We will seek to establish the continuing relevance of the Lord’s Day Sabbath in our day and time and the responsibility of families in light of what the Scriptures teach about it. We will talk about some practical ways we can make the day a delight as our God intended - a day of delight, not just for us as parents, but also for our children.

Once there was a great king who built a splendid city. In the middle of the city, the king designed a delightful park which was laid out with ponds, fountains, and springs, magnificent trees from all over the world, gorgeous aromatic plants, inviting stretches of lawn, pathways and benches where people and families might walk and sit together, and a spacious amphitheater for public meetings. Weekly, the King met with his subjects in the park, his people delighted in the time with him and with one another. One day, the King had to go away. In his absence, the rulers he left in charge began to let the park run down.

Although they still held civic events at the amphitheater, These rulers had little interest in the park. They did not truly have in mind the king's interests. Soon the park was overrun with weeds. The trees were not pruned. The exotic plants died.

And the pools of water stagnated. The park was in ruins. After a time, a new group of rulers came into authority in the city. They were genuinely concerned about the park and began to restore it to its former beauty. They pulled out the weeds, replanted all the gardens, pruned the trees, repaired all the pathways and the benches, and opened the streams so that fresh water again flowed through the park.

These rulers, however, were fearful that the park would once again fall into disrepair. In order to protect the park, they made it a memorial to the King, rather like a museum. They continued to hold meetings at the amphitheater, but they put a fence around the park's border and along the pathways so people could look at the beautiful sights in the park but could not actually use it. Then one day, quite unexpectedly, the king's son came to the city. One of the first things that he did was to tear down the fence.

He exclaimed to the rulers, Enough of this. This park was built for the people of the city to remember my father and enjoy, but you have kept them out of the park." So after removing all the fences, he invited the people to come and to meet with him and with one another in the park. Because the King and his son are still occupied throughout their great kingdom, they have appointed leaders in the city. Regrettably, of late, these leaders once again have allowed the park to become unkempt and trampled down. Again, weeds overrun it, the trees are not pruned, and the ponds have become stagnant.

Because it has lost much of its charming beauty, people no longer come to it. Admittedly, they have kept the amphitheater in good repair and continue public meetings, but increasingly the people are losing interest. The park is so unattractive that they see no need to go there at all. Recently developers, seeing the land unused, have begun seeking to put up an amusement park. The Historical Society is opposing them, wanting instead to restore the park and preserve it for the sake of tradition.

But there is a third group who wants to restore it to its original purpose. To make matters more confusing, all parties are claiming to act on behalf of the interests of the king and his son. Meanwhile, as you might imagine, the king's subjects are thoroughly confused. This story comes from Dr. Joseph Pippa's book, The Lord's Day.

The park is a picture of God's day of worship. And the story reveals to us the purposes of God in creating the day, how the day as God intended it was actually neglected by the Jews, how Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, came into the world and sought to set the Sabbath back in its proper place. How leaders in churches have once again allowed the day to fall in disrepair and how the church often is all over the map in regards to what the day is to be and what we should do about it here in our own time. Well, I would like to speak to you on the subject of the family and the Lord's Day Sabbath. I don't believe any text is clearer regarding the demands of the day upon the family as the actual fourth commandment itself.

So I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 20. Exodus chapter 20. And before we read this together, Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Oh gracious God, we thank you that your Son, the Lord of the Sabbath, has desired for us to benefit from this day, not only as individuals but as families, to know the beauty that is in you and the delight that is to be found in you through this day. Lord, give us help, give us clarity, help us to understand your purposes and your ways, and to embrace them with all of our hearts.

In Christ's name, amen. Exodus 20, verses 8 through 11. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant nor your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.

Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." The wording of this command is particular. Six days for all of your labor, but the seventh day is the day of the Lord. It's His day. Just as God gave Adam all of the trees of the garden from which he could eat, reserving only one tree for himself, So he gave him all the days of the work to carry out his labors and his daily life, reserving only one day for himself. We see in this text actually three spheres where this expectation comes to bear.

The personal sphere, you, the domestic sphere, your household, and the social sphere, even the stranger within your gate. Now the constraints of time will not allow me to establish here and now a fuller explanation of the biblical doctrine concerning the Sabbath and its continuation in the New Covenant as the Lord's Day. I am currently engaged back home in our church in preaching through the Ten Commandments, and I actually spent nine messages on this commandment on the Lord's Day. Now, I will seek to give a very brief overview of the content just to set the stage this morning. If you would like to know more about some of the points that I'm going to bring out and to hear better and fuller explanation, I invite you to go to our church page on sermon audio and listen to those.

And I invite you to reach out to me personally after listening to those. If you have questions or thoughts about it, it's that crucial to understand these things. Now, how is such a topic as the Lord's Day pertinent to our understanding of the family. Why touch upon this topic at a conference that is focused on the theology of the family? Well consider first the institution of the Sabbath followed right on the heels of the institution of marriage.

Marriage is a creation ordinance. So is the Sabbath. The church in our day should be fighting for the sacredness of both of these creation ordinances. Consider secondly that God had the family in mind when he declared the fifth commandment. He saw fit to speak to each and everyone within the family regarding his claim upon one day.

We'll speak a little bit more on that later. Third, in Malachi 2.15, the prophet declares both the work as well as the purpose of God in marriage. But did God not make them, that's husband and wife, one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring.

My friend, the godliness of your offspring, that's what God is seeking. And He has provided a means of grace to promote such godliness in us and our children. And chief among these means of grace are the blessings of his Sabbath worship in the presence of the gathered church. Now obviously much of what I'm going to say this morning presupposes your acceptance of the fact that the first day of the week is the Sabbath of the New Covenant Church, referred to in the Scriptures as the Lord's Day. The original Sabbath, the Sabbath of the first creation, was Saturday.

It was the seventh day. In the Halloween of that day, the God of all creation laid claim to one day in the week. One day out of seven is His. And that claim has never been rescinded. It's never been abrogated.

The Lord's Day Sabbath is now Sunday, the first day of the week, the day of the new creation. And Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, still lays claim to one day out of seven. The seventh day observance of the Jews remained buried in the tomb when Christ rose. He arose very early on the first day of the week. The day the Lord made, says Psalm 118-24.

It's the day when the stone that was rejected was made the cornerstone. And our response to that day, says the psalmist, it's to rejoice in that day and be glad in that day. Now, the New Testament church began with Christ meeting his gathered followers in the evening of that very resurrection Sunday. The following Sunday, his people were gathered again, and once again Christ appeared to these gathered ones. When we come to the book of Acts, the very day that the Spirit was poured out was the first day of the week, Sunday, when the church was gathered together for worship.

This became the pattern of the early church. Read the church fathers for yourselves. They viewed the first day of the week as the new Christian Sabbath. And can there be a more gripping text than Hebrews 4.9? There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God.

So what is the author saying there? Well, if you were to do some studying of the original language, you would find that in this very context he is saying that because there is a final rest that Jesus has purchased for his people. There remains, therefore, a Sabbath keeping. There remains a need for Sabbath observance and celebration right where we are here in the middle of the New Covenant. So with all of that in mind, consider with me three things that the Bible teaches us concerning God's will for us as individuals and for our families in regard to this holy day.

First, note that we are to benefit from the Sabbath. We are to benefit from the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a creation ordinance established for the benefit of all mankind. Take note of the words of Christ in Mark 2, 27 to 28. The Sabbath was made for, that is established for the benefit of man or mankind.

And not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." Which came first, the Sabbath or Mount Sinai? And when I say Mount Sinai, the giving of the commandments. Which came first? Which came first in order?

The Sabbath or the Jewish nation? We made mention of it already, but what individuals made up the very first family on earth? Adam and Eve. And we mentioned that after instituting the family, the next thing God did was to institute the Sabbath day. Man is but one day older than the Sabbath.

And So that very first family, their first full day on this earth was a Sabbath. Their first full day was a Sabbath, a day of rest and of worship of their creator. It's interesting to note, our brother Scott mentioned it the other night, the similarities that the scripture points out in regard to creation and heaven as given in revelation. And in regard to the Sabbath, just as God gathered together that first family for their first full day on earth, a Sabbath, Even so, on the last day of this earth as we know it, God will gather together all of his family and they will enter into and enjoy an eternal Sabbath rest that has no end. Question, is your family part of the human race?

Then there is benefit for each and every one of you. And just like we as fathers search out ways to provide every necessary benefit for our family, we as fathers should seek the benefit God has provided in this day for everyone under our roof as well. And because Christ declared that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, I would argue that Paul's argument for the physical realm applies to the spiritual as well. That if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Consider second that we are to remember the Sabbath.

We are to remember the Sabbath. What does this remembrance entail? Well, our text in Exodus 20 declares this day to be a blessed day, to be a hallowed day, a day declared so by God himself. It's a day to cease from our work, a day to be kept holy, separate, Different. And the commandment tells us that we are to follow the example of God himself as given to us in the opening words of Genesis 2.

God ended his work and he rested. Now a correct understanding of the being and essence of God rightly ascertains the fact that God did not rest out of necessity. God was not tired. Then why did he rest? Why did he hallow the day?

Dear ones, he was setting a pattern. He was setting a pattern for us. As we just considered, he created the Sabbath for man. He created it for us. Therefore, he rested on our behalf as well.

Dr. Robert Martin and his excellent work entitled, The Christian Sabbath, states, quote, the great motive for keeping the Sabbath, therefore, is to be like God. The great concern of Sabbath-keeping is godliness, godlikeness. We are God's image bearers, he says. And then he quotes John Murray.

We are never more like God than when we keep the Sabbath day. Being holy like God is our supreme motive for keeping the Sabbath day holy. Note the commandment as it's stated in Exodus 20. There can be no doubt that this commandment is brought to the attention of all mankind, of all generations, just as the other commandments. And yet there is explicit applicability to heads of households in its wording.

If Dad is present and is operating according to the biblical requirements to be the head of his home, then by virtue of the oneness in marriage, the commandment applies to you, Moms, even though you're not explicitly named or listed in the text. And you parents are to see to it that this commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy is brought to bear upon your sons and your daughters. That's what God clearly states in this commandment. It's the mind of God made known to you. He expects families to function this way.

Remember the Sabbath. Remember it as God established it. Remember it as God hallowed it. Remember it as God Himself kept it holy. It's your duty.

Remember the Sabbath. And third, third, we find that We are to delight in the Sabbath, to delight in the Sabbath. Isaiah 58, 13, and 14. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord, honorable, and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. Then, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord.

And I will cause you, " God says, to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Did you note that little word, then? This text makes it clear that there are aspects of delighting in the Lord that are only to be found when we are delighting in the day that he is made. And delighting in it for the very purposes that he intended the day. But we must first, not only as individuals, but as families, turn away from our own ways, from our own words, from our own faults.

A Chinese minister once told this story to his congregation. There was once a good man who owned a house with seven rooms. A poor man came to him who had no home and asked if he could have a room. The good man actually gave him six rooms to do with as he pleased with one condition, that the seventh room would be for the owner. The poor man was very thankful, and at first he kept his promise.

But increasingly, he turned the seventh room into his own place. He used it exclusively for himself and finally declared that all seven rooms belong to him. In that way, said the Chinese pastor, many religious people treat the Sabbath. God gave us six days, but we take all seven for our own ends, for our own delight. Dear ones, the Sabbath is under attack.

You do know that, right? It is under attack. The fact that it is under attack should not surprise us. Why do I suggest that it should not surprise us? Well consider the attacks that are aimed at every other aspect of the context of the early chapters of Genesis where we find the institution of the Sabbath.

Is the biblical explanation of a literal six-day creation under attack? Is the biblical teaching that man Is created in the image of God that he is the crown of creation? Is that under attack? Is the historicity of the creation under attack? Is the biblical explanation of man not only being the crown of creation but being the dominion taker of the creation, is that under attack?

How about the biblical account of only two genders he made male and female, is that under attack? How about the institution of marriage as God ordained it? One man and one woman. How about the biblical doctrine of the loving headship of the husband and the sweet submission of the wife in the family? Is that under attack?

How about the realities of sin and of Satan and of punishment of hell? Is that under attack? How about the biblical account of one race, one blood? Then why should it surprise us that the claim of God upon one day is also under attack? I tell you what should surprise us, dear ones, and what should surprise us is that many attacks upon these things are coming from the so-called church of Jesus Christ.

That should surprise us. And not only should it surprise us, quite frankly, it should fill us with righteous anger. That's not what God has said. What has God said? And so with these three things before us, benefiting from the Lord's day, remembering the Lord's day, and delighting in the day, I would like to spend the remainder of our time together dealing with some practical helps for the families, many of which I believe will also prove practical and helpful for even singles who may be among us.

Number one, strive to make the Lord's Day the highlight of the week. Strive to make it the highlight of the week, and especially, but not exclusively, the public meeting of God's people. How can we make it a delight? How can we make it a highlight of the week? Well, it's going to take planned preparation.

It's going to require some attention. To make it the highlight of the week, there's going to be a need for practical preparation, physical preparation, and spiritual preparation. First, practical preparation. Are there things that can be done on Saturday to help us benefit from and enjoy our Sunday? Maybe some or all of the meal preparations.

Maybe getting the kids all bathed and in bed on time and making sure that whatever clothes are to be worn are actually washed, laid out, ready for the morning. Getting the gas tank filled in the van the day before, making sure the Bible bag is packed and ready to go and All your children know where their Bibles are. Getting the table set for breakfast. And man, I would encourage you, the preparation of a simple meal that gives your wife and any kitchen help rest from extra labor on that day. What are those expectations?

Practical preparations, physical preparations. Don't exhaust yourself or in work or in recreation all the way up to the end of the day on Saturday. Understand your own limitations and don't sacrifice the spiritual blessing of the Sabbath on the altar of a fully squeezed for all it's worth Saturday. In doing So we recognize our own dependency, our own weakness that we're not like God. We can't just speak and get it all done.

It's a recognition of our humanity. Get plenty of rest Saturday night so that you don't come to the Lord's house tired. The youngest of our kids, under your oversight, they may need to burn some energy in order to sit for the service or for family time later in the day. But make sure that the energy burning is a means to an end, that it has as its purpose the anticipated spiritual blessings of the day. Then there are those of us that are on the other side of that spectrum.

Sometimes a short nap might be helpful and refreshing as we anticipate an evening service or profitable family time together. And again, I would encourage you to make that a means to an end and not something necessitated by a lack of proper consideration or poor choices of the use of time leading up to the Lord's Day. Third area, spiritual preparation. Spiritual preparation. During the week, engage your family in conversations about the text to be preached.

And after the messages of the day, review what was preached. Spend your Saturday focusing your heart and the hearts of your family on the things of God. Listen to these helpful words from George Swinok on the effects of a well-spent Saturday. He says, The oven of thine heart thus baked in, as it were, overnight, would be easily heated the next morning. The fire so well raked up when thou wentest to bed would be the sooner kindled when thou shouldst rise.

If thou wouldst leave Thine heart with God on the Saturday night, thou shouldst find it with him in the Lord's Day morning." A second thing we could do is strive and Pray for good habits that flow out of a sincere heart. Strive and pray for good habits on that Lord's Day that flow out of a sincere heart. Man was not created for the Sabbath, so don't approach the day that way. Note that your children are watching you. They're watching you.

You are setting a pattern for them. Allow me to once again quote from the works of George Swinok, quote, Have a special care also of the sanctification of the Lord's day in thy family. Do not make the sins of others thine by thy pattern or permission. Let not that queen of days be deflowered or profaned by idleness, earthly thoughts, earthly words, or earthly actions. This I shall be bold to tell thee, that religion and the service of the Most High God in thy family dependeth much, yea, very much upon thy observation of the Lord's day.

Thou mayest expect religions increase or decrease according to the sanctification or profanation of the day. In all things, show thyself a pattern to them that are under thy care and charge. The people committed to Thy government will sooner imitate Thy doings than obey Thy sayings. Sin cometh in at first by propagation, but is increased exceedingly by imitation. Thou that hast thy children following thee, either to heaven or to hell, thou hast need choose a right path, even the narrow way that leadeth to life.

Look well to thy works that they may be agreeable to the Word of God. In thy religious performances especially, manifest all reverence, fervency, and seriousness that thy children may see that thou art earnest about soul affairs, about eternal concerns. Thou little knowest how profitable such a pattern may be unto them. Do thy utmost. Use all means commanded thee to save thyself and those that dwell with thee." Thirdly, In the midst of all of that, strive to make the day a day of delight, a day of delight for yourself and your family.

And Dads, this won't happen if you disappear to do your own thing. Leaving the family, especially your children, to fend for themselves in the midst of a pile of can't-dos and off-limits that you tossed out on your way to do your own thing. And I'm not talking about doing like your own thing as in your own thoughts, your own ways. Before you go to read John Owen and just dumping a bunch of, no, you can't do that, you can't do that on your children. This will involve self-sacrifice on your part.

You know, Christ noted that the priests legitimately broke the commandment in ministering on the Sabbath. I put that in quotes, they broke the commandment. They had duties, God-given duties on that day. Pastors themselves have to sacrifice much of their Sabbath rest in order for the day to be a benefit and a delight for the congregation, for those whom they serve. In a similar manner, fathers must serve in this way too.

They must actually work to actually make the day a delight for their family, especially when you're dealing with young ones or if you're dealing with children who may not yet have a heart for God and for his day. I would like to close with a, it's a lengthy quote, but it's from the autobiography of John G. Paton, who became a missionary to the cannibal tribes in the South Pacific. And if you've never read that autobiography, I actually saw some copies, I don't know if they're still there, but I did see some copies downstairs in the book area. If you've never read it, get a copy of it.

Read it out loud to your family. It would even be a great way to spend your Sabbath afternoons or evenings reading through this autobiography. In the opening of the book, John recounts family life in his father's home. He writes this. Our place of worship was the Reformed Presbyterian Church at Dumfries.

Dumfries was four miles fully from our Tortha wall at home, but the tradition is that during all these 40 years, my father was only thrice prevented from attending the worship of God. Four miles may seem small to us. Some of us probably wish we were four miles from church. But he was walking. Once by snow, so deep that he was baffled and he had to return.

Once by ice on the road, so dangerous that he was forced to crawl back up the Rauchenbrae on his hands and knees after having descended it so far with many falls, and once by the terrible outbreak of cholera at Dumfries. All intercourse betwixt the town and the surrounding villages during that awful visitation was publicly prohibited and the farmers and villagers suspecting that no cholera would make my father stay at home on Sabbath, sent a deputation to my mother on the Saturday evening and urged her He trained his devotions for once. Each of us from very early days considered it no penalty, but a great joy to go with our Father to the church. The four miles were a treat to our young spirits. The company, by the way, was a fresh incitement, and occasionally some of the wonders of city life rewarded our eager eyes.

A few other pious men and women of the best evangelical type went from the same parish to one or other favorite minister at Dumfries. And when these God-fearing peasants foregathered in the way to or from the house of God. We youngsters had sometimes rare glimpses of what Christian talk may be and ought to be. They went to the church full of beautiful expectancy of spirit, their souls were on the outlook for God. They returned from the church ready and even anxious to exchange ideas as to what they had heard and received of the things of life.

I have to bear my testimony that religion was presented to us with a great deal of intellectual freshness, and that it did not repel us, but kindled our spiritual interest. The talks which we heard were, however genuine, not the make-believe of religious conversation, but the sincere outcome of their own personalities, that perhaps makes all the difference betwixt talk that attracts and talk that drives away. We had two special Bible readings on the Lord's Day evening, mother and children and visitors, reading in turns with fresh and interesting question, answer, and exposition all tending to impress us with the infinite grace of a God of love and mercy in the great gift of his dear Son Jesus our Savior. The shorter catechism was gone through regularly, each answering the question asked till the whole had been explained and its foundation in Scripture shown by the proof text adduced. It has been an amazing thing to me occasionally to meet with men who blamed this catechizing for giving them a distaste to religion.

Listen to this, everyone in all our circle thinks and feels exactly the opposite. It laid the solid rock foundation of our religious life. After years have given to these questions and their answers a deeper or a modified meaning. But none of us have ever once even dreamed of wishing that we had been otherwise trained. Of course, if the parents are not devout, sincere, and affectionate, If the whole affair on both sides is task work or worse, hypocritical and false, results must be very different indeed.

Oh, I can remember those happy Sabbath evenings. No blinds down and shutters up to keep out the sun from us as some scandalously affirm. But a holy, happy, entirely human day for a Christian father, mother, and children to spend. How my father would parade across and across our flag floor, telling over the substance of the day's sermon to our dear mother, who because of the great distance and because of her many living encumbrances, got very seldom indeed to the church, how he would entice us, how he would entice us to help him to recall some idea or other, praising us when we got the length of taking notes and reading them over on our return and how we would turn the talk, or how he would turn the talk, ever so naturally to some Bible story, or some martyr reminiscence, or some happy allusion to the Pilgrim's Progress. And then it was quite a contest.

Which of us would get reading aloud while all the rest listened and Father added here and there a happy thought or illustration or anecdote. Others must write and say what they will and as they feel, but so must I. There were 11 of us brought up in a home like that. And never one of the 11, boy or girl, man or woman, has been heard or ever will be heard, saying that Sabbath was dull and wearisome for us, or suggesting that we have heard or Seen any way more likely than that for making the day of the Lord bright and blessed alike for parents and for children. But God help the homes where these things are done by force and not by love.

To delight in the day, dear ones. We must delight in God. If we're not delighting in God, we'll never delight in His day. But if we're delighting in His day because we are delighting in Him, He has said he will increase that delight and that he will cause us to ride on the high hills of the earth to be fed with the heritage of Jacob, our father, his own mouth has promised this. Do you want that promise?

Would you rather walk through the valleys and give up the heritage that he's provided. Don't be an Esau. Don't be an Esau. Don't give up that rich heritage for a bowl of beans. The delights that this world can give you, that you can enjoy with your own words, your own thoughts, and your own delights.

Well, as we heard last night, the Lord bless you out of Zion. And may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel. Let us pray.

Oh Lord God of heaven and earth, creator of all things, You who ordained this day for the benefit of each and every one of us. Oh God, may we as even you did, May we keep this day holy. May it be a blessed day, a hallowed day. May we cease from our labors and may we follow wholeheartedly after you. Lord, I pray for these dear families represented here, Lord maybe even for future families represented here.

Lord, that you would make this day to be such a delight, such a blessing, and that in the setting aside of this day, in the delighting of this day, that each and every one would delight more and more in you, the ordainer of this day. Lord help us to love your commandments and to keep the commandments for they are holy and they are true and Lord help us to do it out of a sincere love for Jesus Christ, out of a heart that's been rescued by the curse of that law because of the death of that dear one on our behalf. To Him be all the glory. In His name we pray, Amen.