Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. In the book of Genesis, we find
that God rested on the seventh day, since He had completed the
work which He performed according to His sovereign purpose. Nothing
was left undone, nor would anything be added later to that work which
the Lord fully finished. The Lord first memorialized this
day when He told the children of Israel to gather enough manna
on the sixth day so that they would be able to rest from their
labors on the seventh. Then he instructed the Israelites
to remember this Sabbath day to keep it holy in the law he
gave to Moses. No work was to be done on this
day. Thus a perpetual memorial of the completion of the natural
creation was to be observed by the Israelites by ceasing from
their own labors which he commanded them to undertake on the other
six. His rest on the Sabbath day is an exact picture of his
completion of the work of salvation, which he undertook and performed
for his elect bride. In this manner, the commandment
to keep the Sabbath day, which was given to the nation of Israel,
was also a prophetical foreshadow of the rest which would be brought
in by the cessation of labor by the Redeemer. In the same
fashion in which he rested on the seventh day when he had finished
his work in the natural creation, so too did he cease from his
labors to save his spiritual creation when he hung on Calvary's
cross and said, it is finished. In doing so, he set aside no
particular day for the children of God to observe his rest from
his labor, thus emphasizing the spiritual nature of that kingdom
which he established by the shedding of his own blood and his resurrection
from the dead. Yet he did indeed leave a memorial
of a different kind when he said, For as often as ye eat this bread,
and drink this cup, ye do show, proclaim, or declare the Lord's
death till he come. Yet we also read in the book
of Hebrews that, "...there remaineth therefore a rest to the people
of God." This can be literally translated, "...there remaineth
a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God." So what is this Sabbath-keeping? It is clearly not the same one
which is referred to in Moses' Law, since a contrast is made
between that Sabbath-keeping, which was but a shadow of the
substance, and not the very substance itself, and the one which is
promised by Christ. This Sabbath is indeed the day
of salvation, which has reference to that complete salvation which
is wrought by Christ. When the children of Israel rebelled
against the Lord, he sent fiery serpents among them to bite them.
Then he had Moses to make a replica of the serpent made out of brass
on a pole, so that whosoever looked upon this brazen serpent
would be healed and not die from the serpent's bite. This was
ordered by the Lord, and useful unto the end for which it was
ordained. In time, as men are wont to do, the children of Israel
made this brazen serpent into an idol, and worshipped it rather
than recognizing it for what it was, and the useful purpose
which it had served according to the ordained will of God in
times past. So too, many have taken a part
of the Ten Commandments and moved beyond the original purpose of
the commandment, making the keeping of the Sabbath an idol, and judging
the salvation of men on the basis of whether or how they keep this
day. The Pharisees were strict law-keepers,
so meticulous as to tithe even the leaves of their spice plants.
Yet their law-keeping became an idol unto them to the extent
that they were willing to leave off the showing of mercy in order
to abide by the letter of the law. The Lord upbraided them
by saying, The Sabbath is made for man, and not man for the
Sabbath. Those who are focused on keeping
one day and seven as a holy day unto the Lord, polish the husk
and disregard the kernel of that Sabbath which is to be kept by
New Testament saints. Nowhere in the New Testament
are the saints ever commanded to keep one day and seven as
a holy day, in memory of the Lord's rest on the seventh day
of the natural creation. Rather, we are exhorted to memorialize
the resting of Christ from his labors by the taking of the bread
and wine, which are symbols of his broken body, and shed blood,
which were poured out for sinners. The substance of the rest for
the people of God is found in remembering the finished work
of Christ, who has ceased from his labors and does present his
church as a bride without spot or blemish, holy and acceptable
in his sight. Since he has ceased from his
labors, so too have the sons of God ceased from their own.
in honor of his rest, and in thanksgiving for a salvation
which is complete before the throne of their Heavenly Father,
who has made them heirs and joint-heirs with Christ through the work
of their Savior. For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from
his. Let us labor, therefore, to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.