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Turn your Bibles to Deuteronomy 
chapter 5. Deuteronomy chapter 5, we're considering the fourth 
commandment. Remember the Sabbath day or observe 
the Sabbath day to keep it holy. We've looked at the Sabbath in 
the Old Covenant, the Sabbath in the New Covenant, and tonight 
we're going to look at the alleged anti-Sabbatarian New Testament 
texts. Again, the anti-sabbatarian New 
Testament texts. Those texts, three of them, where 
persons say that these texts indicate there is no abiding 
Sabbath for the people of God. So that will be the focus, but 
I do want to read the Ten Commandments to get it in front of us. So 
beginning in chapter 5 at verse 6, 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. 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. 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. Honor 
your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded 
you, that your days may be long and that it may be well with 
you in 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 
wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, 
his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, 
or anything that is your neighbor's. These words, the Lord spoke to 
all your assembly in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the 
cloud and the thick darkness with a loud voice. And he added 
no more. And he wrote them on two tablets 
of stone and gave them to me. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
thank you for your written word. Thank you for the law of God. 
Help us to use it lawfully, to use it correctly, to use it the 
way it's specified in Holy Scripture. And grant us grace and aid now 
as we consider this fourth commandment. Help us to call the Sabbath a 
delight. Help us to see it as the best 
of the days and help us to rejoice in it. The privilege that is 
ours to gather in together and to worship our great God and 
to Take up the day in reading and prayer and fellowship and 
those things that are so blessed by the Lord. Do forgive us now 
for our sin and our transgression, and again, fill us with your 
Holy Spirit as we move through your Word. And we ask in Jesus' 
name, Amen. As I said, we did a brief exposition 
of the commandment in its original setting, and then we did a biblical 
theology of the Sabbath. And basically, in the Old Testament, 
we looked at Genesis 2, verses 1 to 3. It is a creation ordinance. God, Sabbath, and as He sabbathed, 
He gave example for His creatures to follow. We saw Cain and Abel 
worship at the end of days, in the process of time. Ultimately, 
we identified that as the one day out of the seven in which 
they were to bring sacrifice before the Lord. We saw in Exodus 
16, there was a Sabbath for the people of Israel even prior to 
the giving of the law in Exodus 20. We did see Exodus 20 in Deuteronomy 
5, the giving of the law at Sinai, codification of that moral law 
that God wrote on the heart of Adam. We then move to the prophet 
Isaiah in chapter 56, the passage that I read at the outset of 
worship, where we see that new covenant blessing, including 
the eunuchs into the very house of God, is also accompanied by 
Sabbath and the Gentiles coming into the house of the Lord. We 
saw the abuse of Sabbatarianism in Isaiah 58, and at the end 
we see that exhortation to call the Sabbath a delight. And then 
we looked at Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34, which is basically God's 
promise that in the New Covenant era, He would write the law of 
God on the hearts of His people. New Covenant saints are forgiven 
of their sins, they know the Lord, and they have the law of 
God written in their hearts, wherein they want to do what 
the Lord has commanded them. We then moved into the New Testament, 
and from there we saw the ministry of Jesus Christ, specifically 
with reference to his view of the law, Matthew 5, 17-20, and 
then his view of the Sabbath, Matthew 12, verses 1-14. From there we saw the resurrection 
of Christ. It was on the first day of the 
week. and that is significant in redemptive 
history. We then move to the teaching 
of the Apostles, where we consider the change of the day in Hebrews 
chapter 4, where we see that there is a Sabbath rest that 
remains for the people of God. The theology of Sabbath there 
is clearly articulated by the Apostle. Verse 10 is what I tried 
to argue that that is the day change, or the text that legitimizes 
the day change. Christ entered into His rest. 
the way the Father did at the beginning in the creation of 
the world. Then we looked at the worship 
at Troas in Acts 20, verse 7, on the first day of the week, 
the collection for the saints in 1 Corinthians 16, 1 and 2, 
and then John in the Spirit on the Lord's Day in Revelation 
1, verse 10. And as I said, there are alleged 
anti-sabbatarian New Testament texts, and that's what's going 
to occupy us tonight. Romans 14, Galatians 4, and Colossians 
2. So we'll turn first of all to 
Romans 14. The argument being that these 
three passages show that there is no special day among the people 
of God. Every day is the day of worship. 
Every day is a day given unto God. Every day ought to be special 
in the lives of God's people. Well, the faultiness of that 
argument is that if everything is special, then nothing is. 
Date night is wonderful because not every night is date night. 
God has given us a particular day in which we get to gather 
together in the presence of God and we get to Sabbath, we get 
to rest in Him, we get to call it a delight, we get to know 
His blessing and His sanctifying power in our lives through the 
means of grace. But some, as I said, want to 
relegate this doctrine of the Christian Sabbath as a Puritan 
invention, or as an act of legalism, or as a means whereby persons 
are binding the consciences of others without biblical warrant. 
Well, hopefully, the data that we have surveyed indicates that 
that's not the case. And hopefully, as we look at 
these particular passages, we will see that's not the case. 
The Christian Sabbath abides, the Christian Sabbath is blessed 
of God, and the Christian Sabbath must be practiced by the people 
of God. Again, not as a means for our 
justification or salvation, but as a fruit of us having been 
justified freely by grace. The people of God, freed from 
the bondage of the law, by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ 
are then pointed by Jesus Christ back to the law, not as a form 
of bondage, but as a pattern of sanctification, as an instruction 
on how to live before God in a manner that is consistent with 
who he is and what he requires from men. But in Romans chapter 
14, notice specifically what we've got going on. It's a discussion 
by the apostle Paul on matters concerning Christian liberty. 
Verse 1 tells us, receive one who is weak in the faith, but 
not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may 
eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let 
not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not 
him who does not eat judge him who eats. For God has received 
him, who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master, he 
stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, 
for God is able to make him stand. The context has to do with Christian 
liberty. The apostle Paul wants the people 
of God, whether they're weak or whether they're strong, to 
be able to live in harmony. He gives the particular temptations 
or tendencies involved with being either a weaker brother or a 
stronger brother with reference to not living in peace. Notice. 
Verse 2, one believes he may eat all things, but he who is 
weak eats only vegetables. So the stronger brother thinks 
and believes that he can eat meat. The weaker brother thinks 
he can only eat vegetables. And I don't think this is first 
and foremost matters of nutrition and value in terms of nutrient 
count. I think it has to do with Jewish 
food laws. And that with the coming of Jesus 
Christ, those Jewish food laws are abrogated because what they 
stood for, the typological significance, are fulfilled by Jesus Christ. 
But coming into this new covenant era, a man who had never eaten 
bacon, a man who had never eaten shrimp, perhaps doesn't want 
to eat bacon or shrimp. Perhaps his conscience is still 
affected in the sense that it's wrong for him to do so. He's 
identified there as a weaker brother because he hasn't appreciated 
fully the reality that Christ has come and freed him from those 
particular demands. Well, the stronger brother has 
understood, and so the stronger brother does eat bacon. He does 
eat shrimp. He enjoys these particular things. 
So Paul highlights the particular temptations that are there with 
reference to the weaker and the stronger. Notice in verse 3, 
let not him who eats despise him who does not eat. In other 
words, the stronger brother is not to look down upon the weaker 
brother. He's not to invite him over on 
a particular occasion where he's having bacon and where he's having 
shrimp. And he's passing it in front 
of that weak brother and he's sort of despising. He's putting 
him down. He's looking down upon him and suggesting. You know, 
you need to embrace your liberty and you need to suck it up and 
you need to enjoy the good gifts that God has given. Don't do 
that. If you're a stronger brother and you're going to offend a 
weaker brother, don't do it. That's how the chapter ends. 
Don't exercise your liberty at the expense of the conscience 
of a weaker brother. But it's not just the strong 
that has a tendency or a temptation to do something wrong or contrapiece 
with reference to the weaker brother. Notice what he says 
in 3b. And let not him who does not 
eat judge him who eats. So that's the tendency on the 
part of the weaker brother. The weaker brother supposes that 
this allegedly strong brother is in sin. He's in rebellion. He shouldn't eat those particular 
things. If he knew better, he wouldn't do that. Paul's point 
is that he wants peace and he wants harmony and he wants unity 
among the people of God. He doesn't want there to be factions. 
The strong brethren, they meet at one table and they mow down 
on meat. And the weak brethren, they gather 
together at the wheat table and they just eat vegetables. Whatever 
floats your boat in terms of what you want to eat, that's 
up to you ultimately. We are not to judge one another 
and we are not to despise persons. He goes on from meats and drinks 
to dates. Notice in verse 5. One person 
esteems one day above another, another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in 
his own mind. He who observes the day, observes 
it to the Lord, and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord 
he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, 
for he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat, to the 
Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. Essentially what 
I think is happening here is that if it is the case that we 
can do something that is a Jewish calendar practice without sort 
of putting a theological spin on it, then it's okay to do that. There were several feast days 
within the nation of Israel. Jewish calendar had more than 
just the weekly Sabbath. In fact, that's not what's in 
view here at all. It is those feast days. So Paul 
says, if some want to observe those particular days, but again, 
they don't attach theological significance to it in the sense 
that God is now going to accept me because I kept this particular 
feast. No, there's culture, there's 
practice, there's ethnicity. There's an instance where the 
apostle Paul takes Timothy and has him circumcised because they're 
going to go into Jewish regions. We know that circumcision doesn't 
matter in terms of religion in the New Covenant era, but it 
would have been an offense to the Jewish audience, so Paul 
has Timothy circumcised. That was not a matter of obeying 
the law of Moses in order to be accepted by God. It was a 
matter of trying to keep peace with Jews, with reference to 
young Timothy. So if we can do these things 
without attaching significance to them in terms of our acceptance 
with God, then if some want to observe these particular days, 
that's up to them. If others don't want to observe 
those particular days, that's up to them as well. We're not 
to bind consciences. We're not to go beyond the scripture. 
But as well, we're not supposed to bind the other way and say, 
well, just because Jesus came doesn't mean we're no longer 
obligated to keep these ceremonies and feasts. Well, of course it 
means that. Christ fulfilled all that the 
ceremonies typify. He is the anti-type. So we're 
not to be brought back under that, but if somebody from an 
ethnic or a cultural point of view wants to celebrate that 
day, Paul says, that's okay, go right ahead. But then he moves 
his discussion back solely to eating and to drinking. And again, 
dropping down at the very end of the chapter, he lays down 
that most important principle that if your liberty offends 
a brother for whom Jesus died, then don't exercise that liberty. 
Don't parade it in front of them. Don't make them uncomfortable 
or squeamish, but rather show respect, show love, and try to 
endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
The Christian Sabbath is not in view in this particular passage. It's not the Christian Lord's 
Day, rather Jewish feast days observed for ethnic or cultural 
reasons. The apostles' concern, and it 
ought to be our concern as well, is that observers of these days 
don't bind the consciences of those who don't observe them. 
William Ames makes this comment. He says, the apostle in Romans 
14 expressly speaks of the judgment about certain days, which then 
produce defense among Christians. But the observance of the Lord's 
day, which the apostle himself teaches, had already taken place 
in all the churches. Remember 1 Corinthians 16, 1 
and 2? That's already binding. That's 
already in play. That's already in place. So he 
would not teach, I want you to lay up collection on the first 
day of the week, simply to come along and say, well, there's 
no real significance to the first day of the week. Well, what do 
you mean, Paul? You've already told us that we're to gather 
together and we're to bring those collections. In fact, he goes 
on, Ames does, to say this, it is most probable that the apostle 
in this passage is treating of a dispute about the choosing 
of days to eat or refuse certain meats. This point is that days 
isn't the issue at all in Romans chapter 4. And if that's the 
case, it's certainly not the Christian Sabbath, but it's these 
days upon which persons would eat these particular meats or 
not. He says, for the question is put in Romans 14.2 about meats 
only, and in verses 5 and 6, the related problem of duty is 
discussed. And in the remainder of the chapter, 
he considers only meats, making no mention of days. So what we 
have in Romans 14 is the reality that there was a transition period. And we're going to meet that 
in our study in the book of Acts. When we get to Acts chapter 15, 
there is an overarching concern that affects the church that 
they have to deal with. And that overarching concern 
that affects the church that they have to deal with is Gentile 
inclusion in the promises of Almighty God. So these Gentiles 
have now come in and the Jews are saying, wait a minute, we 
all had to be circumcised, we all had to abstain from certain 
things, we all had to obey a certain calendar observance with reference 
to our life as Israelites. The Gentiles have to as well. 
Well, no, that's not how they ruled there at Acts 15 in the 
Jerusalem Council. But you see this tension continue 
even all the way up to chapter 21. When Paul returns to Jerusalem 
with money to give to Pastor James, sort of the leader of 
the church in Jerusalem, James says, persons out there are being 
shaken because they think you're teaching no obedience to the 
law of Moses. And so what James suggests is 
that Paul obey a particular calendar observance and Paul complies. Paul does not comply for religious 
reasons in the sense of acceptance with God. Paul complies to make 
sure there's unity among Jews and Gentiles. So when we get 
to Romans 14, the argument isn't everyday special, we don't need 
a Sunday Sabbath because every day is alike. That's not the 
point. The point is that some were still 
holding, whether culturally or ethnically, to these particular 
observances, and if they did that, then Paul said, leave them 
alone as long as they don't judge other people. And with reference 
to meats and drinks and those sorts of things, again, the principle 
is the strong mustn't despise the weak, and the weak must not 
judge the strong. And I just want to read the last 
section before we move to the next text, because I think it 
is most important. Notice in verse 14, I know and 
I'm convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing. Well, 
prior to that, Paul's point basically is we stand before the Lord. 
I think this is a great place for us to stand. We're not going 
to ultimately be judged by each other. We're going to be judged 
by the Lord. If a man has a clear conscience 
before God, most high. and he is willing and able to 
engage in a particular activity, asking the Lord's blessing, then 
it is not up to you to deter him or stop him. We are not supposed 
to be legalistic. We are not supposed to be Pharisaic. We are not supposed to impose 
our preferences upon others. We are to respect the reality 
that each of us will stand before the Lord God. Now again, that's 
in things indifferent. Those are in things that are 
matters of Christian liberty, not with reference to the moral 
law of God. If somebody is committing adultery, 
reprove them, rebuke them. But if somebody eats bacon, leave 
them alone is what Paul is saying in this section. Now verse 14, 
I know and I'm convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing 
unclean of itself, but to him who considers anything to be 
unclean, to him it is unclean. And herein lies the problem, 
at least to some degree. You need to educate yourself. 
You need to understand your conscience needs to be informed, not by 
preference, not by the prevailing winds around us, but by God's 
holy word. That's what's supposed to shape 
and frame and dictate what our conscience allows us to do. There 
are those who have this mindset that something is unclean. Paul's 
point is, well then don't put it in front of their face. But 
I think Paul would want them to move from the place to adopt 
the position that he himself has just said. Verse 14, I know 
and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean 
of itself. That's the goal, that's maturation, 
that's strength in the Christian life, and that's what the apostle 
wants for the people of God. Verse 15, yet if your brother 
is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in 
love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ 
died. Therefore, do not let your good be spoken of as evil. For 
the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness 
and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ 
in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore, 
let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things 
by which one may edify another. Irrespective of our studies in 
the Decalogue, irrespective of our studies with reference to 
the Fourth Commandment, brethren, these are foundational principles 
for church life. If we cannot get along together 
on this side of heaven, if we can't jive with one another, 
even in spite of some legitimate differences, in spite of some 
legitimate preferences, then we are wrong. We've got problems. The Church of Jesus Christ is 
supposed to be a body of people, according to Ephesians 4, that 
endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
Why do you think that emphasis? Because Paul knew good and well 
that problems in the body affect the proclamation of the truth. 
Problems in the body affect the bringing of glory to God. Problems 
in the body ought to be dealt with. We ought to deal with one 
another in such a way that when we go to God, it's not the case 
that we've got all this baggage. The apostle lays down principles 
for us as God's people to be able to get along with one another. 
Verse 20, do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. 
All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats 
with offense. It is good neither to eat meat, nor drink wine, 
nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, or is offended, 
or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to 
yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn 
himself in what he approves, but he who doubts is condemned 
if he eats, because he does not eat from faith, for whatever 
is not from faith is sin. You see what you're doing if 
you're a strong brother and you've got the weak brother over and 
you're serving bacon and you say, just go ahead, just eat 
it, just eat it, just eat it. Well, for him, it's said because 
it's not a faith. He thinks it's wrong. Now, we 
might say, well, he needs to be smarter. He needs to grow. 
He needs to get mature. but he's not right now, so don't 
offend him and don't cause him to stumble by putting him into 
a situation that for him is sin. Now, Paul doesn't just confine 
his comments here. He takes them all the way into 
Corinth in chapters 8 to 10 in 1 Corinthians. There it's meat 
offered up to idols. When you go to somebody's house, 
don't ask questions. If it's gonna bug you that the 
thought that this meat was offered up to idols, don't ask. Don't 
ask, because if they tell you, yeah, it was offered up to idols, 
then you're going to be problematic and you're not going to eat. 
Paul has rules guiding us in 1 Corinthians 8 to 10 along the 
same line, but ultimately his argument is grounded in that 
same principle. We are not to cause brethren to stumble in 
matters of Christian liberty. Cause them to stumble if they 
are transgressing the moral law of God. Cause them to stumble 
if they are questioning the doctrine of justification by faith alone. 
And I don't mean push them, I mean cause them a little bit of discomfort 
with reference to the doctrine of Trinity. If they are questioning 
that or doubting that, oh, by all means, offend them with the 
truth as it is in Jesus. But when it comes to matters 
of indifference, leave people alone. I know that's tough. I've seen it for 22 years that 
it's tough. I have seen it manifested in 
myself and not anybody here particularly, so don't thank Izzy after me. 
No, but the bottom line is that Charles Hodge was absolutely, 
positively right. Every man has a pope in his own 
bosom. That is the tendency to judge 
others. We need to guard against that. 
Romans 14 is about that. not about the abrogation of the 
Decalogical Sabbath, the Deuteronomy 5, Exodus 20 Sabbath that we 
have spent time looking at in the Old Testament and in the 
New Testament. That's not the point of the passage. The point of the passage is love 
one another, be kind to one another, and promote peace within the 
context of the church. Now turn over to Galatians 4. 
Galatians chapter 4. After highlighting the glory 
of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, in chapter 4, verses 
1 to 7, He then comes to reprove those persons in the churches 
of Galatia that have given ear to the Judaizers. Remember that 
as we consider verses 9 and 10 in this reference to days, it's 
still in the context of the book of Galatians. What's the overarching 
concern of the Apostle in the book of Galatians? It's Judaizers, 
those who came to the churches of Southern Galatia on the heels 
of the Apostle Paul, and they said, faith in Jesus is good, 
but you must also be circumcised. Paul condemns that in chapter 
5 at verse 2. But as well, they said, not only 
circumcision, but the Jewish calendar. You have to abide by 
that. Now again, what's in view in 
verses 9 and 10 isn't the Christian Sabbath at all, but rather it 
is an attempt on the part of man to supplement his faith in 
Christ with certain aspects of Jewish law in order to commend 
himself to God Almighty. Can I just say that if you have 
a proper biblical understanding of the Christian Sabbath, and 
you think that abiding by that Sabbath and keeping that day 
holy somehow makes you fit for heaven, then that deserves the 
same reproof. In other words, we don't keep 
the Sabbath day in order to be justified. We keep the Sabbath 
day because we have been justified. This is the context in Galatians. It is circumcision, and it is 
the Jewish calendar, and that's what Paul is condemning. Notice 
in verse 8, but then indeed, when you did not know God, you 
served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you 
have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that 
you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you 
desire again to be in bondage? If we understand the Christian 
Sabbath, we can't for a moment entertain that that's what he's 
thinking. The picture presented of God's Sabbathing, the enthronement 
of our Lord, on Genesis chapter 2, is that bondage? We get to 
Cain and Abel at the end of days, on that day of worship, bringing 
their sacrifice to God, is that bondage? We get to Exodus chapter 
16 and the people of God, the people of the Old Covenant community, 
obeying Sabbath commandment. Is that bondage? We get to Exodus 
chapter 20. What is Sabbath representative 
in Exodus chapter 20? It's representative or it's grounded 
in the creative power of God. In Deuteronomy chapter 5, it's 
rooted in the redemptive power of God. That's not bondage. We 
get to the prophet Isaiah, chapter 56, and Sabbath tippei is connected 
with eunuchs entering in to the new covenant, to the house of 
God Almighty. That's not bondage. Isaiah 58, call the Sabbath day 
a bondage. No, it's a day of delight. Matthew 
chapter 12, does our Lord Jesus treat the Sabbath as a day of 
bondage? No, that's not it at all. So 
whatever Paul is speaking about, he is not speaking about a good 
command of God as being a bad thing. John the Apostle tells 
us the commandments of God are not grievous, they're not burdensome, 
they're not something that we go, oh man, I can't believe God 
actually wants me to rest. God actually wants me to be happy. 
God actually wants me to be joyful. How dare God ever do such a thing 
like that? Unfortunately, that's the attitude 
at times we express with reference to commandment keeping. And again, 
want to qualify it, we don't commandment keep in order to 
be saved. We commandment keep as an aspect 
of our sanctification for us having been justified freely 
by His grace. Or consider Jesus in Mark chapter 
2. What does He say there? The Sabbath was made for man. Not Israel, not the Jews, certainly 
Israel and the Jew included in that, but he's speaking most 
likely about Adam. The Sabbath was made for the 
man or mankind in general. It's not the case that it's bad. 
It's the case that it's most excellent and God has given it 
to his people for their wellbeing. And then verse 10, you observe 
days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest 
I have labored for you in vain. Now, the problem Paul is addressing 
is the Judaizing of believers in Christ. The point in verses 
8 to 10 is that we cannot look to days of observance as a means 
of acceptance with God. Turn over to Galatians 5, 2. 
Galatians 5, well, verse 1, Again, there's a fundamental difference 
between what he's stating here and what he does with Timothy. In Acts 16, he has Timothy circumcised. Either Paul is absolutely contradictory, 
or in the one case, he's not circumcising Timothy with any 
religious significance attached. But with reference to this condemnation, 
he is saying, telling them, that if you get circumcised as a means 
by which God will accept you, then Christ will profit you nothing. Why? Because of Galatians 2.21, 
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness 
comes to the law, then Christ died in vain. Notice what he 
says, if you choose law keeping, this goes with that Fisher quote 
that I read this morning, if you choose law keeping, look 
what it obligates you to in verse three. And I testify again to 
every man who becomes circumcised, that he is a debtor to keep the 
whole law. See, there's one of two approaches 
to God, either you and your perfection or Christ and his perfection. 
The book of Galatians condemns the attempt to try and mingle 
the two, because when we try and mingle the two, we take away 
from the glory of Jesus Christ. We are Judaizing. We are adding 
works. We are suggesting that what Christ 
wrought out for us in our salvation wasn't complete, and we need 
to supplement it. In many respects, Galatians is 
a book basically telling you no supplements whatsoever with 
reference to the Christian faith. So back to Galatians 4, verse 
10. Likely, again, it's the Jewish 
calendar, and it's not the Christian Sabbath at all. Ames says in 
the Galatians passage, the discussion relates only to the observance 
of days, months, and years as an aspect of bondage to weak 
and beggarly elements. But it was far from the apostles' 
mind and altogether strange to Christian faith to consider any 
commandment of the Decalogue, any one of the Ten Commandments, 
or any ordinance of Christ in such a vein. You would never 
treat those commandments as if it was bondage. None of us ever 
say, oh man, that sixth commandment, what bondage? I just really want 
to go out and kill people. That would make me happy. It's 
bondage that God says or prohibits me from killing. No, we wouldn't 
do that. Well, the same as truer obtains. with reference to the 
Fourth Commandment. It's not an act of bondage. The 
Apostle condemns this particular practice because, like circumcision, 
they attach religious significance to it and suppose that it brought 
them acceptance by God. Another commentator said, the 
issue then is not the observance of religious usages as such, 
but the basis of the justification before God. The legalistic approach 
advocated by the Galatian agitators and the gospel of free grace 
proclaimed by Paul are irreconcilably opposed to each other. And I'll 
say it again. If you, as somebody who's heard 
the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath and appreciates what 
we see beginning in Genesis chapter 2 that moves all the way to Revelation 
chapter 1 verse 10, you say, yeah, I see it. I see that biblical 
theology of the Christian Sabbath. I see that it's binding. I see 
that it's perpetual. I see that it's moral. And I'm 
going to keep it so that God will save me. If that's your 
disposition, you are absolutely positively wrong in your approach 
to the Christian Sabbath. That's what Paul is doing, but 
not with the Christian Sabbath, with the Jewish calendar, just 
like circumcision was a sort of identifying badge of national 
identity with reference to life in Israel. Let's move to the 
third and final passage in Colossians 2. Colossians chapter 2. Now, the sort of thing that was 
facing the church in Colossae was a bit Judaizing, but it was 
also a bit odder, too. It was a sort of mingling together, 
a mixing of angels and Judaism and Christ. And the Apostle Paul 
doesn't want them to go down that road. The Apostle Paul wants 
people to be consumed and obsessed with Christ, not with angels 
and not with Judaism and not with the sorts of things that 
men want to put you into bondage with. And with reference to Colossians 
chapter 2, in this particular area, He is issuing cautions 
and warnings. Notice in verse 8, he says, Beware 
lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit. 
Now before you say, I can't ever study philosophy, that's not 
what Paul's talking about. That's not what Paul is saying. 
Paul is saying something that is secularistic or humanistic 
or is contrary to Jesus Christ ought to be shunned. Now, there 
might be a time and a season and occasion where you should 
study that if you're an apologist. If you're going to debate somebody 
that holds a particular philosophical view, Paul is not against you 
reading up on it so that you can clean that man's clock and 
debate. The idea is, is don't be led astray to God-hating, 
rebellious philosophy. That's the issue. Philosophy 
simply means lover of wisdom. Every one of us should be a philosopher. Paul tells us that in Christ 
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid. Christians 
ought to be the best philosophers because we have the very object 
of philosophy, our Lord Jesus. But it's a prohibition against 
God-hating, rebellious philosophy. So beware lest anyone cheat you 
through philosophy and empty deceit. according to the tradition 
of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and 
not according to Christ. For in him dwells all the fullness 
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him who is the 
head of all principality and power." And then notice in verse 
16, he issues another caution. He says, so let no one judge 
you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, 
which are a shadow of things to come, but the substances of 
Christ. So verse 16 is sort of the overarching 
concern of the apostle in this section. He does not want persons 
to judge you. By that he means don't fall prey 
to their pressure, don't fall prey to their bullying, don't 
fall prey to their attempt at manipulation. And then he gives 
two concrete examples of what these persons will do. In this 
immediate section he's dealing with what's called mystical legalism. Mystical legalism. There's a 
mysticism wrapped up in it, but it's legalistic in essence. You 
need to do the Jewish calendar in order to be accepted by God. 
Similar to what we see there in Galatians chapter 4. And then 
in verses 20 and following, he condemns an emphasis on what's 
called asceticism. And asceticism is simply a withdrawal 
from society in the sense that we don't eat, we don't taste, 
we don't touch, we don't handle. Well, that ultimately or essentially 
reduces to will worship. And so in 216 and following, 
there are cautions against mystical legalism and then this asceticism. Again, those things on their 
face are bad. If somebody came in here and 
said, oh, I'm going to preach and I want to tell all of you 
that you need to obey the Jewish calendar and you can't eat bacon. 
We would know that's bad. We would know that's wrong. I 
hope we would. Yeah, could you all give me a 
nod? We would know that's bad, right? And if somebody said you 
can't touch, you can't taste, you can't see, you have to be 
in a setting. Monkery is the way to heaven. 
We would know that's wrong. That is not the case. Paul attaches 
that abstinence from marriage and abstinence from meat to the 
doctrine of demons in 1 Timothy chapter 4. It's not right. So on the very surface of it, 
we know that something is up. He's dealing with heretics. He's 
dealing with distorters of truth. He is dealing with persons who 
want to try to bind the consciences of these professing Christians 
in Colossae and add to them things on top of faith in our Lord Jesus 
Christ. So you see, food and days. That's the emphasis in verse 
16. Let no one judge you in food 
or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths. And 
then verse 17 gives the rationale, which are a shadow of things 
to come, but the substance is of Christ. The Jewish calendar 
and the Jewish food laws served typologically for the people 
of Israel. When Jesus comes, he is the antitype. So there's no more food laws 
and there is no more Jewish calendar. But again, he's not dealing with 
the Christian Sabbath. He's already established that 
persons gathered together in 1 Corinthians 16 take up collection 
on that day. Acts 20, verse 7, his own pattern 
showed that where he was preaching. Remember, he continued his sermon 
late into the night and that young man, Eutychus, fell and 
died and was revived. The Apostle Paul already was 
observing the first day. John was in the Spirit on the 
Lord's Day. If you accept Pauline authorship 
of the book of Hebrews, he was the architect of the theology 
of the day change there in Hebrews chapter 4. Now, to go one step 
further, we know that this is ceremonial law, or aspects of 
positive law, specifically for the Old Covenant people. There 
are a few instances in the Old Testament where there are Sabbaths 
connected to new moons and festivals. These were not necessarily even 
on the seventh day. If you look at the book of Leviticus 
chapter 23, there are occasional Sabbaths that wouldn't necessarily 
even fall on the seventh day in Israel's calendar. And again, 
at several points in Old Testament scripture, these three terms 
are put together. In fact, let's go ahead and turn 
there just so you can see. He's not dealing with Exodus 
20. He's not dealing with Deuteronomy 5. He is not dealing with the 
Decalogical Sabbath at all. He is not dealing with the Christian 
Lord's Day. He is dealing with these occasional 
Sabbaths that were adhered to in conjunction with these festivals 
and these new moons. So let's look at the several 
places where these three terms are used to show that this is 
not the Christian Sabbath that Paul is saying, let no one judge 
you concerning in Colossians 2. The first text is found in 
1 Chronicles 23. 1 Chronicles 23. And in each of these contexts, 
it's conspicuously ceremonial law that's in view. Positive 
law attached to the old covenant in terms of their regulation. And if those terms confuse you, 
you can talk to me later about ceremonial and positive. But 
in 1 Chronicles 23, verse 31, And at every presentation of 
a burnt offering to the Lord on the sabbaths, and on the new 
moons, and on the set feasts, by number according to the ordinance, 
governing them regularly before the Lord. Turn to 2 Chronicles 
2.3. 2 Chronicles 2.3. No detailed 
exegesis in each of these passages, because I just want to show that 
these three terms are used frequently in the Old Testament in conjunction, 
and it's separate from the weekly Sabbath. It's separate from the 
Deuteronomy 5, Exodus 20, Lord's Day, where the people of God 
came in from out of the world, entered into the very presence 
of God, and worshiped and rested and were sanctified and blessed. 
In 2.3 in 2 Chronicles, we see, Solomon sent to Hiram king of 
Tyre, saying, As you have dealt with David, my father, and sent 
him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 
Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, 
to dedicate it to him, to burn before him sweet incense for 
the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and 
evening, on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set 
feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever 
to Israel. And when it says forever, I know that makes people think, 
well, that must mean it's still for us now. There are contexts 
in the Old Testament where forever doesn't mean forever. It doesn't 
mean forever extending into our future. It meant forever as long 
as the Jewish polity was still extant, as long as the Old Covenant 
people were still together. It was forever. It was regulatory 
for them. But when that theocracy is dissolved 
by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC, and especially at 
AD 70, They are entering into the rank and file of all the 
other nations. They're no longer set apart as a special people 
of God. That doesn't mean we treat them 
poorly. It doesn't mean we promote anti-Semitism. It doesn't mean 
we bomb delis or anything like that. It simply means that at 
one point they were the very apple of God's eye. They violated 
the terms of the covenant. God brought judgment to bear 
upon them. And at AD 70, they entered into the rank and file 
of every other nation. So don't let that word necessarily 
throw you and cause you to think that we are still under the positive 
law attached to Old Covenant religion. 2 Chronicles 31.3. 
2 Chronicles 31.3. And Hezekiah, verse 2, appointed 
the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to 
their divisions. Again, you see the ceremonial aspect? Guess 
what we don't have today? We don't have divisions of Levites. 
We don't have priests. We don't have all that stuff 
associated with Old Covenant worship. Old Covenant worship 
is abrogated through the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think 
I've shared with you that the church is more modeled after 
synagogue worship than temple worship. Synagogue worship didn't 
have sacrifice, didn't have incense, didn't have all that sort of 
thing. But that's what marked Old Covenant worship in the tabernacle 
and then temple. But those things were typological. 
They were for a period of time, until the time of Reformation, 
when Christ came. Not when Calvin came, but when 
Christ came. And at that point, that positive 
law, that aspect, is fulfilled by Jesus and therefore abrogated. Verse 2, Hezekiah appointed the 
divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their 
divisions, each man according to his service, the priests and 
Levites for burnt offerings and peace offerings to serve, to 
give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of the 
Lord. The king also appointed a portion of his possessions 
for the burnt offerings, for the morning and evening burnt 
offerings, the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and the new 
moons and the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the 
Lord. You see those three terms? You think that's what Paul is 
speaking about in Colossians 2? You think that might be the 
case that the errorists were bringing? They were bringing 
the Jewish calendar, this fascination with angels, and they said to 
these saints in Colossae, you need to be mystical, you need 
to just let go and let Jesus, but as well, you need to obey 
the Jewish calendar. That's what's in view, that's 
what Paul is saying. Let no one judge you regarding 
positive or ceremonial law from the Old Testament. It's again 
referenced in Ezekiel 45, but one other text, I'm not trying 
to blow past the Ezekiel passage, it says exactly the same thing. 
But one other passage that's instructive in this vein is Hosea 
2.11. The prophet Hosea 2.11. And this one is most intriguing 
because It is a pronouncement of God's judgment upon Israel. It's a pronouncement of God's 
judgment upon them for their having transgressed the terms 
of the covenant. This is God's law with reference 
to them that he is gonna suspend privilege. He never suspends, 
don't commit adultery. He never suspends, don't murder. He never suspends, don't covet. He never suspends, remember the 
Sabbath day to keep it holy. He never suspends, have no other 
gods before me. He never suspends, you must not 
make for yourself an idol. He never suspends, or abrogates, 
you must not commit blasphemy. This is not the moral law of 
God relative to the one-day Sabbath that we see in Scripture. Notice 
in 2.11, well, verse 9, Therefore I will return and take away my 
grain in its time, and my new wine in its season, and will 
take back my wool and my linen, given to cover her nakedness. 
Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and 
no one shall deliver her from my hand. I will also cause all 
her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, her Sabbaths, 
all her appointed feasts." See what he says? I will cause these 
things to cease. God never causes moral law to 
cease. God never says, it's okay now 
to disobey your parents. It's okay now to commit theft. It's okay now to commit perversion. He doesn't do that. This is ceremonial 
law that was designed ultimately for obsolescence. The Lord God 
most high had designed it that way. So when we go to Colossians 
chapter two and Paul says in verse 16, so let no one judge 
you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbath, 
which are a shadow of things to come, but the substances of 
Christ, he's meaning God to be obvious to all of us. These were 
types under old covenant worship and now that the anti-type, Christ, 
has come, there is no longer a need for the type. When you 
have the substance, you don't need the shadow. I think I've 
shared the illustration before. Sometimes my kids will come over 
and they'll bring the grandkids, and I'm looking at the grandkids 
doing their grandkiddly things, just, you know, loving on them 
and watching them toddle or crawl or Now they're getting a little 
bigger and watching them get, you know, whatever they're doing. 
And then one of the kids will say, oh, look at this picture. 
No, I get to look at her right there. You can text me the picture 
later. I don't need the shadow. I've 
got the substance. See, that's what Paul is saying 
in this context. He's not saying there's no longer 
a Sabbath rest for the people of God. He says absolutely opposite 
in Hebrews 4.9. There remains, therefore, a Sabbath 
rest for the people of God. It's not typical of Jesus and 
his coming. It's typical of us. entering 
in to the fullness of that consummated rest and glory. It's a good thing. It's not bondage. So Paul's argument 
here is that the Jewish diet and the Jewish calendar were 
a shadow. Now that the substance has come, 
to be preoccupied with the shadow is to miss the substance. And 
that's not what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to be 
a lover of Jesus. Ames, again, says, in Colossians 
2, the Sabbaths mentioned are specifically and expressly described 
as new moons and ceremonial shadows of things to come in Christ. 
But the Sabbath commanded in the Decalogue of our Lord and 
our Lord's day are of another nature entirely. It's an apples 
and oranges thing, worse than apples and oranges. Apples and 
oranges have more similarity because they're both round. But 
the moral law of the living God is unchangeable like the living 
God. But the ceremonial law or positive 
law attached to the Old Covenant people of God functioned as a 
type, functioned as a shadow. When the anti-type comes, the 
substance is present, we no longer go back to that diet and we no 
longer go back to that calendar. Gilfillan says, while moreover 
his words discard the days of Judaism, they touch not the authority 
of the ancient statue of paradise. And in undermining ceremonial 
rights, leave unshaken the moral foundation on which rests the 
prescription. Remember the Sabbath day to keep 
it holy. That's why Paul's preoccupation 
with and Paul's emphasis upon Jesus Christ in the book of Colossians. If persons come to the church 
and they say, Jewish diet, Jewish calendar, plus Jesus for salvation, 
no, we just preach Jesus. You see, it's by grace alone, 
through faith alone, in Christ alone. You are justified from 
all things which you could not be by the law of Moses. And yet 
these men had come to the church prescribing this act of obedience 
in conjunction with faith in Christ in order to be justified. It's not the Christian Sabbath 
at all. Well, in summary, or in conclusion, 
the Sabbath was instituted at creation, declared to Israel 
at Sinai, prophesied as having new covenant application in the 
prophet Isaiah and in Jeremiah 31. It is enforced by the Lord 
of Sabbath, practiced by the Apostolic Church on the first 
day of the week, according to the theology of the day change 
in Hebrews 4, as a result of or founded or grounded upon Christ's 
resurrection on the first day of the week. Our confession says, 
as it is the law of nature that in general, a proportion of time 
by God's appointment be set apart for the worship of God, so by 
his word in a positive moral and perpetual commandment, binding 
all men in all ages. He has particularly appointed 
one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him, 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. I think that is a great summary 
statement, and that's what I've attempted to try and demonstrate 
in terms of the theology of the Sabbath in the Old Covenant and 
in the New Covenant, dealing with these texts that are allegedly 
utilized, or not allegedly, they are utilized as being alleged 
passages that are contra New Testament Sabbatarianism. Now, with reference to obedience 
on the Fourth Commandment, there's something called casuistry. I'll 
give you the dictionary.com definition of casuistry. It is the application 
of general ethical principles to particular cases of conscience 
or conduct. So we get this doctrine of the 
fourth commandment down, and then we say, can I go to Tim 
Hortons? Can I do this? Can I do that? Can I go here? Can I go there? Well, let me 
just encourage you that we ought to look at Sabbath-keeping first 
and foremost as a positive blessing and gift from God. In other words, 
we are given privilege by our Lord to cease from our earthly 
labors, to come in from out of the world into the house of God 
to fellowship with fellow saints in Zion to the praise and the 
glory and the honor of God. We get a day to cease from our 
ordinary regular labors so that we can be occupied in and with 
the things of God Almighty. Instead of looking at it with 
all the negatives, well, I can't, and I can't, and I can't, and 
I can't, and I can't, and I can't, look at all the positives. We 
get to go to church three times at our church, if you go to the 
Prayer Meeting Confession Study, and morning and evening. We get 
to have people over. We get to talk about the Lord. 
We get to encourage people in the things of God Most High. 
We get to listen to sermons. These are privileges and blessings 
that obtain as a result of Sabbath keeping. Now, in terms of casuistry, 
we need to be careful that we don't fall prey to Pharisaism 
or to legalism. In my experience, and take this 
for what it's worth, oftentimes the people of God adopt a particular 
posture for their Lord's Day. And if others don't adopt that 
particular posture for their Lord's Day, then they are somehow 
wretched or they are somehow not as sanctified as we'd like 
for them to be. There's an example in a book 
written on the Sabbath. It's called, Call the Sabbath 
a Delight. And the fellow gives an instance of casuistry. How do we apply the general overarching 
concern or demand of the fourth word with reference to specific 
cases of conscience? You have one family, and the 
boy says, Daddy, can we ride our bikes today? And the father 
says, no, it's the Sabbath day. We're not going to ride our bikes. 
So they sit on the couch, and lo and behold, a family from 
the church rides their bikes right out in front of their bay 
window. And of course, that causes a 
great deal of concern among the family that has been prohibited 
from riding bikes. Well, what we don't know from 
that little tidbit, and what family A sitting and watching, 
and perhaps judging at this point does not know, is that they're 
writing to the part so they can sit under a tree and read catechism, 
or read Calvin, or read John Gill to their three-year-olds. 
You don't know what is happening in that particular instance. 
When it comes to Sabbath keeping, the multiplication of particular 
preferences is what really happened with reference to Pharisaism. 
So I'm not suggesting license. I am not suggesting any sort 
of a loosey-goosey response to the Sabbath. But I am suggesting 
get the doctrine down. Understand what God's Word says. If you have some questions about 
any of the sermons that have been preached, email me. I will 
send you the notes. you can reflect upon the text 
yourself, but once the doctrine is down, I think that goes a 
long way to helping in terms of the concrete application, 
in terms of the what can we, what should we, and what are 
we not supposed to do. So, there's my casuistry. And 
certainly some of you are going to say, but can we go to Tim 
Hortons? In terms of some questions for 
anti-Sabbatarians, I had mentioned I wanted to just set this forth. 
It's typical, and as I said, it's only in the Reformed churches 
that there is a Sabbath. It's only in the Reformed churches 
that we affirm the perpetuity of the... I guess outside of 
the Reformed churches, there might be that person, that duck 
out there, but for the most part, it's Reformed. And the reason 
why is because we have a view of covenant theology. And because 
we have a view of covenant theology, that yields a particular position 
on the law of God. And having that view of the law 
of God, we see the integrity and the utility of all ten commandments. Not nine of the ten commandments, 
but all ten of the commandments. Notice at the end of the reading 
in Deuteronomy chapter 5, he wrote these words, or the words 
were written by the finger of God. Ceremonial law is never 
said to be that way in the Old Testament. The decalogue or the 
moral law of God is the only body or division of the law that 
is ever said to be written by the finger of God. That doesn't 
mean that ceremonial and judicial was hatched in the mind of Moses. I'm not suggesting that it was 
given by revelation of God through Moses. but the significance of 
the moral law is underscored by the reality that it was written 
by the finger of God. And it's at this point that it's 
the sabbatarian or the person that affirms the perpetuity of 
the fourth commandment that's always put on the defensive, 
that's always put on the position, well, you've got to defend yourself. 
You know, I've sought to give a defense of it. But I think 
non-Sabbatarians have some work to do as well. Why does God establish 
a six-in-one pattern? Why does the creation week reflect 
specifically what the Sabbath is concerned with? Why does Sabbath 
observance predate Sinai? In other words, it's not only 
God's Sabbath in Genesis 2, 1 to 3, but it's Cain and Abel in 
Genesis 4, and it's Israel in Exodus 16, prior to the giving 
of the law in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Well, Exodus 20 specifically. Why does God at Sinai tell them 
to remember the Sabbath? Isn't that an odd one? In our 
text, in Deuteronomy 5, it comes out as, observe the Sabbath day 
to keep it holy. But in the Exodus parallel, it's 
remember the Sabbath day. Doesn't that argue for a pre-Sinai 
appointment of the Sabbath day for Israel? Why does God refer 
to both creation and redemption in the giving of the Sabbath 
law in Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5, and then those twin concepts 
emerge again in Hebrews 4 when he argues with reference to the 
theology of the day change. Why does Isaiah speak of Sabbath-keeping 
during the Messianic age? Isaiah 56 is a prophecy concerning 
the New Covenant Church. It is demonstrable from Acts 
8 and the conversion and the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch. Why does Jesus claim lordship 
of the Sabbath in Mark chapter 2? Again, all of this stuff doesn't 
necessarily say that everything I've said is absolutely positively 
true, but what I am suggesting is that persons who neglect this, 
persons who suggest it's no longer perpetual, persons who say it's 
no longer binding, have in essence adopted antinomianism. Antinomianism 
is bad too. If they can bandy about the term 
legalism for those of us who see a perpetual Sabbath keeping, 
then we can certainly apply antinomianism to them when they take one of 
the Ten Commandments and say, nah, it's not for us today. I 
don't think that's a legitimate step in a hermeneutical trajectory. Why does Jesus say that the Sabbath 
was made for man? Again, that's either Adam specifically 
or mankind generically, instead of saying it was made for Israel. 
It wasn't made for Israel. It was, but it was made for man, 
and Israel receives it at Sinai. Why would Jesus clear away the 
Jewish corruptions only to destroy it not long after? Why does the 
early church worship on the first day of the week, the day Christ 
rose from the dead? Why does the integrity of the 
Ten Commandments suffer in the New Covenant? In other words, 
how do we justify, hermeneutically, that excision of one of the Ten 
Commandments? If that's the case, then why 
not the other nine? Now, I know that people do do 
that. I know there's a class of people 
out there that say that the Ten Commandments have no abiding 
influence for any Christian whatsoever. That's genuine antinomianism, 
which, by the way, means anti-lawism. And then why does the author 
of Hebrews emphatically assert that a Sabbath rest remains for 
the people of God? Now again, it does not do to 
put it into the eschaton, because on the heels of the day change 
text in Hebrews 4.10, we then are exhorted in verse 11 to let 
us strive to enter that rest. God, in His grace and goodness, 
gave us the Christian Sabbath, or the Lord's Day, as the Puritans 
described it, as the market day of the soul. It is a time for 
the people of God to worship and fellowship together as the 
people of God, to sing the songs of Zion to our great Lord, and 
to bask in the reality that Christ in the gospel has saved us from 
our sins, that He set apart that first day, marking it out by 
his own resurrection from the dead. We see the apostles abide 
by that, we see John call it the Lord's Day, and the early 
church early on towed that line. They saw the first day of the 
week as the Lord's Day, as that time peculiarly set apart by 
God for the worship of God. And then finally, know this, 
that the Sabbath is like all the other nine commandments. 
The Sabbath is like all the other nine commandments. Do you always 
not covet? You don't even need to nod your 
head or say, yeah, me, no. The covet command gets us all. 
I don't care how holy you think you are. I don't care how righteous 
you think you are. One of those other nine finds 
you out. The point is, brethren, when 
you read our confession of faith on Sabbath keeping, it's a very 
high standard. If you ask those divines, do 
you think that persons 24 hours think nothing else than God? 
They'd say, oh no, we got remaining corruption. There's Galatians 
5 and Romans 7. But when they propound the means 
of Sabbath keeping, they aim high. You'd never write a comment 
on the seventh commandment and say, well, you know, just have 
adultery once or twice a week. No, never ever commit it. My 
point is, is that with Sabbatarianism, there is still going to be sin. 
And it's in this that we rejoice in the Savior for sinners. We 
rejoice in the reality that Christ is our substitutionary Sabbath 
keeper. Now, we don't say, well, therefore, 
I don't have to keep the Sabbath, which is employed by some. No, 
but we thank God most high that when it comes to the law of God, 
An improper use is to seek justification from our God. Justification comes 
by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We certainly 
aim high in our Sabbatarianism, but after the day, and we reflect 
upon it, and we see that for eight minutes we didn't think 
God's thoughts after Him, we ask the Lord to forgive us and 
to cleanse us in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. knowing 
that Christ and the gospel has brought redemption for even persons 
that do not perfectly keep and obey the Sabbath. Again, I'm 
not saying or suggesting, license, go do whatever it is you want 
to do. But brethren, it is one of the ten. And with reference 
to Altan, we stumble, we have issues, we have problems. We 
are prone to wander, prone to leave the God that we love. The 
flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. 
These two are contrary to one another, so that you don't do 
the things that you wish, according to Galatians 5.17. Paul in Romans 
chapter 7, the good that I want to do, I don't do, and the evil 
I don't want to do, I find myself doing. So my encouragement is 
to keep the Sabbath, obey the Sabbath, observe the Sabbath, 
keep it holy. When we do sin, confess your 
sins and trust in that mercy of God Most High to forgive us 
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Well, let's close in a word of 
prayer. Father, thank you for your grace and thank you for 
this gift of Sabbath. You are a God who gives us, commands 
us to rest, a God who commands us to come in from out of the 
world and to enjoy the special presence of our great God. We 
see that in Ephesians chapter two, that we have access to the 
Father through the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit. And 
we know this takes place in a special way when we gather together as 
the people of God on the Lord's day. May we see this as special 
and may we relish it. May we cherish it. May we say 
with David in Psalm 122, I was glad when they said unto me, 
let us go to the house of the Lord. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your gospel. 
We thank you for your law and help us to use it lawfully and 
help us to bring glory to you. Go with us now and watch over 
us in this coming week. Grant us grace to glorify and 
to honor you. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
the Lord. Amen.