Month: February 2024

The sermon is from Revelation 1:9-20 – “Remembering the Forgotten Sabbath Day – Part 6.” “Remember the Sabbath day, ….” – Exodus 20:8

In 2 Timothy 2:8, the Apostle Paul commands Timothy to, “Remember Jesus Christ, ….” How could any Christian, especially one of Timothy’s caliber, ever forget Jesus Christ? Christ, after all, has loved him and given himself for him. The easy, and yet, troubling answer is that Christians are forgetful; our fall into sin and remaining sin within us effects our memory of the magnitude of God’s love for us. Likewise, we are prone to forget the Sabbath day. We forget that God loves and cares for humanity; he knows human beings need rest from their toil in a sin-cursed world. And, we, as Christians, forget that the Sabbath or Lord’s Day is God’s appointed means of reminding us of his love for us in Jesus Christ. So, “Remember the Sabbath day!”

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Hickory Withe PCA

The sermon is from Exodus 20:9-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15 – “Remembering the Forgotten Sabbath Day – Part 5.” “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, … and rested on the Sabbath day.” – Exodus 20:11

God rested from his work of creation on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3). He did not rest because he was tired; he is omnipotent. And he did not rest because he needed any sleep; he is God – he has no need to slumber or sleep (Psalm 121:4). He rested from his work of creation. God completed creation in six 24-hour days and pronounced at the end of the sixth day that it was very good. (Genesis 1:31). Therefore, all men are required to rest on the Sabbath day and call God’s creation “good.” Those who trust and love Jesus Christ are especially called upon to rest on the Lord’s Day – to reflect upon God’s goodness in the world he has made and to worship the Triune God who in Christ loved them and gave himself for them (Galatians 2:20).

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Hickory Withe PCA

The sermon is from Ezekiel 22:23-31; 23:36-42 – “Remembering the Forgotten Sabbath Day – Part 4”.  “On it (i.e., the Sabbath) you shall not do any work ….” – Exodus 20:10

Presbyterian churches “confess their faith” or tell others what they believe in their confession of faith and catechisms. Question #119 of their Larger Catechism addresses the sins forbidden in the 4th Commandment; they are “… all omissions of the duties required, all careless, negligent, and unprofitable performing of them, and being weary of them; all profaning the day by idleness, and doing that which is in itself sinful; and by all needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly employments and recreations.” Is God strict? Yes. But he also loves his children. He wants them to rest from their labors and join Abraham in “… looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Heb. 11:10).

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Hickory Withe PCA

The sermon is from Exodus 20:10, 23:12; Joshua 24:15; Nehemiah 13:15-18  –  “Remembering the Forgotten Sabbath Day – Part 3”.   “On it (i.e., the Sabbath) you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, ….” – Exodus 20:10

In the book that bears his name, Joshua uttered a determined confession, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15). He clearly understood the teaching found in Exodus 20:10. He was the head of his household, the spiritual leader of his family. He had trusted God’s promise in Genesis 3:15 regarding the coming Messiah and he led his family to do the same. And, then, he brought forth fruit in keeping with repentance; he led his family in the worship of God on the Sabbath. May God, by his grace and power, raise up modern-day Joshuas in our churches and in our nation.

Sunday Service Streamed Live at 11:00 AM – YouTube.com – Hickory Withe PCA