Are Christians required to keep the fourth commandment, the Sabbath? We know that the rest
of the commandments are still kept by Christians. Not as a way to earn salvation but as a way to
walk in obedience and practice our discipleship. You know the commandment of "Thou shall not commit
adultery." The commandment "Thou shall not steal." What about the fourth commandment? There will
be people who will argue that we have to keep that, and there will be some who will argue we
shouldn't keep that commandment. Should we keep that commandment or not? Let's dive into this
today. First of all, the Old Testament had the law of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was the fourth
commandment for the Jewish people. The Sabbath celebrated God's creation, in Exodus 20:11.
The Sabbath was a time for the day of rest, resting from labor in Leviticus chapter 23. We
see also the Sabbath for Israel was a reflection of their deliverance from Egypt, in Deuteronomy
5:15. And lastly is the Sabbath was a witness to other nations that Israel is separated as a nation
to God, and you find that in Exodus chapter 31. During the Sabbath, this commandment of
keeping the Sabbath which was the seventh day for Israel. So not only they were remembering how God
created the world, and He rested. This was also a reminder, they're no longer slaves because slaves
don't rest. So they were out of Egypt and God's like, I want you to keep the Sabbath because
you're no longer in bondage. I want you to keep the Sabbath to be a sign to other nations. So that
there is a distinction between how you live and how other people live, and I want you to keep the
Sabbath so that you can rest from your work. Now they were not allowed to do three things during
the Sabbath. Number one is they were not allowed to cook or build fires. Exodus 35:3 and Numbers
15:32-36. Also they were not allowed to work, in Nehemiah chapter 13. And they were not allowed to
carry loads or carry burdens on the Sabbath, and you can see that in Jeremiah chapter 17.
So by the time Jesus came, religious leaders, they didn't just observe the principle of the
law. They actually really stuck to the letter of the law and they missed the spirit of the law,
and Jesus confronts that in Matthew chapter 23. They didn't keep you know all the Sabbath because
there was more than one Sabbath. It wasn't just the Sabbath, weekly. Israel also had the Sabbaths
they had to keep every seven years, where the land had to get the Sabbath. And then every 50 years,
you know on the Year of Jubilee, they had to have two consecutive Sabbaths. Meaning two years, the
land had to lay low and you can't plant anything, you can't harvest. You just have to let the land
recover. So Israel, at the time of Jesus, was very focused on the letter of the law. Make sure that
we keep this weekly Sabbath but they actually didn't keep the Sabbath every seven years, and
then every 50 years. Now Jesus tells us He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and we see that in Matthew
chapter 12, we see that also in Luke chapter 6. Jesus existed before the Sabbath. Jesus made
all the days including the Sabbath, and Jesus, for us as Christians He is the true Sabbath. So
Jesus confronted religious leaders, telling them that they're so focused on the letter of the law
but they forget that people get circumcised on the Sabbath, priests would wave a sheaf of first
fruits on the Sabbath, the table of showbread was set up on the Sabbath, animal sacrifices
were offered on the Sabbath. In fact, most animals were killed on the Sabbath, and Jesus reminds us
again and again in the Scriptures Mark 2:27. He says the Sabbath was made for a man, not a man
for the Sabbath. There were some Jewish people that actually believed that God created Sabbath
and had nobody to keep it. So He created man to keep Sabbath. Poor Sabbath. But Jesus is saying,
it's not like that. In fact it's the opposite. God created man, and God wanted man to find rest,
and therefore He created Sabbath as a day of rest for men. Now what is the practice of the
New Testament concerning the Sabbath? Few things that we need to keep in mind. The New Covenant
does not command any particular day to be observed by Christians, and you can find that in Romans
chapter 14 and Galatians chapter 4. In fact, when it comes to which day we observe as a day of rest,
it's really open to believers. We see that under the New Covenant. We see that the Sabbaths or
taking, celebrating Sabbath was not named as a necessary requirement for the Gentiles who were
turning to the faith in Jesus. We see that in Book of Acts 15:20. Things like abstaining from blood,
immorality. Those things were mentioned but observing the Sabbath is not one of them. We
also see that each of the Ten Commandments is actually repeated in the New Testament, except
for the commandment of Sabbath. Interestingly, the commandment to work still remains clear in
passages like 2nd Thessalonians and others. Where we are encouraged as believers to work.
But the idea of Christians observing Sabbath, it's not highlighted. Neither in Jesus's teachings,
nor in the teachings of the apostles. But all other commandments were highlighted.
Now believers who intend on keeping the Sabbath as a binding law for Christians, should also remember
that they should also enforce other aspects of the Sabbath. Such as, seventh year, you should let
your land be rested. Meaning you shouldn't plant anything. Every 49 or 50 years, every 50th year
you should also let all the prisoners go, all the debts be canceled, return the property that you
have to the original owner. So if we're going to take on the law of the Sabbath, we should take it
on, all of the Sabbath. Not just the portions we find manageable or portions that we find doable.
Not just the weekly Sabbath. We should do the one that you have to completely don't do anything with
your land every, seven years, and then every 50th year, do actually two years where you're not doing
anything with your land. And so for those who want to go back under the yoke of the Old Testament and
under the yoke of bondage, we have to go all the way. Not just pick and choose the areas that we
like. For us as Christians, we believe that the real eternal rest is in Christ, not in a day.
Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 11. If you come to me if you're weary, you're burdened,
and I will give you rest. In Hebrews chapter 4, it talks about the rest that still remains and this
is the rest it's talking about. It's the rest of Jesus. We believe that the Sabbath was a symbol.
It was a shadow of the real rest we experience in the Person, and one day when Jesus will come and
establish His kingdom, we will have that eternal rest in Him. I like what one Pastor said, he said,
"In the New Covenant we are not attempting to keep the letter of the law. That's impossible anyway.
We are honoring the eternal principles contained in God's commandments, while continuing to stand
in Jesus's finished work on the cross, for our righteousness and our right standing with God.
The Pharisees harshly criticized Jesus for healing on the Sabbath but they lost sight of the spirit
of the law, and were hung up pretty much on the letter of the law." Robert Morris said that in
his book "Take a Day Off." Mark Driscoll said that in his blog concerning the Sabbath, he said, "I
would argue that, following Jesus's resurrection and the establishment of the New Covenant, the
Sabbath moved from the biblical law, like the rest of the Ten Commandments, to the biblical wisdom,
like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes or James. It may no longer be a mandate but it's still a good idea,
and it's God's gift for us to enjoy. Dedicating one day a week to rest from our labors and gather
together to pray, grow friendships, and attend the church, take communion and hear the Bible
preach is the wisdom and the practice of the early church." Mark Driscoll said that. Now practically,
what should we do? I think that the idea of us observing the law of the Sabbath no longer
applies to us as Christians. But the practice and the principle of taking one day unto God,
is something that still applies to us as Christians. So I would encourage you with this, is
that to begin to take one day a week and give it to God. It could be Saturday. It could be Sunday.
It could be some other day. Some people work on weekends, and trust that God will supernaturally
make the difference. Sometimes people feel like, if I'll just work for seven days non-stop, you
know I can get more done. But the idea of taking one day off or taking one day of rest, is that
you're trusting in God to make the difference. Somebody did a study and found out that Seven-day
Adventists who actually are hardcore toward observing the Sabbath. They actually live 10 years
longer than average Protestants or Christians who don't observe the Sabbath religiously. So there's
a benefit in observing a day off because it would add to your years. Even if you know a restaurant
called Chick-fil-A, for those of you in the United States, is actually dominating the fast food
industry, and the company generates more revenue per restaurant than any other fast food restaurant
in the USA, and it's only open six days a week. It's closed on Sunday. Abraham Lincoln said,
"Give me six hours to chop the tree, and I will spend first four hours sharpening the ax." We
must understand that we are finite beings. We are not infinite. We are not all powerful.
We need to be refueled, replenished, rejuvenated, and God created the Sabbath for a man. Meaning
we need to stop. We need to reflect. We need to worship. We need to spend time with our family.
We can't go work, work, work. Non-Stop. They actually said that stress is a factor in five out
of six leading causes of death, heart disease, cancer, stroke, lower respiratory disease and
accidents. It's estimated that 75 percent to 90 percent of all doctor visits are stress related,
according to Joe Robinson in HuffPost in 2013. So what we see is this, is that when we begin
to take a day off. When we begin to take a day of rest, we actually get a chance to breathe,
we get a chance to catch up, we get a chance to stop and we get a chance to reflect, and that is
good for us. Not as a law but as life. Not as an obligation but as an opportunity to honor
God in our week. An Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, and I probably mispronounced his last
name. He said this. He said that Sabbath is an act of resistance. It's an act of rebellion against
Pharaoh and his empire. He said it's insurgency and insurrection against the isms of the Western
World. The globalism, capitalism, materialism. All of which sound nice but quickly make slaves
of the rich and the poor. Another author said that the Sabbath is like the guerrilla warfare tactic.
If you want to break free from the oppressive yoke of Egypt's task masters and its restless,
relentless lust for more, just take a day off each week and stick it to the man. Don't buy,
don't sell, don't shop, don't surf the web, don't read the magazine. John Mark Comer said
that in his book. So I want to encourage you to work hard, to rest well. I want to encourage
you that the principle of Sabbath for us as Christians, it's not about taking a day off.
It's taking a day of rest because for some people a day off is actually more work, except we do more
work for what we don't get paid for. So we're actually always working; we never stop. Taking
a day off is about surrendering to God more than about obsessing, make sure we're not stressing.
A lot of times we're so stressed out, trying to be not stressed out. I remember in the beginning when
I started to practice Sabbath, in a sense, not an illegalistic approach but trying to take a day off
and not do what I usually do. I would be stressed out actually, trying to not be stressed out,
and I'll be so focused on "what do I need to do that replenishes, rejuvenates me?" And I
was trying to find these activities and like all of this stuff, and you know trying to see what
other people do. And then I remember the Lord convicted me, He said, Vlad, chill, surrender.
It's okay to be bored on that day. It's okay to just rest and be with God. It's okay not to
have a hobby. You're not gonna die if you don't have a hobby. It's okay not to have all of these
activities that other people do that supposedly refresh them, and for me like those activities are
stressful. Just don't do what you usually do on your normal work week and just spend time with Me,
read My word, read books, spend time with your spouse, with your children,
go be with your family and just worship God. Sabbath as a principle. It's not a break
from God. So it's not a time where you go binge watch all of your episodes, movies. It's for God
and for family. It's for enjoyment. It's not for entertainment. It's not for indulging the flesh.
It's for your soul to get renewal, your mind to get rested in God. Now can you have your day of
rest another day than Saturday? Of course. Under the New Covenant it's not about exact day. It's
about the principle because you still are not gonna find your true rest in the day. Your true
rest comes from a Person, not from a principle. Your true rest comes from Jesus not from legalism.
But I want to encourage you, if you've never really practiced taking one day a week
and setting the day apart for God. For some of you that's going to be Sunday where you come,
you receive. Where you come and you serve actually. You may say, but that's work. Jesus
says on the Sabbath we should do good. Sabbath is not when we're not doing anything. It's that we're
still doing good. We're just not doing the work that we usually do. Like for me, Sunday is not a
day of rest because it's a day of work. I wake up very early. It's my first day of the week,
and I go to prayer and I then go to minister and I go to serve, and I usually come home very late.
So for me, my day of rest is usually on Saturday. I try to not do the typical things that I would
do like writing or creating things. I try to stop all of that. I try to read a lot. Spend some time
in prayer, spend some time in devotions, go for a walk with my wife, go for some coffee,
for some good meal and just really spend time with God. Also meet with our family, meet with
my family. Sometimes go hang out with guys in a sauna or do some recreational things that really
just kind of help me to stop. Now I could do more work during that day but I'm trusting God that as
I'm giving that day to Him, I'm following the pattern He has set in creation, and I'm trying
to live my life where Pharaoh, where busyness, where productivity is not my master. Where my
meaning doesn't come from my work but my meaning comes from God, my identity comes from Him,
and I'm also I don't want to be all stressed out trying to not stress out. Another practical
tip that you can practice on your Sabbath is to disconnect from media. That's not a rule but it
could help to honestly, not go online for that day and turn off your phone. I remember I practiced
that more in the beginning, now I still use my phone on Saturday. But to really restrict this
use of social media, and scrolling, and browsing, and searching, and watching television and all of
the stuff because then you're not resting. You are numbing yourself. You are just honestly,
you're medicating yourself. You're not letting your soul find that rejuvenation in God.
So I hope that this video brought some clarity and encouragement to you. For those of you who
feel like I need to do it as a law. Like you need to get saved, okay, because we're
not saved by Ten Commandments. We are saved by the grace of God, to follow God in obedience,
and so we practice the Sabbath as a principle, not as a law. For those of you who you just work,
work, work and you never take a day off. I want to encourage you to reconsider that and begin to
honor God, and see how God will supernaturally meet you at the point of your need. Hey, drop
that in the comments below. What do you think? Should Christians practice Sabbath as a principle
or should they practice it as a commandment, as a law and do you practice Sabbath? What do you do on
your Sabbath? Let's create a discussion below this video. Thank you for watching this video. Hey,
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