Three- I am where God Lives

The spirit of the forth commandment lives. Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Just as God placed the constellations in the sky to mark and measure the times and the seasons, so God placed the Sabbath in the moral heavens as a guide to humanity. Just as the time can be calculated by the rotation of the earth, and the year by a single journey around the sun, God has created a clock in the moral universe called the Sabbath. The Jewish Sabbath marked the completion of the first creation. The Lord's Day marks the birth of the second. The Jewish Sabbath begins with the setting of the sun. The Lord's Day with the dawn of another. The Jewish Sabbath marked the final day of the week. The Lord's Day marks the first. The Sabbath was made for man, the Lord's Day for the new man. It is in man's best physical, mental, and moral interest to remember God in such a special way.

A quoting of the commandment is usually abbreviated to the extent that it leaves out the context in which it was given. The second part, "Six days shalt thou labor," is as much a part of it as the first. Man was cursed to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. Lest he become utterly exhausted and despair, God gave him a day of rest. It paralleled the day upon which God rested and ceased his creation.

It is a foolish man and nation who ignores this religious respite from toil and labor. It was made for a man's own good. The keeping of the Sabbath has deep and profound significance, but more than anything else, it is a testimony to the fact that God is the God of our time.

God gives us six days to use as we see fit. Apart from violating the moral parameters of decency, he can do on those days as he wishes. But of all the days in a week God, the author of time and eternity asked that one day be reserved and set apart for him.

The Sabbath was never meant to be a ball and chain, it was never intended to be a heavy burden to be borne. It was given as a gift to restrain capitalistic excess and to sustain spiritual identity. "It is God that giveth thee the power to get wealth." Slaves and Sovereigns were equally under the canopy of its rest. The scholar as well as the slow of mind were embraced by its equality. Destroy the Sabbath and you might as well remove the sun from the center of the solar system. Selfish interests that tended to pull man apart were countered by a spiritual gravitational force that pulled him back to the common center and gave life its significance.

The forth commandment is a holy trysting place where a heart that longs for God embraces Him in worship. The forth commandment is a foot bridge over which the soul of man travels between heaven and earth. It is the link between the Creator and the creature. The first three commandments deal with our relationship with God. The last six deal with our relationship with our fellow man. The observance of those first empowers to employ the principles of the last. The fourth commandment is a weekly return to Eden which enables us to remember what we lost in the fall and what we shall become in the future. The forth commandment is a call to remember.

Jesus did not come to destroy the commandment; He came to fulfill it, explain it, and to restore it to its original intended purpose. The Sabbath was His idea in the first place. The Sabbath was a call to remember God. Sometimes we can err by taking away from God's Words. Sometimes our sin is in adding to them. By the time the Word became flesh and Jesus visited the temple, the Sabbath had had become both hard and hollow. It became a burden more than a blessing. It become top-heavy with tradition, and like a ship that is covered with the black ice of a freezing ocean spray, it was in danger of capsizing. Christ came to melt away the coldness of religion and re-establish

the meaning of time's memorial to creation. For that is what the Sabbath is. It is the corner stone of creation. After creating the worlds and everything necessary for life He marked the achievement, not with a bronze plaque to remind coming generations of the great architect, nor with a limestone obelisk in the midst of Eden, but he placed a day at the end of creation's week that would stand as a constant reminder that we owe a great debt of gratitude to God.

There are those who object and charge us with "legalism" when we speak of the Sabbath day principle. They insist that grace has freed them from all the works of the law. The Sabbath was never a work of the law, it was a token of love and a gift to mankind. The Sabbath was never intended to be a ladder to heaven, it was simply a resting place for our travel through time. It was to be a place for the weary, it was an oasis surrounded by the searing heat of the dessert. It was to be a time of reflection and affection, of relief and of rest. To those who misunderstand our concern for the Lord's Day observance we can only say that a tree is known by the fruit it bears, and that truth is know by its children. A society that does not have a day set apart for God is a society on the brink of destruction. The Sabbath was a link as well as a love for God's people.

Strange, that a mother would claim to love her children and never hold them in her arms. Suspicious is the love that does not delight in the company of the professed loved object. Shallow is the devotion that never turns aside from its own interests to draw near and drink in the joys of the so-called dear one..

The bride thinks it no burden to keep a house for the one she loves. The husband thinks it a little thing to labor in the fields or factory when he realizes that his wife and children will great him with a smile and embrace when he comes through the door at the end of the day. Those who love God the least perhaps consider it a duty to draw aside and "go to church" on Sunday, but to those who love God the most, the setting of Friday's sun was a call to happiness. The Psalmist said "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord (Ps. 122).

The first part has to do with Priorities and Promises, the second has to do with purity. To remember is the principle, keeping it holy is the praise.

Look at the Sabbath, which was given to man for his own good. Then realize that the principle has been passed on to all generations and determine to allow God to be the God of your time if you boast that he is the God of your eternity. Sunday is a crown that belongs on the Savior's brow. Sunday is a token of time that testifies to the power of the resurrection and the Glory of God's grace.

Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath

The Sabbath was the memorial plaque that was intended to cause us to rest and remember. The problem is that religion became so involved with the plaque that it all but ignored the person. The priests polished the memorial, they embellished it, protected and defended it. They began to pay homage to the plaque and erected a wall of a hundred rituals to guard it from being violated or defiled. The fourth commandment was a call to remember a day. Jesus, the one who made the heavens and the earth as well as the day, clarified its significance and intended meaning in the New Testament by encouraging us to remember Him. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, was the Old Testament equivalent of Jesus saying "remember Me."

We worship on Sunday instead of Saturday because the Lord arose on the first day of the week. Jesus said that he was "Lord of the Sabbath" Luke 6:5. Consider the boldness of that claim and you will begin to understand the Christian's relationship to the Sabbath. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. Hebrews chapter four compares the Sabbath day rest with the rest that is in Jesus Christ.

We who have trusted Christ have ceased from our labors and are resting in the finished work of Christ. Jesus is our Sabbath. The principle of the Sabbath is that a special day be set aside to worship and remember Christ. It is a day of reverence and thanksgiving for all that God had done, as well as a day of rest.

The Lord's day is that and much more. The Jew worked six days and then gave one day to rest and to worship. The Christian begins his week with worship and celebration of the resurrection of the Savior. The gathering on the Lord's day does not imply nor was it ever intended that our religion or faith should be confined to the water-tight compartment of a single calendar day. God is the God of time and all eternity. He owns our Monday as much as our Sunday. The Lord's day is the heart beat, or the rhythm of the human spirit. The Lord's Day, like the Sabbath is the pause between each pulse. A heart cannot work without the little rest between each exertion.

While it can be argued that Sunday is not technically the Christian Sabbath, the original spirit of the commandment is found in the simple word "remember."

A description of the Sabbath rest is found in the writings of Isaiah.

"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." (Isa. 58:13)

Look at the spirit of the Sabbath. It is not cruel or oppressive. It is described with words like "delight" and "honor." On six days man was allowed do all those things that pleased him, but he was to seek only God's pleasure on this one special day. It was a day for God's word, and for God's glory. It was to be a different day.

Sunday should be a special day. It should be a day when we seek to worship God in spirit and in truth. We worship the Lord every day, but public worship on Sunday follows the earliest example of the church and is consistent with all that we find in the history of Christianity (Acts 20:7). The Christian is not called to return to the law of to the Jewish Sabbath. If we are to go back to the Seventh day, we might as well go back to sacrificing the lamb, and setting up a priestly order. We might as well rebuild the temple and reinstate the Old Testament cultis. There is a problem with doing all that. We are not Jews. The book of Galatians answers that question quite simply. We do not have to first become Jews in order to become Christians. We are not called to circumcision and the keeping of the Jewish law in order to follow Christ.

While we are free from the judgment of the law we are not immune to its justice. The law was given for man's own good. Salvation no more erases the moral integrity and eternal wisdom of "remember" than it does of "thou shalt not commit adultery." He who holds the Lord's day as a day apart from all other days honors God. He does no violence to grace. He who pretends to worship by ignoring the one he claims to love is robbing God and himself of a wonderful respite and a beautiful peace. He who gives God a day is simply saying "the God of my eternity is also the God of my time."

I shall give God the first fruits of my life, by giving him the first day of my week. Sunday became Sonday as first century believers gathered to "remember" him in worship on the day of his resurrection. The earliest Christians met before day break at great risk and inconvenience to themselves. Most of the followers of Christ were those who were servants, and slaves. They came to worship before their workday began and they took up their tasks and responsibilities working until sunset. We have it far easier today. Even while enjoying the luxury of a day off, believers today too often feel a spirit of reluctance and inconvenience when it comes to gathering and church attendance." Jesus once cleansed ten lepers. Only one returned to say thank you. This leper's heart was as clean as his body. He gladly returned to worship Christ. Our spirit should

seek to copy that single Samaritan and not the thankless nine. Perhaps they understood grace, but they didn't seem to appreciate it.

Drawing apart from the world unto a society of heavenly citizens has many benefits and positive results. It reminds us. It encourages us. It fans the flames of devotion and promotes the grace of charity. It humbles, helps, warms and warns. It forever places before us the truth that it is "He that has made us, and not we ourselves."

The animal kingdom knows no Sabbath. One day is as much the same for it as another. The cow and the horse does not lift its head any higher on Sunday than on Monday. The pig, preoccupied with its meager husks is oblivious to heaven. A man without a Sabbath or without a Lord’s Day is not much more than a brute beast. Is it any wonder that a society without a Sunday makes so many animal noises and imitates the behavior of the barn yard? Happy is the home that honors God with the observance of a special day. Blessed is the life that loves enough to remember.

We do not remember a day as much as we remember a person. Jesus said, "remember me," When we come together as an assembly we do so to worship. This grateful gathering is called the church. A follower of Christ seeks out people of like minded faith with whom he can join in worship.

A person who is born again becomes part of the body of Christ, the church. The church is the visible body of Christ upon this earth. He who attacks it attacks Christ (Acts 9). This visible church is the instrument through which God is working today. If one is to be obedient and faithful to the great commission of Christ he will join a local assembly and be part of its ministry.

There are certain benchmarks of a good church. These are the characteristics to look for.

A good church is:

1) Embodiment of Christ- "ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart" 2Cor 3:2-3. People should be able to see Christ in your church. He should be seen in acts of love and kindness. His spirit should pervade every service, class, and ministry. A good church is a "Christ-like" church.

2) Eloquent in its Message- "Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech" 2Cor3:12. True eloquence is the ability to make the complicated simple and plain. In a good church people know what has been said. They may not like what they have heard, but they have no doubt about where the speaker stands. Some churches are very vague in their message. They are very general and generic in their delivery. The problem with that is that there can not be any clear conversions without a clear message. The disciples were not educated but they were eloquent when they declared the message God had given them to deliver. "Repent." A sinner should hear that message loud and clear if the church is faithfully delivering the Word of God.

3) Enthusiastic in its Service- "I know . . . your zeal hath provoked very many" 2Cor 9:2. Nothing is more exciting that seeing God at work. If God is in it, it is alive. Many churches are cold and dead. People gather together out of tradition or obligation to go through the motions of worshiping God. If we are not excited about the things of God in our churches, where else in the world are people going to be excited about these things? A good church is enthusiastic in its singing, giving, working, and witnessing. A God church is like the burning bush that burns but is not consumed.

Happiness and joy are characteristics of a good church.

4) Edifying in its teaching- "For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord has given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed" 2Cor 10:8. To edify is to build up. A good church is a place where people will be built up. A good pastor/teacher uses the church to build the people and not the people to build the church. Visit a good church and you will be ministered to with the truth of God’s Word. To be sure, certain false ideas and teachings must be cast down before one can be built up, but it is clear to the hearer that the purpose is to build. Ideas should be attacked if they are wrong, not people or personalities. In that sense, a good church is a very "positive" place.

5) Evangelistic in its preaching - "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men . . ." 2Cor 5:11 A good church will preach for the souls of men. A good church will often give an invitation for men to respond to the Gospel. There are churches that never give an altar call. These are not good churches. Some feel that people will get saved if it is the will of God and therefore do not make an appeal for decisions. The Bible says that the "Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost." Lu 19:10. Some seem to feel that it cheapens the Gospel or the glory of God to plead with the souls of men in a public invitation. A public invitation, however, says more about the hearts of the believers than it does about God. A good church turns on the search light of the gospel during every service because some soul in the audience could be lost.

6) Ethical in its Business - "Providing for honest things not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men" 2Cor 8:21. Almost every day the newspapers have a story about some church, or minister who has engaged in some unethical behavior. It is a shame and a scandal to the cause of Christ that these things should be. A good church will have control of its business affairs and do all things decently and in order (1Cor 14:40). It will also strive to do the work of God in godly fashion. It is never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right. We must be honest and above board in all our efforts. We should not proselytize in the place of evangelism. We should not try to bribe people into joining the church . We should not compromise the truth or lower the standards in order to pack the pews. A good church is open and honest in its message and its methods.

7) Expectant in its outlook. "Now thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place" 2Cor 2:14. Some churches are looking backwards. They have a history, but little else. God wants to work today. There is nothing wrong with belonging to a church that has a good track record as long as it is still on track. A good church is looking ahead. A good church is expecting God to do something in its midst.

When the Lord taught his disciples to pray he said pray "Our" Father... The Christian life is a relationship with God and with others. When we become Christians we become part of a family of believers. That family is the local church. "If I become a Christian, do I have to attend church?" someone asked. The answer is, "When you become a Christian it will be hard to keep you away from church ." Jesus said "I will build my Church" Mat 16:18. Be in a local church. The forth commandment asks us to remember a day. Our forth conviction compels us to remember a person. The local assembly is a spiritual manifestation of the body of Christ over which he is the head. Hebrews 10:25 admonishes us to "not forsake the assembling of ourselves together." That is where God is working. Give God the first day of each week and worship him.

Some say they don't "get anything out of" church. To them I say you get out of things what you put in. If you put nothing in you get nothing out. Here is a little list of ten things to bring to church next Sunday. If you do, you are sure to bring something out. Bring: 1)a Bible 2)a Pencil 3) a Notebook 4) a Gift 5) a Guest 6) a Praise 7) a Prayer 8) a Willing spirit 9) Your Best

10) Your Determination to find God's Will.
For Class Discussion
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