This morning, we're going to turn our attention again to Paul's letter to the Colossians. Picking up at chapter 2, you'll notice there are several scriptures listed in your bulletin. I want to read several scriptures, several of them familiar to you that you really don't need to turn to. They'll be familiar to your ears. Perhaps one you'll want to follow along is Hebrews chapter 4. That one's probably not as familiar to many of you. And the reason I'm reading this selection of text is to just lightly touch on the progress of the Fourth Commandment and how it's been observed and understood in the church, in the apostolic church, in the Old Testament church. before we consider our question today, which has to do with how we guard our Christian freedom with regard to the Sabbath. So I'm going to start with Deuteronomy chapter 5 and just move through. We'll finish up with our text, which will come from Colossians chapter 2. Hear now the word of God from Deuteronomy chapter 5, beginning in verse 12. Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey, or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. I read that from Deuteronomy this morning again in contrast to Exodus 20 because God gives a different ground here for why we observe it. In Exodus, the ground is in the creation. God worked six and rested the seventh. Here he reminds his people that we have been rescued. Israel in particular have been rescued from slavery. We've been rescued from slavery to sin. That's the basis for why we are to rest on the Sabbath day. Two reasons. Then picking up in Mark chapter 2, the account of Jesus on the Lord's day, pronouncing himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath. Picking up chapter 2, verse 23. One Sabbath, Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath? He answered, Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions. Then he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Another time he went into the synagogue and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, Stand up in front of everyone. And Jesus asked him, Which is lawful on the Sabbath, to do good or to do evil? To save life or to kill? But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. And then again in Mark chapter 16, beginning at verse 1. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb? But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw the young man dressed in white robes sitting on the right side and they were alarmed. Don't be alarmed, he said. You're looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go tell his disciples and Peter he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. So, Jesus' resurrection on the first day of the week was after the Sabbath was completed. And then in Acts chapter 20, verse 7. On the first day of the week, we came together to break bread. We might add there, as was their practice. This is the practice of the apostolic church to come together on the first day of the week to break bread. Paul spoke to the people. He spoke at the people. He preached to the people because he intended to leave the next day and he kept on preaching until midnight. Remember that. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where they were meeting and seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. Don't be alarmed. He said, he's alive. And he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. And then he talked with them until daylight and left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted. The emphasis there being that they met together on the first day of the week for the preaching of the apostolic word. Hebrews chapter 4. Here the author of Hebrews looking back at the rest that was given the people of God in the land, Israel in the land under Joshua. That after wandering in the wilderness, he finally brought them into that rest. And yet only a few entered, most did not, because they were disobedient. And even those who entered under Joshua did not remain. The land was lost. And so looking back on that, he wants to remind the hearers of this word and remind us that there remains a rest to be entered. And that rest is Christ's, which we will consider in our sermon. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us just as they did. But the message they heard was of no value to them because those who heard did not combine it with faith. They did not believe it. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God said. So I declared on my oath, in my anger, they shall never enter my rest. Speaking of those who do not believe. Now we who have believed enter that rest. And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. for somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words, and on the seventh day God rested from all his work. And again in the passage above he says, They shall never enter my rest. It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in because of their disobedience. Therefore God set a certain day, calling it today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall by following the example of disobedience. And I say to you today that the rest that the author is talking about here is the rest that is offered us through faith in Jesus Christ. It's the rest that Paul is going to tell us in the letter to Colossians. We have already through faith. By faith we've entered in. And unlike under Joshua, we will not be cast out. All this is Sabbath related from the giving of the law to the resurrection of Christ to the announcements of another rest that is yet to be entered by the people of God. This is all about the Sabbath. And so it's easy to understand why we have so many discussions about what it is that means to keep the Sabbath, and that's what we want to hopefully consider today. And now, finally, from Colossians, I'm going to reread the text we read and considered last time in full in order to focus on just two verses today. Beginning in verse 16, Colossians chapter 2. Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon celebration, or a Sabbath day. Did I start too late? I'm so hurried to get here. No. Start again. Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon celebration, or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come. The reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and in the worship of angels disqualify you from the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. His lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belong to it, do you submit to its rules? Do not handle, do not touch, do not taste. These are all destined to perish with use because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations, indeed, have an appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body. but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. Since then you have been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Here ends the reading of God's word this morning. Well, last time we considered these verses from Paul's letter, his summons for us to guard our freedom in Christ. To not get bound up with these other things that were being offered to the church to enhance their worship and to make them more holy. And we were reminded that in Christ we've been freed from earthly regulations regarding our holiness and our worship. And we've been freed for our heavenly calling and the power of the Spirit to pursue holiness and to offer worship that's in the Spirit and in truth. Before we proceed in this letter, in chapter 3, verse 5, to consider some specifics for how to live this life, to live this life in the Spirit, to live this life anchored in Christ, I'm compelled to linger over a question that was raised in verses 16 and 17 of chapter 2. There Paul says that the religious festivals, new moon celebrations, and Sabbath day observances required by Old Testament law are a shadow of things to come and that we are not to let anyone judge us regarding them. In short, it seems he's saying that we need not feel guilty for not practicing them. I expect no one's conscience is troubled by not celebrating the Feast of Booze or the Day of Atonement or the Passover. And I trust your conscience isn't bothered by us not celebrating New Moon celebrations. But what about Sabbath days? Is Paul saying that Christians no longer need to observe the Sabbath? This can be an unsettling question. Some of you were relieved that we passed it by last time. Some of you were disappointed. Well, in the providence of God, R.C. Sproul made sure we didn't go past it. In this month's version of Table Talk, cover story, four views of the Sabbath. So in his providence, it's been brought to the fore. And R.C. Sproul remarks to open that study with this statement. It says the question of the Sabbath observation historically has provoked many debates and controversies involving separate issues. And then we go on to have our thinking provoked by these four views. Now, I will not pretend to resolve, let alone address, all the issues raised by this question. I have about 30 minutes. And there have been books and articles and sermons published on this for centuries. But the Reformation Church wrestled with these questions over 400 years ago in our three forms of unity express true and helpful answers to the issues that are raised, even if they are not as comprehensive as some might want them to be. But behind these answers stand prayerfully studied scripture, carefully argued theology, much of which is often assumed in our confessions. They're really not displayed for us to participate in this, just assume and we're told. And when it comes to Sabbath observance, it's the Heidelberg Catechism alone that directly addresses it. In the third part, our sanctification, our grateful service, along with the rest of the Ten Commandments. And there we confess that it still applies. It still governs our lives as God's people. And that it applies to Sunday, the Lord's Day, is assumed throughout all of our confessions. It's nowhere said explicitly, except for the fact that the Heidelberg Catechism is divided into 52 Lord's Days. So that is our confession, that is our conviction, that is our practice. So how then are we to understand these words of Paul when we come from that frame of mind? Do not let anyone judge you with regard to a Sabbath day. It's a shadow of things that were to come. The reality, however, is found in Christ. Well, we begin by remembering what Paul's concern here is in this section. We don't want to extract this out and apply it broadly as many have done. His concern here is that we guard our freedom in Christ. That is his overwhelming concern. That we don't be distracted or drawn away to anything else or anyone other than Jesus Christ alone for our life and for our godliness. That's his concern. Because Christ alone is sufficient, not only to save us, but to sanctify us and to glorify us and to enable us to worship in spirit and truth. We have no need for something more. We have no need for someone else. Therefore, we want to consider Paul's words here within that context and consider what it means to guard our freedom in Christ with regard to the Sabbath. Well, Paul's point is that in Christ, we are freed from waiting in the shadows. And at the same time, we are freed for resting in the reality. It will be helpful to remember that the Ten Commandments are a simple summary. A simple summary of a law that is very rich and layered and complex. And when we approach the law, any particular commandment, we need to bear in mind that there are complexities here. Dr. Ian Duguid sums up this way, a helpful view when we look at the Ten Commandments. He says, on one level, the Ten Commandments clearly have a moral law dimension applying to all people everywhere. The moral law. However, they also point forward to Christ in that only He would ever fulfill them. In that sense, we say the law has a ceremonial aspect. It anticipates the coming of Christ. And they are a civil law, inasmuch as they were given to Moses on Mount Sinai as part of God's covenant with Israel. It applied, had specific application to the people of Israel as a nation at that time in history. Individual laws, then, do not always neatly fall into one category or another. Some regulations may have elements of two aspects, or even all three. And I submit to you that the Lord's fourth commandment, to keep the Sabbath holy, has three aspects to it. it's touched by all three, and that makes it difficult. That's part of the reason we have so many discussions about it in the history of the church. How do we sort this out? Well, we know that God established the Sabbath pattern in creation. He worked six days, and he rested the seventh. And in that, he set an example for man, his vice regent, his crowning creation, that he would live in like manner, that he would labor for six, and that he would rest on the seventh. And because it was established before the fall, as was the mandate to be fruitful and multiply, as was the institution of marriage, it's a moral law that applies to all. Now, you won't find men in this world who are unconverted to Christ happy to hear that, but Romans tells us that they suppress the truth in unrighteousness anyway. They don't want to thank God or praise Him. That's our nature. And if we don't want to thank God and praise Him, we certainly don't want to set aside any time for Him. That doesn't make it not binding. It's a moral law. All men are subject to it. All men are accountable to keep it. And its original purpose was to set before Adam the heavenly rest that he would have. The rest of God himself that he would have if he obeyed what God had given him to do. And of course we know that he didn't. And that he lost access to that rest. And after the fall, it continued to orient sinners, the offspring of Adam, to this heavenly rest, set before us that could only be inherited by the seed of the woman that would crush the head of the seed of the serpent. From the fall forward, man has had to wait for this rest. And the Lord God republished the Sabbath in the civil and ceremonial law to Israel. It wasn't new to them. It was given to them and applied to them specifically and it oriented them to the heavenly rest that could only be inherited by a Messiah that would come to save them. They couldn't enter it themselves. They could enter the land, but they couldn't enter this rest apart from the work of the Messiah. Moral, ceremonial, civil. The first point Paul is making with regard to the Sabbath is that in Christ we are freed from waiting in the shadows. In Christ we're freed from the waiting of the civil and the ceremonial aspects of this law. Let me explain. From one perspective, the fourth commandment was a civil law. It applied to Israel specifically as a nation and it centered their life around this Sabbath. Six days each week were dedicated to the work of gainful employment and maintaining a household. But on the seventh day that was holy to the Lord, they were to rest from all of that to gather as God's people for rest and for worship, unhindered by the demands of the week. He gave that to them. And in the context that he gave that to them, it was a strange thing in the nations. It was something they had not seen. And it was to display God's goodness to his people. And it was to display the promise of this rest that he held before those who would trust in him. And in order for Israel to obtain this rest in the land, this is a civil law. In order to obtain this rest in the promised land and to maintain that rest, they needed to keep God's law, especially at Sabbaths. He promised it through Moses and he gave it to them through Joshua. But along the way, he warned them over and over again that if they disobeyed, they would be ejected. But if they obeyed, he would give them rest. According to Leviticus chapter 26, the Lord would reward their obedience for rest and he would punish their disobedience by spewing them out of his mouth. And individual Israelites under the civil law were accountable to keep the Sabbath and they were subject to capital punishment. In Exodus chapter 31, the Lord was very emphatic. You must observe my Sabbath. Whoever does work on the Sabbath must be put to death. The Sabbath law was a civil law with civil sanctions. It bore the power of the state to execute. It bore the power of God to execute judgment on the nation. You see, when the Lord rescued from slavery in Egypt, His people Israel, He called them His firstborn son. And as to His firstborn son, He gave this law, that they might live in fellowship with Him in His household, in fellowship with Him. But in time, they proved to be a disobedient son, as we well know. And so in judgment, God dismantled the nation piece by piece until Israel was no more. Their failure as a nation anticipated and it demonstrated the need for God to send His only begotten Son in order to fulfill this law and to earn this rest and to keep this rest for His people. The Son of God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, accomplished what Israel couldn't do. He came and He fully obeyed this law. All the law, the Sabbath law, even under death on the cross. And there he took the penalty for our disobedience. And there he earned for himself and for his people this rest, this rest which God has held before his people. And in the doing, he also broke down the barrier between the nation of Israel and the rest of the nations so that in Christ, God is now gathering people from every tribe and nation and people and tongue. The civil law of the Sabbath is no more. Whatever earthly and temporary rest Israel enjoyed in the land, it was a shadow of this reality that Christ has secured by His life and His death and His resurrection. And what Paul wants us to know here is that Christ has inherited this heavenly rest, the real thing. And because saints are joined to Christ through faith, we too have inherited this rest already. And because we've inherited it, we are freed from waiting anymore in the shadows. And from another perspective, this law is ceremonial. It anticipated the coming of Christ. Now, ceremonial law is very complex and far-reaching. You can go through the Old Testament and spend pages and pages and pages of all the details of ceremonial law. But his point was to press upon God's people his holiness and the holiness he required of them. And prominent among all those laws and central to almost all those laws is the substance of the worship of God's people. And at the center of that substance is sacrifice. Bloody sacrifice. In fact, the author of Hebrews sums it up this way in chapter 9. He says, The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Bloody sacrifices were offered daily at the temple. Morning and evening. Morning and evening. Morning and evening. But on the annual festivals, the new moon celebrations, and the Sabbath days, there were more sacrifices. More was required. There was more happening on these days. And through these sacrifices, God reminded His people of two things. First, the judgment that their sin deserves. And second, the promise of a substitute. The Messiah who would come and bear that judgment for them. So that they would look forward and they would wait for His coming. You see, the law showed Israel that they were waiting for a Savior. All this ceremonial law anticipated and demonstrated the need for God to raise up a truly holy high priest who would offer a truly holy, satisfying, perfect sacrifice once for all. And of course we know that that's Jesus Christ, the righteous. When he came and accomplished his once for all sacrifice for sin, the sacrifice which God's people had waited and waited, he inherited heavenly rest. And because the saints are joined to Christ through faith, we too have inherited heavenly rest. And we're freed from waiting anymore. It's already here in Christ. The ceremonial law is no more. The ceremonial law of the Sabbath is no more. So, the fourth commandment with regard to civil law is no more. The fourth commandment with regard to ceremonial law is no more. Is Paul saying that Christians are no longer needing to observe the Sabbath? Well, in one sense, yes. Christians are no longer bound to the ceremony or to the civil law with respect to the Sabbath day. And we ought not let anyone judge us for it. With regard to the ceremonial, the one holy Catholic apostolic church universally and in this place is no longer bound to the seventh day, Saturday. And neither are we bound to continue the sacrificial obligations of that day. And with regard to the civil aspects, the saints are no longer subject to capital punishment for violating the Lord's Day. And the Church of Jesus Christ will not be judged into extinction for the failure of its saints to keep the day perfectly. We've been freed from waiting in the shadows. Well, what shall we say then? Are we free to do or not do whatever we want on the Sabbath? Are there no constraints? Does the fourth commandment have no application? By no means. I say with Paul. Being freed from waiting in the shadows is only half the story. In Christ we are not only freed from something, we are freed for something. In Christ we are freed for resting in the reality that all of that foreshadowed. In Christ we are freed for joyful obedience to the moral aspects of the Sabbath law of the Fourth Commandment. Something that apart from Christ, we could not and would not do. In Christ, we are freed for joyful obedience to the moral demands of the Fourth Commandment. Apart from Him, we could not and we would not. You see, the shadow of the Sabbath day pointed to the heavenly arrest. We need and that rest is found in Christ who by his life and death and resurrection inherited it. By his ascension, he entered it as we celebrated on Thursday night. And through faith, we're joined to him so that in him, we too have entered into that rest. That rest that Hebrews says was still awaiting the people of God. We've entered that rest. This is what Paul is saying in Colossians chapter 3, verse 3. He says, you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ appears, who is your life, then you also will appear with him in glory. Our lives are bound up in Christ through faith, and if we are in Christ through faith, we have entered that rest in Christ. In other words, through faith in Christ, we are already resting in this heavenly life, this heavenly rest, but because we are still in the world, we will not yet fully experience this heavenly rest until he returns in glory. So it's something that we have already, but it's something that's not yet fully realized. So what is this rest that is ours in Christ? What is the reality that we are able to rest in? Is it like the rest we crave? Is it like a day at the beach or maybe a good night's sleep? A Caribbean cruise? A hike in the hills? is it just sitting still we can better understand it if we consider the Sabbath rest into which God himself and Christ himself have entered the Sabbath pattern of 6 plus 1 6 days of labor and 1 day of rest was established in creation when God rested on the 7th day he didn't rest in idleness he didn't go hang his hat he didn't check out he didn't retire he rested from creating and became very active in providence, sustaining, maintaining, governing all that He had made. In fact, John 5, verse 17, On the Sabbath, no less, Jesus revealed that my Father is always at work to this very day, and I too am at work. He rested from creation, took up the work of providence, superintending all the majestic details of redemptive history to that day and to this day and to the last day. The pattern God has shown us is that this rest that we're speaking of is not an idleness. Well, the Sabbath pattern of six plus one was fulfilled by Jesus Christ throughout his life, to be sure, but especially in his final week. He entered Jerusalem on the first day of the week and for six days he labored and suffered on behalf of his people until on the sixth day, the ninth hour from the cross, he said it is finished and he gave up his spirit. He died. His body was placed in a tomb where he rested on the seventh day. And then on the first day of the week, what we call Easter Sunday, he rose from the dead, the firstfruits of a new creation. He inherited eternal life. The heavenly rest promised in the Sabbath that he had just fulfilled. And in the fullness of his humanity, he entered his heavenly rest when he ascended into heaven where he, like his father, is not idle. Hebrews tells us that when He completed the sacrifice, He sat down at the right hand of God. He sat down, He rested. And again, His rest was from one work in order to do another. He rested from accomplishing redemption. He's now engaged in the sanctification and glorification of His people. Even now, seated at the right hand of the Father, He is ruling over the whole creation for the benefit of the church. He's interceding on our behalf to His Father, our Father in heaven. He's preparing a place for us even as He prepares us for that place in the power of the Spirit through the Word. Our resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus is very active in His rests. His heavenly rest is indeed active and is characterized by joyful and perfect obedience to the will of the Father. That's this rest, joyful and obedient rest that is already ours in Christ. Resting in him, our only sufficiency, we are equipped for joyful and progressive obedience to God's will, even now, as we wait for the day when it will be perfect. I don't know about you, but sometimes I think about what will it be like to be perfect, to be sinless, only able to obey, only joyful in the doing. And I just have to tell you, I can't imagine it. It's beyond my imagination. But that's what God's preparing for us. That's what Christ enjoys and that's what we will have one day. But in the meantime, as we rest in Christ, even now, we are more and more able to rejoice and obey in God's will. This is the point that Paul pressed on the disciples in John chapter 15. He says, I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. But apart from me, you can do nothing. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing. Apart from Christ, we cannot keep the moral obligations of the Sabbath. We can't even begin. We won't even want to. So for what does Christ equip us as we rest in Him with regard to keeping the Sabbath day? Well, the bottom line is He equips us for Christ-like activity. Joyful obedience to the will of God. That's what He equips us for. Christ-like activity. Joyful obedience to the will of God. And what is God's will for us in the fourth commandment? Well, we answered that directly in Heidelberg Catechism, question and answer 103. Question, what is God's will for us in the fourth commandment? It comes in two parts. First, that the ministry of the gospel and the education, I'm sorry, and the ministry of the gospel and education be maintained. Speaking of the education of the gospel. And that especially on the festive day of rest, I regularly attend the assembly of God's people. Why? To learn what God's word says. To participate in the sacraments. To pray to God publicly and to bring Christian offerings for the poor. First and foremost, it is God's will that the ministry of the gospel and education be maintained. On the Sabbath. This is, after all, the great commission that we would go and make disciples of all the nations. baptizing them and teaching them all that God has commanded us in Christ. God's will is that the ministry of the gospel and teaching be upheld, be maintained. And practically speaking, that means God wants you here. He wants you here in the assembly of God's people, sitting under the ministry of the gospel, especially on the festive day of rest, which is, in our view, the Lord's day. God wants you here. Why? Because we're like Martha. You remember Martha, his friend in Bethany? We're like Martha. We are worried and upset about many things. And we're busy here and we're busy there. We're getting things done, even on the Lord's Day. And Jesus points to her sister Mary in Luke chapter 10, who is sitting at his feet in fellowship to learn from him. And he says to Martha, But only one thing is needed, Martha. Only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, And it will not be taken away from her. You see, it's God's will that we be here in corporate worship on the Lord's day, sitting at His feet in fellowship to learn. Sitting under the ministry of the gospel, the means of grace proclaimed by the preaching and displayed in the sacraments and responding with prayers and praise and alms. That's God's will for His people. And He's gracious and He's good to call all of us each Lord's Day, here. Morning and evening, here. To sit at His feet in the assembly of His people and to hear and to learn from Him. Through faith in Christ, we are freed to choose what is better. We are freed to leave behind the busyness and the distractions. And believe me, I know they are never ending. They're as close as your iPod. They're as close as your TV. They're as close as walking in the front door. It's always there. But we're free when we rest in Christ to choose the better thing. We're free to assemble at his feet with his people. And it's especially here on the Lord's Day that we experience a foretaste of the rest that we do not yet experience in the full. It's our weekly appointment of rest and worship that equips us to press on the other six days. Another six days. in the battle against the world, our own flesh, and the devil. It's an oasis in the desert. It's manna from heaven. It's his provision for us on the way. And this brings us to the Catechism's second part of explaining what it is, what God's will is with regard to the fourth commandment. And that is that every day, every day, every day of my life I rest from evil ways. Let the Lord work in me through his spirit. And so begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath. In Christ, we are freed to rest in the reality that He is at work in us by His Holy Spirit through His Word to will, to choose, and to do more and more what's pleasing to Him. We can rest in that reality. Christ alone is sufficient for the life we are called to live. A life lived in joyful obedience to the fourth commandment as well as to the other nine. As Paul describes it in Colossians, Resting in Christ you are freed to put to death whatever belongs to the earthly nature and to clothe yourself with Christ-like attributes. You're free. In Christ we have already begun in this life, the eternal Sabbath, the rest of joyful and perfect obedience. In Christ, we are motivated and equipped to live it more and more every day. And in Christ, we are freed to choose joyful obedience to the fourth commandment, to remember the Sabbath day, to remember the Lord's day by keeping it holy. We're freed. In Christ, we are free to labor for six days as unto him. Busy like Martha at gainful employment and maintaining our households. We're free to do that. We're called to do that. Redeeming the time and being prepared so that on this one day in seven, the Lord's Day, we can gather together as His people. We can sit at His feet. And we can worship like Mary. Be instructed and build up in our faith to step out for another six days into the battle that we face. Guard this freedom in Christ. There's no shortage of things that will try to steal it from you. Some in your own heart. Some in your own house. Some at work. There's no shortage of thieves. Guard your freedom in Christ. In Him you are freed from waiting anymore in the shadows. And you are freed for resting in Him. Especially on the Lord's day with His people. Let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for this Word today that comes to us from this letter to the Colossians. A letter to a church that was highly distracted by this, that, and everything. So distracted, Lord, that they were taking their eyes off of Jesus Christ as their only Savior and sanctifier. The only one sufficient to save them and to uphold them on the way. And Lord, we pray that this word to them would be a word to us, that we would be kept from distraction. That keeps us from knowing and trusting that in Christ Jesus through faith we have been joined to the rest he has earned and he has entered at your right hand. He is our flesh in heaven. And we pray, Father, that we be encouraged by this reality in which we rest. To know that we are free to choose to do your will. That we are free to rejoice in it. That we are free to give ourselves to it. And that there is no condemnation. There is no condemnation there. Thank you, Father, for this word and we pray that we as your people would revel in this truth and rejoice in this reality and take refuge here each Lord's Day as we wait for the day of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus to come in glory. It's in his name we pray. Amen.