Oh that reply was not just to you! It was made in general regarding the entire thread.

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Adam Leavelle
Westminster OPC
Roaring Spring Pa.

http://www.myspace.com/aleavelle
"Speak wisdom to a fool and he'll think you have no sense at all"

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

I think what you're saying is important, especially the part about God's grace controlling our thoughts. I can abstain from doing certain things on the Lord's day because of an honest desire to fellowship with God, but keeping the thoughts focused on God is another story. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. I'm glad one of the fruits of the Spirit is self control.

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Bob Howes
Framingham, MA

A reoccurring thought:

Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

God requires obedience. Whether you have the desire or not is not an issue. If you don't have the desire to obey, if you don't have the desire to consecrate the whole day for God, if you don't take delight in the sacred day God has set apart to commune with you and give you rest from your worldly labors but you rather consider it a burden, then you must mourn that you don't feel that conviction. Go to God with it and cry out for more faith and love to delight in God on His holy day.

This is what we must do with any sin. When we know something is wrong, and don't feel strongly about it, it should be a warning shot to us that we are backsliding in heart and our love to God has grown cold. Plus, we should be growing in maturity as we grow in grace. In other words, we ought to become less dependent on emotional motivation and conviction as we grow in our sanctification. Our minds are being renewed so that we may conform to His image. We shouldn't need a prod from God's rod every time we have to obey. Children need that alot. But adults shouldn't need it as often because they are suppose to be "old enough" to know better.

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Patrick
OPC
MDiv, RTS Jackson.

"He does well, that discourses of Christ; but he does infinitely better, that by experimental knowledge, feeds and lives on Christ." Thomas Brooks.

Does keeping God's law merit His favor? No.

Is it nevertheless our duty to keep God's law? Yes.

What if we don't have the desire to keep God's law? It's still our duty.

What if we live in a society that doesn't keep God's law? It's still our duty.

Can we keep God's law perfectly as Christians? No.

Should we pray for the Holy Spirit to work in us to will and to according to His good pleasure? Yes.

Is Sabbath-keeping in particular a duty of all Christians? Yes.

"Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy."

[Edited on 17-1-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]

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Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"Let your Morning Thoughts, and your last Evening Thoughts, be what shall become of you to all Eternity." -- Matthew Poole

One can abstain from every wordly work or recreation on the Lord's Day, and still not delight in the Sabbath or find one's rest in God. Our thoughts may be elsewhere. We must yield our whole heart, mind, body and soul to the service of God. And this is possible, only by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Agreed. Even on the most 'unevenful' of days (as in no Superbowl or whatever) my wandering mind is my biggest enemy.

Andrew wrote:
"The Church ought to testify against Sabbath-breaking by keeping the Sabbath holy in word, deed and thought."

I've been going to church for at least 7 years now (but only the last year or so in Reformed churches), and I don't think I've ever heard a sermon where the congregation was ENCOURAGED to keep the Sabbath holy. There may have been references and expositions of the Sabbath, etc, but certainly no EXHORTATION in any practical sense. In fact, I think if you told the modern day contemporary evangelical that he should honor the Sabbath, he'd look at you in bewilderment.

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Christopher Hinton
Northland, A Church Distributed;
Altamonte Springs, FL

Oh definately!

But my pastor does indeed preach on keeping the Sabath.

Heb 4:1 Therefore, let us fear lest perhaps a promise having been left to enter into His rest, that any of you may seem to come short.
Heb 4:2 For, indeed, we have had the gospel preached to us, even as they also; but the Word did not profit those hearing it, not having been mixed with faith in the ones who heard.
Heb 4:3 For we, the ones believing, enter into the rest, even as He said, "As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter into My rest," though the works had come into being from the foundation of the world. LXX-Psa. 94:11; MT-Psa. 95:11
Heb 4:4 For He has spoken somewhere about the seventh day this way, "And God rested from all His works in the seventh day." Gen. 2:2
Heb 4:5 And in this again, "They shall not enter into My rest." MT-Psalm 95:11
Heb 4:6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter into it, and those who formerly had the gospel preached did not enter in on account of disobedience,
Heb 4:7 He again marks out a certain day, saying in David, Today (after so long a time, according as He has said), "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." MT-Psalm 95:7, 8
Heb 4:8 For if Joshua gave them rest, then He would not have afterwards spoken about another day.
Heb 4:9 So, then, there remains a sabbath rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he entering into His rest, he himself also rested from his works, as God had rested from His own. LXX-Psa. 95:11; Gen. 2:2
Heb 4:11 Therefore, let us exert ourselves to enter into that rest, that not anyone fall in the same example of disobedience.
Heb 4:12 For the Word of God is living, and powerfully working, and sharper than every two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of both soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge of the thoughts and intentions of the heart;
Heb 4:13 and there is no creature unrevealed before Him; but all things are naked and laid open to His eyes, with whom is our account.
Heb 4:14 Then having a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession.
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest not being able to sympathize with our weaknesses but One having been tried in all respects according to our likeness, apart from sin.
Heb 4:16 Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and we may find grace for timely help.

Have you entered in?

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Scott Bushey
Husband to Tina, father to Nicole, Danielle and Zoe
Member First Presbyterian Church of Margate PCA

Depends on what your rationalization is based on.

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Ivan Schoen, Pastor * Maranatha Baptist Church, Poplar Grove, IL * http://maranatha-sbc.org/

"I want to assist churches and to assist pastors in training pastors. But, after fourteen years of service in this capacity, I am absolutely certain that the finest theological seminary on earth is absolutely incompetent at replicating the actual life of a Gospel congregation. I want to train a generation of pastors who will train pastors, and I want to help them in that task." --- Dr. R. Albert Mohler, President of THE Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY

So, how many will watch the Super Bowl?

You know what guys, lets not do another one of these threads. Go back a year and read lasts years thread on this exact topic. If we think of something new than add some more.

Yikes! Sorry! I was unaware of last year's thread.

And here is the link (or at least one of them):

http://www.puritanboard.com/forum/vi...d.php?tid=2988

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Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

Got it.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, y'all.

I'm sorry guys, but this thread seems just ludicrous to me. I know, I know you are trying to find out how to keep a commandment of God. But if it is applicable today, why does nobody agree on how to keep it when the scripture is quite clear in it's instructions? Where in the world, pray tell, does the scripture say or imply that the first day of the week is the SABBATH of God? The first day is not the seventh day. God gave specific commands that relate to Sabbath keeping throughout the Old Testament and there is no indication that He commanded a "one in seven principle" where we could scrap the parts we didn't like from the OT scriptures. God clearly stated "the SEVENTH day (Saturday) to be kept. So how do we get from there to keeping it on Sunday (using Sola Scriptura?)
If we do arbitrarily decide to bring it forward for today, do we then spiritualize or bend the instructions given by God for the Sabbath?... no kindling fires (heating your house or cooking), no carrying any burden out of your houses (a garbage bag maybe?), no gathering sticks (or socks for the hamper?) . Do these all become "works of necessity" in our day so that we can disregard the commands of God. What about death for breaking the Sabbath, why isn't that obeyed today? Or how do the Inuit Christians keep Sabbath from "sundown to sundown" when the sun doesn't actually set for 6 months in the Canadian North? Nehemiah said that a few profaning the Sabbath in Jerusalem, by buying and selling goods, brought God's judgement on all of the covenant people of Israel. So do we exercise church discipline on Sabbath breakers because we fear God's judgement on the church? If not, why not... if we are to be consistent Sabbath keepers. My point is that we cannot bring the shadow of Old Covenant Sabbath keeping into the light and rest of the New Covenant. I know of no one who is consistent and brings all of the Sabbaths sanctions with it into the New Covenant today anyway, yet they wrangle about football games or how many trips to the fridge will add up to a Sabbath days journey, or the old saint who was ashamed for whittling a stick on the Sabbath, or whatever else. I am not a Sabbatarian. I believe Colossians 2:16-17.
It is interesting how Calvin thunders against Sabbatarianism (Institutes II.VIII.28-34.) He promotes the Lords Day and not the Jewish Sabbath when he says "For, because it was expedient to overthrow superstition, the day sacred to the Jews was set aside; because it was necessary to maintain decorum, order, and peace in the church, another [day] was appointed for that purpose." II.VIII.33
Hope I didn't come across as disrespectful, just some musings out loud.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Darrin

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D. Hunter
Fellowship Baptist Church
Fort Saskatchewan, AB, Canada

2 Corinthians 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Sabbath breaking? If you try to keep one law you have to keep them all. Its was for freedom that Christ set us free, we are not to get back into bondage again.

David,
So the 10 commandments are abrogated?

I think that if you are one who has come to this board as a "seeker", I could understand your statement. However, if you are one who comes to this board as a reader of the Puritans and Calvin...well, you don't understand what they wrote or you haven't read much.

BTW, this "laundry list" was a means of generating discussion.

Here's is my "laundry list" for Sundays:

1. Pray and read the Word on awakening.
2. Prepare myself physically for the day (shower, eat, etc.).
3. Arrive at church for prayer at about 9AM.
4. Teach the Bible to the men from 9:30 to 10:30.
5. Prepare for worship from 10:30 to 10:45.
6. The worship of God from 10:45 to Noon.
7. Meal
8. Rest
9. A long period of studying, reading God's Word and Christian literature, listening to sermons and worshipful music (all of this mixed with time with my family).
10. Attend evening worship
11. Back home to read, reflect on God's grace and mercy, spending time again as I did in number nine listed above.

I do spend part of the day with my brethren here at Puritan Mind.

I attempt as best as I can to have anything I need for my physical needs prepared the day before.

It is truly a day of rest.

Here is a good article on the Sabbath.

http://www.freechurch.org/holdfast_6.html

__________________
Sean Jones
Covenant Presbyterian Church OPC
Fort Worth Texas

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of Truth.
2Timothy 2:15

This is indeed a good article. I would submit another by A.A. Hodge for consideration called "Sabbath, The Day Changed: The Sabbath Preserved': http://www.apuritansmind.com/TheLord...dgeSabbath.htm