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The Superiority of Christ Part 4 of 4

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• Hopefully this message today is going to tie together the preceding messages on the superiority of Christ. Notice Hebrews chapter 4, verse 1: "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. And he spake in a certain place on the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day,

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• if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus [or Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterwards have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."

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• Now, let me just take a few moments and try to review the previous three messages and tie it together. I hope that you understand by now the theme of the book of Hebrews is indeed the superiority of Jesus Christ. In fact, I've told you over and over that one of the key words in the book of Hebrews is the word "better." You'll find that everything is better with the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 through 3, teaches the superiority of Jesus Christ over all of the prophets. Hebrews 1, verses 4 through chapter 2, verse 18, teaches the superiority of Jesus Christ over angels. Hebrews chapter 3 teaches the superiority of Christ over Moses. Hebrews chapter 4 teaches the superiority of Christ over Joshua. Hebrews chapter 5 teaches the superiority of Jesus Christ over Aaron. And as I said in all the other introductions, there is no man, there is no group of men, there is no ordinance, there is no group of ordinances that can be superior to Jesus Christ. The Bible says in the book of Colossians chapter 1 that in all things He, Christ, must have the preeminence.

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• Now in the first message we looked at God's creation rest, and we saw that that was the archetype of the Canaan rest, which also was the archetype of the Christian rest. In other words, we were to enter into that rest by faith. And as I pointed out earlier, Adam did not begin his life working. Adam began his life entering into God's rest. If man was created on the sixth day, God rested on the seventh day, then man then was indeed to rest and begin his work, we quote unquote, with a rest. Now, when looking at the Sabbath, we discovered that there was indeed a creation Sabbath, a Canaan Sabbath, and a Christian Sabbath. The creation Sabbath or the creation rest was in celebration and in commemoration of God's creation.

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• That's what the Bible teaches over and over. The pattern of the Canaan rest was God's Sabbath rest. The goal of the Sabbath is man's redemption rest or the Christian Sabbath, which is rest in the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, which we shall find out a lot more about today. Now, when you examine the Sabbath that the Hebrews kept in the Old Testament, I pointed out that it was not primarily a day of worship, but a day of rest. There was no weekly day of worship in the Old Testament. Worship was family-oriented. It was in the warp and woof of the family. And yes, they were to worship every day, but the Sabbath was primarily a day of rest. And I pointed out, and you'll have to go back and listen to tape number two, that Saturday was not the Sabbath, nor could it possibly be the Sabbath, because the dates were fixed. And when the date is fixed, the day changes.

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• God said in Exodus 12, and I gave you Leviticus and Deuteronomy, He said, "This day shall be the beginning of your year." And He pointed out Abib 15th, He named the month, He named the date. Which meant Abib 1st, Abib 8th had to be a Sabbath, Abib 15th had to be a Sabbath, and then there were 7 specifically numbered Sabbaths after that. Also showed you from scripture, where certain days could not possibly ever be a Sabbath, because they were designated as work days. Therefore, you could not work and rest at the same time. So the Sabbath day was set. The date was set and therefore like your birthday, the day then changed every year for the weekly Sabbath. And as I pointed out, there are weekly Sabbaths. There were new moon Sabbaths. There were sabbatical years. There was a year of Jubilee. There was also all those feasts and they were considered Sabbaths. Pointed out how Sabbath could be one day long, two days long, one year long, two years long, and even 70 years long.

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• So all of that is in tape number 2. And then in number 3, last week we looked at Galatians chapter 4 specifically and Colossians chapter 2 where the Apostle Paul said that all of those Old Testament types, emblems, ceremonies were nothing more than shadow and that they were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So hopefully today I'm going to bring this fourth message and try to tie together all of those ends. I'm going to be talking about the Christian Sabbath, and some may object to that term, and some even emphatically deny that such exists. However, upon reflection, I think that term could be easily understood. Some will say, well, the term "the Christian Sabbath" does not exist in Scripture. And it doesn't. If you were to ask me to turn to a passage that used the term "Christian Sabbath," I could not do it. But neither could I turn to a specific passage that specifically spoke about Christian baptism. Nor could I turn to a specific passage that used the term "divine incarnation" or "substitutionary atonement." Now is anyone going to deny those doctrines?

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• Because they are so plainly and evidently taught in Scripture just simply because the terminology does not exist in Scripture. You see, the absence of such an expression proves absolutely nothing. If it is in the New Covenant, if it is in the New Testament, it has to be specifically Christian. So if there is a Sabbath mentioned in the New Testament, it has to be a Christian Sabbath. It certainly would not be the Creation Sabbath, which was God's rest, and it certainly would not be the Canaan or the Hebrew Sabbath, because everything in the New Testament, of course, just like everything in the Old Testament, relates to Jesus Christ.

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• Now, if you look in Hebrews chapter 4, we've worked our way down, but notice if you would please, in verse 8, the Bible says, "For if Jesus [or Joshua]"—and I told you the word Yahashua, Yeshua, both of them mean Savior, so the words Jesus and Joshua are interchangeable, but it was Joshua who led the children of Israel into the land of Canaan—so he says, "if Joshua had given them rest," that is, if the Canaan rest had been the real genuine rest, "then would he not afterwards have spoken of another day." So he speaks of another day because the Old Testament Sabbath was not the real Sabbath, nor the Old Testament Canaan rest, the real rest. He says in verse 9, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." And the word "rest" in the Greek is the word sabbatismos. There remains therefore a keeping of the Sabbath to the people of God. So if the creation rest is not our rest, it was God's rest. If the Canaan rest is not our rest, what is?

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• It is this rest, a Christian rest, which is mentioned in verse 9. The Christian rest then may be based upon the creation rest, because it is indeed the rest of God, and the only way to enter into that rest is by faith.

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• Now, Hebrews chapter 3 and Hebrews chapter 4 repeatedly tell us that those in the Old Testament did not genuinely enter into God's rest because of unbelief. Well, look if you would please, in verse 1 of chapter 4, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." And of course then God swore that they would not enter into His rest. Now, the interesting thing is, when you get down to verse 7, the author of the book of Hebrews quotes from David in Psalm 95. Now, wait a minute. David reigned well after the Canaan conquest. And what is David saying in Psalm 95? He is saying that the Canaan conquest or the Hebrew rest or the Hebrew Sabbath was not the real rest or the real Sabbath. That's why he says in verse 7, "Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

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• Now, there's an emphasis on the word "today" and there's an emphasis on the word "rest." And let me just stop just for a moment and give you a quote from John Calvin as Calvin explains the use of the word "today" and the use of the word "rest" right smack in the middle of Hebrews chapter 4. And remember it's a quote from Psalm 95. Calvin says this: "We might stop a moment to compare what the apostle states in the third and fourth chapters of this epistle to the Hebrews with the passage now before us." He's talking about Psalm 95. "That the apostle follows the Greek version"—that would be the Septuagint—"need occasion us no surprise. Neither is he to be considered as undertaking professedly to treat this passage. He only insists upon the adverb 'today' and upon the word 'rest.'"

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• "At first he states that the expression 'today' is not to be confined to the time of the law when it was given, but properly applies to the gospel when God began to speak more openly. The fuller and more perfect declaration of doctrine demanded the greater share of attention. God has not ceased to speak. He has revealed His Son and He is daily inviting us to come to Him and undoubtedly it is our incumbent duty under such an opportunity to obey His voice."

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• "The apostle next reasons from the rest to an extent which we are not to suppose that the words of the psalmist themselves warrant. He takes it up first as a proposition that since there was an implied promise in the punishment here denounced, there must have been some better rest promised to the people of God than the land of Canaan. For when the Jews had entered into the land, God held out to his people the prospect of another rest, which is defined by the apostle to consist in that renouncing of ourselves whereby we rest from our own works while God worketh in us."

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• Now listen, "from this he takes occasion to compare the old Sabbath of rest under the law, which was figurative, with a newness of spiritual life." Now notice what Calvin is saying. There's an emphasis upon the word "rest." There's an emphasis upon the word "today." Why? Because he is saying that David said, as well as the author of the book of Hebrews, it applies more fully and more applicable to the gospel of Jesus Christ because that Canaan rest, that Hebrew rest, was nothing more than a figure or a type or an emblem.

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• I want you to stop and think with me just for a moment. We began our series with God's creation rest. When God created the world on the seventh day, He blessed it and hallowed it and rested therein. There is a correlation, there is a connection between God's creation rest and the Christian rest. Let me say this another way. There is a correlation, there is a connection between God's creation Sabbath and the Christian Sabbath. How can that be?

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• And the answer is very simple. Because both celebrate a creation. I want you to hold Hebrews 4, but turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and look if you would please at verse 17. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. Here's a passage that many of you can quote, I'm sure. But there is something about this verse that you may not have ever considered. I want you to look at it. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, and also get ready to turn to the book of Galatians, chapter 6. We'll go there next. But I want you to look in the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, at verse 17. Then we'll go to Galatians, chapter 6. Okay? 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. Look what the Apostle Paul writes.

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• "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

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• Now, I want you to hold this passage. He says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature," right? Okay, look.

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• Turn now to Galatians chapter 6 and verse 15. Galatians 6 and verse 15. Here the Apostle Paul says this: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."

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• Now, you're going to ask me, what in the world do these two verses have to do with creation? Here's what they have to do with it. The word "creature," in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17, and Galatians chapter 6 and verse 15, happens to be the Greek word ktisis, K-T-I-S-I-S, which literally means "a creation." It means the act of founding or the act of creating, and this same Greek word is translated "creation" in our Bibles six times. So literally he is saying, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." The Apostle Paul says, "For in Christ neither circumcision or uncircumcision availeth in vain, but a new creation." Wow! That means that in salvation, we are a new creation.

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• We are something totally different than what we were before. Now, do you remember Ephesians 2:8-9? Everyone can quote that. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." But can you quote verse 10? After the Apostle Paul gets through saying, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves," he says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

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• Now I want you to listen. He says, "For we are his workmanship." The word "workmanship" is the Greek word poiema, which literally means "that which is made or created." "For we are his workmanship" and then he uses the word "created." The word "created" is the verb ktizo, K-T-I-Z-O, which refers to the creator making something. It is a word that is used not only in the creation of the world, but also the creation of a new man in salvation in Christ Jesus.

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• Now let me try to show you how the creation rest and the Christian rest both refer to a creation. If you will turn back in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and let's look at verses 4, 5, and 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 5 and 6.

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• Now remember, the Apostle Paul says, "For we are a new creation in Christ Jesus." 2 Corinthians 4 verse 5, the Apostle Paul writes, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." Now watch verse 6: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus." When the Bible says, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness," has a direct reference to Genesis 1 and verse 3 when God said, "Let there be light: and there was light." That was the physical creation. That same God who created physically also creates spiritually because God says to us in the new creation, "Let there be light." And the light of the knowledge of Jesus Christ is shed abroad in our hearts. I don't know if you remember this, but I'm going to tell you again.

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• When you get to the New Testament, there are only three illustrations of salvation. Only three. There's the illustration of birth in John chapter 3. There's the illustration of resurrection in Ephesians 2 and verse 1. And there's the illustration of a creation in 2 Corinthians 4 and in 2 Corinthians 5. And what did God do? God sovereignly, powerfully, mercifully, and graciously created us anew in Christ Jesus. We are a new creation in Him.

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• One quote from Matthew Poole. He writes, "The Holy Ghost in the New Testament often compares the work of the new creation by Jesus Christ to the work of God in the old creation, intimating to us that the latter is as great a work of providence and divine power as the former." And then he quotes Ephesians 4 and verse 4, where we're created a new man in Christ Jesus. He says, "Listen, for as that is a creation which is a making of something out of nothing, as God created the heaven and the earth, so the production of one thing out of another, which has no fitness or aptitude to receive such a form, is also a true creation, and requires an almighty power."

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• "God made the light to shine out of darkness, so saith the apostle. He hath made Christ, who is the light of the world, to shine in our hearts, to give us the true knowledge of God, and of his glory, and the glory of his grace." What is Poole saying? Poole is saying the same almighty power that God used in creation of the worlds is the same almighty power that God uses in the creation of a new creature in Jesus Christ.

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• Now let me ask you a question. I want you to think on this. Is it not conceivable that if there is a new creation, there is also a new Sabbath that commemorates that creation? You see, God's creation Sabbath commemorated the creation of the world. If there is now a new creation, and that's what the Apostle Paul said, does it not follow then that there should be a new Sabbath that would commemorate that creation? I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 28.

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• I know some of you have Greek lexicons. Some of you have been studying a little Greek. That's wonderful. And I want to encourage that. Certainly nothing wrong with learning, especially learning things that you can use. You're going to find that an awful lot of our English words come directly from the Greek. In fact, some of our English words are nothing more than transliterations. They're just translated letter from letter from the Greek to the English, like the word "deacon." Like our English word "therapeutic" comes from the Greek word therapeuo, I heal. The cardiac unit and the hospital? Cardia is the Greek word for heart. Most of it, a lot of it is just from Greek to English, just plain.

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• But look in Matthew 28 in verse 1. And here it is: "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre." We live in a day and time when we live in abysmal ignorance. Not just biblical ignorance and historical ignorance. Our forefathers, even the men who translated the Bible, were brilliant men. In fact, the head man in the translation of our King James Bible, wrote and spoke 21 different languages. Many of them were dead languages. I mean, even at that time.

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• But do you realize in the 16th, 17th, and 1800s, you could not even get into college unless you already could read and write and speak Greek, Hebrew, and Latin.

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• I said that to show you this. When our King James Bible was written, most folks could read Greek, they could read Hebrew, they could read Latin. So there was no problem. If you look in Matthew 28 in verse 1, "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre." Now let me just kind of point out the Bible says "in the end of the sabbath as it began to dawn on the first day of the week." Anyone who reads scripture will recognize that the first day of the week is the day that we meet to celebrate and commemorate the new creation in Jesus Christ. Our Lord was raised from the dead on the first day of the week. It is that salvation that we commemorate. We don't commemorate the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt. We're not necessarily commemorating even the creation of the world. That was God's Sabbath. That was God's rest.

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• We are identifying with that and in it. I'm going to explain that in just a moment. But I want to read to you from Matthew 28 in verse 1, how it reads in the Greek. Listen carefully. I'm not reading Greek, I'm reading English. But here it is: "In the end of the sabbaths, as it began to dawn toward the first sabbaths." What? Yeah, that's exactly what the Greek says. "In the end of the sabbaths, as it began to dawn toward the first sabbaths." What is Matthew 28 telling us? Matthew 28 verse 1 is telling us that a new day has dawned, a new sabbath has occurred because Christ is risen from the dead. The first day of the week became a new sabbath. It also became a series of sabbaths based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now I'm going to get just a little technical, not much, but I want you to listen. The word "end," E-N-D, in Matthew 28 and verse 1, "in the end of the sabbath," Adam Clarke, in his commentary, comments on the word "end," it is the little Greek word opse, we would spell it O-P-S-E.

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• Here's what he says: "In the end of the sabbath, after the end of the week, this is the translation given by several eminent critics. But here's the way the Greek word is used by several eminent Greek writers," and he's talking about men like Plutarch and Philostratus, you know, some of these old men. But listen, listen now. "The day was ended," and he's using the word opse. "After the times of the king," and he's using the word opse. "After the Trojan War had ended," and he's using the word opse. If you translate the word "end," E-N-D, the way the Greek historians translated it, then actually what you're reading is this. You could say that verse 1 is saying, "After the end of the old sabbaths, as the day began to dawn toward the new sabbaths." Look in Mark 16 and verse 1. Mark 16, verse 1.

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• Let me go a little bit further. I'm not trying to be too technical, but I am trying to point something out that will bolster exactly what I've been teaching you. Look in Mark 16 and verse 1. "And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." Now, I want you to note verse 2. "And very early in the morning, in the first sabbath," is what the word actually is. The Greek word for the word "first" is the word mia. You know what the word mia means? One, number one, the first.

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• I never will forget in our study in Greek, we had to learn the masculine, the feminine, and the neuter of all these nouns. Mia and heis was number one. And the way we always remembered it was we would say, "Heis, mia, hen," you know. But you can't forget it like that. But the word mia means number one. So actually what he is saying is this: "In the number one sabbath, in the very first one." So when the sabbaths, that is the old past, the old sabbaths was passed in verse one, verse two, "very early in the morning, the first, number 1 sabbath."

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• They came to the sepulchre. What happened in number 1? Christ was raised from the dead.

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• Now skip down to verse 9. Look in verse 9, Mark 16.

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• "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils." Now the interesting thing is this. When you get to verse 9, the word "first" is not the word mia. There's a different Greek word that is used. This time it is protos, which means first in a series or first in succession. We talk about a prototype. What is a prototype? It's the first from which a whole number follows. You have to have a prototype if you're going to have something that succeeds or something that follows. Now let me show you how this word is used. So this means there is a number one sabbath, there is a prototype sabbath, and consequently from this prototype there's going to be a series of succeeding sabbaths now which follow.

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• I want you to hold Mark 16. I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians 15, and I've gotten you away from that passage, and I want to ask you the question to see who was listening. Who was the first person whom Jesus Christ appeared after He was raised from the dead? Mary Magdalene. Thank you. You were listening. All right. Mary Magdalene. All right. Now, look in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Watch if you would what the Apostle Paul says, beginning there with verse 5. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 5. Look what he says. In fact, let's read verse 3. He says, "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: and that he was seen of Cephas," or that is Peter, "then

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• of the twelve. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles." Now, wait a minute. Who did you tell me that saw our Lord first? Then who saw Him? Peter, then the twelve, then above five hundred brethren at once, then James, then all the apostles?

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• Why am I saying that? I want you to go back to Mark chapter 16 verse 9. Watch this.

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• "Now when Jesus was risen early in the prototype of the sabbath, He appeared protos to Mary Magdalene." First in succession. Mary saw Him. Then Peter saw Him. Then 500 saw Him. Then James saw Him. Then the twelve saw Him. You see what I'm trying to say? The same exact word is used in relationship to the first sabbath. If you'll look in your Bibles to John 20 and verse 1. John 20 and verse 1. John 20 verse 1. Notice if you would, here we have the same scripture. "The first day of the sabbath," or "the first day of the week," or "the first sabbath, cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre." It's the first day of the week. Literally it says, "Now on the first sabbath cometh Mary Magdalene." There's a new sabbath. Why is there a new sabbath? Because there's a new creation. There's a new rest. If you will turn in your Bibles to Colossians chapter 2, and I'm not going to preach on this because I preached on this last week, and you can go back and listen to the tape, but I want to just read this again so that you can see it.

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• Look in Colossians 2 beginning there with verse 16. Look what the Apostle Paul writes: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." So all of these Old Testament things were shadows, but the body is Christ. Now the Greek word for "shadow" is the word skia. How do you get a shadow? A shadow is caused by the interception of light. Christ is the light of the world. His reality, His substance simply cast a shadow in the Old Testament. Are you listening? Christ has always been light. He is light. He always will be light. He was always substance and always will be substance and reality. Everything in the Old Testament was just simply a shadow of reality.

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• What am I trying to tell you? That Jesus Christ is our real Sabbath. If you would study the book of Hebrews, study the Bible, you will find that Jesus Christ is our real High Priest. Jesus Christ is our real Tabernacle. Jesus Christ is our real Temple. Jesus Christ is our real Passover. Jesus Christ is our real Showbread. Jesus Christ is our real rest. He is our real Sabbath. He is our God.

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• What is the Scripture saying? The old has passed away. A new order has been established. The old way of worship in the old covenant has vanished. Everything now has become new in Jesus Christ. How can I say that? Because that's what the Bible says. Look at Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 13. Hebrews chapter 8 verse 13. I'm not going to blow all of Hobie's powder, but there are numerous last days. And I have to say this here. There's the last days of the Old Covenant. Look at Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 13: "In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." That old way of worship is gone. Look in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 8 and 9. Hebrews 10, verses 8 and 9. I could read all of Hebrews chapter 8, but look in verses 8 and 9. Hebrews 10, verse 8: "Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law."

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• "Then said he," talking about Christ now, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second." What did He take away? He took away all of those sacrifices, all of those ceremonies, all of those rituals. He took away all of those types, that He might establish the second. You cannot have both. What did Christ establish that is new?

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• Well, look in Hebrews chapter 10 beginning with verse 19. Hebrews 10 verse 19: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Now, wait a minute. What did He say in verse 19? "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Christ, by a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that is his flesh."

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• Let me ask you a question. How many in the Old Covenant could draw nigh to God? How many in the Old Covenant could rush boldly into the holiest of all? None. A high priest only went into the holiest of all only once a year, and that not without blood. But now, he says, through Christ, through a new and living way, we may come boldly into the holiest of all.

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• They worship with physical sacrifices. We worship through Jesus Christ, the true sacrifice. They worship through type and shadow. We worship through reality and substance. You know what the Bible says in John 4 and verse 24? "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth," and Jesus Christ is truth. Why in the world would anyone trade light for shadow, and truth for type, and substance for symbol, and new covenant worship for old covenant worship?

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• Now, if you hadn't put two and two together, let me do it for you. Jesus Christ is our Sabbath. Jesus Christ is our rest. Jesus Christ gives us rest in salvation, rest in tribulation, rest in all the perplexities of life. He gives us rest in eternity. Christ is our rest. As I've quoted every week, let me quote it again. Our Lord said in Matthew 11, "Come unto me, all ye that labour 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 ye shall find rest unto your souls. For he said, My yoke is easy, and my burden light."

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• Now, I want you to go back to Hebrews chapter 4. I want you to look at verse 8. Watch verse 8: "For if Joshua had given them rest," if that had been the real rest, if those had been the real sabbaths in the Old Testament, all those types, "then would he not afterwards have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a keeping of the sabbath," the sabbatismos, "to the people of God." Now watch: "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." I want to give you one quote and I want to make a statement. Adam Clarke wrote this: "For he that has entered into his rest, the man who has believed in Christ Jesus has entered into his rest, the state of happiness which he has provided and which is the forerunner of eternal glory, has ceased from his own works, that is, he no longer depends upon the

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• observance of mosaic rites and ceremonies for his justification and final happiness. He rests from all of these works of the law as fully as God had rested from His works in creation." Now listen carefully. It's important to grasp, it's important to understand that those of us who have been saved by the grace of God have been made a new creation in Christ Jesus. And in Christ Jesus, as a new creation, we have ceased from our own works. Listen. In Christ Jesus, we have ceased from our own works. It's important that you hear what I'm about to say. I am not trying to be saved. I am saved.

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• I am not working for my salvation. I am resting in the salvation that Jesus Christ has procured.

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• What can I do? Nothing. My whole life, my whole soul, my whole eternity hangs upon what Jesus Christ has done. Jesus Christ is salvation. Salvation is an accomplished fact. I have ceased from my own labor. If you're in Christ, you've ceased from your own labor. Do you remember what our Lord said as He hung on the cross before He died? He cried, "It is finished!" And it was. We have a finished redemption.

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• Yes, you may read the Old Testament. And certainly the Old Testament is just as much the Word of God as the New Testament is. But you will find as you read the Old Testament that the promised rest in the Old Testament referred to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. You can read about it in Psalm 72, Isaiah 2, Isaiah 9. But that rest was in Christ. All of the promises were in Christ.

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• Now, allow me to revisit some questions that I ask in part number two. One of you asked me last week, said, "You forgot to answer that question that you asked in number two." I said, "No, I haven't forgotten. I'm just waiting." But here's some questions that I ask. Why was the violation of the Sabbath in the Old Testament considered capital crime? You remember I showed you several passages where the man that worked on the Sabbath was to be executed.

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• He was to be put to death. Why was the death penalty demanded? We also have to ask another question. Is there a death penalty today for violating God's sabbaths? Well, let me go back and try to answer those for you. The death penalty was demanded in the Old Covenant because the Canaan rest or the Canaan sabbath was to be a picture of God's creation sabbath, which was to be fulfilled in the redemption sabbath in Jesus Christ. Now when a man then refused to rest in God's sabbath, but he went out and worked, what was he doing? He was now refusing to rest in God's sabbath, he was adding what he was doing—he was adding his own works. You have to remember, the goal of the sabbath, I don't care if you're talking about the Creation Sabbath or the Canaan Sabbath, the goal of the sabbath was man's redemption rest, which is only found in the Christian Sabbath in Jesus Christ. The sabbath asserted the principle of rest under God and freedom under God. The sabbath asserted the principle of man being released from his own works and his own self.

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• The Canaan sabbath typified what God was going to do in and through Jesus Christ. So the man, therefore, who refused to rest in the Old sabbath was refusing God's rest. It was a demonstration of rebellion and unbelief, and he was punished with death. Was that not exactly what happened to those who came out of Egypt, who refused to rest? What happened to those Hebrews who got into the Canaan land but still refused to rest? What did God do? God killed them. God sent them into captivity.

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• Now here's the important question. Is there a death penalty today for violating God's sabbath? And you've got to remember, God's sabbath is not the Canaan sabbath. It's not the Hebrew sabbath. We're not even talking about the creation sabbath. God's sabbath is the Christian sabbath, which is none other than Jesus Christ. Now, if you want to know whether or not there's a death penalty today for violating God's sabbath, I want you to turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, and let's begin reading there with verse 7. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 7. This should answer the question, is there a death penalty today for refusing to rest in God's sabbath? Here it is. 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 7, Paul writes to these Thessalonican believers, "And to you who are troubled rest with us,

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• when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." Is there a death penalty for violating God's sabbath? You better believe there is. What will happen to all of those who refuse to rest and trust in Jesus Christ?

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• They will be summarily executed. Do you know what our Lord said in Proverbs 8, verses 35 and 36? Let me just quote it. Our Lord said, "For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death." You cannot violate God's sabbath. You cannot violate the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot violate His person and His work and refuse to rest in Him without being executed.

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• Let me make one quick application, and I don't have a great deal of time. But I want you to understand this. Since Jesus Christ is our Sabbath, we don't observe the Sabbath one day a week. We observe the Sabbath seven days a week. We rest in Him every day. Not just for salvation. If I had time to go back to Matthew chapter 6, don't you remember when our Lord said, "Consider the lilies of the field, they toil not, neither do they spin. Consider the sparrows, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father knoweth their need." What is He saying? He is saying what we need to do is this: we need to learn to do our duty. Do it in faith. Do it in obedience. And after we've done everything that we are responsible to do, we're to rest.

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• Here we have children that's going off to college. And summer's going. Alright, mom and daddy, let me ask you, what in the world can you do? Can you go to college with them and babysit them? No. You train them. You teach them. They're driving. They're driving on dangerous highways. They're living sometimes amongst ungodly people. What can you do? You can pray. You can teach. And after you've done that, you rest.

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• Because it's not in your hands. It's in God's hands. Same thing with your work. Same thing with your financial needs. You do what you can by God's grace. You fulfill your responsibility. You do it the best of your ability. And then you rest. Jesus Christ is our Sabbath. We're to rest in Him every day of the week, but we rest in Him primarily for our salvation. And I've got news for you folks.

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• It really comes down to this. If Jesus Christ is not God, if Jesus Christ is not who He says He is, then we're all lost. But if He is God, and He is, and if He is who He says He is, and He's done what He says He's done, and He has, then there's nothing for us to do but to rest and trust in Him completely. Jesus Christ is God. He is salvation. He is our Sabbath and our rest.

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• Father, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your love. We thank You for Your grace and mercy. We thank You above all for Jesus Christ, for without Him, Lord, we're nothing. We're lost. We can't save ourselves. We can't work our way into heaven. We can't help save ourselves. Salvation is a finished work. It was finished before the foundation of the world. For Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And all we can do by your grace and by your mercy through your new creation is rest and trust in Him. And that's what we do by your grace. And we give thee praise and honor and glory in Christ's name. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T15:09:53Z