Exodus 20:8-11 Amplified Bible
8 “Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God). 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Keep the Sabbath [verse 8]
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8
Throughout history there have been well-meaning, earnest Christians who have, perhaps without their ever knowing it, who have come to functionally believe the Ten Commandments are really only the Nine Commandments.
Somewhere along the way, some have decided the fourth commandment is not like the rest of the commandments but rather as a relic that belongs in the past.
In truth, though, the ancient command to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy has abiding significance for us all, even today.
Why has this simple command fallen on such hard times?
Some have claimed that its regulations and penalties were tied to the old covenant, so it must no longer be relevant.
Yet we do not treat the other commandments this way.
Others have said that the way Jesus spoke of being “lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8) diminished the commandment’s significance and force.
What about Jesus’ apparent intent here?
What the man Rabbi Jesus sought to overturn was not the Sabbath itself but the host of hypocritical external rules of the Pharisees.
I have long suspected what keeps most Christians from thinking of the fourth commandment as we ought to is simply that we do not like its implications.
We do not like, nor appreciate all of the subtle and not so subtle ways it intrudes into our lives, into our leisure and whatever else takes precedence in our hearts.
So we act as though this command is in a different category from the other nine.
However, If we truly want to grasp the significance of the Sabbath and respond to it in a God-honoring way, we must all embrace, as a conviction, the real truth that God has intentionally set aside the Sabbath day as distinct from the rest.
This was the case in the week of creation, with God resting on the seventh day and declaring it sanctified.
The church, in the age of the new covenant, then changed the day from the seventh day of the week to the first day to mark the resurrection of Christ.
In both cases, we see that the distinction of the day is woven into God’s work of creation and redemption.
With that conviction in place, we can see that the day is not simply a day set apart from other days, but it is, in Gospel Truth, a day set apart unto the Lord.
By not seeing it this way, we’ll be tempted to view our spiritual exercises on the Lord’s Day as something to “get over with” in order to “get on with” our week.
If this is our mentality, we stand condemned by the fourth commandment.
The Sabbath ought to be treasured for what it is: a gift of a day on which we enjoy, uninterrupted by leisure commitments or (if possible) by employment, the privilege of God’s presence, the study of God’s word, and the fellowship of God’s people.
Seen like that, this command becomes an invitation: not only to just something we should do but something we will each come to learn how to love to do.
If this is not how you have been viewing God’s Sabbath, then ask yourself:
What’s preventing you from honoring the Lord’s Day?
Take stock of your habits and receive the gift of the Sabbath.
From that next Sunday, be sure that your priority is not to make the Lord’s Day convenient but to make the Lord’s day exclusively about God, to keep it holy.
Keep the Sabbath [verses 9-10]
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. [verses 9, 10]
Having established the fourth commandment remains what it has always been—a commandment of the Lord—and as such it is relevant to our lives, we can now turn our hearts, souls, minds, to thinking profitably about how to keep it.
But we must be careful as we get specific about honoring the Sabbath.
The Lord Jesus, after all, had some very harsh, strong words for the Pharisees regarding the way their moral specificity had become a means not of obedience but of self-righteousness (Mark 2:23 – 3:6).
With “quaking and trembling knees” and maturing humility, let’s take some quality time to consider how are we to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Let us try to explore: How do we prevent worldly concerns—those of leisure, recreation, and work—from infringing on our enjoyment and worship of God?
Let’s think first of public worship.
What kinds of conversations do you typically have prior to the worship service?
Are they concerned at any point with exclusively the things of God, or only ever with sports – making it to the home team game, family, and every other thing?
It takes a conscious and a thoroughly intentional act of the will to give eternal matters the very highest measure of maxed priority in our minds and mouths.
If you were to determine that in your preparation for worship you would set aside every priority which looms, loomed so large on other days, I guarantee the focus of your time at church would be changed.
The same goes for after the service.
When the last song has been sung and the service is over, how long does it take for your mind and conversation to return to worldly matters?
If we were instead to:
commit to spending time after the service speaking to one another about the greatness of God, the truth of His word, and the wonder of His dealings with us,
and praying with one another about the week ahead and the trials we face, then we would begin to understand better the “one another” passages in the New Testament about:
encouraging one another (Hebrews 10:25),
speaking the truth to one another (Ephesians 4:25), and
building one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
—for we would then be prioritizing ourselves to actually living them out.
Similarly, in our private affairs on the Lord’s Day, spiritual improvement should still take priority.
That may mean additional family worship, reading edifying books, prayer, discussion of what was preached that morning, and more—but whatever it means, we should make it our aim not to let the cares of the other six days push into our efforts of growing our spiritual enjoyment of the first day of the week.
If we want to profit from keeping the Sabbath, and if we want to take the fourth commandment more seriously, then our convictions must fuel our actions, and our daily aspirations must turn into daily practices.
Avoid making unique rules that only serve to foster self-righteousness, but consider whether anything worldly needs to change, be re-prioritized Godly.
How would, should, could you change to keep the Sabbath holy the next time Sunday comes round, then Monday, then Tuesday then Wednesday and so on?
Our Sabbath Rest as Our Witness
[sermon illustrations]
The college student broke down in tears over his coffee.
Driven by competition for limited space in a pre-law program, he had just poured himself into studying virtually nonstop, eight hours a day seven days a week. After seven months he found he lost the ambition for learning—and nearly for life itself.
Driven by the desire for promotion and the prospect for more money for him an his growing family, [……….] takes extra work home every single night to get the one up on his fellow workers – he stays up till midnight every night for weeks. Taking no time for dinner with his wife or leisure time his young kids, he hears them crying.
Our reading today states that “in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth … but he rested on the seventh day.”
The ambition and creativity we bring to work is a reflection of our mindset on our Creator’s sovereignty over our lives and over the lives we genuinely value.
It’s part of how we reflect his image and a big part of how we serve as witnesses for him.
God also rested on the seventh day, however, and he calls us to do the same.
For us, good work hinges on good rest.
Without good rest our good work suffers.
The discipline of regular rest is a witness in our fast-paced world, especially when that time is focused on enjoying our Creator.
It speaks of God’s love to command what’s good for us.
Our ambitions would otherwise serve only to distract us from him and drive us into the ground if we let them.
How will you take our rest the rest of this week and this next weekend?
For the sake of good work later, let’s rest.
For the sake of sanity, let’s rest.
For the sake of glory to God in regular worship and fellowship, let’s rest.
God blesses those who “work hard” at resting in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s trust him to establish the work and rest of our hands (see Psalm 90:17).
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God, grant us and all our loved ones true rest on this Sabbath Day. May Your Holy and Sacred Presence drive out from among us anger and fear, worry and regret. Send your blessing upon us, that we may be people of the Word. Lord of work and of rest, thank you for these gifts. Help us to work hard and rest well. Please provide work where we need it. Please also bless whatever years of retirement rest we may have.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
