The Day Observed #4

Review of Sabbath Principles and the Scope of Duty

0:06 The following message was preached Sunday, February 7, 1999, to Emanuel Reformed Baptist Church of Sea-Tac, Washington. The speaker is Pastor Robert Martin. This message is the 21st in a series of 24 titled, The Christian Sabbath.

0:25 So far, by way of quick review, we have considered, I believe, every major passage in the Scripture bearing directly on our subject. We have seen that under the new covenant in which we live, that there yet remains a Sabbath that we ought to observe as a matter of conscience before God.

0:47 And we are now in the final segment in this series. That is the subject of the proper observance of the Christian Sabbath. And our question is, how shall we use the hours of the Lord's Day in the way best suited to doing the revealed witness? Now, I have commended to you the answer given by our Puritan forefathers as embodied in our confession of faith.

1:19 The Sabbath is then kept holy to 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 and 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. And using this statement as our general framework, two weeks ago we saw that we should use at least some portion of the day before the Lord's Day for a due preparing of our hearts and an ordering of our common affairs aforehand.

2:15 And last week we came to the use which we should make of the hours of the Sabbath day itself. And so far, under this heading, I have first of all asked you to consider that the scope of the duty that the Scripture places before us is the proper use of the whole day. That our duty to keep the Sabbath holy does not apply just to a few hours around the morning services, but to all the hours of the Sabbath. To all the hours of the Lord's Day.

2:51 Second, I commended for your use a principle that greatly helps, I believe, answer the question, what should I or should I not do on the Lord's Day? And the principle is this. The Lord's Day is God's day. It is not my day.

3:11 And then third, last time, I suggested to you that the most natural way to treat our subject is to approach it both naturally and spiritually. Both negatively and positively. That is asking two questions. First, negatively, what should I not do on the Lord's Day?

3:29 Then positively, what should I do on the Lord's Day? And I commended two words to you. The words resting and consecrating. And suggested that those words sum up the proper use of the Sabbath.

3:46 We are negatively to rest or to sit. We are to cease from doing some things, though those things may be legitimate on the other six days. And positively, we are to consecrate or devote the hours of the day to holy or sacred uses. And last time, we began to take up this dual approach.

4:10 Looking first at the negative aspect of Sabbath observance. Beginning to look at resting or ceasing from common uses. And our question was, what should I not do on the Lord's Day? From what things ought I or should I to rest?

4:33 And the answer is that we should rest or we should cease from the works of our ordinary employment, works of necessity and mercy accepted. We should rest from our recreations and from allowing our minds and lips to be occupied with the things and with the business of this world.

4:57 And in that broad answer, the first category of things that we're examining are those things which God requires us to cease on His day in the category of the works of our ordinary employment.

5:15 We looked at a number of texts. We pulled back into our minds a number of texts beginning in Genesis 2, moving on to the 4th commandment in Exodus 20, going right through the Old Testament. We looked at a number of texts and we saw that that principle is pervasive in the Scriptures. That the rest to which we are called on the Lord's Day is a rest from the works of our ordinary employment.

5:46 And consider again just one of the texts, Exodus 20, verses 8 through 10. The record of the 4th commandment. Remember, 6 days you shall labor and do all your work. But the 7th is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

6:07 In it you shall not do any work. You, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your cattle, the stranger within your gates. For in 6 days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rest. Rested or ceased the 7th day.

6:29 Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed or sanctified it. But here's the heart of the commandment. 6 days you shall labor and do all your work. But the 7th is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

6:44 And in it you shall not do any work. Now on the basis of all that we've seen in this series, going back to the very first message, on the basis, of all that we have seen going from text to text and from period to period represented in the scriptures, surely we must believe that this is a moral duty, a moral commandment setting out our duty. The 4th commandment is not a ceremonial commandment, it is a moral commandment. And it sets out our duty as the people of God as much as any of the other 10 commandments does.

7:26 But now how shall we do our duty? That's the issue that we're coming to now in this segment of our study. Well the answer is we must rest from the works of our ordinary employments. And as we saw last Lord's Day, unless your vocation is one of those relatively few callings which involves works of necessity or works of mercy which cannot be neglected on the Lord's Day, you ought to cease, from your ordinary labors.

Applying Sabbath Rest to Breadwinners: The Challenge of a Hostile Society

8:01 Now today I want to take that principle a bit further. The principle is this, unless our vocation, unless our ordinary employment is one of those relatively few callings which involves works of necessity or mercy which cannot be neglected on the Lord's Day, we ought to cease from our ordinary labors. Now today I want to open, I want to open that principle further and I want to do it with reference to three categories of workers.

8:39 Breadwinners, homemakers, and students. Three very broad categories, but three categories that I believe embrace all of us except for the very smallest. Breadwinners, homemakers or keepers at home, and students. Now there are employments in each case that are not the same as the ones that are in the work.

9:04 There are employments that are appropriate, even necessary on the other six days of the week. It is necessary that breadwinners win bread. It is necessary that homemakers make home or keep home. It is necessary that students study.

9:25 There are employments in each of these areas that are appropriate, even necessary, on the other six days of the week, but from which we ought to cease. on the Lord's day.

9:39 Now assuming, brethren, that our desire is indeed to cease from the works of our ordinary calling, assuming that we are committed as a matter of conscience to keeping the commandment, then what ought our practice to be in each of these cases? What ought to be the breadwinner's practice? What ought to be the pattern of behavior for the keeper at home? What ought to be the commitment that the student is making to the breadwinner?

10:07 In a practical way, in keeping the day holy. Let's take each of these in turn. First of all, the case of breadwinners. And I'm using that term in the popular sense, but what I mean is those who earn an income by their labors.

10:29 Those who earn an income by their labors. And quite a few of us, especially the men, fit into that category. Well, what should we do? What should we do then on the Lord's Day, on the Sabbath day, about our jobs?

10:46 Well, unless we've completely misunderstood the Fourth Commandment, unless the simple language in which it is expressed can't be taken at face value, then we ought to make conscience, brethren, we ought to make conscience of ceasing completely on God's day from the works by which we earn our living.

11:10 Unless words don't mean anything, unless we've completely understood the words of the Fourth Commandment, six days you shall do all your labor, the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord your God, and in it you shall not do any work, unless those words have some meaning that has totally escaped us, then I believe that God's word to breadwinners is that on His day, we are to cease from those labors from which we ordinarily, gain or earn our living. Surely that is the pattern that God's word places before us not once but repeatedly, as the pattern by which breadwinners are to keep the Sabbath holy. And if on God's day, we are continuing our ordinary labors in the office, our ordinary labors in the shop, our ordinary labors in the place of our employment, if we are continuing those activities which make up our ordinary occupation, then it seems to me the conclusion is inescapable unless it is a work of necessity or mercy, then we are not keeping the Sabbath as God's day, but we're using the day as our own.

12:36 Now I'm very aware, brethren, as we enter into this part of our study, I am very aware, as aware as all of you are, that our society, that our society, is largely, almost universally, unsympathetic, if not hostile, to Sabbatarian convictions. I'm aware of that. I know you're aware of that. We do not live in 17th century Puritan England.

13:09 We do not live in 18th century Puritan America. We live at the end of the 20th century in a climate, in a society, that is largely unsympathetic, beyond that, largely hostile to those who have Sabbatarian convictions.

13:30 Writing in 1848, 150 years ago, John Quentin made a prophecy that sadly has come to pass in our day, and I'd like to read his words to you. He says, We need not be surprised that the Sabbath, an institution crossing fallen man's self-interest as such a variety of points, an institution that is tolerant of none of the grosser or more groveling predilections of the masses, we should not be surprised that the Sabbath should come in for its full share of hostility and repudiation.

14:14 Greed grudges it and would gladly buy it up. Selfishness covets it and waits only for a plausible pretext to seize upon and annex it to its domains.

14:31 Sensuality gloats upon it and scorning its alleged sanctity would spend God's day in a carnival of folly and voluptuousness.

14:45 Unbelief would raise its shouts of triumph on beholding it trampled down by worldliness, while religious lukewarmness holds its intreasured blessings with such a relaxing grasp that it would not require a very powerful effort to wrench them from its custody.

15:06 But the Sabbath has most to fear from the gigantic public companies everywhere springing up around us in this age of enterprise. What isolated individuals would shrink from the responsibility of attempting, confederacies strong in wealth and in influence will be founded. Now daring enough to do and that too with comparative impunity. Many of these leagues of selfishness we fear whose greed is concentrated and intensified by their numbers would not scruple to stretch forth their monopolizing hands and appropriate this day to schemes of aggrandizement.

15:55 But should they ever be suffered, should they ever be permitted to experience this blessing from society and silence all indignant remonstrance, no earthly power would be able to stand against their desolating inroads. The health, the domestic comfort, the moral elevation and the spiritual welfare of the laboring classes would be of no more account than the small dust of the balance. The happiness of thousands of lowly families would be speedily and remorselessly sacrificed. Multitudes of human beings dear to their kindred, dear to their country, dear to their creator and redeemer would thus become the mere tools of gain, the conscripts of ambition and the materials of luxury.

16:53 If such a catastrophe is to be averted,

16:59 150 years ago, here's his counsel. If such a catastrophe is to be averted, the friends and guardians of truth must awake from their lethargy and bravely go forth to repulse the invaders of the Sabbath.

17:20 Should the Sabbath's privileges be wrested from the sons of toil, it can only happen through the apathy and the unfaithfulness of the philanthropic and the good.

17:36 That was a prophecy uttered a hundred times. That was a prophecy uttered a hundred and fifty years ago about our nation.

17:43 And would that Quentin had misunderstood the signs of the times. Would that he had misunderstood the direction that American society even then was taking. Brethren, it's clear that he didn't. He didn't misunderstand at all.

18:01 He saw exactly what was happening and what would happen to the Lord's day if the friends of truth stood by idly. Now, in our day, brethren, the change that he feared has largely taken place. And more and more employers are requesting if not requiring their people to work on Sunday.

18:30 If not on a regular basis, at least from time to time.

18:36 And even the self-employed are not exempt from pressure to work on God's day. Pressure comes from customers. Pressure comes from subcontractors. We live, brethren, in a hostile environment.

18:53 And in a great variety of ways. The pressure of the work culture that exists at the end of the 20th century is constantly, continuously pushing us to compromise our Sabbatarian principles.

19:12 Now, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

19:16 Every man in this place, every brother, or sister in this place, who is out in the workplace, who is in that work culture in which we live, every one of you know what reality is. That there is a constant pressure to compromise. There is a constant pressure to buckle. There is a constant pressure to give ground and to give our employers what they require or what they want at the cost of our society.

The Non-Negotiable Nature of the Fourth Commandment

19:51 There is a constant pressure to compromise our Sabbatarian convictions. And in the face of those kinds of pressures, some may want me to stand here this morning and say, brethren, there is nothing that you can do in such a hostile environment. Some might want me to say that. Some might want me to say, if you stand your ground, if you refuse to budge, you are going to suffer greatly for your unwillingness to compromise.

20:19 You may even be fired. You may even be fired if you refuse to budge. Surely, God wouldn't have you lose your job. Surely, God would not have you lose your business over keeping the fourth commandment.

20:37 Now, some may want me to say that. I can't do it. I cannot counsel you to take that view of your duty. I cannot in good conscience urge you to act in such a compromising manner.

20:55 At stake, brethren, is not man's tradition. At stake is whether we will obey, in every situation, the clear commandment of God. Jesus has shown us that we are free from man's Sabbath traditions. And if in anything men bind our consciences beyond the requirements of the law, we aren't required to obey their opinions.

21:30 It is the heart and the soul of the commandment itself. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

21:52 In it you shall not do any work. We're not talking about Pharisaic, the fourth commandment. Do we have a right to compromise the heart of the fourth commandment? Is it ever right?

22:11 Is it ever right to compromise our obedience to this commandment? At one time, brethren, to my own shame, my answer would have been yes. I freely admit it. At one time, to my own shame, my answer now must be no because of the pressure that is brought to bear, because of what is involved, because of the potential cost.

22:47 Surely that's a circumstance where it must be OK to pair off the sharp corner, to take off the right angle and to compromise. But the more I to disobey the fourth commandment in this matter. Now, please follow my line of reasoning.

23:11 If we were to ask the same question about any other commandment in the Decalogue, any of the other of the Ten Commandments, what would your answer be?

23:25 If, for example, your employer was to require you to break the ninth commandment and lie in the course of your work, what would you do?

23:40 Or what if he required you to break the eighth commandment in the course of your work and to act in a fraudulent way? To engage in what is, in fact, an act of stealing. Now, these aren't straw men, brethren. These aren't just straw men set up to be knocked down.

23:58 These are real situations. Some companies expect, as a matter of course, that their workers are going to engage in forms of lying and in forms of stealing.

24:11 Some of you may have come into such a work culture, into such an environment where you're expected or have been expected to lie. Where you've been expected to misrepresent the truth, either to management, to the stockholders, to customers, whoever it might be. Or you've been expected to do something that, at the end of the day, would be fraudulent.

24:34 Well, as a Christian, would you ever be able to justify doing those things on any, any grounds whatsoever? Well, of course we couldn't. We couldn't justify. Could we ever find a justification, no matter what our employer threatened?

24:54 No matter what the circumstances may be, could we ever find justification to violate the Eighth Commandment, the Ninth Commandment, any of the other commandments of God found in the Decalogue? Well, what is it that makes the Fourth Commandment different? Faithfulness, faithfulness to God would require that we refuse to lie. Faithfulness to God would require that we refuse to steal, even if it cost us our jobs.

25:29 Now, I frankly don't know of a Christian that would argue anything differently on those points. If the issue is put that plainly, if your employer said, as a condition of your employment, I expect you to lie, what as a Christian would you say?

25:46 My conscience is bound by the Word of God. I can't. I cannot lie.

25:51 You'll have to fire me.

25:54 I expect you to act in a fraudulent way. I expect you to be complicitous, to be a co-conspirator with us in defrauding our customer. We have promised him this quality of goods for this price, and we're not going to give him that.

26:11 We know it. You know it. The customer doesn't know it, but we know it. We expect you to keep your mouth shut.

26:23 My conscience is bound by the Word of God. I cannot join hands. I cannot engage with you in an act of fraud.

26:29 Either back away or fire me.

26:32 Would that be the proper Christian response?

26:37 Why then? On what principle? Why then is the fourth commandment different?

26:46 What makes it different? What makes it different from the other commandments? Well, the answer, frankly, is nothing.

26:56 There is nothing that makes it different. If it is a commandment of the moral law as binding on us as the other nine commandments and as we've seen in those opening studies, indeed it is. There is no way to escape honorably. The conclusion, this is a moral commandment.

27:17 We are to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. We are to do all of our work on the other six days. On the seventh day, we are not to do our work. It is a commandment of the moral law as binding on us as the other nine.

27:30 Well, if that is true, then pressure from our environment, from our employer, pressure from our clients, pressure from whomever it may be, gives us no more excuse for Sabbath-breaking than it would for lying or stealing.

27:49 Unless we are prepared to repudiate the idea that the fourth commandment is a moral law,

27:56 then we have no more excuse for breaking it because of the pressure of an employer or because of what the personal cost might be to ourselves. Then we would have justification for lying, or stealing, or committing adultery at the instigation of an employer, etc.

28:15 The fourth commandment is no different.

28:19 Now, you see, we could take any of the commandments that are found in the Decalogue and make the same point.

28:27 Could we justify idolatry for the sake of our employment?

28:34 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not think they could.

28:39 Could we justify the vain use of God's name? Could we justify dishonoring our parents? Could we justify murder or adultery simply because our employer required it as necessary for our continued employment? You see that we would even consider putting the fourth commandment in another category shows how fuzzy-headed our thinking has become.

29:11 That we could even consider taking the fourth commandment and setting it aside and saying, well, this is different. Of course I wouldn't lie. Of course I wouldn't steal. Of course I wouldn't commit adultery.

29:27 Of course I wouldn't bow down to an idol if my employer required it. But now if he says you must work on Sunday, well, of course I can deal with that. We can handle that. We've got a special category.

29:38 Well, what special category? What makes it special? Frankly, brethren, the answer is nothing. Well, how then should we respond?

Practical Guidance for Breadwinners: Self-Employed and Employees

29:52 When the pressure, the very real pressure, the very likely pressure of an anti-sabotarian work culture confronts us? Well, as not all of us are in precisely the same situation, the answer to that question differs just a bit from case to case. First of all, if you are self-employed, and there are a number of men in the congregation who are self-employed, you obviously control your situation more than a brother who works for someone else. For example, you have much more control over the appointments you make.

30:35 You have much more control over the schedule you follow. And when you bid jobs or enter into contracts, if you are indeed resolved to keep your Sabbaths for God, you can factor those days of rest into the promises that you make to your clients. If you're determined to keep God's day, you will factor those days in. You see, in a variety of ways, as self-employed, you have a degree of control over your situation that your brethren don't have.

31:09 And you ought to make the best use that you can of that greater degree of control to assure that your Lord's days are free to be used as God appoints. And now, hear me closely. If in spite of your diligent efforts to keep the Sabbath holy, you discover, and this is a possibility, you discover that your business isn't possible without having to work on the Lord's day, then wisdom and duty says, I need to find another line of work, I need to go into a different kind of business, even if I must take a step backward financially. What the cost may be of having a good conscience is not the issue. If we discover we cannot conduct our business without breaking the law of God, then wisdom and duty says we have to back up. We either have to get another job, find another business that does not require that of us. If we must take a step backward financially, a big step backward financially, whatever is required, better to sell the business, better to let it go, and go get an ordinary job than to give your Sabbaths over to pursuing success in business.

32:39 Is that an excuse for breaking the law of God? There would be no excuse for breaking any of the other nine commandments. Those who work for an employer, of course, have less control in their situation than the self-employed. That's reality too.

32:57 As an employee, you very likely had no part in negotiating the company's contracts. You've had no part in making decisions about the company's commitments. Perhaps those who did, perhaps the bosses, perhaps they should have been more careful in what they promised. Or perhaps, and this is often the case, isn't it, that you've done your work faithfully, but because coworkers have been slack or have been incompetent, the project you're working on is behind.

33:31 No, that's reality. That happens. Or perhaps your boss has decided to better his position by making promises to his boss or promises to customers that are unreasonable. That happens too.

33:46 But for whatever reason, the word comes down, management expects everyone to work on Sunday. Now, you have a moral question. It's not a matter of convenience for you. It's not a matter, well, I had planned to play golf with my friends.

34:04 I had planned to take the family on a ferry ride or whatever. We had an outing planned. This is very, very inconvenient. I've made promises to my children, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

34:15 No, the issue is not an issue of convenience. It's a moral question. It's a moral issue. What's your decision?

34:26 Management expects everyone to work this Sunday. Well, wisdom says, brethren, that before you refuse altogether, that's not the first step. Before you refuse altogether, go to your boss and respectfully explain that for religious reasons, for reasons of conscience, that you cannot be present on Sunday to work with everybody else. Now, it's not a bad idea to let folks know that going in the door.

35:08 But in some cases, that didn't happen. And I'm not here to blame anyone for that. But wisdom says that before you say, I'm sorry, I'm not doing it, no matter what happens, go to your boss, respectfully explain that for religious reasons, you can't work on Sunday. And then offer to work those extra hours in the evening.

35:32 Make an offering good faith. That makes it plain to your employer that you're not just a shirker. You're not just trying to get out of it. You see, many bosses will grant that kind of request.

35:49 Even in the present work culture, there are still many employers who will grant that kind of request, not wanting to put you in a spot where you must violate religious principles. Or if the request to work extra hours in the evening isn't granted, it may be, I don't know your circumstances, that that wouldn't work. And so the answer is no. You need to ask for an exemption altogether.

36:16 Again, respectfully to request. Explaining, of course, that you must do so as a matter of conscience before God. But it is a request. You're appealing to the man's good offices.

36:29 You're asking to be exempted as a last resort. As a last resort. You may need to refuse to come in. Though there may and could be ramifications later.

36:50 You may refuse to come in. You may need to simply say, I'm sorry. I cannot be there. My conscience is bound by the word of God.

36:58 I must obey God before men. I can't be here. Whatever the cost. Now your refusal to compromise your Sabbath commitment may cause your bosses to mark you unjustly as uncommitted to the job.

37:17 It may result in a poor performance report. It may mean that they're going to label you as, quote, not a team player. It may even lead to your being dismissed. That may be the price of a good conscience before God.

37:37 That may be the cost of a good conscience before God. Now I already hear the wheels turning. Pastor, if I embrace what you're saying today, you have no idea of the sacrifice that it's going to mean for me and my family. I do understand.

38:03 I do know what the potential cost could be. Many years ago, brethren, following the clear path of truth and conscience cost me a professorship in one of the most prestigious seminaries in our land. Standing for the truth I knew was going to cost me dear. My conscience was bound by the word of God.

38:34 And it cost me a professorship. I had no other prospect of employment. I was told that because of the position I had taken that there was not a Bible college, there was not a seminary in the whole country that would touch me with a ten-foot pole. I had obligations.

38:58 I had a duty to provide for my own. What did that have to do with my decision? I do understand. I do understand.

39:16 I do understand if you take this kind of view of the Lord's day. That it is as non-negotiable as the other commandments of God. That there can be a great cost. I in no way want to trivialize your concern.

39:31 I in no way want to undervalue the price you may have to pay for following your conscience. But brethren, are we alone among all the generations of God's people, are we alone freed from the call to suffer for righteousness sake? Do we have a special dispensation? Every other generation has had the duty laid upon them to be ready to suffer for righteousness sake.

40:02 Are we the only generation who have been freed from that call? We read in our Bibles of the example of Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego who willingly risked not just their positions, they risked their lives rather than violate the first commandment and to bow down to the idol that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. We read of the example of Daniel. Who refused to obey the king's decree, who refused to obey the command that came down, stop praying. These men risked not just their positions, they risked their lives rather than to disobey God. They knew that their refusal was leading to a fiery furnace and a lion's den. No maybe, no if, no what may take place. No, it was very clear what the consequences of obeying God rather than what the end was going to be.

41:10 And we tell our children about the courage of these men. We tell our children how God delivered them from the fiery furnace and delivered them from the lion's den. We say that we serve the same God that they served. Brethren are those just words for fair days when it doesn't cost anything to be a Christian?

41:33 No brethren. The Lord calls us if need be to give up our lives for the truth. Shall we not be willing to give up a job or a business if that's the price of obeying the living God? If we are to be willing to lay down our lives, to shed our blood, should we not be willing to walk away from a job or walk away from a business trusting that God would do as he did for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, protect him in the fiery furnace, keep him in the lion's den. Brethren are we alone? Are we empty from the call to suffer for righteousness sake? It isn't, brethren, it isn't naive pietism to believe that God will honor our obedience. Some will say well pastor you're just naive.

God's Faithfulness and the Call to Suffer for Righteousness

42:37 I'm not naive, I'm 50 years old. This is not the first rodeo I've been to. It's not naive pietism to believe that God will honor our obedience. Did not he himself say that they that honor me, I will honor?

42:56 That's a promise of the living God. They that honor me, I will honor. Can we not believe our God to keep his word? Revelation 3 says that Christ is he who opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens.

43:16 If we must suffer for obeying him, can we not trust him to use his power to open a way for us to provide for our families if the cost is as bad as it could be? Is our God not trustworthy? Does he not have a cattle on a thousand hills? Does he not own the heavens and the earth?

43:40 Does he not have the hearts of kings in his hand? Is this not the God of whom even a pagan ruler would say that he doeth whatsoever he wills in the heaven and the earth and no man can stay his hand or say unto him what doest thou? Is that not our God? Is that not the God who says to us remember my day and keep it holy?

44:04 Those who honor me I will honor. And should we not who believe the truth should we not stand for the truth against the prevailing evil of our age. You see in part in part Quentin's prophecy came true because those who believed the truth would not stand their ground. One of the greatest enemies of the truth in his day was lazy, lax Christianity who held he said the treasured blessings of God's day in a relaxed grip and idly stood by as it was taken away. Now I am not deluded enough to think that our courageous stand will necessarily lead to the restoration of better days. It may in God's providence. It may be the spark that brings about a revolution in the company that we work for.

45:09 God can do that. If God can turn the heart of a king he can turn the heart of a CEO. It may be the spark that God uses to begin a reformation of religion and a revival of religion in our community. As word spreads that there is one man courageous enough to say no.

45:30 God begins to wonder and men begin to wonder what kind of God gives men that courage and that faith. I don't know. That may be God's way. Or it may be that we simply stand.

45:46 Take our stand and indeed there is no restoration of better days. But one thing we will have if we don't see those better days. We will have a good conscience before God and we will have a good testimony before our wives. We will have testimony before our children that we have been men of principle and integrity.

46:08 I'd like to commend a couple of Proverbs to you. Proverbs 28 and verse 6 Better is the poor that walks in his integrity than he that is perverse in his ways though he be rich. Better is the poor man that walks in his integrity than he that literally is perverse in two ways though he be rich. And that phrase in the original Hebrew perverse in two ways because it implies that the opposite of walking in integrity or walking by integrity is a crooked walking in two ways.

46:50 Now what does Solomon mean by that? What he is talking about is a walking by one rule while professing another. Better to be poor and have our integrity and walk in the rule we profess than to have the riches of the world. To not have our integrity to not have a good conscience before God to live in a way that we say one thing with our lips is oh yes we are Sabbatarian we keep the fourth commandment we believe in the fourth commandment and then to walk a different path.

47:32 Brethren, better to be poor as church mice to have our integrity. You see what we do when we believe in the Sabbath but are unwilling to forfeit riches in order to keep it holy is to walk perversely in two ways. This proverb teaches us it is better to be poor and have our integrity than to be rich and live like hypocrites. Second proverb Proverbs 20 and verse 7 A righteous man that walks in his integrity blessed are his children after him.

48:14 The righteous man that walks in his integrity blessed are his children after him. Better to leave our children a good example of keeping the Lord's day than a rich inheritance that was gained in part by profaning the day of God. Better, better the best inheritance we can leave our children is not a vast estate it is not a bank account jammed to the maximum it is a good testimony a good example that we are men and women of integrity better to leave them with that thousand dollar bill. If the price of stuffing that wallet with a thousand dollar bill is to violate God's day the price is too high. You young folk just now preparing for a career do all you can please to choose an occupation that won't involve Sunday work. Now is the time to think ahead you'll be glad you did you'll be very glad you did.

Sabbath Observance for Homemakers

49:34 Many a brother has lived to regret the career choice that he's made not because he doesn't love his work not because it does not provide him a living wage he has lived to regret it because it demands his Sabbath and even where the work itself is a work of necessity a nurse, a policeman, a fireman even where the work itself is a work of necessity the unavoidable truth is that although the work itself is lawful these brethren still don't have their Sabbath to nurture their souls or their families. Young people now is the time to be thinking ahead and to be asking high up on the list of questions you ask what is this going to require of me on God's day? Am I going to be able to honor God on God's day as well as make a living? It's easier to ask that question now than to ask it when you're 30, 40, 50 years old. Secondly let's much more briefly take up the case of homemakers keepers at home those who go out and earn a living those who go to the workplace to the office, to the shop

51:01 wherever it might be they're not the only individuals employed in our congregation Homemakers, those who do not earn an income by their labors but who labor in an honorable occupation nonetheless and most of you ladies fall into this very category What should you do with God's day concerning your job your job as keeper at home your responsibilities keeping the ordering of the home in a great variety of ways What should you do? Well again unless we've totally misunderstood the language of the fourth commandment you also ought to cease on God's day from the works which make up your calling works of mercy works of necessity accepted. Now surely that's the pattern that God's word sets before homemakers as well as breadwinners. If on God's day you are continuing your ordinary labors in the home if you are continuing with no modification those activities which make up your ordinary occupation as keeper at home then you are not keeping the Sabbath as God's day in the way that you should. Works of mercy works of necessity accepted if the Lord's day is

52:29 just like any other day around the house for you, you need to back away and take another look Do you remember Exodus 35 3? You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day Now when we examined that text we saw that its most likely reference is to fires used for the purpose of cooking so that this text was a parallel to the provision in Exodus 16 requiring that foods eaten on the Sabbath be prepared the day before. Well I suggested to you at that time and I still think this is correct that the provision found in these texts has behind it the motive of securing that women who gave a considerable part of their work day on the other six days of the week to preparing food that they were relieved of that burden on the Sabbath so that they could rest from their labors and have a Sabbath day. If a servant was permitted to rest from his labors how much more was means to be used to see that one's wife could do the same Now I believe ladies that the principle we're considering in this part of our study has as much relevance for you as it does for your husbands. God calls you to cease from your ordinary labors except to the degree

53:58 that necessity and mercy requires. Some things must be done on Sunday to provide for the legitimate needs of the family but your ordinary labors ought to be set aside, your ordinary pattern ought to be set aside If a glass breaks, if one of the children drops a drinking glass and it breaks, sweep it up Don't leave the glass for Monday morning. It's not a violation on the Sabbath to pick up a broom in an emergency But now don't go on from there to do a general sweeping of the entire house or a general vacuuming of the whole house. You've crossed the line What was necessity what was an act of mercy for all of those walking around who might step on that glass has now crossed into the area of ordinary labors. It's not a violation of the Sabbath to change a bed where a sick child is thrown up. It's not a violation of the Lord's day to take the vile smelling bed linens where that has happened and to put them in the washer, put the soap in and push the button and cause the wash cycle to run That's not a violation of the Sabbath. That's a work of necessity It's a work of mercy. It's an

55:17 emergency. But don't go on from there and turn the day into every day and do six more loads Well I've already started washing clothes I might as well do them all. No, no, no no, no. Emergency yes. Necessity yes. A work of mercy, yes. But then to turn it into a day like all the other six days is to violate God's day. It's okay to do what prudence says must be done and ladies you shouldn't load your conscience with guilt because some things simply can't wait till Monday morning. But to the degree that you can, suspend those ordinary labors. Give yourself to using the day for the benefit of your soul. As much as you can. Recognize, yes there's emergency, there's necessity there's mercy Use the day as a day of rest As I said a couple of weeks ago, do as much as possible to scale back your expectations especially when it comes to meals and the like sort. And husbands

56:27 I don't know what chores you ordinarily do around the house but I hope you do some. I hope husband that you don't sit around like King Tut expecting your wife to do everything. And I urge you to do all you can to help your wife on the Lord's day in those times of emergency. Or in works of necessity. You see your willingness to pitch in your willingness to bring the children alongside, to pitch in with such things as making the sandwiches for Sunday lunch, clearing the table afterwards. Your willingness to pitch in other like things necessary to the proper ordering of the house on God's day. That's going to go a long way to freeing your wife so that she can actually have a Sabbath day. But if you do as our brother described in the tape this morning you go in from the Sunday lunch and you open up the lazy boy and you lay back and lean your head back and you're expecting the wife to take care of everything. Don't be surprised

57:31 if your wife is not benefiting from the day. You won't hurt your hands to go get them in some dish water. It won't kill you to make a sandwich. It's good survival training.

57:43 Alright? Help your wife. You're the head of the home. Help your wife.

Sabbath Observance for Students

57:54 Finally, let's take up the case of students. Those whose job now, whose calling now is to study and prepare. And most of you children fall into this category. Likewise, college students those enrolled in training programs of various kinds. What should you do on God's day concerning the job of being a student? Again, unless we've totally misunderstood the fourth commandment you ought to cease on God's day from the works of your ordinary employment. If on God's day you are studying for exams writing papers doing research doing other kinds of homework if you are continuing with those activities which make up your occupation as a student then you aren't keeping the Sabbath as God's day in the way that you should. I know that teachers give exams

58:59 on Monday. I know that teachers assign homework and projects that are due on Monday. But only extremely rarely do those kind of assignments catch a student by surprise. Only extremely rarely.

59:21 Usually we have noticed days if not weeks or months ahead. And if you've come to Sunday and you're not already ready for Monday you see the fault is probably yours. The fault is probably not to be traced to the teacher. The fault is probably yours.

59:45 Either you've planned poorly or you've acted irresponsibly. I have completed 12 years of elementary and secondary education 13 years of college and post graduate studies. In 25 years of schooling not once was I forced to study on Sunday because of the poor planning or irresponsibility of my instructors. It was always my fault. Not once.

60:21 Was it ever their fault? It was always my fault. You see the bottom line is that it isn't necessary to do school work on God's day. It really isn't necessary to do school work on God's day.

60:41 If you will diligently use the other days to do your school work you will get it done. If you are a good manager of your time a good manager of your resources you will get it done. Moreover, if you commit yourself to honor God's day by putting your books away use the day instead to nurture your soul He will multiply the fruitfulness of the other six days. Those who honor me I will honor.

61:12 Even as God can make a man who honors Him earn more in six days than other men do in seven. So if you honor Him by keeping a student's Sabbath He can make you learn more in six days than other students do in seven. I have never known a Christian student who has committed himself to God's day who has suffered academically as a result. Not once.

61:44 I've been on both sides of the lectern. Student for many years Professor for many years. I've known a lot of students. Hundreds even thousands of students. I have never known a single Christian student who was committed to God's day who has ever suffered academically as the result of that commitment. I have known several who've ignored God's day in pursuit of greater learning who've gotten what they wanted academically but at the cost of God sending leanness to their souls. I know men who are graduates of theological seminaries who have PhD's in theology who gained them in part by studying on God's day when they ought to have been on their knees praying about their souls. They got their PhD's.

62:38 They got their Phi Beta Kappa key. They were recognized in who's who in American colleges and universities. But at this very hour they have not a distinctive Christian conviction in their heart. Christ is too great.

The Need for Faith and Courage in Sabbath Keeping

63:04 In closing this morning whatever our occupation is and we all have an occupation. Breadwinner, keeper at home, student whatever it might be. It could very well be that what we really need to keep the Sabbath is not more instruction, not more conviction of where the truth lies, but more faith. More faith.

63:37 Exodus 34 21 says six days you shall work but on the seventh you shall rest in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. That command was a test not only of the obedience but of the faith of the Israelites. Six days you shall work on the seventh you shall rest in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. Not merely a test of obedience it was a test of faith. No seasons were more crucial for farmers than the times of planting and harvesting. The windows of opportunity were narrow. If there was inclement weather they were narrower and the temptation was to take advantage of every day on which work did not appear to be impeded by providence. And yet the Lord commanded the Israelites they must not fall before that temptation.

64:40 Even in seed time and harvest they were to keep Sabbath. They were to understand yes, God's providence indeed is ordering matters. But they were to take that principle all the way. They were to obey God in spite of their inclinations to the contrary they were to leave the result to His providence.

65:01 You see perhaps we need more of the faith that this text requires. The faith that would make us more faithful in keeping God's day. I would like to read just a very very brief paragraph. It's quoted in Bush's commentary on Exodus but the words are those of Adam Clark.

65:23 Again the text six days you shall labor on the seventh you shall rest in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. Clark says many break the Sabbath on the pretense of absolute necessity because if in harvest time the weather happens to be what is called bad and the Sabbath day is fair and fine they judge it perfectly lawful to employ that day in endeavoring to save the fruits of the field and think that the goodness of the day is an indication from providence that it should be thus employed. You follow the line of thinking? It's rained every other day this week. Now the sun's shining. Yes it's God's day but the sun is shining. This must be a sign from God.

66:12 Time to get out the harvester. Time to get out the tools. And do what I can. They think that the goodness of the day is an indication from providence that it should be thus employed but is not the command given pointed directly against us?

66:35 I have known Clark says this law often broken on this pretense and have never been able to discover a single instance where the persons who acted thus succeeded one with better than their more conscientious neighbors who availed themselves of no such favorable circumstances being determined to keep God's law even to the prejudice of their secular interests. But no man ever yet suffered loss by a conscientious attachment to his duty to God. A marvelous principle. Do we have faith to believe that? No man ever yet suffered loss by a conscientious attachment to his duty to God. He who is willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land and God will ever distinguish those in his providence who respect his commandments. Do we believe that? Do we have faith to believe God? You see perhaps

67:43 what some of us need is not clearer views about the Sabbath what we need is greater courage. Courage enough to trust God enough to put down our tools in faith believing that whatever comes in the path of obedience is best. What is it that Clark has said? No man ever yet suffered loss by a conscientious attachment to his duty to God. God will ever distinguish those in his providence who respect his commandments. Did I say it would be easy? Is the word of God plain? Just as we need courage to tell an employer I cannot I cannot break the eighth commandment I cannot break the ninth commandment and I must believe God that he'll take care of me if you fire me for taking this stance. So brethren we need courage

68:57 enough to say to our employer I cannot break the fourth commandment my conscience is bound by the word of God and if you are pleased to dismiss me if you are pleased to relegate me to some corner of obscurity in the company if you are pleased to mark me up on my performance report as not a team player so be it. My God's in the business of shielding his people from fiery furnaces and lion's nests and he will take care of me. Brethren it's not more conviction we need it's more courage and more faith. Let's pray to that end. Our Father as we bow in your presence Lord you know what dust we are made of you know how weak and how frail we are Lord how easily we stumble for the pressures of this world to compromise our principles but Lord give us courage give us faith to believe you to honor you in all things and Father we do pray that you would help us to be men and women boys and girls of integrity whatever the price may be we'll have a good conscience before you and a good testimony

70:21 before others. Lord grant your mercy upon us keep us from wicked men bless us for your own namesake we ask in Jesus name Amen