The Day Observed #1

The point: Take care that your practice of Sabbath observance is such that the word 'holy' legitimately applies to it.

The example of showbread in 1 Samuel 21:4 illustrates how God makes a moral distinction between things that are otherwise identical (the recipe for bread), making one 'holy' and requiring it to be treated differently from common bread.

That God has made a moral distinction a moral boundary between certain things that otherwise are alike that otherwise are the same thing that otherwise do not differ and in view of God's having made these distinctions man's duty is to observe these God made differences carefully and not to violate the boundaries that God has set up. Let me give you a couple of examples. First of all 1 Samuel 21 4 tells us that when God's David was fleeing from Saul he came to Ahimelech the priest and asked him for bread and on that occasion Ahimelech's response was this he said there is no common bread under m...

16:56 - 18:25 Read in full sermon

The point: Take care not to use the Sabbath day in ways not sanctioned or even condemned by God's word.

The account of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1-3 demonstrates the severe consequences of failing to observe God's distinctions between the holy and the common, emphasizing the need for scrupulous care in worship.

that otherwise did not differ between holy bread and common bread and in view of God's having made that distinction the Israelites duty was to observe this God made difference carefully not to violate the boundaries that God had set up now I ask that you turn to another passage of scripture this time please turn to Leviticus chapter 10 I want to show you another example of this that the term holy when we are told remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy well what is the what are the implications of that what does that have to do with us is it more than simply learning a Sabbath doctrine is it ...

22:17 - 23:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Take care not to use the Sabbath day in ways not sanctioned or even condemned by God's word.

The prohibition against priests drinking alcohol before entering the tabernacle (Leviticus 10:8-10) illustrates the need for clear-headedness to maintain God-made distinctions between holy and common, clean and unclean.

no strong drink when you go into the tent of meeting that you die not you are to take care to maintain the distinction between what is holy and common between what is unclean and clean now why were the priests forbidden to drink alcohol before entering into the house of God why were they forbidden from being under the influence of alcohol before entering into the tabernacle to take up their duties as priests they were not required by the law to be teetotalers they were not required by the law to abstain from all strong drink why then did God put a restriction on their ordinary liberty in this ...

25:15 - 26:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Keep your heart with all diligence, recognizing that all your actions spring from it.

Martin shares an anecdote about seminary professors revealing their true beliefs through the last point they presented, using it to highlight the importance of his fourth preliminary observation.

let's worship God in it let's do this let's don't do that here's the principles that apply but never come down to say what does that mean in terms of the things that we have been doing or that our neighbors are doing on the Sabbath day to stop short of coming to those particulars I believe is to miscarry the whole series all right now fourth and finally by way of preliminary observations this morning and here I think there's an issue that is the most important issue that I want to address with you today you can always tell when preachers or when lecturers come to the point that they think is m...

37:04 - 38:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Keep your heart with all diligence, recognizing that all your actions spring from it.

The example of bridling the tongue is used to illustrate that true obedience in any area of Christian duty begins with the heart and attitude, not merely with actions or intellectual understanding.

God in any area of our duty as Christians is to begin not with our actions but with our attitudes the real secret to doing the will of God in any area of Christian duty this area as well as any other is to begin with our attitude and not our actions for example we've been listening in our adult class to a series of messages on bridling the tongue a very practical subject well there are many injunctions given in the Bible to guide us in the holy use of our tongues many many principles many many injunctions many statements that need to be taken to heart if we are to have holy tongues and any eff...

38:34 - 40:03 Read in full sermon

The point: Endeavor to be well acquainted with your heart's leading principles and inward workings, and subject every imagination and affection to the word of God.

A quotation from George Lawson on Proverbs 4:23 emphasizes the need for watchful self-examination and ruling the heart to prevent it from becoming 'full of weeds' and 'exorbitant passions' contrary to God's will.

flesh always wanted to use the day for itself the remains of that anti Sabbath spirit are still here my question is are you watching your heart against it have you set a watch upon your heart against it that it not rise up that it not rule your affections that it not cause you to regard God's day as a drudgery and not a delight that's the argument that the flesh uses what a pain this is what a burden this is what a drudgery this is that's not the spirit of God that's the flesh George Lawson commenting on the words keep your heart with all diligence says quote that our hearts may be kept we mus...

48:05 - 49:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Endeavor to be well acquainted with your heart's leading principles and inward workings, and subject every imagination and affection to the word of God.

Lawson's analogy of a neglected garden becoming full of weeds is used to illustrate how a neglected soul will be filled with vain thoughts and passions if the heart is not diligently kept.

every inclination and affection a neglected garden will not be so full of weeds as a neglected soul of vain thoughts and exorbitant passions hateful to God and dangerous to our own happiness and peace endeavor to be well acquainted with the heart with its leading principles not generically but personally what principles what ideas rule your heart what explains your heart what explains your affections know thyself know thyself because until you know yourself you never have any success in ruling the heart and your heart will become like that garden of weeds filled up choked up of attitudes and o...

49:32 - 50:58 Read in full sermon

The point: If keeping the Sabbath is a burden, search your heart to know the reason why you do not delight in God's day as you should.

Martin recounts a brother's honest confession about not delighting in the Lord's Day, using it to underscore the common struggle and the need for heart-searching regarding Sabbath attitudes.

brethren if the thought of keeping the Sabbath day is a burden to us and not a delight it may indeed betray a heart that is full of weeds it may indeed betray a heart in which the affections are not rightly set upon our master please for the sake of your own best happiness please for the sake of the health of your own soul for the sake of the glory of your savior search your heart to know as Cecil says or as Lawson says if leading principles and inward working so that you will know the reason why you do not delight in God's day as you should it may now be a mystery one of you confessed to me s...

50:58 - 52:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Instead of asking 'what can't I do on the Lord's day?', ask 'what can I do on this day to derive the greatest blessing from it for my soul, for my loved ones, and for God's glory?'

Martin shares his personal story of giving up watching the Dallas Cowboys on Sundays, illustrating how a change in heart attitude transformed a perceived 'subtraction' into a 'blessed addition' in Sabbath keeping.

Lord's day that reveals more than we want to reveal but if indeed our hearts are full of the idea full of the truth God has made this day as a blessing for me then our thoughts are not going to be what can I do on this day but what can I do on this day to derive the greatest blessing from it for my soul for the souls of those that I love for the glory of my Father who graciously gave me this day as such a blessed day not what can I do but how can I best use the hours of the day to experience all that God has made the day to be and with that attitude in the heart with it fixed firmly in the hea...

57:01 - 58:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Order your heart with the remembrance that the Lord's day is a day of privilege and blessing, a day to honor your Master by doing His will.

A quotation from Matthew Henry on Psalm 118:24 highlights the idea that a rightly passed Sabbath is a foretaste of heaven and an expression of God's goodness, reinforcing the call to joyful observance.

a heart that's ruled by those thoughts what can't I do oh this is a burden that gives the flesh too much advantage but order the heart with the remembrance that the Lord's day is a day of privilege it's a day of blessing it's a day to honor my master by doing his will and the Sabbath will be a delight the best of all the seven a holy day to be kept a blessed day of great blessing it all begins with the heart now the words of Psalm 118 verse 24 the not limited to the Sabbath day surely teach us what our spirit ought to be the psalmist says this is the day that the Lord hath made let us rejoice ...

60:00 - 61:02 Read in full sermon