We'll be reading verses 8 through 11, Exodus 20, 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. Let's once again look to the Lord in prayer. Oh God, here we are. Your people on your day gathered before your word. Speak to us.

Help us to understand. Help us to grasp what it is you have before us today. Lord, teach us and make us teachable. Lord, may we come trembling at your word that you might find a place to dwell among us today. In Christ's name we pray all of these things.

Amen. Please be seated. Well probably everyone here this morning, I would say at least five years old and older, can recall witnessing the following scene. A very young child, a grandchild, a son, or maybe a younger sibling, unwrapping a present they have received. It takes them some effort to get started.

Maybe they even need a little help pulling away at it. But they finally get all the wrapping paper removed and there is the gift, the toy or whatever, sitting right in front of them. And what do they most often do? Well, more times than not, they put it aside and they turn to the wrapping paper, maybe the box that it was in, and begin playing with that. And the thought comes to mind, and maybe even sometimes jokingly across our lips, I could have saved some money and simply given them the wrapping paper and the box.

They seem content with that. Seem content with that? Well the problem is that the immaturity of the child due to their age, it vastly limits their appreciation for wonderful toys no matter how expensive they are. They are enamored with something far less worthy, far less interesting, far less costly. The crinkly, noisy, and often colorful wrapping paper and the fun activity of engaging the hands with pulling and tearing.

Well as we considered last week, God in his almighty wisdom and grace established a day for us, a day of rest for man, a day he established for man's benefit, for man's advantage. This day known as the Sabbath was the experience of man and woman on their first full day on the earth. But this gift from our Father has not been rightly appreciated. Having been given this gift in order that we might discover the joy and blessing that God intended in the giving of it, man has now set that gift aside, has ignored it, has even despised it, and has becoming enamored with things far less worthy, far less interesting, far less costly. Brothers and sisters, can it be said of us in regard to the gift of the Sabbath, something that God established just for us?

Are we playing as it were with the wrapping paper of our own delights rather than enjoying God's precious gift. Well, the text before us this morning is the fourth of the Ten Commandments that our Lord and Savior spoke in the hearing of the people when He descended upon Mount Sinai. Pastor and author, Greg Nichols, describes the commandments as ten basic sanctities. And here they are. The first, the sanctity of God's being.

Secondly, the sanctity of God's worship. Thirdly, the sanctity of God's name. Fourth, what we're looking at today, the sanctity of God's day. Fifth, the sanctity of God-ordained authority. Sixth, the sanctity of life.

Seventh, the sanctity of marriage. And then the sanctity of private property, the sanctity of truth, and tenth, the sanctity of the heart. So today, we continue our study of the sanctity of God's day. Last week, we considered together benefiting from the Sabbath. The title of the sermon this morning is remembering the Sabbath.

The outline I hope to cover is as follows. First, an exhortation to remember. Secondly, an expectation of rest. Third, an example to be replicated. And then fourth, an exaltation to be realized and received.

So consider with me first from the text an exhortation to remember, an exhortation to remember. Verse 8, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Last week we studied the last verses of Mark 2 together. There we were directed by the words of Jesus himself to look back to the time of creation for a proper understanding and view of the Sabbath. Our text today does the same.

It calls us to remember the ordinance of the Sabbath that God established for man on the seventh day of creation. God here, speaking to the nation of Israel in our text, does not establish some new ordinance for these people he had called out of Egypt. He simply calls them to remember the Sabbath day, to be mindful of the day and the purpose of that day. And calling his people to remember, he was commanding them to call to mind something they already knew, something they were already taught, something they were already aware of. Note that the remembrance is not for the sake of mere acknowledgement.

The remembrance is to give way to is for the purpose of a particular response. We are to be reminded that this day called Sabbath was established to be kept holy unto God. The word holy as it's used in some text can refer to moral purity or uprightness. But here the word holy is used in the sense of setting apart, setting apart as were the articles and the utensils of the tabernacle and later the temple. They were set apart.

This day was to be considered holy by reason of the fact that the Lord of the Sabbath set this day apart from all other days. It is to be holy by means of our setting it apart unto God. The fact that we are to be doing this keeping, remember the Sabbath to keep it holy, The fact that we are doing the keeping means that we ourselves are to be set apart unto God. The day is set apart if and only if we are set apart unto the Lord. Brothers and sisters, this command is not calling this particular people to remember the Sabbath day in order that you may now in this particular culture and at this particular time in history learned to keep it holy.

The exhortation to a remembrance of the established day as we saw last week is an exhortation to a remembrance of the fact that the day was declared holy by God at creation in order that it may be kept in a holy manner by all men in all times throughout human history. Dear brothers and sisters, if the wording in the abiding moral law of God calls us to remember, What gives some men the freedom of conscience to ignore God's exhortation to remember the day of rest by means of observance? If a day of rest has been established by the Lord of the day for the benefit of man and has been distinguished from all other days and even given a special designation by virtue of a name, the Sabbath. What gives some men the courage to respond by ignoring the day, by denying the intent of its institution, and treating something as common that God calls holy? If God calls us to remember, then we need to go on remembering until He Himself tells us to cease.

Silence is not sufficient as a reason to abolish something that God Himself wrote in stone with His own finger. If God calls us to keep a day as holy, then we need to go on keeping that day holy until Scripture tells us to stop. As Lord of the Sabbath, it's His prerogative and His alone. And so the text before us begins with an exhortation to remember. Well, having called us to remember the Sabbath in order that we might keep it holy, we see secondly in our text an expectation of rest, an expectation of rest, verses 9 and 10.

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." Now, although it is not the focus of the command, we find in these verses an expectation of labor. Six days you shall labor. This verse thus sets before us not only the demands of the Sabbath day, but also the demands of the other six days. Some of our dear brothers in Christ advocate for the removal of the fourth commandment on the basis that it is ceremonial and thus fulfilled in Christ or on the basis of it not being in their judgment repeated in the New Testament.

Well, now we have a problem. They have arbitrarily divided the instruction of the God ordained week, something established at creation and repeated for us here. If the expectation of a one in seven day of rest is removed, it disturbs the God-ordained expectation of labor for six days. Is six days of labor part of the ceremonial law that was abolished? I know a lot of people would be happy if it was, but has that been abolished, six days of labor?

It is part of the same commandment. If the parameters of the day are removed, who now decides what to do with the extra day? Are we now Lord of the day? Is it ours to do with as we please? Our church confession, the 1689 confession in chapter 22, paragraph 7, states the following.

As it is the law of nature that in general, a proportion of time by God's appointment be set apart for the worship of God, so by His word in a positive moral and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished. It tells us God hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him. There is the proportion. One day out of seven, one seventh of a week. Now, nature declares that some proportion of our time is due our Creator.

God's Word declares that due proportion to be one day of the week. This day is to be a Sabbath, that is a day of rest from labor. It is a positive command. It calls us to something and not simply away from something. To remember the day and to keep it holy, it is a moral command.

It is right. It is good. And we shall see in the next point that God's action in resting sets an example for us to follow. It is a perpetual commandment because it was given to our first parents, because it was given as a benefit to man, because it is a creation ordinance. It is binding on all men in all ages.

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, the owner of the house, 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 were his. They belonged 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." The wording of this particular command is, six days for all of your labor, but the seventh day is the day of the Lord your God. So note the possession that's given there.

Six days are for your labor. The seventh day is a day of the Lord your God. Just as God gave to Adam all the trees of the garden to eat, but one he kept for himself. Even so, he gives mankind all the days of the week to work and carry out all of their daily life, reserving only one day for himself. Now, we see in the text three spheres where this expectation comes to bear.

We see the personal sphere, you. We see the domestic sphere, your household, and the social sphere, the stranger within your gate." If you would bear with me, I would like to break a common rule of preaching. I'd like to say it's the first time I've done it. But the common rule, and I don't want to read you a long quote, and it's from the works of George Swinock. In my estimation, this quote is pure gold, and I don't want to withhold an ounce from you.

Here's the 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, words, or actions. This I shall be bold to tell thee. Now listen, 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 that 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 are 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." Can it be said of us that our children observe in us all reverence, fervency, and seriousness to the moral law of God when it comes to the sanctity of this one day, God's most holy day. Are we remembering whose day it is and why he established the day?

Are we ceasing from our labors and truly making it a day of rest, not only for us, but for our households. We must leave this duty for now, but I hope to flesh out in another message what this duty entails. But for now, it will need to suffice that God has an expectation of our ceasing from our labors, ours and our households and whoever else falls under our sphere of influence. So first, an exhortation to remember. Second, an expectation of rest.

Next, we turn our attention to the third point brought out in our text, an example to be replicated. An example to be replicated. Verse 11, 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. As we saw last week, God established the pattern of what we call a week, six days of labor and one day of rest. This weekly pattern was established for the good of man.

And as I did last week, I again share a quote from Ralph Wardlaw regarding God's activity. It is true that creation occupied a certain portion of time, but not because omnipotence required it. The same word that commanded into existence the successive parts could with equal ease by one fiat have commanded the whole. But there was a design and it's being ordered otherwise. And the design related to man.

It was to give commandment to such a division of time amongst the inhabitants of the new-formed world as should connect the finished work of creation with a commemorative day." End quote. Now, understand that this commandment is not just some reminder that we can go back and read Genesis chapter 2 and Genesis 3. In emphasizing this true and historical narrative of the seventh day of creation by doing this, God is inextricably tying his expectation of our keeping the Sabbath day holy to his own example. It sets what God did before our eyes and he has a purpose in doing that. His is an example that is to be replicated.

It's a big word, children. What's replicated? It means to be imitated. It means to be copied. We're to copy what God did.

It's an example that's to be replicated. Now there are some who would argue that God did indeed rest on the seventh day. I mean how could anyone argue otherwise after reading Genesis 2? But those same persons then go on to say that only here in Exodus 20 does God begin to place commands upon men in regard to that day. Well, what do we say to such an argument?

Are they correct? Well, turn a few pages back to Exodus 16. Exodus chapter 16. And look with me beginning in verse 22, Exodus 16-22. And so it was on the sixth day that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one.

And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, this is what the Lord has said, tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today and boil what you will boil and lay up for yourselves all that remains to be kept until morning." So they laid it up till morning as Moses commanded. And it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. Then Moses said, Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord.

Today, you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none." Now, it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day together, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, listen to this response, how long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws. Brothers and sisters, here in Exodus 16, this occurs before they reach Mount Sinai. We turn back.

Note from this text that God has already commandments and laws. He already has them. They're in place before the giving of the 10 commandments allowed to the people. And God does not even hear in this text instruct them concerning the Sabbath. He simply states that tomorrow, a seventh day, is a Sabbath rest.

Now children, don't miss this. Who provided the manna each morning for the people? Who provided that manna? God did, right? God provided that manna.

And what happened on the seventh day? Who provided manna that particular morning? Nobody. Nobody. God provided manna enough on the sixth day that the people would have enough for the seventh day.

You see, God rested. He rested. He ceased from his labor. He's still ceasing. Just as God rested on the seventh day at creation, also note that the phrase, how long do you refuse seems to indicate that the desecration of the day has been an issue for some time.

How long do you refuse? You see, God does nothing arbitrarily or without purpose. God, the creator, rested. We, the created, should rest. Almighty God rested.

We, his image bearers, should rest. The thrice holy God rested. We are to be holy even as He is holy. Well, we've considered thus far an exhortation to Remember, an expectation of rest, an example to be replicated. Now, fourth and finally, consider with me from this passage an exaltation to be realized and received.

An exaltation to be realized and received. The end of verse 11. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Now the establishment of the day was not necessitated by God needing rest. His omnipotence, his omniscience, they weren't taxed.

Nor was the establishment of the day necessitated by man's sin. The establishment of the day precedes Adam's disobedience. This establishment of the day was not necessitated by God's entering into covenant with a people designated as Israel. For the entirety of mankind at that time was just two people, Adam and Eve. So why did God bless and hallow this day?

Well, Genesis 2 gives us the narrative of the transition from day 6 to day 7. At the end of chapter 1, then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all the work which God had created and made. God looked upon everything that he had made and he declared that indeed all was very good.

Then God called man to enter into that rest. The enjoyment of God, the enjoyment of the power of his word, and the enjoyment of his providential workings. I ran across this verse in my study this week and it was just like, wow, Revelation 411. I know you know it, you've heard it read many times, Maybe you could quote it, but it seems to fit the very narrative of Genesis 2. The very day is a day to by our words and by our actions declare, you are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.

Why? For you created all things and by your will they exist and were created. Do you see how these words that John hears as he is taken by the Spirit up into the very throne room of heaven, these very words sound forth from a people who have entered their final rest. Have they not? They've already entered their final rest.

They reflect perfectly the picture of what God intended his one day of rest to be for man, a day of entering into the joy and worship of the creator, a foretaste of that final heavenly rest that awaits. That was the theme. You created all things, and by your will, they still exist. For you uphold the breath of every living creature. Man's chief end is to do what?

To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. That's what we're to do every day. But this day of rest has been established for our benefit, for our advantage that we might in a more focused way glorify Him and enjoy Him. Now, the Sabbath, which we have already noted was a creation ordinance given to all mankind, it was to become a covenant sign between His people and God Himself. This day of rest was to distinguish his people above and beyond all men who were expected to rest on the divinely appointed day.

Moms and dads, Has your son or daughter ever asked if they can invite a friend or friends over for a sleepover? Maybe for a day, maybe for a portion of the week, maybe even for a whole week. Can I have somebody over? Well, when that guest or guests arrive, one of the first things that we do is we kind of go over some house rules. While you're in the house, these are the expectations.

Now let me ask you something. Are those house rules new? Did you just make them up on the afternoon before the guests arrived? No, they're not new rules. The rules have applied to that household for some time.

But your expectation of those rules being followed is greater when it comes to your own child because there is an existing relationship that brings an entirely different level of expectation with your child. And it's no different here. All of these commands, these ten commands, they apply to all mankind, right? All mankind. As Christians, we see the relevance of these ten commandments in all the classrooms, in all the courtrooms of this nation.

They're irrelevant. We understand that. We don't say, well, that's no place for them. They belong in the church. No, no.

We understand their relevance for all mankind. We understand that these commands are not just for the Jewish nation. We acknowledge the divine right of God to be obeyed because he is creator of all. But how much more do these commands apply to the Christian who calls God not simply his creator, but his Lord and his savior. Man's chief end is to glorify God.

The chief end of which men? All men, right? Yet scripture says to you, Christian, do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's.

1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20. Oh, there's a whole other level that we owe to God as his children. But let's go back to all of the creation ordinances that we touched upon last week. Marriage, procreation, work in the Sabbath. My friend, did God bless the institution of marriage and set it apart as holy?

Did he do that? Well, consider. What God has joined together, let not man separate. Sounds kind of set apart to me. Matthew 19, 6.

How about Malachi 3, 16? For the Lord God of Israel says that he hates divorce. How about Ephesians 5, 30 to 32? For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

Where's that from? Genesis 3. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Adam and Eve. No, I speak concerning Christ and his church. Marriage was a creation ordained set apart by God, made holy by God.

How about procreation? Did God set that apart? Consider Deuteronomy 7 13, he will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb. He will bless it.

Back to Malachi 3 verses 14 and 15, you and your wife by covenant, did he not make you one having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. That's the reason. It's kind of set apart, don't you think?

How about Psalm 127.3? Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. Sounds kind of set apart to me. How about labor?

Has secular labor been blessed and set apart? Well, consider Psalm 128, one and two. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. Sounds very religious, doesn't it? Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.

Sounds very religious, doesn't it? Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy and it shall be well with you. Proverbs 3, 9 and 10. Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine." Ecclesiastes 3, 12 and 13, I know that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor.

All of scripture testifies to the blessings that rest upon those who embrace and faithfully observe these three creation ordinances as God intended them. What we understand and embrace concerning those other creation ordinances, we should understand and apply to the ordinance of the Sabbath. And so we read right here in our text that God blessed the Sabbath and that he hallowed the Sabbath day. Now in a handful of places in Scripture, we read of God blessing inanimate objects. We read of God blessing food and water, Exodus 23.25.

We read of Him blessing the labor of hands in Job 1.10, blessing the provisions of Zion, Psalm 132.15, blessing the home of the just, Proverbs 3.33. And so it shouldn't surprise that God here blesses a day. The idea here as it is with these other illustrations is that God exalts the day in order that it may be prosperous and advantageous to us. And does this not correlate beautifully to the idea we saw in Mark 2 that God established the day for mankind to be a benefit and to be an advantage? That's why he blessed this day.

How about the idea of hallowing the day? We don't use that word much in our day, hallow, But if we look at the Hebrew word, we will see that it is the same root word, kadash, as holy, that we are called to at the beginning of verse 8 when it says that we are to keep it holy. Here, God, hallowing the day is him keeping it holy. Same word, kadash, same root word. And this further drives home the previous point about God's example.

He kept this sanctified day as a holy day. Therefore, we are to keep it as a holy day. Dear ones, this passage sets before us once again this blessed gift that God has granted mankind. And it sets before us our duty to give it the attention that it deserves. It teaches us that we are to remember the Sabbath, that we are to keep it holy, even as God himself by his own example kept it holy.

May we not be like the child who is more preoccupied with the wrapping paper and box than we are with the gift from the giver of everything needful and good. I close with the following from Robert Martin. The great motive, the great motive for keeping the Sabbath, therefore, is to be like God. The great concern of Sabbath keeping is godliness or as he puts it, godlikeness. We are God's image bearers.

As John Murray, he quotes, wisely observes, we are never more like God than when we keep the Sabbath day. 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. My dear brother and sister in Christ, can I encourage you to go away from this sermon with that simple truth? If you have heard nothing else, will you at least walk away from here today with this conviction we are never more like God than when we keep the Sabbath day, that being holy like God is our supreme motive for keeping the Sabbath day holy.

Will you view the day with that lens? My unsaved friend, if you are here without Christ, this command is for you too. This command is for you. It's for all mankind. But if you're here without Christ, you need something more than a bodily rest on this day.

You stand in need of a soul rest, a soul rest that can only be found in Jesus. And that's what this day points us to, to the one who labored on the behalf of sinners to bring about a new creation in their heart, to cause the spiritual light of salvation's dawn to shine out of the darkness of their heart, to breathe a breath of new life into their nostrils in order that they may have life. It's Jesus that this day of rest ultimately points us to. You see Jesus is the one who says to you today come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Isn't that beautiful?

It's something that's almost tied to the very creation ordinance. Are you weary from your labor? Come find rest. It's a gospel message that we preach, dear ones, when we rest on this day. It's a gospel message.

It's saying that we can rest from our labors because of Christ. And so Christ says to you, my unconverted friend, come to me. Come to me. All you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The true rest does not come from the day. The true rest comes from the creator of the day. Go to Christ, my dear friend. Go to Christ right here and right now while it is still called today.

Go to him and find that eternal rest. May we all rest in the Lord of the Sabbath as we seek to remember the day to keep it holy. Amen. Oh gracious God, We thank you for this commandment. We thank you that we are called to remember this day that we might keep it holy, set apart, different from the other days.

Lord, you are our example. For Lord, we read in Hebrews four that you, oh Father, rested, the Trinity rested on that seventh day. And we read of Christ also resting from his labors because we rejoice, because his work also is finished. So Lord, we ask that each and every soul here would find that rest here and now. That Lord they may through Jesus Christ be partakers of that rest which will be our eternal rest one day.

Lord make this day to be like that, a foretaste of what's before us. For you alone are worthy to receive all glory, all wisdom, and all power. For you created all things and by your own will they were created and they still exist to you be all the glory in the church in Jesus name Amen.