Worship & Rest: The Sabbath and the Church

WORSHIP & REST: THE SABBATH AND THE CHURCH

“Our Statement of Faith records, “We believe the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution or regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Our lives should reflect the hallowedness of this day.”[1]

I. THE SABBATH ON SUNDAY- Select Scriptures

I mentioned briefly in the last sermon that the Sabbath occurred on Sundays with regularity. One example that we will look at is in . In this passage, Moses (inspired by God) is providing additional details about the observance of the Passover. On the end of the Passover the celebreation of unleavened bread took place. However, as verse 7 mentions, it is “on the first day.” Compare verse 7 with verse 8, both the Sabbath (seventh day) and the first day (Sunday) were regarded as “holy convocation.

Notice later on in 23:33-40 the mentions of the first day and the eighth day. The reason I bring this up is to draw attention that the Sabbath was not solely tied to Saturday. There were other days regarded as both Sabbath and sanctified (set apart).

II. THE SABBATH AND JESUS- Select Scriptures

The Gospels record Jesus’ actions on the Sabbath with clock-work regularity. In fact, the word Sabbath appears 50 times in 45 verses (Matthew-John). So, in order to spend our time wisely we will only look at a few key passages.

A. Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath-

This passage is extremely instructive for our understanding of the Sabbath today. First, notice the conflict between the Pharisees and the disciples of Christ. They could not understand why the disciples were breaking the Sabbath. In their minds, what the disciples were doing violated God’s command.

Jesus asks them, “Have you never read…?” He points them back to Scripture, for Scripture provides a window into the outworking of God’s Word. David and his men were fleeing from Saul () and needed food. The necessities of life trumped the strict observance of the Sabbath.

In Jesus’ response, He goes back to creation (not Sinai) to prove the legitimacy of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man; man was not made for the strict and abusive observance of the Sabbath.

Jon English Lee wrote an article for Founders Ministries, and I love how he described Jesus’ teaching on the Sabbath:

Jon English Lee:

1. “He advocated works of necessity (; ; )”

2. “He advocated mercy (; ; ; ; ; ; ; )”

3. “He advocated piety (; ; ; ; ).”[2]

B. Jesus and the Sunday Sabbath- Select Scriptures

I encourage you to read through those passages referenced in your outline as they will provide you with an excellent treatment of Jesus’ view of the Sabbath. The Sabbath takes on new significance as we look at it through the lens of the resurrection.

Remember, the Old Testament (or, Old Covenant) foreshadows the substance: Christ (). Also remember that the New Covenant was mysteriously housed in the Old Covenant (). This is vital to remember because as we look at the transition from Saturday to Sunday observance, it is easy to get confused and go back and forth.

In we read that Mary and Mary came to the grave to look at the grave. It was after the Sabbath, which means it was Sunday. Jesus rose from the dead. It is the triumphal defeat of sin and Satan. Christ has faced His opponents in open battle and completely and utterly destroyed them ().

You may immediately think, “It never says the Sabbath switched!” To which I would reply, “You are correct.” However, if we were to take the time to look through the book of Acts, we would see an interesting development in the early church.

At first, the Christians were considered a sect within Judaism. Most of the first believers were primarily Jewish. They still worshiped in the synagogues, went to the Temple, and kept the Law. Even as far as we see the debate of how much Jewishness should be kept in the Church. The order of service, even today, remains quite similar to that of the first Christians.

However, two passages in the New Testament provide additional detail: and .

Additionally, the Old Covenant points forward to the New Covenant ( and the future deliverance from sin).

A few additional passages are worth noting:

Circumcision (eighth day, ) Firstborn of offering (eighth day, ) Accepting of sacrificial animals (eighth day, ) Aaron’s consecration (eighth day, ) Lepers declared clean (eighth day, ; , ) Atonement for a defiled Nazarite () Jesus’ sacrifice accepted (resurrection, eighth day, )

III. THE SABBATH AND HEAVEN- , ;

[1] Orcutt Baptist Church, Statement of Faith and Doctrine (Newport News, VA: Orcutt Baptist Church, 2017), 2.

[2] Jon English Lee, “Jesus and the Sabbath,” Founders Ministries (https://founders.org/2013/09/30/how-did-jesus-handle-the-sabbath/), accessed 13 November 2019.