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[Music] welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God for our call to worship you can turn with me and your Bibles to Psalm 92 Psalm 92 I'll begin reading in verse 1 a psalm a song for the Sabbath day it is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to your name almost I to declare your loving-kindness in the morning and your faithfulness every night on an instrument of ten strings on the lute and on the harp with harmonious sound for you Lord had made me glad through your work I will triumph in the works of your hands o Lord how great are your works your thoughts are very deep a senseless man does not know nor does a fool understand this when the wicked spring up like grass and when all the workers of iniquity flourish it is that they may be destroyed forever but you Lord are on high for evermore for behold your enemies O Lord for behold your enemies Shall Perish all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered but my horn you have exalted like a wild ox I have been anointed with fresh oil my eye also has seen my desire on my enemies my ears hear my desire on the wicked who rise up against me the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God they shall still bear fruit in old age they shall be fresh and flourishing to declare that the Lord is upright he is my God and there is no unrighteousness in him Amen well please turn in your hymnal to number 93 hymn number 93 or Psalm 93 we'll use a familiar tune and we'll stand together [Music] amen well let us pray God in heaven we gather together again on this Sabbath evening to call upon you to come to the Father through the son in the power of the Holy Spirit and we acknowledge that you are from everlasting to everlasting that you are the God who made this world the God who governs it and the God who has redeemed his elect from it and we give praise to you Most High for including that us and that blessed number we acknowledge that you chose us in him before the foundation of the world you didn't choose us because of our holiness or our blamelessness because we had none but you chose us in Christ in order that we would be holy and blameless and in this we greatly rejoice we thank you that in love you predestinated us unto adoption as sons by Christ Jesus our Lord and certainly God as we reflect upon the glorious gospel a free and sovereign grace we know it's only because of what God has done that we will stand clothed in the righteousness of Christ for eternity we give praise to you that you have forgiven us for all of our sins that you have granted us that righteousness that you have given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ and even tonight as we sing as we pray as we look to Holy Scripture help us to do so taking every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray that your spirit would be at work in our hearts and minds that as we consider the Holy Scriptures we consider the holy law of our our great and glorious God that he would lead us and guide us that he would instruct us and that these things would be firmly rooted in our hearts so that we could delight in the law of God in the inner man by the presence and power of your spirit we pray as well for those who have come here tonight that do not know you we pray that today would be the day of salvation we pray that you would bring that conviction for sin and set forth the glory of Christ as Redeemer father do forgive us now for our transgressions and all unrighteousness please cleanse us in that precious fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness so the hymn writer says it's draw from Emmanuel's veins we truly are grateful to you that when we sin we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous we know Lord God this is never intended to promote license but rather it is to promote a boldness to the throne of grace on behalf of your people so forgive us cleanse us and wash us in that precious blood and God help us to to glorify you in this glad hour we thank you Father for your many blessings to us not only spiritual but temporally we praise you God that you load us daily with benefits and we rejoice tonight and your loving-kindness and in your goodness we ask that you would look with favor upon the people in this local church we ask that you would bless richly and those various things that your saints stand in need of we think of the new Feld's and their needs for tomorrow and we just pray that you would bless them and watch over them we thank you God that our brother can be with us tonight we thank you that bath can be with us god we thank you for your mercies to us in this way we continue to pray for mrs. bolt that you would look with favor upon her and encourage her heart and strengthen her with might in the inner man and cause her Lord God to have great thoughts of a great Savior on these Lord's days we thank you as well that our sister Linda is doing well we pray that she would continue to do so that she would uphold her that she would cause her to continue to persevere and ultimately God we pray that she would just continue to be a demonstration of the power and of the mercy and of the goodness of our great God we ask father that you would bless other churches in our community we thank you for those that do preach the gospel we pray that you would bless them richly we pray father that this word of God would be proclaimed in this city and that more and more people in this city would come out of darkness into marvelous light confessing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and finding those blessings that you have given to those who seek you we also pray for the church in Vernon we pray that you would provide for them a a man of God a man that would be set apart for the work of gospel ministry we pray father that they would be you useful in that community to hold forth your word of truth continue to bless Pastor Mike and the Saints and Sri we praise you for that work we thank you for the the peace and the health and the strength that they possess and we give all glory to you Most High God we also ask that you would bless the persecuted Church we know and we read and are reminded on a regular basis of the great needs that exist in other lands and our Father we pray for those who are suffering under oppression whether it be political or religious we just commit our brothers and sisters into your gracious and praying that you would grant them what they stand in need of in terms of perseverance and the ability to shine as lights and a crooked and perverse generation and a boldness to hold forth your word of truth and we pray that the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ would be cover the cover the earth as the waters cover the sea we thank you for the great encouragement that we have throughout Scripture Christ says that the father said ask of me and I will give you the nation's for your inheritance the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession and father we rejoice in this and that you have granted him dominion from sea to sea so bless the preaching of the word as it goes forth may it run swiftly and be glorified and we pray these things in Jesus blessed name Amen well please turn with me again in your hymn books to number 153 number 153 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] you can turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 21 for our scripture reading this evening Genesis chapter 21 I'll begin reading in verse 1 and the Lord visited Sara as he had said and the Lord did for Sara as he had spoken for Sara conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God had spoken to him and Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him whom Sara bore to him Isaac then Abraham circumcised his own son or his son Isaac when he was eight days old as God had commanded him now Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him and Sara said God has made me laugh and all who hear will laugh with me she also said who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children for I have borne him a son in his old age so the child grew and was weaned and Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned and Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian whom she had borne to Abraham scoffing therefore she said to Abraham cast out this bondwoman in her son for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son namely with Isaac and the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son but God said to Abraham do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bond woman whatever sara has said to you listen to her voice for in Isaac your seed shall be called yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman because he is your seed so Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and putting it on her shoulder he gave it and the boy to Hagar and sent her away then she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba and the water in the skin was used up and place the boy under one of the shrubs then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bow shot for she said to herself let me not see the death of the boy so she sat opposite him and lifted her voice and wept and God heard the voice of the lad then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her what ails you Hagar fear not for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is arise lift up the lad and hold him with your hand for I will make him a great nation then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink so God was with the lad and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt and it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army spoke to Abraham saying God is with you and all that you do now therefore swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me with my offspring or with my posterity but that according to the kindness that I have done to you you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt and Abraham said I will swear then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech servants had seized and Abimelech said I do not know who has done this thing you did not tell me nor had I heard of it until today so Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech and the two of them made a covenant and Abraham sat seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves then Abimelech asked Abraham what is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves and he said you will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand that they may be my witness that I have dugged this well therefore he called that place bare Sheba because the two of them swore an oath there thus they made a covenant at Beersheba so abemolik rose with fie call the commander of his army and they returned to the land of the Philistines then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Eva and they're called on the name of the Lord the everlasting God and Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days amen well let us pray our Father we thank you for the written word of the living and true God we thank you that you've not left us alone in the world you've given us the spirit that other comforter that one just like the Lord Jesus and you've given us the written word we thank you for both the old and the New Testaments we acknowledge that they are given by inspiration of God and that they are profitable to us in all things and we pray that as we read and as we consider the Word of God in more detail in a few moments we pray that that word would indeed affect us for good that you had used that to sanctify us as Jesus prayed sanctify them by thy truth thy Word is truth and we pray in his glorious name amen well you could turn with me again in your hymn books to number 195 number 195 will stand as we sing together [Music] we could turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter five as we continue an exposition of the Ten Commandments we're at the fourth commandment tonight we'll look at verses 12 to 15 but I do want to read beginning in verse 6 of chapter 5 in the book of Deuteronomy 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 father's 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 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 any that is your neighbors 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 will let us pray father thank you for your word thank you for these Commandments and I pray that you by your spirit would produce in us what the psalmist so often exclaims how I love your law that it is the meditation of our hearts day and night and God as we come to this fourth commandment we know there's a great deal of controversy concerning it help us to see what scripture says concerning it help us got to find great joy and delight in the Sabbath day and help us Lord God to honor and to glorify you as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ again supply the Holy Spirit as we have need and Lord forgive us for our sins and we ask in Jesus name Amen well if you were raised in a non Reformed Church it's most likely that you were never taught the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath you were taught that nine of the Ten Commandments are binding for new covenant Christians but they would suggest that the fourth commandment no longer has abiding validity on the part of God's people in this new covenant era if you were brought up in a Reformed Church than you were taught that the fourth commandment along with the other nine are still binding it's a question ultimately that centers on hermeneutics or how we interpret the Bible there are those who see a lack of continuity between the Testaments they would be called dispensationalists or new covenant theology they see more discontinuity between the two covenants and therefore they jettison the Sabbath commandment reformed persons however see more continuity and their Maxim is is that if the New Testament doesn't tell us that something is done away then we assume that its binding for us today and I will argue throughout our exposition of the Ten Commandments that there is a trans covenantal unit utility about the Ten Commandments and what I mean by that is that whatever you find yourself at whether it's the Old Covenant in Israel or it's the New Covenant in the church the Ten Commandments are binding remember that it is the moral law of God it is a reflection of or a revelation of his nature his being his glory his majesty so the fourth commandment is binding and as we consider this particular commandment we're gonna slow down the exposition a little bit because I've always thought it's helpful to get a biblical theology of Sabbath in other words what does the scripture say concerning Sabbath so will tonight look at Old Testament tax in terms of Sabbath observance keeping and what not and then God willing not next Sunday because we have the supper that the following Sunday we'll look at the new covenant teaching and we will see that there is in fact continuity that there is in fact a Sabbath for the people of God and I think that is very accurately propounded by the Apostle in Hebrews 4 9 he says there remains a Sabbath for the people of God now some take that from this present age and put it into the eschaton but that's not what Paul does in Hebrews chapter 4 so tonight brief exposition of the commandment as we find it here in this section and then the Sabbath in the Old Covenant I'm not going to mention every single tax that speaks to Sabbath cuz some tax in the profits for instance our condemnation of Israel for Sabbath violation the texts I have selected show us a theology of the Sabbath what it means to keep it what it means that it's binding upon the people of God and what function it has for the people of God but first let's look at this commandment in its setting verse 12 there's a couple of differences between the Deuteronomy version and the Exodus version notice in Deuteronomy 12 5-12 it says observe the Sabbath day in Exodus chapter 20 verse 8 it says remember the Sabbath day not a big difference obviously but a difference nonetheless and then the reason for sabbath keeping in deuteronomy verse 15 notice 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 in Deuteronomy the reason for Sabbath keeping is God's redemptive power displayed in the people of Israel but in the book of Exodus it's God created in God's creative power in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 not that there's a great big difference but those two themes undergird a proper understanding of Sabbath both creation and redemption and if you're so inclined tuck that back into your head when we get to Hebrews chapter 4 I think you'll see the significance of this particular point those themes of creation and redemption with reference to Sabbath keeping are absolutely crucial to keep in mind Hebrews 4 is the passage that teaches the day change why do we as new covenant Christians meet on Sunday instead of Saturday well Hebrews 4 answers that and again after we survey the New Testament teaching we'll end up there and then we'll deal with the passages that some suggest are contrary to the idea of a Christian Sabbath so God willing we're going to go through all of this material if you attend the confession studies this will be a review for you because it's essentially what I teach when we come to chapter 22 in the confession of faith but in terms of the positive aspect of the command it says observe or remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy the Israelites here or in Exodus specifically were to remember something that was already present this is important as well it is not the case that this is the first giving of the law of Sabbath but rather they are called in the book of Exodus to remember the Sabbath day and here they are called to observe the Sabbath day and the reason they are to remember is specified in the tax observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you holiness means to separate it to sanctify to make it distinct from the other six days we are certainly supposed to worship not Monday through Saturday but the Sabbath day Sunday Lord's Day is to be set apart we are to be wholly occupied with the things of God we are to seek His blessing we are to sanctify the day we are to traffic in those good things of the Lord again not to suggest that Monday through Saturday we're not supposed to do that one of the arguments contrary to sabbath-keeping is that very mindset well every day is the Lord's Day every day is a day of worship well most certainly every day is the Lord's Day and most certainly every day is a day of worship but there is one day of the seven specifically called out by God where the people of God gathered together in their comedy community and they worship Him and they seek to glorify and honor him and in the Old Covenant that was Saturday and in the New Covenant that is Sunday and then notice the prohibition that he gives in verse 13 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 know 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 prohibition is no regular work no ordinary work the sort of thing that occupies you six days you're not supposed to do that on the Sabbath day now there are works of necessity and there are works of mercy and when we get into the New Covenant teach a we will see that specifically in the Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ but for now we need to emphasize the reality that no ordinary or normal work is to be done on the Sabbath day that is the prohibition and then notice the scope no one related to the Covenant family even beasts of burden you're supposed to give your Oxford day off as well because rest is refreshing even for animals now having said all that it follows after the prescription six days you shall labor and do all your work so while the Sabbath does call us to cease from our normal or ordinary work on that Sabbath day it nevertheless enjoins assumes presupposes the idea that we will work hard we were not put on this earth just to lie on the couch we were not put on this earth just to have everybody serve us but rather we were put on this earth to labor and six days you shall labor six days you shall work hard six days you shall put your shoulder to the plough and not look back you're supposed to be diligent you're not supposed to be a slacker you're supposed to be the kind of person that honors God in their lawful vocation or their calling so the text is very specific and clear that we are to be working six days now if you say well my employer makes me take Saturday off well be busy around the house ask your wife I'm sure she's got a lot of work for you to do on Saturday such that you don't have to just lie on the couch and be an amoeba or a sponge or whatever it is that sort of just lies on couches but then we come back to the particular tax and we see there's a cessation from regular employment there's a necessity for labor on the other six days but on that day we are to keep it holy we're to pursue holy things so it's not just a cessation it's not just a stopping of our ordinary work but the Lord God through Moses says to keep it holy and when we start to sketch a theology of the Sabbath we'll see those things will see blessing and sanctification holiness religious sort of worship on that particular day so the reason for this as God has specified in Deuteronomy is the doctrine of redemption in Exodus it's the doctrine of creation Exodus 20:11 says 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 and now let's look at the Sabbath in the Old Covenant let's start in Genesis chapter 2 because that's where Exodus 20 verse 11 - so the Sabbath at creation Genesis chapter 2 this is the proof tax or the rationale or the reason for Israel to keep the Sabbath day according to Exodus 20 verse 11 why should we keep the Sabbath day 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 now there is no command I am going to concede that point in Genesis two one two three I will concede at the outset that there's not a command wherein God says okay creature now you do exactly what creator has done but there doesn't need to be a command when we have a divine exemplar when we have God the Lord set forth this pattern and then we have Moses later invoke that pattern as a reason for the creature to keep the day holy it doesn't need that direct explicit Val must when God Sabbath's God intends for the creature to follow him in this particular pattern notice at verse two a he ends his work verse 2 tells us will verse 1 thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had done now in terms of God having ended his work which he had done that speaks specifically to the creation account God is obviously active in Providence God doesn't just lie on the couch God is certainly over all things he is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases theism is inaccurate deism teaches that God set the world in order and then God sort of pulled back or God withdrew himself that's not biblical Christianity God is active in the creation through Providence through the power and the presence of the Spirit among his people but in terms of God working in in the original creation he finishes that work on the seventh day then notice in verse to be he rests it says he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done now we need to understand this the way that Moses intends god doesn't get tired God doesn't need naps God doesn't say wow that really took a lot out of me I'm just gonna sit for a while and watch golf that's not how God functions the rest in view is complacency approbation of the creation that he has done John Owen says it was not a rest of weariness from the labor of his work but a rest of complacency and delight in what he had wrought that God entered entered into Meredith Klein says the Creator Sabbath rest is much more a matter of taking satisfaction and delight in his consummated building so the rest or refreshment there is it by way of necessity God is tired he's wiped the sweat off his divine brow and now he's gonna he's gonna lie down for a nap that's not what's in view it's what Owen says it's an approval it is an approbation it is a complacency in what he has done and delight in it now in terms of just a few thoughts before we move on others have seen that there's more going on even than just this what we have is God the Lord who says in the prophet isaiah 66:1 that heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool what God is doing in the creation of the heavens and the earth is making a temple a temple where he will dwell with his people that's what the garden functions at it is a sanctuary Adams primary task was not agrarian but rather it was priestly he was to serve the Living God and extend the boundaries of the garden and multiply so that the image of God would fill the earth and God would be all in all so there is an enthronement aspect in terms of what's happening here as well again Meredith Klein says the cosmic structure was built as a habitation for the creator himself heaven and earth were erected as a house of God a palace of the great the seat of sovereignty of the Lord of the Covenant so God takes his throne sits and rests and has that delight and what he has created and then the rest of redemptive history is God moving his creation to share in that rest with him to participate in that eternal Sabbath but the weekly Sabbath SAR down payments of that they are foretaste of that they help us to see the glory that awaits us and to jettison the Sabbath is to jettison that blessed reality James Hamilton says God is presented as building for himself a cosmic temple in this cosmic temple he places his image whose task is to fill the earth and subdue it such that the glory of Yahweh covers the land as the waters cover the sea so this is an enthronement as well with reference to God but in terms of the create a creature we are supposed to follow his example notice what happens in verse 3 then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made all the other days were good he reports that they were good all of the other days did exactly what God had intended but it's on this Sabbath day this rest day this day of refreshment this day of delight that he blesses the seventh day and he sanctifies it because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made GK bill speaks concerning this mandate to humans he says the the Hebrew word for blessed is normally restricted to living beings in the Old Testament and typically does not apply to something being blessed or sanctified only for God's sake accordingly Genesis 2:3 appears to be directed to humanity as a creational ordinance to regard the seventh day of each week to be blessed and set apart by God now before you say well this whole idea seems way too theological there's no clear command consider marriage there's no command in Genesis chapter two to go thou and do likewise find a bride marry the bride take your home mom and dad all that sort of thing it's an example or paradigmatic or a pattern of what was done some reformed writers have commented that there are creation ordinances labor is a creation ordinance again there's no direct command while God tells Adam to tend to the garden but in terms of God telling us to be mechanics or lawyers or whatever there's no command suggesting that but rather it's a pattern it's a paradigm it is illustrative of what the creature should do there are creation ordinances that we find in Genesis chapters 1 2 3 marriage labor Sabbath when the creator Sabbath's the creator expects his creatures to Sabbath and again the best proof of that is Exodus 20:11 for in six days the Lord God created the heavens in the earth the seventh was a Sabbath and therein he sanctified it and he blessed it now let's turn to Genesis 4 as we consider I'm sorry Mark chapter 2 I know that's a bit of a jump but I'll explain myself as you're turning we're gonna look at the Sabbath in the Old Covenant we have the Sabbath that creation secondly I want to look at the Sabbath at creation explained fact our Lord Jesus in mark chapter 2 illustrates for us the abiding perpetuity of Sabbath observance why would he spend time combating the religious leaders of his day if he was going to abolish the Sabbath do you know how many controversies surround Sabbath keeping in the life and Ministry of our Lord it would have been a whole lot easier for him to say you know once I died on the cross there's not going to be Sabbath anymore so there's no reason for us to engage in this sort of direct combat that's not what he does he engages in that direct combat and he clears away the Pharisaic misinterpretation of the commandment and he highlights the truth and validity of the commandment and Mark chapter 2 is a great example of that notice in verses 23 to 28 in the first place you have the conduct of the disciples verse 23 now it happened that he went through the grain fields on the Sabbath and as they went his disciples began to pluck the heads of grain they were hungry they had to eat see fasting is legitimate in its place and in its time but you're not supposed to fast always because you would die fasting is good again in its place and in its time but for the most part we need to eat and that is precisely what is displayed in this passage notice then the complaint of the Pharisees they've always got something wrong they were you know akin to the modern day you know Democrats or liberals they complain about everything there's no pleasing them whatsoever they find fault with everything somebody does something great well they didn't do it greater that's just a terrible mindset that is more owing to the Pharisees than it is to biblical religion notice in verse 24 and the Pharisees said to him look why do you why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath you see an assumption contained in their language why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath they assume that they're right and in discussions concerning sabbatarian ISM we can sound a lot like these Pharisees we can sound a lot like these people why did you do that on Sunday don't you know that the way I do it is always the best way possible there can be a judgmental attitude on the parts of God's people when it comes to this issue of Sabbath I put Sabbath along with the other nine commandments do we keep the other nine Commandments perfectly if you think for a moment you do you're not paying attention to this exposition you're not paying attention to anything I ever say and I would like to encourage you to start to do so we have issues even with the Sabbath commandment and ultimately we don't go to heaven because of our sabbatarian ISM we don't go to heaven because of our lack of blasphemy or our lack of idolatry we go to heaven because Jesus Christ perfectly kept the Ten Commandments Jesus Christ in his active obedience that is imputed to us and received by faith alone that doesn't militate against the that we need to try by the presence in the power of the holy spirit but brethren there's something fundamentally wrong when we use the Sabbath as a mallet to crush other people that were supposed to be loving we're supposed to express kindness to and compassion maybe they're at a place in their Christian life where they haven't been instructed where they have been raised as dispensationalist where this whole idea of sabbatarian ism is a brand new thing you've got to remember that outside of the Reformed community when it comes to sabbatarian ISM there is no lack of vitriol leveled against those who hold to it this would be considered legalism in a whole lot of places the very thought that one has to set apart the Lord's Day and keep it as a Sabbath day holy unto God oh you've just crossed over into the realm of legalism and you've got bigger problems than anybody we've ever met this is the kind of stuff that persons are brought up on and then they come into our Reformed churches and we immediately want to chop their heads off because they're not as good as Sabbatarians typically as we are that's always the measuring standard how I do it is the way it must be done you see so let's not be pharisaic when it comes to this now I'm not suggesting that we willy-nilly let every people break let everybody break God's law but boy I'm sure that we cannot do that and not be Pharisees as well but anyways these guys whine they grumble they complain and of course they assume that they're right the Pharisee said to him look why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath now notice the response of the Lord first he highlights the example of David do you want to argue with David you want to say sinful things about David do you want us you want to challenge David in 1st Samuel chapter 21 1 to 9 David and his men are on the run David and his men need to eat and David and his men eat the show Brad and that show bread was supposed to be for the priests only so I think this is a brilliant way for our Lord to start to shot them down in their whining and their grumbling and their complaining unless you are prepared to debate King David of Israel on the merits of sabbatarian is then you should probably keep your mouth shut is essentially what Jesus is saying maybe he didn't mean it quite that harsh it sounded more harsh coming from me then I suspect it would have sounded coming from him but he not only mentions David but then notice he highlights the purpose for the Sabbath the very purpose for the Sabbath it's at this point that I must say it's when we consider sabbatarian ism and I hear the various sorts of you know opposition expressed against it I wonder why it's a gift given by God to his creatures it is something good it's not bad he doesn't say I want to give you this gift of poison go ahead and ingest it I want to give you this gift of misery and pain go ahead and enjoy it that's not it at all God gives us something wonderful God gives us something blessed God gives us something that is in fact a gift and for whatever reason in this new covenant era we don't want it oh no we go in the morning and then that's it well we can't be bound that's legalism that's not conducive to the spontaneity of the Christian man every day is the lord's day it's that kind of drivel and drag that one constantly hears when they engage in these Sabbath Wars but Christ sort of clears away all of the muck and tells us the original intention of God with reference to Sabbath notice in verse 27 he says the Sabbath was made for man that beautiful thing it's a gift he made it for us he didn't make it to kill us or to hurt us and it's literally in the text the Sabbath was made for the man the man is most likely Adam so as Jesus highlights the true purpose of Sabbath where does he go he goes back to Genesis chapter 2 he goes back to that place where God blessed the Sabbath day where God sanctified the Sabbath day where God by way of established for the creature what they should be doing in that weekly cycle it was made for the man not the Jew that's one of the arguments proffered by dispensationalism that the fourth commandment is for Israel that the Ten Commandments given on Sinai were for Israel they don't have any binding on the New Covenant Christian they don't have any binding on the Gentile Christian unless of course they're repeated in the New Testament that's why dispensationalists will find nine of the Ten Commandments repeated in the New Testament so they've got nine of the ten commandments that are binding though they wouldn't say it's because it's the Ten Commandments it's because it's repeated in the New Testament but here we see that the Sabbath was made for the man man as man not Jew as Jew fact Rael makes the observation he says God gave it for Adam and paradise and renewed it to Israel on Mount Sinai it was made for all mankind not for the Jew only but for the whole family of Adam so as Christ is clearing away the the dust and the debris with reference to sabbatarian ISM he highlights the gift nature of it the reality is is that God made the Sabbath for us why don't we just happily receive it from him and seek by grace to keep it and delight ourselves in the presence of God along with his people he also says that man was not made for the Sabbath verse 27 the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath that pharisaic interpretation looks more akin to that that man was created by God in order to do the Sabbath man was created by God in order to comply with the Sabbath Jesus says that's not the case the Sabbath was made for the man the man wasn't made for the Sabbath Ezekiel Hopkins makes the observation that the Sabbath is but one day younger than man it is but one day younger than man and it was given by God as a gift to man but the point is as he's clearing away the debris he goes back to creation he goes back to Genesis too just like God through Moses in Exodus 20:11 so those who say well Genesis 2 1 2 3 doesn't contain a command you are obliterating some very necessary data that comments favorably on sabbatarian ISM from Genesis 2:2 1 2 3 and then he ends it by saying therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath again an interesting line of defense if in his wheelhouse he's going to abolish it he is going to get rid of it he is going to just obliterate the concept of Sabbath why spend time polishing a house that you're going to just destroy any way you destroy a house to either rebuild a new or to salt the earth so that nothing ever grows there again he is actually spending time correcting the Pharisaic misinterpretation not because he's designed to destroy it but confirming it upholding it and making it something bless it even for his new covenant people of God it really is a beautiful thing now a third text is back in Genesis chapter 4 this one may not carry the same sort of weight as some of the others do but I think it's something worth observing Genesis chapter 4 if you're taking notes I'll give you the heads we're looking at first the Sabbath that creation Genesis to the Sabbath that creation explained mark two thirdly the Sabbath observance of Cain and Abel Genesis 4 the Sabbath prior to Sinai Exodus 16 the Sabbath at Sinai Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 the Sabbath in the prophet Isaiah and then finally the Sabbath and the Prophet Jeremiah it occurs to me we may not get through all of this tonight but that's okay as one who believes that we're gonna be around for a little while I don't feel any constraint to try and shove all of this in to one message I'd rather that we were all conversant with the tax so that when we get to the New Testament we can see what the authors are doing there they have a theology of Sabbath they don't suspend it they don't abolish it they work with it and they show and demonstrate why in terms of God's redemptive plan the day changes from Saturday to Sunday now some would suggest that the Sabbath only existed in a ceremonial way there were ceremonial aspects to the Sabbath but there is moral aspect perpetual aspect that we simply cannot get rid of and that's the focus of our survey now notice in Genesis 4th for one it says now Adam knew his wife or knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bore Cain and said I have acquired a man from the Lord then she bore again this time his brother Abel now Abel was a keeper of sheep but Cain was a tiller of the ground now verse 3 is crucial to our consideration it says and in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat and the Lord respected Abel and his offering but he did not respect Cain and his offering and Cain was very angry and his countenance fell now if we were to ask the question how did Abel know to bring blood how did Abel know to bring blood I would suggest that his father Adam had instructed him remember that after the fall into sin Adam and Eve were naked there trembling and God has dealings with them and then God kills animals and he clothes Adam and Eve with these skins I think that is atonement I think it's tip illogical I think it points forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world but what Adam learned there is that killing animals and and sacrificing animals is perfectly consistent with Yahweh with our covenant Lord so no doubt Adam told Cain and Abel this is the way you approach God you go to him with sacrifice and Abel as a as a keeper of flocks killed his animal and brought the blood brought the meat and offered it up as sacrifice unto Yahweh but verse 3 is intriguing it tells us and in the process of time if you look at the margin in the New King James the reading literally is at the of days it is at the end of days now I don't believe it meant the end of all days because we haven't gotten there yet it was probably the end of the days of the week and if Adam instructed Abel that blood was necessary in terms of atonement with God then we can surmise that Adam instructed Abel and Cain that on the Sabbath at the end of the days of the week you go to Yahweh and you present your sacrifice in fact Mathew pull the the Puritan commentator takes it this way he says more probably defining or describing this process of time or this end of days he says more probably at the end of the days of the week or upon the seventh and last day of the week Saturday which then was the Sabbath day which before this time was blessed and sanctified Genesis 2:3 which before this time he says Genesis 4 was already blessed and sanctified what's he saying exactly what Jesus says and exactly what Moses says in terms of the rationale for Sabbath keeping because God's Sabbath on that seventh day and because God blessed that day and sanctified that day then the creature needs to follow suit the creature needs to follow lockstep with the creator when it comes to this issue of sabbatarian is a-- now a fourth line of evidence or rather yes the fourth is Exodus chapter 16 Exodus chapter 16 now this is important because it's before Exodus chapter 20 I do that once in a while so everybody knows I can count we have an instance of pre sabbatarian ism or sabbatarian ISM prior to Sinai in other words God tells them to gather manna the instructions are clear in verses 4 and 5 gather twice the ration on the sixth day so that on the seventh day you don't have to go out and violate the Sabbath see God is a forward thinker future-oriented God wants his creatures and wants to facilitate his creatures obedience to his law so he tells them I'm gonna provide this manna there's going to be a double portion on on Friday and I want you to go out on Friday and I want you to gather up double so that on Saturday you don't have to on Saturday you can bless today or rather enjoy the blessing of the day and sanctify the day and keep the day holy now notice in chapter 16 at verse 22 chapter 16 at verse 22 and so it was on the sixth day that they gathered twice as much bread to OMERS for each one and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses then he said to them this is what the Lord has said tomorrow is a Sabbath rest a holy Sabbath to the Lord you see that prior to Sinai they're keeping the Sabbath some of the objectives to the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath said well it was given at Sinai it would predate Sinai it's Genesis chapter 2 verse 3 we see it there at the end of days with reference to Cain and Abel we see what Christ says commenting on the the gift nature of this Sabbath given by God to his creatures and here you see it operative even in Exodus chapter 16 prior to their hearing the law at Sinai turret incent have been said unless the Sabbath had already been instituted and commanded by God Jim brother you can't miss that logic can you you can't say well they you know what it's their sabbatarian ISM is present prior to Sinai a more modern author guy named Philip Ross if you want a good book on the threefold division of the law get Philip Ross he says does Exodus 16 not suggest that they were aware of an obligation to rest before they heard the Decalogue obviously they were they are conversant with the theme and with the idea but let's go back to the text and continue to read verse 23 then he said to them this is what the Lord has said tomorrow is a Sabbath rest a holy Sabbath to the Lord bake what you will lay up for yourselves on sorry what you will excuse me bake what you will bake today and boil what you will boil and lay up for yourselves all that remains to be kept until morning so they laid it up till morning as Moses commanded and it did not stink nor were there any worms in it then Moses said eat that today for today is a Sabbath to the Lord today you will not find it in the field six days you shall gather it but on the seventh day the Sabbath there will be not hard to maintain that the Sabbath wasn't given to some till Sinai in light of Exodus chapter 16 that's a very foolish argument to engage it it's not given only to Jews and it's not only given at Sinai it's prior to Sinai and Adam or he was given to Adam as man not as Jew but then look at verse 27 there's always got to be there's always got to be those who don't do what they're told now that's probably all of us but look at what verse 27 says now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather but they found none and the Lord said to Moses how long do you refuse to keep my Commandments and my laws see for the Lord has given you the Sabbath therefore he gives you on the sixth day bread for two days let every man remain in his place let no man go out of his place on the seventh day so the people rested on the seventh day couldn't be any clearer there is a Sabbath prior to Sinai and we see it there in Exodus 16 now we won't spend any time at the Sabbath at Sinai because that's what we're considering in the larger scheme of things but in terms of the prohibition with reference to work here's some of the things the Old Testament forbid gathering manna obviously here Exodus 16 gathering firewood according to numbers 15 plowing and harvest kindling a fire trading carrying loads those sorts of things normal ordinary stuff that you could do on the other six days God says did it all done so on the seventh day you can find the blessing of the Lord and sanctify the day and keep it holy that's God's purpose and intent now let's move to the Sabbath and the prophet Isaiah - and then we'll bring this to a conclusion Sabbath and Isaiah Isaiah 56 a passage that we should be somewhat familiar of or with because when we were in Acts chapter 8 I know we're going to way back but in Acts chapter 8 we saw how Isaiah 56 is actually being fulfilled in Acts chapter 8 essentially what Isaiah 56 indicates his new covenant blessing what's going to happen in the age of Messiah what's going to happen when the Lord Jesus Christ comes what kind of benefit is going to obtain for those outside the Commonwealth of Israel well Isaiah 56 answers that question very beautifully the context beginning in chapter 52 with reference to the last servant song is the Messianic age it is the time of Jesus Christ and then notice in verse 2 well verse 1 thus says the Lord keep justice and do righteousness for my salvation is about to come and my righteousness to be revealed blessed is the man who does this and the son of man who lays hold on it who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil verse 3 do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speak saying the Lord has utterly separated me from his people nor let the eunuchs say Here I am a dry tree for thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbath's and choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant even to them I will give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off again the idea of sabbatarian ISM and both eunuch and Gentile inclusion in the new covenant of grace are obviously obviously set forth here in terms of new covenant blessing notice in verse 6 also the sons of the foreigner who joined themselves to the Lord to serve Him and to and to love the name of the Lord to be his servants everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant even them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations you get that Jesus brings that to pass in the New Covenant Jesus says those very things in terms of Gentile inclusion in the covenant of grace and as well units as we see in Acts chapter eight but notice that sabbath-keeping is part and parcel of life in the New Covenant again an odd way to arguer an odd component to add if the plan all along was to suspend to decimate to destroy or do away with Sabbath as there will be a new covenant and as it will be that the church is the house of prayer for all the nations Gentile inclusion and as it is the case that eunuchs were forbidden by Deuteronomy 23 one of ever entering the house of the Lord now they will be brought and I so we have Gentile inclusion we have eunuchs now in the house of God and we have Sabbath keeping all consistent and blessed pieces and elements of New Covenant worship under Messiah the Lord Jesus Christ and then turn to Isaiah 58 Isaiah 58 it's condemnation of heartless ritual a condemnation of heartless ritual and the two specifics are fasting and Sabbath notice in Isaiah 58 at verse one cry aloud spare not lift up your voice like a trumpet tell my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins in verses 2 to 12 he highlights their problem in fasting again it's not long to fast it's wrong to fast when you fast the way that they did it's wrong to fast when you engage in it with a heartless ritual it's wrong to fast when you go around and tell everybody you're fasting remember Jesus indictment with reference to those who walk around in misery and pain so that everybody knows they're fasting Matthew chapter 6 Jesus says anoint your face with oil smile be happy go around do what you're supposed to do don't try to draw attention to yourself because you're fasting there's the holy man who's fasting that's not the way it's supposed to be so he condemns fasting that then he condemns there there artless ritual relative to sabbatarian ism and in 58 verses 13 and 14 it sort of gets at what we should be concentrating on when it comes to sabbatarian is uh if you turn away your foot from the sabbath turn away your foot from the sabbath from doing your pleasure on my holy day and call the sabbath a delight the holy day of the lord honorable and shall honor him not doing your own ways nor finding your own pleasure nor speaking your own words what do you think their problem had been in terms of their own approach to sabbatarian is a-- they didn't call it a delight they didn't call it honorable they didn't do they were continuing to seek their own pleasure and they were continuing to seek their own words well if that's the way we're going to approach sabbatarian ism then we've missed it by a long shot but in verse 14 he says if you do what you're supposed to do then you shall delight yourself in the lord and i will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father the mouth of the Lord has spoken call the sabbath a delight we see that its extent or it will be present in the new covenant community according to isaiah 50:6 along with eunuchs brought and I along with Gentiles brought and I there will be a Sabbath for the people of God we get to Isaiah 58 and the way that we're supposed to approach the Sabbath is not to be with heartless ritual were to call it a delight or to enjoy the things of God and God brings blessing and help to us EJ Young and his commentary on the Book of Isaiah he says the Sabbath was not merely a mosaic ordinance it was far more it was instituted at creation and is a pattern of the heavenly Sabbath rest which the redeemed are to enjoy in the presence of their eternal God in the great calamity of the exile that was to come upon them Isiah stresses the Sabbath as in a sense the heart of true devotion to God he who keeps the Sabbath as it is intended to be kept will be happy in the Lord of the Sabbath and then one final passage I think I said that already I made a mistake one final passage is Jeremiah 31 the Sabbath and the Prophet Jeremiah again there's other things stipulated or stated about sabbatarian ism in the prophets but Jeremiah 31 is germane to the argument at hand now the word Sabbath doesn't appear but let me just tell you the rationale for citing this particular text Jeremiah 31:31 it's a prophecy concerning the New Covenant Jeremiah 31:31 behold behold the days are coming says the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt my covenant which they broke one of the first distinctions with reference to Old Covenant new covenant that we ought to rejoice that they broke the old covenant we can't break the new covenant this is where I'd say can I get an amen we cannot break the New Covenant when Christ enters into covenant with us when Christ redeems us by his precious blood there is in the language of Paul in Romans chapter 8 nothing that shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord the Old Covenant was a covenant of works and therefore they broke it the New Covenant is a covenant of grace it was a covenant of works for Christ who kept it and therefore it is a covenant of grace to us so the inviolability that means the unbreakable nests of the New Covenant is a great boon in our religion it highlights it is the underpinning for Paul's statement in Philippians 1:6 I am confident that he who began this good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ back to the text my covenant which they broke though I was a husband to them says the Lord but this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord I will put my law in their minds and write it on their I guarantee you that the Jew who heard this that the Judah height who heard Jeremiah stipulate this would have not thought of sung altogether new law he would have thought ten commandments he would have thought Decalogue and he wouldn't have thought nine out of ten of them he would have thought consistently that all ten are going to be written on the heart of God's people I have always found it to be a necessary defense of sabbatarian ism by turning the weaponry on the content on the objectors and asked them to validate how you can have nine out of the ten commandments and not the fourth we always have to be the ones defending ourselves when it comes to these Sabbath wars I have a list of questions that I'll probably read at the end of whatever the last sermon is on this subject that I think non Sabbatarians need to ponder they need to reflect on they need to think through and they better be able to pony up answers for why they are suspending a moral law of God Almighty they say legalism I will never tell you sabbath-keeping for salvation that's legalism I will tell you sabbath-keeping because God commands that the blood-bought children of Jesus Christ gather together and worship Him in spirit and truth they come to the Father through the son in the spirit so that God will be all in all in their assemblies that's not legalism brethren that's will be obedience to the commandments of God Jesus said in John 14 if you love me you'll you'll keep my Commandments John the Apostle says in first John that that the commandments of God are not Grievous they're not burdensome this is another thing that's always shocked me for those anti-cyberterrorism the treat sabbatarian Islam as if it's this great big burden well yeah the Pharisaic version is but God's original intent at creation what Jesus Christ declares concerning sabbatarian ISM it's a blessed and a beautiful thing but in terms of this particular tax this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days the Lord I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people no more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother saying know the Lord but they all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them says the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more so you see these were elements that were involved in Old Covenant religion the Lord's David experienced this able experience this isin Jah Jacob Abraham they experienced this but these weren't absolutely essential features of the Old Covenant they are however absolutely essential features of the New Covenant no one is a new covenant adherent or member that does not possess the law of God written on his heart who does not have the forgiveness of sins who does not have this experience all knowledge of Yahweh as Lord so what was present in the Old Testament grace through faith in Jesus Christ to come was not an essential feature of Old Covenant religion but a new covenant religion all of God's people will have all of God's law written on their hearts that's why preaching on the Sabbath needs to be taken seriously because if the Sabbath commandment is abiding if it's still perpetual if it is still something for the church today and we have large segments or sects of the church saying oh no that's legalistic brethren I think we need to reorient ourselves as to what scripture says concerning this most important doctrine of the Christian Sabbath well in conclusion in terms of obedience to the command may I just say practically work hard for six days and rest on the seventh you know I think at times we lose it because we make it far more complicated than it needs to be we're supposed to not do our normal ordinary work on Sunday we're supposed to come to church and we're supposed to worship the living in the true God that's what it means to remember the Sabbath day to observe the Sabbath to keep it holy to enjoy the blessings that God has associated with sabbatarian and his people as well we need to understand with reference to the commandment the fourth commandment is rooted in creation and redemption I'm gonna say that I hope a lot so that when we get to Hebrews 4 you'll go oh yeah I see it I'm not gonna lie to you Hebrews 4 is a theological argument exegetical to be sure but you have to bring some theology to Hebrews chapter 4 to see what the Apostle is doing and creation and redemption are absolutely crucial to keep in our mind now in terms of the use of the fourth commandment we try to do this with the commandments there are three uses of the law threefold use of the law you have a civil use you know the pedagogical use and you have a normative civil lee wouldn't it be great if everybody actually did take a day to rest it's a good thing isn't it we're not John Deere tractors brethren we need some down time we don't just keep running and running and running and I'm blessed I love the fact that we're in a church where people work hard like people really work hard in this local body for the most I don't have to spend a lot of time on six days you shall labor and do all your work because that's actually being carried out but we have to have rest were not disembodied spirits even Jesus Christ went into the boat took a pillow according to mark and laid down and took a nap even Jesus Christ told his disciples come apart and rest awhile rest is a good and necessary thing for our creatureliness if we do not rest we will either a die be burn out or C be pretty much good to know what so the rest motif embedded in the Sabbath commandment is the concern of a good God in terms of his creation giving us what we need for our benefit remember the Sabbath was made for man by the God who knows what man needs and if you deny that and you keep trying to push yourself all seven days now you know there are times where it's just the way it is typically younger men are gonna have to work more harder or longer it's just the way that it is because as you get older you don't have the same sort of physical strength and stamina and whatnot but the bottom line is is that hard work is a blessing but so is that day of rest that the Lord gives us in terms of the pedagogical use I think the Sabbath commandment I think especially Isaiah 53 I'm sorry Isaiah 58 and the way we should approach Sabbath as enjoying there by the prophet or by God through the Prophet probably rebuked some of us do we call the Sabbath a delight do we look forward to this day is that the high point is that the pinnacle of our week is it is it something that that moves us and motivates us are we like David in Psalm 122 I was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the Lord or is it a dirge March is it drudgery is it the most depressing and oppressive thing that is in your week now if it's this church if you're not happy at this church well you're certainly able to go find a church so that you can be glad to go to of course I don't want anybody to do that but I don't want a Death March walking into the very house of God you can smile on a Sunday you can call it a delight you can find your pleasure in the Lord most high that's all perfectly acceptable and God calls us to that and God a panzer attaches great blessing to those who do so and then in terms of normative use how do we use the command on a regular ongoing basis turreted makes the observation he says experience teaches too well that license and the negligence of sacred things grows more and more where a proper regard is not shown for the lord's day i think that is a hundred percent true let me just read it again experience teaches too well that license and the negligence of sacred things grows more and more where a proper regard is not shown for the Lord's Day in other words the church isn't the holier for having jettisoned the Christian Sabbath the church is it godly err for having gotten rid of the Christian Sabbath the church is it more spiritually in tune and more minded than having gotten rid of the Christian Sabbath arguably and probably demonstrably it's just the opposite there's more carnality and more worldliness among the professing church today then I guess every generation says this but I'm going to continue to say it then there's ever been and part of it is connected to the fact that we no longer concern ourselves with remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy your heart is vos and his biblical theology says the Sabbath has faithfully accompanied the people of God on their march through the ages I think that's a great way for us to end this this study tonight and hopefully God willing as we move into the New Testament and survey the various attacks we will see there's not any discrepancy or contradiction or sort of disparity between the two Testaments but rather the New Testament upholds what the Old Testament sets forth in terms of sabbath-keeping for the people of God and it does reach that climax and in Hebrews 4 9 when the author says there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God and I hope to show us why we can't take it out of the modern church and put it into the eschaton that is a misstep in acts Hebrews chapter 4 that is not authorized it is not good exegetical theology well I hope that we will come back and I hope that we will be instructed concerning sabbatarian ISM let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for clarity we thank you for consistency we thank you that it reflects your very being your nature who you are we know these Commandments are not arbitrary they're not capricious you didn't give them simply to hinder us or hurt us that they tell us who you are and God not only are you the living and the true God who calls us to worship in a proper way that you also give us a whole day in which to do that and we thank you for that we thank you that the Sabbath was made for man and help us to appreciate it and help us Lord God to honor it and help us to honor you and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen you