The Sabbath in the Prophets #2

Review of the Sabbath's Establishment and Pre-Sinai Recognition

0:04 The following message was preached Sunday, July 19, 1998, to Emanuel Reform Baptist Church of Sea-Tac, Washington. The speaker is Pastor Robert Martin. This message is the seventh in a series of twenty-four titled, The Christian Sabbath.

0:23 Tonight I had thought to begin precisely where we left this morning, but I see a couple of faces I have not seen before, and recognizing that it is often difficult to come into the middle of a series and not to know what has gone before, perhaps it would be helpful to take but a few minutes to review where we are in our series on the Christian Sabbath.

0:49 In quick review, we began by considering the establishment of the Sabbath day at creation. We went back to Genesis chapter 2 and saw there the example of the Lord Himself. How that as His last creative act, He sanctified, He hallowed, He set apart the Sabbath day, and He blessed it as His own.

1:16 Then we moved forward in the body of revelation and considered the question, is there evidence that the Sabbath was acknowledged and recognized prior to Sinai, prior to the giving of the Mosaic Law? We saw that indeed in at least two places. In Genesis 4 and in Exodus 16, that indeed there is evidence that the Sabbath as an institution was known prior to Sinai and the giving of the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone.

1:50 And from that we deduced, as we did from the Genesis 2 passage, that any affirmation that the Sabbath begins at Sinai simply cannot be sustained by the evidence found in the Scriptures. And then last, Lord, Today, moving to the book of the law, we considered first, in the Ten Commandments, the Fourth Commandment. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

2:18 And we followed through in how the Fourth Commandment is given. We saw that there the Lord directs the people's mind back to creation, back to the example that He established there. And that in the law, in the giving of the Fourth Commandment, there was really fundamentally nothing not already contained in that creation ordinance. There were other texts in the book of the law where there is further refinement, more specification.

2:50 There's expansion of what we find in the Fourth Commandment. In some of those things we saw that indeed there was a temporary element. There was something that did pass away with the law of Moses. But we saw that there was a temporary element.

3:02 We saw much that takes us back to creation or much that was of enduring quality that transcends the law of Moses and indeed will guide us and help us to understand how we ought to observe the Lord's Day, the Christian Sabbath, under the New Covenant.

The Prophets' Backward Look: Jeremiah and Ezekiel on Sabbath Profanation

3:22 Now this morning we began to take up the Sabbath as it appears in the writings of the prophets. And as I indicated to you this morning, that in the prophets we find that they look two ways. They looked backward. They looked to the history of the nation of Israel and Judah.

3:46 They looked especially at how there was this long history of profaning the Sabbath. And we saw how they denounced that profanation of the Sabbath and spoke of the judgments of God that came upon the nation because of it. And then likewise the prophets, and God willing next Lord's Day we'll begin to see this. The prophets also looked forward.

4:14 They looked forward beyond the present crisis and looked to the coming of the age of Messiah. And they saw in association with the age of Messiah the Sabbath day prominently as part of that picture.

4:31 Now this morning we took up first of all the backward look of the prophets. And we saw that in looking backwards, in particular Jeremiah and Ezekiel, that these prophets looked backwards for the sole purpose of speaking to their own generations.

4:51 We saw that several years before the captivity, and here if you'll turn to Jeremiah 17, perhaps it would be helpful just to summarize the passages, to look briefly at them again. But we saw that several years before the captivity, that Jeremiah was commanded to go and stand in the, in the gates of Jerusalem, there to remind the people of what their fathers had done on this issue of the fourth commandment of keeping the Sabbath holy. And he stands there to warn that generation not to imitate the Sabbath breaking of their fathers.

5:32 He tells them, beginning in verse 24, it shall come to pass, if you diligently hearken to me, says the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of, this city on the Sabbath day, but to hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein. Then there shall enter in by the gates of this city, kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city shall remain forever,

6:06 though they are on the very brink of the judgment. Yet the Lord in His longsuffering says to them, if you will keep my Sabbath, I will not bring upon you all the judgments that your fathers' sins have deserved.

6:25 But He warns them, that if they will not hearken, verse 27, to hallow the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

6:49 Jeremiah is commanded to go stand in the gates of the city,

6:54 and there to reason with his brethren, to reason with the generation in which he lived, to say to them that if you turn away from the example of your fathers, there will yet be days of blessing for you. This city will remain forever.

7:14 Those who sit upon the throne of David will continue. But if you will not, I will kindle a fire in, in these very gates, that will burn all the palaces, and consume this city, and it shall be an unquenchable fire.

7:31 Now we further considered statements made in the prophecy of Ezekiel, in Ezekiel chapter 20.

7:40 And here we find some ten years later, from the time that Jeremiah stood in the gates, it is now the seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah. Ezekiel was carried away with Jehoiachin. The elders, the rulers of the nation were carried away at the same time, and for seven years they have been languishing there in Babylon.

8:09 There have been false prophets who have told them, all this will be but a brief time, you will be going home. Jeremiah has written to them from Judah, saying, Do not believe them.

8:26 Buy houses. Have children. Pray for the prosperity of the city in which you live. You are going to be there for seventy years.

8:37 And these elders have come to Ezekiel, and they have come to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord says to them through His servant, As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you.

8:56 And then Ezekiel goes on to speak again of the long history, the history of the rebellion of the sons of Jacob. And he speaks again of their idolatry, and he speaks again of their profaning the Lord's Sabbath. And he tells them that because they have worshipped the gods of wood and stone, because they have worshipped the abominations of the nations, because they have profaned His Sabbath, that He will not be inquired of by them.

9:32 He will not hear. He will not hear their prayers. He will not answer their pleas to be restored to the land and to be restored to their homes. He will not hear because they would not hear Him.

9:45 All that Jeremiah had said standing in the gate had been received with a deaf ear.

9:52 These very men had continued their rebellion. God had carried them away into captivity. They yet continued their rebellion.

10:02 And Ezekiel says at the end of that chapter that, that they are as those who say of me, is he not a speaker of parables? All that they've heard, all that they've seen, and they still do not understand.

10:21 And then we saw in chapter 22, there beginning in verse 23, we saw that there is a condemnation leveled against the prophets, against the priests, and against the princes,

10:40 those who should have been building the wall, those who should have been standing in the gap, those who should have been calling upon the people to repent of their sins, especially to repent of their Sabbath breaking. They were not doing so.

10:59 The prophets were not denouncing the sins of the people as their duty was to do. The priests were not distinguishing between the common and the holy. And the princes were not restraining evil in the land. And to a large degree, the judgment that came upon the nation was to be traced to their dereliction of duty.

Application 1: Sabbath Practice as a Revealer of the Heart

11:26 Now, in summary fashion, that's what we saw in these passages this morning. And we took up one line of application. And that first line of application was simply this, that in some cases, one's attitude toward the fourth commandment is to be a believer. And that's what we saw.

11:47 And that's what we saw. Still a revealer of one's relation to the Lord and to His will.

11:54 We saw that in the case of the old covenant Israelites, their Sabbath breaking, that alone by itself reflected the defection of their hearts from the Lord.

12:05 It wasn't a casual matter. It wasn't a matter of lesser importance than the other nine commandments. In profaning the Sabbath, they plainly showed that their hearts were not right before God. And then we asked, what is the case of those of us who claim to be God's people not according to the terms of the old covenant, but according to the terms of the new?

12:34 What does our Sabbath practice reveal about the state of our hearts before the Lord?

12:41 And I said to you that my concern was not with those who were basically ignorant of the Bible's teaching about the Sabbath.

12:50 There are myriads, I acknowledge that, there are myriads of genuine Christians who, who as yet haven't seen the implications of the text that we are examining in this series, whose teachers and whose traditions have told them that the Sabbath has nothing to do with them, and who have a clear conscience, who do many things on the Lord's day that are in fact improper uses of the day. But my concern is not with those. My concern this morning was to address those who claim to understand the issues, who claim to understand the Scriptures, who claim to subscribe to Sabbatarian confessions of faith like our own.

13:38 We say that we understand. We say that our confession of faith faithfully represents the teaching of the Bible on this issue. We say that we are committed to keeping the Sabbath holy.

13:54 Yet I ask the question, could it in fact be that for all of our profession that we do in fact, make our necks stiff as the Israelites did? And we'll not hear instruction on this issue.

Application 2: Beware of No Substantial Change in Sabbath Practice

14:13 Well, we come tonight to four more applications coming out of these texts in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The second application today is this. Perhaps some of us ought to beware if coming out of this series of messages on the Christian Sabbath, perhaps some of us ought to beware if coming out of this series there is no substantial change in our Sabbath practices by virtue of the things that we're hearing.

14:51 Perhaps some of us ought to beware if coming out of this series of studies there is no substantial change arising out of the things that we're hearing. You see, that was the tragic error of the generation to which Jeremiah, and I suggest to you, brethren, it may still be a costly thing to do.

15:17 Please turn with me to Psalm 106.

15:21 In this psalm, the psalmist reflects on God's dealing with the generation that experienced the redemption from Egypt that were delivered by God's mighty power from the hand of Pharaoh.

15:36 And he tells us, the psalmist tells us, that when God miraculously led them through the sea, when He saved them from their enemies, then, verse 12, he says, believed they His words, they sang His praise. At the time of the deliverance, they believed the words of the Lord. At that time, they sang His praises.

16:01 And yet, notwithstanding all that the Lord had done for them in redeeming them, notwithstanding the impression that was made on them in the short term, the psalmist says in verses 13 and 14, they soon forgot His words. They waited not for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert.

16:30 In other words, the psalmist says they forgot all that God had done for them. They ceased to take careful heed to His word. They ceased to wait upon the guidance of the Lord. And their hearts went out after the things of this world.

16:47 And in them, they greatly tempted the Lord.

16:55 And the Lord's response was quite remarkable. For the Lord gave them exactly what they wanted.

17:03 Yet the cost was dear. The cost was high. Look at verse 15. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.

17:20 God gave them what they wanted, but what a price.

17:26 Now, I ask, is it possible that some of you have forgotten the wonderful, miraculous deliverance which God wrought in your case?

17:40 Is it possible that you have forgotten the glory of being rescued from your sins?

17:47 Have you become careless about the Word of God? Even rebellious against the Word of God and the path that it marks out for your life?

17:58 Has the day come when your heart is too much longing after the things of this world? So much so, that the Sabbath is now a burden to you?

18:13 In these things, we greatly tempt the Lord if that's the case. If we've forgotten the remarkable mercies of God,

18:22 if our hearts have grown cold and rebellious toward His Word, if our hearts are running after the things of this world, lusting exceedingly after the things of this world,

18:36 in these things, we greatly tempt the Lord.

18:40 But beware, the price can be very costly.

18:46 The Lord may give us the Sabbath-less Christianity that we lust after, but it comes with leanness of soul.

18:56 We may get exactly what we desire, but the price will be too high.

19:04 The price is going to be a cold heart.

19:08 The price is going to be a distant God. The price is going to be a faith that is weak.

19:19 The price is going to be a walk that is halting.

19:25 The price is going to be a leanness of soul. He may give us what we want.

19:32 He may give us a Sabbath-less Christianity. The price will be too high. The price will be leanness of soul.

19:44 Or perhaps, brethren, perhaps the price will be children who believe that Christianity and hypocrisy are one and the same thing.

19:56 Having heard us say one thing about the Lord's Day,

20:01 having seen us confess belief in the Scriptures,

20:05 having heard us confess commitment to our confession of faith and to our church constitution, having heard the words of the covenant which we spoke when we were received into the church,

20:18 do our children now see us doing something else? Oh, it's true. In the end, we may get to do as we please on the Sabbath day.

20:32 We may get to do our own pleasures, pursue our own goals.

20:38 It is true, in the end, we may get these things. But at what price?

20:43 At the price of our children's souls?

20:46 At the price of being hypocrites in their eyes? Oh, brethren, the price is too high.

20:56 Perhaps the price will be a grieved spirit in this place. In Ephesians 4, where Paul warns us to grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. In that place, he gives examples. He gives examples of the kinds of things to be avoided.

21:12 Things to be avoided, lest indeed the Spirit be grieved with our conduct and He be turned to be our enemy.

21:21 And in that text in Ephesians 4, prominent among the things cited that grieve the Spirit are violations of the commandments of God. Paul makes reference to sin for wrath, a violation of the sixth commandment. He makes reference to stealing, a violation of the eighth commandment. He makes reference to lying, a violation of the ninth commandment.

21:49 His list isn't exhaustive. He doesn't cite all ten of the commandments of the Lord.

21:56 But he gives us enough to know that violations of God's law are grieving to the Spirit of God.

22:04 We may indeed get a Sabbath-less Christianity. We may indeed get a Christianity where the fourth commandment is not known nor loved. But at what cost? At the price of a grieved spirit?

22:19 At the price of a powerless religion?

22:23 Oh, brethren, the price is too high.

22:28 Perhaps some of us ought to beware. If coming out of this series there is no substantial change in our Sabbath practices, by virtue of the things that we're hearing, the price may indeed be too high.

Application 3: Unanswered Prayer and Disregard for God's Law

22:44 But now third, by way of application tonight, could it be that at least part of the world, part of the reason of God's turning a deaf ear to our prayers in some things, is because we have turned our ears away from God speaking to us in His Word on this issue?

23:10 I ask you to soberly reflect and ask yourself the question, could it be that at least part of the reason of God's turning what appears to be a deaf ear to our prayers in some things, is because that we have turned our ears away from God speaking to us in His Word on this issue? That was the issue in Ezekiel 20.

23:40 The elders of Judah came and inquired of Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord. And he says, I will not be inquired of by you.

23:51 And the reason was because of their transgression on this very issue.

23:57 God willing, next Lord's Day morning we will continue. We will examine a pivotal text in the Prophets at Isaiah 58 verses 13 and 14. But I ask that you turn with me now to that passage. We'll merely read the passage.

24:13 Take note of its larger context. It isn't possible to open up every phrase in the larger context. But notice General Tenor. Beginning in verse 1 of chapter 58.

24:30 Isaiah is commanded to declare to the house of Jacob, their sins.

24:38 Cry aloud. Spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their transgression.

24:47 And to the house of Jacob, their sins.

24:52 One would get the impression from this opening verse that this is a pagan people, a heathen people. That there's no religion among them. But that would be a false impression. These are not a religion-less people.

25:09 These are people who go through certain, they have certain forms. They have certain rituals.

25:16 They seek God's face daily. And they do so with the expectation of being heard as though they were a godly people. Look at verse 2. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God.

25:37 They ask of me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to God. They were not an irreligious people. They were a people who indeed prayed to Him daily.

25:50 They were a people who came to Him as though they were a godly people with expectation of being heard of Him.

25:59 But God does not regard their prayers with His favor. And that's a great mystery to them. They don't understand. The opening words of verse 3.

26:10 Why have we fasted, they say, and you see not? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you take? No knowledge. They don't understand.

26:24 Not only have they prayed, they've fasted. They've afflicted their souls, and yet the heavens are as brass. It's as though God does not hear them. It's as though God will not hear them.

26:37 And they don't understand. It's a great mystery to them.

26:42 And the Lord responds to them. He responds to their confusion, and He informs them that in fact all of their religion is mere formalism. It's mere form. There's no heart to it.

26:55 There's no substance to it.

26:59 The reference found in verses 3 through 7, the reference found to the fast day apparently is a reference to the Sabbath day. That seems clear when we come down to verses 13 and 14. But the Lord tells them on this occasion, your Sabbath fasts are a mockery part of the day. You engage in a fasting ritual which has the outward appearance, the appearance of great devotion to the Lord.

27:29 Yet you use the rest of the day to find your own pleasures and to engage in your callings. Part of the day you go through a religious ritual. The rest of the day you engage in your pleasures, your entertainments. And you pursue your callings.

27:50 It seems that the present scene is not the only time in history that we see what we see today. But that was reality.

27:59 And the Lord protests to them. That this is not the Sabbath. This is not the Sabbath fast that He had commanded.

28:08 In fact, not only are they to desist from their pleasures and callings, to rest from their pleasures and rest from their labors, but they are positively to use the day to engage in works of mercy.

28:23 And no religious ritual performed during part of the day can make up for their disregard for the law of God in the rest of the day. They have deceived themselves. No ritual, no afflicting their souls, no putting ashes upon their head and dressing themselves in sackcloth and going through the ritual of fasting part of the day can excuse their engaging in their pleasures and engaging in their labors during the rest of the day. That is not the Sabbath that God had commanded.

28:59 That was not the fast that He had commanded. No religious ritual in part of the day could make up for their disregard for God's law in these things. Look at verse 3. Again, the middle of the verse.

29:12 The Lord responds. They are confused. We have fasted. You see not.

29:18 We have afflicted our soul. You take no knowledge. Now hear the response of the Lord. Behold, in the day of your fast, you find your own pleasure and exact all your labors.

29:30 Behold, you fast for strife and contention and to smite with the fist, the wickedness you fast. You fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high. You wonder why I don't answer your prayers.

29:44 You fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I have chosen the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast and acceptable day to the Lord?

30:04 Is not this the fast that I have chosen to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke? Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house when you see the naked that you cover him and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?

30:34 They were to use the rest of the day. Ah, but not for their pleasures. Not for their labors. Their rituals could not excuse that.

30:44 They were to use the rest of the day for works of mercy. For those purposes for which God had appointed the day. And the Lord says to them, Do these things. Honor me on my day.

30:59 Keep it holy in the ways that I have commanded you and you will know my blessing and I will hear your prayers.

31:08 Consider verses 8 through 14. Then shall your...

31:12 Your light break forth as the morning and your healing shall spring forth speedily and your righteousness shall go before you. The glory of the Lord shall be your rearward. Then you shall call and the Lord will answer. You shall cry and He will say, Here I am.

31:30 If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger and speaking wickedly, and if you draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall your light rise in darkness and your obscurity be the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in dry places and make strong your bones and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of these shall build the old waste places. You shall raise up the foundations of many generations.

32:06 You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. If you turn away, be your foot from the Sabbath from doing your pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy of the Lord honorable and shall honor it not doing your own ways nor finding your own pleasure nor speaking your own words. Then shall you delight yourself in the Lord and I will make you to ride upon the high places of the earth and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

32:44 You want to know why I do not hear? It is because you are playing games with God.

32:52 And for all of your ritual, you are still violating my law. But if you will do what I tell you to do, if you will turn away from your own pleasures and your own works on my holy day, then I will bless you and I will bless you richly and I will hear you. You will cry to me and I will say, Here I am.

33:16 The reason your prayers are not answered, Isaiah declares, is not because of your own pleasure. It is not because the Lord is powerless. It is not because the Lord is death. It is because you walk contrary to His will as revealed in His law.

33:33 You know, very often in our English Bibles, the chapter divisions are very unfortunate. And here we find one such example. The opening verses of chapter 59 are part of the continual flow of this chapter 58. And after telling them to turn away their foot from doing good, to turn away their foot from doing good, to turn away their foot from doing good, to turn away their foot from doing good, to turn away their foot from doing good, to turn away their foot from doing good, to turn away their foot from doing good, to turn away their own pleasure on His holy day.

33:54 Listen to verses 1 and 2. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that He cannot say. The issue is not that God is powerless to answer your prayers. Neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear.

34:07 The issue is not that God is death. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid His face from you so that He will not hear.

34:23 He would not hear their prayers. Why? Because they would not hear the fourth commandment.

34:32 They would not hear Him.

34:35 So He would not hear them.

34:38 Now the testimony, brethren, of the Bible on this one point is so plain that we must not miss it. In Psalm 66 and verse 18, and here I'll simply read a number of passages. In Psalm 66 and verse 18 we read these words. Here the psalmist says, If I regard iniquity in my heart, if I treasure it in my heart, if I look upon it as a desirable thing, the Lord will not hear.

35:14 The state of my heart towards the law of God will determine whether God hears my prayers. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

35:27 In Proverbs 28, Proverbs 28 and verse 9, we find a similar statement.

35:37 Here we read these words. He that turns on, away his ear from hearing the law. Even his prayer is an abomination.

35:49 What is it that makes a man's prayer an abomination in the sight of God? Well, one very clear thing is turn your ear away from hearing the law of God.

35:59 Any one of God's laws. Set it apart and say, that has nothing to do with me.

36:05 It does not address me. It is not my duty.

36:11 Think not in that frame of heart that indeed God will hear your prayers. The Bible says such a prayer is an abomination in His sight. Isaiah chapter 1, verses 15 and following. He's already charged them with the hypocrisy of their formalism.

36:30 And we read in verse 15, When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash you.

36:46 Make you clean. Wash you. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.

36:51 Learn to do well. You want your prayers to be heard? Cleanse your hands of your sins. Cease to do evil.

37:02 Learn to do well. And I will no longer turn my ear away from hearing you. In the prophecy of Micah, Micah chapter 3 and verse 4, here we have a portion in which the prophet is denouncing the sins of the rulers of the nation. We begin reading in verse 1, I said, Here I pray you, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, is it not for you to know justice?

37:33 You who hate the good and love the evil, who pluck off their skin from off them and their flesh from off their bones, who eat the flesh of my people and flay their skin from off them and break their bones and chop them in pieces as for a pot, as for a pot, and as flesh within the cauldron?

37:53 Then shall they cry to the Lord, but He will not answer them. Yea, He will hide His face from them at that time according as they have wrought evil in their doings.

38:07 There is fulfilled in the seventh year of the captivity what the prophet Micah prophesied.

38:15 The princes of Judah, the elders of Judah, come to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord.

38:23 The Lord says, I will not be inquired of. But by you. Your hands are the hands of oppression. And they have skinned the people as flesh for the pot.

38:39 And then wanted God to answer their prayers.

38:45 Ezekiel 8, verses 16 through 18.

38:51 Ezekiel says that the Lord brought me into the inner court of Jehovah's house.

38:58 And behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord between the porch and the altar were about five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east. And they were worshipping the sun toward the east.

39:15 Then He said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man?

39:22 Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here?

39:30 For they have filled the land with violence and have turned again to provoke me to anger. And lo, they put the branch to their nose apparently a idiom speaking of an obstinate kind of rebelliousness. They do it with a high hand.

39:49 Therefore will I also deal in my wrath. My eyes shall not spare. Neither will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.

40:05 Why would God not hear them?

40:09 Because they were living contrary to the first commandment. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. And there they are standing worshipping the sun in the very house of the Lord.

40:25 Zechariah chapter 7.

40:29 Zechariah 7 verses 8 through 13.

40:36 The word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts,

40:41 Execute true judgment and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother and oppress not the widow nor the fatherless, the sojourner nor the poor and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart. But they, they refused to hearken, pulled away the shoulder, stopped their ears that they might not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, as hard as rock, lest they should hear the law and the words of Jehovah of hosts which he sent by his spirit by the former prophets. Therefore there came great wrath from the Lord of hosts and it is come to pass that as he cried and they would not hear, so they shall cry and I will not hear says the Lord of hosts. They pull back the shoulder, they've stopped up their ears, they will not hear my law, they will not do my will and yet they pray to me but I will not hear them.

41:49 At times we pray and we pray but it seems as though the heavens are brass. And we wonder why.

41:59 We wonder why our prayers come back to us seemingly unanswered. For the elders of Judah, sought the Lord,

42:10 but he would not be inquired of by them because they turned a deaf ear to his word.

42:19 And could it be, I don't know your hearts.

42:23 I'm not with you throughout the Lord's day. I'm not with you to see what you do in the privacy of your homes or to see what you're doing out and about. I don't know your hearts. I don't know all of your practices.

42:37 But could it be that God will not be inquired of by us because our sins have hidden His face from us?

42:50 Could it be because we regard iniquity in our hearts?

42:55 Could it be because we have not yet put away the evil of our doings from before His eyes?

43:03 Could it be because we've turned our ears away from hearing His law at this very point?

43:10 Could it be because we have pulled away our shoulders and could it be because we have stopped our ears and laid our hearts as hard as an adamant stone?

43:24 Could it be that the issue between God and us is right at this point of what we're doing with His holy day?

43:38 We pray and pray, yet though we cry in His ears with a loud voice,

43:45 He will not hear until we cease to do evil and learn to do well. But now fourth, by way of application today,

Application 4: The Curse of Anti-Sabbatarian Preachers

44:00 what a terrible curse, what a terrible curse, anti-sabotarian preachers are to the church and to the nation.

44:13 What a curse, a terrible curse, that anti-sabotarian preachers are to the church and to the nation. And here I'm reflecting on what we saw there in Ezekiel 22. It is true of this nation. As it was true of Judah, the nation is crumbling under the weight of the people's sins.

44:38 And the same is true of the churches.

44:43 The foundations are broken up. The pillars are crumbling. It's all because of sin in the camp.

44:52 So many of the churches are filled with those engaged in religious rituals,

45:00 but yet who manifest lawless hearts in their daily walk. You see them for a few hours on the Lord's day, engaged in their rituals. The rest of that day, the rest of the week, a lawless heart is what you see. That's what the daily walk manifests.

45:24 And to the case in hand, it's sad to say in most places the Sabbath is now unknown, if not opposed.

45:34 Days are gone, at least for now, when the vast majority of America's preachers urged their people to keep the Sabbath holy. Go back a hundred years. Go back a hundred and fifty years. Go back two hundred years in our land.

45:54 There were many things on which the preachers of our nation differed,

46:00 but almost to a man they urged their people to keep the Sabbath holy. Those days are gone.

46:08 Today there are few who call their people to repent of profaning the Sabbath. There are few who try to build up the wall and stand in the gap before the Lord.

46:21 Those who should be restraining the people's Sabbath-breaking, for the most part, are not doing so.

46:30 They're like dumb dogs that cannot bark. They're silent on the issue of the fourth commandment.

46:39 One of the duties of pastors, one of the duties is to denounce violations of God's law.

46:47 Yes, we are to preach the glories of the Gospel and the encouragements of the Word of God. But there is that solemn duty of denouncing violations of God's law and calling the people to observe distinctions between the common and the holy.

47:05 And nowhere is that clearer than on the issue of the Sabbath. It is the pastor's duty to be honest before his God. It's his duty to make a distinction between the common and the holy.

47:19 And yet, as in Ezekiel's day, so in this, brethren, most of those in responsibility in the church have hid their eyes from his Sabbath. And for this reason alone, brethren, were there no other irregularities in their ministries,

47:41 their dereliction of duty at this one point may be the occasion of bringing down the judgment of God upon the church and upon the nation. If there were no other irregularities on this one issue, dereliction of duty could become the occasion of God's judgment falling. What a curse, brethren, anti-Sabbatarian preachers are in our churches and in our nation.

48:14 Some of you may be weary.

48:18 Some of you may be weary of hearing about the Sabbath.

48:24 Some of you may think that our confession, our church's constitution, and this pulpit are unnecessarily narrow on this issue.

48:37 But as long as I draw breath and as long as I have some faith, and as long as I have some say as to what is preached in this pulpit, I will not deny my Lord at this point, but will ever urge you to keep his Sabbath holy.

48:57 I will not be part of bringing judgment upon this church. Not for this.

49:04 There may be irregularities in my ministry. And if there are, I trust God will show them to me. But I will not God helping me fail him at this point.

Application 5: Do Not Be Shaken by Few Embracing Sabbath Truth

49:18 But now fifth, by way of application, and finally,

49:24 brethren, we ought not to be shaken by the fact that so few in our day embrace the Bible's teaching on the Sabbath and see their duty in that teaching of the Scriptures.

49:39 We ought not to be discouraged. We ought not to be shaken by the fact that so few seemingly in our day embrace the Bible's teaching on the subject of the Christian Sabbath and see their personal duty in that teaching.

49:57 What we see today has not always been the case.

50:03 If you were to take the time, if you were to have the opportunity as I have had to survey the confessions produced by the major Christian denominations in this land,

50:14 what you would discover is that in these official documents there is a widespread recognition of the Christian duty to keep the Lord's Day.

50:29 It's a remarkable thing to see. If you will look at the confessions of faith right across the board of the major Christian denominations, the major evangelical denominations, what you will discover is that more often than not there is a very clear, a very strong statement about sanctifying the Lord's Day.

50:59 These confessions, of course, represent convictions for the most part of earlier generations.

51:06 There have been better days in this land on this issue.

51:12 And yet today in our own generation these confessional statements aren't necessarily acknowledged. They're not necessarily even understood by those who are members of those denominations.

51:25 Today, even where the confession affirms a Sabbath duty, in many places there's ignorance of what the confession teaches. There's even opposition to that duty.

51:37 And when voices are raised to protest the depravity and the departure from the biblical and confessional teaching, those who speak in defense of Sabbath principles must often say with Ezekiel, Oh, Lord Jehovah, they say of me, is he not a speaker of parables?

51:58 How are we to explain this?

52:02 A doctrine found so clearly in the Scripture.

52:07 A doctrine clearly articulated in, I believe, the vast majority of the confessions of faith that have been penned by our evangelical denominations in the Scripture. And yet, so few who will even acknowledge the Bible's teaching will acknowledge their historical roots and what their confessions say. How are we to explain this? There's little or no understanding in places where once the light shone brightly concerning the Lord's day.

52:40 The fathers saw clearly, but now the children are blind to these things.

52:47 Even the plainest words are a riddle to them now.

52:51 Let's not be shaken by that fact. Let's not be shaken by the fact that so few in our day embrace the Bible's teaching at this point. If we take our stand with the Scriptures, with our confession of faith at this point, you're going to be viewed as bizarre by your Christian friends in many cases. Not just your unconverted neighbors.

53:16 You're going to be regarded as part of a fringe movement. You're going to be regarded as somewhere out on the edge, of Christianity, not in the mainstream.

53:32 Well, let's not be startled by that. Let's not be shaken by it.

53:39 If only one man stands upon the face of the earth and agrees with the Bible, it is better to be that man than to be all the rest of the world.

53:48 Let's not be startled by the fact that so few. Part of the explanation, I have no doubt, is to be traced to unfaithful pulpits.

53:59 Part of the explanation, perhaps there are many who have the root of the matter, I am convinced of this absolutely, that there are many who have the root of the matter in them and God willing, will yet see the truth in these issues. How many of us here, if I were to ask for a show of hands, can think back to days when it would be said of us that we were true Christians but did not understand these things? And it may yet be that we will live to see days like those of 200 years ago.

54:32 But perhaps there are many in point of fact who do not have the root of the matter in them. Maybe that's part of the explanation too.

54:46 Surely part of the answer is that so many in the churches today, after a hundred years of shallow evangelism,

54:55 perhaps part of the answer is that so many in the churches today show no real biblical signs that they've ever been regenerated by the Spirit of God.

55:06 And in these folks, not only on this issue, but on a host of other truths plainly taught in the Scriptures,

55:16 the truth of the Apostles' statement will be clearly displayed that the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God.

55:25 They are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them for they are spiritually discerned. Part of the reason that so few embrace the truth at this point, it's not the whole reason, but part of it could very well be that the churches are now filled with chaff and not wheat and goats and not sheep.

55:48 And they do not understand because they cannot understand. And it ought to move us, brethren, to pray not only that God would give them light on this issue,

56:00 but that God would open their minds and their hearts to see the glory of the Gospel in the face of Jesus Christ and believing on Him, submitting their wills to Him, submitting their hearts to Him, inclining their ears to Him, bowing their necks to Him. They will see His law and see their duty in it.

56:24 Only the Spirit of God can open a blinded eye and change a lawless heart.

56:32 And if indeed, in spite of all of the show, in spite of all of the appearance of great spiritual renewal in our day, if indeed we live instead in a day in which God has not done as yet a widespread work of true conversion, then we should not be startled or soon shaken that so few share with us a love for God's law.

Concluding Exhortation and Prayer

57:06 Well, God willing, next Lord's Day, we will come to Isaiah 58.

57:14 There the Lord pleads with us, appeals to us, to honor Him on His day.

57:25 Not doing our own pleasures, not thinking our own thoughts, not speaking our own words, but calling the Holy of the Lord and delighting in it. And in preparation for next Lord's Day morning, I want to ask you to prayerfully go to your prayer closet, prayerfully ask the Lord to show you your heart with a simple question.

57:57 Is the Sabbath to me a burden or a delight? A burden or a delight?

58:10 May God be pleased to show us where our hearts really are. Our Father, we draw near again to You. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, even He who is Lord of the Sabbath, we ask in His name that You would seal the lessons of Your Word to our heart. Oh, Lord, grant by Your grace that we would incline our ears to You and hear You, bow our necks and not be stiff-necked.

58:49 Lord, grant that we would hear You speaking in Your Word, speaking in Your law. And grant that we might hallow Your Sabbaths. And honor You on Your holy day. And, oh Lord, we do pray for our nation.

59:07 We pray for the churches of our land. We look back, we trust with a holy envy to generations in which these truths were loved by the great multitudes who inhabited this land. And, oh Lord, we pray that we will yet see these days again. Pour out of Your Spirit.

59:33 Turn the hearts, oh Lord, of many to You. And give them a sight of Christ, a sight of Your holy will. And so work that we would yet see days when the Sabbath in this land is a delight to its people and a holy day honorable and honored to You. We ask, Lord, that You would help us.

60:01 If in anything our own practice is contrary to Your will, Lord, show us. Make us to see the truth. And, Lord, grant us grace that we might alter, that we might change our practice. Lord, look with favor.

60:18 Forgive us our sins in these things. Cleanse us, we pray, in the blood of Christ. For it's in His name that we pray, Amen.