The Day Observed #1

Returning to the Christian Sabbath Series and the Call to Conviction

0:04 The following message was preached Sunday, January 17th, 1999 to Emanuel Reformed Baptist Church of Sea-Tac, Washington. The speaker is Pastor Robert Martin. This message is the 18th in a series of 24 titled, The Christian Sabbath.

0:25 Now after several weeks of being engaged in a brief series on the subject of God's cure for vainglory, we return this morning to our series on the subject of the Christian Sabbath. And I must say that I am very appreciative of your willingness to see an interruption in this series, that I might get a bit of rest by preaching something that was already mostly prepared beforehand. We return today to our series on the subject of the Christian Sabbath. Now we began this series with the question, Is there a Christian Sabbath that we ought to observe as a matter of conscience before God?

1:10 That is, does God require of us to keep one day in seven as a holy Sabbath day under the terms of the new covenant?

1:23 Now we also began with a consensus, or what I hoped was a consensus. And that is that we were agreed that our authority for answering this question was the Bible.

1:37 Believing that the scriptures are sufficient to teach us our faith, that is what we are to be able to do, that is what we are to be able to do, and our practice, that is what we are to do, convinced that the scriptures are sufficient to teach us our faith and practice on this issue or this question as well as on any other, our concern as we began this series was, what then has God said on the subject of the Sabbath day? Once we knew it was hoped, once we knew what God had said in His inerrant and infallible word, then surely we would know what we ought to believe and we would have solid biblical principles to guide us in our practice.

2:25 And at the beginning of the series I asked you to commit yourselves to letting the Bible shape your thinking. I asked you to pray for the noble spirit of the Bereans of whom the inspired record says that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether these things were so.

2:51 Now after 17 messages we've examined every major passage in the Bible bearing directly on our subject. And from what we've seen I hope that your judgment is carried that under the new covenant there yet remains a Sabbath day for the people of God and that we ought to believe to observe the Lord's day Sabbath that is a Sabbath day on the first day of the week as a matter of conscience before God.

3:28 Now if your judgment is not yet carried that this is so.

3:34 If you're not yet persuaded that this indeed is your duty then I urge you, indeed I plead with you to honestly ask yourself why is my judgment not carried? Why is my judgment not carried? Why is my judgment not carried? The case has been made clearly and simply and I believe convincingly none of the texts that we examined are obscure texts none of the arguments are complex none of the deductions have been strained.

4:09 I've tried as best as I can to take the relevant scriptures at face value and simply let the Bible speak for itself.

4:18 I've done the best that I can to show you what I believe is the most significant and simple, honest, logical position that I believe can be established from the biblical materials. If there is a better position if what I have commended to you is not the Bible's doctrine then please do me the favor of coming with your Bibles and correcting me. I'll be in your debt if I have erred in any of the deductions I have made from the scriptures examined you'll not be rebuffed I'll not chase you away from me I'll not treat you as though you had a foul breath and were addressed as a beggar no, I will receive you I will be in your debt if you can correct me in the things that I've said and I will gladly I will gladly, brethren, retract any statement that I've made that cannot be sustained by the weight of the evidence or by sound principles of biblical interpretation.

5:21 But if your judgment isn't carried there's nothing more that I can do. I believe that the onus is on you to answer the question if I don't believe in the Christian Sabbath why don't I believe in the Christian Sabbath? It may be that at the beginning of this series that your objection was intellectual and exegetical. Well, is your objection still intellectual and exegetical?

5:54 If it isn't if the case has been made fairly if the case has been made fairly if the arguments have not been strained but fairly represent the teaching of the Scripture then where's the problem? What is the issue? And I want to make a suggestion and I don't know that there's anyone in the room to whom this applies but if after hearing all that is gone in these opening 17 messages if still at the end of the day you say, well, I just don't believe that there is such a thing as a Christian Sabbath I don't believe that it should have anything to do with the Christian Sabbath I don't believe it should have anything to do with my conscience then I ask you, where's the problem? Is it possible?

6:36 And I raise the question you'll have to sort this out in your own conscience but is it possible that the issue is not intellectual after all but in fact moral? Is it possible that your flesh is so prejudiced against the idea that God requires of you one day in seven for himself that you've been unwilling to hear? Is it possible that the flesh does not want to follow new convictions of truth? Is it possible in spite of new light received that you still want to keep the day for yourself?

7:18 Now brethren, following the truth in whatever area that the truth touches our lives usually means and I would say probably universally means following the truth usually means that the flesh must be mortified self must be denied and that God's will must be consciously chosen over our own will.

7:46 In the end of the day believing in the Sabbath means that we will need to give the day to the Lord. If we believe that truth we cannot be consistent biblically and keep that truth simply walled up in the intellect. It can't be left there. If we believe that God requires of us in his word one day in seven then taking that truth at face value means that we indeed need to give the day to him.

8:22 Now could it be and again I simply raise the question I'm not leveling a charge I don't know your heart I'm not your judge God is your judge but could it be if your judgment is not convinced that it is your duty to keep Sabbath one day in seven could it be that the issue lies just here that you are unwilling to endure the pain of mortifying the flesh when it comes to how you've been using the day to this point. If that's the case then the problem is not in your head the problem is in your heart and the remedy is not going to be more or better instruction but it's going to be repentance and it's going to be submission to the will of your master.

9:09 Now if your judgment is still unconvinced and you have missed messages in this series and I know a number of you have missed messages in this series if your judgment is still unconvinced and you've missed messages in this series I urge you to get the tapes and to carefully consider all that the Bible has to say on the subject. It may be that your lack of persuasion on this issue is because there's still gaps in your understanding still areas there's still portions of the scripture how does this fit pastor what does this have to do with it what about this what about that I would urge you get the tapes they're available there are what are they called albums albums at the back two albums that have the first 16 of those messages ready and available for you. If you are a member of this church and your conscience is not yet persuaded that our confession statement on the subject is correct I will even go so far as to say it is your duty to catch up it is your duty to get those tapes and to consider all that the scripture has to say. Because in coming into membership we've made commitments we've said this is what we believe but if it's not what we believe then I think it is our duty to make sure that we've made every effort to be informed on this issue. Well so much by way of introduction today we come to the final

Introduction to Proper Sabbath Observance: Preliminary Observations

10:38 subject area in this series. Now you'll recall that in the earlier messages there was a more often than perhaps any of us felt comfortable with I said there's going to be application at the end. That if we begin to stop and try to apply every principle we're seeing as we go along we're going to get bogged down. It's better to see the whole case and then come to the end and see how these principles are then to be applied.

11:05 And so we come to this final section or the final subject area in this series which is the proper observance of the Christian Sabbath. And here's our concern is to see what the proper application is of all that we've seen in the biblical witness. And our question beginning today and going for some weeks to come. Our question is how then shall we use the hours of the Lord's day in the way best suited to doing the revealed will of God.

11:40 The Sabbath day like every other day has 24 hours. Well the question is how shall we use those hours? The hours of the Lord's day in the way best suited to actually doing the revealed will of God. But now before we get into that very far I have four preliminary observations and this frankly is as far as we'll get today.

12:07 But I think they're absolutely crucial as we come to make application of the principles we see that we have a framework there are some observations of a preliminary nature that I feel are absolutely essential to be made. And so this morning that will be the bulk of our time together. Well first of all the first preliminary observation as we enter into this section of intensive application. On a couple of occasions previously in this series I have stated that if you are expecting me now at this point in the series to give you a catalog of Sabbath do's and don'ts which cover every conceivable situation that may arise so that you won't ever need to make a decision for yourself as to what's proper on the Lord's day then you're going to be greatly disappointed by what follows.

Observation 1: No Sabbath Code, But Principles for Decision-Making

13:08 It is part of our nature at least for many of us we would dearly love to have a rule book that was so detailed that we never had to make any decisions. All we had to do is find the specific reference that applied take that case fully worked out fully resolved and simply say well what does it say? What do we do in this case that case the other case? Well if you believe or if you are waiting for me now to come and to give you a catalog of Sabbath do's and don'ts so that you will never have to make any decision never have to exercise your own judgment and never have to as to what is proper on the Lord's day you're going to be sadly disappointed. The Bible does not give us such a catalog and I am not going to after the example of the Pharisees try to construct one for you. That was one of the great errors of the Pharisees on the subject of the Sabbath they tried to cover every case they tried to resolve every case so that there was no decisions to be made. The Bible gives us principles to guide us principles to guide us in making decisions about what is proper on the Sabbath day and we are expected to embrace those principles and to try to apply them in our own case with care and with balance.

14:37 So the first observation I have for you is simply this if you come with your notepad waiting to take down the 638 rules and regulations for keeping the Sabbath day I'm sorry I don't have a list. I can't do that for you. All right. But now secondly by way of preliminary observation though I will not forge a Sabbath code for you this does not mean that I'm not exhorting you to a careful observance of the Lord's day.

Observation 2: Exhortation to Careful Observance and the Meaning of 'Holy'

15:11 Though I'm not going to forge a code of rules for you that does not mean that I am not going to exhort you to a scrupulous and careful use of the day. Our duty as expressed in the law of God is to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy and surely our responsibility in view of that commandment is to take care that our practice is such that the word holy legitimately applies to our observance of the day. If the command is to keep the day holy if that is the will of God then surely our responsibility before that command as is truly of our responsibility before every command of God is to take care that we indeed do what the command says and in this case to take care that our use of the day is such that it deserves the term holy applied to it. So I'm going to be exhorting you though I can't give you will not give you a detailed code of all the specific cases and how they apply I am going to urge you to a careful use of the day. If you examine the uses of the word holy in the Bible if you were to take down the concordance and take the time to look up all the uses of the word holy you will discover

16:40 that frequently very frequently the word is used to express the idea that God has made a moral distinction between certain things that otherwise do not differ.

16:56 That God has made a moral distinction a moral boundary between certain things that otherwise are alike that otherwise are the same thing that otherwise do not differ and in view of God's having made these distinctions man's duty is to observe these God made differences carefully and not to violate the boundaries that God has set up. Let me give you a couple of examples. First of all 1 Samuel 21 4 tells us that when God's David was fleeing from Saul he came to Ahimelech the priest and asked him for bread and on that occasion Ahimelech's response was this he said there is no common bread under my hand but there is holy bread there is no common ordinary bread under my hand but there is holy bread now on that occasion Ahimelech was speaking of the showbread which was placed in the tabernacle according to the stipulations of the law of Moses and each loaf of that showbread was made according to a specific recipe or specific parameters. It was to be made of a

18:25 fifth of an ether of the finest flour but that recipe was not restricted to the tabernacle.

18:34 Any Israelite who could afford the finest flour any Israelite could make loaves of this recipe for his own table. The recipe for the showbread was not restricted to the tabernacle. What made the showbread different then because in every other way it was like common or ordinary bread what made the showbread different from other loaves made from the same recipe the only thing that made it different was that God had made it holy. He had declared that when you make this bread take it into the tabernacle put it on the table of showbread it is holy bread it is no longer common bread.

19:20 The loaves placed in the tabernacle were holy because God declared them to be such by his law and for that reason and that reason alone it was sin to treat them as common bread. Now that's a very important principle brethren because it was holy bread because it was bread that had been set apart for uses prescribed by the law of God care was to be taken care was to be taken not to use it in any way not sanctioned by the law for example only the priests were permitted to eat it they couldn't invite their non-priest friends along for a snack of showbread no the law said it's for the priests only you can't treat it as common bread now they could have a non-priest friend they could have a friend from the tribe of Ephraim or from the tribe of Manasseh or wherever they could have him into the home and the wife could bake up a loaf of bread of the same recipe no problem but the priest could not take of that bread that had been sanctified and consecrated at the tabernacle he could not take it and invite his non-priest friends for a bit of showbread that would have been to have violated the law

20:48 that would have been to have treated it as common or unholy likewise they couldn't take it home and eat it there the priest could not as they were leaving work on the Friday afternoon on the day that the showbread was changed they couldn't as they're going out the door go by where the old bread was kept and pick up a loaf to take home no it had to be eaten in a holy place that's what the law required and they couldn't on Thursday afternoon if they were hungry go by and pinch a piece off and satisfy their hunger no it had to wait a week it had to be replaced by fresh bread care was to be taken not to violate the sanctity of the bread or to use it in an unholy way contrary to the letter or to the spirit of the law of God it was holy bread God had made a difference between it and common bread the only exception of very important exception because it bears directly on the doctrine of the Sabbath as David's example shows as our Lord's teaching shows was in cases of extreme necessity and even then as far as we know only once in all of Israel's history in David's case is there record of a case that warranted common use of holy bread God had made a moral distinction between things

22:17 that otherwise did not differ between holy bread and common bread and in view of God's having made that distinction the Israelites duty was to observe this God made difference carefully not to violate the boundaries that God had set up now I ask that you turn to another passage of scripture this time please turn to Leviticus chapter 10 I want to show you another example of this that the term holy when we are told remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy well what is the what are the implications of that what does that have to do with us is it more than simply learning a Sabbath doctrine is it more than simply confessing adherence to a confession of faith where that principle is recognized where it's acknowledged and approved no it's much more it must come down to how we use the day and in Leviticus chapter 10 there's an interesting incident and then instruction given that follows let's begin reading in verse one I'll read the first three verses and then in the interest of time go down to verse eight and Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron took each of them his censer that is the instrument in which he burned incense and put fire therein and laid incense thereon and offered strange fire before the Lord which he had not commanded them

23:46 now these were men who were legitimately priests they were the sons of Aaron but they exercised their ministry in a way that showed they did not have a scrupulous care for doing all the will of God they brought before the Lord strange fire which he had not commanded them and there came forth fire from before the Lord and devoured them and they died before the Lord then Moses said to Aaron this is it that the Lord spake saying I will be sanctified in them that come near to me I will be treated I will be regarded as holy I will be sanctified in them that come near to me and before all the people I will be glorified now down to verse 8 and the Lord spoke to Aaron saying drink no wine nor strong drink you nor your sons with you when you go into the tent of meeting that you die not it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations and that you may make a distinction between the holy and the common and between the unclean and the clean and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by Moses drink no wine

25:15 no strong drink when you go into the tent of meeting that you die not you are to take care to maintain the distinction between what is holy and common between what is unclean and clean now why were the priests forbidden to drink alcohol before entering into the house of God why were they forbidden from being under the influence of alcohol before entering into the tabernacle to take up their duties as priests they were not required by the law to be teetotalers they were not required by the law to abstain from all strong drink why then did God put a restriction on their ordinary liberty in this case well the reason was that in the service of the holy place they needed to be clear headed they needed to be careful left with their judgment impaired by wine they failed to maintain the God made distinctions between the holy and the common the clean and the unclean failure to maintain those distinctions would lead to death as it had in the case of Nadab and Abihu in the service of the tabernacle

26:44 God had made a moral distinction between things that otherwise did not differ between holy and common between clean and unclean distinctions that were distinctions only because God had made them to be so the animal that was clean the drink offering that was clean everything else the what made it different the service that was offered the incense that was offered all that was done it was different because God had made it different and in view of God having made those distinctions the priest needed to take scrupulous care that they observed those God made differences and not violate the boundaries that God had set up now as these illustrations from the scriptures show when God designates something as holy when he separates it from common use implied in the very fact that God has done this is our need for scrupulous care in observing the distinction God has made do you see that principle implied in the law itself if God has made this distinction if he has set something off as holy different from other things that are exactly like it in every other way but if he has

28:12 set it off as holy it is our duty to take care that we observe that distinction as best we can now you see at creation God made the Sabbath holy at creation we read he sanctified the day he separated it from the common use of the other six days and this principle embodied in the fourth commandment comes out in these words remember the Sabbath day to keep you keep it holy keep it holy not just recognize it is holy not just recognize what God has made it to be but to keep it holy now if that's our duty to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy and surely it is from all we've seen in the earlier messages of how the scriptures build the case chapter after chapter and epoch after epoch if this is our duty to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy then surely our responsibility is to take care to see that our practice is such that the word holy legitimately applies to what we're doing that being the case I must

29:41 urge on you a careful observance of the day I can't do anything else and be faithful to the scriptures or faithful to you or faithful to God what makes the Sabbath day what makes the Lord's day different from the other days of the week well there's only one thing that makes it different God has made the difference he's established a moral distinction not just a ceremonial distinction a moral distinction between the Sabbath day and the ordinary days of the week he has made it he has made it a holy day it was not the reformers it was not the Puritans it is not reformed Baptists it is not reformed Presbyterians no it was the Lord that made the Sabbath day holy and because it is a holy day set apart for uses prescribed by God's word then we need to take care not to use the day in ways not sanctioned by God's word indeed we need to take care that we not use the day in ways condemned by God's word I'm not going to construct for you a Sabbath code I can't do that without turning myself and you

31:10 into Pharisees that does not mean however that I'm not exhorting you to a careful observance of the day if the commandment means anything remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy then it is our duty to observe the boundaries as best we can that God has made but now third excuse me let me let me add a little something before going on to the third point in a very insightful comment on the subject of teaching Sabbath doctrine the , Puritan John Owen makes this statement he says men may teach the doctrine of a sabbatical rest on what principles they please and deduce it from what original they think good if they plead not for an exactness of duty in its observance if they bind not a religious careful attendance on the worship of God in public and private on the consciences of other men if they require not a watchfulness against all diversions and avocations from the duty of the day they may do it without much fear of opposition now what he's saying is that any man can ascend any pulpit almost anywhere

32:37 and plead for the Lord's day and do what we've done in these first seventeen messages to lay the foundation that yes there is a Lord's day that has to do with us Owen is saying if he stops there by and large he's not going to be in any trouble by and large except for a few crackpots he's not going to offend anyone let him put it on whatever foundation he wants to let him argue for it however he may want to argue for it if he pleads not for an exactness of duty in its observance if he pleads not for a religious careful attendance on the worship of God if he requires not a watchfulness against all diversions from the duties of the day things that would take us away from doing what we're supposed to be doing on the day then he can do it without much fear of opposition if I might borrow Owen's words I am urging you to a religious careful Sabbath practice I am urging you to a watchfulness against those things that would divert you from the duties of the day I am urging you in other words not just to be Sabbarian in your doctrine but to be Sabbatarians

Observation 3: The Necessity of Concrete Examples for Application

34:06 alright number three third preliminary observation no Sabbath code yet careful observance now third though the Bible doesn't give us a catalog of Sabbath do's and don'ts but sets before us principles to guide us nevertheless if I go no further than restating the principles that we've seen in earlier studies but stop short and give no concrete exact examples of the proper application of these principles then I cannot in good conscience believe that I've served God or you well if I simply in coming to this part of our study say well now here's the principles again but never try to bring those principles down to where we live and the decisions that we have to make I cannot believe that I've served God or served you well if I do not address how the biblical principles apply to at least some of the questions that God's people in our generation are asking about the use of the Lord's day then I don't believe that I've been faithful to God's word because God's word does not stop short simply with giving general

35:36 principles the Bible cites examples illustrating those principles examples that were relevant in that day and in those circumstances all the bases weren't covered every example wasn't given but enough examples were given so that the people of God could understand yeah this is how this applies a man who was tempted to go out and pick up sticks on the Sabbath understood that the fourth commandment applied to him concrete illustration of the principle now not every kind of forbidden work is cataloged and cited but an example is given not kindling the fire in your home on the Sabbath day not every kind of thing that people might do or want to do on the Sabbath day was cited by way of concrete examples but concrete examples were used and I believe I cannot stop short without addressing how you and I are to use the day in specific ways to say well brethren let's keep it holy let's keep it as a separate day let's remember it's God's day

Observation 4: The Primacy of Attitude Over Action in Sabbath Keeping

37:04 let's worship God in it let's do this let's don't do that here's the principles that apply but never come down to say what does that mean in terms of the things that we have been doing or that our neighbors are doing on the Sabbath day to stop short of coming to those particulars I believe is to miscarry the whole series all right now fourth and finally by way of preliminary observations this morning and here I think there's an issue that is the most important issue that I want to address with you today you can always tell when preachers or when lecturers come to the point that they think is most important it's always their last point that's the same way you can believe how you can find out what a man believes we had professors in seminary who believed it was their duty never to reveal to their students what they believed they would come to a certain doctrine they said well here are the three four five views on this particular doctrine well it was kind of a joke we always knew what the professor's view was it was the last one he presented it was the last one to be seen after all the others had been criticized well this view today or this point today is in my mind the most important thing I want to say to you today the real secret to doing the revealed will of

38:34 God in any area of our duty as Christians is to begin not with our actions but with our attitudes the real secret to doing the will of God in any area of Christian duty this area as well as any other is to begin with our attitude and not our actions for example we've been listening in our adult class to a series of messages on bridling the tongue a very practical subject well there are many injunctions given in the Bible to guide us in the holy use of our tongues many many principles many many injunctions many statements that need to be taken to heart if we are to have holy tongues and any effort at bridling our tongues to serve holy ends will need to give attention to those injunctions to give attention to the behavior that they require to the actions that they require and yet if we think that all that is required to bridle our tongues is to arm our minds with the Bible's teaching on the proper use of the tongue then we're deluded and we're going to fail it's going to take more than to give

40:03 attention to our actions it's going to take more than simply filling our minds with the teaching of the Bible our business with our tongues begins in our hearts what is it the scripture says Jesus says out of the abundance out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks speech does not begin here speech begins here it begins in the heart out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks our business with our tongues begins with our hearts and if our hearts are not right about our duty if we regard the teaching of the Bible and the requirements of the Bible on the proper use of the tongue as a burden if that's the attitude in the heart we will not keep our tongues holy our observance of the principles of holy tongue keeping will rise no higher than the level of those principles not in our heads but in our hearts now do you believe that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks well this principle applies right across the board right across the board to every duty that God requires of us Proverbs 4 and verse 23 keep your

41:33 heart with all diligence or all vigilance the Bible says keep your heart with all diligence it are the issues of life all of our doing how we use our tongues how we use our ears how we use our hands our feet how we use our sexual organs how we use all that we are comes out of the heart that's where the business begins and that's where our business must begin where is our hearts our actions will spring out of our hearts it can't be otherwise

42:18 keeping our hearts in the right spirit if we aren't diligent in cultivating a love for what is holy then we will not be holy we will not observe the differences that God has made between holy and common things we won't do it if it's not in the heart it's not going to be in the life out of the heart of the issues of life keep the heart with all diligence

42:52 it holy that our Sabbath keeping has to begin here it has to begin in our heart it has to begin in our attitudes it has to begin in our affections as important as our actions are we must not begin with our actions we must begin with our attitudes the Bible gives us many principles to guide us in the holy observance of the Sabbath day and we need to give attention to those principles and the behavior that they require but our Sabbath use begins in our hearts you see if our hearts are not overflowing with the right attitude if our hearts are not bubbling up with the right attitude then we will not keep holy Sabbath we won't do it our observance of the principles of holy Sabbath keeping will rise no higher our actual practice will rise no higher than where those it's not going to come any higher it's not going to be possible to isolate our convictions about the Sabbath in our intellect and in our professed adherence to a confession of faith or even our professed adherence to the scriptures it's not going to be possible to isolate that there keep it away from our affections distance ourselves and our hearts and rise to the level of

44:22 holy Sabbath keeping it

44:31 out of our hearts it can't be otherwise and if we aren't vigilant in keeping our hearts in the right spirit if we aren't diligent in cultivating a love for God's holy will a love for God's holy day then we will not be holy in our Sabbath observance we will not observe the difference that God has made between the six ordinary days and the one special holy day that he's made it won't happen we have to begin with our affections Richard Cecil alluding to John's words in Revelation 1 and verse 10 says I was in the spirit on the Lord's day seems to be the soul of the Christian Sabbath interesting comment go on to think about that a bit I was in the spirit on the Lord's day seems to be the soul of the Christian Sabbath Cecil says in this view of the day a thousand frivolous questions concerning its observance would be answered what can I do says one I answer do what true servants of God will do if I may take Cecil's thought a bit further if our hearts are right about the Lord's day if our affections are set on our master's will so much so that we regard keeping his day as a blessing and not as a burden most of

46:01 our questions about what we should do with the day will be resolved if our hearts are right if we look to the law of God if we look to the gift of the Sabbath and see it for what God made it to be a blessing to us not a burden to be born if our hearts have gone out to the Lord and said

46:37 will be instantaneously resolved we will take care to do as Cecil says what true servants of God would do that is those who love their master and love his will I want to ask you brethren where is your heart what is the attitude of your heart towards the Lord's day towards the question of keeping God's day holy I know that confession we perhaps intellectually were Sabbarians but are you keeping your heart in this matter with all diligence I shouldn't say we all are most of us are most of us are here because we're committed to the things in our confession of faith most of us intellectually confession are Sabbarians but has it gone farther are we committed to keeping the day holy from the heart are we keeping our hearts in this matter with all vigilance and all diligence you see the remains the remains of an anti Sabbath spirit resides in the flesh of every one of us it's here in my heart the flesh still wants to use the day the way the

48:05 flesh always wanted to use the day for itself the remains of that anti Sabbath spirit are still here my question is are you watching your heart against it have you set a watch upon your heart against it that it not rise up that it not rule your affections that it not cause you to regard God's day as a drudgery and not a delight that's the argument that the flesh uses what a pain this is what a burden this is what a drudgery this is that's not the spirit of God that's the flesh George Lawson commenting on the words keep your heart with all diligence says quote that our hearts may be kept we must observe them with a watchful eye and endeavor to be well acquainted with their leading principles and their inward workings it is a shame for one who knows many things not to know himself and the chief thing about ourselves to be known is the heart with a strong hand the heart must be ruled and it ought to be our constant endeavor to subject to the word of God every imagination and reasoning every opinion and thought

49:32 every inclination and affection a neglected garden will not be so full of weeds as a neglected soul of vain thoughts and exorbitant passions hateful to God and dangerous to our own happiness and peace endeavor to be well acquainted with the heart with its leading principles not generically but personally what principles what ideas rule your heart what explains your heart what explains your affections know thyself know thyself because until you know yourself you never have any success in ruling the heart and your heart will become like that garden of weeds filled up choked up of attitudes and opinions exorbitant passions contrary to the will of God if the thought of keeping the Sabbath day holy is a burden to you and not a blessing and I have to admit there have been periods in my Christian life where the predominant attitude that I have had towards the Lord's day on a practical level is this is a burden

50:58 brethren if the thought of keeping the Sabbath day is a burden to us and not a delight it may indeed betray a heart that is full of weeds it may indeed betray a heart in which the affections are not rightly set upon our master please for the sake of your own best happiness please for the sake of the health of your own soul for the sake of the glory of your savior search your heart to know as Cecil says or as Lawson says if leading principles and inward working so that you will know the reason why you do not delight in God's day as you should it may now be a mystery one of you confessed to me some months ago when I brought up this issue when we were looking at Isaiah 58 in delighting in the Sabbath day he said pastor I have to admit I don't delight in the Lord's day that very often my experience is different very often I don't want to be in God's house I don't want to see Sunday come I don't want to see the Lord's day come around there are days I wish it was an ordinary day I appreciated the brother's honesty he was speaking for me and he says I don't know why this was or I don't know why this is I don't know why I don't delight in the day I know

52:26 I

52:45 don't it tick and I suspect we'll know the answer I suspect we're going to be finding our own selfishness our own unwillingness to mortify the flesh to undergo the pain of killing sin we're going to discover that in the end of the day we really want it to be our day know the heart it starts there in closing this morning I want to commend to you a way of approaching the Lord's day a way of thinking about the Lord's day that I believe will be of great benefit in rightly ordering the heart for the best use of the day in an earlier message we learned that God created the Sabbath to be a day of blessing at creation we learned that God sanctified the day and he blessed it he made it a day which would be marked by

Approaching the Sabbath as a Blessing, Not a Burden

53:55 blessing on those who kept it holy and Jesus tells us summing up that principle in his own statement in Mark 2 he says the Sabbath was made for man that's what lay behind at least to a large degree God's creating the Sabbath the Sabbath was a good thing made for man God created the day for our benefit he created the day for our blessing now should we not approach the day as it comes around week by week should we not approach the day at the place where Jesus began not just historically at creation but practically as the expression of God's good heart towards us the Sabbath was made for man there's the practical lesson God made it as a day of blessing a day where he would display his special favor his blessing on those who kept it should we begin our thinking as we see the day coming around shouldn't we think of the day in which our Lord has taught us to think of it shouldn't we regard the Sabbath day first and foremost as a token of God's love for us an expression of his wish that we would enjoy a great blessing for you see if we regard

55:24 the day in this way if we begin to look

55:34 if that thought is uppermost in the mind that I am coming to a special day which my loving Father has made to bless me that's what I'm doing I'm coming to that special day then will not with that thought dominant in the mind will not then the dominant disposition of our hearts be that it is a great privilege to have a Sabbath day and a great privilege to keep it in the way that the Lord has appointed for my greatest blessing it all begins with the heart brethren now that attitude without it there will be no holy Sabbath keeping that attitude alone will produce holy Sabbath keeping only with a heart full of the sense of the blessing that God has made this day to be only that will overflow into a proper ordering of the day then our thoughts will much on what can't I do on the Lord's day see that very question shows that the heart is all wrong what can't I do on the

57:01 Lord's day that reveals more than we want to reveal but if indeed our hearts are full of the idea full of the truth God has made this day as a blessing for me then our thoughts are not going to be what can I do on this day but what can I do on this day to derive the greatest blessing from it for my soul for the souls of those that I love for the glory of my Father who graciously gave me this day as such a blessed day not what can I do but how can I best use the hours of the day to experience all that God has made the day to be and with that attitude in the heart with it fixed firmly in the heart with the attitude it's a privilege to keep the day it's a privilege it's a blessing to keep the day then even those things in which we have to deny ourselves in order to keep the day separate even those things then become not a burden to be born but a blessed subtraction in the prospect of greater blessing I can remember my days before coming to grips with what the teaching of the Bible was on the Sabbath I can remember the days sitting there in Texas every Sunday afternoon sitting down watching the Dallas Cowboys Sunday after Sunday after Sunday when these

58:30 principles came to bear there was no greater fan of the Dallas Cowboys than me and when these principles came to bear that this is God's

58:47 subtraction and it wasn't until I came to see that I'm not really subtracting anything I'm adding something what I'm subtracting is not worthy to be compared with what I'm adding the blessings that are going to come are so much infinitely greater than whatever has been sacrificed in denying self that why are we even talking about it it began in the heart this is God's day he made it for our blessing it's a privilege then the question was not what can't I do what can I do to use the day in a holy way a Sabbath day of blessing will never be enjoyed for what God made it to be if our thoughts are consumed with what we cannot do on the Lord's day and if we regard the day as a burden to be endured that never has it never

60:00 a heart that's ruled by those thoughts what can't I do oh this is a burden that gives the flesh too much advantage but order the heart with the remembrance that the Lord's day is a day of privilege it's a day of blessing it's a day to honor my master by doing his will and the Sabbath will be a delight the best of all the seven a holy day to be kept a blessed day of great blessing it all begins with the heart now the words of Psalm 118 verse 24 the not limited to the Sabbath day surely teach us what our spirit ought to be the psalmist says this is the day that the Lord hath made let us rejoice and be glad in Matthew Henry in his quaint his usual quaint but eminently spiritually minded way says of

Conclusion: A Call to a Heart of Joy and Prayer for Grace

61:05 days must be rejoicing days and then they are to us as the days of heaven a Sabbath day Henry is saying that is rightly passed is a foretaste of heaven but now note his observation see what a good master we serve see what a good master we serve having instituted a day for his service appointed to be spent in holy joy Henry has grasped the heart of the Sabbath Henry understood what it meant to be in the spirit on the Lord's day see what a good master we have that he's given us a Sabbath day and that we should be able to spend it in his service with joy in our last hymn we sang these words welcome delightful morn thou day of sacred rest I hail thy kind return Lord make these moments blessed from the low train of mortal toys I soar to reach immortal joys I hail thy kind return it's a

62:34 day to turn away from the low train of mortal toys to soar to reach for the immortal joys Sabbath day queen of all the days blessed day of God's appointment made for man given to man where is your heart today I hope I've convinced your judgment in all the messages that have gone before there today from the people of God where is your heart got to begin with your heart will not remember the Sabbath day keep it holy God can change the heart and if your heart is not joined to your master in love and affection not only for him but for his will Christ had compassion on those who said to him have mercy on us now son of God and if our hearts are cold and we don't want to observe the difference between the common and the holy the clean and the unclean

64:04 we need a work in the heart God can do it and he will do it in answer to prayer our father we thank you for the blessed Sabbath day for this expression of your good heart toward us and we pray Lord that you would give us a heart to keep it holy Lord we pray that in coming weeks you will guide us direct us as we look through the principles of your word try to understand how should we observe this day Lord help us to be careful Lord help us to be faithful and honest in all our dealings with you on this issue help us oh Lord to search our hearts to know their leading principles Lord give us a heart of wisdom and give us the grace if need be Father of repentance oh Lord look with mercy upon us in this place Lord be with your people in every place we do ask Lord that you would raise up an army of your people who love you and love your day we pray Father for your grace and your spirit in Jesus name Amen