Do Christians have to take one day off a week, or don't they? Lesson 40 wraps up the fourth commandment series by laying out the two major Christian views on Sabbath observance.

Teacher Dave Rich presents Sabbatarianism and non-Sabbatarianism as summarized by Wayne Grudem, tracing Sabbatarianism through the Westminster Confession's strict rest and worship requirements, and non-Sabbatarianism through Luther and Calvin, both of whom saw the fourth commandment as fulfilled in Christ rather than binding in its Old Testament form. Rich frames the debate around three questions, whether Sabbath rest is a creation ordinance built into Genesis 2, whether the law of Moses still legally binds Christians, and whether New Testament silence on the Sabbath means it was repealed or simply never repeated.

Rich lands on the non-Sabbatarian side, arguing the Sabbath was not a creation ordinance and was specifically addressed and set aside in the New Testament, while noting how much common ground the two views actually share in practice, worship, rest, and works of mercy. He closes with a lighter look at how Christian liberty applies to holidays like Easter, Christmas, Independence Day, Halloween, and even birthdays.

This lesson gives listeners a clear framework for thinking through a commandment that divides sincere, careful readers of Scripture.

Why is the fourth commandment the only one of the Ten never repeated in the New Testament? Lesson 39 argues that its complete fulfillment in Christ is exactly the reason.

Teacher Dave Rich works through the key apostolic passages on the Sabbath, the Jerusalem Council's silence on Sabbath keeping in Acts 15, Paul's treatment of the observance of days as a disputable matter in Romans 14, and his warnings in Galatians 4 and Colossians 2 that observing special days can become a dangerous return to law rather than grace. Taken together, Rich argues, the New Testament epistles do not support treating Sabbath observance as binding on Christians.

Rich then turns to Hebrews 3 and 4, showing that the rest God offers is ultimately rest from working for salvation and resting instead in Christ's finished work, which is why the fourth commandment alone goes unrepeated, its symbol is fulfilled. From there he traces the New Testament evidence for why the church shifted its regular gathering from the Sabbath to the first day of the week, Christ's resurrection, the early church's practice in Acts and Corinthians, and John's reference to the Lord's day in Revelation.

The lesson closes on a point every view agrees on, whatever day is chosen, Christians remain obligated to gather regularly for worship.

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Jesus broke more Sabbath rules than he kept, and that's exactly the point. Lesson 38 continues the study of the fourth commandment by turning to what Jesus himself taught and did on the Sabbath.

Teacher Dave Rich starts with a recap of the Old Testament material, then previews the rabbinic Mishnah's 39 categories of forbidden Sabbath activity, oppressive extra-biblical rules governing everything from tying knots to closing a door on a stray deer, to show the burden Jesus was actually confronting. Rich then works through Jesus's own Sabbath practice, his regular attendance at synagogue, his declaration that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, and his repeated Sabbath healings that provoked murderous opposition from the Pharisees and scribes.

Rich draws out several conclusions from Jesus's teaching, that ordinary work was restricted but works of necessity and mercy were not, that man-made additions to the law were not clarifications but distortions, and that Jesus, as Lord of the Sabbath, holds final authority over how the commandment should be understood. Rich is careful to note that Jesus never explicitly commands ongoing Sabbath observance in its Old Testament form, setting up next week's look at what the apostles taught.

This lesson reframes the Sabbath not as a burden but as a gift.

The fourth commandment might be the most debated of the ten. Lesson 37 launches a multi week study of the Sabbath, starting with the text itself before any application.

Teacher Dave Rich compares Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 side by side, showing that the shift from remember to observe reflects timing rather than any real difference in meaning, and that the two different rationales given for the command, creation in Exodus and redemption from Egypt in Deuteronomy, actually work together rather than in competition.

Rich then works through Genesis, the giving of manna, and a series of Old Testament examples, including the man stoned for gathering wood on the Sabbath and Nehemiah's confrontation with merchants trading on the Sabbath, to establish the two essential elements of the commandment, rest from ordinary work and worship through holy convocation. He also raises the long list of questions the class will eventually address, including how the Sabbath applies under the new covenant and what day, if any, Christians are bound to observe.

This lesson deliberately holds off on application, laying the Old Testament foundation before next week's look at what Jesus and the apostles taught about the Sabbath.

Is a dirty joke automatically a sin, and is all humor off-limits for Christians? Lesson 36 wraps up the study of the third commandment with three practical topics: filthy talk, humor, and irreverence.

Teacher Dave Rich works through the Greek behind Paul's lists of prohibited speech in Ephesians 4 and 5 and Colossians 3, unwholesome, filthy, foolish talk, and coarse jesting, and shows from several Old and New Testament examples that the Bible itself uses blunt, even bathroom language when it serves truth and clarity. The real issue is not the word itself but whether speech is truthful, loving, edifying, and appropriate.

Rich then turns to humor, arguing from Scripture's own use of absurd and funny illustrations, gnats and camels, a sluggard too lazy to feed himself, that laughter and wit are not inherently sinful and can even be commanded by God.

The lesson closes back at the heart of the third commandment, irreverence, whether in worship songs, careless prayer, casual preaching, or common phrases borrowed from sacred biblical language. Rich challenges listeners to speak, sing, and pray with a settled awareness that they live and speak in the presence of God.

Is a dirty joke automatically a sin, and is all humor off-limits for Christians? Lesson 36 wraps up the study of the third commandment with three practical topics: filthy talk, humor, and irreverence.

Teacher Dave Rich works through the Greek behind Paul's lists of prohibited speech in Ephesians 4 and 5 and Colossians 3, unwholesome, filthy, foolish talk, and coarse jesting, and shows from several Old and New Testament examples that the Bible itself uses blunt, even bathroom language when it serves truth and clarity. The real issue is not the word itself but whether speech is truthful, loving, edifying, and appropriate.

Rich then turns to humor, arguing from Scripture's own use of absurd and funny illustrations, gnats and camels, a sluggard too lazy to feed himself, that laughter and wit are not inherently sinful and can even be commanded by God.

The lesson closes back at the heart of the third commandment, irreverence, whether in worship songs, careless prayer, casual preaching, or common phrases borrowed from sacred biblical language. Rich challenges listeners to speak, sing, and pray with a settled awareness that they live and speak in the presence of God.

Not all cursing is sin, and not all oaths are forbidden. Lesson 35 continues the study of the third commandment and moves into cursing and swearing.

Teacher Dave Rich distinguishes between sinful cursing, calling for someone's harm out of personal anger or vindictiveness, and the legitimate cursing found in Scripture, including the imprecatory psalms, Paul's warnings against false teachers, and church discipline. Rich shows that a curse becomes sin when it serves personal vengeance rather than God's glory, and that treating words like damn and hell lightly undermines the seriousness of what they actually mean.

Rich then turns to swearing and oath taking, working through Matthew 5 and James 5 to argue that Jesus and James were not forbidding all oaths but the dishonest, manipulative oath taking common among the Pharisees. He traces examples of legitimate oaths from God's own promise to Abraham, Christ's testimony before the high priest, and Paul's letters, then walks through categories of prohibited swearing, including dishonest oaths, oaths to sin, and foolish oaths like Jephthah's vow.

The lesson closes with practical guidance on the vows Christians do take, including wedding vows, baptism, communion, and oaths of office, and the call to take our own words seriously before God.

The third commandment does not just forbid a four letter word substitute. It forbids treating the name of God as empty, meaningless, or vain.

In this lesson, teacher Dave Rich moves the Christian Ethics and Old Testament series into the third commandment, You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain. Rich walks through the Hebrew words behind the command, nasa, meaning to lift up or carry, and shav, meaning an empty or false thing, to show that the prohibition reaches far beyond careless speech alone.

Rich explains why God shifts to the third person in this commandment and what that shift reveals about the weight of his name. Since a name in Scripture represents a person's very being and reputation, to misuse the name of God is to lie about who he is. Rich argues the commandment ultimately prohibits all sin, since every person bears God's image, then narrows the focus to specific violations, including irreverent exclamations, careless profanity, and the substitutes and euphemisms Christians often reach for instead.

This lesson calls listeners to examine their own speech and to consider what it truly means to hallow God's name rather than treat it as something ordinary.