Sunday Sermon: Rest for the Weary, August 16th, 2020
Sunday Sermon at Grateful Church in Phoenix
August 16th, 2020
Rest for the Weary
Life is a journey, and many are weary because of foreseen and unforeseen challenges. God in His foreknowledge prepared a place and a space of rest for a weary traveler to catch his breath and refresh his soul. Sabbath means “Rest from labor”. The unique value of sabbath is in the deeper and refreshing spiritual experiences it offers with God as opposed to an outward observance of a literal day of the week. It is sabbath for us when we give up our self-interests and ambitions for God's will and purpose for our live. He is our rest and peace. Reading from the texts, there are 4 Keys to unlock the meaning of resting from our labor - SABBATH
Gen 2:1-3
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 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
Col 2:16-17
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
The 4 keys are meaning of Sabbath, work, rest, and ceasing in the context Gen 2:1-3
Sabbath was a sign, a seal of identity, and self-identification with God
God blessed the Sabbath and sanctified it with rest and not because it was the 7th day. The blessing of Sabbath lies in the rest as opposed to the day of the week. The benefit of a harbor to a ship captain is in the rest not the location.
Gen 2:3
3 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.
Mark 2:27
27 And he said unto them, the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Work in the text refers to our sinful behavior as opposed to earning a living
God stopped His work on the 6th day and never went back to the work of creation again. However, we cannot literally cease from the work of earning a living as God did because when sin entered, it brought the cause of God on the land, pain, and hard work on mankind to survive.
Gen 3:17-19
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Works are sinful behaviors as opposed to earning a living that we must cease from doing and never to go back to them as God did on the 7th day
Gal 5:19-21
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Resting is an experience, not an observance of a Saturday
The outward observance of the Saturday could not be the fulfillment of the Sabbath because:
Religious leaders had to work on that day
Matt 12:5
5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
Emergencies drove people to work on the Sabbath
Matt 12:11
11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
Caring for livestock was done to avoid death and suffering, which was work on the Sabbath
Luke 13:15
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?
Matt. 12:10-12
10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.
11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
The law of circumcision is on the 8th day, and when it falls on the Sabbath it was work
John 7:22-23
22 Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.
23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?
Moreover, Saturday was not always the Sabbath and Sabbath was not always on a Saturday, but it was always a rest day. Thus, Sabbath is not a literal day rather a shadow of things to come with a deeper meaning
Lev 23:39
39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
Lev 23:32
32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
Lev 23:23-28
23 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
26 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God.
Ceasing is to refrain from sinful behaviors.
There is no Sabbath (spiritual rest) until our hearts are circumcision (cut off) from the corrupting influence of unbelief
Heb 4:9-11
9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can cut off the foreskin of lust, pride, and sinful desires from our hearts to allow us to experience God’s rest.
Isa 28:11-12
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, this is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing …
Joel 2:28
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Acts 2:1-4
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
When our hearts are circumcised by the Holy Spirit, we find true rest from sin, and self-identity with Lord of the Sabbath (Rest)
Rom 8:9
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Eph 1:13
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 4:30
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
2 Cor 1:21-22
21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God
22 Who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Applications:
True rest is found not in the outward hope rather in the inward desire for deeper relationship with God
We rest from sinful works as we give control of our thoughts and actions to God, allowing Jesus Christ to become the lord of our lives. The assurance of faith in Jesus Christ give us rest and peace.
Acts 3:19
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
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