要守安息日 Keep the Sabbath
出埃及记 Exo 20:8–11
Remember these points
I put these points at the top of my sermon-prep template to remind myself every week:
- Show that main point of passage relates to Jesus and his saving work
- (1 Cor 1:18) A truly gospel-centred message will not be acceptable in a synagogue or mosque
- Did I proclaim the gospel as the headline news of the sermon, rather than as a “by the way…”?
- Unbelievers are called to repent, believe, and be saved
- Believers are encouraged to abandon their old self, renew their minds, put on the new self in Christ
- Preach simple sermons, so that God’s people can see Christ more clearly and love him more dearly
News
This is the poster for the Christmas Pageant: Sunday, 22 Dec 2024.
We’ll have English worship that day as well.
After worship, we’ll have the annual Pageant, followed by the Christmas pot-luck.
Invite your friends!
Hook
Whom Do We Rely On?
These are incidents from Israel’s history in the OT:
- Northern kingdom Israel: 2 Kings 17:1–4; 5–41
King Hoshea decided to rebel against Assyria, and he looked for help from Egypt
Assyria responded by conquering Samaria (the Northern kingdom’s capital) and deporting the Jews.
That’s the end of the Northern kingdom (722 BC) - Southern kingdom: 2 Kings 18:1–7; 5–21
King Ahaz also looked to Egypt for help (702 BC)
King Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria, but he looked to God for help (2 Kings 19) - Isaiah 30:1–7
God condemned Israel and Judah for seeking men’s help (Egypt) instead of relying on God
Only God, only Jesus Christ, has the power to save.
Don’t put our hopes on any person or government.
The slide shows two different sets of countries or regions.
On the left are Syria, North Korea, Iran.
On the right are North America, Europe.
Where do you think is better to be a Christian? Left side or right side?
Previous two slides are from very recent news.
It’s good that Louisiana’s law is struck down.
We (Christians) should not impose God’s laws on people who don’t belong to God!
Passage
Section 1
Remember: It’s not just saying, “Oh, I remember it!”
But involves recalling and appropriate actions.
Think of a wife telling her husband, “Remember our anniversary, it’s tomorrow!”
Is it enough for the husband to say, “Oh, of course, I remember!”?
Holy: Set apart, different. The Sabbath is set apart, different from the other six days of the week.
God’s people, who keep the Sabbath, are set apart from the surrounding culture.
God’s people are to be distinguished from everyone else.
We can see God’s grace. He demanded that we devote only one day out of six to worship him!
He could have said all seven days of the week must be devoted to me!
Those who read this verse in English (Exo 20:10), how many different groups of people are listed?
In pretty much all Chinese translations, we see only 5 groups:
You, your children, your servants, your livestock, and the foreigners who are sojourning with you.
In the original Hebrew, it purposely separated out children and servants into male and female,
making a total of 7 groups.
Why do you think the author did this?
So the injunction is you’re not to do any work on the Sabbath,
neither are the people who are under your authority (so you can’t tell your son to harvest),
neither are any foreign sojourners with you.
Note the “within your gates.” When God gave them this commandment, they were living in tents.
It’ll be quite a while before they will be living in cities with gates.
So this commandment is not just for the time they’re in the wilderness, but for all time (just like all the other commandments).
Why? The reason is based on Gen 2:2.
God rested, so Israel is also to rest on the Sabbath.
They are to be different from the surrounding nations.
We (God’s people, Christians) also are to rest,
because we’re God’s representatives, and we need to show people around us how we live and worship.
与我有什么关系? So What?
- We must rely on God, and on Jesus Christ.
Don’t rely on people or governments to make your Christian life more comfortable. - We need to keep the Sabbath, which (from the time of Jesus’ resurrection) is now called the Lord’s Day, Sunday.
- God used the Sabbath to remind Israel how he saved them from Egypt.
- We don’t look to the “old” exodus for our salvation.
Instead, we look to Jesus Christ, who accomplished a greater exodus by dying for our sins and rising again. (PtW).