Here is a link to last week’s series, Ten.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exodus 20:8
Today is our fourth week in this study of the Ten Commandments of our Lord. And there is so much to unpack with this command. So let’s get started.
Remember.
Have you ever considered the significance of the word, “remember” in this commandment?
Can you think of another time when that word is used to grab our attention? (1 Corinthians 11:23-24)
When believers are commanded to “remember” something from scripture, it is a call for reverence and awareness of God. Why not begin a word study on the word “remember”? It appears about 172 times in the Old and New Testaments. You will be blessed by this.
For six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God;
When this commandment was given to the Hebrew people it was given before Jesus came. That does not mean that the Ten Commandments became irrelevant. But, by the coming of Christ, we were set free. The Gospel did not set us free to abuse grace. Rather, it set us free from the bondage that sin creates. (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:21).
So, believers are not free to disregard attending worship services during the week. True believers understand the need for fellowship and unity with others. More than that, they want to participate in church so they can worship God, join in evangelistic outreach, and grow spiritually through Bible study.
Choosing the day that you worship is up to you, as long you have found a Bible-based Church that holds faithfully to the Gospel. (Romans 14:5; Colossians 2:16; Acts 2:46-47; Acts 20:7)
…on it you shall not do any work…
Of course, this no longer applies in the same context. There are many truly devoted believers who have jobs that require them to work on Sundays.
Keep reading. You will find passages below about the freedom that Christ has given us by His coming. Not the freedom to toss aside the Ten Commandments. Rather, freedom from the bondage of sin.
…you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you.
Now here is a part of the commandment that makes many believers cringe. However, we shouldn’t fear difficult verses; the Holy Spirit is our Teacher, and God’s Word, along with trustworthy pastors and reliable commentaries, offers help.
If you are a born-again believer and if you truly know about the Hesed love of God, then you know that our Holy Lord did not create slavery, nor any other evil thing.
I have included a website below to an article published by gotquestions.org. The article is well written and backed up by scripture without sugar coating the topic. I hope that you will take the time to read the article prayerfully. 1
So with all of that, here is the rest of the fourth commandment of our Lord:
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus 20:8-11
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!2
Bow down before Him, His glory proclaim;
With gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
Kneel and adore Him: The Lord is His Name!
Share the Good News in your world!
Isaiah 52:7
- https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-slavery.html
Does the Bible condone slavery? | GotQuestions.org ↩︎ - Worship the Lord in the Spirit of Holiness
John Samuel Bewley Monsell, Hymns of Love and Praise, 1863 ↩︎
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Getting the Seed out of the basket and into hungry hearts. Matthew 13 
What was the part that makes people cringe?
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When people read verses about slavery in the Bible, often they accuse God of creating that awful institution. But believers know better than that. God’s own dear people have been brutalized, too, but especially Jesus. The culprit is sinful hearts, not God.
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