Exodus
20:8-10 Remember
the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your
work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall
not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or
maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.
The acceptable way of worshiping the true God is
established by God himself. God’s revealed will so defines and outlines proper
worship that neither the imaginations and devices of men nor the suggestions of
Satan are to be followed. God is not to be worshiped in any other way than that
prescribed in Holy Scripture. Religious worship is to be given to God, the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and only to him, not to angels, saints, or any
other creature. Since the fall this worship must involve a mediator, and there
is no other mediator than Christ alone.
The ordinary worship of God includes: the reverent and
attentive reading of the Scriptures, the sound preaching and conscientious
hearing of the Word in obedience to God with understanding and faith; singing
of psalms with grace in the heart; and the proper administration and right
receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ.
God is to be worshiped everywhere in spirit and in truth;
in private families daily; privately by individuals daily; and regularly in
solemn public gatherings, which are not to be carelessly or willfully neglected
or forsaken, since God calls us to join other believers in public worship.
In his Word God has
similarly commanded all men in every age to keep one day in seven holy unto him
as a Sabbath. From the beginning of the world up to the resurrection of Christ,
this Sabbath was the last day of the week. Since the resurrection of Christ it
has been changed to the first day of the week, called the Lord’s Day in
Scripture, and is to be continued until the end of the world as the Christian
Sabbath.
The Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith
