WEBVTT 00:00:07.983 --> 00:00:11.861 So you compare yourself to David huh With that. 00:00:11.861 --> 00:00:21.451 It's a great lead-in from the chosen about today's topic, which has to do with that one day a week that we are to set aside to honor God. 00:00:21.451 --> 00:00:24.407 In those days it was called the Sabbath. 00:00:24.407 --> 00:00:28.630 Today we observe it, of course, on Sunday. 00:00:28.630 --> 00:00:30.466 So good to see all of you. 00:00:30.466 --> 00:00:32.540 My name is Randy Out there. 00:00:32.540 --> 00:00:37.006 We are so glad to have you If you're watching online today, wherever you are. 00:00:37.027 --> 00:00:39.304 I want to give a special shout-out to Mary Brown. 00:00:39.304 --> 00:00:48.532 Mary Brown lives in Elgin, south Carolina, and I said earlier, if there ever was a champion of children in this state, it is Mary Brown. 00:00:48.532 --> 00:00:50.725 So we are just so thankful, mary. 00:00:50.725 --> 00:00:53.752 You're watching almost every week too, and the rest of it too. 00:00:53.752 --> 00:00:56.987 There's a monitor out there to help engage you. 00:00:56.987 --> 00:01:01.648 At the conclusion, love to have your questions, comments, prayer needs. 00:01:01.648 --> 00:01:11.983 We can refer you to a church in your local area if you're not here, but we're just glad that you're watching today and guests in the room. 00:01:11.983 --> 00:01:13.729 We're super glad that you're here. 00:01:13.729 --> 00:01:20.924 We have some first timers at this hour, as we did last hour, and we're especially excited always to see you. 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:27.724 We believe that you're not here by accident, whether this is your only time, or this becomes your church home. 00:01:27.724 --> 00:01:32.570 We believe that God has a divine purpose for you being here, as he does for us. 00:01:32.570 --> 00:01:45.649 We may not know it in the next ten minutes, but one day we will, and there's always eternal significance when the people of God get together, and so we're just glad that you're all here with us today. 00:01:45.649 --> 00:01:46.220 Let's pray. 00:01:46.220 --> 00:02:11.641 Shall we, lord, soften the hearts that are hard, encourage the downtrodden, give the guilty Break the prideful, expose our selfishness. 00:02:11.641 --> 00:02:19.828 Lord, evaporate the pride that gets in the way of you. 00:02:19.828 --> 00:02:38.012 If we don't worship you today, knowing who you are, if we don't spend the time to know you, we are at best idolaters, because we are worshiping a false God if we do not know you. 00:02:38.012 --> 00:02:57.448 So, lord, over these next several minutes, I just ask that you take complete control through your Holy Spirit, that you teach us out of your Word the truth as it applies to every individual in this room and watching online. 00:02:57.448 --> 00:03:12.707 And then, if we just simply obey with obedience, with submission, today will be a victory for us and we will leave here a little bit more transformed. 00:03:12.707 --> 00:03:18.330 And so do what you need to do and please come. 00:03:18.330 --> 00:03:21.962 Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name, we pray Amen. 00:03:21.962 --> 00:03:29.992 So grab your Bibles You're going to need those today or your phone devices and all either out there or in here. 00:03:29.992 --> 00:03:33.490 We're going to look at different areas actually of the Scriptures. 00:03:33.640 --> 00:03:36.388 We continue our series with parts. 00:03:36.388 --> 00:03:46.751 A quick review We've talked about prayer as an essential thing as far as a transformational habit, a course reading the Word for understanding, an application. 00:03:46.751 --> 00:03:57.472 Of course, all of it is a kingdom orientation, which means he's always challenging us to the bigger picture of inserting God in the middle, in His presence in our lives. 00:03:57.472 --> 00:04:02.211 James did a great job teaching us on fasting as part of that. 00:04:02.211 --> 00:04:12.009 Next week we'll wrap it up with submission how to make all of these wheels turn with just our attitude to come before Him. 00:04:12.009 --> 00:04:16.612 And today, as we talked about, is about that honoring the Savior. 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:20.050 When I say Sunday, when I say the word Sunday, what comes to mind? 00:04:20.050 --> 00:04:22.144 A flash is first into your mind. 00:04:22.144 --> 00:04:27.586 Huh yeah, some of you it's like sleeping in. 00:04:27.586 --> 00:04:32.187 Others it's like a leisurely brunch somewhere about ten o'clock. 00:04:32.187 --> 00:04:35.846 For others it's man, about two o'clock. 00:04:35.846 --> 00:04:41.850 I go into this coma, I take a nap and I'm ready then to go the rest of the week. 00:04:41.850 --> 00:04:49.485 Some of you are like I'm really already into my mental list of things I have to get ready for the work week. 00:04:49.485 --> 00:04:51.285 Matter of fact, you're not alone. 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:55.800 There is a phrase now that is in our culture called the Sunday Scaries. 00:04:55.800 --> 00:05:12.870 If you're not familiar with it, the Sunday Scaries is an anxiety level that so many people have that starts about their work week starting the next day that they can't even enjoy Sunday if they're off for worrying about Monday. 00:05:12.870 --> 00:05:28.204 I looked at some polls and responses on the internet and kind of the sad thing was only about one out of every twelve respondents about Sunday had anything to do with God or the worship of God. 00:05:28.204 --> 00:05:33.949 It's like largely today we don't even know why we're supposed to get a day off. 00:05:33.949 --> 00:05:39.891 We just try to enjoy it without the presence of God. 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:46.824 We live in such a busy, busy society that the buzz and the activity and the demands we live by are calendars. 00:05:46.824 --> 00:05:56.745 We live by just our work schedules and our energy is given, of course, to what's next and we're scurrying around. 00:05:56.745 --> 00:06:04.663 I think so much so that when we do have a little block of time off, we push that button of convenience. 00:06:04.663 --> 00:06:16.951 I just don't want to do anything, I just want to zone out, and I certainly understand that the problem with that is when it comes to honoring God with that one day of a week. 00:06:16.951 --> 00:06:31.429 Convenience says he'll understand, or I'll watch a little bit online, although I'm perfectly able to be in a community, to be with the family of God in person and benefit from that. 00:06:31.429 --> 00:06:43.210 I'll just hit the button and I'll just let that do, and so with that, we need to go into this discussion about the Sabbath that one day. 00:06:43.210 --> 00:06:51.713 So let me just tell you that the Sabbath is intended to be a matter of perspective and priorities. 00:06:51.713 --> 00:06:57.150 We're going to start our discussion with that Perspectives and priorities. 00:06:57.150 --> 00:07:07.911 If we have the right perspective going in, we're able to shape our priorities around that to where actually we're going to be the ones that benefit from it the most. 00:07:07.911 --> 00:07:17.870 So we have this discussion all through the Scripture about it, that one day a week, all the way back to Exodus, chapter 20 that we'll look at in a second. 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:18.480 Exodus. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:21.310 Chapter 20 makes it a command from God. 00:07:21.310 --> 00:07:23.788 It's the fourth commandment given to Moses. 00:07:23.788 --> 00:07:27.769 We go all the way over to the back of the Bible, the book of Hebrews. 00:07:27.769 --> 00:07:37.331 Hebrews goes back and recounts those days but then talks about in the whole chapter a Sabbath day, rest for the children of God. 00:07:37.331 --> 00:07:44.432 How do we make sense of the ancient, ancient Old Testament and the later New Testament after Jesus. 00:07:44.432 --> 00:07:57.507 Well, the best thing to do and we'll end up here today too, mark, chapter 2, which is what the chosen segment was patterned after this weighs in and interprets it in Mark 2, very well-forced. 00:07:57.507 --> 00:08:03.300 Those two verses are on the screen there the Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:06.663 I'll explain that in a couple of minutes. 00:08:06.663 --> 00:08:21.295 In other words, jesus is saying Sabbath is made for our benefit, not to be just another burden that we drag around on our to-do list, and so with that, let's just break this up into a little segment. 00:08:21.295 --> 00:08:29.694 So, if it's about perspective and priority, how about grab your Bible and turn first to Exodus 20, verse 8, where we'll start with that? 00:08:29.956 --> 00:08:45.725 It's a command, as I said, exodus 20, verse 8, remember the Sabbath day or the seventh that's what that means in Hebrew by keeping it holy or set aside as a sacred thing. 00:08:45.725 --> 00:08:52.495 So we, of course, observe it more times than not on Sunday, the first day of the week, not the seventh day. 00:08:52.495 --> 00:09:05.365 That's because when Jesus was resurrected it was on the first day, and after that, in the church age that we're in the middle of now, it was adopted away from Judaism to the practice of Sunday. 00:09:05.365 --> 00:09:08.659 In the Christian faith, that's not the big deal. 00:09:08.659 --> 00:09:18.765 Whether your Sabbathsome of your own work schedules that are so strange that your Sabbath may be on Thursdays or Wednesdays, that's good. 00:09:18.765 --> 00:09:21.260 That's not the point being. 00:09:21.260 --> 00:09:24.719 There needs to be one day In the organized worship. 00:09:24.719 --> 00:09:26.544 It's usually here, of course, on Sundays. 00:09:26.936 --> 00:09:37.683 The point being, though, this is a command, and some of you have been around long enough to know that if God commands it, it's not a suggestion, it's not negotiable, is it? 00:09:37.683 --> 00:09:48.354 In the old days, we'd hear a sermon on this, and the person would start with that, he would end with that, and it'd be okay, let's all stand and sing and come down to the altar. 00:09:48.354 --> 00:09:49.217 Now, that's enough. 00:09:49.217 --> 00:10:15.075 Said right, and that's really literally true, but we need to know the why behind it, in order to leverage and rearrange our lives around it, so that we can benefit and not make it a burden, because for many generations of people, and even in Jesus' day, it was not a beneficial thing so much as it was a big burden in people's lives. 00:10:15.075 --> 00:10:15.883 So let's move on. 00:10:15.883 --> 00:10:17.154 Let's go back to the history of it. 00:10:17.235 --> 00:10:18.661 How did this thing even start? 00:10:18.661 --> 00:10:22.484 Well, in Exodus chapter 16, which is before Exodus 20,. 00:10:22.484 --> 00:10:26.865 Right, that means they have them before the Ten Commandments. 00:10:26.865 --> 00:10:29.081 They're wandering around in the wilderness. 00:10:29.081 --> 00:10:30.841 Moses has liberated them. 00:10:30.841 --> 00:10:35.605 They're out in the wilderness like how are we going to eat? 00:10:35.605 --> 00:10:39.566 How are we going to find our sustenance out here in the middle of this desert? 00:10:39.566 --> 00:10:41.863 So God says I'm going to send manna. 00:10:41.863 --> 00:10:44.724 Manna is something you don't know what it is. 00:10:44.724 --> 00:10:46.260 You don't need to know what it is. 00:10:46.260 --> 00:10:48.241 It's going to fall out of the sky every morning. 00:10:48.241 --> 00:10:49.781 It's enough for you to eat. 00:10:49.781 --> 00:10:50.918 It'll be nutrition. 00:10:50.918 --> 00:10:58.406 It's enough for every day, but one day I'm going to put more on the ground. 00:10:58.406 --> 00:10:59.499 That's the sixth day. 00:10:59.499 --> 00:11:10.100 So collect more than you need, enough for two days, because on the seventh day that set aside as holy, it's a sacred day. 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:13.320 You're not going to work that day, you're going to just do different. 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:16.210 And so, sure enough, they would have enough. 00:11:16.210 --> 00:11:22.060 On the next day, they would keep to this next day, it would not spoil, and they would use that on the seventh. 00:11:22.060 --> 00:11:23.543 That's the history. 00:11:23.543 --> 00:11:24.485 But you know what? 00:11:24.485 --> 00:11:27.384 I wasn't completely honest with you. 00:11:27.634 --> 00:11:28.980 It goes back even further. 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:58.501 If you want to look back to Genesis, chapter 2, verses 1 through 3, can't get much earlier than this, because you know what that's about God created In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth and after he finishes all of the great expanse of creation and the heaven, solar system, galaxies and all that stuff that we know about, it says on the seventh day he did what he rested he rested. 00:11:58.501 --> 00:12:05.027 Now Hebrews 4 that we'll look at, picks up with that and goes back and says you know what? 00:12:05.027 --> 00:12:08.201 He's still at rest today. 00:12:08.201 --> 00:12:18.000 Now we like to use the phrase God's always at work and you know we mean that he's always present, he's always all knowing and all. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:33.514 But the context of that is, if you've got someone who created all the heavens and all the earth and we're all here at His approval also, he's pretty much done the heavy lifting, hadn't he? 00:12:33.514 --> 00:12:38.298 He's not going particular to get stressed out about anything I'm dealing with or you're dealing with is he? 00:12:38.298 --> 00:12:43.565 He's pretty much seen it all because he's the Creator of everything. 00:12:43.565 --> 00:12:52.182 So when it comes to honoring Him one day a week as a special day, I think he certainly, certainly deserves that. 00:12:52.375 --> 00:12:55.745 So, number third category let's talk about the interpretation. 00:12:55.745 --> 00:12:57.441 Let's get down to the guts of it now. 00:12:57.441 --> 00:13:04.525 The interpretation in Mark, chapter 2, verse 27 and 28,. 00:13:04.525 --> 00:13:05.788 Let's turn to that. 00:13:05.788 --> 00:13:09.721 Then he said to them Jesus did. 00:13:09.721 --> 00:13:13.067 The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 00:13:13.067 --> 00:13:13.956 Let's talk about that. 00:13:13.956 --> 00:13:16.464 It's for your benefit, not your burden. 00:13:16.464 --> 00:13:22.706 So the Son of man verse 28, is Lord even over the Sabbath. 00:13:23.294 --> 00:13:43.017 What really got those two church leaders in a bad way was when he used the phrase Son of man, because in that day, when you use that title, everybody in the room knew oh, that means he's talking about the Savior who's coming, the Messiah In this discussion. 00:13:43.017 --> 00:13:50.956 When he says the Son of man is Lord over, he's King over the Sabbath even. 00:13:50.956 --> 00:13:54.645 That's why I say it's made for you, not vice versa. 00:13:54.645 --> 00:14:00.144 Oh, that's deeply offensive, because they realize, whoa, wait a minute. 00:14:00.144 --> 00:14:05.542 First we accused Him of putting Himself in the place of comparing Himself with David. 00:14:05.542 --> 00:14:09.277 Now he's comparing Himself with the coming Messiah. 00:14:09.277 --> 00:14:13.826 But he was accurate. 00:14:13.826 --> 00:14:16.681 He is the King of all of that. 00:14:16.681 --> 00:14:18.259 He is over the day. 00:14:18.259 --> 00:14:25.807 He's created that one day of a week not to burden us but to benefit us. 00:14:25.807 --> 00:14:29.041 It's a matter of how we go about this. 00:14:29.041 --> 00:14:34.065 So, jesus, here's a question we got to deal with. 00:14:34.065 --> 00:14:36.822 Y'all, some of your thinkers and you're already ahead of me. 00:14:38.106 --> 00:14:43.060 So clearly in the video and in the Scripture it sure looks like. 00:14:43.060 --> 00:14:47.706 Am I right that Jesus was violating the fourth commandment? 00:14:47.706 --> 00:14:51.663 Was Jesus violating the law of God? 00:14:51.663 --> 00:14:54.299 No, he was not. 00:14:54.299 --> 00:15:02.268 Jesus was violating a man-made regulation that was added to the Word of God, you listening? 00:15:02.268 --> 00:15:03.837 Matter of fact. 00:15:03.837 --> 00:15:04.902 They had a bunch of them. 00:15:04.902 --> 00:15:13.489 Matter of fact, the Pharisees had 613 of them to go along with the 10, and this was one of them. 00:15:13.489 --> 00:15:15.735 There were several others that had to do with the Sabbath. 00:15:15.735 --> 00:15:21.788 It got so restrictive, it was beyond silly what they could not do on that one day. 00:15:21.788 --> 00:15:28.140 And Jesus had no time for that, he had no patience for that, he had no stomach for that. 00:15:28.140 --> 00:15:32.148 He had a mission and a kingdom to come and raise. 00:15:32.148 --> 00:15:33.592 That was so beyond that. 00:15:33.592 --> 00:15:59.379 It wasn't even funny, because he realized these religious leaders have locked these people down to where this one day that should be so joyful and just spent in worship and heartfelt praise is a burden, it's drudgery, it's as bad as the worst day of the work week and he's trying to unburden it. 00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:06.087 So, yes, he absolutely is busting some man-made rules, but he always honored the Sabbath. 00:16:06.087 --> 00:16:07.762 He always was at church. 00:16:07.762 --> 00:16:20.701 He always, on that day, was worshiping God without fail, even the week that he knew the people he was sitting with in the temple that day were going to take Him out and crucify Him. 00:16:20.701 --> 00:16:24.480 He's still seen as being there. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:29.053 It's about perspective and it's about priority. 00:16:29.205 --> 00:16:30.851 So now let's move on to application. 00:16:30.851 --> 00:16:32.990 How about turn to Hebrews 4? 00:16:32.990 --> 00:16:33.954 Now I want you to see this. 00:16:33.954 --> 00:16:37.552 Hebrews 4, verses 8 through 11, I've already set it up. 00:16:37.552 --> 00:16:50.976 The writer of Hebrews is going all the way back to Moses' day and comparing that again to what happened, to why we have what we call Sunday the day of worship. 00:16:50.976 --> 00:16:55.354 So verse 8, chapter 4 of Hebrews, verse 8. 00:16:55.485 --> 00:17:01.177 Or, if Joshua had given them rest, god would not have spoken later about another day. 00:17:01.177 --> 00:17:02.930 Why is he mentioning Joshua? 00:17:02.930 --> 00:17:04.569 Joshua took the place of Moses. 00:17:04.569 --> 00:17:08.394 When Moses dies, they're still on the wrong side of the Jordan River. 00:17:08.394 --> 00:17:15.068 They're still not beingthat's the terminology, the metaphor and the New Testament for the day of rest, god's day of rest. 00:17:15.068 --> 00:17:16.153 They weren't there. 00:17:16.153 --> 00:17:20.777 They had been wandering around without rest for 40 years is the point. 00:17:20.777 --> 00:17:23.011 So Joshua has come along to take them. 00:17:23.011 --> 00:17:29.037 But Joshua could not complete the job because Joshua was a mere mortal. 00:17:29.565 --> 00:17:32.354 He says he's alluding to another day. 00:17:32.354 --> 00:17:33.568 What's the another day? 00:17:33.568 --> 00:17:36.085 That's listed in Psalm 95. 00:17:36.085 --> 00:17:39.354 If you want to read that this week, that'd be awesome for a devotion. 00:17:39.354 --> 00:17:51.490 Psalm 95 basically talks about predicting, prophesying a coming king who will be the complete Son of God, and that, of course, is Jesus. 00:17:51.490 --> 00:17:55.855 So, verse 9, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 00:17:55.855 --> 00:18:00.556 If you're a Christ follower, you're included in this because you are the people of God. 00:18:00.556 --> 00:18:03.692 A Sabbath rest we're going to get into in just a second. 00:18:03.692 --> 00:18:13.798 There is a day that needs to be just special, not to restrict us but to benefit us and bring joy. 00:18:14.444 --> 00:18:27.308 Verse 10, for anyone who enters God's rest and also rest from his own work, just as God did from his, he is getting specific and enough to say this ought to be a day where you get a break. 00:18:27.308 --> 00:18:30.212 Hey, hey, hey, let's be practical. 00:18:30.212 --> 00:18:33.952 I understand there are some days you can't control it. 00:18:33.952 --> 00:18:35.530 You got to work all seven days. 00:18:35.530 --> 00:18:37.509 Some of you have had stretches. 00:18:37.509 --> 00:18:43.987 You might be in the middle of a stretch like this where you haven't had a day off in quite a while. 00:18:43.987 --> 00:18:46.431 Necessity breeds that. 00:18:46.431 --> 00:18:54.912 The point is, at some point find a way, if at all possible, to get out of that where you can observe the Sabbath. 00:18:54.912 --> 00:18:56.651 I'm just like some of you. 00:18:56.651 --> 00:19:00.134 There have been stretches, and Burt would agree on the front row. 00:19:00.724 --> 00:19:09.528 There's been stretches around here where duty demands that we don't get a Sabbath either, whether it's a Tuesday or a Friday. 00:19:09.528 --> 00:19:16.665 When you can do it, we are prescribed to do that Verse 11,. 00:19:16.665 --> 00:19:19.051 Therefore, let us make every effort. 00:19:19.051 --> 00:19:19.774 That's important. 00:19:19.774 --> 00:19:21.336 Make every effort. 00:19:21.336 --> 00:19:46.019 That means persist, that means make it the urgent part of your week to make sure your building habits or rituals of life that will honor that, that will allow you to do that, to enter that rest, so that no one will fall or sin by following their example, the Israelites example of disobedience. 00:19:46.019 --> 00:19:53.218 So let's break that down a little bit more with the Scripture in Hebrews 4. 00:19:54.967 --> 00:20:02.662 Y'all, the Sabbath day was created to be such an experience that it energizes you. 00:20:02.662 --> 00:20:14.276 And as you're in the house of God, as you're worshiping with other Christ followers, the fellowship is so strong and the worship is so meaningful that it produces joy. 00:20:14.276 --> 00:20:31.067 And the modern example, the modern definition of joy, is a positive mindset, because you don't want to be that guy that everybody avoids at work because you're so dogged on negative all the time. 00:20:31.067 --> 00:20:35.272 Now there's a time to be real and there's a time to not be real. 00:20:35.272 --> 00:20:36.615 But I'm not talking about that. 00:20:36.615 --> 00:20:38.128 You know those folks, don't you? 00:20:38.128 --> 00:20:42.751 If you can't think of a single person in your life that's that way. 00:20:42.751 --> 00:20:44.455 You may be that guy. 00:20:44.455 --> 00:20:51.108 Sorry, we're not talking about. 00:20:51.108 --> 00:20:53.902 Oh, you know what my house burned down last night. 00:20:53.902 --> 00:20:55.147 But praise the Lord. 00:20:55.147 --> 00:20:55.810 Praise the Lord. 00:20:55.810 --> 00:20:57.028 No, that's stupid. 00:20:57.028 --> 00:21:13.168 A positive mindset Now that I've offended everybody in the room probably A positive mindset basically does say today's not a good day Today, let's be honest, today stinks. 00:21:14.285 --> 00:21:19.076 But the bigger picture, the kingdom orientation, is I still belong to God. 00:21:19.076 --> 00:21:21.530 He still redeemed my life. 00:21:21.530 --> 00:21:24.153 I still know where my future is. 00:21:24.153 --> 00:21:36.416 Oh, and the other reality of the seventh day is this we're never going to fully, fully, fully be at rest in His rest on this earth, are we? 00:21:36.416 --> 00:21:38.608 Because we're all sinners. 00:21:38.608 --> 00:21:40.708 But that day's coming. 00:21:40.708 --> 00:21:48.418 There is a day coming that we'll really be at rest because we'll be sin free. 00:21:48.418 --> 00:21:50.951 We won't be dragging around that ball and chain. 00:21:50.951 --> 00:22:13.887 But for now, our job is to have such a lifestyle that allows for regular time to step back and let God be God in our lives, to work at knowing God and taking a break from the normal routine. 00:22:16.486 --> 00:22:22.416 Some of y'all rest the best when you're doing something and not just sitting around. 00:22:22.416 --> 00:22:25.913 I don't know who I'm talking to in here, maybe myself. 00:22:25.913 --> 00:22:28.594 Some of you have a hard time sitting still. 00:22:28.594 --> 00:22:29.207 Is that right? 00:22:29.207 --> 00:22:33.535 That's not restful for you, that's okay. 00:22:33.535 --> 00:22:36.131 It just needs to be different. 00:22:36.131 --> 00:22:49.689 Some of you are so wired for doing things that a perfect day off for you would be yeah, I get to go to church and I worship, but this afternoon I'm going to ride about 80 miles on my bike and come back. 00:22:49.689 --> 00:22:55.953 Others of you, we just rather pile up and take a nap for about an hour or not. 00:22:55.953 --> 00:22:58.086 That's okay, that's not. 00:22:58.086 --> 00:23:02.434 You choose to do what works best for you. 00:23:02.434 --> 00:23:06.453 The deal is to step back and do something different. 00:23:06.453 --> 00:23:07.789 Why is this so important. 00:23:08.204 --> 00:23:33.710 God wired us with such a holistic sense that actually the experts, apart from the spiritual world the nutritionists, the physical experts, the psychologists say emotionally, if we don't take a step back and we reset the dial, sooner or later it's going to do bad things to us, and some of you have been there. 00:23:33.710 --> 00:23:50.848 The old phrase used to be burnout and basically that's the beginning of burnout to keep doing the same thing with unrelenting prediction, and then pretty soon, you don't realize it, but your tank, your emotional tank, is empty. 00:23:50.848 --> 00:24:01.392 The seventh day is intended to replace the level in your tank, because every time we're helping other people, we're dealing with other people, we're giving of ourselves. 00:24:01.392 --> 00:24:11.513 It gets depleted and if you don't pay attention to that at some point in time, there's this red line and if it goes, the level gets under that red line. 00:24:11.513 --> 00:24:13.357 Something's going to break. 00:24:13.357 --> 00:24:18.133 There's also the physical part of it. 00:24:18.285 --> 00:24:20.151 Your body just needs rest. 00:24:20.151 --> 00:24:23.853 We are built like the EKG model. 00:24:23.853 --> 00:24:27.769 You can go hard for a while, and that's a good thing. 00:24:27.769 --> 00:24:36.309 I like working hard for a while and feel like you get something done, you've been productive, you accomplished some tasks. 00:24:36.309 --> 00:24:39.549 That's an honorable thing. 00:24:39.549 --> 00:24:47.790 We can go hard for a while, but sooner or later the other side of that is what We've got to recover and that's what the seventh day is for. 00:24:47.790 --> 00:24:50.171 Emotionally it works that way. 00:24:50.171 --> 00:24:52.612 Physically it works that way. 00:24:52.612 --> 00:24:54.788 We need even that. 00:24:54.788 --> 00:24:58.732 For social, we need to hang around different people occasionally. 00:24:58.732 --> 00:25:05.666 We need to have time to catch up with people who live halfway across the country that we don't get to see anymore. 00:25:05.666 --> 00:25:10.517 Sundays, many times, are a great way to do that. 00:25:10.517 --> 00:25:21.432 We just don't need to get on that treadmill and continue to ignore what our minds and our spirits and our souls are telling us. 00:25:22.444 --> 00:25:30.130 I heard a lady one time that said she got on an escalator and she decided just for kicks, it's going up, she's wanting to come down. 00:25:30.130 --> 00:25:32.010 She said you ever do that as a kid. 00:25:32.010 --> 00:25:34.390 You get on it and you reverse it. 00:25:34.390 --> 00:25:41.130 And she said about the time I got on that escalator coming up and I was wanting to go down, I tripped and failed. 00:25:41.130 --> 00:25:45.575 And she said I failed for a full 30 minutes before I could get off of it. 00:25:45.575 --> 00:25:51.433 Some of y'all feel like and I've been there too I feel like, oh man, I tripped, but I can't get off of it. 00:25:51.433 --> 00:25:52.769 It just keeps coming. 00:25:52.769 --> 00:25:54.086 It keeps coming. 00:25:54.086 --> 00:25:59.392 So find what works for you. 00:25:59.644 --> 00:26:12.575 But here's the first deal my job on this day and my day really isn't this day either On my Sabbath day I need to glorify God first and foremost. 00:26:12.575 --> 00:26:16.472 I need to find what pleases God and do it. 00:26:16.472 --> 00:26:22.776 I need to take care of myself as best I can in those other areas that I've said. 00:26:22.776 --> 00:26:30.868 Some days that just means setting the dial and not just sitting there but exerting myself in something else. 00:26:30.868 --> 00:26:34.050 That's okay, that's okay. 00:26:34.050 --> 00:26:36.471 I'll give you a quick example. 00:26:36.471 --> 00:26:53.258 If I went home this afternoon between services and I get my lawnmower out and I mow my lawn, I don't think that God is going to doom me for doing that, but I'm not going to do it. 00:26:53.258 --> 00:27:01.250 You know what, I know me, and if I do that, that's going to lead to something else and that's going to lead to something else. 00:27:01.250 --> 00:27:04.050 And then the next thing I know guess what? 00:27:04.050 --> 00:27:08.313 Today will be just like any other day for me. 00:27:08.313 --> 00:27:31.747 So I've got to be smart enough to take a step back and distance myself from the routine that is not glorifying God and not replenishing my soul and body in all of those ways, because we do, needif you're going to be the only one that's going to take care of yourself. 00:27:31.747 --> 00:27:34.048 And that's what rest is. 00:27:34.048 --> 00:27:39.055 It can be a very active thing or it can be another thing. 00:27:39.055 --> 00:27:40.628 That was the construction. 00:27:40.865 --> 00:27:43.653 Some of y'all are old enough to remember the blue laws. 00:27:43.653 --> 00:27:48.811 Remember, those Sundays were very different once upon a time. 00:27:48.811 --> 00:27:54.778 We were coming back from somewhere yesterday and I just asked Sherry, my wife. 00:27:54.778 --> 00:27:56.643 I said you remember the blue laws? 00:27:56.643 --> 00:27:57.545 And she said, oh yeah. 00:27:57.545 --> 00:28:00.093 And I said what do you remember about the blue laws? 00:28:00.093 --> 00:28:08.034 And she said if you went to a grocery store on Sunday, they had this big old sheet of plastic down over the beer and the wine. 00:28:08.034 --> 00:28:10.191 You couldn't buy that on Sundays. 00:28:10.191 --> 00:28:16.727 And I'm like, man, you're kind of agitated tone of voice when you say that that bother you. 00:28:16.727 --> 00:28:19.394 But she's right. 00:28:19.394 --> 00:28:36.452 Those were, you know, a lot of times you gassed up on Saturday, because even the gas stations were closed on Sundays, right, it was intended, though, to be, and I got a little restrictive too, but it was intended to make sure there was a different day. 00:28:36.964 --> 00:28:38.490 Now, the bounce of that is. 00:28:38.490 --> 00:28:46.275 The good thing about that is, if you're a person who's working in one of those stores or businesses, it's nice to have a day off, isn't it? 00:28:46.275 --> 00:28:50.451 Chick-fil-a has gotten famous for the one day. 00:28:50.451 --> 00:28:56.290 They don't require people to work, right, and it doesn't appear that it's hurt their business too. 00:28:56.290 --> 00:28:57.334 Awful bad, does it? 00:28:57.334 --> 00:29:00.132 So there's a lesson to be learned. 00:29:00.132 --> 00:29:03.026 Oh, I'll tell you another one while I'm on that Way. 00:29:03.066 --> 00:29:17.740 Back when I was a seminary out in Texas, I passed her to a little church out on the plains two hours out, and everybody in my church was either a cattle rancher or a wheat farmer, and when wheat was ripe, you saw the picture of the grain when it came ripe. 00:29:17.740 --> 00:29:27.439 Man, you had to harvest it then, because if it got rained on, you could lose a whole year's income based on that. 00:29:27.439 --> 00:29:31.055 So they're in the fields combining 24-7. 00:29:31.055 --> 00:29:40.787 They'd go and shifts actually, they'd put lights on their combines and so some of my folks about 40% of my folks I wouldn't see for those two, two and a half weeks. 00:29:42.085 --> 00:29:44.012 And there was one fellow who was a deacon in our church. 00:29:44.012 --> 00:29:51.770 He was about almost 60 years old at that time and he had a general store right there in the middle of Elbert Texas. 00:29:51.770 --> 00:30:04.978 Now that was 50% of the commerce of Elbert Texas because there's only one other place, there's a little gas station, and he hadbut the general store sold implements and things that you needed for that season. 00:30:04.978 --> 00:30:07.573 And so of course he's going to have to open. 00:30:07.573 --> 00:30:11.173 He's going to have to be open seven days a week for those two or three weeks. 00:30:11.173 --> 00:30:13.207 And I expected that, I knew that. 00:30:13.964 --> 00:30:21.029 But my second summer there, as we started summer, I noticed after a week had been harvested and over he wasn't there. 00:30:21.029 --> 00:30:34.450 Come to find out he decided I'm going to stay open seven days a week because his business was so good for those two weekends prior to that and we talked about that. 00:30:34.450 --> 00:30:35.931 I said his name was Lindell. 00:30:35.931 --> 00:30:37.750 I said Lindell, you sure about that? 00:30:37.750 --> 00:30:40.150 You sure that's the right thing to do? 00:30:40.150 --> 00:30:43.353 And he said well, I know what you're saying. 00:30:43.353 --> 00:30:51.451 But he said I feel like I need to and I need to kind of make my money while I can and do all that to be all right. 00:30:51.451 --> 00:30:55.863 And so I missed him for about four or five months. 00:30:57.255 --> 00:31:00.864 And after four or five months, one Sunday, I look out and there he is. 00:31:00.864 --> 00:31:06.960 So after church I said, hey, lyndall, just take a day off, or did you get somebody to cover for you or something? 00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:07.782 It's good to see you. 00:31:07.782 --> 00:31:10.501 And he said I closed back up on Sundays. 00:31:10.501 --> 00:31:13.638 He said it was about to kill me. 00:31:13.638 --> 00:31:24.381 I'm run down physically, I'm tired, my wife's irritated at me, I don't ever see my grandkids. 00:31:24.381 --> 00:31:32.858 You know he gave me his list and his words were I just don't think it's worth it and he closed back up. 00:31:33.835 --> 00:31:42.194 So now the question is, all these, like 30 years later, did God honor Lyndall's obedience? 00:31:42.194 --> 00:31:48.307 Well, I had the awesome opportunity to go, like last April, almost a year ago. 00:31:48.307 --> 00:31:52.163 I took my two sons out there and we went back out there. 00:31:52.163 --> 00:31:58.105 We went back to Elbert, texas, and Lyndall and Lemireless manual are still alive. 00:31:58.105 --> 00:32:04.605 I looked them up, we went to their house and you know we sat down, had a great visit with them. 00:32:04.605 --> 00:32:08.003 And I said you're not still working, are you? 00:32:08.003 --> 00:32:11.160 And he said no, I'm not still working, I'm 90 years old. 00:32:11.160 --> 00:32:13.586 And I said, well, so when did you retire? 00:32:13.586 --> 00:32:14.688 And he said about three months ago. 00:32:14.688 --> 00:32:23.024 And you know, he looked about the same as he did 30 years ago. 00:32:23.024 --> 00:32:26.178 And I'm like, wow. 00:32:26.178 --> 00:32:28.082 I think God honors that. 00:32:28.082 --> 00:32:31.718 I'll make a bet with you. 00:32:31.718 --> 00:32:33.918 You honor God. 00:32:33.918 --> 00:32:40.905 You set aside Sundays, if you're awful in Sundays to be holy to Him. 00:32:40.905 --> 00:32:49.881 You honor Him by coming and worshiping, not just watching online if you're able to go to church, but going to church. 00:32:49.881 --> 00:32:58.343 Here's the bet I'll make with you You'll be better the other six days. 00:32:58.343 --> 00:33:02.759 You'll be better, you'll be more on your game. 00:33:02.759 --> 00:33:06.082 And that comes back to the definition of a disciple. 00:33:08.315 --> 00:33:16.559 It might not be a good, a bad idea to look at your schedule and create small behaviors that make habits. 00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:20.122 The habits make an automatic response. 00:33:20.122 --> 00:33:26.544 And so let's start with preparing for the Sabbath and then the work of the Sabbath. 00:33:26.544 --> 00:33:33.544 What would you do the night before the biggest interview of your life? 00:33:33.544 --> 00:33:39.878 You probably lay clothes out, wouldn't you Like? 00:33:39.878 --> 00:33:40.682 Where's my keys? 00:33:40.682 --> 00:33:44.345 I'll make sure I'm not looking for my keys tomorrow and my phone? 00:33:44.345 --> 00:33:48.423 I'm going to put that pop tart out where I can reach it really quick. 00:33:48.423 --> 00:33:52.284 I'm going to make sure you know I've got stuff in order. 00:33:52.284 --> 00:34:04.779 I don't want to be thinking, I don't want to be thinking about those small decisions, because I've got one thing on my mind as soon as I get up or take a flight, 6.15 in the morning, what are you doing the night before? 00:34:04.779 --> 00:34:08.741 You know it's not a bad idea on Saturday night to do some of that. 00:34:08.741 --> 00:34:15.824 We're on Saturday night to be all in for God on Sunday morning. 00:34:15.824 --> 00:34:19.421 That's a little habit like brushing your teeth. 00:34:19.421 --> 00:34:25.486 Then on Sunday morning you're not making the decision are we going to church or not? 00:34:25.486 --> 00:34:26.836 You just go. 00:34:28.634 --> 00:34:33.800 And some of y'all I'm going to sound right now for the next two minutes y'all I'm going to go ahead and apologize to you. 00:34:33.800 --> 00:34:38.824 I'm going to sound like that boomer that I am standing up on the platform. 00:34:38.824 --> 00:34:40.317 You know where. 00:34:40.317 --> 00:34:41.521 You just need to get over it. 00:34:41.521 --> 00:34:42.859 You just need to work harder. 00:34:42.859 --> 00:34:44.255 So here it goes. 00:34:44.255 --> 00:34:52.645 Back in verse 11, he says make every effort. 00:34:52.645 --> 00:34:55.199 That means make it the priority. 00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:56.803 The priority. 00:34:56.803 --> 00:35:04.305 There are times, y'all, we do something because it is the right thing to do. 00:35:04.305 --> 00:35:05.928 End of story. 00:35:05.928 --> 00:35:07.258 I'm sorry. 00:35:07.258 --> 00:35:13.865 There are times we do things now believing they will pay off later. 00:35:13.865 --> 00:35:16.138 And this is one of those. 00:35:16.914 --> 00:35:24.808 When I was a teenager, I grew up in a small country church and I was 50% of the youth group. 00:35:24.808 --> 00:35:43.678 There was one other teenager in the whole church I was, so that meant there was no youth group and the vast majority of the church was 65 and above and the whole day, the whole morning, was oriented toward about a 70-year-old and they were great people. 00:35:43.678 --> 00:35:51.958 But as a teenager, an immature teenager, I was struggling with that and I would try to beg off. 00:35:51.958 --> 00:35:56.715 And my dad was one of those of the greatest generation you can. 00:35:56.715 --> 00:35:57.536 Predictably. 00:35:57.536 --> 00:36:06.206 You know what his response was right, yeah, boy, as long as you live in this house, you're going to what? 00:36:06.206 --> 00:36:10.378 Go to church Y'all. 00:36:10.378 --> 00:36:13.346 I went to the junior prom and I had to go to church the next morning. 00:36:13.346 --> 00:36:17.322 I got in about 90 minutes before church started. 00:36:17.322 --> 00:36:23.061 But I knew, I knew the consequences of that. 00:36:23.061 --> 00:36:25.961 So to me that was a burden. 00:36:25.961 --> 00:36:29.384 There was no joy there, there was no get to. 00:36:29.384 --> 00:36:30.738 It was a have to. 00:36:30.738 --> 00:36:34.203 It was like let's get this over so I can get on. 00:36:34.203 --> 00:36:36.261 I would argue with my dad. 00:36:36.261 --> 00:36:37.920 He never moved on it. 00:36:38.034 --> 00:36:49.583 I tell you this story to tell you that a few years later I got married and we moved to another town for my job and we started looking for a church and we found one. 00:36:49.583 --> 00:36:53.123 And you know I never mentally thought about it much until later. 00:36:53.123 --> 00:37:02.361 But it was like here we've been here about six months and every Sunday morning we get up and we go to church and there's never a discussion about it. 00:37:02.361 --> 00:37:03.396 I wonder why. 00:37:03.396 --> 00:37:08.045 That is because we could do whatever we want to now, because it had become a habit. 00:37:08.045 --> 00:37:23.665 And then I started to appreciate my dad, because this boy needed the structure and this boy needed a consistent model of how you honor God now for benefits later. 00:37:23.665 --> 00:37:26.879 And can I tell you something else? 00:37:26.879 --> 00:37:34.625 It got really personal Because at one point every dog on Sunday I would go to that church. 00:37:34.754 --> 00:37:36.279 The pastor was talking to me. 00:37:36.279 --> 00:37:43.863 There wasn't anybody else in the room and I started writing down almost every word he said. 00:37:43.863 --> 00:37:50.542 I had no clue why, but something was going on in my heart. 00:37:50.542 --> 00:38:07.594 And about another two, three years later I end up walking down an aisle, like some of you have and some of you will, and I took that pastor's hand and I said I can't run from this anymore. 00:38:07.594 --> 00:38:09.579 God's calling me to be a pastor. 00:38:09.579 --> 00:38:24.385 But see, I can take no credit for being in position Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, for God's love and God's truth to get inside of me. 00:38:24.385 --> 00:38:29.102 I was just there and he did the rest. 00:38:31.654 --> 00:38:33.439 And so why don't we just challenge? 00:38:33.439 --> 00:38:35.343 Why don't you challenge yourself? 00:38:35.343 --> 00:38:36.386 And I challenge myself. 00:38:36.386 --> 00:38:38.560 I'm going to be a better disciple. 00:38:38.560 --> 00:38:42.843 I'm going to be a measurably better disciple. 00:38:42.843 --> 00:38:51.022