Blessed Rest

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, honourable; 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:

          Now that we are in the throes of the political season, you and I are hearing plenty of “spin” from candidates on all sides.

          “Spin,” if you aren’t acquainted with the term, refers to a person’s attempt to present a situation however he or she wants – regardless of the facts. For instance, if our team lost a football game 56-7, you and I might “spin” the game by saying how beautiful our lone touchdown was, or how we were missing our star player that day.

          To “spin” something, then, is to emphasize certain facts at the expense of others, or to outright avoid certain truths, in order to make a situation suit your purposes and desires.

This morning, you and I are going to study the “Spin Commandment.”

          Oh, I know in your Bible the commandment dealing with the Sabbath comes fourth, and we traditionally refer to it as the Fourth Commandment. But this is the one sentence in the Decalogue that you and I love to twist to accommodate our lifestyles. If we even acknowledge its existence (one friend of mine chides Christians for believing in the Nine Commandments, and he’s absolutely right), you and I mold this commandment to suit our ways. We play golf and watch football and do yard work and get in some time at the office, and you and I excuse our sin by claiming “we’re under grace, not law” or “at least I went to church” or “I’m just too busy.”

          Today we’re going to explore how to keep the Sabbath, why we must keep the Sabbath and some of the consequences of keeping – or breaking – the Sabbath.

          It’s no surprise that you and I struggle with sadness, continual feelings of worthlessness, fear of death and a feeling of distance from God: we trample on His Day; what should we expect?

          If you will stop the spin and set apart God’s Day to Him, He will draw you near to Himself – and bless you with rest for your soul.

          First, how can you and I hallow the Sabbath Day in order to experience God’s blessing?

          It’s worthwhile to spend a moment defining what we mean by the “Sabbath” (or the New Testament “Lord’s Day”). The words for Sabbath refer to “seventh” (as in the seventh day) and to “rest.” After God spent six days completing the work of creation, He rested on the seventh day and hallowed it (set it apart as holy). It perpetually was to be a day of rest and of reflection on His mighty work. In the New Testament, we actually find believers meeting for worship on the first day of the week, Sunday – and St. John even describes receiving the Revelation from Jesus on “the Lord’s Day,” Sunday. Clearly, the apostles believed the Sabbath still was valid for New Covenant believers; it had shifted, however, to Sunday in light of Christ’s great work of redemption and of resurrection.

          In the Fourth Commandment, God told the redeemed Israelites – remember, the law was given to guide a saved people, not as a means for sinful people to save themselves through obedience! – to keep the seventh day holy to Him. The fathers were expected to lead the household, and the cities, in keeping this day free from common activities such as work and, instead, in dedicating it to God. Of course the Lord forbade His people to do anything sinful on the Sabbath (or on any other day), but He also explained in the ceremonial law how they were to refrain from common activities on that day. In essence, the day was to be set aside for worship and for uncommon rest in God’s goodness.

          You and I, believers on the Lord Jesus (who fulfilled the ceremonial law for us), no longer must abide by the precise regulations of the Old Covenant Sabbath. The “big-picture” themes, however, still bind you and me, because this commandment is found in the moral-law section of the Old Testament, and moral laws guide us Christians in living for the Lord. You and I still are to spend the Sabbath worshipping God privately, with our family and with our church family. Following Jesus’ example and teaching, we are to do works of mercy such as visiting the sick and comforting the troubled. You and I are free to take part in the works of necessity, such as eating, preparing one’s body for worship, working with emergency services (if that is your vocation) and whatever else must be done as a necessity of life.

          Yet there is a negative aspect to the Fourth Commandment as well, and here is where you and I love to “spin” the commandment to allow for our own recreations. Per God’s promise through the prophet Isaiah, He will bless us if you and I turn from pursuing our own thoughts and pleasures and ways on His Sabbath and instead set the day apart to Him.

But that doesn’t sit well with us.

          The Westminster Shorter Catechism speaks of “unnecessary” thoughts, words and works that you and I are to avoid on the Christian Sabbath; but the very mention of that word “unnecessary” causes us to bristle. Is watching the Saints or the Tar Heels necessary? How about planning next week’s dinner menu? Or work schedule? Or talking about golf technique with a fellow hacker?

          The Lord doesn’t give you and me a precise list of “dos and don’ts” for the Christian Sabbath – He only offers general guidance for our observance of His Day. If you’ll study His own example, though, you’ll note how the Lord worked six days and then ceased. His work was complete. It is as if He would stand back and behold His own glory in creation. In the same way, you and I are to cease our everyday, even legal, work on Sunday and to rest in Him. (Evil employers who set themselves above God’s law and demand that you work on His day will have to give account to Him who is ready to judge the quick and the dead). This day is to be uncommon, holy and wholly devoted to the worship and exaltation of the one, true God.

          When Jennifer and I visited Italy, we were grateful for those gaps of silence in our tours of ancient sites and of art galleries in order to stop and to behold. If the tour guide spoke constantly, we couldn’t grab a moment’s peace to stop and to reflect on what we were seeing.

          God has instituted one day in seven for you and me – not to chain us down or to deprive us, but to free some space for us to stop and to behold His work in creation and in redemption. In every way, this day is to be uncommon and set apart for Him.

          Second, the Lord Himself tells you why you must observe His Sabbath.

          Clearly, one reason you and I still must keep the Sabbath is that God has commanded it. Plain and simple. This commandment, as we noted above, is found in the moral-law section of the Old Testament, and the moral law still applies to you and me as Christians. The civil laws no longer rule the church, because she is not an earthly theocracy, and Christ fulfilled the ceremonies (such as the sacrifices, the showbread and the like), negating their abiding governance over us. Yet the moral law, which is contained in summary fashion here in the Decalogue, is repeated and expanded in the New Testament. You and I, therefore, are not free to commit adultery or to break the Sabbath simply because these laws are found in the Old Testament. They still have bearing on us today as a guide for our lives.

          The second reason you are to hallow the Sabbath is God has set such an example for you. In fact, this law is a creation ordinance that even spans the giving of the moral law. The Lord created in six days, completed His work and rested. When you and I imitate Him by keeping Sabbath – and why would you want to imitate the God of truth by telling the truth yet fail to imitate Him in observing the Sabbath? – we are showing the world that we believe in the God who meets every need. Their idols are unable to help them, so they must work feverishly, non-stop, to gather more money. You and I, however, trust that the Lord will hold everything together and meet our needs even as we rest on Sunday. You and I rest in the finished work of Christ instead of trying to earn our way into heaven (as if we could).  We keep Sabbath, because we are imitating God in beholding His majestic works.

          The third reason you and I set apart the Sabbath to God is that He has declared it holy. There is a special holiness, or “set-apart-to-God-ness,” about this day. We would never utilize this church – holy ground – for a dance hall, would we? Then why would we trample over His holy day?

          The fourth reason the Lord gives for you to hallow His Sabbath is His promise of blessing. God blessed the seventh day before He ever gave the law to Moses. He promised in Isaiah 58 that if His people would turn from their own golf and football games and shopping sprees and instead hallow His day, He would bless them with Jacob’s inheritance and cause them to ride on the high places of the earth. In short, God would bless His people abundantly. That is the same promise He holds out to you and me through His servant James: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” And if you draw near Him by hallowing His day, He will bless you with His presence even in the darkest hours and cause you to prosper spiritually every day.

          Consider, third, some consequences of keeping this commandment.

          As Dr. Douglas F. Kelly has observed, we Christians rest on the Sabbath and celebrate the work of our living and triumphant Redeemer: thus we enter the workweek on the note of victory. Do you face struggles at work, or feelings of helplessness or of fear the other six days of the week? If you began the week meditating on and worshipping the ascended Lord Jesus, you surely would go into the world strengthened with the knowledge of Jesus’ power and glory.

          Do you sometimes wonder if you’ll have enough, or if you can ever get enough money and possessions to be satisfied? If you would begin the week by resting completely, acknowledging physically and spiritually your utter dependence on the Good Shepherd, you would have a greater intimacy with the Father of lights, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift and with whom is no variableness. You would focus on His work, not worship your own. Your view of work and finances would be transformed.

          Do you struggle with the usage of time? If you gave God His day and realized your creaturely limitations, you would use the other six days much more profitably.

          Do you struggle with shame and guilt? If you rested in Jesus and dwelt on his work on Sundays, you would realize his work is complete, and he has done all that the Father requires for you to be righteous – forever.

          Do you fear death? If you would observe the Sabbath, you would have a keener understanding of what heaven will be like. In a sense, you enter the heavenly rest and worship every Sunday – rest from this broken world of sin, rest from fear and from slavishness, rest in Jesus and in his provision. The more you observe God’s Sabbath, the more you will taste – and hunger for – heaven.

          As Israel kept this commandment, she revealed the God of perfect provision (Jehovah Jireh) to a world dead in sins and trespasses. She grew closer to her Lord and experienced the rich blessing of His nearness. But as she hated His Sabbath, she incurred the emptiness and death that inevitably flow from sin.

          Nehemiah understood that a return to honoring God’s day was absolutely necessary if God’s people were to return to their former joys and glories. There were ten commandments, not nine; and “spinning” the Fourth Commandment only deepened their sorrows.

          This is a difficult commandment to keep. It takes discipline to replace the golf magazine with the devotional book, to replace fishing with prayer. But in a world of fear, of frantic work and yet never having enough, of shame and grief and loneliness, you need the Sabbath to draw near to the Lord of the Sabbath.

          Keep today uncommon and set apart to God’s service. Enjoy the silence to meditate on Him.

          He will be honored – and your world will change for the better.