02.12.23 - The Sabbath Part 6 - What is Forbidden?

Open your Bibles to Exodus 20:8-11. •We’re continuing our study of the Christian Sabbath. •And this morning we come to part one of two that will end this short series: Keeping the Day. •Our subject for the next two Lord’s Days will be how to keep the Lord’s Day holy. I’ve waited until now to begin to teach about how to keep the Sabbath holy. And that is on purpose. •I first wanted to explain and defend the doctrine before we get into what it means for us on a practical level each week. •After all, we DO NOT begin with, “What will doctrine mean for me?” And then move on from there to see if it’s biblical. •Many do that and, seeing what it means to keep the Sabbath, reject it before studying the Word. •Instead of that, we must first ask, “What does God say about a Christian Sabbath?” And then, concluding that the Lord’s Day is the Christian Sabbath, we look into what that means for us. We’ve spend five weeks examining the Sabbath. •Many more weeks could’ve been spent on proving the doctrine, but I think what we’ve seen is sufficient. •And I hope that you all have concluded in your hearts that the Lord’s Day is indeed the Christian Sabbath. •And that now brings us to a very important subject: How then do we keep the day holy? •We must answer this question. There must application of the doctrine or we’ve wasted our time in study. •The whole purpose of studying Scripture is NOT to merely fill our heads. Rather, it is to inform our minds SO THAT we might believe and obey the Lord from the heart. •So then, how do we keep the day holy? Our Confession answers that question very well in Chapter 22 Paragraph 8: •“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 an holy 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.” •Now, there is a lot to unpack there. And I will not get into all of it this morning. •But I think that paragraph is a helpful summary of what the Scriptures teach about keeping the Sabbath. This morning I want to cover the first half of Sabbath keeping. •I want to cover the “negative” aspects of keeping the day. •That is, I want to consider what we are NOT TO DO on the Sabbath, since the day belongs to the Lord. •And, God willing, next week we’ll consider what we SHOULD DO on the Sabbath day. So that’s our theme this morning: •What activities should we ABSTAIN FROM on the Lord’s Day? •What is the general rule about work on the Sabbath? •Are there any exceptions to the general rule? •What about recreation? •Again, what should we NOT DO on the Lord’s Day? Now, I want you to know that I will not get into the minutia of how to keep the day holy. •There are lots of questions. And every circumstance brings more questions. •For the sake of time, I will not be able to get into all practical questions, especially with regard to children and the Sabbath. (Though I would love to talk with you personally about that, if you’d like.) •But what I want to do this morning is lay broad principles before you that each of us must apply to the Lord’s Day. •And these principles must be applied prayerfully, seeking the face of God, and with a sincere desire to keep the day holy to the Lord. By the end of this sermon, I expect that many of you will still have questions about what is and is not acceptable to do on the Lord’s Day. •I say that because, even as a convinced Sabbatarian, I sometimes have those same questions because circumstances can be difficult. •But, I am convinced that the Word of God is sufficient. •I am convinced that the principles of Scripture about keeping the Sabbath, when prayerfully considered by a pious Christian, by help of the Holy Spirit, are enough for us to learn how to keep the day. Even if we have to grow in our understanding over time. •May God the bless the preaching of His Word. If you would, and are able, please stand with me now for the reading of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. Exodus 20:8-11 [8] “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10] but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. [11] For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (PRAY) Our Heavenly Father, Thank you for another opportunity to sit under the preaching of your Word. Lord, the subject before us is big. And sometimes it is difficult for us, in our fallen state, to know how to apply it. But you’ve given us your Word and Spirit as sure guides. So, please, enlighten our minds, open our hearts, and illumine the text this morning. Teach us how to honor you. Teach us true obedience. And show us our need for the Savior, and how He has met our need. Sanctify us by your truth. Your Word is truth. Glorify yourself in us today. We ask these things in Jesus’ Name and for His sake. Amen. 1.) Let me begin with some general remarks before we get into our text. •First, you need to know that the Lord’s Day, the Sabbath day, is a day of PRINCIPLES. •God does not give us an exhaustive book of rules telling us what is and is not acceptable on the Sabbath. •He gives us a handful of principles that we are to apply to every situation we encounter on the Lord’s Day. So, I will not give you a list of dos and don’ts for the Sabbath. •God hasn’t given us a list. Again, He has given us principles to live by. •The Pharisees wanted a list. And they made one. And it was a monstrosity in the eyes of God. •Their lists of rules for the Sabbath strangled out the goodness of the day and the liberty and blessing that God intended man to have on the day. •In fact, our Lord spent a good amount of time teaching against their manmade rules and showing that we don’t have to obey them. •Our Lord spent a lot of time undoing bad views of the Sabbath day. He spent a lot of time restoring it to it’s intended design: To be a blessing to man. So, we will not look for a list of dos and don’ts. •Rather, we will be satisfied with the principles that God has laid down in His Word. •Each of us have all we need to know how to keep the day: We have the Word and Holy Spirit. •The hard part is that we must study, think, pray, and wrestle with it all. •But we must do that with all kinds of things in the Christian life. God often gives us principles instead of an exhaustive list of rules. Brothers and sisters, I am not telling you to be lax in your Sabbath-keeping. •But I am going to tell you on the front end that you are going to have to make some judgment calls about keeping the day in your life and house. •There will be matters of conscience on which Christians differ about Sabbath keeping. There will be some gray areas (we hate those) that every Christian will have to decide on using a Scripture informed conscience. •You are going to have to make calls about Sabbath keeping using the principles of Scripture and prayerfully applying them as you earnestly seek God’s will and desire to honor Him and keep His day holy. •God does not treat us like little children who have to have every single thing spelled out for them. •God often gives us principles and then says, “Go and apply them, in the fear of God, seeking to glorify me.” •So that is what we’ll do with the Sabbath. But a major guiding principle that governs the whole day that all other principles fall under is this: •IT IS GOD’S DAY. •It is a day FOR HIM. •It is a day to WORSHIP HIM all the day long. •The day DOES NOT BELONG TO US. IT BELONGS TO GOD who took the day and made it holy to Himself. •If we keep in mind that the day is God’s and that it is to be spent with Him, in meditation on Him, in talking about Him, in worshipping Him, then most of our questions about what we should and shouldn’t do will be easily answered. •If it is God’s day, then we must not do our will, but must ask the question, “Is what I’m thinking about doing conducive to the purpose for which God gave the day?” •And that purpose is WORSHIP. •If it is our day, then we are free to do as we wish. •But since it is God’s day, the day must be used for the purposes for which God gave it. •If your question begins with “I know it’s the Lord’s Day, but…” Then you probably already have your answer. The day is to be kept HOLY. •That is, the day is GODWARD. It is to be different from the other days of the week. •It is for Him and His worship and fellowship with Him. •That’s the big picture. And we must remember that. 2.) Now we come to the big question: What is forbidden on the Sabbath day? •And to answer that we turn to the Fourth Commandment itself: [8] “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10] but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. [11] For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. We find the prohibitions in v10: •“On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.” •Don’t work. That’s simple enough. •Lay down your labor on the Lord’s Day. Now some people ask, “What is work?” •God doesn’t define it. He uses simple, ordinary language in this Commandment. And so, we ought to understand the word “work” in it’s simple, ordinary sense. •Unless we want to deny the clarity of Scripture, or the intelligibility of language itself, we need to take the word “work” in it’s most ordinary sense. •God expects us to use some sanctified common sense. •V9 says, “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work.” •So, whatever work you do in the six days leading up to the Sabbath, you should cease. •Whatever you do to make a living, whatever you’d normally have to spend your time doing throughout the week, the work you do in six days, you should stop. •The Sabbath day is not a day for profit. It’s not a day to catch up on housekeeping or maintenance. It’s God’s day. And so, we must stop working and give the day to the Lord. For those who work outside of the home or own a business, you should not go to work or open your business on the Lord’s Day. •(There are exceptions to this general rule. And we’ll get to that later.) •But you are to cease from your ordinary labors. You are to do NO WORK on the Sabbath. •Close your business doors. And don’t go to work. Take the day off and give it to God. For those who work in the home, or have housekeeping duties in the home, you are to lay down that work as well. •You are to cease from your housework. •The Lord’s Day is not a day to catch up on laundry or clean the kitchen or wash baseboards. •And it’s not a day for elaborate meals that take tons of preparation. •You do those things on the six other days. So stop. •You are to cease from your ordinary housework, just as much as work outside the home. Children, you are to lay down your work, too. •The Sabbath is not a day for schoolwork. It’s not a day to study secular subjects. •It’s not a day to do homework or work on school projects. •And it’s not a day to catch up on chores. •You are to spend six days doing those things, but the Lord’s Day is for the Lord. Brothers and sisters, God appeals to His own example in v11. •He made the world in six days and then ceased/rested from His work of creation on the seventh. •And so we are to do the same: Whatever work we ordinarily do throughout the six days of the week, we are to lay down. •And that, in part, is keeping the day HOLY. •If something is holy, it is set apart. And by refusing to engage in our ordinary work on the Sabbath, we are demonstrating that the day is indeed DIFFERENT. •How? Because we are behaving DIFFERENTLY on that day compared to the other six. •Why? Because we are going to use that day differently from the other days. We are going to more intentionally spend it with God and in worship. For more support of what I’ve said thus far, you can read Nehemiah 13:15-22 and Jeremiah 17:19-25. •There you will read how the People of Israel were rebuked for working on the Sabbath, and that their work was servile, ordinary labor. •And you’ll also read that they were profaning the Sabbath by buying and selling on it. •So then, we can conclude that, on the Sabbath, God forbids us to work or engage in ordinary commerce. •No working. No buying. And no selling. So, we are not to work on the Lord’s Day. But that’s not all. This commandment is bigger than the individual. •God says, On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. •We aren’t to work. And we aren’t to allow anyone under our authority to work, either. •Parents, we are to make sure that our sons and daughters rest from their labor. •Like Joshua said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) •Those in authority are to make sure, to the best of their ability, that those under them cease from their work. And this extends beyond the home to employers. •“…your male servant, or your female servant…” •If you own a business, you’ve hired people to WORK FOR YOU. You’ve hired people to SERVE YOU for pay. •So this means that those who own businesses are to close their shops on the Sabbath day. •They are to ensure that their employees have the opportunity to observe the Lord’s Day and not profane it by working on it. •Neither you, nor your servants are permitted to work on the Lord’s Day. You are to protect their right to rest and worship God, just as your protect your own right to do so. •You are to encourage obedience to God, not just in your house, but in your business. And, to pursue, this even further, this Commandment prohibits making anyone work for you unnecessarily. •This means that we are forbidden to “go out” on the Lord’s Day. •Going to restaurants and shopping centers and all that on the Sabbath is making people work for you. Not to mention, you’re engaging in buying and selling/ordinary work that you do on the other six days. •When you go out on the Lord’s Day, you’re paying other people to serve you. •And you’re encouraging employers to work their servants on the Sabbath by giving them money for doing so. •This is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Commandment. And, sadly, this is incredibly common. •While YOU are resting on the Sabbath, you are contributing to someone else profaning it and treating it as just another workday. •And that means you are profaning it yourself. 3.) So far, we see that keeping the day holy means that we are not to work, we are not to engage in commerce, and we are to not make others work. •Now, are there any exceptions to these general rules? •The answer of Scripture is a resounding YES. •Our Confession states that, while we are to abstain from work on the Sabbath, we are permitted to engage in “duties of necessity and mercy.” •Now, what does that mean? And is there any Bible behind that statement? •The Fourth Commandment itself doesn’t say that, but our Lord’s own example of Sabbath-keeping demonstrates to us that there are certain kinds of work that we’re allowed to do on the Sabbath without breaking the Commandment. We see His example in many places in the Gospels. •But this morning we will consider two examples in Matthew 12:1-14. •And we will look at them VERY BRIEFLY to see how Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, kept the day. Matthew 12:1-8 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” In this passage, the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of breaking the Sabbath. •What was their crime? Plucking heads of grain to eat. •According to the traditions of the Pharisees, to pluck even a single head of grain was to harvest it. And to rub it in your hand to get the kernel clean of chaff was to thresh. And they considered this to be work and, therefore, a violation of the Sabbath. •Brothers and sisters, this is a ridiculously strained definition of work. And our Lord rejects it. •It is not work to pluck a head of grain and eat it on the Sabbath. It is merely a satisfying of human hunger. And so, our Lord appeals to the Scriptures. •He references how King David and his men once ate the Bread of the Presence. That was holy bread that only the priests could eat. •But, in time of need, not even an emergency, but because David’s men were hungry, the priest gave the men the bread. •Jesus’ point is this: If a God-given ceremonial law could be set aside to meet human needs, then Jesus and His disciples could certainly set aside a manmade tradition in order to meet human needs. The big takeaway for us this morning is that, by His own example, Jesus tells us that it is ok to meet human needs, like hunger on the Sabbath. •Jesus tells us that works of necessity are permitted on His day. And since He is Lord of the Sabbath, He infallibly interprets the Commandment. A work of necessity is an activity that cannot be postponed or avoided on the Sabbath. •This is something that is done every day, like preparing food, eating, resting, etc. •This also would cover emergency situations. •And this would also cover something that needs to be done in order to serve the purpose of the day. Some examples: •If your only car breaks down on the Sabbath, fix it. You need to get to church. You need to be able to get to the hospital or another place if something happens. •If your pipes burst, fix them. Your home is in danger. •If a house is burning down, put the fire out. It is necessary to do so. •If animals need fed, feed them. Don’t let them go hungry. •If you’re tired, take a nap and rest so you are better able to worship later. •If you’re hungry, eat or prepare a simple meal. •This would also include those necessary works that accompany our advanced technology: •Clearing roads of wrecks, keeping telephone lines working, keeping electric plants running. •These kinds of things simply MUST be done on the Sabbath, or there will be human suffering and/or the day cannot be properly spent in worship. NOTE: Now, it must be said that determining whether or not something is a work of necessity is a judgment call that each Christian is going to have to make himself. •The Scripture gives us the example of Christ, but does not get into many particulars about necessity. •And so, much of determining a work of necessity will be a matter of Spirit-led, Scripture-informed Christian conscience. •And every Christian will have to individually answer to God for his actions. •But we need, in the spirit of keeping the Law of God, make sure as best we can that we’re not pretending that something is a necessity in order to justify working on the Lord’s Day or not preparing for it well. •We must be convinced that something is truly necessary and justifiable before God to do on the Sabbath and is keeping with spirit of the day. •But we must not let our definition of “necessity” become so broad that it functionally destroys the Sabbath day by turning it into an ordinary day of work. And now we move on to works of mercy on the Sabbath: Matthew 12:9-14 He went on from there and entered the synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” The He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretch it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, how to destroy Him. Here Jesus shows us by example that it is always good to relieve human suffering. •Whether it’s the Sabbath or any day, it is always lawful to do good to others. It’s always lawful to alleviate suffering and help people. •The Pharisees thought that you could save a life on the Sabbath, but unless someone was going to die, their suffering could wait until the next day. •But Jesus says, “NO. Help them now.” •And this shows us that works of mercy are not violations of the Sabbath. A work of mercy is activity that is not financially motivated but stems from compassion for fellow human beings and is to relieve suffering. •It’s work that preserves life and promotes the wellbeing of our neighbors. •Some examples of this: •Nurses, doctors, police, firefighters, EMTs, and the like working on the Lord’s Day are not profaning it. They’re doing what Jesus did. They’re helping people and loving their neighbors by protecting and caring for them. •Visiting the sick and caring for them is good to do on the Lord’s Day. •Giving alms to the poor is good to do on the Sabbath. •If someone is sick, go get them medicine and give it to them, no matter what the day. (Pharmacies should be open on the Sabbath.) •Human suffering is to be relived, even if it is the Lord’s day. •As Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made FOR MAN, not man for the Sabbath.” The day is not a day of pain and burden on humanity, but a day for blessing and good works. So then, we see that though we are to cease from our ordinary labors, works of necessity and mercy are no violation of the Fourth Commandment. •Now, many questions still may remain in your mind about what constitutes a legitimate work of mercy or necessity, but I think RL Dabney had a good thought on this: •“Let conscience and heart respond to God’s requirement that His Day be hallowed by us, and the details will be easily arranged.” 4.) Now we move on to another question: Is work the only thing prohibited on the Sabbath? •The answer is NO. •The Word of God teaches us that we are to abstain from worldly recreation and speech as well as worldly work. And we see this in the words of God in Isaiah 58:13: •“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly…” •Here we see that the Sabbath command is very broad. It calls us to cease from all our works of the ordinary days, right down to what we talk about. •This verse tells us that to “turn back your foot from the Sabbath,” to keep it holy, means that we are to cease from our pleasure on God’s holy day. •“Your pleasure” here means your will, your ways, your desires. God says that we are to cease from those things. •In other words, we must do what God requires on the Sabbath, and that means that we may not always do as we please, as we can on the other days. •The day is not our own to be spent on whatever we want. It’s God’s day and is to be spent toward Him. •The principle here is that we suspend all our ordinary activity and not just work. So this means that we ought to rest from our recreation. Now, this does not mean that we cannot have any pleasure on the Lord’s Day. •The day is not meant to be gloomy or burdensome. It’s meant to be a delight. •But our delight on the Sabbath should be in worship, meditating on the Word, having holy conversations, and enjoying the company of God’s People. •Our other, worldly pleasures are to be put down for the day. Even though those things are legitimate on the other days of the week, they are not the purpose of the day. Consider this: The Sabbath is not a day for recreation. •It’s not a day for games, mindlessly scrolling on our phones, entertainment, watching sports or secular movies, reading secular books and all the rest. •The day is a day for worship. That is the whole purpose of the day. •And so, work is prohibited because it takes us away from worship and meditation on the things of God. •Likewise, recreation is prohibited because it also takes us away from the proper use of the day. And catch this: God forbids “talking idly” on the Sabbath. •That is, talking about things that don’t matter. •The KJV puts it like this: “Speaking your own words.” •Our conversations should not be on the things of this world. They should not be about work, sports, swapping funny stories, or any other idle thing. •Our conversations should be chiefly concerned with the things of God on the Sabbath. •This doesn’t mean that we can’t catch up to some extent. After all, we need to know one another and what’s going on with each other in order to love one another. •And this doesn’t mean that we can’t talk, to some extent, about what’s going on in the world. •But in all our speech, we should be trying to shift it to a Godward direction. That’s the goal on the Lord’s Day for all our conversations. •Now, this is hard. I am not very good at this aspect of the Sabbath-keeping yet. Most of us aren’t. But we can grow. •But the point is that in word, thought, and deed, in all things, we are to not be concerned with our own pleasures and desires on the Sabbath, but are to truly, in all regards, give the day to God. NOTE: This DOES NOT MEAN that recreation is bad. •Playing and watching television and all that is not intrinsically evil. •Just like working isn’t bad. But we are to lay down our work in order to give the day to God. •The same goes with recreation. It’s not bad. But we’re to lay down our pleasures in order to give the day to God. Now, I know some will say, “But isn't recreation a form of rest?” •And to that I would say, “Yes. In a sense, it is.” I don’t deny that people often relax at recreation. •BUT what is the point of resting on the Sabbath? The purpose is to free us up to spend the day in worship. •Now here’s a thought for you: We rest from our labors in order to have time to worship God all the day long. •But if you rest from you labor and then give yourself over to games and television and idle conversation, you’ve ceased from your labor, sure. But you’ve replaced work with recreation INSTEAD OF WORSHIP. And that defeats the purpose of the day just as much as working. •God commands us to cease from our ordinary activities for the purpose of worship. And recreation can keep us from worship MORE EASILY than work, because recreation is fun. So then, in summary, we see the principles of what is forbidden on the Sabbath: 1. We are not to work. 2. We are to not make others work. 3. We are to make sure that all under our authority do not work. 4. We are permitted to do works of necessity and mercy. 5. We are to cease from our worldly recreations. •Those are the principles for what we should abstain from on the Lord’s Day. 5.) Now, I know that you guys have questions. •And that’s actually an objection that people often raise against the Sabbath. •Anti-Sabbatarians will say, “There are so many questions and what-ifs and what-abouts that it’s impossible to know how to properly keep the day. So we must not have to do it.” •And I’d like to address that thought now. Because many people have it. 1. The Jews kept the Sabbath. •They didn’t do it perfectly. Who can? Who can perfectly cease from all their worldly thoughts, words, works, and desires for the whole day? •Nobody can do this perfectly. •But we also know that God wasn’t always talking about how the Jews were Sabbath-breaking, either. •So, to a large degree, at least externally, they must have kept the day properly. •So, it is doable, at least to a large degree. We can indeed keep from flagrant Sabbath breaking, just as we can indeed keep from flagrant violations of the other Nine Commandments. 2. We must remember the sufficiency of Scripture. •The Jews had the same OT that we do. They had this commandment to keep the Sabbath. •And God deems His Word to be enough to instruct His People on how to keep His day holy. •The principles outlined in Scripture are indeed enough for us. We just must seek to apply them diligently and prayerfully in our lives. •To deny this and demand some more extensive list for Sabbath keeping is to deny the sufficiency of Scripture on this issue. And we can’t do that. 3. As I’ve said earlier, on some questions regarding what is acceptable to do on the Lord’s Day, some Sabbath keepers are going to disagree. •There will sometimes be a difference of opinion on how to apply the principles God has given us. •And we must bear with one another on those issues. •Some things are clearly flagrant violations of those principles. But other things aren’t always so clear to everyone. •But every man must, before God, earnestly seek to apply the principles He has outlines in His Word while strictly avoiding any intentional or flagrant violations of the Sabbath. And this shouldn’t bother us. It happens all the time in our Christian lives. •Example: Giving to the poor. •A man on the side of the road is asking for money. The Scriptures demand us to be charitable and generous. But the Scriptures also speak of the foolish and wicked poor. And the Scriptures tell us to be wise with our money. •So what should a Christian do in this situation? •Taking all of this together, two Christians see the man but only one gives the man money. •Now, one of them did the right thing and the other one didn’t. •But should they condemn one another? No. They’re both striving to live out the principles of Scripture as best as they currently know how. •So what should they do? They should talk to each other. The one should give his reasons for why he gave. And the other should tell why he did not. •And then they both should prayerfully consider what the other has said, search the Scriptures, and ask the Lord to guide them by His Word and Spirit. •But neither of them can say that, just because the application of Scripture is hard, that they simply don’t have to be generous at all. •They both agree on the principles, but the application is just very difficult at times. •So they must allow each other some room to grow and live before God with a Scripture informed conscience, while interacting with each other on this issue. The same kind of thinking and doing should be applied to more difficult matters of conscience concerning Sabbath keeping. •The application can be difficult. But that doesn’t negate what the Scriptures teach about Sabbath keeping. You say to yourself, “But I’ve still got questions about how to keep the day and what is and is not allowed!” •Me, too. •To be honest, I’ve got questions like that for handful of the other commandments and their particular application in certain situations. •So, let’s work through them together, as the People of God. •Let’s prayerfully study the Word, talk things out together, leave room for each other to grow, and seek to live with a clean conscience before the Lord as we strive to keep the Sabbath day holy. 6.) But, brothers and sisters, what is the point of all of this? •Why does God want us to rest from work and lay down our recreations on this day every week? •Why does God care? WORSHIP. That’s why. •God wants us to worship Him on this day. •He wants to bless us in a special way on this day. •He wants us to spend the day with Him. And so, He has, by His holy Commandment, freed up the day for us. •Worship is good for us. And God knows that. We benefit when He is glorified. He is sanctifying us on this day. •And so, God says, “Lay it down and come to me. Spend time with me. Think and talk about me. Be blessed.” And He wants us to REST. •Rest from our work is a blessing. So God commands us to take a break so we don’t wear ourselves out. •God commands us to rest from our worldly work because He loves us and wants to not only spiritually but physically take care of us. •So take the blessing and take the day off! It’s for your good, both spiritually and physically. And God’s want to REORIENT US. •God cares about the Sabbath because it centers us. •As we rest from our work, we are forced to remember er that we don’t need to work all the time because WE ARE NOT GOD. •We don’t need to do business every day because the Lord will provide for us and take care of our needs. •He’s teaching us to remember that He is God and we are not and that we can trust Him to take care of us. And as He calls us to lay down our work and recreations, He teaching us about what is MOST IMPORTANT. •The purpose of life is not to make money, keep a clean house, or amuse ourselves to death. •The purpose of life is worship. The purpose of life is to know God and live before Him with a clean conscience through Jesus Christ our Lord. •And so, God makes us lay down our work and play once a week so that we can have ourselves refocused and re-centered on what is most important: HIM. God cares about us keeping the Sabbath because HE LOVES US. •As Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” •It’s a blessing to us. •It gives us a day to spend with God. •It gives us a day to rest our bodies. •And it gives us a day that works like a reset button to clear away all the lies of the world so that we can remember what matters the most. •Of course God wants us to keep the day holy. He knows that if we don’t we will suffer and have clouded minds. •And He loves us too much for that. And so, He hates Sabbath breaking. •The Sabbath is a day for God, yes. It’s His day. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ’s Day. •But, in another sense, it’s not for Him. That is, it’s not for His benefit that He commands us to keep the day. •IT IS FOR OUR GOOD that He gave us the day. •The Lord of the Sabbath loves you. 7.) As I near the end of this sermon, I want us to look to Christ. •We’ve only considered HALF of what it means to keep the Sabbath holy. •We’ve only considered what we should NOT do on the Lord’s Day. We’ve not begun to consider our actually DUTIES on the day. •But already we are confronted with the fact that NONE OF US have kept just this half of the Commandment. The non-Sabbatarian definitely hasn’t done so. •But even the convinced Sabbatarian has NOT EVER perfectly kept this law. •Who among us would dare say that, all the day long, our thoughts, words, and works were COMPLETELY and TOTALLY centered on the Lord? •If you think you’ve done that, I want you to realize that you’re saying that you, for at least one day, have actually loved the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. •And you absolutely haven’t done that. You’re a liar if you say that you have. Brothers and sisters, though we must strive to keep the Law out of gratitude, every attempt should remind us that we need Christ. •Every Lord’s Day is another reminder that we need the Lord Jesus to save us from our sins. Just considering this first half of the Sabbath command, do you see your need for Christ in a fresh way? •Do you see your need for a perfect Savior? •Do you see your need for an atonement for your sins? •Do you see your need for a sin-bearing Savior who will bear your broken and profaned Sabbaths? •Do you see your need for a righteousness outside of yourself to be given to you? •Do you see that you need a perfect Sabbath-Keeper to give you His righteousness? The Law has revealed all these things to us today. Because none of us keep the Law. •But as we see our need, we should know that Christ has met every need for all who believe. •He kept the Law, atoned for sin, and satisfied God’s wrath. He took our filthy, sin-stained rags, sabbathbreaking rags, and has given us His righteous robe. •He is our Savior. He is our righteousness. Let the Law drive you to Christ. •And let Christ drive you back to the Law to obey it out of gratitude for the free and full salvation He has worked for you. May God help each one of us to keep His Sabbath day holy. •And may we do so for the honor of the Lord of the Sabbath, who has saved us from our sins. •Amen.