The Sabbath #2

In this part of the sermon: Martin opens with Mark 2:23-28, then laments the widespread secularization of Sunday in America, even among Christians, and poses the central question: Is there a biblical…

Describes how Sunday has become a day for recreation, sports, and family outings, leading to empty churches, illustrating the secularization of the Lord's Day.

Amen. you are quite well aware, tomorrow is America's fun day. The highways and the parks will be thronged, and your churches will become increasingly empty, at least the churches in America in general. For many, it's become the family day, the day to go out on a picnic, the day to visit relatives, increasingly a day to go on an extra vacation for the weekend, and especially camping. Sunday belongs to the New York Mets or the Baltimore Colts, or for

2:11 - 2:47 Read in full sermon

The point: If you believe that the Christian is not obliged to observe one day in seven, you ought to examine God's Word again.

Illustrates how many Christians attend church for an hour, then rush home to watch sports or read newspapers, showing a lack of commitment to Sabbath observance.

tell us that all days are alike to the Christian, and they encourage converts to do as they please on the first day of the week. The church has fallen into the habit of imitating the world, even in worship. Christians work on Sunday with very little urging from their employees. They go to church for an hour, and then they rush home to join the world in its special delights of the day. And as soon as they can get the best clothes off, they settle into

3:58 - 4:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He addresses the first common argument that the Old Testament Sabbath was a ceremony fulfilled in Christ. Martin counters by tracing the Sabbath's institution to creation in…

Compares modern individuals who criticize how others spend Sunday to the Pharisees who condemned Jesus for picking corn, highlighting a legalistic spirit.

The context of these verses, of course, is a meeting between Jesus Christ and the Pharisees. And perhaps you have met modern counterparts of the Pharisees, people who spend their Sabbath days looking at how other men spend theirs and commenting upon it. Some of their Sabbath days are the Sabbath of the Pharisees. Some of their descendants of these Pharisees would be shocked that Jesus even walked through fields of corn on the Sabbath.

7:06 - 7:34 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He addresses the first common argument that the Old Testament Sabbath was a ceremony fulfilled in Christ. Martin counters by tracing the Sabbath's institution to creation in…

Explains that while days, months, and years have astronomical reasons, the seven-day week does not, illustrating its divine imposition from creation.

And it's interesting that man has always had a sense of the cycle of time called a week. We can explain the day. There are astronomical reasons for saying that a day should be 24 hours. There are astronomical reasons for stating what a month is.

9:43 - 9:59 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Because time is the place that Satan starts to erode your devotion to God.

Uses the common struggle for daily devotional time to illustrate how Satan first attacks man's worship of God by taking away time, explaining why God gave such length to the Sabbath commandment.

And Satan starts to attack man's worship of God with time. You ought to know that if you've struggled to have a daily devotional time. What's the first thing that Satan does? He takes away the time.

20:22 - 20:34 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Because time is the place that Satan starts to erode your devotion to God.

Compares the conscience's reaction to adultery (screaming) versus spending the Sabbath in fun and games (no murmur), illustrating why God gave such detailed instruction for the Sabbath.

Conscience is prone to slight discommandment, and so God gives great length to it. If you commit adultery, your conscience will scream at you. But if you spend the day in fun and games, the Sabbath day, you're likely to have no murmur from your conscience. And so God goes to great length to say, you think the Sabbath is a small thing, but I don't think it's a small thing.

21:00 - 21:20 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin addresses the argument of New Testament silence, pointing to Jesus' statements about being 'Lord of the Sabbath' (Matthew 12:8) and especially Hebrews 4:9, which he…

Uses the example of priests working harder on the Sabbath in the temple, yet being blameless, to illustrate that service to God (and Christ) on the Sabbath is legitimate and even commanded.

The priests work harder than any other time, just like your preacher. That's the hardest day in the week for the priest. He had to receive all the sacrifices and offer them. He sweat on that day.

23:40 - 23:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Parents ought to labor to teach your children that it's a delightful day. You ought to labor to read good books to them, to talk to them, to walk with them, walk through the fields with them. Tell them about the God of c…

Illustrates the world's inability to understand how a day of preaching, Bible reading, and prayer can be enjoyable, highlighting the spiritual nature of Sabbath delight.

You people are an anomaly. How you could come up here to spend a whole week listening to preaching if the world doesn't understand? And they don't understand how the Sabbath can be a delight. But it was made for man.

35:42 - 35:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Your attitude ought to be, sorry, I don't want to miss church. That's the day that I spend with the best people on earth. That's the day that I spend drawing near to God. That's the day that I give my mind to the things …

Presents a scenario where a believer chooses church over a football game, illustrating the proper attitude of delight in God's house and worship on the Sabbath.

Somebody comes and says, how about going to a football game next Sunday?

36:11 - 36:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Stop picking specks of lint off your brother's Sunday suit and look to the Lord for a day of delight. If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you need a day. And it will be a blessing for you.

Compares asking about a native in Africa when told to believe the Gospel to asking about others' Sabbath obligations when told to keep it holy, illustrating how people deflect personal responsibility.

You may have some intellectual problem with isolated decisions that you have to make. You know, some of the questions that people bring up are really not germane to themselves. When you speak to people about the Sabbath, you start getting questions like you get from people when you start telling them the Gospel. You start telling a man it's your duty to believe and repent.

37:15 - 37:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Stop picking specks of lint off your brother's Sunday suit and look to the Lord for a day of delight. If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you need a day. And it will be a blessing for you.

Describes the overwhelming business of Monday through Saturday in America, with loaded calendars and endless plans, to illustrate the desperate need for a dedicated day to seek God.

Monday to Saturday are filled with more business than you can handle. The calendar is loaded with social appointments. So many plans for your career and your family and your recreation. You can't possibly do them all.

38:06 - 38:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Can you separate a day from common use and devote it to God while you're writing a paper that's due on Monday? Can you breathe after the Lord and seek Him and fellowship with Him while you're writing about history? Can y…

Compares a teenager's desire to spend time with a date, not doing homework, to the Christian's delight in spending the Sabbath with God, illustrating the heart's bent towards what it delights in.

I haven't ever heard any teenagers saying to their boyfriend when they go out on a date, do you mind if I write a paper tonight on history that's due on Monday? That's a time of delight. They want to be with that person. They want to spend time with them.

42:20 - 42:31 Read in full sermon