How big a sin is it to break the 4th Commandment?

It says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” (Exodus 20:8).

The Ten Commandments are a clear summary statement of God’s law. Now, the term “law” may be used to cover all the minute legal regulations of the Old Testament, but more definitely the law is a statement of what God requires of us.

“Law is the transcript of God’s perfection,” someone has said. An extreme dispensational view, that tosses out the law as a guide to the Christian, is in error. The moral essence of the law, being a revelation of righteousness before God, will never change so long as God is.

Therefore, the fourth statement of God’s great summary of the law, given in Exodus 20, needs much study in our day.

God is here demanding that His children give one day in seven to rest and worship. The moral heart of this law is just that. The cycle is set for all time, 6 days of work and one day of rest. Our lives are lived in weeks. The pivotal day of the week is the day of rest.

It is true that Christians were led by the Lord Jesus to set aside the first day of the week, rather than the seventh, but the moral essence of the 4th Commandment remains. In the old dispensation the week ended with rest.  Under the new, we are to begin our week with God.  Sunday is the Christian Sabbath.

This is the day Jesus arose from the dead, appeared to His disciples, and on this day taught them. They in turn worshipped on this day in the early church. The Apostle John calls it “the Lord’s day”.(See John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; Revelation 1:10.)

On top of all this, our Lord Himself taught three great principles regarding the Lord s Day.

I.  THE LORD’S DAY WAS MADE FOR MAN’S OWN GOOD

See this in Mark 2:27. He bears this truth home to the complaining Pharisees by an appropriate story of David. By this Jesus shows that His disciples were not doing wrong in picking and munching on corn in fields as they walked through, for “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

We need this day for the good of our BODY. God designed this day for that purpose. The change of pace is necessary for our physical health and well-being. Refusing to rest on Sunday is to invite natural calamity.

Also we need the Lord’s Day for the good of our SOUL. Worship is purest rest for the child of God.  God expects it of us, Hebrews 10:25.

II. THE LORD’S DAY IS UNDER THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST

If Mark 2:28 is true, then a lot of people are wrong. It reads, “Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.”

Who is lord over your day and decides how you spend Sundays? Employer? Circumstances? Your own desires? Or, is Christ Lord? On Sunday, His day, do you do His will? Put Him first?

Many folks go through week by week mental gyrations trying to decide whether to go to church or do something else. Not so with work or school. Then, why not put the keeping of the Lord’s Day beyond the wear and tear of weekly decisions. Decide that it is a day for rest and worship. Do exactly that each week.

III. THE LORD’S DAY IS A DAY FOR DOING GOOD

This principle is taught in Matthew 12:12. Remember, that it is a spiritual axiom that the higher good prevails. Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and proceeded to shut the critics’ mouths by reminding them that they would even tend an emergency need of an animal on that day. Sunday is a day for doing good.

Remember, too, in this connection that the higher good prevails. That man who refuses church on Sunday saying, “I need my rest,” ought to hear the higher call, “Worship God,” Revelation 22:9. So Christ met with His disciples on that day, and so did the early Christians.

Nor, can one say, “I am doing good things, even though missing church.” Travel, recreations, hobbies nor anything else can replace the gathering with those who are gratefully worshipping Jesus Christ our Savior.

Put the Lord’s Day where God put it — first in the week. Even Saturday night should bend to this, allowing one to be fresh for Sunday morning study and worship. Families should use it as a golden day to strengthen ties and get things back in order. Try it: little or no TV, no loud, active or group playing. Rather fill the hours outside church with: l)Rest 2)Good reading 3)Family fellowship in the living room, yard, or on a short nature walk. 4)Home worship, songs, testimonies, sharing.  Hebrews 10:25, “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”