Clean Transcript

The Sabbath Principle of Rest

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• Chapter 31, beginning with verse 12. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. You shall keep the sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you. Everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death, or whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest holy to the Lord. Whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth. On the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God."

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• If you were to read in Exodus chapter 20 and Deuteronomy chapter 5, you would find there that the law of God says that we are to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. There is a great deal of confusion today over what is the Sabbath day. There is a group of professing Christians known as the Seventh-day Adventists who believe that Saturday is indeed the Sabbath day. Therefore, they have their meetings on Saturday, and they say that everyone who is interested in keeping the law of God and being holy and being righteous must also observe Saturday as the Sabbath day. There are others in Christendom who have taken the term Sabbath and they have turned that into mere legalism and ritualism and ceremonialism.

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• This is what the Pharisees and the Judaizers were guilty of. Of course, there were certain laws and regulations concerning the Sabbath day, but the Pharisees took those things and perverted them. They said you could not walk so far on the Sabbath day, hence it came to be known as the Sabbath day's journey. A Pharisee would not even walk over grass on the Sabbath day because if his foot happened to hit some grass that had headed out and knocked some of the seeds out on the ground, he would be guilty of sowing on the Sabbath day. So many extraneous and outward and external things he did and added to the law of God completely violating the principles that God had laid down. There are other individuals who have taken the Sabbath day and regarded it as no particular day, and therefore they've turned it into what is known as just simply licentiousness. Now both extremes are condemned in the Word of God. I have heard all my life that we are, quote, unquote, not under the law and therefore the Sabbath is not to us today.

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• And I have also heard that, you know, that is the only commandment that is not repeated in the New Testament, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Well, there is a principle in the Word of God in regard to the Sabbath day. It is true we are not physical Israel. And it is true that you and I are not commanded not to gather sticks on the Sabbath, but it is not merely these technicalities that God was trying to point out, but rather the principles that were involved. Another thing that most people have overlooked as they think about the Sabbath is the fact that the essence of Sabbath was rest and not worship. You will notice, if you read in the Old Testament, those dates that refer to the Sabbath and those scriptures that relate to the Sabbath, that which is first and foremost is rest, faith, and rejoicing. It did not have worship as its essence. Now, the children of Israel did worship. But that which particularly had reference to the Sabbath was rest.

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• The principle of the Sabbath was rest. You'll remember that Israel was in Egypt, and there they were the slaves of Pharaoh. There they cried to God because of their groanings, and because of their affliction, and because of their torment. And when God came down to Moses, He said, I have heard the cry of the children of Israel, I have seen their oppression, and I have come down to deliver them. Stop and think. In Egypt, Israel were slaves. They had no rest, they had no comfort, they had absolutely nothing. And God delivered them, and then when God gave them the law upon Mount Sinai, he said, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The Sabbath, therefore, is a sign of liberty. It is a sign of freedom. It is a sign of rest. Now tonight, what I want to show you in just a little bit, is indeed we do have the Sabbath with us today. And in one sense of the word, we have the Sabbath penalties with us today. But it is in a spiritual sense and not in a physical sense.

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• I have in our Bible class in high school and junior high have begun teaching a course in biblical law. And I have gone over with the students what we know in the Bible as case law. There is, given in the Word of God, certain broad principles such as the Ten Commandments. And by the way, lest any of you think otherwise, the Ten Commandments are not the law. The Ten Commandments are summaries of the law. It is not the law in itself. If I have a cake and I pick up the flour and I say, this is the cake, you say, no, Brother Weaver, it may be part of the cake, but it's not the cake in itself. So the Ten Commandments, as you and I know them, are a summary of the law. But the summary does not take the place of the whole. You will remember in the Bible, our Lord tells us that love is the fulfilling of the law. The Word of God tells us that the first commandment is this, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might, with all thy strength.

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• And the second is likened to it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Although love is the fulfilling of the law, and although love is the summary of the law, in that sense, love does not replace the law. So you have in the Bible, then, these certain broad principles. Then secondly, you have in the Bible specific cases or specific illustrations of those broad principles which we refer to as case laws.

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• That's what every lawyer has in his office. If you go in with a problem and you discuss that problem with your attorney, he will say something like this, you know, there was a case almost identically like yours twenty years ago, and the judge ruled this way. Let me get that case, and we'll see how it applies to your situation. What he is doing is taking a broad principle, which has now been narrowed down to a specific case, and then he's making applications to you and to your particular situation. Well, that's exactly the way the Bible does it. In fact, that's where that attorney got his method from, was from the Word of God. So there are these broad principles. The broad principle that I want to share with you tonight is remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. We'll look at a specific case in just a little bit, and then we will look at some practical applications.

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• Now let me make some statements. Because as I was reading in Exodus chapter 31, the thing that hit me was this. If you look in verse 13, God said, "...Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign..." Notice the word sign. It is a sign between me and you. If you look in verse 17, he repeats it, it is a sign. In other words, what God is saying is that the Sabbath principle then was to convey a certain truth. It was to convey a certain principle. And if you will notice also in verse 13, he said, "...verily my Sabbaths," plural. There was more Sabbaths than one Sabbath.

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• Now, contrary to what many people believe, the Hebrew Sabbath and the modern-day Saturday are not the same. I know that you may call Saturday the seventh day of the week, and the word Sabbath may mean rest, in some cultures it may mean seven. But the modern-day Saturday and the Hebrew Sabbath are not identical. You see, the calendar of Israel was a solar calendar. Moreover, their religious year began April the 15th every year, or 15 Abib, whichever you want to say it.

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• Now, the Jews, you will be reading in the paper that this coming month they will be celebrating New Year's. But what they are celebrating is a civil year and not a religious year. The Jewish religious year begins April the 15th. April the 15th, or 15 Abib, was a fixed Sabbath. It was a Sabbath every single year. Also, seven sevens after that were fixed Sabbaths because there you had all of those feast days in which they had to observe.

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• Now since the date was the same year in and year out, it means then that the day changed. Are you with me? You have a birthday. I have a birthday September the 3rd. One year, September the 3rd, comes on Monday. Next year, September the 3rd, is on Tuesday. The next year, September the 3rd, is on Wednesday until seven years pass, and then it comes back around and begins all over again. Well, the Hebrew Sabbath began on April the 15th, so that means once every seven years, Saturday, as we know it, was a weekly Sabbath, but only once every seven years. Once every seven years, there were other days that were weekly sabbaths as well. And so, the Hebrew sabbath and the modern day Saturday are not the same. Now, as you begin to study the Word of God and you hear and read about sabbaths, you must understand, number one, there were indeed weekly sabbaths. Secondly, there was monthly sabbaths. Sometimes these are known in Scripture as the New Moon Sabbaths. Now, the New Moon Sabbaths were different from the weekly Sabbaths.

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• In fact, in the New Moon Sabbaths, you could work, but you had to sacrifice. Now, on the weekly Sabbaths, you could not work, but sacrifice was not demanded. Then thirdly, there was the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee. Every seven years was a sabbatical year, and then seven times seven is 49. That 49th year was a sabbatical year, and then the 50th year was a jubilee, which means then that there were two years of rest that followed each other, the 49th year and the 50th year. And so the Lord had certain regulations concerning the sabbatical years and the year of Jubilee. Then, fourthly, there was the Passover, and the Passover was a Sabbath in the sense that it was a feast day in which no work was to be done. And then fifthly, there was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Exodus chapter 13 and verse 17 tells you that this feast lasted seven days. That is, it began on a Sabbath, it ended on a Sabbath, and no work was to be done therein, only feasting and rejoicing before the Lord.

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• And then sixthly, there was the Feast of Weeks, or what you and I know as Pentecost, in Leviticus chapter 23. No work to be done therein. And then, seventhly, there was the Feast of Tabernacles, which also lasted seven days in Leviticus chapter 23. Now, each of these days, each of these new moon Sabbaths, each of these years and each of these special feast days were known as the Sabbaths of Israel.

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• Now, if you were to study each one of them, you will find that they emphasize three things. The first one was rest. The second one was faith, and the third one was rejoicing. The Sabbaths were to be a delight to the people of God. They were to be that which refreshed and blessed the people of God. Remember, God gave them to Israel, he said, for a sign.

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• Now, because of this, since the Sabbath was to convey a special truth, there were very severe laws that regulated the Sabbath day. For instance, it was a general law that there was to be no work done on the Sabbath. Not by you, not by your maidservant, not by your manservant, not by any individual in your household. I believe it was Brother Wendish that was telling me, I forget who it was, but I think it was Brother Wendish. It was telling me that the modern-day Jews in Jerusalem, when they are observing some of these special feast days, they don't even turn their lights on. They won't even turn the air conditioner on, because that's work.

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• So what they'll do is invite some Gentile over and say, it sure is dark in here. It sure would be good if you turned the air conditioner on. Well, they won't do it, but they will ask some Gentile dog to do it for them, you see. And so they have the benefit then of modern-day conveniences without violating their Sabbath. Well, you and I understand that that's a roundabout way to get what they want anyhow. Well, it was a general principle that no work was to be done on the Sabbath day. In Nehemiah chapter 13 and verse 19, Nehemiah ordered that the gates should be shut on the Sabbath day. You must remember that business in the Bible was conducted at the gates.

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• And you remember that many of those merchants came and lodged around the gate. After he had ordered it shut, and one of my favorite texts is, when Nehemiah told them if they came there the next Sabbath, he would lay hold on them. In other words, he would take them and beat them, literally, is what he's saying. And so, thus he ran them off. In Exodus chapter 16, God said that every man was to abide in his place and not even go out of his house on the Sabbath day. Nehemiah chapter 13 verse 15 again, Nehemiah said that no asses should be laden on that day. Jeremiah 17 says that no burdens are to be borne on that day. Exodus 35, verse 3, says that no fires are to be kindled on that day. Nehemiah 13, verse 15, no sheaves are to be brought in on that day.

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• Numbers 15, which we'll look at a little bit later, no sticks were to be gathered on that day. Nehemiah 10, no victuals were to be bought or sold. And then Nehemiah 13, no wine was to be treaded in the presses.

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• Now, these are a list of things that could not be done on the Sabbath day. However, what most people do not understand and what most people overlook is the fact that there was a great deal of things that could be done on the Sabbath day. For instance, if you would turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 3. Mark chapter 3.

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• Verse 1, "And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man who had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them," that is to those who were watching him, "Is it lawful to do good on sabbath days, or to do evil?"

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• "To save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched out, and his hand was restored whole as the other." So here the word of God tells us that life may be saved on the Sabbath day. Anything that preserves life or blesses life may be accomplished on the Sabbath day, since redemption is the essence of the Sabbath.

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• This can even mean the healing of the sick. Matthew chapter 12, Mark 3, Luke 14, many, many passages. And if you would turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 12, you will find that this can be extended even to the animals. Matthew chapter 12. And look, if you would please, read verse 10. "And behold, there was a man who had his hand withered, and they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day that they might accuse him? 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? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore, it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days." It was lawful, although there were a great many restrictions, it was lawful to heal, it was lawful to help, it was even lawful to help animals. So there were many great things that they could do.

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• Since we're in Matthew chapter 12, look, if you would please, beginning at verse 1. You'll find this amazing truth. Matthew 12, verse 1. "At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn, and his disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day."

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• Now, whenever you find a statement like that, you ought to ask yourself this question. Lawful according to whom? According to God, or according to the Pharisees' perversion of the law of God? "But he said unto them, Have you not read what David did when he was an hungred, and they that were with him, how he entered into the house of God and did eat the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profaned the Sabbath and are blameless? But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple."

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• "But if you had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." Now, all the disciples were doing was they were plucking the grain that they may eat, since the essence of the Sabbath is redemption and rest and faith and rejoicing, he's saying then that it is legal and lawful to do that which is necessary to preserve the body and rejoice in the Lord.

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• I know individuals who think that it is a great crime for women to prepare a full meal on the Lord's Day because they say no work ought to be done. Well, if this is what we're talking about, the essence of redemption and the essence of faith and preservation and rejoicing, then our Lord says it is lawful to do this. You remember there were the 400 silent years between the Testaments, the Old Testament and the New Testament.

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• It was during this period of time that Judas Maccabeus and the Maccabean brothers led the Jewish revolt against Rome and against all of the enemies. Well, the Jews at that particular time, many of them were very, very strict. And the enemies found out that the Jews would not fight on the Sabbath. And so therefore, they began to attack the Jews on the Sabbath day. Until Judas realized and said, since the Sabbath day typified redemption, and since part of our redemption was being redeemed from our enemies, then it was lawful to fight on the Sabbath days for your freedom. And so the next time the Romans attacked, Judas tore them to shreds. You remember that's what happened, what was it, in 1967 during the Six-Day War? They got them on the Jewish Sabbath, on the Passover, wasn't it? They thought the Jews wouldn't fight. Well, the Jews did fight. Well, why? It is the essence of redemption.

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• Now, I've said all that to say this. Here is the broad principle that we're dealing with. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Now, there's a lot of things that you could say about the Sabbath. You know, we turn, if you would, please, to Numbers, chapter 15, and we'll look at this specific case. And it's very clear here of the penalties that were attached to violating the Sabbath day. In Numbers chapter 15, look at verse 30. You know, if indeed the Sabbath penalty in the old sense was instituted today, there would be a great deal of trouble. In other words, you could not have doctors, policemen, firemen. Individuals in those occupations would be lawfully excluded from any penalty of violating the Sabbath. Why? Because those individuals are preserving life. They would be lawfully excluded for violating the Sabbath, for they would be preserving life and offering life.

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• You see what I'm saying? But if we just took men as a whole, and if those Sabbath penalties were in effect today, the way they were in Israel, then we wouldn't have too many people left around. For look at this. Numbers chapter 15 beginning with verse 30. "But the soul that doeth aught presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day." Now, all he's doing is gathering sticks. "And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron and all the congregation."

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• "And they put him in a ward because it was not declared what should be done to him." In other words, this is the first specific case of violating this broad principle. Verse 35, "And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died as the Lord commanded Moses." You know, when most people read that, they say, Do you mean they stoned him to death just for gathering a few sticks? I mean, what's wrong with gathering a few sticks? Any other day he could have gathered the sticks and there would have been no problem. You see, it's not the principle that he was just simply gathering a few sticks. Notice verse 31, "...because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment." In other words, when God has said to Israel in the old days, thou shalt do no work on the Sabbath day, and here is a man, when he has heard the Word of God, deliberately going out and gathering the sticks, what he is doing is, in essence, despising God, and saying, in essence,

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• I am a rebel, I will not listen to God, I will not obey God, no, not even in the most minute details. And so what you have is not just simply the case of someone gathering sticks, but you have the heart of a rebel. You have someone who despises God and says, in essence, I will not have this man reign over us. And I will not have him reign over me.

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• Now, it's true that the Church of Jesus Christ no longer observes the Sabbath the way the Israelites did in old. And it is true that the Church of Jesus Christ does not have the power nor the authority to execute all of those who violate the Sabbath. However, the Sabbath principle is still with us. And I might add, spiritually speaking, the Sabbath penalty is still with us. You and I worship on Sunday, which we call the Lord's Day, which is the first day of the week, based upon the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• You will remember that in the Bible there are three particular rests spoken of. There is the creation rest, there is the Hebrew rest, and there is the Christian rest. The creation rest was the rest that commemorated the creation of the world. It is the Christian rest that commemorates the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, it commemorates the finished redemption of our Lord.

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• Now remember, God told Israel, I have given my Sabbaths to you for a sign. You remember, he went on to say, whosoever despised my word should be utterly cut off from his people. That soul shall surely die.

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• Now here's the broad principle, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Here's the specific case, a man gathering sticks and he was put to death.

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• Now what is the application today? Remember I told you before that the essence of the Sabbath is rest. He would turn in your Bibles to a very well-known passage, Matthew 11. Matthew 11 and verse 28, our Lord says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." Now, as the creation rest commemorated the creation of the world, and the Lord said, for in six days he created heaven and the earth, and in the seventh he rested, so he said, you remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, you rest, he told fleshly Israel. And now in the new covenant we have Jesus Christ who is the sinner's rest.

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• Let me say it like this. Jesus Christ is the sinner's Sabbath. If you would turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 4, verse 9, you will find an amazing statement. Two or three of you happen to have in your hands Greek New Testaments or interlinears. You will notice in the Greek in Hebrews 4, verse 9, it says, "...there is remaining therefore a rest to the people of God." And the word rest there is sabbatismos. There is remaining therefore a Sabbath for the people of God. Jesus Christ is our Sabbath. Do you not remember what Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 7? He said, and you who are troubled, rest with us.

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• Now let me ask you a question. Did God demand rest in the Old Testament? The answer is obviously yes. My next question is, does God demand rest in the New Testament? And the answer is obviously yes. But he demands that rest in Jesus Christ. Now, was the death penalty to all of those in the Old Testament who violated his Sabbath? Well, yes, it was. And is there a death penalty in the New Testament for all those who violate his Sabbath? The answer is yes, it is. For Jesus Christ is the sinner's Sabbath.

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• If you would look in your Bibles, please, to Proverbs chapter 8. Notice, if you would, the very words of wisdom personified. These are the words of our Lord. Our Lord is called the Wisdom of God. And notice what the Wisdom of God says in Proverbs chapter 8 and verse 35. He says, "For whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul."

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• "All they that hate me love death." All of those that sin against Christ, the Christian Sabbath, wrong their own soul. All of those that hate Christ love death. They will not rest. And that rest which has been provided by God, in the Old Testament, if a man did not rest in that rest provided by God, he was put to death. In the New Testament, if a man does not rest in that rest provided by God, he too is put to death.

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• Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Revelation chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. I think verses 10 and 11 are very, very informative in this life. Revelation chapter 14, all of those who refuse to rest in Christ will find that there is no other rest. Revelation 14 verse 10, "The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation."

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• "And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast in his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Notice, they have no rest, neither day nor night. Those who violate the rest that God has provided shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God and shall suffer death.

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• Now, before I close, I want to take this one step further. And I suppose, and I'll confess, I know it's true. One reason I'm preaching this tonight is because I need it. And I hope that you need it. One of the things that you and I fail to do, as we ought to, is rest in the Lord. Now, those are no idle words in Scripture when it says, rest in the Lord.

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• What is he talking about? Well, turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6, and let me show you. Please keep in mind that this is part of our redemption. This is our right according to the Bible. Let me explain. Matthew 6, and let's begin with verse 24. Our Lord says, "No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." And at the same time, you cannot trust Christ and trust yourself. At the same time, you cannot rest in Christ and rest in yourself. At the same time, you cannot follow what Christ commands and follow what you think. It must either be Christ or you. Then he says, "Therefore I say unto you," notice therefore. After he has laid down the principle that you cannot serve two masters, and we who are Christians have professed that Christ is our master, "Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on."

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• "Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feedeth them, are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothed the grass of the field which today is, tomorrow's cast in the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?"

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• "For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

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• Now let me stop right there. Now our Lord is not saying that we are not to be lazy and indolent. He's not saying, look at the birds, they eat and they don't work and they get by, so therefore you don't work. No, you know that's not what he's saying. For the Word of God is already said in 2 Thessalonians, if any will not work, neither should he eat. Well, what is he saying? What he is saying is this.

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• You and I have been called to a life of faith. We have been called to a life of rest. We have been called to a life of trust. Therefore, what he is saying is, our responsibility is to do whatever we are required to do to the best of our ability, to the glory of God, and then rest in Him to work it out. Let me give you the clue.

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• Last year when the drought hit so severely to the farmers, and before Glenn had his stroke, I looked at his soybeans, and I mean, man, they were awful. And I said to him as I saw him one day, Glenn, I feel so badly concerning your soybeans. And I mean, I knew they were just ruined. He was going to lose. And I knew it, and he knew it. And he looked at me and said, well, you can only do so much.

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• And after that, there's no use worrying about it. You know, he came so close to biblical truth. And that is the truth. And that's the truth that God is saying here. Our responsibility is to obey God in every area of life. That does not mean that everything is going to work out for us. But whether it does or whether it doesn't, we do what we're supposed to do to the best of our ability for the glory of God, and then rest in Him. And that's all we can do. And that's what He requires us to do. You see, beloved, you and I oftentimes spend many hours worrying, and we spend many hours fretting, and we spend many hours planning, and conniving, and scheming. All our Lord says is to obey and then rest. You see folks, you and I have the responsibility keeping the Sabbath every day. For Jesus Christ is our Sabbath. He is our rest. Do you realize when we refuse to trust Him in our problems, when we refuse to do what we're supposed to do and rest, we're guilty of violating our Sabbath.

  #51 | 39:44 to 41:39 | cleaned

• For Jesus Christ He is our rest. We may quote it a hundred times, but until we begin to practice it, it really doesn't mean that much to us. When you read and when you hear read, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose." If we know that all things work together for good, if we know that God's going to work everything out, then our responsibility is to do what we're supposed to do and then rest and let Him work it out.

  #52 | 41:42 to 42:31 | cleaned

• Let me close with this. I have told this here several times, but it fits in so well with the message. You know that Philip Melanchthon was the successor of Martin Luther. And to a large degree, the Lutheran Church today is not the product of Martin Luther, but the product of Philip Melanchthon. And Philip Melanchthon was the one that compromised on a number of points that Martin Luther never would have compromised on. But before Martin Luther died, things were not going well for the Lutherans because they were being slaughtered right and left.

  #53 | 42:32 to 43:16 | cleaned

• They were being persecuted and pounded. Of course, you know how Martin Luther's own life was in danger practically all the time. Philip Melanchthon was walking back and forth and he was wringing his hands and he was rubbing his brow and he was telling Martin of all the problems that the Lutherans were having and how the king was upset and how Rome was attacking. And there Martin Luther was just sitting at the table calmly reading his Bible.

  #54 | 43:17 to 43:45 | cleaned

• And finally when Philip said, how can you sit there like nothing ever bothers you? What's wrong? Don't you know the problems that we're facing? Martin Luther looked up from his Bible and said, let Philip Melanchthon cease to rule the world and all shall be well. What a statement. Now that's our problem. If you and I would cease to rule our lives and cease to rule our world, and trust Christ and rest in Him, all would be well, for Jesus is our Saviour.

  #55 | 43:48 to 44:29 | cleaned

• Our Father, we bow to Thee. We confess to Thee that Thou hast provided a rest in Jesus Christ. That rest is not only for sinners, Father, it is for thy people. We are to come and cast all of our cares upon him, for he cares for us. He is the lover of our souls. Enable us, Lord, to his bosom to fly and to rest, for he indeed is rest. We give ourselves unto Thee and ask You, O blessed Lord, to enable us to trust Thee and rest in Thee. In Christ's name we ask it. Amen.

  #56 | 44:31 to 45:25 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T15:51:05Z