Exodus chapter 20, beginning in verse 8 and going through verse 12. Hear now the word of the living God. 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 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 in 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. Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. This is the word of the Lord, and we say, thanks be to God. Please be seated. Let's pray together. Almighty God, we rejoice in the opportunity to gather on this Lord's Day evening. We pray that you would nourish us through your word, convict us, guide us, comfort us, exhort us, We pray that you would bless the preaching and teaching of your word, as well as the hearing of it. In Jesus' name, amen. In the evenings this year, we're walking through a series of teachings over the main doctrines of the scripture. And I've said that many times, but if you're just joining us, perhaps you're a guest or you're new to Grace. In the evenings, we've been looking at major doctrines, and one of the main themes that the Word of God speaks to is the law of God. And in the New Testament, we know that we are not condemned by the law. We know that if we are justified, which we spoke of this morning, if we're declared righteous, then our record is seen as a record of perfect law keeping, of being perfectly righteous. Of course, we know that this perfect righteousness is not our own, it's an alien righteousness, a righteousness outside of ourselves. Because we, by faith, have been given credit for the righteous life and death of Jesus Christ. But the New Testament writers often speak of the law. In fact, I would argue without an understanding of what the law is, it would be impossible for us to understand how is it that Christ kept the law in our stead. But then this through the years has caused challenges. Because when you read the Old Testament, there are many do's and don'ts. Many laws. Laws about what you are to eat and not to eat. What you are to wear and not to wear. What you are to do to disobedient children. And we don't see all of that necessarily in the New Testament. Laws about sacrifices. Laws about leprosy. Laws about all kinds of things. And as a church, we've walked through these things somewhat in detail over the last year or two. And so what I want to do tonight is I want to look at both the Fourth and Fifth Commandments and see how they work themselves out through the pages of Scripture. I'll make a few summary statements. And some of you, these statements, you might think, I've never heard that before. I wish he would argue that or defend that further. And I can point you to other resources and other sermons and teachings that we've done, but instead of arguing that both of these commandments still apply to us, I want to look and see how the totality of Scripture utilizes these commandments. Now, that being said, let me make a few summary statements. Our church, by our confession of faith, teaches that Christ perfectly kept the law of God in our place. And that the law of God was fulfilled. And that in the Old Testament, there were two types of laws. Well, there were many laws, but you could boil them down to two main types. Moral law, law which reveals an aspect of God's character to us. Moral law, which was written on the hearts of Adam and Eve. moral law which is unchanging. And it is this law that is summarized for us in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. We call it the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments. And so this law is a law that was written on the heart of Adam, summarized at Mount Sinai, taught on by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, lived out by Jesus perfectly in our place, and now is a law that is given to Christians as a means of teaching them how they can obey God, not for salvation, but out of joyful response to salvation. Ten Commandments are moral abiding law. Now many of you would love for me to defend that further, and to that I would say, there are many other sermons and teachings we've had here as a body that I would point you to. But the other type of law would be positive law. Law given by God for a specific time, for a specific season. The first positive law would be, do not eat of that tree. for in the day wherein you eat of it, you shall surely die. That is not abiding moral law forever, but it is a law, a command that's given positively for a season and a time. Similarly, many, if not most of the laws in the Old Testament, while being of benefit to us even today, are not binding on us. They were positive laws for the nation of Israel that was a nation state, a theocracy, laws like, clean and unclean foods. Laws like sacrifices which would ultimately point to Christ. Laws like temple behavior which would point to Christ. Laws like who can go in and who cannot go in. All of those things were positively given for a period of time and in Christ they are abolished. So Many people down through the ages have used the Ten Commandments, among other parts of Scripture, to teach doctrine. Because each of these commandments, from Genesis to Revelation, is seen all over the place. For instance, the first commandment, you shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20 is not the first time that you'll see that, and it's not the last time that you'll see that. The second commandment, you shall not make for yourself the carj image. The third commandment, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. This commandment is summarized in a whole host of ways all over the scriptures. So each of these commandments work themselves out. Last Sunday evening, we didn't get a chance to look at the fourth commandment. And so I want to look at the fourth and the fifth commandment together tonight, admittedly spending a little more time on the fifth commandment. It's perhaps a little bit of a good, hopefully, joke around here that Pastor Ryan likes the Lord's Day and he likes the word Sabbath. Well, that's true. The fourth commandment, I would say, is still morally binding upon God's people. And some summary statements, which I may have to point you to further resources later. The Sabbath is a day of rest. God rests on the seventh day. Now, boys and girls, you and I know that God doesn't need rest because God never gets tired. So rest there is not sleepy, napping, not doing anything, but twiddling thumbs. Rest is ceasing, stopping one's labor. All throughout the pages of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, there has been a day set aside as a creation ordinance that God has given to His people. In the Old Covenant, it was observed on Saturday. In the New Covenant, it's Sunday. But if it's abiding for us, if it lasts for us, what are we to do today? Well, Exodus 20 verse 8 tells us that six days we shall labor, we shall do all of our work. But the seventh day, doesn't say Saturday by the way, 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 in your gates. And then it's tied to creation. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. God gives us a day for rest and for nourishment. If you walk through the Old Testament, often the Sabbath day itself was a day of worship, of gathering, of certain feasts, but it wasn't just that. It was a day of rest and spiritual nourishment. God creates a day after his work. It is Hebrews 4 and 9 and 10 that would say, the Sabbath now is a day that Christ has given us after His work. So let's walk briefly through the pages of Scripture. Genesis 2, 1 and 2 and 3, we see that the Sabbath was created pre-fall. It was instituted as a rhythm of creation. We are right to spend a lot of time arguing for marriage as a creation structure. But it is a little ironic to me that many who are so dogmatic about marriage being what God created in the beginning cease to apply that same logic to The days of the week, Sabbath, 6 and 1. Sabbath is seen as observed pre-Mount Sinai in Exodus 16, 22 through 26. It's a rhythm that is observed by God's people. Of course, in our text, it's seen as part of God's inscripturated binding moral law. Isaiah 58, though, actually calls Sabbath a good thing. Turn there with me. Isaiah 58. And again, we're going quickly tonight, brothers and sisters, and I'm simply making the case, assuming that based on our previous teaching and, well, our church's own confession of faith, that I don't have to convince you that the moral law of God abides and all ten commandments abide, not nine of the ten. Isaiah 58 verses 11 through 14. Notice what the word of the Lord says. He says this in verse 13. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, envision it like an animal that you're hunting in a field. You might have your foot on the animal's neck before you kill it. If you take your foot off from the Sabbath, from doing your own 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, not finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord, and I will cause you 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. Two quick words here. When it says doing your own pleasure, this is not God's way of saying you cannot smile, you cannot be happy, you cannot find joy on the Lord's day. No, this is saying this day is unto the Lord. So as you do deeds, as you find joy, as you eat food, as you converse, The whole day is a day belonging to the Lord. Find your pleasure in Him that day. And the promise then of verse 14, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord. Practically, brothers and sisters, imagine if you actually had a whole day where you could worship God with God's people, where you could read literature related to God, where you could talk to your children. about the things of God, where you could share your meals. Imagine how wonderful the church of Jesus Christ would be today if one whole day we actually had time to do God things. And I would argue we do if we take our foot off of it. You know the rhetoric that I'm going to try to avoid is there, but I'll say it. We have turned the Lord's day into the Lord's hour. But it's never been an hour. It's been God's gift, a whole day for us. Well, Jesus picks it up. You might say, Jesus never talked about the Sabbath. Actually, Jesus taught more about the Sabbath than most of the other commandments. And I heard a good and wise brother once say, when asked at an ordination council, what do you think about the Sabbath? He said, in much better words than I can say, Jesus sure did spend a whole lot of time talking about the Sabbath, and it would be very strange if he spent three years talking about the Sabbath only to do away with it at the end of his ministry. It'd be like spending a whole lot of time rearranging furniture in a house only to knock it down. Mark 2, 27 and 28, Jesus mentions that the Sabbath was made for man, not Jews, And he points to his authority over it. And then what pattern do we see? We looked at this a couple of weeks ago, so I won't labor here. But in John 20, Acts 20, Revelation 1, 1 Corinthians 16, the Lord's Day is a day that the church clearly set aside. And a few months back, we looked at Hebrews 4, 9 and 10, which is why I'm going quickly. And there we saw that there remains a Sabbathing, a Sabbath keeping for the people of God. But our Sabbath is not about creation rest. It's about rest that Christ has wrought. There are a number of resources and books on this topic. And the question always comes down to what am I allowed to do and what am I not allowed to do? I think there are some principles that we can see in Exodus 20 verses 8 through 11. The day belongs to the Lord. And so do the work of the Lord that day. Do the work of the means of grace. Do the work of fellowship. Do the work of being the church. Resting that day. Going to great lengths to organize your week so that your week on the Lord's day is not about your own work or perhaps your own pleasure, but about God's and His people. How many of us have said, I wish we had more time to have people over? I wish we had time to linger with people after church. I wish we had time to read good Christian books. You got 24 hours every week, or maybe 12. But there is another principle that I think is here. And this is probably the most controversial. We, most of us, don't have cattle. Thankfully, we do not have servants. although we do have those under us. I do think we need to consider the work of others. The Bible is clear on this. If the people of God were to consider even the work of their animals, how much ought we to consider the work of others in our own home, our neighborhoods? drive-thrus, movie theaters, coffee shops. If this is moral abiding law of God, then wouldn't it be sinful for others to disregard this day? Wouldn't we want to uphold the principle that we don't want others to have to work on our behalf? Our own confession of faith speaks rightly about how there will be acts of necessity. And many will say, but preacher, you work all day. You work on the Sabbath. You work on the Lord's Day. But remember, this is not a day of doing nothing. This is a day of doing the work of the Lord. So brothers and sisters, look at the fourth commandment from Genesis all the way to Revelation, and see it as God's gift. and consider how might I over the next few weeks and months further organize my day so that more of it on Sundays belongs to the Lord and there's more benefit for me and my family and perhaps even more benefit from those that I used to cause to labor. And may Isaiah 58 ring in our ears as we hear the Lord say, it's a gift, it's a delight and God will bless us. because we'll use it for his purposes. The fourth commandment is all the way through the scripture, but not only the fourth commandment, the fifth commandment. On the back of your bulletin tonight, we've been looking at the Heidelberg Catechism, which is beautifully written. Look at question 104. What does God require in the fifth commandment? Now what's the fifth commandment, boys and girls? It's probably the commandment that mommy and daddy have quoted the most to you. Because it says this, honor your father and your mother. Notice what the catechism says. What does the fifth commandment require? That I show all honor, love, and faithfulness to my father and mother and to all in authority over me. Submit myself with due obedience to all their good instruction and correction, and also bear patiently with their infirmities, since it is God's will to govern us by their hand. I want to trace the fifth commandment for a few minutes before we move to prayer tonight, doing similarly to what we did with the fourth commandment. It is oftentimes said that these commandments are only literally to be taken. But why is it that confession after confession, catechism after catechism takes the fifth commandment and goes beyond just mother and father? Why is it? I mean, on the surface, it would seem to say, literally, obey your parents. It doesn't speak to governments, to grandparents, to Sunday school teachers, to the government, to bosses. But I would argue that each of these commandments is literally to be followed, but it's an expression we see throughout all of the scripture that is taught upon by Jesus himself, as well as the apostles. So let's look at a few examples. Exodus 20, honor your father and your mother. As we walk through the pages of scripture, however, we see this teaching unfold. Look, if you will, to Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7, verses 9 through 13. Mark 7, verses 9 through 13. Jesus, as He often does, is needing to correct the religious leaders of His day. He says in verse 8, For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pitchers and cups and many other such things you do. In other words, you directly contradict the actual commandments of God and instead you give the people of God your own commandments, washing of cups and pitchers and all such things. And then notice what he says in verse nine. He said to them, all too well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, honor your father and your mother. and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, if a man says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received from me as Corbin, that is a gift of God, then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you have handed down and many such things you do. In other words, you only have to go to certain lengths to honor your father and mother. You don't have to go all the way. That's what you're saying. But you make up all these rules, and yet the true commandments of God you cause people not to obey in their fullest. He uses the fifth commandment. Incidentally, it's a topic for another day, but in Mark 7 verse 10, who does Jesus say wrote the fifth commandment? Moses. That is debated today, but for me, it suffices to hear my Savior say, Moses was used of God to write the fifth commandment. But Jesus wasn't the only one to teach on it. Colossians chapter three, boys and girls, listen to this. The apostle Paul is teaching And in his writings, listen to what he says in Colossians 3 verse 20-21. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing in the Lord. But you know, elsewhere he tells them to obey, but do you know what he refers to? The fifth commandment. In the related passage in Ephesians, he does this. Turn over to Ephesians 6. Ephesians 6. Says this, children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. What I'm about to say might make sense to some of you and to a lot of you, you may not even have thought about it this way. Notice what Paul does here. The first commandment with a promise, that it may be well with you and you may live long in the land or on the earth. Who is Paul writing to? Predominantly Gentiles. The land promise of Exodus 20 is not literally what Paul has in mind. when he refers to the first commandment with a promise. So we should say this, brothers and sisters, the Ten Commandments have certain aspects which relate to the Jews of the time, even though they have ongoing moral application. The Gentiles in Ephesus weren't looking for a land, unless they were looking for a spiritual land to come. Similarly, in the fourth commandment, not everyone is going to have cattle that they need to have resting. But that doesn't nullify the commandment itself. There is literal life in the land kind of language in the Ten Commandments, and yet an ongoing moral abiding principle. We could continue on and on and on with the fourth and the fifth commandment. I've taken other teachings to argue that the Sabbath actually abides, that we should consider what we need to do on the Sabbath. And I don't think I have to convince anyone here that boys and girls should honor their father and mother, but I think I have one last task. And that is, preacher, you've said that the fifth commandment is not just about mother and father. How can we say that it applies to all authority? And for that, I'm gonna turn to a dead theologian. I would encourage you to do that from time to time. Dutch theologian, Willemus Abrakel. And I just have to say, in his work, The Christian's Reasonable Service, it's four volumes, very easy to read. Lengthy, but easy to read. Very, very helpful. And if for you the issue of the Ten Commandments still abiding is a problem, and you haven't consulted Abrakel, you need to consult Abrakel. Because he spends dozens of pages on each commandment, walking through the scripture. And I want to just read what he says regarding the fifth commandment. He says this, the subject is expressed by the words father and mother. Various persons are denominated as such, and likewise various individuals are comprehended under the words father and mother. That is, within the family, church, and civil state. Within the family circle, there are fathers and mothers of different rank. And he gives a long paragraph where he uses Proverbs 23 and Leviticus 19 and Ephesians 6 to argue that we literally need to obey our natural parents. But then he continues, number two, there are grandfathers and grandmothers and earlier ancestors, numbers two, 34. There are stepfathers and stepmothers who support and maintain children. In this capacity, Joseph is called the father of the Lord Jesus, Luke two. There are fathers-in-law and mothers-in-law. Jethro was such as far as Moses was concerned, Exodus 18, and Naomi in regard to Ruth, Ruth 3. This is true for the husband in reference to his wife, for he is her Lord, Genesis 18, Psalm 45. This is true of uncles and aunts. this also belong guardians and those who have adopted someone to be their child as Mordecai did with his cousin Esther, Esther 2.7. This pertains to masters in regard to their servants. In the church the following are comprehended under fathers. Ministers, in this respect Elisha and Elijah was called his father. The elders are the co-regents, protectors, and caretakers of the church and therefore are worthy of double honor, 1st Timothy 5. The deacons are In civil relationships, the following are comprehended as fathers. The governments, at the highest as well as the lowest level, each according to his rank. The word father is therefore mentioned in association with their name, such as Abimelech, my father, the king. David thus called Saul his father, 1 Samuel 24. Deborah herself called a mother in Israel, Judges 5, 7. elderly and prominent in reference to those that are young and of low station. Leviticus 19, 1 Timothy 5. You see, in previous generations, we used to be better at reading the Bible as a united whole. And in our day, there are many who are true and good and godly believers who look to the New Testament and say, if it's not explicitly said, then it doesn't apply. And I would just argue, brothers and sisters, that's not the way the apostles used the Bible. That's not the way that Jesus Himself used the Bible. All of the Scriptures are Christian Scripture. And so, when we look at the Bible and it says to us, Honor Father and Mother, what the Lord is saying is, I, the Lord your God, am a God who has given you authority. It is good. Think about the breakdown of our society today. I would argue one of the breakdowns in our society aside from the family, is that we are one by one picking away at authority. No longer is authority something of value and goodness. No longer do parents treat their children and teach them as if authority figures like police officers and school teachers are good things, they're gift of God. Now, we teach that authority should not be trusted. And of course, all authority is not godly authority. The fifth commandment, brothers and sisters, in saying, honor your father and mother, is really teaching us that God honors authority, or wants us to honor it, rather. So what are we to do with the fourth and fifth commandment? It's all through the scriptures. As a person who's no longer condemned by the law of God, what do you do with the fourth commandment? What do you do with the fifth commandment? I would submit to you that you are to look at these commandments as God's way of saying, here is how you joyfully obey me, because of who you are. You don't have any other gods besides me. Before my face, no other gods, first commandment. Second commandment, you worship me the way that I've told you to worship me. Third commandment, you revere my name and you keep it holy. All of my attributes, all of my titles, all that is about me, you revere. You don't even speak. my name or the things of me without irreverence. You honor the day that I've given to you as a gift, seeing it as a delight. And you recognize authority. You honor father and mother and grandfather and grandmother and civil authorities. And when you disobey them, you disobey them because they're telling you to disobey my law, as we'll see in the next few weeks. God honors life in the 6th commandment. He honors marriage in the 7th commandment. He honors property in the 8th commandment. In the 9th commandment, He honors truth, because He's the God of truth. In the 10th commandment, He wants our hearts to be content in Him. You see, God's law is a law which He's given to us as a reflection of His character and how He expects us to glorify Him. Now tonight, you've walked in this room and maybe you're thinking to yourself, I've got it. The preachers told me we're to honor God's law and we will find salvation therein. And brothers and sisters, as we saw this morning, no one will be justified in the end by keeping the law. Keep all of the Sabbath practice you want. Honor every authority that you can. And without Jesus Christ and His record, perfect law keeping and dying in your place, you will be lost. The Scripture upholds the law of God to the extreme. Jesus Christ died for law breakers. Before He died, He perfectly kept God's law in your stead. And so the Gospel tonight, brothers and sisters, is a Gospel that does point us to the law. And every time we see it, We look and we see our own record of lawlessness. But God is glorious because for every Christian, he says this, if you are united to Christ, you are credited with Christ's perfect law keeping. Christ, who honored authority, Christ, who honored the day of the Lord. And you are given credit. Not by works, but by faith in him. So as you depart, Christian, ask yourself this, where might I further glorify God in my own honoring of authority? Where might I further honor God in my own honoring of the Sabbath? And with all of the commandments, ask yourself, where might I honor God? Don't be afraid to look at the law of God. Be like David who says this, I love your law. You know why David could say that? You know why we can say that? Because it doesn't condemn us. All it is, is a tool in our hands for the glorification of the God who has already saved us. Let's pray. Lord God, we ask that you would help your people to see the righteousness of Christ in their stead. That you would help this people not to see the law as a burden or that which condemns them, but now as a gift, really, A means of understanding how we can glorify you and how as your children we can bring you fatherly pleasure. Lord, help us not to spurn your law. Help us to see that Christ kept it perfectly, upheld it at the cross, and now we are free from condemnation because of it. And we can simply seek to glorify you as we grow in sanctification. Lord, may each person in this room tonight know the glories of Christ, who has done everything to bring them salvation. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.