The Day Observed #2

Introduction: The Proper Observance of the Christian Sabbath

0:03 The following message was preached Sunday, January 24th, 1999, to Emanuel Reform Baptist Church at Sea-Tac, Washington. The speaker is Pastor Robert Martin. This message is the 19th in a series of 24 titled, The Christian Sabbath. In this morning hour, we have been examining the subject of the Christian Sabbath.

0:27 And so far, we have examined every major passage in the scriptures bearing directly on this topic. And from what we've seen, I hope, indeed, that your judgment has been carried, that under the new covenant, there yet remains a Sabbath day for the people of God, and that we ought 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.

0:59 Now, last Lord's Day morning, we came to the final subject area in this series, which is the proper observance of the Christian Sabbath. And here, our concern is the proper application of all that we've seen in the biblical witness.

1:17 And our question in this section of our study is this. How shall we use the hours of the Lord's Day in the way best suited to doing the revealed will of God?

1:33 The Lord's Day, like any other day, has 24 hours. Well, how shall we use the hours of the Lord's Day? In the way best suited. To doing what God has revealed in His Word as His will.

Puritan View of Sabbath Preparation

1:52 Now, our Puritan forefathers, in our confession of faith, here following the language of the Savoy Declaration of the Congregationalists and the Westminster Confession of the Presbyterians, our Puritan forefathers answered the question briefly in the following words. The Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe and wholly rest all day from their own works, words and thoughts about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy. Now, perhaps as I read that statement, you noticed that the framers of our confession indicate that in the Puritan mind, the proper use of the Lord's Day does not begin on Sunday morning.

3:09 They speak of a due preparing of our hearts and an ordering of our common affairs aforehand. And it's only then that they go on to speak of observing the day itself.

3:29 Now, the question I would like to propose to you today for your consideration is this. Is that attitude proper?

3:40 That is, to begin to think of our observance of the Lord's Day, not to think of that as beginning on Sunday morning when we open our eyes,

3:51 but to do certain things ahead of time, or aforehand. Again, the Lord says, in the language they speak, of a due preparing of our hearts for the day and ordering of our common affairs aforehand. Now, is that attitude proper? Should we, with a view to keeping the Sabbath holy, use at least some portion of the day before for a due preparing of our hearts and an ordering of our common affairs aforehand?

Defense of Pre-Sabbath Preparation: Common Sense

4:28 Well, I believe that the Puritans were correct in placing this emphasis in the statement on the observance of the Sabbath day. I believe that their attitude was correct. And in the time remaining to us this morning, I would like to defend that attitude and also to commend to you some practical ways of preparing for the Lord's Day.

4:57 But first of all, I would like to defend the premise that we ought to make preparations for the Lord's Day before the dawning of the day itself.

5:08 I believe I can do so by making an appeal to two arguments. I want to appeal first to whatever authority common sense has among men, and then I want to appeal to a precedent established in the Word of God.

5:30 Two arguments. An appeal to common sense and an appeal to the Lord. to an actual precedent found in the Word of God.

5:41 Well, first of all, in defense of the need to make preparation beforehand for the Lord's Day, I appeal to your common sense.

5:51 Now, Webster's Dictionary defines common sense in this way. It says, common sense is the unreflective opinions of ordinary men.

6:05 Now, that's not the best definition I came across, but there's an element in it that I want to emphasize.

6:12 Common sense is the unreflective opinions of ordinary men. And what the writers of that definition had in mind, it seemed, was to underscore the idea that common sense is that view of things which is intuitive,

6:31 which is present to the minds of ordinary men without the need of having to reflect, without the need of having to... without the need to debate with ourselves or among ourselves as to whether something is right or not.

6:48 It's an unreflective opinion. It's intuitive. It's the kind of thing that we just know. We don't have to think about it. We don't have to debate about it.

6:59 We don't have to search whether it's right or wrong. If there's a knowledge, it's there. That this is the right thing to do.

7:08 Common sense is the unreflective opinion of ordinary men. But now, the Oxford English Dictionary takes a slightly different turn. It approaches defining common sense in this way, stating that it is, quote, ordinary, normal, or average understanding, the plain wisdom which is every man's inheritance, without which a man is foolish or insane. Now, I like that.

7:39 I like that definition. Because what they're underscoring is that when it comes to things, of common sense, only the foolish or the insane can't seem to see what everyone else sees intuitively.

7:57 That's common sense. What my dad used to call horse sense. I have no idea where that image came from, but common horse sense. Everyone can see it.

8:10 It's intuitive. Only people who are fools or mad can't see it. That's common sense. Now, in theological terms, common sense mostly is the fruit of what our confession calls the light of nature.

8:32 That is, that revelation of God's will, which He's made in conscience, that revelation of God's will, which He's made in the divine image that He's given to all men, that revelation He has made in creation, in providence, wherever He has revealed Himself in that more ordinary sense, that becomes the source of common sense. So that even those who do not have Bibles and cannot turn to the special revelation of God, they're not devoid of some revelation of God's mind. He's shown them certain things in creation. He has shown them certain patterns in His providential workings.

9:13 He has revealed certain things to them through the image that He has given, and especially in conscience. And for that reason, certain things make common sense, common sense in every culture, in every place, in every time. The light of nature, the Puritans called it. But now, common sense, of course, isn't an infallible source of wisdom.

9:38 Only the Bible is an infallible source of wisdom. Common sense has been marred by the fall. Yet, ordinarily, and I think we all recognize this, and this is why we appeal to it so often, ordinarily, common sense is a good guide, ordinarily, common sense is a good guide, and in most things, especially when it is joined with what our confession calls Christian prudence.

10:05 Now, my point now is that our common sense teaches us a very valuable lesson when we come to think about the Lord's Day. Our common sense teaches us that special days call for special preparation. And the more special the day is, the more we intuitively recognize our need to prepare ahead of time.

10:34 Special days require special preparation. We intuitively, instinctively recognize that. And the more special the day is, then the more the need is, the more common sense tells us we need to prepare ahead of time so that when that special day comes, everything possible is in readiness. For example, when Christians, is approaching, our common sense tells us that we must begin preparing for the arrival of that special day, that day that for many of us is held in some honor and esteem, our common sense tells us we must begin preparing for that day not on Christmas morning,

11:24 but at least days, if not weeks, ahead of time. Some things, if we're going to observe the day in the way we believe we want to, we want to do it, some things absolutely must be done beforehand. Such things as buying presents, shopping for the Christmas dinner. There are certain things that absolutely have to be done ahead of time.

11:47 If you leave it to Christmas morning, it's not going to happen. It's too late to go shopping. It's too late to make those kind of preparations.

11:57 And if mom wants to enjoy the day fully, it's going to be helpful for her to do certain things ahead, especially if, if the tradition in your home is to have a formal or elaborate Christmas dinner. Either she's going to have to make preparation ahead of time, or you're going to have to forego that formal dinner and eat a simple meal requiring little preparation. Otherwise, her entire day, if she waits until Christmas morning to begin cooking the Christmas dinner, given the elaborate nature of that dinner, it's going to take hours and hours and hours. Whatever day it's going to be to her, it's not going to be a holiday.

12:36 It's not going to be a day separate from ordinary labors.

12:42 Now, we have a Christmas dinner in our home. But you know, I don't ever recall that Colleen and I ever sat down and decided, you know, we need to prepare that the day before. I don't recall ever having that discussion. And I think the reason we've never had that discussion because it was intuitive.

13:04 She didn't have to be directed to that idea. She didn't have to assert her judgment to think, well, is this the right or the wrong thing to do? She didn't need to consult her husband. She didn't need to consult Emily Post or any kind of book on etiquette or any other book of formal doings.

13:24 No, it was intuitive. If she was going to have the day to spend it the way the rest of the family was going to spend it, it was going to be necessary at least that the bulk of the work be done ahead. Well, in any case, common sense tells us, that in order not to be hindered in enjoying Christmas in the way we want, we must prepare ahead so that everything possible is in readiness before the day itself actually comes.

13:56 Now, here's my point. If our common sense tells us that a holiday not commanded by the word of God, if our common sense tells us that a holiday not commanded by God's word if that requires special preparation, how much more then does common sense dictate that the approach of God's holy day, His Sabbath, warrants our preparing ahead?

14:27 Do you follow the train of thought? If our common sense serves us well when it comes to Christmas and Thanksgiving and birthdays and anniversaries and the 4th of July and a host of other days, Valentine's Day, whatever it might be, if our common sense tells us if you wait for the last minute it's not going to come off right, then how much more when the issue is not a day not commanded by the word of God, but God's holy Sabbath day. Doesn't plain wisdom dictate, doesn't common sense dictate that in order to give the hours of the Sabbath to the use which God has sanctioned, that we must prepare our hearts and order our lives. That we must prepare our common affairs aforehand, ahead of time. Doesn't that make common sense? Well, of course it does.

15:28 If the Sabbath is a special day and from what we've seen in the multitude of scriptures that we've examined in the earlier messages in this series, who can doubt that the Sabbath is a special day? If it is a special day then, common sense tells us it warrants special preparation before the Sabbath. Before the day actually dawns.

Addressing Objections: The Flesh's Resistance to Sabbath Preparation

15:54 But now, Pastor, I can hear some perhaps thinking and arguing. I've heard this argument before. Pastor, holidays and birthdays and anniversaries and such like are different from the Sabbath day. That's true.

16:12 But now, in what are they most different?

16:16 They are most different in the fact that in preparing for those special days, in preparing for Christmas and Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July, and your anniversary and Valentine's Day and all of that, we encounter no opposition from the flesh.

16:37 Maybe our stinginess gets in the way at Christmas or Valentine's Day or whatever, but ordinarily, ordinarily we encounter no real opposition from the flesh from our remaining sin.

16:50 We delight in those days. We enjoy those days. Our hearts go out to those days. And there's no opposition from the flesh.

16:57 There's nothing in those days that, that causes our flesh to recoil.

17:03 But when God's day approaches, it's different. When the Sabbath day approaches, it's different.

17:11 Our remaining sin begins to complain that taking time on Saturday to prepare for Sunday is overly fastidious. And that after all, we only have one Sabbath day, not two.

17:28 I've actually heard those arguments. I've heard people speak in that way. Well, if you're saying that we need, we need to take part of Saturday to prepare for Sunday, aren't you really saying that we have two Sabbath days? No, I'm not.

17:42 But that's the way the flesh wants to argue.

17:47 We don't think that way about these other special days.

17:51 The day that we go down and slug it out in the mall, shopping for our wife or our husbands or our children's Christmas presents, we don't say, well, we've got two Christmas days, let's throw the whole thing out. Let's make no preparation because we've got two Christmas days now.

18:08 We don't think that way about birthdays. We don't think that way about, we don't think that way about Valentine's Day when men, we go down and line up with all the rest of the men the day before Valentine's Day to get the card. We don't say, well, let's forget this whole thing. We've got two Valentine's Days.

18:22 No, we don't think that way. Seems like it's only with the Sabbath we begin to think that way. Well, that's the flesh. That's remaining sin.

18:32 And it's no mystery that we don't hear such arguments from ourselves when it comes to those other special days. The flesh doesn't hate Christmas. The flesh doesn't hate the 4th of July. The flesh doesn't hate birthdays and anniversaries.

18:50 But the flesh does hate the law of God.

18:55 And if the flesh cannot persuade us to abandon the Sabbath itself, it will still argue against any special preparation for the day. Too fastidious. Now you've got two Sabbaths. See how overboard you've gone.

19:12 That's the flesh. That is the remaining hatred of the law of God that's in the heart. Now in passing, brethren, I wonder if our lack of preparation for the Lord's Day, and that's often the case, and I'll admit to it myself.

19:27 I wonder if our lack of preparation for the Lord's Day is not really an indicator. An indicator that the Sabbath is not as special in our esteem as we would like to think it is.

19:42 We take up our confession of faith. We say, yes, chapter 22. Those paragraphs towards the end of that chapter that deal with the Sabbath day. Yes, that's what we believe.

19:53 This is who we are. We're Sabbatarians. And yet, though that's what we profess, we make little or no preparation for the day. It may be an indicator of more than we're willing to admit.

20:05 It may be an indicator that, indeed, the day is not so high in our esteem as we profess.

20:13 Most of us would never fail to prepare for Christmas. Never fail to prepare for some other day that means much to us. Our level of preparation for those days is abysmal. It's a barometer.

20:27 And on that barometer, we can read the level of our love for the day.

20:33 To the degree that we've made preparation ahead, we say, yes, there's an indication that I take this seriously. There is a true outgoing of my heart.

20:43 Well, our level of preparation for the Lord's Day is a barometer on which we can measure our love for God's Day.

20:51 By which we might rightly estimate not our professed, but our actual esteem for the Sabbath. But now my appeal is not just...

Defense of Pre-Sabbath Preparation: Biblical Precedent in Exodus 16

21:04 I believe I could stop here and the case would be made. Simply from the fact that the Sabbath is a special day, surely ought to convince us that it necessitates special preparation.

21:22 But I want to direct your attention to a passage of Scripture, Exodus chapter 16. For here we have a precedent established by God's Word that I believe proves the principle I'm trying to commend to you.

21:40 Exodus chapter 16, I'll read verses 21 through 30. This is the account of the giving of manna. And the command that God gave on the occasion that manna was first given to the children of Israel in the wilderness.

21:59 Verse 21, coming into the context, they're gathered and they gathered it, that is the manna, morning by morning, every man according to his eating. And when the sun grew hot, it melted. And it came to pass that on the sixth day, that is the day before the Sabbath, they gathered twice as much bread to owners for each one and all of the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, this is that which the Lord has spoken.

22:34 Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Bake that which ye will bake and boil that which ye will boil and all that remains over, for lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

22:51 And they laid it up till the morning as Moses made them and it did not become foul, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, eat that today, for today is the Sabbath unto the Lord. Today you shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it, but on the seventh day is Sabbath.

23:13 In it there shall be none. And it came to pass on the seventh day that there went out some of the people to gather and they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, how long do you refuse to keep my commands and my laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath.

23:34 Therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Abide every man in his place. Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day.

23:48 I want to appeal to the precedent that is established on this occasion. When we examined this text earlier in this series, we saw that in the days that God fed his people manna in the wilderness, we saw that in those days the Sabbath, an already existing institution, was to be observed carefully. And to assure that the people would be free of the need to gather manna, to go out and work on God's day, he gave them, a double portion of the day before. They were to gather on the sixth day, not only the portion for that day, but also for the Sabbath as well. And they were not to go out on the Sabbath in search of manna, for not only would none be found, but that activity would be contrary to the law, and therefore contrary to the proper use of the day. And that's why when some did go out, though they found none, they were not to go out they were rebuked for it.

24:58 Now the instructions given on this occasion did not stop merely with commanding the Israelites that they were to gather a double portion on the sixth day.

25:13 God also commanded them to prepare ahead, to cook ahead, to bake and to boil ahead the manna to be eaten on the Sabbath. The cooking that took place on the sixth day was not just for the sixth day, it was for the Sabbath day as well. In other words, not only their shopping, if you will, but their cooking for the Sabbath was to be done on the sixth day. Double portion will be given, gather it on the sixth day, cook it on the sixth day, leave it over till the next morning.

25:50 What will take place on that morning will be different from every other morning that you try this. Every other morning it will spoil, it will have worms, worms in it, but not with the dawning of the Sabbath. God will bless your obedience and you will have what you need. Now there's a precedent.

26:11 There is an illustration of a principle found in this incident. And the precedent set on this occasion is that by divine command at least part of the sixth day was to be used to prepare for the Sabbath.

26:30 Now have I misread the text? Is that an improper deduction from what is recorded here? Not the whole of the sixth day. This was not a second Sabbath to be observed.

26:45 This was not a day holy or completely given over to preparing for the Sabbath. But by divine commandment at least a part of that sixth day was to be used to prepare for the coming of the Sabbath.

27:01 Now how does this apply to us? We don't live in the world. We don't live in the wilderness. We are not part of that generation.

27:07 We are not being fed from heaven with manna. But there is a principle here that remains for us.

27:15 And the principle is this. There are still many things necessary for ordinary life on the Sabbath day.

27:27 There are many things that are necessary for ordinary life on the Sabbath day. For example, it is still necessary that we dress ourselves. Unless we intend to wear whatever we sleep in throughout the whole Sabbath day. That would be an interesting sight I can imagine.

27:45 If everyone showed up here dressed as you slept in your bed last night.

27:51 No, we must dress ourselves. That's necessary. It's part of what must be done to live ordinarily in this day. We have to eat.

28:02 We don't suspend our eating at midnight on Saturday night and only take it up again midnight on Sunday night. No. Throughout the 24 hours of the Sabbath day most of us still eat three meals just as we always did. But the principle illustrated here is that though there are many things necessary for ordinary life even on the Sabbath day.

28:26 The principle illustrated is that we ought to do everything we can to prepare ahead for the Sabbath in such things. So that when the day comes we are not distracted or our time consumed by things which reasonably may be done the day before. Now it seems to me that's the principle. The overarching principle.

28:52 Those Israelites were still allowed to eat on the Sabbath day. They were still allowed to dress themselves. They were still allowed to do certain things that were necessary to living on that day as any other day. But they were to do certain things to prepare ahead of time so that they wouldn't be distracted would not be engaged in things that would take them away from a better use of the day.

29:19 Well our question is this. Should we with a view to keeping the Sabbath holy use at least some portion of the day before Saturday in our case? Should we not use at least some portion of it again to borrow the language of our confession for a due preparing of our hearts and an ordering of our common understanding? Well so far I've tried to defend the answer of yes to that question.

29:54 That there is a precedent set. Common sense tells us that yes, sometime a preparation is needed. It's a special day. It certainly calls for special preparation.

Practical Preparations for the Lord's Day

30:07 We have the example, the precedent set in the word of God. But now I would like to suggest to you several practical ways of preparing for the day. Now I can't cover all the bases, I can only give you illustrations of the kind of things that at least I believe are appropriate in preparing for the day that sometime on a Saturday ought to be given to these types of activities. Assuming that our confession's emphasis is correct and the Sabbath is best observed when there is conscious preparation for the day, what steps can we take to assure that we are prepared for the day?

30:50 What steps can we take to assure that neither we nor our families are kept from making a holy use of the day? And here my suggestions will fall into three broad areas or categories. The practical, the physical, and the spiritual.

31:12 Well first of all, the practical. And my exhortation to you is give yourselves in some part of the day before to prepare yourselves practically for the Lord's day. Now earlier we anticipated this area somewhat by mentioning the category of those things necessary to ordinary life even on the Sabbath day. And in this category there's a number of things common to us all that can't be avoided altogether.

31:43 For example, we must take care of personal hygiene.

31:49 We must address ourselves for the day. We must eat meals. There are any number of things that are of like kind that are necessary to a due observing of the day. And if we have children, which most of us do, we very likely have responsibilities in these areas relating to them, especially with small children.

32:14 It's going to be necessary that they be bathed for the day, that they be dressed and be fed.

32:22 Now the fact of the matter is that much can be done in these areas, the day before. And if it's done the day before, it does not then become a distraction on the Lord's day either to us or to our children.

32:40 For example, it may be possible and usually is possible for most to dispense with some hygiene matters on Saturday night. Except in unusual circumstances, ordinarily, at least in our home, we found this is the best time for the children to have their baths. Now I don't set that as a rule. It's just a suggestion.

33:04 I would just point you in that direction and say is that something that might improve your use of the Sabbath day to not be racing around trying to get your children bathed early on a Sunday morning trying to get out the door to church and Junior has decided to turn bath time into play time and here you are trying to get out the door and he's moving like molasses. Well, take care of that on Saturday night. It's not an issue on the Lord's day morning. If you get your children out the door, get your hair cut at home and I know that some of you do.

33:34 A Sunday morning is not a good time to finally notice that you need a trim.

33:40 Now it happens. I could use one myself right now. Right? But Sunday morning is not the time to notice that you need a trim and usually it's the mother of the house who does the haircutting.

33:52 It's not the time to draw your wife aside and say, Dear, I know that we're kind of in a rush today and I know it's the Lord's day and I know that you've got a lot to do but could you give me a haircut?

34:04 It's not the time. It's going to take time that she already perhaps has committed to other things or time that she could commit to things that would be profitable to her soul.

34:15 And yet not only are you going to ask for that time, ask her to engage in an activity that does not necessarily need to be done on that day. But even if she doesn't, even if you convince her to do it, you're going to distract her from the proper use of the day. You would be better off, to wait till Monday and come to church looking like a sheepdog than to distract your wife from having a day undistracted in the things of God. All kinds of things can be done ahead.

34:49 A little bit of thought can assure that other hygiene matters can be done ahead of time. Now, it's not unlawful to bathe. It's not unlawful to brush your teeth. It's not unlawful to put on makeup.

35:01 It's not unlawful to trim your fingernails and toenails. Many items of personal hygiene, hygiene need to be done on the Lord's Day. Otherwise, we're not going to be able to use the day in an undistracted way. I'm one of these folks, if I don't get a shower every day, then frankly, I look like a wet mop.

35:22 The hair is plastered down. I offend myself. I probably would offend you. I can't say, well, I'll do it on Saturday morning and come with pillow head and everything else.

35:33 No, I have to take a bath on Sunday morning. If I don't, I can hardly wake up. I won't be ready to come to God's house. I understand that.

35:41 The Bible understands that. There's some things necessary. Please don't think it's unlawful to brush your teeth on the Lord's Day. We heard Pastor Martin in the tape this morning talk about the incident in which he ate a clove of garlic and paid for it for a week.

35:57 Well, it's not unholy to come with fresh breath and neatly combed hair and well sprayed that you not offend your breath. That's not unholy. Some things are necessary. But you know, there are a lot of things that can be done ahead if we just think about it.

36:16 A lot of things that can be done ahead. And to the degree that we do it ahead or postpone it to the next day, that much less will the precious hours of the Sabbath be taken up in things that are not absolutely necessary. If your fingernails have grown as mine have to a little less than a sixteenth of an inch, now that's not where I like to keep it. I like it right down to the edge.

36:41 But you know, I had a choice this morning. I can trim those or I can live with it one more day. I decided to live with it one more day. It was just, it was a small thing.

36:52 But it was one more thing to distract from the use of the day.

36:58 Well, it may be possible to dispense with some personal hygiene matters the day before. I would highly recommend preparing all articles of clothing on Saturday. Not just for the children, but for yourselves. Highly recommend that.

37:16 If shoes need to be shined, if clothes need to be washed and pressed, if choices need to be made, do I wear this, do I wear that, do the children wear this, do the children wear that, do it the night before. It may take a total of 15 minutes to do for the whole family.

37:35 Not only will the Lord's Day morning run smoother for your having done that,

37:41 and run smooth not just for you, but for everything or everyone rather. These things will not become a distraction to take your mind off of spiritual things. I'll not ask for a show of hands. I might have to raise my own hand.

37:58 But how many of us have been late for church because we had to rummage through a child's closet looking for a shirt or looking for a shoe?

38:10 Don't raise your hands, please. I saw a hand go up. Alright. How many of us have been late for church because we've had to rummage through a closet not for a child's shirt or shoe, but for our shirt, our blouse, our shoes, whatever?

38:28 How many times have we discovered on the Lord's Day morning that what we intended to wear was still in the laundry, dirty, or still at the cleaners?

38:39 And men, how many times have we began to growl at our wives and say, well, my shirt's not ready.

38:47 Now I've got to wear this. I've got to wear that. And we've gone off to God's house in a bad temper either at our wife or at ourselves. And we've come to God's house ill-prepared to worship Him, ill-prepared to spend the day as we should.

39:05 All of that can be avoided by ordering our common affairs aforetime. It's avoidable.

39:16 Ladies, it's not a sin to cook on the Lord's Day, at least not at the level of necessity. It's not a sin to cook on the Lord's Day. But it may be a sin, gentlemen, if our expectations of our wife is that she's going to prepare the classical Sunday dinner on God's Day. It may be a sin on our part.

39:39 I have never understood how the most labor-intensive meal of the week ever came to be the staple of the Sabbath day.

39:51 I've never understood that. Brethren, if we want our wives to profit from the Holy Sabbath day, don't insist on us insisting on her feeding you the fatted calf on Sunday.

40:04 That's what my mom used to call Sunday dinner. And I can remember every Sunday morning for years that she would get up at the crack of dawn and we had the same thing for Sunday dinner for probably ten years. A big roast, an eye-round roast, mashed potatoes, none of this instant stuff, cooked, hand-mashed, green beans, biscuits, nice dessert, the whole thing. It took hours for her to prepare all this.

40:32 She did then and still does. Call it the fatted calf. Well, brethren, if we're going to expect to be fed the fatted calf, we may be taking our wives' Sabbath away.

40:45 If you want your wife to profit from the Lord's day, don't put that kind of pressure. In the Directory for the Public Worship of God, published by the Westminster Assembly as an accompaniment to the Westminster Confession, under the heading of the Sanctification of the Lord's Day, we read the following exhortation.

41:05 Quote, that the diet on that day be so ordered as that neither servants be unnecessarily detained from the public worship of God nor any other person hindered from the sanctifying that day.

41:23 We wouldn't go out and have someone cook a big meal for us in a restaurant.

41:28 Why would we stay home and let our wife do it for us?

41:32 We may hinder her from sanctifying the day. And my suggestion to you is, and again, I'm not legislating for you, if you want to have the fatted calf on Sunday, have the fatted calf.

41:44 In fact, if you want to have it invite me over, please do so. But I'm going to encourage you to prepare it ahead. If you and your wife agree, this is what we want, that's fine. But prepare it ahead.

42:01 Don't put your wife in that position where she has to do it on God's day. And better yet, adopt a simple diet on the Lord's Day. Things that are easy to prepare, things that are easy to clean up, cereal for breakfast, a simple casserole like ziti or something else, sandwiches for lunch and dinner. Something that takes two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, five minutes in the microwave or something that can be two pieces of bread, a mustard, mayonnaise, a little bit of ham and you're done.

42:36 Try your best to free your wife from extraordinary labor on God's day. Frankly, all that a heavy meal is going to do is to burden your wife. It's going to overfill your body so that you're going to be dull. For the exercises of the worship of God.

Physical Preparations for the Lord's Day

42:56 But now secondly, by way of practical areas, not only what I've called more generically practical, but let's prepare ourselves physically for God's day. The Sabbath is a day of rest. And I'm going to argue later in this series that getting extra physical rest on the Lord's day is a legitimate use of part of the day.

43:22 But now I have something else in mind. When it comes to our physical preparedness for God's day, the battle for the Sabbath begins the night before. And maybe before that in how we use our Saturday.

43:39 Saturday for most of us is a day on which we expend as much energy in some ways more energy than on any other common day of the week.

43:50 In many cases, Saturday ends up being the busiest day.

43:56 Now for many, Friday night is a night to go to bed late, Saturday morning is a morning to sleep late. But perhaps we've fallen into the trap of carrying that same mindset into Saturday night and Sunday morning.

44:14 If you want to stay up late on Friday night and sleep late on Saturday morning, blessings on you.

44:22 But if you carry that habit, if that becomes a habit and you carry it over into the next night, if we adopt the attitude of our society that, well, the weekend days are our days, days that we can do differently than on work days, if we carry that into Saturday night and Sunday morning, we're not going to be properly prepared for the Lord's Day.

44:47 We're up late on Saturday night and perhaps rising late on Sunday morning.

44:54 And that may be the reason that some are always rushing to church. That may be the reason that some are always late to church. It may be the reason that some miss the Sunday school hour altogether. That you're living with a pattern that you ought not to be living with on a Sunday morning.

45:14 Or perhaps we're staying up late on Saturday night but not keeping the other half. We're getting up early on Sunday morning. We want to be at church on time. We want to make sure that we're not delayed in getting to God's house.

45:29 But because we stayed up late the night before, we've only gotten four or five or six hours of sleep at the most. And we wonder then why we're drowsy, why it is that we're dull and slumped in our pews with a glazed look over our face. It's no mystery. We just didn't get enough rest.

45:49 We didn't get enough sleep.

45:52 You see, the problem's as simple as our not making adequate physical preparation for God's day.

46:00 The solution's unpopular. But it's very effective. Go to bed early enough to get a night's sleep.

46:10 Oh, but Pastor, you don't understand. I do understand. I sure do.

46:16 I understand what it is to look over at the clock and see it. It's almost midnight on a Saturday night and I shouldn't be up this late. I know what time I have to get up in the morning. I know what happens when I don't get enough sleep.

46:29 I know how dull I'm going to be. I do understand. The solution's not unpopular. The flesh wants to stay up and play.

46:36 But the Spirit says sleep. Get the rest needed for God's day.

46:46 And especially is it true as we get older. Now, I've just crossed my 50th birthday. That gives me some warrant to speak on these issues. Sometimes we try to live in our 40s and 50s at the same pace and in the same way we did in our 20s and 30s.

47:02 It doesn't work. It doesn't work. Thank you, brother. It doesn't work.

47:09 And if you continue to try to live at that pace, you're going to be doomed to having disappointing Lord's days. You're going to be dull. You're going to be sluggish. You're going to be drowsy.

47:20 Your mind is not going to be sharp. You're not going to be able to enter into the activities of the day and to indeed have a Lord's day that is pleasing to God.

47:32 We need to know ourselves better and prepare ourselves for God's day accordingly.

Spiritual Preparations: Clearing Conscience and Meditating on God's Word

47:39 Now, third and finally, by way of preparation for the Lord's day, not only practically putting our clothes out the night before, getting the children bathed, et cetera, preparing meals that if we're going to have something extraordinary the day before, practical things we can do in a hundred different areas, not only preparing ourselves physically by getting enough rest, but let's prepare ourselves spiritually for God's day. Now, we anticipated this last week, didn't we? I commended to you the habit of coming to the day with a sense of the privilege of having a Sabbath day with the sense of the privilege of being able to keep a Sabbath day holy.

48:24 We ought to come to the day as I commended to you last week. With our hearts set upon it, delighting in it, regarding it not as a burden, but as a privilege.

48:36 But today I want to add just a few suggestions as to how, in specific ways, to prepare spiritually for the day.

48:46 First and perhaps foremost, do everything you can as you approach the Lord's day to clear your conscience before God and men.

48:59 Do everything you can as you're coming to God's day to clear your conscience before God and men.

49:09 Unresolved sin, unresolved offenses will distance you from God. It will distance you from your brethren, make you unfit with communion with them or with Him.

49:23 A convicted conscience, worse, a seared conscience will cause us to be dull in all that we do on God's day. It will make us reluctant to come to God's house. It will make us reluctant to go to God in prayer. It will make us reluctant to take up our Bibles or to take up some good Christian book.

49:45 It will make us reluctant to have dealings with our brethren at a holy level. Having a conscience that is not void of offense will unfit us. It will unsuit us for God's day.

50:00 Do you remember what Jesus said on one occasion? If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brethren has anything against you, leave there your gift before the altar, go your way, first be reconciled to your brethren, then come and offer your gift. What Jesus is saying is that until you clear your conscience, you're not going to be able to worship God properly. You're not going to be able to worship God in a way that's going to know His blessing.

50:34 You're not going to be able to offer your gift, your worship before God with the confidence that it's received of Him. So, take care, keep short accounts, then come and offer. Then come and worship. Then come to God's day and to God's house and take your place among God's people.

50:56 Clear your conscience. Pray that God will show you where the need is to keep a short account and come to God's day with that business settled. If it means that on a Saturday night it's necessary to pick up the telephone and call a brother and sister and say, Dear brother, dear sister, I sinned with my lips. I spoke what I should not have spoken.

51:20 This very morning, I will not embarrass the brother, but this very morning one of the brethren came to me and said, Pastor, I sinned with my lips against you this week. I need to confess it. I need to tell you I'm sorry. Bless his heart.

51:36 Bless his heart. May God bless him in this day for making a short account of that business. Brethren, if we're going to come to God's house and have fellowship, with the Holy God, if we're going to come and offer Him with a good conscience, our worship, if we're going to come among God's people believing that our faces are going to be open to one another and that we're going to be an iron sharpening iron, that we're going to be unto edification to one another, brethren, we've got to have a good conscience before God. We've got to clear those things.

52:09 Deal with those things. There's no better time to have an inventory, a spiritual inventory, a moral inventory, than on the evening before the Lord's Day. It doesn't take long. Most of us, the things that we need to deal with lie very close to the surface of our consciences.

52:28 Brethren, part of the preparation for the day is to clear the day, clear the accounts, make things right, and come to God's house with no known offense that would keep us back from offering our worship.

52:47 But now, secondly, by way of practical exhortation for spiritual preparation, spend, spend some time, it doesn't have to be a long time, but spend some time meditating on God's Word in some portion well suited for raising your thoughts to God.

53:05 Most of the week our thoughts are down here.

53:10 We go about our business, we're in the office, we're dealing with the children, whatever it may be, there's all kinds of mundane matters to be taken care of, all kinds of unpleasant interactions perhaps with workmates, neighbors, etc. And by the end of the week, our minds are far from God. Our thoughts are far from God. If we would prepare for God's day, take out the Word, take out the Scripture, turn to some portion well suited to lifting our thoughts to God.

53:41 I would recommend to you the Psalms of David.

53:45 There, perhaps as much as anywhere in the Scriptures, we find exalted thoughts of God. We read in the words of the psalmists. We read how holy men think of God. We read the things that fill their minds.

53:58 and fill their hearts. And we can enter into those things. Most of the psalms are prayers. We can enter into those prayers, enter into the things that are said there.

54:08 If we're coming to God's day, it's only fitting that our thoughts be raised above our ordinary thoughts, that our minds and hearts be filled with the sight of our Lord. Portions of the Scripture that exalt the glories of Christ. Portions of the Scripture that speak of His work and of the great benefits that He has given. Those portions are well suited to preparing the heart for the day to think of Christ, to think of His virtues, to think of what He has done, to think of what He's done for us, to meditate on the blessings He's given.

54:42 The best way to empty a hand of worldly thoughts is to fill it with spiritual ones. The best way to move the affections off of worldly things is to fix them on heavenly things. And the best instrument for that use is the Scriptures, to meditate in the things of God, to prepare for the day. But then third, I would very much commend to you, have a plan.

Spiritual Preparations: Planning the Day and Earnest Prayer

55:10 Have a plan for how you intend to spend the day. If you wish to derive the maximum spiritual profit, you must plan ahead. Otherwise, the hours of the day are simply going to slip away.

55:24 Now, I remember that when Colleen and I were going on our honeymoon,

55:30 I planned ahead. I went to get some materials. We were going to some parks in Canada. I went to get materials.

55:39 To find out where in those parks there were things to see, to lay out one by one how we would use the days and how we would use the hours, where we would be here, what we would be doing, knowing that if we didn't, when we got there, before we knew it, the days would be gone and we would not have seen anything. But we ought to come to the Lord's Day with that kind of forethought to plan ahead. If you don't plan ahead, what you're going to accomplish is exactly what you planned for.

56:08 If you don't plan to do anything, that's what's going to happen.

56:13 What book will you read this afternoon if you have a couple of hours to give to that? If you put the children down for a nap, if you have a couple of hours to yourself, what book will you read?

56:28 If you've not planned, you're not going to read anything.

56:32 What activities will you engage in with your children? What works of mercy will you undertake? If you plan for anything, if you haven't planned for it, it's not likely to happen. If you plan nothing, nothing is exactly what you will accomplish.

56:52 Years ago, I recall, I don't do it so much anymore and that's probably to my shame. Years ago, I set apart one hour on the Lord's Day evening to read Christian biography.

57:09 I love Christian biography. I find it to be very helpful, very edifying to see the example of great Christians, to read of their struggles, to read of how God dealt with them, to read of the things that God accomplished through them, and not having anywhere in my work schedule. I have the privilege as a minister of the gospel to spend a good part of almost every day in the Word of God studying. But there was nowhere in my schedule for what I felt was a need for my own soul in that area.

57:39 One hour planned for the Lord's Day evening every week.

57:45 Over the course of a few years, just with that one hour, rarely more, just with that one hour, I managed to read at that time, every biography of a major Reformed believer in print. Everything Banner of Truth had, everything published by Baker and others, just one hour given to that particular activity.

58:12 In the same way, my dear friend Pastor Al Martin read the entirety of the 16 volumes of John Owen's works. Just one hour at a time with a commitment, a plan. I'm going to do this. This is going to be good for my soul.

58:28 If you don't plan it though, it doesn't happen. Whatever you're going to do with your children, if you don't plan it, it doesn't happen. Whatever you're going to do by way of works of mercy, if you don't plan it, it won't happen. Think ahead how you're going to spend the day.

58:47 But then fourth and finally, and then I close, seek God earnestly in prayer. Seek God earnestly in prayer for His blessing on the day.

59:01 For the hours of the day, pray for your soul. That God would give you the most profit out of the Sunday school hour, out of the morning, the evening worship. As we came this morning to hear the message on the bridal tongue and I would commend to every one of you who were not in the adult hour, get the message this morning. To hear of those four watchmen that we can set over our tongues.

59:24 Truth, love, necessity, and wisdom that would keep us from speaking evil.

59:30 We ought to be coming to the hours where we hear such things praying, Lord show me. Show me my need. Lord teach me. Instruct me.

59:42 Direct me. Do good to my soul. Don't let the hours in public worship be wasted.

59:51 But oh Lord open my heart and open my mind. Help me set aside my prejudices. Help me to set aside all my preconceived notions and hear your word with an open heart and a Berean spirit.

60:04 Pray that way. Pray for your loved ones. Pray for your wife. Pray for your husband.

60:09 Pray for your children. Pray for your brethren. Pray for those who come among us. Every week in this place we have those among us who are not members of this congregation.

60:21 Some for the first time. Some have been a few times among us. But pray for these folks. Even if you can't call their names, you remember their faces.

60:31 Pray for them that God would bless them. Pray for the Sunday school teachers. Those teachers who've given themselves on the day before to preparing to teach your children the things of God. Is it not a prayer?

60:46 Is it not a prayer? Is it not a prayer? Is it not a proper use of at least some part of the day for us to pray God open the heart of my son or daughter? That whatever the lesson is it will be profitable.

60:55 Be useful for their souls.

60:58 Pray for whoever's leading the worship. Pray for me, whoever's preaching. That the Lord would give us liberty. That the Lord would give us wisdom.

61:04 That the Lord would give us access to the hearts and consciences of those who are present.

61:11 Pray for God's presence. All is vain except the spirit of the Holy One come down. And I wonder how many Lord's days in this place we have not because we've asked not.

61:25 Pray brethren. Come to the day having sought God in prayer. Pray that God will help you to use the day in a holy way.

61:38 Common sense tells us doesn't it? Scriptural precedent shows us that there ought to be a due ordering of our heart. A due preparing of our hearts and an ordering of our common affairs ahead of time. Now is that too fastidious?

61:54 Is that to create a second Sabbath? Is that what I'm commending to you? I don't think so. It's a special day.

62:04 It is the special day that has the warrant of God's word. And surely it warrants special preparation.

Conclusion and Prayer

62:22 Our Father we thank you for your day.

62:27 We thank you for the privilege of having a Sabbath day. And we pray oh Lord that you would help us. That we would give ourselves at least in some part the day before. To preparing ourselves.

62:42 That there would be no unnecessary distractions.

62:46 Lord that we would in our hearts and souls be prepared to meet with you and with your people.

62:53 Oh Lord we ask that you would help us to be honest with ourselves. If indeed our lack of preparation truly shows that we do not really love your day. Lord grant us repentance of anything of sin that there is in our neglect. Lord look with mercy upon us.

63:13 And help us to be just by this means. To make the most profitable use of your day. Oh Lord we ask that throughout the remainder of this day. We would know your blessing.

63:25 Lord grant that we might know your holy Sabbaths as the foretaste of heaven that you have meant them to be. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.