Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. The Sabbath was designed by God For man's rest. for his joy, for his renewal, for his blessing and his worship. What were the Pharisees doing? They were turning a Blessing into a burden.
They were turning something which was a delight given by God into something which is oppressive. Welcome to The Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Senior Pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. In Biblical times, observing the Sabbath was one of the Ten Commandments and a fundamental part of religious life. But what does the Sabbath mean for followers of Christ?
Today we'll learn that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. and he brings a fresh perspective.
Now Here's Pastor John Monroe. In the Old Testament, there was clear instruction for the Israelites to keep the Sabbath. which was from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. keeping the Sabbath was central to the Mosaic law.
So How did Jesus regard the Sabbath and how should we regard it? As we look at the first 14 verses of Matthew chapter 12, We learned last time That the Pharisees criticized the disciples of Jesus for picking grain on the Sabbath. Apparently, They regarded the plucking of grain as work. and therefore objected to the disciples doing this. Let's see how Jesus continues to deal with the criticism of the Pharisees.
And at the end of the message, I will give four important lessons as to how followers of Jesus should regard the Sabbath. Notice what the Pharisees are doing right in the synagogue. They don't celebrate. As this man, Jesus, says to the withered man, stretch out. Your hand.
And right before them, They see the power of God in action through our Lord Jesus Christ, so that this man's hand, which was withered, is just as healthy as this other one. And it happens before their eyes, and they criticize Jesus. In fact, they leave the synagogue in order to conspire to kill Jesus. Have you ever come? to worship.
And you've come with a critical spirit. When you come, think of the privilege. Do you realize that you're coming to the house of God? Jesus describes the tabernacle in verse 4 as the house of God. Oh, I'm not talking about this building.
I'm talking about when we, the people of God, gather as we're doing on the Lord's Day. Gathering to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is here, and that we, the people of God, are the very body. The very temple of the Holy Spirit. and that we would come. With a critical attitude.
And lose sight. of the very point of worship. and lose sight of our magnificent God. and lose sight of our glorious Jesus Christ. Because we're occupied with some minutia, something that doesn't quite fit in our idea.
And Jesus is saying, listen. God wants mercy. And not. sacrifice. You see legalism and ritualism.
It loses sight of people. And lose a side of worship. It leads to a dead religion.
So, these Pharisees, who know their Bible very, very well, And love to pray with their loud prayers. But when it comes to it Their heart is far from God. And even In the presence of the power of God, it sounds almost unbelievable, doesn't it? Even in the very presence of the power of God, when they see in the synagogue a man healed. They still turn on their heel and go out and say, Now, how can we get rid of this Jesus?
We need to destroy him. They went out and conspired against him. Verse 14, how to destroy them. But Jesus, of course, has silenced them. They can't answer.
First of all, By healing the man, Jesus is not working. He didn't work. All he did was speak.
So, no legal charge could be made against Jesus. It's ridiculous to say that. When Jesus says, Stretch out your hand that that's work. Surely not.
Furthermore, There is no moral charge against Jesus because surely it must be lawful to do good on the Sabbath. That's what Jesus said.
So it's lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Of course, it is. It's lawful to be merciful and kind on the Sabbath. How can you Pharisees disagree with that? No legal charge, no moral charge.
You see Jesus loved people on the Sabbath. The Pharisees, when it came down to it, were hating Jesus on the Sabbath. They were plotting the very murder of Jesus on the Sabbath. Thinking evil, wanting to do evil, with all of their cloak of hypocrisy. Here is legalism, here is self-righteousness, here is the outworking of hypocrisy.
It leads to death, it leads us away from God. And Jesus silences his opponents. And they walk out of the synagogue. They don't care for the man. They don't rejoice with him.
They don't say, How wonderful, brother, that you're healed. No, they go out. And they want to get rid of Jesus. The evidence of power, what does it do? It hardens.
their hearts. Here are four. Concluding. lessons for us on the Sabbath. First of all, followers of Jesus are not under the Mosaic law as a rule of law.
I realize there's people who dispute this. But I believe this is the truth. As followers of Jesus, please hear me, were not under the Mosaic law as a rule of law. Romans chapter 7, I'll just read one verse.
Some of you will remember we went through the book of Romans. Romans seven Verse 6, Paul says, but now we are released from the law. having died to that which held us captive.
so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit. the Spirit of God, not in the old way of the written codes. We're not under the law. Israel was under the Mosaic law. The Sabbath, as I say, was a sign to Israel of the Mosaic covenant.
But Jesus has come. The law is given by Moses, but grace and truth come through Jesus Christ. With Jesus, the new wine has come, the new era has come. There is the dawning of the kingdom of God, the new dispensation has come, a new covenant has come. And it's interesting to note that the only Commandment of the Ten Commandments, which is not repeated in the New Testament.
Is the commandment regarding the Sabbath? In fact, Paul says in Colossians 2:16, let no one judge you. On the question of the Sabbath. Jesus is a fulfillment of the law. He's the interpreter of the law.
And so we're not under the Mosaic law as a rule of law. That would be bondage. You say, well, that sounds wonderful.
Now I can just live as I want. No, no, hold it, hold it. You're not under the Mosaic law as a rule of law. But if you're saved by the grace of God, you're following Jesus. Following, that means he's Lord.
That means you do what he says and not what you want. And Jesus said, if a man loves me, Anyone here love Jesus? Anyone here love Jesus? Yeah. If you love me, keep my commandments.
Oh. Easy to sing, I love you, Jesus. If I love Jesus, I obey him, I follow him, I submit to him, he is Lord of all. And the great commandment isn't it, that we love one another. And John says his commandments are not grievous.
Paul says in Galatians 6 verse 2. that we're to bear one another's burdens. The Pharisees didn't do that. They put burdens on you. They got the widows, and they put further burdens on them.
They ignored the orphans. They ignored the sake. We bear one another's burden and when we do that Paul says we'll fulfill Do you remember it? Galatians 6.2? We fulfill the law of Christ.
I'm under the law of Christ. And his yoke is easy. And this burden is light. And Jesus never leads me into sin. And he never leads me where he himself hasn't first gone.
I'm to follow him. All of my life. through death and into his eternal kingdom.
So we're not under the Mosaic law as a rule of law. Secondly, the Lord's Day is Sunday. Not Saturday, not the Sabbath. Why do we, as followers of Jesus, come together on Sunday?
Well, it is the Lord's Day. John calls it that in Revelation 1. He was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, on Sunday. Why is Sunday the Lord's Day? What happened on Sunday?
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Sunday The Lord's Day is the day of resurrection. It's the day when the church comes together. The early church met for communion, they met for worship. They collected their tithes and offerings on Sunday.
They had fellowship.
So, Sunday is the day of resurrection, it's the day of new beginnings, it's the day of the Spirit of God.
So our day of worship It's not Saturday. But Sunday. I like to call it the Lord's. Day. Listen to the writer in Hebrews.
Hebrews chapter 10. You know, this pandemic Has presented us with problems about meeting together. I'm very glad. That we can meet in a lawful way like this. How wonderful that we can meet here.
I know the masters are a pain in the neck. Thank you for cooperating, the social distancing. But how wonderful. to meet as the people of God, isn't it? It's just not the same.
Watching by live stream, is it? We miss our brothers and sisters. And this is what Paul says. are whoever wrote Hebrews. Hebrews ten.
I tend to think it wasn't Paul, but whoever it is, it's the word of God. Hebrews 10, verse 24: Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. You can do that alone. not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. That we as the people of God are to meet together.
It's a command. It really blows my mind that some pastors have closed down their churches. And say, we're not going to meet until this pandemic is over. I don't know when it's over, but we can meet. Certainly, not in perfect circumstances, but we're trying to obey the word of God that God meets us, wants us to meet together.
Yes, we want to be respectful to the governing authorities, but above all, we want to be true to the word of God.
So, thank you for coming together. and not neglecting the meaning of yourself together. And having said that, we understand that some, because of age, because of some precondition, are not able to meet. We long for the day when we can all meet. and uh the COVID-19 is just a memory.
So number three. Work is not our top priority in life. Do you understand that? Work. is not to be your top priority.
In life.
Now, having said that, Some of you don't struggle with this because you need to work a little more. My dad used to love to quote the verse Paul says Uh if a man One's two. Each view it should work. And my dad would say to us, you eat like men, but I'm not sure if you want to work like men.
So I was brought up, as many of you were brought up. to encourage to work. Did you realize that Adam worked in the Garden of Eden before the fall? Work is not wrong. It's hard because of the fall.
But God wants us to work. Doesn't want us to be lazy. Doesn't want to ask. To sit at home? Not working?
So if you're not working Pray to God to give you employment and to work. I realize some people, because of illnesses, can't do that. But most of us are able to work. Having said that, There is a danger for some of us. Myself included.
to make work. Our top priority. God didn't make you to work. all the time. All of us need a time of rest.
A time of renewal. This was one of the beauties of the Sabbath. Here are the children of Israel. They're slaves in Egypt. Was there any Sabbath rest in Egypt?
No, they're slaves. You work and you work and you work and you work. And they had their taskmasters, and they never got a break. Can you imagine? Work, work, work, work, work.
That's what it was to be a slave in Egypt.
Now, God, in His mercy, delivers His people. And he gives them this commandment. Not As a burden, but as a delight. That one day you don't work. Mm-hmm.
Even the animals were to rest. There was kindness to the animals. There was a recognition that your animals, your working animals, needed to rest. God did not make us as machines. He didn't make us as robots.
We are to try to be balanced in our life. In our lives, that's difficult for some of us. There are some who are naturally lazy, and there's others of us who may tend to be workaholics, and that is wrong. Both are wrong. We're to work hard.
But we're also To have a break. Vacation, enjoy your vacation, don't feel guilty because you're on vacation. Don't feel guilty when you have a time off. If you don't rest. You're going to become exhausted, you're going to become tense, you're going to become stale and irritated, impatient, taking yourself rather seriously, and probably a bit of a bore because all you talk about is your work.
That can lead to burnout. That can lead to breakdown. That can lead to serious problems in the family. Here's a man who works, works, works. and spends so little time with his family and his children.
Don't do that, sir. Why are you working so much? Do you think your business will fall apart if you take a day off? Take a week vacation, or even better, two weeks vacation? You know, we Europeans have a better idea of vacation than Americans.
When I came here, I was amazed. He was a young man, and I asked him, I said, how much vacation do you get a year? He said, I get five days. I thought, five days? That's ridiculous.
Poor guy, five days a year. He'd just begun. He had to work a whole year, then he got five days. Uh vacation. You're not a machine.
You need rest. You need a time for personal renewal. Students, I've met students, and you've told me you don't come to church sometime because you're at home studying.
Now you're either a very poor student or a lazy student, or a very disorganized student, let me tell you, you do not need to study all the time. I can tell you from experience, in fact, God didn't make you that way. You need to stop. studying. Take a day off.
Preferably the Lord's Day. Don't study at all. You say, I've got an exam on Monday, get up early on Monday and study. That's what I used to do. Your brain needs a break.
You can't study, study, study, study, study, study. You can't work, work, work, work. Stop. Stop. Rest.
God wants you to rest. God wants you to get a change of pace. The Lord's Day is a day for personal renewal, for worship, a day of serving God, a day to show mercy and compassion to others, a day when we can spend more time with our families. Number four, experience the true Sabbath rest. You you say, what do you mean to experience the true Sabbath rest?
Do you remember the message last week? You hear the words of Jesus? Come to me. All who are weary. and heavy laden and I will give you Rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I'm gentle and lowly in heart and you will find Rest. For your soul. Have you experienced that rest? See the physical rest of the Sabbath has become the salvation rest of the true Sabbath. And we enter into that rest, that rest which will never end when we come to Jesus Christ.
When we answer his call, come to me and we come. We stop our own efforts. We stop trying to save ourselves. We stop trying to change our life by ourselves. And we realize that we can't do that.
And we've got to stop working for our salvation. And we've got to remember that magnificent cry on the cross when Jesus was on the cross atoning for our sins. You remember that magnificent shout? It is finished. Finished.
What was finished? The work of salvation is complete. Our Lord Jesus Christ comes as the Savior of the world, and He does His work. Perfectly. 100%.
Everything. has been accomplished for your salvation. You don't need to do anything. It's all done. Perfectly done.
It's a masterpiece. Do you think your little piece can improve on the work of Christ? Absolutely not. It's all done. Therefore, it's to be received.
You believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you're saved. You come to Him and find rest for your soul. If you've never done that, will you come? And also follower of Jesus.
Some of you are restless and I realize So many people are on edge. They're frustrated. They're even angry. They're irritated. and and we lack peace and we're anxious and we're fearful.
Brother, sister, God doesn't want you to live like that. He wants to give you peace. A peace which passes all understanding. This is the true Sabbath Rest. Psalm forty-six, verse ten.
Be still. and know that I am God. You know what it is to be still? It's to stop fretting, stop worrying. Stop trying to control everything you can't.
Stop getting upset with things that you have no control over. And rest. In the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you do that? Here is the wonder of the Christian gospel: in the midst of the storm.
In the midst of the most difficult time of your life, when your world is turned upside down, you can obtain this peace and this rest through Jesus Christ. We often sing on Christ. The solid rock I stand, all other ground is Sinking sand. When darkness hides his lovely face What do we do? We rest on His unchanging grace.
That's it. Resting. on Christ. Had a tough week.
Some bad news. about your family, personal relationship with health. It's difficult, isn't it? Life is difficult. Life is hard.
Take it to the Lord Jesus. You're weary. You're heavy laden. Come to the Saviour. and find this rest.
This rest now Could you think I haven't? Perfect rest. Perfect rest. Rest. Eternal rest.
And those of us who love Christ, we're going to that eternal. Rest. May we experience Here and now. Not in a perfect way, I understand. We're so easily shaken.
But let's keep coming to Christ, our magnificent Savior. who still says, come to me. And I'll give you Rest. Father, help us.
Sometimes we are legalists in our hearts, sometimes we're critical. Forgive us, Father.
Sometimes we're more focused. On the problems of life rather than Christ may err. Eyes be on him. What a good God you are. Whether perfect salvation is found in Jesus Christ.
Some are here and have never surrendered to Christ. May they come with their sin. and receive that forgiveness. And may all of us leave, Father, with this rest, this rest for our souls, found alone in our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World.
Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam.
It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ.
We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? How do you regard Sunday? Is it just another day or are there lessons we can learn from the Sabbath? Certainly, work should not be the most important thing in our lives. We're not machines or computers.
We all need rest. and renewal. Have you received the rest which only the Lord Jesus Christ can give you? Put your trust in Him. and receive true and lasting rest.
Remember. You can't work for your salvation. It's all been accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ. Receive his rest today. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict.
I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
