The Fourth Commandment: Face Time With God
Exodus 20:8-11 God’s 4th commandment presents us with a very tangible, task oriented way to express our love for Him: spending time together. Loving God implies some sort of relationship, and I think we can all agree; good relationships take time together to develop and grow.
Our Father Creator’s 4th commandment sets apart a specific day of the week, so that we can spend time together, and develop our relationship. It is last of the first four commandments which offer us guidance on what it means to love God with all our heart, mind, and being.
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You can listen to this message on YouTube
The Fourth Commandment: Face Time With God
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You can listen to this message on YouTube
The Fourth Commandment: Face Time With God
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Let's review the first four commandments in terms of a relationship:
1st commandment - to make this relationship your top priority; compare to a courtship where each party wants to be the other person’s top priority.
2nd commandment - to have a true image of who and what God is; in human relationships we consider it important that the other party “get us”… the understand who we are and what we are all about
3rd commandment - to show respect and honor towards God; in healthy human relationships you want the other party to treat you a certain way
4th commandment - to spend time together: you want the other party to spend time with you
The Sabbath is Time Set Apart By God
Genesis 2:1-2 the day in question is the 7th day of the weekly cycle
Leviticus 23:32 in God's word a "day" is reckoned from sunset to sunset
The Sabbath is actually very simple and straightforward. Yet, it is the most consistently undermined and confused by ridiculous arguments like:.
1. All days are equal. The 7th day Sabbath is merely a ceremonial observance. Commonly expressed "we should spend time with God every day not just on a single day of the week".
2. Any day will do. we are adhering to the spirit of the commandment if we set aside one day out of seven. The Sabbath doesn't have to be on Saturday it can be on Sunday, or Wednesday. And its actually better to change the day since we don't want to be confused with the Jews.
Imagine yourself in a relationship where you are rich and powerful and the other party has nothing. Everything they have they owe to you, past and present. You love them and you want to spend time together.
You say “you can come and see me any time, but I would like you to always come to see me every Saturday”. They reply “I appreciate all you do for me but I think I’d rather be the one to pick when we meet. I’ll let you know what days I’ll come”.
What would their words tell you about your relationship with that person?
Disinformation and Confusion About The Sabbath
The battle over the Sabbath is a war of deception and misinformation. Few people grasp how deeply and fundamentally humanity, society, and culture are indoctrinated by Satan.
Revelation 12:9 --> 1 John 5:19
Satan's objective is to undermine, divert, and destroy the development of that relationship between you and the true God who is your Father.
The fallen archangel Lucifer's great sin was to declare himself God's equal. It was Lucifer who first said "I will make myself like the most high". Lucifer, want3ed to be equal (or above) YHWH. He wanted to Rule over all the created beings (stars of God)
Isaiah 14:12-14 this Lucifer (Satan, evil one) is insanely jealous, angry, and resentful that God is creating in humanity a new class of spiritual beings who will be of greater importance than angels.
Hebrews 1:5-7, 13-14 the angels are beneath the spirit born sons of God. This is not only a subordination of angels to Jesus but a subordination of a angels to the spirit born children of God.
Hebrews 2:6-7, 11-13 while we are yet in the flesh we do not rank above angels, but that is our destiny. We are to be raised to spirit life with the full rights of son-ship in God's family. No longer “a little lower than the angels”.
This is why Satan hates you. He hates your relationship with the Most High. He hates the Sabbath and its important role in strengthening your relationship with the Father.
Another Deceptive Argument Against The Sabbath:
Some say that Jesus broke the Sabbath commandment (Matthew 12, John 5:18) thus setting the example for us and freeing us from the burden of observing it. But saying Jesus broke the Sabbath command is a foolish, deceptive and illogical argument.
Jesus and the disciples kept the Sabbath, Luke 4:16. In addition to affirming His observance of the weekly Sabbath He is pictured using it for its intended purpose: helping people develop their relationship with the Creator through reading and instruction in God’s word.
l Jesus did not violate the Sabbath commandment. He made some judgment calls about what was acceptable on the Sabbath which violated Jewish tradition, such as healing on the Sabbath, and food procurement.
l If Jesus had broken the commandment how could He also say "I have kept my Father's commands"? How could He be considered to have live a perfect sinless life? How could He then be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of humanity. If Jesus broke the command then He could not be your savior.
l The very same people often like to say Jesus fulfilled (or kept) the commandments in your stead. Then this righteousness on His part is bestowed upon you… “Jesus is our righteousness”. But if Jesus broke the Sabbath command… then He didn’t really fulfill the commandments for you…. Whichever way you slice it, the Jesus broke the Sabbath is a circular and illogical proposition.
Decades after Jesus’ death it was Paul's custom to gather together with others on the Sabbath Acts 17:2, 18:4.
It wasn’t until about 300 years later... 301 A.D. that Sunday was substituted for the 7th day. On the surface this change was a political decision in an attempt to create social and religious unity between Christians and worshipers of the sun. Underneath the surface this was further deception and coercion from Satan the prince of the powers of this world.
Jesus didn't make this change. The 1st century apostles didn't make or even initiate this change. Who gave the Roman government (and the Roman Church) the right to make such a change? They gave it to themselves... therefore, regarding the 4th commandment they too declared "We will be equal to God"!
The Sabbath Is A Reminder That YHWH is the Creator
Exodus 20:11 The Sabbath shapes the way we perceive and worship the Most High: He is our creator and as such supreme in all things. The Sabbath is not only baked into the foundational instructions from God know as the 10 Commandments, the Sabbath is an integral part of the Creation account itself. Long before we are warned not to lie, steal, murder, or covet, we are presented with the Sabbath as a memorial of creation..
In the Creation account of Genesis 1 God is establishing some ground rules:
· I set the boundaries: light and dark, land and sea, earth and sky...
· I establish and maintain life: plants, animals, and humanity
· I set aside the 7th day to remind you of all this
The Sabbath is a Day To Focus on God's Ongoing Spiritual Creation
We are given the Sabbath as a day of rest. That does not mean it is a day to sit around and do nothing... the Sabbath is not intended as a time for us to lounge around in our pajamas drinking hot chocolate without a care in the world.
The rest we are given is a day t o set aside the daily grind of our routine activities, our jobs, housework, shopping etc. ... not so we can do nothing... but so we can experience a change of focus Isaiah 58:13-14. We focus on building our relationship with our Father Creator.
Building relationships take time spent getting together, talking together, doing stuff together. Without these there really is no relationship. We see this with courtships, marriages, friendships, teams etc.
A Day For Sacred Assembly & Instruction
God’s ongoing spiritual creation (the development of Godly character in you) is advanced and directed through instruction on the weekly Sabbath.
Leviticus 23:3 God's instructions regarding the Sabbath are for us to participate in a holy assembly.
The Hebrew word translated assembly/convocation is mikraw which carries the meaning of both a public meeting and of a public reading. Therefore, this sacred assembly is a public meeting for the purpose of instruction.
Numbers 10:2 trumpets used to call the people together, therefore PUBLIC, a group activity
Nehemiah 8:8 specific reference to instruction from the book of the law [bible] when the people are all gathered together for a reading… the word reading in this instance is mikraw.
Leviticus 23:2 The word "festival" is a misleading translation. The original word here is moed meaning appointed time. There is a separate and distinct word for festival: khag. That word does not show up in Leviticus 23 until verse 6 when it is used to describe the festival of unleavened bread. A festival is always an appointed time, but an appointed time is not always a festival.
A more literal rendering of verse 2: Speak to the people of Israel, and say to them, these are the appointed times of YHWH, proclaim them to be sacred assemblies. These are my appointed times: The first of these appointed times to be addressed is the weekly Sabbath (the Sabbath is not described as a festival).
The weekly Sabbath is an appointment with God. You are summoned by Him to present yourself as part of a group for the purpose of receiving instruction from His word. To facilitate this God has given you a "day off" from your work routine so you can focus on this meeting.
Your priority on the Sabbath is not lounging around in your pajamas eating waffles, or to catch up on your napping... although a more relaxed routine is a side benefit of the Sabbath!
Your priority is not fellowship, catching up with friends, even personal bible study, or personal prayer… although the altered routine of the Sabbath allows you extra time to do all these good things!
Yes, do these relaxing and refreshing things on the Sabbath... but.
Your priority on God's appointed times is to set aside your work and appear before God as part of a body of people for group instruction!
The Sabbath Advances His Ongoing Work of Salvation
The Sabbath is more than a memorial of God's past creation of the material universe. It is a weekly reminder of God's ongoing and present work of spiritual creation. Bringing into being children who will transcend the material universe.
2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:10, Philippians 2:13 This is God at work in you, writing His laws and attitudes on your hearts and minds. A work which the weekly Sabbath moves forward!
I believe this concept is also built into the wording of the commandment.
Deuteronomy 5:12-15 the weekly Sabbath is also a remembrance of God's act of salvation in your life. You have been called out of darkness, you have been called out of slavery, you have been called out of sin... and called into righteousness, truth, and eternal life.
This transformation comes about through your ever growing relationship with God your Creator. To make this happen God has commissioned the Church: to baptize for the receipt of His holy spirit; to proclaim and facilitate His holy assemblies. The church provides a safe meeting place with restrooms, running water, a sound system, we provide hymnals and music for singing, and most of all we provide instruction from God's word.
We provide instruction that is inspired, but also instruction that is regulated. We teach as we have ourselves been taught, we are careful about doctrine so that you do not come here and find strange exotic, highly personalized interpretations of scripture, tantalizing speculation, or human philosophy.
The laws of God are written on your heart through sound instruction. This new spiritual creation of God is channeled, regulated, and pointed in the right direction by group instruction.
Speaking to the followers of Christ God’s word says - Hebrews 4:9.
Love God with all you heart, mind and soul. The first four commandments tell us how to make this happen.
1. Set Him as your #1 priority
2. Accept no false images or interpretations of Him
3. Give Him your honor and r respect, and
4. Spend time with Him gathering together before Him on His appointed day of meeting.
This message is part of a 4 part series covering the 1st four commandments. The commandments which outline what it means to love God with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our being. Here are links to all four -
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