The Lord’s Day
The Lord’s Day
INTRODUCTION How nice to see a Christian Sunday after the desecrated Sunday of China! In America, Sunday has become a "fun-day"; a "holi-day" instead of a holy day. Our experience is that those who honor the Lord’s day are honored by God. In West China we found that the church that kept Sunday with closed stores prospered spiritually. The student who honours God with no secular study on Sunday will be God-blessed. But the problem that faces us today is, Can we force Christians to keep the Lord’s day as the Sabbath was kept with law enforcement? The Republic of the Philippines has blue laws that demand that certain types of business must close on Sunday, but unfortunately keeps the public markets, cock-pits and entertainment houses open.
THE ORIGIN OF THE LORD’S DAY
The Lord’s Day (Sunday) is a New Testament fact, but it has its roots in the Sabbath of the Old Testament. In Genesis 2:2-3, "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day . . . and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work." But the Sabbath was not given to man till 2500 years later in Exodus 20:8-10.
However, from Exodus 16:23, it would seem that some form of Sabbath was kept then. At the giving of the law in Exodus 20:1-26, Sabbath keeping became part of the Decalogue. The Old Testament Sabbath was a day of rest, not of sacrifice or worship.
It was a day when beasts of burden, slaves and humans all rested.
It was not associated with temple attendance or any religious observance. The Sabbath was given to Israel as a sign of the covenant. Exodus 31:13, "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations."
Exodus 31:17, "It (the Sabbath) is a sign between Me (the Lord God) and the children of Israel for ever." The Pharisees kept a perverted Sabbath in Jesus ’day, for they had turned the Sabbath into a stern, hard, ritualistic day, hedged with strict limitations. In the Book of Acts we find the church keeping the first day of the week instead of the seventh day as a day of worship and good deeds.
THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH UNDER LAW
Even the servants and cattle were forced to rest, Exodus 20:10.
No manner of work was to be done on the Sabbath Day, Exodus 20:10. Food was cooked on Friday.
No purchase was to be made on the Sabbath Day, Nehemiah 10:31; Nehemiah 13:15-17.
No burdens were to be carried on the Sabbath Day, Nehemiah 13:19; Jeremiah 17:21.
No harvesting was to be done on the Sabbath Day, Exodus 34:21.
Death was the punishment appointed by God for those who broke the Sabbath. The man in Numbers 15:32-36 who was found gathering sticks to build a fire was commanded to be stoned to death.
CHRIST’S ATTITUDE TO THE SABBATH DAY
The Saviour did many miracles of healing on the Sabbath day which angered the Jews and made them call Jesus a "Sabbath breaker."
Jesus taught that He was Lord of the Sabbath. Matthew 12:8, "For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day."
As Lord of the Sabbath day He was at liberty to set aside the seventh day and institute the first day of the week.
Jesus taught that the Sabbath was made for man. Mark 2:27, "And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
Jesus taught that it was right to do good on the Sabbath day, Matthew 12:11. The sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath day should be removed.
Matthew 12:12, "Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." And Jesus went on and healed the man with the withered hand in Matthew 12:13.
THE TRUE WAY TO KEEP THE SABBATH DAY- Isaiah 58:13-14
To delight in the Lord. Make it a special day of worship, prayer, and praise.
To cease from your own pleasure. It is not a day for pleasure, sport, education, but a day to do HIS pleasure. Visit the sick for HIM.
To make it a day that honours the Lord. Six days we work and earn our living, but one seventh of our time belongs to the Lord to be used for HIMSELF alone.
THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH KEPT THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK
Acts 20:7, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them." (Regular Church services)
1 Corinthians 16:2, "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him." (Sunday Church collections) Revelation 1:10, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day." That is, Sunday, the first day of the week. Sunday, the first day of the week, was chosen because Jesus rose from the dead on the first Easter Sunday morning.
Matthew 28:1, "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week. . ." they went to the tomb and found that Jesus had risen.
Jesus remained in the grave long enough to fulfill the Jewish Sabbath.
HOW JESUS KEPT THE FIRST CHRISTIAN LORD’S DAY
Jesus comforted weeping Mary, John 20:13.
Jesus walked seven miles with two disciples, Luke 24:13.
Jesus gave a Bible reading to these two disciples, Luke 24:24-31.
Jesus sent messages to the other disciples, Matthew 28:10.
Jesus had a private interview with Peter, Luke 24:34.
Jesus met with the ten disciples and ate with them, Luke 24:36-45.
These are excellent examples for believers to follow. Do not these six things not fulfill Isaiah 58:13-14 most beautifully?
1 Peter 2:21, Jesus left us an example that we should follow in His footsteps.
CONTRAST BETWEEN THE SABBATH AND THE LORD’S DAY
The Sabbath is the seventh day and the Lord’s Day is the first day of the week.
The Sabbath commemorates God’s creation rest while the Lord’s day commemorates the resurrection.
On the seventh day God rested. On the first day Jesus was very busy.
The Sabbath commemorates a finished creation. The Lord’s day commemorates a finished redemption.
The Sabbath was a day of legal obligation; The Lord’s day is for voluntary worship.
The Sabbath was for the Jews and the Lord’s day is for the Church of Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION Is the Christian obligated to keep either or both of these special days? The Sabbath is part of the Decalogue and is obligatory to those under the law. But the Christian is no longer under the law.
Romans 6:15, "What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?
God forbid."
However, though we are not under law, the principle of keeping one day in seven holy unto the Lord has not changed. In giving we are no longer forced by law to give the tithe, but under grace we do more. We give the tithe and love offerings. The principle is the same here. The fact that we are not forced to keep the day holy ought to rejoice our hearts to live this day and extra hours beside for the worship and work of God.
Hebrews 4:1-11 speaks of the blessedness of rest. Our bodies need a day of rest.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
Who was the first to keep the Sabbath Day?
What is the basic requirement of the Sabbath Day?
What was the punishment for breaking the Sabbath?
What was Jesus’ threefold attitude toward the Sabbath Day?
According to Isaiah 58:13-14, how should we keep the Sabbath Day?
What proof do we have that the early Church kept Sunday instead of Saturday?
List six things that Jesus did on the first Lord’s Day?
List six contrasts between the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day.
What do we learn from the Sabbath from Romans 6:15?
List five kinds of rest referred to in Hebrews 4:1-11.