Hebrews chapter
4. The New Testament speaks of a
Sabbath-keeping that remains for the people of God. And that's
my subject tonight. The Sabbath that remains. The
children of Israel perished in the wilderness because of unbelief. They heard the gospel just like
we do, but they could not enter into the rest that was given
in the land of Canaan. They could not enter into that
picture of that typical picture of God's salvation because they
did not believe the word that was preached to them. Look at
Hebrews chapter four, verse one. Let us therefore fear, lest,
upon us being left thus of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached,
as well as unto them. But the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. For we which had believed do enter into rest. As he said,
as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise,
and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And then
this place again, if they shall enter into my rest. Though that
unbelieving generation perished in unbelief, the purpose of God
did not fall to the ground and could not fall to the ground.
The purpose of God shall always be fulfilled. There is an elect
multitude who must enter into his rest. Read on, verse six.
Seeing, therefore, it remaineth that some must enter therein. And they to whom it was first
preached entered not in because of unbelief. But that typical
rest given by Joshua in the land of Canaan was not the rest purposed
by God for his elect. It only typified it. It was not
the purchased rest that Jesus Christ obtained by his shedding
of his blood at Calvary. It was only typical of that blessed
rest of faith that is ours in Christ Jesus. Look at verse seven.
Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, today,
after so long a time, as it is said today, if you will hear
his voice, harden not your heart. For if Jesus, and the word is
speaking of Joshua, that's the New Testament name of Joshua.
If Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have
spoken of another day. Joshua gave them a typical rest. But you read about their days
in the land of Canaan and you'll understand quickly, it was only
typical. While they were in Canaan, they had lots of difficulty.
So the rest they had in Canaan was only a typical day, a typical
rest. And Joshua spoke of another day
and of another rest. Now look at verse 9, 10, and
11. Here's our text. There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God. For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works. God did from his Let us therefore
labor to enter into that rest Lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief now as You read chapters 3 & 4 of the book
of Hebrews There is one word that used in both of these chapters
over and over again It is the word rest And you can take my
word for it or you can get your concordance and look it up for
yourself as I did again today. The word rest used in these two
chapters, all the way through these two chapters, means to
sit down, to repose, to take rest, to stop working, to be
at home. That's all the various shades
of meaning of the word rest that's used until you get to verse 9
of Hebrews chapter 4. And if you have a marginal reference
in your Bible, look at what the marginal reference says. Here,
a totally different word is used. It's translated rest, but it's
a different word. The word that's translated rest
here is the word Sabbath. I often tell you about transliterations. In our Bibles, the word baptism
is not a translation. Our translators were men involved
in a religious form that requires sprinkling. So they couldn't
very well translate the word baptism honestly. And they wouldn't
translate it and mistranslate it. So they, rather than translating
the word, they transliterated the word. If you would take the
Greek letters for baptize or baptism and write them in English
letters, just take the Greek letters and write them out with
English letters, it would be baptize. That's how they got
it. To transliterate is just to take
the lettering of one language and convert it to the lettering
of another language. If you translate the word baptize,
the word means to immerse, to dip, to plunge. It cannot possibly
be translated sprinkle or pour, cannot be. So our translators,
rather than translating the word, transliterated the word. Here
in Hebrews 4.9, if you would translate the word rest, you
would translate it by writing out the very word that's given
as a transliteration. There remaineth therefore a S-A-B-B-A-T-H
to the people of God. There remaineth a sabbatical,
a Sabbath keeping to the people of God, as is given in the marginal
translation. In this remaining Sabbath rest,
We see a picture of the accomplishment of that which was pictured in
the Sabbath day of the Old Testament. It is the rest of faith in Christ
Jesus. Now, I want to show you once
again from the scriptures how the Old Testament Sabbath day
finds its fulfillment, its complete accomplishment in Christ. And
I want you to see how that we enter into our Savior's rest
by faith in him. have it we keep the Sabbath by
faith and by faith alone. In doing so, I'll show you three
things. First, I want you to see that
the Lord Jesus Christ has entered into his rest because he has
finished his work. Second, every sinner who believes
on the Lord Jesus keeps the Sabbath by faith, entering into his rest. It is my earnest prayer that
God will cause some weary sinner here to cease laboring, to cease
working, to cease doing, and find rest in Jesus Christ. And then thirdly, in verse 11,
we're told that we must labor to enter into that great eternal
rest of heavenly glory. All right, let's look at this
first. Turn back to Isaiah. chapter 11 and verse 10. I want
you to see that the Lord Jesus Christ has entered into his rest
and that his rest is glorious because his work is finished.
In the 10th chapter of Hebrews, we're told concerning our Lord
Jesus, our great high priest, this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
the majesty on high from henceforth expecting to his enemies be made
his footstool. He sat down. He entered into
his rest when the son of God finished his work. He went back
to glory in our flesh and sat down. Work done. Work finished. Nothing more to be done to accomplish
everything he came here to accomplish as our mediator and substitute.
Now look here in Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 10. Here's a prophecy
of that. And in that day, there shall
be a root of Jesse. which shall stand for an ensign,
a banner, a rallying flag of the people. To it shall the Gentiles
seek. This wood of Jesse is our Lord
Jesus Christ. This banner around which God
gathers his elect is Jesus Christ crucified. To this banner the
Gentiles shall seek. Now watch this. And his rest
shall be glorious. Again, I ask you to look at the
marginal translation given in the margin of your Bible. Do
you see it? His rest shall be glory. His rest shall be glory. Bob Duff, the Savior, seated
yonder in glory. His rest is his glory. Understand that? Father, Give
me now the glory which I had with thee before the world was. And what did he give him? Set
thou at my right hand until I make thy foes to be thy footstool. Jesus Christ's rest is his glory. His rest is glorious. We have
here given a prophecy of our Savior entering into his rest,
having finished his work. Look at Matthew chapter 28, Matthew
28. I want you to turn and look at
it. The passage is talking about
the resurrection of our Redeemer. The Lord Jesus had been crucified.
He made sin for us, made a curse for us, died in our room instead
and was buried in the tomb. And then on the first day of
the week, on Sunday morning, he was about to rise from the
dead. Now watch this, verse 1 of Matthew 28. In the end of the
Sabbath, in the end of the Old Testament Jewish Sabbath, in
the end of Saturday, in the end of the old legal Sabbath, as
it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, once more, I
ask you to look at the marginal translation in Scripture. I wish
every one of you could read this in its original Greek. Quite
literally, it translates this way. In the end of the Sabbath,
as it began to dawn toward the Sabbath. Well, that's a redundancy. It's a redundancy if you don't
understand the message. In the end of the Sabbath, as
it began to dawn toward the Sabbath. in the end of the Old Testament
legal law sabbath as it began to dawn on the sabbath of gospel
rest as it began to dawn upon this glorious gospel day in which
redemption is declared to be finished by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Then came Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary to see the sepulcher. Behold, our exalted Savior seated
upon yonder throne in heaven's glory. There he sits in the undisturbed,
undisturbable serenity of absolute sovereignty because he has finished
his work. What did he come here to do?
He came here to do exactly what Daniel the prophet said he would
do. To bring in everlasting righteousness. to seal up the vision, to make
an end of transgressions. And the Lord Jesus, by his obedience
unto death, has fulfilled all righteousness, brought in everlasting
righteousness for all his elect. And by his sacrifice of himself
at Calvary, has redeemed us, has satisfied the justice of
God on our behalf. And now, having finished his
work, he's entered in to his rest. Because he's finished his
work, The salvation of his people is absolutely certain and secure. Yes, the works were finished
as we saw this morning from the foundation of the world. The
works were finished in time when the God-man took his seat in
heaven as our forerunner. And there is therefore now no
more work to be done. Christ did it all. He did it all. He's entered into
his rest. Now this is what the Mosaic Sabbath
days, all the Sabbath days pictured in the Old Testament, all the
Sabbath days observed and kept, all those required by the law,
pictured this great accomplishment of redemption by Christ. The
first Sabbath day mentioned, as you well know, is in Genesis
chapter 2. We're told there that God rested from his work. Finished creation in six days
God made the heaven the earth and all that in them is Now,
wait a minute. Wait a minute. You hadn't been
born yet. Had you james? But it says god finished the
work of creation back yonder Well, that means jane wasn't
created by god. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no You were
created in a man called adam And you come forth in time to
life personally when God gives you life from your mother and
father and you are generated by natural process in this world. But the work was done and God
rested from his work on the seventh day. The Lord God required Israel
to keep a weekly Sabbath is the fourth commandment given in Exodus
chapter 20. Now, I want to be as clear as
I can possibly be. because I don't want there to
be any mistaken. I understand that men often believe things
that are mutually contradictory. But this whole notion of believers
keeping a Sabbath day is a farce. It is a farce. People claim to
keep a Sabbath day. Nobody keeps a Sabbath day. Nobody. For one thing, you have to keep
it on Saturday. There are some fools around who still try to
do that, but nobody I know. They, well, we keep the Sabbath
day on Sunday. That don't count. God said do
it on Saturday and he never changed it. More than that, more than
that. The Sabbath day required no work
from you, your wife or anyone under your control. You couldn't
even allow your servants to work. You couldn't even allow your
beast to work. No work at all. Any involvement
in labor was sure death for those who committed the transaction
or the transgression against the Sabbath. So let men and women
talk about, well, we we don't really keep the Sabbath day,
but we do as good as we can. If you can get some comfort out
of breaking God's law, go ahead and do it, because doing the
best you can is just as well as not doing anything at all.
If you don't keep it perfectly, you don't keep it. If you don't
obey perfectly, you don't obey at all. An infidel obey doesn't
obey. It's just transgression. And
it's putting the transgression in a prettier name. Nobody keeps
a Sabbath day. Those who pretend to don't. And
we don't because we choose not to. We keep Sabbath faith in
Jesus Christ, the Lord. God required the Sabbath in the
fourth commandment. God also required Israel to keep
a seven year Sabbath. And if you would keep the seven-day
Sabbath, you're required to keep the seven-year Sabbath. What
was required? The Jews were required to let
their land rest one year every seven years. That meant they
couldn't sow their crops, and they couldn't reap their crops,
and they couldn't go to farmer's market and sell their crops for
a whole year. And you know what I can't find
in this book, Rod? I can't find that they ever even
made an effort. I don't find any record they ever even tried
to do so. Then God required them to keep a seven year Sabbath
every seven, seven years. That is every 49th year they
were required to keep what was called the Jubilee. Again, I
never see any indication anywhere in scripture or in history that
they ever even pretended to keep it. They just ignored it. But
that Jubilee Sabbath was not just a restoration of the creation
as the seven-year Sabbath was. This seven-year, 49-year Sabbath
was a celebration of Jubilee during which all debts were discharged. All mortgages were canceled.
All bondmen were set free. And all that had been lost was
completely restored. That's what we're looking for
when Christ comes. That's what you were saying about
just a minute ago. When Christ comes in resurrection glory,
everything restored to its splendor as God Almighty would have it
for his glory. And thus, our Lord Jesus has
already entered into his rest. Turn to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61. This jubilee is called
the year of liberty in Ezekiel 46. This jubilee is that which
Christ both finished and entered into as our Savior. This jubilee
is what we proclaim in the gospel. Now Isaiah 61 is a prophecy speaking
specifically of our Lord Jesus Christ and his accomplished work
that is declared in the gospel. We know that because in Luke
chapter 4, our Lord Jesus opens the scriptures and says, this
is talking about me. All right, look at it in Isaiah
61 verse 1. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the
Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He
has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of the vengeance
of our God, to comfort all that mourn. Merle Hart, how on this
earth are you going to have any comfort from the proclamation
of the day of the vengeance of our God? We proclaim vengeance
over. Vengeance finished by the sacrifice
of God's Son that comforts them that mourn We don't to appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion to give them beautiful ashes
the oil of mourning all the joyful morning the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness that they might be called trees of
righteousness the planting of the Lord that he Might be glorified
now. That's the first thing our Lord
Jesus finished his work of And he entered into his rest. He
sat down. He sat down. Savior, what shall you now do?
What more is required for righteousness? What more is required for redemption? What more is required for your
people to be accepted of God? Nothing! He's seated in the heavens
and he will never put his hand to the work again. Christ offered
himself once for all and sat down. All right, second, I want
you to see from the scriptures that every sinner who believes
on the Lord Jesus Keeps the Sabbath by faith. How? Entering into
his rest. What would you give? What would
you do? To sit down with Christ in his
throne as he is seated in his father's throne. Oh, to sit down and never have
anything to do to find acceptance and peace and joy and righteousness
with God. Oh, Brother Don, I'd do anything. Would you be willing to do nothing? You see, that's your problem.
That's your problem. You who have no rest, laboring,
heavy laden, I know your problem. I know your problem. You're still
trying to do. You're still trying somehow to
make yourself right with God. You're still trying by repentance
or by Bible reading or by good works or by law obedience to
make yourself In a position put yourself in a position so that
you can look at yourself say oh now now Now I'm good enough. I damn Now if I find that I'm
not perfect, but I believe I can I can have peace with god now
because I've I've changed radically And you don't have any peace
And you don't have any rest because you're still trying to do Frank
Hall If you would find rest, you got to quit working. You got to quit working. Hebrews
chapter 4 verse 3. For we which have believed do
enter into rest. As he said, I swore in my wrath
if they shall enter into my rest. Although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world. Verse 9. There remaineth therefore
a rest, a glorious, blessed gospel, Sabbath keeping to the people
of God. For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from
his. What on earth is that talking
about? Certainly it's reference to Christ Jesus, the Lord, who's
entered into his rest. And without question in this
passage, it's talking about believers entering into Christ's rest.
The believer enters into the Savior's rest. We sat down with
him. Oh, yes, we sat down with him
when he rose and we were quickened with him and sat down with him
in heavenly places. And and when the believer in
this sweet experience of grace believes in the Son of God, he
sets down with Christ, except at peace with God, resting forever. We rest in Christ. Turn to Matthew
chapter 28. Matthew 28. I'm sorry, Matthew
11 in verse 28. Matthew chapter 11, verse 28. Hear what the Savior says. Come
unto me, all you that labor, and a heavy laden and I'll give
you rest. Now here's the word. You who
are laboring and heavy laden. You who strive and seek and work
and labor and your conscience is tossed and toward many because
you're trying to find a way to have peace with God. Come to
me. Come to me and I will give you
rest. I will give you a cessation of
work. I will give you ease. I will give you to sit
down. I will give you sweet repose. I will give you to be at home
with me. I'll give you rest. I heard the
voice of Jesus say, come unto me and rest. Lay down, thou weary
one, lay down thy head upon my breast. I came to Jesus as I
was weary and worn and sad. I found in Him a resting place. And He has made me glad. Oh, how sweet to rest. How sweet
to rest. Do you know what it is to labor
with guilt? To labor with sin? to labor with
your faith, to labor with your transgressions, to labor with
your iniquity, to labor to try to ease yourself of this horrible
load. Come to Christ later and rest. I'll give you rest. In Christ,
we are given continual rest, the rest of faith, resting in
complete pardon. perfect reconciliation, absolute
security, even resting in his good providence. As the ceremonial
Sabbath portrayed a strict universal consecration to God, so this
blessed Sabbath of faith involves a perpetual consecration of ourselves
to God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Look on Matthew 11, 29. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find
rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light. Why do you suppose the Jews,
now they did pretend to keep an Old Testament weekly Sabbath.
Why do you suppose they never kept that seven year Sabbath? or that Jubilee Sabbath every
49 years. Why do you suppose they never
did? As a nation, they never kept it. Why? Why do you suppose? Because to do so meant they had
to wholly trust God to take care of everything. They had to consecrate themselves
entirely to God. How are we going to eat? if we
don't raise our food? How are we going to live if we
don't find a way to provide for ourselves? How on this earth
can a man with any good sense, with any reason about him, every
49 years, give up his possessions to a man who had lost them, to
a man who had forfeited them? How can a man be expected to
return property to a man who had lost it and it's his possession
and charge him nothing. How can we expect to do that?
How can a man be expected? How can a man with any reason
be expected to cancel all debt owed to him and get along in
this world? Why? Well, that just doesn't
make any sense to anybody who doesn't believe God. What is the Sabbath rest? What
is it to keep the Sabbath? It is to yield my life in its
totality to God my Savior continually. Giving up to Him my will, bowing
to His will. Giving up to Him my way, bowing
to His way. To keep the Sabbath is to learn
of Him what to believe and how to live, what to do, how to honor
God. To keep the Sabbath is to bow
to Christ the Lord. How can a troubled, weary, heavy-laden,
tempest-tossed sinner obtain this blessed Sabbath rest? I can tell you how. There's only
one way. You've got to quit working. You've
got to quit working. You've got to trust the Son of
God. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 4 verse 11. And I want you to
see that we must labor to enter into that great eternal rest
of glory with Christ in heaven. Let us labor, therefore, to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief. I said here the other day, dealing
with this subject somewhat, And I said it again last week when
I was down in North Carolina and my wife corrected me I was
talking about running into cobwebs. She said we don't have cobwebs.
We have spider webs So spider web not cobwebs, but you just
can't It just felt like this stick to you. You just just Can't
get it off So it is with works religion It is that which our flesh loves
and The proud flesh loves the notion
of doing something God will accept. And if God would let us, we would
return to works and law like that. If God would let us, we
would turn back to all ways of law and legality in a heartbeat. Some religion that gives us something
to do, that we can touch and feel and handle and say, God,
here is my honor, the works of my hands, this I will worship. Let us labor then to continually
cling to Christ, our Redeemer, entering into His rest. Hebrews 4 and 9 is talking about
an eternal remembrance of redemption, an eternal perfect consecration
to God, an eternal rest. For he that has entered into
His rest, verse 10, hath also ceased from his own works as
God did from his. Turn to Philippians chapter 3
and I'll wrap this up. Philippians chapter 3. How do
we labor, strive to enter into this rest, this everlasting rest
in glory? Continually persevering in the
faith, clinging to Christ, We continually count our righteousness
dung. Look at verse 7, Philippians
3. Now, Paul, in writing this epistle,
had been a believer for a pretty good while. He'd been a believer
for a pretty good while. He was about at the end of his
pilgrimage on this earth. And it says in verse 7, what
things were gained to me. Those I counted lost for Christ
that is When God saved me by his grace when he struck me down
the Damascus Road and called me to follow the Redeemer I counted
all my previous religious experience and knowledge and pedigree but
lost for Christ now look at verse 8 Yea, doubtless, and I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dung, waste, excrement. I count them but dung, everything. all my goodness, all my morality,
all my uprightness, all my learning, all my experience. It's nothing
but done that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which is of
God by faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection.
and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his
death. If by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already
attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, But this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which
are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. How do you do that? How do you
do that? How do you? How do you? Consider
I haven't yet attained and I'm not perfect I'm pressing toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ. I'm pressing my way to that glorious
Sabbath which Christ has right now as he sits on the right hand
of the majesty owner I want to be found in him in that great
day with no righteousness of my own But only his how do you
do that? As ye therefore have received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Keep every time the
notion of goodness about you, every time the notion of good
works about you, every time the notion of peace and assurance
depending on you, everything that would point you to you,
count it down, trample it under your feet and say, no, I believe
on the Son of God. The fact is the penalty for breaking
the Sabbath is still death. It's still death. You try to save yourself by your
works, God will send you to hell. This is what the book says. He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth
not the Son of God shall not see life. But the wrath of God
abideth on him. And that's just right. And every
member of the Israel of God in that great day will, as it were,
pick up stones and stone to death every Sabbath breaker, saying
amen to God's righteous judgment. against every sinner who breaks
his Sabbath, who refuses to rest in his son. How can we keep the
Sabbath? How can we keep God's law? By faith, we establish the law. That's all. That's all. Do you
mean by faith? That's nothing. We do nothing. Come to Christ. I don't say come to the front
of the church. I don't say come and talk to the preacher. I don't
say repeat this prayer. Don't move your lips. Don't move
a muscle. Right where you are, come to
Christ. All Spirit of God sweetly forced
sinners to come to Christ. If you can, you'll rest forever. Amen.