We're
Introduction
gonna read paragraphs seven and eight and have a look at the doctrine of the Sabbath from those two paragraphs. We've had a look through paragraphs one to six on more than one occasion with regards to the nature of worship, the light of nature requiring the worship of God, the light of scripture regulating that manner by which he is to be worshiped. the fact that worship is Trinitarian, it is the worship not of a generic notion of deity, but worship of the one and only living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that worship through the mediator since the fall going through the glorious one, Jesus Christ, very God and very man, the only mediator between God and man, and the elements of worship as well, those things being prayer, the reading of the scriptures, preaching, singing, sacraments, and occasional elements such as fastings and thanksgivings. Now we come to continuing with the doctrine of worship, specifically as it pertains to the day of worship, the day set aside, the Lord's Day Sabbath. So I'm gonna read paragraph seven and eight and then we'll have a look at this doctrine.
Confession Study
As it is the law of nature that in general a proportion of time by God's appointment He set apart for the worship of God. So by his word in a positive moral and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, he has particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week. and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished. The Sabbath is then kept wholly unto the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe and wholly rest all day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employment and recreations, but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship and in the duties of necessity and mercy. So this captures concisely, though in a packed fashion, the reform doctrine of the Lord's Day Christian Sabbath.
And there are a
Overview of Main Points
number of things that we should look at, or that we will try to look at, as we consider this particular truth. And those things are the following. First, the perpetual moral obligation of the Sabbath. This is from paragraph 7.
Natural Law and Proportion of Time
Natural law and the proportion of time with respect to the Sabbath. the threefold character of the Sabbath in special revelation, the twofold division, Old Covenant and New Covenant, the perpetuity restated with respect to the Sabbath, and then some theological themes and considerations. And given the time that we have, then we can have a look at some of the items from paragraph eight as well that we'll list when we get there. First off, we want to note the
Sabbath as Creation Ordinance
perpetual moral obligation of the Sabbath, and sort of by way of introduction, but leaning obviously upon the content, the Sabbath, we want to note, is a creation ordinance. It's not specifically linked exclusively to Sinai. It wasn't exclusively or only a mosaic institution, but rather God instituted it at the creation, it being a reflection of His very divine perfections and nature. He wrote it upon the heart of Adam, and it was only, of course, later codified upon Mount Sinai as a commandment given to those in the wilderness.
Now, With that, we should see then, if we back up a little bit to paragraph, to chapter 19, and a particular paragraph, paragraph two, just to reinforce what we stated there, that the Sabbath is, moral law that precedes Sinai and is a creation ordinance.
Moral Law Preceding Sinai
Notice the same law, paragraph 2, chapter 19, the same law that was first written in the heart of man continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall and was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai in Ten Commandments and written in two tables in The first four containing our duty towards God, and the other six, our duty to man. So you see there, the fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments was beforehand written upon the heart of man, prior to the Fall, by virtue of the creation of man. And so the Sabbath, far from being simply restricted to the Mosaic epoch, or the Mosaic era, or the Old Covenant, is something that transcends Sinai. It was never, the Sabbath itself, was never abrogated.
Seventh day, as we'll see, seventh day worship was abolished, but the Sabbath principle abides in first day Sabbath worship. The Sabbath, as we study this and as we engage in any study of the Sabbath, we ought to note that the Sabbath is or should be understood as God-focused and not merely man-focused. I think it's unfortunate that in a study of the Sabbath or in discussions of the Sabbath or in thinking of the Sabbath, very often it gets distilled down to or boiled down to or unfortunately limited to what do we do and what can we not do on the Lord's day. We should see it first and foremost as a day for God and about God, and that reflects His glory, and that rests upon the perfections of the mediator, Jesus Christ.
It's about the triune God, it's about Christ, And it's about the gospel. It's not about what can we get away with on the Sabbath. So it should be God-focused and not man-focused. Man is, with respect to the Sabbath, to imitate God, who delighted in the perfection of his creation.
We'll note this as we continue along. When God rests on the seventh day, it's not because he exerted energy and required recovery. It's condescended language, the reality of God resting, to highlight the perfection and the completion of his work. And as the old guys would say, it reflects the fact that he engaged in contemplations of his own divine perfections on that particular day.
It's condescended language to speak to the glory of God, the sovereign reality of the perfection of his sanctified day. The foundation is God's own character. The foundation of the Sabbath is God's own character, His sufficiency, His sovereignty, His eternal and unchanging blessedness. So let's look then at the text of the confession.
So natural law and the proportion of time with respect to the Sabbath. Notice this first clause here. So this should hearken us back to the first paragraph of this chapter. Where we read, the light of nature shows that there is a God who has lordship and sovereignty over all, is just, good, and does good to all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all the heart and all the soul and with all the might.
And so now, in paragraph seven, this same principle with regards to the light or the law of nature is in view here. As it is the law of nature, though there may be a subtle distinction between those particular terms, there's an obvious connection here. 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, just as by the light of nature we know that there is a God, that's chapter 1, paragraph 1, chapter 22, paragraph 1, just as we know by the light of nature that there is a God, so too do we know by the light of nature, by general revelation, by casting our eyes upon the cosmos and considering the creation.
By that we also know that that God is to be loved, feared, worshipped, called upon with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength. So too do we know that there is a general proportion of time that has been set apart for the worship of God. This isn't simply the stuff of, though we'll get to that, special revelation. It's the stuff of creation and the very light and the law of nature.
Even pagan nations as the, as, Clement of Alexandria says something like, the Grecians and the barbarians know by the rhythm of their own creation that there is a day to be set aside for the worship of one greater than themselves. There is the reality by our creation that we know in the rhythm of our flesh, we know that there is a day that God has appointed for the worship of himself. So man knows, and we should say that this echoes the twofold approach to paragraph one, both the light of nature as well as then special revelation, because as we'll see in a moment, we see this transition from the law of nature to so by his word. There's always this in not only here, but in paragraph one of chapter one, in paragraph one of chapter 22.
And here, there's this transition or this twofold reality of general revelation followed by special revelation, or natural revelation followed by supernatural revelation, or the light of nature followed by the scripture of truth. And so we see that same thing here with regards to the Sabbath. Man knows by creation that there is a rhythm of time set apart for God's worship, The very constitution of man evidences this divine appointment. Even pagan cultures reflect a corrupted version of this rhythm.
We could go to Romans 1, but we won't. This is a quote from Clement of Alexandria. I think the other one might have been from Jerome that I had mentioned. But this is Clement of Alexandria.
The
General Revelation and Pagan Witness
seventh day is sacred, not the Hebrews only, but the Gentiles also acknowledge, according to which the whole universe of living and vegetable things revolve. So it's not, he's saying not the Hebrews only, so not by virtue of the oracles of God only, but the Gentiles know by virtue of their creation that there is a day to be set aside. We ought to see then, if we look in our Bibles, we can see some texts that speak to the reality of this connected to creation. Notice in Genesis 2.
Notice in Genesis chapter two with regards to the creation account.
Creation Texts on the Sabbath
Genesis 2 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 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. Remember as we had already noted that God's rest here is condescended language communicating the perfection and the sufficiency of his work. God does not exert himself. God does not put out work and labor and power such that he needs time for recovery, that he needs a day off.
God is pure act, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in all of his glories, in all of his perfections, and in his untouchable majesty. and so he does not properly rest, as we understand rest, but this is, again, condescended language to speak to the reality of the perfection and the divine satisfaction in the work of the Blessed One. If we see here, moving forward to Exodus, in Exodus chapter 20, and the giving of the Ten Commandments, we want to notice something here with regards to the language of the Fourth Commandment. Notice the institution here of the fourth commandment in the Mosaic context isn't novel, it's not a new thing. It reflects something that had already obtained.
Notice, remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, six days, this is Exodus 28, 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.
And so this instructs us as well with regards to the nature of the day and how we ought to approach it. If God blessed it, if God, as it were, invokes his own blessed name in the consecration of the day and sets it apart as a holy day, how terrible is it then to reject the Sabbath day? if God himself has set it apart and sanctified it, has made it holy, has given it to us in his condescension, it's a gift, the Sabbath day. It's not an onerous or it's not a laborious drudgery, It's a blessed gift that God has given us, this day that he set apart, where we can recognize his triune glory and through the mediation of Christ approach him and he receives our worship acceptably through the mediator. It's a glorious thing.
God has sanctified it, that is, he has set it apart and consecrated it for contemplations of his glory that we might in a way imitate God who delighted in the perfection of his own creation. Let's look then at the
Threefold Character of the Sabbath
threefold character of the Sabbath in special revelation. We get back to the confession, moving forward now, so we transition now from the light of nature to special revelation, the light of scripture, if you will. 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 notice, so by his word, in a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, he has particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him.
So the transition now to special revelation, and we have something of a threefold character to the Sabbath day. It's kind of twofold, but threefold. In your confession of faith, unless you have one of the ones that Justin made, you'll see in a positive comma, moral comma, and perpetual commandment. In the original, it's in a
Positive, Moral, and Perpetual Commandment
positive hyphen moral. So it's a positive moral is a single phrase, and then end perpetual commandment. And there's a reason for the bringing together of positive and moral in this particular paragraph. It's because it bears, the Sabbath does, the character of both of those types of law.
For those who have been here for any amount of time and for those who attended Jim Renahan's Symbolics course, he touched upon the difference between positive and moral. Positive law is an explicit command given by God via special revelation for a particular covenantal period. In the Old Covenant, those positive laws were things like, well actually even before the Old Covenant, properly speaking, the Mosaic Covenant, the command given to Adam and Eve in the garden was positive law. do not eat, or when you eat of the, well, do not eat, the restriction to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Confession calls that positive law.
It also uses the language, which is the same, of a particular preset. So a positive law is an explicit divine command given by God for operation within a particular covenantal context. The ceremonial laws of the old covenant were, you know, not eating shellfish and not eating pork, those things are not inherently wicked, pork and shellfish. God, for a particular period of time, gave a positive law in order to reflect His holiness, in order to set apart the Jews from the Gentiles, and in order to typify the perfection of Christ and His cleanness, covenantal cleanness and His holiness.
So, positive laws. Moral laws are those that reflect the very nature and character of God. They are trans-covenantal. They're not restricted to particular covenants, but rather they transcend covenants.
The Ten Commandments, for example, which again reflect the very law of creation written upon the heart of Adam. So, the confession is saying that the Sabbath bears those first two characteristics and the confession joins them together. A positive moral commandment. So, there are two aspects to the Sabbath law.
It has that trans-covenantal character. It is moral in that it is always God's command that a particular day be set aside for the worship of Him. And as we'll see in the next set of clauses, in the Old Covenant, the positive aspect was seventh-day worship. In the New Covenant, the positive aspect of the Sabbath is first day worship.
So moral, the principle of the Sabbath, positive in the Old Covenant, seventh day, in the New Covenant, first day. So there is a positive and a moral aspect to the Fourth Commandment. With regards to the moral, the Sabbath reflects the very nature and character of God, His sufficiency, his blessedness, his goodness, and his gift of a day of rest and worship to man. Not that God gives worship to man, but giving the gift of worship to man, that man might worship God on that special day.
It is, because it is a moral commandment, it is trans-covenantal, it's never abrogated, All of the Ten Commandments are moral, reflecting the very divine perfections of God. And notice as well, it's a perpetual commandment. So if it is moral, then it is perpetual. The Confession repeats that here, that it binds men in all ages. grounded in the moral character of God, it reflects his eternal nature and is therefore perpetual.
Not only by virtue of that, but by virtue of the very command given by God that's upheld both in the old and the new covenants. It's a perpetual law binding men in all ages to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath. That's the language a little bit later in paragraph seven and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, that particularly speaking to the New Covenant, which brings us then to our next point, the
Old and New Covenant Sabbath Observance
twofold division, the Old and New Covenant observance. So notice the confession here. It's speaking with regards to now the positive aspect, the positive law aspect of the Sabbath. He has particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week or the seventh day. and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's Day.
So first off, we see the Old Covenant, the beginning of the world notice to the resurrection of Christ, not from the beginning of the Mosaic Covenant, not from Mount Sinai to the resurrection of Christ, but rather from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ. One of the things that we see in Genesis 4 with regards to the end of days coming, as Jim has mentioned before and as you perhaps have heard from Richard Barcelos in his book and in other contexts, that language doesn't speak to eschatological things when Cain and Abel are bringing their offerings, but it speaks to the rhythm of the week and the creational ordinance of the Sabbath where at the end of the days, on the seventh day, they bring their particular offerings to God. And so it's from not Sinai to the resurrection of Christ, but from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the Old Covenant Sabbath observed on the seventh day. But notice, with regards to the New Covenant, it's now been changed to the last day of the week, excuse me, to the first day of the week, which is Sunday, which is called the Lord's Day. was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's Day.
This is the language of Turretin with regards to this, and then we'll have a look at some of the texts that speak to the New Covenant reality of the Sabbath being changed to the first day of the week. From the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's Day. They substituted the Lord's Day for the Sabbath and commended it when he says they. Turretin is speaking of the fact that it's by apostolic institution that the Lord's Day is observed that Sabbath is observed on the first day of the week.
He's writing against some Catholic notions of the institution of the Sabbath being by canonical command, in other words, by, you know, papal decree. And he's saying, no, it's because of apostolic institution that we observe the Sabbath. And so he says, with regards to the apostles, they substituted the Lord's day for the Sabbath and commended it to the churches, not without the special influence of the Holy Spirit by whom They were infallibly directed to prescribe such things as not only conduce to faith and morals, but also to the good order of the Church and the performance of divine worship. Now, there are three passages in particular from which this institution is gathered.
One, from Acts 20, verse 7, and upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break the bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow. Why are the apostles said to have assembled for the preaching of the word and the administration of the Eucharist on this rather than any other day or on the well-known Sabbath of the Jews, unless at that time So, that's all of that to say that Turretin, if we could distill that down, what he's saying is that from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, the last day of the week was the Sabbath, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week. So where in the New Testament might we see some texts that speak to this particular reality? He noted one there already, but let's first turn to the Gospel of Luke. the Gospel of Luke.
Notice the language there in the Confession of Faith with regards to the New Covenant Sabbath, the Christian Sabbath, or Lord's Day. It's from the resurrection of Christ that this first day becomes the day, the instituted day. Notice in Luke 24 at verse 1. Now on the
New Testament Texts on the Lord's Day
first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared, but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Now you might say, okay, It's just coincidence that you know, okay. It's the first day of the week. But first of all, there are no coincidences Secondly Luke is very deliberate in what he writes.
He's inspired by the Holy Spirit, of course, but he's very deliberate in what he writes. There's no wasted words by Luke. If this wasn't in some way connected to the institution of the day upon which people, Christians, would gather for reflections upon and worship concerning the new creation. Remember that that's in view with regards to the Sabbath observance.
The first Sabbath, the one from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was a creation ordinance, and it remembers, according to Exodus 20, in addition to the redemption wrought from out of Egyptian bondage, but it remembers that God rested on the sixth day, rested on the seventh day, that after six days, God rested upon the seventh. So it remembers creation, the Sabbath, and it's connected, the command is connected to that. In the new creation, we see the same Sabbath reality, the same connection going on with Sabbath and creation, this time with the new creation. The word or son was present at that first creation, of course, being God himself. the Word that God spoke and things came into existence.
The Word or Son was present and at the new creation, the Word or Son having assumed our nature for our redemption and our recovery, renders the perfection of a new creation by the sacrifice of himself, and so institutes upon his resurrection on the first day of the week, that Sabbath reality that in the new covenant, the sanctified day is the first day of the week, remembering the new creation. But let's see again this language, if you turn with me to John 20. John 20, and the same language in a number of places. Notice first in John 20 at verse 1.
Now, the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, why it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Now, notice as well verse 9, for as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead, then the disciples went away again to their own homes. Now notice verse 19. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, peace be with you.
And then as well, verse 26. And after eight days, which is Jewish idiom or a Jewish reality for one week later. So it's again the first day of the week. And after eight days, his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them.
Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, peace to you. So there's a deliberate recurrence of the first day of the week language and Jesus coming and standing in the midst and saying peace to you. And I just wanna say that this is what Jesus does for us every Sabbath. Jesus comes, he stands in the midst of us and he says peace to you.
This is a blessed reality, and we see this in the resurrection. We see this one week later, after the resurrection, where He appears again on the first day, standing in the midst. And this is the stuff of Revelation 1, Christ standing in the midst of His lampstands. This is the reality of the Sabbath of the new creation.
Jesus coming and being with His people. Notice as well, if you turn forward a bit in Revelation to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16 verse 1. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters, I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me. This is the language Paul uses elsewhere when you come together for the Lord's Supper. When you come together on the first day of the week with regards to what's the best way to get collections for the needs of others?
It's when the church gathers on the Lord's Day Sabbath. And so on the first day of the week, the Lord's Day Sabbath, the apostolic command for the collection of the saints is that they bring of their goods and provide them when they come together as a church. As well, if you turn back with me to what Turretin noted in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 20, as we see the apostolic pattern in Acts 20 at verse 7. Now, on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
It's very interesting there. We might just, you know, we might just easily, you know, kind of pass over it or, you know, just, ah, that's an interesting narrative. But notice that it's the first day of the week. So it's Sunday, it's the Lord's Day, Sabbath, but it's the first day of the week and there's preaching and there's the Lord's Supper.
So, sometimes I think we can just read this, okay, yeah, it's the yearly church, they're doing stuff, it's just an interesting narrative that Luke is giving us. But it's the first day of the week, there's preaching, and there's sacrament. This is, in the apostolic church, the Lord's Day ethic already prevailing, of course, as instituted by Christ, and carried forth from his resurrection. We would want to notice as well, you can make a note of Revelation 1.10, John being in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.
As you've heard from Jim before, and as you heard from the other Jim when he was here, that language of the Lord's Day bears with it that dominical authority. It is the Lord's Day, the Lord of the new covenant, the mediator Christ, instituting a day which is, in a way, a remembrance of the new creation. wherein the people of God gather together for sweet reflections upon the triune God and upon the Christ of their profession. The reason for the day change, we've already essentially noted it, but the reason for the day change is the new creation wrought by Christ's redemptive work. Christ rested from his labors, inaugurating a new day of Sabbath observance.
In the Old Testament, from the Sabbath instituted at the beginning of creation, we see God resting. Again, not there that he needed to because of exertion. This time, Christ, not according to his divine nature, whereby he also, of course, being consubstantial with the Father and Spirit, requires no rest from exertion, but according to his assumed humanity, as mediator, really did exert. He endured suffering, body and soul.
He in body and maybe we would want to say more importantly with respect to redemption, he endured travail of soul, the wrath of God coming upon him, and he executed upon great labor that he might bring many sons to glory. And so Christ rested from his labors inaugurating a new day. of Sabbath observance. The first creation typologically pointed forward to that reality. When we look at the first creation, you know, we could think chronologically, okay, first creation comes before the new creation.
Okay, we focus on some wonderful things with regards to the first creation, the power of God exerted. man being made, brought up from the dust of the earth, the spirit of God breathed into him, that sort of a thing, life breathed into him, all of the things that obtain with respect to the glory of the divine creation. But let's never forget that the telos, the end goal, the aim of creation is Christ upon the cross working out the salvation of men. The point of creation is the new creation. The point of creation, yes, highlighting the glories of the triune God, is nevertheless unto the end that, in the new creation, Christ would, by the perfection of his work, bring many sons and daughters to salvation through his riches and excellencies.
The Lord's Day is a dominical ordinance pertaining to the Lordship of Christ as incarnate mediator. Let's move forward then as we see here the
Perpetuity of the Christian Sabbath
perpetuity stated that is the ongoingness, the fact that it is a perpetual commandment. we see that it is restated here, 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. So, it's not a temporary commandment. There is no end to it in this particular era, until the end of the world, in the blessedness, there is still a forward-pointing reality to the Sabbath. It's not abolished.
It remembers things, and it's given by virtue of things that have already happened. And it's a blessed down payment and a deposit that points forward to something in our future where we will enter into our eternal rest by virtue of the perfection of the one who rested from his labors after perfecting salvation. So it's continued to the end of the world, it being, remember, a trans-covenantal, positive moral, perpetual commandment given by divine condescension for our good and for His glory. Moving on then, let's have a
Keeping the Sabbath Holy
look at paragraph eight. Paragraph eight, and we see here the observance of the Sabbath. This pertains now not so much to the theology or the content or the ground of the Sabbath, the observation of or the day upon which the Sabbath is and certain things connected to it, but how the day is to be kept by those who are to keep it. Just a few things to look at here.
First, preparing for the Sabbath. Secondly, resting from works, words, and thoughts. Thirdly, taking up the whole time in worship. and then some practical helps for Sabbath observance. And if we have some time, we'll look at the heart of the matter.
We may not have time to work through all of this, but we wanna treat it as much as we can here. So first off,
Preparing Heart and Affairs Beforehand
preparing for the Sabbath, our heart and affairs beforehand. Notice paragraph eight, the Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts and ordering their common affairs aforehand, So there is a preparing for the Sabbath. If we can say this, our Sabbath ethic doesn't necessarily start at sunrise, if you will. There is a preparing beforehand.
The Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts and ordering their common affairs beforehand, So common affairs are to be ordered prior to, you know, the day. You know, I remember talking to somebody a long time ago about the Sabbath and you know, the inability, you know, the sort of the, speaking about the imposition and the inability to do certain things on the Sabbath, like what if I, you know, what if I need to go buy potato chips or, you know, what if I need to, well, the preparing of our affairs beforehand means that whatever you think you need to do on the Sunday to get done, you can do it on the Saturday. You know, I think a good measure of self-discipline, so that the day is wholly given over to God and the worship of Him, is to do exactly this, to make sure that those things that are common affairs are done before the day. And so, whatever those things may be, those things can be done beforehand.
And I don't mean to bring these things down to the level of potato chips. We could lift things up and think of things a little bit more significant, but whatever qualifies for common affairs, those things are to be done beforehand. A preparing of our hearts for the day and ordering things beforehand, getting things done Monday through Saturday, such that Sunday, the Lord's Day Sabbath, is set aside to be observed as an holy rest all day. Keeping the Lord's Day includes what we do Monday through Saturday.
And I don't mean that to bring down the importance of the Sunday because of its peculiar nature and its special day, but what I mean is the ordering of common affairs, so that come that special day, we will have prepared our hearts, which can be constituted of meditation, reflection on the God of the Sabbath, moving from the common to the sacred, moving from the six days previous into the first day of the week that we might give it wholly unto the worship of God. The emphasis is on disposition, responsibility, and Christian maturity. As we'll note at the end, we're never going to keep the Sabbath day perfectly. There's one who did do that, our precious Savior, and praise God that we have him as substitute who kept the Sabbath day perfect and really did keep it holy.
The emphasis in chapter 22, paragraph 8 is on the disposition of heart, the responsibility, and the Christian maturity of the adherent to the Sabbath. Christ alone perfectly kept the Sabbath, the command shines the light on him as our righteousness. And notice here this
Resting from Works, Words, and Thoughts
resting, secondly, from works, words, and thoughts. Do not only observe and wholly rest all day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employment and recreation. I think we should observe here that this is kind of, it's formulaic, this language, and representative of something, words, works, and thoughts. It represents a whole-souled approach to the Sabbath day.
We might hear in this echoes of Deuteronomy 6, Deuteronomy 6 verses four and five, which you're familiar with. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. It's almost as if here the confessionalists are reflecting a three-fold formula with regards to that whole-bodied and sold approach to the worship of God, our own works, words, and thoughts.
The commandments require not just external conformity, but internal disposition. And hopefully this is no new revelation to us. The commandments of God are like this. If we think of Christ in dealing with the perversities of the Pharisees at the points of adultery and murder, for example, adultery, is not just the abstinence from or the external compliance to not committing adultery. but also that inward disposition, that reality of not lusting after another in our hearts.
The same with murder. It's not just the outward act of ending a life, but that inward disposition of not hating a brother in your heart. So too with the Sabbath. It's not just about what we do or don't do externally, but there is that reality of the internal element.
The fourth commandment involves works, words, and thoughts, if we could sum it up, a comprehensive orientation unto the God, God, the God of the Sabbath. And we would want to notice not, this doesn't pertain to the absolute eradication of particular things, but a sanctified direction. I think we can read this, and while some have, well, we can all read it and think, man, okay, never gonna meet up to this. We've already said, praise God, that there's one who has.
But I think we can also perhaps import too much into the words and not see the sanctified direction the confession is asking us to follow along. The scope is a comprehensive orientation away from the secular and toward the sacred. That's a key point I think that we ought to observe. Okay, man, nothing can enter my mind at all. concerning my worldly employment and record, nothing at all.
I think again, the idea is understanding that God has sanctified the day, and so too are we to sanctify the day. We ought to see that the scope is a comprehensive orientation away from the secular, but towards the sacred. The confession does not demand absolute mental sterilization from all secular reference. It demands, It does demand a cessation from entanglement in worldly things that would draw the heart from the sanctified nature of the day.
Hopefully, you see that. It does not demand absolute mental sterilization from all secular reference, but it does demand a deliberate cessation from entanglement in worldly things that would draw the heart from the sanctified nature of the day. A key distinction is the framework of the day holy or are we entangled in secular concerns? We can ask that question on the Sabbath day.
Is the framework of my day holy or am I entangled in secular concerns such that my distractions are elsewhere? Thomas Watson wrote, to keep the Sabbath day holy, is not only to abstain from work, but from worldly discourse and thoughts. When a man speaks of worldly things occasionally and not designedly, it is not unlawful. Let me just read that one more time.
To keep the Sabbath day holy is not only to abstain from work, but from worldly discourse and thoughts. When a man speaks of worldly things occasionally and not designedly, it is not unlawful. biblical echo with regards to the ethic of the Lord's Day Sabbath, whenever you read treatments of the Sabbath day by almost any theologian who's treating the topic in an extensive manner, they will go to Isaiah 58. Isaiah 58, verse 13. If you 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.
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. There we see some of the grounding with regards to the confession, and the language being used. One of the proof texts, of course, listed there, depending on the copy of the confession that you have, is that very text. We are not to be caught up by our own pleasure, our own ways, and our own words.
We are to be caught up in God's works, God's words, and God's thoughts. And that's a good thing. Just so that everyone knows, that's a good thing. Not to be caught up in our words, works, and thoughts, but to be caught up in God's words. works and thoughts because ours can be terrible and ours can be, of course, distracting and ours can be anxiety inducing.
But when we cast those things aside and our whole souled and our body coming along for the wholesome ride, but our whole-souled approach is to God and His works, words, and thoughts, then the day is truly and properly sanctified, and we honor God in that. and were to be
Wholly Taken Up in Worship
taken up the whole time in the worship of God. Public worship, private exercises of worship, John Owen wrote, the whole day is separated unto God for the ends of the public and private duties of worship and works of mercy and necessity, and herein consists the sanctification of it. The confession speaks with regards to that, the duties of necessity and mercy. but are, that is, we are to be, taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship and in the duties of necessity and mercy. What constitutes those things?
True necessity, what cannot be reasonably avoided without threatening life, health, or obedience to God's commands. Mercy on the Sabbath is relieving genuine distress or caring for physical or spiritual needs. And so, just very briefly in conclusion, and then any questions, you can fire away. The
Application
Lord's Day is, we want to say, the Lord's Day is not about coffee. It's about consecration. It's about a holy day set aside by God that we likewise, in imitation of Him, are to ourselves set aside that we might, like Him, reflect in His glories, His eternal blessedness, in contemplations of His excellencies. The question is not how far can I go? on the Sabbath, but how near can I draw to God?
If the Lord's day is, as the Puritans have noted, a market day for the soul, then every action should be judged by how it aligns with worship, with rest, with mercy, with necessity, with delight in Christ. No one keeps the Sabbath perfectly. Praise God for Christ who kept it perfectly. Our Sabbath obedience does not avail with God for salvation, but as a normal expression of sanctified Christianity, we delight in the fourth commandment.
Well, let's close in prayer, and then if there are any questions, you can fire away.
Closing Prayer
God, we thank you for your day given to us. We rejoice in your condescended goodness towards us in giving us this day that you have set it aside, that you have sanctified it and blessed it. We pray that we would see it as such a blessed and sanctified day, that you'd help us in this day and in each and every Sabbath to bring honor to you, to fellowship with one another in communion and gospel truth, That we would worship you are right in prayer and singing in the reading of scriptures and the preaching of the word Help us in all of these things to be focused upon you are triune God By virtue and through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his name. Amen
Questions and Answers
Any any questions comments Yep Very similar thing There would be some that would not see it as rooted in creation, but see it as confined to the Mosaic institutions, and would see it therefore as connected to perhaps ceremonial law rather than moral law, and so that Christ truly did abrogate the Sabbath, not only the positive aspect, but its moral aspect as confined to the Mosaic Covenant. So yeah, they would sort of categorize it more as ceremonial, as ceremonial, and then therefore abrogated by Christ and no longer binding. Yeah. All right.
Thanks, everybody.