Embracing the Gift and Purpose of the Sabbath

And in the same way, it's not enough to eat spiritually once a week. It's not enough to eat spiritually once a week. It's not enough for us to eat spiritually once every so often. It is a daily thing for us to eat spiritual food and spend time with God and worship and spend time with God in prayer and spend time with God in the reading of the word. [00:48:28] (25 seconds)


Sabbath is a link that keeps us tied to God. And Sabbath is something that a lot of us don't do. What does the word Sabbath mean? It means to cease, to stop, to rest, to end. Cease what? Stop what? End what? Rest from what? Work. Sabbath is to cease, to stop. And Sabbath is something that many of us fail miserably at doing. [00:54:05] (35 seconds)


I went through a stretch in my life of probably two and a half to three years. Where I did not take a Sabbath. Where I felt bad if I was going to take time off, and I would go and go and go. It's very interesting. One of the first times I preached on Sabbath was in 2021. It was a series that was titled Refresh. [00:54:40] (24 seconds)


Sabbath is a commandment. It's a commandment that God has given. Watch. Go with me to Exodus chapter 20. That's where we're going to start this morning. Exodus chapter 20. I know that all of you Bible scholars, you know that in Exodus chapter 20, we get the what? Ten commandments. Go ahead. You can say it loud. What do we get in Exodus 20? [00:56:37] (19 seconds)


We violate it all the time. And again, the definition of Sabbath is to cease, to stop, to rest, to end of work. God himself, it says there, he works six days at creation. He works six days at creation. He works six days at creation. He works six days at creation. And rested on the seventh. It's a commandment. [00:59:14] (19 seconds)


The penalty for breaking or violating Sabbath was the death penalty. In Exodus, just a few chapters later, some of you are going to see that. And you're going to see that. And you're going to somebody comes up to Moses and says, Moses! we found somebody violating the Sabbath. Moses said, what did they do? It says he was gathering sticks. [01:01:11] (17 seconds)


The Sabbath predates the law. Go to Genesis chapter two. Genesis, first book of the Bible, so all the way from the beginning, okay? Genesis chapter number two. If you know how to get to Genesis, just go to the front of your Bible and then flip a few pages, and you're going to get there to Genesis chapter two. [01:02:16] (20 seconds)


But God commanded that we Sabbath, and God modeled that we Sabbath. He finished. What did God do? Created on day one, created on day two, created on day three, created on day four, created on day five, created on day six, on day seven, said, let's refresh, let's refill, let's sanctify this. [01:05:25] (24 seconds)


If you remember, if you read your Bible, God tells them you need to, every seventh year, don't plant anything on a field so that the land can have its Sabbath. God tells Israel, on the sixth year, I will give you such a harvest that you will eat that seventh year and the first year of the new seven-year cycle, and on that year, you plant again. [01:18:18] (34 seconds)


He said to them, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man. It is a gift. It was tailored for the man, not man to fit into a Sabbath. And then Jesus says this famous thing. Therefore, the son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath. We know that he's the Lord of the harvest. [01:22:32] (34 seconds)


Because Sabbath, this is what it's about. It's about relationship and trust. Sabbath is about relationship. Relationship and trust. Relationship with who? With God. Trust in who? God. Man's made it religious. God wants it for relationship. That time together. Where we can sit. [01:25:21] (22 seconds)