Ye Shall Find Rest for Your Soul

Transcription

1 Sunday January 18, 2015 Phone: Pastor David Miklas Message: Psalm 23 - #8 Text: Psalm 23:1-6 Ye Shall Find Rest for Your Soul INTRODUCTION: In continuing our focus on Psalm 23 we turn our attention again to verse 2, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. Verse 2 speaks of REST. It is a picture of tranquility, a picture of peace. Today the theme of life is Hurry, Worry, and Bury! We are always busy, always on the run, doing this and that. Perhaps one of the reasons among many for our depressed mentality today is because we are a nation that never rests. We are going like the energizer bunny, 24/7. If there was ever a generation that needed REST it is this generation. Our spirits cry out for the rest that only our Lord can provide. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. As we become weary of physical activity and need physical REST, so our spiritual busyness can bring on weariness and endless FRUSTRATION. There is so much to do and there is no time left for the priorities of life. I believe the REST of which the Psalmist is speaking allows us to REFRESH our souls. We need to take TIME OUT TO REST in the Word of God. Green pastures speak of taking time and being involved. Not a chapter a day to keep the Devil away, but TIME AND INVOLVEMENT! I believe there is a direct relationship between the amount of TIME we let God speak to us and what He is able to do in our lives. The psalmist says that the shepherd maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. so that He, the Lord, may restoreth my soul Going back to Exodus, chapter 20:6-11, God focuses our attention on the FOURTH COMMANDMENT to His people, Israel, and to the entire human race. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: (10) But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. In Isaiah 58:13-14 we read, 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, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (14) 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. Page 1

2 In this FOURTH COMMANMENT God stops and says: I am the God of your time, so let s check your schedule. There are SIX days to work and there is ONE day a week you are to REST and REMEMBER who gave you all the blessings and mercies during the past week. God so loved the human race that He gave us the SABBATH. The Hebrew word for sabbath simply means rest. He gave us a day to rest. Now in return, God commands us to keep the day of rest. Of all the days of the week, this ought to be your favorite day, the best day of the week. Not because you can do more work, or go on family excursions to seek pleasure, but simply because it is the day you can relax, rest, and worship God in fellowship with His people. Today, we live in a nation that encourages work, business, and the pursuit of our lives all day, every day. However, when it comes to Sunday, the Sabbath, we need to set aside all activity that could occupy our time, and say: I have an appointment on this day with the God of the universe to rest my body and mind from work, and to worship with Him in His house and at His table. Sunday is a time to claim God s promise in Psalm 23:1-3, The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to LIE DOWN in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He RESTORETH my soul... Notice the phrase, He MAKETH me to lie down! If you don t lie down and rest, if you don t seek out those quiet pastures and still waters to spend time with the God of Heaven, it s not beyond Him to make you do so. You may think that God wouldn t do that. Well, my friends, you don t know God! If you re not going to slow down and rest, then be prepared to notice the circumstances of your life as things begin to break down. The breakdown may be found in any of the physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, marital or even family areas of your life. J.C. Penny, a Christian businessman who founded the stores by the same name once said, If a man s business requires so much of his time that he can t attend the Sunday morning and Sunday evening services and the Wednesday evening prayer meeting of his church, then that man has more business than God intended Him to have. Woe, that s powerful! In this FOURTH COMMANDMENT, God separates our available TIME into THREE portions: FIRST - TIME FOR WORK: God has set for us a time to work. An old axiom says, If I do not set a time to do whatever, I will not get around to doing it. In verse 9 we read, Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. You will notice the command is to work SIX DAYS. In America we have gone from the SIX day week to the FIVE day week and in some circles to the FOUR day week. That leaves THREE whole days off for the weekend. I believe this change has contributed to lower church attendance. The enactment of the THREE day weekend for certain holidays has been no boom for the Page 2

3 church. Because American workers are busy traveling (which is often like work) they have forgotten God in the process. Remember, God said there is a time to WORK. Someone said, He who never works is unfit for worship, and he who never pauses for worship is rendered incapable of work. The more diligent we are in performing our SIX day a week duties, the more we will value the rest and worship on the SEVENTH day. You know, my friends, I believe the difficulties people face during the work week could be dealt with more easily if they would consistently give God the first day of the week, all day, instead of continuing to work throughout this seventh day. SECOND - TIME FOR REST: In verse 10 we read, But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt NOT do any work... Remember the word SABBATH means to break off and to stop working and rest. In Genesis 2:1-3 God gave us a personal example of the Sabbath, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended which He had made; and he RESTED on the seventh day from ALL His WORK which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because in it he RESTED from ALL His WORK which God created and made. Imagine that! God took time off to rest. How gracious is our God who deemed it necessary for us not only to work, but also to rest. As one so well said, The rest of the Sabbath is allowing our souls to catch up with our bodies. Someone else said, As goes the Sabbath so goes the nation. When the Sabbath becomes profaned and desecrated, church attendance is ignored, the teaching of God s Holy word and His morality and spiritual life is forgotten, and the nation as a whole sinks deeper and deeper into the mire of sin. Your great-grandfather called it the Holy Sabbath. Your grand-father called it the Sabbath. You father probably called it Sunday. Today, we call it the Weekend. Today the Sabbath is not only being demeaned by the American public, it is also being neglected by Believers. It s attacked by retail businesses that are open SEVEN days a week. It s attacked by factories that operate SEVEN days a week. It s attacked by the pleasure seeking public, Christians included, who have made sports, beach outings, and getaways more important than WORSHIP of God in His house. The world has dropped any pretense of honoring a special time with God. There is no time WITH God and no time FOR God. Our lives are so full, and yet so very empty. There is no room for Him in our thoughts, in our schedules, or in the fabric of our lives. As far as the world is concerned God is irrelevant! As far as the world is concerned Church is not important! As far as the world is concerned Really, what is worship? In Psalm 127:1-2, the Psalmist said something very interesting about the way life works in God s world. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build Page 3

4 it; except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. In His love, I believe the Lord is saying: You work night and day. When you re not working, you re playing so hard you exhaust yourself. You are busy, busy, busy with no time for God, no time to evaluate your heart and life. You think by running at that pace you will get ahead. You think if you don t cram every extra hour with work or entertainment that you will somehow miss out on life and be a loser. But the principle of the SABBATH is the exact opposite! The fact is, time set aside for the Lord is never lost time. He tells us, When you stop working, I ll do My greatest work in you - both now and in eternity. When you stop working, you ll see relationships from a new perspective. Because of our neglect of the Lord s Day in the house of God: America is paying a heavy, heavy price for violating one of God s absolute unchanging Laws. Christians likewise are also paying a heavy, heavy price in their lives as well as in the lives of their families. Yes, I believe I have heard every imaginable excuse for why God s people are not in the House of God on Sunday. But listen carefully. God accepts NO excuse for you doing whatever you might be doing on the LORD S DAY that violates SUNDAY REST and SUNDAY WORSHIP in the house of God with the people of God. THIRD - TIME FOR REFLECTION: The commandment tells us that we are to labor 6 days, and then on the 7th day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. So how do we go from Saturday being the Sabbath to Sunday being the Sabbath? Who changed the law? It was changed by Christ, and then by the Apostles by their example. On the SEVENTH day the creation of the world is remembered. In Genesis 2:1-3 we read, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it... The Jews celebrated the Sabbath on the 7th day of the week in remembrance of the creation of the earth. On the FIRST day of the week, Sunday, Christians are called to celebrate Christ s resurrection, His victory over death. On the FIRST day of the week, Jesus rose from the dead. On the FIRST day of the week, Christ appeared to the women and to all the disciples except Thomas. On the FIRST day of the very next week, Christ appeared to all the disciples including Thomas. Page 4

5 On the FIRST day of the week, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church on the day of Pentecost. On the FIRST day of the week, the early church celebrated the Lord s Table, as we read in Acts 20:7, And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread... On the FIRST day of the week, believers are to bring their tithes to the church house, as we read in I Corinthians 16:2, Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him... So as believers, we worship on the FIRST day of the week as The Lord s Day, as our Day of Rest. It s our day where in a profound way we reconnect with God. It s a day where we let Him take inventory of our lives, our relationships, our sins, and to which He can bring conviction, and re-supply the diminished supply of mercy, compassion, convictions and instructions. It s our day in which to rejoice in the goodness of God in our lives, in His marvelous Mercy and Grace upon us for the week just passed and our solemn prayer for His aid and refreshment to our soul in the week to come. It s our day to fellowship with the family of God in the house of God, as we read in Hebrews 10:25, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. In verse 26 the writer calls our absence from gathering together a willful sin. It s a willful sin to stay away from the gathering in the fellowship of God s house. Think about it. SUNDAY is set aside: For celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, For corporate worship of God, For personal exaltation of Christ, For proclamation of God s Word, For giving to God s work through the local church, For ministry in God s church, and For prayer and singing praise to God. Please notice again the words in Exodus 20:8 to keep it Holy and in verse 11, wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. God made this day a HOLY DAY not a HOLIDAY. When I was growing up, folks just took it for granted that: Sunday school was a time to teach God s word. The morning service was a time for preaching. The evening service was a time for fellowship and preaching. The Wednesday service was for preaching and praying. So far as I am concerned, by CONVICTION that s the way it has always been, and I have not changed that conviction. Because God loves us so much, He told us, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Any excuse for missing Sunday in the house of God, is not biblical, but selfish and sinful. No one is ever so good or so holy or so spiritually wise that they can afford to remain away from the Lord s house. Folks, we would do well to fence in the Lord s Day with a higher wall than ever. Whatever others may do, let us keep this rendezvous with God, and dedicate our lives anew to God as we observe this day of REST and WORSHIP. God clearly Page 5

6 told us, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Let me ask you, do you even remember the green pastures and still waters of life? If not, then let me encourage you from the words of the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ, who said in Matthew 11:28-29: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. *********************************************************************** If God has spoken to your heart, after reading the sermon Ye Shall find Rest for Your Soul right now talk to God about what He has spoken to you. Do you have the assurance that one day you will go to heaven? If you have no assurance that you know Jesus Christ, then I trust you will decide to accept Him as your personal Savior. The Bible tells us in Acts 16:31,...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved... Romans 10:13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This prayer is here for those who need to ask Jesus to be their personal Savior: I do want to go to Heaven. I know I am a sinner, and I do believe Jesus Christ died for me. I realize I cannot buy this great salvation, nor can I earn it. Knowing Jesus died on the cross and arose from the grave to pay my sin debt and to purchase my salvation, I do now trust Him as my Savior, and from this moment on I am completely depending on Him for my salvation. If you made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, let me know. Please send an to pdmikbbm@aol.com and I will send you some literature that will help you in your Christian life. The Weekly SERMON was sent as a ministry of Bible Baptist Ministry, 48 Alexie Rd., Hanover Township, PA Privacy policy: your address will not be sold, or shared with any third party. To easily access this and previous messages go to: Once there, you can click on Subscribe or Unsubscribe. Copy write permission: Because the Weekly SERMON will be reproduced into other formats, PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING: The Weekly SERMON in its original form, without any changes, may be copied and re-transmitted by electronic mail, and copies may be printed for individual or ministry purposes, provided that such copying, re-transmission, printing, or other use is not for profit or other commercial purpose. Any copying, re-transmission, distribution, printing, or other use of the Weekly SERMON must set forth in full the heading that is given before each Weekly SERMON. Any other request for use, please contact Bible Baptist Ministries at pdmikbbm@aol.com or by phone at Page 6