|
||||||
| Sermon #61 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil, MAT 5:17. When we went through the beatitudes, we learned that they were steps leading into the temple, which is the body of Christ. Beyond these beatitudes, we saw how this temple is built with the pillars of godly principles. Each directive is given by the Lord Jesus in building the temple, or the body of Christ. These are the pillars upon which the temple stands. V:13-16 dealt with the effect the Christian walk has on the world. This first pillar, or godly principle, teaches how they are to be the salt and the light. They are supposed to reflect the light of the work of grace to the world. This is reflected from the conversion, which results from the work of good, set forth in the beatitudes. Now with the help of the Lord, let's look at another one of these godly principles established by the spirit of the law. These principles are the pillars upon which the temple is built. They uphold the temple. The second pillar concerns the law. There has long been an assault against God's law which teaches that Jesus abolished the law. The Antinomian belief is that the law upon Mount Sinai was the law of Moses; therefore, it was abolished. Very few people really believe that all of the Ten Commandments have been abolished to the extent that they no longer have to serve the Lord ahead of idols. Very few actually believe that the commandment against taking the Lord's name in vain is abolished. Very few believe that the law commanding children to obey their parents has been abolished. They don't think it is right to commit adultery and to kill. Some contend this, but very few do. The assault that has run rampant in our day pertains to the fourth commandment. They say that the commandment to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy was abolished. They teach that Jesus abolished the law of Moses and contend that the Ten Commandments given upon Mount Sinai was the law of Moses, but they are wrong.
FOR OUR FIRST POINT , let's consider the attack against the New Testament Sabbath.FOR OUR SECOND POINT , let's consider the New Testament Sabbath.FOR OUR THIRD POINT , let's consider how the New Testament Sabbath is the emblem of eternal rest.
FIRST , let's consider the attack against the New Testament Sabbath. EXO 20:1-2 clearly reveals that the Ten Commandments were the law of God. The Levitical law is referred to as the law of Moses. The law of Moses, i.e., the ceremonial law, indeed, was abolished, but the Ten Commandments are the law of God. People often refer to it as the moral law. This isn't a proper label for it at all.It is the law of God because it was clearly spoken by God Himself from Mount Sinai. "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage," EXO 20:1-2. God spoke from heaven to give the Ten Commandments. God gave us His law. Therefore, we cannot contend that any segment of the law of God has been abolished. This same law was written in the heart of man in creation. ROM 2:15 says, "Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;" The law, which is the Ten Commandments, is in fact written in the heart. A pastor who was working with the heathens in New Guinea said that in New Guinea, committing adultery was punished with death. The law against committing adultery was written in their heart even though they had never heard of God. This law is written in the heart of man. It has not been abolished. Many who do not contend that the whole law is abolished still attack the New Testament Sabbath. We need to understand how Christ came to honor the law by fulfilling the law, not to destroy the law. This includes the Sabbath Day. When we see this unveiled, I hope we will understand what is meant by the Lord Jesus Christ coming to fulfill the law of the Sabbath Day. This shows undoubtedly that it has not been abolished, but that there is a New Testament Sabbath. Jesus Christ came to fulfill that law, and He came to honor that law through His own ministry. To have a right understanding of the relationship between the law and grace, we must realize that obedience flows from love as the fruit and evidence of grace. This is also in the keeping of the New Testament Sabbath. It is a matter of love. If we love the Lord, we will desire to walk in His favor. We will desire to set aside a day to keep holy unto the Lord. It will become a privilege to us; it becomes our delight. JOH 14:23 teaches us that Jesus said, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." The keeping of the Sabbath becomes a delight. It is a matter of coming into the presence of God. We assemble ourselves together as a congregation to honor the Lord. This is a delight because we love Him. In ROM 2:25 we read, "For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law." Circumcision is only profitable if we keep the law. The circumcision of Christ was His pledge to keep the law in perfection for His church. Christ was circumcised and baptized. He submitted Himself to baptism after He was circumcised. These were two totally separate requirements to accomplish our salvation. Circumcision was Jesus' pledge of perfect submission and obedience to the law. GAL 5:3 says, "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law." He came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it. In keeping the circumcision covenant, He gave His pledge to fulfill the law. We find in COL 2:11 that we are complete in Christ. "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands...by the circumcision of Christ." We are circumcised by the circumcision of Christ. This teaches us that through the imparted obedience of Christ we have come to perfection in keeping the law in His imparted righteousness. The law was not abolished, but it was honored with perfect obedience. He said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." We have to see that the law was not destroyed. "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." The circumcision of Christ being imparted to us gives us the perfect satisfaction of the law. The fruit of this being circumcised in Christ is found in ROM 2:28-29. "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." We are circumcised by the circumcision of Christ. The fruit of our being circumcised in Christ is the circumcision of the heart; this is repentance. The fruit of the perfection of the obedience of the law is now ours by our being circumcised in the circumcision of Christ. Our Saviour's conflict with the Pharisees reveals the error in their understanding of Sabbath keeping. They criticized the Lord because His disciples were plucking the ears of corn, rubbing out the kernels, and eating on the Sabbath. They tried to measure the Lord against their humanistic interpretations of the Sabbath. The Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples were not violating the true meaning of the Sabbath in any way. MAR 2:27-28 says, "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." The Pharisees thought that the keeping of the Sabbath was contained in inaction. They thought they were to sit still and move nothing. They didn't do anything. In the next few verses we will consider this more extensively. This enters into the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees which will be a whole new message. They misunderstood the true meaning of the Sabbath. "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." The Pharisees didn't even understand what the Sabbath was. They didn't understand the purpose of the Sabbath. It was for man, and not man for the Sabbath. V:28 says, "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." The Son of Man, which is Christ was also the Lord of the Sabbath; therefore, it was under His jurisdiction. Jesus directs their attention to when the Sabbath was made: to the origin of the Sabbath. He directs their attention to when it was sanctified. "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man...." He was directing their attention to the origin of the Sabbath to establish the purpose and the intent of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was not instituted upon Mount Sinai. It was sanctified, set apart, and hallowed before the fall. GEN 2:3 says, "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." To sanctify means to set apart. God had set apart the Sabbath before the fall. Teaching that the Sabbath originated on Mount Sinai is fallacy. The Lord Jesus brought this to the attention of the Pharisees when He said that the Sabbath was made for man. This is what Jesus was highlighting when He said, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." He returned to the origin of the Sabbath to describe its purpose. The observance of the Sabbath separates the wicked from the people of God. This is very important to understand. In HEB 4:9 we read, "There remaineth therefore a rest [i.e., 'a Sabbath of rest], to the people of God," but there is no rest for the wicked. ISA 57:20-21 says, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Some people once told me that they wanted to boycott a shopping mall because it was going to be open on the Sabbath. I told them that they were wrong because they could not impose a Sabbath rest upon the wicked. HEB 4:9 says that the rest is for the people of God; there is no rest for the wicked. You cannot impose a privilege that God has granted His church on the wicked who have no desire for it. The Sabbath rest is not referring to stopping all action. It does not mean that we lay in bed all day. The Sabbath rest is resting from the cares of the world. We must rest from everything that distracts us from the Lord. The wicked have no rest in the Lord. They see no beauty in Christ. They have no attraction to Christ. Therefore, they have no rest. "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." They are laboring under the power of sin and the things of death. They have no rest. This is why the Sabbath of rest is such a privilege to the church of Christ that "There remaineth therefore a [Sabbath of] rest to the people of God." ISA 57:21 says, "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." The wicked have no peace in the blood of Christ. They aren't delivered from the wiles of Satan and the things of this world. They have no rest. The rest is for the people of God. The Sabbath is an emblem of eternal rest for the people of God. The word rest in HEB 4:9 is taken from the Greek word sabbatismose, which means: "The repose of Christianity as a type of heaven, rest, the Sabbath, or day of weekly repose from secular avocations or distraction." Now we can understand why the wicked have no rest, or Christian repose, as a type of heaven. Why? If they did stop working on the Sabbath day, their heart would find no rest. Their heart would still be filled with the things of this world. Their heart and mind would be occupied with secular things and would find no rest. Therefore, there is no rest to the wicked. This eternal rest is clearly set forth in REV 14:12-13. "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, [Only those who have repented and had the work of grace in their hearts, those who have been delivered from the power of sin will enter into the eternal rest.] and the faith of Jesus," V:12. What does it mean to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ? In HEB 12:2 we read that we are to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ as "...the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Those who have kept the faith of Jesus Christ have had their eyes fixed on His faith as the object of their faith. For the joy that was set before them, they have been able to take up their cross and crucify the old man of sin. They have been able to despise the shame and walk in the footsteps of their Saviour. Verse 13 says, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." They no longer have to labor under the load of sin. They no longer have to labor under the things of this world. They have received rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. This is the eternal rest typified by the Sabbath day. They are resting from their load of sin, resting from their labors, resting from the things of death, resting in the Lord. The wicked have eternal unrest. In REV 14:11 we read, "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." The wicked will never find rest. Those who are outside of Christ have no eternal rest; therefore, they do not embrace the emblem of eternal rest. For the people of God it is a delight to find a weekly repose from secular labors and pleasures. ISA 58:13-14 says, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honour him, [Where is this delight? In resting from the secular things of this world!] not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: [The Sabbath rest is finding delight in the Lord.] Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." A man once told me how he found honoring his father on Father's Day was the only way he could really express his love for all his father had done for him. When he was starting out on his own, his father helped him along by giving him hay and supplies. The man was never able to repay his father for his kindness. As this man became financially secure, his father still wouldn't take repayment. This man dedicated Father's Day to the honor of his father. By honoring Father's Day, he honored his father to show his gratitude for all he was unable to repay. That is such a beautiful reflection of a true Sabbath. Our heavenly Father has done so many things for us. We have so much gratitude and not one way to repay Him. He gave us His Son. Christ paid the price of our sin, and we cannot repay Him. Shouldn't that gratitude prompt us to honor His day? We should set aside the Lord's day as holy to Him. This is to express our gratitude and love for all He has done for us. This is a beautiful illustration of what it takes to honor the Sabbath day. The Sabbath was made for man before the fall and not just for the Jews for a short duration. Those who want to abolish the Sabbath proclaim that it originated on Mount Sinai and that it was only for the Jews until Christ came. We read in EXO 20:11, "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 hallowed it." This points back to the origin of the Sabbath. For any person to think that the Sabbath was only for the Jews is absolutely wrong. To attempt to abolish the Sabbath is to abolish the emblem of eternal rest. "...The Sabbath was made for man, and not the man for the Sabbath," MAR 2:27. The Sabbath was made as a repose from secular labor and pleasure to delight in the Lord. Man was not made for the Sabbath to serve in a legal bondage as the Pharisees did. They were concerned with the do's and the don'ts. In MAR 3:4 we read, "And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace." Christ showed them that their legalistic keeping of the Sabbath was un-Biblical. It was contrary to the purpose of the Sabbath. The teaching of the spirit of the law by Jesus contradicts the Pharisaical human reasoning of God's law and how it was to be observed. It contradicts their traditions. We read in LUK 13:15, "The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?" LUK 14:5 says, "And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day?" The Lord Jesus was showing them that inaction was not the intent of the Sabbath. The intent of the Sabbath was a Spiritual repose from the things of this world. The Lord wants to be honored and glorified with childlike dependence upon Him. MAT 18:3 says, "...Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." The Sabbath rest is to rest from self and to come to a childlike dependence upon the Lord. The teaching of Jesus that the man was not made for the Sabbath is synonymous with 1CO 11:9. "Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." God created Adam, and then He said that he needed a suitable helper. God created the women for the man. The Sabbath was also created for the man. He did not create the man for the Sabbath. Just as the man was created before the woman, so was the man was created before the Sabbath. Jesus taught the beginning and the continuation of the Sabbath in MAR 2:27-28. "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore [See that connecting word, i.e., for that reason.] the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." If He was going to be Lord of the Sabbath, it wasn't for the purpose of abolishing it. Jesus was going to be Lord of the Sabbath in order to preserve it. He was going to fulfill the full intent of it as the object of that rest. As Jesus looked back to the creation, He also looked forward to the gospel era as the Lord of the church. MAR 2:28 says, "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." This would say as a necessary consequence that the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath because He preserved the Sabbath; it was not to be abolished.
FOR OUR SECOND POINT , let's consider the New Testament Sabbath. What is the great significance of the New Testament Sabbath? To understand the wonder Jesus proclaimed when He said that the Sabbath was for the man, we must see that it points to that jubilee spoken of in LEV 25:9-10. "Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family."The jubilee stands for the proclaiming of liberty of those Jews who had sold themselves to be servants. In the jubilee they were to be set free. The jubilee points to the resurrection of Christ. When Christ came out of the grave, the great jubilee was proclaimed. All God's dear children who had been sold in Adam as servants of sin were set free. Where? They were set free in the resurrection of Christ. They were delivered from all that servitude of sin; this is what we see in the Sabbath. It is a day for us to be set free from all the secular things of the world. The Sabbath is our free day to serve the Lord. This is where the New Testament Sabbath was changed to the first day of the week. Let's look at how the jubilee points to the New Testament Sabbath. LEV 25:8 says, "And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years." Every seventh year was a Sabbath year. Seven means full. Every seventh year would be a Sabbath for forty-nine years. The atonement was made on the forty-ninth year. LEV 25:9 says, "Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land." This points to the atonement, or the crucifixion, of Christ. Then the fiftieth year, i.e., two Sabbaths in a row, points to the great jubilee after the atonement, or the resurrection of Christ. These two Sabbaths, one after the other, made the transition from the Old Testament Sabbath to the New Testament Sabbath on the first day of the week. The forty-ninth year was the year of atonement. The fiftieth year was the year of the jubilee. Christ was crucified, and He laid in the grave over the Old Testament Sabbath. On the first day of the week was the great jubilee. Now the New Testament Sabbath points to this jubilee and the setting free of His church. He gained victory over death and the grave. He was brought up out of the grave, and He brought forth the jubilee demonstrated in the Old Testament. This is the transition from the seventh day to the first day of the week. The fiftieth year was the second Sabbath in a row; it points to the jubilee or the resurrection of Christ. There were two Sabbaths, one right behind the other. The atonement was on the forty-ninth, and the jubilee was on the fiftieth. The Lord will always bestow honor upon His own institutions. Before the atonement it was Jesus' custom to honor the seventh day with His presence. He went to the temple on the seventh day. LUK 4:16 says, "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." His custom was to come into the synagogue on the seventh day of the week. This was the Old Testament Sabbath. That was His custom up to the time of His atonement. He honors His own institutions with His presence; after the atonement, He honoured the first day of the week as the New Testament Sabbath. Scripture is void of any reference to Jesus honoring the seventh day with His presence after His resurrection. After His resurrection, there is no place in Scripture where the Lord Jesus Christ followed His custom of going into the synagogue on the seventh day. After Christ's resurrection He honored the first day of the week with His presence. Let's observe how this carried through. MAR 16:9 says, "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils." He not only arose, but also made His appearance on the first day. Jesus appeared to the two on the way to Emmaus on the first day of the week. LUK 24:13-15 says, "And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them." Christ appeared to His disciples on the first day of the week. JOH 20:19 says, "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." The Lord Jesus is now honoring the first day of the week with His presence. Sometimes I struggle and labor all week long. I labor in prayer and study the Word, and then the Lord honors His institution. In the house of prayer on His day, all is made plain. He honors His holy day with His presence. The disciples gathered on the first day of the week after the day of Pentecost. ACT 20:7 says, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." The New Testament church came together on the first day of the week. The apostle Paul spoke of the gathering of the New Testament church on the first day of the week in 1CO 16:1, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." The Lord gave special honor to the first day of the week by fulfilling "that which was spoken by the prophet Joel," ACT 2:16, sending the promise of the Father on the day of Pentecost, V:33. On the first day of the week, the Lord sent His Spirit. This is most significant! He honored the first day of the week being the day of Pentecost. If the Lord was still retaining the old seventh day Sabbath, He would have sent the Holy Spirit on the seventh day. He honored His day by sending the Holy Spirit on the first day. ACT 2:32-33 says, "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." That was on the first day of the week. The New Testament Sabbath remains to be the emblem of our eternal rest. The word rest in HEB 4:9 is taken from the Greek word sabbatismose, which means: "The repose of Christianity as a type of heaven: The Sabbath, or day of weekly repose from secular avocations." In HEB 4:9-11 we read, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."
FOR OUR THIRD POINT , let's consider how the New Testament Sabbath is the emblem of eternal rest. The prophet Isaiah gives the perfect description of the Sabbath as it reflects the emblem of eternal rest. ISA 58:13-14 says, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."Right preparation for the Sabbath is the preparation of the heart. To understand this heart preparation, see how the true fast demonstrates our attitude toward our neighbour as we read in ISA 58:3-7: "Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, [Is that what the Lord wants us to do on the Sabbath?] and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? [Isn't that what the Lord Jesus was doing on the Sabbath?] Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" The Lord Jesus set a woman free on the Sabbath who was bound for forty years. He set people free of their afflictions on the Sabbath. The preparation of our heart for proper observance of the Sabbath is largely seen in our right attitude toward our neighbour. Our observance of the Sabbath demonstrates our attitude toward the Lord. The verses we just read demonstrate our attitude toward our neighbour. "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath," is equivalent to saying, "If thou dost not tread its Holy ground with the foot of week day work or entertainment." We must turn that foot which walks six days a week in secular work and in secular entertainment from the things of the world to tread His holy ground. The Sabbath is to rest from self, "Not doing thine own ways." We are to rest from doing our own ways. HEB 10:24-25 says, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." We are to assemble ourselves together on the Sabbath to provoke one another to love and good works. We set the Lord's day apart for the honor of God by assembling ourselves together to provoke unto love and good works. By staying at home to worship alone, we are violating the very principle of the Sabbath. We are going our own way. We are doing our own pleasure, following our own reasoning, delighting ourselves. We are to delight ourselves in the Lord. The very principle of keeping the Sabbath is to assemble together to provoke unto love. We are to do that which is to the Lord's glory. We need harmony of spirit and fellowship with the mind of Christ. The Sabbath becomes our greatest delight when we honor God's holy day because we are honoring the Lord. When we stay home without fellowship, we are isolating ourselves. When we do not go into public worship, we are breaking the commandment. The heart of one who loves the Lord will "call the Sabbath a delight." We long for the Sabbath to be able to rest from the labors and toils of this life as a type of that blessed jubilee. The Sabbath is a type of the blessed deliverance from the power of sin, the things of this earth, and the power of death. The Sabbath is the symbol of being delivered; it is the jubilee. The heart of one who loves the Lord will reverence the Sabbath as, "The holy of the Lord." Those who love the Lord will desire to honor Him. The purpose of the Sabbath is to honor the day as being holy unto the Lord. We read in PSA 112:1, "Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments." Those who fear the Lord, delight to have a day set apart for Him. If we truly fear the Lord, it will be our greatest delight to "Turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on His holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words," ISA 58:13. We will have no desire to do our own pleasure or work. We desire to "... call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD," The New Testament Sabbath is to celebrate that jubilee where our Saviour burst the bonds of death to set His church free from the service of sin to serve the living God. The jubilee was the declaration of the freedom from servitude. It was to set us free from the bondage and servitude of the things of this world. We are not serving ourselves, our own pleasures, and the things of death. The Sabbath is a type of the jubilee when Christ came to deliver us from the bands of death. Think of how many miracles Jesus wrought on the Sabbath. He still works so many spiritual miracles on the Sabbath day by setting us free spiritually. When two or three of the people of God come together in the house of prayer and their hearts are joined in a oneness of Spirit, our lovely Saviour comes into their midst! In this way He still performs miracles on His blessed Sabbath day setting the spiritual captives free. Jesus performs miracles when the hearts of His people are joined in one Spirit. Where He is being honored and the Word of God is proclaimed, He performs miracles on the Sabbath day. He sets them free and heals the spiritually diseased. He brings to pass the same miracles which He performed on the Sabbath day in His lifetime on earth. The Sabbath day is for the gathering and the assembling of ourselves together. What a horrible thing it would be for the church if the Lord had truly abolished the Sabbath. The church would have no rest. The people of God would find no rest from the things of this world. To think that Satan has actually tried to teach that the jubilee has been abolished! Oh beloved, what a horrible thought! The Sabbath jubilee is the declaration of freedom from the load of sin so we can serve the living God. So many miracles are still performed on the Sabbath day. Is it not most often that on the Sabbath, in the house of prayer, that our mirage becomes a pool? A mirage is a reflection of light through heat waves; it causes an optical illusion. In ISA 35:7 we read, "And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes." In the original, parched ground means a mirage. The mirage shall become a pool. Many things in our life are so empty. They are just like a mirage. We think we can see an oasis in this wilderness journey of life, but we find it is nothing but an optical illusion. When we come into the house of prayer, however, the mirage becomes a pool. The pool points to the Lord Jesus Christ as the fountain of living waters. "...Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink," JOH 7:37. Thirsting after the blessed Redeemer, thirsting after the fountain that is open for all sin and uncleanness is relieved when we come into the house of prayer on His day. The mirage is turned into a pool of living waters. The empty places in our lives are filled with the blessedness of the Holy Redeemer. He instituted the Sabbath and the assembling of ourselves together; now, He will honor His own institutions. Psalm 73 tells us that Asaph was envious of the proud until he came into the sanctuary—his mirage became a pool—all was made plain. Asaph was struggling with the power of sin. He was struggling against his own evil heart. He envied the proud. He saw there were no bands in their death. The power of sin was broken when he entered into the sanctuary of God. PSA 73:16-17 says, "When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end." When he came into the sanctuary of God, he was relieved. A sanctuary is a place of safety. The Lord Jesus Christ is our sanctuary. When we enter into the Lord Jesus Christ, we are delivered from the power of sin. The Lord honors His day; He has sanctified the Sabbath as a day of rest. We must observe the fourth commandment out of love if we want God's presence. "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him," JOH 14:23. When we observe His commandments, He will abide with us. His fourth commandment concerning the Sabbath must be observed. It is so important that we understand that the jubilee is the setting free from the power of sin. The Sabbath day demonstrates this when we come after six days of labor. We are given a day of repose from serving under the secular labor. Without distraction, we can come before the Lord and spend a day to His honor and to His glory. Our text, MAT 5:17, says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Amen. |
|
