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[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:19) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Access more audio, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.

Our topic is: "Does Honoring the Sabbath Apply to Christians Today?" Part IV of our Ten Commandments Series. Here's Rick and Jonathan.

[Rick] (0:22 - 0:29) Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over twenty-five years.

Jonathan, what's our theme Scripture for this episode?

[Jonathan] (0:29 - 0:35) Exodus 20:8: "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy."

[Rick] (0:35 - 1:20) Although the Ten Commandments are well known, the sad reality is they are certainly not well practiced. In our current Ten Commandments series, we are examining each one and how it relates to our Christian lives here and now. So far, we've covered the first three and have found them to be deeply connected and incredibly relevant for our everyday lives.

We now look at the Fourth, the command to remember the Sabbath Day and to keep it holy. As Christians, the issue here should be obvious. The Jewish Sabbath is Saturday, and we have our day of worship and rest on Sunday.

Are we wrong in this approach, or is our remembering the Sabbath supposed to be expressed in entirely different terms?

[Jonathan] (1:21 - 1:38) Let's begin by tying the lessons of the first three Commandments together. The First Commandment, having no other gods before God ("You shall have no other gods before Me"), is an "internal instruction" and is fulfilled within our heart and mind. This Commandment is the basis for all of the rest.

[Rick] (1:38 - 1:55) Okay, basis for everything else. The Second Commandment, having no idols ("You shall not make for yourself an idol..."), is an "external action instruction." It can be outwardly observed.

To "make" an idol is to create a physically or emotionally tangible object of worship.

[Jonathan] (1:55 - 2:08) The Third Commandment, not carrying God's name in vain or in an insincere way ("You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain..."), is an "external action instruction" to thoroughly and genuinely live what we proclaim to be.

[Rick] (2:08 - 2:24) We've got the internal of having no other gods before God. Then no idols; external. Then the Third Commandment, not carrying God's name in vain; external as well. Now let's move to the Fourth Commandment, and that's Exodus 20:8:

[Jonathan] (2:24 - 2:27) "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy."

[Rick] (2:27 - 2:43) The Christian bottom line on this Commandment is this-- we're going to give you the bottom line up front-- we rest now while doing God's work!

Now that might sound a little odd--resting while doing the work--so hang on, stay with us.

[Jonathan] (2:44 - 3:19) This is the first "do" Commandment after a string of three "don't" Commandments. The first three Commandments demonstrated an alarming and degrading human pathway away from God. Violating the First--having other gods in our life--opens the door to violate the Second, which was establishing those other gods. These decisions set up the utterly hypocritical environment for us to violate the Third and become a walking contradiction of proclaiming faithfulness but not living it.

[Rick] (3:19 - 3:51) That's the key. Proclaiming faithfulness but not living it. The first three Commandments are warning signs against that.

Here's the thing; remembering the Sabbath Day is a critical element in identifying that destructive pattern that brings us to that hypocrisy. That pattern at any stage is dangerous, and so the concept of remembering the Sabbath Day is to thwart, to reevaluate, and then evict the pattern.

That's why the Sabbath was put there for the Jewish nation.

[Jonathan] (3:51 - 4:15) Remembering the Sabbath Day gave Israel a chance to stop, look to God, and take a break from daily work. It was also a time to ask, "Am I putting something before God and becoming idolatrous? Am I honoring His name?"

By interrupting constant busyness, the Sabbath helped them refocus on Him.

[Rick] (4:16 - 4:51) That's such an important thing. It helped them to do the refocusing that they needed. It made them stop, just like you said.

Okay, nothing else. Stop and reflect. Gave them this really, really clear way to correct what may have been going wrong.

There's brilliance! There's absolute brilliance in that. Let's look at how it was structured.

God explained in detail what this Sabbath Day was to look like for the Jewish nation. Now we're beginning to focus on it from the Jewish nation--from Israel's perspective--and then we'll focus on it from a Christian perspective. Let's start with the way it's expressed in the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:8-10:

[Jonathan] (5:21 - 5:24) "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." "Sabbath" means to take an intermission; rest and pause.

[Rick] (5:25 - 5:48) That's such a strong definition. Okay, nobody works-- the animals, the servants, nobody.

Everybody stops. Stop all physical labor for the day. Why was God so specific?

Why? What was there in this stopping, besides the first three Commandments needing that time to be able to focus themselves on? Why was He so specific?

Well, let's continue with Exodus 20:11:

[Jonathan] (5:49 - 6:00) "For in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."

[Rick] (6:01 - 6:26) It says God made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in it, and on the seventh day, He stopped doing what He was doing. He stopped that creative work of the earth.

That's what He stopped. and it says He blessed that Sabbath Day--that intermission--and He hallowed it. We're going to get into that hallowing it in a little bit.

Now the question is, all right, so why did God "rest" on the "seventh day?"

[Jonathan] (6:27 - 6:28) Was He tired, Rick? Did He need a breather?

[Rick] (6:29 - 6:51) Yeah, because like God would need a breather. Come on. But you have to ask, He's so specific.

It says He rested on the seventh day. Why? Well, in Genesis 2:2-3, this is where God introduces that rest long before it's given in the Commandments.

It's during the creative process. Here's what it says, Genesis 2:2-3:

[Jonathan] (6:52 - 7:20) "By the seventh day, God completed His work which He had done, and He rested (which means 'to repose; that is, desist from exertion') on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

Rick, the word "sanctified" here means "to be clean."

[Rick] (7:20 - 8:53) He made the seventh day clean, and it said "He rested from all of His work." Then it says, "which God had created and made." It's defining exactly what He rested from--

the creative process-- the earthly, physical, creative process. That's what He rested from, and that's the important thing.

We're going to see that Israel was supposed to rest from their physical, creative process. There's a similarity. Now there's other details that are going to come out in a few minutes, because God rested, and yet...maybe He didn't rest.

Wait, what? Well, let's just watch this unfold. He rested, okay?

Not because He needed to rest, but because He would now allow His creative work to be put into the hands of the created and allow them to make their choices. He put it all in place, and then He said, let Me allow them to do their part. Let Me see what that creation--how that creation--responds to all of the things.

This rest, Jonathan, this seventh day rest, would actually shape eternity. It really is a remarkable thing when you realize what happened here. God sanctified the seventh day as a day that would reflect the eternal unfolding of His will.

It's a powerful thought. He rested from His physical creation of the earth and watched.

[Jonathan] (8:54 - 9:19) God said that everything He made was clean and in order. It was very good. Now it's time for Him to move on to something new.

When He completed his work, He looked at it with pleasure. For those who know me, I'm kind of a clean freak. I ran a specialty cleaning service for many years, so everything needs to be neat and orderly.

[Rick] (9:19 - 9:47) Okay, okay, wait, wait, wait. Folks, let me just define "neat and orderly." Jonathan and I used to work together long ago.

At times I'd go to visit him, and he'd have his desk-- I'm telling you, there was not a thing that could even be remotely out of place on his desk. One of the things I would do is I'd walk in, and just when he'd turn, I'd turn a pencil just a little bit, maybe a quarter of an inch, just so it's not quite in line.

Sure enough, he'd notice it just like that, put it back, and I'd smile. Then when he's not looking, I'd try to turn something else.

[Jonathan] (9:48 - 9:50) Yeah, you tried to drive me crazy.

[Rick] (9:50 - 9:52) Yes, I did. Go ahead. Sorry, sorry. Go ahead.

[Jonathan] (9:53 - 10:12) All right.

When I'm done with a project of any kind, I like to look at my finished work. Then I ask my wife to come see what I've done. Sometimes I wonder if she's thinking, "That's all he did?" But seriously, she is very supportive and appreciative of what I attempt to do.

[Rick] (10:12 - 11:01) But you know, the looking at your work and saying, okay, here's what it looks like, and that's a really good example of what God did. He looked upon His work, and He allowed it to unfold, and there was a very purposeful meaning behind all of that. Now when we look at telling Israel, you need to rest on the seventh day the way God did--

for Israel, the Sabbath was the leading part of their ceremonial Law. Now remember, in the ceremonies--they had ceremony upon ceremony upon ceremony--and the Sabbath was the leading piece of it. This fact is crucial to our understanding of how it does--and does not--apply to our Christian lives.

Parts of the Sabbath do apply, parts do not. Let's look at one example, one scriptural example; Leviticus 23:23-25:

[Jonathan] (11:01 - 11:24) "Again, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest (which means a "sabbatism" or special holiday), a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD."

[Rick] (11:25 - 11:55) That's one example, one of many examples. There are several other Sabbath times within the Jewish Law. They're all connected to the Law's ceremonial aspects.

You have the system of Sabbath days, and Pentecost, Sabbath years, every seventh year, and then the 50th Jubilee year. All were times of rest, be it for the people or for the land or for both. You have Sabbaths coming up in all kinds of different ways, and it's very ceremonial, and that's the key. We as Christians are not bound by the ceremonies of the Law.

[Jonathan] (11:56 - 12:16) A quick thought I'd like to share from our friend, Allen Springer. He said that since the Aaronic priesthood had no inheritance in the land, they were exempt from the literal Sabbath because they served God on the Sabbath and labored for God. Rick, is there a connection to Christianity in this thought?

[Rick] (12:17 - 13:28) There is an enormous connection, and that is all scriptural. The Scriptures tell us that the Aaronic priesthood did not have the Sabbath off. It showed them the things that they were supposed to be doing.

Why? Because it had nothing to do with the land. It had nothing to do with the physicality.

It was all about spirituality. There's the Scripture that says, "you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood." We're given that same category of being in, and so it gives us a hint that we're not bound by the physicality of the rest from the land, and the things of the land, because we should be about the scriptural principles, the higher spiritual things.

Let's unfold that now. The Christian Sabbath Principles--let's open it up for Christianity. God rested and yet continued working.

How? He rested from the physical creation, but continually worked on the accomplishment of His plan. In the cleanness of that seventh day, He unfolded His plan to be put into place in a new, higher way.

Here we come back to what we introduced earlier. We rest now while doing God's work!

[Jonathan] (13:28 - 13:47) I think a great example of our rest in Christ can be found in doing good works. Ephesians 2:10: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them."

[Rick] (13:47 - 14:10) You have that sense of we are given this for what? Works. Good works.

But they're not the works of the physical world. They're works of spirituality. That's where we are being risen up to.

Let's focus in on this concept of God still working. Jesus told us that. That's why we can say that with great confidence. Let's look at John 5:15-17:

[Jonathan] (14:11 - 14:32) "The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath." The Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing things on the Sabbath. Now, let's pause here. Jesus heals a man.

Remind me, why is he being persecuted?

[Rick] (14:33 - 15:05) That's the point. He did something good. It wasn't about what the Sabbath was for, but they had interpreted that you cannot lift a finger for any reason, even though the Law said that on the Sabbath, if there's something that needs to be done for the good of someone else, you do it.

Jesus was showing them that the higher spiritual works are entirely acceptable. Of course, they would argue because he's making them look bad. He's being persecuted wrongfully, and he's showing us his responsibilities on the Sabbath. Let's continue.

[Jonathan] (15:05 - 15:07) Which turned to our responsibilities.

[Rick] (15:07 - 15:08) Right. Exactly. Exactly.

[Jonathan] (15:09 - 15:22) But listen to what Jesus told them in verse 17. Now, this is big: "But he answered them, My Father is working until now, and I myself am working."

So Rick, God is working.

[Rick] (15:22 - 16:57) Yes, absolutely, positively. He is working until now. He rested, but He's working because He rested from the physical creation, from the physicality of things, but He's working on the spiritual side for, and through and with Jesus.

That's the key here. How did God work? Well, the physical creation was to show He finished it.

The physical creation is done. His work now is to show the coming of Messiah, and then He would work through the Messiah. You think about it, Jonathan, all the things that God did in the Old Testament were to prepare for the coming of Jesus.

Calling out of Abraham, the promised seed. Jesus is the promised seed. You go through the Law, the sacrifices...

Jesus is represented in how many of those sacrifices? It always was showing us Jesus. The work that God put into His people on a spiritual level was to prepare Israel, and then the world, for Messiah.

He was preparing for the age to come. There was incredible value in the work that He did, but it wasn't the physical work. That's the point.

That is what He rested from. A Christian's Sabbath rest is defined and applied very differently than the Jewish Sabbath, and you can see why we were coming to that conclusion. Now let's look at ourselves.

How do WE enter into God's rest? How do we do that? Through Jesus and through his continuing work of God.

It's through him and his work that we enter. Again, we're going to proclaim: We rest now while doing God's work!

[Jonathan] (16:57 - 17:12) When God works in us, we find rest. Philippians 1:6: "...being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ."

[Rick] (17:12 - 17:34) It's all about work, isn't it? We don't ever take time off from that work. It's the spirituality we are focused on.

Our rest has to come in that work. How is that possible? There's a great answer for that, okay?

The answer is in the next Scripture. Let's look at Matthew 11:28-30. This is Jesus speaking.

[Jonathan] (17:35 - 17:51) "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me..." What does Jesus mean when he says he gives us rest yet also asks us to take up his yoke and work?

[Rick] (17:51 - 18:09) He's saying, I'll give you rest, put this yoke on so you can go to work. That's exactly what he's saying. You look at it and say, that makes no sense.

Oh, but it does. It makes incredible sense because the rest is from all of the other things and the yoke is about following in his footsteps. Let's continue.

[Jonathan] (18:10 - 18:31) Verse 29: "...for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." The word for "rest" here means "intermission, cessation of any motion...or labor."

Basically you'll find rest in your very being.

[Rick] (18:32 - 19:31) Yeah. For your souls, you'll find rest in your very being. It's a rest from the worldly cares, the worldly ambitions, the worldly things that need to be done because your focus is now is something different. When Jesus was with the apostles and they wanted to give him something to eat and he says, I have food that you don't know about...

It's like, who fed him? He said no, doing the will of my Father is my meat. He rested.

He didn't worry because he was about something higher. That's our job. His yoke is easy.

"Yoke" means work, because you have to go plow a field. The burden is light and you rest in that. There's a refreshment in leaving the earthly things behind and doing that work. That's Christian rest.

There's something dramatic developing here. Let's look at the book of Hebrews because it compares Old and New Testament Sabbath resting. This, Jonathan, the fourth chapter of Hebrews, really opens this up. Hebrews 4:3:

[Jonathan] (19:32 - 19:44) "For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST, although His works were finished from the foundation of the world."

[Rick] (19:44 - 22:09) "For we who have believed enter that rest." We enter that rest through belief in Jesus. That's what the Apostle is telling us, telling to the Hebrew Christians.

Then he's talking about in the Old Testament, Israel didn't enter into His rest because they weren't cooperating. They weren't following through on living in accordance with His commandments. It says, "although His works were finished from the foundation of the world." It's reminding us His physical works were done and His rest is ongoing, even though He's working on spiritual things.

He's resting from the physicality of the world and working on spiritual things. Though God's physical works were "finished," all of His works had not yet been revealed. The big thing in the Old Testament was the slow unfolding and revealing of what was to come through Messiah.

We are part of His works that are not yet revealed. Now, in this verse, Jonathan, Hebrews 4:3, that word, "they shall not enter my rest," that is a word that shows that very, very similar to the Sabbath rest--to the putting down of things. The "rest" in Matthew 11, where it says "you will find rest for your souls" it's a slightly different word for rest.

It's a much more positive, upbeat word. Let's look at these two words, because there's an important connection here. There's a subtle and telling difference between these two words for "rest"--the rest that Jesus gives us and the rest that the book of Hebrews just mentioned.

The two Greek verbs—"anapauo" and "katapauo"—both share the root "pauo," meaning “to cease” or “to stop." You had mentioned that. But they differ in meaning and in nuance due to the prefixes, the beginning of the words.

The "anapauo" emphasizes restoration and refreshment. That's a positive and uplifting pause--the rest in Jesus. Even when you're going to work, it's restful because you're with him, you're following him, he's your Lord, he's got you. The "katapauo" emphasizes cessation or stopping--that's the Sabbath rest.

It can be very positive--that's God's rest--but it carries the thought of not doing something. So the Sabbath rest was not doing something, and the rest in Jesus is not doing something and being refreshed in what we are doing, putting some things aside and adding on and taking on something higher and different.

[Jonathan] (22:09 - 22:25) I like that. Jesus gives us a positive, uplifting pause in becoming his disciples, which elevates us to a higher life. Living a life of sacrifice, following him in a restoring work of God's favor to humanity begins with us.

[Rick] (22:25 - 23:19) It does, it does. Now, does this mean that, oh, Rick and Jonathan said we don't have to do any work? You heard them! The point is, we're not laboring in that work.

We certainly do! The Scriptures tell us over and over in the New Testament, "He who does not take care of his own is worse than an infidel." We have to do that work, but that's not our objective in life. It's not what drives us.

It's not what makes us or breaks us. We contribute, we do those things, and we rest in God because our lives are about the new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;

the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." You still live in that world, but that's not where we worry.

That's not where we toil. We do the work, but our toil and labor is in Christ through God and His spirit. That's what it's about.

See, we rest now while doing God's work.

[Jonathan] (23:19 - 23:43) If we do these things, we can rest in God's peace. Paul said, whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and of good repute. This is his follow-up; Philippians 4:9: "The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you."

[Rick] (23:43 - 26:00) That's important. Do! It's about work. We don't ever stop doing the will of God. We never take a day off from that, but we do need to put our earthly labors in their appropriate context.

Our Sabbath rest is more of a putting down of the normal activities of living. We can refocus on the higher gifts and blessings from God through Jesus. We should do this every day.

Let me give you a personal example. Jonathan, this is a real, true struggle of mine. A lot of things are on my plate typically.

I run a business as well as doing all the other things. Look, I don't complain. It's a beautiful thing, but sometimes I get overwhelmed.

And when I get overwhelmed and the pile starts to get too big, I start to rush. And when I start to rush, I get careless. And when I get careless, I make mistakes, and I don't take care of things the way I should.

This is interesting, because this is before we started this study on the Sabbath. In the last three, four, five weeks, whatever it is, I've been looking at my rushing and starting to get careless, and I say out loud, "SLOW DOWN!" Just slow down.

And it's a reset. So I'm taking my earthly thinking and saying, okay, enough of that. I'm putting the earthly aside.

The pile doesn't get smaller. It's still just as big, still just as intense. But slowing down, it gives me the ability to think clearly.

This is a spiritual thing. This is resting in the Lord by putting the physicality of my own reactions away. I am telling you in the last several weeks, some amazing, beautiful things have happened by slowing down.

It didn't make the pile go down or go away, but it was like, okay, I can deal with this piece. Then the Lord would open this opportunity or that opportunity or that line of thinking, and all of a sudden, there's peace. By putting "Rick" away and relying on the peace of Jesus, it made my work go more clearly.

That's our Sabbath rest. It's putting ourselves aside. We still have to do the work.

Let's continue. Hebrews continues by revealing the transition of rest in God from Israel to Christianity. He shows us the transition.

He shows us the differences in Hebrews. Hebrews 4, we already read verse 3. Let's read Hebrews 4:4, 6-7:

[Jonathan] (26:00 - 26:31) "For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS. Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, Today, saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS."

[Rick] (26:31 - 26:53) He's talking about their seventh day of rest and the fact that they were given opportunity and they didn't take it and they failed to enter because of their disobedience. He's saying, but David says prophetically, today is an opportunity. Don't harden your hearts when you're given God's opportunity to rest. For us, we rest now while doing God's work!

[Jonathan] (26:54 - 27:02) We rest in the strength of Jesus. Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me."

[Rick] (27:03 - 27:35) "I can DO all things..." It's not about stopping, it's about doing, but putting earthly cares aside. They are not relevant. We take care of them by the grace of God, through His spirit, by putting our energy into it, and with a new mindset, the mindset of that holy nation, that royal priesthood.

That's the mindset. Again, going back to Israel versus Christianity... Joshua, with Israel, did bring the people into the Promised Land, but they never maintained the full "rest" in God. Hebrews 4:8-9:

[Jonathan] (27:36 - 27:57) "For if Joshua had given them rest, He (God speaking through David in verse seven) would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God." Christians are this people of God to which this rest applies through Jesus right here, right now.

[Rick] (27:57 - 30:11) God had a Sabbath rest, resting from His earthly creation and working on the new creation. We have our Sabbath rest, resting from the earthly creation. We still have to take care of responsibilities, but working, focusing, having our lives driven by being in Christ, that's our key.

That's our difference. Let's go a little bit further in Hebrews 4. Let's look at Hebrews 4:10-11, the next few verses.

Jonathan, I want to take these verses because these verses really helped me to nail this thing down. "For the one who has entered His rest..." Okay, that's that Sabbath kind of rest. We have, you mentioned that, we have entered into that rest.

"...has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His." We put aside the other things because our minds are focused on something higher. Our hearts are there.

We're done. We're here. We're right now.

That's what we're supposed to do. Doesn't mean we don't take care of responsibilities. It means we do it in a godly fashion.

That's how Jesus took care of everything, with that godliness. Then he says in verse 11: "Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest (that Sabbath kind of rest), so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience." We have to be careful to not only be given the opportunity for the rest, but we've got to enter it.

We've got to own it. For me, it's Rick, "SLOW DOWN!" It's take yourself out.

Allow the principles and the heart of Jesus to rule inside of you and deal with exactly what you have to deal with in a completely different way. It is transformational. It all comes down to Jesus.

God's work is through him. Our work and growth are through him. That's the point.

God has, in this entire age, after He finished the creative work, been showing us Messiah's coming, Messiah's coming, Messiah's here, Messiah's here. He has given the sacrifice. He is now in heaven. Now He's drawing those who are to follow Jesus to be part of the next age's work. That's how we rest, in that we put everything else aside.

[Jonathan] (30:11 - 30:41) Rick, that Hebrews 4:11 reminded me of other verses; Revelation 14:12-13. It says: "Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them."

[Rick] (30:42 - 31:29) We never rest in our labors, but we will be able to rest from the earthly endeavor in that heavenly sense. It is another level. But at this point, Jonathan, it's about our rest is in doing the spiritual work every day of our lives.

Now look, it doesn't mean we don't ever take time out to pause and consider and worship and pray and all of that. We know the early church did that. The early church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, as a day to gather, to study, to reflect, to pray, and to praise.

It was Resurrection Day. Interesting, huh? Resurrection Day, because it's about the spiritual work, right?

It's Resurrection Day, the day that unfolded the work of God's previously unknown plan. Let's just look at a couple of Scriptures that help us understand that. Acts 20:7:

[Jonathan] (31:30 - 31:40) "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight."

[Rick] (31:41 - 31:44) He's working really hard on that first day of the week, isn't he?

[Jonathan] (31:45 - 31:45) He is.

[Rick] (31:45 - 32:11) Okay? But it's on the first day of the week. They show that it's the first day.

They show that it's the Sabbath, the Christian interpretation of resting, and it was to show that it's the Resurrection Day. We do it on Sunday, because that's the day that the world was changed.

Jesus had died, and the moment he is raised, the world is different forever and ever, and we want to recognize that. One more Scripture along those lines, 1 Corinthians 16:2:

[Jonathan] (32:12 - 32:21) "On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come."

[Rick] (32:21 - 32:51) The Apostle is saying, you guys get together, you're getting together on the first day of the week, you want to take up collections so we can give to the poor in other cities. Do that when you get together, so when I come, it's all done, okay?

It's not like you don't do anything. You are together doing work of spiritual value. That's the point.

That's our rest. Our rest is doing God's spiritual work, so the kingdom can be ushered in. That's the beauty of the Christian Sabbath.

[Jonathan] (32:52 - 32:54) But Rick, how many days a week are we supposed to do that?

[Rick] (32:55 - 32:55) Every day.

[Jonathan] (32:56 - 32:57) Every day.

[Rick] (32:57 - 33:46) We rest every day.

Now look, on Sundays, there's a special time where you can have praise and prayer and all those things, but it doesn't mean you can't do it every other day. The whole thing, Jonathan, our life is a life of rest. Every day of our lives is serving God.

We never take time off from that. We can have leisure as part of that, and that's good, but the point is, rest in God's presence in our lives, in His spirit working in us, in His words showing us how, and putting aside our own earthly ways and ambitions. We need to take care of business, but take care of it in the context.

Like Jesus said, I have meat to eat that you don't know of. My food is to do the will of my Father. We rest now while doing God's work!

[Jonathan] (33:47 - 34:14) Christian Sabbath rest is necessary. Our entire lives are caught up in the rest of Jesus, even while we labor to follow in his footsteps. We rest because our lives are protected by God's spirit and through His providence.

We rest because we have nothing to fear. We rest because we know we must do with our might what our hands find to do and then leave all else in God's hands.

[Rick] (34:15 - 34:55) Folks, it comes down to, how am I living my Christian life every day? Is every day a day of resting in the Lord? Am I getting frustrated and anxious about all the pieces of life?

Well, maybe we're not resting in the Lord as we should. Instead, let's attempt to approach those frustrations and difficulties and challenges and big challenges with the rest of God through Christ and see how that transforms us from being a frustrated human being to a footstep follower of Jesus. Think about it.

Folks, coming up in our next episode, Part V of our Ten Commandments Series: "What Does Honoring Our Parents Really Mean?"

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