Necessary Distinctions

Opening Prayer and Sermon Series Review

0:00 Good morning everyone. I have kind of conflicting clocks here. This one says 14 minutes after, that one says 15 minutes after, and this one says 13 minutes after. So we'll err on the side of trying not to start late by assuming that the one in the back is correct.

0:23 It's good to see each of you out today for our adult Sunday school class. And what a beautiful Lord's Day it is. And we want to begin our class by going to God in prayer together. Our Father, as we bow before you, the God of heaven and earth, the one who has created all things, the one who sustains all things, and the one for whom all things exist, even for your glory. And we praise you. We acknowledge you today. We confess.

1:05 You as our God, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we've gathered today on this day that has been designated by the Christian church as the Lord's Day. It has been handed down to us as the new covenant expression of the fourth commandment. We have gathered today gladly to seek your face. We thank you that you've given to us a day like today in which we can, with good conscience, legitimately lay aside the many distractions that we have to deal with throughout a normal week. And we're able to focus upon that which is most dear to the hearts of your people, even the things of Christ and the things of your word and fellowship with the saints. We thank you also that you've given us this day as a day of rest, physical rest, emotional rest, and also as a day of ministry. And so we stand at the threshold of this day with gratitude and with anticipation at what you will do among us today.

2:16 And even now, especially as we come to the Sunday school hour, we pray for all the Sunday school teachers as they minister to their students and as they seek to open up the principles and the teachings of your holy word. We pray that you would give them help and strength and ability to communicate. And we pray that you would give receptive hearts to all of them. We pray for all of the young people and the children.

2:38 And we pray for ourselves the same thing here in our class this morning as we continue to seek to understand more clearly what your word teaches us regarding the fourth commandment and its application to our lives. And it is in Christ's name that we pray again, Lord, also asking you to forgive us of our many, many sins through the blood of the Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

3:14 All right.

3:19 Here's our outline. And as you remember, this is where we are and have been for quite a while.

3:27 And we've been focusing after opening up the abiding authority of the moral law or the Ten Commandments for the new covenant for believers in the New Testament.

3:39 We've been focusing on one particular commandment, which tends to be the, the most controversial one in our day. And that's the fourth commandment. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. And this is basically the outline of what we've covered.

3:55 Let me just briefly review this. First, we considered the biblical basis for the perpetuity or the continuance continued application of the fourth commandment to believers, to Christians. Next, we considered the biblical basis for the change of the Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first day. The Lord's day under the new covenant.

4:17 And then we moved to the third segment of this study, which we, these are some of the basic, this is some material that was covered over several weeks in quite some detail. But that just gives you the broad outline if you weren't here. And then last time we entered into this third segment, the proper and balanced observance of the new covenant Sabbath. And we've been spending two weeks already on this.

Introductory Considerations for Sabbath Observance

4:45 Subject and let me just review what we've covered. I began by setting before you two very important introductory considerations. At first, we must be careful to avoid the extremes of legalism on the one side and laxity on the other. Secondly, that we must find our guidelines for keeping the Lord's day from both the Old and the New Testaments.

5:08 And I commented on that. And there are aspects of the old covenant Sabbath. We saw that. That.

5:15 The mosaic that in terms of the civil sanction and a few other things that were mentioned. But other than that, it was important for us to understand that we learn how we are to keep the Lord's day, the fourth commandment from both the Old and the New Testaments. And then after laying out these introductory considerations, we began to consider the manner in which the Lord's day is to be observed, beginning first with proper attitudes that were to have toward the Lord's day. And these were summarized under two points that we must delight in the Lord's day as a God given blessing.

5:45 And two, we must be devoted to the Lord's day as a God given obligation. And then last time we considered in some detail the proper and biblical use of the Lord's day. And I asked and sought to answer the question, according to the scriptures, what are the positive purposes and privileges of the Lord's day and how do they relate to the proper and biblical use of the day? And we saw.

6:14 First, that this Sabbath is to be a day of physical rest and refreshment. Secondly, we saw that the Sabbath is to be a day of worship. It's a day set aside for the people of God to gather for public worship. And then thirdly, we saw that the Sabbath is a day of ministry, a day for engaging in works of ministry and mercy, a good day for those works of mercy and service to others that we may have little time to do during the rest of the week.

6:44 So there you have it. And the Sabbath is a day of rest. Sabbath is a day of worship. The Sabbath is a day of ministry.

6:53 And these are the purposes and privileges of the Lord's day. And as I pointed out last time, once you understand these positive purposes of the day, most of the questions that people get tangled up with about the observance of the Lord's day will answer themselves, asking the question, how does this fit? Within the purposes, the day is not just given to us as a day for no reason to not work. It's given to us with positive purposes so that we can devote ourselves to worship, public worship, especially ministry and a day to rest.

Addressing Common Questions and Practical Counsel

7:32 And so we ask ourselves about any activity. How does it fit within the framework of those three purposes? All right. Well, we're ready now to press on.

7:43 Have you considered the proper attitudes we're to have? The proper biblical use of the Lord's day this morning? What I want to do is to begin to tie up some loose ends by addressing some of the common questions that are asked about the Sabbath. And I want to also try to give some practical counsel about the Lord's day.

8:02 And I'm not going to finish this today. God willing, we'll come back again at least one more one more time next week. But this is the direction we're going. We've got three headings.

8:11 First, the necessary distinction between forbidden works and works of necessity. And secondly, some challenging questions that are often asked. And then thirdly, some practical counsels with regard to the observance of the Lord's day. All right. So that's where we're going.

The Distinction Between Forbidden Works and Works of Necessity

8:30 And so we begin this morning with the necessary distinction between forbidden works and works of necessity. Now, we've already seen that all works are not forbidden on the Lord's day. Some kinds of work are allowed and are appropriate. And even a part of the observance of the Lord's day already touched on that to some degree.

8:55 Last time we saw the works of piety and worship are appropriate for the Lord's day. Works of mercy are appropriate for the Lord's day. But there is another distinction that needs to be made. And this is what I want to focus on under this heading.

9:08 There is an important distinction between those activities or works that militate against a proper observance of the Lord's day as a day of rest. A day of worship, a day of ministry and are to be avoided. And then a contrast or a distinction between that and what has traditionally been called works of necessity that are allowed on the Lord's day. So I want to ask and seek to answer two questions here.

What Activities Are Forbidden on the Lord's Day?

9:37 What activities are forbidden on the Lord's day? And two, what are works of necessity that are allowed and appropriate on the Lord's day? So the first question, what activities are forbidden on the Lord's day? The Lord's day is given to us as a day of rest from work.

9:54 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But we are commanded to rest from our work on the Sabbath. In it, the command says you shall do no work. You nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle.

10:17 Again, underscoring that this is referring not merely to spiritual rest, but to physical rest, nor your stranger who is within your gates. So we're not to work. Also, according to the fourth commandment, the head of the household is not to allow or to be the cause of any who are under his authority working. Even the beasts of burden are to be allowed to rest on the Sabbath.

10:46 Also, the stranger within the gates, if it's in our power to do so, is to be prevented from working. So we're not to work. We are to prevent those under our authority and not to be the cause of those under our authority having to work insofar as we are able. And we are not to be the cause of others working unnecessarily on the Sabbath.

11:10 And that's simply stated in the fourth commandment as it's given in the Ten Commandments. And why is that so? Well, as we saw last week, in order that you and they can benefit from the rest and refreshment the Sabbath day is intended to provide and in order to have the necessary time that day for worship and ministry. So the Bible is very clear that ceasing from work is an essential part of keeping the Sabbath.

11:38 And that includes myself, those under my authority. And I'm not to be the cause of others having to work on the Sabbath as well. That's the part people seem to forget. But I'm not to be the cause of others having to work on the Sabbath either.

11:59 So the Bible is clear about that. But what kind of work? What kind of work? Well, Scripture gives several illustrations of labors that are not to be engaged in on the Sabbath.

12:09 For example, Exodus 3421 says six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. Sowing and harvesting are not works of necessity. That must be done. Done on the Lord's Day.

12:27 They are the kinds of work that are to be laid aside on the Sabbath. Nehemiah 13 shows that treading wine presses and transporting goods for sale and also the labor involved in buying and selling ordinary merchandise is considered a violation of the Sabbath. Let's just turn over there, because this is one of those passages I think people forget about or miss. Ezekiel chapter Nehemiah 30, 13, Nehemiah, the great reformer who led the rebuilding of bringing back of Israel from Persia.

13:03 And he's trying to reestablish the people of God and correct their sins and the very sins that had brought God's judgment upon the nation. And in the latter part of Nehemiah 13, the last chapter, he's mentioning some of the abuses and some of the sins that he had. He asserted himself to correct and notice picking up with verse 15. In those days, I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in sheaves and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

13:46 And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. What were they doing? Were they bringing groceries into the to the Jerusalem and selling them? They're selling provisions on the Sabbath.

13:59 And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. Men of Tyre dwelt there also who brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, what evil thing is this that you do by which you profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do?

14:29 Thus and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath. So it was at the gates of Jerusalem as it began to be dark before the Sabbath that I commanded the gates to be shut and charged that they must not be open till after the Sabbath. Now, he's not doing that because, you know, the Sabbath is to be a day of dreariness and you're never to walk outside the gates.

14:59 It's not. It's a particular situation he's trying to deal with here. He said, I posted some of my servants at the gate so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. And it's now you'll see as we get to verse 20, he's trying to keep these merchants out from coming in and selling their wares to God's people on the Sabbath.

15:20 Now, the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice, so they're still coming around, they're setting up outside the gate, even though he's told them. Not to try to send them away. He's rebuked the people of God for engaging in this kind of commerce on the Lord's day. But here they still coming around, lodging outside Jerusalem.

15:42 Then I warned them and said to them, why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you. Well, that's pretty hyper authoritarian eldership there. But don't you see that this was something that he was very zealously affected by and concerned about?

16:05 It's a righteous indignation that Nehemiah had as he saw the Sabbath being ignored. And here these people are, they're still coming around trying to sell their stuff on the Sabbath. Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.

16:24 From that time on, they came no more on the Sabbath. So there's labor involved in buying and selling ordinary merchandise. It's considered a violation of the Sabbath. We also have the prohibition in Exodus thirty five against building fires.

16:48 And this is the one one that everyone wants to run to and says, well, what are you going to do with that? We have the man in numbers 15 who was punished for gathering firewood on the Sabbath. Now, a lot has been been made of that, but we're not to understand that as an absolute prohibition against the use of fire on the Sabbath or building a fire, as some have thought. We tend to think of the climate of Israel as hot and Sahara like and that fires were unnecessary, but apparently that was not the case in Bible times.

17:20 Snow is mentioned twenty one times in the Old Testament. Cold five times ice or frost six times. So God's not telling the people that I'm sorry, on cold days, you're just going to have to freeze. Now, we have to remember again the purpose of the Sabbath, the purposes of the Sabbath ceasing from work is not an end.

17:40 In itself, it is a means to the end of enjoying rest, worship and ministry. Now, certainly you can't enjoy rest when you're freezing. So what was going on here? Well, commentators appear to be divided on the question, but most have suggested that the prohibition against handling fires was with reference to the kinds of employment in which fire was used, for example, smelting work and blacksmithing.

18:10 And therefore, the. Of the man who was gathering firewood, either for use or for sale use in this way or for sale was with reference to engaging in time consuming work of this nature that could have been taken care of on another day. This could have been done before the Sabbath, not on the Sabbath. So summarize the net result of these various passages is that the work forbidden on the Sabbath includes daily business activities, whether they be agricultural or commercial, heavy or time consuming work that could have been done on another day.

Interpreting Isaiah 58:13 on 'Doing Your Own Pleasure'

18:52 And then, of course, in general, any unnecessary work that is works that are not works of piety or mercy or that keep us from attending to the purposes for which the day is given rest, worship and ministry. Now, there's another passage in the Old Testament that speaks to this, and it also tends to be somewhat controversial. So let's look at it. Turn over to Isaiah 58.

19:28 Now, let me just give you a little background here. This passage comes to us in a portion of Isaiah, which part of the focus of the prophet is upon the days that are to come, the days of the new covenant, the days in which you and I are living now under the new covenant and the Messiah having come. And he here speaks of Sabbath keeping the keeping of the Sabbath in that context of the new covenant days. And we've looked at that before for other purposes.

19:58 But here, I want us to notice what this says about what we are not to do on the Sabbath. Verse 13, if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable and shall honor him, not doing your own things, your own ways, excuse me, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. Now, this is this is a text, I think, that really can tie our consciences up in knots. And sometimes it's because it's not properly being interpreted.

20:37 So let me help us with this a little bit. We're told we're not to do our own things or find our own things or speak our own words. Now, what exactly does this word pleasures find our own pleasures? What does that refer to?

20:50 Well, we have to be careful here. It's been misinterpreted at times. Several observations. One, obviously, God is not forbidding all happiness and pleasure on the Sabbath.

21:05 As we've seen in our studies, the Sabbath is given to us as a blessing to enjoy. It is given to us in part for our pleasure to be a blessing and a delight to us. And even the text itself says we are to call the Sabbath a delight. So this is not saying that you're never to smile on the Sabbath.

21:24 You're never to laugh on the Sabbath. It's not saying that the Sabbath is to be a day of fasting and mourning. That's not the fault. In the book of Isaiah, the term translated here, pleasure is often used to refer to God's will or God's purpose or his work of providence.

21:49 Let me give you several references. God says of Cyrus and he shall perform all my pleasure. What's it saying there? He shall perform all of my will even see this kind of language in the New Testament.

22:04 About God, God's sovereign choice according to the good pleasure of his will. But in Isaiah, this kind of language is used many times. Isaiah 46, 10. My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure, all my will.

22:23 Isaiah 48, 14. God shall do his pleasure on Babylon. Again, speaking, God will do his will. He will fulfill his purpose.

22:35 Isaiah 53, 10. Speaking of Christ and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. That is the will of the Lord. Isaiah 55, 11.

22:47 So shall my word be that goes out of my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please. And all of these examples, the word is used to refer to whatever God has willed or God has purpose. So not doing.

23:06 My own pleasure doesn't mean keeping away from anything that's pleasant or pleasurable. The contrast is between doing your own will as opposed to doing God's will for that day, as God's will is defined for that day by scripture. Notice how the words clearly used in this way earlier in this very same chapter, Isaiah 58. At the end of verse three, God says of Israel, in fact, in the day of your past, you find pleasure or it could be translated.

23:43 You find your desire and exploit all your laborers. Now, they were complaining in the context here that they had set aside certain days to fast and to seek God and God had not heard them. Didn't seem that God was hearing their prayers, even though they were fasting and doing these different things, God was not hearing them. And they've been complaining about that.

24:08 You see that in verse three, for example, they fasted, they said, and you have not seen. We have afflicted our souls and you took no notice. You're not hearing our prayers. You're not blessing us, even though we're praying and we're fasting.

24:23 And God says, here's what you were actually doing. Here's what you were actually doing and what you've been doing on those days. You were pursuing your own personal business and oppressing your workers. And then he goes on to tell them the kind of fast that he desires.

24:41 What he really desires is that they repent of oppressing the poor and start showing mercy. And really, if you read this chapter, that's the focus of the whole chapter. Right on up to the passage on the Sabbath. Notice first six is this not the fast that I've chosen to lose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, that you break every yoke versus nine and ten.

25:06 Then you shall call and the Lord will answer. You shall cry and he will say, here I am. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, verse 13, if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day. So really, the theme of this chapter is God calling his people to deeds of mercy toward the poor and needy.

25:37 Now, these are works, as we've seen, that are right and appropriate on the Sabbath. And Jesus, Jesus took pains to emphasize that during his earthly ministry, do these things that God wills on his day rather than doing your own things and pursuing your own profits. So you see, when speaking of not doing your own pleasure on the Sabbath, the idea is not that we should never have any enjoyment on the Sabbath or pleasure or pleasant things are forbidden on the Lord's Day. It's not forbidding joyfulness and delight and happiness and festivity on the Sabbath.

26:11 The idea is that you're not to pursue your own personal business and agenda. You're not to pursue your own personal business and agenda on God's day. And the other three phrases of verse 13 help to confirm this. This is not doing your own things, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. Now, obviously, he's not saying that we can't speak on the Sabbath.

26:36 And, you know, rather, when you speak, you're speaking your own words in one sense, it's not you're speaking somebody else's words. Whenever you speak, you're speaking your own words. But again, the idea is that we're not to listen to personal pursuits that are not in line with the purposes for which God has given us this day. In other words, purposes other than those of rest, worship and ministry.

What Are Works of Necessity?

27:05 So that's what my understanding is of Isaiah 58, 13. So that's the first question. What activities are forbidden on the Lord's Day? Now, the second question is what are works of necessity?

27:20 That are allowed and appropriate for the Lord's day and hold your questions. So I think I'll be able to stop today, give a good bit of time to questions. What are works of necessity? Works of necessity is a traditional way of referring to works that must be performed every day and therefore must be performed or must be performed on the Lord's day.

27:46 It's an activity that is necessary for the maintenance of normal and merciful human life and society and cannot be limited to the other six days of the week. Now, the Bible does recognize such works that this category that has been designated by us works of necessity. You remember when we were considering Jesus and his teaching on the Sabbath and his dealings with the Pharisees that he reckoned he recognized and underscored this when he was defending his disciples for picking some grain and eating it as they followed him through. The Phil's eating and whatever is involved in getting a meal together in order to eat or works of necessity, the Sabbath is not a fast day, but like any other day were to eat on that day. Jesus pointed out that it was lawful to rescue a person on the Sabbath or to rescue an animal on the Sabbath. And by the way, this this reference to an animal reminds us that while general farming activity is to be rested from on the Sabbath. There are some things in the realm of agriculture that may require attention on Sunday as works of necessity, for example, sowing and reaping are forbidden.

29:02 But milking the cows on Sunday is a work of necessity. And some of you've never been on a farm. You may not realize that it's also a work of mercy toward the cows. And if if a cow falls in the river or in a ditch, you've got to get him out on the Lord's Day, remember, Jesus pointed that very thing out.

29:26 He says, if your donkey falls in the ditch, which one of you is not going to get him out on the Lord's Day? And yet you're condemning me on the Sabbath. You're condemning me because I'm healing a man on the Sabbath. So these types of works are works of mercy and necessity.

29:40 Likewise, caring for people's health, for the necessities of human life or things that should be done on the Lord's Day, this would include the work of doctors and nurses, which is a work of mercy as well as a work of necessity. Someone's having a heart attack. The doctor can't say, well, come back on Monday and we'll see what we can do about it. No doctors need to work on Sunday.

30:04 They need to care for the sick and the needy. A work of mercy. It's also a work of necessity. Military and law enforcement are works of necessity.

30:14 According to Joshua 615, the Israelites conducted their military campaign against Jericho on the Sabbath. And certainly law enforcement is not to give a free pass to criminals and thereby endanger people's property. It's a work of necessity in life because it's the Lord's Day. Other works of necessity would include utility workers such as those at electric facilities and water plants and telephone facilities, hospitals and law enforcement and nursing homes and even church worship services are dependent upon utility functions on the Lord's Day.

Guidelines for Discerning Works of Necessity

30:55 Some people have to work in those places on Sunday, and that's a work of necessity. There is this distinction that has to be made. We have to make a detailed list of what are and what are not works of necessity. We have to make judgments about situations as they come up.

31:11 But here are two questions that I think need to be asked when making a judgment about that. Number one, is this work necessary on Sunday for the proper and merciful maintenance of human life in our time and culture? And two, is this work necessary on Sunday to make it possible for people to properly engage in the duty of God? I think that's a good question.

31:36 I think those are two good questions to ask if you're faced with what seems to be a gray area is this work necessary on Sunday really for the proper and merciful maintenance of human life and well-being? Is it necessary on Sunday to make it possible for people to properly engage in the duties of the Lord's Day? If it is, I think it can be classified as a work of necessity, but if it can be laid aside on Sunday without neglecting the proper and merciful maintenance of human life and well-being and without hindering the proper performance of the duties of that day, it is not a work of necessity. It falls under the category of work that is not necessary to be done on that day and can be laid aside on the Lord's Day and should be laid aside. So on the one hand, we're not to ignore the fact that works of necessity are allowed on the Lord's Day, but on the other hand, we're not to so define works of necessity that the requirement to rest from our labors on the Lord's Day becomes meaningless. OK. All right.

Upcoming Challenging Questions and Practical Counsel

32:42 So much for this necessary distinction between forbidden works and works of necessity. Now, the next thing I want to do is take up some challenging questions that are often asked about the Sabbath. What about men who have a job that requires them to work on Sunday? We're going to talk about that one.

33:03 What about children? How do I deal with my children in regard to keeping the Sabbath? Do they have the same obligation? In terms of the Fourth Commandment, as a working adult does, who's working six days and then resting on the seventh, or how are we to apply this Fourth Commandment to children?

33:21 We're going to look at that. And then I'm going to just try to give some counsel, some practical counsels to help us to make our Lord's Days more useful and more meaningful both to ourselves, to our children, to our families. But I'm going to stop right now and take questions. Yes, questions related to what we've considered this morning.

Discussion on Gray Areas and Cultural Context

33:39 And the Sabbath prior to this. Oh, yeah. Thank you. We actually have a roving microphone now.

33:48 So so people who are watching can hear your questions. So just wait for Bruce to come with the mic. There you go. Now, again, try to hold your questions about children and about what about someone who gets converted and they've now they've come to embrace the Sabbath, that they work on Sunday and their job requires them to work on Sunday.

34:10 What should they do? Those are things we're going to get to. So let's keep it to what we talked about today and what we've talked about in the weeks previous leading up to this. OK, go ahead.

34:53 OK, let me see if you did. Did someone I don't know if I understood the question exactly. Did anyone can help me with understanding the question? Yes. Right.

35:19 OK, that's a good question. That's a question I have to confess. I've never really thought about that. I've never really thought through that carefully, but it's a very good question.

35:29 I can see how a case could be made for. These situations where that would be a work of necessity, if it depends on what type of work you take, for example, if it's delivering medical supplies or is delivering something that's absolutely necessary for something that is absolutely necessary for well-being of people and the maintenance of merciful human life and has to be there on Monday. I could think a case could be made for that being a work of necessity. But, you know, I don't know if I can give a broad brush answer to the question.

36:05 I think it would depend upon what the particular thing is and the situation is and whether it really is something that's necessary that has to be there on Monday or not. But if it really is, I think a case could be made for being a work of necessity. Maybe somebody else would like to comment on that. Yeah. But wait on the mic.

36:25 Wait on the mic. Is that mic working? Can you hear me? It's working.

36:33 Yeah, OK. I work in manufacturing and I deal with that. And it may be a necessity. It may be a necessity in the sense of the reality where we currently live.

36:42 But it's also obvious if we had a culture that was interested in keeping the Sabbath, then our planning would be, oh, I don't have this stuff here on Monday for work. And then I need to order it in time. So it will be here on Friday or Saturday. Yeah. And that's a good point that you make.

37:01 Eric is saying that in the culture that we live in today, because we live in a society that does not on the whole we will recognize the Fourth Commandment and seek to follow the Fourth Commandment, that that creates some of these contexts where the transporting of something on the Lord's Day becomes a necessity. And you're really touching on the issue that I want to open up. I'm going to open up God willing next week in some detail. And that's the fact of wrestling with the Fourth Commandment and seeking to obey the Fourth Commandment in the context in which we're not living in a theocracy, which is not the same as the context in the Old Testament.

37:39 Israel was living in a theocracy because they were living in a theocracy. There were civil laws that enforced the observance of the Sabbath. But we find ourselves as Christians today living in a totally different type of situation in a culture in which there aren't such laws. We can pray and push for such laws.

38:00 But that sometimes does put us into context like you're talking about, where something can can have become a necessity that would not have been a necessity if if that whole enterprise of business or commercial enterprise, whatever it may be, that are manufacturing, if if they were ordering their their whole business in a way that was sensitive to the Lord's Day, but sometimes they're not. And you're a Christian and you're working and you're in that context. What do you do? And it can be very it can be a very difficult thing to know what to do.

38:38 And sometimes it can create actual necessities that perhaps would not be a necessity in a theocracy. Yeah. Am I on? This is perhaps the related question.

38:54 Maybe it's the exact same thing. What about giant factories that produce non-essential goods, candy, clothes or could be even something more important? Clothes are not essential. Well, I mean, so so I was I know I heard of an example where you had these like just this giant roller that was involved in the manufacturing process and to turn it off, it was there was a significant cost to turn it off at midnight on Saturday or and then turn it back on.

39:23 Yeah. What do you think about that? Well, I think it's the same category, you know, as a judgment call. I think that a case can be made in some of those situations for being a work in the sense I've heard about things like that machinery, that it takes a long time to shut it down and it takes a long time to get it back up and running.

39:39 And if you shut it down during the week, whether it be on Sunday or whatever, then you've lost Monday. And so, you know, probably if I gave some thought to it, we could we could probably think of some parallels if we were to put ourselves in Israelite agricultural society in the nation of Israel. I mean, I'd have to give it some thought, but there's probably situations where there were things related to agriculture that couldn't be shut down completely on Sunday. I mean, on the Sabbath.

40:21 But, yeah, those are good questions and they're difficult situations. They're not easy answers to those questions. But I think that sometimes it could be a work in necessity. Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

40:35 So if it's too burdensome. Right. That's the thing we have to always remember is that the command not to work is not an end in itself. It's not that God's command is not to work just so that he can see how self-denying we are.

40:51 The command not to work is with a positive purpose in order that we can have the day for worship, rest and ministry. So to apply it in such a way that it in such a rigid way that the whole the whole focus becomes the whole purpose is not to work is to miss to miss the real focus, I think, of what the Sabbath is intended to be for. Yes, I just wanted to make a comment about the Baxter statement from last week. Yeah, that you said that was seemed a little bit maybe the words restrictive.

41:30 I'm not sure what exactly you did say. Yeah, I think I was trying to say that if you did it, I thought if you tried to do everything that Baxter said to do, that it could be exhausting rather than the day having any benefit of rest, I think probably because there was a couple of things missing out of that. One of them was acts of mercy and and and rest. He didn't mention anything about rest.

41:54 So, you know, obviously you want to do both of those things, but you also want to at least be engaged partially in the others, too. Certainly that you want to spend time studying God's word and speaking to your children and all those things. But obviously it can't occupy the whole day because you have these other things that you want to do. Of rest and yeah, and acts of mercy.

42:19 Yeah, yeah. And then I think that we were not intended to tax ourselves with believing that we have to do every single one of those things every Lord's Day, you know, about that. But those things are appropriate for the Lord's Day and are ways that we can make good use of the Lord's Day and doesn't mean that you do everything that Baxter said you should do every single Lord's Day, you know, and that that would be difficult to do. Yeah, that can that can actually begin to cross over and kind of a legalistic rigid rulemaking that I think goes beyond what scripture tells us.

42:50 Yes, I think the point that Matthew and Eric raised highlights the fact that there will always be gray areas and it's not always black or white with regard to how the Sabbath is observed. And because of that, I think we all have to kind of reserve becoming judgmental. Mm hmm. About people.

43:19 And to recognize that there are people who perhaps have to work there, their whole heart and motivation is that they would prefer not to. But they're involved in that kind of a situation. And we have to be understanding rather than to be judgmental. It's not always black or white.

43:38 So we have to recognize there are gray areas. Well, it goes back to what we're saying in introducing this subject is we have to try to avoid the two extremes of laxity and legalism and where the Bible speaks. We can speak with authority where the Bible doesn't speak or where we can actually find a clear cut answer to a question from the Bible itself. We have to allow for flexibility and not be hyper judgmental and need to be charitable.

Closing Remarks and Prayer

44:11 Yeah. But you also have a question. Well, it seems like when we start taking questions. The time just flies by.

44:19 I thought we had 15 minutes, but it's already two minutes left. Yeah. Anybody else? All right.

44:27 Well, God willing, next week, we'll come back and take up some really practical questions that these have been very practical questions that have been raised with some other ones that I've thought of that I know that people wrestle with sometimes and struggle with and then, God willing, at that point, I hope I should be able to finish this material in plenty of time for more questions next week. And if so, we'll be finished with this subject. God willing, we'll move on and finish up with these studies. OK. All right.

44:59 Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you this morning for your holy word. We pray that you would give us a heart disposition that loves the Lord's day and that receives it as we ought to receive it as a gift that you've given to us. And we desire to profit from it and to and to use it for the purposes for which you've given it to us.

45:27 And so even this day, we pray that you would help us, Lord, not not only to be present at public worship, but to engage in worship, that we might truly worship you with our words and with our thoughts and with the attitudes of our heart. We pray also that it would be a day of rest and refreshment. And as opportunity comes, Lord, help us to to think more than we intend to think about how we can use this day to engage in hospitality, works of mercy and service to others. And also we ask that you would help us, Lord.

46:09 We don't want to cave in to our culture. We don't want to simply go with the flow because it's the comfortable thing to do. So we don't want to fall into that which is an over lax approach. But on the other hand, we do not wish to be those who are pharisaical and nitpicky and legalistic when there are areas that may be gray areas that are not easily determined.

46:44 So we pray that you would give us a right heart attitude toward one another and toward these things. We we recognize, Lord, that you have so ordained it. That there are areas like that, even as we read in Romans 14 and the struggles that occurred in the church at Rome over observing certain old Jewish feast days and and abstaining from certain foods and others who did not have scruples about those things. And sometimes we do wish that you would give us a black and white detailed list.

47:22 But you haven't done that. And that's partly we trust, Lord, for our sanctification, that we might learn to not be judgmental and to love one another and to have to exercise the faculties that you've given to us as we wrestle with each situation and how the principles of your word apply to that situation. So we pray that indeed it would be a means to our own spiritual growth and maturity as we wrestle with these things and how we commit all of this to you in Christ's name. Amen.