Rest
God Called Sabbath a Day of Delight

Sunday October 16, 2022 - Pastor Wungreiso Valui

Isaiah 58:13-14

THE MESSAGE

In this message I will share with you four things God wants you to stop doing and four things God wants you to start doing. At the end of the message I will show you two promises of God tied to the Sabbath rest.

DESIRED OUTCOME

You will love God and keep the Sabbath.

The way we spend our day and time is indicative of our life. How we spend the day and time shows where our interests lie.

GOD CALLS SABBATH

God defines Sabbath as holy, a delight, honorable; a day to delight in Him.

KEY VERSES

"If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words..." -Isaiah 58:13

FOUR THINGS TO STOP DOING

"If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath"

• 1. YOUR FOOT: STOP GOING THE SAME DIRECTION
  Change begins with a small step in the right direction. If you want to change, you have to change the direction you are on. "Don't step all over my day." Don't go to the same place you went to six days a week. Go to God and spend time with Him on your rest day. Get on the road called the Holy Road; even a fool cannot get lost on it.

A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beasts go up on it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there. -Isaiah 35:8-9

"From doing your pleasure"

• 2. YOUR PLEASURE: STOP DOING WHAT YOU DESIRE
  Don't do the same thing you did six days in a week; that's for your pleasure, your desire. Sabbath rest is not about "He just loves to do it!" It is about God's desire. God desires every man to be saved. - 1 Timothy 2:4 God desires every man to be kind. - Proverbs 19:22, Micah 6:8 God desires steadfast love - Hosea 6:6 God desires justice. - Micah 6:8 God desires you to walk humbly. - Micah 6:8

"...not doing your own ways"

• 3. YOUR WAYS: STOP HAVING IT YOUR WAY
  Don't have the same general attitude towards the Sabbath day as you had six days of the week. Your way has to do with a way of life, a lifestyle that is leading to your next life growth. Your ways are not God's ways. - Isaiah 55:8 Commit your ways to God. - Psalms 37:5

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. - Proverbs 14:12

The Sabbath was given to man to help provide for the revelation of God's way.

"...Nor speaking your own words"

• 4. YOUR WORDS: STOP HAVING THE SAME CONVERSATION
  Our conversations should not be the same as they are on the other six days of the week. What God wants on the Sabbath are things that are His pleasure, not ours. "Your words have been harsh against Me," says the LORD... - Malachi 3:13 If we are growing spiritually, then what is His pleasure is also going to be in our heart. Your words reflect what's in your heart. What's in your heart? "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." - Matthew 12:34

"Your words have been harsh against Me," says the LORD, "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against You?' You have said, 'It is useless to serve God; what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as mourners before the LORD of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; they even tempt God and go free.'" - Malachi 3:13-15

FOUR THINGS TO START DOING

"...on My holy day"

• 1. HOLY: OBSERVE THE SABBATH AS GOD'S HOLY DAY
  Set apart and dedicate it to God. Make a distinction between the Seventh Day and the rest of the week. God instructed the priest to double the daily sacrifices on the Sabbath. (Numbers 28:9-10) Mark the day with increased sacred activity and decreased mundane activity.

"And call the Sabbath a delight"

• 2. A DELIGHT: CALL THE SABBATH A DELIGHT AND DO IT WELL
  Sabbath is not a day of rigorous abstinence. Call Sabbath or invite just as one would invite a guest into a house. Rabbi Shimon said, "One should greet the Shabbat with the house in proper order, with food and drink worthy and fitting a special guest, more than on other days." You can only delight in things that you hold to be good and valuable; things that you do well. It all comes down to this: if you love God, you will delight in the Sabbath.

"The holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor Him"

• 3. HONORABLE: HONOR HIM
  Honor God by resting with Him. Honor God by worshiping Him. Honor the sabbath by resting from material pursuits. Honor His name. So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name. - Malachi 3:16b He will honor you. "They shall be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I make them My jewels." - Malachi 3:17

"Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord"

• 4. DELIGHT IN THE LORD
  Make God the center of your delight. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. - Psalm 37:4

THE TWO PROMISES OF GOD TIED TO SABBATH REST Isaiah 58:13-14

• 1. And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth. God will carry you over every obstacle. You will live above the world.
• 2. And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. God will give you prosperity and security. God said when He brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, He made "him ride in the heights of the earth." This meant prosperity and security. Deuteronomy 32:13-14