Proper Balance

Opening Prayer and Introduction to the Sabbath Series

0:00 All right. Good morning, everyone. It's a beautiful day today, Easter Sunday, and let's I think it's about time to start. So let's pray together. Our father, as we bow in your presence this morning, we do come with hope that can only exist because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

0:26 And we thank you that your son has come, that he has conquered sin and death and that he has been raised from the dead. If it were not for that, all we would have to say about this life is let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. But we thank you that we have the blessed hope and expectation of a glorious resurrection that is to come. And we have the security and the certainty that our sins have been dealt with and have been buried in his grave.

0:57 And we thank you that we have the security and the certainty that our sins have been dealt with and have been buried in his grave. That he is now exalted to your right hand as king of kings and lord of lords. And we do pray that you would help us today to worship him and to worship the triune God, father, son and Holy Spirit. We pray that you'd grant to us in our Sunday school hour the ministry and help of your spirit as we seek together to study your word, to try to understand the things that you have taught to us in order that we might apply them to our lives, in order that we might live in a way that brings glory.

1:28 And we pray to you and honor to you, which is also the way that brings most satisfaction and happiness to us. We pray that you would forgive us of our many sins as we gather in your holy presence on this day. We are conscious that we are still plagued with remaining sin and it is our great grief and it is a burden to us. We pray that you would not deal with us according to our sins, but according to your great mercy that has been freely given to us through your son.

2:00 The Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you that we have an advocate before the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one who has made propitiation for our sins. And again, it's in his name we pray. Amen.

2:16 All right.

2:19 Back to our our study this morning. And most of you know, we're in this section here. We can sit in and after dealing with the moral law in general, the Ten Commandments, we've been focusing on the fourth commandment. For several weeks now.

2:39 And here's the basic outline that we've been following.

2:44 We covered that all these various issues related to the continuation of the fourth commandment, its application to us as Christians in the new covenant with reference to the Lord's day, the first day of the week. And then last week we began this section, the proper and balanced observance of the new covenant Sabbath of the Lord's day. And you may remember that we focused last week on proper attitudes toward the keeping of the Lord's day, our heart that we must delight in the Lord's day as a God given blessing and must be devoted to the Lord's day as a God given obligation. And so today we come now to the proper and biblical use of the Sabbath, the Christian Sabbath. All right. So all of that was covered last week, and now we take up with where we left off.

Addressing Misconceptions and the Negative Tendency in Sabbath Observance

3:48 But before we do that, I have ten introductory considerations that I want to get. No, I'm just kidding.

3:57 This is the part that we've all been waiting on, probably.

4:03 Years ago, the Dutch theologian A. Van Zandt wrote that on average, 10,000 families in the Netherlands alone were affected by serious quarreling. About what was and was not permissible on Sunday, by his calculations that made for half a million quarrels per year. And now perhaps that number has greatly decreased by now, since relatively few people even take the fourth commandment seriously enough anymore to argue over it or to debate over it.

4:38 However, even today, among those who do take it seriously, there can be a lot of debate over what may or may not be. The first is the tendency to only view the Lord's Day from a negative perspective. That is, the tendency to become preoccupied with do's and don'ts that are completely detached from a proper understanding of what the positive purposes of the day are. Why God has given us that day.

5:10 Now, there are do's and don'ts connected with obeying this command, but the do's and don'ts are not an end in themselves. They are but means to the end of enjoying and fully benefiting from the positive purposes for which God has given us this day. And the do's and don'ts become much clearer when they're placed in that context of understanding the purpose of the day. So that's the approach that I want to take.

5:39 What are the positive purposes and privileges of the Lord's Day and how do they relate to the proper use of the day? All right.

The Sabbath as a Day of Physical Rest

5:48 First of all, it is a day. A day of rest. A day of rest. God has given us the day to be a day of rest after a week of hard work.

6:01 Now, there are some who downplay or almost ignore this aspect of the Sabbath. They emphasize that it's to be a day, the Lord's Day, in which we gather for public worship and nothing more. So we need to go to church on Sunday. That's what it means to keep the Christian Sabbath.

6:19 And as long as you attend church on Sunday, the rest of the day is like any other day. You may work or do whatever else you may please on that day. Well, that misses the emphasis of Scripture upon the Sabbath as a day of rest. There have been others who try to hyper-spiritualize the Sabbath, and they miss this emphasis as well.

6:41 They acknowledge that we are to rest from our ordinary labors, but they miss the fact that resting in and of itself is one of the purposes or ends of the Sabbath. Instead, they see it only as a means to the end of spending the whole day in what might be called spiritual rest. Resting from ordinary work to spend every moment of the day engaging in spiritual activities. Now, keeping the Sabbath does involve engaging in certain spiritual activities, and this is one of the reasons that we are to rest from our ordinary labors, as we'll see.

7:18 But we're not to have a Platonic view of the Sabbath. Plato. Platonic philosophy makes this sharp distinction between the material and the spiritual, and all that is material and physical is bad, and that which is spiritual and immaterial is the good. But we're not to have a Platonic view of the Sabbath, as though the physical rest and physical relaxation itself have nothing to do with the real purpose of the day.

7:47 No, man is both body and soul. And we need physical rest as well as, spiritual rest. And there is, in fact, a major emphasis upon the purpose of physical rest and refreshment on the Sabbath in the Bible.

8:07 God's Sabbath in Genesis two to three is described as his resting from all his work which he had done in Exodus 20. The fourth commandment calls upon Israel to work six days and to rest on the Sabbath. The contrast is clearly there between. Physical work and physical rest.

8:32 Now the scripture mentions specific violations of the Sabbath. Most of the time you'll find it that it's addressing the issue of illegitimate physical work being done on that day. Not the problem of neglecting spiritual exercises. Turn turn over to Exodus 2323.

8:59 It's a good text to help us see this. His purpose of the Sabbath underscored. Exodus 23. Verse 12.

9:10 Your God is elaborating on the purpose of the Sabbath and notice what he says. Six days you shall do your work and on the seventh day you shall rest that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed. We actually have you can't see this in the English but we actually have three different Hebrew words here. Translated rest.

9:37 Rest. And then refreshed. The master is to do no work on the Sabbath he is to rest and the verb here forms the root of the noun Sabbath. The master is to Sabbath which means cease.

9:53 He is to cease from labor on the Sabbath. Now why is he to do that. Well obviously one reason is that he himself can fulfill the purposes and enjoy the blessings of the Sabbath in his own life. But there are two other reasons specifically mentioned in the.

10:10 Text one in order that your ox and your donkey may rest. We have a different Hebrew word here translated rest it could be translated to settle down or to be quiet. The idea is that the animals that are used to carry burdens or to haul a plow are to be given a break there to be set free in order to graze and to rest when God placed man in charge of creation. Man was not to abuse the creation.

10:43 To be cruel to the creatures under his charge. Proverbs 12 10 says a righteous man cares for the needs of his animals. I just thought of how this could be applied to your employer your employees as well. And according to God these beasts of burden need a regular day of rest.

11:04 Now there's an important principle here in this application of the Sabbath. The animals obviously brethren animals do not need a spiritual rest. Animals don't attend public. Worship animals don't have never dying souls that can commune with God and will spend eternity in heaven or hell.

11:23 They don't pray they don't read the Bible. This is clearly talking about physical rest and here our wise creator reminds us of a principle that every living creature of God needs the rest that is spoken of here in this command including those animals that are under the control of man and this need for physical rest is one of the. Purposes of the Sabbath. So the master is to rest for his own benefit.

11:53 He's to allow his beasts of burden to settle down and to be quiet on that day. And then the next reason given is that the son of your female servant here you're dealing with your employees. Those who work for you your son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed may be refreshed and this is perhaps the strongest of these three words it comes from a root that means. Breathe.

12:18 Breathe or breath life or soul and the idea is that you are to let your servants and the visitor the stranger within your gates catch their breath and refresh themselves let them take a breath and be rejuvenated let them rest on that day so that new life comes to their body and they're ready for the next six days of work that follow now again I trust you see that the emphasis here is upon physical rest. From our labors this is one of the reasons that God has given us the Sabbath the cycle of one day in seven has a real physical benefit for us it is good for our physical health our emotional health and that physical refreshment of the Sabbath has value and is a purpose of the Sabbath in and of itself it's one of the purposes now we need to keep that in mind as I mentioned a moment ago there can be a tendency to hype up the Sabbath. From our labors this is one of the reasons that God has given us the Sabbath the cycle of one day in seven has a real physical benefit for us it is good for our physical health our emotional health and that physical refreshment of the Sabbath is one of the purposes now we need to keep that in mind as I mentioned a moment ago there can be a tendency to hype up the Sabbath. spiritual eyes. The Sabbath and this has been done.

13:28 And I think a great deal of damage is sometimes been done at times by that especially with children or with young people are even in terms of producing false guilt and working men who have hard stress filled physical demanding jobs are in terms of producing false guilt and busy hardworking housewives there can be this idea that virtually every moment of the Lord's day is to be taken up with nothing but the spirit of God. The Sabbath. spiritual eyes. The Sabbath.

13:53 spiritual eyes. Nothing but praying singing hymns having family devotions discussing theology only things that we might call spiritual is a day of rest yes but only for the purpose of intense spiritual activity not for the purpose simply of rest and of itself consider for example the detailed activities prescribed by the Puritan Richard Baxter for the proper observance of the Lord's day. Now. Now he's not reflective of the teaching of all the Puritans on this subject and and don't misunderstand me I like Richard Baxter there's a lot that he wrote that I think is really really good but I do think there's something of this hyper spiritual eyes and tendency and what he writes about the Lord's day here's what he says you're to do on the Lord's day rise early on Sunday morning pray in private have family devotions go to church after returning home while the noon meal is being prepared pray in private and review the Lord's day. and review everything said in church. Enjoy a festive meal with conversation about the love of the redeemer or something fitting for Sunday. After the meal.

15:09 Gather as a family for a song or for singing and instruction go to church once more come home and gather as a family to call upon God in prayer. And song and to rehearse the sermon thereafter eat but not too much just as at noon after evening meal question the children and servants about what they had learned during the day sing a song and conclude with prayer. And. And in the day with holy thoughts now a lot of what he suggests there is good there are some good ideas there for making wise use of the Lord's day but some of it I think is a bit unrealistic and even misses the point with respect to one of the purposes of the Sabbath to actually follow Baxter's program in detail could be anything but restful I'm afraid especially for the children what I think is missing is this.

16:03 element of catching one's breath on the Sabbath simply stretching out our legs and relaxing and unwinding a bit we shouldn't feel guilty about using part of the day for that because that's one of the purposes for which the Sabbath was given now why would anyone consider that to be a dark and dreary requirement God commands us to rest from our work and to be physically refreshed on the Lord's day what a terrible terrible harsh command. That is no it's a kind and gracious command that's for our good including the fact that it is good for our physical and emotional health Brian Edwards commenting on this writes the cycle of one day rest and seven has a physical benefit that that is a value for its own sake this is one reason why Christians should insist that governments allow for a national day of rest so that even those who have no intention of using the day for worship will at least benefit from one part of God's.

17:09 good plan for mankind he goes on to say and I think what he says is so true that sadly a society which could benefit so much by observing this commandment has squandered the opportunity by insisting upon its right to work a seven day week that is not freedom but slavery and governments would be well advised not to ignore the wisdom of God by violating his beneficial laws well what he says of governments is even more applicable to individuals. to ignore God's kind command to rest on the Lord's day from your ordinary work is not freedom is bondage slavery and we are fools if we ignore the wisdom of God by violating his beneficial laws if for no other reason than the fact that it's good for our health now that's not the only person purpose but certainly that's not the only motive for keeping the Sabbath but this is a real and genuine purpose for which the Sabbath has a purpose.

The Sabbath as a Day of Worship

18:12 has been given and this is one of the reasons that we ought to keep it now what specifically is the work that we are to rest from on the Sabbath well I'm going to get to that later next week but before we get to that we have to put the question in its proper light we first have to be clear on the purposes and privileges of the day why did God give us today what are we to do that day before we start talking about what we're not to do what are we to do. doing on that day well this is one of the things it is a day of rest so we come down to a second purpose not only is the Sabbath to be a day of rest secondly is to be a day of worship a day of worship is this mic really loud it's not okay all right it's to be a day of worship rest day and a worship day now I mentioned a moment ago that some put all the emphasis upon worship as long as you attend public worship.

19:20 on Sunday you obey the fourth commandment well there are others who put all the emphasis on rest and completely leave out worship as long as you rest from your ordinary work that day you kept the Sabbath they say that the even say that the Bible nowhere teaches that the Sabbath is to be a special day of public worship this arguments also used by some who deny the abiding authority of the fourth commandment they argue that all the fourth commandment ever required was physical rest never required any spiritual duties. therefore they say it was nothing but a ceremonial law that no longer applies well first of all even if all it required was physical rest that would make it a ceremonial law in fact the need for physical rest is natural law. in God God has said if God determines what day he wants us to do that that's his prerogative to do that but it's not doesn't make it a ceremonial law but most importantly the assertion that all the Sabbath requires is physical rest is patently false.

20:26 how do we reply to that first of all in the Old Testament whenever you find a commanded day of rest from work it's also a day of worship there were other days of rest other Sabbaths as they're called in the Old Covenant associated with for example religious feasts and in Leviticus 23 these various feasts or religious festivals are laid out for us and every time you read that such and such is a day of rest from ordinary work it also says that it's to be a day of holy contemplation.

20:58 that means it's a day of gathering together for public worship you keep reading statements like this Leviticus 23 21 and you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation you shall do no customary work on it and my point is that a day of commanded rest in the Old Testament consistently includes and is associated with special acts of worship. secondly. the fourth commandment tells us to commemorate the Sabbath and to keep it holy not just to rest from our labors but to remember the day to keep it holy and remembering though I think it does involve the idea of recollecting that God has set forth such a day but it also includes the idea of memorializing the day actively memorializing the day and setting it apart as holy it is to be sanctified or set apart as a special day and it's to be sanctified as a special day.

22:00 in a special and particular sense it is called in verse 10 the Sabbath of the Lord your God Exodus 20 verse 10 it is set apart as a day that especially belongs to God it's called in Isaiah 58 13 the holy day of the Lord in the New Testament the Christian Sabbath is called the Lord's day now every day belongs to the Lord in one sense doesn't it but the Sabbath in a unique way is called God's holy day the Lord's holy day. the Lord's day the Lord's day it is a day that is consecrated to God alone now this is all language that speaks of worship we don't just rest from work on that day we are to memorialize that day as God's special day remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy 30 as we've seen in our study it is a day in which we are to commemorate God's great acts of creation and redemption and again to commemorate such things on a day specially set apart to be holy.

23:04 the Lord's day it is a day that is consecrated to God alone now this is all language that speaks of worship we don't just rest from work on that day it is a day in which we are to commemorate such things on a day specially set apart to be holy. the Lord's day it is a day that is consecrated to God alone now this is all language that speaks of worship we don't just rest from work on that day it is a day in which we are to commemorate such things on a day specially set apart to be holy.

24:06 the priestly courses changed on the Sabbath but even more to the point there were special sacred assemblies or holy convocations throughout the land of Israel on every Sabbath Leviticus 23 3 six days shall work be done but the seventh day is a Sabbath of holy of solemn rest a holy convocation a day of solemn rest and holy convocation that means coming together gathering together.

24:39 I went my children wool for the Sabbath day. Then you probably are aware that growing out of this association of the Sabbath with sacred assemblies in the Old Testament we find the development of the synagogue worship that the synagogue met for public worship on the Sabbath a pattern of worship by the way that was endorsed by Jesus himself by his attendance and his participation in the Sabbath world. in the Sabbath world. worship of the synagogue during his days on earth.

25:14 As the gospel writer could say, as his custom was, he was in the synagogue on the Sabbath.

25:24 And then sixthly, after the change of the day in the New Testament, we find that the church gathered for public worship on the Lord's Day. We've seen that already, the Christian Sabbath. It was not merely a day of physical rest. It was a day of worship.

25:40 I don't think I need to show you that again. We considered that in some detail several weeks ago.

25:47 Now, with all of that, brethren, I find myself asking how in the world did anyone ever come up with the idea that public worship is not an essential aspect of what it means to keep the Sabbath.

26:01 On the contrary, to neglect the public worship of God. Let me just say this really methodically and carefully. To neglect the public worship of God on the Lord's Day is to be guilty of breaking the fourth commandment. It's a sin to do that.

26:23 It's breaking the fourth commandment.

26:27 Now, that's another reason that we are commanded to cease from our ordinary labors. It's not because God wants us to be bored and have nothing to do. One reason is for the benefits to be gained by taking a break from those labors, which we saw under the first point. But in addition, to that, it is in order to have the time to engage in special acts of public worship on that day, especially to be able to gather with God's people to corporately worship Christ.

26:59 Obviously, you can enjoy the benefit and blessings of corporate worship on the Lord's Day if you're at work or you're giving time to some hobby. So the Sabbath day is a rest day. The Sabbath is a worship day.

The Sabbath as a Day of Ministry: Works of Piety

27:20 And then thirdly, the Sabbath is a day of ministry.

27:26 There are works that are appropriate for the Lord's Day. I'm not going to. And I don't want to refer to these as exceptions. Sometimes they're referred to as exceptions to resting on the Sabbath.

27:36 But these are parts of what Sabbath keeping involves and includes. It involves and includes works of ministry. Or you'll find this traditionally subdivided as works of piety and works. Of mercy.

27:54 First of all, works of piety. We've seen already that it's to be a day of public worship. This is what has been called a work of piety. And this this involves quite a bit of work for some of us, particularly those of us who lead worship, those who preach, those who teach God's word on the Lord's Day.

28:12 And you remember that Jesus referred to this in his confrontations with the Pharisees. Let's turn over to Matthew, Chapter 12,

28:36 Matthew, Chapter 12. You remember that the Pharisees had all of these manmade rules. Rules and regulations that they had attached to the Sabbath and accused the disciples of breaking the Sabbath because they picked some grain and ate it while walking through the fields. But Jesus argues that his disciples had not broken the Sabbath.

28:53 And we look at this passage in some detail a few weeks ago. Well, one of the things he does is he shows that their interpretation contradicted biblical example. Example in verses three and four. First, he uses the example of David eating the showbread to appease his hunger.

29:10 When he was fleeing from Saul. And here was an example of physical necessity. And I'll comment more on that that that works in necessity next week. But but then in verse five, he uses the example of the priests performing their priestly labors on the Sabbath.

29:28 And here we have a work of piety, a work that was part of the worship of the Sabbath. Verse five. Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath? And are blameless.

29:41 Now, Jesus is not saying that the priests profane the Sabbath and that's OK. Now, he's putting it in this way for the sake of argument. He's saying that according to the way you Pharisees interpret the Sabbath, the priests profane the Sabbath every Sabbath.

29:58 He's using sanctified sarcasm.

30:02 And the point is, the acts of worship are not a violation of the Sabbath. That's what he's saying. Works of piety are a part of what is involved in keeping the Sabbath. And for some people, like the priests that involve a lot of work, quite a bit of work now, that can also be applied to private worship.

30:20 The days not only to be used for public worship and the activities surrounding that, it is also a good day for engaging in acts of private worship, spending time in prayer, reading God's word, reading good Christian books, perhaps spending special time in family devotions. Now, I'm not arguing that every minute of the day is to be taken up with such things as Baxter almost seemed to do, or that each one of them, then, must be engaged in every Lord's day. That would be to go beyond anything that the scripture says. No, but the Sabbath is a good time for doing some of these things.

30:57 They are appropriate for that day. John tells us in Revelation 110, I was in the spirit on the Lord's day. And you know that John was alone in exile on the Isle of Patmos. And what was he doing on the Lord's day?

31:12 The phrase in the spirit suggests that he was worshiping. He was engaged in spiritual meditation and prayer on the Lord's day. And something very common that I've heard over the years as a pastor, his brethren lamenting the fact that they seem to have so little time for private devotions during the week, or so little time for family devotions. Everything seems to be so rushed.

31:39 It's hard to give them out the time you really wish you could and the attention that you really wish you could give to it. Everything seems to be so rushed. And there's so many distractions. There's so many distractions during the week.

31:49 Pastor, I just don't seem to have the time for prayer and Bible study that I wish I did. There's so many good Christian books I'd like to read, but I seem to never have time to read them. Now, sometimes, if we're honest, the real problem is we're just not taking the time to do it. Too much time wasted on the television or other things.

32:10 However, this is often a very real difficulty that we all face. We do have to work. We have to make a living. We have responsibilities.

32:21 Both in the home and out in the job. And there are those pressures that come throughout the week. So this is often a real difficulty. And this is one of the blessings of the Lord's Day.

32:32 It's a day when you are able to legitimately, with a good conscience, lay aside all of your normal labors. And a day that you can take advantage of for spending more time in some of these areas that you feel so restricted in during the week. We don't have to work on Sunday. We don't have to work on Sunday.

32:53 We don't have to mow the yard on Sunday. We don't have to go to Wal-Mart on Sunday. We don't have to do our shopping on Sunday or home school on Sunday. The day is free.

33:02 It's intended to be free for rest and worship. Not only for public worship, but often there's extra time for private worship as well. So the Lord's Day is a day of ministry in terms of works of piety. Secondly, also in terms of what have been called works of mercy.

The Sabbath as a Day of Ministry: Works of Mercy

33:23 Notice how Jesus speaks. Notice how Jesus speaks. Jesus makes this point, picking up with verse 9, Chapter 12. Now, when he had departed from there, he went into their synagogue.

33:36 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked him saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, that they might accuse him? You see, the Pharisees actually believed that it was a sin to heal someone on the Sabbath. Then he said to them, what man is there among you who has one sheep and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath.

34:01 So Jesus emphasizes what the Pharisees should have already known. He tells us that it's lawful to do good on the Sabbath. And in this context, he's not merely just talking about good in general. He's talking about deeds of kindness and mercy and benevolence toward our fellow man.

34:40 Deeds of mercy. As he immediately follows by healing this man with a withered hand. And let me just add that deeds of mercy on the Sabbath were not some rare thing with the Lord Jesus. It's not some rare exception.

34:54 This was very common for Jesus. He commonly used the Sabbath for deeds of worship. There are at least eight separate references to Jesus and the Sabbath in the gospel records. Seven of those references, Jesus is engaged in deeds of mercy.

35:14 So deeds of mercy are appropriate for the Sabbath. It's a day for that. It's a good day for those works of mercy that we may have little time to do during the rest of the week. Things like engaging in hospitality.

35:30 Things like hospital visitation perhaps. Evangelism. The nursing home. Children's home.

35:37 Door-to-door visitation perhaps. Out in the community. Things of this nature may be periodically worked into the schedule of our Lord's Day. Now my purpose is not to give you, again, a detailed schedule with rules and regulations.

35:49 Ten minutes for this. Twenty-five minutes for that. Two Lord's Days for this. One Lord's Day a month for that.

35:57 That would be legalism.

36:00 But the point is that deeds of mercy are appropriate for this day. And this is in fact a day for that. And this is in fact one of the purposes that the Sabbath has been given to us. Therefore, deeds of mercy should have a place in the overall course of our weekly observance of the Lord's Day throughout the year.

Summary of Sabbath Purposes and Practical Application

36:19 All right. So there you have it. It's not that complicated really.

36:25 It's really not that complicated. Sabbath is a day of rest.

36:30 Sabbath is a day of worship.

36:33 And the Sabbath is a day of ministry. These are the purposes and privileges of the Lord's Day. Now once you understand this. These three things.

36:42 Most of the questions that people get tangled up with really answer themselves.

36:48 John Wesley was once asked by a woman whether or not she should go to the theater on Sunday.

36:57 Wesley avoided giving a direct answer. And instead he turned her attention to the greater issue, the real issue. He said, Madam, you need only ask what is the purpose of the Sabbath. His point was if you understand what the purposes of the Sabbath are.

37:16 You'll answer your own question. The answer will be obvious. It's intended to be a day of rest. A day of worship.

37:25 And a day of ministry. By the way, not just for you. But for everyone. Including the people who run the theater.

37:38 Now by attending the theater. Are you really pursuing the purposes of the Sabbath? For yourself and for others? And using the Sabbath for those purposes?

37:47 By attending the theater? Are you helping the actors and the performers? Are you helping the actors and the performers? Are you helping the actors and the performers?

37:52 Are you the proprietor of that theater? Or whatever other business? Use the Sabbath for those purposes? Ask yourself those questions.

38:03 And your duty will be plain. It shouldn't be complicated.

Anticipating Future Questions and Practical Counsel

38:10 And my dear brethren, the same is true with so many other things that Christians sometimes argue over when it comes to the Lord's Day. Get this straight and most of those questions will be answered. But having said that, there are still some questions that I think are more difficult. And need a little bit more attention.

38:27 So God willing. I plan to come back to this one more time next week. It's famous last words, isn't it? One more time.

38:35 How many times have you heard a pastor say one more time? Or heard us say in closing? And then go on. But you know, we have a precedent from that in the New Testament.

38:47 For example, have you ever read through Paul's epistle to the Philippians? About halfway through the epistle he says, finally my brethren. And then you have this whole second half of the epistle that follows after that. But yes, I hope to come.

38:59 I hope to come back to this one more time and to try to address some some questions, cases of conscience, questions like what specifically are the kinds of work we're to rest from on the Sabbath? What about works of necessity? What are works of necessity? And I hope to try to give some practical counsel about children.

39:20 How can we? What should we do with our children on the Sabbath? What's what's reasonable in our expectations of our children? How should we?

39:26 We view that and also address some common cases. And I hope to try to give some practical counsel about children. How can we? What should we do with our children on the Sabbath?

39:31 What should we do with our children? How sh Confederances say? What should we say? What should we do with our children on traditional days?

39:36 That what are the practices of conscience about the Lord's day? And I had two applications I wanted to make at this point. I wanted to set forth some motives for having a high view and appreciation for the Lord's day and seeking to keep it. But my time is about going.

39:51 I only have five minutes, so I'll stop right now and give you an opportunity to ask question or two. Just a little bit of time. I do promise you again that once we get to the end. a lot of the cases of conscience and questions that people have in the lesson next week and then when I'm done then we can see what other questions that you have or whatever other comments you want to make about it. So, any questions this morning? Comment?

Congregational Comments and Dangers of Neglecting Corporate Worship

40:23 Pastor Hughes. Oh, that's right. We'll be here next week. So, I'm not doing the things that we're supposed to be I'm conscious of the danger for this generation of people who can sit easily to worship by saying that we'll watch it at home. And it's a peculiar danger, I think, for this generation and if we, it then focuses on what we believe is worship. Obviously, the live streaming has a benefit for people who can't be present here.

41:43 But because of our human nature we're always trying to find reasons why we have to stay at home or why we don't have to do certain things on the Sabbath. It's just a comment of the danger that there is of tweaking things because we have a special case. We really can't go today. We're watching at home. And that, I believe, is a danger.

42:12 And of course, when we start talking about gathering for public worship on Sunday, we also get into the whole question, which is something we were, it was taken up way back, really, in this study that we've been doing of how often should we gather on Sunday and who determines how often we should gather. That all plays into the whole issue of church leadership and the roles of elders in the church and also the covenanting together as a body of believers and agreeing with one another regarding certain things that we establish as our practice. For example, we have a church covenant where we've determined that the church is a church covenant. We've stated meetings on the Lord's Day what they are when we gather for worship.

42:56 And so, yes?

Clarifying 'Holy' and Old Testament Precedent for Multiple Services

43:14 Give me an example. Here would be a good example of what you're talking about. The word is even used of inanimate objects. For example, Mount Sinai is called the Holy Mount. And that doesn't mean, in that case, it doesn't mean it's not speaking of moral purity. It's speaking of the Holy Mount. The fact that it's set apart as a special place. You know, for example, here's a mother and she has, we used to have these, have some special dishes that we kept in our cupboard that we only used at special occasions like Easter or Christmas. Well, I've used

44:03 that to illustrate to the kids this meaning of the word holy. These are mama's holy dishes. They're set apart from all other dishes. It's something that are to be kept special.

44:18 And the Bible talks about the holy utensils that were used in the tabernacle and in the temple and so forth. And so when the Bible speaks of something being holy, a day being holy, it's the idea that it is set apart to God in a special way that's different from all other days. And, yeah.

44:38 Yes? Yes? Yes. Yes.

45:30 I think you bring up an interesting point, Matthew. Did you hear him make a reference to in the Old Testament on the Sabbath you had the morning sacrifice and the evening sacrifice. So you did have this pattern of morning worship and evening worship. Now, I don't believe it would be, I think it would be going too far to say that, that pattern is intended to therefore say to us in the New Testament that we have to do it that way. However, it does set a precedent. It is something that we can look at and say, well, we're determining, you know, what would be a proper way to do this on the Lord's Day. How many times should we gather? We have this Old Testament precedent to look to.

46:28 This pattern of morning, evening. The morning sacrifice and the evening sacrifice. And that's perhaps one of the reasons that this has developed as the traditional way that it's done in churches, though it's not always been done that way.

Closing Prayer and Reiteration of Sabbath Blessings

46:47 In fact, one of the things that started night worship was the invention of gas light bulbs, gas bulbs. Before that, you didn't have worship at night in churches. The Puritans, generally, most often you didn't. For example, the New England Puritans, they had morning worship, then they worshipped, like, 2.30 in the afternoon for the second service. So, but anyhow, our time's up, so we can talk about some more of these things. Hopefully, we'll be able to give a whole class, perhaps, to just discussion and questions later on. Alright, let's pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You that we can find answers to our questions in Your Scripture. We thank You that You've given us this day. Lord, we love this day. We are so thankful.

47:41 That we have this day to rest, to be refreshed, to fellowship with Your people. And we have this day to worship You, publicly and corporately. And also a day that frees up time for us, as we're able to engage in hospitality and acts of ministry and service. So we pray that You would help us to love this day, help us to take full advantage of all the blessings that You intend for us to enjoy.

48:14 And we pray now that as we prepare ourselves to gather once again in this place to worship You, and as we consider the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, that You would meet with us, and that You would give us light and heat, and that You would glorify Yourself. And it is in Christ's name we pray.