02.05.23 Morning - The Sabbath Part 5 - Answering Objections

Good morning. We are continuing our study of the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath. •And this morning we will be considering the most frequent textual objections to the doctrine. The goal of this sermon is to answer objections. •Specifically, I want to answer Anti-Sabbatarian objections based on NT texts. •You see, for all we’ve seen thus far about the Sabbath day, there are some texts that modern Bible interpreters claim explicitly do away with the Sabbath for Christians. •There are three texts that are commonly appealed to: Rom. 14:5-6, Gal. 4:9-11, and Col. 2:16-17. •Often, modern evangelicals will quote those texts and not even give any commentary on them because they believe that the simplest reading of those texts manifestly refute any concept of a Christian Sabbath. •And, to be honest, if you isolate those three passages from the context of the books they’re in, and also isolate them from the context of the rest of the whole Bible, they do seem to say that there is no Sabbath for us today. But, brothers and sisters, we can’t do that. •We can’t isolate and atomize the Scriptures. •We believe in Sola Scriptura and TOTA SCRIPTURA. •We believe Scripture alone is the infallible source of all doctrine and practice. And we believe that we must use ALL OF SCRIPTURE and not just parts. •Therefore, we cannot isolate passages. We must read them in their immediate context and also in the context of the whole Bible. •If we don’t do that, we will fall headlong into all kinds of errors and even heresies. This sermon is what I call a “battleground sermon.” •The debate about the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath is often either won or lost in the minds of many regarding the interpretation of these three NT texts. •And so, I hope to show you this morning that none of these three texts refute the idea of the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath. •They do all tell us that the Jewish days of observance, the Old Covenant days, including the seventh day Sabbath, have passed away. •But they do not tell us that the moral principle of keeping one day in seven holy to the Lord has passed away. •And they do not teach us that there is no day for Christians to keep as a Sabbath under the New Covenant. Before we begin, I must say one more thing pastorally: •Beware your own prejudices! •Really listen to what is being said today. •Don’t allow your prejudices against the Christian Sabbath to keep you from rightly understanding the text. •Go into this with an open mind and heart saying, “Whatever you have said, Lord, I will do.” •He will certainly help you to understand. Now, ordinarily, I would have you all stand as we read the main text I will preach from. •But I have no such text today. I have three texts. •So I will break with my ordinary custom and just go right to prayer and then we will dive into to each of the three portions of Scripture. •May God bless the preaching of His Word this morning. (PRAY) Our Heavenly Father, We thank you for your Word. It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We want to understand what you’ve said in Scripture. And so, we ask you to help us. Open our hearts and minds to understand and gladly embrace whatever you’ve said. By the working of your Spirit, make the text shine brightly this morning and grant us understanding and a change of heart where we need it. Help us to clear away any prejudices that we might have so that we can gladly receive the pure Word of God. Sanctify us by your truth. Your Word is truth. We ask these things in Jesus’ Name and for His sake. Amen. 1.) Let’s begin with the first and, I think, easiest text of the three: Romans 14:5-6 [5] One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. [6] The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. Now, Anti-Sabbatarians will read this text and say, •“See! Paul says here that it’s ok for a Christian to believe that every day is the same and that there are no differences between days! But, if you esteem one day as better than another, that’s your own private conviction. •So then, we need to leave each other alone on the issue of a Sabbath day. And Paul can only say that because there is no Sabbath day for us to keep.” •They claim that Paul is saying that all days are, in reality, truly alike and, therefore, there is no binding day for the Christian. •So, in light of that, any observance of any day (like a Christian Sabbath) is completely up to the individual, since all days are actually the same under the New Covenant. I don’t believe that is how we should read this passage for a couple of reasons: 1. First, v6 tells us that Paul isn’t just talking about days in this chapter: •“The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord…while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord…” •Observing certain days is only part of what Paul is discussing in this passage. Dietary regulations are also part of the conversation. •vv1-3 make this more explicit: “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.” •Apparently, there was a division within the Church of Rome concerning dietary restrictions and the celebration of certain days. Now, what dietary and day issues would those be? •Well, considering that all over the letter Paul lets us know that he’s writing to a mixed congregation of Jews and Gentiles, it’s easy to conclude that Paul is referring to disagreements between Jews and Gentiles about Jewish dietary laws and Jewish days. •We’re all probably familiar about OT laws about what Jews could and could not eat. •But there were also tons of days (new moons, festivals, and sabbaths) that the Jews had to observe as holy days under the Old Covenant. •Should such laws and days be observed by Christians? That’s what the Apostle is addressing here. •These are disagreements about Old Covenant laws and how they apply to Christians under the New Covenant. Paul’s point in vv5-6 is that Christians are free to observe the dietary law if they’d like. •And they’re also free to observe OT holy days if they want. •But everyone is to leave everyone else alone on these matters, because they are unimportant. •Such laws are not binding on the Christian, and so observing them are a matter of liberty. See this again: Paul is talking about OT dietary law and also the Jewish liturgical calendar. •The Jewish seventh day observation of the Sabbath may be included here and probably is. BUT Paul is not talking about the Sabbath as a moral principle in this context. •And he certainly isn’t talking about whether or not Christians have to keep the Lord’s Day, which is a distinctively Christian day, or how to properly observe it. •He is talking exclusively about Jewish practices and laws under the Old Covenant. And the Lord’s Day is not one of them. That’s distinctively Christian. •His point is that Christians are free to observe or ignore those OT laws because they’re not moral issues. 2. A second thing to consider: To claim that Paul is saying that all days are alike in an absolute sense is to prove too much. •Clearly, the Apostles didn’t believe that every day was the same. •They believed that there was a day called the Lord’s Day, as John wrote in Revelation 1:10a, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day…” •The Apostles believed that there is a day that belongs to Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. •And that means that there is, in fact, one day every week that is different from the others. •So Paul CANNOT mean that all days are alike in every sense. He means, with regard to the Jewish days, all days are alike. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul himself observed the Lord’s Day. •Remember from last week, we saw him observe it in Acts 20:7 by preaching and observing the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week. •He also commanded the church to gather on the first day of the week in 1 Cor. 16:1-2. So this isn’t a matter of person preference for Paul. He commanded the Galatians and Corinthians to observe the day. •So then, Paul clearly didn’t believe that there was no day to be observed whatsoever in the New Covenant. And we know that because Paul himself observed the Lord’s Day. To go even further, if Paul is saying that there are no New Covenant days to be observed because all days are the same, that logic would also apply to food. •Paul says here that food is food. In other words, all food is alike, even as all days are alike. •But we know that there is indeed holy food in the New Covenant. We call it the Lord’s Supper. •Though, in one sense, with regard to Jewish dietary laws, all food is the same, there is still a sacred use of food that Christians have to observe. •In the same way, though with regard to Jewish laws, all days are the same, there is still a sacred day that Christians have to observe: the Lord’s Day. Brothers and sisters, too interpret this text as the Anti-Sabbatarian does prove too much. •It negates any observation of any day whatsoever, which is clearly unbiblical. •And it also parings Paul into conflict with John and even himself. (Which is kind of funny to think about.) Again, in Romans 14, Paul is talking about JEWISH THINGS. •The Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath is not under discussion whatsoever. •Neither is the moral principle/law of the Sabbath being discussed. •Jewish dietary laws and days are on the Apostle’s mind in Romans 14, not the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath. 3. A third thing to consider briefly: Paul isn’t talking about keeping the Lord’s Day because there was no disagreement within the Church about that. •It was a universal, undisputed practice. •Again, Paul is talking about something that was disputed: How Old Covenant laws worked within the New Covenant. (And Paul dealt with that often.) •So, to try to make this passage into a refutation of the Christian Sabbath is to twist it into something that Paul wasn’t even discussing. In conclusion, we see that this text in no way destroys or undermines the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath. 2.) Now we turn to our second controversial text: Galatians 4:9-11 [9] But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? [10] You observe days and months and seasons and years! [11] I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. The Anti-Sabbatarian will read these verses and say, •“Paul is condemning the observation of DAYS in this passage. He says so right there in v10! Paul says that to observe days is to turn back to weak and worthless principles of the world and make yourself a slave. •So then, there must be no day for us to observe as Christians. And since Paul condemns observing days, there can be no Sabbath day for Christians.” Once again, I don’t believe that such an interpretation of the Apostles’ words holds up when we consider the context of this passage. 1. Robert P. Martin, writing about this text said, •“Paul is addressing the question: Must I observe days, months, seasons, and years in order to be justified before God? •Paul has now moved to a case in which the issue of Christian liberty is no longer part of the picture. At Romans 14:5, he says, ‘One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.’ But here he says, ‘You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.’ •The question is not whether the Galatians are using their Christian liberty to the full but whether they have been bewitched into thinking that they must observe the Law of Moses, including its ceremonial regulations, in order to be saved.” •I think that is absolutely spot on. You see, the entire letter to the Galatians is the Apostle Paul dealing with a heresy we now call “Judaizing.” •Judaizing is the heresy of believing or teaching that we are justified, declared righteous by God, through faith in Christ PLUS obedience to the OT Law. •The Judaizers primarily demanded circumcision in addition to faith in Christ in order to be saved. But, as we look at the whole letter, it seems that they were demanding obedience to the entire Old Covenant law (dietary, day observation, cleanliness laws, etc.) in order for a person to be saved. •This whole letter is Paul hammering home again and again that we are not saved by any works that we offer to God of any kind, but are saved only by faith in Jesus Christ alone. •Paul is driving home that we are not saved by faith in Christ PLUS observing the Mosaic Laws about circumcision, food, days, or even the Moral Law. •Justification by faith alone in Christ alone apart from any works from the sinner whatsoever is the great overarching theme of this entire letter. •Again, Paul is writing against the Judaizers. And remembering that makes sense of what we read in this passage. •Paul is saying that the Galatians, by buying into the Judaizing heresy, have turned back “to the weak and worthless principles of the world,” and are desiring to become slaves once more. •By turning back to the OT regulations as a way to make themselves right with God, they were turning back to things that could never and would never save them. And it is in that sense that the OT laws are “weak and worthless.” But what’s interesting is that the Galatians were primarily Gentiles. They weren’t Jews before becoming Christians. They were pagan. •But there are great similarities between Judaizing and pagan religion: Their old pagan religion was a system of ignorance of the true God and self-justification/salvation by works. •The Galatians, however, had come to know God in Christ through Paul’s Gospel of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone. •But now they were turning back to something very similar to their old paganism: A system of self-salvation through obedience. And that is actually ignorance of the true God and His Word and will and work inChrist. •The “weak and worthless principles” they were falling back into are the principles of salvation by works. And part of their turning back was observing “days and months and seasons and years” as a way to make themselves righteous in God’s sight. •Considering, again, that the Galatians had been overrun by Judaizers, it then makes sense to view this as a reference to JEWISH DAYS. •Just as their old pagan religious observances could not save them, neither can obeying Jewish laws and regulations save them from their sins. •Both Judaizing and paganism revolve around the same ungodly, self-righteous, ignorant principles: Salvation by our works and not by Christ alone. •And Paul is telling them that by submitting to the teachings of the Judaiziers, they’ve fallen back into the same kind of religion that Christ saved them from. •Brothers and sisters, that fits the whole context of the letter. And it fits the phrasing that Paul uses here. You see, “days and months and seasons and years” refer to OT holy days. •You can read about them in Leviticus 23 and 25. •“Days” refers to the Jewish seventh day sabbath observance and the Day of Atonement. •“Months” refers to the festivals at the new moons. •“Seasons” (or times) refers to the annual feasts like Passover, Pentecost, the Feast of Booths, etc. •And “years” refers to the Sabbatical years and the year of Jubilee. •If you know that Paul is dealing with Judaizing and have a basic understanding of the OT, you can see that Paul is talking about Jewish days under the Old Covenant and their observation. And Paul is telling the Galatians and us, “NONE OF THAT WILL SAVE YOU!” •The Apostle is stressing that no obedience to the Law can make anyone right with God. •Again, ONLY CHRIST CAN SAVE SINNERS. •Our works will never be good enough. Only Christ can make us right with God. •Only Christ can take away our sins. •Only Christ can make us righteous by giving us His perfect life of righteousness. •Only Christ can stand between a holy God and wicked sinners and make peace between them. •Only Christ can represent sinful men as our New, True, and Better Adam. Our perfect Federal Head. •Only Christ can do this for us. And He is received only by faith, not by works. •Nothing we do can make us right with God. Faith alone in Christ alone is the only way for sinners to be saved. Brothers and sisters, Paul simply is NOT dealing with the idea of a Christian Sabbath in this letter. •He’s not dealing with Christian days. He’s not dealing with the creation principle of one day in seven belonging to the Lord. •He’s dealing with Jewish issues and heretics who were denying justification by faith alone. •He’s dealing with a LEGALISTIC USE OF THE LAW. •He’s not dealing with the right use of the Law, which is obedience out of gratitude for God’s mercy and the Law as a rule of life for the believer. •He’s not dealing with a disagreement among faithful Christians about days and food like in Romans 14. •Paul is dealing with heresy and an improper use of the Law of God. •And, in this passage, Paul is highlighting the folly of believing that observing OT days (or any kind of obedience) while make you right with God. •Keeping the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath, as a matter of Christian obedience and a rule of life is not under discussion; a denial of justification by faith alone is. Furthermore, as with the Romans passage, those who claim that Paul is saying there is no day for us to observe are proving too much. •And that’s because PAUL HIMSELF OBSERVED THE LORD’S DAY. •Paul is not condemning all observation of days. He’s not condemning a Christian Sabbath. •He’s condemning legalism. So, once again, to make these verses into a refutation of the Christian Sabbath is to ignore the context and issue Paul was dealing with. •He wasn’t talking about a Christian observance of the Lord’s Day. Something that all Christians did. •He was dealing with legalism. •In conclusion, we see that this text in no way destroys or undermines the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath. 3.) We now turn to our third controversial text. And this one might be the most difficult: Colossians 2:16-17 [16] Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. [17] These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Anti-Sabbatarians point at this passage and say, •“Paul says here that we shouldn’t let anyone pass judgment on us with regard to a Sabbath. So, for you to tell Christians that there is a Sabbath for them to keep is a violation of what Paul says here. •In reality, there is no more Sabbath and that’s why we shouldn’t let anyone judge us about keeping one. •Furthermore, because the Sabbath was a shadow of Christ, and Christ has come, there can be no Sabbath for us today under the New Covenant.” For the third time, I don’t believe that this is the correct way to interpret this text. 1. Let’s consider the context: V16 starts with “Therefore.” So let’s look at what comes before this verse. •We could go back further than this, but look at vv13-15: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him (Christ), having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.” Paul is talking about how Jesus has worked redemption for us by the blood of His Cross. •God has forgiven us for all our trespasses/sins by nailing them to the Cross with Christ. Christ has made a perfect and full atonement for all our sins in His suffering and death in our place. •In Christ, God has triumphed over all spiritual authorities (Satanic forces, it seems) and has worked salvation on our behalf. •“THEREFORE let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath” It seems that there was another heresy in Colossae that was similar to Judaizing, but with some complicated twists that I won’t get into right now. •But, part of the heresy was the belief that obeying OT laws, in addition to angel worship and asceticism (v18), plus faith in Jesus were necessary for salvation. •Just like the Galatians, these Colossian Christians were being told that they had to keep the OT dietary laws (“questions of food and drink”). •And it seems that they were also being told that they needed to observe the Jewish Calendar (“festival or a new moon or a Sabbath”). •And this all must be done, said the heretics, in order to be saved. We see more clearly that the Colossian heretics were teaching a legalistic view of salvation from v20: •“If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits (elementary principles) of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations…?” •This is the same language that Paul used in Galatians 4:9. •And there Paul was referring to works that God did not command of Christians and that could not save them. •Paul is dealing with basically the same issue here with the Colossians. Paul is writing against a heresy that, in part, denies justification by faith alone in Christ alone. •And that’s why he says, “Christ has put away your sin at the Cross…THEREFORE don’t let anyone pass judgment on you with regard to these things. You’re saved in Christ. So ignore that nonsense.” •Brothers and sisters, Paul is not dealing with the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath. He’s dealing once again with legalism and an improper use of the OT Law. •Paul is not dealing with whether or not Christians have any day to observe or keep holy to the Lord under the New Covenant. He’s dealing with the claim that Christians have to keep Jewish days. 2. But that raises the question, “How do you know that Paul is only talking about Jewish days here?” •We know that because of the phrase, “Festival, a new moon, or a Sabbath.” •You see, those three terms are used together in multiple places in the OT to refer to Jewish days of observance. •2 Chronicles 31:3 says, “The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burn offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Law of the LORD.” •Nehemiah 10:32-33 says, “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: for the show bread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.” •And it’s interesting to note that the Septuagint (Greek OT) uses the exact same worlds in these places that Paul uses in Colossians 2:16. •They are, therefore, talking about the same things: Jewish days of observance under the Old Covenant. •And Paul is telling us that we don’t have to keep them. For our purposes this morning, it’s also good to note that “a Sabbath” refers to the Jewish, seventh day Sabbath. •It also refers to other special Sabbath days like the Day of Atonement. •This fits with what Paul is talking about. We shouldn’t be bothered that Paul includes the weekly seventh day observance here. •And that shouldn’t bother us because that is not THE Sabbath as a moral principle established at creation. Paul is talking about the Jewish day of observance. •Paul is simply saying that all OT Jewish days are no longer binding on Christians. But that does not mean that the creation ordinance of one day in seven belonging to God has gone away. •It just doesn’t. That’s putting something into the text that isn’t there and isn’t under discussion. •It just means that the Jewish day is over. •Remember, the Sabbath is a Moral-Positive Law: Moral in substance. Positive in what day is to be observed. •The Jewish day is gone. But that doesn’t mean that there is no Christian day. The text does not demand such a conclusion. And such a conclusion will undo the rest of what Scripture says about the Sabbath. •A Christian day for rest and worship is not under discussion here. Paul is exclusively talking about Jewish days and legalism and heresy in this text. 3. One final question remains: “What about v17? If the Jewish Sabbath is a shadow of Christ, and Christ has come, then how does it continue?” •Again, remembering that Paul is referring to the seventh day Sabbath, we see pretty clearly that the observation of that particular day did point to Christ. •The seventh day Sabbath symbolized God’s promise to give rest to His People. (You can read about this in Hebrews 4.) •And that rest has been held out since the first week of creation. •When the weekly day of rest was reiterated under the Old Covenant, after the Fall of man into sin, it reminded the Jews that God promised to give an ultimate rest some day through the Messiah. •Each week, the seventh day pointed to God’s promise to send the Rest-Giver, Jesus Christ. •And in Christ, the substance has come and fulfilled that Jewish day by giving rest to all who trust in Him. BUT, in saying this, Paul doesn’t repeal one day in seven belonging to God. •He’s saying that the JEWISH day is finished because Christ has come. •But that does not necessarily mean that there is no Christ-instituted day for rest and worship under the New Covenant. •The passing away of the seventh day Sabbath can be asserted without at the same time asserting that the moral principle of sabbath-keeping has passed away. •Brothers and sisters, the moral substance of the Fourth Commandment has not gone away any more than the rest of the Commandments have gone away under the New Covenant. •Furthermore, there is clearly still one day in seven that Christ commands us to observe: The Lord’s Day. I know I keep repeating myself, but Paul is not talking about any Christian keeping of days. •He’s merely telling us that we are not bound to keep OT days because they were shadows of Christ who has come. •But the Sabbath, while it does have Jewish and anticipatory marks under the Old Covenant, is not tied only to the Old Covenant because it began at creation. •So, the Sabbath continues, even though the seventh day is finished. Brothers and sisters, keeping the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath is not a shadowy thing. •It’s isn’t looking forward to Christ like the Jewish day did. •It isn’t a shadow. It’s a bright sun shining on the world that declares, “Christ HAS COME! Christ HAS SAVED His People! Christ IS RISEN! Christ IS LORD!” •The Christian Sabbath is not a shadow any more than the Lord’s Supper is. •It’s a weekly memorial to the Christ who has come and worked salvation for all who will believe on Him. So then, once again, we see that this text does not destroy or undermine the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath. 4.) At this point, I’d like to go on the offensive against Anti-Sabbatarianism. •I’ve spent this whole sermon defending the biblical doctrine of the Christian Sabbath. I’d like to know launch a bit of an offensive. For any non-Sabbatarians here today, there are some things you should consider. •There are some serious and weighty things that you’ll have to deal with or give up if you don’t believe that there is a Sabbath for Christians. •There are some serious issues you have to deal with and questions you’ll have to answer if you reject the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath. 1. Why is a creation ordinance done away with? •How is that even possible? •Could marriage, gender, male-headship, and labor go away while time still endures? •If the Sabbath creation ordinance has gone away under the New Covenant, how do the others remain? 2. How is it that a Moral Law (one of the Ten Commandments) has passed away? •Does morality change? Does God change? •Do we no longer need a day for worship and rest? •Does God no longer require us to set aside time to worship Him? •Why was the Fourth Commandment written on stone if it was to pass away? •If the Fourth Commandment was Ceremonial, why did God speak it Himself, write it Himself, and have it placed within His Throne? •Why are the Ten Commandments appealed to in the NT as the standard for morality if one of them no longer applies to the Christian? •Why is there an allegedly Ceremonial Law in the middle of the Moral law? 3. What will you do with places like Isaiah 56 that prophesy Sabbath keeping after the Messiah comes and during the age of the New Covenant? •What is the Law written on the hearts of New Covenant members in Jeremiah 31, if it is not the Ten Commandments? 4. What will you do with Jesus’ words, “The Sabbath was made FOR MAN?” •Jesus tells us that the Sabbath was intended by God to bless all mankind. •I guess you’ll have to says that the loving and kind King Jesus took a blessing away from mankind. •I guess you’d have to say that the New Covenant, which is superior to the Old, is missing a blessing that the Old Covenant had. 5. How will you demand rest from your labor each week? •How will you demand time to worship God? •If the Sabbath command is gone, so is any command FROM GOD for employers to give their employees a day of rest or time to worship. •Some will say, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” would protect rest and time for worship. •But that won’t work here because, as Paul tells us in Romans 13:8-10, loving your neighbor is the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments. •So, by appealing to the “love your neighbor,” you are subconsciously appealing to the Moral Law as summarized in the Ten Commandments. •And there is only one Moral Law that tells you to give rest and time to worship to your neighbor: The Fourth Commandment. •That Commandment alone tells you to give others rest and time to worship. Without it, you have no revelation from God guaranteeing those things to you or anyone else. To believe that there is no command to give rest or time to worship has terribly cruel results. •I do not want to live in a world where it is morally permissible to work people 365 days a year and not permit them to assemble with God’s People. •And, praise God, I don’t have to because the Sabbath command remains. •But the non-Sabbatarian has no such foundation. Brothers and sisters, to deny that a day remains for Christians leaves you with difficulties that you don’t want to have to deal with. •It leaves you with a Bible that contradicts itself. •And it leaves you with a moral gap that will lead to human suffering. •So, embrace the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath. 5.) You know, some people stake their entire understanding of the Sabbath on the three NT texts that we considered this morning. •But in doing so, they violate the principle that Scripture interprets Scripture. •And they do this by ignoring the context in which those texts were written, and all that the OT teaches us about the Sabbath. •While ignoring the context in which Paul wrote to the Romans, Galatians, and Colossians, they also forget or ignore that the Sabbath is a creation ordinance, a Moral Law, and has tons of parallels to the Lord’s Day. •To interpret these texts in the way that the AntiSabbatarian does brings the Scripture into conflict with itself. •Brothers and sisters, we cannot do that. We cannot mishandle the Scriptures in such a way. You know, to use these three texts to say that there is no Sabbath for the Christian is like the Jehovah’s Witness who uses Jesus’ Words, “The Father is greater than I,” as a proof that Jesus is not God. •They reject the clear testimony of the rest of Scripture and hyper-focus on only the one proof text, lifting it from it’s context of the WHOLE BIBLE. •That is NOT how we are to use the Word of God. 6.) So then, brothers and sisters, for application let me say two things: 1. Don’t twist Scripture. •Some of it is hard to understand, that is for sure. And that is why we must study it diligently. •We must remember that “a text without a context is a pretext.” •That is, if we lift a text out of its context, we can make it say whatever we want. •Hear me: Christ has done too much to save us for us to then treat His Word lightly and not look deeply into it. •We must be diligent to rightly divide the Word of truth. 2. Second, and lastly, let me end this sermon by reiterating something Paul said in one of our texts, but applying it to the Christian Sabbath. •In Galatians 4:9-11, Paul told the Galatians that keeping days, seasons, months, and years won’t save them. And that to do any works or render any obedience to God as part of our salvation is to go back to the weak and worthless principles of the world. •Though Paul wasn’t talking about the Christian Sabbath, there is a principle in what he said in that text that I want us to remember: •Keeping the Sabbath won’t save you. Not even the Christian Sabbath. Brothers and sisters, CHRIST ALONE saves sinners. •Not your works or merits. You have none. Even your best works are tainted with sins. •Isaiah tells us that our righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God. •If God judges our works of obedience with the strictest measure of justice, we will always come up short. •Our motives aren’t always perfect. Our obedience isn’t always perfect. Everything is always tainted with our fallenness and sinfulness. •Nothing that we do can make us right with God. Nothing. Not even keeping the Lord’s Day. Only Christ can save us. •He alone has taken away our sins by bearing them in His body on the Tree. •He alone has sprinkled us with His blood and washed us clean. •He alone has suffered the judgment of God that was due to us for our sins. •He alone has perfectly obeyed God in our place as our representative before God. •Only Christ can save you. Don’t allow keeping the Lord’s Day to lead you to self-righteousness and legalism. •To puff your chest out and think you’re earning something or do something for God by keeping His Day absolutely defeats the purpose of the Day which is to glorify the risen Lord Jesus who has saved you BY HIMSELF, APART FROM YOUR WORKS. Now, hear me: You should keep the Sabbath holy. •But you should do so in gratitude to Christ. •You should obey Him. And Sabbath keeping is part of our Christian obedience. It is a means of our sanctification. •BUT justification only comes through the work of Christ, applied to us by faith alone in Him alone. Your attempts to keep the Lord’s day won’t make you righteous before God any more than you attempts to keep any of His commandments. •You’re a sinner. And you can only be saved by Christ. •So, even though you must strive to obey Him, you must trust Him always. •Look always unto Him for your right standing with God. •And have peace with God through faith in Jesus. May the Lord teach us to keep the day. •And may we always remember to do so for the right reasons: Love and gratitude for the salvation we have freely receive in Jesus Christ our Lord. •Amen.