Tonight we're going to begin talking about the Fourth Commandment. Question 115 in the larger, Question 57 in the shorter catechism. Both, it appears the same because it's just running down the actual text. We're going to address some things tonight that are preliminary. There are some issues, interesting issues, regarding the Fourth Commandment that we're not going to address directly tonight, mainly because they come up later. There are a number of questions regarding this Fourth Commandment, and rather than trying to take up all the questions at once, we're going to spread it out over the next five or six weeks. So, I want to address some things that really are not going to be addressed directly under any of the other questions. One of the things we're not going to address tonight is the very peculiar language of this Fourth Commandment. Most of the commandments begin saying, Thou shalt not The fourth commandment is one of those commands that actually reverses that and begins by saying, remember, that wording is in fact taken up in the catechism. That will be a separate consideration that we'll have at one point. So we're not going to get into that tonight. I just want to point that out, that there is that difference. The fourth commandment, the fifth commandment are different. They're unusual in the Decalogue in that they're presented in a way that isn't simply a prohibition. We talked about why most commandments are prohibitions. Does anybody remember why? to make it clear? Prohibitions generally draw a line around a topic and invite, they tend to invite you to setting boundaries in order to avoid With regard to the fourth and fifth commandment, you're being asked to set boundaries that are not restrictive, but actually are expansive. You're not looking at what you can't do, you're not looking at the whole topic primarily in terms of what I can't do, but in terms of what I should do. There are reasons for that that will become more apparent as we start to look at the Fourth and Fifth Commandments. Because of the nature of what is in view in each case, it makes more sense to make them positivist in their outlook rather than negativist. rather than being prohibitory, they're really a positive command. So I'm just going to read it once. The command, the question and the answer is the same. Which is the fourth commandment? The fourth commandment is, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. It's of note, remember we have two accounts of the giving of the commandments, one in Exodus, one in Deuteronomy. In Exodus, we have one particular reading of this fourth commandment, which harkens back to the fact that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth. In Deuteronomy, the reason that's given is that God has redeemed Israel from the bondage of Egypt. The rabbis teach that this fourth commandment actually came to men as one revelation. So that in some sense the rabbis said both of these ideas are tied together, they're tied up. And I don't want to talk about all of that because again this is going to form another question. in the catechism. This will come up later and we'll talk about the differences in more detail. But it is interesting and I think it's important that if we understand what is going on with the commandment, that the fourth commandment clearly has a relationship that is pointed both toward creation and redemption. We'll talk about that more later on, but I want you to keep that in mind as we go through some of the ideas here. The Fourth Commandment is under assault by the churches, by alleged Christians, people who profess to be Christians. I actually found a guy commenting on this issue. And he says that nine of the ten commandments are reiterated in the New Testament, only the fourth commandment is not. And he really says Christians are only responsible for nine commandments, not seven. We're going to address that a little bit tonight, this idea. But you need to be aware that there are people who just simply think that this is a ridiculous idea, or that it's a purely ceremonial enactment. or that it's entirely typical, fulfilled in Christ, or that it is something that only pertained to Israel. And then you have another school of thought, which we'll address later on, who thinks that Sabbath and seventh day of the week are the same thing. So we have two contending theories going on now, becoming more and more prevalent, gaining more and more adherence, which are chipping away this idea on the one hand that we actually are responsible for ten commandments, not simply nine. On the other hand, there are people who don't really see a distinction with respect to this commandment between the Old Testament and the New. So these are all questions that are going to come up in the next few weeks. We're going to be addressing some of these things. They're important questions. Many of them are actually addressed directly in the Catechism. Some of them are assumed and addressed more directly in the proof text that they've given. But all of them are things, all of these are things that we need to address, we need to talk about. You need to be aware of why and what it is that is actually in view in this commandment. So the first thing then we want to deal with is this question. Why is this the fourth commandment? And I think this is an interesting question. I like thinking about why the ordering of commands, because the more you think about it, the more rational the commands appear. You can see that God is not simply asking us to do something irrational. It's not something unreasoned. There isn't, in fact, an ordering or whatever. This isn't just arbitrary. One command generally leads to a consideration for the next command. And this is apparent if we begin contemplating the previous three commands. All right, the first command introduces which God, or who the God is, unto which we are to attend. Look at Hosea 13, verse four. Hosea 13, four. Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God but me, for there is no Savior beside me." The God who reveals himself to us in the giving of the Ten Commandments is not simply any old generic God. There are several things that become apparent and are apparent very quickly. We know that all men, by nature, know that there is a God. But what we deny is that they can know, by nature, who this God is. Now, to Israel, and to the people of God, this God reveals Himself as the God who is, that is, by His sacred name, whereby, as we'll see in a moment, and reiterate what we've talked about the last few weeks, There is a self-revelation. But most particularly, the appeal of this command is rooted for the people of God in this fact. God is, the God who is, to whom we are responsible, is not only our Creator, but our Redeemer. And these ideas come back together again in the fourth commandment, the idea of creation and redemption. The God whom we're to worship is the Lord. Jehovah, Adonai. But more than that, He's identified as thy God. Elohika, thy God. He is the God of you, that is, you if you are redeemed. He's the God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. We talked about that when we talked about the preface to the Ten Commandments. But the preface is really giving us insight into who this God is. And so that's what the first commandment is doing. The second command sets forth how this God is to be worshipped and served. Look at 1 Chronicles 15 verse 13. 1 Chronicles 15 verse 13, For because ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order. Chronicles is relating the case of Uzzah and the ark people dying for not following the due order. The fact is the second commandment is a command given to us to show us the due order, the proper ordering, that which is due to God. It's our duty to worship God in the order that is according to that pattern that He has set. We don't have a right to worship Him in a way contrary to that. We don't have a right to invent and take to ourselves modes and methods of worship contrary to that pattern which God has set out for us. That's the definition of idolatry. Idolatry is an attempt to worship God in a way that suits our fantasy, but not in a way that God has commanded. That is second-degree idolatry. First-degree idolatry is when we worship some other God than the true God, but second-degree idolatry is when we attempt to worship the true God in a way that He's not appointed. And, just a reminder, In Leviticus 10, we saw what happened when Nadab and Abihu did that. They were struck dead. Again, here in 1 Chronicles 15, Uzzah struck dead. It's a serious matter. It's presented throughout Scripture as a very serious matter. These are people not worshipping another god. They're people worshipping or attempting to worship the true God in a way He hasn't appointed. It's the same thing the Israelites did when Moses was on the Mount. He comes down and what are they doing? They're worshipping a golden calf. Are they really trying to worship the gods of Egypt by that? No. But what they've done is they're conceiving of the true God in a way that mimics or replicates the gods of Egypt. And this is a problem. Generally speaking in theology, when people bring their own judgments to the Word of God, when people try to superimpose what they think is acceptable, rather than submitting to the judgment of God. When people say, I don't see the problem in singing hymns. I'm not inclined to argue with people who say, I don't see the problem. I know you don't, but that's not the question. You weren't asked whether or not you saw a problem. You were commanded to do it the way God said to do it. Until you've resolved this, you just simply need to shut up and obey. Do you need to obey it from proper motives? Yes. But the fact that you can't see that there's a problem doesn't mean there's a problem. It means that you can't see. There's a reason why, throughout the Gospels, Jesus is constantly having to heal people who are blind. Because that's how we are. We're blind. We don't see it the way God sees it. We don't perceive reality the way God, in fact, tells us reality is. God's declaration of what is real is not simply His perception. It is an absolute declaration of the way things really exist. And then, like, when Paul says, we see through a glass darkly, but then face-to-face, is that an idea of reality that God... God doesn't see through... He's not looking through anything. We're always looking through fallen flesh. We're always perceiving things in terms of fallen flesh. Even when we're converted, even when we're trying to think correctly, The fact is, and particularly still as individuals, we have all of these remnants of sin going on that have not been mortified and they are continually getting in the way of us having clear perception. We don't perceive things as they really are. We do need instruction in righteousness. We do need help. The third command explains then the necessary disposition to that acceptable worship and service which this God requires. Look at Leviticus 22, verse 32. Leviticus 22, verse 32. Neither shall ye profane my holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord which hallowed you. God wants, again, that conjunction of heart and hand, that conjunction of inward and outward disposition, that acceptance on your part, that His judgment is correct. What is faith? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. That is, we don't see things as they are, but God does. who credits God for seeing things as they are. It begins with you crediting God with regard to your estate of sin and misery and saying, yes, I am a sinner. I may not feel like one. I may not really understand how depraved I am, but I understand that God is saying I am a depraved sinner. that I cannot save myself, that I cannot think aright, that I cannot do this aright, I can't make this approach to God in an acceptable way. That my inward and outward disposition are contrarious. Faith is that apprehension that brings us to a point where we yield ourselves up, and the yielding of ourselves, as we begin to yield ourselves, we begin to keep the third commandment. When we yield ourselves... So is faith... Which is our reasonable service. Then is faith some sort of spiritual eyesight, if you will? And I don't mean that in a physical way. Faith is the evidence of things unseen. You are believing based not on what you see, but what in fact God declares. Your judgment is fallen. The whole temptation in the garden is that we would be like God, discerning or judging, or determining what is good and evil. Faith says, no more of that. I can't do that anymore. And the third commandment, when we finally reach that point, we yield ourselves up to God in such a way that we yield ourselves as instruments of righteousness. turned over, no longer bond slaves to sin, but were servants of the true and living God. That's what it means to sanctify the name of God. So that's when Jesus actually, to bring up that example we were talking about beforehand, when Jesus is praying for Peter, he says one of the things he prays for is that his faith won't fail him. Is that so he becomes an instrument of righteousness? Yes. That point at which Peter denies Christ is a crisis. From our point of view, we can't tell which way things are going to go. We don't know. Is he regenerate or not? We don't know. That becomes clear in the final outcome. does not totally and finally apostatize. Contrary to the people that are talked about in John's first epistle, those who went out from among us because they were not part of us. Peter doesn't do that. He very well could have, and we wouldn't have known at that moment. We would have no way of knowing what way this was going to turn out. The same would go with David or with Paul. The same would go with any number of people throughout the Bible. A lot of people get off track and get back on track. A lot of people are derailed for a time. There are reasons for all of that. But ultimately, joining that profession with action is what is involved with this third commandment. And that's then what really brings us to this fourth command. Once we know who God is, once we know how we're to worship and serve Him, once we understand that this is a matter not simply of outward activity, but also inward deportment, then the question comes up, when? When do we do this? How do we order this? And that's what the fourth commandment is about. The fourth commandment respects the ordering of time so that this God is made central to the very fact of each man's existence. Look at Exodus 23.12. God has the prerogative of ordering our time. We've talked about this idea that to the extent that we're individuals, we differ. There are differences, there's differentiation. To the extent that we come together and become the church, those differences cease. That taking on of a corporate identity that is becoming part of the body of Christ begins with a joint fellowshipping. When that's avoided, when that's ignored, what you're doing is you're asserting your individual differences over that commanded unity and uniformity. The command of the Sabbath is to force you, if you will, into a pattern of organizing your time where everything flows from this point of union in thought, word, and deed. Now the Jews would say that there's a sense in which as we are each individuals, we can say that the world was created for me. But you see, they also would say that Gentiles can only be individuals, but Jews have an opportunity to come together and become Israel together. The point is actually well taken. That's exactly the apostolic point. Alright? When we're unbelievers, When we're unconverted, we seek to remain individuals. When we're converted, we no longer find that value in striving individually. We no longer find it valuable to seek our own, but every man seeking the good of another, and altogether seeking Christ. the point of God then ordering our time. God is telling us in the fourth commandment, and this is exactly why this command is the last command before we start talking about the commands that have to do with man's relationship to man, because it's at this very point where all of these commandments that respect God begin to turn And through the fourth and fifth commandments we can see there is a shifting, and these happen to be the two positive commands I'll point out right now, there's a shifting going on that takes us from being individuals to being restored to personhood in Christ where we bear a relation to God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the person of the body of Christ, where we are no longer individuals but parts of the same body. So in order for that brotherly unity to occur, this unity with Christ as an individual must first happen, or as an individual submitting to the collective testimony of the Church? Or the confession of the Church? Well, the individual is submitting his judgment, ultimately, to the judgment of God. And the judgment of God is that you don't exist for yourself alone. And that's particularly true with respect to the Church. Heresy means opinion. It's choice. It's a self-choice. Theologically, in order to avoid being heretics, we have to subject our judgments in theological matters to the judgment of the Church. which is to be in submission to the Declaration of God. How do we know the Church? The Church, the true Church, is in submission to the Declaration of God. Where does this conversion begin for people? It begins at some point in time, and the Fourth Commandment identifies that point of time as being this one day in seven that's to be set apart. That's when we learn most intensively what it means to cease being our own units. We'll come back to that again because this is going to come up several times throughout these questions in the catechism. that state of individuality one day out of seven and submit to the state of Israel? That we become the church when we gather together. We become the church in its most proper form. When we're apart, we should always have that central unifying point of view. In other words, the Sabbath is to be the principle of organizing all of our time. And everything that happens in that sphere that we're going to talk about ought to be carried out through these other six days. These other six days aren't devoted to getting you to think in a particular way or act in a particular way, but these other six days are days in which to exemplify what it is you have learned to think and been taught to, the ways you've been taught to behave on that day. So, is there any kind of correlation? I guess maybe this probably is. Likely no, but between salvation and Sabbath Salvation of individuals and Sabbath Is there a correlation? Yeah, like our men Our men isn't salvation what we're talking about how salvation is a Process process is that I guess it's happening during the week Salvation it is is is a continual process, unlike justification. But salvation is hindered by the refusal to organize time. Also, there are serious questions that we could raise about conversion, whether or not people are converted, when they're resisting, when they're resistant to coming together, when they're resistant to this idea of being of one mind and one confession. That raises questions regarding conversion. Regenerate people may in fact resist, but what they're demonstrating is that they're unconverted. There are serious questions that should be raised and addressed. The principle of Sabbath is that we, and we're going to get into this, we rest from. Sabbath has to do with rest, and we rest from all that is our own. at every aspect, from the temporal to the eternal. We're trying to put aside what is our own, that is, what is individual to us, and bring it into a submission in order that we can then turn around and act on that the remaining six days. So, if on the Lord's Day we're supposed to submit to that, I mean, throughout the rest of the week, wouldn't it go something like if it's required one day, wouldn't it be required throughout the rest of the week that we continue in such a... Yes, the whole point is what you are taught, what you gain, as you become conformed, that should follow through the rest of the week. and it should be reflected in all of those activities and so on. The point of Sabbath-keeping is that you're ceasing from all of these other things in order to concentrate on learning to have a proper assessment. Losing your individuality in order that you can gain personhood. Why would you believe I mean, if after all we're supposed to be seeking out, making our calling and election sure, I guess we're also supposed to be concerned about our brethren as well, and their spiritual well-being. And that's, it's all tied up. The opportunity exists for believers to move beyond this disconnected state that sin has cast men into. By Adam's fall, one of the things that's happened is there's been a total fragmentation. When spiritual death comes to the body, that is, the body of Adam, he begins to decompose. His body begins to fall apart. It's returning to dust. It's no longer composed. Christ is recomposing a spiritual body. So that's actually what the church is. That's what the church is. It's the re-perfecting of man. It's the restoration of man and the bringing of that man to salvation. There are only two men, Paul says. There's Adam and there's Christ. There are two persons, and we're joined to one or the other. The one, we're deteriorating into individuals. The other, we're being regathered into the person of the Son of God. So the Lord's Day is actually about the restoration of the eternal Church of Christ. Yes, and we'll get to that because that's exactly what happens. That's exactly the theme that comes up in the book of Hebrews. So we don't want to talk about the change of day yet. We want to talk about what is in view. The fourth command teaches us the time of God's worship is not left arbitrary to the will of man. Look at Exodus 31.15. Exodus 31.15. Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, only to the Lord. Whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. God actually ties a death penalty to breach of Sabbath under the Mosaic economy. There are a number of reasons why. We're not going to get into that right now. It will probably be coming up as we go. But the fact that there's a death penalty attached to it should teach us something about this command. And that is, it's a very serious matter. Contrary to the way people tend to view this command as something I could do or not do, I could forbear or not, it's actually quite serious. And the consequences of keeping or not keeping are quite serious. So, can it be said or can it be concluded that a nation who does not require Sabbath-keeping should expect their government to also allow something like abortion? Yes. So, realistically, the issue is probably not... I mean, abortion is an issue, but maybe, really, the issue here is that this country is disregarding the Lord's Day. Well, that's part of it. I mean, we're disregarding all of these commands, and the end of it all is death. The end of all sin is death. There's destruction, there's decomposition. Oh, right, because that's the answer to not restoring the Church. There's an entire decomposition of the body, the social body of a nation. that doesn't abide by this. God, then, being the sovereign Lord of our time, has sole power and authority to direct how it should be improved. Isaiah 58, verse 13. Isaiah 58, verse 13. Isaiah makes it very clear that we're not to find our own pleasure, we're not to look for our own way. Sabbath and the definition of how this time is is to be used is actually held forth to us and Is explained to us by God himself. He's the one who has the authority He's the one who has the prerogative He's the one who has that power People don't have the power they don't have the authority they don't have the prerogative to say, oh, this is okay or that's not okay on the Sabbath. God is the one who defines what is acceptable or not acceptable in terms of worship, in terms of service, in terms of how that time is to be spent. He's given you six days to labor. He's given you one day to rest. And He is saying He's going to require that of you if you confuse these things, if you don't abide by these things. He's given you a demarcation. And we're going to talk about that in just a moment. The second question that we want to address is this. Is this command founded on the light of nature and therefore moral natural? Is this a matter of natural law, morality, or upon positive institution? And the answer to this is that this commandment is founded partly on both. And this is one thing that makes this commandment different and why people get confused about this commandment in particular. The other commandments are moral, natural. That is, they're natural law. All men know by nature that there is a God, that He's to be worshipped, that true service is a service which is not simply external but internal. And they even understand, as we're going to see here in a moment, they even understand that you need to set aside a portion of time. And that part of it is what in fact is moral natural when we talk about this commandment. So there is an aspect of revelation in the fourth commandment that is not in the other commandments? There's an aspect of special revelation that is in the fourth commandment that is not in the other commands, yes. That special revelation is certainly hinted at in the preface to the Ten Commandments, in the idea that the Lord who is giving these commandments keeps referring to Himself as the Lord Thy God. The substance of this command that as God is to be worshipped, so some stated time should be set apart to this end, is moral natural." Look at Exodus 16.23. In Exodus 16-23, God says through Moses, or Moses tells the Israelites, is that which the Lord has said. Tomorrow is the rest of the Holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Now this is before the giving of the Ten Commandments. In other words, there is a knowledge, a natural knowledge of this idea of setting apart a portion of time. And it pre-exists a giving of the Ten Commandments. So people who think that the Fourth Command is simply a ceremonial observance fail to understand a number of things that we're going to point out. But this is the first thing I want to point out is they already have some idea of setting apart a period of time. It pre-exists the giving of the Law to Moses. which means that there is a moral, natural principle involved in this law. And that principle, in fact, is founded upon the very light of nature. Look at Genesis 2, 2 and 3. Genesis 2, verses 2 and 3. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it The idea that this Sabbath concept is there, present in Genesis 2, again, begs For an answer for people who think that the Sabbath idea only crops up with the giving of the Ten Commandments or is somehow peculiar for Israel. Adam had not yet even fallen. There's no necessity of ceremonial or typical worship because the fall hasn't even occurred here. Well, I guess you've told me this before, that one in seven is the moral principle. One in seven is the moral principle. And that's intuitive. Man knows that part. Man understands their portion of time. Exactly how to do that. That one portion of time should be observed rather than another. That is, that the seventh rather than a third or fourth is a matter of positive enactment. That's what we call moral positive. In other words, it could have just been 12 hours in a day. What's positive and is revealed by special revelation is how much time each week. Or in the case of Israel, there are additional festival days and so on. Look at Leviticus 26 too. in Lukas 26.2, you shall keep my sabbaths and my sanctuary, I am the Lord. You shall keep my sabbaths. And by that, God appeals to what? Not to nature in this case, but to the fact that I am the Lord. That's positive. That is, I am telling you these are the particular portions of time to be kept. That's based on what authority? Is it a natural basis? It's just simply an assertion of divine will. That's what's in view here. So then, that's actually kind of what preaching would do, is reveal some of that divine will to the people. Preaching is certainly taking some of that special revelation and making it more easily known. So that people are in a position to understand. This command is positive because the observance of one day in seven for a Sabbath flows from the sovereign will of God in appointing it, and could never have been observed more than any other part from the mere force of natural, lighter law." Look at Leviticus 19, verse 30. Leviticus 19, verse 30. Again, unlike the natural Sabbath, that natural aspect which is clearly there from the beginning, God's appeal in this Levitical code is to His will. There's a positive aspect. Remember when we talk about natural law, we're talking about law which is rooted in the nature of God and subsequently in the nature of unfallen creation, including man. When we talk about positive law, we're talking about law which is rooted in the will of the lawgiver. That is, there's no reason rooted in nature. The reason exists solely in the will of the lawgiver. And that's what we're saying. This command has an aspect which is rooted solely in the will of the lawgiver. That's precisely why, incidentally, this day or portion of time can change from the Old Testament to the New. We're going to come back to this, but it's important to understand. This is exactly why it is changeable. People who don't understand the distinction between natural law and positive law are unable to understand how the seventh day can be changed to the first day of the week. They just simply are ill-equipped to begin to get to the bottom of that great unfathomable mystery. So you need to understand this distinction. This distinction is important. This distinction is exactly why This change can occur, and obviously, in light of the New Testament, we see why God, in fact, gives us one of the laws in the Decalogue, which has a positive element joined to it. Now, is the positive element actually there in the Ten Commandments, or is that only the positive element? Yes. No, it's there in the command. We confess this to be moral positive, rather than moral natural, because though the appointing of the precise time of the Sabbath is positive, nonetheless the reason of the law, rooted in divine wisdom, which is plainly implied in the law itself, is moral. Look at Ezekiel 20 verse 12. Ezekiel 20 verse 12. Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctified them. God gave the sabbaths. Why? As a sign that He is the one who is sanctifying. How is He doing this? What's implied in the law itself? He's given you a time to set apart to be sanctified. How are you sanctified? You are sanctified by bringing your thoughts and your actions into greater and greater conformity with the Word of God. And the Sabbath is that period of time. By appointing a portion of time, God's reason, the divine reason behind that which is positive, is in fact moral, isn't it? Because it's a matter of morality that you are sanctified. So the whole of this is moral law, even though part of the Fourth Commandment is positive in nature. Okay, so can we just hop back to the Thames question real quick? Let's clarify what in the commandment is positive, and that is, I think, the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, right? What is positive? What is positive is the actual peace of time. Right, that it's the Sabbath that would have been In the Old Testament, it would be the seventh day. Right, but it's not the amount of time set aside. The amount of time is undefined by natural law. All that natural law teaches us is that we must set aside a portion of time. But how much time and when, that is left to positive law. Correct. It's moral because the reason for it, the reason for it The reason that is given from the divine wisdom is sanctification. Right. And that's the morality. In other words, this is not simply when we say that the positive is joined to it, it is positive law which is moral. And it is moral because the reason that's given is your sanctification. Now, the question is, is there something in the nature of that particular day that brings about your sanctification? Well, if there was, we would have to say that only the seventh day could bring it about, and we would be Seventh-day Adventists or Seventh-day Baptists. So is there an idea that some of these religions or whatever that only on the Sabbath day a man may be saved? That he may be sanctified. Correctly, yes. Oh. Let's think. Seriously, what if you're born on a Monday and died on a Saturday? I'm dead serious. What do you do? I honestly... If you're born on a Monday, like a child is born on a Monday and passes away on a Saturday, I'm sure this happens. What happens? I don't understand how... No, that's not their point. Most of them are probably universalists in that regard. So a child would be saved? Yeah, just because all children... All dogs go to heaven. But the issue is whether or not this day is changeable. And if it's a matter of natural law, the portion of time set apart, then it's not changeable because God's nature doesn't change and the nature of creation never really changes. So if the reason for it lies in the day itself, then it can't be changed. But if the reason for it lies somewhere else, and the will of God expresses it, then it can be changed. And that's what we're asserting. It's moral positive. In fact, we can go on to say it's a mark of heathenism to suppress this truth with regard to the substantial aspect in unrighteousness and disregard this divine rest. Look at Lamentations 1.3. Judah has gone into captivity because of affliction and because of great servitude. She dwelt among the heathen. She findeth no rest, or persecutors overtook her between the straits. Judah finds no rest. That is, she's not finding Sabbath among the heathen. You know, the heathen know that they ought to be setting apart a period of time, but they don't know when. They don't know what to do in this regard. So even if it's just, I know I need to set aside time to pray to my idol, they still know time needs to be set aside for those devotions? Correct. They all set aside time. What they don't know, what they don't do is they don't set apart the proper portion of time. That's positive. But they always set aside time for their devotions. And that's what's natural to them. That's what's natural. Right. They know they have to put a bit of time aside. They're not, there are no religions which don't require adherence to put aside some time for prayer, for oblation, for what have you, some sort of idle worship. There are, I'm sure, modern day Christians, sects of Christians, aren't going to make much of a distinction between moral and positive law. They don't know the difference. And don't know the difference, and or don't know the difference, whatever it may be. How do they justify? See, I think that argument for the Lord's Day, Saturday, Sabbath, which we have now, you know, the first day of the week, seventh day of the week, sorry. I think that's a fitting reason. How do you justify it if you don't have an understanding of the difference or don't acknowledge the difference, whatever it may be? I suspect this is why most of them have fallen into not keeping Sabbath entirely. So they're breaking it on Saturday while they're trying to keep it in a lot of cases. No, they're just simply, they don't think that, they see Sabbath as something peculiarly tied to Saturday. And clearly we're not under that. Right, we get together, but this is why they don't understand that the whole day is to be kept. They think that other things can intrude. Now, we acknowledge there are three kinds of works, and we'll talk about this more, three kinds of works that are allowed to intrude on the Sabbath. Mercy, necessity and piety. And those are the only three. Nowhere does a Sunday football game come in. No. So piety would include the reading of pious works in between regular worship on Sundays. Piety would include anything of a devotional bent. Again, not studying our words. When we're given over to thoughts and conversation and we'll talk about this more, but when everything is hinging on the six days of the week, we're letting the six days inform that seventh day portion of time rather than vice versa. That seventh day should be coloring you so that the rest of those six days are being influenced by the seventh day, not the six days influencing your seventh day. So the Sabbath should be intruding on your life rather than your life intruding on the Sabbath? Correct. The Sabbath should be continually reclaiming your life. Rather than your life overtaking the Sabbath. And we'll talk about that in a moment, actually. Alright? The third question is, wherein then consists the morality of the Fourth Commandment? How is it that we can claim it to be moral? And this is really kind of paving the way for what we're going to talk about in the next few weeks with regard to this question. That is, the morality of the command consists in keeping holy to God any seventh day portion of time which He is pleased to appoint. Look at Exodus 20 verse 11. Exodus 20 verse 11. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. That then is the meaning of the seventh day mentioned in the command. Look at Exodus 20 verse 10. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. He doesn't say the seventh day of the week. He says the seventh day. People make an assumption there. It's wholly unwarranted. He says the seventh day is the Sabbath. Which day is that? Well, that's the day that God appoints. It's the seventh day that God appoints. In other words, it's a principle of one day in seven. That's what's in view. And that's exactly why, then, when we look at this, In Deuteronomy, we see it's not only the seventh in order from the creation, but any other seventh part of our weekly time as God determines. Look at Deuteronomy 5, verse 12. Deuteronomy 5, verse 12. Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it as the Lord thy God commanded thee. Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it as the Lord thy God commanded thee. Now why does he have to say, as the Lord thy God commanded thee? If that day is a matter of natural law, it would be redundant. Right, because you have Genesis, who says shed thy man's blood, my man shall his blood be shed. It doesn't say anything like that. This is a demonstration of that positive aspect coming to bear in this commandment. Just like in the second commandment, where we're told to worship God as He has appointed. You know, that idea that comes up there. His appointment, that's a positive. We're being pointed to the fact that we need positive revelation. Here, we have that positive revelation held out. We know that that seventh day, it's not simply from creation. If it were, If it were just a matter of the 7th from creation, he wouldn't have to keep saying 7th day and Sabbath. He could just say one or the other. He doesn't here. They're not precisely synonymous. Just because the Jews, as we'll see, are following that 7th day of the week, does not mean that that is the definition of Sabbath. That's when the Sabbath is defined for them. But remember, prior to the fall, the seventh day for God is actually the first day for Adam. And that is the day that when Christ restores man, He moves the day from the seventh day to the first day. Why? To move our thoughts from the creation which has now fallen to that restored position that man occupied before the fall. There's a movement that's part of what's going on there. It's part of the typology held forth in Hebrews. It's part of the imagery that we get in the New Testament with regard to the restoration of man in Christ. So don't be confused when people come to you and say, oh, no, the word seventh and Sabbath, although they are related, They are not the same word. The command itself then does not ask us to remember the seventh day from the creation, but rather to remember the Sabbath day. Exodus 20 verse 8. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Remember. Why do we need to remember? Again, what is it? Why is this idea of remembrance necessary if, in fact, it's natural? We don't have to be told to remember not to kill other people. Or even to set time aside. That's correct. But we have to remember things that we're told. Things that are not necessarily natural to us. We'll talk about that more though. Come here, go ahead. the Bible is not natural to us, the ways of God are not natural to us. Well, particularly in terms of special revelation, things that we can't derive from the nature of things. There's nothing that we can look at and see it reflected back, even if we're thinking about it correctly. There's nothing that would immediately suggest to us that, oh, a whole day in seven? Where did we get that idea? It makes sense to say, oh, we have to set time apart to worship God? Yeah, okay, I can see that. And that's really where most people are, because all they see is law that appears to them as natural. This is a result of a lot of Roman Catholic teaching that's sort of filtered down and through our society and given us views of the law which are very much truncated, and even views of what is natural law that's become truncated. The fact is, if you don't understand that positive, there can be moral positive law, as well as moral natural law, then you're going to be tempted to think that morality stops with what is natural. Whereas the Bible does not teach that. It teaches that morality goes beyond what is natural to us and even to God and to what, in fact, God has enacted upon us for reasons of divine wisdom. There are other examples in the Bible, laws against incest generally. about half of those laws are, in fact, moral positive and not moral natural. A lot of the Puritans would say, for example, and we'll come back to this when we get to the seventh commandment, but they would say that, you know, not marrying your mother, well, that's moral natural, but not marrying your sister, that's not moral natural, that's moral positive. Because Adam and Eve, their kids were obviously, and for a time, in the beginning of the world siblings had to have married siblings in order to increase the population. The same thing in all likelihood happened after the flood. You have much closer degrees of affinity in marriage than would be permissible after Moses gives the law. And in fact, violations of positive moral law are reasons that are given in Leviticus for God driving the heathen out of the land. They're not exempted from God's positive moral law. The fact is they're going to be held responsible for that. That's what we're talking about. There's a difference. Not all moral law is the same in regard to its basis, but it is the same with regard to its morality. The fact is, if we just stop and think about it, this commandment being placed amongst the Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments, a summary of moral principles, demonstrates there's nothing, either ceremonial or typical, in its scope or substance. Look at Deuteronomy 10.4. Deuteronomy 10.4. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord spake unto you on the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly, The Lord gave them unto me. The Lord gave ten commands, not nine, ten. These are clearly moral precepts. It's the moral law. People, again, error. Why? Because they don't distinguish between moral law and natural law. All natural law is moral, but not all moral law is natural. Some moral law is positive. And it's equally binding. And that's exactly why when God changes the day, as we'll see, it's equally binding. So the positive commandment and the fourth commandment is still moral? The positive aspect is still moral. Its positivity is simply the reason it can change. It's the reason why under the Old Testament you can have all of these ceremonies in worship and under the New Testament we don't. Those are all positive laws. It would be just as immoral to neglect those ceremonies under the Old Testament as it would be immoral and is immoral to continue those ceremonies under the New Testament. Not to get off the topic of the Fourth Amendment, but just to sort of help clarify with all the positive law talk. And just a question I have, actually, about man's first sin. That was positive law. It was positive moral. because it's not something that would be natural to man. No, there's nothing, if you were in the garden with Adam, there's nothing natural to the garden where you would have said, okay, that tree, I cannot eat of that tree. As Turretin and others have pointed out, by testing man with regard to moral law using a positive moral law rather than natural moral law, it was really forcing man to confront the idea of God's authority in law in a way that isn't really confronting man as directly when we talk about natural law. In natural law you can see the reason in yourself. You don't have to sort of step outside of yourself to see the reason. there would be some problems too if it was a natural wall that was broken. Wouldn't it suggest a fundamental problem with Adam's nature? Exactly, it would have suggested a fundamental problem with Adam's nature and the nature of the creation in general. Right, because the idea is creation is good. Right, and contrary to Greek philosophy, for example, all Greek philosophy posits this notion that creation exists as some sort of deterioration of the divine. The divine has this fall from being divine and it becomes imperfect as it becomes material. So, pagan Greek philosophy says the material world is inherently sinful. Well, the Bible, Hebrew philosophy, comes back and in the face of that says, no, no, no. God says creation is very good. the creation is good. It's not inherently evil. This is a problem when people start to view the material world in some way as inherently evil. Evil does not exist in matter. Evil is an ethical problem. sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God, it's not simply in existence by virtue of something being material rather than spiritual. And again, the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the body is countering that. So when we talk about this, and this is part of the reason people have a problem understanding this idea of the ambulatory nature of the day that it can move from the seventh to the first day of the week is because people are infected with this material spirit world dichotomy idea and they can't see how something can exist in the divine will that is sort of separable from nature. Many people have a very difficult time understanding that there can be something moral which isn't simply also natural. Why would God say don't do that? I don't see the reason. It doesn't matter, I did it. That's right. The fourth question then, what should be understood by the Sabbath of the Fourth Command? And the answer is this, Sabbath in Scripture points to a rest or a cessation from labor, which is first of all to be understood in a temporal or a temporary resting from those concerns of this earthly life. Look at Exodus 23.12. Exodus 23.12. Six days thou shalt do thy work, on the seventh day thou shalt rest, at thine ox and at thine ass may rest, and the nice son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed. Six days you do your work and the seventh is for a refreshing. There's this idea of a temporary resting from concerns of earthly life, putting aside those cares and concerns. Why? Well these entangling things become a distraction, not because there's something inherently wrong with the affairs of the world. There is now because of sin, but it's not because of the things in themselves. It's because of the relation they bear to fallen creatures. Okay, so then the question, would evil be in the world? I've heard people say this, would there be evil in the world without people in the world? And that's no, right? Correct. Yeah, evil exists in the fallen state of man. Evil exists as a result of rational creatures in a state of sin. Isn't that why the land of Israel had rest when the people were exiled? The land had time to almost heal in a way, because the people weren't there committing their sins and their fornication? What that's talking about, the land as the earth is being cursed because of the sins of the people. When the people are not observing Sabbath, God is tallying that up. There is consequence. Now, the fact is that Israel has all of these sabbatical years which come to play that are typical, that are ceremonial, that are part of this ceremonial cultus that they have in addition to this one day and seven. But those periods of time, though they're typical, though they're ceremonial, nonetheless, those periods of time are also pointing and teaching us things about the nature of creation. And so, do we have an effect on the world by interjecting sin? Well, yeah. Paul says as much, that all of creation is groaning, waiting for the redemption of the sons of glory. We know that. And that was something, as you point out in that verse, that's one of the things that Israel is showing by their refusal to abide by the sabbatical years. They're actually demonstrating this principle that the earth is cursed, the land is cursed because of them. The earth is groaning because of sin. The earth will yield better for us when we cease to sin. The second idea of Sabbath is that it's spiritual or a resting from our own works in matters pertaining to salvation. Look at Hebrews 4.3. If we believe, we enter into that rest. That's a Sabbath. Just simply by believing, we enter into a Sabbath. There's a rest. We cease from our own works. In other words, we're not trying to work our way into a righteous standing with God. We take a sabbatical. We're no longer concerned with our works as being meritorious, earning an eternal reward. Oh, so actually, real quick to go back to the Sabbath and seventh day thing. You think one of the problems is people are thinking Sabbath equals seventh day? I'm sorry to go back so far. Yeah, right, right, right. They're mixing up the words. Because a sabbatical is a period of rest, when a minister is on a sabbatical. And I'm not saying that the words in Hebrew are not unrelated. They are related, but that does not mean that one word is exactly the other word. It's not a synonym. just because there's something rooted in it, if we understand that the idea is rest, the underlying word is rest, not seven. It goes from rest to seven, not from seven to rest. If you don't understand that ordering, you're going to think that the seventh day means the day of rest, rather than the day of rest, by falling on the seventh day for the Jews gave it that connotation and that the seventh day for them took on that connotation because of being tied to that period of time. The third idea of the Sabbath in Scripture points to an eternal or permanent resting from the conflicts and strivings of this earthly life. We see this in Hebrews 4, 9, and 11. Hebrews 4, verses 9 and 11. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God, allowing let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man follow after the same example of unbelief? arrest that is in the eternal state. Now, does it have bearing on what we call the Lord's Day or the Christian Sabbath? Yes, it does. And we'll return to this theme, but just as the Jewish Sabbath has its eye turned back toward creation, the Christian Sabbath has its eye turned toward eternity. To the new creation. To the new creation. Okay, so that's what is going on with this word Sabbath. The last thing we want to consider is what quantity of time should be understood by the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. And that is this, the quantity of time is one day and seven, consisting of 24 hours. Look at Exodus 20 verse 9. Six days shall thou labor and do all thy work. Six days, shut that labor and do all that work. We're talking about a week. We're talking about a principle of one in seven. And that means if we understand these other six days to be 24-hour days, we really should have no problem understanding this. That is, the seventh period of time is a 24-hour period of time. Otherwise it would be divisions of 14. It would be ridiculous in its nature. And what is clearly in view is a seven day week. Six days put aside for regular ordinary laboring. One day put aside for this rest, this cessation from the labor. And part of this idea again of resting from ourselves and our own works is so that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. That we are, in fact, engaged in this process of corporate sanctification, where we learn and confess and come to a position where we share confession of faith, we share a common ethic, where we share, in fact, in what is called in the New Testament, the communion of the saints. That's what this period of time is about. It's formative. It's to be formative. And this then requires a care to see that all our work is done during those six days where nothing remains to be completed upon the Sabbath day. Look at Exodus 35 verse 2. Exodus 35 verse 2. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest that the Lord whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Again, it's punctuated by a death penalty. The fact is that if you fail in this, the great penalty is that you are excluded from that eternal rest. The people in hell are going to be writhing in torment. They're not going to be at rest ever. They're going to be excluded from rest forever. There's a care. And this care, if you observe this care, this will begin to inform the rest of your life. People who are careless about Sabbath keeping very easily become careless about everything. In the next few weeks, we'll begin to take apart some of the requirements and what it means to remember the Sabbath day. What is required and what is forbidden. the particulars as to who are addressed in this command and why. A quick question, and you'll probably cover this in the following couple weeks, but when did the disciples first start meeting on the first day of the week immediately after the resurrection? Yeah, it happens almost from the beginning. I would imagine when Jesus came back and was with them for a space of time, if they shouldn't have been meeting on the first day of the week, he would have told them and it would have been recorded for us, correct? Yeah, every gathering in Acts, it's the first day of the week. Right, Acts 2. Again and again it's pointed out the first day of the week. Paul refers to it. We will talk about that more when we talk about the change of day. I was just wondering how Jesus didn't correct Peter for cutting off the high priest's servant's ear because it was wrong but because it was not the right time. Almost like the same thing where... We'll get into that shift and the idea of the shifting of days. that's going to be an important, that's an important theme. So we need to, we need to talk about that. But that's why that distinction between natural, moral natural and moral positive is so important. Because what is moral natural, that's never changing. What's moral positive, that is changeable. And the fact that that portion of time is susceptible to influence to moral natural principles is why in fact we're going to defend works of mercy and necessity. That they can take precedent and impinge because there is a sense in which moral natural principles can and very often do if there were to be a conflict between what is moral positive and moral natural. What is moral natural takes precedent over what's moral positive. So we need to keep an eye on that question, and we will. We'll come back to that. Still Waters Revival Books is now located at PuritanDownloads.com. It's your worldwide online Reformation home for the very best in free and discounted classic and contemporary Puritan and Reformed books, mp3s, and videos. For much more information on the Puritans and Reformers, including the best free and discounted classic and contemporary books, mp3s, digital downloads and videos, please visit Still Waters Revival Books at PuritanDownloads.com. Stillwater's Revival Books also publishes the Puritan Hard Drive, the most powerful and practical Christian study tool ever produced. 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