Waiting on God is a massive theme in God’s Word.
A personal Sabbath is a time of planned, focused waiting upon God. But often, that time gets stolen from our plans!
The Holy Spirit chose eight Hebrew words to paint the picture of the God who seeks us to come silently before Him and listen to Him through His Word. A personal Sabbath feeds our patience, strengthens our obedience, focuses our spirit, and renews our strength. As Isaiah says, "Like an eagle," we soar to the heights of God’s presence.
The truth is that waiting on God has been the foundation for spiritual growth for the past five thousand years. Yet, over the last thirty years, our generation has been robbed of this important truth. And now, many don’t even see what has been lost. Are you wiped out, tired, weary, exhausted, and locked into hurrying to and fro with no rest in sight? Then, “waiting upon the Lord” may be the answer to our loss of a personal resting in the Lord.
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” Isaiah 40:31 (KJV).
One noted pastor wrote, “I found myself hurrying God, I just fit Him in wherever He needed to be fit in. And one day, God’s Word showed me God was not going to fit around my schedule. I had to fit my schedule around His. That changed my whole life.” If we will not recover the discipline of waiting, God is under no moral obligation to speed up His timetable to accommodate our urgency. We will find Him in all His peace, refreshment and sweetness when we seek Him with all our heart (Deut. 4:29) and “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him…” Psalm 37:7 (KJV).
Let’s see God’s offer as we turn together this morning to the last verse of Isaiah 40, and listen to the offer God has made for you and me.
Now we return to Mark 2:27-28 as we are looking at the Biblical Teaching on the Sabbath. Jesus sets the tone for the day’s controversies and speaks to us to this day on the Sabbath.
1. First, SABBATH PURPOSES: what did Jesus say about the Sabbath? As Lord of the Sabbath He said one thing, the Sabbath was made for man to worship God. It was not a prison, a straight jacket, or a death squad to hunt Sabbath-breakers no; it was a delightful offer of spiritual communion with God.
2. Secondly, SABBATH PROMISES: do we need rest and to cease from our wearying schedules? Yes, and that is what this Old Testament picture teaches us New Testament saints! God offers rest!
3. Thirdly, SABBATH LAWS: should we really meet on Sunday or on the Sabbath Day, which is Saturday? We study that tonight!
4. Fourthly, SABBATH BLESSINGS how do we apply all this to our lives? How do we cultivate a rest, a cessation from weariness in our lives? How do we make worship of the Lord special on our Day of Gathering, the Lord’s Day? That is next week!
5. Fifthly, SABBATH THIEVES what takes away the blessings and promises of the rest God offers? This morning we start this examination of what robs us of the blessings of a personal Sabbath rest.
First, LOVELESS OBEDIENCE robs us of the promised Sabbath rest.
Secondly, PASSIONLESS SEEKING robs us.
Next time, we will see that MEDIA OVERLOAD STEALS OUR REST: A Personal Sabbath Rest Helps us Root out the contamination of the media. Research has demonstrated that we store three trillion “videotape” images in our brains by the time we are thirty years old old. But, worrisomely, we have no volitional control over selective forgetting. Once the images are there, we must live with that visual imprint’s consequences.
SUPERFICIALITY STEALS OUR REST: A Personal Sabbath Rest: Helps us Root out the contamination of Superficiality in our culture-
LEGALISM STEALS OUR REST: A Personal Sabbath Rest: Helps us Counter the claims we are required to worship on the Sabbath day.
BUSYNESS STEALS OUR REST: A Personal Sabbath Rest: Helps us Repent of the pride of Busyness – The busier we appear, the greater the respect afforded us. While the person sitting on a lawn swing is scorned, the speed-of-light jet jockey is venerated.
HURRY STEALS OUR REST: A Personal Sabbath Rest: Helps us “Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry”
THE CEASELESS PRESSURES OF DEBT STEAL OUR REST: debt can rob our taking advantage of God’s Promised Quietness or Tranquility?
(NR1-37; 000930AM)
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