I invite you to turn with me
to the book of Exodus. I don't know exactly where I'm
going to go with the Bible studies, but until I do, I'll just take
some subjects from various books in the Old Testament. While you're turning, let me
say some things about the book of Exodus. I'm going to speak
to you out of Exodus 20. In Luke chapter 9, our Lord went
up on what's now called the Mount of Transfiguration. I don't know
how He dressed, but I'm guessing He dressed in common dress. Had whatever clothing that was
normal for people to have on. That's what He had on. He didn't
stick out in His clothing. But when he reached the summit
of the mountain with Peter, James, and John, his whole being was altered. And his raiment,
whatever he had on, the scripture said, become white and glistering. And they looked on. I can't imagine
what they must have been feeling. looked and saw him. And there
appeared two men with him, also, it says, in glory, or glorified,
and talked to him about his decease. Now I challenge you to look that
word up in your concordance. Here's the literal translation
of the word Exodus. It's the word Exodus. That's
deceased. If you look it up, it means Exodus. The book of Exodus is about the
death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. That's what it's about. That whole thing of their Exodus
out of Egypt, out of the world, out of their pagan idolatry,
this whole thing has to do with the death, burial and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. The word transfigured means metamorphosis. The best example I know of that
is a butterfly. It hangs on a tree. Just an old caterpillar. And it wraps itself up on that
tree and all of a sudden a butterfly comes forth and flies away. In Romans chapter 12 verse 2,
we're told to be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind. The word transformed is the same
word in the original as transfigured. The same word. By faith, the Spirit of the living
God makes these figures to appear to the believer as they really
are. Transformed and transfigured. Everything physical in the world
in some way figures the spiritual. And that old ugly caterpillar
What He really is, is a butterfly. And even so on the mount, our
Lord as a man suddenly is seen in His glory. Even His clothing becomes white
and glistening. And in the reality of His transfiguration,
we see the purpose of His fleshly appearance. His decease. That was the subject. You'd think
that the disciples, if they had a soapbox to get on, they'd been
talking about his clothing. They'd been talking about his
appearance. But those glorified saints, Elijah and Moses, Moses
talked to them about his decease. His decease, his death. His exodus, his putting away
our sins by the sacrifice of himself. Now, look back with
me at our text back here in Exodus 20. I think this text will, or
may, surprise some of you. In Exodus chapter 20, Moses tells
the people of God what God had given to him on the mount, the
Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are sometimes
called the moral law. And these commandments have to
do with the affection and the attitude and the heart of true
believers. They had dietary laws, they had
ceremonial laws, and they had the moral law. And I've chosen
one of the moral laws this morning for our Bible study. Exodus 20,
verse 8. He said, remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy. The Israelites were commanded
to keep the Sabbath. They were given specific instructions
as to what they could and could not do on this day. You didn't
violate the law of God. Most of the punishment for violation
of the law of God was death or exile. So let's look at this special
day and see what it has to do with the person and work of Christ
and the salvation of His elect. First of all, what is the Sabbath?
What are we talking about? We hear that word. You've probably
heard it since you were a little kid. You hear that word Sabbath. What is the Sabbath? Well, turn
with me to Genesis chapter 2. I'll tell you what the Sabbath
is. It's the day after. The day after. It's the day following creation. This is where the Sabbath is
born. This is where it's sanctified. This is where it's set apart
from every other day. In Genesis chapter 2 and verse
1. He said, thus the heavens and
the earth were finished, all the host of them, everything.
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, that is, he set it apart. Because that in
it, he had rested from all his work which God created and made. And in Genesis chapter 1 verse
31, before the verses I just read to you, it says, And God
saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. God rested
because Everything that he made was good. What's that mean with
God? That means perfect. He saw it
all perfect. He saw it in its perfection. He saw it in its finished state. There was nothing more that God
would add to it. And there was nothing that he'd
take away. God looked on his work. And he saw it and he said,
it is good. It is perfect. It is perfect. Now let me remind both myself
and you of who God is. God is eternal. He's not a creature of time. Time has no limitations with
God. You and I have to wait on something
to come to pass He declares that it will come to pass, and it
comes to pass. It comes to pass because He said
it would. He said, I'm God, there's none
like me. We so often want to look within
to try to get some idea of who God is. You're not going to find
out who God is looking within. He said, I'm God, there's none
like me. None like me. There's only one
that you can understand anything of God by, and that's Christ.
And we understand God in Christ because Christ is God. He God
manifests in the flesh. There's nothing in this world,
nothing in you, nothing in anybody else to compare God with. I'm God. There's nothing like
me. What do we mean? I declare the end from the beginning.
And from ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying
my counsel shall stand and I'll do all my pleasure. He's God. He's God. God is eternal. And God is omniscient. He's all-knowing, all-wise. Nothing sneaks up on God. Boy,
it does on me. I get blindsided all the time.
But not on God. God knows all things. He's never confronted by something
he didn't count on to be confronted with. God's omniscient. God is omnipotent. That word omnipotent is where
we get the term potentate. It says of Christ in that day,
when you see him as he is, you're going to see the blessed and
only potentate. He is omnipotent. Absolute power. Invincible. Supreme power. You think about God. You know,
God just said, let there be light and there was light. I was watching my favorite old
painter on there. I love watching him paint. He
can paint anything. I just love to watch him. And
I was sitting there watching him and said, Put a little happy
son over here, you know, and he takes his brush, and there's
a son, you know. God didn't do that. God said,
let there be light, and there was light. He didn't have to
figure out what light was. He didn't have to say, now, what
am I going to put together to make light? No. He just said,
let there be light, and there was. I tell you, if you go through
Genesis chapter 1, you're going to keep finding this, and God
said, And God said, everything that you see, everything that
we have in this world, including ourselves, God created. He just
said, let it be, and it was. And it was. God's eternal, God's
omniscient, He's omnipotent, and God is holy. Holiness has
to do with God's character. Be ye holy, for I am holy. And holiness has to do with the
attributes of God. It has to do with his holy character. He's just, he's righteous. Paul
talks about his severity. God is severe. Behold the severity
of God, he said. God is love. God's kind. He's
merciful. He's gracious. And God is wrath. And holiness is a word that describes
the wholeness of God. And as it describes it, we need
to get some idea that you see all these various characters
of God, these attributes. But here's the thing. These attributes
are in perfect harmony. He will not compromise one to
manifest the other. When God manifests Himself, He
manifests the wholeness of His character and it's in perfect
harmony every time. So when He tells us, Be ye holy,
oh my, we want to go hide in a bucket somewhere. No, He's
telling you in your mind, And through what you know about Christ,
that's how you're holy. He chose us in Him that we might
be holy. That's the only way you can be
holy. And that holiness is manifested by us as we walk in faith. We
don't compromise the character of God with our faith. We see
His whole character in perfect harmony in our salvation, and
that's how we walk, isn't it? Be holy as I'm holy. Here in Exodus 20, he commands
us to do two things concerning the Sabbath. First of all, he
said, remember the Sabbath. Remember it. Remember that God
sanctified, set it apart from every other day. Creation is
a wondrous work. God spoke this world into being. Evolution's a lie. And I don't
care how many doctrines he has that teaches it, it's a lie.
It's the ignorant theory of lost man trying to rob God of his
glory. There's no such thing as evolution.
God created this whole world in seven days. Oh, but you, a
day is seven days. Seven days. Boy, we want to make something
else out of that, don't we? Well, let me ask you this. If
He took a thousand days, would that make it easier for you to
believe that He created the world and spoke it into existence?
Uh-uh. Uh-uh. But somehow we want to rationalize
what God does. God said, let there be light.
There was light. Let there be a firmament in the
midst of the waters and the woods and all these things. But as
wondrous as creation is, He didn't call attention to any of those
days. Boy, you'd want to think He made
man in His own image. He's going to set that down. No, he didn't. Fact of the matter
is, he didn't speak in more that day than he did of the first
day, or the second day, or the third day. Rather, he takes one day, and
he sanctifies it in consecration of, or in consideration of everything
that he did. What he did, and why he did it. You see, here's the thing, and
we need to get hold of this as people of God. Creation has a
purpose. That purpose is being fulfilled
every day. When that purpose is done, He'll
fold this world up like it never was. That's right. This purpose is
to manifest the glory of God and the salvation of a people
through the person and work of his son. The scripture said the
earnest expectation of creation. Here's... He's personifying these
things to help us understand. And here's creation as a purpose. Well, what does he expect out
of... Here's the earnest expectation
of creation. It waits for the manifestation
of the sons of God. That's what it was created for.
That's why it's here. the fall and redemption of God's
elect. And you cannot, now listen to
me, you cannot find the holiness of God in the creation of a world
left to evolution and chance and circumstance. The holiness
of God in creation lies in who created it and why. That's where
you see this holiness. Paul wrote to the saints at Colossae
and he said, I give thanks to the Father, which hath made us
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, or enlightened
saints. If you're here this morning and
you're understanding what I'm saying, that's who Paul's talking
about. You've been made meet. You've been given the ability
to perceive like all the other saints that have been enlightened
of God. in whom we have redemption, he
said. Oh, this Christ, he said, who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, translated us unto
the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him were
all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible
and invisible. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were made by Him and
for Him. By Him and for Him. And He's before all things. And
by Him all things have. a continuance, all things consist. And he's the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence, for it pleased
the Father, that in him should all fullness dwell. The holiness
instituted in the Sabbath of God has to do with who created
it and why it was created. Creation is the stage, if you
will, upon which God will manifest His glory. And I'm going to tell
you something. You can't keep something holy
unless it was holy to start with. God can make something holy.
He can declare something to be holy. But you can't keep something
holy unless it's holy to start with. We keep the Sabbath holy
when we see who created the world and why. We keep it holy. And the only way we can keep
it holy is to look to Christ. We look to Him. When God rested
on the seventh day, He rested in the full assurance that Christ
would save those precious souls which He gave to Him. Did he not? There's no other
way he could have rested. He knew about the fall of man.
He purposed the fall of man. That's right. In Christ, Paul said, the steward
of the whole economy of God, we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things. after the counsel of His own
will. That glorious day, that day sanctified
by God, is fulfilled in the person of Christ. And seeing the glorious
work of our redemption in Him accomplished, seeing the work
of God finished in the day of our substitute, we rest in Him
as God did. We rest. That's the Sabbath.
Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4. Israel was brought by Moses
out of Egypt. And he brought them right up
to the brink of the promised land. It didn't take very long,
just a matter of days. He brought them right up to the
brink of the promised land. They could look across Jordan
and see the tranquility of the land of plenty. It was theirs
by promise, theirs by gift, and theirs by the calling of God.
Hebrews 3.19. But they could not, would not
enter in because of unbelief. They had no confidence in God. God gave it to them. Huh? He gave it to them. Why
don't folks preach the gospel? They have no confidence in God.
That's right. Well, if I shave this off, maybe
somebody... Huh? You've got no confidence
in God. That's what it is. And when you...
People like that, when they look at the size and scope of men
in this world, how many people are opposed to them? How many
denominations and so on out there? Nobody out there is in harmony
with the gospel. So why preach it? Because God
said so. Huh? Well, I asked Billy Graham
one time, I said, you used to be a Calvinist. You used to preach
a Calvinistic doctrine. He said, yes sir, I did. This
is on national TV. And they said, well, you don't
preach Calvinistic doctrine now. He said, no, sir. He said, well,
what made you stop? He said, it was ruining my ministry. Had no confidence in God. Had
confidence in men, and confidence in denominations, and confidence
in the power and acceptance of men. Had no confidence in God. They couldn't enter in because
of unbelief. Now watch this, Hebrews 4 verse
1, Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering
into his rest, any abuse 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 have believed, are
you listening, do enter in to rest. As he said, as I have sworn in
my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest. Go back to chapter
3 verse 18, you'll see what that means. And to whom swear he that
they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believe
not. God swore by himself, they're
not coming in. Their carcasses is going to fall
in the wilderness. They may live out their natural
lives, but before they go into the promised land, their carcasses
are going to fall in the wilderness, every one of them. And then listen to this, although
the works were finished, when? From the foundation of the world.
That is, as the foundation was being laid. There was no other
reason for God to allow his creation to continue after being polluted
with sin except the glory of God purposed in Jesus Christ
our Lord. Remember the Sabbath day and
keep it holy. And strictly speaking, Saturday
is the Sabbath. It's the Sabbath. On the seventh
day, Saturday, God rested from all his work which he had made.
So why do we worship God on the first day of the week? Because
on the first day of the week, Christ our Savior fulfilled the
Sabbath. He's our Sabbath. Well, how do we keep it holy?
By declaring the truth as it is in Him. That's how you keep
it holy. Otherwise, you compromise the
Sabbath. He is our Sabbath. We gather
and worship God. on Sunday, the first day of the
week, celebrating the resurrection of our Savior and the revelation
of Him as our rest. And the only way, and I hope
you'll hear me, the only way you can keep the Sabbath holy
is to see our great God and Father resting in His Son. Resting in
Him. And we enter in with Him into
that rest. In whom you also trusted. after
you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Oh, God help this poor man to
see, rejoice, and declare His glory to anyone, everyone that
comes through those doors. And help us to see His glory
and worship Him in spirit and truth. I hope I've helped you
a little bit with this thing of the Sabbath. Remember the
Sabbath. Why? Because it has to do with
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ who fulfilled it. We
rest in Him. All right. Thank you.