"The Sabbath & Lords Day"

John 5:8-18

Rev. Min J. Chung

(Sunday Worship, November 5, 2000)

 

"Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, `Pick up your mat and walk.'" So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God." John 5:8-18. NIV

 

  1. Introduction
    1. When Jesus heals the invalid on the Sabbath, the Jews did not react favorably. They accused Jesus of violating the Sabbath by working on it. Today, we need to talk about the issue of the Sabbath Day. It was controversial then, and can be controversial now. Some ask, "Can I go to worship on Saturday (in place of Sunday)? Do we have to always worship on Sunday?" Today, well take a little break from a normal expository sermon and do a thematic study from Scripture on the issue of the Sabbath day.
    2. This is the definition of rhythm in the dictionary: "A movement characterized by a regular reoccurrence of beat; the pattern of this in music." By that, I still dont know exactly what it means. Of course, I know what it is when I hear it. But what is rhythm? My definition of rhythm is: what some people have, and what some people dont have; what few think they have, but in no one elses consensus. Thats what rhythm is to me, I think. There is rhythm to everything. If you think about rhythm in music, there is a consistent pattern to things, and within that consistent pattern of science, there is an inconsistent pattern of art, and when we hear it, it sounds so good. I think God has given us the ability to enjoy that. Music is beautiful for that reason. Science is in it and art is in it. And when they work together just right, how beautiful it sounds to our ears, and how wonderful it feels to our souls! The whole universe is filled with rhythm. Life is both science and art. There is a set pattern to things and yet the different ways in how we live bears different consequences in our lives. Sports have rhythm. Everybody has to make the basket, yet within a set of rules, some can do it with a little more flair, and some with a little less flair. Some players are full of art, yet have no science. In other words, theyre very good at dribbling and making the right moves and being flashy, but they make no baskets. Some people would say that such people are all shake and no bake. Preaching has rhythm, too - both science and art. The science of it is that there is an introduction, body, and conclusion. Some people have great precision and accuracy, but other people do it with a little more seasoning, voice variety, mood, articulation, and emotional variation. Life also has rhythm. The consistent form of it is that everyone goes through childhood, adolescence, young adult stage, and marriage age, but how you live in it and the beauty of it can all be different. Thats why everyone, to some degree, have the logical left brain side and the creative right brain side: accuracy and variety. There is rhythm in all of us.
    3. As we talk about the Sabbath and Lords day, we see that the Sabbath was celebrated on Saturdays as Old testament custom for the Jews. This Old Testament custom was in creation rhythm. God created the universe in six days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. But the Lords day, which we celebrate as Christians as New testament believers, is Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Its like the song, "Sunday, Monday, happy days, Tuesday, Wednesday happy days,. Saturday." Saturday is the emphasis for Old Testament Sabbaths. Sunday is the emphasis for New Testament Lords Day.
    4. What wed like to do today is to talk about the Sabbath, then the Lords Day, then implications for us today.
  2. Body
    1. SABBATH
      1. Creation
        1. God created the universe in six days, and on the seventh day he rested. The seventh day is Saturday. So God says to the people that they should rest also because thats what God did. On the seventh day, he sat there after the creation was finished. He rested and enjoyed creation. The creation was so good. Resting on the Sabbath is to celebrate the goodness of Gods creation according to Gods word. The people were to celebrate his creation as they rested on Saturdays. Therefore, the Sabbath was in creation rhythm.
        2. The average Israelite was to sit there on Saturday and say, "God created me."
      2. Redemption
        1. Redemption means being freed from slavery. Someone pays for you, so as a slave, you are freed and redeemed. God emphasized in Deuteronomy 5:15, (right before Israelites enter the land of Canaan),"Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you out of this with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm" The Lord God has commanded the Israelites to observe the Sabbath Day because of Gods redemption. Israel was to observe the Sabbath in thankful gratitude for being redeemed out of Egypt. They were bought from slavery. They were to celebrate this freedom they received.
        2. So a Jewish boy was to think of this on the Sabbath € "Not only has God created me, but he has also freed me from slavery."
      3. Rest
        1. How is creation rhythm and redemption related? Its related through rest. Because God worked six days, and on the seventh day God rested, so we are to rest also.
        2. In addition, when Israel was in Egypt, they were forced to work everyday. The Egyptian slave-drivers worked them all the time. There was no rest. There was no Sabbath. They had no chance to celebrate the Sabbath because they had no rest days. As the Lord brought them out of Egypt, they were finally able to rest, for they needed it for their physical strength. As they finally rested, they were to celebrate, thanking God for their redemption from Egypt.
      4. Image of God
        1. God created man in Gods image, so in whatever we do, we picture God. We have the ability to picture what God is like. For six days God worked, so we are able to picture God through our work. We can see that. But when the Sabbath was first instituted, we were also able to picture God when we rest. We picture God when we work, but sometimes we do not understand that when we rest, we also picture God, because God rested on the Sabbath. Through resting, we also picture God.
        2. When we work, we picture God the worker, but when we rest, we picture God the ruler. He rules over creation.
        3. The hard worker pictures God for six days, and when he rests on the seventh day rests he also pictures God. But dont misuse this. Remember it says six days of work and one day of rest. Not six days of rest, and one day of work. We work, but even in rest, we picture God. We absolutely need physical rest. So when you rest and trust in the Lord in Gods provision, you are refueled, strengthened, and you depend on God.
        4. Notice this is a very specific thing for the Israelites in the Old Testament. That was one of the things that separated the Gentiles from Jews. It is a privilege for saints and believers that they were to celebrate the Sabbath. This distinguished Israelites from other nations, as they obeyed and trusted in Gods provision.
      5. Fellowship
        1. Think of this. When we hear that God rested on the Sabbath, what did God rest from? It says, he rested from "all the work." Does that mean he didnt do anything at all on the Sabbath? What does that mean? Who held the stars of the universe when he rested on the Sabbath? If he didnt do that the stars would fall. Who sustained the universe? So obviously, this does not mean complete inactivity. Rather, it refers to God resting from a certain kind of work. Hebrews 1:3 says, "by the word of his mouth he holds the universe." So its not complete inactivity, but rest from certain kind of activity. That means he rested from creation work, not necessarily his sustaining work. He still works in that sense, and never stops working in that sense, but he stops from creation work.
        2. But why did God rest on the seventh day and stop creating? The point is this: GOD STOPS EVERYTHING TO HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH US RIGHT NOW! So when man works and stops on Sabbath, he does what? MAN FELLOWSHIPS WITH God! God stops from his creative activity just so he can talk to us and relate with us. Thats what he did. He rested from creation activity, but his ruling activity and sustaining activity continues. How does he rule us and sustain us? When we have fellowship with him on the Sabbath. As we rest after six days of hard work, we are now rejuvenated. When his creation work stops, his sustaining work starts. When he rests from work, he starts to have fellowship with us. When he rested from creation activity, his ruling activity and sustaining activity started. When he stops working, he starts fellowshipping with his people. When we think about that, what a privilege it is to rest in the presence of God on the Sabbath!!!
    2. LORDS DAY
      The New Testament calls Sunday the Lords Day. Try to refer to Sunday as Lords Day at least among us as Christians. You might not want to use it among non-Christians. If youre at the grocery store, and you refer to Sunday as the Lords day, people may not understand that. But for us, it is good to say it in order to remind us that it is for the Lords day. If Sabbath is for creation rhythm, the Lords day is in resurrection rhythm. In Matthew 26:1, and Luke 24:1, when Jesus appears after the resurrection, it was often the first day of the week. By Acts 20:7, Christians customarily gathered on the first day of the week. Think about that. All throughout history, Jews gathered on Saturdays, but why did Christian Jews suddenly begin to gather on Sundays? Why this shift in the day of worship? It was because Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week and continued to appear to them on the first day. From then on, in all of church history, Christians gathered on Sundays for worship. Why? Because resurrection rhythm started on Sunday. Apologists say this is one of the greatest evidence and proofs that Jesus resurrected. Christians changed their traditional day of worship, because they really saw the Lord risen on Sunday.
      In the Old Testament, many times we see physical picture illustrations that pointed to spiritual principle truth. For example, the Israelites being freed from slavery in Egypt is a picture of people being freed from slavery to sin. The killing of animals is a picture of the later killing of Christ. Applying blood to the doorposts so that the firstborn wouldnt be killed is a picture of Jesus dying in place of us so we dont have to die but instead we can receive eternal life. All the five characteristics in creation rhythm above which were physically true for Old Testament Israelites are spiritually true in the New Testament for Jews and Gentiles who are believers. Also, the nation of Israel is a visible picture of the invisible church. Man-made physical idolatry that you can see and worship is also spiritual idolatry in our hearts, because we love different things in our hearts. Slavery to Egyptians is a picture of slavery of sinful hearts within our minds.
      With this mindset, we can go on and talk about resurrection rhythm, Lords day.
      1. Re-creation
        1. Not recreation (Im not mispronouncing this). Re-creation. Creation rhythm started before the fall. When sin came in, it messed up everything, so a new rhythm had to be started. There had to be a re-creation of God!
        2. How does God re-create? Through our Lord Jesus Christ. By his death and resurrection, he now becomes the center of our lives. Our sinful hearts need to be re-created. The heart of stone needs to be turned to a heart of flesh. As believers, our hearts are re-created every time we come to the Lord. Just like David prayed, we should pray on every Lords Day, "Create in me a new heart." God needs to replace it to serve and love and work for Christ.
        3. Even pictorially and visibly it makes sense. For six days they worked, and on the seventh day, later on, there is a picture of rest. It looked forward to the seventh day. Jesus Christ is our rest, so we can be saved. All six days are pointing forward to the seventh day. You see, everything in the Old Testament is pointing to the future coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. All the animals killed during sacrifice were pointing forward to the true sacrifice. All imperfect priests were pointing to the perfect Priest that was to come. All imperfect kings were pointing to the perfect King thats coming. So it makes sense that the seventh day should be celebrated for Old Testament Sabbath rhythm before Christ came. Ah!
        4. But for us, in the New Testament era, the rest must start with the first day. We trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. Once for all he died, and so now we look back and are strengthened by the rest that we see in him, and look forward to the complete rest thats coming in heaven. Death and resurrection becomes the center of our focus. The Old Testament looked forward to the seventh day, and in the New Testament, we look back to the first day. He rises and re-creates us through faith in His Son. Now we are a new creation in our Lord Jesus Christ.
        5. Christians should worship on Sunday, not Saturday, because we look back at the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.
      2. Spiritual redemption
        1. Slavery in Egypt and the blood of the lamb are illustrations of the real thing that was to come. Slavery of our sinful hearts, as well as the blood of the lamb which points forward to the blood of Gods son is seen in this picture. When we trust in Jesus Christ, he frees us from our sin. So we are bought, not from animals price, but the priceless son of God, and are made free in Jesus Christ.
        2. When Jesus Christ dies on the cross, he receives all the wrath that sinful hearts should receive. The resurrection means that all of Gods wrath was already poured on Jesus Christ that Friday on Calvary. Because its all done, now he can be raised from the dead. The resurrection guarantees and proves that his work is complete. If there was more wrath to be poured on Jesus, then hed still be on the cross right now. But he isnt! Hes risen! All of our wrath is already poured on him. So we are redeemed, bought, and our price has already been paid. As God looks at us, we are saints, but in reality, we are still in slavery. But slowly and surely we are becoming more free. Spiritual redemption has been and is being attained through our Lord Jesus Christ.
      3. Spiritual Rest
        1. Remember, we talked about six days of work and seventh day of rest. But now, we are talking about spiritual rest. Spiritual rest is only a picture of the coming eternal rest. However, this coming rest does not mean that we sleep for the whole of eternity. Before the Fall in Genesis 3, man and woman had pure hearts. If we completely pure hearts, as in that pre-fallen state, when God tells us to do something, we would be so thankful and joyfully work and serve. But now we have sinful hearts. We want to be God. We dont want to be servants anymore. We want to be served. Whenever we dont want to do something that we ought to do as Christians, it means we want to be served. When you dont want to study, its because you want to be served; when you dont want to do the dishes, you want to be served. Whenever you are excited, it means that somehow you are being served and your heart motive is being met, and we enjoy it in our sinful state. Before the Fall, we probably would have loved to serve God, but after the Fall, work becomes a burden. It becomes hard. Not only does the ground and the whole universe hurt, but our hearts also are burdened now because of our sin. But pure, sinless hearts, used to be joyful hearts.
        2. If youre a Christian, you have two natures expressed through two desires: a selfish desire, and also a good desire that fights within our hearts. There is always a war here. Think of the sins that you commit. You dont want to do it, but there is a side of you that loves to do it. That battle is within your heart. It just proves that there is a war going on there. When God says, "Come, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," he's talking about true rest. A rest where there is no more heart battle and no more Satan. There will be rest from all the battles within your heart. There will be no more battle within. For us, Sunday and Lords Day worship is a glimpse of this. We want to serve God and serve others a little more. Let me ask you, do you enjoy worshiping God and coming to Sunday? If you dont, you dont have a good heart, because you dont want to serve God. He stops to have fellowship with us, but wed rather be somewhere else.
        3. The Lords Day is not sweet for impure hearts, or activity-oriented people. Such people cant sit there and be blessed. The Lords Day is not sweet for an old heart, but for new hearts, hungry hearts that are hungry for Gods presence € who are hungry for the Bread of Life. The Lords Day is sweet for wounded soldiers. Sometimes you sin, and struggle, but you want to be refueled, strengthened, and empowered by God to press on. You pray, "I need your grace, mercy, and power." And you come hungry and wounded, "Lord, forgive me, so that I can go on fighting." The Lords Day is sweet for hungry hearts and for fighting saints, because you receive empowerment from God. Again, do you enjoy Sunday worship? Its for wounded soldiers, hungry hearts, and fighting saints.
        4. Rest in the Biblical sense means STRENGTH. For six days, you work and are tired, but on the seventh day you receive rest. But this is physically. In the New Testament, we rest spiritually in Gods presence and get empowered. We get more saltier and brighter. Isaiah 40:31 says, "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." And Isaiah 41:1 also says, "Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength!" You say, "Lord Im worn out. There must be more!" Then we are refueled in his presence. Do you enjoy the Lords Day service? Its probably no surprise to you, but I really enjoy the Lords Day service. IM EAGERLY EXPECTING GOD TO CHANGE HEARTS!
      4. Recreated image of God
        1. In Sabbath rhythm, by working we picture Gods creative power and by resting we picture his ruling. In the New testament, we recreate the image of God. We do this through fighting in our hearts, praying on our knees, letting the Word of God enter our hearts, fellowship, accountability, and helping others. We become more like Jesus Christ You are being re-created to be like the image of the second person of the Trinity € Jesus Christ.
        2. The first Adam messed up, but the second Adam didnt. He lived perfectly. We need spiritual empowerment to serve and live it out in our lives. In that way, we will become just like Jesus, slowly but surely. When we see him face to face and battle is over, we will be like him.
      5. Eternal Fellowship
        1. God stops everything to have fellowship with us. Eternal fellowship. We can enter Gods presence, and attain a glimpse of eternal fellowship. We are entering into the spiritual garden of Eden, into the holy of Holies, through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a picture of eternal worship and fellowship in his presence that is to come.
        2. God stops everything to have fellowship with us on the Lords Day. We should also stop everything to give proper honor and worship to our God.
    3. PRACTICAL ADVICE
      1. Prepare
        1. May I suggest through the principle, weight, and force of Scripture? Please PREPARE YOURSELF TO FACE SUNDAY, THE LORDS DAY! Remember: it is a privilege only for the Christian. It is not an issue for those who are not believers. They can open the store on Sundays. It is an exclusive privilege of the believer to prepare to meet God.
        2. If possible, prepare yourself on Saturday night. Perhaps sleep a little earlier. Those of you who are falling asleep consistently with rhythmic head gestures (maybe youre agreeing with me a lot), sleep early Saturday night, drink coffee, bite your tongue, but prepare yourself.
        3. Make sure youre totally undivided to meet God. Do your Q.T.. Dont blame me, the preacher. Prepare your heart. Have clothes set aside. Before you come, I would suggest that you put your offering into an envelope. It really prepares your heart as a symbol of offering your heart. God does not need your wrinkled dollar bill, but God wants your heart. Its not the sacrifice of the bill, but the sacrifice of your heart. As you do that, it prepares your heart. Its not a sin to just give cash, provided you are completely and genuinely giving from your heart.
        4. What the pastors do to prepare every Sunday is, they come to the office at 7 am, if there is a 9:30 am service. They study that days passage on their own, and then discuss and pray for the service. As for me, I go to the office Saturday night, and all night Im there preparing my heart. Of course, I am preparing all week meditating and reflecting and living the passage I will preach that week. For one hour of a sermon, I prepare 167 hours in the preceding week. Please, prepare yourself also for the Lords Day service.
        5. Remember: this is to prepare to MEET GOD! Hes the center and most important thing in your life. Hes NOT JUST A SIDE THING IN YOUR LIFE!!!!.
      2. Participate
        1. May I say, through the force of Scripture, Sunday attendance may be the minimum for a Christian who received resurrection power from the Lord, to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Im not saying this as legalism, but as commitment. IM SAYING, LETS MAKE A COMMITMENT TO THE LORD. If you love Jesus, you would do a lot more out of joy, than those who do things legalistically.
        2. Unless physically incapable, go to church all your life wherever you are, to celebrate the resurrection. You want to receive his power, to be strengthened and to strengthen one another, to rest in his presence, and to fellowship with him.
        3. When you go, make sure you have joy. Jesus comes after he resurrects, and the first thing he says is, "Greetings." Literally, it means, "rejoice." Every Sunday, we must rejoice.
        4. Please come with expectation to meet God. Doesnt your heart beat when you meet a governor, president, or boyfriend? How much more the God of the universe!! As you enter into the sanctuary, your heart should beat faster in anticipation.
        5. I usually suggest people to take notes. You dont have to, but since there are so many points, it is helpful. The more senses involved, the better you receive it. Lets say, a non-Christian visitor comes in, and sees everybody falling asleep. What will they think? They will think there must be nothing worthwhile to listen to. You know how may times visitors say to me, "When I see CFC guys worship, I know somethings here. It makes me want to join in. It really feels like theres something worthwhile being said here." When some guys writhe in worship and listen so attentively, at least its entertaining. Even if they dont understand things, they might think that at least theres something worthwhile to listen to.
      3. Preserve
        4.
        1. Do as much as you can to preserve the blessings youve received. After Lords day service, people talk about all the dumbest things in the world. Why dont you talk about what blessed you during the service? Why must we wait only until small group discussion to talk about it? Lets talk about these things outside.
        2. Im not legalistically saying you must do this all the time, but I am encouraging you to preserve as much as you can.
        3. Refer back to your notes throughout the week and pray over it.
        4. Sunday activities: some recreation activity could be destructive €it could be bad for your spiritual life. Or there could be re-creation activities that are constructive € that will help your spiritual life. It should not be filled with selfish entertainment or amusement. Recreation can be destructive if certain kinds of recreation. But you can have re-creation activities like fellowship with other believers and other people. A good example is that Jesus is tired at the well. While he was drinking he was communicating. In his rest, he does that. There can be activities that are enjoyable and edifying that can help us preserve. Walks, fellowship with roommates, accountability, but make sure when you are involved in certain entertainment activity, it is not unhealthy.
        5. Some say theyre against studying on Sunday. Im not against studying on Sunday, but if that distracts you from worshiping, maybe its okay to not study on Sunday. You can study on Sunday, but if you want to abstain from studying to make it special for the Lord, thats fine, too. Just dont judge others if youre gonna do that.
        6. Can I work on Sunday? Thats a tough question. I would say that as much as you can, avoid it. There are, however, some occupations where you have to work on Sunday, for example, doctors. There is a Biblical principle worth mentioning here: the Bible says that when your donkey is stuck in a ditch, who would not rescue that donkey? Would you not agree that people are more important than donkeys? So there are some occupations by nature that require some to work on Sundays, but make sure God is the center of your schedule and your week. God is the center of your heart.
        7. Do you rush, push, shout, and become generally unpleasant on Sunday mornings? Do you complain about church? Are you irregular in your attendance? Are you overly-conscientious about matters that are not really important? Do you always criticize the pastor, the choir, the length of services and the usher crew? Then dont be surprised if your kids grow up to think of Sundays as the worst day of the week.
        8. One man challenged another to an all-day wood-chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow had chopped substantially more wood than he had. "I dont get it," he said. "Every time I checked, you were taking a rest yet you chopped more wood than I did." "But you didnt notice" said the winning woodsman, "that I was sharpening my ax when I sat down to rest." What are we doing when we come on Sunday? We are sharpening our axes!!!
        9. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Let us celebrate the Lord's day.
  3. Conclusion
    1. Harvesters must rest to sharpen our axes. Lets go to the Lord this afternoon, as he is strengthening us.
    2. Lets make some commitments within our hearts. One suggestion: if you dont go to church on Sunday, maybe thats one thing youd like to do in committing to the Lord. Unless youre in the hospital, or physically find it impossible to come out, then lets commit to going to church every Sunday, whether we are at home or away. Lets pray, "Help me to celebrate the resurrection on the Lords day." Find a church to go to and celebrate with other believers. "I need you, Lord, I need your strength. Sharpen my ax today." You make your own practical commitment before the Lord. He does not need your sacrifice and time, but he wants your heart and to be the center of your heart. Pray to the Lord and make some commitments to the Lord.

Suggested Closing Songs:
Father of Creation
You Led Me to the Cross

 

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