CONCLUSIONS AND APPLICATIONS

1. A weekly Sabbath day is a sign established by God which points back to the original creation condition of perfection and completion and which also points to the future and final restoration of all things resulting once again in a state of completion and perfection.

2. The weekly Sabbath day represents God’s faithfulness to His revealed promises and testifies to His own perfection, His perfect creative and redemptive plan, and His sovereign power to fully accomplish His will.

3. The first day of the week has replaced the seventh as the Sabbath day by virtue of our Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

4. The weekly Sabbath day is God’s provision for His people in giving to them a once a week foretaste of the heavenly state yet to come. This involves minimizing the effects of the curse and seeking to experience as much of that heavenly state as possible by focusing our thoughts and lives on pleasing God.

5. The Fourth Commandment is therefore still in effect, as also are the other nine, and each is to find expression in the life of every Christian by the exercise of one’s faith. The Fourth Commandment is to be obeyed for the Glory of God and for the spiritual well-being of ourselves, our families, and other believers and also to serve as a witness to unbelievers.

6. Faithful obedience to the Fourth Commandment would seem to involve the following applications:

    A. to minimize the effects of the curse by

        1) ceasing to engage in one’s usual vocation,

        2) ceasing from strenuous physical exercise,

        3) ceasing from stress producing mental activity (worry, etc.),

        4) and ceasing to associate with unbelievers in distinctly non-redemptive activities;

    B. to maximize the foretaste of the future final perfect state by

        1) involvement in the private and public worship of God (regular family devotions, faithful attendance at Sunday school and Sunday services and Bible studies),

        2) involvement in Christian fellowship (planned fellowship meals, issuing and accepting invitations for inhome hospitality),

        3) involvement in distinctly redemptive activities (evangelism, Bible teaching and preaching, rest home and jail services),

        4) and involvement in works of necessity and mercy.

7. Neglecting the proper observance of the Sabbath is evidence of ungodly ignorance and/or unfaithfulness. Such sinful disobedience directly contradicts all that the Sabbath represents, the need for the removal of all sin and imperfection and the complete reversal of the curse. Not only does the negligent Christian rob God of His glory and rob himself of a real and substantial blessing, but also he becomes a potentially serious stumbling block to other Christians and a poor witness to non-Christians. Disregard for the Lord’s Day evokes God’s displeasure and chastisement as is the case of all disobedience to His revealed law.

8. Christian fathers have the primary responsibility to set a good example of faithfulness by the proper keeping of the Lord’s Day.

9. Observing the Lord’s Day must be a matter of personal faith and conviction, not a matter of external conformity. God wants genuine loving obedience, not forced conformity.

10. The Fourth Commandment requires the necessary study of God’s Holy Word, personal self-evaluation, and the willing response to change one’s Sunday practices and habits as required.

Session of Faith Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Jay Milojevich, Pastor 12/1985

18:14:37