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You can turn in your confessions 
again to chapter 22. Chapter 22, as we focus now on 
the last two paragraphs, that doesn't mean that paragraph 6 
isn't important, but we're skipping past that as we sometimes cannot 
cover every single sentence and clause and paragraph in the confession. We're going to focus on the Sabbath. Remember that this chapter is 
called of worship, of religious worship and the Sabbath day. 
We focus primarily on worship, not generally speaking, but worship 
its constituent parts in the last two Sundays. We're now going 
to focus on the day of public worship being the Lord's Day 
Sabbath. And it may very well be that 
we'll look at this today under three things that we'll note 
in a moment. But as well, on the 20th of December, probably 
spending some time on the stuff of paragraph 8 as well as dealing 
with some objections to the Sabbath, those who would object to its 
perpetuity and its abiding validity in the new covenant. But we want 
to read now paragraph 7 and 8 of chapter 22 with regards to the 
Lord's Day Sabbath. 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 
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 day from their own works, 
words, and thoughts about their worldly employment and recreations, 
but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private 
exercises of his worship and in the duties of necessity and 
mercy. So we come to a topic and we 
come to a doctrine, a topic within Christianity where we don't have 
every professing Christian singing off of the same page of the hymn 
book, if you will. There is debate with regards 
to this doctrine, the observance of the Sabbath, the Christian 
Sabbath, the Lord's Day, those who are Sabbatarians who continue 
to observe the day and those who would say otherwise, that 
the day is no longer to be observed, that those who preach its observation 
are preaching something that binds the conscience in an inordinate 
way and that are somehow seeking to propagate a form of legalism 
at the point of the observation of the Sabbath. We as a church, 
of course, subscribe to the London Baptist Confession of Faith, 
which upholds the abiding validity of the Fourth Commandment trans-covenantally. It's a reality for the old covenant 
saints. It's a blessed reality for the 
new covenant saints. It has an abiding and perpetual 
validity for Christian observation unto the end of the world. And 
so we want to note a number of things as we move along in an 
observation of the doctrine of the Sabbath. A quote with regards 
to its importance, this coming from Matthew Henry, the stream 
of all religion runs either deep or shallow, according as the 
banks of the Sabbath are kept up or neglected. There is an 
absolute importance to the observation of the Sabbath and our Christian 
defense of its perpetuity. Again, the stream of all religion 
runs either deep or shallow, according as the banks of the 
Sabbath are kept up or neglected. There are a number of persons 
within Christian religion and pseudo-Christian religion that 
we would be contending with at the point of the doctrine of 
the Sabbath. There are those seventh-day Sabbatarians, those 
who keep Saturday, the seventh day, as the day to be observed. Of course, as we note, the Confession 
states that there is a change to the day. The Bible, when we 
read the New Covenant Scriptures, we observe a change to the day. 
The apostles observing it. There are those of liberal religion 
who would object to the inspiration, the inerrancy, the infallibility 
of the Holy Scriptures, and therefore would reject its authority and 
its trustworthiness at the point of the Sabbath. And they would 
either reject the Sabbath altogether or find no objective reason for 
its observation. There are those who employ a 
dispensational hermeneutic, who would demand a New Testament 
reception or endorsement of the Old Testament statement of Sabbath 
observation for it to be observed and for its perpetuity. And they 
force, of course, a hard and fast distinction between Israel 
and the church, and therefore read the Sabbath passages through 
such a hermeneutic. Finally, there are those employing 
a New Covenant theology hermeneutic that states the Sabbath was, 
in its entirety, fulfilled by Christ. That Christ, in His first 
coming, fulfilled the Sabbath law, and therefore it is no longer 
to be observed. Not just the seventh day, but 
observation entirely. And it is no longer binding. 
Sunday worship now being, in Christian liberty, preferable 
or just practically helpful, but not necessarily binding. 
And again, we here at Free Grace Baptist Church, in accordance 
with the subscription to our confession, uphold its abiding 
validity. The change of the day, yes, from 
the 7th to the 1st, from Saturday to Sunday, but its abiding validity, 
keeping its observation in cheerful compliance unto the Lord of the 
Sabbath. Now, some confessional foundations 
for Sabbath observance prior to chapter 22, paragraphs 7 and 
8. Remember chapter 1, the Holy 
Scriptures. They are the only sufficient 
and infallible rule of all saving faith, life, and obedience. So 
we come to the Holy Scriptures, and they are the foundation for 
the observation of the Sabbath. The Holy Scriptures open up its 
reality, its giving, its perpetuity, and its blessing. And so the 
chapter one figures large in the necessity of observing the 
Lord's Supper because again in the Holy Scriptures as our only 
rule of faith and obedience there we have the Sabbath set forth 
before us. Chapter 2, the doctrine of God. God is the one in chapter 2 that 
has sovereign authority over all men to do as he will and 
his existence, his perfections, his essential glory demand Obedience. Notice what we have in chapter 
2. He is most holy. This is chapter 
2, 3. You don't have to turn there. You can just listen if 
you'd like. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his 
works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and 
men whatsoever worship, service, or obedience as creatures they 
owe unto the Creator and whatever he is further pleased to require 
of them. Chapter 4 and paragraph 2. We 
have some foundational language there as well with regards to 
the Sabbath after God made all other creatures. He created man, 
male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, rendering 
them fit unto that life to God for which they were created, 
being made after the image of God in knowledge, righteousness, 
and true holiness, having the law of God written in their hearts 
and power to fulfill it. And yet under a possibility of 
transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will 
which was subject to change. The creation account and the 
doctrine of creation largely is foundational as well to the 
doctrine of the Sabbath and hopefully we'll see that as we move along. 
Chapter 8 and the doctrine of Christ. Christ being the mediator. Christ being the one who is head 
and savior of the church. Prophet, priest, and king. the 
heir of all things, and the judge of the world. He is the head 
of the church, and this is reiterated in chapter 26 in paragraph 4. The doctrine of Christ, his prophetic 
office, his priestly office, his kingly office, and the reality 
that he is head of the church figure well and strongly in the 
doctrine of the Sabbath. Chapter 19 in the Law of God. 
Almost every paragraph touches upon the necessity of Sabbath 
observance, chapter 19, paragraphs 2, 3, 5, and 6, maybe more pointedly. And then chapter 21, 1, and 2, 
remember that's the chapter on the liberty of conscience. We 
have there that men are not to be subject to the adding to the 
scriptures or the taking away of the scriptures when men seek 
to bind our consciences thereby. We are not to be those who bow 
in blind obedience to a change to anything with respect to biblical 
theology and the commandments of God. And that figures well 
as we move along in the doctrine of the Sabbath. And as well, 
we've already read from paragraphs 1 and 2 in chapter 22 with the 
foundation of worship being in the law of nature and in the 
Word of God. And we'll touch more on that 
as we move along. Now the spirit in which we engage 
in Sabbath observance, these are just some introductory matters 
before we get to the meat and potatoes of our focus this morning, 
but the spirit in which we engage in Sabbath observance, and that 
could be summed up this way, cheerful compliance in a strengthened 
obligation by the sweetness of the gospel. Again, the spirit in which we 
engage in Sabbath observance, cheerful compliance in a strengthened 
obligation by the sweetness of the gospel. This is Calvin. Actually, 
excuse me, first off, this is Robert Paul Martin quoting Owen 
with regards to this point. The Christian's motive for keeping 
Sabbath should not be what Owen calls legal fear. What then is 
our motive for keeping the Lord's Day? Owen rightly answers, the 
authority and love of Jesus Christ are the principal causes of our 
obedience. With respect to Sabbath observance, 
we do not come, as it were in the language of Hebrews 12, 18 
and following, we do not come to Mount Sinai, to the thunderings, 
and to the threatenings, and to those things that might elicit 
a legal fear. But rather, we do come to the 
law that, yes, was given upon Mount Sinai, but we come to Mount 
Zion, to the city of the living God. to the heavenly Jerusalem. This is Calvin. God does not 
present himself to us clothed in terrors as he did formerly 
to the Jews, but lovingly and kindly invites us to himself. So the sin of ingratitude will 
be thus doubled, except we willingly and in earnest respond to his 
gracious invitation. You see, far from Sabbath observation 
being lessened in the new covenant, heaven forbid taken away. But 
far from Sabbath observation being lessened in the new covenant, 
its obligation is strengthened by the risen and exalted Christ. 
And we ought to engage in it with a cheerful compliance, not 
a legal fear, but by the sweetness of the gospel in a cheerful compliance 
marked by strengthened obligation. So first off then, after a long 
introduction, the twofold testimony to the necessity of Sabbath observance, 
the twofold testimony to the necessity of Sabbath observance. 
Notice the language of 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, so by His Word. So the two-fold testimony 
to the necessity of Sabbath observance is first the light of nature 
and secondly the Word of God. This is the two-fold testimony 
to the necessity of Sabbath observance. The light of nature is a statement 
or is a phrase that's often repeated in the confession of faith. We're 
not going to look at everyone But remember, it comes up in 
chapter 1 with regards to the scriptures. General revelation, 
the light or the law of nature, and special revelation, the word 
of God. In chapter 22, remember paragraph 
1, 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, etc. But then we note, the acceptable 
way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself and 
so limited by his own revealed will, closing off the paragraph, 
the holy scriptures. So there is this confessional 
distinction between the law of nature or the light of nature, 
that is general revelation, and the word of God, or special revelation. This is Muller defining natural 
law or the phrase the light of nature and what that pertains 
to. The universal moral law either impressed by God upon the mind 
of all people or immediately discerned by the reason in its 
encounter with the order of nature. Again, Psalm 19, the heavens 
declare the glory of God, the firmament shows his handiwork. 
God has endowed man in creating him in his image with the reality 
that the moral law is impressed by God upon the mind of all people 
or immediately discerned by reason in its encounter with the order 
of nature. So creation, providence, and the conscience speak to the 
reality of the light of nature. This is Bunyan. By this law of 
nature, man understands that there is one eternal God, that 
this God is to be worshipped according to his own will. Consequently, 
that time must be allowed to do it in, the Sabbath. But whether 
the law or light of nature teacheth in that of itself without the 
help of revelation, that the seventh day of the week is that 
time sanctified of God and set apart for his worship, that is 
the question. In other words, he's saying that 
The day of observation is not testified to by the law of nature, 
but the fact that a time must be given unto God for worship 
is. Creation, providence, and the 
conscience testify to the validity of Sabbath observation. This 
is A. A. Hodge. That a certain portion 
of time should be set apart for the worship of God and the religious 
instruction of men is a plain dictative reason. That a certain 
portion of time should be set apart for rest from labor is 
by experience found to be, on physiological and moral grounds, 
highly desirable. You see, God has fashioned us 
in such a way that we have a, there's a physiological necessity 
and legitimacy to Sabbath rest being created in his image. Not 
that he requires rest himself, but being created in his image, 
we have been endowed with the light of nature reality that 
we have a physiological and moral need to rest upon a day appointed 
by him. And so, God, we should, with 
that regard, and we'll see this more as we open up the doctrine, 
we should see the blessing of the Sabbath with regards to God 
giving us a day, making known that there is a time to be set 
aside, sanctified for the worship of Him and for our cessation 
of labors and worldly concerns. So the light of nature, general 
revelation, natural law testifies to the necessity of Sabbath observance, 
as it is the law of nature. But then notice again, not again, 
but adding to this, opening up of the doctrine of the Sabbath, 
the confession says, so by his word. So we have the light of 
nature, and then we have, so by his word, the word of God. 
We have general revelation, and then we have special revelation 
testifying to the reality of Sabbath observance. Now there 
is a harmony between natural law, the light of nature, and 
the Word of God with respect to moral law. In fact, this, 
so by His Word, now pertains to that moral law as revealed 
specially in the Word. This is Mahler again. Specifically 
and pre-eminently, the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, This is 
his definition of moral law, as distinct from the ceremonial 
law and the civil law. Now notice, in substance identical 
with the law of nature, but given by revelation in a form which 
is clearer and fuller than that otherwise known to the reason. 
So the necessity of Sabbath observance is testified by the light or 
the law of nature, and it's made clearer known in consonance with 
the light of nature, by the Word of God. The Word of God is the 
formal, in the Word of God we have the formal codification, 
the specially revealed transcript, if you will, of God's unchanging 
righteousness and moral character. This is the point as well, in 
natural or moral law, is that it is a reflection of God's unchanging 
righteousness and moral character. to abandon Sabbath observance 
is, if you will, to sully the fact that the command to observe 
a day for the worship of God and a day of rest and cessation 
from labor, that command is a reflection of the unchanging righteousness 
and moral character of God. It's a reflection of the one 
who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his holiness, 
justice, goodness, and in his truth. And so the twofold testimony, 
to the necessity of Sabbath observance comes by way of general revelation 
and special revelation, the light of nature and the Word of God. This is Robert Martin. Christ and the Apostles viewed 
the Ten Commandments as summarizing an eternal and transcendent moral 
norm based on the character of God himself. They could no more 
dismiss the law written on tablets of stone at Sinai than they could 
dismiss the law of nature written on man's heart at creation, or 
dismiss the moral character of God which undergirded the whole. You see, that is what undergirds 
the whole at the point of the Sabbath, at the point of all 
ten of God's commandments, the unchanging moral character of 
God. the moral character of God which 
undergirds the whole. So the two-fold testimony to 
the necessity of Sabbath observance, again, that is the light of nature 
and the Word of God, both general revelation and special revelation, 
testify to the fact that a day is to be set aside, sanctified 
unto the Lord for the worship of Him. Secondly, the nature 
of the biblical command for Sabbath observance notice what the confession 
says at this point the nature of the biblical command for Sabbath 
observance So by his word in a positive moral and perpetual 
commandment Binding all men in all ages He hath appointed one 
day and seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him so two 
things first off a positive and moral character or nature to 
the command for Sabbath observance and when we ask the question 
what is the character of or what are the qualities of the Sabbath 
as revealed by the Word of God, the first is that it is a positive 
moral commandment. This brings into view two understandings, 
two aspects of laws that are given by God and it's seen in 
the phrase positive moral. In the first, I believe in the 
first edition of the Confession of Faith in 1677, the positive 
moral clause there, those two words were hyphenated in a positive 
moral. In subsequent editions, they 
removed the hyphenation. But in distinction, not a theological 
or doctrinal one, but in distinction from the Westminster Confession 
of Faith and the Savoy, there is no comma after positive. the 
Baptists changed that, first hyphenating it and then subsequently 
in revised editions removing the hyphen. That's a little bit 
of history for you. You don't necessarily have to 
make a note of that or anything and put it up on your fridge. 
But note that there's two aspects of law here with regards to the 
Sabbath that is brought out, positive and moral. Moral, of 
course, is distinguished from ceremonial typical and foreshadowing 
law, moral law, we already talked about, specifically and preeminently 
the Decalogue or Ten Commandments as distinct from the ceremonial 
law and the civil law in substance identical with the law of nature 
but given by revelation in a form which is clearer and more fuller 
than that otherwise known to the reason. So the moral law 
is such as just defined. Now what is positive law? We've covered this a number of 
times, you may not recall, but as we've moved through the Confession, 
as Pastor Butler has preached on the Ten Commandments, specifically 
the Fourth Commandment, he touched upon, or we have touched upon, 
positive law. Positive law simply pertains 
to temporary and transitory laws revealed by God that are affixed 
to or attached to a particular covenant epic or covenant reality. For example, and they're distinguished 
from moral law in that regard, that they are temporary and transitory 
and fixed or confined to a certain covenant era. For example, the 
ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant, those are positive laws. The 
Passover in the Old Testament, circumcision in the Old Testament, 
those are positive laws, transitory, temporary, affixed to a certain 
covenant. and confined to, if you will, 
an epoch that pertains to a particular people. In the Old Covenant, 
it was ethnic Jews and that covenant people who had the Passover and 
circumcision and the ceremonial laws given to them. In the New 
Covenant, positive laws are baptism and the Lord's Supper. These 
are temporary and transitory and confined to a particular 
covenant era. Those two, baptism and the Lord's 
Supper, confined to the New Covenant. With respect to Sabbath observance, 
the positive aspect is primarily seen in the day of observation. So that the seventh day should 
be observed in the Old Covenant is not wrapped up in the moral 
aspect of the law that we have just seen in the light of nature 
and in the Word of God. The light of nature does not 
show that the seventh day is to be observed in the Old Covenant. 
and the word of God in making more clear the law of God and 
formally codifying the law of God, the Decalogue itself, or 
the moral aspect of the law doesn't dictate the day of observation, 
but rather the positive aspect. To help define it maybe a little 
bit better, here is Micah and Sam Renahan. The Fourth Commandment 
has both a moral and positive aspect to it, the observation 
of a Sabbath rest, a one day in seven ceasing from all work 
in worshipping God, was required by the moral law. However, they 
also affirm that the particular day upon which God is to be worshipped 
is a matter of positive or ceremonial law. So the Sabbath observance 
is a moral command. Its day of observation is a positive 
command. This doesn't mean that, you know, 
we have 9.5 commandments. This doesn't mean that there's 
somehow a lessening to the commandment given upon Mount Sinai or anything 
because there's a positive law attached to it. In fact, there's 
many other, the other moral laws as well have affixed onto them 
positive aspects in the ceremonial and in the judicial law. But 
all of that to say, When the Confession uses the language 
positive moral, it's bringing out the reality that there is 
an abiding trans-covenantal reality, the moral law, the Sabbath is 
always to be observed, but there is a temporary and transitory 
reality to the day of observation. In the Old Covenant, as the Confession 
says, it's the seventh day of the week, the last day of the 
week, and in the New Covenant, it is the first day. Notice that 
we have this concept already in the confession in previous 
locations. You can turn to Chapter 6 for 
a moment. Positive moral distinction between the two, one being temporary 
and transitory, affixed to a covenant, the other being trans-covenantal 
in nature, abidingly valid, a reflection of the moral character of God. Notice in Chapter 6 at paragraph 
1. Although God created man upright 
and perfect and gave him a righteous law which had been unto life 
had he kept it and threatened death upon the breach thereof, 
yet he did not long abide in this honor, Satan using the subtlety 
of the serpent to subdue Eve, then by her seducing Adam, who 
without any compulsion, now notice, did willfully transgress the 
law of their creation and the command given unto them. That's 
it. That's what I wanted to say, 
right there, that statement. The law of their creation and the 
command given unto them. This is opened up in a little 
more detail in 19.1 at the point of positive law. Notice chapter 
19, paragraph 1. God gave to Adam a law of universal 
obedience written in his heart, the law of their creation, and 
a particular precept. of not eating the fruit of the 
tree of knowledge of good and evil. We're transferring this 
to the doctrine of the Sabbath that we're studying. The fact 
that there is a day to be set aside for the worship of God 
is seen in a law of universal obedience written in his heart. 
If we're to see then the day of observation given specifically, 
whether the seventh or the first in the old covenant and then 
in the new, We see that in a particular precept. Again, transferring 
that language to our understanding of the Sabbath. And this language 
is, again, given in chapter 28 at paragraph 1 in the doctrine 
of the ordinances or sacraments. There in chapter 28 in paragraph 
1, the language is this. Baptism and the Lord's Supper 
are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution. appointed 
by the Lord Jesus. And so this idea of positive 
law and moral law is throughout the confession. This is how. You have heard by what law the 
first sin of man was to be measured. That was partly a positive law, 
a particular precept, a law made by a spiritual revelation to 
him, but much more principally, a natural law which was violated 
in the violation of that positive one, inasmuch as the positive 
law had its immediate root and foundation in the natural one. 
In other words, when we, given this language, given the biblical 
testimony to this reality, when we break the Sabbath, or when 
they broke it in the Old Covenant, they broke both the moral and 
the positive aspect of the law, because they broke the law that 
touched upon the unchanging moral character and perfection of the 
righteousness of God and they broke that which was positively 
given in the day of observation and so if there's any other questions 
about positive moral afterwards please let me know but hopefully 
you see the distinction one that reflects one unchanging that 
reflects the the the moral perfections and character of God and one 
that is specifically and only given exclusively given by revelatory 
command from on high that is temporary transitory and confined 
to a particular people or covenant epic. Now notice as well the 
character, another character of the command for Sabbath observance 
is seen in the fact that it's perpetually enduring and universally 
binding. Notice the confession here. So 
by his word in a positive moral and perpetual commandment binding 
all men in all ages. The Sabbath observance is perpetually 
enduring and it is universally binding. You can turn with me 
to chapter 19 just for a moment to see this has already been 
stressed in the chapter on the law of God. Notice in chapter 
19 at paragraph 3, besides this law commonly called moral, God 
was pleased to give to the people of Israel ceremonial laws containing 
several typical ordinances, partly of worship prefiguring Christ, 
his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits, and partly holding 
forth diverse instructions of moral duties, all which ceremonial 
laws being appointed only to the time of reformation are by 
Jesus Christ, the true Messiah and only lawgiver, who was furnished 
with power from the Father for that end, abrogated and taken 
away. Now notice paragraph 5, the moral 
law doth forever bind all as well justified persons as others 
to the obedience thereof. And that not only in regard of 
the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority 
of God the creator who gave it. Neither doth Christ in the gospel 
anyway dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation. You see here 
a necessary distinction with regards to the law of God, especially 
now as we note the Christian Sabbath. And that is here the 
threefold division of the law into moral, ceremonial, and judicial 
or civil. We didn't read paragraph four, 
but paragraph four pertains to that third one, the judicial 
law. You see, there are those who are opposed to the Sabbath 
that would say that the moral law as well was confined only 
to those people referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4, the Judaic 
or Mosaic polity of the old covenant, that the moral law was confined 
unto that covenantal era or dispensation and is now no longer abidingly 
valid for the new covenant era or new covenant saints. Here 
the distinction is made moral, ceremonial, and judicial with 
paragraph 5 saying, the moral law doth forever bind all as 
well justified persons as others to the obedience thereof. The 
obligation is strengthened in the new covenant, not taken away. So the perpetually enduring and 
universal binding aspect to the Sabbath is quite clear. And we're going to see this from 
the scriptures in a moment. But here's a quote by a fellow 
named James P. Butler in Confessing the Impassible 
God, tying together positive and moral law as well as the 
unchanging character of God at the point of the perpetuity of 
this commandment. The foundation for the Christian 
Sabbath is the unchanging moral law of God. While there are positive 
elements attached to the day of worship, according to the 
covenant in which the command is couched, The moral law that 
undergirds the command remains unchanged because it is God's 
law. You see, the positive aspect 
changes, and we'll look at that in a number of minutes, but the 
moral aspect of it always abides because it reflects the one who 
is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in all of his blessed and superabounding 
perfections. Now, there are four things to 
note with respect to the reality of its perpetual endurance and 
universal binding character. First, the nature of the law, 
which is a reflection of the divine nature. You see, we do 
not come to a law that is given that is only positive, that is 
only transitory and temporary to be taken away with the coming 
of Christ, but rather one that is trans-covenantally abiding, 
even strengthening its obligation in the new covenant by virtue 
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because it reflects the moral 
character and the perfections of God. There is a distinction 
to be illustrated here, and I believe that the New Covenant brings 
this out in the opening up of the moral law in comparison, 
if you will, to the ceremonial law. And what I mean by that 
is probably better stated by Gilfillan, who states this, in 
these circumstances of glory, grandeur, and terrible majesty, 
which made Moses himself say, I exceedingly fear and quake, 
did Jehovah proclaim with his own lips the Ten Commandments, 
talking about the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. And thus, 
not only by priority of promulgation, but by the August solemnities 
attending it, did he distinguish these commandments above the 
civil and ceremonial statutes, which were afterwards privately 
communicated to Moses. You see, he's highlighting here 
the glory, the grandeur, and the terrible majesty of the event 
that marked the giving of the Ten Commandments, which again 
was not introducing something new. At Mount Sinai, God isn't 
introducing something novel, but rather formally codifying 
that which is written upon the heart of man from creation, and 
which is a reflection of his unchanging moral character. In 
a longer quote, Gilfillan demonstrating the difference between moral 
and ceremonial and stressing this at the point of the observation 
of all Ten Commandments as well as the fourth, writes this, it 
was inscribed on tablets of stone and in this form deposited in 
the ark with all the security which incorruptible acacia wood 
and gold overlaid within, without and above could provide. and 
under the overshadowing cherubim an inviolable Shekinah. But no 
divine voice is heard announcing the laws of a temporary polity 
or of a shadowy ritual. They are uttered in the ears 
of Moses alone. No divine finger traces their 
written characters. For this the hand of Moses is 
deemed adequate. They are committed to no secure 
and precious casket, but placed beside the ark as things warranting 
less reverence and care and ready to be removed. In all these honors 
of the ten words, the fourth commandment fully shared. prefaced 
by the same solemnities, attended by thunderings and lightnings, 
articulated by the divine voice, all its words engraved by the 
divine finger, and entrusted to the sacred keeping of the 
ark, who could have any reason to imagine that the Sabbath was 
a Jewish rite, belonging entirely or only to a covenant which was 
to decay, wax old, and be ready to vanish away. You see, what 
a glorious statement with regards to the abiding validity of the 
Sabbath, and what a shame should come to those who would seek 
to oppose its observation in the New Covenant. It was given 
with holy thunderings, glory, and grandeur. Truly, it was a 
fearful day when it was given, and so now do we cast it off? 
Do we remove it from the complex of those blessed things given 
on a terrible day by a gracious God, by a God who is infinite, 
eternal, and unchangeable in His justice and holiness? Do 
we snatch it out and cast it away and say, no longer to be 
observed? Or do we cast ourselves before the God of heaven and 
earth and observe a day that He has given for our rest, a 
day that He has blessed, a day that He has sanctified, A day 
that he has given for us to remember our creator, our redeemer, the 
powerful spirit who came on the day of Pentecost to grow his 
church. It's a wonderful thing, the Sabbath 
that we have. The weight of the remembrance 
attached to it is the second thing we ought to note with respect 
to its perpetual endurance and its universally abiding character. 
The weight of the remembrance attached to it and the anticipation 
remaining in it. Remember what's being remembered 
in the giving of the law, the fourth commandment. You can turn 
to Exodus 20 first. Exodus chapter 20. Notice the 
weight of what is being remembered. Exodus 20 and 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. 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. You see, we are to bless and 
to hallow the day that God himself blesses and hallows. And you 
see, it's not just, there's no language here of, you know, this 
is a transitory and temporary thing prefiguring Christ that 
will be taken away at his first advent. No, we have a weight 
that is attached to the character and the glory of God and his 
creative power and the fact that he himself blesses it and he 
himself hallows it there according to the language of the scriptures. 
Now, you don't have to turn there, but in Deuteronomy 5, the weight 
of what is remembered is supplemented, if you will, added to it is the 
redemption of Israel from out of Egyptian bondage, creation 
and redemption. Those are the things that come 
to the weight of the observation of the Sabbath day, God's creative 
power and his redemptive glory. are brought before the Old Covenant 
Saints are as well brought before us, New Covenant Saints, as those 
reasons for its glory and its abiding nature. The New Testament, 
thirdly, with regards to perpetuity and universally binding, the 
New Testament nowhere introduces a new moral code nor rescinds 
any one individual law of the Ten Commandments. We might want 
to know Christ in Matthew 5, 17 to 19. Christ in Matthew 5, 
17 to 19. Perhaps when we read this, this 
language will be. You'll be reminded of this language, 
or perhaps you already know the address of Scripture and what 
it says, but Christ dispels any notion that he is come to put 
an end to the moral law. Do not think Matthew 517. that 
I came to destroy the law or the prophets, I did not come 
to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly I say to you, till 
heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no 
means pass away from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever 
therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches 
men, so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven." You 
see, Christ himself speaks to the reality of the abiding nature 
of the moral law. In Matthew 22-39, Matthew 22-39 
as well, there is a statement there that for some reason is 
brought into the camp of New Covenant theologians as if it 
is a weapon in their armory, to use the language of Spurgeon, 
but it is no such thing as it clearly speaks to the abiding 
nature of the Ten Commandments. Notice Jesus and Matthew Beginning 
at verse 37, Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your 
God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your 
mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it. You 
shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang 
all the law and the prophets. See what Jesus is doing here. 
He's not somehow reducing or modifying some reality to new 
covenant law where there's two great commandments that you know, 
somehow bring a design change to God's moral law. He's issuing 
something that has old covenant pedigree. He's issuing or declaring 
a two-fold summation of the Decalogue. He's saying, he's talking about 
the commandments to God and the commandments with respect to 
men in the Decalogue, in the Ten Commandments. The first and 
the second refer to those first the first and the second parts 
of the law given, those Godward and those manward in their exercise. On these two commandments hang 
all the law and the prophets. Christ himself upholds the abiding 
validity of the moral law within which the Sabbath itself is gloriously 
contained. You can make a note as well of 
1 Timothy 1.8 and following where the Apostle Paul rehearses the 
Ten Commandments and their abiding validity and that particular 
in that particular context. We might want to note as well 
Hebrews 10, not the only text in Hebrews, but Hebrews 10 at 
the point of the apostolic command connected to the perfection of 
the shed blood of Christ to not forsake the assembling of ourselves 
together. There is rich Sabbath in the 
background with regards to the application portions of the book 
of Hebrews. We are to not forsake the assembling 
of ourselves together. Lastly under, but certainly not 
exhausting the data, lastly under the character or nature of the 
biblical command for Sabbath observance under its perpetual 
and universal character, Christ didn't inaugurate an era where 
man's physiology has changed. Remember what Hodge said earlier, 
that a certain portion of time should be set apart for rest 
from labor is by experience found to be, on physiological and moral 
grounds, highly desirable. This is just an interesting and, 
I don't mean to say cute, but I'll say it anyway, addition 
to, but a legitimate argument to what we're saying here. Christ 
didn't inaugurate an era where man's physiology has changed. 
We still are men. We're men created in God's image. We're men. We're saved by grace, 
but being saved by grace in the new covenant doesn't mean that 
our bodies now do not require a day on which we cease from 
our labors. Christ did not inaugurate such 
a new era, but rather we are still men. We have the same biblical 
anthropology that we did when the law was given upon Mount 
Sinai. But remember, That law given 
upon Mount Sinai is the same law written upon man's heart 
at creation and that we have by virtue of the image of God. 
Moving on then to the specified day of observance. The specified 
day of observance. Notice what the confession says 
with regards to the specified day of observance or observation. In chapter 22, again, at paragraph 
7, We read, he hath particularly appointed one day and 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. So the specified day for Sabbath 
observation, first off, in the Old Testament. Notice the language 
of the confession is from the beginning of the world to the 
resurrection of Christ. There are those who would argue 
against the Sabbath, against Sabbath observation, who would 
say that Sabbath observation was first commanded only at Mount 
Sinai. and that there was no Sabbath 
observance prior to that. Some of the reasons for trying 
to argue that way would be to try and confine it to the Jews 
alone, to ethnic Israel and to that covenant people only, but 
with the cessation and the bringing to an end of that particular 
covenant and that covenant people, there is no longer, therefore, 
a need for its observation. But the confession says here 
which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of 
Christ was the last day of the week. The Catholic Church is 
even in error, of course, at this point with regards to Sabbath 
observation when they say the Sabbath was kept holy only from 
the time of the liberation of the people of Israel from the 
bondage of Pharaoh. But that simply isn't the case. If we follow a biblical trail, 
we can do so if you turn in your Bibles to the book of Genesis. 
Genesis chapter 2. We are wanting to note that in 
the Old Covenant it is the last day of the week, but also in 
so doing that it precedes Mount Sinai. This testifies again to 
its abiding validity. That it isn't just something 
commanded at Sinai, but that it was observed and given prior 
to that particular time. Genesis 2 and beginning in 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." You 
see here the weight of the testimony as well in more than one way. God blesses the seventh day. 
God sets it apart. The text says sanctified it. 
And then we see the covenant language, the Sinai language 
prior to Sinai, because in it he rested from all his work, 
which God had rested and made. Moses wrote Genesis. He also wrote Exodus. Exodus, 
we see the giving of the command at Mount Sinai. In Genesis, we 
see the creative reality and weight behind the giving of the 
law. Sinai didn't introduce anything 
new. Sinai didn't introduce the Sabbath. Remember that command says, remember 
the Sabbath. They'd have to know the Sabbath, 
and they're commanded to remember it. In other words, they are 
given a command to remember something that was already in observation, 
that was already a sacred day blessed and set apart by God. 
They're commanded to remember it and the language simply of 
the Sabbath is quite clear that they already knew that there 
was a day that is to be or that was to be observed. In fact, 
in Exodus 16, there is already language prior to Sinai about 
keeping the Sabbath day. Now, In Genesis 4 as well, we 
have language of the observation of the Sabbath. If you remember 
when Jim preached on this a number of Sundays ago, in Genesis 4 
we have the language of the end of days. Notice in Genesis 4 
beginning in verse 3. Genesis 4 and verse 3. And in 
the process of time or at the end of days, it came to pass 
that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to 
the Lord. Abel also brought the firstborn 
of his flock and of their fat, etc. I think the idea and view 
here and what many have observed rightly is that the language 
at the end of days here in the New King James translated differently 
but at the end of days connects well to the days of creation 
already brought out and closed in Genesis 2 there with regards 
to the rest that God took on the seventh day, sanctifying 
it and blessing it. At the end of days, there was 
a week that was being observed. And at the end of it, that is 
on the last day, Abel and Cain came in worship, one in vain 
worship, the other in right worship, to offer their sacrifices. But 
nevertheless, they came in worship on the seventh day in order to 
observe the Sabbath. We would want to note as well 
Exodus 16 that we already alluded to specifically verse 23, as 
well Genesis 26 5, Abraham obeying there a law of observation with 
respect to the Sabbath and then we would want to note as well 
the language of remember and the language of observe in both 
Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. In the Old Covenant, It is clear 
that Sabbath observance predated Sinai and that we have the seventh 
day given as the day of observation time and again. In the Old Covenant, 
the theological reason, if you will, the theological undergirding 
besides the fact of the moral law being a reflection of God's 
character, the theological underpinning for Sabbath day observation is 
seen in creation. Exodus 20, and it's also seen 
in redemption, Deuteronomy 5. So the creative power and the 
glory of God and His redemptive glory seen in redeeming physically 
Israel from out of bondage in Egypt. Now, we're just going 
to begin the specified day with regards to the New Covenant and 
pick it up next time. But the specified day for Sabbath 
observance in the New Covenant Again, the confession states, 
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. In 
the New Covenant, we have the day being changed. The last day 
of the week as a positive law is abolished. The first day of 
the week as a positive law affixed unto or attached to the moral is seen the first day of the 
week in the New Covenant. There are a number of reasons 
that we have for this or a number of texts, a number of things 
that we can observe with respect to the New Covenant and the change 
of the day. I'm going to list those things 
and then we'll look at them in more detail next time as well 
as the theological or redemptive historical reasons for the change 
of the day, but there are at least five testimonies to the 
change of the day in the Apostolic Church or in the New Covenant, 
and those are these that we'll pick up next time. The first 
Lord's Day gathering of the New Covenant took place on a Sunday, 
and it was led by Christ. The second Lord's Day gathering 
of the New Covenant took place on a Sunday, and it was led by 
Christ. Thirdly, the narrative account 
in the book of Acts demonstrate first day Christian gatherings. We'll look next time at Acts 
2-1 and Acts 27. Acts 27, where we see the narrative 
account in the book of Acts demonstrating first day Christian gatherings. Owen on that says, that which 
was in common observance amongst all the disciples of Christ is 
first day observation. Fourthly, we'll note Paul's Lord's 
Supper commands and the order for church collections in 1 Corinthians. This language by Paul speaks 
clearly to the fact of church gathering and on the first day. And then fifthly, next time we'll 
note John's rehearsing of the day on which he saw and heard 
the glorious Christ in Revelation. There's some very important things 
and very interesting things with regards to that account in Revelation 
1. that speak to the reality of 
the Lord's Day being the first day. Now, to close then, I want 
to read more of this quote that I opened with by Matthew Henry. Wonder not that I am thus earnest 
with you in this matter, the matter of the Sabbath. I see 
how much depends upon it. and I persuade as one who desires 
and hopes to prevail with you. Let me not be disappointed as 
you value the glory of your Creator, the honor of your Redeemer, and 
your own comfort and happiness in both worlds. I beseech you, 
remember the Sabbath day, the Christian Sabbath, to keep it 
holy. Most certainly true, that saying is, which I have somewhere 
met with, that the stream of all religion runs either deep 
or shallow according as the banks of the Sabbath. are kept up or 
neglected. We go into our Sabbath observance 
now in a half hour's time and might we do so with a cheerful 
compliance in a strengthened obligation by the sweetness of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we rejoice in the Lord's Day Sabbath and we rejoice that you 
have given this to us as a blessed command to be observed with a 
cheerful compliance by our Christian and humble hearts. And we do 
pray that you would help us to come in with a godly fear, not 
with that legal fear as has been spoken of, for we do not come 
to Mount Sinai, but rather to Mount Zion. And we pray that 
you would help us to come to you, the living and true God. 
We do pray that you'd help us to come to you humbly and in 
great earnest and in great joy, rejoicing in the Savior, rejoicing 
in the gospel, singing the praises of amazing grace. And we pray 
that you would give us the presence of mind and regenerate heart 
to observe your day with gladness and to observe it with a biblical 
and joyful propriety. And we pray in Christ's precious 
name, amen.