In his sermon, 'An Expanded View of The Sabbath,' Jason Dohm explores the significance of the Sabbath as outlined in the Fourth Commandment. The sermon, part of a series on the Ten Commandments, delves into the extensive nature of the Sabbath commandment and its implications, emphasizing that God grants rest and intends for it to be a consecrated day set apart for Him. Dohm examines various Old Testament texts such as Genesis 1-2, Exodus 16, Nehemiah 13, and Isaiah 56 and 58 to provide a holistic understanding of the Sabbath. He highlights how the Sabbath was established in the Creation Week, illustrating God's provision and commitment to supply needs even during rest, as demonstrated in Exodus 16 where God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness. Nehemiah's actions demonstrate the necessity of guarding the Sabbath and ensuring it is kept holy. Isaiah 56 expands the view of the Sabbath, showing its relevance to Gentiles and eunuchs, indicating the inclusivity of God's covenant. The sermon concludes with an emphasis on the Sabbath as a tool for expanding love for God, describing it as a 'heaven preparation day' that weans believers off worldly affections and increases delight in the Lord.

The title of our sermon this morning is An Expanded View of the Sabbath. We're actually in the second of four of a series within a series. We're in a series on the Ten Commandments And this will be our longest section. We'll spend more time on this commandment because it's a long commandment. There's a lot of words in it, four verses, more than any of the other commandments, and the word counts high.

But more than that, it's controversial, so we're going to spend time to to unpack it. The title is An Expanded View of the Sabbath, because this isn't a different view of the Sabbath this week. The commandment is the commandment. There's nothing particularly new outside of what you would find in the commandment, but there are other texts in the Old Testament which throw light on it, which unfold it and expand it for us. So this is an expanded view of the Sabbath.

Friends, I have good news. God wants us to have rest. God gives us rest. Seven weeks and three days a year. How do you get there?

Well, 52 weeks in a year. So one day each week is 52 days. That's the equivalent of seven full weeks plus three days of rest. Don't you wish you had an employer that would give you 7 weeks and 3 days of rest? Well, your employer might not, but your God does.

He's given us rest. But it is not an optional day. We are to remember it. We're to observe it or to guard it as we studied last week. And it is to be a consecrated day, A day that is set apart unto the Lord.

So it's not just pulled away from the normal working activities of the week, but it's actually set apart unto the Lord to be His in His service. And those in positions of authority are to secure rest for those under direction. We saw that in the commandment last week. It's not just you that get rest. You have to make sure that your son and your daughter, your male servant, your maidservant, even your animals, your beasts of burden get rest, even the strangers within your gates.

If they're under your direction, you're an authority, then You should secure rest for them. Even if they're not asking for rest, yes, God wants us all to partake of this rest. Here's the roadmap for our little series within a series on the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath Commandment. Last week we had a basic exposition just working word by word, phrase by phrase through the commandment in Exodus 20. And also in Deuteronomy 5, this commandment actually has major significant differences between the two giving of the law in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy chapter 5, so we looked at those.

Then this week I'll be bringing in other Old Testament passages, primarily five Old Testament passages which unpack the commandment for us. It throws light on the commandment. Next week James will be preaching on the Sabbath in the Gospels before the cross and resurrection. So there's a tremendous amount of content in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John about the Gospels. It's actually Sabbath controversy, a lot of what we see in the Gospels before the cross and resurrection.

Then the week after will be, still be in the New Testament, but it's what we see after the cross and resurrection. We don't know who's preaching that sermon yet. James has dibs. I'm hoping he's busy at work so that I'll get to preach it but we'll see. And then we're gonna have one final week, a fifth week, to just apply it to our lives as New Testament believers.

So as we go to these five texts of scriptures today, let's ask the Lord for help. Our God, we're so thankful that you give us rest. You secure rest for us. Thank you for seven weeks and three days of rest in every year given to us as a good gift for our minds and our bodies and our souls. Each part of this needing rest every week.

Our minds need it, and our bodies need it, and our souls need it. Pray today that we would feast on your Word. The Sabbath is a feast day, God. We want it to be a feast day for our souls. That our souls would come away fat from the day of rest.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, our first Old Testament text that throws light on the Sabbath commandment, the fourth commandment, is Genesis 1, the last verse of Genesis 1, continuing into chapter 2 verse 3. We won't spend much time there today because we spent a significant time there last week, but it is a good launching point for the other texts. And so we'll at least read it again and I'll make a comment or two.

So hopefully you are in Genesis 1, the very last verse, and I'll continue through chapter 3 in, excuse me, I'll continue to verse 3 in chapter 2. So please follow along. Genesis 1, 31. This is right at the end of creation week. The six days of creating have been completed.

Verse 31, then God saw everything that He had made and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done and He rested 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.

The point is this, the fourth commandment, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, that is the fourth commandment, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. It wasn't made holy there in Exodus chapter 20 at the giving of the Ten Commandments. Keep it holy. It wasn't made holy there. It was actually holied, so to speak.

Is that a word? It was holied in the end of Creation Week. It was sanctified, consecrated, set apart by God in the pattern that He instituted in Creation Week. It was made holy by God during creation week. Let me just read chapter 2 verse 3 again.

Then God blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it, or holied it. It's the exact same word as in the commandment. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. That's the same Hebrew word because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. God made it holy, and then We keep it holy.

Mankind follows God in the pattern, works six days, then rests one day. So that's our first text because it is the beginning of a day of rest in the Bible. And you just barely get to chapter 2 of the whole Bible, and you've encountered the Sabbath day. The second text is Exodus chapter 16. So please turn to Exodus chapter 16.

So you know math. 16 comes before 20. Chapter 16 comes before chapter 20. The command, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy is in chapter 20, so We're not even there yet in chronological terms in the Bible. We're in Exodus chapter 16.

This is before Mount Sinai, before the giving of the Ten Commandments. And yet we're encountering the Sabbath here in Exodus 16. I'll be reading Exodus chapter 16 verses 4 through 6, then I'm going to skip to verse 13 and read through 30, and I'll tell you when I'm doing that so you're not caught off guard. But hopefully you're with me in Exodus chapter 16. Follow along as I read Exodus 16, 4-6.

And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." Now I'm skipping ahead to verse 13. I'll read 13 through 30, follow along. So, it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a small round substance as fine as frost on the ground.

So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, What is it? For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, Let every man gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person according to the number of persons. Let every man take for those who are in his tent." Then the children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less.

So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one's need. And Moses said, Let no one leave any of it till morning. Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses, but some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. Moses was angry with them, so they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need.

And when the sun became hot, it melted. So it was on the sixth day that they gathered twice as much bread, two Omers for each one. And the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, This is what the Lord has said. Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.

Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil. And lay up for yourselves all that remains to be kept until morning." Now, keep in mind, when they had kept, when they had been told not to keep extra till morning, it bred worms and stank." But now he's saying, keep over till morning for the next day. Verse 24. So, they laid it up until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. Then Moses said, Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord.

Today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh the Sabbath there will be none." Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for the Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." so the people rested on the seventh day.

In verse 4, the very first verse that I read in chapter 16, God told Moses that this would be a test to see if the people would walk in his law or not. This is a very literal giving us this day our daily bread, just what Jesus taught us to pray, right? It's in the Lord's prayer. Give us this day our daily bread. That is very, very literally what is happening.

A day's provision for a day's need. And if you try to store extra overnight, it will stink and breed worms." God was teaching the people to depend on Him and to depend completely on Him and not to store extra because He had promised to give them what they needed every day and to give them twice as much as they needed on the sixth day so that on the seventh day they wouldn't even have to go out to gather. He was giving them this day, their daily bread every day, just enough for the day. For me, the big takeaway in Exodus 16 is this, God has committed Himself to provide for the day off. He's given you a day of rest.

How do you know you can afford to rest? Because God told you He'll give you enough in six days to supply your needs for seven days and He proved it in the most graphic way in Exodus 16. In fact for 40 years this is what happened. It's proven in the most graphic way over 40 years, day after day, week after week, month after month, decade after decade, that he would give them enough in six days to supply their needs for the whole week. God committed himself to buy the day off with extra provision.

We could very easily live in a world of scarcity where it takes every minute to provide Have you ever thought of that? You I don't decide what kind of world I live in I inherit the kind of world I God gives us the world we live in. It could just as easily be a world in which it takes every second of every day to eke out a living, to scratch out a living with no abundance and no extra for any time off. You take a day off, you'll die. There's not enough.

Remember God said, cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. That's Genesis 3. That's part of the curse. Sin entered the world and now it's not for us like it was for Adam and Eve before sin where the food was just there for the picking.

That's not how provision comes to us now. We get it by toil. That's because sin came into the world. It's hard and yet God has not given us a world of scarcity where it takes every minute to provide. He provides an abundance in our labors for a day of rest.

Here in Exodus 16, clearly for the Lord's people, it is sinful to conduct themselves like it takes every minute to barely scratch out a living. Okay, so if you don't get that out of Exodus 16, I don't know what you're reading. Clearly it is set forth by God as sinful for them to conduct themselves as the professing people of God as if it would take every minute of every day to barely scratch out a living as if God can't or won't provide for His people. That's sinful, to live like that. God is putting Himself on the line to provide in six days of labor what you need for seven days.

It is actually an extension of trust to rest. It is actually a demonstration of faith, of having entrusted yourself to God, of being His under the shadow of His wing to take a day to rest. You are essentially saying, God, because I'm yours, because I live under the shadow of your wing, I know that I'll have enough in six days of labor for seven days so I can rest. I don't have to act like I have to work every minute of every day to just barely scratch out a living. That's not the kind of God you are to your people.

When we guard a holy rest day, one in seven, we are saying, God I trust you to, You put yourself on the line and I believe it. You said you'd provide in six days for seven, and I know you keep your promises. Now what is the seriousness of this in God's eyes? Well, in Numbers 15, 32 through 36, we're not going to go there, but I just note the particular reference so you can write it down and go there if you'd like later. Numbers 15 verses 32 and 36, We have what seems like an odd account of a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath.

He's doing what he should have done on the day leading up to the holy day of rest. He's gathering sticks And so they take him into custody, they ask God what should be done, and God says take him outside the camp and stone him. And they do that for gathering sticks on the Sabbath. What's happening there? Well, God's doing what He always reserves the right to do, which is to pay the wages for sin.

That's death. We get so used to him being patient that we come across a story like that. We think, God, what an overreaction. No, no, no. That's rebellion.

He's just paying the wages for sin on the spot to remind us that sin is sinful. Rebellion is not good. It is not acceptable to God to keep us from drawing the wrong conclusion from his patience. Sometimes he does that. But God is deadly serious about us remembering this Sabbath day to keep it holy, or observing, guarding this holy day of rest.

He's deadly serious about it. So that was Exodus 16. Now turn to Nehemiah verse 13. Nehemiah verse 13. I loved our time in Nehemiah.

Studying for this reminded me of our time in Nehemiah. It's wonderful. Nehemiah is one of my favorite Bible characters. He's a godly man and he's manly man. He is a Christ-like man.

Nehemiah 13, I will be reading verses 15 through 22. Nehemiah 13, beginning in verse 15, follow along. In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in sheaves and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah and in Jerusalem.

Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing is this that you do by which you profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath. So it was at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut and charged that they must not be opened until after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day.

Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. Then I warned them and said to them, Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again I will lay hands on you. From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves and that they should go and guard the gates to sanctify the Sabbath day.

Remember me, O my God, concerning this also and spare me according to the greatness of your mercy." Here Nehemiah witnesses and then wages war against Sabbath breaking. He sees it with his eyes and then he wages war against it. Verse 15 says that Nehemiah saw, they were treading grapes and doing all sorts of other things, bringing things in to sell, into Jerusalem. So it's clearly business as usual on the seventh day in Jerusalem. And if you know it's that way in Jerusalem, right under the noses of the leaders.

You know it's that way everywhere. Then in the second half of verse 15 he warns those who are engaging in work, normal occupations on the Sabbath day. Then in verse 17, he contended with the nobles. And in contending with the nobles, Nehemiah gives them a history lesson. We're rebuilding from exile that was imposed on us in large part because we trampled on the Sabbath.

What are you doing? He takes them back to Israel's history of unfaithfulness that in some ways was exemplified by their neglect of the Sabbath day and it welcomed, it brought on them God's anger, and God sent them into captivity for 70 years and they're coming back and they're just now rebuilding from that captivity and they're already neglecting the Sabbath. And Nehemiah is saying you're inviting the anger of God again like our fathers did. Here is a man in authority taking decisive action to secure rest. So in the commandment, a father and a mother as one secure rest for their son or their daughter, their male servant, their female servant, their animals, even the stranger within their gates, and you might have to take decisive action to do it.

Nehemiah does that. As Nehemiah, he's contending with the nobles, with the leaders, the leading men and families in the city who have let this happen in Jerusalem right under their noses, their silence was permission. Their silence was permission. It's usually not that not the rich people who were working, were the nobles out in the square buying and selling on the Sabbath? I doubt they might have been buying.

I doubt they were selling, but their silence was permission. So Nehemiah has authority and he breaks the silence. And does he ever? Does he ever break the silence? Look again at verse 22.

It's the last verse that I read. And I, Nehemiah, commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves and that they should go and guard the gates to sanctify the Sabbath day. Sometimes somebody has to go guard the gate to sanctify the Sabbath day. Is that the same word in Genesis 2 and Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 for holy? You better believe it.

It's the same word. He deploys the Levites to guard the gates to holy the Sabbath day, to sanctify Sabbath day. Same word in Genesis 2, in Exodus 20, in Deuteronomy 5, same word here. He's making sure, he deploys Levites to guard the gates to make sure that this is a day that is set aside and he enforces it. One final observation here in Nehemiah 13.

Look at the first part of verse 19. First part of verse 19. So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that he commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they not be opened till after the Sabbath. Now consider this, I just want to take that verse, it started to be dark and so he put some of his servants to close the gates at the beginning of the Sabbath. Now listen to Leviticus 23 verse 32.

Leviticus 23 verse 32. It's a section in Leviticus about the day of atonement and it says this, It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls. On the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath." I'm just focusing on the last phrase here. From evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath. So in Genesis 1, creation week, it's evening and morning, the first day, evening and morning, the second day, all the way through the seventh day.

In Leviticus 23, it is evening to evening, you celebrate your Sabbath. Nehemiah 13, as it's getting dark, he has the gates shut as the Sabbath is beginning. We have a pattern of scripture here. I would encourage you to observe your day of worship from sundown to sundown. There are very practical reasons why it's good and it makes sense to do that.

It gives you an opportunity before you wake up on the day when we actually gather to change your mindset, to mentally shift gears into getting ready for our worship. So there are practical reasons for this, but I want to argue that there are text-based reasons too. This is a pattern of Scripture, and you can just dismiss that and say, they don't have Timexs, they don't have Apple watches. Okay, fair enough, they did not, but I want to encourage you not to just dismiss the pattern of Scripture that you see. God probably has other things in mind other than just knowing when to start by something that would have been during their time period.

So that's Nehemiah 13. Now turn to Isaiah 56. This is the fourth Old Testament text that throws light on the Sabbath commandment, the fourth commandment. Isaiah 56 verses 1 through 8. Now Let me set the stage.

Isaiah is structured this way. As a book of the Bible, Isaiah is structured this way. Chapters 1 through 39 are predominantly about the judgment of God for sin. You find grace in Isaiah 1 through 49, those chapters, but it's Predominantly not that. It's predominantly about judgment against sin.

The anger of God against sin and His judgment. Then there's an abrupt transition Isaiah chapter 40 through 66 is predominantly about the salvation of the Lord. God's goodness and mercy even in the face of sinfulness, God is a God of mercy and the thrust, the overwhelming thrust of Isaiah 40 through 60 is about that, the mercy of God and the salvation of God for sinners. In fact, there's a series of chapters in sequence about the suffering servant, and of course the pinnacle of that is Isaiah 53, who has believed our report and about substitutionary atonement. So Isaiah is absolutely structured that way.

So just understand, we're in Isaiah 56, which is right on the heels of Isaiah 53, so clearly about Jesus. Now let me read Isaiah 56, 1-8. Follow along. Thus says the Lord, Keep justice and do righteousness, for my salvation is about to come and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it, who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speak, saying, The Lord has utterly separated me from his people, nor let the eunuchs say, Here I am a dry tree, for thus says the Lord, to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant even to them I will give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord to be his servants, everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant, even them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel says, Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him." The heading, the uninspired heading of my chapter in this Bible is salvation for the Gentiles.

This is about the grafting in of Gentiles, predominantly about that. Now Let me read verse 1 again, and then I want to get Paul's insight on verse 1. Verse 1 again, Isaiah 56 verse 1, that says, The Lord keep justice and do righteousness, for my salvation is about to come and my righteousness to be revealed." This is what God is communicating. My salvation is about to come. My righteousness is about to be revealed.

Now listen to Paul in Romans 1 verses 16 and 17. We'll set these two side by side. Romans 1, 16 and 17. Paul says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith." God through Isaiah says, my salvation is about to come in my righteousness to be revealed.

Paul says in Christ in the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. Do you see that? In Isaiah 56 verse 1 When we read of God's salvation which is about to come and the righteousness of God that is about to be revealed, it's talking about Jesus. It's talking about the coming of Jesus. He is God's righteousness.

He is God's salvation. There is no salvation in any other. There is no righteousness apart from Jesus. In Isaiah 56, in the following verses from verse 1, The rest of what I read, Isaiah addresses two kinds of peoples, foreigners and eunuchs. What's that about?

What's the significance of that? It is about Deuteronomy 23 verses 1 through 8. Well, what is Deuteronomy 23 verses 1 through 8 about? Restrictions for temple worship. Old covenant, Old Testament law, not just anyone can come in and participate in the temple sacrifices, temple worship, who is excluded, eunuchs and foreigners.

Because it is a picture that the defective cannot come before God. God is so holy, so perfect that the imperfect cannot come in before him. It's just a picture. That there's nothing about a eunuch that makes him inherently worse in God's eyes than you, but it is a picture that the defective cannot come before him because he is holy. And the same with the foreigner.

So in In Deuteronomy 23, if you're an Ammonite or a Moabite and yet you trust in the God of Israel, you still can't participate in temple worship until the 10th generation. Or you're a little better off If you're an Egyptian or an Edomite, then it's only three generations until you can come participate in temple worship. This is about who is excluded from old covenant temple worship. Unix need not apply. Sons of foreigners need not apply, because it is a picture.

So Isaiah 56 is about the times of the New Covenant when the pictures of the Old covenant have been fulfilled. So eunuchs now can apply. And sons of the foreigners can now apply. The wall of separation is broken down, to talk about it in New Testament terms. Just with that in mind, let me read verses 3 through 8 again.

This is addressed to people who were explicitly excluded from temple worship under the covenant under which Isaiah writes. Isaiah 56 beginning in verse 3 Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speaking speak saying The Lord has utterly separated me from his people, nor let the eunuchs say, Here I am, a dry tree. For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs, who keep my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant, even to them I will give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord to be his servants everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast My covenant, even then I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." I'll stop reading there.

Jesus actually quotes this as a being of the temple. That is God's house of prayer for all nations. Oh, the beauty of the new covenant times. He talks here to the eunuch about his covenant. He can't be talking about the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant forbids them to come into temple worship. He talks to the sons of the foreigner about the Covenant. It cannot be the Old Covenant. It forbids them to come into God's house of prayer for all nations. And yet here is the Sabbath side by side in chapter four, in verse four, the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths.

In chapter six, the sons of the foreigner who keep my Sabbaths. The ceremonial law is gone when God's salvation has come and His righteousness has been revealed. Because it has been fulfilled in Christ the moral law remains. So in Isaiah 56 you see the ceremonial law in the times of the Messiah swept away because it's fulfilled in Christ but there the moral law is The eunuchs are keeping the Sabbath. The sons of the foreigner are keeping the Sabbath.

Even though things forbidden of them under the old covenant are now don't apply. Turn one page over to Isaiah 58. That was passage number four, Isaiah 56, now Isaiah 58, our final passage. Don't get excited, I'm not that close to done. Isaiah 58, just two verses here, the last two verses of the chapter, Isaiah 58 verses 13 and 14.

The theme of the whole chapter is sin and hypocrisy and repentance. God puts his finger in Isaiah 58 on some particular areas of sin and compromise among the people of God, hypocrisy where they're acting like they're one thing when they're really another and He's calling them to repentance and the last in the line of these things is at the end of the chapter verses 13 and 14 has to do with the Sabbath day. Follow along Isaiah 58 verses 13 and 14 If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath From doing your pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight the holy day of the Lord Honorable and shall honor him not doing your own ways nor finding your own pleasure nor speaking your own words Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father." The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Here in Isaiah 58, God gives us an if-then statement. All of our math students like an if-then statement.

If verse 13, If you satisfy the requirements of verse 13, then I will give you the blessings of verse 14. Let's just walk through this phrase by phrase. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day. The sense of this is either you don't step on the Sabbath, you don't trample on the Sabbath or else if you turn away, you turn your foot away from doing your own pleasure. You come aside from your own pleasure, your own ways, your own thoughts in order to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy And call the Sabbath a delight.

So in your heart and on your lips you say something about the Sabbath. This is good. This is not a burden. This is a delight. The holy day of the Lord, honorable.

This is a day deserving of honor, worthy of honor. And shall honor Him, honor God, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. In other words, you set aside your own ways, thoughts, pleasures in order to seek the Lord, in order to say, you deserve honor on this day. Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage it's like victory and help Delight in the Lord and victory and help. So to whatever extent we thought that this was just a day off to do whatever we wanted, Isaiah 56 just blows that notion to smithereens.

It is a setting aside of your own ways, pleasures, words, and acknowledging God this is your holy day. This is a day that exists to honor you. So yes, there are things we don't do, but the Sabbath is not about what we don't do. You have to stop doing them in order to have the concentrated, focused time to honor God. Sabbath is about what we do on this day, not about what we don't do on this day.

You must hold yourself back from certain things in order to engage in those things, but it's about the things that we're to engage in. It is a day to honor God. The admonition is to call God's holy rest day a delight. To give it honor so that you grow in delighting in the Lord. It's a promise.

Reckon this day to be a delight. Not a burden but a blessing. Honor the day, honor the Lord in the day so that you grow in delighting in the Lord. We might call it heaven preparation day. Is the Sabbath a drag?

Or is it heaven preparation day? God wants one day each week to wean us more and more off of the world and to increase our love for Him. That's the point of the day, to make you ready for heaven. Wean you off of these worldly affections a little more every Sabbath day, Lord's Day, and increase our love for Him. Remember every commandment is about love.

Remember the great commandment, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. God is helping us. He's giving us a day to expand our love for Him. Anybody loving God with all their soul, all their mind, all their strength. Anybody doing that?

Anybody need help expanding that? It's pretty shrunk, it's shrunken. It needs room to run. God's giving it room to run. Your love for God, room to run.

I'll say again what I said last week, if you find yourself cold in your heart so much harder than you know it should be, consider if you have a neglected tool. God has given us a day as a tool to go after the things that are making our hearts cold and so much harder than we know it should be. There's a mighty tool in the toolbox and most of us aren't doing hardly anything with that tool. He's helping us to love him with more of our soul, with more of our minds, with more of our strength. It makes me think of the hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Look Full in His Wonderful Face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace." What's the whole point of that?

That when you actually get a clear view of Jesus that it represents a dimming of the world. Those things seem so interesting, but now I'm seeing Jesus, He's so much more interesting. The things of the world seem so lovely and engaging, but now that I, the clouds have parted and I see the face of Jesus, that's not interesting. My affection is here. The Sabbath day is for that.

Brothers and sisters, it is implied that this will be a struggle for us. Why the commandment? Why the repeated and repeated and repeated admonitions? Because it's a struggle. The Spirit wars against the flesh and the flesh wars against the Spirit." That's what Paul says in Galatians chapter 5.

It's a struggle. Consider Amos chapter 5, then we'll close. Amos, excuse me, Amos chapter 8. I misquoted. Amos chapter 8 verses 4 in the first part of 5.

Now Amos is thundering condemnation against Israel. Listen to how he starts. He's actually starting a long list. I'm not even getting into the list I just just wanted you to see how it starts Amos 8 4 in the first part of 5 hear this you who swallow up the needy and make the poor of the land fail saying when will the new moon be passed that we may sell grain and the Sabbath that we may trade wheat? When will it be passed?

You part of the Lord's people? Yes! Yes! We love the Lord! When will this day be over?

God says that doesn't match. That doesn't match. How do I root that out of my heart? Has no one ever felt that? When will this day be over?

Oh, I can tell you, there's been a minute-by-minute countdown in the dome house and it's not always other domes. Sometimes it's me. How many more minutes till sundown? Because we do. We do it from sundown to sundown.

How many more? Eight more minutes, seven more minutes, six minutes. Will this day never be over? That is a sign to go after something in your heart. That's a sign to go after something in your heart.

Will the day of holy rest never end? What is wrong with us? Well, the Bible tells us what's wrong with us. But the Bible gives us tools, too, to expand our love for God, and this is one of those tools. God has given us a day.

The Puritans call it the market day of the soul. The day you go to the soul market to acquire what your soul needs. God's given you a day. He's given you six days to go to the regular market to get the things that you normally think of in terms of your needs. But there is a market day for the soul given to us by God to expand our love for Him.

I know it's in all of our hearts. Will this day never end? Okay, so this is a heaven preparation day. God's giving us this to wrestle with. I think He's giving us this to wrestle with.

I think He's giving us that that impulse in our heart is actually Sending us to Christ for mercy and to God for help. To Christ for mercy and to God for help. May God work in us and work through our looking in an intensive way on this day to just put his finger on our heart on that impulse. Will this day never end? Do I have to spend more time honoring God?

And it will send us to his word to do heart surgery so that our love for him is expanded. That's where, hey friends, that's where the joy is. That's where the joy is. To be weaned off the world and to begin to really see the beauty of God and to spend the day honoring Him and grow in loving that. In loving that.

Oh God, I pray that you would help us in this way. Help us, Lord! Please help us. Don't leave us to ourselves. Don't leave us to these impulses which we would never say out loud, but in every heart we know it's been there.

Will this day never end? Oh, forgive us, Lord. Please pity us. Please pity us that we would have hearts that are like that when you're so good and so worthy of honor. Please help us to grow.

Don't leave us where we are but pull us forward through your word, through the working of your spirit in our lives. We pray in Jesus name, amen.