As you can see from the order of worship, I invite you to turn tonight to an Old Testament passage, Exodus 31, where we read the last few verses, verses 12 through 17, Exodus 31, and then also if you would find Mark chapter 2, as we'll read a few verses from Mark chapter 2, Exodus 31 and Mark chapter 2, and then also in the back of the Psalter, Hymnal, page 52, Lord's Day 38. As tonight we consider together the fourth commandment, which reads, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work. You or your son or your daughter, your manservant or your maidservant or your cattle or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. As we know, that is taken from Exodus chapter 20. Deuteronomy 5 focuses not on creation but then on deliverance from Egypt. And we'll first give testimony to question and answer 103. What is God's will for us in the fourth commandment? First, that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained, and that especially on the festive day of rest, I regularly attend the assembly of God's people to learn what God's Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor. Second, that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways. Let the Lord work in me through His Spirit, and so begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath. Exodus 31, beginning with verse 12, as we give our attention to God's holy word. Then the Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, And on the seventh day, he abstained from work and rested. We'll end with that passage there. Turning over to Mark chapter 2. Mark chapter 2, beginning at verse 23. On the Sabbath, Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisee 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 and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. May God add His blessing to the reading and consideration of His Word. Well, beloved, in Christ the Lord, the fourth commandment, you shall keep the Sabbath day holy. I must confess, I'm always a little bit apprehensive preparing and preaching a sermon on the fourth commandment. It shouldn't be that way, but I must confess that I am. Maybe in the same way that some kind of dread hearing a sermon on the fourth commandment because it might make them feel guilty about what they do or maybe what they don't do on Sunday. While others maybe look forward to hearing a sermon on the fourth commandment in the anticipation of being somehow confirmed in their keeping of it. And of all of the commandments of our God, I dare say that this one probably has been the most hotly debated throughout history. And that's because there is no agreement among God's people with regard to how to keep it, what to do or what not to do. We see that, of course, with the Pharisees in Jesus' day. And I think it's probably safe to say that there probably never will be agreement with regard to these things because of the sin that we continue to struggle with in this life. Yet maybe that's the wrong focus, what to do or not to do. Maybe that's the wrong focus, first of all. It will be included because we know, as we read the commandment of God, that He tells us what to do and what not to do. But maybe that ought not be our first focus, but ought to flow more naturally when we take our focus off of ourselves, first of all, and put our focus where it belongs, and that is on God. And that is my hope, my goal tonight. And I pray that we will be encouraged and edified, challenged, and maybe even admonished as we consider the gift of the Lord's Day. The gift of the Lord's Day as a possession of God, as a celebration of rest, And as a promise of what is to come. First of all, the gift of the Lord's Day as a possession of God. I trust there's agreement, especially among us, that there is a day of which we can confidently sing, day of all the weak, the best, emblem of eternal rest. I trust that we can agree on that, that there is a day that God has set aside. In the Old Testament, we know, boys and girls, it was the Sabbath, which means rest. It was the seventh day. In the New Testament, it is the first day of the week, which we call Sunday. And the church has always accepted both those days in their respective dispensations, the Old Testament dispensation and the New. The church has always accepted both of those days, not as inventions of man. Man thought it was a good idea. But the church has always accepted them as instituted by God. And the world we know, the society in which we live, has made it simply a day off. A day for personal use. A day of convenience. It's part of the weekend. A day for vacation. For travel. For tournaments. Or a special day for Mother's Day. Or a special day for Father's Day. To, once again, put the focus on ourselves. And even in the evangelical world, the evangelical world, has grabbed a few Sundays and tried to make use of them. For example, National Hunger Awareness or the National Right to Life Sunday. In and of themselves, not bad, not wrong. Yet it is the Lord's Day. It is the Lord's Day not for our fleshly desires, even with good intentions, but for God's delight. A possession of God made by God. Jesus says the Sabbath was made for man. It was made by God. It was set apart at creation after six days of creation where God the Creator gave the seventh day a special designation. And that day with a special designation then was claimed by Christ Himself. He said the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. A nice way really of putting the Pharisees in their place. claiming that He is God Himself, saying that He was there at creation, that He is the Word by which all things were created. And as the owner of that day, as the ruler of it, it properly belongs to Him. He knows best its purpose as it was made for man. It was made by God. It was made for man. It was made for the benefit of the child of God. It was made to promote His life. it was made to sustain the believer in his relationship with God in his relationship with the very Lord of the Sabbath it was made for man not man for the Sabbath so that the Sabbath was some kind of a tyrannical leader and man was made for it for it to be a burden to man to work the believer to death by striving to keep all of the Pharisees man-made additions and interpretations to the law which they claimed were a test of orthodoxy. It was a way of being saved. In a sense, in the Pharisaical way of doing things, it was harder work not to work because they were busy trying to keep a checklist of so many commands that had been created. Calvin says, the keeping of the Sabbath was indeed a holy thing, but not such a manner of keeping it as they, the Pharisees, imagined so that one could scarcely move a finger without making the conscience to tremble. And that's what it had become. The rabbis had drawn up a catalog of a few hundred, just for this day, a few hundred works that were forbidden on the Sabbath, they said, including carrying your mat. Remember the crippled beggar who was healed on the Sabbath and he picked up his mat and the Pharisees jumped on him, as it were. What are you doing? Another work that was forbidden was picking heads of grain, as the disciples were doing here in Mark 2. They called it reaping. But it wasn't reaping. If you go back to the Old Testament, you see that had they taken a sickle or some sort of a harvest tool and stuck it in the field, then according to the Mosaic Law, it would have been a violation of the law. But according to Deuteronomy 23-25, what they were doing with their hands was not a violation of the law as the Pharisees had made it to be. Another thing that was forbidden was healing on the Sabbath. As we know, the Pharisees went after Jesus and even later on, the apostles. With the addition, the multiplication of all of these works that were forbidden on the Sabbath, it could literally endanger one's life. It could be for His injury. It could be for His ruin. But Jesus' illustration with David and His example of healing on the Sabbath, which comes right after the portion we read in Mark, we find it in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It's part of the context because as one more recent commentator says, you know, the Pharisees were like the paparazzi. They were following Jesus wherever He went with their cameras ready to take a picture of Him and to catch him in some sort of act for his ruin, we know. And in this context, it was about the Sabbath day and a violation of the Sabbath day. But Jesus' illustration with David, as well in the context, the example of healing on the Sabbath, He demonstrates that David's actions, he was fleeing from Saul with his men. And he really was about the work of the Lord. And his actions, which ordinarily would have resulted in punishment because the showbread was only for the priest after it was set out and had been shown for a time. But Jesus shows as the Lord of the Sabbath, it was not sin in God's eyes. They had narrowed it. They had restricted it. The Sabbath was not meant to injure man's health. It was not meant to interfere with what is necessary for him. But it was to be a blessing. It was meant for his benefit. It was for the good of his body and mind and soul. And ultimately, it was for the service of the Lord, which is what David was about. Which is what the disciples here were about. It's for our good. And beloved, the ultimate good thing, the ultimate good, the thing that you and I need most is fellowship with the Lord of the Sabbath. And therefore, the gift of the Lord's Day was given in the second place as a celebration of rest. Of course, we know that this command is about rest. The catechism calls it a festive day of rest. Kind of an interesting phrase, isn't it? Because festive, we think of festivities, we think of feasting, we think of some sort of celebration. And that doesn't quite fit with rest. But the catechism rightly calls it a festive day of rest. And in Exodus 20, verse 11, we know again that God's rest at creation is tied to this commandment. In Deuteronomy 5, verse 14, the words include that your manservant and maidservant and that your livestock all may rest as you do. It's about rest. And in both Exodus chapter 20 and Deuteronomy 5, we read, remember or observe. I mean the same thing there. Remember, observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Observe it by doing something with it. And there's a double motivation that our Lord gives us with both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. In Exodus 20, again, God rested, boys and girls, not because He was tired. But He rested because He had finished a certain work and the seventh day marked its completion. And on that seventh day, He enjoyed, He celebrated His work and His people are called to rest in celebration of Him. In celebration of His creation. In celebration of the fact that He is God, the Creator. Then also the other motivation, Deuteronomy 5, as I mentioned already, the focus is on Israel's deliverance. Redemption from bondage and slavery. Rest from slavery. Therefore, the Sabbath day was to be a day of celebration, a festive day. In Exodus 31, verse 13, we read, Say to the Israelites, the Lord says, You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. In verse 16, the Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever. It's a festive day. The Sabbath was to be set apart, beloved. It was to be set apart as holy to the Holy One to whom it belongs. Because God's people had been set apart by God as His very own. They were set apart as holy to the Lord. And therefore, the Sabbath was to be a celebration of their covenant relationship, of the relationship that God had brought them into with Himself. And as a celebration of that covenant relationship, it also then was to distinguish them from the nations who did not enjoy that relationship, who did not have that covenant with God, who were not holy to the Lord. You see, beloved, there is a clear line of separation between the church and the world. And it is to be visible. And one of the ways it is to be visible is on the Lord's Day. The Lord's Day is to be a visible line of separation. It is as you and I come into this parking lot and come into this church building each and every Lord's Day and come together and gather. It's a visible line of separation. That's what it is to be as a celebration of rest for worship and from work. First of all, for worship, God gave six days for self-focus. He gave us six days to enjoy the good things in this life which He has provided for us. To carry out the tasks and duties that He has given to us. How generous. He has given us six days. But then He has given us one day. It is a gift of the one day because of creation and redemption. And the focus goes to Him. These things, creation and redemption, point to our all in Him. And our response is to be worship. To call upon Him. Again, rest does not mean to do nothing. It does not mean to sleep all day. In Exodus 31, verse 15, we read the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. It's talking about a solemn rest, a specific kind of rest. And we are helped out in Leviticus 23, verse 3, where we read, A day of sacred assembly, a Sabbath to the Lord. A day of sacred assembly, a Sabbath to the Lord. In other words, beloved, it is a rest with God in view. With the assembling, the coming together of God's people for the purpose of asking for the Word of the Lord. It was true in Old Testament Israel. It was true in the New Testament church. They saw the need, the benefit. They had the desire to come together to ask for the word of the Lord. The catechism, which of course in that first paragraph points very pointedly to activities of worship on the Lord's Day, says that I regularly attend. The older version says that I diligently attend. And that word diligently really means with constant faithfulness and perseverance. that I attend with constant faithfulness and perseverance the worship service of God's people. That's where my heart is. That's where my heart is with joy and a delight. That is the believer's very first priority, to worship, to call upon Him, and to rejoice in the God of creation, the God of redemption through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the reason for our very existence and our hope. He is the Lord of creation. He is the Lord of redemption. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. In Ezekiel 20, verse 12, we almost find a repeat of what we read here in Exodus 31. The Lord says, Also I gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us so they would know that I, the Lord, made them holy. The Sabbath, our Lord's Day today, is a sign. It is a sign to you and me in which God says to us that we belong to Him. And it's also then a sign from the church to the world saying the same thing, that we belong to Him. Rest for worship, to call upon Him, to rejoice in Him, to listen to His Word to us as He equips and strengthens us by His Holy Spirit to continue in this world. You see, beloved, when we recognize the gift of the Lord's Day, when we recognize by faith the rest that we have in Jesus Christ from the burden of sin and with the hope of eternal life, that we have no need to give in to the world's competition on the Lord's Day. Because our minds would be so focused on the glory of God and what He has done for us that the world's competition ought not even enter in because this day is a delight. That God's people delight to use to rest, to glory, to the focus of God, to rest for worship and to rest from work. See, really, we ought to switch those two around, shouldn't we? And say it's a rest from work for worship because the command is about ceasing from labor, ceasing from work, and that work is to be replaced with worship. But we focus first on worship and now to see that we have no excuses to show that God gives us time to worship because He gives us rest from work. You see, that should have been good news, great news to Israel out Mount Sinai. As God had delivered them from bondage to Egypt, promised them the land of Canaan with His presence with them. But what good news, because work had become hard, it had become toilsome in the beginning because of sin, we can probably be pretty certain that the Egyptians didn't give them a day off. And now God had said, don't work. don't toil. Be refreshed. You see, that celebration of rest includes spiritual refreshment in worship, growth in the Lord. God draws His people closer to Himself. It's a rest, protection from the insults and the lies of the world. When you and I come here on the Lord's Day, this ought to be a safe haven for each and every one of us. Indeed, it's spiritual refreshment, but also physical refreshment. And that's no surprise, Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5, Exodus 31, and many other passages in which God continually reminded His people to keep the Sabbath day holy, clearly teach, don't work. And though our work every day of the week is to be done as to the Lord, after we are so engaged in it with our thoughts and our intellect and our emotions, We need the rest that God gives as He promises to replenish our physical strength and to clear our minds that we might think straight once again, that we might worship the God who gives us work but also gives us the strength and the wisdom to accomplish it. But that rest from work, you see, was not in the Pharisaical way. Again, their rest was harder work making sure not to violate the man-made Sabbath laws. Their work endangered man. It endangered the comfort of man. It endangered man's very salvation because theirs was a work's righteousness. There was no comfort of being right with God if they didn't keep, in this case, the Sabbath, as well as all their other commands. Their rest endangered the very life of man. Their rest hindered the believer's service to the Lord for which the Sabbath was made for man. It is to be used for worship. It is to be used for service to the Lord. Jesus says, God delights in mercy, not sacrifice. He delights in doing good. God had redeemed His people and He would not leave them in trouble even on the Sabbath. And that's why we have always believed that God allows in Scripture on the Lord's Day for works of mercy as Jesus healed. Works of necessity. Not convenience, but works of necessity. David in his day and the disciples in their day needed food and works of religion. Again, works which David and the disciples were engaged in. You see, not rest in the pharisaical way They selfishly distorted the Sabbath day. They did not observe it as holy to the Lord, but actually made it very unholy to the Lord and put a stop to any work for the Lord on that day. Yet it is a rest from work that is comprehensive. The work that God required rest from is man's daily work. The work that we depend on for our daily survival. God says, I give you six days and I will provide on that seventh day, on that day of rest. And that work also includes work from the normal daily activities. All the activities that we share in common with the world that require our energy. You see, again, that day is a sign of the church's separation from the world, not participation with the world. And therefore, a rest from anything that drives my daily life. Arrests from man-made activities that seek to steal believers from the Lord on the Lord's Day. And especially to keep God's people from worship. God Himself has given us, we might say, a compass for the celebration of the Lord's Day. In Isaiah 58, beginning at verse 13, If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find joy in the Lord. What a promise! You will find joy in the Lord. It is a day of comprehensive rest from all the activities that we would share in common with the world, but also comprehensive in that it is for the whole day. If you look up Psalm 92, in most Bibles I trust, there's a little added title there. It says, A Song, period. And then it says, For the Sabbath Day. And there the psalmist begins in verse 1, It is good to praise the Lord. And then in verse 2, To proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night for the Sabbath day the people of God the Lord's day is a precious gift from God for the communion of saints communion with God communion with each other but separation from the world a precious gift from God of rest from work for worship that's our great privilege God in essence says you don't have to work you are free from the cares and the busyness of daily life to enjoy me to worship me to do works of mercy and good for me and that rest from work for worship is to be the framework of rest and communion for the whole day then as this gift of the Lord's day finally is a promise of what is to come indeed this day is an emblem of eternal rest never-ending presence of God with God that's what Israel looked forward to in the land of Canaan the special presence of God with them and that Canaan we know looks forward to our eternal rest in heaven the Lord's day now is the first day of the week that was the day of Christ's resurrection And that resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees for us that His payment has been accepted. It guarantees for us that we too as believers have been raised to new life. And it is a guarantee for us that we shall be raised with Him in glory. Still today, the Lord's Day is what we might call a temporary oasis. One in seven. It is a brief relief for you and me from the pressures of life and work. Yet with that day, on that day, in a special way, God gives us a new balance, a new hope, and new direction for our lives. The world uses Sunday as a selfish relief valve, a temporary fix, and they really come back from it. Not refreshed at all. But the church of Jesus Christ is refreshed with the Word of God. The Word of God that assures us of an eternal future secure in Jesus Christ, who is the Lord also of the eternal rest for which He has saved us. Again, in the Pharisees' way of doing things, it was a works righteousness in order to gain that eternal rest. But we come to the Lord's day by God's grace, having been delivered, already enjoying rest from sin in Christ Jesus. And therefore we are refreshed with the Word of God which strengthens us in the hope of salvation. It encourages us in our walk with the Lord every day and therefore this day is a preparation of that eternal rest that awaits God's people. We are being prepared as we assemble together in a specific way on that festive day of rest. We are being prepared for that rest that awaits God's people from all sin, shame, struggles, and evil for the never-ending worship of Almighty God who chose us to be His own and to live with Him forever. And therefore, beloved, may we not be so worried about the do's and don'ts of the Lord's Day, first of all. But led by the Holy Spirit, may we direct our hearts and affections on Jesus Christ and delight in Him, the Savior of all who look to Him in faith and make this day about Him. And He will direct our paths of rest in Him. This day, beloved, is a small taste of the glorious feast of God's eternal presence to come and therefore may we enjoy this day. may we savor that taste. May we cherish it and guard that taste, longing for its fulfillment. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, Again, we are reminded in a specific way of Your love and care for us and that You know exactly what we need. and that we need this rest, this special day of rest. Indeed, we worship and glorify Your most holy name every day of our lives, even as we do our work. But You give to us this gift of the Lord's Day to come together, to exalt Your name, to thank You, to thank You for the gift of salvation, to thank You for the gifts of life that we enjoy. to be strengthened and replenished by You on this day of rest and gladness. And therefore, may we be glad in it. Continue to lead us and guide us, O Lord, that we might understand this day more and more and that we might observe it as holy unto the Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.