An unusual subject. Israel and the Sabbath. Israel
and the Sabbath. Now you know when we dealt with
this chapter last week, we dealt with the workers that God called.
And all the names, the names that they had. You know they
were called of God, chosen of God. God equipped them. God gave them the ability. Gave
them the gifts. Gave them the wisdom and the
knowledge and the understanding. God did that. And you know that
they had names and the names meant so much. So much. But they
were just a shadow of our Lord Jesus Christ and His work. His
work. Now after the work is finished,
let me start out by saying this, after the work is finished, that's
when he gives the Sabbath. After the work is finished. So let me read here verses 13
through 18. Speak also unto the children
of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbath ye shall keep. For it
is signed between me and you, and throughout your generations,
that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.
Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore, it is holy unto you. For every
one defiled, this shall surely be put to death. For whosoever
doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among
the people. Six days may work be done, but
in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. 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 all their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It
is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. For
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh
day he rested and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when
he had made an end of communing with him, upon Mount Sinai two
tables of testimony, tables of stone, written, with the finger
of God. Let's pray. Father, we've read your word,
read your word. We're thankful that we have your
word, have what you say. And we're thankful as you equip
these men that you gave us, your children, the Holy Spirit of
God, so that we're equipped to understand your word, rightly
divide it, make it understandable. And Lord Jesus, please help us
tonight to honor your holy name, to deal with this rightly, truly,
honestly before you and before men. And our Father, we pray
for those we mentioned this morning again. Thank you for your dear
people. God, your people are the light
of the world, salt of the earth. God, blessed of people. Oh Lord,
people of God. No one like them on this earth.
No one like them. And Lord, you've made them what
they are. You made us all to differ. We wouldn't have anything,
know anything, or do anything. We'd be just no different than
any other soul that's ever born. The only difference is what you
made in us. And we thank you. Oh God, how
we thank you for the difference you made. You made the difference.
Honor yourself tonight for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. You know, after the work was
done, the work was finished, and he called these men. We're
going to look at how God deals and mentions the Sabbath. The
Holy Sabbath. And the actual giving of the
testimony, the tables of the testimony to Moses. Which God
inscribed the Ten Commandments. The first time that Sabbath is
mentioned in Exodus is Exodus 16. Look at that with me. Exodus
16, 23. Exodus 16, 23. You know, just reading these
things tells me that if a man don't keep them, it's reading
them, if you don't keep them perpetually, that he's under
a curse. You do anything, anything on
the Sabbath day and you're cursed. If that's what you're going to
do, if you're going to deal with the law, That's what has to happen. And look what he said here in
verse 23. And he said unto them, this is
that which the Lord hath said, tomorrow is the rest of the holy
Sabbath unto the Lord. Bake that which you will bake
today, seed that you will seed, that which remaineth over, lay
up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up
till the morning as Moses bathed, and it did not stink, neither
was there any worm therein. Moses said, Eat that today, for
today is the Sabbath unto the Lord. Today you shall not find
it, you won't find anything to eat and fill today. Six days
you'll gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath,
there shall not be none. And it came to pass that there
went out some of the people on the seventh day, for together
they found none. and the Lord said unto Moses
how long refuse ye to keep my commandments see that the Lord
hath given you the Sabbath therefore he giveth you on the sixth day
the bread of two days shall abide every man in his place let no
man go out on the Sabbath day did you know God made this day
for a day of rest made it for a day of rest and the second
time that is mentioned in the book of Exodus now is when God
gave the law God gave the law when he gave the Ten Commandments
when Moses came down off the mountain with the Ten Commandments
on those tablets of stone that's when it was mentioned and the
third time is here what I read to you tonight and I want to
look at this business of the Sabbath and the keeping of the
Sabbath two ways I want to look at it typically as it relates
to God's people and the Lord Jesus Christ. Then I want to
look at it judicially as to what the consequences is about it.
And here's the thing, whenever you're dealing with the subject,
don't never ignore the context or the subject or the word. And I tell you the first time,
the first time, as the law of mention, the first time Sabbath
is mentioned, you remember what it was? Look at Genesis 2, let me show
you. Genesis 2. No, this is the key to it right
here. Genesis 2. So whenever you find
a subject, this subject, I want you to understand, this is after
all the work's been done on the tabernacle. The work's finished.
The work's finished. And that typified our Lord Jesus
Christ and the work that He did. God gave him the ability and
equipped him to do one thing when he came to this earth, to
honor God, uphold his law and magnify it, to do the will of
his father and to save and redeem those that the father gave him.
Did he do that? So that's what we got to start
out first of all with that subject that this work was done before
there's ever a entering to rest. The work's got to be done or
you can't enter into rest. And look what he said here in
Genesis 2 in verse 1. Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day,
listen to this, God ended his work which he had made. And he
rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And then God blessed the seventh day. He sanctified it, he set
it apart. Because that in it he had rested
from all his work which God had created. So I tell you that's
the first thing you got to realize that the work's been done. Three
things here about the Sabbath. Three things that God said about
it. First of all, he rested on the Sabbath. And that's what
it means. Sabbath means rest day. day of
rest. And I tell you what, and you
know why He rested on that day? He said the works was finished.
The heavens were finished, the earth was finished, everything
that God started to do, He said He finished. There's no more
work to do. So what am I going to do? I'm
going to quit working. I'm going to stop. That's everything
I looked at. It's good and very good and oh,
it's wonderful. Everything I made is good and
very good. He looked at his work and said,
this work is done. It's finished. And then he blessed
that day. He said, this is a blessed day.
The work has been done. And what a blessed day for us
when we find out that our Lord Jesus Christ finished the work.
That's a blessed day, wasn't it? When he stopped and entered
into his rest, he said, I'll bless this day and it's a blessed
day when Christ comes and we find out he's our rest. And then
he sanctified it. He set it apart and said, this
is mine. This is mine. Now let me tell you, here's the
spiritual meaning of the Sabbath. It's called the rest of God.
And you know why it's called the rest of God? Because God
saw his work and was satisfied. Now look in Isaiah 53 and verse
11. Look in Isaiah 53 and verse 11. Oh my, I'm telling you. That's what I mean. Did I say Isaiah 57? I meant
Isaiah 53. Did I say 53? Isaiah 53. And look in verse
11. Well read verse 10 first. Yet it pleased the Lord It pleased God, it satisfied
God, it honored God to bruise him. He hath put him to grief,
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall
see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hands. Listen to this now. He
shall say of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. Oh my. God satisfied. God satisfied. And I tell you
that's why God rested on that day. He's satisfied with His
work. And God, He gave His blessed
Son and He's satisfied with what His Son did. Here's the blessed
thing about the gospel the first thing that has to take place
is that God? Himself must have an offering
to satisfy him whether anybody else has ever satisfied or not
God the first purpose of Christ coming was to honor his father
to satisfy his God magnify his father bless his father do everything
to the honor and glory of his father and And you know what? When our Lord Jesus Christ said
it is finished and he set out the right hand of God. Here son,
sit right here. This is the position of power
and authority and rights. Sit here. And I'll tell you what,
how he's satisfied with his work. And I'll tell you something else,
when you ever find out that Christ did it all, and all to Him we
owe, you're satisfied too. I'm satisfied with the way God
done things in this world. I'm satisfied with the way God
saves a sinner. I'm satisfied with God's Word.
I'm satisfied with the Gospel. I'm satisfied with everything
God is and does. Ain't you? Oh, I'm satisfied
with it. You know why? Because He is. Whatever God satisfied in, that's
what we are. And in Exodus here 31 the Sabbath
is mentioned after the workers is called and then it says do
all that I commanded thee they shall do. And they did it all. They did it all. And one of the
workers remember he is called the shadow of God. We deal under
the shadow of the Almighty. One is called the Son of Light.
Christ is our light. The worker worked in gold and
silver and brass and precious stones. And our Lord Jesus Christ,
every one of those refers to Him. And the worker says, God,
He was gold. Silver, He redeemed us. Working
in brass. He's the brass of God the judgment
of God He is able to bear it and you talking about precious
stones. He cut every stone That was going
to be on his breastplate and on his shoulders and he put them
in the places he wanted them to be And he bears them yet today
and I told you not to say something else He calls us his jewels Yeah, He calls us to do it. And
so the works being typically completed, now the rest of God. And you know the rest of God
is the consequence of the finished work of Christ. You know when
God said He is satisfied, you know why He is satisfied? And
God rested because the work was done. That's the same way it
was in salvation. When you go through Genesis 1,
start in the first 5 verses of Genesis. Chapter 1. First 5 verses,
you have the gospels clear as it's anywhere in the scriptures.
First of all, the earth was without form and void. That's the way
we were. I mean, we were in the darkness
and without form. We was void of God, void of spiritual,
void of life, void of everything. And then there come the Spirit
of God. And He moved. And the Spirit of God, He comes
and He moves. He moves. He moved on that water,
brooded over that water. And as He brooded over that water,
He said, Let there be light. And in the light, come on. And then you know what he said
next? He said, separating the light from the darkness. He said,
this over here is darkness, this over here is light. We're not
in the darkness anymore, we're in the light. So I mean everywhere you look,
you see the gospel. And that's why, that's the way
God started His work. And when the work is finished,
you rest. And the consequences of the finished
work of Christ is the only way God rested as He did in His creation. And the only way in the world
we can find rest and God even rested. I don't mean to say it
in a dishonoring way. But God Himself rested in the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. How do you know He's finished
with Him? Because He turned everything over to Him. He said, I'm not
going to do it. You're going to do it all. He
committed all things into the hand of His Son. He committed
the creation. He committed salvation. He committed
every soul that was given to Him. He redeemed every soul. Everything that Father gave Him
to do, He did it. And He says, now, it's done. And God gave it all to Him. And there's two rests. Two rests. One in which God is satisfied.
That's the rest of creation. And one in which God is satisfied. The second in which the redeemed
of the Lord are brought into rest. Now I think Gary dealt
with this in Isaiah 57 20. I believe he dealt with this
the other night when he was preaching on God's rest. Isaiah 57 20. You know there's people that'll
never know what it is to rest. You know the only people that
enjoy a rest is the people that labor. The only people that enjoy
a real rest is people that work, work hard. And I'll tell you
what, you work really hard and it feels wonderful to be washed,
take a shower and sit down and rest. And you know Christ washed us
from our sins in his own blood and now we rest. We don't labor anymore. Not in
the gospel. Not to be accepted of God. But
look what he said here. But the wicked are like the troubled
sea when it cannot rest. That's Satan. That's why he said
that's the way the wicked are. They just trouble, trouble, trouble. They're looking for rest. They
want rest. They desire rest. But they're
so troubled. They just cast up mire after
mire after mire. And they cannot rest, whose water
cast up mire and dirt. That's all they can cast up with.
And God said, there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
They're looking for rest, they desire rest, but they're looking
in the wrong place and looking at the wrong things. And there's
no peace. Why? Because they don't know
the author of peace. You know, we sang that song,
that wonderful peace that cometh down from above. And oh, that
author of peace, our God, our Father, oh, what the author of
peace. And I tell you, only the Prince of Peace can bring peace. And I tell you what, He brings
it to the heart. And that's why there's, therefore,
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ. And yet by faith,
by faith, we've entered into peace. That's what our Lord Jesus
said. You that are heavy laden. Gary
and I was talking about it today. He said, I remember when I was
talking about it this morning where He said, I am He that came
down from heaven. I'm the one that came down from
heaven. And when you understand who it was that came down from
heaven, he said, I remember and I didn't ever see that. I didn't
know that. And I remember very well preaching works. I remember
it very well. Some of you remember it. I told
you how you dress and how you ought not dress, where you ought
to go and where you ought not go, who you ought to be with,
who you ought not be with. I used to do that stuff all the
time. Gary said I'd get up and say, now I'm not going to tell
you a bunch of do's and don'ts until I get up and say, I told you
every do and don't you ought to. Oh my! But now, we got tired
of that, got weary of that. And God came in His blessed sovereign
mercy and grace, caused our peace with somebody that knew something
about Christ, knew something about God, knew something about
how sinners saved, knew something about how God can be just and
justify all wretched sinners like ourselves. God come and
done that for us. God come and brought us out from
all that darkness and all that heavy laden and all that burden.
And you know what he said? I give you rest. And then he
says, when you come to me not only will I give you rest, but
you go find rest. Oh, you find. When you get there,
you say, yes, there's rest here. And then you find, oh, there
is rest here. Oh, what rest there is. And I
tell you that Hebrews 4.3 says this, they which have believed
Do enter in to rest. Well, look down here at verse
13, 14 of Exodus with me. God says, they're my Sabbaths,
my Sabbath. My Sabbaths shall you keep. You
shall keep my Sabbath, it's holy unto you. And whosoever doeth
any work therein shall be cut off from among the people. He
said, it's a sign between me and you throughout your generations. And it's a sign between me and
you. I do sanctify. And look what he says there.
I am the Lord that doeth sanctify you. There in the last verse,
last word of chapter, verse 13. I am the Lord that doeth sanctify
you. It's a sign between me and you. I do sanctify you, keep
the Sabbath, it's holy unto you. The first time the Sabbath is
called a sign between the Lord and the Israel. The sign, what
was the sign? They were sanctified people,
set apart from the rest of the world. And ain't that what God
done for us? sanctified us and set us apart
from the world. And then he called it the Sabbath,
the rest of God. And this Sabbath, this rest of
God is for a sanctified people. And there's three places in the
New Testament where we're called to be sanctified. First of all,
our Lord Jesus prayed and said, Father, sanctify them, set them
apart through thy word, through thy truth. But the first time
you find it mentioned is Jude 1, sanctified by God the Father
and preserved in Christ Jesus. Then, well you need to see this
one. You need to see this in Hebrews
13. Hebrews 13, 12. You need to see
this and I quote this but you need to see it. You need to look
at it. Hebrews 13, 12. Here's the way
we're sanctified. And that word sanctified, I've
told you time and again, it means set apart, being set apart by
God and regarded as holy. He regarded that day as holy.
And he regarded his people as holy because he's the one that
sanctified them. And look what it said in Hebrews
13, 12. were for Jesus also that he might
sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the
camp. Oh, we're sanctified by God the
Father, sanctified by the blood of Christ, and then you remember
Thessalonians where it says, you know, that he hath from the
beginning chosen us, through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. So we've been sanctified by the
Father, been sanctified by the blood, been sanctified by the
truth. So, I mean, we're triple sanctified. People say, boy, you gotta live
Live a sanctified life. Safe, sanctified, and filled
with the Holy Ghost. We're sanctified so many ways. God the Father sanctified us.
God the Son sanctified us. And then not only that, but it
says in Hebrews 10, He said, He by His own offering of His
own body sanctified us once and for all and forever. Forever. So we've been set apart not just
for a little while, a little while but we've been set apart
forever sanctified forever he perfected us and I tell you ain't
that what he says oh he sanctified us set us apart and the sign
between God and his people is this the fact that they have
entered into a rest entered into a rest and I tell you something
else it's typical of it's typical of an eternal rest Oh my, what
an eternal rest. You know what God said? He says,
you know, they ceased from their labors and entered in to their
rest. Isn't that what He says in Revelation?
They ceased from their labors and entered in to their rest. And they didn't get there by
their works, they got there because Christ died for them. And I tell
you this, it will be an eternal Sabbath, an eternal rest. This
heaven and this earth is going to pass away. God is going to
fold it up like you fold up an old sweater and throw it away. God said I'll take this, this
heaven and earth and I'm going to fold it up like you would
a vesture and I'm going to put it away and I'm going to create
a new heaven and a new earth and the only thing in the world
that's ever going to live in that new heaven and new earth
is righteousness. And every one of them is going
to be there on the righteousness of Christ and Him alone. Nobody
will be there, and you're talking about arrest. We'll be there
because of what He did. If you got arrested now, and
you're arrested in Christ now, imagine what it's going to be
to rest eternally. I tell you, I'm going to read
a verse of scripture to you. Look, I'm going to read it to
you. In Zephaniah, look what God said here in Zephaniah. The
Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with
joy. God said, I'll do that. And listen
to this. He will rest in his love. He will joy over thee with singing. He said, I rested in the love. I'll do that. But he said, I'm
going to sing over him. I'm going to sing over them.
Oh my, there are some good singers in this world. I mean some really,
really good singers. But can you imagine what God
sounds like when He sings? He said, I'm going to sing, I'm
going to rejoice and sing over you. You know when our Lord Jesus
was having, when they got through eating, they
went out and sang a hymn. Since our Lord Jesus Christ is
always the leader and the master. I believe he started that hymn.
I don't know what the hymn is. It had to be a psalm. But can
you imagine the Lord Jesus Christ leading you in a hymn? Leading you in a psalm? Wouldn't
it be something we get there and get the glory and he was
the start of the hymn. Oh my! Could you imagine his
voice singing? Says He is perfect in every way.
You know His voice. Oh my, it would just be beautiful
to say. You know what we'd all do? We'd
shut our mouths and let Him do it all. I'll tell you something else,
rest in His love. And God's will provided for the
work to be finished there in Exodus 31 as I've already said.
And he does enter into his rest. That's the typical aspect of
it. Now let me deal with the judicial aspect of it. The judicial
aspect of it. This is the part that folks really
miss that want to be reformed and have the law as a rule of
life. I've heard of this, you know
I know some folks that's up at Clay Curtis's, they were in reformed
churches. And I mean, oh my, that law was
just preached to them all the time. And preachers was always
watching them. Always watching them. To see
if they was going to say or do something, you know, that would
dishonor the law. They'd go check up on them in
their home. Go check up and see how big, you know, how much they
watch television, things like that. And it was just ridiculous
how these guys watch over a person's life. But you know what it tells
us? Look what it says here. And then verse 14, look what
it says. You shall keep the Sabbath, for
it is holy unto you. Everyone that defiles it shall
surely be put to death. That's the first, that's judicial
aspect of it. That's the judicial aspect of
it. And what he's saying here is if you don't look to Christ
and Christ alone, look to what he did and him alone, you know
what's going to happen to you? You're going to be cursed. You're
going to be cut off. You're going to be cursed, you're
going to be cut off. That's what he said, that soul shall be cut
off from among the people. Huh? Six days you're going to
work. But in the seventh is Sabbath
of the Lord, a holy to the Lord, and Sabbath of rest. Whosoever
doeth any work in the Sabbath, he shall surely be put to death.
That's what he meant. You know, you can add anything
to Christ and subtract anything from Christ. Paul said, I do
not frustrate the grace of God. And as people come along, you
know, and they did it in the Scriptures and they do it now.
I've had folks here that says, man, there's no way in the world.
I don't understand why you don't deal with the law. Christ already
dealt with it for me. He's already been cursed for
me. And that's the thing about it.
That's what he meant to you. You know, Paul said, you that
desire to be under the law, don't you hear it? He said, Cursed
is everyone that continueth all things written not in the book
of the law to do them. But Christ was made a curse for
us to redeem us from the curse of the law and I'll tell you
something beloved. There's There's a fella caught
picking up sticks picking up sticks to start a fire with on
the Sabbath. You know what they did to him
They kept him in ward And then they brought him out and decide
what they gonna do with him and all of Israel gathered around
him and stoned him to death Now that's what's going to happen
to people who try to add anything at all to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spurgeon used to say this, if there is so much as one tiny
bit of a thread in your righteousness that's of your own making, then
the whole garment is ruined. Ain't that right? No mercy under the law. Who would
want to stand before God on the basis of the Ten Commandments?
Who wants to stand before God on the basis of anything we've
ever said or done? David said this, he said, Oh
Lord, if Thou desired sacrifice, I'd give it. Under Moses law, at the mouth
of two or three witnesses, they had no mercy. And there's no mercy in this
business here of keeping the law. And that's why Christ is
our Sabbath, Christ is our rest. God tempteth no man, neither
is he tempted of evil. He says, don't do any work. Don't
even provide food. Don't prepare water. Don't prepare
wood. That's why Christ, as God's telling
us, don't bring anything at all. When you're in Christ and He's
your rest, don't bring nothing. I love it like that, don't you?
I just absolutely love it. Don't you? I don't have to bring
anything. He done brought it all. He brought it all to the Father
and He brought it all to us. And Moses has been on that mountain
40 days and 40 nights. And he stayed up there long.
It didn't take God that long to write the Ten Commandments.
He stayed up there that long because He gave Him the pattern
for the tabernacle. And I tell you what, now that
the work is done, and it's done eternally, Has God finished His
work? Even so, we enter into His rest. And we're secure by the Lord
Jesus Christ. Where sin reigned, now grace
reigns. And it reigns through righteousness.
And when you get down to the end of chapter 31, you know what
the next thing happens? When the people saw, verse 30,
chapter 30, when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down
out of the mountain, the people gathered themselves together
unto Aaron and said unto him, Make us gods which shall go before
us. As for this Moses, the man that
brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't have any idea
where he's at. You know what they did? They
broke the law before they ever got it. after the work had been done. And I'm telling you what, we
certainly, that's where we'll deal with that God willing next
week. But I feel sorry for people, me and Bruce Crabtree and me
and Todd and all the preacher brothers. We've talked about
this, I couldn't tell you the times. How in the world, how
in the world can anybody, anybody, Look at the Ten Commandments
called to moral law. There was a fellow one time he
was going to a church up in New Jersey and he went out and took
his kids out to a park and swung in some swings and bounced a
basketball in the basketball court. Somebody told the preacher
that night and they absolutely took him to task. You don't do
that. You can't take your kids out
on Sunday. Sunday ain't the Sabbath anyway.
That's why they call them, what's them fellows that meet on the
seventh day? Seventh day Adventist. And you know what Sunday is?
That's the day the Lord rose again from the dead. And that's
the first day that He met them. And that's when the day became
the Lord's day. That's what this is called, the
Lord's day. You know what Monday is? The Lord's day. You know
what Tuesday is? The Lord's Day. You know what
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday is? The Lord's
Day. What a joy. What a blessed thing
we have in Christ. What a wonderful rest. I don't
want to be cursed. I don't want to be separated
from the Lord's people. Do you? No. Enter into rest. It's God's rest. If God rests
in Christ, I'm going to rest in Christ. Our Father, oh our Father, thank
you for your great and abundant mercy given us in Christ. Oh
Lord, you fill our hearts with such joy. You fill us with such
joy in believing. You fill us with such peace,
such assurance, such a blessed hope we have. And oh Father,
to know when one of your people are taken from this earth, they
enter into a rest, blessed rest, glorious rest. But if a man can't
rest in Christ here, he'll never rest in eternity. So oh God,
we find our rest, we find our hope, we find our peace. Find
him to be our peace. He's our all in all, truly. We
praise you and bless you in Christ's name. Amen. Let's sing that 205. 205 in the book. Y'all know what this one is? Once for all, free from the law,
to stand together. Jesus has bled and there is remission. Cursed by the law and bruised
by the fall, grace has redeemed us once for all. Once for all, sinner, receive
it. I love this one right here. Now are we free, there's no condemnation. Jesus provides a perfect salvation. Come unto me, oh, hear His sweet
call. Come and He saves us once for
all. Sinner, receive it once for all. Brother, believe it. Cling to the cross, the burden
will fall. Christ has redeemed us once for
all. Children of God, Once for all Into the cross the burden will
fall Christ hath redeemed us once for all