Please turn with me in the Word of God to Exodus chapter 31. We'll take up our reading at verse 12. Exodus 31, beginning at verse 12 and reading down through the end of the chapter. Let us hear God's own Word. Then the Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested. When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. So far, the reading of God's Word. There were many things that I admired in the ministry of Reverend Hauerzile, but one that I particularly noted was his uncanny ability to plan his preaching of the Heidelberg Catechism so that the Fourth Commandment seemed unfailingly to be preached upon on Super Bowl Sunday. I spoke to him once about this, and he maintained that this was not done self-consciously, and I believe him, But I'm going to continue the Hauer's Isle tradition by preaching on the Sabbath on Sunday only quite self-consciously. It seems to me that the Sabbath is an issue of tremendous importance for us for several reasons. One is, I believe, it is so clearly taught in the Bible that we need to pay very careful attention to what the Scripture tells us about the institution of the Lord's Sabbath. But I think it's all the more important in our time in light of the fact that so much of our culture and even so much of the Bible-believing church in our time pays little or no attention to the Sabbath at all. Seventy years ago in America, almost all Bible-believing Christians believed that Sunday was the Lord's Sabbath and to be kept as a holy day of rest. But today, it is probably fair to say that most Bible-believing Christians do not believe that Sunday is a Christian Sabbath, and instead believe that the Sabbath was a purely Jewish institution that passed away with the Old Covenant. And so I think it's very important for us to return to the Word of God, to look carefully into the Word of God, to consider exactly these issues, so that we might have renewed confidence in and commitment to the Sabbath as the institution of God. And that's why I titled the sermon, in part, The Sabbath Struggle, because the Sabbath is something of a struggle for the people of God today. It is a struggle, perhaps theologically, as we consider the question as to whether the Bible teaches a continuing Sabbath obligation for the people of God. But certainly for all of us, the Sabbath remains a practical struggle. How should we keep it? What should we do on the Lord's day? How can we honor the Lord in it? So I hope that together by looking into this section of the Word of God from Exodus 31, we can think about these things together and be encouraged by the Lord as He directs us to keep the Sabbath holy. There are just two points to the sermon. Don't assume that means it'll be a short sermon. But there are just two points to the sermon this morning. The first is that the Sabbath is a service to which we are called. And second, that the Sabbath is a sign by which we are marked. The Sabbath is a service to which we are called in the first place. You notice how the text speaks here. Verse 13. Say to the Israelites, you must observe my Sabbaths. This is a service commanded by God. God speaks a word of clear direction to His people in this text. You are to rest from your ordinary work. That's the first part of the Sabbath commandment. That's the first part of the service to which we are called. That we are to rest from our ordinary work. We're told God has given us six days to work. And work is important. Work is necessary. We are created to work as image bearers of God. But this text reminds us that God has given us six days in which to do our work. And on the seventh day, he calls us to rest. He calls us to cease that ordinary activity that characterizes us through the week by which we earn our income and to give that day to Him. Now that's very important as we think about that command, isn't it? It means that thoughtful Christians who take this command seriously will have to think about what kind of work they're going to do and think about whether the work that they would like to do will require them to work on the day that God says we should rest. This perhaps particularly impinges on some of you young people as you plan your futures and think what kind of work you would like to do in this world. And you need to think that some lines of work may be closed to you because of the obligation that the Lord places upon you that one day a week you are to rest from your work because it is the day that belongs to God. And so a very critical part of the service to which we're called is a willingness to give up our working, to give our minds and our hearts and our time to God. Now, in the past in the Reformed churches, it seems to me that we have been relatively good about this part of the commandment, the stopping part, the not doing part. In fact, sometimes perhaps there's been a bit of a danger in our tradition that the day has become something of a grim day, a legal day, where our primary focus has been on what we may not do. And in line with that, we need to give full weight to what we read in verse 16 of the text, where we read the Israelites are to observe the Sabbath celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. The Sabbath is indeed about resting, but it is also about rejoicing. The command to keep the Sabbath is a command to be joyful in the Lord, to celebrate Him and His work and the day that He has given us. We have not really grasped the institution of the Sabbath if the Sabbath day is not a day to which we look forward, a day that we anticipate with gladness and hope, a day that brings joy into our lives precisely because it is a time in which we are able to think about God and spend time with God. You know, the Lord calls us to cease from our working so that we may have time to give thought to His working. That's the principle of the Sabbath. We are to rejoice in what God has done for us and what God is doing in us. You notice how that's put in verse 13. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. It is by the working of the Lord alone that we are made holy. It is by His sovereign grace in Jesus Christ that we are brought into fellowship with Him. And so He says, one day a week, stop your working. Stop your concentration on your affairs and the important activities of your ordinary life and rest from what you ordinarily do so that you can give thought to me and to what I have done and to what I am doing to make you holy. And that, you see, should fill us with the greatest kind of joy. That should fill us with great sense of anticipation that we can spend time with God, that we can spend time thinking about Him and what He's done. We can spend time growing in Him that should be an opportunity a joy not a grimly legal day it's interesting that when the great Synod of Dort in 1618 was asked how the Sabbath should be kept one of the things that Synod said was it was not to be kept with a Jewish strictness it was not to be kept where the focus was simply on every little detail of the day but rather I think the Synod was encouraging us to realize that this was to be a day of celebration, a feast day in the life of the people of God. Not a feast day of eating physical food in the first place, but a feast day of feeding upon the Lord and upon His Word and upon His truth. A joyful day with the Lord. We need to test ourselves, you see, and ask, is that true for us? Is that the attitude that we have about the Lord's Day? Is that the experience that we have had? that it is a day of joyful rest for fellowship with the Lord. Now, the Lord has commanded this service by grounding it in creation. And I think in terms of the struggle that many Bible-believing Christians are having today, with the question, is the Sabbath still for us as Christians, this is really critical for us to think about. Why are we to keep the Sabbath day holy? Well, what does Exodus 31 say? It does not say, you are to keep the Sabbath day holy because I brought you out of Egypt. It does not say, you are to keep the Sabbath day holy because I met with you at Sinai. It does not say, simply, you are to keep the Sabbath day holy because I've summarized it in my Ten Commandments given at Sinai. No, why are we to keep the Sabbath day holy, according to Exodus 31? Because that's the way God created us to be. The Sabbath commandment, though reiterated at Sinai, is not founded there. The Sabbath commandment is founded in creation. In six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. That phrase here in the text, in verse 17, is very strong. He rested and was refreshed. The NIV translation is not ideal here. He rested and was refreshed. If the Lord God was rested and refreshed, we've talked a little bit about what that may mean in Sunday school, if the Lord God rested and was refreshed, how much more are we in need as his creatures to follow that pattern? This is not just a commandment that is important for the redeemed, although it is. This is a commandment that is important for the created. That's all mankind needs this pattern that the Lord has given us that we should, like Him, work and then rest. It's a lasting covenant, we are told. It's throughout our generations as the people of God. And so we need to see how all embracing that grounding of this institution in the creation means for us. It means it's not just for one part of the people of God in the history of redemption. It's not even just for the people of God, although only they can really enjoy it. But it is an institution from the beginning. It is part of the way that God made us to be. And our Lord Jesus Christ confirms this when he declared in Mark 2, verse 27, that the Sabbath was made for man. You notice he doesn't say the Sabbath was made for the Jews. He doesn't say the Sabbath was made for us. He says the Sabbath was made for mankind. It was made for all. Now, this statement of our Lord has, I think, frequently been misused. He was indeed criticizing the Jewish strictness of his time when he said man is not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath is made for man. But some people read that as if our Lord had said, don't get caught up in the Jewish strictness because after all, the Sabbath wasn't really made at all. That's the way a lot of people have read this text. Jesus is not saying the Sabbath was not made. He's saying the Sabbath was made to serve us, to encourage us, to enable us better to fellowship with God, to know Him and to love Him. The Sabbath was made. And Jesus, in the very next verse, Mark 2, 28, declares that he is the Lord of the Sabbath. I don't believe he said that to indicate that he was Lord of the Sabbath for the next few years until it was abolished. I don't think that's the character of the lordship of our Savior. He was saying that he was the initiator of the Sabbath, that he was the fulfillment of the Sabbath, And I believe he's also implying there that he's the transformer of the Sabbath. Because indeed we believe that in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Sabbath is transformed from the seventh day of anticipation of rest yet to come to the first day of the week, a celebration of rest already begun in Jesus Christ and in his resurrection. That's what our Lord is teaching us, I believe. That in His resurrection, He has already introduced for us something of that rest yet to come, that eternal rest that will be ours. And therefore, He says to us, Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I will give you rest in My saving work accomplished for you on the cross. I will give you rest in the eternal life that awaits those who are in Me. And I will give you a foretaste of that rest in my Sabbath, in the day of which he is Lord. And so we need to see that this service to which we are called is grounded both in the creative work of God right at the beginning of history and in the saving work of Jesus Christ for his people. And this service, our text communicates to us very directly and very powerfully. This service is a very serious business. You notice that our passage establishes the death penalty for the violation of the Sabbath. What are we to make of that? Well, I think this is a mosaic penalty. It's designed to direct and to guide the national existence of Israel. And in that sense, we are not to resurrect, it seems to me, those penalties. But those penalties have a continuing function and meaning in the Scripture. Israel also was called upon to put idolaters and false worshipers to death. It was called upon to put adulterers to death. And what is the Lord saying to His people through these severe penalties? He's saying, these issues are of great importance to me. These subjects I am highlighting for my people to show how critical I believe them to be for my people. And the Sabbath, far from being a peripheral issue, a sideline matter, an easily ignored question, is underscored in a passage like this as an issue of central importance for the life and conduct of the people of God. God takes His Sabbath seriously, and so should we. we are called not to profane it or to desecrate it. That kind of language is what was used in terms of people going into parts of the temple they ought not to enter or doing things in the temple they ought not to do. It's a holy place, the temple. And the Sabbath is for us a holy time that is not to be profaned or desecrated, lest we be cut off from the people. That's the seriousness with which the Lord takes this and surely should cause us as his people to pause and think and ask, how are we doing with the Sabbath? Are we using it as the Lord calls us to use it? Are we keeping it as he would have us keep it? And that brings us then to the second point of the sermon. If the Sabbath is the sign, is the service to which we are called, It is also the sign by which we are marked. You notice there in verse 13 that in the first place, it's a sign of fellowship. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, says the Lord. It's a sign of that intimate covenant relationship that we are so privileged to have with the Lord. It's a sign of the reality that we belong to God and He belongs to us. And how then we ought to treasure it. Treasure that covenant connection that He has established between Himself and us. And treasure then that fellowship, that opportunity for fellowship that this day gives us. It's a sign of our fellowship with God the Creator. This is a good day to think about what a wonderful world He has made for us and the beauty with which He has filled it. It's a good day to take a walk, especially those of us so privileged to live in Southern California in bright, sunny, at least semi-warm days. We become very complaining, don't we? It hits 50 degrees and we think, oh, we're freezing to death. Well, most of you have lived in places where you really can freeze to death. We could go out and walk and think about how beautiful are the plants that God has made, how lovely the diversity of hills that he has surrounded us with and fellowship with him in the beauty of the world that he has made. I've been struck recently in looking at Job and some of the Psalms and the prophet Isaiah, how frequently the creative work of God in His wisdom and power is celebrated in Scripture. Do we adequately in our hearts express thanks to God for His creative work? And it's also, of course, a day that is a sign of the fellowship we have with God as Redeemer in Jesus Christ. This is the Lord's day. This is the day that belongs to our Christ. And it is really only in the face of Jesus that we see fully what it means that the Lord makes us holy. It's in the work of Jesus fulfilling the law. It's in the work of Jesus dying on the cross. It's in the work of Jesus ever living to intercede for us that we are made holy. And this is a day for fellowship with Him. That's what our catechism points us to, isn't it? Heidelberg Catechism 103 says about the Sabbath, that all the days of my life I rest from my evil works. Let the Lord work in me by His Holy Spirit and thus begin in this life the eternal Sabbath. Oh yes, we every day should rest from our evil works. Every day we should be seeking the Spirit to make us more holy. But God has given us every week one day in particular in which He does that work among us and in which we have the time to focus upon him and upon his work. And that's why this day is not only a sign of fellowship, it's also a sign of holiness. This text says the day is holy to the Lord and holy to us. And it's holy to the Lord and holy to us because it is a day on which the Lord particularly works to make us holy. It is a life-changing day in Jesus Christ. The prophet Ezekiel, in his 20th chapter, verses 12 and 20, wrote, I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I, the Lord, made them holy. Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God. You see, we are to be marked by this sign. Marked by this sign in terms of our relationship with God, in terms of our sense of who we are. The Sabbath is one of the marking points of our identification as Christians. And it also ought to mark us before the world. It ought to be an occasion to lead us to be able to show to the world and to speak to the world we belong to God. Dr. Jones was speaking in Sunday school this morning about a proper biblical boldness in speaking about the Lord and about his ways. And I think for many of us, it is sometimes difficult to feel comfortable about openings to speak in a natural way about the Lord. Sometimes we feel somewhat constrained, I think, not knowing how to not sound too preachy. Personally, I don't think being preachy is quite so bad. but nonetheless, how not to be preachy, but rather to be natural in our speaking. And how very natural, if we are the people of God who keep the Sabbath day holy, to hear people say to us, well, you don't do that on Sunday, why is that? We are marked before the world by this sign. And its blessing is that it's an opportunity to draw near to Jesus, to fellowship with Him, to grow in His grace, to not only remember that he makes us holy, but to actually experience that life-changing work of his in our lives. Now, some, as they approach the Sabbath, really would like it if we'd hand out a list of do's and don'ts. What can I do and what can't I do? But I think that really misunderstands the day. That approach very quickly leads to a grim legalism. This day is really not about what can I do, what can't I do. This day really ought to be about how can I use it to draw nearer to God. And if that's the question that stands over the day, then when a question like can I watch the Super Bowl comes up, it's easy to answer. Sure, you can watch the Super Bowl if it draws you closer to God. You see, Jesus Christ does not give us a list of rules about the Sabbath, does he? Rather, he sweetly, gently calls us to himself, come unto me. And when he was pressed to make rules about the Sabbath, he answers so profoundly, so wonderfully. Matthew 12, verse 12. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. We don't really need any more rule than that, do we? It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. May God grant that we will be Sabbath keepers, not in any spirit of self-righteousness, but purely making use of a wonderful provision of God so that we can celebrate the Lord who makes us holy. Amen. Let us pray. O Lord, our God, indeed, how good you are to us to give us so many institutions that aid us in living the Christian life. We thank you for the Lord's Day as it testifies to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his great saving work for us. We thank you for the Lord's Day as it testifies that you are the great Creator God and also the great Recreator God. And we pray that all of our Sabbaths may prove a blessing to us as we grow in grace and draw closer to you. For we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.