Well I hope that over these many weeks as we have been ministering on Nehemiah, started out actually on a Wednesday evening at the close of the month of August. And then we moved to Sunday mornings and then we ended up going through Nehemiah on Sunday evenings. And so this last couple of months we've been in Nehemiah fairly consistently. And I hope that you have developed an admiration for Nehemiah as a reformer, a builder, and now as a contender for the faith. And could I point out in passing that in chapter 13, verse 11, that Nehemiah was not only building, he was not only seeking to dedicate those walls and prepare the sanctuary, but he had to also do battle. He had to contend. And I want you to notice the word contend in that 11th verse. Then contended I with the rulers and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? Now, Nehemiah was absent for a time. He had gone back to the Persian king's palace, and it was during that absence that things declined. It didn't take very long. I have no way of establishing it from this book of Nehemiah, but from historical records, some indicate that he may have been absent for about a year. And during that relatively short period of time, after the 12 years that he had been busy reforming, building, reestablishing the worship of the sanctuary and the Levitical worship and so on, yet so quickly people began to turn from the very things that Nehemiah had to build. In verse 11, the house of God is forsaken. In verse 17, you'll notice that he's contending again Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?" Now this second issue was no small matter. It was a very public desecration of the sabbath day. In verse 15 you read about the public treading of wine presses. Now that was no one-man job. A wine press requires someone to get right into the tub, another to fill it with grapes, and others to be looking after the juices that are being extracted from the press. So it is a team activity. It is no secretive thing. You'll find also that they were bringing in sheaves, again a very public matter, going out into the fields, gathering in those sheaves, laying them upon carts or donkeys and bringing them into the city. You can't do that in any silent or secretive fashion. You'll see also that they were transporting and lading beasts of burden and all of this was going in and out of the gates of the city. In verse 16 you'll see that there were fishermen or traders from Tyre. Tyre is a coastal city and they were bringing their fish for sale right to the very gates of Jerusalem. and they were bringing other wares as well and so the whole city of Jerusalem was being used as a magnet for traders and God's day was being abused and most secular work and merchandising was going on flagrantly without any shame or blush or cover up there was an open profaning of the Sabbath day and so when Nehemiah came back from his visit to the king of Persia returned to Jerusalem and witnessed what was going on well he flipped his lid and he began to talk to the nobles those who were in authority and he protested and contended that this was sin, that it was the very thing that their forefathers had done, had brought the wrath of God and destruction upon the city, that's why the city had already been in ruins, and they had to spend their lifetime rebuilding it again, and now you're doing the very thing that brought the wrath of God before. And Nehemiah contended in these terms. I began to wonder what if Nehemiah were to walk through our cities here in greater Vancouver I was beginning to wonder what he would think of how the Sabbath is kept in our society when he would witness the casino, the flea markets, the racetrack, the Malls that are now open on Sunday, the food stores and the recreational activities that are open publicly. There's no trying to hide it at all. I think Nehemiah would again flip his lid and he would be calling God's people to a right standard and a closing of the gates if possible. that these things might be put to an end. And so our subject tonight is that the Sabbath day still needs defending. That this, what Nehemiah witnessed in Jerusalem that he saw would bring God's displeasure, God's wrath, is still our message and our witness before a very ungodly society in our generation. And the Sabbath, firstly, needs defending against the greed of the ungodly. What Nehemiah witnessed was simply greed. These ungodly traitors seeking to squeeze more and more profit out of God's day, and the people were opening the gates to let it happen. Now the carnal man has no eye to the eternal. He's married to his earthly riches. All he sees is dollar signs. And where possible, if he can make an extra dollar, if he can make extra profit, he's all on for it. And that's the society in which we live today. And the argument from economy will always be lost. We're never going to win that one. If you're going to try and argue that it's more profitable to keep your store open six days a week than seven, you'll probably lose the argument. And of course, the larger the corporation, the more business-minded and the more slick their operation, and the more that they can present figures and statistics and data and information, they can say, well, here's the evidence that you can make more money by keeping your business open on seven days of the week rather than just six. The other argument from equality, you will not win that one either. That everybody should be free to follow their own conviction, their own way of life, their own culture, and their own desires. Now you'll notice that Nehemiah was not going to buy that argument. His rule was the Word of God. His rule was the fear of God, and not what these heathens who came around the walls of the city with their wares and their goods and the activities of these people. He wasn't going to buy that. The question is, what has God said? And we cannot be moved by greed. We cannot be moved by what others contend is best or better or more profitable and it is this that has ruled the church and this country of Canada for many generations but of recent greed has become the thing that has consumed the flagrant desecration of the Lord's Day. The second thing I would suggest that we need to contend against false doctrine on the Sabbath. And the doctrine of the Sabbath is under attack. Its very meaning needs to be contended for. It's a holy day, not a holiday. To a lot of people, they feel that, well, okay, God is merciful, God is gracious, and he wants to give people a break from their hard labor, and so he has ordained a holiday, a breaking from physical toil, and an opportunity to do other things and get a break from the toil of life. Well, in Genesis 2, we read that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. That means he hallowed it, he set it apart, he made it his day, the Lord's day, God's day. He sanctified it, that in it he had rested from all his work which God had created and made. And therefore it is to be used not for our pleasure, but for God's pleasure. And that has to rule us and rule our hearts when it comes to the things that we consider and what is good and right on the Lord's day. The day of God is for God's pleasure, not just for man's pleasure. Another thing is that its permanency has to be contended for. And this, by many, is contended that it's just a merely Jewish law. Here we have the book of Nehemiah, it's the Old Testament, it's Jewish history, it's about 423 BC, and therefore it is Old Testament, Jewish culture, Jewish law, And in the New Testament, you don't have this kind of situation. And of course, dispensationalism, that method of interpreting the Bible by creating a tremendous dichotomy between Old and New Testament, thinking that the Old has been replaced by the New, and that the Church really only begins at Pentecost and that we are no longer under the law of Moses because we're under grace. These are the teachings of that system of dispensationalism. They have taught that we're not again now bound by the commandments, including the fourth commandment, the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy. And many, many have bought into that false doctrine. And because of that, and a doctrine I should say that only really took prevalence in North America anyway around 1900, 1920s, and how they can make the practice that an evangelical Christian, now we're talking about evangelical Christians here, we're talking about people who say they believe the Bible, We're not talking about the heathen, not talking about the ungodly, we're talking about people who say they believe the Bible. And they've come to a position, you can go to church in the morning and do what you like in the afternoon, do what you like the rest of the day. And that, by and large, is the position of the dispensationalist that, by and large, has now become At least the practice, whether they really can found it on that kind of doctrine, but that's their practice. And most churches don't have an evening service, and there is a lot of freedom to people doing that which they please the rest of the day. So we have to contend for the permanency of the fourth commandment. The ten commandments, ten not nine, are still the rule of life for the Christian. The Lord Jesus never replaced one of the commandments. The sermon in the mount, when he often said, but I say unto you, he did not undo any one of the ten commandments, but rather he expounded their spiritual impact. Another thing is that this change to the Lord's Day from the seventh day to the first day of the week must also be contended for. There are a lot of people that can get hung up. Well, if it's the seventh day, how come we're not meeting on Saturday instead of the first day of the week? And if we're going to be really literal and take the cue from Nehemiah, we should be really keeping Saturday. Well, we take our cue from the apostles, who gave us the foundation of the New Testament. And the practice of the apostles, without a shadow of doubt, from the Bible, is that they met on the first day of the week. And they founded that on the principle of the resurrection. The resurrection, our Lord arose from the dead on the first day of the week. And The practice of the New Testament church from the earliest times was to meet on the first day of the week. Now that is often contested, it is often opposed, but you will never find in the New Testament a controversy about this matter. Now you will find in the New Testament a controversy about circumcision. Circumcision is Jewish. circumcision is how Old Testament people mark that they were a part of Israel. And there are many, many references and acts in Romans, in Galatians, and right through the Scriptures talking about this controversy of circumcision. But never was there any controversy about keeping the first day of the week. And yet the Apostles did so without a doubt. Acts 20 verse 7 is a key text. And the history tells us that it was consistently the practice of the Apostles in the early church, first century, second century. to meet on the first day of the week. And so we are not to be in any way confused or to be set aside by this opposition. And in the history of the church, whether it be Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, or Mennonite, or Anglican, or any branch of a Bible-believing church, a gospel-preaching church, They've always had the accepted position that we meet on the first day of the week. That has been established down through the centuries. And the change we are seeing now is in keeping, the change I'm speaking of is in this you know, giving up the Sabbath, giving up the whole day as the day of God, and the loosening of this command, it's not because the church never believed it. It's because of liberalism, modernism, that has unraveled the very inspiration of the Bible. foundation of the Bible. And so we need to contend for the permanency, the doctrine of the Lord's Day, the Christian Sabbath, a day to keep, a day that God has ordained to be kept by every believer. Also, the Sabbath is to be contended for against the dishonor of God's name. The Christian Sabbath is a great reminder in society of God's name and glory. And you can be sure that in any nation, any society, that turn their back on the Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, they also turn away from God. That has been proven again and again and again. And when we let go, when we as individuals, when we as a church slacken and lessen our convictions that there's a day to keep, we are departing from the honor and following after the Lord. To call a people to rest from their labors, their trade, their business, and to think about their souls and to bring them back to truth is really to bring them back from heathenism back to God and to keep people from going on in their godless, thoughtless, heedless way and that's what the Christian Sabbath does the more secular this day is treated the less men think about God's name and God's worship. And of course we're witnessing that all too readily in this nation. We should also remember that in creation God gave the seventh day for the remembrance of his name. He sanctified that day because it was his day. On that day he rested. He rested. and we are to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy because on that day God rested it's to remember his name the other thing that God said to Israel that when he gave them his Sabbath was it was to put a difference between them and the other nations would you turn to the book of Exodus 31 and verse 13 Exodus 31 and verse 13. Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations. So there's a sign. It's a special covenant arrangement, a contract between God and His people. that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Now that was to Israel in the Old Testament in their wandering and their entering, soon to enter into the promised land as they would go in among the heathen. What about the Christian church in Canada today? in this multicultural society in this multi-faith society what's God saying to us as his people that he gives us this day to be a sign between him and us and that we may honor him and that we may keep this day holy onto his name and this becomes an evidence that we're the Lord's people, that we keep that day unto Him. Now another point I need to make is that the Sabbath is to be contended for against the misuse of its benefits. There is the benefit of physical rest so that a man is no longer a machine. God didn't create us to just wind us up and put us to work seven, 24 seven. And when he gave this commandment, servants were to be given rest, animals were to be given rest. And of course, God ordained it that people would be delivered from the burden, the toil, the labor of physical demand. But this is so misused. There are those who take that opportunity to rest from their labors, and we drive by the ballparks, we drive past the sports facilities, what do we find? That people are taking that opportunity of physical rest from labor, And they're using it for sports, they're using it for recreation, they're using it instead of using it for the Lord. There's also the misuse of the benefit of spiritual exercise. Now, I've turned, resorted to the shorter catechism to give a summary of how the Sabbath is to be sanctified. In question 60, the answer is given, how is the Sabbath to be sanctified? The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on all other days, and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. And of course there are works of necessity and mercy. Children need to be taken care of. Babies need to be taken care of. Animals need to be taken care of. There are emergencies. There are utility services that need to be kept running in a society like ours today. Or it would become a hardship. And that was never God's intention that the Lord's Day would become a hardship upon people. But these are the exceptions. And many people misuse what God meant to be just the exceptions. The Lord's Day is for spiritual exercise. It's to be used in the mean to profit spiritually and to grow in the Lord. There's also the benefit to congregate as a church, and this is a tremendous benefit that God gives to us. If there was no Sabbath, if there was no Lord's Day, how could we have a church as we know it? You would end up with some, almost like a secret society, you'd almost have an ad-hoc arrangement where people would come like a drop-in center rather than a real regular weekly congregating of the congregation and surely this is one of the great boons that God has given us a day and seven for the gathering of the Lord's people in his church and we may set aside the schedules of the week And I'm sure your diary, your schedule is filled from Monday morning right through to Friday evening at least, and then Saturday with all those extra other things. But the Lord's Day is that day when we come to God's house. It's a given. You don't have to write it in your diary. Going to church Sunday morning, 10.30 becomes our habit. It becomes Our delight. And we come in the evening. We come to God's house on that day. God has given us this opportunity. It is for the good of our souls. It is for the encouragement of the saints. It is for the worship of God. And we have an eye to His glory. And there is a great witness to the world as well. A living church, a public presence in any society is a witness to the world. There could be no witness to the world if there was no church in society. No Sabbath, no church, no witness. And so we see the benefit, we see the reasons that God has given us this. And the benefit that we enjoy But then also we need to see the harm we do whenever we desecrate God's day. We've got to see the harm we do when we break God's day. We have to see the sin it is when we despise God's day. And if you're saying, I have no time for the Sabbath, you're really saying, I have no time for God. It becomes a test of the state of your heart. It becomes a test of the state of your soul. If Sunday is the worst day of your week, if Sunday is the day when you want to be doing anything but doing the things that God has ordained for you, you have to recognize that you are a sinner in His sight. Your heart is not right with God. Because the person whose heart is right with God will rejoice. God has given us a day, one in seven, to worship Him, to honor Him, to serve Him, to walk with Him, to praise Him. And so for all these reasons, it becomes the Christian in our generation to take the command of Scripture very seriously. And like Nehemiah, contend, contend, why have we forsaken God's house? Why have you profaned the Sabbath? We cannot close all the gates in our cities, in our societies, but we can close the gates that were within our powers. That's what Nehemiah did. He commanded the gates to be closed on the Sunday or the Sabbath. He said to those gathering around the walls, no point in you coming here. These gates are going to be closed. You're not getting in. He gave them a good lecture. And then after a time or two, they didn't come back. That was the end of it. They closed the gates. He used his influence. We as God's people have to use that influence where we can to let our families be ordered so that we close the gates with no interest in worldly affairs and God's day, students, should have the habit that Saturday night is the deadline for our studies and assignments. Not Sunday night. Saturday night's the deadline. If it has to be in Monday morning, Saturday night's the deadline. Because God's day is not a day for study. It's not a day for earthly pursuits. And employers should not enlist others to unnecessarily work on the Lord's Day. We should avoid activities and luxuries that cause others to work, causing them to break God's Sabbath for our convenience. So these things have to be brought out, have to be applied in our lives. And above all, Let all who love the name of the Lord support God's house on his day. The Christian who goes to church on Sunday morning, gets lunch, and then goes off to the mall, gets the shopping cart, and joins the worldly crowd going through the material things of shopping, trading, And opting out of serving and worshipping God cannot be pleasing to the Lord. Because there is a day to keep. All of the day. Twenty-four hours of day. And that has to be our practice. That we keep all of that day unto the Lord. And thereby, thereby, we become, as Nehemiah, a reformer, a contender. And you'll notice when he had dealt with all of this, at the end of this section, verse 22, he shot up one of those spontaneous prayers and he said, to keep the gauge to sanctify the Sabbath day, remember me, O my God, concerning this also and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy." Here is a man who wanted to be able to pray. He wanted to enjoy God's grace in his life. And thus he contended for the day that God had given. And it behoves us as God's people to keep this day. Now here I am tonight on this snowy day in November preaching to the converted on a Sunday evening. The diehard Christians that have come tonight back to church the second time. And I'm preaching to those who have honored the Lord today. And I want to thank you for it. I want to thank you for it. What a privilege for me as a pastor to be serving God amongst people who do keep His day. That is a tremendous benefit, tremendous blessing. And as we strive together to honor the Lord on His day, He will honor us. He will bless us. And as Nehemiah could pray, Lord, remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy." There will be blessing for taking your stand for the Lord's day. And there will be situations that arise where you have to say no. You have to say, no, I won't go. I won't do that. And it becomes a matter of your lifestyle. It becomes a matter of your discipline. You may have to pay a price for it, but God will bless you for it. Remember me, O my God. May the Lord bless His Word tonight and write it on your heart, and may this indeed be used of the Lord.