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Symbolics 3 The 1689 Baptist Confession [Chapters 21-32]

Symbolics 3 The 1689 Baptist Confession [Chapters 21-32]. Chapter 22 Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day Part 2. Its Regulative Principle Its Appointed Day. Its Regulative Principle Its Explanation Its Illustration Its Argumentation Its Clarification.

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Symbolics 3 The 1689 Baptist Confession [Chapters 21-32]

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  1. Symbolics 3The 1689 Baptist Confession[Chapters 21-32] Chapter 22 Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day Part 2

  2. Its Regulative Principle Its Appointed Day Its Regulative Principle Its Explanation Its Illustration Its Argumentation Its Clarification Introduction: The Overall Treatment

  3. Introduction: The Overall Treatment • II. The Appointed Day of Worship • Introduction • A. Its Institution (par 7) • B. Its Sanctification (par 8) • (We will follow this outline in our exposition.)

  4. Introduction: The Assumed Relation • Par 1 on the regulative principle teaches that God has the right to appoint how He will be worshipped. • This framework helps us appreciate the logic of Puritan teaching on the Sabbath. • Every element of worship is appointed by God and not by the church. • Thus, the day of worship also is not for man to decide, but must also be divinely appointed.

  5. Introduction: The Relevant Paragraphs • 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 sabbath to be kept holy unto him, …

  6. Introduction: The Relevant Paragraphs • 7 … which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.

  7. Introduction: The Relevant Paragraphs • 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 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 of necessity and mercy.

  8. A. Its Institution (par 7) • 1. The Natural Necessity of the Appointed Day • 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

  9. 1. The Natural Necessity of the Appointed Day • The law of nature requires an appointed day for worship. • The light of nature shows that … • (1) God must be worshipped • (2) This worship must be corporate • (3) Corporate worship requires an appointed time • (4) This time must be appointed by God • (Human appointment violates the prerogatives of God in His worship.)

  10. 2. The Positive Enactment of the Appointed Day • so by his Word, in a positive … commandment • General revelation (the law of nature) makes clear that an appointed day is necessary. • But the law of nature does not specify the day. • Resting for worship on the 7th day or 1st day is not written by creation on the hearts of men. • There must be a positive law to specify the time. • Positive means something in addition to or not revealed by nature, but by special revelation.

  11. 2. The Positive Enactment of the Appointed Day • "If the sabbath is a moral law, why aren’t gentiles indicted in the Bible for breaking it?" • The reason is that it is a positive commandment revealed only by special revelation. • Positive commandments, as the Confession makes clear, may also be moral. • The positive character of the sabbath does not mean it is “ceremonial” even in part.

  12. 3. The Moral Perpetuity of the Appointed Day • in a … moral and perpetual commandment, • binding all men, in all ages, • he hath particularly appointed one day in seven • for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him

  13. 3. The Moral Perpetuity of the Appointed Day • The sabbath is called moral and perpetual. • This may be affirmed for three reasons. • It was … • instituted as a creation ordinance • included in the Ten Commandments • continued in the Lord's day

  14. Instituted As A Creation Ordinance • (1) The Evidence—In Three Passages • Gen 2:3 • Exod 20:8-11 • Mark 2:27-28 • (2) The Significance—The Creational Is Perpetual • Matt 19:4-8 • 1 Tim 2:13 • 1 Cor 11:8, 9

  15. Included In The Ten Commandments • alone spoken by God (Deut 5:22). • alone written on stone by the finger of God (Exod 31:18) • alone placed in the Ark of the Covenant (Deut 10:5) • written in the hearts of believers (Jer. 31:33) • cited as moral in NT (Rom. 13:8-10; Matt. 22:18, 19; 1 Tim 1:8-11).

  16. Continued In The Lord's Day • The Lord's day embodies the sabbath principle. • Many conspicuous parallels prove this. • (1) The Sabbath was a Lord's Day: Isa 58:13 the holy dayof the Lord Matt 12:28 Lord of the sabbath • (2) Like the sabbath and unlike any other ordinance the Lord's day is 1 day of weekly re-occurrence. • (3) Like the sabbath and unlike any other ordinance the Lord's day presupposes the week of creation.

  17. Continued In The Lord's Day • (4) Like the sabbath and unlike any other ordinance, the Lord's day memorializes both creation and redemption. • The sabbath memorialized the old creation and the Exodus redemption. • The Lord's day memorializes a new creation and a greater redemption. • (5) Like the sabbath, the Lord's day is a day belonging especially to God. • 16 times the OT speaks of "my sabbaths.“

  18. Continued In The Lord's Day • (6) Like the sabbath the Lord's day is a holy day. • The sabbath was holy (Gen 2:3; Exod 20:8). • The Lord's day is also a holy day. • Holy = set apart to God as His special possession. • To be holy = belonging especially to God (Exod 13:2; Num. 16:3-7). • If the Lord's day is God's special possession, it is holy and must be sanctified. • Remember the Lord's day, to keep it holy!

  19. Continued In The Lord's Day • (7) Like the sabbath, the Lord's day is a day of corporate, public worship (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1,2). • As a day of worship, it is a day of rest. • 1—All days of worship are sabbaths in the Bible. • 2—The Lord's day is a holy day and must be set apart from ordinary labors and set apart to worship. Such a day is clearly a day of rest. • 3—Engaging in worship demands resting from other labors.

  20. 4. The Epochal Alteration of the Appointed Day • which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, • and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day: • and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, • the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.

  21. 4. The Epochal Alteration of the Appointed Day • a. The Difficulty with Its Alteration Stated • Many feel this is the weak point of the Christian sabbath. • They argue that, if the sabbath is moral, it cannot be altered. • 7th Day Adventists and Baptists conclude that the appointed day of worship is still the 7th day. • Others conclude that, since the day is changed, the sabbath cannot be a moral law still in force.

  22. 4. The Epochal Alteration of the Appointed Day • b. The Difficulty with Its Alteration Resolved • (1) By the Positive Basis of Its Alteration • (2) By the Cosmic Reason for Its Alteration • (3) By the Distinctive Method of Its Alteration

  23. The Positive Basis of Its Alteration • The answer to this argument is actually found in the language of the Confession itself. • It calls it positive moral, and perpetual. • This law is composed of two separate elements: the law of nature and the positive enactment. • The law of nature cannot be and is not altered. • The positive enactment may be and is. • The alteration of the day is no argument against the morality and perpetuity of the sabbath.

  24. The Cosmic Reason for Its Alteration • The sabbath was instituted at creation. • How can a creation ordinance be altered? • Rod Henry’s Argument! • Only by a new creation! • But Christ has inaugurated a new creation (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1). • Thus, one expects a change in the 7th day Sabbath. • The 7th day, shadow of the new creation, is fulfilled (Col 2:16, 17), and the 1st day sign comes.

  25. The Distinctive Method of Its Alteration • Another difficulty put forward is that there is no explicit, scriptural mention of this change. • We must remember the way the day of worship was first appointed. • God set apart the 7th day by resting (Gen. 2:3 ). • Christ does the same. • Christ entered His rest from His work on the 1st day. • The 7th day memorialized the old work of creation—the 1st a new creation.

  26. Conclusion: • There is good reason to hold a Christian Sabbath. • This real reason why people want nothing to do it is that they do not like what they think it means in terms of its practical observance. • They fear a sabbatarian bogeymen. • Is this the way we should determine our values? • Would you argue this way about God’s laws about taxes or sex?

  27. II. Its Sanctification (par 8) • Introduction: • The question is how to keep the Sabbath holy: The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men… • A. Preparing • B. Resting • C. Worshiping • D. Living

  28. A. Preparing • The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, • when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, • and ordering their common affairs aforehand • Two kinds of preparation are required: preparation of our hearts and the preparation of our affairs.

  29. A. Preparing • The biblical basis? • References to the day of preparation for the Sabbath (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54). • The dictates of sanctified common sense. • To cease from your own employments and rest on the Lord’s Day, you have to prepare. • Can you tithe and not prepare financially? • How can you give God a seventh of your week without preparing?

  30. B. Resting • do not only observe an holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations

  31. B. Resting • Isa 58:13-14: If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

  32. B. Resting • Warning! Do not interpret this scrupulously. • The Confession is not condemning small talk. • he disciples walked through and ate the grain • Jesus went to dinner on the Sabbath • It is a matter of our hearts. • It is nonsense for a man not to watch the NFL game, but to spend all his time discussing the ins and outs of the college games from Sat.

  33. C. Worshiping • but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship • The purpose is that we might devote ourselves to the public and private exercises of worship. • First, we devote ourselves to public worship in church. • Second, we give ourselves to personal worship. • Third, we use the time for family worship

  34. D. Living • and in the duties of necessity and mercy • Something that must be done every day must also be done on the Sabbath. • Eating, milking, nursing, policing, soldiering. • Mercy must be shown to the needy. • The Sabbath is a special day for acts of mercy. • Jesus often demands mercy on the Sabbath! • He often healed intentionally on the Sabbath!

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