The Day Observed #7

Introduction: The Christian Sabbath and Parental Duty

0:04 The following message was preached Sunday, March 14th, 1999 to Emanuel Reformed Baptist Church of Sea-Tac, Washington. The speaker is Pastor Robert Martin. This message is the last in a series of 24 titled, The Christian Sabbath. This, of course, is a paraphrase of Psalm 22.

0:27 The Lord's unfailing righteousness all generations shall confess from age to age shall men be taught what wondrous works. The Lord has wrought.

0:39 Indeed, we are the heirs of a great heritage. We have been taught the wondrous works of God. And may we look to the next generation and do what falls to our lot to instruct them in the wondrous things that we have received.

1:02 In this morning hour, we have been considering for some time now the subject of the Christian Sabbath.

1:12 And we have considered all of the major passages. Dealing on this subject, I hope that we have come to the persuasion that there indeed is a Sabbath day under the new covenant that we ought to observe as a matter of conscience before God.

1:29 For some weeks, we have been in the final segment of this series on the subject of the proper observance of the Sabbath.

1:38 Our question has been, how should we use the hours of the Lord's day in the way best suited to doing the revealed will of God? And I have commended to you. The answer of our confession of faith.

1:53 Chapter 22 and paragraph 8. The Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts and ordering of their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe and holy 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, in the private exercises of his worship and in the duties of necessity and mercy. And using that statement as our general framework, we've examined several principles.

2:35 First, we've seen that we ought to use some portion of the day before the Lord's day for a due preparing of our hearts and ordering of our common affairs aforehand. We've also seen that the scope of the proper use of the day is indeed, the whole day. Our duty to keep the Sabbath holy does not apply just to a few hours in the morning. The commandment is not remember the Sabbath morning to keep it holy, but to remember the Sabbath day.

3:07 And then third, I've commended the principle that I believe greatly helps us answer the question, what should I or should I not do on the Lord's day? And that principle, a very simple principle, the Lord's day is God's day. It is not my day. And then I've suggested to you that the most natural way to treat our subject was to approach it both negatively and positively, asking what I should do and not do on the Lord's day.

3:35 Negatively, we are to rest from the works of our ordinary employment, works of necessity and mercy accepted. We are to rest from our recreations. We are to rest or cease from allowing our minds and lips to be occupied with the things and business of this world. Positively, we are to rest from the works of our ordinary employment, We are to rest from the works of our ordinary employment, We are to rest from our recreations.

3:53 Positively, we are to consecrate the hours of the day to the public and private worship of God, to the spiritual care of those under our authority, to the spiritual fellowship of the saints, and to works of mercy and necessity arising in the course of the day.

4:12 Now today, in the final message in this series, we're going to return to the subject of those under our authority. And we're coming to this subject for the purpose of addressing our duty towards our children relative to their use of the Sabbath day.

The Fourth Commandment and Those Under Authority

4:35 Then, having treated that subject, I'll bring the entire series to a close with one last observation. But please turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 20.

4:50 Exodus chapter 20, and I will read verses 8 through 11. Consider carefully the wording of the fourth commandment. Remember the Sabbath day. To keep it holy.

5:12 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.

5:20 In it you shall do no work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5:54 The fourth commandment contains specific notice concerning its application to those under our authority.

6:05 The way in which the commandment is stated indicates that not only are we to obey it ourselves, but we are to insist that those under our authority obey it. We must obey it as well. And there are four cases that are stated, or four relationships that are noted.

6:28 The case of parents and children, masters and servants, rulers and what the commandment calls strangers within the gates, and farmers and their animals.

6:43 And a number of profitable applications of that provision can be made. For example, we ought to take care against requiring others to serve us in such a way as to take away their right to a Sabbath day.

6:59 But today I want us to focus on what I believe is the most relevant relationship found in the fourth commandment when dealing with the issue of what is our attitude and our practice to be with reference to those under our authority. And that, of course, is the parent-child relationship.

7:18 And our question in this final message is this. What should I expect, or what should I allow my children to do on the Sabbath?

7:31 What should I expect my children to do? What should I allow my children to do on the Sabbath?

7:40 I am assuming, and I think it is right in this setting to assume that we are all agreed that our children are under our authority. And that we have obligation as parents not only to make known certain expectations to our children, concerning their behavior, but also to insist upon certain behaviors and to not allow certain other kinds of behavior. We are in a position of authority over our minor children. And the question is, what should I expect of my children?

Principle 1: Children Are Not Exempt from the Fourth Commandment

8:19 What should I allow my children to do when it comes to the Sabbath? And in answering this question, I want to offer a number of principles for your consideration. And the first principle is this. We must recognize that our children, whether they are converted or not, we must recognize that our children are not exempt from the fourth commandment any more than they are exempt from the other commandments of God's moral law.

8:53 Now that is a fundamental principle. We must begin by recognizing our children are not exempt from the fourth commandment any more than they are exempt from the other commandments commandments of God's moral law. Do you exempt your children from the other commandments of the moral law? Do you exempt them, for example, from the third commandment, and allow them to take God's name in vain? Do you exempt them from the fifth commandment, and allow them, permit them,

9:26 to treat you disrespectfully? Do you exempt them from the eighth commandment, and allow them to steal? Do you not challenge them? Do you not require a certain standard of behavior that conforms to the commandment of God at that point? If you're walking through an open market, and

9:44 your small child should happen to reach on a vendor's table, and take some toy or some trinket and stick it in his pocket, will you do nothing? Is that an allowable exemption, or will you stop right there, and call your son or your daughter to repentance? Make them to return that item, and allow them to take it. And even to ask for forgiveness from the vendor, do we exempt our children from the eighth commandment? Do you exempt them from the ninth commandment, and allow them to lie?

10:16 Then why should we, even for a moment, entertain the idea that they are exempt from the fourth commandment? Why should we entertain for a moment that we, as their parents, can exempt them from the fourth commandment? We do not have the authority to exempt them from the other commandments. We do not have the authority to say to our son, well, son, it's perfectly acceptable for you to steal, or you have my permission to lie, or of course, son, it's perfectly acceptable with your mother and I that you speak disrespectfully to us. We don't have that authority. We don't have

10:58 the authority to set aside the commandments of God when it comes to our children. And indeed, we do them a disservice. If we misuse, our authority or neglect our parental authority in such a way as to leave them with the impression that their duty to the fourth commandment is different from their duty to the other commandments of God's law. We do them a grave disservice if either through the misuse of our authority or the neglect of our parental duty we leave them with the impression that somehow keeping the

11:40 Sabbath is different from lying and stealing and dishonoring parents and worshiping idols and committing adultery etc. We do our children a grave disservice if we exempt them or leave them with the impression they are exempt from keeping this commandment. The very first principle we must recognize that our children are obligated to keep the fourth commandment. But now the second principle we must recognize that our children are obligated to keep the fourth commandment.

Principle 2: Youth and Ignorance Are No Excuse for Parental Leniency

12:11 We must recognize that our children's youth and ignorance of what is right and best is no excuse for our letting them do as they please on the Lord's day. We need to clearly recognize that their youth, the tenderness of their years, and their relative ignorance of their duty before God is no excuse for our letting them do as they please on the Lord's day. Our parental duty is to insist that they do what is right. Proverbs 29.15 says that a child

12:54 left to himself, that is a child given up to do as he pleases to follow his own natural inclinations. A child left to himself causes shame to his mother. It is not a matter of indifference. It is not irrelevant if we leave our children when it comes to moral issues.

13:17 A child left to do as he pleases will become a thief, he will become a liar, he will become an adulterer, he will become disrespectful to his parents, and he will become a Sabbath breaker. We can't just leave our children to follow their natural inclinations when it comes to obeying God's law. We must insist that they keep God's law even if they don't do so.

13:52 All together, willingly or from the heart, we still must insist. Don't you insist that your child tell the truth even when he or she doesn't want to? When telling the truth is going to be costly and they don't want to do it? Everything in the flesh says lie and holds of a lie. Don't you insist? Don't you stay right there with them until the truth

14:27 is out? I hope you do. We don't condone our children's lies just because their natural inclination disinclines them to keep the ninth commandment. We don't grant dispensations because of our children's youth and ignorance on the other commandments just because they don't understand why they must obey them. We insist that they do what is right.

14:59 And our principle, I trust, is that expressed by Joshua when he said, As for me and my children, my house. Not just as for me. Joshua knew his personal duty before God. But his duty did not stop just with his own behavior. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

15:25 Now, we do not know how young Joshua's children may have been. We do not know how many children, what their ages were, etc. But however many, whatever their ages were, there were certain decisions that were made as long as those children were in their father's house. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Principle 3: The Duty to Teach How and Why to Keep the Sabbath

15:49 The third principle. We must recognize that our duty is to teach our children. Not only to teach them how to keep the Sabbath holy, but why they should keep the Sabbath holy. Just as it is our duty to teach them how and why to keep the other commandments of God.

16:10 You don't just say to your son or daughter, Thou shalt not bear false witness. We need to teach them. We need to teach them why they should not bear false witness. We need to teach them why they should not steal. We need to teach them why they should not murder. We need to

16:25 teach them why they should not commit adultery. We need to teach them behavior that is expected, but we need to teach them why. Well, likewise on the fourth commandment. We need to teach them how to keep the Sabbath, but we need to teach them why.

16:42 And indeed, their youthful ignorance is no argument against their keeping the Sabbath. It is only...

16:49 a fact pointing to our duty as parents. The biblical goal of parenting is to train up children so that they will be discerning.

17:02 The biblical goal of parenting is to train them so that they will learn and know the right way that they might walk in it. As the familiar parenting proverb says, train up a child in the way he should go and even when he is old he will not depart from it.

17:23 That doesn't happen if a child is simply left to himself to figure out what his duty before God is. We are to train our children up. We are to teach them. We are to instruct them.

17:36 And if we want our children to obey the fourth commandment when they're old, we must start by training them to honor and keep the Sabbath while they're young. Their ignorance is no argument against keeping the Sabbath any more than it is an argument against any of the other commandments of God. It's a pointer though to our duty. Our duty to train them to instruct them in the things of God. Psalm

18:04 78 opens with a summons in which the psalmist calls us to hear God's law. Our duty before God's moral law does not stop with ourselves however. We do have a personal duty to hear and obey God's law. But our duty doesn't stop there.

18:27 We have a multi-generational obligation.

18:31 Please turn to Psalm 78. I would like to read the first eight verses. The psalm indeed begins with a declaration of our individual duty. Give ear O my people to my law.

18:50 Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

18:55 I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old. Very clear duty. We are to hear God's law. We are to

19:06 incline our ears to His word. But the duty doesn't stop with ourselves. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us. We will not

19:24 hide them from their children. Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and His strength and His wonderful works which He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel which He commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children. That the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children.

19:52 That they may set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep His commandments and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation. A generation that did not set its heart aright and whose spirit was not faithful to God. There's a multi-generational obligation embedded in that text. Now it's true.

20:15 Many of us, probably most of us, did not receive the precious things that we now believe from our fathers.

20:25 Many of us are first generation Christians upon whom God has looked with special grace and special mercy. In giving us a knowledge of His will, in showing us what He requires of us, in giving us a heart to walk in His ways, we have been the recipients of remarkable grace our fathers did not teach us these things. We did not learn the faith at our father's knee. We did not learn the faith at our mother's knee. But now we

20:57 know our duty. We know it's our duty to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. We know it's our duty to obey the commandments of the living God. Shall we be content that this knowledge now should end with us?

21:13 That we be a one generation wonder?

21:17 What of our children? What of our children's children?

21:23 Will we hide these things from them by keeping our mouths closed?

21:30 Shall we hide these things from them by setting the standard of our expectations so low that we really do not expect more of them than the unconverted man next door expects of his children? What of our children? We've come to love these things. We've come to embrace these truths.

21:52 Are these not things that we would long for our children to believe? And our children's children even to a thousand generations? Does not the desire that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep His commandments is that not a legitimate desire, a longing to have in our hearts? Brethren, if it is we must do our part. We must do

22:21 our part by instructing our children in the things of God including giving them sound instruction in the keeping of the fourth commandment. Take your children aside. And teach them the commandments of God.

22:42 Take them aside and explain to them that these commandments represent the revealed will of God. And they are meant to obey them. That God holds them accountable. That this is the law of the living God. That they are not

22:56 exempted. Cannot be exempted from them. Our children need to be told plainly. They need to be told plainly that they must worship the true and living God and none other. They must

23:12 be told plainly that they must honor mother and father.

23:17 They must have explained to them why adultery is wrong. And why lying is wrong. And why stealing is wrong. And why coveting is wrong. They need

23:28 to understand what coveting is and all the evils that flow from it.

23:36 And they need to be told why God requires of them the keeping of the Sabbath day.

23:42 You see, God gives us reasons.

23:45 He gives us solid reasons and we need to teach our children those reasons. We need to reason with our children from the Scriptures.

23:54 It's not enough to simply stand as king over your house and issue edicts. You must do that. You cannot do that.

24:03 We must reason with our children from the Scriptures. Give them good reason for obeying God. By God's grace, they may yet come to see the beauty of God's law. They may yet come to delight in the Word of God. By God's

Principle 4: Setting the Right Standard for Sabbath Observance

24:19 grace, they may yet come to teach their children and their children their children to a thousand generations. Principle 4 We must carefully consider brethren, the standard that we set for our children's Sabbath observance. We must very, very carefully consider the standard that we set for our children's Sabbath observance. That it is neither too strict nor too lenient.

24:55 There is a razor's edge to be walked. And we need to learn to walk it our selves. And we need to learn how to guide our children in keeping the Sabbath in the proper way. Be careful of the standard that you set.

25:12 That on the one hand, it is not too strict or too lenient. On the one hand, we don't want a standard so low that their Sabbath is basically no different from the other six days of the week. I'm afraid that some Christians have fallen into the ditch on that side of the road. Of setting the standard for their children's keeping of the Sabbath so low. Setting their expectations

25:40 so low. That for all practical purposes except for the few hours that they're in the church building. That the day is no different from the other six days of the week. Well, that's a ditch on one side of the road.

25:56 But there's a ditch on the other side of the road too. That we would become so strict and become so regimented in our Sabbath keeping that we go beyond what is written and commit the error of the Pharisees.

26:14 Their rules and their regulations about the Sabbath made the Sabbath a grievous burden. In their zeal to regulate every possible activity. In their zeal to account for every minute of the day.

26:31 The Pharisees forgot that the Sabbath, or that man was not made for the Sabbath, but that the Sabbath was made for man.

26:39 That the day was made to be a blessing and not a burden, a delight and not a drudgery. They forgot that. They wanted to regulate every activity. They wanted to rule for every circumstance. They wanted to

26:53 account literally for every second of the day. By the time they were done, they had dug a ditch so deep that no man could climb out.

27:04 Need to take care that we not bind burdens for our children that we have never been willing or able to bear. John Owen says that some, and here I quote, have collected whatever they could think of that is good and pious and useful in the practice of religion. Whatever could be commended as being good for the soul. Whatever could be commended as being pious.

27:31 Whatever could be commended as being useful. They collected it all and prescribed it all in a multitude of instances as necessary to the sanctification of this day so that a man can scarcely in six days read over all the duties that are proposed to be observed on the Sabbath. We need to avoid that, brethren. That is not the Christian Sabbath.

27:59 That's Phariseeism visited all over again. Let's not be guilty of doing that to our children.

28:07 They need guidance in the proper keeping of the day. They need to know what our expectations are in some very specific areas. We cannot be content with simply general principles. They do need specific instruction. They do need

28:24 to know what we expect in some very specific areas, but they will never come to delight in the Lord's day if they are forced to live by a code that's been designed in such a way that in the end it's nothing more than Phariseeism.

28:40 We need to be very careful in the standard that we set for our children's Sabbath keeping that it's not too strict nor too lenient.

Principle 5: General Guidelines and Conscience in Specifics

28:51 Principle number five. As to the specifics of Sabbath keeping,

28:58 either for ourselves or for our children, we must never forget that the biblical guidelines by which we determine what acceptable Sabbath keeping is, we must never forget that those guidelines are general in nature. As I've said several times throughout this series, there is no detailed list of do's and don'ts for the Lord's day. The Bible doesn't give us that. Even the law of Moses is amazingly spartan when it comes to specific rules of dealings with what the Puritans call cases of conscience related to the fourth commandment.

29:39 That is, the specific application to specific circumstances of the fourth commandment. The Bible, even the law of Moses, is amazingly spartan in that kind of material. The Bible does not contain a detailed checklist of accepted and forbidden practices. It gives us rather general principles by which we are to judge and to resolve each situation that we encounter. Now, we want the

30:09 other. At least some of us want the other. We would love to have a manual the size of Baxter's Christian Directory. A huge manual, something like this.

30:19 We would love to have a thousand pages of Sabbath rules that each and every possible conceivable circumstance is already covered and we're told exactly what to do.

30:33 God is wiser than we are. He did not give us that kind of manual.

30:39 He rather has revealed to us principles that we are to wrestle with, principles that we are to embrace, principles that we are to prayerfully bring to the circumstances of our lives and in faith come to a conclusion of what is right in the sight of God. Now, I think that we should assume that the same principles that guide our Sabbath observance are meant to guide our children. I can't imagine that there's any other arrangement that makes sense. That the same general principles that are to guide our Sabbath observance are meant to guide our children.

31:25 The Bible does not have different laws for children than for adults. That's not the Scriptures. The Scripture doesn't do that. And as we are trying to train our children how to keep the Sabbath throughout the entirety of their lives and not just in their childhood, therefore it stands to reason that the principles that they need to live by then are the same principles that they need to be taught to live by now. If you want, for

31:58 example, your son to be an honest man when he's grown,

32:03 what principles do you insist he embrace now as a child? A special code of honesty just for children?

32:13 Or those principles of God's Word that will make him to be a man of integrity?

32:21 You want him to live by the same rules. You don't invent a separate set of rules. You don't devise a separate standard of honesty for your 10-year-old son than you would if he were a 40-year-old man. The same principles are meant to guide in a like manner.

32:41 If we want our children to keep a holy Sabbath as adults, we must expect them to walk by that same standard now. To embrace the same principles and to begin to learn how to live by those principles even as children.

Five Guidelines for Children's Sabbath Observance

33:01 Well, what guidelines then should we follow?

33:04 What guidelines should we insist that our kids follow when it comes to Sabbath observance?

33:12 Well, from what the Bible does in describing the purpose of the day, I want to suggest five guidelines that you I hope will prayerfully consider when thinking about your children's Sabbath observance. Five general guidelines that apply as much to your children as they do to you. Guidelines that apply to your children as they do to you. Guidelines that apply as much to your children as they do to you.

33:35 Guidelines that apply as much to your children as they do to you. Guidelines that apply as much to your children as they do to you. Guidelines that apply as much to your children as they do to you. The Sabbath is a day on which God commands us to rest from our ordinary labors.

33:44 That principle pervasive throughout the Scriptures. It is therefore, and we've already touched on this point so we'll pass it quickly. It is therefore not a day for our children to do the work that they do on the other six days. The Sabbath is not the day for school work.

34:02 The Sabbath is not the day at least in my judgment, even for household chores chores that ought to be set aside. Works of necessity accepted. In this, our rule for our children is no different than our rule for ourselves. We have embraced the expectation that on God's day, I will not be following the works of my ordinary calling. Works of mercy and

34:28 necessity accepted. And therefore, our children, we don't give them a different rule. If we want them as adults to have embraced that rule and to delight in that rule, we must begin to expect that of them now. Guideline one, the Sabbath is a day on which God commands us to rest from our ordinary labors. We must plan our work so that the day is free. We must help our kids

35:01 do the same. Guideline two, as the Sabbath is a day of rest, some portion of the day may lawfully be used to rest the body and the mind so that some part of the day, at least in my judgment, may be used for our children or by our children for a nap or quiet retirement. In fact, that may be very advisable, especially if alertness at public or private or family worship is a problem during the day. Simply insist that your children take a nap for an hour, hour and a half, whatever it may be.

35:45 That they might be alert when they come to the house of God, that they might be alert at family worship, that they might be alert in whatever activities you have planned for them for the rest of the day. All right, guideline number three, the Sabbath is not a day of recreation. It is not a day, if you'll recall Isaiah 58, it is not a day on which we may pursue our own pleasures, even those pleasures and those recreations legitimate on the other six days. If the day belongs to our children, of course, they may use it as they please. But since the day belongs to God, they,

36:27 just like we, must use it as pleases God. I don't believe we serve them well by permitting them, for example, to participate in sports or to watch TV or to play games or to engage in other common recreations on the Lord's day. We certainly do them no service by setting a bad example in these things. I believe that permitting these things for our children, that we send them the wrong message. We

37:02 are not sending them the message, this is a special day. This is a different day. Well, again, in this, our rule for our children is no different from our rule for ourselves. If we cannot in good conscience go home from this service today and turn on NBA basketball, if we cannot with good conscience go home from this service today and turn on NBA basketball, if we cannot with good conscience go home and take our golf clubs and head for the golf course, if we cannot in good service go home on the Lord's day today and engage in a game of monopoly, then what are we doing

37:44 allowing our children to do things of like kind? What message are we sending? What preparation are we doing for their adulthood? Now, I don't want to be misunderstood. At times, such things as Bible

38:03 games or Christian video games are not going to be understood. I don't want to be misunderstood. I don't want to be misunderstood. At times, such things as Bible games or Christian video games or Christian audio tapes are useful in instructing our children in the things of God. Now, I know that

38:17 there's a certain entertainment factor present in those things. There's an entertainment factor present in playing a game of Bible charades. There's an entertainment factor involved in watching a Christian video. There's an entertainment factor in listening to certain kinds of audio tapes. But I don't

38:42 believe that such things, especially when used in moderation, necessarily violate the sanctity of the Sabbath. I don't think it's necessarily wrong to let your child play a game of Bible charades with his siblings or with others from the congregation. I don't think it's necessarily wrong to let your child watch a Christian video on the Lord's Day. Or necessarily wrong to allow them to listen to certain kinds of audio tapes on the Lord's Day.

39:16 We need to be very careful that we don't confuse the medium with the message.

39:23 Most of us would let our children read the biography of a great Christian on the Lord's Day.

39:30 To read the biography, for example, of William Carey or Adoniram Judson. Or to read the biography of Charles Spurgeon. Or to read the biography of Susanna Wesley, etc. Most of us would allow us or most of us would allow our children to read a biography of a great Christian on the Lord's Day.

39:48 Even though the story in addition to conveying edifying principles is also entertaining.

39:56 There's a certain entertainment value in reading a great biography.

40:03 In other words, we don't put Christian biographies off limits on the Lord's Day because they happen to be entertaining as well as instructive in Christian principles. But if we hear parents letting their children watch a video version of the same great Christian's life,

40:25 we have a stroke and accuse them of violating the Sabbath Day. I don't believe that's right.

40:33 You see, the TV, VCR, is a communications medium, just like a book. It is morally neutral in itself.

40:45 The moral question, the fourth commandment question has to do with what message the medium conveys.

40:55 It's not the instrument itself.

40:59 Just like a book is a medium of communication, it is a medium of communication. It is a method of communicating from one person to another. So, the instruments by which we see audio or hear audio or see video, they're just instruments. They're just a medium.

41:14 The issue is not the medium. It's the message. Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist and Courtney Anderson's To the Golden Shore. His Life of Adoniram Judson, probably the finest biography, Christian biography, ever written. But now Dickens'

41:34 Oliver Twist and Anderson's To the Golden Shore are both books, but only one of them is suitable for Sabbath reading.

41:46 What's written on the page makes the difference. In like manner, Disney's The Lion King and a video version, for example, of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress are both videos,

42:00 but the message conveyed is dramatically different. I have no quarrel with you if you're allowing your children to watch a Bunyan video on the Lord's Day. No quarrel with you. The medium is not the issue. But if

42:16 you move from there to letting them watch the Disney movie, then I believe you have crossed a line that you ought not to cross on the Lord's Day. You have crossed a way from the message that is suitable for the Lord's Day over into a purely secular entertainment issue.

42:39 I believe there's a vast difference between a game of Bible charades or a Bible sword drill and a basketball game. Now both are games, but their purpose is different. The goal of the sword drill is instruction in the things of God. The children are learning how to find things in their Bible by carefully selecting the text.

43:03 They are reading the Word of God. If you're requiring them to read the passage when they find it, then the Word of God is going through the gate of the eye, into the mind being spoken. That's a wonderful process to teach your children the Scriptures.

43:18 Now you see the goal of that sword drill, though it's a game, is instruction in the things of God. That can be justified on the Sabbath Day. The goal of the basketball game is entertainment, and that's where it ends.

43:32 That you cannot justify on the Sabbath Day. It's simply recreation. I've often been asked about participating in children's sports leagues on Sunday. Now I understand as all of us do, that those who run these leagues rarely care about the Sabbath.

43:52 In fact, it's almost unheard of anymore in our day. Sunday seems to be the day of choice for soccer, soccer leagues, and baseball leagues, and basketball leagues, etc. And the question is, what should we do? Should we allow our children to play on the Lord's Day?

44:14 Is that something that as Christian parents,

44:18 with Christian homes, seeking to raise our children, to rear our children in Christian principles, is that something we should do? And I've heard all kinds of arguments as to why we should allow them to do it. I've heard some say, well, I played ball when I was a kid, and I don't want to rob my children of the same experience. If I don't let them play, they're going to be disappointed, or they're going to be socially retarded, or they're going to be cut off from their friends. You hear all that kind of stuff.

44:48 I've even heard the pleading that my son is very good, the doors are opening for him that could lead to scholarships and even a professional career. I've heard that argument more than once.

45:01 Now those kinds of arguments may seem compelling at first. I don't want to rob my kid of this wonderful experience. And it is. Most of the men here, at least, probably played sports when they were a kid. It was a wonderful experience.

45:16 I don't want to rob my children of that. Or here is an open door. My son or my daughter is very good. There's a scholarship waiting out there. Very high

45:27 likelihood that this is the doorway leading to a good college education.

45:32 You see, those kinds of arguments can seem compelling at first. But seriously, prayerfully ask yourself this question. Are these good reasons for compromising our commitment to the law of God? Are these good reasons for compromising our commitment to the law of God?

45:53 If these reasons or reasons like them were used to excuse breaking the other commandments, would they be compelling? Is in the end of the day the sports experience so important that it justifies breaking God's law?

46:13 Which would you rather your children have when they are grown? Memories of participation in sports? Or a well-honed conscience in the things of God? Which would you rather they have? If

46:32 getting a scholarship required your son or daughter to break the ninth commandment and lie, would you let them? Would the prospect of that scholarship, a fully paid college education, would that be reason enough to set aside the ninth commandment and say it's alright son, lie on that application? Of course not.

47:02 Which is more important? The success or the character of our children? I hope every parent here knows the right answer to that question. I've had a very unusual experience in the last couple of weeks. I've been in two very

47:19 different homes. One as a visitor for a week. One home just less than an hour. The one home was the home of one of the elders of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids.

47:35 He and his wife and their five children warmly received me into their home. They needed to feel part of the family, participated with them in their family worship. And the children were very open. Very talented children.

47:51 Very capable children.

47:54 Tremendous promise and prospect. And what character.

48:01 It was the character more than anything else that stood out. And several of these children are very accomplished athletes. And they've taken stands. They've been, in one case, one son's been invited to participate in a soccer team that plays international professionally. Though he's only

48:23 16 years of age. And he had to say no. Because it would have required playing on Sunday. When he said, I can't play on Sunday, the coach withdrew the invitation.

48:42 That young man is not bitter at God. He is indeed sorry that he'll not be on an international soccer team. What character that young man has. What a man he's going to be. What a man of God he's

48:59 going to be. That's one house I was in.

49:06 I think most of you know my wife and I. I was in a soccer team. I was in a soccer team. I was in a soccer team.

49:08 I have been casting about trying to find a place to live. And not altogether with success to this point. But yesterday we looked at a house. A house that's presently being rented by a retired NFL football player. And as soon as you walked in

49:29 the house, you saw all the memorabilia of this man's career. The years that he played with the Seahawks and with the Washington Redskins and the Cincinnati Bengals and the Oakland Raiders. And then his college career. He was an All-American at the University of Florida.

49:50 And there was one room in that house in particular that was almost a shrine to him. All around the walls were mementos of his professional career. All of the helmets he had worn as a college player and as a professional on a shelf stacked just like this. Quite impressive if you're a football fan.

50:09 You ladies may not be able to appreciate the rush I had being in this home.

50:17 Footballs. Autographed footballs by people that I thought, my goodness. All around game balls had been given to him for great plays that he had made. Posters of famous players autographed.

50:32 All these mementos. Pictures.

50:36 And obviously the man had had a very illustrious professional career as a football player. I know nothing about his spiritual state. So please don't misunderstand what I'm getting ready to say. But I would rather my son had the good conscience that young man had in Grand Rapids than to have all those mementos and all of the wealth that went with that professional career.

51:02 Much rather that he be a man of godly character committed to the things of God than that he have a stack of football helmets and a stack of autographed footballs and pictures of himself in his career and all that went with that. How much better. How much better to have a good conscience before God.

51:30 We think sometimes that we are depriving our children of something by insisting they keep the Lord's day. We're not. We're not. We're showing them a better way. Now perhaps

51:44 the present state of children's sports is not justification for compromising our principles. Perhaps the lesson is, perhaps the message is that we ought to be active in speaking up. In protesting. And even if necessary, organizing leagues with other churches that do not involve Sunday play, but whatever we do or do not do, we must not compromise our principles.

52:10 We're sending our kids a terrible message. We're saying to them that certain experiences are worth breaking God's law. Certain goals are worth breaking God's law. That's a terrible message to send to your children. Let them embrace

52:24 that principle. And there is no stopping what they'll do. In the pursuit of a certain kind of experience or a certain goal. They won't stop with the fourth commandment. Before they're done,

52:38 they'll break them all to get to the top.

52:43 Guideline number four.

52:46 On the Sabbath we are to pass the hours of the day in a holy or sanctified way. Now certainly we should insist that our children attend Sunday school, that they attend the public services of the day. I also believe that as soon as they're able to read, we ought to guide them in the use of some portion of the day for personal devotions. Perhaps even a little bit.

53:06 We ought to guide them in the use of some portion of the day for personal devotions. Perhaps even a little bit. Even asking them to do a bit more on the Lord's day than we would ask them to do any other day of the week. We ought to also encourage them or could also encourage them to use some part of the day for reading good Christian books. To read a book

53:22 like Anderson's To the Golden Shore. To read Payton's Autobiography, etc. To read some of the Puritan works that have been edited and have been put in modern language so that our children, even as young children, can begin to embrace some of these principles.

53:42 Family worship ought to be part of the day. It's a grand opportunity to guide our children in a profitable use of a good portion of the day. Baxter suggests that we ought to review with our family the messages that were preached during the services of the day. There's an automatic topic that can be taken up to discuss with our children.

54:04 Time can be set apart for works of mercy. Visiting a nursing home. Visiting a shut-in.

54:11 In any number of ways there's profitable use that can be made of the day.

54:17 Because of our care as parents in ordering, helping our children order the day, they're not left to themselves to fill the hours of the day at their own initiative. Now don't regiment every minute. But be entrepreneurial.

54:33 Take the initiative, parents. Don't simply walk out of these doors on the Lord's Day afternoon. Go to your homes, have your lunch, and release your children to do whatever they want for the rest of the day. Take initiative. Help to

54:45 order the day for them so that they're not left to their own inclinations and devices.

54:51 But again, beware. Don't set a Sabbath schedule for your kids in which you make them account for every waking minute of the day. That is not the rule by which you live, is it? Is that the rule by which you live, parent?

55:06 No, it's not. We don't spend every minute in religious pursuits. We don't spend every minute in religious duties. We should not press such a rigorous standard on our children. Even the strictest

55:20 Sabbath keepers. Take some personal time, quote personal time, if you will. It's a terrible phrase, but I think you know what I mean. Even the strictest Sabbath keepers take some personal time during certain parts of the day. Time

55:34 when they rest their minds. Time that's spent, at least to some degree, in neutral. We ask a lot of our children, especially during the public worship, we expect them to sit quietly and alertly. And for the most part, brethren, our children are exemplary in this.

55:51 We do ask a lot of them. But we don't ask a lot of them. But when the service is over, our consciences don't smite us if we take time then to relax and gather in casual conversation with one another. It happens after every service. It's

56:07 normal. It's expected.

56:11 Well, we should give our children the same right. For them to seek one another out after the service, it's normal. It's expected. They need a bit of time in neutral as well.

56:22 And indeed, in moderation, I think it's okay to let them get some fresh air and release some energy. That's really what we do in different ways, in ways attuned to our age and our maturity.

56:35 So though we are to help our children use the whole of the day, please, please, please do not construct such a rigid schedule that no child, no adult, could keep it. That's not the saddle that God has commanded.

56:54 And then guideline number five.

The Role of Conscience and Christian Liberty

56:57 How do we make decisions for our children in specific situations where the boundary between right and wrong seems obscure? How do you make those decisions? I don't know, Pastor, whether I ought to be doing this on the Lord's Day, whether I ought to be allowing my children to do this on the Lord's Day. I don't know whether this is right. I don't know if it's wrong.

57:20 What do I do? How do I decide? Well, there is a way. A very simple way to decide.

57:28 I ask you to turn to Romans 14. There's a principle in this text that is, I believe, clear in terms of how we can make decisions in what may indeed be a gray area or gray areas. Romans 14 verses 22 and 23.

57:50 Here Paul asks the question, Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God? Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

58:02 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats. Because he does not eat from faith. But whatsoever is not from faith. He is sin. The larger

58:18 context of these verses, of course, is Paul's treatment of Christian liberty. And it's a legitimate question to ask, where does Christian liberty fit into the Sabbath picture?

58:30 You see, Christian liberty, or liberty of conscience before the Lord, is a precious Christian privilege.

58:37 I don't believe, however, that anything that we've seen in this entire series is really contrary to legitimate Christian liberty. You see, Christian liberty exists only in those things not clearly commanded or clearly forbidden by God's word. That is, we may engage in things not forbidden and abstain from things not commanded. Whether we keep the Sabbath is not an area of Christian liberty.

59:07 Although there are certain elements of how we keep the day that may fall within the scope of liberty of conscience before the Lord. And in working out the details of keeping the Sabbath for ourselves, for our children, we come across any number of issues that we honestly have to say, I don't know if this is right or wrong.

59:33 I don't know how to exercise my duty here. I don't know if this is an area of Christian liberty or not. The answer to that dilemma is that we ought to allow for ourselves and ought to allow for our children only those things that we can do or permit our children to do with a fully persuaded conscience. You see, that's the lesson of Romans 14.

60:04 In the end of the day, you may make the wrong decision.

60:09 In the end of the day, what you will not allow yourself to do may indeed be a matter of liberty. But nevertheless, the rule is this. Do not permit yourself to do. Do not permit your children to do.

60:24 What you cannot do with a fully persuaded conscience. That faith which you have, Paul says, have to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. Whose conscience is quiet and does not accuse and does not condemn. He who

60:50 doubts, Paul says, he who doubts that what he's doing is right is condemned because he does not do it from faith. Whatsoever is not of faith. Whatsoever is not out of the matrix of a fully persuaded quiet conscience is sin.

61:12 Now what does that mean on the practical level?

61:17 It means that some things that one family permits with a good conscience may indeed become sin for us. Don't take your standard of Sabbath practice from your brethren. They're not the lords of your conscience. It may be that some things that one family permits with a good conscience may become sin for us if we permit it without being fully persuaded that we have liberty to do so. The issue is

61:53 not the state of our brother's conscience before the Lord in this. The issue is the state of our conscience before the Lord. He may or may not be operating on right principles in that one issue, that one case of conscience. He stands before his own Lord. We must stand before

62:13 the Lord for ourselves. Of course we ought to never use our liberty in a way that would cause our weaker brother to stumble. We have to be careful about our practice as well. With reference to the example it sets, not just for our children but for others. But I want to

62:30 make a suggestion to you. I've seen this principle violated a hundred times. Never to a good end.

62:41 In relating to our brethren,

62:44 certainly if we see a general pattern of carelessness about the Sabbath,

62:51 if there is a general pattern of carelessness about the Lord's Day, we should lovingly go to them. We should exhort them to consider if their way is pleasing to the Lord.

63:03 But so much of what we see, does indeed lie in gray areas. Where godly brethren do not agree on the details of what is required or forbidden, especially when it comes to children.

63:20 And my counsel to you brethren is in those kind of cases, where it is indeed a gray area.

63:29 Where indeed we are conscious especially that there was a time we had to really wrestle with that issue to know whether it was right or wrong. We've come to a conclusion. But we understand that there are good brethren who don't agree with us. It's my counsel that when we find ourselves interrelating with our brethren on those issues, respect your brother's right. Respect

63:51 your sister's right to rule their own family and judge what is best for their children and don't meddle in their affairs.

64:03 I've seen that rule broken a hundred times and it always leads to a breach of fellowship. Some things are clear. A brother or sister is not walking orderly there. Go in love.

64:16 Speak to them. But if it's a gray area, don't become the Lord of their conscience.

64:29 Finally, in addressing the issue of Christian liberty as it relates to Sabbath keeping, a word of further caution.

64:37 Be careful, brethren, that your concern for Christian liberty is in the right spirit. Be careful. So much of Sabbath keeping, so much of the issues have to be dealt with in this area of Christian liberty. Be careful that your concern for Christian liberty is in the right spirit. You see,

64:57 the proper question for us as parents is this. How can I best help my children keep the fourth commandment? The wrong question is how much liberty can I give them so they won't have to keep it?

65:14 Christian liberty was not given to enable us to find a way around obeying the law of God. Be careful of the right spirit. So from what we've seen, our duty as parents is to guide our children in the careful observance of this commandment. Just as we are obligated to carefully guide them, in obedience to the other commandments. But as I bring

Conclusion: Sabbath Keeping in the Spirit of the Gospel

65:41 this series to a close, I want to leave you with one last principle.

65:47 I've said an awful lot in this series about duty. That's a necessary emphasis. We've been looking at a commandment of God. But I don't want to close on the note of duty.

66:01 You see, Sabbath keeping is not meant to be done in the spirit of the law, but in the spirit of the gospel. I don't want to set up an unnatural conflict between the law and the gospel of God. Both flow from the same heart. The law of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, they both flow out of the same heart. They are both expressions

66:23 of God's good will to us. I don't want to set up an unnatural distinction between them. But there is one critical distinction to be seen. And that is that the Christian's motive for keeping the Sabbath, for obeying the law of God, is not what the old Puritans called legal fear.

66:46 That's not to be our motive. You see, nothing is more insisted on in the gospel than that God's justified people may serve Him without fear of the law's condemnation. Nothing is more insisted on.

67:04 Galatians 3 and verse 13 says Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. No principle more insisted upon than the full and free forgiveness, the deliverance from the curse of the law. What then is our motive? If it's not fear of judgment that keeps us near the fourth commandment, what is our motive?

67:35 John Owen rightly answers the question. He says the authority and love of Jesus Christ are the principal causes of our obedience. The authority and the love of Jesus Christ are the principal causes of our obedience. Owen doesn't elaborate on that. It's

67:57 just a passing comment. But what he means is that we don't keep the Sabbath because we fear the judgment of God. We've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.

68:10 He has taken the curse of the law.

68:14 We keep the Sabbath because it's our Master's will and because we love Him.

68:23 The Christian really doesn't need any other reason.

68:28 Our Master who gave Himself, who shed His blood for us, He's the Lord of the Sabbath.

68:39 He's the Lord of the Sabbath.

68:42 Our business is to do our Lord's will. He has loved us with a remarkable, indescribable, and loving Him means keeping His commandments.

69:04 It's really that simple.

69:07 All that we've said in these 24 messages comes down to that. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. If you love me, you will keep them.

69:31 Brethren, may God look with grace on us.

69:34 It's a glorious privilege to have the Lord's Day. May we use it to all the profit that God designed it to be and honor Him. Not doing our own works or seeking our own pleasure or thinking our own thoughts,

69:58 but calling the honorable day of the Lord honorable and delighting it as the blessed gift of our Heavenly Father.

70:18 Father, we thank You and praise You for Your gracious gift to us of the Sabbath day.

70:28 And oh Lord, we pray that You would help us to honor You in keeping it in the way of Your commandment. We pray, Lord, that You would help us to honor You and that You would help us to conduct ourselves properly towards our children.

70:46 We pray, Father, that You would help us to teach them the principles of Your Word and, Lord, to have like Joshua, backbone enough to say, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

71:01 We do pray, Lord, that You would teach our children to love Your Word, to love Your law, to love Your Gospel, to love Your Son, and to yearn for the Spirit and to long for fellowship with You. Oh Lord, do put a heart in them to keep Your law, to walk in Your statutes. Grant our Father mercy to them.

71:25 May the mercy that has come to us not stop with us, but may it go on to a thousand generations. We do pray You would look with grace upon our sons and daughters and give them new hearts. Oh Father, we look to You and we pray this mercy in Jesus' name. Amen.