Old Testament Reading: Exodus 31:12-18

“And the LORD said to Moses, ‘You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’’ And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” (Exodus 31:12–18, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Mark 2:23–28

“One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?’ And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:23–28, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

One question we might ask about our texts is this: why was it necessary for Sabbath-keeping to be commanded in the book of Exodus, not once, not twice, but three times in such a short space? 

Indeed, this is now the third time that Israel was commanded to honor the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The first mention of Sabbath keeping in the book of Exodus is found in chapter 16 where instructions were given for the collection of manna. Manna was to be collected daily by the people of Israel. On the sixth day, a double portion was to be gathered so that the people might rest and worship on the seventh day. The second mention of Sabbath keeping is found in Exodus chapter 20 wherein the Lord speaks the Ten Commandments to Israel. It is the fourth of the Ten Commandments which says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8, ESV). And now here in Exodus 31 Sabbath observance is commanded yet again. Why the repetition?

Firstly, and most obviously, the repetition stresses the importance of the matter. The people of Israel were to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.  So important was this issue that it was stated, not once, not twice, but three times to Israel in a short period of time.  

Secondly, I think it can be argued that each one of these instances wherein Sabbath observance is commanded brings with it a special emphasis upon some particular truth regarding the Sabbath Day.

For example, in Exodus 16 we learn that Israel was expected to honor the Sabbath in the wilderness before the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. That is very significant. It shows that knowledge concerning the observance of the Sabbath day was present in the world before the fourth of the Ten Commandments was uttered by God as he made the Old Mosaic Covenant with Isarel. This is not surprising, for we know that the Sabbath was instituted at the time of creation. The episode of Exodus 16 confirms that the knowledge and practice of Sabbath keeping was preserved amongst the people of God in that period of time from Adam to Moses. 

What special thing do we learn about the Sabbath from Exodus 20? Well, it is interesting that God commanded that the Sabbath be kept while giving the Ten Commandments, which clearly contains a summary of the moral law. The command to honor the Sabbath day and to keep it holy is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. It concludes the first section of the law which has to do with the proper worship of God. It is surrounded by other laws that are universal and unchanging. God alone is to be worshipped, and not with images. His name is not to be taken in vain. And as it pertains to our relationships with fellow human beings, God’s law requires the honor of father and mother, and forbids murder, adultery, bearing false witness, theft, and covetousness. If you were here for those sermons on the ten Commandments, you will remember that there are some things stated within the Ten Commandments that were unique to Old Covenant Israel. But the point that I am making here is that the command to observe the Sabbath day has an unchanging moral and core to it. God alone is to be worshipped, and the Lord created the world in such a way and has commanded that one day in seven be observed as holy to the Lord as a day for rest and worship. The point is this: it was not only Old Covenant Israel who was commanded to observe the Sabbath day, but all of humanity descended from Adam even to this present day. Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man! That is to say, it was given to mankind as a perpetual moral law pertaining to the proper worship of God as it relates to the time of worship, and the placement of the command to observe the Sabbath day at the heart of the Ten Commandments helps us to see that. 

So, those passages commanding Sabbath keeping in Exodus 16 and 20 both make special contributions to our understanding. Now, what particular truth about the Sabbath is emphasized here in Exodus 31:12-18? Well, consider the context carefully. After the Old Mosaic Covenant was confirmed with Israel in Exodus 24, Moses went up on the mountain and into the presence of God for forty days and forty nights. There he received instructions for the building of the tabernacle, the clothing, and the consecration of the priests. And there he was told that Bezalel and his assistant Oholiab were to oversee the work. After that, we come to our text wherein Sabbath observance is commanded again. And finally, in verse 18 of Exodus 31, we are told of the end of Moses’ time up on the mountain: “And [the LORD] gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18, ESV). So you can see that this entire section which runs from Exodus 25-31, describing the instructions that Moses received from the LORD while up on the mountain concerning the design and building of the tabernacle and all of its accouterments, concludes with a command to keep the Sabbath. And here I want you to see the tight connection between the Sabbath day and the tabernacle. The two things – the tabernacle and the Sabbath day – are intimately related. 

How so? Well, in two ways. One, the tabernacle was for worship, and the Sabbath day was to be a day set apart for worship. If the Sabbath was neglected, so too the tabernacle would be neglected. For the Sabbath day was a day to assemble at the tabernacle and to worship the Lord. Two, I will argue that the tabernacle and Sabbath day both signify the same thing, namely, eternal rest in the presence of God in the new heavens and earth purchased by Christ through his life, death, and resurrection. As I have said, the tabernacle and the Sabbath day are intimately related, and Exodus 31 helps us to see this.

Let us go now to our text, I will try to explain. 

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In verses 12-13 we read, “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths… (Exodus 31:12–13, ESV).

The word Sabbath means “day of rest”. As I have said, this day of rest was instituted for the first time, not in the days of Moses, but when God created the heavens and earth. He took six days to create the heavens and earth and all that is within and rested or ceased from his work of creation on the seventh day as a pattern for us to follow. Genesis 2:3 says, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all the work he had done in creation.” 

The command to honor the Sabbath day and to keep it holy was not unique to Isarel, therefore, but was and is for all of Adam’s descendants. God alone is to be worshipped, not with images, his name is to be revered, and one day out of every seven is to be honored and set apart as holy. It is a day to cease from common activities. It is a day for public and private worship. From the creation of the world to the resurrection of Christ, it was the seventh day (a memorial of the first creation), and from the resurrection of Christ to the end of the world, the Sabbath day is the first day of the week (a memorial of the new creation earned by Christ through his life, death, and resurrection). 

Though it is true that the Sabbath was not only for Old Covenant Isarel, it is also true that a special obligation was placed upon them to observe it under the Covenant that God made with them in the days of Moses. This is why Moses was commanded to speak to Israel saying, “Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths…” The words “above all” can also be translated as “surely” or “you must”. I think I prefer those translations. The words “above all” can give the English reader the impression that this commandment is superior to all others. In fact, the Hebrew word simply communicates that something is really important and should not be neglected. “Above all [or surely] “you must keep my Sabbaths. for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you” (Exodus 31:13, ESV).

I have said the Sabbath was not for Isarel only, but for all people. I would like to explain this in a little more detail before returning to the point that Isarel has a special obligation to keep the Sabbath day. How do we know that Sabbath was not for Old Covenant Israel only, but was and is for all people? Please allow me to present five reasons to you. 

Firstly, we know that the Sabbath day was not for Isarel only, by paying attention to when it was first instituted. It was first instituted, not while God transacted the Old Covenant with Israel in the days of Moses, but at creation. Adam, Eve, and all of their descendants are to observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 

Secondly, it is confirmed that the Sabbath was to be observed by all, and not Old Covenant Israel only, in the book of Exodus itself in two instances. One, Israel (or some within Israel) knew the Sabbath was to be observed before the giving of the Law of Moses at Sinai. This fact is recorded for us in Exodus 16. And two, when the Sabbath command was first given to Israel, it was not delivered to them within a collection of laws that were unique to them but was placed at the very heart of the Ten Commandments, which clearly contains a summary of God’s moral law. That moral law was not unique to Israel but is binding on all people living in all times and places. 

Yes, it must be acknowledged there are a few things said in the Ten Commandments that were unique to Isarel. I’ve spoken about this in more detail in the past. But I think that most would agree that the Ten Commandments summarize God’s universal and everlasting moral law. If I were to ask you, who is to worship God, not with images, and with reverence for his name? Who ought never to dishonor parents, murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, and covet? I doubt you would say, well, that was for Israel only. No, you know these are moral laws binding upon all people. Why then do so many today, even amongst professing Christians, think that the fourth of the Ten Commandments is an exception? It is not. The fourth commandment is a moral law at its core, though it also contains elements of positive law. 

Our confession of faith is very precise and helpful on this point. Second London Confession 22.7 says, “As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God’s appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so by his Word, in a positive-moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he has particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord’s Day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.”

The point I am making is this: the placement of the Sabbath command at the heart of the Ten Commandments makes it clear that there is something moral and unchanging about it. 

Thirdly, we know that the practice of Sabbath observance remains under the New Covenant because Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant, kept the Sabbath, taught his disciples to properly observe the Sabbath, and even claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath. All of that can be observed in the Mark 2:23–28 passage that was read earlier. And yes, I know that Jesus lived under the Old Covenant and was obliged to observe the Sabbath day under Moses. But my point is this: he kept it, taught his disciples to properly observe it, and even claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath. This means that he had the authority to change the day. It also means that he expected his disciples to honor the Sabbath day as a sign of his Lordship over them. You will notice that the same theme is present in Exodus 31. By keeping the Sabbath day holy, Israel would acknowledge that YHWH is LORD, and when observing the Sabbath day under the New Covenant, we do pledge our allegiance to Jesus Christ, who is himself the Lord of the Sabbath.  

Fourthly, we know that the Sabbath day was not confined to the Old Covenant, but remains now under the New Covenant, because the New Testament explicitly says so.  Hebrews 4 deals with this subject and says in verse 9, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God…” (Hebrews 4:9, ESV). The meaning is this: so then, the religious practice of Sabbath-keeping remains for the people of God living now under the New Covenant.

Fifthly, and perhaps most importantly, we must see that observing the Sabbath and keeping it holy was not restricted to Old Covenant Israel only, but was before the Old Covenant and remains now under the New, given the thing that the Sabbath signifies, namely, eternal rest in the presence of God in the new heavens and earth. Is the thing the Sabbath signifies here yet? Not in full. And so the pattern of one day of rest and six days of work remains. 

Do you remember the point that was made in the sermon last Sunday regarding those two themes – the theme of the kingdom of God and the tabernacle or temple of God –  tying together the whole story of the Bible regarding our creation, fall, redemption in Christ, and consummation? If someone were to ask you, what is the Bible about, one way you could tell the story is by speaking of how the kingdom of God, or the temple of God, was offered but forfeited, promised through the gospel, prefigured in Israel, inaugurated at Christ’s first coming, and will be consummated at his second coming. I will not spend much time on this, but I want you to see that the same thing can be done with the theme of Sabbath rest. Eternal Sabbath-rest was offered to Adam but forfeited, promised through the gospel, prefigured in Israel (especially in the conquest of Cannan), inaugurated at Christ’s first coming, and will be consummated at his second coming. What does it mean to enter into God’s rest? Ultimately, to enter into God’s eternal Sabbath-rest is to enter into the new heavens and earth in which righteousness dwells. To enter into God’s eternal rest, is to enter into his eternal kingdom, or his eternal temple. Do you see how all of these themes fit together? The weekly Sabbath that Isarel observed, and the weekly Lord’s Day Sabbath that we observe, point to the same reality – eternal rest in the presence of the glory of God in the new heavens and earth, which is his temple and kingdom consummated.  

As you consider the Sabbath day in terms of it being offered, promised, prefigured, inaugurated, and consummated, perhaps you can better understand both why the practice of keeping remains, and why the day of the week changed when Christ rose from the dead. Why does the practice of Sabbath-keeping remain for the people of God? Because we have not yet entered into the rest that the Sabbath day signifies in a full and final way. And why has the day changed from the seventh day to the first? Because a great advancement was made as it pertains to entering into this rest when Christ was raised from the dead, when he ascended, and sat down at the right hand of the Father, having completed his work, and having earned a new creation.  Why did the day change from the seventh to the first? Because Christ has entered into his rest, and we do rest in him, not in the way that we will rest in him when his kingdom and temple are consummated. No, we rest in him as sojourners. His kingdom and temple have been inaugurated. And so too, his rest has been inaugurated.  We enjoy but a taste of it now. We await the fullness. And so we go on, observing the Sabbath day week after week. As we do, we long for the new heavens and earth. And we observe it on the first day, not the seventh, remembering that the victory has been won, our salvation has been accomplished, the new heavens and earth have been earned, and our rest has been secured. 

And so I have said that the fifth reason we must see that observing the Sabbath and keeping it holy was not restricted to Old Covenant Israel only, but was before the Old Covenant and remains now under the New, is because the thing that the Sabbath signifies is not here yet in fulness. 

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I’ve now labored a bit to convince you that the observance of the Sabbath day is bigger than the Old Covenant. All who have ever lived in the world before, during, and after them were and are obligated to worship God in the way he has prescribed. For men and women to fail to worship God alone, not with images, with reverence for his name, and with one day in seven observed as holy, do sin against God. Now, please allow me to make another important observation. A special obligation to observe the Sabbath day was placed upon Israel when God entered into covenant with them in the days of Moses.

Remember, the “LORD said to Moses, ‘You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths…” You will notice that “Sabbaths” is plural. I suppose this could be a reference to the succession of weekly Sabbaths. But I think it is much better to take this as a passing reference to all of the other yearly Sabbath days that God would add to the weekly Sabbath under the Old Mosaic covenant. By the way, this is what Paul has in mind when he says, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath” (Colossians 2:16, ESV). In the Greek, the word translated as “Sabbath” is plural. It should be translated as “sabbaths” or “sabbath days”, as it is in the KJV and NKJV. Paul is not here saying that New Covenant Christians are not obligated to honor the weekly Sabbath (the Lord’s Day Sabbath), but that they are not bound to observe the dietary laws of the Old Mosaic Covenant, nor the various festival days and the corresponding Sabbath days associated with them. As I have said, I think that is what is meant by the plural, “Sabbaths”, in Exodus 31:13. Under the Old Covenant, Israel was to keep, not only the weekly Sabbath, but also the Sabbath days that were added in connection with the yearly festivals that were given to them, such as Passover, and the Day of Atonement. 

I continue now in verse 13: “…for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you” (Exodus 31:13, ESV). Are all people bound by God’s moral law to worship God in the way he has prescribed? Yes. Do men and women sin against God when they fail to worship God on the Sabbath day, treating it as a common day, and not a holy day? Yes, they sin against the Lord. But are you surprised that the godless do not honor the Sabbath day? No, for they are not concerned with the worship of God, much less the proper worship of him. But Israel was set apart unto the Lord as holy. They were given the tabernacle and the priesthood. They were given the law. The promises of God concerning the Messiah were entrusted to them. And so a special obligation was placed upon them to honor the Sabbath day. It functioned as a sign that the LORD had sanctified them, which means he had set them apart as holy. He redeemed them. He entered into a covenant with them. The seventh day Sabbath was made to be a special sign of that relationship. 

Is not the same true for the people of God under the New Covenant? When we observe the Sabbath Day on the first day of the week, is it not a sign that Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, has sanctified us? Is it not a sign that we have been united to the one who rested in the grave on the seventh day, but rose again on the first? Is it not a sign that we rest now in him, and await the fulness of the rest that he has earned in the new heaven and earth. Yes, the Lord’s Day Sabbath is a sign of these things. 

Verse 14: “You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you.” The Sabbath day is a day that is holy, or distinct. It is a day to rest from common things, and to be taken up in a different kind of activity, namely, the worship of God, fellowship, prayer, and the contemplation of the things of God. 

And in 14b we read: “Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people” (Exodus 31:14, ESV). Here we encounter the unusual strictness of the civil law of Old Covenant Israel. We have already agreed that all men and women sin against God when they fail to worship God as he has prescribed. They violate his moral law when they fail to observe the Sabbath day as holy. And they will stand guilty before God for this sin when they are judged on the last day if not in Christ. But in Old Covenant Isarel, Sabbath-breaking was a  crime punishable by death. 

Notice the repetition. Verse 14: ​​“You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death” (Exodus 31:14–15, ESV).

I have told you before that the kingdom of God and the temple of God were prefigured in Old Covenant Israel. Here we see that our eternal Sabbath rest was also prefigured. And for this reason, some of the civil laws of Old Covenant Israel were very strict. It was not only murder that was punishable by death in that nation, but other heinous violations of God’s moral law too – idolatry, sorcery, and Sabbath-breaking, to name a few. 

 The whole passage we are considering today is very repetitive. I think that is to drive home the point. Verse 16: “Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” (Exodus 31:16–17, ESV).

I wonder if you would allow me to say just a few things about the word “forever” in the verses I have just read, before moving on to some suggestions for contemplation and application. 

I think you would agree that the word “forever” raises some questions. Again, it is said that Israel was to observe “the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever.” We have just learned that the Sabbath functioned as a sign of the Old Covenant, but here it is said that this is to go on forever. How are we to understand this in light of what the Old Testament itself says about the eventual passing away of the Old Covenant and the making of a New Covenant? And what are we to think of what the New Testament says regarding the passing away of the seventh day Sabbath and all of the Sabbaths that were added to it?  Can you see that the word “forever” in our text raises some questions? 

Two things can be said. One, the Hebrew word translated as “forever” can mean “for a very long time” or “perpetually while this arrangement remains in place”. In fact, I think you can see that idea hinted at in verse 17, which says, “It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:17, ESV). The Sabbath would signify these things for Isarel for as long as God’s special covenantal arrangement with them lasted.  In fact, a basic word study of the Hebrew word עוֹלָם (ʿôlām) reveals that the word does often carry this meaning – “a long time” or “constantly for a long period of time.” I think that is the most important thing to understand about this word “forever”. 

But there is another thing that I want you to consider. There is a sense in which these things that are said to last “forever” under the Old Covenant do in fact last forever and ever as they find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus and their culmination in the consummation of his finished work. 

If I pointed to an oak tree and asked you, will that oak tree live forever, your impulse might be to say “no”. And in a sense, you would be right. Oak trees don’t live forever. They eventually die and decay. But what about the process of reproduction? What about the acorns? What about the old tree giving way to a new tree, so that, in a way, the new tree has the old tree within it? I suppose in this sense, we could imagine an oak tree living forever. And I wonder if something similar could be said of these features that, on the one hand, were clearly unique to the Old Covenant and have since passed away, and on the other hand, it was said of them that they would endure forever. 

The clearest example of this that I could think of comes from Genesis 13:14-16. “The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, ‘Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever” (Genesis 13:14–16, ESV).

If you consider the history of redemption, you will notice that the land of Canaan did not remain in the possession of Abraham and his descendants forever. Israel was exiled never to return. Judah was sent into captivity for 70 years before returning. After the life of Christ and the destruction of the temple in 70A.D., the Hebrews were dispersed. Did God fail to keep his promise to Abraham?

No, for the land still belongs to Abraham, but in a much greater sense. The true children of Abraham are those who share the faith of Abraham. Gentiles have been grafted in. The kingdom of God is no longer prefigured in a small piece of land in Palestine but is spreading to the furthest reaches of the earth. One day, the whole earth will be inhabited by the true children of Abraham, Jew and Gentile alike, who are united to the true son of Abraham, Jesus the Christ, by faith.

I cannot spend more time fleshing this out for you today, but perhaps this one illustration will help you think through how these features of the Old Covenant – seventh day Sabbath keeping, the tabernacle, the land, the sacrificial system, the feasts of the Lord, etc. – last forever, not by remaining as they were, but by finding their fulfillment in Christ, in his finished work, and in the consummation of all things. I think this is what Christ meant when he said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17, ESV). Yes, there were many things about the Law and Prophets that Christ and his Apostles would say were no longer in force. But here Christ clarifies by saying, I am not against the Law and Prophets. I have not come to throw them down and to shatter them. No, I’ve come to fulfill them! I’ve come to pick these things up – the seventh day Sabbath, the temple, the sacrificial system, the priesthood – and to carry them onwards and upwards towards their designed end. 

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Suggestions For Application

I’ll conclude now by making a few suggestions for application. 

One, I must exhort you, brothers and sisters, to continue to grow in your understanding of the scriptures which have Christ and his finished work at the center. Indeed, all of the law, prophets, and Psalms find their fulfillment in him and in his finished work. 

Two, as it pertains to the Sabbath, I would encourage you to ponder its symbolism. When you think of the Sabbath day do not only think of the practical observance of it. Think also of what it signifies, namely, our rest in God in the new heaven and earth. When we speak of eternal rest, we are not to think of inactivity, but rather the cessation of all worldly activities. To rest in God is to be at peace him, to worship and serve him, to contemplate and enjoy him. To enter into God’s rest is to cease from all striving and to dwell calm and secure in his presence forever and ever. Each time you observe the Sabbath day, look back and remember creation and Christ’s resurrection. Look up and remember Christ’s exaltation and authority. And look forward to the new heavens and earth in which righteousness dwells. The Sabbath is a sign of these things. 

Three, do not forget the connection between the Sabbath Day and the tabernacle or temple. In Leviticus 23 the weekly Sabbath, and the Sabbaths of Old Covenant Isarel, are called “holy convocations”. A convocation is a public meeting, or assembly. Certainly, these meetings would center around the tabernacle or temple. The same is true under the New Covenant. Christians are to observe the Lord’s Day Sabbath and keep it holy.  This is not an individual thing but is to involve a holy convocation or assembly.  This is why the writer to the Hebrews warned New Covenant Christians to “not forsaking the assembling of [themselves] together, as is the manner of some, but [to exhort] one another, and so much the more as [they] see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25, NKJV). The Lord’s Day Sabbath is a day for holy convocation at God’s temple. And where is his temple now except in local churches where men and women, boys and girls, gather to worship in Spirit and in truth?