Genesis 2:2-3

from two portions of O Testament Scripture, Genesis chapter 2, and we'll begin as we did with verse 2, read 2 and 3, and then Exodus chapter 20 verses 8 through 11. And on the seventh day, God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it, God rested from all His work that He had done in creation. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, six days you shall labor and do all your work. But on the seventh day is, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the soul-journer who was within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and 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. May God richly bless both the reading and the hearing of His holy word. Now I need to confess, those that know me, you probably already know this, but I am not what you would call a techie. Techie in the sense that I don't keep track of all of the new technological developments. I am computerized now, and I do text, and I, Sister Grant, boy, it would be a night that she's here. I do sometimes answer emails, but I'm not really a techie. I know what's going on, and I don't feel the need to get every new gadget that comes down the pike. I get what I need, and I use technology. I understand it. I'm not to, what do you call it, lug-ite, or I'm not somebody that distains technology. I just don't have the mind or the mind space to keep up with all that's going on. However, I will acknowledge that I am amazed by technology, and I do try to keep track of what's going on, even if I'm not always a consumer of it, and one particular aspect or one field of technology that continues to fascinate me in terms of how it's changed the way we live, and how it impacts our culture in so many different ways, is that of telecommunications. I mean telecommunications, my wife and I sometimes talk about how we enjoy certain things that if our great grandparents were present to see this, they just would not believe it. And certainly when it comes to telecommunications, not only in terms of its continual progression, but also just in terms of the impact that it has on our lives, it has changed really in very dramatic ways, it's changed the way we connect with people and the way we communicate with people, or send messages to people. I get texts sometimes in the middle of the night, there are group texts, and certainly when we talk about telecommunications today, we're almost talking exclusively about cell phones, because most of us still have landlines, we might use it for facts, but now you can facts through other means, but most of us don't call, I mean every time somebody asks, well what's your home number, I have to pause for a moment and think about it, because telephones are home lines, or landlines and home telephones simply are not as vital as they used to be. So when we look at cell phones, it just changed, it has changed everything in terms of how people interact, and cell phones obviously are used for more than just making phone calls. So it amazes me the technology and the apps that can be downloaded on your phone and videos and everything. We see how the impact that it's made, that if anybody has a cell phone or a smartphone, then wherever you are, you can record that event, it connects you in ways that you would not believe. My parents were from Arkansas, moved to California, and when they would call back to Arkansas, they'd have to make these long distance calls, and I remember in the early days, they had to connect with the operator to call, or if once we got, quote unquote, modernized, and you could just make a direct long distance call, then you have to watch your minutes, because it could be very expensive to make these phone calls. Cell phones have changed all that. It changed all that. I remember the first year we went to Africa, and we weren't able to communicate because we didn't have direct lines and such a difference in time and so forth, and then the next time you go back, we go and we're able to communicate with our son by way of cell phone. So telecommunications has changed, it's changed the way we communicated, it's changed, but it's more than obviously, it's more than communication. Cell phones have done a lot of things, but the one thing that stands out to me that has been changed by cell phones is the presence of the busy signal. We don't get the busy signal, some might even wonder, what do you mean by busy signal? Let me explain. There was a time when you were on a phone call and someone else attempted to try to call you, what they would encounter is what was called a busy signal. You know the sound, it was a busy signal. Now the busy signal could have indicated one of two things. It could have indicated that someone accidentally knocked the phone off the hook, because if the phone was off the hook, again, that's one of the ways that phone technology has changed. But if the phone was off the hook, then if someone was trying to call in, they wouldn't be able to get through because all they would get was a busy signal. Or it could mean that if you call someone and you got a busy signal, what it meant was that you were preoccupied. And sometimes now granted, some people took the phone off the hook because they didn't want to be disturbed, that something was going on in their home or maybe they were just tired and they didn't want the phone ringing so they would take it off the hook. So whether it was taken off the hook either intentionally or accidentally, the busy signal was the universal sound that the person that you are trying to reach is unavailable. So the result was that if somebody tried to call you, they could not get through. Now eventually that sort of changed because if you were on the phone talking to someone, they developed what was called call waiting and call waiting. If you were on the phone and someone else was trying to call you, you would hear this little beep and then you could hit the button and then you could click over and then you could make a decision. You could listen to the person that who it was that was on the other line and if they were more important or the call was more important or you were almost finished with your call, then you could say, listen, I'll get back with you, I've got someone else on the line. But in either case, you were able to click and you made a decision and then you could either continue with the present conversation or start a new conversation altogether. But then of course we went even beyond the call waiting. Then all of a sudden there were answering machines. In fact, so much so that a lot of people who are of a certain age, they still referred to their voicemail as my answering machine. The answering machine was a way where if you were absent or if you were present. If you were absent, the phone would ring and you weren't there and you didn't want to miss any calls and so a person at the end of so many rings, they would be able to leave a message after the beep, remember that? And then if you were home, but again you were preoccupied and you didn't necessary, it was kind of a way of screening calls so that you would let it ring and then let it go to the answering machine and then if it was a call that you wanted to take, you would interrupt the answering machine and take the call. But again, what that allowed you to do was sort of screen and in either case what took place is you determine whether or not you wanted to answer. In short, here's what the busy signal did because what call waiting allowed you to do was see who else wants to talk to you. What the answering machine and voicemail eventually allowed you to do is to go back and determine whether or not you wanted to take the call. What the busy signal did is it allowed the person who was already engaged in a conversation to continue that conversation without interruption. Now there is one other special feature that we grew up with and that was, I think this was probably invented by parents of teenagers and that was called the emergency call because if you were calling someone and the phone was busy and then you tried to call back and the phone is still busy and especially if you are the boss of the house and you're trying to get back to your house, then you would call and this is through the conspiratory actions of the phone company, what an operator, you could call the operator and give them the number you're trying to reach and then you could say could I place an emergency call, the operator would break in on your conversation, would let you know that everybody, somebody's listening, there's something is being heard and the operator, I don't know how long they would listen, but at some point they would break in and say excuse me, but I have an emergency call for XYZ number and then they would give you the name of the person, now I've been on the receiving end of emergency calls and the person that was making the emergency call was either my father or my mother and boy that's not a pleasant conversation to have, and either case what ends up happening is when the operator would break in, you would hear who it was that was trying to make an emergency call and you would determine if it was really an emergency. And I remember having to relinquish the line because the parent was on the phone, but I also remember at times when I was away and I was out and I'm trying to reach my parents or trying to reach somebody at home and couldn't get through and I asked for an emergency call and the parent would hear my voice and know that it was me and they would terminate the call so they could receive my call. Here's my point, telecommunications has changed a great deal. What the busy signal allowed you to do was to remain engaged in the conversation that you were engaged in and it forced everyone else to wait until you were done. Or until you felt like relinquishing the line. Now they could complain after the fact all they want. They could say, I tried to call you all day, it doesn't matter. They still weren't able to get through. Here's my contention. My contention is that God has given us the Sabbath day as a busy signal. He has given us this busy signal for all of his image bearers so that we would engage him on that day and that we would contemplate him and that we would rest in him even as we disengage ourselves from everything else around us, as we disengage ourselves from the world and the things in the world. God has given us a built-in busy signal and for all of our conveniences of cell phones it has removed from us the idea of too busy to be disengaged or disconnected from what we're doing. Now I'm not saying that the cell phone is responsible for Christians neglecting the Lord's day. What I am saying is that it has replaced something that was very helpful in our culture and in our interactions and that's simply the idea that I'm now busy. But with our form of communication now you can not only see who's calling and determine whether or not you're going to answer. The name will pop up or a phone number and if you don't recognize the number you don't have to answer. Now it's one, everything is available to anything and it's up to you to decide whether or not you're going to break away. My contention is that God has given what God has given us in the Sabbath. It reminds us of the old school busy signal and basically what the Lord said is this is my day and the day that I have given you has been set apart so that disengage yourself and this so if anybody calls if anybody calls you on that seventh day remember you're busy. There are a few things that we want to look at and these two passages and hold in mind when we talk about the Sabbath I understand that there is ongoing debates and arguments as to a seventh day Sabbath that there are some would say well you don't have a right to transfer this over to the Lord's Day etc but granted here's what we understand I'm not going to argue for seventh day or first day Sabbath all I say number one is the Sabbath the finds its fulfillment in Christ that's what we know he is our ultimate and final Sabbath rest so if it's legitimate to transfer the worship and the time and all of the all of the the substance and the spirit of the seventh day Sabbath if it isn't legitimate to transfer it to the first day of the week I'll let others debate that here's what we do know is that this wasn't arbitrarily done in other words we don't go the Christian church did not arbitrarily go from Saturday to Sunday as the Lord's Day and what we know is that the first day of the week has become the day of worship and we have transferred it to transfer to it all of the rest the restrictions that the Lord has given most of it given towards that he gave originally to the Sabbath that has been done because we know that it was the day that the Lord rose from the dead and not just as a commemoration that we've transferred from Saturday to Sunday but we see in the New Testament that we have a ground for it because the New Testament saints met on the first day of the week Paul and 1 Corinthians 16 when he talks about receiving the offerings for that that the church had promised to give to eight of the churches he says now when you gather on the first day of the week and therefore he's saying the day that you gather is the first day of the week which was eventually called the Lord's Day we know that John in the book of Revelation receives that revelation while he was on the Isle of Patmos on the Lord's Day and by the Lord's Day what he means is the day that had been consecrated and set apart for Christians for worship so again my point here is not to determine which day but the point is a day out of seven one out of seven has been given by God to his image bearers and what we'll see in chapter two of Genesis is that this was given before creation or excuse me before the fall therefore the seventh day or a seventh day of rest is a day or is binding on all image bearers and so we are told in fact in chapter two of Genesis that the Lord blessed that day now that that's an important term the Lord blessed that day now when we talk about blessings there are three levels in which blessings are given we know that as humans that we bless the Lord as the Psalmist says bless the Lord oh my soul so how do we bless God by honoring him by by acknowledging him by by reverencing him that's how we bless God we don't improve him so when we give but when we bless God we are honoring him and acknowledging him and glorifying him giving him honor and credit that that that that he deserves now on the secondly when God blesses us that means he gives us benefits so when we are blessed we are improved there is something about it about God's blessings that improve us in temporal or spiritual ways which is why when we receive physical benefits we say the Lord blessed me so when when God is blessed he's not improved upon he's just acknowledged when we are blessed we are improved but then there's a third level of blessing that's indicated in the scriptures and this is one of the places here in it's it's in Genesis but it's also repeated by Moses in Exodus and and that is when something that is inanimate is blessed we know that we're we're not just honoring it and in the same way because it says the Lord blessed that seventh day so how does he bless it what does it mean for the Lord to bless today well in the same way the other one other place and there are a number of places in the Old Testament but one other one of the other places where we see inanimate things being blessed and that's with the Lord's supper we are told that when Jesus gives the elements that he first broke the bread and then blessed it and what does it mean for him to bless it it's not just that he prays over but but he blesses it and the same thing he took the cup and he blessed it also so what does it mean it doesn't does it mean that the bread or the cup is somehow improved no it doesn't does it mean that that we are giving honor to the bread and to the cup no but it is acknowledging that that which is being blessed is something that God has used to communicate benefits to his creatures so God Jesus blessed the cup not for the benefit of the cup and he blessed the bread not for the benefit of the bread but he blessed the cup and he blessed the bread for the benefit of the people that were receiving it I agree with John Piper who has noted that and gives us a good way to understand what it means for God to bless it bless a day or to bless a thing and he basically says that what it simply means is that that thing that God blesses becomes a source of blessings for us it becomes a source of blessing and so when Jesus blessed the bread and he blessed blessed the cup it becomes a source of blessing for those who receive it because what do we receive when we receive the bread and when we receive the cup we receive by faith the benefits that are communicated in those elements they don't change but we believe we we receive the benefits of the body of Christ and the blood of Christ and so likewise when God blesses this day which by the way is consistent with what Jesus says in the New Testament when he says that man wasn't made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for man and why was the Sabbath made for man because the Lord blessed it so therefore the Sabbath becomes a source of blessing for the image bearers of God and so when we look then in Genesis chapter 1 verses 28 through 30 you'll notice that God has already finished everything and in verses 28 through 30 of chapter 1 he has given Adam his assignment this is his work subdued the earth and an exercised dominion over everything that I have created be fruitful and multiply so Adam has been given his assignment and then after he has been given this assignment we are introduced to this Sabbath rest now here's what we need to understand about the Sabbath even as it's given to Adam the Sabbath is different for Adam in in one response in a couple of respects well first off let's begin with what the Sabbath always intended the Sabbath was always intended to be a means of blessing for God's image bearers until the end in other words there was something eschatological in the Sabbath it pointed to an eternity that was yet to come which is why Jesus or the writer of Hebrews tells us that the rest that the children of Israel entered into was not the final rest that had been blessed by God so Adam was in in observing the Sabbath what he was being put in mind of was the glory that was yet to come here everything was peaceful but as he was able to experience this peaceful creation he was able to anticipate a greater enjoyment of both the creator and the creation at the at the appointed time so therefore it's a it's a source of blessing so that's that's one thing and by the way the Sabbath rest still points forward to eternity future but there was something different Adam didn't bring baggage to the Sabbath rest you know what was missing on the Sabbath rest no animal sacrifices it was not necessary for animal sacrifices for the Sabbath rest why because there was no sin so therefore Adam was able to give unto the Lord blessings and honor and and since the the Lord blessed the Sabbath then we are told that that he that means it's a source of blessing for him and so I would suggest that the blessing or that the Sabbath was a blessing to Adam in that he was now able before he went to work he was able to allow what the Sabbath day to prepare his mind for the work that was ahead he was able to contemplate God's creation and recognize that in this creation that everything God has made is good and sufficient that's what that's what God what what the Lord says after he created everything he says it is good and so Adam was able to pause before he went to work and say yes it is good and not only is it good but the Lord tells him eat from all of these different trees so that what God has created is good and sufficient so that Adam could be reminded that he's not lacking anything his creator has given him this beautiful and vast creation and what is given in the creation is sufficient for his creaturely needs Adam was also not only able to think about God's creation but on the Sabbath Adam was able to think about God he was able to think about God and in conjunction with his creation and he was able to think wow God is great God is great that's what we're saying how great thou art this morning we're saying how great thou art how do we know the greatness of God just by looking at creation is enough to tell us he's great and if that if we can see that in our fall and state can you imagine Adam looking at the wonders and the splendors of the created order and singing how great thou art so Adam was able to see that God is great and according to David and Psalms 19 he was able to see something of God's glory so Adam as he contemplated creation he's able to see that that the creation is a good creation and in the creation is everything that he needs that he was not lacking anything he was able to see that the creator is a great creator and a glorious creator but Adam was also able to see himself you see as he contemplates the creation and as he contemplates the created order or the creator himself he's able to see that he is blessed above all creatures as Adam is worshipping God on creation no elephant is bowing down and praying to God no God is not talking to the animals in the field he's only communing with Adam and Adam is able to see that he is blessed above all people to be in fellowship with and to be in the service of this great and glorious God Genesis chapter 2 shows what the Lord's day that that Sabbath rest that God has blessed this day he has blessed this day to be a source of blessing to his image bearers so that in that day the image bearer could see that all that I have needed the Lord has provided so that the image bearer could see that the one who is is great enough to put the stars into space knows me by name isn't that something the image bearer could see that you know what it's not a drudgery to work it's a blessing it's a blessing because I am in the service of the one who has created this if the if the ocean breaks I don't have to fix it he made it he can fix it so Adam is blessed he is blessed above all creatures because he not only has been created in the image of God but being created in the image of God he has been created with the space in his heart in which he is to contemplate the writer of Ecclesiastes says you have you have put eternity in our breast and so Adam with the sense of eternity could look at his present situation and anticipate greater joy greater glory greater presence greater fellowship with God when the temptation or when his trial was over but now we move to Moses Moses in chapter 20 even though Moses is also the author of Genesis but in chapter 20 when Moses restates this this Sabbath command you notice that it's now included in the ten commandments and there are a couple things to note here that that and because whereas what we see in Genesis 2 is the idea of a blessed Sabbath before sin and so the Sabbath is a source of blessing to the image bearers of God even before there is sin and redemption but now what we get in Exodus chapter 20 there has we already know that there is this is after the fall and so now not only now Moses says not only does he say that the children that all men are to honor the Sabbath but notice what he tells the children of Israel he gives this word and he says remember verse 8 remember remember the Sabbath and then he tells them specifically to keep it holy now why would he have to say that because something has entered into the picture that we know that the Sabbath is still a source of blessing to the image bearer of God but now something has entered into the picture the Lord doesn't say in Genesis to remember the Sabbath he simply says he blessed it and the assumption has to be that Adam understood it and observed the Sabbath but sin makes us forget and sin changes our priorities and so the idea that we see first off with Moses and restating the the commandment concerning the Sabbath day is that now we as image bearers of God because we are fallen we have to make us an effort similar to what Paul says in Ephesians when he says redeeming the time and the idea there is taking and being intentional in other words guarding the time take it back redeeming the time because we know the days are evil so we have to we really have to work at this not work on to salvation but but we have to prioritize some things we have to work at this we have to we have to remember oh it's not just like oh let me not forget but no let me let me place it uppermost in my thoughts and then I have to make sure that there's nothing that interferes with this day that's the challenge here that's what that's what Moses is telling the children of Israel remember the Sabbath the Sabbath is a creation ordinance he says but now you need to remember it what do we need to remember remember that the Lord bless this remember that this day is a source of your blessing it doesn't bless you like the cross blesses you but now of course that with the fall the elements of the Lord's day has changed because in addition to now seeking him or honoring him and exhorting him because of creation we exhort him because he's redeemer and so therefore what we see the Moses telling the children of Israel in verse 8 is to remember the day and then he tells them in verse 11 that they are to remember it he says and to to make it holy remember it he says in verse 8 and keep it holy and then in verse 11 he reminds us it's because it is the day unto the Lord it's the Sabbath unto the Lord the second thing that Moses does here is he includes the stipulation that six days you shall labor and you shall do all of your work he says on that six day but on the seventh he says do no work now that's part of the remembering part of the remembering is the prioritizing of what God has given don't let work interfere and because God has created us to work but we should not make such an idol out of work and granted I know this is a difficult issue because sometimes if your job requires you to work that doesn't mean you go to hell that's not what we're saying but we're talking about crowding God's day with things that are unnecessary or simply because we're trying to get ahead that's what God what Moses saying is saying he says you got six days do all of your work but on the seventh day he says basically turn from you and listen just like we know that that the Sabbath is a day like any other and we know that we should we also know that we should honor God every day we are to please him and to seek him every day we are to commune with him every day but there if there is something that has been set apart in the Lord's day that takes all of our daily devotions and puts them into one and engages the totality of our being if we understand the day right but here's the third thing that Moses does Moses also specifies and he says this that the seventh day is the Sabbath unto the Lord so he tells them to remember it and to keep it holy in other words set it apart remember the substance of the day and remember that it's a means of blessings a blessing from God but set it apart set it apart keep it holy sanctified it's like you're good China you don't use it every day only when special folk come over right that's that's what that's what he's saying set it apart is you're China you do with it what you want but set it apart you don't use that every day we knew we were having special guests for dinner when when my mother would break out certain certain certain dishes and and we're like oh wow we didn't know I was there but it's not for us to see it's for special guests and so what he says is is save this day like you do set it apart you don't let the kids play in the living room all the time only when company is over so so pretend this is company company is over set this day apart and he says set it apart and remember that it is on to the Lord the way he expresses it here in in in verse in verse nine he says six days you shall labor and do all of your your work but then in verse 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God it's special because God refreshed himself in it and in doing so he set a pattern for us to refresh ourselves in this day that he is appointed for our good and let me just give a few observations here about this busy signal first thing after the fall man becomes easily distracted from the substance and the requirements of the Sabbath we become distracted we become distracted from in all of our going in all of our doing man in his fallen state is easily distracted it doesn't take much for us to lose our attention and so in our distractions our distractions because we are overwhelmed with guilt and because we are walking it with a different mindset it's easy for us to neglect the things of God and certainly in our present culture we have a lot of distractions we have everything is now 24 hours even your phone a lot of people don't don't even turn their phone off we just when it gets low we just recharge it we just don't even turn it off and so we are easily distracted and one of the things that I think that has led to a minimizing of the significance of the Lord's day is because we try to justify our distractions so understand that being fallen we are easily distracted as the songwriter prone to wander prone to wander and and in wandering we minimize what God says is the source of our blessing now the interesting thing is that we seek blessings from everything but what God has appointed for blessings here's the second observation thorns thorns are a problem for us in the Sabbath we are told that Adam as after the fall that the Lord says you're still to work the field but they're going to be thorns and thorns you know they can leave flesh wounds and so sometimes we can be distracted by the thorns from our of our labor that causes us to lose our energy and our sense of keeping the Sabbath holy so thorns thorns those those headaches from work you know sometimes we can be so tired and burn out from work well you know what I'm just tired it's been a long weekend basically saying I've been dealing with thorns all week long I'm just going to kick my heels up and watch the football game the Lord knows my heart and so sometimes thorns the thorns from working in the fields that God has told us to work and sometimes the sweat of the brow that we now experience from earning our bread causes us to lose any sense of energy or purpose for the Lord's day thorns thorns that are in the earth that resist us as we try to do the will of God and seek the blessings of the Lord but brothers and sisters Paul tells us of another kind of thorn he says in second Corinthians that he had a thorn in his flesh that that that tempted him and and it buffeted him about and so not just the physical turmoil that comes from labor but sometimes we have those thorny issues in our lives those those messengers of Satan that that are but that buffet us about and they tell us because of our struggles you know what the Lord understands I just don't you don't need to go down there and see those folk notice how Satan will shift our focus we are supposed to come and see those folk and we are not only supposed to see those folk but God has summoned us and his into his presence to see him to experience him but Satan because of the thorns that we experience from our different situations we and from the the cares of life they they sometimes choke out the joy that we have for the things of God but not only do we see thorns of that sort we also have thorns that arise because of our own sin and because we've been sinned against in other words we are wounded sometimes in our pride and sometimes we are wounded by insults that we have experienced from others and we use those things to go along with our already distracted state and therefore we find it easy to neglect God and the things of God we've talked before about the obligations of church membership is that when we come to worship it's not just for us it's also for others because Paul says that we are neatly joined together with each joint supplying strength to the other as each one does its part he proves 1025 says don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together as is the custom of some but thorns thorns that come just from labor thorns that come from spiritual struggles and thorns that come from dealing with sin and sinners can wear us out to such a point that when it comes to the Lord's day that we try to honor the Lord in our own way rather than honoring him in the way that he is established well that brings me to the third and final observation here the Sabbath has been given by God as a busy signal to his image bearers to in order to disconnect us from the cares of this world and he has given us this this signal so that all that that anybody that would seek to to to contact us they know that we are engaged that when it's the Lord's day that we are engaged and as we are engaged and brothers and sisters I would I would urge you to don't let anyone and don't let anything break your contemplation because now sin has brought a new dimension to the Lord's day we honor him we worship him because he's created us and he has created this world and he has placed us in it and we are reminded on the Lord's day that this isn't the Democrats' world this isn't the Republicans' world this is God's world this is not America's world this is God's world we come into his day to be reminded that it's not in Washington it's in the heavens that we see the glory of God most prominently displayed we are reminded that the one who causes the sun to rise and set the one who keeps the oceans within their boundaries knows our names and the hairs on our heads brothers and sisters when we come into his presence we not only contemplate God is the sovereign ruler that's why I love Psalm 4610 which inspired Martin Luther to write a mighty fortresses our God that particular Psalm but in Psalms 46 verse 10 he says be still that's what the Sabbath is is be still cease from all of your labors see stop it stop stop stop you know just pause for a moment pause in the presence of your creator and here's what you'll see is your creator is your Savior pause and and recognize that the God who created and the God who saves is the one that's in charge be still says Psalm 4610 and know that I am God and I will be exalted above the nations I will be exalted within the earth one of our problems I think in our day is God is not great enough and we keep waiting for breakouts and not recognizing that the greatest breakout that we could ever desire is the word was made flesh and dwelt among us pause on the Lord's day and know that he is God and there is no other pause on the Lord's day and know that he is your shelter he is your refuge he is your high tower he is the one that is with you in the valley of the shadow of death he is the one that created you and sustains you he knows what you're going through and he is there and he will not forsake you in the Lord's day we not only exhaust him as creator we exhaust him as redeemer brothers and sisters he is the redeemer everything will be made right look at his creation look at how we messed it up but here's what we contemplate he who said it in order and said that it is good will come back and make it good again I know there's a slogan make America great again

brothers and sisters we have to understand that God what God created is good and don't let anybody tell you otherwise there's wars that are going on there are people that are starving there are people that that are having that that are victimized and oppressed but God is good and what we see in his the disorder that we see in his creation doesn't change him from being good and the more we get distracted we forget how good he is and God calls us into his sanctuary and he says I got you he says that I've got this there is nothing that is taking place that is outside of his power there are two things very two if nothing else two things that should be impressed upon us every Lord's day that God is great and that God is gracious he's greater than all of the evil around us and his grace is greater than our sins brothers and sisters I pray that we would take the substance of the rest that we have in Jesus and that six day whether it's the first day of the week or the seventh day of the week when we gather for worship I pray that it would be a big old busy signal to the rest of the world let the world call us and get that beep beep because we are engaged and there's no emergency call see sometimes when we were on the phone if I was on the phone my wife would tell you we'd be on the phone long hours but if both parents were home and all my siblings were home it would really have to be something real important it couldn't just be a friend who's trying to get through because you know we don't have to give up the call just because of its emergency call and somebody's trying to break in it's not that I don't love you it's just that what's going on right now is more important let me count parents are here siblings are here we're good

brothers and sisters here's what God is saying his Sabbath is our is his gift of a busy signal to us that tells the rest of the world I'm not available I'm in the presence of my creator and my redeemer I'll get back with you when we're done I pray that we would grow in our faith to such a degree that we would fence off the Lord's day as our busy signal so don't let yourself unfold you you're not available when the king is present when the king is amongst us and we are in his presence what is more important let us guard his day so that we could exhaust his greatness and we could relish in his grace the God who created is the God who saves and both his creation and his salvation is the joy to the soul that has been redeemed and we need to be reminded that God is good God is great and God is gracious let's pray father we thank you we thank you for your word we thank you that even before the fall you gave Adam a space where he could gather on this day the day that you have appointed you blessed it as a source of blessing to your image bearer to reinforce what we already know and because we are fallen what it reinforces it reinforces what we know above the sin that would hinder it that you are good and you are worthy to be praised father we pray that we would pack into this day and that we would take from this day everything that is necessary to live to your glory for the next six days thank you for the space that you have given us thank you for the stern reminder that you have given us and thank you for the substance of the glorious Sabbath that is in Jesus who is our rest we thank you for this day and pray your blessings in Christ's name amen would you please