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in sinai and there they received the law of god they will then proceed from the the giving of the law to the giving of the instructions for the tabernacle that'll bring the book to an end but beginning in chapter 20 at verse 1 and god spoke all these words saying i am the lord your god who brought you out of the land of egypt out of the house of bondage you shall have no other gods before me you shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth you shall not bow down to them nor serve them for i the lord your god am a jealous god visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments you shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain for the lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain remember the sabbath day to keep it holy six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord your god in it you shall do no work you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant nor your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates for in six days the lord made the heavens and the earth the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day therefore the lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the lord your god is giving you you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor you shall not covet your neighbor's house you shall not covet your neighbor's wife nor his male servant nor his female servant nor his ox nor his donkey nor anything that is your neighbors now all the people witnessed the thunderings the lightning flashes the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it they trembled and stood afar off then they said to moses you speak with us and we will hear but let not god speak with us lest we die and moses said to the people do not fear for god has come to test you and that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin so the people stood afar off but moses drew near the thick darkness where god was amen so we're in the first table of the law the first four commandments refer to our duty toward god and then the latter six refer to our duty toward man and at least directly and somewhat indirectly the first four commandments or our responsibility to god are framed with reference to worship so the first commandment defines the object of worship the second commandment describes the manner in which we worship that true and living god the third commandment not taking the name of the lord your god in vain is also related to worship in deuteronomy chapter 6 at verse 13 you shall fear the lord your god and serve him and shall take oaths in his name our confession highlights that oaths are a form of religious worship to the living god and of course the fourth commandment sets apart the day upon which the people of god worship the god of the people now we have looked at the fourth commandment within the last year in our local church in terms of sermons so we'll just go through this somewhat a bit more rapidly tonight we're going to just deal with the old testament emphasis on the sabbath now there are obviously a lot of questions and issues related to the sabbath and we're not going to deal with all of that tonight simply want to look at first the exposition of the commandment and then secondly the sabbath in the old covenant and i think our confession of faith summarizes well the biblical teaching of the sabbath it says in paragraph 7 of chapter 22 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 hath 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 now i know the day change is one thing that uh definitely trips up some of the people of god so as i said we'll look at the sabbath in the old covenant tonight god willing next week we'll look at the sabbath in the new covenant and see the same sort of emphasis but then look at hebrews chapter four specifically i think is the biblical warrant for the day change in light of some other concerns that we find in the new testament but in terms of the exposition notice in the first place the positive aspect the children of israel according to verse 8 are told to remember the sabbath day to keep it holy so here in exodus 20 they are told to remember in deuteronomy the parallel they are told to observe the sabbath day now in order to remember something or observe something it seems to follow that it had been previously in play god is not instituting something afresh here at sinai is not telling them now i want you to set apart a day of the week to worship and to gather before me know the fact that they are called upon to remember are argues that there was something already in existence and the activity of god ultimately in genesis chapter 2 at verse 3 is the foundation or the origin in fact the commentator matthew poole says this word remember is very emphatical and it reminds us of a former delivery of the substance of this command to wit genesis 2 3. so he sees the the origin of sabbath keeping in the practice of god himself that we see in the garden after god made the world and everything in it in the space of six days and all very good god rested god sabbath and you see specifically in this particular commandment this is the rationale for why the people of god are to sabbath as well so the people of god are positively enjoined to remember or to observe this particular day notice the prohibition it says remember the sabbath day to keep it holy now keep it holy means to sanctify it set it apart use it for the purposes consecrate it for the purpose for which god gave it and then it says six days you shall labor and do you do all your work but the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord your god in it you shall do no work you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant nor your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates so the prohibition is specific no regular work now in terms of regular work i think that this particular commandment looks back to the genesis account not only in terms of god's cessation or sabbath uh cessation from labor and his sabbath rest but it also underscores the creational ordinance of labor god made man to work and in this particular commandment it's not necessarily a command you must work six days you can't have saturday off but it does assume what is valid and what is abiding upon the creature of god man was made in order to work man was made specifically in the garden to tend the garden to guard the garden to keep it to cultivate it and to function as a priest within that garden to extend that garden temple such that it would encompass the entirety of the earth man was not made to lay on the couch man was not made to to just engage in recreation work is legit god gives great credence to labor and we see it upheld in this sabbath command six days you shall labor and do all your work but the stress falls of the accent falls upon that seventh day it is the sabbath of the lord your god it belongs to him in it you shall do no work and then in terms of the scope no one related to the covenant family even the beasts of burden you were to cease from to engage in a cessation of all regular and ordinary work now when we get to the new covenant when we get to the the ministry of jesus christ we see that there are allowances for the works of mercy and the works of necessity and we'll deal with that god willing next wednesday so works of mercy works of necessity jesus indicts our braids the synagogue ruler at the time that he healed the woman in the synagogue when they all got upset and the man rebukes the woman and he says you know six days you can come for a healing the seventh is a sabbath day to rest unto god jesus says which one of you if you had an animal fall into a ditch wouldn't fetch it out on the sabbath day that is a work of necessity a work of a work of mercy rather works of necessity are also allowable by god the priests labored on the sabbath day in order to conduct and to facilitate corporate worship with reference to the tabernacle or temple so works of necessity works of mercy are certainly allowable but in terms of the prohibition it is no regular work the cessation from regular employment the necessity for labor on the other six days and the pursuit of holy things so god says one day out of the seven i want you to separate that unto me and i want you to utilize that time to pursue holy things in other words do what god does when he engages in sabbath rest in the garden of eden and i love the confession 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 now when it refers to the law of nature it's referring to those things not necessarily inscribed in scripture in other words man made in the image of god has some semblance of law written on his heart when we looked at romans chapter one when the creature who is made in the image of god looks at the created order that creature leads him to consider the creator that effect causes him to consider the cause there is this law of nature there is embedded in our soul that it is right to set apart time to worship the living and the true god now of course here at sinai this is a codification of the moral law and it does jive with the natural law they're not at enmity with one another they are consistent and there is harmony between them and then notice that the rationale given in the exodus account is the doctrine of creation so we have the positive aspect remember the sabbath day keep it holy we have the the the prohibition against the cessation from your normal labor your normal work that scope applies to everybody connected to the covenant family including the animals themselves and then in verse 11 for in six days the lord made the heavens and the earth the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day therefore the lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it turn over to deuteronomy chapter 5. deuteronomy literally means second law it isn't a second law like it's different from the giving of the law at sinai but rather it is the rehearsal of that self-same law to the generation that's going to enter into the promised land so basically deuteronomy is a series of addresses by moses to the children of israel to prepare them for entrance into the promised land and as we look at the ten commandments in both exodus 20 and deuteronomy 5 they are synonymous they are parallel there are a few features that differ along the way and in the fourth commandment you see one of those notice in chapter 5 at verse 12 observe the sabbath day to keep it holy as the lord your god commanded you so we've got remember in exodus observe here not not that big of a deal 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 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 in other words that's a good and beneficial thing that you afford time off to your servants that they may rest that they may engage in a refreshment and that they may as well have access and privilege to worship the living and true god now notice the rationale for the commandment here in deuteronomy 5 verse 15 and remember that you were a slave in the land of egypt and the lord your god brought you out from there by a mighty hand and buy an outstretched arm therefore the lord your god commanded you to keep the sabbath day again it's the same commandment but with reference to rationale or reason in exodus chapter 20 you have creation in exodus uh deuteronomy chapter 5 rather you have redemption both those concepts are undergirding the concept of sabbath they will be carried into the new covenant and when we look at dude hebrews chapter hebrews chapter 4 we'll see how creation and redemption are utilized by the apostle when he argues for the day change from saturday to sunday so just talk that in the back of your head that creation and redemption are the rationale for sabbath keeping exodus 20 11 doctrine of creation deuteronomy 5 15 you have the doctrine of redemption now you can turn to genesis chapter 2 as we work through the sabbath in the old covenant and again this is probably review hopefully you remember all of this from when we covered it in our sunday sermons notice in chapter 2 at verse 1 thus the heavens and the earth and all the hosts of them were finished and on the seventh day god ended his work which he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done then god blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his work which god had created and made so the end of his work is highlighted which he had done the work of the six days now this does not mean a complete cessation of god from all things he is not the god of deism deism teaches that god made the world the way that a clockmaker makes a clock and then the clockmaker takes the clock and he puts it on the mantle and he forgets about it that's deism that's not christianity with reference to god's working god works in terms of providence in john 5 17 the lord jesus says he answered them my father has been working until now and i have been working so god did not stop working completely god is in the uh charge of the government of the universe but what we have in chapter two of genesis is the cessation of the creation weak he made all that he made and it was very good there is approbation there is approval there is complacency there is joy and delight at his surveying the works of his hands the lord did not rest because he was weary but it was a rest and refreshment to demonstrate his pleasure and delight in what he had made john owens 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 into meredith klein says the creator's sabbath rest is much more a matter of taking satisfaction and delight in his consummated building so the rest there isn't like you and i rest if we went out and built something and it took us six days our rest would be one of sleep it would be one of weariness and it would we be one where we would need are our energies restored to us that's not the way we're supposed to understand the rest of god he doesn't get weary he doesn't need rest he doesn't need sleep this is delight and approval and approbation of the works of his hand now many have seen in this particular section the creation of a temple and i think the prophet isaiah specifically in chapter 66 highlights or underscores this for us heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool the created order functions as a temple as a sanctuary it'll be restored renewed blessed in the new jerusalem but at this particular instance we see something of that the cosmic structure this is klein was built as a habitation for the creator himself heaven and earth were erected as a house of god a palace of the great king the seat of sovereignty of the lord of the covenant so god is not only resting here but there is an enthronement god is over the works of his hands the heaven is his throne the earth is his footstool he oversees it all james hamilton says that 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 god covers the land as the waters cover the sea this is a wonderful theme in scripture the the dwelling place of god the habitation of god the temple of god in the same language thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished it is paralleled when the tabernacle itself is constructed in exodus chapter 40. so there is this concept of sanctuary this concept of dwelling this concept where god is with his people that should cheer and encourage our hearts it's not just a biblical theological theme that hamilton and meredith klein and gk beal you know make their money off of the concept is glorious god says i will be your god and you will be my people he created us to dwell with him he created us to enjoy communion with it he created us so that we would understand that he is the chief among ten thousand and all together lovely he created us so that we would have that blessed fellowship that he has purposed obviously there is the fall into sin and this then sets the stage for the coming of the last adam to bring to fruition all that was supposed to transpire again humanly speaking in this first temple setting so god blesses then the day notice in verse 3 it says then god blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his work which god had created and made beal g k beal he's a a a scholar working today that's for whose forte is biblical theology starting in genesis going to revelation and just seeing how scripture teaches the various truths that it does convey but he's arguing that genesis 2 3 includes a mandate to humans so 2 3 doesn't say based on this moses says i want all of you to have a sabbath but the fact that it's worded the way that it is does suggest that it is a mandate the fact that that moses got through moses in exodus chapter 20 grounds sabbath keeping on the rationale of remember and then argues for in six days the lord made the heavens and the earth and then on the seventh day he rest it in other words god's example god's pattern god's paradigm is something that the creature is to follow beale says the hebrew word for bless 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 i think he's right and again this is a cumulative argument people that are anti-sabbatarianism in the new covenant they point to the reality that there's not one text that you can point to that says sunday has replaced saturday it is the christian sabbath and you must worship it's a theological argument in much the same way uh the argument against uh a continuationism the the continual employment of the supernatural gifts of revelation it's a theological argument there's not one text here or there but there's a whole lot of text cumulatively that are brought forth to show what god's mind is on a particular subject so at sinai god says remember at deuteronomy he says observe in exodus he gives creation is the rationale and in deuteronomy he gives redemption we get to the new covenant we see those twin twin themes used by the apostles specifically again in hebrews 4 to buttress and uphold this concept of sabbath keeping now back to our text notice the the lord sanctifies the seventh day the vast majority of the uses of sanctify or set apart refer to god people or religious days and interestingly if you go back to the creation account in genesis chapter 1 with reference to the fourth day look at the fourth day then god said let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years i think so often we just gloss over that we look at and let them be for lights and the firmament and of the heavens to give light on the earth and it was so then god made two great lights the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night he made stars also god set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness and god saw that it was good so the evening and the morning were the fourth day it's that closet the end of verse 14 though let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years israel's calendar was very important and central on israel's calendar was sabbath keeping and so there's already this emphasis on the fourth day yes the big lights that that caused light in terms of you know shining brightness upon the earth but let them be for signs and seasons god is going to lead and tutor his people by calendrical observances in the old covenant and then the the function of the sabbath is that it functions typically but it's also functions as a moral precept in terms of setting aside time for god so that the creature can enter into the rest of god and worship god and then in terms of the the reason for his action notice at verse 3b the 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 so the lord blessed and sanctified the day and then he rested again god doesn't need rest god does this to express his delight and his approval over his creation but then it functions as a pattern we're supposed to follow this this is what the exodus commandment reminds us of remember the sabbath day for uh uh in six days the lord created the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he rested you follow his pattern you do what he did according to genesis chapter two verses one to three and then when we turn to genesis chapter four again sabbath in the old covenant sabbath in the old covenant we see genesis 4 specifically at verse 3. and in the process of time the new king james has in the margin at the end of days that's the literal reading so verse 3 it says and at the end of days it came to pass that cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the lord we know that end of days was not the eschatological end of days not the day of judgment it's not the day of consummation it's the end of the days of the week and at the end of the days of the week they did what their father adam had taught them how did they know to bring sacrifice to god well in genesis chapter 3 at verse 21 also for adam and his wife the lord god made tunics of skin and clothed them god provides blood atonement in that instance and thereby signifies to adam the way of approach to our god so adam passes this information on this data on to cain and abel cain obviously botches it but abel follows through and does what he's supposed to do so at the end of the days of the week these young men brought sacrifice to the lord matthew poole describes more probably at the end of the days of the week or upon the seventh and the last day of the week saturday which was which then was the sabbath day which before this time was blessed and sanctified and then in terms of the practice itself again they didn't conceive of this adam passed it on to them calvin said the custom of sacrificing was not rashly decided by them but was divinely delivered to them so it's not only the custom of sack of sacrifice but it was the time for sacrifice so set apart time specifically for the worship of the living god relative to genesis chapter 2 and what the rest of the bible subsequently reports concerning sabbath cape i think that's a good argument to suggest that these boys these young men were engaged in this particular activity now to continue on in the sabbath in the old testament we need to turn to the new testament specifically mark chapter 2 to see the sabbath at creation explained i jumped ahead i'm sorry i should have done cain and abel after this point but sabbath at creation in mark chapter 2. notice that jesus explains the significance of sabbath in its original original context in genesis chapter 2. so chapter 2 of mark verse 23 it happened that uh that he went through the grain fields on the sabbath and as they went his disciples began to pluck the heads of grain and the pharisees said to him look why do they do why do they why do they do what is not lawful on the sabbath but he said to them have you never read what david did when he was in need and hungry he and those with him how he went into the house of god in the days of abiathar the high priest and ate the show bread which is not lawful to eat except for the priests and also gave some to those who were with them and he said to them the sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath therefore the son of man is also lord of the sabbath whenever we consider this doctrine of the sabbath whenever we approach the fourth commandment yes it's a commandment yes it's law but john the apostle tells us in the first epistle the commandments of god are not burdensome they are not grievous we're not supposed to look at the sabbath and go oh what a horrific thing that god has bound us with how terrible that he wants us to set apart a day for the worship of his great and awesome no we're not supposed to look at it that way we're supposed to see it through this kind of a framework it's a gift given by god to the creature such that the creature can enjoy fellowship with the creator that's what jesus can uh gives here so countering the argument of the pharisees in verse 24 look why do they do what is not lawful on the sabbath he said to them have you never read what david did when he was in need and hungry he and those with him it was a work of necessity if they hadn't have eaten they would have died they would have starved to death it was it was good and legit for them to do that and then following on look at what he says the sabbath was made for man and it's intriguing the sabbath was made for man not not jew not you know just israel but it's made for man man representative represented by adam the first man there is a universal scope involved ryle said god gave it for adam in 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 again it's a gift given notice the language of jesus the sabbath was made from men this is where you know some versions of sabbatarianism far exceed what god's ever called us to it's not that god created you to observe the sabbath god made the sabbath as a blessing for you there's a big difference there if you think i've been made to obey the commandment to sabbath there's a different approach involved then god gave me the sabbath such that as i obey it i enjoy fellowship and blessing and and joy it's a matter of perspective if you look at it as a burden it's like it has well been said everything looks like a nail to a hammer everything looks like a burden to somebody whose heart's not changed to somebody who's still in bondage to somebody who sees the law is something that is restrictive and and confining and doesn't have the disposition and the attitude of david who said oh how i love your law it is my meditation day and night the blood-bought child of god rejoices in the law of god his problem isn't in god's law his problem is with his own remaining corruption that keeps him from fully embracing and delighting in that law as his fit and his proper so the sabbath was made for man adam man and not man for the sabbath and then he says therefore the son of man is also lord of the sabbath jesus in in several places in his earthly ministry had to deal with sabbath violation and as one fellow says in his book on the sabbath it's odd that he would take pains to correct the thinking on the sabbath to only disregard the sabbath if he was going to abolish the sabbath he sure did it in a strange way because he cleared away all the misconceptions he underscored the legitimacy of it he gave us the the the the right nature of it in terms of its gift character if he was doing that simply to say well you know it's no longer a gift for you in the new covenant that is a very odd methodology to assume or to propose and especially when we look at the pages of the new testament we see the church gathering together on the day of god with the people of god in the house of god to worship god most high so go back now to the old testament next act next section is exodus 16 and we were recently there exodus chapter 16. there is a sabbath prior to sinai sabbath prior to sinai we see that specifically in exodus chapter 16 with reference to the manna you've got the instructions for gathering manna in chapter 16 at verses 4 and 5 then the lord said to moses behold i will reign bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day that i may test them whether they will walk in my law or not and it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily interesting god giving commandment that is consistent with what he's going to give by way of codification at sinai in chapter 20. again this was extent that means it was present it was already there you see it in at least cain and abel we don't have much between the pages then but we have to assume that this kind of stuff was passed on now notice the specific reason for the instructions given in chapter 16 at verse 22 and so it was on the sixth day that they gathered twice as much bread two 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 bake which 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 none territon said this could not have been said unless the sabbath had already been instituted and commanded by god it would have made no sense if we assume that exodus chapter 20 is the first statement concerning sabbath we're going to run into problems with exodus chapter 16. i think we're going to run into problems with genesis chapter 2 1-3 especially when we consider the creator doesn't weary the creator doesn't need rest he doesn't need that physical refreshment because he's not a physical being he is doing this to express his delight and he is doing this as a pattern for his creatures for so that they will know there is this one one and seven pattern uh a modern commentator ross says does exodus 16 not suggest that they were aware of an obligation to rest before they heard the decalogue it certainly seems implicit in the passage they didn't say what are you talking about sabbath what are you talking about gathering up twice as much now of course they disobey and they don't always do what god says but that does not mean they weren't familiar with the particular practice and then if we turn over to the prophet isaiah isaiah has specific details concerning sabbath keeping isaiah 56 and isaiah 58. the context is messianic the context is new covenant blessing the context goes back to the servant of the lord's song in chapters 52 and 53 the suffering servant of the lord isaiah 42 49 50 and then 52 and 53 53 5253 is the one we are most familiar with the man of sorrows acquainted with grief after 53 of 54 which talks about the enlargement of the church the people of god the blessedness of the people of god chapter 55 is that invitation to come and join the people of god come and buy and eat all you who have no money come by and uh uh the the milk and the water and the wine and then in chapter 56 we see this this expansion in terms of new covenant blessing to include gentiles and to include eunuchs now eunuchs were forbidden from the house of the lord in the old covenant they were kept from the assembly of the lord that's what's glorious about isaiah 56 and especially when we compare it with acts chapter 8. when philip meets that ethiopian eunuch you're to think in terms of biblical prophecy you're to think in terms of fulfillment and fruition you're to think in terms of chapter 56 of isaiah the new covenant reality has come eunuchs are now included in the covenant people of god almighty look at 56 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 it is a prophecy concerning new covenant blessing it's a prophecy concerning the messianic reign and in new covenant blessing and in the messianic reign sabbath keeping is a feature sabbath keeping is present it's not oh there's no more sabbath keeping in the new covenant there's no more sabbath keeping under the reign of the messiah no blessed is the one who keeps from defiling the sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil 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 eunuch say here i am a dry tree for thus says the lord to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths 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 so when that ethiopian eunuch comes to the savior through the preaching of the uh of philip who who took the prophet isaiah and from that passage preached jesus to him isaiah's prophecy comes to fulfillment it comes to fruition and isaiah's prophecy includes not only the inclusion of eunuchs but it also includes sabbath keeping for the new covenant people of god almighty notice verse 6 also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the lord to serve him and to love the name of the lord excuse me 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 so you see what you have in 56 you have what was originally promised to noah to abraham to the other patriarchs of gentile inclusion in the covenant covenant blessings of god you see that reiterated here by the prophet isaiah in terms of eunuch inclusion in the covenant of grace that is the the ethiopian eunuch in acts chapter 8 but also a feature that that looms large in new covenant blessing is this idea of sabbath keeping and then also in isaiah 58 notice isaiah 58 you have the declaration of the sin of israel verse 1. god tells isaiah let him have it what's the jim butler paraphrase of verse 1. cry aloud spare not lift up your voice like a trumpet tell my people their transgression and the house of jacob their sins and the subject of fasting is addressed in verses 2 to 12 and then the subject of of sabbath in verses 13 and 14. and notice the language with reference to sabbath if you turn away your foot from the sabbath from doing your pleasure on my holy day and call the sabbath the 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 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 now all of this is couched in the language of old testament religion all of this is couched in the language that the children of israel would have appropriated they would have understood they would have heard they would have resonated with but the larger context again shows us that it applies to the new covenant and so with reference to the new covenant this aspect this feature of sabbath keeping is upheld it's seen as a good thing the commandments are not grievous they're not burdensome they're not problematic to the people of god e.j young he was a uh old testament scholar at westminster theological seminary in in philadelphia he was there i think when van till and and uh machin maybe yeah i think machine and then we're all i mean they just had a a loaded house at the time well e.j young wrote a three volume commentary on the prophet isaiah that has stood the test of time you if you have you know one you know 10 however many bucks to buy one book on or one work on the book of isaiah you won't go wrong with e.j young i mean he's a solid sure faithful guide on the prophet isaiah he comments the sabbath was not merely a mosaic ordin 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 isaiah 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 i think that's a that that's the way we should we should approach the sabbath far too often the sabbath is looked at as a mallet to beat the people of god up with i mean if our instruction to our children and our and our grandchildren is only constantly negative okay go sit in the corner and look at the wall and don't smile it's the sabbath day do you think they're going to come out with a a robust appreciation and and love for the sabbath no they're going to despise it and loathe it and abhor it but when you see that day is the day we get to go to church we get to be with the people of god we get to sing the praises of god we get to have rest for our souls we get to cease and desist from all the normal stuff we do all the other six days it's how we calc how we couch it how we frame it to people if it's just a mallet to beat people up with then we have violated the parameters of sabbatarianism sabbatarianism shouldn't be oh man shouldn't be a drudgery it should be what the prophet underscores in isaiah 58 then you shall delight yourself in the lord 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 that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the presence of god when you're walking through the park on a thursday doesn't mean that at all but it means that when god's people gather together corporately when he has promised and purpose to be there in in their midst when they give themselves to him he gives himself to us and it's a most rich blessing that we ought to jealously guard and fight for and contend for not a mallet to beat up people but a blessed provision given by the lord from the lord of the sabbath as a means of blessing for the people of god and then one final text speaks not specifically concerning the sabbath but it speaks concerning the deca lot or the ten commandments and the fourth commandment is one of the ten commandments so here's my problem with those who get rid of the fourth commandment on what basis do they do that how do you how do you willy-nilly declare that nine are abiding but one isn't no i know the argument well it's not repeated in the new testament i get that argument i think it's terrible i i don't appreciate it but but hermeneutically speaking there is something unique about the decalogue i think i introduced that when we looked at those passages it's the the decalogue specifically that is written by the finger of god that doesn't mean that the the law concerning the tabernacle isn't from him that doesn't mean that the law concerning the the goring ox isn't from him it doesn't mean that at all but there is something special about the decalogue or the moral law or the ten commandments and we are to view them as a unit and if we start to you know shift that unit around and we take out bits and pieces of that unit we better have solid hermeneutical grounds upon which to do that so back to the prophet jeremiah 31 31 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 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 i guarantee you that if you were a contemporary of jeremiah and you heard him preaching this from yahweh you wouldn't have said jeremiah what law do you what are you talking about what law is in your mind no it would have been obvious it would have been that law that came from the finger of god i will put my law in their minds i will write it on their hearts i will be their god and they shall be my people no more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man is brother saying know the lord for 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 not a specific statement concerning sabbatarianism but a statement concerning the decalogue as a whole and here we find what i call i got this from cam porter the trans-covenantal utility of the decala transcovenantal means it doesn't matter what covenant you're in it doesn't matter if you're an old covenant believer going to the tabernacle or going to the temple with your goat it doesn't matter if you're a new covenant believer going to the church of god with your spiritual goat it doesn't matter whatever covenant you find yourself under it doesn't matter if you're a jew doesn't matter if you're a gentile there is a transcovenantal utility usefulness about the decalogue or the law of god the ten commandments are abiding on all men everywhere at all times no man is a is an island and no man is is detached from the law of god what what standard do you think it will be when god brings judgment to bear upon unbelievers on that day of judgment it's going to be the daca lot what'd you do with the law how do you know your sin and misery the law of god tells me so right it's a pretty obvious sort of emphasis that we find in our bibles and then when we compare something like that to what jesus does in matthew chapter 5 which we'll look at god willing next week in verses 17 to 20. don't think that i came to abolish the law i didn't come to abolish it but i came to fulfill it jesus does not treat the law of god as a bad thing jesus in his earthly ministry fulfills the law jesus in his earthly ministry shows great esteem for that law and as jesus people we should have a likewise law a love for the law of god and in conclusion just let me re-emphasize the the positive emphasis for for you know rearing children or or or teaching or telling others about the the joys of sabbatarianism if it's just a straight jacket if it's just you know a mallet in your life if it's just you know every bad thing you can imagine you know it's sunday just sit there don't don't smile don't look at anybody just shut up and and and obey the sabbath that's not going to endear people to our to our way of thinking when it comes to this the the man was not made for the sabbath but sabbath was made for the man it's a good thing it's a blessed thing and in terms of the the normative use territon made this observation he says 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 i might have explained a month or two ago i got invited to a signal chat group called the billy club and it's all the pastors in canada that kept their churches open it's a mixed bag brethren i gotta tell you i cut i keep it on mute and i look at it at my my leisure but but there was a a great sort of uh interest you know the two sundays ago we looked at the the seventh commandment they got john mcarthur roped in on that it was kind of a big deal and all these billies are going nuts on you know let's preach against the sexual perversions of our day there's a reform guy steve richardson the guy that just had his day in court he's a confessional presbyterian i have far more in common with him than i do with the rest of the baptist richardson wrote an interesting blog post he said what where were we when the fourth commandment was thrown out i don't i didn't ever see the billy's come to to rally around that one where were we when the fourth commandment was tossed where was this kind of this mindset or earnestness when the the the world basically said no we're done with with sunday we're we're done with this whole concept of the lord say i think he made a very good point as i think turriton does too 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 more positively vos says the sabbath has faithfully accompanied the people of god on their march through the ages i think that's a good vantage point for which or by which we ought to approach it well let's pray our father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the law of god and we thank you that it is been given to us for our good not as a as an abuse not as a mallet to keep us down give us the disposition of the psalmist who delighted in the law of god and the inner man give us that that delight that we find in the lord jesus christ and the apostles of christ we know we're not saved by law keeping we know that we would never be saved by law keeping but we know that as saved sinners by grace through faith in our lord jesus christ we have that law as a pattern for our sanctification we ask that you would bless our souls bless our minds and hearts strengthen and encourage each one and god for all the brothers and sisters in our church currently sick we know this has been a rough season we just commit each one to you and to the word of your grace and pray that you would see each one through and we ask in jesus name amen i hear it's not just going through our church just fine i just wanted to know if we can stop timmy's on the way stop it timmy's on the way to church i i did a question though with uh uh leave the texas thirty-one yeah um what's going on there where it seems signs because i know that's like the dispensationals really point to that one saying look this was just between god and israel you know but when you read it he appeals to creation again yeah there so it's an interesting one i think the confession of faith does great great work on the sabbath and i think that the two things we need to appreciate is that with the moral law of god which the ten commandments are the the sabbath has both moral and positive that and that's why we can change the dance the the positive element is the saturday sign between god and israel it was one of those markers that kept them separate from the nations around them no problem that i think that's fine whatever was unique to old covenant israel is the positive element involved in the moral commandment but the the moral commandment demands the one day out of seven principle that the creature ceases from his regular works and he enters into you know the presence of god so so yeah i mean that would be the way i would go now of course the dispensationalist isn't going to get the whole moral positive distinction so it's going to be a little bit more difficult um i would suggest i think there's a great little book on sabbath by or the lord's day by joseph piper i'm not sure if he deals with that text in there i'm sure owen would oh and in his hebrews commentary has a long defense of christian sabbath i would probably think he would deal with it yeah yeah yeah it's just something that that that's where they go typically right and i mean we're going to get to 31 so i'm going to have to answer that in more detail in another year so actually it shouldn't be a year we're going to take larger sections when we get to the tabernacle we're not going to go through each piece what's the uh is there a connection with these with redemption and sex days um and one day of rest or is there not really like the the pattern of six days of the day of rest comes from creation yeah there's redemption i don't think so i don't think there's a connection there i just think the deuteronomy speaks to their situation in a in the same but in a in a more robust way so they're on the planes of moab they're getting ready to enter in and it's more reflective of hey god not only made the world everything in it but he's also redeemed you out of the house of bondage so i think it's just marrying those themes of creation redemption which intriguingly make their way into hebrews chapter four and it's not uh you know hebrews 4 is not obvious i mean i i it's a tough passage to teach um it's kind of like daniel 9. i think i understand the 70 weeks prophecy i just don't think i understand how to explain it to people there's things like that in the bible and i think hebrews 4 is kind of like that um so i'll do my best and you know try to take it slow but i think that the if you get the kind of main idea of what the apostle is doing in hebrews 4. i i think it becomes very clear that we have rationale i mean he says there does remain a sabbath when people come to fortnite there is a saboteurs mosque that remains that that's a given a.w pink and his treatment on the sabbath says how can anybody ever say there's no sabbath keeping in the new covenant my a pastor that i know of has said i don't know how anybody can read the new testament to come out you know thinking there's a sabbath hebrews 4 9 says there's a sabbath rest that remains for the people of god whatever that means it does say that uh but then 410 i think gives the specifics in terms of when that rest needs to be observed and creation and redemption seem to be the motifs that paul uses there in hebrews 4. yeah a lot the last time you preached on it was very to me that was when the light bulb really went on for me and you know well good there you go maybe i'll just bring that [Applause] moon or sabbath yeah or sabbaths which are a shadow of things to come so it sounds like it's saying we're doing away with all of that but it's including sabbaths yeah i will deal with that too um if not next week the following week i was just curious how far we should go because i did just preach this stuff recently um for me i'm happy to go through it i think it's it's wonderful material but the three terms that paul uses there in colossians let's see here okay he's got uh regarding a festival or new moon or sabbaths and if you notice the sabbath is plural but it's connected to this festival and new moon so these three terms festival new moon sabbaths there are six times those three terms are found in old testament passages you had a weekly saturday you had the moral law you had to go to tabernacle on saturday and worship but you had occasional sabbaths as well you had other days that were set apart as saturn leviticus that's right and it's in connection with these festivals and new moons i think paul is saying don't let anybody judge you based on israel's calendar that does not invalidate the moral commandment to succeed from your work one day out of the week to worship the living god so you've got colossians 2 romans 14 and galatians 4 are three new testament passages that are usually taken to teach anti-sabbatarianism but i think in each one in each of the context that's not the point the point is not the the command to separate yourself to come in and to worship god it's with reference to the to the various things that were on israel's calendar we're not you and i as new covenant believers we don't have to keep the feast of booths or you know whatever whatever else happened to be on their new moons or festivals or or those occasional or temporary seventh so i think that's what's going on there yes isaac i seem to recall that barcelona did a big essay on hubers yeah this is bringing up huge bells that's one two if this bees are to substantiate an anti-silent argument from those three passages that you mentioned that's not the same thing as refuting the aforementioned cumulative case from all the other texts that you've presented in the past so in other words it's like they're presenting a new line of evidence that does nothing to refute the evidence that the reform side has put forward and it's on that basis that i think our side so far has won the debate because they're not even touching the text that we're talking about i.e genesis 2 exodus 16 or something in other words growing up in the epidemic i never saw a counter to those positive texts so make it make it that way well yeah yeah i think in those particular contexts like romans 14 really it has i don't think has anything to do with it it has to do again with the kind of jewish food laws and and different uh calendrical observances so we'll we'll deal with those god and right yes colossians you also have the leftovers of pagan worship and worshiping the yeah there does seem to be a whole host of different things that that paul is dealing with there and it does seem to be mingled a bit of jew stuff and pagan stuff um there seems to be at least this is what a lot of guys think that that there was a um an affinity for or uh you know trying to peer into angelic things and and that sort of thing that's why you're stressing that christ is your all in all christ is the fish of christ is supreme over all these things don't get caught up in you know questions concerning you know creations of angels and should you worship that christ is the creator god over all that stuff worship him and don't let anybody come along and try to you know take you back to israel's calendar don't let anybody come along and try to you know teach you to be an ascetic just you know be happy and jesus basically is paul's point so so he's trying to counter you know good offense is a good defense he's presenting he's very pro christ he does a little bit of demolition of some of the things that seem to be problems with the colossians but the whole of colossians is more positively setting forth the supremacy of jesus because if you've got that then it should hopefully help you deal with all this other stuff yeah all right [Music] i