God's Word that we read this morning is Isaiah chapter 58. Isaiah, the prophet, in chapter 58. This is God's Word. Cry aloud, spare not. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God. They ask of me the ordinances of justice. They take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold, ye fast for strife, and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness. Ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high, Is it such a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily, and thy righteousness shall go before thee. The glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer. Thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity, and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday, And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones. And thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places. Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations. And thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. And then this, somewhat as a summary of what he's been saying, if thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor him not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. That's how far we read God's Word this morning. And now I ask you to turn your attention to the Catechism and its explanation of the fourth commandment that Isaiah is speaking about in this chapter, the Sabbath. In Lord's Day 38, page 22 in the back of this altar, Question 103 asks, what doth God require in the fourth commandment? Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, etc.? We read it. First, that the ministry of the gospel and the schools be maintained, and that I, especially on the Sabbath, that is, on the day of rest, diligently frequent the church of God. to hear His Word, to use the sacraments, publicly to call upon the Lord, and contribute to the relief of the poor as becomes a Christian. Secondly, that all the days of my life I cease from my evil works and yield myself to the Lord to work by His Holy Spirit in me. and thus begin in this life the eternal Sabbath. It's my fervent prayer for you people of God that you never forget the Lord's Day. It's my urgent prayer for you as Grace Congregation that you remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. That you always take one day out of the week, this day, and set it aside as a different day from all of the other days. And that you give all of that day to the Lord, the Lord's day. And that's my prayer for you because it's my urgent prayer for you that you find rest for your souls. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the day of rest. I pray that you have God's rest so that the turmoil in your soul is brought low and the joy of your salvation comes up, and you say to yourself and to each other, we have peace. Oh, we have peace in the gospel. Because that's what we will lose, rest, if we lose the Lord's day. People of God, don't forget. the Lord's Day. Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. You have six days and I have six days to do everything I want to. God still says today to us, one day is my day. Keep that day holy. I say that because from the beginning of time read perhaps this afternoon the book of Nehemiah and see how a long time ago there were battles against the Lord's Day to keep it holy. From the very beginning of time there was opposition to this day, and Napoleon, why I bring up Napoleon is because the French Revolution and the attitude there that Christianity needs to be abolished And the one way we're going to abolish Christianity is by abolishing the Lord's Day. Non-Christians understand the importance of the Lord's Day for the maintenance of Christianity from the very beginning of time, and all through history there's been an opposition to the Lord's Day and an assault on the fourth commandment, so that we will not have our rest. And it's not just from the liberal churches, though there is that opposition to the Lord's Day from those churches that are loose. The commandment is not to be kept anymore. Jesus fulfilled the law, and therefore it's not binding upon you to keep a day holy. That's the thinking of the liberal churches that has spilled over even into some of the more conservative churches. Jesus fulfilled the law, abrogated this fourth commandment therefore, and it's a matter of Christian liberty for you to keep it or not to keep it. There's opposition to the fourth commandment, but not just from there and there, but from right here so that we are tempted to take the attitude that really is no different from out there. This commandment, we are tempted to say, is not as important as the others. I'm going to rest all the days of my life we might be tempted to say, emphasizing the second part of the Catechism's explanation, which indeed is true. The fourth commandment requires that all the days of our lives we cease from our evil works, yield ourselves to the Lord, work by His Holy Spirit in us. And then forget the first part of the Catechism's explanation, that there is a day, it's today, all of it to be given to God. I say again, are tempted to take a loose view of the fourth commandment and say once in a while, We don't need to obey this commandment or part of the day is given to God and part of the day is given to me. That's the temptation that you and I face. And that's why it's very important this morning that we look at this commandment and understand not just the practice of it, but the idea of it so that we're able to answer two very, very important questions. Why do you worship on Sunday and not Saturday? If that newly built church, I'm told, down M45 or somewhere in Marne, Seventh-day Adventist, that I'm told is full of cars on Saturday, if one of those members would come to you and ask, why do you worship on the first day of the week when the commandment says the seventh day? Are you able to explain that to them? If you aren't, we are at risk of losing the Fourth Commandment. And second, do you know why we still celebrate a special day at all? When the catechism explains the fourth commandment as it does in its second part, all of the days of my life I cease from my evil works, why is there still one day? Are you able to explain that to someone? Not of a seventh-day Adventist persuasion, but of a Reformed persuasion, many of whom take that view. This day is not a special day at all according to God's command, they will say. So we need to be able to answer those questions, and let's look then at the fourth commandment this morning, and the Catechism of the Lord's Day 38 under the theme, taken from Isaiah, call the Sabbath a delight. That's really what the prophet was saying. Turn your foot from the Sabbath, that is, take away you looking for your pleasure on that day, do mine. Call the Sabbath a delight, and these are the promises that I give to you. Let's see that it is a lasting commandment. Let's see in the second place that God gives us a very, very precious rest on this day. And then let's see at the end the obedience that's required of us on this day. A lasting commandment. It's still a commandment today. Let's go to those two questions that I asked at the end of the introduction. Why the first day and not the seventh day, and why still a commandment when Jesus said, I fulfill the law? Why? Is there a special day in the New Testament church when every day is a Sabbath? Well, let's start answering that question by asking ourselves about our fathers and their parents and their parents. Back in generations, all the way back to the Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection, ask ourselves this question, why is it that they, for 2,000 years, celebrated the first day of the week, and were convinced that one day of the week, whether Saturday or Sunday, for them Sunday, all of it was to be given to God. Why? Why? So ask the question of history, a very important question of history. And then be clear that when we ask these questions, we don't talk to our neighbors who disagree with us. with the viewpoint that they want to destroy the Sabbath and stop worshiping on the Lord's Day and begin working on the Lord's Day. Don't imagine that that's their stated purpose, that's going to be the end of their argument and position. It will be the result of it, And if you want, I'll give you an article written by a very conservative Reformed professor in a seminary that produces many good preachers, an article that he wrote, lengthy article, the first half of which he defended the view that the fourth commandment is not a command any longer. It's not an obligation for us anymore. You won't be punished if you work on Sunday. You won't be put under discipline if you don't come to church on Sunday. It's not a command. And then the second half of the article, apparently contradicting that, urging you still to go to church on Sunday, probably twice, not to work on Sunday, not to take your vacations on Sunday, but in the end, the first half of his article is going to carry the day, and the result of which is going to be the people of God are going to be not coming to church on the Lord's Day as they ought. Their position is that it is good and profitable for the people of God to come to church on Sunday, not to work on Sunday, and not to play on Sunday. But their position is it's not a command any longer. So when you speak to someone like that, don't misunderstand the issue. It's not an issue of you are legalistic and you are Phariseistic and they are gospel-oriented and Christ-centered. Our view is miserable, their view is delightful. It's not that. And it's not this, that our view is very, very strict, and you have to say about their view that it's very, very loose. That's not the point. The point and the question is, does God in the fourth commandment still set aside a day, the first day of the week, as a special day so that we observe the day much like they did in the Old Testament, more like Jesus did in the New Testament, or is our view that Christ has abrogated the observance of the day And there's only for us a spiritual observance. That's the question. The view for 2,000 years has always been, except for a very few, and they're represented in the Seventh-day Adventists, is the view that we have today. One day set aside, it's the first day of the week, and we give it all to God. We don't work. We don't play, we come to the Lord's house frequently. It's perpetually valid, we may say. If I can speak of history for just a moment and point you back 500 years to the Synod of Dort, or 400 years to the Synod of Dort, they dealt with this question then as it had been dealt with in the generations before the Synod of Dort. And if you remember, Dort began in November of 1618, lasted all the way till May of 1619, the majority of which they spelled out the canons of Dort. and the doctrines of grace over against Arminianism, but then they treated a number of other things, the church order and the matter of the Sabbath day. They had to deal with those who were opposed to the fourth commandment as a perpetual binding commandment. And they said, oh yes, it is, and they said six things, and I'll give you just a summary of them. Number one, in the fourth commandment there are two aspects, a civil aspect and a moral aspect, or a ceremonial aspect and a moral aspect. The ceremonial passed away, the moral remains. That's points two and three. The ceremonial, point two at Dort, is the rest of the seventh day. and the strict observance of that day imposed especially on the Jewish people. Point number three, the moral aspect consists of the fact that a certain definite day is set aside for worship and hallowed meditation. Point number four, the Sabbath of the Jews having been abolished, the Lord's Day is the day to be hallowed by Christians. Point number five, they said that's what they've done since the apostles. And point number six, this day must be so consecrated to the service of God that upon it men rest from all servile labors except those required by charity and present necessity and from all recreations as prevent the service of God. We'll come back to that at the end. The Senator of Dort treated that in 1619. The Christian Reformed Church had to remind themselves of that in the 1880s, because already there early in their history, they had opposition. And what they said in the 1880s is, remember the Synod of Dort. We still have a day. And then about 40 years later, in 1922, In 24, the Christian Reformed Church dealt with the very same subject. And they said then, remember the Synod of Dort and the six points there. And then the Protestant Reformed Churches treated the very same question in 1975 when one of our ministers said, it isn't a commandment any longer. It's a matter of Christian liberty. You won't be disciplined if you don't come to church, and you won't be put under discipline if you work. Now very thankfully that minister repented of that view, his consistory supporting him in it, which is a reminder that it's very easy for consistories to follow a minister, and they ought to be standing on their own two feet. But the question of the Sabbath and the mandate of this day has been in the church since the very beginning. And our Heidelberg Catechism gives us good instruction as to the Fourth Commandment's requirements. Support the ministry of the gospel and the schools, probably especially the schools that help men train to be elders and deacons and ministers. And then, especially on the Sabbath, the day of rest, frequent the church of God to do these things. use the sacraments, call on His name, and contribute to the relief of the poor. That's what fits Christians. Now, I can say that that's the Reformed view, but it's more important for us to see that that's what the Bible teaches. But before I go to that, just briefly understand then what this view says. Keeping the Sabbath day holy is not a matter of Christian liberty. And by Christian liberty, I mean it's up to you or me if I want to or not. I'm not saying there that it's not a matter of Christian liberty, that it's not a matter of joyful, liberated obedience. It is. If we obey this commandment any other way than with glad hearts and thankful, then we're not obeying the commandment. But when I say it's not a matter of Christian liberty, I'm saying it isn't our decision whether we keep this day holy or not. Understand, then, that the fourth commandment has not been abrogated by Jesus, even though He said, I fulfilled the law. Now, should we get that straight once and for all, what it means that Jesus fulfilled the law, and then we'll look at what the Bible teaches about the fourth commandment? Let's get this straight, what it means that Jesus fulfilled the law. It does not mean that He did it so that we don't have to. Try that with the fifth commandment, kids. Jesus fulfilled the law, Dad and Mom. I don't need to honor you anymore. Try that with the sixth commandment. He fulfilled the law. I don't need to preserve your life. I may take it if I will. Try that, women, with the seventh commandment. Jesus fulfilled the law. I don't need to avoid adultery any longer. No, don't try that. Of course you don't try that with any of the other commandments, and you don't try that with this commandment either. That He fulfilled the law means, number one, His obedience to this commandment was such a perfect obedience that it's imputed to you, and all of your disobedience to this law in weakness is not going to be to your condemnation. It's not going to curse you. That's what it means that He fulfilled the law. And that He fulfilled the law in the second place means that His life of obedience to the commandments becomes your life so that you're able to obey these commandments. But it does not mean that you need not obey these commandments any longer. So let's look at the Scripture for a moment. Three things, or categories, really. Number one, in the book of Exodus, chapter 31, there's a repetition of the fourth commandment. You may look at that this afternoon if you're looking for another passage to read. Moses said in verse 16, therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a And then comes the important word, perpetual covenant. And in that section, at the end of Exodus 31, there's a reminder that when God gave these commandments, He gave ten of them in stone, written by the finger of God on tablets of stone. And we even use that expression in our life, don't we? We say, well, that's not written in stone, is it? And we all understand that if something's written in stone, it's permanent, and it's very significant, and God gave us that illustration at the very beginning. This commandment is going to last, and the fourth commandment is part of it. Perpetual covenant. And then, with regard to Exodus 31, it's repeated. The other commandments aren't repeated in the book of Exodus. This one is, and at length in the end of that chapter. That's first. The Old Testament even gives indication that this commandment is going to last into all eternity. Keep a day holy. Second, from the Bible, now read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and see that this was the example of Jesus to keep a day holy. Though He said, I came to fulfill the law, He did not mean, I came to destroy the fourth commandment. But there's where it becomes puzzling because you read in the Bible, New Testament Gospels, repeatedly where Jesus' conduct on the Sabbath was just the opposite, it seems, than the conduct of those who are strict law keepers. In fact, Jesus went out of His way to rub it in their nose, as it were, what He's doing on the Sabbath, which was different from what they did on the Sabbath. He worked sometimes picking corn. He worked other times healing people. He traveled more than what they considered was a legitimate Sabbath day's journey. repeatedly, deliberately, He waited for the Sabbath day to do things that would irritate them. And isn't, we say, that a sign that the fourth commandment is no longer? Jesus was loose with regard to the fourth commandment, and the answer is absolutely not. Jesus was teaching there that their view of the seventh day, the fourth commandment, is not what God intends for it at all. A miserable list of burdensome requirements added to the Word of God so that you're always looking out whether the neighbor's view and conduct on the Sabbath is valid or not. So Jesus went out of His way to pick corn when they were hungry. so that they would accuse him and criticize him, and he would be able to explain to them. Didn't David, even in the Old Testament, take the showbread that wasn't lawful to eat when it was necessary? When it's necessary, you may do some work on Sunday." And when He healed, they said, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Wait till the next day and you could heal. And Jesus said, no, I'm going to show mercy on the Sabbath. In other words, all of Jesus' actions and all of Jesus' words were, I'm going to give the people of God rest, rest. So when he did miracles, and when he preached, and when he did works of necessity, and works of mercy, he was not showing that the fourth commandment is no longer valid. He was saying to the Pharisees, your view is warped. And third, with regard to the Bible's teaching, now this will answer the question of why the first day, and not the last day, you go and study the Scripture and see, number one, how it was on the first day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead. And that's why the book of Revelation has the disciple John saying, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. He rose from the dead on the first day of the week. On the first day of the week, He appeared to His disciples not once but a number of times, not the last day, the first day, Resurrection Sunday. Notice that in the book of Acts, it was on the first day of the week that He poured out His Spirit while the people were gathered together on that first day of the week commemorating His resurrection. And notice in the book of Acts, especially in chapter 20, but other places too, that's when the people gathered together to worship. And notice in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 16, Paul says, when you take your collections, do it on the first day of the week. That is, when you're gathered for worship. This is a commandment that is perpetually to be observed. It's a commandment because God wants us on this day to rest, and now we understand why, looking at the clock already, it's easy to preach three or four sermons on the fourth commandment. We're going to limit it to one sermon today. Why is this? Commandment is important. Why must we keep it? Because of one word, rest. And if you lose observance of this day because you forget why we keep this day, you will lose your rest. That's what the word Sabbath means, rest, physical rest, but especially spiritual rest, which is an explanation of why we say this commandment. is more valuable than gold. This commandment, too, is to me like honey. I am so thankful for this fourth commandment. God says to us in it, rest. I want to point out briefly five stages of rest, which will help us see why the fourth commandment is still valid. God was progressing in His revelation from the beginning of creation. to what creation and paradise is pointing to in the end, and between the first and the last are three other stages of rest. But start with the creation rest. Exodus 20 makes very clear that the people of God must rest because God rested. He worked six days and rested the seventh day. And then he brought Adam and Eve into his fellowship, put them in that garden with him, and said, you may work in the garden with your implements, whatever they were, for six days, but on the seventh day, you and I are going to sit down in this garden and rest together. Fellowship one with another. Speak about my works and reflect on them so that you say to each other and to me, God saw everything that He did, and we saw everything God did, and it was very, very good rest, creation rest. And that's another reason, by the way, why this is a perpetually valid commandment, because if this is creation day, this commandment didn't appear for the first time 2,000 years later at Mount Sinai, but this commandment was there from the very beginning, a creation ordinance valid for all of creation history. Rest, creation rest. But there was development in that revelation so that secondly, this is another stage, there's a rest that we may call at Sinai. That's why we read Deuteronomy chapter 5. And Exodus chapter 20, because Exodus 20 speaks of creation rest, and Deuteronomy 5 speaks of Sinai rest. What's the rest at Sinai? Well, they had just left the bondage and misery of Egypt. And think about the reality of 400 years living in bondage in Egypt, where 400 years they toiled for someone else. The fruit of their labor was all given to someone else. They profited nothing for themselves. The only thing that they could eat was enough to survive. Make your own bricks. Find your own straw. We're going to whip you and make you miserable day after day after day after day, 400 years. And God delivered them from the house of bondage, the land of Egypt, and gave them rest from that. You know anything about working hard, physical, toiling for a miserable employer? Maybe you do, maybe you don't, but you can imagine it. When they were delivered from that, they had rest. God says, remember that. Remember creation? First stage. But remember Egypt and Sinai, stage two. But they weren't finished because after Sinai, God pointed them to Canaan. And read the book of Hebrews, chapters 3 and 4, where in the wilderness God said, if you do not believe in me, you will not enter into my rest. And three or four times in Hebrews 3 and 4, there was a warning given to the Israelites, if you do not believe in me, you will not enter into my rest. rest. Now what is the rest of Canaan? Well, think of forty years. It's not four hundred, but it's still a long time where they're wandering around in circles in the desert, where scorpions would bite them when they stepped by a rock, and serpents would sting them, and the sun would burn them, and there wasn't water, and there were only that plain old manna, and around in circles they went. circles and circles and circles until finally God says, you shall enter into My rest. And then they went into the land of Canaan, and they were all given their own piece of property. They could plant their vineyards and sit under the shade of their fig tree and rest and enjoy the fruits of the land. Rest. Rest. But when you read Hebrews 3 and Hebrews 4, you understand that The Apostle writing there was not just talking about earthly Canaan because he said if Joshua had given them rest, King James says Jesus, the reference is Joshua, if Joshua had given them real rest, he would not have spoken of another rest. And that another rest is what you and I have in the gospel now. And everything that preceded this was just a picture of what is reserved for us today in rest. Egypt and the wilderness were types for us, weren't they? You might not know anything about that kind of physical toil so that at the end of the day you are so beat you have to sleep and you can't even do anything else. You might or might not know that kind of work, but imagine it. That's what sin does to us. You try to bear that burden of guilt when you think about your sin, what you did and shouldn't have done, what you should have done but didn't. And you feel that weight, and it presses on you, and then you feel the power of sin so that every morning you get up, you not only have guilt, but you feel that power to do what you ought not do. and the weakness in your nature so that you can't do what you ought to do. That's what Egypt is reminding us of, sin's burden and sin's power. And then the wilderness is reminding us of sin's misery and the barrenness of this earthly life apart from Christ. And both Egypt and the wilderness say, enter into rest. Rest. It's the gospel that we preach every Sabbath day. By faith in Christ, enter into God's rest. Don't work. Cease from your evil works, but don't try to work for your salvation. Enter into rest by faith in Christ. The burden is lifted at Calvary of guilt and shame, and the strength is given you to fight against sin and have the victory over it. Rest. And where do you find that rest? Especially in the gospel preached on Sunday. People of God, if we lose the fourth commandment, we're going to lose the gospel and lose our rest. creation. Two, Egypt. Three, Sinai. Four, Canaan. And that reminds us that there is another rest that is waiting for us, too. So that though we have rest in the gospel now, it's going to be peace, perfect peace there. Perfect peace. The power of sin has no more hold on you there. The guilt of sin never shames you there. And we are eagerly awaiting for the day of which this day today is a picture. Rest. Rest. One, creation. Two, 3, Sinai, 4, Canaan, 5, heaven itself, where we're all going who are believers in Christ. You don't hear the word of the Apostle, do you? You will not enter into my rest. You're not unbelieving, are you? If you are, you will not enter into His rest. Not today either. But those of you who are believing, trusting in Christ, have this promise. You will and you do have rest. When you understand that, then it's not so hard to swallow the thou shalt nots and that thou shalt." The man of God, or the woman of God, or the young person who understands that says, let me hear, please, what the fourth commandment forbids, and let me hear, please, what the fourth commandment requires, because I want and I need rest. And so we end this morning with the obedience that's required of us. And we end by saying, yes, I want to obey this, I'm going to obey this, but I am eager to do that because I find in this treasure, a great, great treasure in the fourth commandment. I'm very thankful for the tradition that's been passed down to us so it's an automatic thing that Sunday morning we get up and we get ready for church and we go. It's a tradition. It's a habit. It would be odd not to. but it's so much more than a tradition for us. Reflect on that today, people of God, by yourself or with your family, what good things God's given us in this day and with this commandment. Remember what the prophet said in Isaiah 58, though, that's the danger for us that we observe this day but for our own pleasure. that we, as Nehemiah warned, can't wait for this day to be finished so that we can get back to what we want. That's not the danger of the liberal churches out there only, and the conservative who compromise on this day. That's our danger, and we need to address our danger. What do you think of this day, and what do I think of it? Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. And holy means that you take something and you don't use it in the common way of all the other things, you set it apart for special use. And that, for you children, means that there's one day of the week, it's the first day now, the Lord's Day, we take it all, we lift it up from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and we take Sunday and we reserve it for special use. Dad doesn't work. on Sunday. Dad doesn't bring work home to be done on Sunday. Dad isn't tempted to go into his office on Sunday and catch up or prepare for Monday. He doesn't travel on Sunday because he has a Monday morning meeting. Dad understands that it's going to be costly to keep this day, but Dad doesn't work. And neither does Mom. And though we don't do what our grandparents did maybe, peel the potatoes on Saturday night, so that we don't have anything to do on Sunday, though there was some thought given to that practice, let's avoid everything we don't have to do on Sunday and do it on Saturday, but mom doesn't work on Sunday either, unless she has to. And neither do you, young people and children. And so your teachers don't give you homework that you have to do right before Monday morning because they know you are resting Sunday. So get your history and English and math and science and all of the other homework finished by Saturday afternoon or Saturday evening. Sunday is for rest. Dad doesn't work, mom doesn't work, you don't do home work on Sunday. And then remember what I said earlier about the Synod of Dort, that there are some works that we may do, works of necessity. I hope mom washes the dishes before tomorrow morning, or at least puts them away in the dishwasher. I hope she cleans up after you if you're sick and make a mess. That's work for her. And she's going to change the diaper of the baby and maybe do a load of wash if she has to. Those are works of necessity. And I'm very thankful that if there's a fire at my house today, the firemen are not going to say, well, we're Christians, it's Sunday. You take care of your fire yourself. or the policeman if I'm in a wreck. Works of necessity. Church has always said there are certain works we're permitted to do. And mercy. We'll come back to that in a moment. But doctors and nurses and nursing home attendants are doing works of mercy. Necessity and mercy. But we don't work on Sunday normally. We don't do our own pleasure. That's Isaiah 58. And that has to do with vacations, where the fourth commandment sometimes pinches. It does me. I'm sure it does you. Vacations. Entertainment. sports that I engage in because I'm a good soccer player or basketball player, and I get on a select team and they want to play just once in this final tournament game on Sunday. Fourth Commandment pinches, doesn't it? Don't do your own pleasure on the Lord's Day, do God's pleasure. Let's spend the day for Him. And then speaking your own words, that's a strange expression. Isaiah 58, don't speak your own words. And that's a reminder, though, that it might mean a little bit more than this. It means at least this. When we leave this sanctuary and enter into the fellowship hall for sweet fellowship with the rest of the people of God, let's try real hard not to speak about our own things and pleasures and work and play. and ask others about their lives and open up a spiritual discussion. You don't need to discuss the sermon necessarily, the fourth commandment, or anything necessarily like that, though that's appropriate, but not your own words. But to be positive about this fourth commandment, do God's work and God's pleasure. So run through the catechism for a moment. Especially on the Sabbath, I frequent the Church of God, number one, to hear His Word. That's why the bulk of this service is preaching. Number two, to use the sacraments, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. Number three, publicly to call on the Lord in the congregational prayer and in our singing where we're praying, publicly calling on His name, and we contribute to the relief of the poor in the offerings that the deacons receive from you. The Lord's will and work. And then maybe between the services, you children don't do your homework, but you do your Bible and your catechism written work, and the memorizing of the hymns and the Psalms that you're going to sing in choir. The Lord's work and read. And when was the last time that you or I made a visit to the nursing home? I pause because that's to my shame. I don't always have to preach in the evening on Sunday, and I have time, and I should get back to what you ought to be busy with on the Lord's Day at times, and read then Isaiah chapter 58 again, and the explanation. Deal bread to the hungry, bring poor, that are cast out to your house. When you see the naked, cover him. And don't hide yourself from your own family on the Lord's Day. And read more in Isaiah 58 as the things that are busy for us or things that keep us busy on the Lord's Day. You know, if we were busy with the things that we ought to be busy with on Sunday, it wouldn't even be a question. May I go swimming? may I go to a ball game, may I watch something on television of sports. If we did what we ought to do on the Sabbath, the whole afternoon would be so filled. And even after church, perhaps on the way home, would be active in serving the other people of the congregation. We'd say, I wish the Lord's Day were 48 hours instead of 24. the Lord's pleasure in the Lord's day. And when we busy ourselves with that, then we receive the promise that the prophet gives at the end of Isaiah 58. You're going to ride on the high places of the earth. That is, your life, if it has afflictions and troubles in it, won't be dominated by that. but you will be able to ride in the high places of the earth and be blessed with all the rich blessings of God. Where do they come from? From the Lord's day. Oh, people of God, let's not forget the Lord's day. Let's remember the Sabbath. Let's keep it holy. I love the commandments, and I love this one too, and I trust you do as well. Let's pray. Amen. Our Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy Word. We pray that where it pinches us, we may recognize that that's the sinful nature of ours that is pained, but especially enable us to see how good Thou art in giving us this commandment so that we are not governed by our own pleasure, but thine, so that we see the high honor it is that we have six days, six days to work and to play. And this one day that we may begin the week with in thy house with the gospel resting Lord God, bless this day to us and forgive as we forgive each other. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.