Sabbath or Lord's Day?

Exodus 31: 12-17

The Reformer's Fire
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Exposition by Max A Forsythe

Question 62:
What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
Answer 62:
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.

I remember a dearly departed friend, Rollo Best, who spoke many years ago in a short testimony before my first congregation. As we were planning the first budget that I ever had a hand in, his comments were most helpful to that church and to myself as well. He observed that unlike human rulers, the economy of God's righteous demands upon us were most gracious. What other ruler he asked, only requests one day in seven and a mere ten per cent of our income? Traditionally, the peasants in Europe had to work for their land owner two to three days a week, and taxes were most disproportionate to the askings of our God and King. Historically, whenever taxes have gone over twenty per cent, there you have a government that would not long last. We have only to tally up the withholdings of our own government to realize that God's economy is most beneficial in comparison. And God's requests are fair and equitable to every class and citizen.

It has been estimated that if the whole population were reduced to minimum wage and a mere tenth of that given gladly directly to the church and the poor, not only would the poor have more in gifts, but everyone else would be thirty to forty per cent better off, since only one dollar out of every eight actually gets into the hands of the poor! But enough of the sign of the tithe, which like the Sabbath is merely an outward spiritual sign of what the Lord has accomplished already within the heart of the believer. In this understanding, what we gladly give to the Lord is from a gracious heart which flows from the much greater grace received. In this sense we must understand the tithe to be a spiritual gift, in which the Holy Spirit deals with personality and character so that we might better imitate Himself.

The heart of our consideration today is what we make of a "Christian" Sabbath. Is it really a Sabbath in the tradition of the Old Covenant or is it better understood as the Lord's Day, administered differently under the Lordship of Christ. Certainly, there are similarities and I have no doubt that some of the Old Covenant community did indeed understand the joyous aspects of the Lord's Day in their solemn celebration of the Sabbath. For us today, the key difference between the Sabbath and the Lord's Day is in the spiritual attitude that we bring to the question. If you are more concerned on traditional taboos and avoiding certain things that you would not do on a Sabbath, I would think that you are closer to the understanding of most of the Old Covenant community. Especially the attitude of the leaders, who by Jesus' time had made the Sabbath a drudgery and a burden.

Instead, we should be more concerned with the things that we feel free to do on the Lord's Day, remembering that the day is His and we would gladly use His day to glorify and bless His holy Name. Do you see the difference, instead of a probationary list of activities, there is an opportunity to celebrate gladly the grace that has been given to us. Thus, the Lord's Day becomes a sign of grace which we can lay before a watching world.

Now we must deal with every nuance of our text and so let us understand verse fourteen carefully. This is what the Israelite community chose to do with the Sabbath commandment. In John 5: 16-18, Jesus Himself was even charged accordingly as part of the reason for His eventual execution. Within the last year I have been asked about this death requirement for non-celebration of the Sabbath. Two things come to mind as I look at this verse. Since Christ was crucified partly on this charge, He has died for us in regard to our failure to uphold this aspect of the law perfectly.

Second, since this portion of the Torah are considered to be the national laws of the Hebrew nation, we may also presume that with the destruction of the political House of Israel and the end of their earthly government, then we are not obligated to execute anyone for refusing to celebrate the Lord's Day.

Third, since a complete and total disregard for the sabbath concept gives evidence of an unrepentant heart, one day at the end of time, the sentence will truthfully be finally carried out for all of those who despise our God and King.

The failure of the world to comprehend and set aside the Lord's Day is but a mere sign and seal of where their hearts are! And for all of God's people who truly treasure the Lord's Day, they may understand by that pleasure that they belong to Christ. In our catechism today, we have seen that we are allowed to keep six days a week for our labor and we have also comprehended that the One day of the week is kept as a sign of the Lord's sovereignty over His people at least.

There remain two points to make from question sixty-two. The example of Christ and the Lord's blessing of the Sabbath rest. Several weeks ago, we looked at the reports in the Gospel of John (20: 19-31) where we noted that Jesus appeared to the gathered disciples on the Lord's Day rather than on the Sabbath. Already within a few weeks, the disciples were remembering the first day of the week as a special day of fasting, prayer and fellowship. Had the new administration of the Covenant under Christ not intended the Christian Church to seek a new Lord's Day, I do not believe that the Lord would have chosen to bless the choice that they were led to make. They clearly saw in the resurrection of Christ, a break with the specific and traditional requirements of the Old Covenant and were willing to learn and seek the Lord's blessing of the spiritual signs of the New Covenant.

I have no doubt that as long as they were able, they did gather in the Temple and use the various courts for witnessing, prayer and even heartfelt worship of our Triune God. But, within God's providential blessing, the rituals, building and people of the Old Covenant were shown that His spiritual presence was to be henceforth with the New Covenant community. Yes, as Edith Schaeffer well wrote some years ago, Christianity is indeed Jewish in its essential orientation. By that I mean, we still love the same Law of God that was revealed on Mount Sinai. We still study it, and found our civilization on the same principles. However, there is in Christ a break with the past. And just as a Roman Catholic priest who spent his life working in Israel on historical research, observed: Judaism, is a dead end religion since the time of Christ.

So too are the Pharisaic regulations adopted by too many in the ultra-conservative Christian community out of accord with the spiritual blessings of Christ's administration of the Covenant Law. Indeed, even in the Reformational period, too many of the worldly crowd were punished for violating the Sabbath. And in that emphasis, the worldly had more and more excuse to be put off and put out! And yes indeed, I would certainly relish the "theonomy" (with a very small t) of my home community in the fifties and sixties where the sabbath was indeed a delight and the whole community had a taste of a heavenly day.

When the first gas station in town opened on the Lord's Day, it was not the words and witness of the elders who made it easy for the station to remain open, but the deeds of the congregations who hustled down to buy their gasoline, refreshments and news papers. In a grocery store in the county seat where I was employed in the sixties, I sent a letter to the churches urging them to encourage their members to abstain from shopping on the Lord's Day, when the store first opened. Instead of helping keep the store closed, which my boss certainly wanted to continue, the churchly crowd flocked in and made the whole enterprise profitable the very first week the new experiment was tried

Within a decade, Sunday sales became a national trend and the Carter energy crisis was probably more related to that 15% increase in the use of energy than many of the other reasons which have been recorded. Did the Christians of that time cherish the blessings of everything being shut down and the heavenly rest that was enjoyed by nearly everyone? Evidently not, and the modern attitudes regarding the commandments of our God and King certainly show what a hell on earth even the most blessed country in the world can create given enough time and ignorance of God and His commandments will allow.

Do you enjoy the spiritual fruits of a Christian sabbath every Lord's Day? Or would you prefer a "Saturday sabbath", a Sunday Lord's Day and even a "Friday sabbath" as the Egyptian culture understands the choices of Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy days? In that country as well as our own, the sabbath rest once enjoyed by everyone is now a long lost memory.

The habits of culture are of no avail to help you sustain your happiness in the Lord's Day that He has given to you.Specifically, you must learn to demonstrate the spiritual fruits that Christ has given to you and learn to set aside that twenty-four hour period we once knew as the Lord's Day. In so doing, you will make that sign known and understood because, it is no longer mere habit, but real spiritual discipline which you must use to honor our God and King. May He give you the heart and mind to set His Day apart. Amen.

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