Father, as we open your word, help us, Father, may your Holy Spirit do a work to make us honest about ourselves,
that we might recognize ourselves in your word, that we might recognize our fears that your word creates,
but we also, Father, might recognize the hunger that we have for what your word teaches,
the longing we have to have that be real in our hearts and in our lives.
So, Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us so that we might be fed by you, by your word.
And this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated.
So, if you could go back in a time machine to talk to young George Sinclair when he was a kid,
and you were able to convince the young George Sinclair that you weren't going to tell my parents
that I really could answer honestly.
And if you were to ask the young George Sinclair,
which was your least favorite day of the week, or is there a day you hate,
I would not have had to think about it. I would have said Sunday.
In fact, if you would have asked me, what is the day you hate the most,
your second most hateful day, your third most hateful day,
I would have said Sunday, Sunday, and Sunday.
Because basically, I liked the other days of the week most of the time,
but I hated Sunday.
I grew up in a home with very strict Sabbath observance.
Church three times a day.
You go to Sunday school, then after you go to Sunday school,
you go to church, and then you go home,
and you get ready for the evening service.
Most of the time, you weren't allowed to watch television,
and I was never allowed to play with my friends.
So Sunday was unbelievably boring, and I hated it.
In fact, I only stopped hating it.
I can't remember how old I was.
I really only stopped hating it when I was old enough to get away,
to go biking somewhere.
And it wasn't so that I could observe the Sabbath,
but my parents didn't know what I was doing,
and I could have some fun.
And that was my experience of keeping the Sabbath.
I have to confess that, you know, on one hand,
that has probably cast a long shadow on my life
in terms of how I've kept the Sabbath ever since.
And so on one hand,
because we're talking about the Ten Commandments today,
if you're a guest,
we're going through the Ten Commandments.
Today is the Fourth Commandment,
and it's about Sabbath keeping.
We're going to look in a moment to Deuteronomy 5,
if you want to sort of be turning there.
But, you know, all week,
or the last two weeks,
as I've been thinking and praying about this text,
on one hand, I'm very conscious that that's,
you know, that's part of my background,
very strict observance of the Sabbath.
On the other hand,
there's the Canadian context today.
And I'm probably,
maybe not describing all of you,
so for some of you,
I'm describing other people.
But probably for most of us,
if we murdered somebody this week,
we'd probably feel guilty.
Just a guess.
Probably if we stole something this week,
we'd feel a little bit guilty.
Just a guess.
We committed adultery this week,
hopefully you feel guilty.
If you haven't kept the Sabbath in four months,
doesn't bother us in the least.
Like for the average Canadian Christian,
today, we probably don't know how to keep the Sabbath.
And if we don't keep the Sabbath at all,
or at least not even regularly how God has intended it,
that's just fine.
We don't even feel the least,
tiniest smidgen of guilt.
And that's the context within which
we have to sort of look at God's word.
And so we're going to do that.
And I have to confess that I've learned a lot this week
studying the text.
I really have.
And I realize in some ways,
I haven't kept the Sabbath as well as I should.
I don't know if I have a solution
for kids finding Sundays boring.
I don't know if I have a solution for that.
Part of it is sometimes just things are boring in life
and kids have to learn that.
But we need to learn from God's word about what it is.
Should we be trying to keep the Sabbath?
Should we be going back to how I was raised?
Should we be doing something different?
Well, we're going to look at that.
So if it's in Deuteronomy chapter 5,
is one of the two versions of the Ten Commandments.
It's the one that we've been using as week by week
we've been going through it.
Deuteronomy chapter 5.
We're going to begin at the first verse.
And just a bit of a context.
I don't know how much Jonathan told you every week,
but some of you might not have been here,
so I'll just say it to you now.
There's two versions of the Ten Commandments.
There's only small differences between the two of them.
Actually, the Sabbath keeping
is the one with the most changes.
The first version in the book of Exodus
takes place shortly after they've left Egypt.
And this version, the Deuteronomy version,
Deuteronomy is Moses has led the people
to the edge of the promised land.
The people are about to enter the promised land.
Moses knows that he is not going into the promised land.
He will die.
He will have seen it from afar,
but he will not enter it.
He knows that.
And in some ways, the book of Deuteronomy
is a very long sermon by Moses.
And it's not only a reminding of the covenant,
it's in a sense a renewal of the covenant
between the Lord God Almighty
and the people of Israel.
It's a renewal of the covenant
before they go in to take the promised land
and to live in it.
And so Moses recites or reminds them
of what went on and of the covenant,
and that's the context.
And so off we go.
Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 1.
And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them,
Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules
that I speak in your hearing today,
and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.
And pause there for a second.
This is really important.
When we stop right here,
everybody in the world,
all of the different religions of the world
are very comfortable.
If you could put up the first point, Andrew.
I mean, there's slightly different ways to word this.
I thought of about two or three different
slight ways to word it
if you wanted to capture Hinduism or Buddhism
or certain other types of spirituality.
But religion says,
if I obey and if I achieve what the rules require,
then God will show me favor.
That's the basic religious impulse.
That if I obey and if I achieve what the rules require,
then God will show me favor.
So when Deuteronomy 5,
when Moses begins,
Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules
that I speak in your hearing today,
and you shall learn them and be careful to do them,
all of the religions of the world say,
Okay, good.
These are the Jewish rules or the Christian rules.
Let's sit down.
They all sit down.
Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, North Americans,
if we'll sit down,
let's look and see how good their rules are
compared to ours.
You know, because spiritual people will say,
Okay, well, I'm really interested to hear
what these rules are
because I know that if I'm spiritual,
not religious,
my rules are way better.
Like my rules are just,
you know,
treat yourself regularly,
make sure you do yoga a couple of times a week,
try not to murder anybody this week,
you know,
you deserve a latte or a nice back,
you know, whatever it is,
you know,
or, you know,
you have to make sure you send
at least one angry tweet against Trump.
Like there's just a variety of different things
that you might want to say,
you know,
but the fact of the matter is
is the entire world can sit down
at the end of verse 1 and say,
Okay, this is very interesting.
Okay,
because religion is all about keeping rules.
In fact,
you see,
for many people in North America
who would describe themselves
as being completely and utterly irreligious,
as having given up on religion,
they'd say,
basically,
that whole treadmill of keeping rules,
forget about it.
They're stupid.
You know,
the fact of the matter is,
if I just feel like getting,
you know,
drinking late into the night on Saturday,
getting up whenever I
bleep,
feel like it on a Sunday morning,
you know,
and wandering over,
you know,
having a latte,
having some nice pastries,
just living life on my own terms
for my own interest
to accomplish my own things
and forget about spiritual,
forget about religious,
and there's a lot of people
in Canada like that
because they basically understand
that the only option
is between religion
where there's going to be rules
to win the God's favor
and no religion
or irreligion
and there's no religion
and irreligion
and say,
just forget about it.
When you die,
that's it.
You know,
suck it up.
When you die,
that's it.
And in between,
don't bother with all these stupid rules.
Good grief,
praying five times a day
with complicated ceremonies,
forget about it.
Have a drink.
Chill out.
Watch some Netflix.
Get a life.
Because most people,
we're all prepared for verse one.
Okay?
Give me the rules, God,
and I'll figure out a way to keep them
because I want to know your favor.
And that's the basic context.
And by the way,
the constant struggle within Christianity
is because whether you're Protestant
or Catholic or Eastern Orthodox,
whether you're charismatic
or evangelical,
the constant drift
is to follow the human heart
to turn the Christian faith
into a religion.
You've got to go to confession.
You've got to say
so many Hail Marys.
You've got to go to Mass
certain days
because they're days of,
what do they call them,
solemn obligation
or something like that.
And we Protestants,
we know we're way,
way, way better
than those,
you know,
Roman Catholics,
you know,
but ours are,
you know,
I don't know,
you've got to go to church
a certain number of times,
you know,
you've got to be able
to know the praise songs,
you have to know
when to raise your hands,
you have to be in a congregation
that claps,
you don't clap,
you have to do this rule,
you have to do that rule,
but we turn it into,
like my parents,
in some ways,
in their church,
Sabbath keeping
was a list of rules
that had to be kept.
And if you didn't keep the rules,
like what are you,
Roman Catholic or something?
Like not a Christian?
I'm not picking,
you know,
I'm sure if I had
some Roman Catholics here,
they could say,
yeah,
you don't go to Mass,
what are you,
a Protestant?
Like it's the human heart
that's the problem.
And so we understand it.
And religion is all about
obeying,
achieving the rules,
what they require,
then God will show me favor.
So we read verse one again
and we're all set.
O hear, O Israel,
the statutes and the rules
that I speak to you
in hearing today,
and you shall learn them
and be careful to do them.
Okay?
I am oriented.
It's a religious text,
religious rules,
the Muslims,
the Buddhists,
the Hindus,
we all sit around
because the Hindus
and the Buddhists
and the Muslims
know they're going to have
better rules than these ones.
And then in verse two,
Moses throws a curveball.
He throws a knuckleball.
He throws a screwball.
He throws a ball
that nobody's expecting.
And he continues to throw
screwball after screwball
because Moses,
and he's just speaking for God,
wants to mess
with our religious mind.
How does he go in verse two?
The Lord, our God,
made a covenant with us
in Horeb.
What?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, God.
No, no, no, God.
Moses, you got this wrong.
You're supposed to tell us
the different rules that we do,
and then if we succeed
in the rules that we do,
then you might make
a covenant with us.
You don't start with
making a covenant with us.
Like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
God, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Just stop.
Moses, stop.
Time out.
You're supposed to tell us
the different things
that we have to do
so God will show us
the favor of a covenant.
Because we need to sort of
have a bit of a say in this
so you're bitting our debt.
you don't begin by announcing
that you make a covenant with us.
You just make a covenant with us.
Now, you see,
when we read this as a religious way,
we skip this part.
This is now where it goes
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
verse 7.
Yada, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada,
verse 7.
But God messes
with our religious heart.
He messes
with our desire
to create a system
whereby really God
sort of owes us some favors
because of our great success
at rule keeping.
But he messes with us.
In fact, if you could put this
to the next point up, Andrew,
in some ways this is the summary
of what's going on
in the whole Ten Commandments.
First, God makes a covenant.
Then he redeems us.
Then he asks us
to keep a weekly Sabbath for him
by resting and remembering.
The order is really important.
You see,
the religious inclination is
if we rest and remember
very well,
God will redeem us.
If we rest and remember
very well,
God will spend time with us.
The order is unbelievably important.
God makes a covenant with us.
We do nothing
to make the covenant.
Absolutely nothing.
We do as much
to make a covenant with God
as we have a say
in how fast the earth
spins around the sun.
Let's have a world vote
about how fast the earth
spins around the sun.
It doesn't matter.
God makes the covenant.
And then God,
as we're going to see
in a moment,
he redeems them.
They didn't redeem themselves.
Not even remotely close.
He does everything
to redeem them.
And after he's made the covenant,
after he's redeemed them
so that they can be part
of the covenant,
he asks
these different rules.
Not these different rules,
these different words
is a better word than rules.
These different words.
And
as we're going to see
in a moment,
if you look at the Ten Commandments,
eight of the commandments
involve not doing something.
Two of the commandments,
God gives us a project,
so to speak.
Something to aim for.
We'll talk about this
more in a moment.
This one,
that we're to attempt
to keep the Sabbath,
and the next one
about honoring parents.
Eight,
don't steal,
don't murder,
don't,
don't.
For two of them,
in a sense,
there's something to pursue.
But we're going to see
as we keep reading this
that first God makes a covenant,
then he redeems us,
then he asks us
to keep a weekly Sabbath
for him
by resting and remembering.
So let's go back
to verse two again.
And we'll see
that this is exactly
how it's structured.
And it's really important
because our religious sensibility
wants to make
verses two to six,
yada, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada,
yada, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
We need to listen.
The Lord our God
made a covenant
with us in Horeb.
Not with our fathers
did the Lord
make this covenant,
but with us
who are all of us
here alive today.
That's a very simple thing.
Basically,
when God makes a covenant,
the implication is
that it's going to be
multiple generations
until either he brings
in a new covenant
or the end comes.
For us,
the covenant,
the covenant with Israel
still has a bearing
and importance
up until Jesus comes again.
But for us,
both Jews and Gentiles
who are in here
in the congregation
together as Christians,
the church
is this,
the new covenant
of his blood
instituted when Jesus
dies on the cross.
That's the covenant.
There will be no other covenant
until Jesus returns.
And it's understood
by this covenant.
God's showing us
that covenants
are understood
to be intergenerational,
multiple generational,
especially within
your own children,
but also to extend
beyond your own children.
Verse 4,
it continues,
the Lord God,
the Lord spoke with you
face to face
at the mountain.
In other words,
it was a personal communication.
They don't see his face,
but this is face to face
as a poetic way of saying
he's right in your face.
He's right up close to you
when he's speaking to you.
The Lord spoke with you
face to face
at the mountain
out of the midst
of the fire
while I stood
between the Lord
and you at that time
to declare to you
the word of the Lord,
once again emphasizing
that God spoke.
For you were afraid
because of the fire
and you did not go up
into the mountain.
And God said,
now here he's introducing himself.
This is the second little bit
of what I've said up here.
I am the Lord your God
who brought you
out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery.
He hasn't told them
a single rule.
He hasn't told them
a single thing to do.
God made the covenant.
You didn't do anything
to make the covenant.
God chose to make
a covenant with you.
And you couldn't redeem yourself
from slavery.
God.
The Lord God.
And Lord here,
remember every time
you see the word Lord
in the Old Testament,
that's the covenant
personal name for God.
The relational name for God.
Okay?
When my kids,
at a certain time,
all of my kids
had a time
where they wanted
to start calling me George.
And I told each one of them
that there's six billion people
in the world
who can call me George.
there's only nine kids,
only nine people
who can call me Dad.
And Lord is like Dad.
We're invited to call him Dad.
I mean, it's Lord.
He's big.
It's reminding us
of how big he is,
but it's the personal name.
And he says,
verse six,
I am the Lord your God
who brought you up
out of the land of slavery,
out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery.
And you're going to notice
that when we go to the commandment
about the Sabbath day,
he's going to remind
the people
about the fact
that he brought them
out of slavery,
that it's a very,
very,
very important idea.
So we see here,
first God makes a covenant,
then he redeems us,
then he asks us
to keep a weekly Sabbath
for him
by resting
and remembering.
Now,
some of us might say,
okay,
well,
George,
here's the problem
with this.
I wasn't a slave
in Egypt.
Last I checked,
in fact,
I mean,
I think there's a few people
here who've been in Egypt.
Most of us
have never been to Egypt.
So,
you know,
maybe other than Paul,
there's nobody else here
who's gone to Egypt,
so how could God
have redeemed us
from it?
Like,
how does this apply
to us as Christians?
How does this apply
to us at all?
Well,
two very,
very important things.
We're going to look at
two other scripture passages.
Here's the first thing
to keep in mind.
It's a New Testament teaching,
a Jesus teaching.
Next point,
Andrew.
Until we are
redeemed by Jesus Christ,
every human being
is a slave
in denial.
By the way,
that's why he had to go
through the denial
to the promised land.
Sorry,
I took a slip
in a really bad joke.
Denial,
denial,
never mind.
Okay.
I shouldn't try jokes
in English
or when they have to be
translated into Portuguese.
But until,
this is very,
very,
very stark news.
Actually,
if you want to just turn
to John chapter 8
in your Bibles,
turn to John chapter 8.
Some of you,
probably your minds
instantly went to that.
John chapter 8,
verse 34.
Keep your finger
in Deuteronomy
because we're going
to go back.
But if you go back
to John chapter 8,
verse 34,
we see Jesus speaking.
And actually,
we'll begin at verse 31.
John 8,
31.
So Jesus said to the Jews,
that's the religious leaders
of the Jewish people
who had believed him,
if you abide in my word,
you are truly my disciples
and you will know the truth
and the truth
will set you free.
It's a very famous quote.
You will know the truth
and the truth
will set you free.
They answered him,
we are the offspring
of Abraham
and have never been
enslaved to anyone.
How is it that you say
you will become free?
Jesus answered them,
truly, truly,
if you have the old
King James Version,
I love it,
verily, verily,
I say to you,
everyone who practices sin
is a slave to sin.
And then it goes on,
the slave does not remain
in the house forever,
the son remains forever,
so if the son sets you free,
you will be free indeed.
Truly, truly,
I say to you,
everyone who practices sin
is a slave to sin.
I'm not going to spend
a long time
trying to prove this.
We're going to talk about it
a little bit,
a fair amount actually,
in the fall
when we start our series
in Galatians
because in the book
of Galatians,
the image of slavery
as a way to understand
being separate from God
is one of the primary ideas
to understand sin
is slavery.
But this,
I'm going to just point out,
this is a very,
very stark thing.
I'm not making any comment.
I don't know what
Justin Trudeau's
eternal destiny is.
I don't know if he's
a Christian or not.
I'm not,
I'm just,
but, you know,
apparently he isn't.
It doesn't matter
if you're Bill Gates.
It doesn't matter
if you're one of Rick's
friends on the street.
It doesn't matter
if you're Justin Trudeau.
It doesn't matter
if you're a person
living in a shelter.
Apart from Jesus,
you are a slave to sin.
You are a slave.
If you were here today,
you haven't given
your life to Jesus,
the Bible just insulted you.
It only insulted you,
by the way,
if it's not true.
If it's true,
it was the first true thing
you have heard
about your situation
potentially in a long time.
If it's not true,
it's an insult.
If it's true,
it's hope.
It's hope.
And so, you see,
on one hand,
this is the beginning
of trying to understand
this Ten Commandments.
On one hand,
okay,
I wasn't a slave in Egypt,
but if every human being
apart from Christ
is a slave,
and a slave in denial,
because Bill Gates
does not understand
himself as a slave,
Justin Trudeau
does not understand
himself as a slave,
and people in Ottawa
and in Angola,
apart from Christ,
do not think of themselves
as a slave.
But if we understand
that Jesus has redeemed us
out of slavery
into freedom,
then that's a very,
very easy jump
from the Sabbath
commandment
that we're going
to read in a second.
Here's the second thing.
If you could put up
the next point,
Andrew.
The Exodus
recorded in the book
of Exodus
points to the true
and greater Exodus
accomplished by Jesus,
Messiah.
Remember,
the way the Old Testament
is,
looking at it
from your point of view.
This is written
before the cross.
We are reading
this
after the cross.
And from Genesis 3
all the way
to Malachi 4,
time and time again,
the scripture
is giving us
riddles
and hints
and types
and promises
that will only be
fulfilled in the cross.
after the cross,
when we read
books like Deuteronomy,
we can look back
and understand
in many ways
how this was
preparing people
to understand
the cross.
If you turn
in your Bible
to Luke 9,
verse 31,
Luke 9,
verse 31,
we'll see this teaching
comes from Jesus.
It's going to be hard
because almost
all English versions
translate the word,
don't translate
the word literally,
but they translate
it metaphorically.
But if you read,
we'll begin
in verse 28,
Luke 9,
28.
Now,
so what's happened
here in the flow
of the book
is that Jesus
just before this
has revealed
to his disciples
for the first time
that he's going
to die on the cross.
In fact,
not only has he revealed
that he's going
to die on the cross,
he's revealed
that his death
on the cross
is the whole purpose
of him coming.
And everything
that happens
in the book of Luke
after just a few
verses before this
is Jesus
preparing in
different ways
his disciples
to understand
what it means
that he's come
to die upon the cross
for them
to save them.
And so here,
that's the context
of the transfiguration.
And this is the story,
one of Luke's
account of the transfiguration.
Now about eight days,
verse 28,
after these sayings
about revealing
that he's going
to die on the cross,
he took with him
Peter and John
and James
and went up
on the mountain
to pray.
And as he was praying,
the appearance
of his face
was altered
and his clothing
became dazzling white
and behold,
two men
were talking with him,
Moses and Elijah.
This is really interesting.
Moses,
who preaches
Deuteronomy
and is the one
who's there
in the book of Exodus
that God uses
to reveal
this covenant
with Israel
that they are
to enter into
and to remind them
of the covenant,
to remind them
that they were
delivered from slavery
and learning how to live
as whole and free
human beings
in light of the covenant.
This Moses
and Elijah
who's taken
right up into heaven,
representing the prophets,
they're speaking
to Jesus.
verse 30 again,
and behold,
two men
were talking with him,
Moses and Elijah,
who appeared
in glory
and spoke
of his,
and the word
departure
is literally
exodus.
They spoke
of his exodus,
which he was
about to accomplish
at Jerusalem.
So isn't it
interesting,
Moses
talks to Jesus.
Moses,
who was used
by God
to bring the people
of Israel
out of the house
of slavery,
out of the house
of bondage,
out of Egypt
by crossing
the Red Sea.
Jesus has just
revealed that he
came to die
and now
they describe
his death
upon the cross
and what it
accomplishes
and his resurrection
as an exodus.
that you,
ordinary human beings
like you and me
can benefit from.
And so
the exodus
recorded
in the book
of Exodus
points to the true
and greater
exodus
accomplished
by Jesus Messiah,
which we can benefit
from and follow.
And so
when we read
that
verse 6,
I am the Lord
your God
who brought you
out of the house
of bondage,
out of the house
of slavery,
we can instantly
think one moment
we can completely
and utterly
get behind this
because Jesus
accomplished
the true
and greater
exodus
because he
defeated
sin itself.
He defeated
death itself.
Sin which
causes death,
he's defeated
sin,
he's defeated
death,
he's defeated
the devil,
he's defeated
all hostile
spiritual powers,
he has defeated
all of these
things.
It is the true,
that is the true
great,
the true defeat
of slavery
because we
can't stop
sinning,
we cannot
stop ourselves
from dying,
we are slaves
to sin,
we are slaves
to death
and some of us
are even slaves
to hostile
demonic
spiritual powers
and we cannot
free ourselves
and Jesus'
exodus,
his death
upon the cross
and his resurrection
is the true
defeat of
slavery which
we can share
in by faith.
We can remember
this commandment
brothers and
sisters.
This is ours.
It is not
just for
Moses and the
people who are
there,
this is ours.
A far
greater
exodus,
a far
greater
defeat
and triumph
over slavery,
the promise
of a far
greater
freedom
and wholeness
that can begin
on this side
of the grave
and with the
coming of Jesus
where when we
see him face
to face
and we will
see him face
to face
and we will
be changed
because we
will be like
him
and our
wholeness
and our
freedom
in Christ
is a
destiny
that cannot
be taken
from us.
turn back
to
Deuteronomy
once again
read verse
six
this
Deuteronomy
five
verse six
I am the
Lord your
God
who brought
you out
of the
land
of Egypt
out of
the house
of slavery
now
jump down
to the
actual
commandment
or the
word
about
Sabbath
observance
verse 12
observe
the
Sabbath
day
to keep
it
holy
as
the
Lord
your
God
commanded
you
six
days
you
shall
labor
and
do
all
your
work
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
or
your
male
servant
or
your
female
servant
or
your
ox
or
donkey
or
any
of
your
livestock
or
the
sojourner
who
is
within
your
gates
that
your
male
and
servant
and
your
female
servant
may
rest
as
well
as
you
shall
remember
that
you
were
a
slave
in
the
land
of
Egypt
and
the
Lord
your
God
brought
you
out
from
there
with
a
mighty
hand
and
an
outstretched
arm
therefore
the
Lord
your
God
commanded
you
to
keep
the
Sabbath
day
so
here's
a couple
of
things
about
this
if
you
could
put
up
the
next
point
even
after
I
become
Christ's
own
forever
I
can
be
lured
into
living
like
a
slave
even
after
I
become
Christ's
own
forever
I
can
be
lured
into
living
like
a
slave
it's
really
funny
so
this
morning
I'm
making
my
coffee
and
making
my
peanut
butter
and
jam
stuff
that
I'm
going
to
have
with
my
coffee
and
I'm
honest
with
you
I've
been
working
on
this
all
week
and
what
am
I
doing
as
I'm
making
my
coffee
and
buttering
my
rolls
and
putting
peanut
butter
and
jam
on
them
am
I
thinking
God
is
so
good
he's
delivered
me
from
slavery
he's
redeemed
me
my
destiny
forever
no
I
was
unbelievably
anxious
about
what
was
going
to
happen
next
Sunday
I
had
been
lured
into
living
like
a
slave
I
was
going
to
come
here
and
tell
you
all
the
things
you're
supposed
to
do
but
existentially
I
was
being
lured
into
living
like
a
slave
to
anxiety
see
that's
what
sanctification
is all
about
and
that's
one
of
the
reasons
why
the
Sabbath
is
an
important
tool
in
sanctification
because
the fact
of the
matter
is
is that
our
minds
naturally
move
to
different
things
that
call
our
attention
to
serve
them
whether
it's
anxiety
whether
it's
to
try to
get
a
particular
degree
whether
it's
about
trying
to
make
more
money
whether
it's
about
satisfying
our
husband
or
our
wife
whether
our
mind
keeps
moving
to
wounds
things
that
people
did
to
hurt
our
minds
keep
going
to
particular
images
our
minds
keep
going
to
our
pride
our
minds
keep
going
to
all
sorts
of
things
and
even
though
we are
Christ's
owned
forever
it is
really
easy
for us
to be
lured
into
slavery
which
is
why
God
in
his
kindness
says
you know
what
George
you know
what
I'd
like
you
to
do
remember
George
I made
the
covenant
that's
what goes
on when
Jesus
is doing
the
last
supper
he's
telling
everybody
I'm
making
a
covenant
we
didn't
all
agree
to
make
the
covenant
I'm
making
a
new
covenant
that
will
go
on
forever
and
I'm
going
to
die
on
the
cross
for
you
and
I'm
going
to
make
sure
that
every
single
thing
that
you
do
that's
ever
wrong
I'm
going
to
pay
for
it
and
your
inability
George
to live
a holy
life
so
that
you know
you have
perfect
fellowship
hands
and
open
arms
that
you
cease
and
put
your
arms
out
to
me
and
I'll
catch
you
and
I'll
take
you
because
it's
not
George
about
how
long
your
arm
it's
about
how
long
my
arm
it's
not
about
how
strong
your
grip
is
it's
about
how
my
grip
is
I
will
never
let
you
go
and
George
once
a
week
I
want
you
to
reenact
that
see
the
word
sabbath
means
cease
stop
you
see
in
some
ways
if
we
start
to
learn
to
practice
the
sabbath
we're
remembering
our
conversion
because
our
conversion
in a
sense
comes
for
those
of
us
who've
had
an
adult
conversion
or
an
older
conversion
our
conversion
comes
when
we
in a
sense
we've
been
running
from
Jesus
our
back
is
to
the
cross
and
the
time
comes
that
we
no
longer
are
walking
away
from
him
we're
no
longer
running
away
from
him
that
we
stop
and
we
turn
and
we
lay
down
our
sword
and
we
lay
down
our
shield
and
we
lay
down
our
porcupine
outfit
which
is
all
prickly
to
try
to
keep
everybody
especially
Jesus
away
and
we
lay
it
all
down
and
in
a
sense
we
say
to
Jesus
I
have
to
stop
I
surrender
I
surrender
I
stop
and
the word
Sabbath
means
stop
it
means
cease
and
so
God
in
his
grace
and
he's
done
all
the
stuff
for
us
to
redeem
us
this
isn't
to
redeem
us
but
he's
created
this
discipline
for
us
to
figure
out
how
to
enter
into
where
every
week
I'm
invited
to
stop
again
on
one
day
and
serving
anxiety
makes
you
anxious
and
tired
serving
money
often
makes
you
anxious
and
tired
not
when
you're
really
successful
but
when
the
stock
market
drops
30%
you
realize
how
much
anxiety
you
had
when
it
goes
down
30%
or
investments
crash
and
we're
invited
to
rest
and
what
are
we
invited
to
think
upon
for
at
least
one
day
a
week
we're
not
thinking
upon
why
did
that
person
do
that
to
me
why
don't
people
like
me
like
why
aren't
I
slimmer
or
more
muscular
or
taller
or
shorter
or
more
successful
or
all
of
these
scripts
that
go
through
our
minds
all
week
and
for
one
week
one
day
a
week
we're
invited
to
actually
remember
I
was
a
slave
in
denial
I
am
saved
by
grace
alone
through
faith
alone
in
Christ
alone
I
am
to
remember
that
Jesus
won
and
invited
me
and
brought
me
into
a
covenant
that
is
for
my
wholeness
and
for
my
life
and
for
my
freedom
that
will
go
for
all
eternity
and
I'm
invited
to
cease
and
rest
and
remember
that
one
day
a
week
next
point
Andrew
here's
another
thing
very
briefly
I
see
I
God
is not
mean
and
cruel
he
is
good
and
loving
so
he
redeems
us
to
live
as
he
designed
us
go
back
later
on
and read
Genesis
chapter 2
verses 1
to 3
and you'll
see
that right
when
God
there's a
wonderful
thing in the
prayer book
marriage
ceremony
that says
marriage
was
instituted
of God
in the time
of man's
innocency
in other words
before the
fall
God
created
marriage
and
what's
the
set
saying
here
if you
go back
and look
at
Genesis
chapter 2
verses 1
to 3
before
the
fall
God
designed
human
beings
to have
a day
of rest
every
seven
so that
means
that when
he
redeems
us
and enters
us into
a new
covenant
he doesn't
say
every
seven
days
they're
going to
do
something
really
difficult
every
man
has to
do
the
splits
that
would
be
cruel
and
unnatural
I
can
hardly
touch
my
ankles
with
my
legs
straight
I
mean
I
can
touch
my
toes
if
I
do
this
but
don't
ask
me
to
keep
my
legs
straight
and
God
isn't
mean
and
cruel
and
says
every
man
has
to
do
the
splits
or
something
like
that
he
does
redemption
redeems
us
to live
the way
he
created
us
he
created
us
to have
a rest
on
the
seventh
day
and
now
this
is
sanctified
so
just
in
closing
seven
pointers
about
keeping
the
sabbath
seven
pointers
about
keeping
the
sabbath
if you
want
these
written
they'll
be on
the
webpage
Wednesday
or
whatever
if you're
curious
because I'm
going to
go through
them
quick
first
one
A
Canadian
A
sorry
never
mind
A
the
command
is
normative
and
dynamic
not
regulative
and
legalistic
I
know
four
big
words
I
apologize
I
apologize
for
four
big
words
you
can
look
at
my
blog
today
when I
talk
about
normative
and
regulative
it's
a
persistent
problem
in
Christians
so
here's
the
interesting
thing
about
this
command
this
command
does
not
say
every
okay
here's
an
example
Islam
is
regulative
not
normative
five
times
a
day
you
pray
and
you
don't
just
say
my
watch
time
to
pray
Allah
is
great
help
me
with
this
job
interview
and
off
you
go
no
you
have
to
take
certain
postures
you
have
to
do
you
have
to
do
this
you
have
to
do
that
you
have
to
do
hand
washings
it's
regulative
but
the
command
here
isn't
regulative
it
gives
us
a
task
a
project
figure
out
how
to
cease
how
to
rest
and
how
to
remember
every
seventh
day
doesn't
say
you
have
to
be
in
church
for
six
hours
it
doesn't
say
you
have
to
sing
four
hours
of
praise
music
it
doesn't
say
that
you
have
to
say
500
Hail
Marys
you
see
it's
so
smart
and
wise
because
how
we
keep
the
Sabbath
in
Canada
is
going
to
be
different
than
how
we
keep
the
Sabbath
in
Angola
in
Canada
one
of
the
great
blessings
that
we
have
is
most
Canadians
only
have
to
work
five
days
and
they
make
enough
money
in
five
days
to
last
seven
we
take
that
for
granted
in
Angola
most
people
have
to
work
six
days
and
many
of
them
have
to
work
seven
days
and
they're
going
to
have
to
figure
out
how
to
keep
the
Sabbath
Christian
you're
going
to
have
to
figure
out
how
to
keep
the
Sabbath
in
a
different
way
than
if
you're
married
to
a
Christian
you're
going
to
have
to
figure
out
how
to
keep
the
Sabbath
different
if
you're
retired
than
if
you're
working
but
this
text
doesn't
say
okay
you're
retired
you don't
have
to
keep
the
Sabbath
every
day
is
the
Sabbath
no
it
isn't
but
maybe
it
is
maybe
for
a
retired
person
it's
going
to
be
that
that's
the
day
that
you
spend
far
more
hours
in
prayer
but
it's
very
powerful
it's
not
legalistic
and
it's
not
regulative
but
it
gives
you
a
project
people
of
Messiah
God
he
made
a
covenant
with
you
he
redeemed
you
a
sign
of
that
is
cease
rest
remember
you need
to figure
that out
honestly
within
your
context
does
that
mean
that
maybe
you
won't
be
involved
in
minor
hockey
maybe
it
means
you
won't
be
involved
in
minor
hockey
George
how
can
this
work
when
I
have
so
many
hours
I
have
to
work
throughout
the
week
well
the
thing
is
if
you
don't
actually
consider
it
an
important
thing
to
solve
you'll
never
solve
it
but
now
that
you
know
it's
an
important
thing
to
solve
talk
it
over
maybe
it
means
changing
a
job
maybe
it
means
doing
some
other
type
of
thing
maybe
it
means
keeping
a
Sabbath
on
a
day
other
than
Sunday
but
this
is
what
God
has
asked
us
to
do
and
he's
asked
us
to
do
it
for
our
soul's
health
it's
normative
a
project
and it's
dynamic
we've
got to
do
something
Sunday
isn't
just
Saturday
only
it
got stuck
going
to
church
this
command
is
inviting
us
to
understand
the
Sabbath
day
in a
different
way
the
rest
are
all
far
quicker
number
B
what
this
text
is
implying
is
that
we
work
wisely
and
well
for
six
days
then
rest
on
the
seventh
day
work
wisely
or
be
retired
wisely
and
well
for
six
days
and
then
rest
on
the
seventh
C
next
one
every
week
seek
to
share
the
resting
and
the
remembering
with
others
notice
how
in
the
commandment
it
says
how
on
the
seventh
day
you
rest
not
only
you
but
your
servant
your
son
your
daughter
your
donkey
the
alien
everybody
the
Sabbath
is
to
be
shared
and
not
only
the
resting
and
the
ceasing
but
also
if
you
are
with
Christians
the
remembering
is
to
be
shared
because
isn't
it
the
case
remembering
is
always
better
when
you
do
it
with
others
I
mean
isn't
that
one
of
the
great
things
about
getting
together
somebody
you
haven't
seen
in a
long
time
and
you
remember
with
somebody
else
it's
just so
much
more
wonderful
isn't
it
one
of
the
great
things
if
maybe
there's
a
you
have
a
family
reunion
or
something
like
that
or
reunion
of
all
friends
and
you
remember
together
and
there's
something
far
more
wonderful
about
remembering
together
so
the
sabbath
is
to
be
shared
d
every
sabbath
remember
oh
sorry
we
haven't
done
sorry
yeah
sorry
I
should
have
been
I
so
the
a
is
did
you
put
up
a
b
c
d
no
let's
go
back
a
b
c
d
just
so
you
can
see
them
I'm
sorry
this
is
my
anal
aspect
there
we
go
the
command
is
normative
and
dynamic
not
regulative
and
legalistic
b
work
wisely
and
well
for
six
days
then
rest
on
the
seventh
day
c
every
week
seek
to
share
the
rest
in
the
remembering
with
others
d
every
sabbath
remember
I
was
a
slave
in
denial
powerless
to
free
myself
this
is
a
good
thing
to
remember
e
every
sabbath
remember
I
am
redeemed
by
grace
alone
through
faith
alone
in
Christ
alone
f
every
sabbath
remember
I
was
redeemed
by
Christ
to
live
whole
and
free
in
an
eternal
covenant
with
him
it
is
so
much
better
to
remember
this
than
to
remember
how
you
were
hurt
or
to
think
about
how
you're
going
to
hurt
somebody
or
to
think
about
your
lust
or
to
think
about
your
envy
or
to
think
about
your
coveting
or
to
think
about
your
greed
or
to
think
about
your
pride
or
to
think
about
your
vanity
it
is
so
much
better
than
having
your
mind
consumed
with
these
things
to
have
a
time
where
you
regularly
remember
that
you
were
a
slave
in
denial
you
were
redeemed
by
grace
alone
through
faith
alone
in
Christ
alone
and
that
who
am
I
in
grace
I
am
redeemed
by
Christ
to
live
whole
and
free
in
an
eternal
covenant
of
love
with
him
please
stand
there's
a
prayer
here
in
closing
that
I'm
going
to
invite
you
to
pray
with
me
just
as
once
again
if
you're
somebody
I guess
can take
screenshots
it'll
be on
the
web
I guess
on
Wednesday
when
Shirley
gets
back
to
work
if
the
words
are
helpful
to
you
for
some
of
you
if
you
have
not
given
your
life
to
Jesus
this
can
be
your
conversion
prayer
this
can
be
the
time
and
you
know
if
you're
imaginative
all
just
imagine
that
you're
now
facing
the
cross
you
drop
in
the
weapons
your
sword
your
shield
your
porcupine
outfit
to
keep
God
far
away
and
you're
asking
to be
gripped
by the
gospel
and
to
become
Christ's
own
and
this
can
be
a
conversion
prayer
you can
be
in
your
own
words
but
for
all
of
us
who
are
here
it's
a
way
to
pray
the
heavenly
father
please
pour out
your
holy
spirit
upon
me
and
make
me
a
disciple
of
Jesus
gripped
by
the
gospel
learning
to
join
with
other
Christians
and
cease
rest
and
remember
on
every
Sabbath
for
the
good
of
people
and
the
glory
of
God
in
Jesus
name
amen
father
pour
out
your
holy
spirit
upon
us
pour
out
your
holy
spirit
upon
us
help
us
father
to
pray
this
prayer
to
live
this
prayer
teach
us
how
to
keep
a
Sabbath
father
which
is
truly
good
for
us
and
truly
honors
you
and
brings
you
glory
and
this
we
ask
in
Jesus
name
amen