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Last time we looked at what's 
called the Regulative Principle of Worship. This is what the 
Confession sets forth in paragraph one. I think that's summarized, 
or that principle is summarized well by Benjamin Keech. He says, 
Whatsoever we do in the worship of God, we must see we have a 
command from God to warrant our practice. And also we must not 
add to nor diminish from, nor alter anything. If we do, God 
will not hold us guiltless." And a more modern author, Terry 
Johnson, says, to put it simply, in worship we pray the Bible, 
sing the Bible, read the Bible, and preach the Bible, and see 
the Bible. And we see the Bible in the sacraments 
of the church. So that's the regulative principle 
of worship in paragraph 1. I want to read the whole chapter 
and then our focus this morning will be on the Sabbath day. So 
beginning in paragraph 1, chapter 22, the light of nature shows 
that there is a God who hath lordship and sovereignty over 
all, is just, good, and doth good unto 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. but the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is 
instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, 
that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations 
and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, 
or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. Religious 
worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
and to Him alone, not to angels, saints, or any other creatures, 
and since the fall, not without a mediator, nor in the mediation 
of any other but Christ alone. Prayer with thanksgiving, being 
one part of natural worship, is by God required of all men. 
but that it may be accepted it is to be made in the name of 
the Son, by the help of the Spirit, according to his will, with understanding, 
reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance, 
and when with others, in a known tongue. Prayer is to be made 
for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that 
shall live hereafter, but not for the dead, nor for those of 
whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death. 
The reading of the scriptures, preaching and hearing the word 
of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns 
and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the 
Lord, as also the administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper, 
are all parts of religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience 
to Him with understanding, faith, reverence and godly fear. Moreover, 
solemn humiliation with fastings and thanksgivings upon special 
occasions ought to be used in a holy and religious manner. 
Neither prayer nor any other part of religious worship is 
now under the gospel tied unto or made more acceptable by any 
place in which it is performed or towards which it is directed. 
But God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth, as in 
private families daily, and in secret each one by himself, so 
more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly nor 
willfully to be neglected or forsaken, when God by His word 
of providence calleth thereto. 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. The Sabbath is then kept holy 
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 the 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. Amen. Well, as I said last time, we 
considered specifically the regulative principle set forth in paragraph 
1. Well, in paragraph 2, we see 
that worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit alone. He is the object of worship. 
We're not to worship Mary. We're not to worship the angels. 
We're not to worship, obviously, Baal, or Moloch, or Asherah, 
or money, or anything like that. And then the Confession states 
that since the fall, not without a mediator. So Christ alone is 
the way to the Father, and we come to the Father through the 
Son by the Spirit. And then we see specific elements 
involved in worship in paragraphs 3 to 5, just giving an overview 
before we land on the Sabbath day. But the ordinary elements 
are set forth, and then there are occasional elements. If you 
look at the end, of paragraph 5, and thanksgivings or solemn 
humiliation with fastings and thanksgivings upon special occasions 
ought to be used in an holy and religious manner. So the ordinary 
elements and then those extraordinary, those times when it is necessitated 
that we set apart time for fasting and thanksgiving upon special 
occasions. And then paragraph 6 deals with 
the appropriate location for worship. It highlights the fact 
that the worship that is in accordance with the gospel, now under the 
gospel, it is not specifically located in any particular place. If you remember, In the Old Covenant, 
God demanded a central sanctuary in Deuteronomy chapter 12, and 
that was a bit of preventative maintenance. God knew the hearts 
of the people of Israel. If they were to worship wherever 
they desired to worship, most likely they would have worshipped 
with whomever they had been around, namely the Canaanites. So the 
central sanctuary in the Old Testament was a specific admonition 
or demand by God to maintain fidelity among the covenant people. 
But according to John 4, our Lord Jesus says it's not Jerusalem, 
it's not any place in particular, but God is spirit and those who 
worship must worship in spirit and truth. So it's not tied to 
a particular place. And then paragraphs 7 and 8 speak 
to the appointed day for worship. Paragraph 7 speaks to the institution 
of the Sabbath day, and then paragraph 8 deals with the sanctification 
of the Sabbath day. And if you look specifically, 
the law of nature requires a Sabbath day. Paragraph 7, 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, and then 
it goes on to highlight the specific Command in in scripture so by 
his word in a positive moral and perpetual commandment Binding 
all men in all ages He hath particularly appointed one day and seven for 
a sabbath to be kept holy unto him So just a couple of things 
before we look at some specific texts that treat the doctrine 
of the sabbath notice the confession highlights that there's a Positive 
element and a moral element in this particular commandment. 
It is perpetual. That means it is forever. It 
is binding all men and all ages as the Confession sets forth. 
But remember that the law of God has, you know, obviously 
the moral dimension. There are moral laws. We speak 
of the Ten Commandments. Prohibitions against idolatry, 
blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking, insubordination. and then our 
duties toward man. So those are moral laws. A positive 
law is something that God commands for a specific time. A good example 
is the prohibition against eating of the tree of the knowledge 
of good and evil in the garden. It's not necessarily and intrinsically 
sinful to eat from any particular tree, but in that particular 
instance, God, by way of a positive law, instituted that as a means 
by which it would test Adam's fidelity to God. So positive 
refers to something specified by God for a particular time. 
So man can't do away with a command, but God can alter it. Doesn't 
alter him, but it alters it with reference to men. And so there 
is a positive aspect of the Sabbath, and we see that because there's 
a difference in terms of the day. In the Old Covenant, it 
was on Saturday. In the New Covenant, it's on 
Sunday. The Confession is going to deal 
with that in just a moment. But that's a positive element 
attached to this moral commandment. The moral principle is one day 
of seven that binds all men in all ages. But with reference 
to the particular covenant that men are in, there is that positive 
aspect. In the Old, it referenced to 
Saturday, and in the Old, with reference to Sunday. So that's 
why there can be a change from Saturday to Sunday, and that 
is specifically what has transpired. Now, the Confession goes on to 
highlight that very specifically when it says about the middle 
of paragraph 7, which from the beginning of the world to the 
resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week. That's 
Saturday. 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 reason I wanted to spend 
a little bit more time on this is because it is a particular 
commandment that has been called into question or just utterly 
rejected by many in evangelicalism. They have, I think, a defective 
view of God's law, and it leads them to think or believe that 
the Sabbath is no longer for the people of God. And there's 
a whole bunch of reasons that they give or offer to try and 
come at that particular interpretation, and we'll deal with a few of 
those as we move along. But I just want to do a bit of 
a biblical theology of Sabbath. What does the Bible say about 
the Sabbath? We're certainly not going to 
look at every text, but some of the major categories of texts 
with reference to the doctrine of the Sabbath. So we'll see 
with reference to this statement that it's from creation to Christ's 
resurrection the last day of the week, we'll consider the 
Sabbath in the Old Covenant, the Sabbath at creation, the 
Sabbath at Sinai, the Sabbath and Isaiah, and then the moral 
law in Jeremiah. And then with reference to Christ's 
resurrection, excuse me, to the consummation, the first day of 
the week, we'll consider the ministry of Jesus, the resurrection 
of Christ, the teaching of the apostles, and therein we'll also 
deal with those passages that seem to imply the abolition of 
the Sabbath command. You got those statements in Romans 
14, and in Galatians chapter 4, and then in Colossians chapter 
2. Those passages are oftentimes offered up as proof that the 
Sabbath no longer abides for the people of God. So it does 
bid us well, or serve us well, to consider those passages. But 
let's look first at the Sabbath at creation. You can turn in 
your Bibles to Genesis 2. Genesis 2. I'm in no rush. If we don't get through all of 
this material today, God willing, we'll take it up again in two 
weeks' time. Since I'm not in a rush, you're 
not either. Just kidding. Notice in Genesis 2, specifically 
at 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. Now this along with 
work and marriage has been rightly called a creation ordinance. Creation ordinances are those 
things we find in the creation account that have binding validity 
upon the creature after the creation account. So a creation ordinance, 
here Sabbath, as I've said, labor, and then also marriage, those 
are creation ordinances. And we ought to appreciate the 
fact that here specifically we see how God sets forth a pattern. It says, 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 those concepts oftentimes 
attach themselves to the doctrine of the Sabbath. Certainly, Sabbath 
means rest, and so we see that throughout Scripture. But the 
Sabbath was blessed by God, and it was sanctified by God. Now, 
some question this treatment concerning creation ordinances, 
and they say, well, this isn't a command by God to the creature 
to obey the Sabbath command. Well, neither is marriage. When 
we see that God brings Eve to Adam, God doesn't command Adam. Now, you need to marry her. You 
can't marry animals. You can't marry other men. You 
can't marry, you know, trees or anything like that. No, he 
brought Eve to Adam and then they were married. Jesus treats 
this just like that in Matthew 19. When he's questioned about 
the validity of divorce, he says, Have you not read the God who 
created them male and female from the beginning never intended 
for it to be the case that it would be rent asunder and divorce? 
So there's no command that you shall marry this particular person. There's no command that thou 
shalt sabbath in this particular way, but they are, as I've mentioned, 
creation ordinances. Now some would suggest that after 
Genesis 2, there's no example of sabbath keeping prior to Sinai. I'm going to argue contrary to 
that in just a moment, but even if that were the case, God's 
command or this ordinance doesn't change irrespective of whether 
or not men obey it properly. In other words, when we get past 
the creation account, what happens with reference to marriage? It's 
not always observed and obeyed and treated the way that God 
intended in the garden? Just because persons neglect 
a command doesn't invalidate the command. Just because persons 
say, well, they didn't seem to follow that particular command 
in the time frame between Genesis 2 and Exodus chapter 20, doesn't 
mean there's no command, any more than it does when somebody 
abominates the institution of marriage and multiplies wives. 
But there is evidence of Sabbath-keeping prior to Sinai, which indicates 
for us that what's given here is given for all men in all ages. You can turn to Genesis chapter 
4. Genesis chapter 4. This is a 
bit of an indirect reference, but I think in light of what 
the rest of the Bible says concerning, in many respects, the centrality 
of Sabbath. I don't think we make enough 
of Sabbath, and I don't mean our particular practice on Sunday. You know, we need to spend more 
time today reading John Owen. That's certainly a good thing 
to do, but in terms of God and Sabbath, it's a larger concept 
than I think we are usually sort of appreciative of. It's a massive 
consideration. God and Sabbath, enthronement, 
kingship, lordship, moving creation to an eternal Sabbath. There's 
a theology, a biblical theology, that transcends what I'm giving 
you here. I would suggest with, you know, some degree of qualification, 
Meredith Klein, on these issues. Pastor Barcelos just wrote a 
book called Getting the Garden Right, and in that he deals at 
length with the Sabbath, and I think it's very worth your 
reading, and getting more understanding in terms of God and Sabbath, 
rather than, you know, can I take a nap today? I mean, that's typically 
how we treat the Sabbath, is, can I take a nap today? Well, 
you know, I'm trying to suggest there's more to Sabbath than, 
can you take a nap today? There's more to Sabbath in terms 
of God and its Godward orientation. But back to Genesis 4. Notice 
specifically in verse 3, It says, and in the process of time, literally 
at the end of days, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering 
of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Now, if we take the 
marginal reading, I don't know, yeah, at the end of days, what 
end of days is in view there? It's not the end of days when 
Jesus comes and glory to judge the living and the dead. It's 
probably the end of the days of the week. It's probably their 
rhythmic cycle of a six-in-one pattern. And at the end of the 
days, what do they do at the end of the days? They come and 
they bring an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord, 
and Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. 
And the Lord respected Abel and his offering. You see a pattern 
there. At the end of the days, they sacrifice to the Lord. So Sabbath, worship, rest, sanctification, 
all those concepts intertwine. And then notice at Exodus 16. Again, looking at the Sabbath 
prior to Sinai. Exodus chapter 16. Exodus 16, the gathering of bread 
from heaven, 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 what you will bake today 
and boil what you will boil and lay up for yourselves all that 
remains to be kept until morning. So they laid it up till morning 
as Moses commanded. And it did not stink, nor were 
there any worms in it. Then Moses said, Eat that today, 
for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find 
it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, 
but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none. And then, 
of course, we come to Exodus chapter 20. But just prior to 
our consideration of Exodus chapter 20, just a couple of observations. In the first place, God made 
the Sabbath for man. When we get to Exodus chapter 
20, God gave the Sabbath to Israel to be sure, but Adam in the garden 
isn't necessarily to be identified as a Jew or as an Israelite. 
He is identified as man. And this is Jesus' argument. 
If you want to leave your pencil in Exodus 20 and look over it 
at Mark chapter 2. Mark chapter 2, when our Lord 
is disputing with the religious leaders of His day, He gets obviously 
into the Sabbath. And in Mark 2, 27, He said to 
them, the Sabbath was made for man. Again, I think that it wouldn't 
be untoward to read that as it was made for the man, made for 
Adam specifically, not just him alone, but Adam as representative 
of all men in all places at all times. It's binding upon all 
men in all ages. The Sabbath was made for the 
man. and not man for the Sabbath. You see, one of the arguments 
against Sabbatarianism, or Sabbath-keeping by Christians, is that it was 
for the Jews. Well, that's a bad interpretation 
of the biblical data. It's a bad interpretation of 
the Ten Commandments. It's a bad interpretation of 
Jesus' words here, because Jesus doesn't say it was made for the 
Jews. He says it was made for man, mankind. Ryle says, God 
made 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. It's important that we understand 
that stipulation. It's not for the Jew only. Certainly it was for the Jew, 
but it's for the Gentile. It's for all men in all ages. And before we get back to Exodus 
20, notice Jesus' words here. He says, the Sabbath was made 
for man and not man for the Sabbath. In other words, God didn't make 
man so that he could comply with the Sabbath command. God gave 
the Sabbath for the good of the man. In other words, when we 
get into disputes and debates and, you know, sabbatarianism 
versus anti-sabbatarianism, we need to frame the discussion 
this way. We are arguing about a gift. We are arguing about the reception 
of a gift. We're not arguing about God wants 
you to go down to the local pawn shop and buy a 38 and screw it 
in your mouth and pull the trigger. That's not what the Sabbath is. 
The Sabbath is something given by God for the good of his creatures. So we need to frame the discussion 
in that way. It's not this tedium, it's not 
this burden, it's not this, oh my, it's the Sabbath day, what 
a horrific thing. If that's our attitude about 
this commandment, we are messed up and we need to repent. In 
fact, William Ames makes this observation. Some would argue, 
well, the Sabbath is contrary to the liberty of the Christian 
man. He says, Christian liberty is 
not at all diminished in this conception, as some seem to feel 
without cause, for it is not liberty, but Christian license. which results in any that think 
themselves free from the observance of any commandments of the Decalogue 
or the institutions of Christ." It's not liberty, but it's anti-Christian 
license that says, oh, no, that's not what we need to be about. 
And then he says, I actually found this in Turretin once. 
Turretin must have got it from Ames, though he didn't cite Ames. 
He would have been accused of plagiarism today. Ames says, 
experience also teaches that license and the neglect of holy 
things more and more prevail when due respect is not given 
to the Lord's day. Let that sink in for a moment. 
There's a guy, another guy I would probably give lots of qualifications 
for, a guy named Daryl Hart. And again, I'm not saying go 
read everything he has to say, but he argues pretty staunchly 
that while evangelicalism and even reformed are oftentimes 
picking on popular culture about this movie or about this book 
or about this movement or about this entertainment, he says the 
church has given up the Sabbath. How do we expect God's blessing 
upon church or society when we have rejected the fourth commandment? He says at times, and this just 
paraphrase, and again, if you read his stuff, don't say, Butler 
likes this guy. There's some, you know, extreme 
things in some areas of Hart's writing. But one of the other 
things he says, you know, we capitalize on the Sixth and Seventh 
Commandments when it comes to our Christian, you know, witness 
against the world, abortion, euthanasia, and well, we should. 
Adultery and pornography and all that stuff, and well, we 
should, but we're absolutely silent when it comes to the Sabbath. Now if Ames and Turretin after 
him could be trusted and we can make this observation ourselves, 
experience also teaches that license and the neglect of holy 
things more and more prevail when due respect is not given 
to the Lord's day. You know, as believers, we lose 
our moral authority to speak against the evils of our day 
when we disobey God's law. It really is not a consistent 
position to stand outside and, you know, to protest this particular 
whatever. All the while, we don't care 
one bit about the fourth word. So, it's an important subject 
and one that, as I said, is often debated and often attacked, but 
let's put it in the context of we're arguing about a gift that 
God has given. Why don't we want that? God made 
Sabbath for the man. It was given by God to him as 
a day of rest, a day for blessing, a day of sanctification, a day 
for his enjoyment of God. So going back to Exodus 20, obviously 
the Sabbath at Sinai. The Sabbath at Sinai. Notice 
in verse 8, 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. 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." There's 
your proof for a statement concerning the reality that Genesis 2, 2, 
and 3 is binding. It's the argument here on Sinai for Sabbath-keeping. You're supposed to Sabbath because 
God made the world in six days and on the seventh day he Sabbathed. 
That's the reason for the command specifically stated here at Sinai. It's the undergirding principle 
of that creation ordinance in Genesis 2, 2 and 3. And the fact 
that he says, remember the Sabbath day, Ames again says forgetfulness 
or carelessness and neglect regarding this day is clearly reproved 
by the hortatory word, that means a word of exhortation, the hortatory 
word used in the beginning of the fourth commandment. Remember, 
it's almost as if, well it's not almost as if, God knows our 
hearts, we won't remember. We won't do what he says. We 
won't keep the day holy. We won't obey him. So he calls 
us with this word of exhortation to remember the Sabbath day. 
Notice there's an individual application. You shall labor 
and do all your work for the six days, but the seventh day 
is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it, you shall do no work. There's a familial reference. 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 gate. So there's this familial 
and a social dimension with reference to the commandment. We are to 
observe it, we are to ensure its observance by those under 
our charge. We are, by the grace of God, 
to try and keep these things for His glory and for the well-being 
of our souls. It's a good thing, it's a gift, 
and this is the way we are called to receive the gift. Now, in 
terms of the argument, notice here again, 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. So the doctrine of creation 
serves as the argument for Sabbath keeping, specifically Genesis 
2, 2, and 3. God's pattern at creation. Six 
days labor, one day rest. That's the argument. Turn over 
to Deuteronomy 5. It's important that you try and 
remember this, not try because you're simpletons, but try because 
there's going to be a lot of information, and by the time 
we get to Hebrews 4, you may very well forget, and hopefully 
I'll remind you when we get there, but these twin concepts ought 
to be appreciated. Notice in Deuteronomy. Now, Deuteronomy 
is a different historical setting. Exodus 20 is the giving of the 
law at Sinai. Deuteronomy 5 is the repetition 
of the law, or the restatement of the law, in the plains of 
Moab. It's about 40 plus years after. Remember that generation 
that grumbled and whined and moaned and complained in the 
wilderness according to the book of Numbers? God destroyed them, 
and so they did not enter into the promised land. This is the 
second generation. This is a second giving of the 
law. It's not a new law. It's not a different law. It 
is the same law. There are a few details, though, 
that are different in terms of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. 
Not different contradictory, but different supplementary. 
different in terms of another sort of facet of information 
provided to us to appreciate a particular command involved. But notice in Deuteronomy 5, 
I'm sorry, 5, 12. Observe the Sabbath day to keep 
it holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall 
labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath 
of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work. You 
nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your 
female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your 
cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your 
male servant and your female servant may remember, may rest 
as well as you." Now notice in verse 15, and remember that you 
were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought 
you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. 
Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day." 
So in Exodus 20, the basis for Sabbath keeping is creation. 
Six days God made, the seventh day He rested, Genesis 2, 2, 
and 3. Here specifically in Deuteronomy 
5, 15, it's redemption. God the Lord brought you out 
of the house of bondage. God the Lord brought you, or 
is in the process at this point, bringing you into the land of 
promise. So we see those twin concepts again surrounding this 
idea of Sabbath, both creation and redemption. Creation and 
redemption. The Sabbath commandment reminds 
us of those two great works of God, very specifically. And as 
I said, that's important information for later, when we consider the 
specifics concerning the day change. People oftentimes say, 
well, there's no command in terms of Sunday worship. There is no 
statement in Scripture. I mean, the texts that the Confession 
offers are texts that don't specifically command, this is the day thou 
shalt worship. The texts are precedent more 
than precept. In other words, what the apostles 
did is imperatival for us. In other words, their practice 
dictates our practice, and that's Acts 20, verse 7, 1 Corinthians 
16, 1 and 2, and then again in Revelation 1, 10. But Hebrews 
4 does specifically highlight the theology behind the day change, 
and it's important that you keep that concept of creation and 
redemption in your mind and in your heart, because that's where 
it belongs. All right, so the Sabbath, just 
moving, as I said, not every text, but some of the main texts. 
So notice then the Sabbath and Isaiah. And these are important 
passages because it's the Word of God, but also because these 
particular passages, 56 and 58, point to the Messianic era, the 
Messianic reign, the time of the New Covenant under the Lord 
Jesus Christ. So in other words, when Isaiah 
speaks positively of Sabbath in his treatment of the age of 
Messiah, we ought to imply, infer, and conclude that Sabbath is 
part and parcel of the age of Messiah. In other words, once 
Jesus comes, he doesn't obliterate or abolish or get rid of the 
Sabbath. No, rather it is functioning 
in that particular timeframe. Notice in Isaiah 56, Specifically, 
verse two, blessed is the man who does this and the son of 
man who lays hold on it, who keeps from defiling the Sabbath 
and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Verse four, for thus 
says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose 
what pleases me and hold fast my covenant. And then verse six, 
also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord 
to serve him and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants. everyone who keeps from defiling 
the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant." Again, this refers 
to the Messianic age. Notice the reference specifically 
to the eunuch in verses 2 to 5. This ought to remind us of 
Acts 8. Acts 8 is a passage where we 
often go to teach believer's baptism, and while we should, 
and even baptism by immersion. We ought to appreciate the mode 
and the subjects of baptism, and Acts chapter 8, and the Ethiopian 
eunuch is a wonderful example of that. We need to step back 
from that argument and see Acts 8 in its larger biblical context. We have a eunuch who at one time, 
according to the book of Deuteronomy, is kept from the assembly of 
Yahweh. And now we have that eunuch approach Philip, or Philip 
approaches the eunuch, and the eunuch is reading the prophet 
Isaiah, and Philip asks him, do you know what you're reading? 
And he says, I don't know. How can I know unless somebody explains 
it to me? So then Philip explains, or actually 
the text says he preaches Jesus from this passage, and then the 
Ethiopian eunuch is converted, and then he is baptized by Philip. What do we see there? We see 
the prophecy of Isaiah 56. We see the eunuchs who at one 
time that were kept outside of the assembly of Yahweh are now 
brought nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So go 
to Acts 8 to prove the mode and the subjects of baptism, but 
go to Acts 8 to stand in awe that the covenant promises of 
God are yea and amen in the Lord Jesus. That these eunuchs that 
were once kept afar off are now brought nigh by the Lord Jesus 
Christ to Israel's God. And then as well, notice the 
foreigners, verses 7 and 8. Beginning in verse 6, also the 
sons of the foreigner who joined themselves to the Lord to serve 
Him. and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, 
everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast my 
covenant. Even them I will bring to my holy mountain and make 
them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their 
sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall 
be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord God who 
gathers the outcasts of Israel says, yet I will gather to him 
others besides those who are gathered to him. Again, it's 
old covenant language. The prophet is speaking in his 
native tongue, not necessarily Hebrew, but in terms of theological 
sort of structures that they know and appreciate, but he's 
speaking about life in the messianic age, a time when the eunuchs 
will be brought nigh through the blood of Jesus, a time when 
the foreigners, the Gentiles, will be brought nigh through 
the blood of Jesus, a time when the house of God will be a house 
of prayer for all the nations. I just said, with reference to 
our confession, it isn't tied to one particular locale like 
it used to be, right? The central sanctuary requirement 
of Deuteronomy 12 is no longer for us. The Word of God goes 
forth to all the nations. Every local church is a house 
of prayer for all the nations. You see, the prophet conversant 
with new covenant realities in the age of Messiah includes Sabbath-keeping 
as a part and parcel of age in the Messiah. It's not done away 
with, it's not abolished, it's not gone from us, but rather 
it is part of living in the New Covenant era. And then again 
in Isaiah 58. Isaiah 58, we have a declaration 
of the sin of Israel, specifically in verse one. Cry aloud, spare 
not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, tell my people their 
transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they 
seek me daily and delight to know my ways. He says, Tell them 
what they're doing that is wrong. They have this idea, because 
they fast and they Sabbath, that everything is good. It was a 
condemnation against formalism and externalism. Just because 
you engage in the external act doesn't mean everything is okay. 
It's another conception that we have. The old covenant was 
only external, it was only formal, it was only outward. God was 
no more happy with the outwardness and the externality and the formality 
of old covenant worship in the old as he is in the new. You 
know, I'm saying, well, you know, the old covenant, that's just 
the way it goes. No, he upbraided them by his prophets, and that 
is what specifically is happening here. And then notice, they're 
whining. Why have we fasted, verse 3, 
they say, and you have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls 
and you take no notice? I mean, brethren, that's not 
the way to undertake religious observance. You don't do it to 
get. You do it because God commands 
it, and you do it because there's great blessing in it. Why would 
we fast if you didn't give us what we want? I mean, that same 
mercenary spirit, you know, traveled into the New Covenant, doesn't 
it? You do this, or you do this and that, and then God will bless 
you. We always want to formulaically treat God. We always want to 
make Him bail. I just want to put a quarter 
and pull the handle back and the spinning. I don't have an 
affinity for gambling. I just grew up in a home where 
my father was quite the gambler. And for family vacations, I'm 
sorry to say, this is how I was brought up. Las Vegas would be 
the place that we would go. Or occasionally, my father would 
go and he'd bring me back a little slot machine. And at least growing 
up, I always sort of had that. knowledge that you put the quarter 
in, you pull the handle back. I realize most of you probably 
don't even know what that means, so I thought I'd just take the 
time to explain that. You pull the handle back after 
you put the quarter in, and then if you get three cherries, you 
get more quarters out. That's the way we treat God. 
We put a quarter in, we pull the handle back, and if it's 
three cherries, then we get more quarters out. That's the way 
they treated God. That's the way we treat God. 
And that's why God says through the prophet, cry aloud, spare 
not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and tell my people 
their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. They may 
think they're seeking me daily. They may think their fasting 
is pleasing to me. They may think their Sabbatarianism 
is good, but it's not. This is never the way it was 
supposed to be. You fast in order to get, you 
Sabbath keep in order to pursue your own desires. Notice, specifically, 
fasting is addressed in 2 to 12, and then Sabbath in verses 
13 and 14. 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. Yeah, I have my Turretin quote 
here written under there, and that's definitely Ames. Voss 
says, "...the Sabbath has faithfully accompanied the people of God 
on their march through the ages." I like that. I think Voss nails 
it there. E.J. Young commenting on this 
passage in Isaiah. The Sabbath was not merely a 
mosaic ordinance. It was far more. It was instituted 
at creation and is a pattern of the heavenly Sabbath rest, 
which the redeemed are to enjoy in the presence of their eternal 
God. In the great calamity of the exile that was to come upon 
them, 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. 
And then let's look at Jeremiah 31. Again, just saying some specific 
treatment of the Sabbath and the Old Covenant. with a particular 
interest in the abiding nature of the Sabbath, and that it wasn't 
destined to be done away with in the age of Messiah or when 
Jesus Christ came. Now, Jeremiah 31 is a passage 
I'm sure we're all familiar with. I think the Pastor Barcelos and 
Pastor Walden wrote a book called The Reformed Baptist Manifesto, 
right? And it's an exposition. That's 
so Mao Tse-Tung-ish. It's a manifesto, a manifesto 
text for Reformed Baptists here in Jeremiah 31. But it is, it's 
a very important passage in terms of covenant, in terms of what 
we ought to be looking for in the new covenant, some differences, 
of course, with the old covenant, So let's look at this. Now, before 
we look at it, Hebrews 8 and 10 tell us that what Jeremiah 
is speaking about here is in the church. It's fulfilled in 
the church. So when we see house of Israel, 
house of Judah, that's prophetic language for the reunification 
of God's people under Messiah. It's not necessarily ethnic in 
terminology, but it's rather spiritual or religious or theological. So notice in verse 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." So God announces a bit of difference, a fundamental 
difference between old and new. There are some who want to see 
the New Covenant as simply an extension of the Old Covenant. 
Now, there is continuity, of course, and this passage stresses 
that between the Old and the New, but there is some discontinuity. The book of Hebrews, specifically 
chapters 8 and 10 tell us, or 7, 8, and 10, tell us that it's 
a better covenant founded upon better promises that affords 
a better hope because it's got the surety of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. So there is some discontinuity 
between the old and the new. Patil Baptists typically like 
to flatten that discontinuity. They like to see the same sort 
of extension. Old Testament, New Covenant, 
same sort of a thing. They do explain how it's different 
or how it's new in some ways, but they want to flatten the 
distinctiveness of the two. God doesn't do that. He says, 
I'm going to make a new covenant and it's 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. And 
here's one of the significant differences, my covenant which 
they broke. My covenant which they broke. 
You could be in the old covenant and break that and end up in 
dire straits. If you're an actual new covenant 
member, can you break it? I like what John MacArthur says, 
if you can lose your salvation, you would. There is no doubt 
whatsoever that if you could lose your salvation, you would. If it's up to you to keep yourself 
in it, if it's up to you to keep yourself faithful, if it's up 
to you to keep yourself in the state of grace, you'd wake up 
on a Thursday morning and everything would be going poorly for you, 
you'd say, forget it all. Well, have you just taken yourself 
out of the state of grace? If you could lose your salvation, 
make no mistakes about it, you would. You would happily lose 
it for the adventure of some particular sin or some particular 
way to rebel against God. We cannot break the New Covenant 
when we're in it. Why? Because God the Lord predestined, 
Christ the Lord secured our salvation, and the Spirit has applied that 
to us. It's the doctrine of perseverance 
of the saints. This is wherein the four-pointers 
are actually, or the Arminians, or the Baptists, that just like 
the one-point Calvinism, they're right. It is eternal security. Now, that terminology gets abused, 
and it gets assaulted, and it gets misunderstood, but we are 
eternally secure. He is the author of eternal redemption. It's not a temporary redemption. 
And so this is a fundamental discontinuity between the Old 
and the New Covenants, which they broke. They're not going 
to break the New Covenant. If you're in the New Covenant, 
you are not going to break the New Covenant. You're going to 
sin, you're going to rebel, you're going to have your issues, you're 
going to have your challenges. But Christ is the mediator of the 
New Covenant, and Christ has secured your salvation. When 
he said, it is finished, he meant so. And then notice he goes on 
to comment, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord, but this 
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after 
those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds 
and write it on their hearts. Now, in Jeremiah's time, with 
Jeremiah's audience, who do you think they would have thought 
in terms of law? They would have thought Sinai. 
They would have thought Decalogue. They would have thought Ten Commandments. 
So one of the proof texts for what we will call the trans Covenantal 
utility of the Decalogue. Now I know that makes you happy 
at 1025 on a Sunday morning. Transcovenantal utility of the 
Decalogue. It just means that the Decalogue, 
the 10 words, has a utility or usefulness or an application 
that transcends a specific covenant. So whether you're in the old 
or you're in the new, it is this law that is applicable to you. This is the covenant that I will 
make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. 
I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. 
It's a good day. The law of God is taken from 
those tablets of stone and they are internalized on the hearts 
of the people of God. He goes on to say, And I will 
be their God, and they shall be my people. No more shall every 
man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know 
the Lord. 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. Now 
some would say, Didn't Old Testament believers have that? Yes, Old 
Testament believers had that, but it wasn't essential to the 
Old Covenant. It wasn't the case that to be 
part of the old covenant, this had to be true of you. It could 
be if you were a Jacob, it could be if you were an Isaac, it could 
be if you were a David, but if you were an Ishmael or an Esau 
or a Saul, you could still be a part of the old covenant community, 
but you didn't have any of these realities that were true of you. 
They weren't essential elements or features of new covenant religion. 
And this is the word of God through the prophet that in the new covenant, 
These are essential features. These are elements that will 
be present with everybody that is a member of the new covenant. 
They will have the law written on their heart. They will have 
intimacy with God. They will have the knowledge 
of God. They will have the forgiveness of sins. These things are absolutely 
requisite to the new covenant. This is why we go to this passage 
and say, therefore we only baptize believers. If it's an essential 
element of New Covenant religion that they know God, that the 
laws internalize it, that they've received the forgiveness of sins, 
then to baptize somebody who doesn't give evidence of that 
is to betray what God through the prophet says. We are to baptize 
those who give a credible display of these things being realities 
in their hearts and lives. It doesn't necessarily mean adults. 
It can mean young people as well. It's not adult baptism, it's 
believers baptism, it's new covenant baptism, it's those who are described 
in this particular passage. So this law, prophesied by Jeremiah 
as an essential feature of the New Testament is precisely what 
we find when we get to the New Testament. Now, I'm going to 
bring this to a close. It's probably a good time to 
end with reference to our biblical theological study, because the 
next section deals with the New Covenant or the New Testament. 
But suffice it to say, what we have, according to our confession, 
is that God has set apart one day in 7 in order to worship 
God, and it's a Sabbath to be kept holy unto Him, and that 
we see it from the creation to Christ's resurrection as the 
last day of the week, and from Christ's resurrection to the 
consummation, it is the first day of the week. We see its creation 
ordinance, or the creation ordinance in Genesis 2, 2, and 3, which 
sort of undergirds everything else that follows in terms of 
Sabbath. Beal, I think, is right. The rest of the Bible is about 
Genesis 1 to 3. You know, the Genesis 1 to 3 
is pretty much the subject matter for everything that follows after 
Genesis 3. The whole Bible, basically, is 
how that unfolds, how that develops, how that fleshes itself out, 
how the champion comes, how he delivers, He bruises the head 
of the serpent, and he brings many sons to glory. Now, that 
might be a bit hyperbolic, but certainly Genesis 1 to 3 is foundational 
for everything that follows after that. And so Sabbath in Genesis 
2, 2, and 3 certainly undergirds all the rest that the Old Covenant 
and the New has to say with reference to Sabbath. So I'll close in 
prayer, and then if there's any questions, we can discuss those. 
Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for our good 
confession of faith and for what It sets forth concerning your 
holy law. God, it is unfortunate that we 
treat a gift with such aversion. It is unfortunate that even as 
Sabbatarians we so often struggle and we so often wander when it 
comes to this most blessed command. Give us a heart of joy to consider 
the fact that God in and His mercy and in His kindness has 
given us a day per week that we may rest, that we may worship, 
that we may seek to glorify You over and above what we do in 
our private lives or in our family lives. We ask that You would 
bless our morning and evening worship. We pray that the Holy 
Spirit would come, that You would save sinners as we continue to 
consider Christ and His crucifixion. May this be used by the Spirit 
of God to convict sinners and to bring them to that One who 
was crucified and who was raised the third day. Go with us, we 
pray, through Christ our Lord. Amen.