And if you would remain standing and open the pages of the scripture in your hand to the book of Exodus chapter 16, beginning from verse 22 to 36. Exodus 16, beginning from verse 22 to the end of the chapter. I will read it in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. On the seventh day, They gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, this is what the Lord has commanded. Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil. And all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning. So they had it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them. And it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none. On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, how long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath. Therefore, on the sixth day, he gives you bread for two days, Remain each of you in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day." So the people rested on the seventh day. Now the house of Israel called its name Mana. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Moses said, this is what the Lord has commanded. Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt. And Moses said to Aaron, Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations. And the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. The people of Israel ate the manna forty years till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. The Omer is the tenth part of An-Ifa. Amen. Let's pray. Gracious and heavenly Father, as we now hear your word, Lord, we ask you to feed us by your manna. From heaven, from above, through the preaching of your word, we pray that you would help the hearers to think about their view of the Sabbath very seriously in light of what we will hear tonight, and do your will in their Christian life. Lord, help us to rest in the Lord Jesus Christ tonight, even as we sit under the preaching of your Word. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. You may be seated. In our study of the book of Exodus, I want you all to remember in verses 1 to 21, Israel grumbles against God. The word grumbling is mentioned eight times in this passage. Their life and their journey was full of grumbling, full of murmuring. They actually accused God for bringing them into the wilderness only to starve them. And this is the God who delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians. This is the God who brought those ten plagues upon Egypt, only to rescue, only to deliver His people. to bring deliverance and salvation to them. Now they actually are accusing God for evil. And at that point, God had every right, brothers and sisters in Christ, to destroy them. But instead of destroying them, God graciously sent them manna from heaven. Last Sunday I told you, that is a marvelous picture of grace. Grace means undeserving gift from God, undeserving favor from God. You sin against Him, you accuse Him of evil, and yet He blesses you. And yet, He doesn't deal with you according to your evil deeds. And He does that every single week, six days a week, for 40 years. Think about that. For 40 years, each day, for six days, including the day of rest will come to that. He continued blessing his people. What an amazing God. This manna is called angel's food. In Psalm 78, 25, man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food in abundance. In verse 31, Moses tells us how the people of Israel viewed this bread. First, from heaven. Secondly, bread that they never prayed for, bread that they never expected, bread that they never understood. They had to ask Moses, their leader, Moses, what is this? We don't understand. We come outside and we find this bread everywhere. And we gather and it is enough. What is this Moses? Now remember the Lord did this in order to test the people of Israel. if they will walk in his way, if they will trust him in the wilderness. He gave them manna in order to test their faith and their allegiance to God. This is a wonderful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John, chapter 6, where Jesus claimed to be the bread of life who came to give salvation. Exodus 16 will show you that Jesus Christ was indeed the Sabbath rest. And tonight from our text, verse 22 to 36, we'll see the connection between the manna and the Sabbath. The manna and the Sabbath, the day of rest. What is the connection between the giving of the manna and the day of rest? How many of you have already understood that the purpose why God delivered his people from Egypt was not to make them a great nation over other nations, to become like God toward other nations. No, he delivered them for the purpose of worship. And in order for them to worship him, he appointed a day. Out of the seven days, He appointed one day for them to cease from all their work, to take break from everything that they do in those six days and enter into His rest. The rest was His. God was concerned about the rest of His people. He was concerned about the communion of his people with him. So the lesson tonight is Jesus Christ is the true Sabbath. And he commands us to rest in him every Sabbath day. Jesus is the true Sabbath rest. And He commands us to rest in Him every Sabbath day. Now consider with me the command itself. The command to rest. Command and rest together seems strange. Think about that. God was commanding them to rest. God was demanding us to rest. Aren't God's commands supposed to be burdens? Isn't this what Satan suggested in the garden? He told Adam and Eve, God is commanding you not to eat the fruit from this tree. Because if you obey Him, He will remain to be your ruler. He will rule you and it will be burdensome to you. But if you eat from the fruit, you will be like Him. In a sense, you see, Satan was telling Adam and Eve, this is burdensome. This is not joy. This is not rest. This is not blessing. Question for all of you. Is fisting a burden? Is fisting a burden? When your body is tired, is resting a burden? When you go to your bed to take a nap, or it's night and you go to bed to sleep, to rest, is it a burden? You see, in the Sabbath rest, God is saying, come to me and rest in my Son. How is that a burden? How is that a struggle? God's commands are joy. They are for blessing. There is no other command in the Bible. It is all joy. Listen to John in 1 John 5, 3. For this is the love of God, that we might keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. And one of the commands is the Sabbath rest. So we must reject Satan's lies that God's commands are burdensome, not for joy, not for blessing, not for sanctification. All are lies. God's command is perfect. God's command is good. It is for our joy. After all, it's a command to rest. It's a command to celebrate. It's a command to feast. Isn't this a feast? How is this a burden? How is the eating of the bread and the drinking from the cup a burden? All God's commands are feasting and resting. Notice verse 5. In verse 5, Moses said, And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them. whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it would be twice as much as they gather daily. On the sixth day, they would gather double of what they need to keep it for the Sabbath day. On the Sabbath day, you see, God told them not to come out and gather bread, because on the sixth day, they will have everything that they need, as far as food goes, for the Sabbath day. They don't need to work, they don't need to go outside and gather bread, because they do that on the sixth day. On the seventh day, they rest. Why do they come to Moses and tell him what happened? It was because they were surprised by it. Why on the sixth day, double portion of it? What is going on Moses? What does this mean? And in verse 23, Moses tells them this. He said to them, this is what the Lord has commanded. Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest. God wants you to rest. God wants you to enter into rest. Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake, and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over, lay aside to be kept till the morning. You see, he was preparing them for worship. He was preparing them for rest. God commanded his people to take one day every single week to enter into his rest. Consider this with me. When they were under Pharaoh, when they were in Egypt, do you know the Israelites never had rest? In fact, in chapter 1, the book of Exodus, in chapter 1, verse 11 to 14, This is what we read. Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store, cities, Phaedon and Ramses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work, they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. There was no rest for Israel. Seven days. They were in pain. And now God is saying, enough. I want my people to enter into rest. I want my people to work for six days, but on the seventh day, I want the fellowship with my people. I want to bless my people. I want to speak to my people. I want to sanctify my people. I want to feed my people by the Word and the Spirit. This day is my day with my people. See what God is doing. He's appointing a special day with His people. The Sabbath day is the day of rest, the day to cease from all ordinary work, In verse 23, you see Moses calls it a holy Sabbath, which means set apart from all other days. It is unique, it is special. It is being set apart by God, different from other rest days we have during other six days. We can rest on Monday, we can rest on Saturday, according to our schedule, but it is not like the Sabbath rest. On the Sabbath, we come to the house of the Lord, we gather in His name, together as His people, we worship Him, we sit under the ministry of the Word, we partake the Lord's Supper together, It is a holy Sabbath, which means it is being set apart. We don't define the Sabbath, you see. We don't make our own plan on the Sabbath. It's already planned by God. It's already commanded by God. It is His day, but it is His day for our good. So how can you say for something that is good for you, it's a burden? How can anyone say a feast is a burden? God commanded His people to take this one day and rest on Him. There was No concept of Sabbath rest found in ancient Egypt, ever. For two centuries, Israel had no rest. Can you imagine Israel in bondage to Egypt, representing the wicked man enslaved in his own sin? That's the picture. Egypt is the picture of sin. People enslaved in sin, no rest. What does the scripture say about the wicked? Isaiah 48, 22. There is no peace, there is no rest for the wicked. Isaiah 57, 20. But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked. There is no rest for the wicked, but for the people of God. There is rest. But when God redeemed Israel through the blood of the Lamb, what did He immediately do? He immediately gave them a day of rest. One single day, the whole day. for them to rest. It was a day of rest with provision, a double portion of manna. Their needs was taken care of without them having to work. Taking care of his people. for six days. Do you see how this typifies the redeemed man? Once redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, we have true rest for our souls. Hebrews 4, 3, For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter my rest. You know, not to enter into that rest is a sign of curse for unbelievers, but for believers, it's a sign of God's blessing. God wants us to enter into that rest. And this soul rest was, my beloved, to be experienced every single week. Every single week, Israel was to remember what the Lord has done for them. Every Sunday when we come to church, that's what we do, beloved. It's a remembrance of the goodness of God. Deuteronomy 5.15, listen to Moses. You shall remember you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God delivered you out of the land with an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. to remember the Lord's deliverance from the bandage in Egypt. See what God is telling them? This is why I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians. This is why I rescued you from Egypt, to keep the Sabbath day. That's the purpose. In verse 23, he prepares them for the Sabbath. And isn't that amazing? When they gathered, you know, that those double portion, they go home and on the ground, it didn't stink. There were no worms. God was at the business of, you know, giving his people rest. He was making sure that His people are provided in order to rest, in order to have communion with Him. Why? Because God Himself was also resting. You know, the Bible tells us in the book of Genesis on the seventh day, God rested from all His works. To do what? To have communion with His people. to take care of his people. The Sabbath is not about no activity, total inactivity. That's how some people view the Sabbath. I don't work. I rest. I spend the whole day in my house. The Sabbath day. is not for total inactivity. It is about special activity. It's about worship, remembering God's works of mercy, compassion, not for doing nothing. There is nothing holy about doing nothing. But it is indeed holy to be set apart when he come to his house and worship him, adore him. It was commanded so that all our activities on that day would be concentrated, consecrated to the Lord. All our activities to be concentrated, consecrated to the Lord. You see the beauty of the Sabbath rest. Secondly, I want us to consider not only the nature of the command, the command to rest, and what it means, but also I want us to remember that this day is the day of the Lord. It's not our day. It is to the Lord because our rest is in the Lord. It is not abstracted rest. Let me ask you this. When you sleep at night, you don't rest in the air. Yes? You rest in your bed. Your bed is the object of your rest at night. You sleep in your bed the whole night, and then in the morning you tell everyone, I had a good rest last night in my bed. In the Lord, in Christ, is the rest. We sing, we pray, we worship, we listen to his word, we take the Lord's Supper together. When we conclude our worship, we commune with one another, we encourage one another in the Lord, we talk about that sermon. It is to the Lord. It's in the Lord. Sabbath rest is about resting in Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ, the person. The person. Jesus is our true Sabbath, and he commands us to rest in him every Sabbath day. And I want us to consider three proofs from the scripture. In Matthew 11, Jesus extends that great invitation to everyone in Matthew 11, 28 to 30. Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find, what? Rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. I'll give you rest. When you come to me, you will find rest." See, it's about rest. We rest in Jesus, the incarnate. And in Matthew 12, verse 8, Jesus said, for the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath. You know, I rule over this day. You don't rule over this day. I rule over this day. It's my day. I am the Lord of the Sabbath. And I give you this day for you to rest. And Hebrews 4, 2 and 3, those who believed, those who redeemed, the writer said, has entered into his rest. Now consider with me at least two objections that you always hear from people about the command to rest on the Sabbath. You always hear people saying, that was the law for Israel. Not to us. We have no obligation to that day today. How do you answer that? When someone comes to you, but that was the Old Testament. That was the law. We're under grace. We're not obligated to this day now. We don't need to rest. on the Sabbath day. I first want to ask you this question. I think it's a good question. Why don't people say the same thing about marriage? Why don't you people say, marriage between one man and one woman is the Old Testament law? So men actually can take more than one wives now. We're under grace. You will never hear anyone saying that. But when it comes to the command to keep the Sabbath, then it's always the Old Testament. Now you need to remember, the Lord God gave this command to the people of Israel, the command to rest on the Sabbath. Listen carefully, before the giving of the law. It was not even part of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments was not yet given. The command to rest on the Sabbath, the command to keep the Sabbath, is the creation ordinance. God rested on the seventh day. And he commanded his people to enter into rest on the Sabbath day. In the New Testament, of course, it's the first day of the week, this day. But it is the creation ordinance. And you hear another challenge. confusion. Why men refuse to rest on the Sabbath? Because they tend to be slaves to work. They say, I have to work because I don't have enough. I have to earn money. So they become workaholic. They love their work more than the Sabbath. Because remember, God provided to his people before he commanded them to rest. On the sixth day, they gathered what? Double portion of what they needed for that day. And he told them, now I provided enough. So now I command you, I'm the Lord. I'm your God. I'm for your good. I'm interested in your soul. So I want you to rest. For you to rest, I have provided. You will not come to my house being hungry. Trust me, God was saying, I will provide. Listen to the Psalmist in Psalm 37, 25. I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, all his children begging for bread. I have never seen that. Which means the Lord provides. It's just a matter of trust in Him. It's a matter of faith in the God who provides. Every time you and I say, and I'm including myself, every time we say, no, no, I can't go to work today, I have to work, I have to do this and that, remember this. He's a God who provides and he's a God who provides enough. What about external forces? External forces. You know, things, reasons, excuses that come to our life to take us away from this rest. And we then justify saying, it's okay. I can do this, then rest. I can do this, then worship. Well, listen to Isaiah. In Isaiah 58, 13. How he views the Sabbath rest. In Isaiah 58, 13. This is what Isaiah said about this day. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and Call the Sabbath the delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable. If you honor it not going your own ways or seeking your own pleasure or talking idly, then you shall take delight in the Lord and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth. I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." See what God is saying? If you keep the Sabbath, if you keep it holy, if you leave this day being set apart by God for the good of your soul, Then observe me, I will bless you. I will bless you richly, tremendously, abundantly. I will bless you. You watch, you observe. I will bless you. And the reason is you chose me over everything else. Sadly, my beloved congregation, for many, this day is a burden. For many, this day is misunderstood. For many, this day is their day. No, it is the Lord's day. We don't govern this day. The Lord governs day. Jesus said, I am the Lord of the Sabbath. And the Sabbath was created for the delight of God's people. Now let me ask you this. Is the Sabbath day your delight? Is it a day of feasting and resting for you? Every time it becomes a burden for you, remember this. Isaiah said, call, call it, call this day. What a delight. Call it a delight. Because there is nothing delightful than being in communion with your Creator. with your God? Husbands, is there any delight for you than to be with your wife? What about God? Isn't it delightful for you parents to be with your children? And those of you who have now grandchildren, with your grandchildren? It's a delight. What about God? The eternal God, our Father, who loved us before the foundation of the world in His Son, Jesus Christ, to be with Him the whole day. There was a woman whom I knew, godly Christian woman, She would always tell us, I have two things that I always look forward. Number one, the conversion of my family members. And the Sabbath day, for me to go to his house and be with him the whole day. She was a grandmother, and you would expect this woman to tell you, oh, to have another grandchild, to see my grandchildren being married. I'm sure she was always looking forward to that. But the priority was the conversion of my children, grandchildren, family members, and then the day of the Lord. That's what I look forward in my life. Is that what you look forward every day as a believer, as a Christian? It's a command to rest, but it's a command for joy, delight, and blessing. Amen. Let's pray. A gracious and heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for the preaching of your word. Use the preaching of your word now to sanctify us, to change us, to grow us in grace and in the knowledge of your Son, Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, help each and every one of us to love resting in your Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus, our true rest. Lord, help us to obey your word now. Apply these things in our Christian life for the glory of Your name. In the name of Christ we pray. Amen.