Welcome to the Faith
Chapel, a ministry of 3ABN.
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I'm Pastor Stephen Bauer from
Southern Adventist University,
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which is in
Collegedale, Tennessee.
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I welcome you to
our program today
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and thank you for sharing
part of your day with us.
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In today's program, I
am going to be looking
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at the moral character
of the Ten Commandments,
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focusing on the
Fourth Commandment
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about the Sabbath.
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But before we
begin that exploration,
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I'd like to have
a word of prayer.
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Let's bow our heads.
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Lord Jesus we wanna
thank you for your love to us
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and thank you
that you care about us
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enough to give
us moral guidance.
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As we look at
your Commandments today
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and particularly
the Fourth Commandment,
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help us gain new insights
into how you would have us
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form our
characters to be like yours.
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Guide and direct us
and bless the viewers
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and listeners I
pray in Jesus name, amen.
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We live in a world
that has a fascination
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with power
particularly in relationships.
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Power theory has
taken center stage
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and people view many
things in terms of power,
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who has power over
whom, and even outside
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of the professional arena
where this is a so prevalent,
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we still like to
exercise power over things.
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We live in a service
economy where we hire
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all sorts of people to do
all kinds of things for us.
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I remember when I grew
up, I grew up in a family
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were both of my parents
came out of the depression
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and so the mind set was you do
it yourself or you do without.
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But not so today,
you don't do without
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you hire someone
to do it for you.
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We go to the restaurant and
we enjoy snapping our finger
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and having someone run
to give us what we want.
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We hire people to fly us,
drive us, take us on trains
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to get us from
point A to point B.
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We hire people to fix
our home when the roof leaks
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or the plumbing leaks
or as electrical issue
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we hire the electrician
to come do it for us.
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So in a sense we exercise
power over all of these people
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because we can hire them to do
what we want them to do for us.
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We even hire cleaners
for our home to vacuum
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and do the laundry
and so forth someone
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we can exercise power over
and in this day of computer
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literacy many of us when we run
into trouble with our computer,
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have to hire
someone to come fix it,
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so that it operates properly.
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And then a number of
you in the viewing audience,
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own businesses
where you hire employees.
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And people whom you hire
as employees and you're paying
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their pay check
expecting a product from them.
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You have a
great power over them.
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They're dependent on
you for their livelihood.
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We live in a society
of power relationships.
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But not only do we have
power in this economic realm,
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we also have power
over people in our lives
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who are weaker then we are.
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For example parents
have power over children.
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We have power over the
elderly, particularly those
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who are old
enough and decrypt enough
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that they cannot fully
function without assistance.
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And they are easily exploited.
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Likewise the
handicapped, both the physical
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and the mentally handicapped,
can be easily exploited.
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They are someone that we
naturally have power over.
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Another words,
we live in a world
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that includes a
class of beings around us
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who can be easily exploited
by us in a power relationship.
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In addition to that, we
have technological power.
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We can control our environment.
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We can make ourselves seemingly,
omnipresent with cell phones
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and blackberries and beepers
and these kinds of technologies.
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And we can be almost
omnipresent over time
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with our computers and
personal digital assistance
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like a Palm or Pocket PC etc.
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Power and
medicine and technology,
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the great hope today
is Stem Cell Research
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and these kinds of things
where we can exercise power
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over disease and
over nature even.
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I saw story recently
where the Chinese are trying
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to control the
weather for sporting events,
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of seeding rain
clouds ahead of time,
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so that the rain
will come before the game
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instead of during the game.
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We have a great natural desire
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to exercise power over
people and things around us.
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And all of this power tends
to create a character in us
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that puts me
first and you second.
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You become the servant and
I expect you to cater to me,
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my desires, my
needs and my rights.
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But this of course
leads to power struggles.
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We see this in the
Courts, as people sue each other
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over trivial items etc, etc.
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I would suggest
that the Ten Commandments
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fly in the face of
such an orientation.
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The Ten
Commandments are addressed to us
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as a free moral
agent, who has the power
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to violate
someone else's rights.
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And the Ten Commandments
thus call upon you and me,
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to deny self and
put other people's
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rights ahead of our own.
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Now I'd like to briefly
breakdown the Ten Commandments
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here before I get to
the Fourth Commandment.
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The first Three Commandments
are designed to protect
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God's rights from my
misuse of my free agency.
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The Fourth Commandment
will protect God's rights,
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fellow humans, and even animals
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from the misuse
of my free agency.
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And the last six Commandments
are designed to protect
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the people around
me from the misuse
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of my free agency.
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They call me to restrain
myself and think of their needs
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and their rights before mine.
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But let's get now to
the Fourth Commandment
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and let's open our
Bibles and read it.
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Exodus Chapter 20
verses 8 through 11.
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"Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy.
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Six days you shall
labor, and do all your work,
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but the seventh
day is the Sabbath
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to the Lord your God.
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In it you shall not do
any work, you, nor your son,
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nor your daughter, your
manservant or maidservant,
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or your cattle, or the sojourner
who is within your gates.
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For in six days the Lord
made heaven and the earth,
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the sea, and all that is in them
and rest of the seventh day.
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Therefore the Lord blessed
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the Sabbath day
and hallowed it."
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Let's start by
looking at the part
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of the Fourth Commandment
that protects God's rights.
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God has a right for you and I,
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to dedicate one day
a week of His choosing
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to His interest
and His business.
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He gives us six days
to dedicate to our needs,
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our business, our
cares and our worries.
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But He says I want you
to take the seventh day
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and put your
stuff aside and trust me
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to protect and watch over it.
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And I want you to
dedicate that day to me.
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You see man was made to be more
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than a producer of
goods and services.
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Our society is so
production oriented
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and particularly
here in the West,
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where we are increasingly having
to compete in a global economy,
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where there is
cheaper labor abroad,
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we are being asked
to produce more and more
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for the same salary
in order to compete.
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And it's easy to be consumed
in this round of production
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until my whole
identity gets subsumed
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in my career and my job.
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And I think of my
and I become nothing more
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than a producer of
goods and services.
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And in this hectic
economy God steps in and says,
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I made you to be more
then mearly a producer
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of goods and services.
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I made you to be someone
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who has a special
relationship with me.
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So I want you to put away
your goods and your services
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and your production and
your worries and your care
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and I want you
to honor, who I am?
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And focus on me for
day in fellowship together.
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Now this means
that we are called
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to put away our
secular interests
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for this day to focus on God.
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In Isaiah Chapter
58 verses 13 and 14
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God address the Sabbath issue
with ancient Israel this way.
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"If you turn back
your foot from the Sabbath,
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from doing your pleasure
of the Hebrew literally means
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your business, your
concerns on my holy day,
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and call the
Sabbath a delight and Holy,
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and the Holy day
of the Lord honorable,
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If you honor it
not going your own ways
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or seeking your own business
or pleasure or talking idly,
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then you shall
take delight in the Lord
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and I will make you ride
upon the heights of the earth,
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and feed you with the
heritage of Jacob your Father,
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for the mouth of
the Lord has spoken."
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You see God calls
us to rest on this day
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as if our work were done.
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Sixth day shall thou
labor and do all thy work.
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Not just some of it.
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And if my work is undone then
I need to rest as if it is done.
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What is that mean?
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It means that if
my work is unfinished
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that I can lay it
down and not think about it
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and worry about it
and conjugate upon it
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while I'm trying
to keep the Sabbath.
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I keep the Sabbath
as if my work is done
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and when my work is
done, I can put it out of mind
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and not worry about it anymore.
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Now it's easy to talk about
what we shouldn't do on Sabbath
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and I'll talk about
that some in a moment.
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But on the other side of
the coin there are things
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that we ought to
do on the Sabbath,
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things that focus on God.
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For example, if we
turn to Matthew Chapter 12,
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we find Jesus
addressing positive thing
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we can do on the Sabbath.
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And He gives us a
general principle here
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in Matthew 12:9.
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"And he went on from there,
and entered their synagogue.
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And behold there was a
man with a withered hand.
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And they asked him,
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'Is it lawful to
heal on the Sabbath?'
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so that they might accuse him.
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He said to them,
'What man of you,
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if he has a sheep that
falls into a pit on the Sabbath,
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would not lay hold
of it and lift it out.
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Of how much more
value is a man than a sheep!
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So what is lawful
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to do good on the Sabbath'."
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We see here a very,
very important principle.
00:12:56.30\00:13:00.68
Yes, we're called
to restrain ourselves,
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me and myself says
we don't do our shopping
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on the Sabbath
and things like that.
00:13:04.79\00:13:06.99
But we can do good
things particularly for others
00:13:07.00\00:13:09.89
where there is
no benefit to myself
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and it brings glory to God.
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And in this text
it was even a sheep,
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helping the
sheep out of the ditch
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brings glory to
God to reduce suffering
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and pain and bring healing.
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Jesus did more
healings than anything other
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day of the week
recorded in the scripture.
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He did most of his
healings on the Sabbath day,
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as a day of
deliverance from bondage
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and the Sabbath indeed
is that day of deliverance
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from bondage and if we
can help people be released
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from the care and worry and
pain of life on the Sabbath day,
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then I think that's
an appropriate activity
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to join God and
Christ in that ministry
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on the Sabbath day.
00:13:54.65\00:13:57.59
But there are
things that get in the wave
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of that mood as well.
00:13:59.54\00:14:01.88
I don't thing the
Sabbath is today I need to look
00:14:01.89\00:14:04.25
at the newspaper
or the internet news
00:14:04.26\00:14:06.65
to see what's
going on in my world.
00:14:06.66\00:14:08.71
That interrupts
that mood of rest
00:14:08.72\00:14:13.02
and orientation towards God.
00:14:13.03\00:14:16.63
Likewise,
00:14:16.64\00:14:17.69
that's not the day I
mow my lawn, do my laundry,
00:14:19.42\00:14:24.37
bake in the kitchen and
so forth because that takes
00:14:24.38\00:14:27.12
my mind away from
that focus on Christ
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and other people's
rights and needs and so forth.
00:14:31.88\00:14:34.48
Sabbath is a day
to bond with family
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and friends and
fellowship with Christ.
00:14:38.10\00:14:40.69
It's a day to get rid of those
distractions that worry us,
00:14:40.70\00:14:46.19
so we can worship and
praise God for His goodness
00:14:46.20\00:14:48.95
it's a day to take
stock of the good things
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God has done for
us during the week,
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and it's very important.
00:14:55.96\00:14:57.31
A lot of people
want to keep the Sabbath
00:14:57.32\00:14:59.36
because they say I can do
more in the six days of labor
00:14:59.37\00:15:04.60
that God gives me
and I can produce more
00:15:04.61\00:15:07.06
and get more done when
I rest on the Sabbath day.
00:15:07.07\00:15:10.09
That maybe true
but that shouldn't be
00:15:10.10\00:15:12.44
why we keep the Sabbath.
00:15:12.45\00:15:13.82
We don't keep the
Sabbath for my own rights
00:15:13.83\00:15:16.81
and my own benefits.
00:15:16.82\00:15:18.49
I keep it
because God has rights,
00:15:18.50\00:15:21.61
and my fellowman has
rights, and God has the right
00:15:21.62\00:15:25.25
of my undivided
attention and fellowship
00:15:25.26\00:15:28.05
apart from goods and services.
00:15:28.06\00:15:30.53
The Sabbath then
is based in grace
00:15:30.54\00:15:34.89
where our merit is not based
00:15:34.90\00:15:37.19
on what we produce and do.
00:15:37.20\00:15:41.61
But it's based on our
love and faithfulness to God
00:15:41.62\00:15:46.24
and submission to Him,
those relational things
00:15:46.25\00:15:50.20
instead of those
performance things.
00:15:50.21\00:15:53.21
So we can do good
things on Sabbath and of course
00:15:53.22\00:15:55.93
it's very
appropriate to get together
00:15:55.94\00:15:58.10
in public worship
and worship the Lord
00:15:58.11\00:16:01.30
and praise the Lord together
and strengthen each other
00:16:01.31\00:16:04.65
in our walk with the Lord.
00:16:04.66\00:16:07.65
But the Sabbath is not
only about God's rights.
00:16:07.66\00:16:11.46
It's also about
other people's rights.
00:16:11.47\00:16:16.41
The text says that on this day
we should not have our servants
00:16:16.42\00:16:21.03
or our children working for us.
00:16:21.04\00:16:24.62
You see, it'll be very easy
as one in a position of power
00:16:24.63\00:16:30.20
and don't forget this
was written in a society
00:16:30.21\00:16:32.69
where it was mostly
agrarian and children worked.
00:16:32.70\00:16:35.23
They didn't have any
trundling play station
00:16:35.24\00:16:37.85
and Tonka Trucks and Hot
wheels and all these things.
00:16:37.86\00:16:41.46
Little children are
working, watching the flocks
00:16:41.47\00:16:44.66
and pulling weeds in the garden
00:16:44.67\00:16:46.05
and carrying buckets
of water and so forth.
00:16:46.06\00:16:49.08
It was a hard life.
00:16:49.09\00:16:51.11
And the point was,
that as parents running
00:16:51.12\00:16:54.43
the farm we don't make
our children and servants
00:16:54.44\00:16:58.49
work on the Sabbath day
while we enjoy the rest,
00:16:58.50\00:17:03.27
as the one in the
position of power.
00:17:03.28\00:17:05.23
Those under us have a right
00:17:05.24\00:17:08.45
to that Sabbath
rest as well as us.
00:17:08.46\00:17:13.72
This principle of
parents particularly
00:17:13.73\00:17:16.28
meeting to honor the
rights of their children
00:17:16.29\00:17:19.41
can be seen in
the book of Ephesians
00:17:19.42\00:17:22.60
Chapter 6 verse
4 when Paul says,
00:17:24.53\00:17:27.40
"Fathers do not
provoke your children to anger.
00:17:27.41\00:17:31.69
But bring them
up in the discipline
00:17:31.70\00:17:34.98
and instruction of the Lord."
00:17:34.99\00:17:37.89
By telling us not
to work our children
00:17:37.93\00:17:40.28
on the Sabbath, while we rest.
00:17:40.29\00:17:44.23
I think we have an ethics here
of parent child relationship
00:17:44.24\00:17:48.54
that calls for a non-abusive,
non-exploitive relationship
00:17:48.55\00:17:54.28
of parents to their children.
00:17:54.29\00:17:56.48
Yes we have a
authority over our children.
00:17:56.49\00:17:59.56
We have the
responsibility to bring them up
00:17:59.57\00:18:02.41
as Paul says in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord,
00:18:02.42\00:18:06.02
but we have no right
00:18:06.03\00:18:08.12
to stymie their person
and abuse and knock them down
00:18:09.48\00:18:14.23
and trample upon
them emotionally.
00:18:14.24\00:18:16.79
We need to treat our
children with the same respect
00:18:16.80\00:18:20.15
we would treat Christ.
00:18:20.16\00:18:21.99
The Ten Commandments call
us to treat the lesser person
00:18:22.00\00:18:25.97
with the grace and dignity
00:18:25.98\00:18:29.01
that Christ
would treat them with.
00:18:29.02\00:18:32.84
Not only that.
00:18:32.85\00:18:34.46
The Sabbath calls
us to remember those
00:18:36.87\00:18:40.13
we have power over
in hiring, our servants.
00:18:40.14\00:18:44.53
Our servants are to be
given the Sabbath rest as well.
00:18:44.54\00:18:49.56
It is very interesting
00:18:49.57\00:18:50.86
that while the Fourth
Commandment in Exodus,
00:18:50.87\00:18:54.22
frames why we keep the
Sabbath in terms of creation;
00:18:54.23\00:18:58.73
the Deuteronomy
version frames it in terms
00:18:58.74\00:19:02.51
of slavery and servitude.
00:19:02.52\00:19:04.96
Please turn with me
00:19:04.97\00:19:06.19
to Deuteronomy
Chapter 5 and verse 15.
00:19:06.20\00:19:11.40
This portion of
the Forth Commandment
00:19:11.41\00:19:13.85
changes the
rational from Exodus.
00:19:13.86\00:19:18.23
It says, "You shall remember
that you were a servant,
00:19:18.24\00:19:21.77
literally a slave,
in the land of Egypt,
00:19:21.78\00:19:24.92
and the Lord your
God brought you out sense
00:19:24.93\00:19:27.36
with a mighty hand
and an outstretched arm.
00:19:27.37\00:19:30.68
Therefore the Lord
your God commanded you
00:19:30.69\00:19:33.93
to keep the Sabbath day."
00:19:33.94\00:19:36.66
You see Israel had a
history of being oppressed
00:19:36.67\00:19:40.59
and abused by the
practice of slavery
00:19:40.60\00:19:43.87
and as he called them
out of slavery he said
00:19:43.88\00:19:47.53
you need to remember
that experience of oppression
00:19:47.54\00:19:51.29
and abuse and when you
keep the Sabbath you should
00:19:51.30\00:19:55.04
graciously extend that
same privilege to your servants.
00:19:55.05\00:20:00.00
Do not abuse them the
way you were abused in Egypt.
00:20:00.01\00:20:04.94
Another words this Commandment
calls us to implement
00:20:04.95\00:20:08.76
the principle of grace.
00:20:08.77\00:20:11.21
Where those empower
serve instead of exploit
00:20:11.22\00:20:16.61
those over whom they have power.
00:20:16.62\00:20:20.90
This is why I avoid shopping
00:20:22.79\00:20:27.19
and going out to a restaurant
00:20:27.20\00:20:28.89
on the Sabbath day
because if I'm going out
00:20:30.10\00:20:32.44
to the restaurant
on the Sabbath day
00:20:32.45\00:20:34.66
that means the cooks
and the chefs have to work
00:20:34.67\00:20:37.75
on the Sabbath and miss out
on that blessing because of me.
00:20:37.76\00:20:42.29
Now it's true they
may go and do it anyways
00:20:42.30\00:20:44.43
but at least I'm
not the cause of it.
00:20:44.44\00:20:48.12
I remember seeing a video from
a different Christian ministry
00:20:48.13\00:20:53.83
that made this very point,
and the pastor in the video
00:20:53.84\00:20:58.85
told the story how he used to go
00:20:58.86\00:21:01.30
out after church and eat.
00:21:01.31\00:21:05.28
He was a Sunday keeping pastor
and he would go out on Sunday
00:21:05.71\00:21:09.84
after church and
eat in the restaurant.
00:21:09.85\00:21:12.80
And one day
eating in the restaurant
00:21:12.81\00:21:15.30
he asked the waiter serving him,
00:21:15.31\00:21:17.97
if they had been able to
go to church that morning.
00:21:17.98\00:21:20.32
And the waiter was
rather grouchy and said no,
00:21:20.33\00:21:22.30
I had to be here getting
ready for people like you.
00:21:22.31\00:21:25.41
Now this pastor I
think was applying
00:21:25.42\00:21:27.36
that the Sabbath
to the wrong day,
00:21:27.37\00:21:30.10
the first day
instead of the seventh's day.
00:21:30.11\00:21:32.97
But he had the right idea
and he says I haven't eaten
00:21:32.98\00:21:36.16
in the
restaurant on Sunday since,
00:21:36.17\00:21:39.06
because I don't want
to be the cause of someone
00:21:39.07\00:21:41.90
having to work on the
day I think is the Sabbath.
00:21:41.91\00:21:44.91
Now again I disagree
with what day he thinks
00:21:44.92\00:21:47.90
the Sabbath is but
he has the right idea
00:21:47.91\00:21:51.60
that we should
avoid doing those things
00:21:51.61\00:21:54.52
that would force others to
work for us on the Sabbath day
00:21:54.53\00:21:59.47
and miss out on that blessing.
00:21:59.48\00:22:02.92
I don't schedule my
vacation airline travel
00:22:02.93\00:22:07.21
on the Sabbath because
I don't want the airline
00:22:07.22\00:22:10.72
to have to work
for me on that day.
00:22:10.73\00:22:14.14
I don't hire mechanics and
plumbers and even if my car
00:22:14.15\00:22:17.28
is in the shop I say
please don't work on it
00:22:17.29\00:22:20.08
on Sabbath on the
Saturday because I don't want
00:22:20.09\00:22:23.31
to be the cause
of you doing that.
00:22:23.32\00:22:26.16
So this Commandment
calls us to recognize
00:22:26.17\00:22:30.47
the right of
those under our power,
00:22:30.48\00:22:33.85
to enjoy the same
Sabbath rest we do.
00:22:33.86\00:22:39.01
And even if it causes
me or you inconvenience,
00:22:39.02\00:22:44.56
we need to honor their right
00:22:45.09\00:22:48.24
to the same
Sabbath rest that we enjoy.
00:22:48.25\00:22:53.23
But there is a third class
that is rarely talked about
00:22:53.24\00:22:56.38
in Christian
circles in this Commandment.
00:22:56.39\00:22:59.67
Not only our
children and servants
00:22:59.68\00:23:03.84
were to have a Sabbath
rest but even the animals
00:23:03.85\00:23:07.49
were to be given a Sabbath rest.
00:23:07.50\00:23:09.41
Of course this is a society
prior to tractors and trucks
00:23:09.42\00:23:13.61
and gasoline
engines and all that
00:23:13.62\00:23:16.42
kinds of good thing.
00:23:16.43\00:23:18.07
Nonetheless, I think
there is a very important
00:23:19.02\00:23:21.58
principle here about
our relationship to animals.
00:23:21.59\00:23:25.19
You see,
character is often revealed
00:23:25.20\00:23:30.49
by how we treat those
over whom we have power,
00:23:30.50\00:23:34.09
by those we can exploit.
00:23:34.10\00:23:36.34
And probably the
most exploitable class
00:23:36.35\00:23:40.26
of beings around us are
the animals who can't talk
00:23:40.27\00:23:44.33
and reason and
negotiate with us,
00:23:44.34\00:23:47.08
the way a fellow human could.
00:23:47.09\00:23:49.79
And this Commandment
says that even the animal
00:23:49.80\00:23:53.28
was to be given
the Sabbath days rest
00:23:53.29\00:23:56.72
along with the servants,
slaves, and the children.
00:23:56.73\00:24:01.34
This is a very important point
00:24:01.35\00:24:04.98
as Christians we should
not be abusive to animals.
00:24:04.99\00:24:09.28
Yes there are times
with pests and vermin
00:24:09.29\00:24:11.65
that we need to
take strong action.
00:24:11.66\00:24:13.89
But we should always
act in the most humane way
00:24:13.90\00:24:16.58
possible toward the animals
even as we solve a problem.
00:24:16.59\00:24:21.73
It is very interesting
that in Proverbs 12 verse 10
00:24:21.74\00:24:26.94
the Bible says "A
righteous man has regard
00:24:26.98\00:24:31.44
for the life of his beast".
00:24:31.45\00:24:33.94
That is, he is sensitive
to his needs and its wants
00:24:33.95\00:24:37.80
and its cares
and he won't abusive
00:24:37.81\00:24:40.37
the way Balaam beat on
his donkey when he was angry.
00:24:40.38\00:24:44.26
We shouldn't come
home and take out our anger
00:24:44.27\00:24:46.66
on the dog or the cat.
00:24:46.67\00:24:48.59
And if we take
the responsibility
00:24:48.60\00:24:50.19
of dog and cat,
we need to make sure
00:24:50.20\00:24:52.46
to properly care for
them the food and water
00:24:52.47\00:24:55.01
and not starve and abuse them
and make their life miserable
00:24:55.02\00:24:59.02
because they can suffer too.
00:24:59.03\00:25:01.84
And those who are righteous
do not take joy in causing pain
00:25:01.85\00:25:07.24
and misery when
it's not necessary.
00:25:07.25\00:25:11.83
Likewise Paul
alluded to this principle,
00:25:11.84\00:25:16.81
when he quoted
Deuteronomy 25 verse 4,
00:25:16.82\00:25:20.52
which says "you
shall not muzzle an ox
00:25:20.53\00:25:24.87
when it treads out the grain."
00:25:24.88\00:25:28.56
You see even when you had
the ox on the chain walking
00:25:28.57\00:25:32.13
in circles threshing the grain.
00:25:32.14\00:25:34.31
You were not to muzzle him.
00:25:35.98\00:25:37.35
He had a share in the
product he was producing.
00:25:37.36\00:25:41.97
And Paul uses that to say,
that the pastor should get paid
00:25:41.98\00:25:45.41
for his services but
the point is that those
00:25:45.42\00:25:48.89
in under our power
should be treated with dignity
00:25:48.90\00:25:53.78
and respect and
give him due compensation
00:25:53.79\00:25:57.16
for their
efforts and their labors.
00:25:57.17\00:26:00.18
So the Fourth Commandment
calls me fundamentally
00:26:00.19\00:26:05.39
to restrain myself
in relationship to those
00:26:05.40\00:26:10.90
under me whom I can
exploit and put have power over.
00:26:11.65\00:26:16.68
It calls me to treat
them with the same grace
00:26:16.69\00:26:21.64
that Christ treats me with.
00:26:21.65\00:26:24.58
You see this is the same
character found in the Gospel
00:26:24.59\00:26:29.01
and Christ who came
from heaven to earth for us.
00:26:29.02\00:26:33.87
In Philippines 2 Paul says,
00:26:33.88\00:26:36.53
"Have this mind in your selves
which is yours in Christ Jesus."
00:26:36.54\00:26:41.86
Who being in the form of
God did not count it robbery
00:26:41.87\00:26:45.41
to be equal with God?
00:26:45.42\00:26:46.92
Another verse, Christ understood
00:26:46.93\00:26:49.37
that He was part of the
Godhead and equal with God,
00:26:49.38\00:26:52.94
it was not something to be
hung on to as it wasn't His own.
00:26:52.95\00:26:56.75
But He left all of that glory
00:26:58.08\00:27:01.38
and emptied Himself of those
rights and those privileges.
00:27:01.39\00:27:07.26
And He came down to earth
says Paul in Philippines 2,
00:27:07.27\00:27:12.15
and He took the form of servant.
00:27:12.16\00:27:14.52
The highest became the lowest
00:27:14.53\00:27:17.44
to be a blessing to you and me.
00:27:17.45\00:27:20.62
So you see there
is no contradiction
00:27:20.69\00:27:23.15
between the character
of the Ten Commandments
00:27:23.16\00:27:26.34
and the character of Christ.
00:27:26.35\00:27:28.76
The Ten Commandments reflect
the character of the Christ
00:27:28.77\00:27:32.93
who gave them and to
truly keep them is not legalism
00:27:32.94\00:27:36.84
it is to follow Jesus in
that same self emptying way
00:27:36.85\00:27:42.34
of life to those around us.
00:27:42.35\00:27:45.27
And so the Fourth
Commandment calls you and me
00:27:45.28\00:27:48.36
to be careful how
we treat those under us
00:27:48.37\00:27:51.72
and to empty
ourselves in their service.
00:27:51.73\00:27:55.26