 The sermon this morning is honor the son honor the son and we've come to John chapter 5 We're working through this glorious chapter in John's gospel And we've come to verse 16 now on the heels of the healing of the lame paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem And we came to recognize from last week as we worked through that passage the opening 15 verses that this account in the first 15 verses of chapter 5 did just happen by accident It wasn't just something that happened per chance that the Lord directed this account to happen God in his providence brought it about now you think about that for a moment for what purpose for what reason God brought it about for a reason Here's an encounter in chapter 5 verses 1 through 15 where the Lord Jesus Christ Heals a paralyzed man on the Sabbath. He heals a paralyzed man on the Sabbath Contradicting all of those who say that the gospel of John doesn't teach repentance Jesus then goes to him and says sin no more. That's repentance a Sin no more. That's the worst thing to come upon you And so he tells this lame man who he just healed and then what does that lame man do? What does the healed man do he goes off and tells the Pharisees turning Jesus Christ over to his enemies turning Jesus Christ over to the Jewish opposition so now our text today begins in verse 16 and Begins with these words for this reason for this reason the Jewish opposition Persecuted Christ and then sought to kill him for what reason exactly do they do that? Well, they did that because he had done these things the Bible says on the Sabbath Now what are the specific things that these things that the Bible is referring to one? He told a man to pick up his mat basically telling him to carry a burden on the Sabbath So he considered that'll work The next thing that he did was that Jesus himself also worked on the Sabbath when Jesus healed The lame man so he himself worked He told someone else to work and the Pharisees are uptight about that so now There are many different ways that this could have been taken care of many different ways that the Lord could have approached this He could have one he could have corrected. They're just unbiblical application of the law They're unbiblical idea of what the Sabbath is all about their unbiblical laws and rules and regulations that they had added But he didn't do that and that's sort of where we come to the purpose of our account here The purpose for the way that the Lord directed this encounter He chose to use this encounter chose to use the lame man that was healed and now the the discussion that follows from verse 16 all the way Through verse 47 he uses this as an opportunity for him to reveal something about himself to us Now that goes hand-in-hand remember with the purpose for John's writing John says that he wrote in chapter 20 verse 31 Says that he wrote the gospel of John that we might believe that he is the Christ the Son of God and that Believing we might have life in his name so the purpose now for which Jesus Christ enters into this encounter with the Pharisees is For the purpose of revealing something about himself and that we're going to see today is that we should honor the Son and honor the Son for many reasons This section of scripture that we're now concerned with is one long monologue of the Lord Jesus Christ It's one of the more glorious Discourses of the Lord Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament and we're gonna get a lot from these verses They are power-packed with revelation of who Jesus Christ is This one runs from verse 16 like I said all the way through 47 and we're gonna take it one chunk at a time Okay, and then in the the next several weeks and in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ himself We're gonna learn glorious truths about what he is who he is what he's done So we're looking forward to this passage of scripture as we get into our text today We're gonna see three Primary reasons that we should honor the son those words honor the son that exhortation that command comes from the end of our Section in verse 23. There are three primary reasons that we should honor the son one We should honor the son because he is Lord of the Sabbath He is Lord of the Sabbath. He is certainly Lord over you and I in every possible way But he is Lord of the Sabbath to He is equal with God many ways that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to reveal that here and that is Very important and it's certainly not missed on the part of the Pharisees They know what he's saying make no doubt about it. He is equal with God and then thirdly He is God the son. He is God the son. This is a a Glorious picture of the deity of Christ. It's a glorious picture of the equality of the Lord Jesus Christ with the father It's a glorious picture of the trinity and the work of the trinity and redemption It's just a glorious Passage of Scripture. I'm looking forward to getting into it. So let's take a look at point one on your notes He is Lord of the Sabbath We're in John chapter 5 verse 16 where the Bible says For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because he had done these things on the Sabbath But Jesus answered them and said my father has been working until now and I have been working So again verse 16 begins for this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him why? Because he had done these things on the Sabbath and what are the these things he's talking about at a basic level The these things are that he violated Their man-made rules About working on the Sabbath the taking up of the map, right? The healing of the lame man were works that were done on a Sabbath in violation of God's rules No of their man-made hypocritical false religious rules And then he in him breaking the Sabbath. He let someone else to do the same thing and this guy picking up his mat and carrying it Underlying that put that in context for a moment and think about it underlying that is a lot of context and it's a lot of disdain and disregard for them for the Pharisees That's the way they viewed it when the Lord did this he is in a sense taking control out of their hands He's thumbing his nose at the Authorities in the temple he's spinning in their face so to speak and their rules regarding the Sabbath They saw themselves as in control and hear this rebel comes along now and challenges their authority Not only does he challenge their authority, but he does it in the sight of the people and so they feel threatened They feel intimidated they feel defensive and they are of course self righteous hypocrites themselves So how do they result? How do they react? They lash out of the Lord Jesus Christ persecutive and seek to kill him Jesus has been a thorn in their side by this point a thorn in their side for quite some time This is no mere disagreement. We can't look at it like just a disagreement They see him as a threat They see him as a threat to their authority, but also a threat to their entire religious system He at the point at the very heart of their religion so to speak. He's challenging them and pressing them about their authority He's been baptizing and we know from his baptism that he's been baptizing more than John the Baptist did and that People are coming out to follow him. They're following him around During Passover week here. Just a couple of chapters back. He cleared the temple Showing extreme power showing his extreme authority in the face of their false religion and clearing out the temple all by himself The verbs here even in the Greek if you look at the original language Mean that they had an immediate reaction to what he's done and then after the their immediate reaction They continued they persevered if you will in their hostility toward him and in their plots to kill him Eventually that's going to lead to his obviously his persecution and ultimately to his crucifixion This shows you in this particular encounter in this context the insane hostility of Self-righteous people when they're confronted in their sin and in their hypocrisy. It's basically what the Lord is doing here He's confronting them in their sin and in their hypocrisy and they react with Hostility they don't have the truth They got the word of God the Old Testament in their hands and yet they don't understand the truth and even without the truth That doesn't stop them from running off and cohorting with their other Pharisees and persecuting and plotting to kill the Lord So those words for this reason beginning of verse 16 are loaded with context, right? We've seen some of that context as we work through the Gospel of John Combine that thought for a moment With the idea that this encounter didn't happen by accident. We've stated that combine that with the fact that Jesus caused in his providence caused this encounter to come apart to come about and by purposefully Encountering the lame man seeking him out and then healing him on the Sabbath He could have healed him on a Friday, right? He'll them on a Sunday But he chose to heal him on the Sabbath for this purpose He chose to begin this conflict in that you see the boldness of the Lord, right? You see the boldness the power the authority of the Lord in standing up to their so-called authority, right? with real Authority taking a stand for righteousness and like I said he goes right at the heart of their system Right at the heart of their false religion right at the heart of their self-righteous hypocrisy He goes to one of the most important of their religious observances the Sabbath observance the people Were astonished with Christ the Bible says they were astonished with his teaching because he spoke as one having authority But here he's not just speaking with authority. He's acting with authority He in his person and the way that he is Conducting this is acting with tremendous authority. It would be wise for them to heed that which they don't do And he's here in the face of temper tantrum throwing hypocritical Pharisees, right? Demonstrating again that all authority belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ Now had the Lord Jesus Christ broken their laws on the Sabbath Yes, he broke their laws on the Sabbath had he broke God's laws No, in fact, we see from scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath We see that here in how the Lord responds We see this throughout scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath I don't want to show you another place and do a little comparison in contrast with you turn with me to Matthew Matthew chapter 12 The Lord Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath They presumed in the way that they applied their rules and regulations They presume that they themselves the Pharisees were Lords of the Sabbath in the burdens and in the regulations They placed upon people and the Lord Jesus Christ has to come through and correct that here in Matthew 12 He corrects it one way John chapter 5 corrects it another way, but the truth is is that? The Lord is Lord over the Sabbath Matthew chapter 12 and look at beginning at verse beginning at verse 1 Now again here in Matthew chapter 12 Jesus is making a point on the Sabbath, and if you'll notice Jesus does that often. It's a pretty common occurrence He makes it a pattern to challenge these self-righteous Pharisees on the Sabbath. He's always jumping up and down on that one nerve right pressing that one hot button And he does it here again Matthew chapter 12 look at verse 1 It says at that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath and his disciples were hungry and Began to pluck heads of grain to eat so now walking through the grainfield Plucking heads of wheat to eat were they breaking God's law concerning the Sabbath No, they weren't breaking God's law. They were breaking the Pharisees law They weren't breaking God's law the law said an exit is 34 That's where that's introduced the law said an exit is 34 that you weren't to reap on the Sabbath You sure weren't to bring in the harvest you'd wait till Sunday to do that wait till money to do that But don't do that on the Sabbath However as in it is common in scripture that the rabbis come along and Load that up with all their man-made traditions and all their man-made rules and regulations So the rabbis came in and said if you're walking through the grainfield and you pluck a Head of wheat off a stalk to eat that to rub it between your hands to separate the wheat from the chaff is threshing And then to separate the chaff over so that you could eat it. It's called winnowing So they're bringing in the harvest that was the rabbinical law attached to this particular understanding of scripture Crazy right again false religion man-made rules and regulations It's interesting that using this very example that God in his word with much grace with much mercy much Compassion made allowance in Deuteronomy 23 For Jesus and the disciples to do this very thing that someone could pass through the grainfields Pluck heads of wheat and eat them when they were hungry and the Lord said they weren't to fill all their baskets Right from somebody else's field But the Lord made in his grace and his mercy made provision for them to do this very thing that the Pharisees then in their wicked legalism in their false religion took away with their rules and regulations You see that so look at verse 2 now Here come the Pharisees right when the Pharisees saw it. They said to him look you're just you know It makes me think what were the Pharisees doing out there? You're you're like you're on the highway right and you're you're following the speed limit and there goes the police officer right by you right Is it what were these guys doing in the they were probably doing the same thing? They're out there eating they come along the fair the Pharisees said to them look your disciples are doing What's not lawful to do on the Sabbath? one of the the the terrible Despicable disgusting joyless heartless effects of the heresy of legalism is That you go you go beyond God in Calling something sin that God himself has not called sin and you rob someone of their joy You play the judge over them Many you'll hear that around this time of year. You know, it's a sin for you to observe that holiday People say that is that in God's word? Or they'll say it's a sin for you to watch that movie Or to eat that food or to do this that or the other thing and they go farther than God does in Condemning someone in sin where the Lord God Almighty has not called it sin I've got to be really really really careful not to fall into either of the two ditches of either legalism or licentiousness Be careful not to judge your brother. We have Christian liberty and it's According to our understanding of the word of God with our informed conscience that we have to make decisions about those things We have to avoid legalism have to avoid licentiousness It's interesting here that beyond verse 2 into verse 3 that now the Lord Jesus Christ gives us three examples of How the Sabbath was made for God's glory and for man's good and gives us three examples of how this is for man Let's in the verse 3 But he said to them Jesus responded to their hypocrisy responded to their legalism by saying to them Have you not read what David did when he was hungry? Now, this is a tremendous insult to them He was mocking the Pharisees the Pharisees knew their old testaments They had memorized large chunks of it knew it very well studied for lifetimes, right? So this is very sarcastic they consider themselves experts in the scriptures But Jesus said to them have you not read what David did when he was hungry? He and those who were with him verse 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the show bread Which was not lawful for him to eat now. Is this a real law in God's word? Yes, he goes from a hypocritical Manmade false law that the Pharisees had come up with to now bringing up what is an actual law in God's word David wasn't to go through and eat the show bread the show bread was for the priests Not for anyone else and so David having been hungry with he and his men went into the priests at that time Which who was a Himalek and Himalek gave them the show bread to eat to satisfy their hunger They were in a desperate situation if you know that passage of scripture He says how he entered the house of God verse 4 ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat Nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests. This would be considered an act of necessity His men were hungry They were being chased and a Himalek the priest gave him the show bread It's interesting in that passage of scripture that God neither Condemns or deals with it in any way a Himalek or David for that encounter God was merciful God was compassionate God showed great grace to David and those men in this act of necessity to take care of their hunger But then it goes beyond that look at verse 5 or have you not read again sarcastic, right? Have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless? So here he brings up one an act of necessity feeding David and his men the show bread Secondly service to God the priests in the temple work and serve the Lord I'm working there are many people here that work that we work all day on on Sunday the Lord's Day work serving the Lord many of you work serving the Lord when you go home to prepare a fellowship meal What a beautiful blessing right fellowship with God's people is so someone's working to prepare a fellowship to set the house To set the table we do that as a as an act of service to the Lord in caring for and loving God's people, right? Here this is an example of this in the scripture look at verse 6 Jesus says yet I say to you that in this place there is one greater than the temple I gotta put that in perspective the the Jewish people at the time thought that there was nothing That was greater than the temple than God himself So for Jesus to make this statement It's a tremendous a profound statement of his deity Jesus is saying that one who is greater than the temple standing here before you He's calling himself equal again with God, and they didn't miss that. This is a statement of his deity, right? So verse 7 So this is the person who is now confronting them who's confronting them in their hypocrisy confronting them in their ignorance This is one greater than the temple who in verse 7 says but if you had known what this means I desire mercy and not sacrifice you would not have condemned the guiltless again He points them back again to the word of God to the word of God to the word of God to the word of God these Pharisees who had Been studying the word of God who thought themselves to be experts in the word of God That's that's an exhortation to you, and I also isn't it got to constantly stay meticulously faithful to the word of God and you the analogy of the faith allows scripture to interpret scripture you work yourself through The word of God since you understand it and how to apply it these Pharisees just miss the boat in its application all together Because of their pride because of their false religion because of their hypocrisy Twisting the scriptures going beyond God Loveless heartless Joyless religion where all the time in this very Example in Matthew chapter 12 we see God in accord with his nature and accord with his character being merciful Being compassionate being loving. It's just tremendous grace on the part of God in the Sabbath That's what we want to talk about more today we see here Acts of mercy acts of compassion are to be expected on the Sabbath and the Pharisees here again in their legalism Condemning those who are not in sin. That's the the MO of the legalist right gonna find sin in you in the way that you're living Rob you of your joy and your freedom in Christ God here Goes in accord with his nature and provides mercy and compassion Merciful to man with here the backdrop being the Sabbath, but then the Lord in verse 8 Expresses the authority that he has again to teach such things verse 8 for the son of man is a Lord Even of the Sabbath and again son of man a claim to his deity, right? So back in John chapter 5 Back in John chapter 5 the Lord Jesus Christ and John chapter 5 Could have handled this encounter with the Pharisees about the Sabbath in the same way He could have used it as an opportunity to instruct them an opportunity to call out their error To explain to them why it wasn't sin to carry your mat on the Sabbath He could have gone through and instructed them, but he chose to do it a different way Instead he sets about making the point in John chapter 5 That he is the Lord of the Sabbath in a different way and the way that he explains this and expresses it Is that he is Lord of the Sabbath because he himself is God in the flesh He himself is equal to God in every sense the sense that he works when God works He has the power of life over death in fact God has Committed all judgment into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is sovereign Jesus Christ is Powerful as God is powerful. He sets off to explain this fact He is Lord of the Sabbath because he is equal with God We're gonna see that as we work through this paragraph. It's an awesome paragraph of scripture Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God now The fact that he is Lord of the Sabbath He makes this statement in John chapter 5 verse 17 that is tremendously shocking in fact It's one shocking statement with several very shocking components verse 17 says Jesus answered them and said my father has been working until now and I have been working that is a loaded loaded statement One component is this Jesus calls God my father That truth wasn't missed by the Pharisees They knew exactly what he was saying and again It's one of those things that caused them to persecute him and eventually led to his crucifixion It was for the sin of blasphemy that the Pharisees charged him and that came from statements just like this But next Jesus also says that both he and his father have been working It's yet another statement in one phrase here What he's just really poking them in the eye in one phrase He makes another statement of equality that he and his father are both working meaning that they're working in the same fashion again a statement of equality and then lastly that work that they're both doing is Implied here is going on in the Sabbath until now And so the work that's been happening the work that he's equal to the father in all that work has been going on Every Sabbath Sabbath in and Sabbath out now until this very point and it continues today That brings up an interesting fact And it's something to think about it's something the Pharisees had to think about let's think about it together too Considering the Jewish laws about working on the Sabbath and Considering the fact that God the father in the same way that Jesus Christ is now in this encounter working on the Sabbath Does that mean that God the father is a Sabbath breaker? It's interesting Interesting because God obviously doesn't break any of his laws. God is perfectly in tune with his own character Interesting to consider that with the Pharisees and their man-made religious traditions that they had to find a way around God breaking their man-made rules too Yeah, we can't have a Sabbath breaking God who breaks all our man-made traditions about the Sabbath Hebrews 1 says that God Lord Jesus Christ upholds all things by the word of his power So from the time of creation until now God the Lord Jesus Christ has been sustaining all things by the word of the word of his power Not a single straight molecule out of place in the entire universe Because of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ if the Lord Jesus Christ or God stopped Sustaining all things by the word of his power. He just took a breath for a moment. We would all cease to exist The Lord sustains everything in its existence by the word of his power So does that mean then that God is a Sabbath breaker? No The Pharisees couldn't have a God though that went around breaking their man-made laws So they figured out innovative ways around this one of the ways that they did it was to say this Think about this since God is omnipresent, right since he's everywhere at once He inhabits the entire universe and so it's not possible then for God to carry a burden from one place to another Ridiculous, so they actually came about with a way out and understanding that God wasn't a breaker of their Sabbath laws because he's omnipresent. He can't carry a burden. So he gets around our legalistic laws God is higher than anyone else anything else. And so God could never lift a burden Higher than himself. So he didn't break that law either It's crazy The rabbis had dealt with this one idea from this statement that the father had been working But what they didn't get what they hadn't dealt with now is the fact that Jesus Christ trying to make himself equal with God They hadn't dealt with him and they hadn't dealt with his claim now that he's working in the same way that the father is working They hadn't dealt with that. They had a major problem with that and we're gonna deal with that as we walk through the passage So let's take a look at the Sabbath now and what the Sabbath issue is and let's praise the Lord Right that we can honor the son the Lord of the Sabbath and that we don't have Sabbath police like these Pharisees over us, right? Go with me to Genesis chapter one. Let's take a look at the issue of the Sabbath Genesis chapter one This is good for us to take some time and understand We'll do that in a cursory way today and get into more depth on this later But important for us in this context To understand what is the right way to view the Sabbath? How did the Lord view the Sabbath? What's the Sabbath for? Look at Genesis chapter one The Bible says in verse 31 here that after God had created everything, right? God has finished completed his work of creation and so Genesis chapter one verse 31 says this Then God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very good got to join his creation Amen, everything was very good Then he says so the evening and the morning were the sixth day, but I go into chapter 2 verse 1 here Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished and On the seventh day the Sabbath, right? God ended his work What work in it is work of creation so the first six days those are six literal days is God Omnipotent able to create all things that we know and see in six literal days Yes, again by the same word of his power. Why argue with scripture the Lord can do this amen The Bible says it so believe it the Lord created the heavens and the earth in six days and on the seventh He rested from all his work which he had done verse 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and he sanctified it in other words He set it apart he set it apart from the other six days that he was creating in so he set apart He sanctified the seventh day Because in it he said there he rested from all his work which God had created and made So here in Genesis chapter 2 We see instituted in the form of an ordinance here a Sabbath rest Not that God stopped working did he stop working then no he goes on sustaining right and now today praise God He's working in redemption to draw in his elect here He sets forth he finishes his work of creation and he sets forth an ordinance for a Sabbath rest He took joy in his creation He took pleasure in what he had done in creating everything that we know and see He took joy he took pleasure in that so he took that Sabbath rest as Enjoyment as fulfillment in what God had done his pleasure God rested on the seventh day in the scent in the sense that he stopped his work to enjoy it God rested to take pleasure in creation, but didn't stop working now Again, he sustains all things not a stray molecule in the universe He works in history to direct the affairs of men right to execute his decrees Even now God the father God the son God the Holy Spirit works in redemption to secure redemption for his own That's also the sense in which Jesus in John chapter 5 verse 17 says that he works until now But notice something else interesting here at the end of the seventh day There's no completion given or clothes given to the day look at Genesis chapter 1. Let me just draw your attention to something Down in verse 8 Look at what the Lord says there and God called the firmament heaven And then he completes the day so the evening in the morning were the second day Look down at verse 13 On 11 God said let the earth bring forth grass the herb that yield seed and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its Kind down in verse 13. So the evening and the morning were the third day. See a close there you drop down to verse 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth to rule over the day over the night to Divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good verse 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day verse 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day, right? So you see the pattern but now we don't see that in Genesis chapter 2 Regarding the seventh day Doesn't close it out. It's not a completed. So the morning of the evening or the evening in the morning were the seventh day it's interesting that This Sabbath rest points forward It points forward to the eternal Rest that every believer will enjoy in the Lord As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're gonna go to heaven praise the Lord We're gonna end enter into the eternal rest of the father We see the Sabbath or we see God's rest referred to often in scripture as a rest You remember the Israelites in the wilderness how God was angry with them. So in his wrath He swore they would never enter his rest, right? Hebrews chapter 3 therefore since the promise remains of entering his rest Let us take he that no one falls short of it. This is speaking of an eternal rest It's pointing forward to an eternal rest that we're gonna have by virtue of the Lord Jesus Christ You've turned from your sin. You put your faith and trust in him You'll one day enter into a glorious eternal rest of the Lord. It's why there's work now Right when the Lord Jesus Christ said just as my father is working. I also am working Well, listen, just as our father in heaven is working just as the Lord Jesus Christ is working You and I need to be about the work of the Lord We need to be working. There's a time coming for rest now. It's not that time now It's a time to serve the Lord work for the Lord serve the Lord But in a picture of this rest of the Lord institutes here in Genesis we're going to glorify God Enjoy God take pleasure in God for all of eternity. What's the chief end of man according to our catechism? That's right glorify God the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever That's what our eternal rest is gonna be about That's the the purpose for which we are created to enjoy God to glorify God and enjoy him forever to worship him For all eternity to take joy our complete and total and utter Complete and utter and complete satisfaction being completely and utterly in God. It's just an awesome thought free from sin It's gonna be glorious Here this rest points forward. It is a foretaste if you will of that rest That's the reason that God instituted the Sabbath for man not man for the Sabbath But the Sabbath for man were to enjoy God take pleasure in God meditate on God take delight in him and look Forward to our eternal rest in him. What a blessing that will be believers are commanded then in light of this to set apart Set apart from the other six days of the week to set apart a Lord's Day observance arrest By which it is a foretaste of glory divine by which we are to enjoy the Lord take pleasure in him alone Delight ourselves in him alone and worship him that one day a week that is sanctified set apart to him We enjoy God fully apart from the work that we do the other six days enjoy him fully on that day. There's This is one if you think about it now one of several reasons why the Sabbath did not Go away when Christ came and fulfilled the other ceremonial laws. There are those that think that There's no such thing as a Sabbath observance today Because the Sabbath was a ceremonial law in the Old Testament that went away in Christ If you think about it the ceremonies were fulfilled in Christ, right? When someone would go and they would sacrifice a lamb in the temple that was a ceremony that pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ Passover pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ these festivals In many case their rituals the things that they did Pointed they were types and shadows that pointed to their ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ But here the Sabbath is a part of the moral law of God one of the ten commandments the fourth commandment and the Sabbath Didn't point to ultimate fulfillment in Christ the Sabbath rest points beyond Christ into the eternal state it will enter into by virtue of Christ, but it points to our eternal rest with God That's why the Sabbath wasn't done away with it doesn't it's not fulfilled the Sabbath wasn't fulfilled in that sense in Christ The Sabbath points to our eternal rest and so it's still pointing that direction today When we talk about coming to church fellowshiping with the brothers and sisters hearing the word of God preached if you're a genuine Christian You delight in those things you take joy in them your Affections are set on the Lord. You love God's people. You love his word. So these things aren't burdensome They're just pointing you forward to look forward to what we're gonna have in heaven and That Sabbath that Christian Sabbath that we now enjoy is a foretaste of that. It's pointing. It's still today Pointing forward. Can you feel it? Right? I mean we come together. We enjoy our worship together and and I think to myself What's that gonna be like in heaven? I mean I love our singing. I love our fellowship But can you imagine the the heavenly choir? I'll be singing with a sanctified voice somebody can stand next to me and not get annoyed You're gonna be awesome, you know So I wish to look forward to that it didn't go away Didn't go away. This points forward. It still points forward. It's gonna be fulfilled one day We look forward to that. We need to take warning from Hebrews though It's chapter 4 verse 1 that says therefore since the promise remains of entering his rest Let us fear Lest any of you seem to have come short of it If you if you enjoy the Lord on the Lord's Day take pleasure in him you to take delight in the things of God You think about how glorious it is to worship him how much you Want to be pleasing in a sight free from sin How much you just want to worship him right in a way that is Befitting him that is worthy of him all those glorious thoughts And take heed to yourself and to your doctrine Fear lest you come short of that ultimate rest This life is a vapor is passing away serve the Lord make good decisions Prioritize the Lord especially on the Lord's Day Delight in him serve him your time is short the rest is coming So you don't you see the tape right across the finish line. You don't back off and slow down you press into it The people of God take heaven by force The press into it don't fall short This is a picture of the Sabbath this Glorious blessing this glorious mercy grace compassion of the Lord Can you see how the Pharisees just wickedly perverted and corrupted this right? How wicked that is this is a glorious promise. It is a mercy of God. It is a compassion It is a grace of God. It's the love of God toward us that he gives us one day of rest Per week sanctified from the others whereby we just enjoy him It's to be that way Mark says in his gospel in chapter 2 that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath Do you see that made for man any approach to the Sabbath any approach to the Sabbath that results in Undue burden any approach to the Sabbath that ladens on all the laws and rules and regulations Misses the point altogether You know, let me ask you are there commands for us related to the Sabbath from scripture? Yes, are those commands burdensome? No, and the reason that they're there is so that we can experience the joy That the Lord intends for us on his day so that we can experience the Pleasure and joy that we have in delighting in him the Lord wants that for us. I get excited when Someone new comes our church. I Know beyond a shadow of a doubt what a tremendous blessing this church has been in my life The blessing that it's been to my family my marriage my kids This is such a grace of God and so when someone new comes through I'm like Yeah It's gonna be a blessing to you too, buddy. You just hang in there It's just it's a joy, right? That's what the Lord wants for us from the Sabbath from our worship of him is that kind of enjoyment He's like in love and compassion and grace toward us his people He wants that joy that pleasure that enjoyment for us in him the chief Object of our delight the only one that we can be fully satisfied in is the Lord and so he wants that for us That's the reason for those commands It's the reason that those commands are burdensome These are designed to lead us into the joy of focusing on him go with me very quickly Actually, just listen to it. Just listen to it. This is Exodus chapter 20 Verse 8 this is the moral law of God, which has not gone away and the Sabbath being one of those moral laws It says listen to this from the Ten Commandments. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Six days you shall labor and do all your work But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God in it. You shall do no work You nor your son or your daughter nor your male servant or your female servant or your cattle nor your stranger Who's within your gates? For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth to see and all that is in them and Rested on the seventh day therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it And up comes the legalists Non-Christian hypocritical self-righteous whatever they are and say oh God to keep the Sabbath Can't do a football games on it feel guilty when I want to football game. I mean it's just It's not the heart that God intended with the observance of this day. It's not what the Lord intends in his word This is a part of the moral law of God like I said James says Whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point of it is a violator is a breaker. He's guilty of all This is the part of the moral law of God. Is this intended to be burdensome? No We need to remind ourselves of that go to Isaiah chapter 58 Isaiah chapter 58 Just look at the mercy and grace of God in this Isaiah chapter 58 look down at verse 13 Isaiah chapter 58 verse 13. There's an admonition to us in this There's a warning here. There are commands. Are you in sin for breaking commands? Yes, that's sin to break a command of the Lord Again in all of the commands of God We see the same kind of blessing the same kind of hope the same kind of heart of God for our good That's all the command and sometimes in our flesh. We have such a wicked view of the commands of God Let me ask you this. Is it legalism to uphold God's standard for holiness? Never right. Amen. Never. Is it legalistic to uphold man's standard? Yeah, those things outside of scripture, of course Here in Isaiah 58 listen to the words of this in verse 13 If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath now listen, this is a warning if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath from doing your pleasure on my holy day and Call the Sabbath a delight the holy day of the Lord honorable and shall honor him not doing your own ways nor finding your own pleasure Nor speaking your own words, then there's a blessing attached in verse 14. Let's look at verse 13 for a moment. It's pretty straightforward, right? Don't turn your foot away from observing the Sabbath We have a Christian Sabbath the Lord's Day Sunday since the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ The church has always met on the Lord's Day on Sunday to worship the Lord. It is the Christian Sabbath Here don't turn away yourself from observing it Don't take liberties in other words to do whatever you please Don't take liberties to do your own pleasure It's to be a delight Not only to reckon it as a delight to call it a delight to make it your delight were to delight in it It's a holy day separated from any common use As soon as anything that was sanctified was used for anything common. It was defiled. It was unclean Here. This is a holy day sanctified set apart. It is to be restricted from any Common use it is to be devoted to the Lord our God He says Honor the Lord don't find your own pleasure Honor him. Don't do your own things honor him. Don't speak your own words honor him So how would you define your own pleasure? How would that look like in your own life? You've got to define that To define it for you would be legalism You've got to define that from the word of God inform your conscience Make sure your conscience is well informed from the word of God and then between you and the Lord examine yourself and Define it. How would you define your own pleasure? Does that involve certain types of recreation? Does it involve certain types of entertainment TV movies your own pleasure does it involve sports? What is it that defines your own pleasure the Lord says don't do it Don't do your own pleasure. Don't find your own pleasure delight in him Is that legalistic? No, Isaiah 58 is not legalistic But that's what it says That's the intent of the Lord for Sabbath observance Don't find your own. So what are your own ways? I just want to you know sit on my couch Watch the game and eat my chips and not go to the Sunday evening service. I Mean you define that for yourself. What does it mean to not do your own pleasure? What about your own words? How about God's words? God's words are being preached here on Sunday night You have the other six days of the week to inundate yourself with worldly pleasures But God says on that day set it apart to me Look at the reward from verse 14 if you do this listen if you do this and again This is God's heart toward this day to bless you to love you to be merciful to you for you to delight in him This is for your good verse 14 the reward one then you shall delight yourself in the Lord Lord is gonna cause you to delight in him by Delighting in him. It's an amazing truth of the word of God to I'm gonna cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth Great honor great strength great security. That's just security strength honor in the Lord Three feed you with a heritage of Jacob your father. That's the blessings of the covenant the blessings of the covenant God is gonna dwell us with his spirit cause us to walk in his statutes He's gonna be our God. We're gonna be his people And this says the mouth of the Lord has spoken. This is a promise a promise What's the reward of observing this day as holy that we're gonna delight in it delight in him that? He God will be the the object of our Meditations the object of our thoughts the object of our speech the object of our affections the object of our joy The object of our pleasure the object of our hope the object of our faith all that on the on the Lord's day the object of our ultimate delight That's what the Lord wants for us Think about this get this The more delight that we take in serving the Lord the more delight that we'll find in it there several here That are not delighting in the work of the Lord. You know how I know you're not delighting in the work of the Lord Because you're not doing the work of the Lord But the Lord says this is a truth from Scripture take delight in the work of the Lord and you're gonna delight in it Lord's gonna make sure that it's a blessing the more delight you take in serving the Lord the more delight You're gonna find in it so get out there and serve the Lord delight if you're a Christian That's what we're here to do. We're here to serve the Lord There's a work. There's a mission the Lord has given us to do. Let's get out there and do it You know one commentator said if we go about duty with cheerfulness We shall go from it with satisfaction and shall have reason to say it is good to be here good to draw near to God I can't tell you any time ever that I did the work of the Lord and Be grudge doing it or wasn't satisfied in it the Lord always blesses in that way Get about serving the Lord and you're gonna find delight in it We're to devote all our attention to God and his blessings on this day. What's the purpose of all this? Again the purpose that we should glorify God and enjoy him forever that we should honor The son who is the Lord of the Sabbath. It's for man's spiritual refreshment. It's for hope in our future rest It's for man's joy. It's for man's delight for man's good and yet for all that many don't honor the Lord's day Maybe a reason that because it says in verse 14 that we'll have great security great honor great strength and Second reward there that we'll have the blessings of the covenant that will delight ourselves in the Lord maybe that Because you may have your priorities mixed up that you aren't delighting in the Lord that you don't feel strong You don't you're not running on the high heels with God on the high hills with God not running in strength You're not delighting Because you're not honoring the Lord on his day not honoring the Lord on the other six days You know, especially not on the day that he's purposely said to set aside to honor him Maybe the reason that you're weak You need to rearrange your priorities Rethink what you're doing Rethink how you're serving the Lord and the attitude with which you serve him rethink it Is this legalism? No, this is the very opposite it couldn't be more opposite than a workspace religion Lord is saying don't work delight in me Right, it's the opposite of legalism. It's not to earn God's favor It's to enjoy God's favor to be blessed by God's favor and God's gonna teach us to enjoy it through obedience to it So back in John chapter 5 the Lord is Lord over creation. We saw that in John chapter 1 He's Lord over life. We saw that in John chapter 1 He's Lord over all manner of diseases all manner of ailments and maladies and All manner of health problems. The Lord is Lord over the hearts of men. We saw that in John chapter 2 Lord is Lord over the temple. We saw that in chapter 2 when he cleanses out the temple He's Lord over worship and now we see that he is Lord over the Sabbath We should delight in him verse 17 says but Jesus answered them My father's been working until now and I've been working. So while we enjoy the Lord Resting from our labor so to speak He continues his work in redemption and just as he's working we while we're here need to be working Verse 18 says therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath But also said that God was his father making himself equal with God never any doubt of that in the Jewish mind They believed that he was claiming to be God not only did they you know in other words somebody walks up to you and says hey I'm God Crazy and you just keep going your other but if somebody comes up doing miracles performing miracles attesting From scripture, you know and claiming to be God Claim has some credibility here. They know it. That's why they're persecuting him for the claim never any doubt They saw here that he claimed to be equal with God They had already made the decision he wasn't the Messiah and so they decided that they were gonna persecute him They were in a plot to kill him He wasn't just a good man if he's a good man claiming to be God. He's insane. He's crazy He's deceived and deceiving, but if he's not if he's just a man, he's not God then he's crazy He's a lunatic but here he claims to be God and he backs it up That means you and I have a choice if you're here today. You're not a believer You have a choice to make this is God in the flesh He claims to be God and he backs it up You need to make the choice to repent of your sins Put your faith and trust in him and follow him because he is Lord of the Sabbath. He is equal with God He is God in the flesh But Christian it also puts us in the position of making a choice Submit to him as Lord in every area of your life turn from sin Don't fall short of entering his rest. Think about your life. Think about your priorities start today Start today. What is the rest of your day gonna look like? Inform your conscience from the word of God. What is the rest of your day going to look like? What are you gonna do and then make those choices on Monday and on Tuesday and then on Wednesday and Thursday? Allow yourself to delight in him by delighting in him by serving him by living for him by trusting him By reading his word by taking joy in him What will you be tonight? What what will you choose that you will allow to come before God and his word? Don't willfully reject the Lord's grace to you that grace comes through small group preaching and teaching of God's word Comes to you through his word. Obviously daily devotions daily prayer Bible intake Comes to you in the help of the Holy Spirit when you battle sin you stand for righteousness there are many even some here That profess the name of Christ, but they look like nominal Christians And they are not Christians because there is no such thing as a nominal Christian and it's because Their profession is a sham They won't submit to the Lord. They won't take the light in him They take a look take the light in their own pleasures in their own lives their own doings in their own ways They simply won't delight in the Lord Here we have every reason give it can you see John chapter 5 the Lord chooses to reveal himself in this encounter with the Pharisees over the Sabbath And our choices what we decide to do what we decide not to do how we're gonna live our lives We're gonna trust him. We're gonna delight in him. We're gonna delight in our own doings our own ways our own words So Lord is gracious right to reveal this we've got to follow the Lord We don't follow the Lord of the Sabbath then we'll enter into a torment not into rest That's an eternal in the same way that the rest is eternal the torment is eternal And put your faith and trust in the Lord of the Sabbath. Amen. Amen. Let's pray father in heaven. Thank you for this text Thank you for the way Lord that you reveal yourself to us here and help us Lord to live according to this truth to follow you our Lord and to Delight in you trusting you for the expected blessing the promised blessing that you'll cause us delight in you Praise you and thank you for that glorious truth. We love you in Jesus name amen