The Christian Sabbath

The point: Allow your soul to be searched by the message of Isaiah 58, recognizing its timeless relevance.

Isaiah's prophetic voice is compared to a trumpet, not just making a din, but dissecting the inner man, reaching into the soul and intents of the heart, showing motives and attitudes.

If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath, and call the Sabbath, and call the Sabbath, and call the Sabbath, a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord. And I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. This 58th chapter of Isaiah is one of the most excellent, examples th...

2:55 - 4:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Ask why heavenly blessing is not on your Christian assemblies and churches, and what is withholding the power and glory of God.

Isaiah is described as 'reading the minds' of his listeners, suggesting that their questions about God's blessing are universal and echo in the hearts of the current audience.

He is really reading the minds of those who are listening. And you will find echoes of the questions, the wonderings of your heart in these very questions. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest none? Wherefore have we afflicted our souls, and thou takest no knowledge?

5:13 - 5:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine if your religion is an outward formality rather than a spiritual reality.

Martin humorously notes that 'to the consternation of those who teach homiletics,' Isaiah had a simple two-point sermon, highlighting the directness of the prophetic message.

To the consternation of those who teach homiletics,

6:54 - 7:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine if your religion is an outward formality rather than a spiritual reality.

The outward act of bowing one's head 'as a bulrush bent over in the wind' illustrates superficial, unspiritual religion where the heart is still seeking its own things.

With all of the outward observance of my Sabbath, you are still seeking your own things. That's what it means in finding your pleasure. You are still doing your own things, and not really giving, Yes, you do bow your head to the ground as a bulrush bent over in the wind, but that's outward. Inwardly, you are still seeking your own things.

7:35 - 7:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Expose the sin of Sabbath desecration in your own life and among the people of God.

To 'turn away thy foot from the Sabbath' is explained as trampling it underfoot, an act reserved for things held in contempt, like putting an enemy king's neck under one's heel or salt that has lost its savor.

If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, he is suggesting God has a complaint, and that is, my Sabbath is being trampled upon. My Sabbath day is being trampled underfoot. You only trample under your feet and grind under your heels, those things that you hold in contempt.

10:07 - 10:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Reflect on whether you regard Sunday as 'my relaxation day' or 'the Lord's holy day'.

Martin lists modern activities like golf, tennis, parties, football, picnics, and lawn cutting to illustrate how Sunday has become 'my relaxation day' rather than the Lord's holy day.

My Sabbath is being trampled under the feet of men. And if you have to drive a few miles on Sunday, Sunday morning to church, you know that if anything, this indictment is too mild. Because Sunday has become golf day. It has become tennis day.

11:21 - 11:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of justifying the breaking of the Sabbath with arguments that sound like excuses.

The story of Nehemiah threatening merchants who came to Jerusalem on the Sabbath is used to show that Jews outwardly kept the Sabbath, yet their hearts were still unspiritual.

But we must not forget the context. Because Isaiah is addressing a people who say, but we have kept the Sabbath. The Jews were aware that the other nations did not, but no Jew would dare to carry on business as usual, or some zealous leader like Nehemiah in the Old Testament would threaten, to lay hands on them. You remember Nehemiah's doing that to the merchants of Tyre who came outside the city of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

12:41 - 13:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of justifying the breaking of the Sabbath with arguments that sound like excuses.

The Old Testament account of a boy being stoned for gathering firewood on the Sabbath illustrates the strict outward observance of the law, contrasting with the inward heart issue Isaiah addresses.

And no Jew would openly, outwardly, in the presence of all, go on with labor that was considered improper. Or Moses would lay hold of him and he would be stoned, as you remember the young boy in the Old Testament who gathered firewood on the Sabbath. And so they were saying, well, we do keep your Sabbath. We do keep them.

13:12 - 13:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine if you trample the Sabbath by doing your own pleasure, even if outwardly acceptable.

Martin uses the image of a 'strictest Scottish Highlander' to represent someone who would find no outward fault with Sabbath observance, yet the heart could still be seeking its own pleasure.

Now, why are not we receiving a blessing? And what Isaiah is saying in these verses is that it is possible to fill an entire 24-hour Sabbath with activity that is outwardly acceptable to the strictest Scottish Highlander. And he would find no fault with you. While all the time, seeking your own pleasure.

13:38 - 14:06 Read in full sermon

The point: Turn off legalistic thinking about outward do's and don'ts and focus on the heart's devotion to God on the Sabbath.

He tells listeners to 'turn off your little computers in the back of your brain that are legalistic' to emphasize moving beyond outward do's and don'ts to the heart of the matter.

And you get into all the outward details. But please turn off your little computers in the back of your brain that are legalistic because the fallen human mind loves to run, constantly run, to the outward do's and don'ts and the specifics. And that kind of thinking only proves the point of Isaiah. You would love to be just absolutely sure that your do's and don'ts were so well in line and your outward performance on the Lord's day was just right so that you could relax.

17:12 - 17:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Cultivate an attitude where the Sabbath is a delight, not a day of restrictions or things you 'can't do'.

The Hebrew word for 'delight' is illustrated as 'delicate luxury' or 'exquisite dainty,' like a 'favorite dessert that's rich and fattening,' to convey the anticipation and joy the Sabbath should evoke.

The Hebrew word suggests delicate luxury as a delight. An exquisite dainty. I suppose if you were to try to illustrate it by mundane things, you would say that it's a term that is very close to your favorite dessert that's rich and fattening. He's saying the Sabbath day ought to be to you something that sets every nerve of expectation on edge, that when you think about it, you begin to dream about it with delight and anxiety and with a desire to have it.

20:26 - 21:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Allow all the joy in the Lord to be expressed on the Sabbath, making it a spiritual festival.

The image of 'the Davids of God ought to dance before the ark on this day' is used to convey the joy and celebration that should characterize the Sabbath, making it a spiritual festival.

But that very attitude is breaking the Sabbath. If it is not a delight to you and the phrase kills any theory that the Sabbath should be a somber day without smiles, the Davids of God ought to dance before the ark on this day, making it a delight. You ought to give vent to all the joy in the Lord that is possible in a Christian heart on the Sabbath day. Not a black foreboding time, but a spiritual festival is the Sabbath of the Lord.

21:39 - 22:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Feast your soul on the Sabbath, giving it attention after six days of focusing on the body.

Martin uses the metaphor of shedding 'work jeans' and putting on 'these clothes to eat and become a priest of Almighty God' to illustrate the shift in focus and identity on the Sabbath.

It's a revelation of how much you have cramped down the soul of man and given your attention to the outward, physical, material aspects of life. But you are a soul as well as a body. And it ought to be a delight to feast your soul one day when your body has been receiving so much attention on six. Today I shed my work jeans and put on these clothes to eat and become a priest of Almighty God.

24:10 - 24:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Feast your soul on the Sabbath, giving it attention after six days of focusing on the body.

Christians are likened to the 'sons of Korah in the temple of the Old Testament,' a kingdom of priests called to sing praises to God on the Sabbath, entering their 'priestly course'.

And we become a whole kingdom of priests who stand as the sons of Korah in the temple of the Old Testament all to sing praises to the great God who made us and rules this universe. That's how you ought to conceive of yourself. This is the day in which I am called into my priestly course. You remember the Old Testament priestly courses.

24:41 - 25:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Bolt the door to sin and earthly tumult on the Sabbath, shutting yourself into God's purity and peace, and surveying your eternal riches.

The Sabbath is described as a day to 'bolt the door to sin in the tumult of the earth' and shut oneself into God's purity and peace, turning from earthly riches to survey eternal inheritance.

Today I bolt the door to sin in the tumult of the earth and I shut myself into the purity and peace of God's presence. Today I turn my face from the cares of earthly riches and I search the treasure house where I have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away. It is reserved in the heavens and I have a day in which I can go and survey my riches which are eternal. Today I put aside the weight of necessary earthly worries which hold down my soul and I'll tell you you have them.

25:28 - 26:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not turn to idle talk or selfish desires when God is to be honored and praised on His day.

A banquet where a dignitary is honored is used to illustrate how inappropriate it is to draw attention to oneself (like 'Mr. Nobody') when Jehovah is meant to be praised and honored on His day.

Have you ever been in a banquet where awards are being given and a particular dignitary is there who has achieved something on earth and the whole of the meeting is showing what he has done whether it be in sports whether it be in politics whether it be in some area of endeavor and they're trying to perhaps give toasts to this individual. They are reviewing what he has done and you happen to be sitting next to someone and every time something is said he nudges you and says that reminds me of the time that this happened to me. And here you are trying to honor this individual and Mr. Nobody sitt...

29:08 - 30:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Test your Sabbath activities: if they detract from delighting in God, honoring Him, and devoting the day to Him, turn aside from them.

Martin shares a personal story about his family's Sabbath rules for children differing from neighbors', using it to explain that the goal is to teach the heart attitude of making the day special for God, rather than enforcing identical outward rules.

Furthermore, your dos and your don'ts and mine are not going to be identical because people are different. And we are not meant as a people to shove one another into the mold of what helps us to keep the day honorable and a delight and in the service of the Lord God. Now this became particularly evident to me in our situation. We've lived near other Christian families during the years that our children have been very young and we'll say to our children, now we don't want you doing this on the Lord's day.

31:49 - 32:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Be inventive with your children in finding ways to make the Sabbath a delight for them, investing your time.

He compares the world's inventiveness in creating new products and gadgets for material delight to the need for Christians to be equally inventive in finding ways to make the Sabbath a spiritual delight for their children.

How do you help them? And again, we could get very specific. But why can't you be inventive about this thing? The world is extremely inventive about delighting in material things.

38:30 - 38:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Draw near to God by keeping the Sabbath day entirely His and devoted to spiritual pursuits, to know the joy of the Lord.

Martin challenges the idea that God's promises are 'merely the ornaments of Israel in the Old Testament that have been buried in the sands of the Far East' like tabernacle badger skins, asserting their ongoing relevance.

Jehovah hath spoken it. He hath promised and pledged his veracity upon the fact that he will bless his people when they begin spending Sabbaths in this fashion. And if you think these promises are merely the ornaments of Israel in the Old Testament that have been buried in the sands of the Far East, of the Near East, with the badger skins of the tabernacle and the basins of the temple, then I, for one, would like to say that I would like the promises excavated that are mentioned here. Notice how spiritual the first one.

39:57 - 40:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Draw near to God by keeping the Sabbath day entirely His and devoted to spiritual pursuits, to know the joy of the Lord.

He uses the vivid image of a preacher 'driving hard like the Egyptian wheels through the mud, the mud of the Red Sea, barely being able to keep on through his preaching' to describe a sermon lacking spiritual power, yet some still receive blessing due to their heart's seeking God.

Sometimes, under the awfulest sermons that have ever been preached, there are a few people who get a deep spiritual blessing and it never ceases to amaze the preacher who is quite sensitive to his lack of the presence of the Spirit, to his driving hard like the Egyptian wheels through the mud, the mud of the Red Sea, barely being able to keep on through his preaching. And someone gets blessed deeply and yet we know how to explain it. They've come into the house of God and at least we've used the Scripture. And when you seek God with all your heart, He has promised you will surely find Him. And...

41:44 - 42:50 Read in full sermon