You may turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 5. Our focus this evening is on the fourth commandment. And I hope to confine this to one message, just touching the main points with reference to the Christian Sabbath. As Steve reminded me, Cam is away on holiday today. He can answer, as he's preaching next week, he can answer all your practical questions. I'll be in SeaTac if you have difficult questions on what you can and cannot do on the Sabbath, those would be excellent for Pastor Porter. Just kidding. The Sabbath is something that not all Christians hold to, as I'm sure you are aware, and there's a hermeneutical reason for that. the science of interpretation. Sacred hermeneutics refers specifically to the science of biblical interpretation. There are those who imbibe what is called dispensational theology, others who imbibe what is called New Covenant theology, and because of their hermeneutic, they do not see the perpetuity of the fourth commandment. They do not see that it is binding upon all men in all ages as our confession of faith stipulates. Those persons with reference to hermeneutics have a different understanding of the law, of the covenants, and of continuity and discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments. Well, as a reformed church with a reformed confession, we adhere to the binding of all men and all ages view of this fourth word. So I want to read just verses 12 to 15 and then we'll get into our study on the Sabbath. Beginning in verse 12, observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. and remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Well, let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for the word, and we pray for the Spirit to guide us as we study the word. We pray that you would give us clarity and understanding, that you would help us to see that the fourth along with the other nine are binding upon all men in all ages. And may we learn to call the Sabbath a delight. May we see it as the day of rest you've intended it to be. May we see it as God's gift to man, and may we see it as a blessed thing. Lord, we ask that you would keep us from that sin of viewing the commandments of God as a burden. May we say with the psalmist, may we say with the entirety of the Bible, oh how I love thy law, it is my meditation day and night. We thank you ultimately for Christ who kept perfectly the law of God. How we thank you that he always did what was pleasing to the Father. And how we thank you that because of his life and his death and his resurrection, we have an imputed righteousness received by faith alone. For certainly, even at the outset, when we consider this fourth word, we must confess that we have not been the Sabbath keepers that the Word of God calls us to be. So we thank you for our Lord. We thank you for cleansing in His blood. Nevertheless, may we strive by your grace and for your glory to do those things that are pleasing in your sight. And we ask these things through Christ our Lord. Amen. Now one of the things that we notice when we treat the fourth commandment or when we look at this issue of Sabbath is that it is a command that has both a positive and a moral aspect involved. Our confession of faith indicates that in chapter 22, paragraph 7. It says, as it is the law of nature that in general a proportion of time by God's appointment be set apart for the worship of God, so by His word in a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment. Binding all men in all ages, he has particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him." Now the idea behind the words positive and moral Moral is what God's law is. It is the moral law of God. A positive aspect means that there is a temporary assignment with a particular law. In the Garden of Eden, for instance, when God prohibited Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that was a positive law. It was given for a specific time. It wasn't binding upon all men in all ages. The positive aspect of the Sabbath commandment is seen with reference to the day it is observed, but the underlying moral principle is what I just read, as it is the law of nature. For these divines, the law of nature was the Ten Commandments written on the heart of man at creation. as it is the law of nature that in general a proportion of time by God's appointment be set apart for the worship of God." So the moral principle is one day out of seven we give to God for the specific and intent purpose of worshiping Him. The positive aspect is seen in the Saturday observance in the Old Covenant and in Sunday observance in the New Covenant. So that's what the Confession means. That's what Reformed theologians mean by these terms. positive and moral. So I want to do three things this evening. You're probably used to that. In the first place, a brief exposition of the commandment as we find it here in Deuteronomy chapter 5. And then secondly, I want to look at the Sabbath in the Old Covenant and then thirdly, the Sabbath in the New Covenant. And there when we get to the New Covenant, we'll consider the change of the day because certainly that perplexes people. There are Seventh-day Adventists who think that it's a part of Antichrist to worship on Sunday. There have been, and probably still are in the history of the Church, Seventh-day Baptists, those who believe that Saturday is the binding commandment, or that Saturday is binding upon people today. There's been others as well, to be sure. But when we consider the moral aspect and the positive aspect, hopefully you will see that the change of the day necessitated by virtue of what Christ has done in terms of His finished work. Now notice in the first place, with reference to the exposition, it is stated positively in verse 12, observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy. If you compare the giving of the law in the book of Exodus, there they are told, remember the Sabbath day. Intriguing, isn't it? That at Sinai, they are not given the Sabbath for the first time. In the book of Exodus, they are told to remember the Sabbath day. If you look specifically at Exodus chapter 16, there was already Sabbath observance prior to the giving of the law on Sinai. In Exodus 16, verses 4 and 5, we read, The Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in. And it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. And then notice specifically in verse 23. Then he said to them, This is what the Lord has said. Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil, and lay up for yourselves all that remains to be kept until morning." So that when we get to Sinai, it's not a first time that they are given this commandment. It's not the first statement of Sabbath observance. In Exodus, it is, remember the Sabbath. By the time we get to Deuteronomy, obviously observe the Sabbath, because it's something that had been in place for that entire time. And we'll look more at the doctrine of the Sabbath in creation in a few moments. But one man, Philip Ross, in a most excellent book, if you are interested in a good study of the law of God, especially in its threefold division, the law of God as it is moral, ceremonial, and judicial. Philip Ross's book, The Finger of God, is an excellent treatment on that subject. Persons say that that was a reformed invention to try and finagle the law and try and serve their particular view of covenant theology. That threefold division goes all the way back to the early church. It may not be as developed and articulated as it is in the Reformation period, but it's certainly there. And Ross argues convincingly that that distinction is present in the text of Scripture itself. How are we to understand when God says, I desire mercy rather than sacrifice? How are we to understand when Paul says circumcision is not what avails but keeping the commandments of God? There is a distinction within the law. There is the moral law, the Ten Commandments. The ceremonial law, we would all agree, has been done away with, or fulfilled rather, through Jesus Christ. And that is in the book of Hebrews. And then the judicial law, those laws given to the nation of Israel to govern their civil polity for life in the land. So an excellent book. I highly recommend Philip Ross, The Finger of God. But notice, they are to remember. Ross says, does Exodus 16 not suggest that they were aware of an obligation to rest before they heard the Decalogue? Before they get to Sinai? This is what we see in Exodus 16. So going back to Deuteronomy 5, they are to observe. They are to remember the Sabbath day. And then specifically, they are to keep it holy. We'll see again in a few moments in that first instance of Sabbath keeping. It is God the Lord. He sanctifies the day. He sets the example or He sets the pattern for His image bearers. They are, in turn, to sanctify the day as well. Notice with reference to the commandment, the prohibition involved. He says, observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. So there is a prohibition, no regular employment. I think when we get to the Lord Jesus, He makes specific qualifications or points out distinctions, works of necessity, works of mercy. If somebody's an ER doctor and they need to work on Sunday to save life, those are appropriate vocations. But for the rest of us, the most of us, It is the case that there is to be a cessation from our regular work. And the scope of the command, everybody attached to the covenant family. It includes not only the immediate family, but the servants attached to that family, and even the beasts of burden. We are to give rest. We are to respect the word of the living God. So there is a cessation from regular employment. Notice as well that the commandment not only provides for rest, but it demands work. When we look at the creation account, there are things in that account that theologians call the creation ordinances. Marriage is a creation ordinance. Labor is a creation ordinance. Sabbath is a creation ordinance. In this fourth commandment, two of them are involved. Moses reminds the people of God that while there is a one day of rest, the rest of the cycle continues. Six days you shall labor. Six days you need to work. Six days you need to make sure that you are gainfully employed. You're not to lay around on the couch eating Cheetos and watching Oprah. You are to be gainfully employed and you are to be diligent in the pursuit of an earthly vocation. And now notice the particular requirement or the reason involved. I want to point us back for just a moment to the book of Exodus. What's the reason given for the fourth commandment in the book of Exodus? It's creation. It's creation. Exodus 20 verse 11. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. What's the reason in Deuteronomy 5? It is redemption. Those are the reasons given for Sabbath-keeping in the Old Covenant. And I will argue that those are the reasons for Sabbath-keeping in the New Covenant, only it's a new creation wrought by our Lord Jesus. It is a redemption wrought by our Lord Jesus. It's not from the house of bondage in Egypt, but rather it is from the house of bondage of sin. So the same argument holds in the Old Covenant, though the positive aspect is seen on Saturday, creation and redemption. When we get to the New Covenant, creation and redemption furnish the reason for New Covenant Sabbath keeping. So creation, redemption are the reasons for obedience to this fourth word. Now notice, secondly, with reference to the Sabbath and the Old Covenant, you can turn to Genesis 2. Genesis chapter 2. We'll cover a bit of ground this evening. As I said, we're not going to spend a lot of time in detailed exegesis of every jot and tittle. If you are interested in such detailed exegesis, there are still sermons online, sermon audio. I know I've taught on the Sabbath commandment in the last few years. Jonathan Hall could point you to where those might be or just push the page numbers and you'll find it. If anybody wants notes on the subject or references to books, please, by all means, ask. Because as I said, this is a battleground in the modern church. There are non-sabbaterians. There are those who think that what I'm preaching right now is legalism and that I'm binding the consciences of people Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath command, and as a result, all days are the same, and we're free to do whatever it is that we want. Now, that's not what the Bible teaches, and I hope by the time we're done tonight, you will be convinced otherwise, that the Reformed were actually right, the Puritan Sabbath codified by 22, 7 and 8 in our confession, does accurately reflect what Sabbath-keeping in the Bible looks like. Notice in Genesis 2, beginning in verse 1, Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made." I said, this is a creation ordinance. When we see God rest, bless, and sanctify the day, we as readers need to take notice of this. And then when we see in the book of Exodus specifically, God say, remember the Sabbath day and give as a reason the doctrine of creation, it would be foolhardy for us not to go back to the doctrine of creation, to see God's pattern, to see this six-in-one rhythm, to see the fact that He worked these six days making the earth, and on the seventh day He rested, He blessed the day, He sanctified the day. When we trace through Scripture with reference to Sabbath, those three concepts are conspicuous. There's blessing, there's sanctifying, and there is rest. In fact, the word Sabbath means simply to rest. Notice in Genesis chapter 4, there's an interesting turn of phrase used in verse 3. This is a bit of an indirect proof, but if we're going to marshal up data concerning Sabbath observance. Remember Genesis 4.1, now Adam knew Eve his wife. She conceived and bore Cain and said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat." Now notice, it is intriguing that there was this pattern involved in worship. These young men knew the reality of offering sacrifice unto God. God had taught Adam and Eve very particularly about this whole concept. Remember after Adam and Eve sinned, they cover themselves, they try to hide from God. When God comes to have dealings with them, He kills animals and He takes those animal skins and he covers them. He teaches Adam and Eve something about blood atonement. He teaches Adam and Eve something about sacrifice. He teaches Adam and Eve something about the reality of death necessary in the case of transgression of God. So that by the time we get to Cain and Abel, they are worshipers. They are sacrificers. They are bringing, respective to their particular trade, those things which God requires by way of sacrifice. But note the language specifically in verse 3. If you have the New King James and you look at the particular marginal reading, it indicates that at the end of days they did this. At the end of days they did this. Now, the end of days for Cain and Abel wasn't the end day, it wasn't judgment day, it wasn't the last day. If you think about that small phrase, at the end of days, what does come into mind? Probably at the end of the days of the week. There was in place for Cain and Abel this sacrificial ritual that was conducted at the end of days. There was a cycle in place. It was Sabbath observance, no doubt, grounded in and rooted in this particular account in Genesis chapter 2. Now as we consider the doctrine of the Sabbath with reference to creation, you can turn to Mark 2. Mark chapter 2, I know I said that we're studying the doctrine of the Sabbath in the Old Covenant, but Mark 2 is commentary on what's happening in Genesis chapter 2. Later revelation, subsequent revelation, provides for us divine commentary and interpretation of preceding texts. It's a wonderful thing. When you look at the end of the Bible, you learn a lot about interpreting the beginning of the Bible. It truly is a helpful remedy or a helpful thing. Notice when Jesus is questioned concerning Sabbath observance. We'll get to this in more detail in a few minutes, but note specifically what he says in verse 27 of Mark 2. Jesus said to them, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus does this elsewhere when he's asked about permission for divorce in Matthew 19. Where does Jesus go to argue for marriage? He goes to creation. From the beginning it was not so, but God made them male and female. Well, when Jesus is confronted with Sabbath disputation, He goes to the beginning. He goes to creation. And notice that He says the Sabbath was made for man. He doesn't say the Sabbath was made for the Jew, the Sabbath was made at Sinai, the Sabbath was made for Israel. Again, in the terms of the positive aspect, the Sabbath was indeed a sign for Israel. Exodus 31.13, Ezekiel 20.12 highlights that. The people of Israel who were Sabbath keepers on Saturday, that was a national badge of identity that they were God's covenant people. But when we look at this statement, Jesus goes back to the garden and he says, the Sabbath was made for man. And there's an article there. That means it's literally the Sabbath was made for the man. Probably a direct reference to Adam himself. But if not Adam himself, it is to man as man. Not Jew or Israelite as Jew or Israelite. In fact, J.C. Ryle makes this observation, God made the Sabbath for Adam in paradise and renewed it to Israel on Mount Sinai. It was made for all mankind, not for the Jew only, but for the whole family of Adam. So the Sabbath was made for man. And notice what he goes on to say, and not man for the Sabbath. You see, we need to guard against, and as we interpret Jesus properly, we'll see that the legalism that oftentimes fastens itself to Sabbath observance is unwarranted. It is unbiblical, it is unrighteous. The Pharisees said that the Sabbath essentially, or that man essentially, was made for the Sabbath. You can't pull your donkey out of a ditch or your ox out of a ditch. You can't heal a man that was on the Sabbath day. Rather, man has to function in such a way so that the Sabbath is served. Jesus says just the opposite. The Sabbath was made for man. Do you ever look at it that way? Do you ever thank God for Sunday? Do you ever say, Lord, I'm so thankful I get to come in out of the world for an entire day, I get to bask in the presence of God Most High, I get to enjoy the things of the Lord, I get to go where the people of God are, I get to go where the Word of God is? I think we approach Sabbath-keeping with this mindset that it's a straitjacket, that it's a bad thing, that it's an imposition upon us for our misery, and for our suffering, and for our pain, and nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus says that the Sabbath is a gift given to man. It's not that man was created so that he could obey the Sabbath. God in the garden gave the Sabbath to Adam so that after a long full week of work, he could enjoy the communion, a special communion with his God on that particular day. And then, of course, Christ asserts the reality, therefore, the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath. It ought not to surprise us when we get to the New Covenant that in terms of the positive aspect of the law, there's a change from Saturday to Sunday. The Lord of the Sabbath institutes that, the apostles abide by it, and by doing so, they give the Church the example or the paradigm that we are to follow in New Covenant theology. So the Sabbath at creation, the second is the Sabbath at Sinai. We're dealing with that. The third place is the Sabbath and Isaiah. The Sabbath and Isaiah. You can turn to 56 in the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 56. We know that this is about New Covenant realities. We know that this is about the Messianic age from 52, 13 and following. We have the suffering servant in chapter 53. We have blessings for the church in chapter 54. We have gospel invitation in chapter 55. And in chapters 56 and following, we have various things by way of reproof to the people of Israel, but by way of promise concerning the future. And in Isaiah 56, we see references to Sabbath. Blessed is the man, verse 2, who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it, who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Verse four, for thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose what please me and hold fast my covenant. And then again in verse six, also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants. Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant. As I said, this points to the new covenant. And the reason, or one of the reasons why we know this is the reference to the eunuch. Do you remember what Deuteronomy 23 1? I realize this is probably far more technical than it ought to be at a six o'clock hour on a Sunday, but just bear with me for a few more minutes. Deuteronomy 23 verse 1 prohibited eunuchs from entering the assembly of the Lord. In Isaiah 56, the prophet is foretelling or prophesying concerning a day when Eunuchs will enter into the assembly of the Lord. That's not the eschaton. That's not heaven, though Eunuchs will. He's referring to the New Covenant. How do we know this decisively? Acts chapter 8. In Acts chapter 8, Philip happens upon a eunuch who's reading the prophet Isaiah. And Philip asks him a question, and the eunuch says, of whom is the prophet speaking? And Luke says in the book of Acts that Philip, from this scripture, preached Jesus to him. And then, of course, Philip baptizes this unit. Now, it's a wonderful story, and it's helpful for the Baptist to produce or promote baptism by immersion and believers' baptism. But we fail to appreciate Acts 8 if we neglect Isaiah 56. What Luke is telling us in Acts 8 is that the new covenant reality is here. What Isaiah prophesied in chapter 56 is upon us. So if in the New Covenant eunuchs are entering in, and if in Isaiah 56 Sabbath-keeping is mentioned, then we ought to imply or infer that Sabbath-keeping is part and parcel of New Covenant religion as well. And then in Isaiah 58, there is a specific word again concerning Sabbath. Notice in verses 13 and 14. Now, just by way of a real practical observation, is it a bad thing? Is it like the burden that sometimes we hear that it is? You know, there's persons that say, well, every day is special. Every day I worship the Lord. Yes, but the Lord carved out of every day, one day in particular, wherein the corporate body of Christ's people come together to worship. Doesn't it just seem to follow the God in heaven who has said with reference to our possessions that we give a tithe? I hope none of us are begrudging that. I mean, God gives us all our wealth. God gives us jobs. God gives us health to perform those jobs. So when God says He wants us to cheerfully give to His cause for His glory and for the propagation of the gospel, hopefully we all say, that's legit. God's given us all things. Why wouldn't we give back a portion that He commands? Well, in the same way, God gives us life. He gives us health. He gives us days. He gives us months. He gives us years. And all God says is, give me one day out of the week. And we really struggle with that. We really have a difficulty with that. We're really begrudging him when it comes to this whole idea of Sabbath. I'm not trying to indict anyone here. I'm just speaking in generic terms. There is this idea that this is such a burden and such a loathsome thing for us to give a day of our time." Notice in Acts 8, if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath the delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. Notice what God says, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord is spoken. E.J. Young said, the Sabbath was not merely a mosaic ordinance, it was far more. It was instituted at creation and is a pattern of the heavenly Sabbath rest which the redeemed are to enjoy in the presence of their eternal God. In the great calamity of the exile that was to come upon them, Isaiah stresses the Sabbath as, in a sense, the heart of true devotion to God. He who keeps the Sabbath as it is intended to be kept will be happy in the Lord of the Sabbath. And then, as we continue, the last text would be Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34. I submit that all of us are particularly aware of that text. Remember, God says that in the New Covenant, I will write my law on their heart. What law is he talking about? He's talking about the moral law that was given originally to Adam in the garden. that's codified or summarized in the Ten Commandments at Sinai. That's the law that God is talking about in the book of Jeremiah. We see that applied in Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 10. What is true of New Covenant believers? The law of God has been written on our hearts. Those who are contrary to the position maintained in this message to the position codified in the Confessions of Faith really have to produce a cogent argument to tell us why nine of the Ten Commandments are still binding and yet one has been superseded. Why is it that that one no longer applies? Why is it that that one no longer is important? Why is it? It doesn't do to say, well, Jesus fulfilled the rest and Jesus brings us into rest. Yes, I affirm that. But you can't imagine that the faithful in Old Covenant Israel didn't enjoy rest, and nevertheless, they had this blessing of the Sabbath day. So, Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34 indicates that there is a day coming when God will internalize His law. Now thirdly, and finally, the Sabbath in the New Covenant. The ministry of Christ. The ministry of Christ, His doctrine concerning the law. Matthew 5.17-20, do not think that I came to abolish the law. I did not come to abolish it, but rather to fulfill it. He fulfills it in his work. He obeys it perfectly. He fulfills it in terms of his doctrine. He upholds it. When he starts to expound the law in the book of Matthew, in the gospel record, in the Sermon on the Mount, he's not giving a new law, he's not giving a different law, he's just clearing away the haze and the fog that the interpreters had put upon the law. When he says, you have heard that it was said, but I say to you, he's not elevating the law, he's not hyper-spiritualizing the law, he's clearing away the misinterpretation of the law. When we get to Matthew chapter 12, the Lord Jesus, with reference to the Sabbath, spends a lot of time in this particular subject. If you go through the Gospel records, there's a lot concerning Jesus and what Bruce Ray calls Sabbath wars. There's a lot of things that come to Jesus on the Sabbath by way of opposition. Well, in summary, in verses 1 to 14 in Matthew chapter 12, Jesus indicates that works of necessity Piety and mercy were never at odds with the Sabbath. Never, was never the law of God in the Sabbath command for you not to help people. In fact, Isaiah 58 tells us, or at least with reference to fasting, how that's supposed to be pursued. Gilfillan, in a book called The Sabbath Defendant, made this statement, Christ was careful to clear the Sabbath from Jewish corruptions. And if there was any precept more particularly vindicated by him and honored than another, it was that requiring the Sabbath day to be kept holy." And he makes this observation, it is not the practice of a wise man to repair a house which he is about to pull down. If it is the case that Jesus was going to abolish the Sabbath, why does he spend so much time in the gospel records clarifying, distinguishing, highlighting, and reproving those who had indeed twisted and distorted the command? It is not the practice of a wise man to repair a house which he is about to pull down. I'm not a contractor or a builder, and I get that. I'm sure anybody who picks up hammer and swings it would realize you don't fix it and then tear it down. You don't fix the Sabbath or clear away all the misinterpretation. You don't correct the Pharisaic abuse of it only to abolish it. That simply does not follow. In the second place, with reference to the change of the day, how do we know the day has changed? Well, our Lord Jesus rose again on the first day of the Sabbath. of the week, and since the church has observed that as the Lord's Day or as the Christian Sabbath. Matthew 28.1, Mark 16.1 and 2 in verse 9, Luke 24.1, John 21.19 and 26. Jesus rose on the first day. Next, we see the teaching of the apostles. Look at Acts 20. There have been those who oppose the Sabbath law abiding in the New Covenant that say, well, there's no command in the New Testament that says thou must keep the first day as the Christian Sabbath. And you know what? They're right. But when we see apostles keeping the first day as the Sabbath, then we are to keep it as the Sabbath. When we see by precedence and pattern them doing something, then we ought to do that as well. Notice in Acts chapter 20 at verse 7, when does the church gather for worship? Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. So we see they gather together to break bread, and they gather together not only to break bread, but to hear Paul preach. What are they doing? They're engaged in Christian worship. When are they doing it? They're doing it on the first day of the week, which is intriguing if we back up for just a moment to verse six. Notice, we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days. Now, I'm not a mathematician, but I realize that if you stay in one place for seven days, that includes Saturday. And so notice, they don't worship, they don't meet for breaking of bread and for preaching on that Saturday, but they do so on the first day of the week. F.F. Bruce says, the reference to the meeting for the breaking of bread on the first day of the week is the earliest text we have from which it may be inferred with reasonable certainty that Christians regularly came together for worship on that day. 1 Corinthians 16, verses 1 and 2. Paul gives instruction to the Corinthian church to lay aside their collection on the first day of the week. This isn't confined simply to Corinth. He says, I give this order to all the churches of Galatia. It was already a routine. It was already a practice. It was already going on in various places. When do you take up the collection? You take it up at Christian worship on the first day of the week. And then in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 10, First time we hear it referred to as the Lord's Day. John is in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. Now this is a very interesting use of the particular language in this section. The form of the word employed here is used only one other place in all of the New Testament. It's actually where we get the word church from. Church doesn't come from the word ekklesia that we have in the Greek Bible, but it comes from this word kuriake. The Scots call it kirk. Kuriake means something that pertains to or belongs to the Lord. When John says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, he's not talking about judgment day. He's not talking about the day of the Lord, when Jesus will come again to judge his enemies and to vindicate his church. He's talking about something that belongs peculiarly to the Lord Jesus. The only other place that I mentioned that it exists is in 1 Corinthians 11.20. Where there it refers to the Lord's supper. So all supper that we eat is given by God. He is the author of every good and perfect gift. We don't eat burritos and tacos and chicken and beef and we don't have all that unless our God gives us that. So in a sense, every supper is given to us by the Lord. But 1120 in 1 Corinthians tells us there is a supper peculiar to the Lord. It pertains to Him. It belongs to Him. So we've got the Lord's Supper and we've got the Lord's Day. Those things in particular that belong to him. James Durham in his commentary on Revelation said, as the Lord's Supper is for the remembrance of his death till he come again, so is this day for remembering the work of redemption and his resurrection till he come again. And then one final text in Hebrews 4. We certainly do not have time to go through Hebrews 4, 1 to 10, just jumping to verse 9. Notice in verse 9, all context is about entering rest. Israel was promised rest in the promised land. They did not enter in, though, because of unbelief. When they entered into that promised land, there would be a typical rest. There would be a rest in that place. That doesn't mean there's not an eternal rest to come. The same is true for the people of God today. We have that rest laid up for us in heaven that is to come. But we have a typical rest even now, which is the Christian Sabbath, which is the Lord's Day. G.K. Beale makes this perceptive statement. He says, if the eschatological reality of a final Sabbath rests, that means in the age to come, If that reality of final Sabbath rest has not come, then it is unlikely that the typological sign pointing to that ultimate rest has ceased. In other words, if you look in the Old Covenant, they had these down payments, as it were, every Saturday, pointing forward to that rest that was to come. If that rest that is to come hasn't come, what does that indicate? Those down payments are still in play. Those down payments are still for us. That's one of the blessed things about coming to church on Sunday. It is to consider the reality that this place, as feeble and as weak as it may be, as many issues that all of us have may be the case, this place is a token of the rest that is to come when Jesus comes in glory. This is the market day of the soul. This is a down payment concerning what lie in our future. And Beale says, if that rest has not come in consummation, then it is wrong to conclude that the typical rest is to be done away with. He says, that is, if the weekly Sabbath included the function of pointing forward to consummate rest, and that rest has not yet come, then that weekly Sabbath should continue. And the author in Hebrews tells us as much in Hebrews 4.9. Notice what he says. There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God. Now, this is an intriguing section of scripture, because the apostle has used a word for rest all throughout the context. It's a consistent word, kata pausen. I know you're not going to remember that, but it's the Greek word for rest that he uses conspicuously all throughout the context, except in verse 9. You know what he says in verse 9? There remains, therefore, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. And then verse 10 answers the question, well, when is that Sabbath day for the people of God? Notice in verse 10, for he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his words as God did from his. Now this is the problem of an interpretation in your Bible. The New King James does not capitalize the he's there. The New King James suggests to us that it is us who has entered his, God's rest, and we have also ceased from our works as God did from his. I suggest that all those he's be capitalized. It's a reference to Christ. The text says, for Christ, who has entered his rest, has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his. Back in the chapter, it speaks about God creating all things and then resting on the seventh day. Genesis 2.2 is highlighted. Here in verse 10, Christ is resting. When does Christ rest? At the completion of His work. At the resurrection from the dead. Why does the church meet on the first day? Because the church remembers the new creation wrought by Jesus. and redemption wrought by Jesus, signified in this resurrection from the dead. It is the first day, by way of the positive aspect in the New Covenant, that the people of God obey the moral requirement to keep one day out of seven. It is binding on all men in all ages. If you want this argument developed, I refer you to Joseph Piper's book on the Lord's Day or A.W. Pink's treatment on Hebrews chapter 4, and I believe as well John Owen on Hebrews. And if you want my notes, just email me. You can have them, not that they'll make sense. But that's just brief. There's a lot more that could be said. in this particular connection. I know that was a lot of material and I know that it wasn't as cursory or a survey as I had anticipated. But in summary, the Sabbath was instituted creation declared to Israel at Sinai, prophesied of having a millennial application. When I say millennial, I refer to the new covenant. I'm not a dispensationalist. I do not believe in sort of this future millennial kingdom. I think the millennium of Revelation 20 describes the church age, the messianic age, the period between the first and the second advent of Christ. So it's prophesied of having messianic application in Isaiah 58. It's enforced by the Lord of the Sabbath. It is practiced by the Apostolic Church on the first day of the week. So it is a commandment that has both a moral aspect and a positive aspect. The moral aspect, one day in seven, a time apportioned for the worship of God, the positive, Saturday in the Old Covenant, Sunday in the New Covenant. Creation and redemption were to be remembered in the Old Covenant. According to Hebrews 4, those same concepts are to be remembered in the New Covenant. And as long as the Decalogue is in place, so is the Fourth Commandment. Now, by way of qualification, we need to make sure that we understand, in the first place, that the Lord Jesus specifies that works of necessity and mercy are authorized. It's very easy to become a legalist when it comes to the Sabbath. Very easy to become a legalist. If anyone doesn't do anything the way I do it, well, they must be wrong. Walter Chantry, in his good little book called The Sabbath of Delight, gives us an illustration. He says, imagine you're a father and your son says to you, Daddy, can we ride our bikes today? It's Sunday. Or, can we ride our bikes today? And the father says, no son, it's Sunday. There is to be no bike riding. And then you happen to be sitting on the couch looking out your bay window and you see the, I almost said Jones family, because I think that's the the one he used, but whatever, the whoever family, riding their bikes by. And they're in your church, and little Junior says, but Daddy, they're riding their bikes. What probably happens to the father? Now, I can't impute evil on everybody, but I know my own heart. Well, how could he ride his bike on the Sabbath, because I don't. But you don't know that the Jones family is riding their bikes to the park to sit under a shade tree so they can go through Bible memory and catechism. You see, we need to be very careful of this sort of an approach that is fastidious to the letter of the law and neglects the qualifications that Jesus says. If your donkey, if your ox falls into the ditch on the Sabbath, you pull it out. If you see a man that is pinned in a burning car, don't drive by and say, but it's the Sabbath, I can't stop and render aid. Stop your car and fish him out so he doesn't burn to death. We need to avoid the abuse of the legalist when it comes to this issue of Sabbath-keeping. But conversely, and probably something there's more of a proclivity to in our generation, is to avoid the abuse of antinomianism. No, the Sabbath isn't for us. I worship God every day. I do it wherever I want. This mystical approach, when God says, no, you do what I say. Haven't we been reading in the prophet Jeremiah? They wanted to do what felt right and good to them. And God says, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to send famine and pestilence, and you will find the judgment associated with the covenant. Brethren, antinomianism is a view where God's law does not apply to us. And the moment we engage in that particular mindset, it's the moment we have denied the scriptures. The law of God is good if used lawfully, the apostle says. And as well, the believer must see the blessing involved in Sabbath keeping. when we were reading Gerhardus Voss's biblical theology. I had not noticed this statement before, but he makes this comment referring to the Sabbath. He says, the Sabbath has faithfully accompanied the people of God on their march through the ages. Isn't that beautiful? The Sabbath has faithfully accompanied the people of God on their march through the ages. What brings stability, sanity, blessing, rest, joy, this day that God has carved out, this day that God has gifted to man, this day that He has blessed us with so we can cease from our normal activity and come and be refreshed in His courts. with reference to the uses of the law. Remember the civil use. God's law is a wonderful antidote to restrain the wickedness of man. I mean, if ever there was a society that would benefit from Sabbath keeping, it is our generation. I mean, people can't, probably for most of us, this is the longest you don't look at your phone. This is the longest. You're not checking email, or checking voicemail, or checking what demands are on you. If ever there was a society of people that would benefit from some rest. Now, there's lazy people. I get that. There's people that fall off the couch at 11.30, and they go to the fridge, and they open up a pop, and then they go lay down. That's not what I'm talking about. They don't need more Sabbath rest. Well, they do need Sabbath rest, but they need jobs. But for those who are pursuing lawful means, as Spurgeon has well said, sometimes we can do more by doing less. Jesus himself said to his disciples, come apart and rest a while. If you're constantly serving people, you're constantly checking your email, you're constantly updating your whatever, you're constantly filing paperwork, your mind is going to snap. There is a civil application that the society would indeed benefit from. We are consumer-driven. The more time that stores are open, the more the bottom line is increased. What a terrible, terrible situation. We're driven to this madness because we reject God's holy law. The second place in terms of the use of the fourth commandment, the pedagogical use. Christ's or God's law shows us our sin. Does the fourth commandment find you out? It certainly has found me out. But that ought to press us to Christ. We ought to be thankful and grateful to our Lord Jesus that he fulfilled all righteousness, that he was the blessed Sabbath keeper, that he did what we do not do. The pedagogical use should drive us to the Lord of glory. That should not negate the normative use. The normative. We are, as God's justified people, obliged to pursue his law by the spirit to be sure. The confession highlights the appointment of the day in 22.7 and then speaks to the sanctification of the day in 22.8. Francis Turretin made this observation in his Institutes. He said, experience teaches too well that license and the negligence of sacred things grows more and more where a proper regard is not shown for the Lord's day. I don't know that we've come to grips with that. I mean, the church is good at denouncing sins associated with the Sixth and the Seventh Commandments, and we ought to be. Murder is terrible. Abortion is terrible. Adultery is terrible. Homosexuality is terrible. Brethren, why is Sabbath-breaking not terrible? Why is Sabbath-breaking okay? Why is it the case that that one, well, you know, it's just different. There was a preacher by the name of John Elias, and his particular tact was to find out the sin of a city and go and preach against it. Sabbath-breaking was often one that he preached against. He'd erect a pulpit in the middle of the city square and he'd start preaching against Sabbath-breaking to all the people in the city. You can probably imagine that was real popular. Everybody said, oh yeah, we're convicted, let us go to church. They probably did not. But listen again to what Turreton says, experience teaches too well that license and the negligence of sacred things grows more and more where a proper regard is not shown for the Lord's day. You know, growing up as a papist, we had 530 Mass on Saturday. Do you know why there was a 530 Mass on Saturday? I don't know that it was codified in any of their writings, but this is the way we oftentimes used 530 Mass, was to get it out of the way so that we had all of Sunday, you see. Now, Protestantism isn't too far behind that. There are Protestant churches that have Saturday evening services. Now, if they want to have that in addition to Sabbath services, great. I mean, I suggest Sabbath attendance. That's what we are commanded to do. But the no evening service idea. Again, it's going to sound like I'm binding everybody's conscience. Thou must be here all the time. But you know, it is a helpful way to sanctify the day. It's not the Lord's morning, it's not the Lord's evening, it's the Lord's day. And a morning and an evening service helps us to keep or sanctify the day. How many people treat Sunday as family day? That's pretty common today. What's our family day? You can't go to church, it's our family day. It's not family day, it's the Lord's day. John does not say, I was in the Spirit on family day. John says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. The fourth commandment does not speak to you having a family day. You've got six days of the week for family. And if we are honest, what better day for families than the Lord's Day? What better thing than to bring your family to the house of God? What better thing than to teach your children that God is most important? What better thing to teach your children that on the first day, that day belongs to the Lord? Brethren, as parents, you're going to do the best for your kids when you teach them that they're not the most important things in the world. They've already got that default setting. They already believe that. They already think the universe surrounds them. You need to wean them from that, and Lord's Day observance is quite helpful and quite an encouragement. No, it's God's Day. You come with us, and it's a blessing, and it's a joy, and it's a treat. That's the way that Christian parents ought to promote this in their home. It's not this drudgery, it's not this dullery, it's not this tragedy that we have to give up a day. No, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Brethren, our children learn by watching. Our children see by what we do. If we are unhappy, if we are miserable, if we are scowling all the way to church, or we can't wait till it's over, do you think they're going to grow up excited about the house of God? Do you think they're going to grow up saying, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord? Brethren, we ought to teach by example and to set it apart as family day is to misuse it. It is the Lord's day. Well, I hope that we have made some sense out of the commandment. Remember it. Observe it. Keep it holy. Don't do your normal work. Cease from those activities and enjoy the blessings that God has for those who call the Sabbath a delight. And it's in Christ, ultimately, that we have that rest. Remember in Matthew 11, what does he say? Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. It is through Christ that we have it. It's not just some external magic connected to the day. Well, Sunday I'm just going to get blessed. No, it's because we're in Jesus. Matthew 11 is where Jesus offers that. Matthew 11 is where Jesus says, I will give you rest. Did you remember just a little while ago? It was Matthew 12 that Jesus speaks concerning the Sabbath. It's Matthew 12 that then deals with Sabbath. There is a close connection posited by Matthew in terms of the one who gives rest and the one who upholds the command in Matthew chapter 12. So if you have not come to the one who saves, to the one who grants rest, to the one who makes the Sabbath itself a delight, then believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Well let us pray. Our Father we have covered much ground tonight and I pray that you would help us to see that this along with the other nine are the moral law of God Most High. Give us a good approach to such things. Cause us to see it as a blessing. Cause us to sanctify it. Cause us to remember it and to observe it. And to do so with great joy and with great thanksgiving. We ask that you would go with us now. We ask that you would watch over us. Cause your face to shine upon us. May your peace be ours and may you keep us, Lord God. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.