Continuing the Rhythm series, Pastor Derek Brown of Harmony Church in Greenville, NC examines how sleep, rest, and vacation can be used to worship Christ...or how they can become idols in our lives.

1. REST FOR THE WEARY

2. Like food, rest is a gift that
comes from God alone.

3. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall
upon the man…
Genesis 2:21a

4. For the Christian,
sleep is an act of worship.

5. In peace, i will both lie down and sleep,
for You alone, o Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8

6. When you lay down to sleep,
it is an act of surrender to God.

7. You are consciously choosing
unconsciousness. You are trusting in
something.

8. Sleep is a good opportunity to
entrust God with the care of your
entire self.

9. Sleep is death practice.

10. Sleep in moderation is
necessary and healthy.

11. Sweet is the sleep of a laborer.
Ecclesiastes 5:12

12. As Christ-following men & women,
we should work hard and sleep well,
thanking God in both.

13. But sleep can not only be an act of
worship, it can also be an act of
idolatry.

14. How long will you lie there, o sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
Proverbs 6:9

15. Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep,
and an idle person will suffer hunger.
Proverbs 19:15

16. Sleeping more than necessary is not
of Christ.

17. Desiring sleep in over-abundance is
sinful: it is making a good thing
a great thing…and that’s a bad thing.

18. How much sleep does your body
genuinely need?

19. Sleep can also distract us from
mission.

20. So then, let us not sleep as others do, but let
us keep awake and be sober.
1 Thessalonians 5:6

21. We should be ready
for Christ’s return.

22. We should sleep healthily, to be
prepared for the work commended to
us that day.

23. Let us not waste our lives sleeping.

24. But sleep is not the
only type of rest.

25. And on the seventh day God finished His work
that He had done and He rested on the
seventh day from all His work that He had
done.
Genesis 2:2-3

26. Was He commanding us to
rest on Sundays?

27. Or is there something else?

28. leviticus 23
page 87

29. Six days we shall work.

30. The seventh day is to be one of
“solemn rest”, a “holy convocation”.

31. Solemn rest is
repose done “gravely or soberly”

32. Once a week, we should have
planned time to rest and enjoy
the work of God on our behalf.

33. Holy convocation is
a group of people assembled to
reflect on who God is and
what He has done

34. The people, on the Sabbath, would
come together to rest, with full
awareness of why, and then would
disperse to their homes to enjoy the
day.

35. We shouldn’t make the Sabbath
more than it is, but we should also
enjoy and honor what it is.

36. Do we as a people actively and
seriously enjoy the rest that we have
in Christ with one another?

37. Another underlying reason for
Sabbath: it is an acknowledgement
that the world continues spinning
without our constant involvement.

38. The Sabbath, like sleep, is an act of
worship, particularly in response to
God’s sovereignty, acknowledging
that Christ alone is in control
…not us.

39. Sabbaths should not be only a once-
a-week occurrence. To remain
worshipful, and healthy, regular
sabbaths of extended lengths
are in order.

40. We call them vacations.

41. The key to a worshipful vacation is to
acknowledge that your joy comes
from the rest provided by God.

42. Again, our joy and His glory coexist.
They are not at odds with one
another.

43. Chapter 23 is not the only time
Sabbath is mentioned in Leviticus.

44. Leviticus 16:1-34
page 82

45. The ceremony of Atonement was one
of salvation…and rest.

46. We should “afflict” ourselves?

47. Defeat yourself.
Humble yourself.
You are not in control
of your fate.

48. Rather, you are subservient to a God
who is just, merciful, loving, and
gracious to His people.

49. That’s a reason to relax.

50. We should keep that statute forever.

51. The point of it all.

52. Jesus slept.

53. And behold, there arose a great storm on the
sea, so that the boat was being swamped by
the waves; but he was asleep.
Matthew 8:24

54. Jesus was weary.
Like you & i, Jesus’ body became
tired. God identifies with us, because
He became one of us.

55. Another man in Scripture slept.

56. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried
out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that
was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for
them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner
part of the ship and had lain down and was
fast asleep.
Jonah 1:5

57. Jonah was not fatigued,
but complacent.

58. What happens?

59. An outsider’s voice awakens Jonah,
sparing him from certain doom.

60. Christian, this is what happened
in your heart!

61. The voice of the Outsider has called
to your heart, waking you from your
nap of complacence, that you may be
saved from death.

62. Sleep points to your salvation, and
ultimately to Christ.

63. Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.
Ephesians 5:14

64. But unlike the Jonah story, you are
not the sacrifice required.

65. But when Christ had offered for all time a
single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the
right hand of God.
Hebrews 10:12

66. The Death of Jesus is the reality that
the Day of Atonement points to.

67. The Cross is our reason for Eternal
Sabbath.

68. But it is precisely because we can
rest in His work that we can stop
sleeping awake.

69. Besides this you know the time, that the hour
has come for you to wake from sleep. For
salvation is nearer to us now than when we
first believed.
Romans 13:11

70. reflect
1. are you active in your sleep
patterns?
2. do you take vacations, or just time off
from work?
3. do you see the reality behind rest?