Word of Salvation – Vol. 35 No. 37 – October 1990

 

The Fourth Commandment And The Wellbeing Of Man

 

Sermon by Rev. M.P. Geluk on Lord’s Day 38 (Exodus 20:8-11)

Reading: Exodus 31:12-17; Hebrews 4:1-13

 

Today we want to look at what the fourth commandment has to say to us.  God has given His commandment, not to make life miserable or narrow for us, but so that we may have a full and blessed life, lived to the glory of God.

Let us see then how the fourth commandment aims at the well-being of man.  In the first place we will look at some general considerations; then secondly, we will seek to understand some Scriptural passages; and thirdly, we want to take note of how Lord’s Day 38 applies the fourth commandment to us personally.

1.

In the first place, then, let us look at one or two general considerations.  We begin by drawing your attention to what the Lord Jesus Christ once said to some Pharisees who strongly objected to the disciples picking and eating corn as they made their way through a cornfield on a Sabbath day.

The Lord Jesus said to these Pharisees that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).  The Lord meant man in general.  The Sabbath was not made for the Jew only, not just for Israel, but for man.  For people whoever and wherever they are.

The disciples were hungry and when they went through that grain or cornfield they used some of the food that was around them.  They were not stealing.  Under the Old Testament law the passers-by were allowed to eat from the fringes of fields where crops were grown, provided they did not put a sickle into the crops, for then it was no longer just eating but harvesting (Deut.23:25).  The disciples were simply meeting a bodily need and no commandment of God aims to take away from the well-being of man, not even the Sabbath commandment.

The Pharisees, however, said that what the disciples did was work and on the Sabbath that was forbidden.  For the Pharisees the Sabbath was the most important thing.  The well-being of man came second.  But Jesus had to correct them and said that man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man.

Now the cornfields of Jesus’ day are a long way removed from our twentieth century.  But some might be tempted to think that if the disciples were allowed to hand-pick some grain or corn on the Sabbath in order to eat, then people today ought to be left free to make use of, or work, on Sundays, in the shop on the corner, the fast-food outlets, and the restaurants or supermarkets.  And not only those businesses that have to do with food, but also others, like the petrol station and the video shop.

The question to ask here of course is this: when is such activity on the Lord’s Day necessary for man’s well-being and when is it simply done for our own convenience or to make some extra money?

You know, of course, that endless debates are held around the Sunday as to what you may or may not do.  The last thing we want is to become like the Pharisees and see the Lord’s Day first and the well-being of man second.  We will have to keep in mind that God made man first and then He gave the Sabbath commandment for the well-being of man.

Nor can we simply say that everyone will have to be convinced in their own conscience as to how he/she ought to keep the Lord’s Day.  Surely, we are obliged as a Christian church to find out how God meant the fourth commandment to be a blessing to man.

As we then seek to find that out, we have to take into account two factors.  One is the absenteeism from the church’s worship services, which happens when people become involved in activities that relate to work, business, sports and pleasure on the Lord’s Day when these are not necessary.  The other factor is the necessity of some work on the Lord’s Day because it needs to be done for the well-being of man and it involves the relief of pain, discomfort, hardship or hunger of people and animals.

As we keep these two factors in mind, absenteeism and work that is necessary, we ought to be clear on the following.  An indifferent or superficial view of the Lord’s Day will bring with it a harmful result for both ourselves and others.  That is, a selfish observance of the Sunday will harm people physically and spiritually.

We must keep on remembering that the Sabbath was given to man for his good.  If we, then, use the Lord’s Day for things that it was not given for, then we will miss out on the good God meant for us with this fourth commandment.

How then do we harm ourselves and others when we have an easy-going attitude to the fourth commandment?  We do it by making every day alike and thus not getting our physical and mental rest.  In so doing we reject the cycle of six days work and one day rest that God has put into His creation.  We put ourselves and others into a position wherein there is no time for God on that day, either at church, at home or in society.  The Lord’s Day becomes like any other day when we cause others to work for us, to be at a place of business because their particular work or product is wanted by us on the Sunday.

Thus the spiritual and physical harm that you inflict upon yourself, you also inflict upon society and the nation.  Not just one or a few people, but many cannot have a proper and balanced cycle of labour and rest.  Not just one or a few people, but many cannot have time to worship God and reflect upon their lives in relationship to Him.

It is a sad state of affairs that our way of life in the modern, industrial world has become in so many ways harmful to ourselves and to our fellowman.  We are in great danger of no longer seeing the grace and the goodness of God to man when He commanded one day in seven as a day of rest.  For many, Sunday is more of a nuisance than a blessing.

2.

To become convinced of all this, it is necessary for us, in the second point, to understand some passages from Scripture with regard to the fourth commandment.  As for the commandment itself, the Lord says: ‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…’ (Ex.30:8-11).  And how can we keep the day holy?  Well, notice the cycles of six days work and one day rest.  This was God’s cycle too.  He created in six days and rested on the seventh?

But how did God rest?

It’s important to know that, for it helps us to be clear on the resting we are to do.  Well, God’s resting did not mean doing nothing.  On the seventh day God rested from His work of making things and became busy in looking after, caring and providing for all that He had made.

God’s kind of rest has something to say about the way we should rest.  The seventh day was a day of blessing for God.  He Himself enjoyed what He had made and He began the necessary work of looking after what He had made.

But God decided after He had made man that there ought to be a day of rest for man also, and that this one day in seven should be a blessing for man as well.  Man was to cease from his labours on the seventh day and take pleasure in all what God had made.  Man was given special time on the seventh day to reflect over his life on God’s earth and to work on his relationship with God.  This special day was to be a day for the worship of God.  Such a day would be good for man’s soul, as well as his body.

And not just for the individual, but also for his family, for the fourth commandment mentions the son and daughter.  Even the servants and the visitors are included.  As a matter of fact, the animals as well.  With the fourth commandment God was thinking of the family, the home environment, society, and even the rest of creation.  In His goodness and out of consideration for the wellbeing of people and animals God gave a day of rest.  Physically all would benefit.  And man also spiritually.

Shortly after the fourth commandment was given, God explained further that the Sabbath is a sign between God and His covenant people, so that they may know that God is the Lord who makes you holy (Ex.31:13).

Now we know that through the saving work of Christ, God is making His people holy.  Holy in the sense that we learn more and more to honour God and do His will.  And God has given us a special day in order to learn about all this and grow in holiness.

You see, in Christ God has set us apart for Himself.  As a forgiven people, washed clean in Jesus’ blood, we may belong to God.  Now the Sabbath was given to man so that man can know about this salvation.  We are given a special day on which we don’t have to work and thus have the time to turn to God’s Word and to know better the Lord God who saves and redeems.

Every time the Lord’s Day comes around, we have a sign that says to us the Lord is making us holy in Christ.  On Sundays, the Christian can say to himself, ‘Today it is the seventh day again, and this day is a sign that God is making me holy in Christ’.

Yes, like the rainbow in the sky is a sign to all people by which God says that He will never destroy the earth again by floodwaters, so also is the Lord’s Day a sign from God to believers hat He is making His people holy in Christ.  The first day of the week, the day Jesus rose from the dead is the day the church comes together for worship and that day is a sign from God that His people are being made holy by Christ.  That sign is meaningful to us when we hear on the Lord’s Day the proclamation from God’s Word about our salvation.

And what a blessing for us that we in our situation have the freedom to observe the Lord’s Day by meeting together for worship.  What a blessing to be able to really observe the sign and come to know its meaning as we hear the gospel of Christ who saves sinners.  What a blessing to hear of God’s work in making us holy in the two worship services which we can hold at an hour that is convenient to most of us.

The early Christians who were slaves to pagan masters had no such convenient hours for worship.  They observed the sign of the Sabbath by worshipping together very early in the morning and late at night because as slaves they always had to work and each day was alike.  And there would be many a Christian in countries where pagan governments have no time for a special day of the Lord, who would envy us for our freedom.

But the question for us is – do we appreciate this freedom and are we making full use of this freedom while we still have it?  Or do we abuse this freedom to harm ourselves spiritually and physically by doing work that prevents us from worshipping God and taking us away from hearing the Word of God?

3.

Let us in the third point take note how Lord’s Day 38 suggests a good use of that freedom by stating that the fourth commandment requires from us to maintain the gospel ministry and the education for it.  But what does that mean?  How can you, as a member of Christ’s church, be involved in maintaining the ministry of the gospel, that is, in making sure that this gospel continues to be proclaimed?

Well, you can do that by being a regular and faithful worshipper at the church’s services.  By being a keen listener to what the Word of God is teaching you when His Word is proclaimed.  By being a keen participant when the sacraments are administered.  By being present when the congregation prays to God.  By your faithful giving to the work of the church and the kingdom of God through your pledges and offerings.

When you do all that on the Lord’s Day, and the day was set aside for that very purpose, then you are doing your bit in maintaining the ministry of the gospel and the education for it.

When you don’t do it, when the worship services are plagued by a high rate of absenteeism, then surely you can see what will happen.  You don’t need to be a genius to work that out.

The first thing that starts to happen when the members stay away from the services, because of sports, pleasure, and unnecessary work, is that churches and their preachers will be tempted to do other things than preaching in order to entice people to return to the services.  The pastors and elders who are in charge of the worship services will try to make then more popular and give in to various suggestions from the church members that aim to bring items into the worship services that entertain and please the fancy of the members.

You can see why some churches introduce into the second service religious films, the Christian music group, or religious plays, in place of the ministry of gospel preaching.  But the film, the music or the play may not be as exciting as what the television offers.  So attendance goes down further still.  Eventually the second service is cancelled, for the members just don’t turn up any more.  But the lack of interest for the second service spreads to the morning service and soon there too all kinds of substitutes may creep in, in order to attract people to come.  Eventually the church just fizzles out, the building is closed and one day somebody buys it for a warehouse, or a restaurant, or perhaps pub or nightclub.

You can see, can’t you, when Christians allow Sunday observance to die out, when they no longer use the day for the purpose God has given it, that the ministry of the gospel is adversely affected.  Everything just peters out.

There is no demand any more for preachers and we can shut down the theological college because there are fewer students and those who still come may not so easily find a place because the church is growing smaller and smaller.

In fact, Christian education as a whole will suffer, for if people are more interested in making an extra dollar on Sunday, in getting involved in sport and leisure, and thus have less time for God, do you think that the interest and support for Christian schools will be maintained?  Such schools will also disappear.  Not overnight but gradually.  They are no longer seen as vitally important and the cost will be too much.  As the church no longer appeals and eventually closes, so also will the Christian school.

Then children will no longer be taught that God is the giver of all knowledge and that life is only truly meaningful when it centres on Christ.  Covenant children in government school will hear very little of that.

And no longer will there be a consistent and regular preaching of the gospel of God’s sovereign and free grace.  No longer will men regularly hear of the need to repent of sins and turn to God.  No longer will sinners be converted to Christ because they are busy working seven days a week, and so very busy with sports and entertainment and socializing.

Slowly and surely, the people and the nation have started on a downward slide where in the end the Bible is a neglected and forgotten book and false religions will flourish instead.  People will have sunk into spiritual darkness and will not even be aware of it.  They have brought much harm upon themselves, spiritually and physically.  Motivated by greed, pleasure, and ambition, people will exploit each other and end up being each other’s slaves.

People of God, one good reason why the Lord gave us the Old Testament in addition to the New is to show what happened time and again to Israel when they forgot God, which started when they no longer observed the fourth commandment.  What happened to Israel can happen to any people when they begin to neglect to meet together for worship.

But Lord’s Day 38 has also looked to Hebrews 4 where the Bible speaks of a Sabbath-rest for God’s people that is not only for the present but continues on into the new heaven and new earth.  The Christian church, in its confession, has taken that to mean that a God-honouring observance of the Lord’s Day today will enable the Christian to experience the blessings of the Lord’s Day on every other day of the week.  In fact, these blessings will be the beginning of an eternal Sabbath.

To illustrate this, imagine a series of dots in a straight line.  The dots represent the Lord’s Days.  They come after every six working days.  The dots point to blessings, for on Sundays we hear in church the message of forgiveness and renewal in Christ.  But the good news of the gospel is not just for the Sundays only, it has a good effect on us on every day of the week.  So the dots actually start to link up and become a line.  However that line is sometimes broken because we sin and break the fellowship with God.  Yet, Christ continues to make us holy and our salvation will be made complete and full at His coming, so the line will then be continuous.  On the new heaven and earth the line will be unbroken because there is a perfect fellowship with Christ.  The dots are no longer visible.  Every day is the Lord’s Day.

The fourth commandment then aims at our well- being for every day of the week.  On Sunday we rest from our daily work and attend the church of God as often as it meets.  There the Word of God is proclaimed and its light shines over us.  In that light we begin to see how we should live to God’s glory on every other day of the week.  Our work, our family life, our single life, our pleasure and entertainment, yes, our everything can start to show that Christ rules over us.  Thus in a very real way an obedient observance of the Lord’s Day will influence for good our whole life.

But God has put His church right in the middle of the world.  Therefore, the Christian serves God not in isolation and away from the world but right in the world, where other people are.  By the Christian’s godly life and witness, the non-Christian may see the good of God in the Christian.  From out of his spiritual darkness the unbeliever can see how the child of God is strengthened each time he hears the Word of God and how it enables him to continue to walk in the light.  What the Christian hears on Sundays from the Word of God should benefit all in society during the week.

Christians are to be the salt and the light for the world.  But that salt has to be made salty and the light has to have its batteries or power recharged.

Therefore, let the Christian observe the Lord’s Day by obeying willingly and thankfully the fourth commandment.  That’s the only way he can be a true example to all around him during the week.  So let us not do those things that unnecessarily prevent us from attending church.  Let us not keep others away from God and His church by using their commercial services on Sundays and cause them to work.  Let us carefully see which works on Sundays are truly necessary for the well-being of people and animals.  And let us repent and be sorry for misusing the Lord’s Day.  Let us return to the Lord that He may have mercy upon us.

AMEN