Exodus chapter 20 for Bible reading. This afternoon, Exodus chapter 20, familiar chapter of the Word of God, but we'll read the opening 18 verses of the chapter together. Exodus chapter 20, and we'll begin reading at the verse number one. And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. I shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers, upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. I shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 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. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings, the noise of the trumpet, the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. Amen. And as I said, we'll end our reading at verse number 18. Let's stand for a brief word of prayer. Our gracious Father, our loving God, we come to Thee. This is the first day of the week, the Christian Sabbath, the Lord's Day. We have worshiped Thee in song and prayer. We have given. We trust that which that was given to us by our tithe and our offering as we have come into the house of God. Now we come to hear the word, Lord minister by the spirit. Oh, we pray for his ministry among us. That is the effectual ministry that we need. The understanding heart we pray for, for every heart and for every individual. and open our eyes and open our understanding and may these wills of ours be found in harmony with the will of God as is revealed in Holy Scripture. Now come and fill me with thy spirit and give me all the help required to preach the word faithfully before the congregation that is before us. We pray this in our Savior's precious name. Amen and amen. If you leave school at the age of 18, and God enables you to work to the state pension age, you will find that your employment career will span some 50 years. By any estimation, that is a sizable portion of any person's life. 50 years of working and who knows where the state pension will be by the time I get to it. It's 68, I believe, at the minute. Not that I'd be looking, I hasten to add. With much of life then taken up with work, you would think then that the God of heaven would have something to say about the subject matter. And of course he does. Last Lord's Day we began looking together what God's word has to say about work. And laying a foundation to these series of messages, we found that work was an activity that God himself engaged in and continues to engage in. in the work of creation, that work being done with regard to the physical creation, but not with regard to the new creation. For every individual that is born again of the Spirit is a work of God. God works within the soul of that individual by His Spirit, And thank God for that. And so by His work, not only in the past, but His continual work in salvation, in preservation, in judgment, in providence, God has placed His own divine stamp of approval upon the activity of working. We see that man created in the image of God then best reflects that image when he gives himself to the task of labor, to the task of work. The first man, Adam, was placed in the Garden of Eden, not to simply take his ease, but rather to be employed in the dressing and the keeping, the maintaining of that garden. And thus, as we saw last week, work predates the fall. The fall did not bring in work, rather the fall changed the nature, the character of work. Because before the fall happened, before the fall took place, labor, work, employment was that which had no burden. It was burden-free. But after the fall, work became burdensome. Sorrow and sweat now accompanied the labor, the industry, and the work of Adam and his descendants. And that's where we end at last Lord's day. But having thought about the commencement of work, I want to go a little further with this subject matter and simply speak today about the command to work. the command to work. Now whenever God enshrined the moral law there on Mount Sinai, he did deal with this particular matter, the matter of work when he wrote the fourth commandment, the longest of the ten commandments. Let's read the verses that we'll consider today. Let's read again the verses 8 through to the verse 11. For there God wrote, 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, neither 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. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Now it is true that this commandment is primarily concerned about keeping one day in seven as a Sabbath wherein we rest from our earthly labors and we engage in the worship of our God and yet though it be primarily with regard to the keeping of the Sabbath day, there is still much to glean about this very matter that we're addressing in these series of messages with regard to this subject of work. And so there are a number of things that I want you to notice from this commandment, for it is a commandment of God, this commandment with regard to work. I want you to notice, first of all, the precept of work that is found within the commandment, this fourth commandment. Already established at the dawn of time, the principle of work now finds itself enshrined and reinforced into God's moral law by the words of Jehovah himself at Mount Sinai. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work. It's very clear here from the words of God that while we are to give a day over to the worship of God, the other days of the week are to be given over not to idleness, not to slothfulness, but to labour and to work. You see man was created for these two great activities. He was created for worship and he was created to work And not to do one means that you're not living to the purpose for which God created you. And therefore, you will not enjoy life as God meant that you would enjoy life. Because God knows what is best. And therefore, God has created man for both worship and for work. You see, biblical religion gives no warrant for idleness, just as it is a command to keep the Sabbath day holy. And the preacher often emphasizes that part of the commandment. It is as much a command to labor and to work the other six days of the week. We often emphasize the statement, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. But what about the next part of the commandment? Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work. Thomas Watson said, piety does not exclude industry. Luther's friend Melanchthon said, idleness is the devil's bath because he bathes himself with the light in an idle soul. Picture that in your mind, the devil lying in the bath of your idle soul. And so an idle person Think of it, an idle person, a person who does not give themselves to work, to labor, to industry, is in breach of the fourth commandment, this precept that God has written in stone. And not only has He written it in stone, but He has also inscribed it upon the fleshly tables of our heart, because the law of God is written within our hearts. And thereby, this law, not only to keep God's day holy, but also to labor the six days of the week, this has been written upon our hearts. We can see here, and then, that these six days of work are as much part and parcel of the fourth commandment as the one day of worship and rest is. You know there are many Christians in there in danger of allowing work to squeeze the time that is set aside for worship and for rest. And yet there are others on the opposite end of the spectrum who avoid work altogether and they try to live a life of ease and of leisure. You see the work aspect of the fourth commandment is often overlooked. And that ought not to be so. I know that I've termed this first point the precept of work, but maybe a stronger word should be used, the imperative. This is an imperative. This is a command. This is a directive from God that man is to work. God said, six days shalt thy labor. This is not an option. The language employed by God shows me that this isn't a suggestion, but rather that this is a command from the Lord. When health and age permits, we are to employ these six days of the week in labor and The second part of the commandment is as important as the first part of the commandment, and we mustn't forget that by placing emphasis on one part of the commandment and not on the other part of the commandment. The two aspects of the commandment, the worship aspect, the work aspect, are one commandment, and they are joined together by God. And what do we read in Scripture? What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Worship and work joined together. and they cannot be separated. And we are going to think about that maybe today, maybe in later weeks. We cannot separate our worship life from our work life. You know, many people say, well, I go to work five, six days in the week, and then I come to worship God on the Lord's day. Brethren and sisters, that's not how we're to live our lives. We're to live our lives every day worshiping God and we can do that through work and living out the gospel in our work and in our employment. We are not to segregate our lives into compartments. That's work life. That's worship life. That doesn't happen in the Christian life. There is a blending together. God unites these together. Work and worship. Work and worship. And so there is this precept, this imperative, this command, this directive from God that we are to labor. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. Now we move on to a second point, and that is the period and the parameters of work. The Lord stipulates again there in verse 9, six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. You know, it's amazing whenever you start to study a particular series of messages. It's just amazing what God and His providence draws to your attention. I was scrolling through my little app, my BBC News app, just this past week, and my attention was taken with an article that I found in the Welsh section of that particular news app. The report carried the following headline, Four Day Working Week, Pilot Bed for Welsh Workers. The article was based on a report entitled Future Generations Commission and it stated a four-day working week should be trialed in Wales. Shorter working weeks can make staff healthier and happier and business more productive, Wales Commissioner Sophie Howe said. Cutting hours but paying the same could help businesses retain staff and increase turnover, the report said. It doesn't say anything about increasing laziness or slothfulness. I'm informed that this four-day working week is also being discussed in nations like New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, and Scotland. And so what do we have today? We have a movement away from the period that God has stipulated with regard to our secular and home employment, six days, to now a four-day working week. Again, man thinking he knows better than God. Man thinks that he knows better than God. It's very interesting that this is not the only time in the book of Exodus that this stipulation to work these six days is presented to us. If you turn to chapter 23 and the verse number 12, we read these words. Six days shalt thou do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest, that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed. here's the reason why we are to only but work those six days there needs to be the bodily rest given to the physical constitution the refreshing off the body let's go to chapter 31 of the same book and we'll stay in the book of exodus it's not the only Passages, Exodus chapter 31 and the verse number 15. Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest. Holy to the Lord, whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Strong words indeed. Exodus 34, the verse 21. Exodus 34, verse 21. six days shalt thou work but on the seventh day thou shalt rest in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest now let me make a little comment on this verse i want you to note with me that even during the busiest time of the year what was the earing time that's an old english word the earing time well i thought it was about sewing but it's not whenever i looked it up it's about plowing the plowing of the ground in order of getting the ground ready for the seed to be sown in and there's farmers here, there's ex-farmers here, there's sons of farmers here and you well know what it was like during the days of ploughing. Great industry, the rising up early in the morning and taking it right to the very small hours of the night and to the daylight feed it and the farmer would be out there plowing the ground and harrowing the ground and digging out the stones and that was that was tremendous fun whenever your father said we're going to get the stones out of the field hooray the cry went up within our house it wasn't really much of a fun time but these were industrious times every moment counted every moment counted and then we go into the time of reaping and you know what it's like to try and get a dry day to get silage in And to try and get a dry week to get the corn and the wheat in, to get the potatoes in. You can understand what it's like. The window of opportunity is short with regard to the bringing in of the harvest. And yet I want you to notice what God said that even during the busiest time of the year, whether it be the plowing time, whether it be the reaping time, that work was still to be confined to the six days. To the six days. There wasn't to be, as it were, the excuse sent out by the farmer, well, if I don't bring in, if I don't bring in the harvest, how's my family going to survive? How's the nation going to survive? God said, no work, no work on the Sabbath day. No work. Work was never to be infringed or to infringe with regard to the keeping of the Sabbath day, the Lord's day. Even in the busiest time, there would have been ample excuses available for the farmer, but God said, even in the busiest time of the year, when industry is great, you're to set aside the Sabbath. Exodus 35 is the last portion there just to show you these commandments. Sorry, Exodus 35 verse 2. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh there shall be unto you a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord, whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. And so there is this command, and it's the six days, this period, this opportunity given to us. Now what work is to take place in these six days? Well, the Hebrew word in Exodus, let's go back to Exodus 20, the verse number 9, that Hebrew word translated labor has to do with the labor has to do with labor in a general sense the regular things that need to one has to do and needs to be done just to keep things going and then within that general field of labor then one's work must be done and that really deals with our occupational work something that someone does for their livelihood now we know many of us know these two types of labor there is this general liberty. all of the work that needs to be done around the home. And then there is this occupational labor that we go nine to five, some maybe earlier than that, four to half three, whatever time you get up in the morning. And so there is these two types of work that is to be done. And this is the work that is referred. There's a blending together. There is the secular work. There is the work with regard to the family home. And all of that work, all of that work is to be done within six days. And so God is giving to his creature six days out of seven to work at their vocational or their professional callings to engage in secular employment with the exception obviously of the works of necessity and of charity. So whenever you think of All of the work that we do, we think of mowing the lawn, washing the car, and painting the house, and fixing up the home, and shopping for groceries. We think about our schoolwork, we think about our assignments for university. All the regular chores, all the errands of life, these are all to be done within that confine of six days, and then one day is to be given wholly and exclusively to God. This is the teaching of the scripture. No beloved God could have demanded six days to worship Him and one day to work. And that would have been His prerogative. But all that He requires of us is one day. One day when the work and labor of the other six days are to be set aside. And failure to give Him His day is simply disobedience. And it is sin. it is sin. You know, many will say, well, Jesus Christ, He never talked about the Sabbath day. You'll find a lot of people saying that, Lord Jesus. Well, Jesus Christ did speak about the Sabbath day. He said that the Sabbath day was made for man, for man's benefit. And so Jesus Christ did speak about the Sabbath day. And even in His own life, we think about Mary, And the other ladies who went to anoint the body of Jesus Christ, they kept the Sabbath day, and they returned on the first day of the week. And then after that, they then joined in public worship on the first day of the week, but they kept the Jewish Sabbath. And so by his own example, and by his own exhortation, Jesus Christ did speak about the Sabbath day, the keeping of one day and seven for the worship of God. Now God puts a limit on the amount of work that we are to do. Knowing our frame, he's aware of our limitations. He knows that we are but dust. God calls us to work six days, but he calls us to work only six days in a row and no more. Even God himself and all his work of creation stopped after six days. Too many people, sadly, they find themselves continuously working, and they go beyond the bounds and the limits that God has stipulated. And that can only, let me say, be detrimental, first of all, to your spiritual life, second of all, to your physical life, and third of all, to your mental life. Yes, God expects us to work, whether that be paid employment or unpaid work around the home, laboring within the home, but our work should never impinge upon our worship. One Christian author gave this counsel. As Christians, we must be careful not to let the cares and the allurements of the world distract us from our devotion to Christ or from our responsibilities to our families and friends. Workaholicism is often linked to sinful reliance, discontent, and misplaced priorities. If a job takes up so much energy that it distracts from one's relationship with Jesus Christ, then it could be considered idolatry. Idolatry. We need to be careful that we do not make an idol of our work. Putting work before our walk with the Lord will have a detrimental effect on our spiritual lives. There's no ifs. There's no buts about this, brethren and sisters. It will have a detrimental effect on your spiritual welfare and your spiritual life. Let me find examples of this in scripture. Remember the rich farmer in Luke chapter 16? He busied himself with harvesting his crops and building projects. And there's no doubt that these things were legitimate. These were even necessary activities of life. However, he gave himself entirely over to his work to the detriment of his soul. And he thought little or nothing about spiritual matters and about the fact of him losing his soul. Maybe that's you. Maybe you're not a Christian. You're just a workaholic. And it's work, work, work, and making money, money, money. And you never thought about your soul. Terrible tragedy. And then there's an example of a dear lady. She was a Christian. She was a follower of Jesus Christ. Her name was Martha. And Martha busied herself with the work of the home, but too busy to forget about the Savior. Martha busied herself with work while Mary busied herself with the worship. And what did Jesus say? Mary has chosen the better part. There was a time for work, Martha, but not whenever Christ was there. That was a time for worship. And it was detrimental to Martha's spiritual life. She placed work before her worship. The work adverse person perverts God's purpose and work in that they do nothing. But the workaholic can also pervert God's purpose and work in that they can do too much. There is a balance that needs to be struck and God gives us the balance here. He says, Yes, there are six days to work, but there's one day to worship and one day to rest. And so God sets down a parameter when it comes to the period of time that we are to give to work, but he also sets down a parameter regarding the remit of our work. Verse number nine, Do all thy work. The problem is that some people think that they need to concern themselves about the work that is given to others by their employer or by God. But God says that we need to busy ourselves with the work that is given to us. Do your work. Do your work. Therefore, some fellow employee shouldn't be doing. the work that is allotted to you by your employer. While on the other hand, you shouldn't be doing the work assigned to others. Now the problem is that we live in a fallen world. And as I said last week, we find at times that we and others have an aversion to work. And so we're quite happy to allow someone else to do the work that the employer has asked us to do. But the command is that you're to do thy work, your work. Do your work. Give yourself to the task that your employer has given you to do. Now, that's not to say that you cannot help an employee if they ask for help time and time again, but you must not let that assistance be to the detriment of your own labor. For what kind of testimony is that going to leave before your employer if you're doing someone else's work? Let them do their work. And you do your work. The problem is that many people don't want to do their work. They only do their work whenever the employer comes in through the door. And that causes them difficulties. And so there is a remit to do thy work. Do your work. Don't be busying yourself with someone else's work. Let them get on with their work. Let the preacher get on with preaching. That's his work. You get on with your labors and the work of God, whether it's Sunday school, your fellowship, do your work, do your work. Busy yourself in that. For that is what we'll be accountable to God for because our works follow us. Our works follow us. I want to turn to the New Testament, to a portion of God's word. 1 Thessalonians, as we continue to think here about the parameters When Paul first, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, whenever Paul first communicated with the Thessalonian saints, he wrote the following in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, the verse number 10 and the verse number 11. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse number 10 and 11. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia, And we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more, and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you. Engage yourself in some useful occupation, and attend to your own work, was Paul's counsel to these believers. Suggesting that there were those within the body of Christ who were idle and others who were busybodies. Concerning themselves with other people's work. Paul is addressing those two wrongs. Don't be idle. Work with your own hands. Don't be a busybody. Do your own business. Do your own business. But the sad thing, folks, is that this council fell on deaf ears. And I know that because Paul has to write to them again about this matter. This time in 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians 3, let's read from the verse 10. And so Paul has told them to be laboring, to do their own business, to work with their own hands. Verse number 10, 2 Thessalonians chapter 10. A time period has elapsed. What have they done with that council? Well, for even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any man would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such, we command and exhort you by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. You know what the problem is sometimes in the work of Jesus Christ? There's too much tittle-tattle and there's too much gossiping and one of the reasons why there is, is because there's people and they've got too much time on their hands. And the remedy for that is that you work, you labor, you get involved, and you do something around your home, whether it be in paid or unpaid employment. He said that there are those and they do not work at all. No, Paul speaks of those who would not work, that if any would not work. And that's so important. It doesn't say that they could not work. They had the ability, they had the capacity, they had the strength, they had the physical ability, the mental ability, they had the age on their side that they could work. But Paul says that they wouldn't work. They wouldn't do it. They would not work. And he says, Paul states that such people who have the opportunity and have the capability to work and they choose not to, those people should not eat. They shouldn't eat. You know, this isn't Paul ranting here. This is Holy Spirit instruction. Holy Spirit instruction. Albert Barnes said, no one can be justified in assisting a lazy man. In no possible circumstances are we to contribute to foster laziness. A man might as properly help to maintain open vice. So serious does God view the reluctance of some to engage in work who could work, but they choose not to, that he says the following through the pen of the Apostle Paul, again, if you turn to 1 Timothy 5, and the verse number eight, 1 Timothy 5, verse eight, let not a widow be taken into the number, sorry, but if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, He has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. It is our duty to provide for our own households. If those who can work do not provide for their own household by work, Paul states here that they have denied the faith and they are worse than an infidel. They are worse than a person who is without the Christian faith. Again, Paul doesn't separate work from worship or work from faith. Employment and faith are, as I've said, not to be seen as separate parts of our lives. They are to be viewed as integral parts of our lives. And when one doesn't work when they could work, the Bible says that they are worse than an infidel. In other words, our attitude to work evidences the authenticity of our faith. What we think about work authenticates and authenticates what we think about our faith. And Paul says, if a man provides not for his own, if he is able to do so and chooses not to do so, then that man is worse than an infidel. These are strong and yet holy ghost words that we have. And yet the scripture then goes on to speak about the widows and how the widows are to be supported. And so there are individuals that are to be supported within society, but not a man who has the capability and the opportunity to work. Paul says that man shouldn't eat, shouldn't eat. Exodus 20 verse 10 again we go quickly and we think about the participants of work the participants of work for it goes on to say but the seventh verse 10 but the seventh day is the sabbath of lord thy god in it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter thy manservant nor maidservant nor thy cattle nor thy stranger that is it within thy gates while the work The secular work was to cease on the Sabbath day. The inference is that those mentioned in verse number 10, you think of all the people that were mentioned here, thou, speaking of the man, thou, thy son, thy daughter, thy manservant, thy maidservant, thy stranger, as well as the animals, those people, the inference is that all of them would have been employed on the other six days of the week. Now, what employment each person engaged in, we're not told here, but we can at least lean from the verse that those from both sexes, those from various nationalities, speaking of the stranger, and those of different age groupings, the children, the sons, the daughters, the father, the mother within the home, all are engaged in some kind of work in the home. in the home of others or in a place of employment. And therefore, work is seen, we're simply stipulating here, that work is seen to be universal in its compass. Work in the home, work out of the home, none of us must evade or shrink from it. As I've said, none of us, male or female, we are not created to be idle. God created us to work. And we have people working here. We have sons working, daughters, manservants, maidservants. They're working here. What form that takes? Some within the home, some out of the home. But God created each person to work, each person to work, to labor with the hands. And so young people, whenever mom, dad asks you to do something about the house, don't you say, well, I'm too young to do that. because you're part of the daughter, you're a son. There's a task for you to do in the home. You should thank God that you're able to work. You should thank God that you've got health to work. You should thank God that you have got working bodily parts that enable you to help around the home. And you're not confined to a wheelchair or to a sickbed, but you're able to work. Men and women have work to do associated with their God-given roles, and may we not be found wanting in that work. Mother around the home, the father working, and then other labors, the son, the daughter, the manservant, the maidservant, the stranger, all involved in this work that's taking place. The participants, nobody idle. Not young or old, not male or female. Everyone idle. Everyone within the family working and doing what God has given them to do. The final matter that's drawn to our attention in Exodus chapter 20, I believe, is the pattern of work. You see, God makes the argument for work, and that work ought to be engaged during the six days of the week from what he did himself during the week of creation. Verse 11, Now listen, if God was able to make the worlds and the universe in six days, do you not think that you could mow your grass through the week? Do you not think that you could do your housework, dear, through the week? Do you not think that you could do your shopping in the six days of the week that God has given you. Do your leisure activities and wash your car. Do you not think you could do that? God made the worlds in six days. I think the tasks and the employment and the labor and the work that you give yourself to is of much lesser degree than what God took to do when he made the worlds in those six days. establishment of a six-day working week and the Sabbath of rest are illustrated for us in what God did when he created all things. We're aware that at the end of Genesis 1 we end with the creation of the land animals and then eventually Adam and Eve on the day, on day six of creation. In Genesis chapter two, it opens with these words, thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts of them, and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. God worked for six days, and then he sabbathed on day seven. And in this, God established a pattern, an example for us with regard to our labor and to our work, that our labor and our work is to be performed and to be completed within six days, and then on the seventh day, our earthly labor is to be set aside in order that our bodies may be refreshed and that our souls revived through physical rest and spiritual worship. God faints not, neither does he grow weary. And yet he takes time from his labors to rest and to enjoy the things that he created on the seventh day. So then why do we think as his creatures, why do we think that we do not need to rest from our labors? Why do we not think that we need to enjoy him and worship him? Work, yes. but never at the expense of worship. This is the command to work. God would have us to work six days. All other employments tidied up, finished, completed as best, unless it is an ongoing project, all finished within that window, Monday through to Saturday. Then on the Lord's day, we rest from those labors. We enjoy the worship of our God, and thereby we are enabled to work again and labor in the task that God has assigned us and the roles in which God has placed us. May God help us then to obey his commandments. If ye love me, Keep my commandments. May God help us to do so. And I trust that when we return again at some point to these messages, whenever that will be, we'll discover other things the Bible says with regard to this matter of work. Let's seek the Lord together, please, in prayer. Our gracious, loving Father, we thank Thee for Thy word. God, we thank Thee for opening the Scriptures. We thank Thee for this commandment that we have and the great need within it to remember the Lord's day and to cease from our labors. But there is this inference from the language and from the words used here that the six days are to be used for labor and for work. And therefore, help us in this. And may nothing impinge or infringe upon thy day that could be done on other days, but let us give ourselves over entirely to the worship of God. We are mindful of those works of necessity, those works of charity. We thank thee for those who do labor, Think of doctors and nurses. Think of firemen and police officers. We think of these works so necessary, Lord, for society. And thou has commanded us even in the falling of the oxen into the pits on the Lord's day and the extracting off that oxen. Lord, thou has told us that these are works of necessity and mercy, but Lord, we recognize that many a thing Many a thing is bundled into these categories, and really, they do not need to be found there. They are not the works of necessity and mercy. And so, Lord, we pray that you'll give us discernment in these matters, the understanding of God. Guide us, Lord, and help us, Lord, to be busy Yes, Lord, in our secular employment, but in that, the opportunities arise to labor and to witness for the master. Lord, make us good employees. Make us honest employers and guide in our homes. We pray in our Savior's precious and worthy name. Amen. Thank you.