In the beginning, God completed his work of creation and rested on the seventh day, blessing it and setting it apart as holy. That pattern of work and rest was written into the created order before it ever became a command, and later it was written into the Ten Commandments as the fourth word: six days to labor, and one whole day kept holy to the Lord.
The sermon traces the Sabbath from its institution at creation, through its restoration in the law given at Sinai, to its place as a sign of the Lord’s covenant deliverance of his people. The Westminster Shorter Catechism’s summary of the fourth commandment anchors the call to keep one whole day in seven as a holy Sabbath to God, resting from ordinary work and trusting him rather than our own labor.