Happy Sabbath Day! This Lord’s Day is not about us…

Happy Sabbath Day! This Lord’s Day is not about us, our families, our sports, our pleasures, our work, our recreation, our entertainment, or the false deity of me, myself, and I. But it is everything about our LORD.

Although Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabbath, He is our new Sabbath, and our rest is found in His finished work. Therefore, the Fourth Commandment has not been nullified in the New Covenant.

The Lord’s Fourth Commandment says,

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” – Exodus 20:8-11

Jonathan Edwards said, “It is the mind and will of God that the first day of the week should be especially set apart among Christians for religious exercises and duties.”

Chapter 22 of the 1689 Confession of Faith says the following, which also includes demonstrating God’s Means of Grace ¹ , and that we should practice nothing more than what is regulated by God, according to the Scriptures (aka a Regulative Principle of Worship).

1. The light of nature shews that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is just, good and doth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart and all the soul, a and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is b instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or c any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.

(a Jer 10:7; Mar 12:33; b Deu 12:32; c Exo 20:4-6)

5. The q reading of the Scriptures, preaching, and r hearing the Word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to s the Lord; as also the administration t of baptism, and u the Lord’s supper, are all parts of religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience to him, with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear; moreover, solemn humiliation, x with fastings, and thanksgivings, upon y special occasions, ought to be used in an holy and religious manner.

(q 1Ti 4:13; r 2Ti 4:2; Luk 8:18; s Col 3:16; Eph 5:19; t Mat 28:19-20; u 1Co 11:26; x Est 4:16; Joel 2:12; y Exo 15:1-19, Psa 107)

6. Neither prayer nor any other part of religious worship, is now, under the gospel, tied unto, or made more acceptable by any place in which it is z performed, or towards which it is directed; but God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in a private families b daily, and c in secret each one by himself; so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly nor wilfully to be d neglected or forsaken, when God by his Word or providence calleth thereunto.

(z Joh 4:21; Mal 1:11; 1Ti 2:8; a Act 10:2; b Mat 6:11; Psa 55:17; c Mat 6:6; d Heb 10:25; Act 2:42)

7. 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 e 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, f 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.

(e Exo 20:8; f 1Co 16:1-2; Act 20:7; Rev 1:10)

8. The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy g rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties h of necessity and mercy.

(g Isa 58:13; Neh 13:15-22; h Mat 12:1-13)

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Now we transition from the 1689 to the Orthodox Catechism.

The Orthodox Catechism by Hercules Collins says,

Question 115: What is the fourth Commandment?

Answer: Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day: six Days should thou labor, and do all that thou hast to do, but the seventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou should do no manner of Work, Thou, nor thy Son, nor thy Daughter, thy Man-Servant, nor thy Maid-Servant, nor they Cattle, nor the Stranger that is within thy Gates: for in six Days the Lord made Heaven, and Earth, the Sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, and hallowed it.

Question 116: What is God’s will for you in the fourth commandment?

Answer: First, that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained, (a) and that, especially on the festive day of rest, I regularly attend the assembly of God’s people (b) to learn what God’s Word teaches, (c) to participate in the sacraments,(d) to pray to God publicly,(e) and to bring Christian offerings for the poor.(f) 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.(g) (a) Deut. 6:4-9, 20-25; 1 Cor. 9:13-14; 2 Tim. 2:2; 3:13-17; Tit. 1:5

(b) Deut. 12:5-12; Ps. 40:9-10; 68:26; Acts 2:42-47; Heb. 10:23-25
(c) Rom. 10:14-17; 1 Cor. 14:31-32; 1 Tim. 4:13
(d) 1 Cor. 11:23-25
(e) Col. 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:1
(f) Ps. 50:14; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 8 & 9
(g) Isa. 66:23; Heb. 4:9-11

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Moving back onto my personal notes.

The importance of the doctrine of the Sabbath Day cannot be understated. Consistent disregard for the Fourth Commandment deserves discipline and correction. A church that fails to discipline its members is neither Biblical nor healthy. However, a church that only disciplines its members for minor issues, but not for major ones such as the Ten Commandments, does not meet the standard. Such a church can be considered quasi-antinomian or practicing Marcionism ². Unless providentially hindered, it is particularly alarming when a church ignores repeat offenders of the Decalogue.

Therefore, if anything or anyone consistently prevents us from obeying the Fourth Commandment, it is our god and idol that the First and Second Commandments warn us of and forbid. Let’s repent and not repeat, and work towards making the Sabbath Day great again.

Note: For my post on ‘what is a sanctuary, click here.

Update 12/02/25: I made a video of this article. If the below embedded video player does not work, click here.

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1. The Means of Grace, better known among Reformers as Media Gratiae, is the essential function of the Lord’s Church. It is the preaching and teaching of His Holy Word. As well as via prayer, and the practice of the ordinances and/or sacraments of His church.
   
   Below are some more technical definitions.
   
   “They are the official means of the Church of Jesus Christ. The preaching of the Word (or, the Word preached) and the administration of the sacraments (or, the sacraments administered) are the means officially instituted in the Church, by which the Holy Spirit works and confirms faith in the hearts of men. Some Reformed theologians limit the idea of the means of grace still more by saying that they are administered only within the visible Church, and that they presuppose the existence of the principle of the new life in the soul.”
   
   [L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing co., 1938), 605–606.]
   
   Media gratiae: means of grace; i.e., Word and sacraments as the means by which the grace of God is operative in the church. The term is used by both Lutheran and Reformed orthodox, although the Lutherans often substitute a stronger term, organa gratiae et salutis (q.v.), instruments of grace and salvation… Word and sacraments are thus instrumental both in the inception of salvation and in the continuance of the work of grace in the Christian life. In addition, Word and sacraments are the sole officially ordained or instituted instruments or means of grace. God has promised the presence of his grace to faithful hearers of the Word and faithful participants in the sacraments. Thus the right preaching of the Word and right administration of the sacraments are the marks or identifying features of the true church (notae ecclesiae, q.v.).”
   
   [Richard A. Muller, Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms : Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1985), 187–188.] ↩︎
2. Sadly, many professing Christians believe the heresy called Marcionism, as they continually disregard Old Testament Scriptures i.e. imprecatory prayers, obeying the Fourth Commandment, and so-on. This heretical belief is widespread across America, especially the “Bible Belt.” Essentially, Marcionism teaches that the Old Testament is either not considered canonical or no longer applicable in today’s world. This false belief is especially prevalent among Arminians and Dispensationalists. Below is another definition to help you understand it better.
   
   “Marcionism. In some regards, Marcionism initiated the question of the inclusion or exclusion of certain books. The heretical leader Marcion (AD 160), who considered the Hebrew God to be barbaric, acknowledged as canonical only a variant of the Gospel of Luke and 10 of Paul’s letters. This drastic move in some ways forced the Church to become fully conscious of its inheritance of apostolic teachings and writings, and to clarify its view on the Jewish Scriptures. At this point, the Church essentially agreed to keep the Old Testament as part of Christian sacred readings. For further details on Marcion and why the early church deemed him heretical, see these articles: Marcion; Gospel of Marcion.”
   
   [Sylvie T. Raquel, “Canon, New Testament,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).] ↩︎