We're in the book of Matthew,
beginning at verse 12, and we're going to be looking into the
scripture there in chapter 12. I said verse 12, I meant chapter
12. We're going to be looking into that, so I would suggest
you open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 12, and just set your
Bibles to one side. We are going to look there, but
first I want to begin with an introduction from our dear brother
Don Fortner, and it's in the top page of page 1 of your handout. Matthew chapter 12, and we'll begin with the handout.
An introduction, please allow me, as I've written, to quote
from Brother Don's commentary to bring this study into a focus. Brother Don writes, the subject
which stands out preeminently before us is that of the Sabbath
day. It is a subject about which the
Jews of our Lord's day were very sensitive and held many strange
and absurd opinions. Many today are just as sensitive
as they were and as they were and hold opinions just as bizarre
as theirs. The Pharisees had added their
traditions to the teachings of Scripture and made Sabbath-day
observance the control and the primary part of their religious
legalism, as it is until this day. This is a subject about
which many throughout the history of the church have held different
opinions and held them very strongly, even to the point of having no
fellowship with those who disregard them. This is a subject about
which we need to have a clear understanding. And I would say
amen to what our brother Don has mentioned here. So join me
in our Bibles, if you would, reading from Matthew chapter
12. We'll begin with verse one and
we'll read the first eight verses. Matthew 12, verse one, we read,
at that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day, threw the corn,
and his disciples were hungered and began to pluck the ears of
the corn and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said unto him, behold, thy disciples do that which is not
lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. But he, our Lord, said unto
them, Have ye not read what David did when he was in hunger, and
they that were with him? How he entered into the house
of God and did eat of the shewbread, which was not lawful for him
to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the
priests? Or have ye not read in the law
how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane
the Sabbath and are blameless? But I said unto you, but I say
unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this
meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have
condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord. even
of the Sabbath. Now we're going to look at some
more here in just a little bit, but for now I want to stop there
and go back to our handout. We'll be in our handout for a
little bit. Mid-page of page one, our Lord is about to declare
his sovereignty once again in every aspect of salvation. As Brother Don stated, this observance
of the Sabbath is a very big deal to the religious. And depending
on your religious leaning, there were just as many ways, incorrect
as they were, to observe this ordinance. These self-righteous
religious Pharisees put their religious works above all else. They worshiped their own observance
of it. They were the priests, they were
the ones who were allowed to conduct such things on the Sabbath
and only while in the temple and in the service of the Lord.
John Gill wrote this at the bottom of page one, there were many
things which according to the Jewish canons the priest might
do on the Sabbath day, particularly they might slay the sacrifice.
It was a rule with them. Page 2. That slaying drives away
the Sabbath. That means it puts it away. It
puts the law aside. That's what they mean by that
when it says it drives away the Sabbath. They might also knead
and bake. need make and bake the showbread
on the Sabbath day. Their general rule was, as our
Akiba says, that what was possible to be done on the evening of
the Sabbath did not drive away the Sabbath, but what was not
possible to be done on the Sabbath eve did drive away the Sabbath. In other words, put it away,
put the law away that you weren't breaking it. So they might kill
the Passover, on the morning of. They might sprinkle its blood. That was why that was put away,
why it was driven away, things that could not be done the night
before. They would sprinkle the blood the next day. They would
wipe its innards and burn the fat on the Sabbath day and many
other things. What excapulated these men was
that what they did was done in the temple and for the service
of it, upon which an emphasis is put, and agrees with their
canons which say that there is no prohibition in the sanctuary. That which is forbidden to be
done on the Sabbath is lawful to be done in the sanctuary.
And whereas it might be objected to the disciples of Christ is
that they were not priests and what they did was not in the
temple but out in the field. So they were objecting to that,
that they were just walking through the field eating. But God, the
Lord's ways are not our ways. He's about to declare and to
demonstrate who he is before men. He is Lord of the Sabbath,
as we read. In other words, salvation is
of the Lord, all of it, including our rest, our peace, our trust. This incident was not accidental. Folks, nothing ever happened
with Christ Jesus that was just, well, this is how it felt. No
sirree. Our Lord is God Almighty in the
flesh. He knows all things. Everything that happened, He
knew before a star ever twinkled in the sky. He's still God. The Son of God has always been
the Son of God. He just wasn't the Son of God
in the flesh. until a little over 2,000 years
ago when the Virgin Mary gave birth to him. He knew everything. He knew this man was gonna be
there. It was no accident. The words, at that time, direct
our attention to the preceding verses in chapter 11, where we
read, come unto me, all ye that labor. Do you notice how this
is going with exactly what we just read a moment ago? These
men are attacking the Lord Jesus for working on the Sabbath, and
he's trying to express to you and I, our Sabbath is Christ
himself. He is our rest. Come unto me,
he says, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light. You remember that? We looked
at that last week. That was the end of chapter 11. We spoke about come unto me,
and I don't wanna go back over that too much, and actually I
could, because there's a whole lot. We could spend the next
six Fridays in a row talking about coming unto me. But we'll
go on. When our Lord, When our Lord's
disciples, second paragraph from the bottom of page two, began
to pick corn and eat it as they walked through the fields, the
Pharisees became enraged. When they did, our Lord Jesus
seized the opportunity to give words of clear instruction regarding
the Sabbath himself. and the uselessness of legalistic,
graceless religion. Let's be very clear about this
first, though. Our Savior never violated God's
law regarding the Sabbath or anything else for that matter.
He perfectly fulfilled the law of God to a T. Not one thing
was missed, page three. Our Lord's disciples were only
guilty of violating Jewish tradition. Did you catch that? They thought
they were observing the law of God. But all they had done was
added their own works to God's word, which became religious
traditions rather than God's law. They were guilty of violating
Jewish tradition, but not Mosaic law. People were allowed by law
to take ears of corn as they walked through the fields. The
objection of the Pharisees with the Lord's disciples doing so
was on the Sabbath day. Their hypocritical, unregenerate
minds plucking was reaping. and rubbing the grain from the
huff was threshing. They regarded their customs and
traditions and fancies as a code of God's law. In other words,
God's way was not enough. According to their traditions,
the disciples were doing that which was not lawful to do upon
the Sabbath day. But it was only unlawful to them.
It wasn't God's law that made it unlawful. Just a side note
here, just a quick side. Did you notice he who fed multitudes
used no miraculous power to feed his own followers? No, Lord,
we don't have any money, we'll just walk through the field like
we're supposed to over here and collect our corn. They were compelled
to get a little food for their stomachs. Why? Because they were
hungry. But they were compelled to do it the way other poor people
would, by walking through fields belonging to others and picking
corn. The Son of God does not need to bribe his people into
following him with promises of wealth and prosperity. No, he
just speaks. He says, come, follow me, and
they follow him. The word Sabbath, mid-page three,
impresses the idea of ceasing from work, resting. or inactivity. Listen to these
words from Genesis 2 verses 2 through 3. And on the seventh day God
ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh
day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the
seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested
from all his work which God created and made. Now, you take that
along with what we're reading, what we can read over in Exodus
20, verses 9 to 11, 6 days shalt thou labor and do all thy work,
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. See where
we get this idea of impression of how it means to rest and to
cease from works? It's the Sabbath of the Lord
thy God, and in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy
son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy
cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six
days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that
is in them, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed
the Sabbath day and hallowed it. again as it is in all of
the Old Testament pictures of our Savior where our rest lays. Like all other aspects, last
paragraph, page 3 of the Old Testament Law, the Sabbath was
a picture of Christ and it pointed men to Him in whom we find our
rest. Let us therefore fear lest a
promise 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 preached did not profit
them, not being mixed with what? Faith, belief. Whosoever believeth
on me shall have everlasting life. Not mixed with faith and
then that heard it. Page four. For we which have
believed, do enter into a rest as he has said I have sworn in
my wrath if they shall enter into my rest. Now I want to stop
there for just a moment before we go on. I want to talk about
this entering into God's rest. First off, it talks, it tells
us there very clearly for we which have believed do enter
into a rest. Folks, when we're going through
some of our most dire moments in this life, and we're gonna
go through a lot of them, there's gonna be times when the world
is gonna raise up its ugly head, the flesh that we live in is
gonna raise up its ugly head, and we're gonna feel like the
Lord ain't with us. And we're gonna say, Lord, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Just like Christ did on the
cross. God never forsook His Son. He
turned His back on Him for a moment while He was made sin, but the
Lord raised Him from that death, from that grave where those sins
were buried and left behind. Folks, Christ tells you and I,
I will never leave you nor forsake you. We will fall into that pit
of this flesh where we look into ourselves looking for something
to prove that we're saved. And the only thing we should
be looking at is the one in whom we believe and that's the Lord
Jesus himself. That's where our eyes should
be turned. When Peter took his eyes off of Christ, he began
to sink. Could you imagine how terrible
that was for him? When Jonah ran from the Lord,
he was swallowed up in a whale. Could you imagine the horror
that was going through that man's mind as he was in the belly of
a whale dying? Way worse than anything you and
I have ever gone through. Our peace is in the fact that
we believe in Him, and we believe the one in His promises, in His
word. That's our peace. All back in
our tech, back in our handout again. 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 in 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 in, because of unbelief, again
he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long
a time, as it is said, Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts. For as Jesus hath given them
rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day? 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, as God did from his. Let us labor. Let us labor, therefore,
to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example. of unbelief. Hebrews 4, verses
1-10. The error of the Pharisees here
was the same as it is now. Natural man makes the Word of
God of none effect by adding their traditions. Thus have ye
made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition,
ye hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy of you,
saying, This people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and
honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men. What is the commandment of our
God to each and every one of his people? Believe. Come unto me. The power of God
says to his people, believe. And we know that we could not
believe if it were not for the gift of God. Amen. The Old Testament
law was still in effect when our Lord began His ministry.
He and His disciples honored the law, but this breach of religious
tradition, the Pharisees considered a breach of God's law. John Gill
wrote this, he said, just one section of the Jewish Talmud
contains 24 chapters of sabbatical laws. Just one little section
of their Talmud. I guess that's their Bible, their
writings, their teachings. Instead of being a day of rest,
the Sabbath had become a day of incredible burden. Because
of all the man-made restrictions imposed by the rabbis in the
name of God, as one man observed, it was harder to rest on the
Sabbath day than it was to work the other six days of the week.
You know, I've heard our brother Mike Loveless say that. He was
a Seventh-day Adventist before the Lord called him out of that
darkness. And he told me, he said, the greatest burden I had,
John, was waiting for that minute to come on Friday night when
we would just shut down and not do anything until a minute after
the time it all started again Saturday night. The Sabbath was anything but
a day of rest to them. It had become a day of frustration,
anxiety, and fear, religious manipulation imposed by ungodly
religious legalists who had made the people of God weary and heavy
laden, as we read back in verse 28 of chapter 11. The Lord's
disciples were not reaping on the Sabbath. They were simply
eating as they walked. But the man-made rituals, the
teachings, the written traditions of the Jews forbade the rubbing
of the corn on the Sabbath. They called it works. In these
verses, our Lord Jesus shows how contemptuous He was of the
Pharisees and their religious traditions. He questions in verses
3 and 5, and it's covered in sarcasm. Let's read that again. Look in your Bibles quickly,
if you would, verses 3 and verse 5 of our text there. But He said
unto them, have ye not read? Now He knew they read. You see
the sarcasm there? He knew they were the Pharisees.
They knew it by heart. They had to pass tests of memorization
like you and I can't even understand. Have you not read what David
did when he was a hungered? And that they were with him?
And look at verse 5. Again, we see the sarcasm. Or
have you not read in the law? They thought they knew the law
better than anybody. How that on the Sabbath days,
the priest and the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless?
They cut deep. Back in our handout again, second
paragraph, page five. They cut deep into the Pharisees'
pride. One can almost see the anger
swelling up inside of them. Like the other commandments,
the Sabbath day was intended to promote love to God and to
one another. But the scribes and the Pharisees
knew nothing of love. These legalists, they lived only
to fulfill lifeless, loveless duties, which made them feel
good about themselves. The laws regarding the Sabbath
were never intended to restrict deeds of necessity. That's what
we read in verses 3 and 4 of our text where we read, have
you not read what David did when he was in hunger and how they
were with him? See, the Sabbath was never for
that, to stop people from the deeds of necessity, from eating
and drinking water, no. That was in verses 3 and 4. How
about in 1 Samuel, or let me finish that, which was not lawful
for him to eat, neither for them who were with him, but only for
the priest. In 1 Samuel 21.6 we read this,
so the priest gave him, speaking of David, they gave him hallowed
bread. for there was no bread there
but the showbread that was taken from before the Lord. So they
took the bread from the temple, the bread that was only supposed
to be eaten by the priest in the temple, and they gave it
unto David, because David's men and his men were hungry. They
had to eat. So we see that the laws regarding the Sabbath, they
were never intended to restrict the deeds of necessity. They
were never meant to restrict the service to God. That's what
we read in verses 5 and 6. Let me read that again for you.
Or have you not read in the law how that on the sabbath days
the priests in the temple profane the sabbath and are blameless?
But I said unto you that in this place is one greater than the
temple. I love the introduction to the
book of Hebrews. The introduction to the book
of Hebrews, the first few first chapters of Hebrews are all about
Jesus Christ, who is greater than all the things read about
in the Old Testament. The sacrifices, the priests,
the temple, the altars. The showbread. He was better
than all of that. All of those things were nothing
but a picture of the greater One who was to come. And that's
what the Lord just said here. That in this place... Remember,
the Lord's standing right there. He's talking about Himself. He's
declaring Himself to be who He is. Sovereign God of everything
is one greater than the temple. These laws of the Sabbath, they
were never meant to restrict acts of mercy. That's what we
read in verses 7 and 8. But if he had known what this
meaneth, he said to these men, I will have mercy and not sacrifice,
he would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man
is the Lord of the Sabbath day. Folks, we should always choose
mercy and compassion. when there is a question between
dogma and ritual and religious ceremony. But notice verse 6
of our text. He says, but I say unto you that
in this place is one greater than the temple. Turn to page
6 of your handout, please. In verses 6 and 8, our Savior,
the Son of Man, claims divine supremacy and sovereignty as
He who is greater than the temple. And he claims as he is Lord even
of the Sabbath. He is Lord of everything, even
the law, in all that concerns God and man. As the Son of Man,
our divine mediator into whose hands the Father has delivered
all things. He says in Matthew 11 verse 27
that we just read a week or so back, actually last week. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. That's in the 27th verse of chapter
11. He arranges. and disposes of
Sabbath as he pleases. He declares that even in the
legal dispensation of the Sabbath was not profaned by works of
necessity of devotion of mercy. Certainly, in this gospel day,
we should never pay the least measure of attention to the sharp
speeches of hypocritical legalists who strain the Sabbath law, sabbatical
law, and make a yoke of bondage of that. which was intended to
point us to the holy rest of faith in Christ Jesus. I have
members of my own family who worship with the Seventh-day
Adventist, and folks, I'll tell you, they'll come up with all
kinds of reasons why they should be worshiping on Saturday rather
than stopping to understand that our weaknesses of the flesh will
lead us to worship anything if we take our eyes off of the true
and living God who is our Sabbath. He points this out and confirms
this To confirm this, our gracious Lord goes into a place of legalistic
worship and He commits an act of His great mercy. Look in your
Bibles, if you would, in verses 9-13. 9-13, Matthew 12, 9. And when He was departed, thence
He went into their synagogues. And, behold, there was a man
with which His hand withered. And they asked him, saying, is
it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days that they might accuse him? Can you wrap your mind around
that? You talk about people who don't
know God, trying to trap the very one who put them in their
mother's womb right there. They were trying to trap him,
that they might accuse him. Verse 11, And he said unto them,
What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep,
and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day will not lay
hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better
than a sheep? wherefore it is lawful to do
well on the Sabbath days. Then said he to the man, stretch
forth thine hand, and he stretched it forth, and it was restored
whole like as the other. Now we'll come back one more
time to our text in Matthew, but for now let's go back to
our handouts again. Page six, midway, the Lord Jesus
showed great honor to the matter of public worship as it is stated
in Matthew 12.9. But as we read in Hebrews 10.25
as well, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves as a manner of some
is, but exhorting one another so much the more as you see the
day approaching. Our Lord said there in verse
9, and when he was departed, thence he went into the synagogue.
He had nothing to gain from it and nothing to learn by it. And
the synagogue worship was a perverted form of worship. Yet our Lord
attended the worship of God for the glory of God and the benefit
of others. If our Savior made it his business
to be in the house of God on the appointed day of worship,
how dare we neglect this blessed ordinance of our God? The Pharisees sought to entrap
him, the master, as we see in Matthew 12, 10. And it says,
and behold, there was a man which he had his hand withered. And
they asked Him, saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
days? Page 7. That they might accuse
Him. Their approach was one of deceit. The Lord knew what was in their
hearts. That's why He inspired Matthew to write those words,
that they might deceive Him, it says. So that you and I would
know. False religion is full of deceit,
full of lie. Their approach was one of deceit.
They chose a man whose hand was withered, not one who was dying. Then they raised the question
not to learn, but to accuse. Such behavior is common among
religious legalists. They constantly seek to entrap
that they might accuse men and condemn them. I knew a place where I think
it was Brynn and Mike up in Tahoe. They had been attending a church
over in Carson City before they heard about us here at Rescue.
And if I'm remembering correctly, if it was them, it may have been
another couple, but I think it was them, they said they came to
them and ask them questions that they couldn't believe a church
would be asking of such personal nature of a young couple and
wanted to come to their house to seek out what was going on
in their house to make sure of this. for one reason, and that
would be to accuse them of being sinners. Rather than just accepting
the knowledge that we know that all of mankind are sinners, they
wanted to come and accuse them of it. That's what this is talking
about. The Lord Jesus shamed the Pharisees
into silence though with Matthew 11 and 12 of that chapter 12. What man shall there be among
you? He silenced them, silencing them with shame. Which among
you shall have one sheep? And if it fall into the pit of
the Sabbath day, will not lay hold on it and lift it out? How
much then is a man better than a sheep, wherefore it is lawful
to do on the Sabbath day?" Not even the Pharisee would contend
that sheep were more valuable than men. Men who were created
in the image of God, yet in practice they treated other men with less
respect. I should have added in there,
they treated men as though they were holier than thou. I wonder
if that's gone all the way back to then or even before, that
phrase, holier than now. They treated men with less respect
than they did their beasts in the name of religion. Our Lord
answered their question emphatically by asking them, is it lawful
to do well on Sabbath days? Then he showed himself to be
God by an act of omnipotent mercy. Then saith he to the man, stretch
forth thine hand, and he stretched it forth, and it was restored
whole like as the other." What a wonderful spiritual lesson
we can learn from this incident. This man with a withered hand
was found where? In the house of God. Though his
hand was withered, he came to the place where God promised
to meet with men and women. He was found waiting on the Lord
in the place of the Lord's own appointing. There's no indication
that he knew the Lord Jesus, much less that he sought His
merciful intervention. Prevenient grace put him in the
way of grace. The Lord Jesus knew this poor
man was in the synagogue, and he of whom it was written that
he must needs go to Samaria. Remember that statement? Because
there was a poor woman there for whom the time of love had
come. That's over in John 4. He went to this particular synagogue
on this particular Sabbath day because the time of love had
come for this poor man with a withered hand. And God was going to use
him to show his mighty grace and his mighty mercy to his people. Here our Savior had come to fulfill
His own words. Isaiah 65 1, I am found of them
that sought me not. I could picture that poor man
sitting there. Maybe he had been coming there
for a while. Maybe he had been over in the
corner with that withered hand thinking to himself, I'm unclean. I don't even want to be around
the rest. And all of a sudden, here come the men dressed in
robes. Come here. Come here, Jesus of
Nazareth. Come, come and look at this man
with this withered hand. Is it legal for you to heal,
for him to be healed on the day of Sabbath? I can imagine that
poor man sitting there thinking, oh man, what are they coming
to me for? I'm going to get cast out. I
can just picture, picture the horror that must have been going
through his mind and the Lord reaches down and Heals his hand. What a blessing of mercy. Page
8. With the command of grace, stretch
forth thine hand came the power of grace to obey the command. That's what this is a picture
of. This man, he could have done
nothing less. God said, stretch forth thine
hand, and he stretched it forth. Why? Because the power of God
gave him the ability to do so. Robert Hawker wrote this. He
said, Christ's biddings are enablings. I like that. What a good statement. Christ's biddings are enablings. I think of Lazarus. Christ bid
him come forth. He said, Lazarus, come forth.
Burial clothes came forth. I can just picture that. Everybody's
mouth must have been dropping to the ground. Whoa, look at
this. His biddings are enablings. It was impossible for this man
to do what the master here called him to do. Yet he did it, because
he who called him is God, with whom all things are possible.
So it is with the call of Christ by His Spirit to poor sinners.
When He says to those who cannot and will not come to Him, come
unto Me, they come to Him, being enabled and compelled by His
omnipotent mercy to obey His call. Had He not mysteriously
and secretly communicated the ability to obey, none ever could
nor would obey His call. This blessed truth applies to
every aspect of our lives. Without Him, we can do nothing.
John 15, 5. Yet because it is God who works
in us to will and to do of His own good pleasure, when He bids
us work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, we can
do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Philippians
2, verses 12-13. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you, both to
will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 4 verse 13, I can
do all things through Christ which strengthen me. The same
grace that calls gives His elect the ability to obey. It says next in Matthew 12, chapter
12, verse 14, and I've got it in the handout for you if you
want to stay there. Then the Pharisees went out and held counsel
against Him, how they might destroy Him. Mark tells us over in Mark
chapter 3, 6 that these Pharisees joined forces with the Herodians,
their arch enemies, the worldly political party who supported
Herod to destroy Christ. They were determined to rid the
world of Christ at any cost. Why? Because he exposed their
inward emptiness. That's what the light does. Let
me just read that for you over here in John chapter 3. And this is the confirmation
that light is coming into the world, verse 19. And men love
darkness rather than light. That's what this is talking about
right here. That's what I'm saying right
here. They love their darkness more than their light. more than
that than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved." They hated Christ because the
truth exposed their lies. They were determined to rid the
world of Him at any cost. He denounced their outward rituals.
He disregarded the traditions of their fathers and he taught
salvation by grace alone. Page 9. Legalism is the enemy
of grace. Are ye so foolish, having begun
in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? That's
Galatians 3.3. Paul's speaking to the Galatians
about, are you sure? I mean, are you so foolish to
go back to what you were in the flesh before, being taught the
perfectness of God's spirit and grace? Or behold, it says, I,
Paul, say unto you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole
law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, ye are fallen from grace. That's Galatians 5, 2
through 4. Folks, there's no room for Sabbath-keeping
and the dispensation of grace. Christ is our Sabbath. Let no
man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect to
and holiday, and our Lord says it very clearly here next, or
the new moon, or of the Sabbath, which are a shadow of things
to come, but the body is of Christ. That's Colossians 2, 16-17. Christians
have since the earliest days of church history, and you can
read about it in Acts 27, 20 verse 7 or 1 Corinthians 16,
2, set aside Sunday. They have since the very earliest
days of the church history set aside Sunday, the first day of
the week, as a special day of worship. fellowship and divine
service because that is the day our Lord was raised from the
dead. John called it this, he said, the Lord's day in Revelation
1 10. But it is not in any way a Christian
Sabbath. We do not look at Sunday as a
day of rest. I'm going to go out on Sunday
afternoon sometimes and play golf after I take a nap. Sunday is not our Sabbath. It's
our day of worship. We worship the Sabbath, and the
Sabbath is our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Christ is our Sabbath. Let us conclude this study with
that which I believe to be a clear teaching of Holy Scripture with
regard to Sabbath keeping. In Isaiah 58, 13, the Lord God
tells us to call the Sabbath a delight. These Pharisees, they weren't
calling Jesus Christ a delight. No, they wanted to get rid of
him. They wanted to kill him off. When can we, when do we
call the Sabbath a delight? We can and do call the Sabbath
a delight only when we are brought to the blessed rest of faith
in Christ. Notice I didn't say only when
you do this or you do that, faith in Christ. Whosoever believeth
in me, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. When we keep the
Sabbath of faith, ceasing from our own works and resting in
Christ alone, for our entire acceptance with God. Last paragraph,
page nine. When a person turns away from
his way, from his sin, from the pleasure of his depraved heart,
and from this world to the Lord Jesus Christ, finding rest in
Him, he finds that Christ in whom he rests is a delight, a
luxury, and that faith in Him is an honor. Indeed, all who
trust Christ delight themselves in Him, triumph over all of our
foes in Him. and shall at last obtain the
full heritage of the heavenly Canaan called the heritage of
Jacob. For the mouth of the Lord has
spoken it. My most joyful moments in my
life today are the times when I remember my Savior is my Lord
and my Sabbath. I pray that tonight's study was
a blessing to you all.