The Sabbath

Order of Service

• Prayer of Invocation
• Announcements and Congregational Prayer
• Sermon
• Closing Prayer

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Sermon Title: The Sabbath — Old Testament Foundations

Scripture: Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11

I. Introduction to the Series

A. A brief three-to-four week series on the Christian Sabbath

1. Focus this week: Old Testament roots of the Sabbath
2. Future weeks: New Testament fulfillment, practical application, and competing views

B. Common associations with the Sabbath: worship, rest, the Jewish people, creation, holiness, and confusion

C. Personal background: raised in a Dutch Reformed tradition with strict Sabbath observance

1. Childhood experience was negative — perceived as a list of prohibitions
2. Later study and reflection revealed the Sabbath as a gift and a joy

D. The central question dividing Christians: what happens to the Sabbath in light of Christ's coming?

1. Reformed Baptist position: nine of the Ten Commandments are upheld in the New Testament, but the Sabbath command is not perpetually binding
2. Presbyterian/PCA position: the Sabbath is a perpetual, moral, and creational command binding on all believers

II. The Westminster Confession of Faith on the Sabbath

A. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 21, Paragraph 7

1. By the law of nature, a proportion of time is to be set apart for the worship of God
2. God has appointed by positive, moral, and perpetual commandment one day in seven as a Sabbath
3. From creation to the resurrection of Christ, the last day of the week was observed; from the resurrection onward, the first day — the Lord's Day — is observed
4. The Christian Sabbath is to be continued to the end of the world

B. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 21, Paragraph 8

1. The Sabbath is kept holy by preparation of heart and ordering of common affairs beforehand
2. It involves holy rest all day from one's own works, words, and thoughts about worldly employments and recreations
3. The whole time is to be taken up in public and private exercises of worship and in duties of necessity and mercy

III. The Creational Pattern — Genesis 2:1-3

A. God rested on the seventh day from his work of creation

1. God does not rest because he is exhausted — he upholds all things by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3)
2. His rest is specifically from the work of speaking creation into being ex nihilo, not from his ongoing providential work

B. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy

1. The one-in-seven pattern is established as a creational ordinance — designed for the good of mankind and creation
2. The holiness of the day means it is set apart for a special purpose and use

IV. The Fourth Commandment — Exodus 20:8-11

A. The commandment begins positively: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy

1. Eight of the Ten Commandments are negative in form (you shall not); the Fourth and Fifth are positive commands
2. The Westminster Larger Catechism unpacks the significance of the word remember at length

B. The scope of the commandment is comprehensive

1. Includes the entire household: sons, daughters, male and female servants, and livestock
2. Includes the sojourner (foreigner, stranger) within the gates — extending beyond Israel to the nations
3. The command is not narrowly ethnic; it reaches all within the covenant community and beyond

C. The commandment is grounded in Genesis 2:1-3

1. The Lord grounds the moral law in the creational pattern, quoting directly from Genesis 2
2. This grounding confirms the Sabbath as a creation ordinance with perpetual force
3. The movement from creational pattern to written moral law supports the Westminster Confession's description of the Sabbath as a perpetual commandment

V. Looking Ahead

A. Next week: the design and purpose of the Sabbath more fully developed

1. Focus on principles rather than boundary lines — the Sabbath is meant to be a joy, not a burden
2. Presentation of the Baptist position and a charitable response
3. Discussion of how the New Testament relates to the ongoing Sabbath command

B. Practical application: the PCA tradition frames the Lord's Day with morning and evening worship services

1. The whole day is set apart for special religious worship
2. The goal is not legalistic rule-keeping but delight in the day