Making God the Priority

In a world that is advanced as ours with all the technological development, computers, cellular phones, cash machines, calculators, all designed to save us time, you would think that we would have much more time on our hands to do the things that really matter. Instead, it seems that we have less time. And whenever we get a break, we're so out of breath to do anything, we do nothing. But I will let you know, God has given a solution for that. God always has a right solution and a very simple statement in Scripture that, if applied, we'll totally revolutionize each week.

The phrase is this, remember the Sabbath day, and keep you. it holy. And of course, there will be people who will say, well, wait a minute. Things have changed. That was under the Old Testament. And we know that all the commandments are reiterated in the New Testament, except for one. And that is, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. So how does that really apply to us? And to be quite honest with you, I have said that over and over and over again for years. Much to my dismay, that's not true.

Because you will see that unless you understand the significance of the Sabbath and the supremacy of Sunday, then you won't be able to reconcile in your mind the implications of the Fourth Commandment. it. We want to give you a very simple outline that hopefully will draw your attention to the word of God that explain to you what it means to make God the priority in your life. Exodus chapter 20 verses 8 to 11 reads as follows. 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 not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner, who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. The first thing I want to cover with you this evening is the significance of the Sabbath.

Three things. Number one, it is the day of rest. Number two, it is a day of remembrance. And number three, it is a day of rejoicing.

First of all, it's a day of rest. Turr with me to Genesis chapter two. It says in chapter two verses one to three, these words, thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts, and by the seventh day, God completed his work, which he had done, and he sabbathed or rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his work, which God had created and made. The story of God's creation is such that when he was completed, when it was finished, God rested.

Now, the question always comes, did he rest because he was tired? After all, it took just a couple of breaths to breathe the universe into existence. So Isaiah 40 says that God never wearies nor is he ever tired, so we know that God wasn't worn out from creating the heavens and the earth, nor was he worn out from creating Adam and Eve. So why did God rest? God rested for the same reason a musician rests in a musical piece. A pause for emphasis. reflection to meditate on what has just happened that it might sink in.

But turn with me to Deuteronomy Chapter 5. In a Deuteronomy Chapter 5, I want you to notice that the Sabbath, in its significance, is not only for a day of rest, but for a day of remembrance.

It says in verse number 12 of Deuteronomy 5, observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it, you shall not do any work. You will your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt.

And the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand. hand and by an outstretched arm therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the Sabbath. Why did we observe the Sabbath or why was the Sabbath observed? Because it was a day to remember the greatness of God and the deliverance of God. God said, look, I want to tell you something. You're going to set a day aside to do one thing and one thing only. And that is to remember what I have done, to remember how great I am, and to remember how you have been delivered from Egypt.

I want you to sit back and marvel and remember what I've done. And thirdly, it was a day of rejoicing.

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it what? Holy. Keep it holy. The Sabbath day was never meant to be a day of gloom and a day. of restriction, it was meant to be a day of gladness, rejoicing to think about God and His holiness. The primary reason of the Sabbath was not to stop working, but rather to be holy. God didn't establish the Sabbath law just for the sake of not working, if that was the case, then anybody who took a day off work would fulfill the law. That's not the case. The concentration on His Holiness was aided by not being involved, listen very carefully, by not being involved in earthly, gainful pursuits.

Those things just added to the concentration or distracted from your concentration depending on how much you would engage in them. And so this day served as a reminder that God wanted his people to be, holy as he himself is holy until sin was fully and finally paid for and then Jesus could say on the cross it is finished and as a result of his work being finished he now could go back to resting because he accomplished the work that his father sent him to do which leads me to the second point the supremacy of Sunday the supremacy of Sunday the supremacy of Sunday the supremacy of Sunday falls into three areas.

Number one, the resurrection. When God had to go back to work, to redeem man, it automatically came to be that the recreation of man and the redemption of man through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a greater work than the creation of God from the beginning of time. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. And the scripture records of the 33 miracles, seven of them being done on Sunday. Yet he saved the greatest miracle for his greatest work to be done on the first day of the week instead of the last day of the week.

And so while the gospel records no statement that would say that Jesus was authorizing a change from Saturday to Sunday worship, he did so through the resurrection of his son. And I believe that there is no statement of scripture specifically designed for that because the implications of the Sabbath are still applicable for you and I to follow today. It is still a day of rest. It's still to be a day of remembrance. It still is to be a day of rejoicing. you see that's why the Sabbath was designed but now because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ Sunday takes the supreme role over the Sabbath because resurrection and the work of redemption is greater than the work of creation and so there are several reasons for celebrating the Lord's Day and making that day the supreme day Jesus rose from the dead on the first day mark 16 9 Jesus met with his disciples after his resurrection on the first day of the week.

The disciples were commissioned to preach the gospel on the first day of the week, John 2021. The church was born in the first day of the week on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2.1.

The book of Revelation was given on the first day of the week, Revelation 110. The early church regularly met for worship on the first day of the week, Acts 20, verse number 7.

And the church collected its offering on the first day of the week as they came together in 1 Corinthians 16.

Verse number two. And we've got to remember that Sunday is not the last day in your weekend, but the first day of the week.

See, we get to the weekend to think, man, I got two days off. Man, I've got to sit back and relax. And on Saturday night and thinking, well, I got one more day before the beginning of the week. No, you don't. Sunday is the first day, not Monday.

And what you do on Sunday is going to govern. how you act on Monday. Unless you understand that, your Monday is going to be a gloomy day. And so it's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday until you get to Saturday. You see, we live for those three-day holidays. We live for the weekends. And I wish it was because we were going to worship the Lord. But I'm afraid that's not the case. And so now we are invited to enter and to rest with him. And that leads us to our second point.

The supremacy of Sunday is not only because of the resurrection, but because of rediret. redemption. Turn with me over to the book of Colossians, the second chapter.

Colossians chapter 2. Listen to the words of Paul in verses 13 to 14. And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt, consisting of decrees against us, and which was hostile to you. to us and he has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross. Now, I don't know if you understand the significance of that or not. But when a man was a criminal, there was a certificate of debt that was nailed to the doorpost to the cell.

And until that debt was paid, he was in jail. All right? And you have to understand that when our lives are enslaved to sin, there is a certificate of debt that is stamped to our lives. And what Jesus Christ has done is taking that certificate, ripped it off of our lives, slammed it on the cross, and said it is finished. Other words, it is paid in full. And so Christ took that certificate of debt and paid whatever debt that we owed to redeem us, that we would be called his children. And so redemption then becomes the key element as to why Sunday is the supreme day.

Because that's the day what? We remember when we were delivered. When we remember God's work on behalf of our lives. And if at any time we don't use Sunday as such, I guarantee that your life goes without recognition of the significance of God in his work in your life. Because that's what Sunday's for, the Lord's Day. And Jesus released us from the prison house of sin and invited us to share in what he calls Calvary Rest. He paid the certificate of debt with his blood, which leads us to our third point.

The supremacy of Sunday is not only because of the resurrection, not only because of our redemption, but because of the rest that is available to you and me. God rested after creation. When did Jesus rest after the new creation? It says in Hebrews 4, verses 9 and 10, these words, there remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Jesus had a work to do. when sin came into the world his work went into high gear and when he came to earth it was in mega gear and when he finally died it rose again he could sit back and begin to rest over in hebrews chapter 10 verse 12 it says it says these words hebrews 10 12 he having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time sat down at the right hand of god You must understand that the Old Testament priest never sat down because there was no place to sit.

Because the sacrifice for sins went on and on and on and on and on. There was no time to rest. But when Jesus sacrificed for sins, you need no more sacrifice. It's over. Now he rests. And that rest is what he offers to you and me, which leads me to our last point in the summary for this study. In three things I want you to see. What is this? You need to realize the rest in redemption. Remember Matthew 11, 28, 29, coming to me all ye that labor and they're heavy laden, and I will give you what? rest.

You see, they were under that Phariseical system. They could not keep the law, let alone all the laws that the Pharisees had added to the law. And the people were weighed down. The people were under a heavy load. They were burdened. And Jesus says, come in to me all you that labor in heavy laden.

And I will give you rest. It's Jesus's personal invitation to the world. You're tired of trying to gain a higher standing with God? Are you tired of trying to work your way to heaven? Are you tired of bearing the load and the guilt and burden of sin? You come to me and I'll give your rest. Have you realized the rest and redemption? I still worried about your sin. Listen, I know when I sin. Spirit of God tugs at my heart, convicts my soul, and I go to my knees and I ask for forgiveness. But you know what?

I don't bear a burden for my sin. Jesus paid the debt, and I can walk lightly because I've been freed from my sin. Which leads me to our second summary, and that is not only do we need to realize the arrest and redemption, but we need to learn to love the Lord's Day.

Now, if you had not yet been convicted, and you maybe have it, you will be. learn to love the Lord's Day the Lord's Day. The Lord's Day is a holy day. It's holy because it's His day. And whenever you talk about the Lord's Day, people always ask the question, well, does it mean that there are certain things I can't do on the Lord's Day? Does that mean I can't go shopping on the Lord's Day? Does that mean I can't go to the beach on the Lord's Day? Does that mean I can't take my family out on the Lord's Day?

Does that mean I can't play ball on the Lord's Day? Does that mean I can't work on the Lord's Day? You ever get those questions? I get them all the time. Your response should be this. Don't ask me. It's not my day. It's God's Day. You got a question to ask him. Don't ask me. If it was my day, I'd tell you what to do. but it's God's day and you've got to ask him what to do how can I honor you Lord this day how can I take this day and give you glory reverence and praise so that at the end of the day I can say yes Lord this was your day when we keep the Lord's day it's a token that every day belongs to him.

The Lord's Day is a special day. That's why worship needs to be the priority on his day. You show me a man who does not keep the Lord's Day and I will show you a man who is holding back from God his rightful place in his life. Let me ask you a question.

Is worship on Sunday your highest priority? Let me give you a test. The questions are not original with me, but answer the question yourself. And use these questions or use these excuses on your boss tomorrow. Okay? The same ones that we give to God and see what your boss would say. Sir, I didn't come to work yesterday because we had unexpected company. Would you ever say it to your boss? Couldn't make it, you know. In-laws were in from out of states. So I stayed home. How about this one? I was going to work, but I was so tired.

When the alarm went off, I just rolled over. I was just too tired to go to work today. You ever been too tired to spend time with God? It amazes me why people would spend more energy, making sure they were ready for Monday to meet their boss than they are about Sunday in meeting their maker. But it happens. How about this one? I was going to come to work today, sir, but things got so hectic around the house that we thought we'd just sit back and relax and go to the park and take it easy. Now, if your boss would let you keep on at your job, let me know who he is, would you?

But no boss that I know would ever let employees stay on if they give them those excuses. And yet we think that we can just give those excuses to God and pass them off. And all you do is hurt yourself. You really do. Because it hinders your relationship with God. you know your children know whether or not god's a priority don't they they know whether or not it's nice to worship on sundays or whether it is a necessity to worship on sundays don't they and so it's important for us to to remember the sabbath day to remember the lord's day for us why it's a day of remembrance look what god has done and after all that he's done you can't give 52 days a year?

I mean, for crying that loud, he saved your soul from hell. And if we can't give him 52 days a year, man, it's a shame. Isn't it? Which leads me to our last point. And that is this. You need to weigh your work alongside your worship. You need to weigh your work alongside your worship. The Lord said, you're to work. How many days? Six days. We're looking for the four-day work week, man. Three-day weekend, four-day work week. God says, no, you work six days.

That's what God's design was. And the principle of Sabbath rest is predicated on six days of work. And so the Bible does not suggest a five-day work. work week, nor does it suggest a four-day work week, but a six-day work week. And this commandment helps us strike a balance between work and worship. We need to teach our children not only how to worship, but how to work. That's important. Because if you worship properly on Sunday, you will work. effectively the rest of the week. One author said it this way.

You'll do more work in six days if you learn to rest one day than you'll do in seven days without rest. Wise words. If you chop wood and do not take time to sharpen your axe, it's going to be very, very difficult next week to chop down the next tree. you've got to make sure you sharpen that axe you take time to sharpen that axe and you'll cut down more trees in a cleaner way than if you never take time to sharpen the axe what does God say take time to be holy why do we use Sunday the Lord's Day as a day of rest.

We use it that we might remember the wonderful work of God, that we might learn to rejoice in the fact that he wants us to be just as holy as he is holy. And if God Almighty needed to take a rest, how much more so do we need to take one day aside to reflect on what he has done? this commandment is so vital for us to understand and to teach our children and when you do i believe that the promise recorded in isaiah 58 will be yours if because of the sabbath you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on my holy day and call the sabbath a delight the holy day the of the Lord honorable and shall honor it desisting from your own ways from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word then you will take delight in the Lord and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

My friends, those are powerful words. Isaiah 58, 13, and 14. Thank you.