The Sabbath in the Law of Moses #1

Introduction to the Series and Review of the Sabbath at Creation

0:05 The following message was preached Sunday, July 12, 1998, to Emanuel Reform Baptist Church of Sea-Tac, Washington. The speaker is Pastor Robert Martin. This message is the fourth in a series of 24 titled, The Christian Sabbath. Some weeks ago, we began a brief series with the title, The Christian Sabbath.

0:32 Now, for the sake of a reminder to those of us who are regular attenders or members in this place, and for the sake of any visitors, the origin of this series derives from two things. First of all, not a few of the members and regular attenders expressed interest in having this subject addressed. But secondly, the doctrine of the Sabbath is addressed very plainly in the subordinate standards of our church. Our confession of faith has two very carefully worded paragraphs on the Sabbath in chapter 2.

1:10 And our church constitution in addressing the responsibilities of members speaks of, and here I quote, a proper reverence for and observance of the Lord's Day.

1:25 Now, given your expressed interest, the place that this subject has in our confession and constitution, we've taken up a brief series on this subject, and I hope that you come, as we return to these studies, I hope that you come with an... ...to know what the mind of God from the Scriptures is.

1:47 If you'll recall in our opening message, our concern is to answer the question, Is there a Christian Sabbath that we ought to observe as a matter of conscience before God? Does God require us to keep Sabbath one day in seven under the new covenant established by our Lord Jesus Christ? Now, our...

2:13 Our method of proceeding as we seek to answer these questions is to look first at the Sabbath as it was established at creation, then to turn to the Sabbath under the old covenant or the Mosaic covenant at Sinai, then to consider the Sabbath under the new covenant, and finally, at the end of the series, to bring together by way of the major application of this material, practical suggestions, on the proper observance of the Christian Sabbath. Now, thus far, in the preceding three messages, beginning with Jesus' words in Mark 2 and verse 27, the Sabbath was made for man. Beginning there, we made our way back to Genesis chapter 2, verses 1 through 3, where we examined the Bible's record of the establishment of the Sabbath day. There we saw that God established...

3:15 established the Sabbath as a special day, blessed and hallowed by the Lord at the very beginning, at the very dawn of the world's existence. Having created the heavens and the earth and all that in them is, the Lord, as His last creative act in that week of creation, created the Sabbath as an institution for man. And on the basis of that Genesis record, we've seen a number of things. First, we saw that God did more than merely bless and sanctify the seventh day of the creation week.

3:56 He indeed did that, but He did more. He established a cycle that man, as his image-bearer, was to imitate. A cycle of six days' labor, followed by one day of sacred rest. But then second, we saw that God created the Sabbath, to be a special, holy day.

4:20 A day different from the rest. Though God made the Sabbath for man, though the Sabbath belongs to God, it is to be used in a different way. Made for man, it yet belongs to God. And is to be used in the way of His appointment.

4:39 And then third, we saw that God created the Sabbath day to be a blessed day. A day blessed of the Lord. The Sabbath was never intended to be a burden, but rather a blessing. And it is indeed an institution blessed of the Lord to those who observe it, as we'll see in coming studies.

5:00 And then fourth, we saw that this text, Genesis 2, verses 1 through 3, by itself, if nothing else were to be found in all the scriptures on the subject, that this text by itself is a powerful argument for the perpetuity of the Sabbath. Especially when we consider the place in history where God established the Sabbath. God made the Sabbath, if you will recall, for man at a time when Adam had not yet fallen into sin. Adam was a perfect man, living in a perfect world, enjoying perfect fellowship with God.

5:42 And yet, in that perfect condition, God made the Sabbath for man. And yet, in that perfect condition, God made the Sabbath for man. Adam was to step aside from his ordinary labors every seven days to keep a day of holy rest. And on that day, he was to worship, he was to commune with God in ways that were not possible on the other six days.

6:06 And on that day, his soul and his body were to receive rest and refreshment. Now, the point that we came to in that study was to say that if such, a day was needful and appointed for Adam before the fall and before the curse, if it was a day of blessing to him, living in a perfect state in a perfect world, then how much more needful is the day for us who have sins to confess, whose labors are toiled, whose bodies are declining, whose souls need more communion with God than is possible for us, on the other six days. God's creation of the Sabbath for a perfect world shows us what a blessed day it is to those of us who live in an imperfect and a fallen world. And it ought to doubly convince us of the continuing validity of the day. Until we are, by God's grace, ushered into our heavenly Sabbath, we ought to treasure this day as a blessing of the Lord, meant to be a fortitude, a foretaste of that day when we shall indeed enter into His rest.

Evidence of the Sabbath Before Sinai

7:25 Now, last time, having taken up the establishment of the Sabbath at creation, we further moving along in the history of revelation, in the history of redemption, we ask the question, is there evidence that the Sabbath was known before Sinai? Not only Genesis 2, verses 1 through 3, which gives the record of its institution, but is there evidence that the Sabbath was known before Sinai? That is, before the Old Covenant, before the Mosaic Covenant, and before the Lord engraved the Fourth Commandment on tablets of stone as part of the Law of Moses. Was the Sabbath known before that time? And by way of examining Genesis 4 and verse 3, Exodus 16, verses 4 through 30, we saw that indeed, there is evidence that the Sabbath was known prior to Sinai, so that the assertion that the Sabbath is an institution introduced first at Sinai cannot be sustained by the evidence.

The Sabbath Under the Old Covenant: Setting the Framework

8:38 Now, today, we take up as the next step in the progress of revelation and in the progress of redemptive history one of the larger bodies of material of the Sabbath in the Scripture. And that is the subject of the Sabbath under the Old Covenant. We're going to come now to Sinai. We're going to come to the Mosaic or Old Covenant.

9:02 We're going to come to the Fourth Commandment engraved by the finger of God upon tablets of stone. We're going to come to those passages in the Law and in the Prophets which take this theme and expand it. The texts that fall into this segment of our study are almost equally divided between those appearing in the Book of the Law, that is, in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and those found in the Prophets. And as I've wrestled with how to present this material, how to do it in such a way that it doesn't become a jumble, what I'm going to do is to first today consider those passages that are found in the Book of the Law that will occupy our time morning and evening.

9:45 And then next Lord's Day, God willing, to return to take up the subject of the Sabbath in the Prophets. Then having seen the conversation, comprehensive witness of the Old Testament, only then to move to what the New Testament has to say on the subject. But now, as we come today to the Book of the Law, please keep two questions in mind. First of all, what do we see in these texts, that is, in the texts that are part of the revelation of the Mosaic Covenant, what do we see in these texts that is of a transcendent nature?

10:24 That is, what do we see that looks back from Sinai to the creation ordinance? And what do we see that looks forward, which transcends the covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai and gives direction to our thinking on the question of the nature of the Christian Sabbath or the Sabbath under the New Covenant? The first question, what is transcendent in nature and what we're going to see? What looks back to creation, to what God did in Genesis 2, and what looks forward to the Sabbath as we are to observe it under the New Covenant?

11:04 And then the corollary question, of course, is what is there in the Mosaic legislation concerning the Sabbath day which is temporary and no longer in effect? So, simple questions. What is it that is transcendent? What is enduring?

11:20 What goes beyond the boundaries of the Mosaic Covenant? And what is limited to those boundaries? What is temporary? What is perpetual or enduring?

The Confessional Framework for Understanding the Law of Moses

11:32 And the place to start, of course, is Exodus 20 with the fourth commandment. And here I ask that you turn with me in the Scriptures. The place to start is Exodus 20 with the ten commandments. But as you're turning and as we approach this text, I assume that the description of the law found in our confession of faith is accepted among us as an accurate description of the teaching of the Scriptures.

12:03 And here I would like to read just a couple of paragraphs out of our confession of faith. This is the framework within which everything that I'm going to say to you about the law of Moses and about the fourth commandment and about the Sabbath under the law of Moses is within this framework that I'm going to be approaching this material. In chapter 19 of our confession, the section of the law of God begins with the arrangement and the original dispensing of God's moral law. The first statement of the confession is God gave to Adam a law of universal obedience written in his heart.

12:39 The reference there is to the moral law, to the ten commandments. Paragraph 2. Paragraphs 2 through 4 pick up the Mosaic codification of God's moral law. Paragraph 2.

12:52 The same law that was first written in the heart of man continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall and was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai in ten commandments and written in two tables, the four first containing our duty towards God, the other six our duty towards man. The same law written upon Adam's heart before the fall was inscribed by the finger of God upon the tables of stone at Sinai. And then paragraph 3 says besides this law commonly called moral God was pleased to give to the people of Israel ceremonial laws containing several typical ordinances partly of worship prefiguring Christ his graces actions sufferings and benefits and partly holding forth diverse instructions of moral duties all which ceremonial laws being appointed only to the time of reformation are by Jesus Christ the true Messiah and only law giver who was furnished with power from the Father for that end abrogated and taken away. Ceremonial law by Christ abrogated taken away it has ceased. Then paragraph 4 to them that is to the nation of Israel at Sinai also he gave sundry judicial or civil laws which expired together

14:21 with the state of that people not obliging any now by virtue of that institution that is by virtue of the Mosaic Covenant their general equity only being of modern use. So our confession recognizes the threefold division of the law of Moses the moral law that same law written upon Adam's heart at creation the ceremonial law which has now been abrogated and taken away and the civil or judicial law of Israel also given at Sinai which has ceased with that nation. And then our confession goes on to speak of the perpetual authority and obligation of God's moral law and the obligation of God's moral law the moral law doth forever bind all as well justified persons as others to the obedience thereof and that not only in regard to the matter contained in it but also in respect of the authority of God the creator who gave it neither doth Christ in the gospel any way dissolve but much strengthen this obligation the train of thought in our confession reflecting we believe the teaching of the scriptures is that there was a law written upon Adam's heart a moral law also engraved upon tablets of stone at Sinai which is enduring doth forever bind all neither doth Christ in the gospel any way dissolve but much strengthen this obligation.

15:51 Now I'm not going to try to defend these statements for that I refer you to the messages on this chapter in the confession series. If you'll recall when we came through chapter 19 we spent quite a bit of time trying to understand the biblical basis for the statement that our confession makes on the subject of the law of God. So I'm not going to try to duplicate that here. But my purpose in reading these paragraphs is simply to underscore that what I will say to you today about the fourth commandment is set against the backdrop of the Bible's larger doctrine of the law.

16:31 As expressed in our confession of faith. It would not be possible in this brief series on the Sabbath to open up all that could and perhaps should be said in a fully comprehensive treatment on the subject of the law of God. For that I refer you to our confession of faith and refer you to the expositions of that chapter. Let's come now to two passages first Exodus 20 verses 8-11 and then the companion passage the so-called second giving of the law Deuteronomy 5 verses 12-15 First Exodus 20 verses 8-11 the record given of the fourth commandment engraved on tables of stone at Sinai.

Exposition of the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20 & Deuteronomy 5)

17:21 Here the Lord says remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work you nor your son nor your daughter your manservant nor your maidservant nor your cattle nor your stranger that is within your gates. For and here's an explanation given a word of confirmation a foundational perspective which is to govern their thinking for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested or Sabbath the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it or sanctified it or made it holy. Now leave your finger there we'll be returning back to this passage but now turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 5 verses 12-15 What is said at Sinai is confirmed to the next generation on the plains of Moab as they're preparing to enter into their inheritance and on that occasion there is the restating of the Ten Commandments the language is slightly different but the essence of what is revealed is the same the substance

18:50 is the same Deuteronomy 5 and verse 12 Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you six days shall you labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God in it you shall not do any work you nor your son nor your daughter nor your manservant nor your maidservant nor your ox nor your ass nor any of your cattle nor any stranger that is within your gates that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you and you shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt and Jehovah 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 now the commandment recorded in these verses is not as some say a temporary ceremonial law established at Sinai and then abolished with Christ fulfilling and abrogating the ceremonial law you will find that opinion repeated over and over and over in a certain body of literature on the subject of the Sabbath

20:20 that the fourth commandment is but a temporary ceremonial law established first at Sinai and abolished when Christ fulfilled and took away the ceremonial law but nothing could be further from the truth on the contrary the fourth commandment is a moral law written first at creation on the tablets of Adam's heart then written on tablets of stone by the finger of God at Sinai and in its being made part of the moral law of God the fourth commandment differs not one bit from the other nine commandments that make up the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments it differs not at all and we know that furthermore this duty as verse 11 of Exodus 20 shows was further confirmed at creation by the positive example and institution of God in blessing and sanctifying the Sabbath day it did not begin at Sinai nothing could be plainer on the surface of the scriptures that the Sabbath did not begin at Sinai and furthermore it is not part of the ceremonial law it is part

21:49 and partial it is woven into the moral law there is no fundamental difference when you read the Ten Commandments there is no fundamental difference between this commandment and the other nine commandments that are contained in the Decalogue I do not know how men can offer more hardship to a text than to insist that the fourth commandment is ceremonial and temporary while the other nine commandments are not are moral and perpetual I do not know how you can make a text more difficult to interpret than to put that burden upon it to place that construction or that interpretation upon it there is nothing in the text itself that indicates that we are to view this commandment differently from the other nine indeed there is clear warrant against doing that all ten commandments are moral requirements all have an abiding unchanging transcendent nature I have commended to you in the past the excellent work by Daniel Wilson entitled The Lord's Day Wilson a man of God from another generation the founder of the Lord's Day Observance Society commenting on this particular passage makes these observations he says now of these ten commands the law

23:18 of the Sabbath is one it's one of the ten the law the Bible does not speak of the nine words or the nine commandments it speaks of the ten commandments and Wilson says here is one of the ten whatever authority any have that is whatever authority any of the commandments found in the Decalogue have that authority is possessed by this one whatever obligation the first the second the third or any others carry with them the same obligation carries with it the fourth if men are bound in every age and under all dispensations to acknowledge only one God the first commandment to worship him not with graven images but in spirit and in truth the second commandment to reverence the divine name the third commandment to obey their parents the fifth commandment to abstain from murder the sixth adultery the seventh the fourth theft the eighth false witness the ninth covetousness the tenth if men in any age he says are bound in every age to do these things they are equally bound to consecrate a Sabbath to their maker's service after six days of ordinary labor and toil that's on the very surface of the passage

24:47 this proportion of time had been made known to man in paradise and exhibited in the very order of creation the natural and essential duty therefore of devoting some time to the worship of God being thus expounded by a revelation of what that time should be the whole stands as a moral and unchanging rule of man's obedience as the first command fixes the object of worship the second the means the third the reverential manner so the fourth commandment determines the time the only difference is that the other commands requiring no limitation of time were more obvious in all their parts to the consciences of men while this depended from the very nature of the case upon the revelation of God's will as to the exact proportion of time to be concentrated to his service the authority of that appointment however when once made known is as inviolable as any time of the others the fourth commandment is an integral part of the moral law now in examining the language of the fourth commandment note first of all and here I ask you to go back to Exodus 20 we will primarily be looking

The Sabbath's Continuity with Creation: Holiness and Rest

26:17 at this form of the fourth commandment but in examining the language of the fourth commandment note first of all that the Lord does not call the people to observe a commandment that he is just now establishing nor does he call them to remember that he hallowed the Sabbath day when he gave the manna out of heaven asking you to think back now to Exodus 16 in our last study together he doesn't ask them to observe a day that he has just been establishing he doesn't ask them to look back to Exodus 16 to the giving of the manna and what he had to say on the Sabbath on that occasion but he takes them back to creation and back to his instituting the Sabbath there that's the whole point of verse 11 for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the Sabbath day therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it the Lord does not speak in the fourth commandment of the Sabbath day as a new institution in commanding the Israelites to remember the Sabbath day the Lord is saying to them that under the terms of the covenant established at Sinai under the terms of the Mosaic covenant

27:45 at its heart the Sabbath was to remain what it was established to be at creation it's not something new it is to be part of the Mosaic covenant but at its heart it is to remain what God had established it to be at creation the Israelites are to remember to observe this special institution that God established at creation in other words they are to keep it in a way that corresponds to the nature of the day that God has created this is not a major blip in Israel's history it is indeed true they receive a new covenant but when it comes to the subject of the Sabbath they are not given something new as to the nature of the day they are to keep it holy that's the very first thing that the Lord says about their obligation remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy when we looked at Genesis 2 we saw that at creation the Lord made the Sabbath a special day a day different from the other six days of the week God blessed the Sabbath day he hallowed it is the language that is chosen to express what God did he

29:14 sanctified it he made the Sabbath day holy which according to the meaning of the word means that God separated the day from ordinary use he claimed the day as his own in a way in which he did not claim the other six days he claimed it as the Lord's day as his Sabbath as his property and he set it apart as his own for special use as he would appoint that's what it means that he hallowed the Sabbath he set it apart he made it different he claimed it as his own he made it the Lord's day he set it apart for a different use the other six days were days in which to labor and to toil and to do one's business and to pursue one's pleasures etc but on that day it was the Lord's day he hallowed it he set it apart he sanctified it it was his he made it for man but it was his to be used in a holy separate sanctified way now under the terms of the law of Moses this has not changed remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy the Lord says nothing has changed from the creation ordinance in that aspect it was made a holy day they are to remember to keep it

30:42 as a holy day but now note secondly that keeping the Sabbath holy keeping it in the way of God's appointment required that the Israelites rest from the ordinary labors of the other six days look again at the text remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work but the Sabbath day is a Sabbath unto the Lord thy God and then the example of the Lord's own resting for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and Sabbath or rested the seventh day therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it or made it holy well in keeping the Sabbath holy the Israelites had to rest from the ordinary labors of the other six days now that also carries over from the creation ordinance doesn't it that was the pattern of God's own Sabbath keeping and here at Sinai there is no difference on this point there is no difference in what is required under the fourth commandment given at Sinai and what was required in the creation ordinance and the example of God and as we saw when we examined

32:10 Genesis 2 this principle of rest lies at the very heart of the Sabbath ordinance it's embodied in the word Sabbath itself the word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat which means to rest in that nothing is changed it is still what God made it to be at creation it is a holy day it is a day of sacred rest from one's ordinary labors now it seems to me that the only thing found in the fourth commandment delivered at Sinai the only thing not already made explicit in the creation ordinance at Genesis 2 the only thing not explicit is the specific notice given to those in positions of authority and responsibility the specific notice given to them concerning the application of the fourth commandment to those under them that's the only thing now that is certainly implied in the creation ordinance but it wasn't explicit now it is a word is given concerning how parents are to regulate the conduct of their children on the Sabbath day direction is given concerning how masters are to regulate the conduct of their servants on the Sabbath day

Scope of Application: Authority and Responsibility

33:37 instruction is given to rulers how they are to regulate the conduct of the stranger within the gate instruction is even given to farmers how they are to use their draft animals the animals that serve them with their strength on the Sabbath day but that isn't a difference in substance it's only a difference addressing the scope of the law's application all else is as God established it at creation that's why we read that on the Sabbath day it is a Sabbath to the Lord your God in it you shall not do any work that is directed to every individual but now the words that follow are directed to those in positions of authority to those in positions of responsibility for those under them nor your son or your daughter there's a word to parents nor your maidservant there's a word to masters nor your cattle and in Deuteronomy 5 that's opened up even further more specification is given your ox your ass all of your cattle that's a word given to farmers who have draft animals who serve them nor your stranger that is within your gates the rulers of the land were to insist that those who were not Israelites who were present in their cities that they

35:07 keep the Sabbath day holy but now that's not a difference in substance it's only a difference showing the breadth of application of the law I would have you note especially and we'll come to this when we come to our segment on application in coming studies but I would have you note especially in that Deuteronomy 5 passage how this fourth commandment extends to servants that your manservant there the record reads that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you that your manservant and maidservant may rest as well as you and you shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt and that 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 now what's the point of that passage well the point is that the Israelites were to remember something they were to remember that once they were slaves and the remembrance of what it meant to be a slave to an

36:36 unfeeling master to remember what it meant to be a slave to a master who had no sensitivity to that slave's need for rest as well as the master's need for rest they were to remember all of the Sabbaths they did not have in Egypt because of the cruelty of their masters they were to remember and that remembrance was to move them to have pity on their own service on the Sabbath day they were not to require nor even permit them to serve them on the Sabbath day that the law says your man servant and your maid servant may rest as well as you the Sabbath was made for man and that included servants as well as masters at the end of this series when we come to glean principles from the text that we are examining and again there is part of me that wants to apologize that in this end of the series there is not going to be much application when we come to the end we are going to bring it all to bear in the segment dealing with practical suggestions for keeping the Sabbath but I at least want to say this much , I believe that we may legitimately say that this text shows us that the spirit of the day is violated by our allowing others to

38:04 serve us in such a way as to take away from them their right of the Sabbath more about that when we come to the final studies but now before closing this morning and we are only going to look at the fourth commandment as it is given in Exodus and Deuteronomy tonight when we return we are going to take up further expressions in the law of Moses and I would have you to look especially at Exodus 31 for there we will spend a good bit of our time and also Leviticus 19 verses 1-3 which in my judgment is the most crucial passage in all the law of Moses in dealing with the Christians obligation concerning the Sabbath day but before moving to these passages in the law of Moses as I close this morning I want you to closely follow what I have to say if the fourth commandment as given in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 if it is true that it is purely ceremonial we are not arguing that they are not in the law of Moses certain ceremonial elements to keeping the Sabbath we will come to that tonight but if the fourth commandment is purely ceremonial so that it has passed away with Christ setting aside the ceremonial law if that

Conclusion: The Moral and Perpetual Nature of the Sabbath

39:34 is true then from what we have seen this morning we must say that the creation ordinance which is the same with it in substance is purely ceremonial as well now I am not aware that anyone has been willing to defend that proposition there are many who will say oh the fourth commandment given at Sinai that is ceremonial it is done away but when you ask the question well it is the same in substance with the creation ordinance shall we declare the creation ordinance ceremonial I am not aware of any willing to defend that proposition and indeed it is indefensible for it is given long millennia before any form of ceremonial law was ever given to the people of God in a word the fourth commandment like the creation ordinance is a moral law binding on men and women in every age it is not a ceremonial law which had force only as long as the ceremonial system of the old covenant had divine sanction the fourth commandment written upon Adam's heart further confirmed by God's own example and institution at creation engraved in tables of

41:02 stone which as one writer has said will endure for as to indicate that it should endure forever that commandment is still binding on the people of God as a moral law of God and this our confession again makes plain I ask you to think on the words used to express the doctrine of the Sabbath in our confession of faith this is chapter 22 and verse paragraph 7 as it is a 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 God had particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy to him by a positive moral and perpetual commandment one day in seven to be kept as the Lord's day a day belonging to him a day holy a day of sacred rest from our labors that we might honor the Lord our God well tonight as we return we'll look

42:32 Exodus 31 verses 12 through 17 I ask that you give thought to these verses we'll look also at other texts we'll look at Exodus 34 and verse 21 to Numbers 28 verses 9 and 10 Leviticus 28 or 24 8 and 23 3 and then coming Leviticus 19 verses 1 through 3 but I ask that you come tonight with an open heart and an open mind again because when we finally come to that Leviticus 19 passage there we're going to find a declaration that transcends the Mosaic Covenant there we're going to read the words of the Lord that says you shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy and you read in those verses this afternoon Leviticus 19 verses 1 and 3 you read this afternoon the examples that God gives of what constitutes being holy as he is holy let us pray brother our father as we draw near again in this morning hour we ask that you would bless our efforts this day we pray Lord that you would seal the lessons that we've seen to our hearts we pray that you would make not only your gospel but your law precious to us and we pray that you would help us keep

44:01 this sabbath day holy we pray Lord that you would help us to honor you in the way of your appointment and we do thank you for this blessed day we ask that you would grant by your grace that it might be a delight and not a burden to us Lord we do thank you for your provision that you made the sabbath for man we pray that this day we might know all the blessings associated with your kind ordinance we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ who is Lord of the sabbath Amen