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our study in the book of Exodus. 
We are in Exodus 20 with reference to the Ten Commandments. It's 
going week by week through each of these commandments. Last week 
we looked at the first part of our study in the fourth commandment. 
We'll take up part two of that, God willing, tonight. Next week, 
Lord willing, we'll look at part three. So Exodus 20 verses 8 
to 11, but I'll read the section just to put us in the context. 
So 20 verse 1, And God spoke all these words, saying, I am 
the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 
out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods 
before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, 
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is 
in the earth beneath. or that is in the water under 
the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. 
For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity 
of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations 
of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those 
who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of 
the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless 
who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep 
it holy. Six days you shall labor and 
do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath 
of the Lord your God. 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. honor your father and your mother, 
that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your 
God is giving you. You shall not murder, you shall not commit 
adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness 
against your neighbor, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, 
you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor 
his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything 
that is your neighbor's. Now all the people witnessed 
the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet 
and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they 
trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, you 
speak with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us 
lest we die. And Moses said to the people, 
do not fear for God has come to test you and that his fear 
may be before you so that you may not sin. So the people stood 
afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God 
was. Amen. So last week we looked at an 
exposition, a brief exposition of the fourth commandment in 
chapter 20, verses 8 to 11. It's pretty simple, pretty straightforward. 
Remember the Sabbath day, there's that positive exhortation or 
admonition and then there is a prohibition for them to not 
do work on the Sabbath day. The rationale or the reason given 
is in verse 11. So after the command is stated 
in verses 8 to 10, the rationale is verse 11. 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. If you turn over to Deuteronomy 
chapter 5, the giving of the same commandments in a different 
context, but one that is similar. We see the same commandment repeated, 
but we see the rationale is different. If you look specifically at 512, 
observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God 
commanded you. Six days you shall labor and 
do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 
your God. in it you shall do no work, you, nor your son, nor 
your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, 
nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your 
stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your 
female servant may rest as well as you." So the same emphasis 
in terms of a positive exhortation, observe or keep or remember the 
day, and then the prohibition against work. Now the rationale 
in verse 15, and remember that you were a slave in the land 
of Egypt and the Lord your God brought you out from there by 
a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your 
God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. So you've got the 
same commandment with two reasons. One is creation and one is redemption, 
both consistent with the giving of the commandment. So after 
having looked at an exposition of the commandment, we looked 
at the Sabbath in the Old Covenant. And the only reason that Moses 
could say, remember or observe, is if there was already an existing 
situation. So Sinai wasn't the giving or 
the publishing or the declaring of the Sabbath commandment. It preceded Sinai. So we went 
back to the book of Genesis, specifically at chapter 2. God 
rested, God Sabbath, God blessed and kept the day, and it was 
paradigmatic or a precedent. He does something that the creature 
is supposed to follow, and so God blesses the Sabbath day, 
he himself rests on that Sabbath day, and as we see here in Exodus 
chapter 20, Verse 11, Moses, God through Moses, connects Sabbath-keeping 
in Israel to God's Sabbathing at the creation account. So then 
we move from Genesis chapter 2 to Genesis chapter 4, and we 
saw Adam, or rather Cain and Abel. At the end of the days, 
the end of the days of the week, they brought sacrifice to present 
to the Lord. We ask the question, how did 
they know to bring sacrifice to the Lord? Their father, Adam, 
had taught them. God, according to Genesis 3.21, 
killed animals and took the skins off of those animals and then 
covered Adam and Eve by way of blood atonement. So Adam understood 
without the shedding of blood there is no remission. He passed 
that information down to Cain and Abel, and at the end of the 
days they would come and offer sacrifice. The New King James 
renders it in the process of time. The marginal reading is 
the literal. It is at the end of the days. 
Not the end of all days, but the end of the days of the week. 
So Cain and Abel observed the Sabbath day, and on that Sabbath 
day they brought sacrifice to the Lord God. And then moving 
forward in redemptive history, sort of a biblical theology is 
what we're doing. You start in Genesis and run 
through the Bible and see what the Bible says concerning the 
particular doctrine. So that's biblical theology versus 
systematic theology. Systematic theology, what does 
the Bible say about God? We go all over the Bible, we 
figure that out. Biblical theology is organic, you run through redemptive 
history. So after having left Genesis 
chapter 4, we stopped at Exodus 16. Exodus 16 is the instruction 
given concerning the collection of manna. They were supposed 
to collect double portion on the sixth day, such that they 
would not violate the Sabbath command and go out and work on 
the Sabbath day. The rationale is given there 
at the end of chapter 16. So it argues, or it demonstrates, 
or it shows, or it validates that there was in fact Sabbath 
in place prior to the giving of the law at Sinai. Jesus affirms 
this in Mark chapter 2. When he's called out on Sabbath 
issues, he says that the Sabbath was made for man. He doesn't 
say that the Sabbath was made for Jew, He doesn't say that 
the Sabbath was made for Israel. He doesn't say that the Sabbath 
was initially given at Sinai. It was given to man, Adam. Adam is representative of all 
mankind. It's not simply a Jewish ordinance. It's not simply something for 
the nation of Israel. It reflects the law of nature, 
or rather is consistent with the law of nature, that one day 
out of seven be set apart for the worship of the living and 
true God. Now, after having looked at that, we obviously considered 
Sinai and the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy chapter 5, and 
then we went on to the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 56 and 58. Both chapters are in a context 
that's looking forward to the messianic reign of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. So, it's talking about new covenant 
blessing, new covenant reality. Chapter 56, for instance, talks 
about the inclusion of eunuchs into the people of God. according 
to Deuteronomy 23, they were excluded from the assembly of 
the Lord. Those who had a hunchback, those 
who were dwarves, those who had various physical challenges or 
limitations were not welcomed into the assembly of the Lord. 
Now, why that is, that's a discussion for another time. You can ask 
Jesus when you get to heaven. but with reference to Isaiah 
the prophet, he speaks of a time when eunuchs will be brought 
nigh through the blood of Jesus Christ and be full participants 
in New Covenant blessing. Acts 8 is the fulfillment of 
that. The significance of Philip and 
the Ethiopian eunuch isn't simply to highlight Philip's wonderful 
evangelistic ministry. It does do that, but it sets 
the book of Acts in the larger biblical context, that what we're 
seeing and witnessing is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. 
So in Acts 2, when the Spirit comes upon the church and they 
speak in various tongues, what does Peter say? He says, this 
is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. So they, the apostles, 
take pains to show the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy in 
and through the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and 
how it benefits the church who's in union with Jesus Christ. So, 
the book of Acts presents to us all of those wonderful occasions 
of sinners coming to the Lord Jesus, but it also shows us the 
fulfillment of Isaiah 56. The Ethiopian eunuch was symptomatic 
of new covenant blessing. It comes upon Jew, comes upon 
Gentile, comes upon eunuchs, comes upon dwarves, comes upon 
hunchbacks, comes upon whoever it is who believes the gospel 
by the grace of God. and then we looked at Jeremiah 
31, and while Jeremiah 31 doesn't say anything specific about Sabbath, 
it does say something specific about law, and God in the promise 
of the new covenant says that he will write his law upon the 
hearts of those who by grace believe the gospel, those who 
are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the context 
of the prophet Jeremiah, The law meant the Decalogue. It meant 
the Ten Commandments. It meant those commands or positive 
exhortations and prohibitions that we see here given at Sinai 
and repeated again in Deuteronomy 5 at the plains of Moab. This is God's moral law. The Old Testament, we see distinction. There's moral law, then there's 
what's called ceremonial law, then there's what's called judicial 
law. Ceremonial law was typological. It prefigured Christ. It was 
the laws of sacrifice and the laws of temple and tabernacle 
and those sorts of things. Of course, Jesus, when he comes, 
fulfills that. The judicial law was given to 
the nation of Israel to govern them when they went into the 
land. So God gives them the land of 
promise. He gives them the land of Canaan, and he gives them 
a law to govern them for their time in that particular place. When we move from Exodus 20 to 
chapter 21, you see that judicial law spelled out. You see the 
case law spelled out. If you look at those laws, you 
can trace them back to the principles in the moral law. So the moral 
law is general. Here's the principle, do not 
murder. Then the case law or judicial law comes to explain 
that. If you have an ox that gets out 
of its pen and it gores somebody, you are going to be responsible 
for that. If that ox had gotten out previously 
and had gored someone prior to that attack, you could be held 
liable up to and including the death penalty. So we see that 
that's the fleshing out of the Sixth Commandment in the civil 
polity of Old Covenant Israel. Now our confession says that 
that judicial law expired with the commonwealth of Israel. You 
have this special people, it's a theocratic nation, they go 
to occupy a particular land, probably not the best choice 
of words, but they go to the land of promise. Once they are 
dissolved as a body, once they are dissolved as a people group, 
the argument goes that the judicial law is no longer binding. We 
can't just appropriate that law code of Moses and force it upon 
Canada. Now, there have been theologians 
and commentators in the history of the church that have said 
nations could do a whole lot worse by adopting the civil polity 
of Moses. I think, personally, that would 
be a good strategy. But is there new covenant demand 
that that's what the church is to be about, to make sure that 
the civil polity of the old covenant law is applied in our nation 
state? I don't think that's the calling 
of the church. But the confession, after acknowledging that the 
judicial law has expired with the commonwealth, says nevertheless 
there are principles. They call it general equity. 
And that general equity abides and it lasts. And that's why 
when we get to say Exodus 21 to 23, it's not rendered obsolete 
because there's no longer a commonwealth of Israel. It's not obsolete 
because there's no longer a theocratic nation. We can do the same sort 
of work that God does through Moses. If there's a goring ox 
and we can trace back that goring ox to the sixth commandment, 
certainly we could do that in our own context. If somebody 
was a drunk driver and they fatally injure somebody, they're criminally 
responsible for that. If they're a two-time repeat 
offender with reference to drunk driving and they fatally injure 
somebody, Yeah, we need to punish them consistently with what Scripture 
demands. When you look at the Old Covenant, 
when you look at the judicial law, when you look at the civil 
polity regulating the nation of Israel, it is a display of 
great wisdom. But in terms of the abiding law, 
that's the moral law. It's the Ten Commandments given 
here in Exodus chapter 20 and then repeated in Deuteronomy 
chapter 5. So that's what we looked at. 
So Jeremiah 31 announces that in the new covenant, the new 
covenant people will have the law of God written on their hearts 
by the spirit of God himself. That's why believers say, oh, 
how I love your law. It is my delight day and night, 
or my meditation day and night. It's because God has given us 
a love for it. This is why John the apostle 
in 1 John says, the commandments are not burdensome. They're not 
grievous. If you look at these commandments 
and you go, what a bummer. or how harsh is this, or what 
a terrible thing this is. You need to repent and believe 
the gospel, because persons that are saved love the law. The only 
thing they bemoan, or the only thing that they cry out against, 
is their own remaining corruption, and the fact that they don't 
keep that law as they ought. The Apostle Paul rehearses remaining 
corruption in Romans chapter 7. At the end he says, Oh, wretched 
man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? And 
he rejoices ultimately in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Now, part of the sort of antipathy, that means disregard for the 
Sabbath commandment, is because of Sabbatarians. Sabbatarians, 
I've often thought the worst argument for post-millennialism 
are post-millennialists. The worst argument for theonomy 
is theonomists. The worst argument for Sabbatarianism 
are Sabbatarians. Because we approach the day as 
it's a bleak and morose sort of a situation. We make it a 
day of punishment and pain. We make it a day of cannots, 
rather than seeing the positive benefit. If we understand Jesus' 
words in Mark chapter 2, man wasn't made for the Sabbath. 
God didn't say, I'm going to create man for the express purpose 
of obeying the Sabbath. That's not the order. Jesus says 
that the Sabbath was made for the man. It's given as a gift. It's a good day that we get to 
cease from our earthly labors and spend a day in the courts 
of God. For the blood bought child of 
God, that's not a burden. That's not a grief. Now, there's 
always a sluggishness and we wake up on a Sunday morning with 
all of the spiritual vigor of a dead cold fish, but we overcome 
that by grace. We do what we're supposed to 
do. We show up in church. And lo and behold, what typically 
happens? We start singing the songs, and 
we start looking at the people. We hear the Word of God, and 
it's as if God revives our souls. He understands that we need that 
means for our help, our strength, and for our growth in grace and 
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, 
the way that we approach the Sabbath, if we look at it as 
a burden, it is going to temper the way that we study the texts. 
If we see it as a gift, it's going to temper the way that 
we see the texts. Those who have a natural antipathy 
to Sabbatarianism would hear what I have to say tonight and 
say, well, there's no express command in the New Testament 
that says you must, you know, observe Sunday as the Christian 
Sabbath. They're right. I admit that. 
It's a cumulative, theological, and exegetical argument that 
is to be made. But trust me, there's a whole 
host of people out there that reject this, that resist this, 
and would teach that I'm teaching Judaizing or Legalism. That's not the spirit in which 
I present this material. I suggest that the Ten Commandments 
are a unit. And if you're gonna take out 
one part of that unit, you better have a valid hermeneutical reason 
to do that. And I have not seen that valid 
hermeneutical reason offered up yet. So as far as I'm concerned, 
the fourth commandment is as binding as the first, it's as 
binding as the 10th, it's as binding as the 7th and the 6th. 
All of them are a unit. When the prophet says, or God 
through the prophet says, I will write my law on their heart, 
He's not gonna just write a part of it or a piece of it. He's 
not gonna write just a little bit of it. And then when we turn 
to the pages of the New Testament, we see this proper respect for 
Sabbatarianism. So we've seen the exposition. 
We've seen the Sabbath and the Old Covenant. Tonight we'll look 
at the Sabbath and the New Covenant. And then God willing, next week 
we'll look at the three texts that are oftentimes utilized 
to try to disrupt any idea of Sabbath-keeping in the New Testament. 
There are Romans 14, Galatians 4, and Colossians 2. So, you'll 
probably have questions about those passages if you've thought 
about this at all. My purpose is not to neglect 
you or ignore you tonight, but to tell you that we'll deal with 
that, God willing, next week. So, tonight, the Sabbath and 
the New Covenant. There's a couple things here. 
First, the ministry of Christ Secondly, the resurrection of 
Christ, and then thirdly, the teaching of the apostles. And 
there are several lines there in the teaching of the apostles. 
But turn to Matthew chapter 5. So the ministry of Christ, we 
see his doctrine concerning the law, and then his practice concerning 
the Sabbath. So his doctrine concerning the 
law is in Matthew chapter five, and then his practice concerning 
the Sabbath, I mean, it's scattered throughout the New Testament, 
the Gospels rather, we'll just look at Matthew 12 tonight. But 
for now, look at Matthew five. Now, if you look first at Matthew 
5, 1, it says, and seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain, 
and when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Now, a couple of 
things sort of jump out at us at this point. First of all, 
multitudes. What does that mean? It means 
that Jesus is growing in popularity. More people are coming to hear 
Jesus. He has been an itinerant preacher. He's gone out. He has said, repent, 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So people are hearing 
this. He's this young upstart. Isn't 
he the carpenter's son? Doesn't he come from Nazareth? 
I mean, all of this stuff is starting to come out. And so 
the multitudes draw nigh to hear him. Interestingly, he went up 
on a mountain, and when he was seated, his disciples came to 
him. When I preach through Matthew, you probably heard me refer to 
the commentary by Davies and Alicet. One of those men has 
a book that compares Jesus and Moses. and that man sees Jesus 
as a new Moses, sitting on a mountain and engaging in the expounding 
of the law. It's a very valuable and a rich 
connection that I think we get between Moses and Jesus. Moses 
is functioning typologically, and of course Jesus does the 
same sort of things that Moses did. So he goes up on a mountain, 
and then when he was seated, his disciples came to him. So 
his audience is mixed, multitudes and disciples. Now, one of the 
things that no doubt started to arise in the minds of people 
that were hearing Jesus was, what does he think about the 
Old Testament? In other words, here's this new teacher, he's 
come and said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
He has said some really good things, some very valuable things, 
but what does he think about the Law of Moses? What does he 
think about the Old Covenant Scriptures? Matthew 5, 17. He 
says, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. 
I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly I say 
to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle 
will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever 
therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches 
men, so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But 
whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the 
kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless 
your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes 
and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 
So, let's just work backwards. First, he condemns legalism. 
He condemns legalism in verse 20. I say to you that unless 
your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes 
and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 
What's he saying? Some say, well, he's telling 
the people that he's speaking to that they've got to be even 
holier than the scribes and the Pharisees. Oh really? Read the 
rest of Matthew. How does Jesus treat them in 
Matthew 23? You hypocrites, you brood of 
vipers. He doesn't actually think they're 
holy and righteous. He is telling them that this 
legalism of the scribes and the Pharisees will ultimately end 
you in hell. Verse 19, he condemns antinomianism, 
but he does not condemn it as strongly as he does legalism. 
Verse 19, whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, 
and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of 
heaven. I am not condoning antinomianism but at least the guy is leased 
in the kingdom of heaven. That's not so for the legalist. 
The legalist does not enter the kingdom of heaven. Choose your 
heresy wisely. Just kidding. Do not choose heresy 
either way. Be a faithful gnomian. That means law-ist. So then notice, 
his hermeneutics are verses 17 and 18. In other words, here's 
what Jesus says about the Old Testament law. Don't think that 
I came to destroy the law or the prophets. Jesus is not at 
odds with Moses. Jesus doesn't have an ax to grind 
with Isaiah, or with Jeremiah, or with anything in the Old Testament. 
Oftentimes, law, prophets, writings means the scriptures of the Old 
Testament. If you get a Hebrew Bible, that's 
how it's described. It's the law, the prophets, and 
the writings. That's how they approach that sort of bringing 
it all together. So he's saying, don't think that 
I came to destroy the Old Testament, specifically law prophets. I 
did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly, I 
say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle 
will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. I 
would argue he's talking about the moral law, not the ceremonial 
law, because brethren, it's okay for us to eat shrimp. It's okay 
for us to eat bacon now. We're not under those ceremonial 
prohibitions that set apart the nation of Israel. In terms of 
judicial law, again, there were things unique to that code that 
simply aren't for us today. I mean, if you find a bird's 
nest, what do you do with that? Well, there was a law that specified 
what you were to do with that in the book of Deuteronomy. None 
of us pay attention to that. We just I don't know what we 
would do with a bird's nest, honestly. I haven't found one. 
But if I did, I don't know that I'd thank Deuteronomy. Actually, 
I probably would. And I'd look at Deuteronomy just for the exercise. But there are things unique about 
that code that don't carry strictly over. He's talking about the 
moral law. Assuredly, I say to you, till 
heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no 
means pass from the law till notice, all is fulfilled. You've 
heard me say trans-covenantal utility of the Ten Commandments. 
Trans-covenantal means it doesn't mean what covenant you're in. 
It transcends whether you're old, whether you're new, whatever 
the covenant you find yourself, the moral law of God, the Ten 
Commandments are binding on you no matter where you're at in 
that continuum. So back to verse 17, don't think. And the idea is don't even let 
it begin to rise up in your heart. It's very emphatic. Don't think 
for a moment. that I came to destroy the law 
and the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but 
to fulfill. So, in terms of his doctrine 
concerning the law, with reference to his work, he fulfills all 
that's written in the law and the prophets. He does everything 
that was specified. We saw that on Sunday in John 
chapter 5 in verse 1. At the time of the feast he went 
up to Jerusalem. Why? Because Deuteronomy 16.16 
said that every faithful Israelite would go up to Jerusalem during 
the time of the year for those three feasts. So Jesus always 
did what pleased his father, the fulfillment of all that was 
written of him in the prophets, the active obedience of our Lord 
Jesus Christ to secure for us the imputed righteousness that 
he graciously gives to us. and then the fulfillment of the 
ceremonial law in his sacrifice of himself. Spurgeon said, he 
is himself the fulfillment and substance of the types and prophecies 
and commands of the law. So everything specified concerning 
Messiah in the Old Testament, Jesus says, don't think that 
I came to destroy those things. I didn't come to destroy, but 
to fulfill. That's why I said in John 5, when they say that 
it was a sin for that man who was healed to take up his mat 
and walk, that impinges on our view of Jesus. See, if Jesus 
doesn't sin but he tells somebody to sin, most of the times we 
call that sin. So, when that man picked up his 
mat and walked, just because they said he was breaking the 
Sabbath doesn't mean he was breaking the Sabbath. Jesus came to fulfill 
all righteousness. So, if he told a man that he 
healed to pick up his mat and walk on the Sabbath, we can rest 
assured that wasn't a violation of the Sabbath command. So back 
to our text, he doesn't come to destroy but to fulfill. He 
fulfills in his work, but then as well he fulfills in his doctrine. Look at what happens after verse 
20. It's a curious thing. There's 
a verse 21. What happens in verses 21 to 48? Jesus expounds the 
law. Again, think back to that Moses-Jesus 
connection, up on a mountain, giving the law. Only in this 
instance, Jesus isn't giving a brand new law. Jesus is simply 
clarifying the law that had already been given. The formula that 
he uses, notice in verse 21, you have heard that it was said 
to those of old, and then verse 22, but I say to you. Verse 27, 
you have heard that it was said to those of old, and then verse 
28, but I say to you. The typical interpretation of 
this is that Jesus is giving a new law, that Jesus is saying 
that what Moses did doesn't hold anymore. I've come now to elevate, 
and they use verse 20 in this, I've come to bring it higher, 
I've come to do more with it. That's not the antithesis. The 
antithesis is between the Pharisees and the scribes and the bad teachers 
of the law who had missed the point. They missed Moses' point. For instance, in Matthew 5, 21-26, 
he's dealing with the sixth commandment. And he's saying the sixth commandment 
always penetrated the heart. It wasn't just a matter of cutting 
your neighbor's throat so that he died physically. You weren't 
supposed to hate your neighbor in your heart in the Old Testament 
either. Leviticus 19, verse 18, you're 
not supposed to hate your neighbor. The Old Testament law was always 
external and internal, but through the influence of bad teachers, 
as long as you didn't stop your neighbor's heart from beating, 
you were okay. when you get to the commandment 
with reference to adultery. Notice the exposition in verses 
27 to 30. He's dealing with the seventh 
commandment. You've heard that it was said 
to those of old, but I say to you, you weren't supposed to 
lust in your heart in the Old Testament either. the design 
of the law was always to regulate the external conduct and the 
internal disposition. So Jesus isn't saying, Moses, 
you know, he went so far, but I'm going to make it go farther. 
No, Moses as given was God giving his law, and it always spoke 
to the external and the internal. But again, through these bad 
teachers, as long as you didn't actually play with your neighbor, 
God's not really concerned with your thoughts. And this really, 
really took a toll for the worse during the time of the Babylonian 
captivity. During the time of the Babylonian 
captivity, there was a Talmud written, and a Talmud is simply 
exposition and commentary on Scripture. And what came out 
of Babylon was not good. It was not good at all. In fact, 
it's got very anti-Christian leanings and things that are 
quite alarming actually. So, in the history of redemption, 
you had Isaiah's and you had Jeremiah's, but you had false 
prophets and you had false teachers, and Israel was filled with them 
in the first century, and the Lord Jesus has to clarify the 
meaning or original intent of the law. So the emphasis in this 
section is upon Jesus' relationship to the law in a doctrinal sense. 
He's going to correct misinterpretation in verses 21 to 48. So he states 
his hermeneutic, don't think that I came to destroy the law 
and the prophets, I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. He 
fulfills by his work, doing everything specified of him in the law and 
the prophets, but he fulfills by his teaching. He's not contrary 
to God's law in the ministry that he engages in. He only speaks 
positively and glowingly and wonderfully about the law, even 
the fourth commandment. Spurgeon said, our king honors 
his father's law. He took care to revise and reform 
the laws of men, but the law of God he established and confirmed. 
Our King has not come to abrogate the law, but to confirm and reassert 
it." That's the best expression or explanation of Matthew 5.17 
that I think is in print. There are mountains and mountains 
and mountains of pages of commentary on what does Jesus mean in Matthew 
5, 17. I'm doing you guys a favor tonight. 
Spurgeons, bang on. Now, obviously, don't just take 
my word for it, but I think that the New Testament bears up well 
that that's precisely what he's doing. Our king honors his father's 
law. He took care to revise and reform 
the laws of men, but the law of God he established and confirmed. Our king has not come to abrogate 
the law, but to confirm and reassert it." That's what Jesus does. 
He upholds the law by his own obedience, obviously, but as 
well in his teaching and what he demands of others. Now turn 
to Matthew 12 just to see his ethic concerning the Sabbath. 
Chapter 12, verses 1 to 14. Now here specifically, and this 
goes along with what we saw in John 5, when that man picked 
up his mat and he walked, the Pharisees were ready to bite 
his head off and accuse him of Sabbath-breaking and probably 
take him out and stone him. Good you've been healed after 
38 years of a debilitating disease. Let's take you out now to the 
city, outside the city so we can stone you to death. That 
was pretty much their attitude or their mindset. But with reference 
to the teaching of our Lord, what does he do? He clarifies 
Sabbath for the people of God, such that what the Pharisees 
and the scribes had added to the Sabbath wasn't necessarily 
accurate. See, there was a statement concerning 
corporal punishment in Deuteronomy 25. If you were found guilty 
of a crime, you were heard and due process and all those things 
fell into place and you were found guilty and they were going 
to corporally punish you. That means take a stick or a 
whip or something like that and beat you with it. You are not 
to exceed 40 stripes. It was it was a humane sort of 
a just way. I mean, I think of 40 stripes 
and I think, man, I hope I could last 40 stripes. It seems like 
a lot to me. But but at the same time, there 
was a cap. You couldn't just relentlessly 
and brutally, you know, beat this guy no matter what he did. 
You had to stop at 40. So typically, what would they 
do? They'd stop at 39. There's nothing, you know, wicked 
about that. There's a bit of wisdom there. 
But with reference to the Sabbath, they did that. So here's the 
Sabbath, right? But we're going to set up the 
parameters out here just to make sure nobody ever violates that. 
Well, then this sort of becomes the law, so part of Jesus' ministry 
is to say, no, the Sabbath is here. It wasn't made to bind 
you. It wasn't made to kill you. It wasn't made to enslave you. It was made for man. It's a good gift. Jesus always 
presents it in a positive way. So that's what's happening here 
in Matthew chapter 12 in verses 1 to 14. In the first place, 
in verses 1 to 8, he underscores that works of necessity are consistent 
with the Sabbath. works of necessity are consistent 
with the Sabbath day. He points to David. He points 
to the priests. He points to himself being over 
the temple. He speaks of himself as a prophet, 
as a great prophet, and as the one who has lordship over the 
Sabbath. If anybody would know what was 
breaking the Sabbath, it would be the Lord of the Sabbath, wouldn't 
it? These fools come to Jesus and they say, hey, they're breaking 
the Sabbath. Listen, I'm the Lord of the Sabbath. I know what breaks the Sabbath 
and what doesn't. Do you get that? That's what 
he's doing here. These guys, oh, look at your 
disciples. They're picking the heads of grain. How dare that? 
Jesus said, I'm the Lord of the Sabbath, I gave the Sabbath, 
and certainly I'm not going to endorse them sinning in my presence. I'm not going to allow them, 
I'm not going to encourage that. It was never a transgression 
or a violation of the Sabbath to eat. It was never a transgression 
or a violation of the Sabbath to engage in works of necessity. The priests labor on the Sabbath, 
I doubt that it's a walk in the park to be cutting up animals 
all day, to be burning up animals all day, to be washing yourself 
all day, and to be dealing with all the people bringing those 
animals. Those priests worked hard every single Sabbath. Are you prepared to say that 
that was a violation of the Sabbath? Well, no, of course not. Well 
then it's not wrong for Jesus' disciples to pick the heads of 
grain and eat because they were hungry. The Lord of the Sabbath 
knows what the contours of the confines of the Sabbath are. In the next instance he highlights 
that Works of mercy are consistent. So works of necessity. Here you 
might put your military. Here you might put your policeman. 
Here you might put your doctor in the emergency room. See, there 
are works of necessity, brethren. You just don't shut down life. There are instances and there 
are occasions and there are professions where there are persons that 
work. Works of necessity. But then 
works of mercy, notice in chapter 12, verses 9 to 14. When he had departed from there, 
he went into their synagogue, and behold, there was a man who 
had a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is 
it lawful to heal in the Sabbath, that they might accuse him? They're 
always just trying to get him. They're always trying to needle 
him. The gospel writers take pains 
to make sure we know that their intentions are not for the law. Their intentions aren't for the 
integrity of Moses. Their intentions aren't for the 
worship of God. They want to catch him up. They 
want to twist him up. They want to show that he's inconsistent. They want to show that he's not 
to be taken seriously. Now notice how Jesus responds. He says, works of mercy are consistent. If a guy with a withered hand 
happens to show up on the Sabbath day, and the Lord of the Sabbath 
is there, and the Lord of the Sabbath in his sovereignty wants 
to heal the man with the withered hand, the Lord of the Sabbath 
says, that's not a breaking of the Sabbath command. That's not 
a violation. So verse 11, he said to them, 
what man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls 
into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it 
out? What do you think everybody did at that point? They probably 
looked down at their hands or they looked at their laps because 
they knew he was bang on. You as a wretched Pharisee, if 
you were wandering on your way to the tabernacle or the temple 
on a Sabbath day and you saw some sheep in the ditch, you'd 
fish it out, you'd pick it up, you'd help it. You're a merciful 
person, right? So he goes on to say in verse 
12, of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore 
it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Then he said to the 
man, stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and it was 
restored as whole as the other. Verse 14, then the Pharisees 
went out and plotted against him, how they might destroy him. These guys are great, hey? I 
mean, come on, just horrible, miserable people. But notice, 
and we could multiply instances, I think each of the gospel records 
show or demonstrate Sabbath wars. We saw it in Sunday, John chapter 
5. I also took us over to Luke chapter 
13. Remember the woman, 18 years 
bent over, bound by Satan? Nevertheless, she's in the temple 
on the Sabbath day, Jesus heals her, and then the ruler of the 
synagogue lambasts the entire congregation. Six days are available 
for you to come and get healed. I mean, come on, dude. This woman 
was bound 18 years. Jesus says, behold, think of 
it. This is a good thing. Works of mercy, works of necessity 
do not violate the Sabbath. But the greater or more important 
point is that Jesus is contending for the Sabbath. It'd be curious 
or rather it would be more symptomatic of reality if he knew that after 
his death there would be no more Sabbath command, he could have 
dealt with these a whole lot quicker and easier. Well, you 
know, Sabbath's not going to be here forever. It's going to 
be gone, and we don't have to worry about it. Gilfillan in 
his book on the Sabbath says Christ was careful to clear it, 
the Sabbath, from Jewish corruptions. And if there was any precept 
more particularly vindicated by him and honored than another, 
it was that requiring the Sabbath day to be kept holy. How many 
times in the gospel records does he go toe-to-toe with the religious 
leaders over adultery? He does. How many times does 
he go toe-to-toe with them over, you know, idolatry? How many 
times with reference to blasphemy? How many times with insubordination 
to authority, or theft, or lies, or covetousness? He does on occasion, 
but how many times does he do so on the Sabbath? It's over 
and over and over again. Because again, he's dealing with 
a class of people that have set up these structures to make everybody 
despise the Sabbath. They were the kinds of people 
that made it, you know, this burden that you exist to keep 
versus God's gift to you for you to enjoy. Now, there's certainly 
strictures and parameters, and by enjoy it doesn't mean, you 
know, have parties on your boat and invite everybody over and 
get hammered. There's obviously some, you know, restriction involved. 
But they viewed it that way, so he's clarifying and showing 
the original intent. Gilfillan ends this way, it is 
not the practice of a wise man to repair a house which he is 
about to pull down. I think that's a good observation. 
Why would you repair a house simply to destroy it or demolish 
it or to bulldoze it? You wouldn't. If you're going 
to take pains to reno it and put in new countertops and new 
tiles, you don't call the bulldozer up next and say, OK, obliterate 
it. That's the teaching of dispensationalism. That's the teaching of New Covenant 
theology. Christ took pains to vindicate 
the true Sabbath and only so that he could call the bulldozer 
to demolish it after his death. Well, there's no more Sabbath. 
So again, it's to divvy up the unit of the Ten Commandments 
without any hermeneutical justification. Now I know that one of the strongest 
hermeneutical justifications is that there's no repeat command. There's no command in the New 
Testament as I've already stipulated. There's not a Roman 17 that says, 
thou must keep Sunday as the Christian Sabbath. But hold your 
judgment until we look at a few more texts. So that's the ministry 
of Christ. The second line of evidence is 
the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ. Think 
back to the two reasons for Sabbath keeping. Exodus 20, creation. Deuteronomy 5, redemption. So the themes of creation and 
redemption sort of attach themselves to the whole idea of Sabbath. 
And when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, He does so on the first 
day of the week. And when Jesus does that, and 
we'll see this, I hope, in Hebrews chapter 4, there's a parallel 
between God the Father at the original creation, making the 
world and all things in it, and at the seventh day resting and 
sanctifying it and finding complacence in it. Well, Jesus finishes the 
work of new creation on the first day of the week, which happens 
to be the day of redemption as well. So, creation is not just 
the original Genesis creation, but many have seen, and rightly 
so, based on Paul especially, that Christ is the Lord of the 
new creation. The emphasis in 2 Corinthians 
chapter 5, those who are in Christ Jesus, what happens? All things 
are new. There's a new creation that has 
obtained in the work and ministry of our Lord Jesus. So it shouldn't 
surprise us that the first day of the week is set apart in the 
gospel records. It's underscored frequently that 
that is the day upon which our Lord Jesus rose from the dead." 
So, Matthew 28, 1, Mark 16, 1 and 2, Mark 16, 9, Luke 24, 1, and 
then John 20, verse 1, John 20, verse 19, and John 20, verse 
26. And the John account is quite 
intriguing, because the disciples gather together on the first 
day of the week, minus Thomas. Well, when they re-gather together, 
it's on the first day of the week. It says eighth day, but 
I think it's inclusive to say a whole week's gone by. They're 
back to Sunday. So, two times after the resurrection 
of Jesus, and then we see that initial gathering by the disciples, 
that's not just, well, keen, cool information. There's something 
going on in the New Testament. Now, let's look thirdly, well, 
I'll just read our confession here. Our confession says, which 
from, talking about the day, which from the beginning of the 
world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the 
week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the 
first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day, and 
is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian 
Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished. Now, back to the issue, not back, 
I'm going to introduce the issue. Why can you just change a commandment? 
Well, our confession rightly understands what the Bible sets 
forth. The moral law of God is the abiding 
law, the Ten Commandments. They're a revelation of who God 
is. It's what pleases Him, what displeases Him. With reference 
to the Sabbath, it's not only moral law, but it has ceremonial 
attachment as well. It functioned as a sign for Israel 
according to Exodus chapter 31. So there's this moral abiding 
principle. One day in seven you cease from 
your regular work and you go to the house of God and you worship 
with his people. But the ceremonial aspect has 
to do with the actual day. Old Testament, Saturday. New 
Testament, Sunday. That's the ceremonial or what 
we call positive aspect of that law. Now turn to Hebrews 4. We may not get all this done, which I hope doesn't bother anyone. I think it's material that we 
need to know if we can just make it through Hebrews 4. I mentioned 
last week there are certain passages in the Bible that I think a person 
can understand but are nevertheless challenging to explain to someone 
else. Like I think I could with four 
apples successfully explain two apples plus two apples equal 
four. But I don't doubt there's other 
mathematical principles that I might be able to get my mind 
wrapped around that I'm not sure I could explain to people. Daniel 
9 is a passage like that for me. I've alluded to it in sermons, 
the latter part, the prophecy of the 70 weeks. I think I know 
what's going on there, but man, it's a bear to explain to people. 
Hebrews 4 is a bit like that. So we're going to run through 
it probably quicker than I would like. but probably not quicker 
than you would like. If you're interested, I can send 
you my notes and it may help you work your way through it. 
Also, I would recommend the book by Joseph Piper called The Lord's 
Day. I think that is the best introductory 
work. Now, no, there's non-introductory 
works on the Sabbath that are quite substantial. There's a 
bunch of them, but in terms of an accessible popularly written, 
hearty, positive treatment of the Lord's Day. You can't do 
any better, in my estimation, in terms of an introduction than 
Joseph Piper, P-I-P-E-R, and it's published by Christian-focused 
publications, The Lord's Day. Anyways, he has a good section 
on Hebrews 4. John Owen takes this particular position as well. John Owen does a lot more detailed 
work than Piper. But the point in Hebrews 4 is 
a promise of rest. And that's Sabbath, right? Sabbath 
at its core means rest. And so the apostle, I think Paul 
wrote Hebrews and there's various reasons for that. But in Hebrews 
chapter four, he's encouraging the people of God to persevere. Much of Hebrews is written with 
that emphasis, persevere. Why? Because they were being 
pressured by Jews to turn back from their profession of faith 
in Jesus to go back to Moses, to go back to the Levitical system, 
to go back to the temple, to go back to sacrifices. So the 
apostle is exhorting them to faithfulness and perseverance. 
So in Hebrews chapter 4, again, the main emphasis, the context, 
verses 3 and 4, perseverance in the Christian faith, and he 
contrasts it with the wilderness generation. So notice in 4, 1, 
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, let us 
fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed 
the gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word 
which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith 
in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter 
that rest, as he has said. So I swore in my wrath they shall 
not enter my rest, although the works were finished from the 
foundation of the world. For he has spoken in a certain 
place of the seventh day in this way, and God rested on the seventh 
day from all his works." Intriguing that he uses God and the example 
in Genesis 2, 1 to 3 as an example of rest. That's a wonderful encouragement. God-sabbathed, God-rested, you 
need to persevere, remain faithful, to enter into that eternal rest. It's a most blessed sort of an 
admonition. The rest of God is the blessing, 
ultimately, of eternally dwelling in his presence. For us to enter 
the rest of God means for us to take our place in that kingdom 
and to enjoy life eternal. It's a most blessed prospect. 
So, the declaration of God's rest is in verse 4, and it points 
back to the creation account in Genesis 2 verses 1 to 3. Then notice, verses 6 and 7, 
he says that Canaan functioned typologically. Canaan wasn't 
the end game for the people of God. Canaan was a stop on the 
way. It was a blessed, you know, provision 
of the Lord, but it doesn't exhaust rest with God. Exhausting rest 
with God happens either when we die or more so at the day 
of judgment when he consummates the age and we enter into that 
blessed state. So notice in verse 6, since therefore 
it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was 
first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again 
he designates a certain day, saying in David, Today, after 
such a long time, as it has been said, Today, if you will hear 
his voice, do not harden your hearts. Now, verse 8 tells us 
that this rest in Canaan did not exhaust the concept of rest 
with God. Notice in verse 8, for if Joshua 
had given them rest, then he would not afterward have spoken 
of another day. So it was not fulfilled in the 
land of Canaan. Again, it functioned typologically. It functioned in a provisional 
sort of way. God blessed his people. He communed 
with his people through the tabernacle and the temple, but it didn't 
exhaust everything. Neither does the church. I mean, 
we have these blessed experiences described for us in Acts 2, Ephesians 
chapter 2. We come to the Father through 
the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit. We have access to 
the presence of God, but it's not been fully realized yet. 
There's still something that we long for. It's at this point, 
if I were a black preacher in California, I'd say, can I get 
an amen? We all have that longing, especially 
when we look at the evening news, especially when we look at the 
tyranny that's going on in the land. Don't you have this craving 
and a desire to be where in righteousness dwells? where there's not pedophilia, 
where there's not murder, where there's not all the garbage that 
attaches itself to this world, there's obviously something more 
for which we were created and for which we were redeemed. So 
typologically Canaan functioned in such a way that the people 
of God enjoyed their God, but it didn't satisfy everything. Just like for us today, the church 
is glorious. We should love the church. We 
should have the highest view of the church because we know 
something special happens when we gather here. but there's still 
this longing in our heart to enter into that eternal rest. Now notice, He says in verse 
nine, there remains therefore a rest for the people of God. It hasn't been fully realized. I'm gonna jump to the point. 
If in the old covenant, there was a day that pointed forward 
to that rest, why would we think in the new covenant, there's 
no longer a day that points forward to that rest? That would be almost 
an act of cruelty. I'm serious, brethren. If you 
get the concept of Sabbath, and you get the concept of entering 
God's rest, and you see what the church of God really is, 
it does elicit from you, I was glad when they said unto me, 
let us go to the house of our God. When you come to church 
on Sunday in New Covenant worship, there is something far more glorious 
going on than we often give credit to. But nevertheless, there's 
something that even transcends that. We're gonna be in the presence 
of our blessed Savior. Now, something interesting happens 
in verse nine. The apostle uses a different 
word for rest. He's been talking about rest, 
rest, rest, rest, God rested, God rested, people rest, people 
need to pursue this rest. And then in verse nine, he changes 
the word to another word that means rest, but it's the word 
Sabbath. There remains, therefore, a Sabbath 
for the people of God. It couldn't be clearer. There's 
a guy that I know of who said, I don't know how any serious 
student of the New Testament could come away thinking that 
there is a Sabbath. Well, Hebrews 4 night. It may 
not mean everything that I think it means, but it certainly tells 
me, there remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. It's 
unequivocal. I mean, I don't know, does anybody's 
Bible here translate it as Sabbath rest, because it should. It's 
the word sabbatismos. The word that he's been using 
previously is kanapausa. They're synonymous terms, rest 
and rest, but intriguingly, when he gets to verse 9, he uses the 
Sabbath word. That just should evoke from us 
a big, wow, there's actually a command telling us, or at least 
suggesting, there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God. The 
use of the verbal form, you see it in the Old Testament, in the 
Greek translation of the Old Testament. There's a verbal form 
of this word that's applied in Sabbatarian contexts. Now, the 
Sabbath rest typifies the eternal rest that is to come, just like 
in the Old Testament. When you were a faithful remnant 
Jew on a Saturday, and you took your little goat from the flock, 
and you took him down to the tabernacle, and you cut his neck, 
and you handed him over to the priest, you were worshiping your 
God. You were communing with your 
God. That was your Sabbath day, and it was a joy and a delight. 
But it was typical. You were still looking forward 
to what's going to come in the future. That's what Sunday is. The Puritans would refer to it 
as the market day of the soul. It's a blessed thing. It's a 
gift given by our God. The Sabbath rest typifies the 
eternal rest that is to come. Listen to Pink, A.W. Pink. He 
says, Here then is a plain positive, unequivocal declaration by the 
Spirit of God. There remaineth therefore a Sabbath-keeping. Nothing could be simpler, nothing 
less ambiguous. The striking thing, listen to 
this, the striking thing is that this statement occurs in the 
very epistle whose theme is the superiority of Christianity over 
Judaism. written to those addressed as 
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. Therefore, 
it cannot be gainsaid that Hebrews 4 and 9 refers directly to the 
Christian Sabbath. Hence, we solemnly and emphatically 
declare that any man who says there is no Christian Sabbath 
takes direct issue with the New Testament Scriptures. Things 
like, I won't have it, I'm not even gonna listen to you, suggest 
there's no Sabbath. Now if you want a biblical, sort 
of a theological expression from one of today's greater working 
biblical theologians, G.K. Beal says, if the eschatological 
reality of final Sabbath rest has not consummately come, that 
means if we have not entered heaven, We have not entered into 
that eternal rest. If that has not happened, then 
it is unlikely that the typological sign pointing to that ultimate 
rest has ceased. Why would it? Again, if God gives 
a gift to the Old Testament Jews vis-a-vis Sabbath, he's going 
to short the New Covenant church of something that functions in 
a similar capacity to help us to focus upon what comes in the 
future? Every Sunday it's a foretaste. Every Sunday is a down payment. Every Sunday is an installment 
of what's going to be realized when Jesus comes again in glory. 
He says that is if the weekly Sabbath included the function 
of pointing forward to consummate rest, and that rest has not yet 
come, then that weekly Sabbath should continue. It makes perfect 
sense, especially when the apostle says, there remains therefore 
a rest for the people of God. Now one final point, and that's 
in verse 10. Verse 10 validates why we meet 
on Sunday rather than Saturday. Verse 10 in the New King James 
suggests that it's us that is the subject of verse 10. It ain't 
us, it's Jesus. The New King James uses the capitalization 
of pronouns that refer to deity. When you have a reference to 
Jesus and it's He, it capitalizes the H. It's just a sign of reference. It's a sign of respect. But it's 
an interpretative call. So if you've got the New King 
James and you read verse 10, you're going to be inclined to 
think it means you. It doesn't mean you. And here 
are those twin themes coming back. creation and redemption. Verse 4 points to God in creation, 
Genesis 2, 1-3. Verse 10 points to new creation 
or redemption vis-a-vis Jesus' cross work. Verse 10, for he, 
Jesus, who has entered his rest, has himself also seized from 
his works as God did from his. So the father creates the earth 
and all things in it in the space of six days and all very good 
and on that seventh day he looks at the works of his hand and 
he says it's good and he rests. He ceases from that work of creation. When Jesus accomplishes redemption 
for his people, when he says it is finished, he has finished 
that work. Now he's complacent and delights 
in the work of his hands. So he, Jesus, who has entered 
his rest, has himself also seized from his works as God did from 
his. The comparison, it's Christ's 
works and rest to God's works and rest, not the believer's 
works and rest contrasted with God. It ain't about us in verse 
10. Secondly, the change of pronoun. 
Throughout the passage, the plural form is used. Here it's singular. It's he. It is the one who has, 
or the one having entered, and it's not anyone or whoever. And then the rest of verse 10 
is a far cry different than the rest of verse 11. Look at verse 
11, which is addressed to us. Let us, therefore, be diligent 
to enter that rest. See, verse 10 isn't us. We didn't 
enter that rest by a cessation of our redemptive work. No, we 
still have a rest to pursue and thank God Almighty that He gives 
us the Lord's Day to help us along the way to engage or pursue 
that blessed rest. So verse 11, let us therefore 
be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to 
the same example of disobedience. There's a marked contrast between 
verse 11 and us pursuing our rest and verse 10. So there remains 
therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. We ask the 
question, what day do we do that on? Well, he who has entered 
his rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from 
his. That day of resurrection caps 
off the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ. William Ames 
says the reason for the change, by the consent of all, is the 
resurrection of Christ, which is itself a confirmation. On 
this day the creation of a new world, or of a world to come, 
wherein all things are made new, 2 Corinthians 5.17, was completed. And Christ's rising from the 
dead ceased and rested from His greatest work. just as in the 
beginning God rested from His work and blessed and hallowed 
the day wherein He rested. So also it is right that the 
very day wherein He rested, so also it is right that the very 
day wherein Christ rested from His labors should be hallowed. 
So the Old Covenant, we look at God Sabbathing in Genesis 
2, 1-3. So we have a Saturday Sabbath. When we get to the new covenant, 
we look at the capstone, the finished work of the Savior. 
We see on the resurrection day, and we see that day set apart. 
Again, not just in the gospel accounts, but God willing we'll 
see some of those instances next Wednesday when we meet here together. So is there a Roman 17 that says 
thou must on this day? No, but there is therefore or 
there remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. You 
want to know when that is? Look at Christ on the resurrection 
day, verse 10. And then when we visit Troas, 
it's the first day of the week. When we see Paul call for the 
collection in the church, it's when? It's on the first day of 
the week. When we see John and the Spirit on the Lord's day, 
that's the first day of the week. So there is precedent, just like 
God gives precedent in Genesis 2, 1 to 3. There's no command 
in Genesis 2, 4. Oh, by the way, all of y'all 
need to Sabbath. But we know that they took it 
that way because Adam passed on to Cain and Abel that at the 
end of the days of the week, you bring sacrifice to God. So 
with reference to the Sabbath, the moral principle is one day 
out of seven set apart for the worship of God. The ceremonial 
or positive aspect is conditioned by the covenant that you happen 
to be in. If you were an old covenant Jew, 
you went to the tabernacle or temple on Saturday. If you're 
a New Covenant Jew, you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you go to church 
on Sunday. That day is set apart, it is 
sanctified, and all the rules that we see in terms of God blessing 
that day apply to us today. Well, I'll close in prayer, and 
then if there's any questions, I'll make sure I defer those. 
So let's pray. Father in Heaven, we thank you 
for the consistency of Holy Scripture. We've covered a lot of ground 
tonight. I pray that these things would be clear in our minds and 
in our hearts. I pray that all of us would have 
a positive approach to this commandment. It does seem to have gotten such 
negative press throughout the history of the Church, and I 
pray that that would not be the case, that we would call the 
Sabbath a delight, that our hearts would rejoice at the prospect 
of gathering for worship and setting apart the day to enjoy 
our blessed God. Thank you for giving us this 
day. We see that it does function typologically. We see that it 
does function as a help along the way in our journey to keep 
our minds focused and to keep our hearts encouraged and to 
cause us to continually reflect upon what we have in the future 
with our blessed God. Bless us now and guide us as 
we continue on in this week and we pray through Jesus