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“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” — Luke 23:42

Fourth Commandment

“Remember the Sabbath Day, and keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8; Deut. 5:12).

 

Heidelberg Catechism

Heidelberg Catechism Question 103. What does God require in the fourth commandment? First, that the ministry of the gospel and Christian education be maintained, and that I diligently attend church, especially on the Lord’s day, to hear the Word of God, to participate in the holy Sacraments, to call publicly upon the Lord, and to give Christian service to those in need. Second, that I cease from my evil works all the days of my life, allow the Lord to work in me through his Spirit, and thus begin in this life the eternal Sabbath.

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Shorter Catechism Question 58. What is required in the Fourth Commandment? The Fourth Commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself.

  • Lev. 19:3o “You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.”
  • Deut. 5:12 “Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.”
  • Isa. 56:2 “Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil.”


Shorter Catechism Question 59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath? From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.

  • Gen. 2:3 “So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”
  • Luke 23:56 “Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”
  • Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight.”
  • 1 Cor. 16:1-2 “Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come.”
  • John 20:19 “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”
  • John 20:26 “A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”


Shorter Catechism Question 60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified? The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

  • Lev. 23:3 “Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a sabbath to the LORD throughout your settlements.”
  • Ex. 16:25-29 “Moses said, ‘Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a sabbath, there will be none.’ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. The LORD said to Moses, ‘How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and instructions? See! The LORD has given you the sabbath, therefore on the sixth day he gives you food for two days; each of you stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day.’”
  • Jer. 17:21-22 “Thus says the LORD: For the sake of your lives, take care that you do not bear a burden on the sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the sabbath or do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.”
  • Ps. 92:1-2 “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.”
  • Luke 4:16 “When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read.”
  • Isa. 58:13 “If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs.”
  • Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight.”
  • Matt. 12:11–12 “He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.'”


Shorter Catechism Question 61. What is forbidden in the Fourth Commandment? The Fourth Commandment forbiddeth the omission, or careless performance, of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.

  • Ezek. 22:26 “Its priests have done violence to my teaching and have profaned my holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.”
  • Mal. 1:13 “’What a weariness this is,’ you say, and you sniff at me, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD.”
  • Amos 8:5 “saying, ‘When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances.’”
  • Ezek. 23:28 “Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my sabbaths.”
  • Isa. 58:13 “If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;”
  • Jer. 17:24, 27 “But if you listen to me, says the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but keep the sabbath day holy and do no work on it, But if you do not listen to me, to keep the sabbath day holy, and to carry in no burden through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates; it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.”


Shorter Catechism Question 62. What are the reasons annexed to the Fourth Commandment? The reasons annexed to the Fourth Commandment are: God’s allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, his challenging a special propriety in the seventh, his own example, and his blessing the Sabbath Day.

  • Ex. 31:15-16 “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 Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant.”
  • Lev. 23:3 “Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a sabbath to the LORD throughout your settlements.”
  • Ex. 31:17. “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.”
  • Gen 2:3 “So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”

Study Catechism

Study Catechism Question 100. What do you learn from this commandment? God requires a special day to be set apart so that worship can be at the center of my life. It is right to honor God with thanks and praise, and to hear and receive God’s Word, so that I may have it in my heart, and on my lips, and put it into practice in my life.

  • Rom. 10:8 “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.’”
  • Deut. 5:12 “Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.”
  • Gen. 2:3 “So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”
  • Lev. 23:3 “Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements.”
  • Acts 2:42, 46 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts.”


Study Catechism Question 101. Why set aside one day a week as a day of rest? First, working people should not be taken advantage of by their employers (Deut. 5:14). My job should not be my tyrant, for my life is more than my work. Second, God requires me to put time aside for the regular study of Holy Scripture and for prayer, not only by myself but also with others, not least those in my own household.

  • Deut. 5:14 “But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.”
  • Ex. 31:17 “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.”


Study Catechism Question 102. Why do we Christians usually gather on the first day of the week? In worshiping together on the first day of the week, we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection, so that the new life Christ brought us might begin to fill our whole lives.

  • Mark 16:2 “And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.”
  • Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight.”
  • Acts 4:33 “With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.”


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