Would you turn with me to Exodus
chapter 31? I have entitled this message, What
Does the Sabbath Really Teach Us? What Does the Sabbath Day Really
Teach Us? In Exodus chapter 19, God had
called Moses up to Mount Sinai, and he was up there for 40 days
receiving the law from God. He received the Ten Commandments
and all the other moral, ceremonial, and civil laws, and he was given
instruction regarding the construction of the tabernacle. And then we
read in Exodus 31, verse 18, and he gave unto Moses when he'd made an end of communing
with Him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of
stone, written with the finger of God. Now it's very interesting
that when he's closing this instruction regarding his holy law, what
does he end up with? What does he end up with? He
goes back to the Sabbath day. Look in verse 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, This is after the law had been given. This is how he
ends the law. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying,
Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep. For it is a sign between me and
you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the
Lord that does sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath therefore,
for it is holy unto you. Everyone that defileth it shall
surely be put to death. For whosoever doeth any work
therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his 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 their generations for a perpetual covenant. It's
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. Now what is it that this day
teaches us, this Sabbath day? Now we know it has something
to do with rest. Look in verse 17. It is a sign
between me and the children of Israel forever, In six days the
Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested
and was refreshed." Now, the entire message of the Scripture
is found in the Sabbath day. Let me show you this. Turn with
me to Isaiah chapter 28. Isaiah 28. I don't think I'd ever really...
I've quoted this scripture line upon line and precept upon precept,
here a little and there a little. I've thought of that scripture
a lot, but I haven't really thought much about what he said in saying
line upon line and precept upon precept. This is the way we're
to teach, here a little, there a little, continually repeating
this. But look what it says in verse 9 of Isaiah 28. Whom shall
he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand
doctrine? Then that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from
the breast. For precept must be put upon precept, precept
upon precept, line upon line, line upon line. Hear a little,
and there a little. For with stammering lips and
another tongue will he speak to this people, to whom he said,
This is the rest, wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest.
And this is the refreshing, yet they would not hear. But this
is the message of the gospel. This is the rest wherein the
weary may be refreshed. I think of our Lord's words in
Matthew chapter 11 verse 28 when he said, Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, burdened under a sense of sin,
and I will give you what? Rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart
and you'll find rest for your souls. For my burden is easy
and my yoke is light. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Hebrews chapter 4. Hold your finger there in Exodus
31 and turn to Hebrews chapter 4. Verse 1, 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 faith in them that heard it. For we
which have believed do enter into rest. As he said, I've sworn
in my wrath that they shall not 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, Saturday,
on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all of his
works. And again in this place, 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 limits a certain day,
saying in David, Today, after so long a time, as it said, Today,
if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus,
or Joshua, talking about the Old Testament figure Joshua,
which is the Greek for Jesus, for if Joshua had given them
rest, they would not afterwards have spoken of another day. There
remaineth therefore a rest, literally a keeping of the Sabbath to the
people of God. For he that's entered into his
rest, he also has ceased from his own works. God did from his
so we can see that the Sabbath is not some obscure Old Testament
teaching the gospel message the message of the Bible the entire
scripture is found in The Sabbath now, what does the Sabbath? Teach
us. I know what I generally think
of when I think of the Sabbath. I think I'm not working and we
think of I Remember when I was a kid I remember My grandfather,
he didn't want us to go swimming on Sundays, you know, a day of
rest. And I remember it kind of made me hate Sundays. But
for one thing, the Sabbath never was changed to Sunday. People
do that, but you never find that in the Bible. You don't find
it in the Bible where it's changed from Saturday to Sunday. human
tradition has changed it into Sunday and I used to didn't like
the fact that you know you can't have fun you can't do things
you want to do on Sunday and I I didn't like that much at
all having no understanding of what the Sabbath meant in the
first place now you can't understand the gospel apart from understanding
the Sabbath now look in Exodus chapter 20 now remember the Sabbath
is part of the Ten Commandments You know, people say, we're under
the law, or we like to put up the Ten Commandments, you know,
in our schools and so on, and in courtyards, and people make
a big deal about that. And you know something, they
never pay any attention to what the Ten Commandments says, because
if you're under the law of the Ten Commandments, that includes
the Sabbath day. And you know what happened if you broke the
Sabbath? You were to be stoned to death. You would be killed.
Now that's how, you know, somebody says, well, Will, we need to
be under the law, do you? You'd be in trouble if you are.
The Sabbath is part of the glorious Ten Commandments of God. Look
here next to chapter 20, verse 8. Remember the Sabbath day to
keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and
do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord
thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy maidservant, nor thy thy
manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger
that's within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested
the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day, and he hallowed it." Now when God gives closing
instructions concerning the law given to Moses on Mount Sinai,
He ends up once again with the Sabbath day. Turn back to our
text in Exodus chapter 31. Exodus chapter 31, verse 13, Speak thou also unto the children
of Israel, saying, Verily, my sabbaths ye shall keep. For it
is a sign between me and you throughout your generations,
that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.
That's the teaching of the Sabbath. Now we're going to get back to
that in a moment. But that's the main teaching of the Sabbath.
If I'm to understand the Sabbath, I'm to understand that I'm not
going to do any works whatsoever, because the Lord says, I am the
Lord that sanctifies you. There's the teaching of the Sabbath,
but let's get back to that in just a moment. He says in verse
14, you shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it's holy unto
you. Everyone that defiles it shall
surely be put to death. And remember with God, the punishment
always fits the crime. This is not overly severe. If
someone defiles the Sabbath, they shall surely be put to death.
For whosoever doth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from
among his people. Six days may work be done, but
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. You know, there's an example
in the scriptures over in Numbers where they found some people picking
up sticks. And they went and told Moses about it and said,
what are we going to do with this guy? He says, stone him, put him to
death. He was put to death simply for
picking up sticks on the Sabbath day. Wherefore, the children
of Israel shall keep the Sabbath and observe the Sabbath throughout
her generations for a perpetual, a non-ending covenant. It's a
sign between me and the children of Israel. It's to teach us something. It's a sign forever. For in six
days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day
He rested and was refreshed. Now turn over to Genesis chapter
1. Genesis chapter 1. This is when the Sabbath is first
mentioned. Verse 31 of Genesis chapter 1, and God saw everything that he'd
made. He created the heavens and the
earth in six days. Does that mean six literal days?
I don't know. I certainly think it does, but
I guess it could mean something else. I'm not really sure. That's
not really the point. The point is it's God that did
the creating. He created everything as he saw fit. And God saw everything
that he'd made, and behold, it was very good, and the evening
and the morning was the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the
earth were what? Finished. And all the host of
them. And on the seventh day God ended
his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day
from all the work which he made. Now, the Sabbath is a response
to a finished work. Verse 3, And God blessed the
seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested
from all his work which God had created and made. Now, God was
not tired. He didn't need to take a nap.
He was completely satisfied with his finished work. There was
nothing left undone. There was nothing yet to be created.
He completed creation and He rested and was refreshed. Now, this is used to picture
faith in Christ. Did you get that scripture when
I was reading Hebrews chapter 4? It says, There remaineth a
rest for the people of God. For he that's entered into his
rest hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. God rested. Creation was completed. It was finished. There was nothing
for Him to do. And when someone believes on
Christ, here's exactly what they do, they cease from their own
works. They quit working and they begin
to rest. Have you ever ceased from your
own works and rested in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, so many
people take the Sabbath day and they make a work out of not working. And they miss the point altogether. I cease from my own works, just
as God did from His. Only in resting in Him will we
truly be refreshed. Now, back to verse 13 of Exodus
chapter 31. This is the teaching. This is
the meaning of the Sabbath. If you want to understand the
Sabbath, listen carefully. Speak thou also unto the children
of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths you shall keep, for
it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that
you may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Now here's the purpose of the
Sabbath. Here's what we're taught. Here is what we come to know
that He is the Lord who sanctifies us. Sanctification is His work. He sanctifies us. We are the ones who are sanctified. He sanctifies us. Now, this is
what the Scripture teaches. The Lord sanctifies us. Now,
who is He that sanctifies us? I'm going to try to talk about
sanctification. May God give us the grace and
give us the understanding and the light to understand what's
being said in this passage of Scripture. Who is He that sanctifies
us? The Lord. I am He that sanctifies
you. The Lord Jehovah. God the Father
says, I'm the one who sanctifies you. God the Son says, I'm the
one who sanctifies you. God the Holy Spirit says, I'm
the one who sanctifies you. This is God's work. That's why
we can't do any work. It's His work. If I do any works
in my salvation, thinking that I can earn God's favor, I'm taking
away from His work. He says, I am the Lord. that
sanctifies you. Sanctification is the work of
the triune God. Now, we'll consider what this
word means in a minute, but let's consider whose work it is. It's
God's work. He said, I am the Lord who sanctifies
you, and we are forbidden to work. In Jude chapter 1, we read
that we're sanctified in God the Father. In 1 Corinthians
1-2, we read that we're sanctified in Christ Jesus. And in 2 Thessalonians
2.13, we read of the sanctification of the Spirit. And we also read
in 1 Corinthians 6.11 that we're sanctified by the Spirit of God.
Now, sanctification, it's a big word. It's the one word that
most completely describes God's salvation. Believers are called
what in the Scriptures most often? Saints. Sanctified ones. I'm looking at some saints. I
love to say St. Todd. I just love that. I'm a
saint. I'm St. Todd. There's a bunch of saints in
here. Well, don't you have to do something in order to earn
that reward? No. Every believer is a saint
of God, a sanctified one. And if I'm a saint, it's because
God sanctified me. Now, what does this word sanctification
actually mean in the Scriptures? We read it many times. It's sometimes
translated holy. It's sometimes translated hallowed. What is sanctification? What
does the Bible mean by this word? Well, the Bible means basically
these three things. First, it means to take something
common and ordinary and to set it apart for holy and sacred
purposes. That's what sanctification is.
Secondly, it means to declare something to be holy. To declare something to be sanctified. If God says, I'm holy, you know
what? I'm holy. If God says I am, I am. Thirdly,
sanctification means to actually make to be holy. The Bible uses that word in those
three senses. It's to take something common
and ordinary and set it apart for holy purposes. It means to
declare something to be holy. And it means to actually make
something holy. Now let's consider it in each
of these three senses. And this is what the Sabbath
is teaching us. We're not to work. We're forbidden to work.
Because sanctification is God's work. He does it all. Don't work. You know what the hardest thing
in the world to do is? Nothing. That's the hardest thing
to do. The most difficult thing that
you or I are ever called on to do is to trust Christ alone and
to not work. Now let's consider these three
ways this word is used. First is to take something common
and set it apart for holy purposes. Now the seventh day in and of
itself was no better than the first six, but God sanctified
it and now it's a day holy unto the Lord. The vessels of the
temple There were other vessels that in and of themselves were
just as good, but God sanctified them, and they were to be used
only for the purpose of God. They were sacred. And you remember
what happened when Bel-Tejazar, I think that's the way to pronounce
his name, in the book of Daniel? The children of Israel had been
carried captive. And they took all the vessels of the temple
with them and all the golden temples and the brazen cups and
so on. And Belteshazzar was having a party with his concubines and
his mighty men and so on. And they were getting drunk and
having a good time and just all of a sudden he said, hey, let's
get the vessels of the Lord and use those for our party. And
so they poured the wine into the vessels of the Lord and they
began to drink. And do you remember what happened? All of a sudden,
a hand started riding on the wall. Thou art weighed in the
balances and found wanting. And God killed him that very
night. He took that which God had sanctified
and set it apart for holy purposes and just used it for something
else. And to take something common
and ordinary, and set it apart for holy purposes, here is the
work of the Father in sanctification. First of all, it's called election. Divine election. According as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame. before him. This is the father's
work in sanctification. He took something common and
ordinary. I'm no different than anybody
else by nature. We're by nature the children
of wrath just like everybody else. I'm just as sinful as any
other son of Adam. Yet God put his hand on me. God chose me before time began
as an act of his own free and sovereign will and he set me
apart and he said he's mine. He's mine. He's set apart to
me. That's what divine election is. I love election. You know, people
argue about election, get mad at election. Somebody called
me this week and kind of argued about it. They'd been watching
the TV program and didn't agree with it and so on. I tell you
who loves election, the elect. Somebody says, how can it be
fair for God to choose some and not choose everybody? How can
it be fair for God to select some to save and pass by others?
It seems like everybody ought to be elected. It's a shame.
It's just a shame. Now, I'll admit, I hate election.
I hate the God of election. I hate his people. But it's a
shame I'm not one of the elect. It doesn't work that way at all.
It doesn't work that way at all. Anybody that God saves, they
know they're saved because God saved them. Thank God for election. I love election because I love
the God of election. But we're bound, said Paul, to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
Isn't that humbling? That God would pick you out and
set his hand upon you and say, you're mine, you're only for
me. That is election. God taking
something common and ordinary and setting it apart for holy
purposes. But, sanctification is also used like this to declare
something to be holy. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1
Peter chapter 3. Verse 15, Peter says, But sanctify the
Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that's in you with
meekness and fear. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Now,
I don't sanctify God in the sense that I don't take Him as being
common and ordinary and setting him apart for holy purposes,
he already is holy. I can't sanctify him in that
sense. I can't make him holy because he already is holy, but
I can regard him as holy. What are we taught to pray? Our
Father, which art in heaven, hallowed, sanctified, Holy is
thy name. That's something that every believer
has some understanding of. Holy and reverend is his name. When Moses smote the rock twice,
you know what God said to him? He said, you failed to sanctify
me before the people. You see, that rock is given to
teach us of the gospel. Christ was smitten once. He was
not to be smitten again. And when he was smitten again,
what did that say? What Moses was doing, he was
destroying the tide. Christ is smitten once, we won't
have to be smitten. But if Christ is smitten again,
or if I would have to be smitten again after Christ paid for my
sins and God smote me again, He wouldn't be just. He wouldn't be holy. And that
is why the Lord spake so harshly to Moses over smiting that wrath
twice. He failed to sanctify. He failed
to regard him as holy. God said only smite it once.
What about Nadab and Abihu? They offer up strange fire before
the Lord, incense that He didn't command. He'd given a specific
kind of incense that you offer up. They said, well, our hearts
are right. As long as our motives are right, we'll offer up this.
This will be OK. What they were doing, they were coming to God's
prisons on their own without the Lord Jesus Christ, without
Him as the only priest. And God sent fire down from heaven
and consumed them. And He said, I'll be sanctified
by them who come near Me. To sanctify means to regard as
holy. Now would you turn with me to
Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 9. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by the which will, by God's will,
we are sanctified. through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. You see, when Christ Jesus died,
God said concerning everybody he died for, they're holy. He said regarding Todd Nybert,
he's holy. He's without sin before me. We're sanctified and regarded
as holy by God himself through the work of Christ on the cross.
And if he regards us as holy, you know what? We are holy. You see, it's not as if he is
pretending we're holy. No, my sin has been put away.
That's what the blood of Christ did. My sins washed away. His
righteousness is given to me. And however holy Christ is, that's
how holy I am. That's how holy every believer
is. If God says, I'm holy, I'm holy. Now, I'm regarded by God Himself
as holy. And He wouldn't regard me as
holy if I'm not holy. In Christ Jesus, this is the
power of His precious blood. His precious blood blotted out
to my sins. blotted out my sins, and to this
extent, I have no sin. I have nothing to feel guilty
about. He was manifested to take away
our sins, and in Him is no sin. If I'm in Him, I have no sin. What about the sins you've committed?
He washed them away. That's what His blood actually
accomplished. And I'm perfectly righteous through Him. Now this
is His work. I didn't hate in this. I was
passive in this. As a matter of fact, when my
sin was put away, I wasn't even born yet. This is the work of
God. You talk about election, I was
passive in that. Surely of the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works. But
of him that calleth, that was said unto her, the elder shall
serve the younger, as it's written, Jacob of the loved. But he saw
I hated. See, I was passive in that, wasn't I? I was passive
in Christ putting away my sin. I didn't ask him to do it. I
wasn't even around to do that. He did it as an act of his own
free and sovereign will and the sanctification of the Spirit.
It's the same thing. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2 verse
13. To sanctify also means to make
holy. Now the work of the Father is
to elect us to be holy. The work of the Son has declared
us to be holy. That's what He did on the cross.
Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the Church
and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse
it. God the Son says, I am the Lord
that doth sanctify thee. And then we read in 2 Thessalonians
2, this is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Remember,
the word sanctify means to make holy. To make holy. 2 Thessalonians 2. Verse 13, But we are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now, this is the work of the
Spirit of God. Now, by nature, I was born into
this world, and you were born into this world, unholy, sinful,
evil, bad to the bone. There's none righteous, no, not
one. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? Not one. I was born with an evil
nature, but when I was born again, or born from above. This is called
the sanctification of the Spirit. God gave me a holy nature, a
nature that was not there before. He didn't take the old and fix
it up and improve it. He put something there that was
not there before, being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. This is the sanctification of
the Spirit. He gives me a new heart. And
you know, in the sanctification of the Spirit, you listen to
this. I want you to understand this. In the sanctification of
the Spirit, in the new birth, in this, I was passive. God birthed
me. I didn't ask Him to. He birthed
me. He gave me this holy nature. I wouldn't have it unless He
sovereignly gave it to me. In the new birth, this is His
work. Now it's true The evidence that
he has done this for me is I'll ask him to do it for me. Let
me show you this in the scripture. Turn to Ezekiel chapter 36. Ezekiel 36. Now in this chapter, the Lord talks
about the new birth. Look in verse 25. Then will I
sprinkle. clean water upon you, and you
shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your
idols will I cleanse you. Verse 26, a new heart also will
I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. I'll take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I'll give you a heart
of flesh. I'll put my spirit within you, and cause you to
walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do
them. And you should look down in verse 29, I will save you
from all your uncleanness. I'll call for the corn and will
increase it and lay no famine upon you. You can go on reading
in this passage of Scripture all the things that the Lord
does in the new birth. Now, look in verse 36. Then the
heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord
build the ruined places and plant that which is desolate. I the
Lord have spoken it, I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God,
I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to
do it for them. I'll increase them with men like
a flock." They're going to ask me, Lord, give me a new heart. Lord, sprinkle me clean. Lord,
give me faith. Lord, give me repentance. I will
yet be inquired of by the house of Israel All of God's elect
to do this for them. And this is what all of God's
people have in common. They all, without any exception,
ask the Lord to do this for them. Now what is the teaching of the
Sabbath day? I am the Lord that sanctifies thee. Do not work. If you work, you'll be sent to
hell. I am the Lord that does sanctify
thee. Now you think of these three
aspects of sanctification. Election, redemption, and regeneration. God chose who'd be saved. No
work there. He did it as an activist free
in sovereign will. He didn't foresee some work I'd
have and then save me on the basis of that. He simply said,
I'm setting him apart to be mine. And then there's redemption.
Christ Jesus sanctified me. He cleansed me of my sin. He
washed away my sin. He made me holy before God. I'm
regarded as holy by God because I am holy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that sure doesn't have anything
to do with my work. That's His work. He didn't do this for me
because I did something for Him. He did it because He would. And in regeneration, I'm given
this holy nature and God doesn't give me this holy nature because
I work for it. He did it as an act of His free and sovereign
will. The wind blows where it wills.
You hear the sound thereof and you can't tell from whence it
comes or where it goes. Even so is everyone that's born
of the Spirit. And here's the teaching. Rest. There's really no works to do.
Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Rest in Him who finished the
work. Have you ever, have I ever, simply
rested? All stress is taken away. All
pressure is gone. I already am accepted in the
Beloved. rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you put works anywhere
in your salvation, beginning, middle, or end, you've missed
the gospel. The gospel is a call to rest. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He that's entered into his rest
hath ceased from his own works as God did from his. Let's pray together.