The Day Observed #6

Driving home: The negative aspect of Sabbath duty, taking a due care of avoiding what is prohibited, is not an end in itself. And it was never meant to be an end in itself. It was meant to be a necessary means for clearing the hours, …

Martin quotes Puritan Thomas Case, who uses Isaiah 1:16-17 to explain that all commandments have both negative ('cease to do evil') and positive ('learn to do good') aspects, emphasizing that merely ceasing from prohibited activities is insufficient for true Sabbath keeping.

We must regard the positive as well as the negative aspect of Sabbath duty. The Puritan Thomas Case rightly observes, he says, This is a rule which holds in the exposition of all the commandments of the law and of the gospel. And the rule is this. Cease to do.

4:27 - 4:49 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The negative aspect of Sabbath duty, taking a due care of avoiding what is prohibited, is not an end in itself. And it was never meant to be an end in itself. It was meant to be a necessary means for clearing the hours, …

Thomas Case's example of a man who lies in bed all day, avoiding work but not actively worshipping, illustrates that merely observing the negative aspect of the Sabbath (resting) without the positive (consecrating to holy uses) does not fulfill God's command.

If you take away the positive, you destroy the usefulness of the negative. He says, It is impossible to do what is commanded without due care of avoiding what is prohibited. And then on the other side he says, Neither can that man, rationally pretend to keep the Sabbath that lieth a bed all day because he doth not work. He's taken the negative because that's all he does.

5:33 - 5:59 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Owen says the worship of God is that which we are made for as to our station in this world. God created us to worship Him. It is the means and condition of our enjoyment of God and glory wherein consists the ultimate end…

Martin quotes John Owen's commentary on Hebrews, where Owen argues that the law of nature requires setting apart time for solemn worship, a principle universally recognized by humanity and inseparably included in the law of the Sabbath.

We can turn on almost any page of the scriptures or to almost any writer in the scriptures and come away with the distinct clear unequivocal importance that it is the duty of all men and especially of God's people to worship the one true and living God. That duty can be established two ways. It can be established from what the old writers called the law of nature and it can be established from the testimony of scripture. John Owen in his commentary on Hebrews is speaking of the witness of the law of nature or the law of creation.

11:53 - 12:33 Read in full sermon

The point: Use the Sabbath day for meditating on the works of God, reflecting on His creation and redemption.

Martin uses Exodus 31:17, which states God 'rested and was refreshed' after creation, to illustrate that God was refreshed by meditating on His own works, providing a model for believers to find refreshment in reflecting on God's works on the Sabbath.

please turn there with me in speaking of the Sabbath as a sign between God and the children of Israel this statement follows Exodus 31 in verse 17 for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed now how did God refresh himself on his Sabbath he wasn't physically tired he didn't need

35:58 - 36:43 Read in full sermon

The point: Take your children and direct their attention to God's creation, teaching them to behold what God has made.

Martin suggests taking children to observe a flower or a newborn, not just for its beauty, but to direct their attention to God as the Creator, making meditation on creation a legitimate Sabbath activity.

the fingerprints of the character of the living God to see his wisdom to see his mercy to see his knowledge to see his power to see his goodness in the things that he has made and though I do not believe that we ought to turn the Lord's day into hiking day or turn it into a day of outdoor recreation one of the best things perhaps we can do with some portion of the day is to step aside for a moment and simply open our eyes and look at the things that God has made

38:11 - 38:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Take your children and direct their attention to God's creation, teaching them to behold what God has made.

Martin quotes Daniel Wilson's 'The Lord's Day,' emphasizing that how believers fill the intervals between public worship services is crucial. Filling them with worldly activities destroys the fruit of worship, while filling them with prayer and meditation strengthens it.

great and marvelous are thy works the people of God will forever be remembering and meditating and having their souls refreshed by the sight of the works of their God and brethren the importance of using portions of the Lord's day for personal devotional exercises the importance of that can't be overestimated in his classic work entitled the Lord's day Daniel Wilson rightly observes and here I quote more depends on the intervals between the public exercises of the Lord's day than we may at first imagine

42:34 - 43:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Beyond public worship, Martin stresses the importance of private worship on the Sabbath, highlighting the unique opportunity for sustained, guilt-free communion with God through…

Daniel Wilson's metaphor describes private devotional seasons on the Lord's Day as 'the cement' that binds together the separate materials of the sacred day, highlighting their essential role in making public worship profitable and lasting.

these intervals be duly occupied with earnest prayer examination of the heart communion or fellowship with God meditation intercession for children family friends reflections on the public instruction we have received and all will assume another complexion altogether how we fill the hours between the services of public worship is just as important as having those hours of public worship and instruction all of the taste we'll have for what is public will be formed in private Wilson goes on to say that our

44:02 - 44:46 Read in full sermon