Revelation chapter 1, verse 10. There we read that John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. There are lots of days, but there's a special day that in a special way belongs to the Lord, just as the Lord's Supper in a special way belongs to the Lord. If all days are alike, No one day can be a Lord's Day. The Lord's Day.
The Sabbath. Sunday. Are these all the same day? Why historically has the church gathered together on Sunday, the first day of the week? and not on Saturday.
These are important questions, and today's featured teacher on Renewing Your Mind will look to the New Testament. to see what it says about the Lord's Day as Sabbath. W. Robert Godfrey, the chairman of Ligoneer Ministries, is teaching today from his series, The Lord's Day: Sabbath Worship and Rest. If you'd like to dig into this subject more, you can request the entire series on DVD, digital access to the messages and study guide, plus a copy of the scriptures to take with you to Lord's Day worship.
When you give a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind at renewingyourmind.org before midnight tonight. I'll be sure to remind you again at the end of today's episode.
Well, here's Dr. Godfrey on the Lord's Day. What positively does the New Testament say that bears on the question of the day of Christian worship and the relationship of Sunday to the Fourth Commandment? And Obviously, if this were Uneasy. issue, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
I would say perhaps it's a little like the matter of infant baptism. The New Testament does not say in any single verse, baptize infants. Nor does it say in any verse, do not baptize infants. And so we have to look at the totality of the revelation of the Bible to try to answer that question. And I think it's somewhat similar when we come to the relationship of Sunday to the Sabbath.
We have to take the pieces, since there's no one verse that tells us exactly how to think about these things. We have to take the pieces and put them together. And the first piece I want us to think about. That I think is very important is Revelation Chapter 1, verse 10. I think this is such a crucial verse and is not often.
sufficiently talked about and thought about. And there we read that John was in the Spirit. On the Lord's Day. John was in the spirit. On the Lord's Day.
Now, being in the spirit, if we compare that with Revelation 4, verse 2, for example, it's pretty clear he's worshiping. That's what's going on.
Now, I don't think we want to try to make an argument from the New Testament that Christians can only worship on the Sabbath day. or on the Lord's Day. We can worship other days.
So, the fact that John's worshiping by itself doesn't prove anything about the day, but it says he's in the Spirit on the Lord's day.
Now that formulation in Greek is is quite distinctive. It's actually an adjectival form.
So, if we wanted to try to capture that in English, we'd have to say, he was in the spirit on the demonical day. In other words, he doesn't say he was in the Spirit on the day of the Lord. That phrase we often hear in the prophets of the Old Testament, that eschatological day. But he's in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, on the demonical day. And that adjective Kyriakos.
that adjective is only used one other place in the New Testament. And that's in 1 Corinthians 11. where Paul writes about the Lord's Supper.
Now that's very important. Because you have ordinary suppers. And then you have a special supper, the Lord's supper. The Dominical Supper. And obviously, the Lord's Supper is something very special set apart.
And that's exactly what we find then, I think, in Revelation 1, verse 10. The Lord's day, there are ordinary days, there are many days, there are lots of days, but there's a special day. That in a special way belongs to the Lord, just as the Lord's Supper, in a special way, belongs to the Lord. And you see, the problem, I hope, for the people who deny any special day in the new covenant, if there is no special day in the new covenant, how can there be a Lord's Day? If all days are alike, No one day can be a Lord's Day.
Now, even putting aside the question, what is the Lord's Day? If there's a Lord's Day at all. And Revelation 1 verse 10 says clearly there is a Lord's day. Then all days cannot be alike in the new covenant. It really seems to me that's ruled out in principle.
Bye. Revelation 1 verse 10.
Now, you may quote me and say, I said you shouldn't rest everything on one verse.
Well, I'm not going to rest it on one verse. But this is very significant. Very important, I think, in our reflection. I've tried to offer an exegesis of the passages that are purported to teach that all days are alike to show that's not what they teach.
Well, on the other hand, how are they going to explain away this verse that says there's a Lord's Day in the new covenant?
So that's the first point. I would like to make relative to this point. that the New Testament does teach a special day.
Well, what day could it be?
Well, uh The Seventh DevTools scholar that I read says, well, it's Saturday.
Well In an abstract world, that's possible. But it seems to me that runs into trouble with Colossians 2 verse 16, as I just argued.
Some scholars have said, well, it's Easter.
Well, I suppose that's possible. It doesn't solve the problem of there being a special day in the New Covenant. Nor does it solve the problem that Easter as a special holiday was really not celebrated widely in the church until later.
So, does the New Testament itself give us any suggestion? As to What day might be in mind? And you'll be delighted to learn that it does. It does. point Several times to the first day of the week.
Now, of course, it begins that by The references to the resurrection of our Lord. On the first day of the week. That's repeated. several times in the New Testament. Matthew 28, 1, Mark 16, 2.
Luke 24, 1, John 20, verse 1 and 19.
So all of the Gospels talk about the first day of the week as the day of the resurrection. And then there are other indications in the New Testament of the church. Honoring that first day, meeting on that first day, doing something special on that first day. We see that in John 20, verse 26, one week after the resurrection, the disciples meet with Jesus on the first day of the week. Acts 2 verse 1, we read that the disciples were gathered on the upper room on the first day of the week.
We read that also in Acts 20, verse 7. And there's the reference to taking the collection on the first day of the week in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 2.
Now Any one of those verses taken in isolation might not prove a great deal. But together they begin to point to a pattern of Christians gathering on the first day, acknowledging something special about the first day, pointing us then, I think, to the conclusion. That the first day? of the wake. is the Lord's Day.
And that in fact is The apostolic Teaching and practice. that the church followed.
So when Aquinas says, well, it's just a church observance. I think he's missing the point. He's missing the point that this was apostolic practice, and where the apostles established a practice that became. the precept in the life of the church. And that's why I think there was this universal practice in the early church.
of gathering on Sunday As The day of celebration that Christ is risen. the day of celebration, that the Old Testament Sabbath is now fulfilled. in the new covenant. And that's, I think, tremendously important and an important pointer for us. There's another pointer, I think, to help us think about this, and that's in the book of Hebrews.
Uh the book of Hebrews specifically in uh Hebrews 3 and 4. is looking carefully At the matter of The call to enter into the rest of God. It's a meditation on Psalm 95. And Psalm 95, you know, begins as a great call to worship and a great celebration. Of God as king and shepherd of his people, and then.
Psalm 95 suddenly shifts in the middle of it, if you're acquainted with that psalm. I'm always interested when uh Churches saying Psalm 95 is a call to worship. It's a great call to worship if you stop at the right time. Otherwise, the Psalm shifts in the middle, and as it's quoted there in Hebrews 3, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. on the day of testing in the wilderness Where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked with that generation and said, They always go astray in their heart. They have not known my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. It it's really a fairly Terrifying statement there. Of God's anger with his people because of their faithlessness and disobedience.
And the consequence is that they will not enter his rest. They die in the wilderness. The rest here is clearly the promised land. And part of what's interesting in Hebrews 3 and 4 is the author moves in his discussion of rest from rest as a place. The promised land fulfilled in heaven, the new heaven and the new earth.
and rest as a time. The Sabbath day fulfilled in the eternal rest of glory. And As he's making this argument, there are several things that are fascinating. One is, Without any hesitation, he takes all of this said to Israel and applies it to the church. He takes all of this said to Israel and applies it to the church.
So it's the church that now is called to listen as Israel is called to listen. It's the church that's called to Believe as Israel is called to believe. It's the church that's called to obey, as Israel was called to obey. And the church is warned that if it fails. to believe and obey and listen.
It will not enter the rest.
So, this is a very serious warning. Remember, Hebrews began. by talking about the danger of Christians Drifting away from the truth. Hebrew seems to have been written particularly to Jewish Christians who have begun to conclude maybe life was better. in Judaism than it is in Christianity.
Jews weren't persecuted. Christians are being persecuted. Jews had a magnificent physical temple. Christians have no physical impressive place of worship. Jews had a priesthood.
that was visible and and gloriously attired. We don't have a priesthood. We're called constantly to believe in a heavenly temple and a heavenly high priest and a heavenly this and a heavenly that. We're tired of heavenly. We want something we can hold on to on earth.
And so there is danger that some of these Jewish Christians are going to slip back into Judaism. And so this is a very solemn warning. That they mustn't drift from the truth, they mustn't slip back, they have to listen, they have to believe, they have to obey. That's what's being laid out here. Then, if we go down to chapter 4, verse 7.
We read again, he appoints a certain day today. That's a quotation from Psalm 95. Saying through David so long afterward in the words already quoted, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, you see, this is coming back to rest as land, entering the land of promise. Joshua led them into the land of promise.
But if Joshua had given them the fullness of rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.
So then Verse 9 is the crucial verse.
So then there remains A Sabbath rest. for the people of God. There remains a Sabbath rest. for the people of God. That sounds pretty clear, doesn't it?
There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
Now, some of you will know the work of John Owen. John Owen. great Puritan theologian and and exegete of the 17th century. Wrote a huge commentary on Hebrews. It's a big, big commentary on.
on Hebrews. And he spends a lot of time on this verse. Laboring to show that this implies we are obligated to a weekly Sabbath in the New Covenant. I really wanted to believe that when I read John Owen. But I was not persuaded.
I don't think that's what Hebrews is talking about. Hebrews is talking about heaven about glory about the new heaven and the new earth. He's talking about the ultimate fulfillment of all that God intends. on the last day. That's the rest we long to enter into.
That's the fulfillment of the promised land and of the Sabbath day. There yet remains a It's a word that apparently Hebrews made up. There yet remains a Sabbathing. for the people of God. But while Owen, I wasn't convinced, proved that this verse alone.
points to a weekly Sabbath in the New Covenant. What it does clearly teach is that the concept of Sabbath is not irrelevant to the new covenant. In fact, the hope that we have can be expressed in terms of Sabbath. Sabbath is not a mosaic. Institution that just utterly passes away and has no continuing significance.
No Sabbath was established at the creation by God. And is the way of talking about the fulfillment of all that God is doing in history.
So from the beginning of history till the end of history, it's all about Sabbath. is one way of looking at it. Sabbath in the Old Testament as shadow. But also Sabbath in the New Testament being substance.
Now, if Sabbath is that foundational, is that central, is that much of a bookend to all of human experience. Then we shouldn't be surprised if there continues to be a Lord's Day, a weekly day, a Fulfillment, even if as transformation of Sabbath into Lord's Day in the New Covenant. And I think that's what the New Testament is teaching over and over again. That the Sabbath, far from being simply fulfilled and put away. continues to be A guide of A teacher?
And that the apostles did see. that the Lord's Day is the fulfillment of the Sabbath day. And that they are interconnected. That Aquinas was right. There is a ceremonial element to the fourth commandment, namely the seventh day.
But there is also a moral dimension that there is a day. Appointed for us to meet with God.
So, I think all of these pieces taken together. point us very much in that direction. in a helpful way. And uh That practice then of the church needs rightly to be understood that way.
Now, some people have said.
Well Why isn't this more explicit? Why isn't the whole Ten Commandments Restated In the New Testament, doesn't the New Testament mainly focus on a reiteration of the second table of the law? Obey your parents, love your neighbor, all of those elements of the law, not stealing or committing adultery. all of those elements of the law. And that's always interesting to ask.
Why does the Bible do one thing and not another? Why does the Bible not do something we think it ought to do?
Well, you know, that probably means we've misunderstood in some way or other.
Well, you can say Well, the Bible doesn't repeat the first table of the law as much as the second table of the law because the first table of the law is really pretty irrelevant in the new covenant. Is that going to fly as an argument? Is that argument going to go anywhere? That God alone should be our God, that we are not to be an idolatrous people, that we shouldn't take His name in vain. Are those things really not important in the New Covenant?
No, of course not. The reason I think the second table of law is more frequently held up is because people in the New Testament had more trouble with that. They knew they were only supposed to have one God. They didn't need to be told that all the time. They knew they weren't supposed to have idols.
They were only told that occasionally, but they knew that. I think that's sort of what's going on here too. We're meeting every day on the Lord's Day. We're worshiping on the Lord's Day. We're fellowshipping with the Lord on the Lord's Day.
How often do we need to say that? That's what we are, that's what we do, that's who we are. I think that's what's going on here. And so I think What the reformed community saw In That New Testament is precisely testimony. to that being the calling on our lives.
Now we're not restricted from worshipping other days. But we are cold. to worship. On the Lord's Day by Apostolic Example. And we are called to remember that this is a day that belongs to the Lord.
Not just an hour. And that reality that the day belongs to the Lord needs to shape our whole attitude towards it, our whole Reflection on it.
Now Part of what I think has confused some people is Jesus' criticism of Pharisaical attitudes toward the Sabbath. But he's not rejecting anything about the Sabbath taught in the Old Testament. He's rejecting the Pharisaical abuse of the Sabbath. The Pharisees had come to a point where they said, you can't do good on the Sabbath. You can't love people on the Sabbath.
You can't help people on the Sabbath. You can't heal people on the Sabbath. You can't feed people on the Sabbath. Jesus is saying that was never what the Sabbath was about. The Sabbath is not about an endless list of do's and don'ts.
Rather, I think Jesus is resurrecting for us. What the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 58 talked about. Call the Sabbath a light. Think what a blessing it is that God has given you a day. When you can rest from your ordinary work, when you're called to rest from your ordinary work, and you can delight in him.
You can fellowship with his people. You can do good for people in need. You can gather with his people to worship? You can put aside the cares of this world. to some extent at least for a day.
What a blessed gift that is. A gift that we needed. in the way in which we were created. And a gift that We need even more. as we are a sinful fallen people.
I can remember seeing reading history books about cultures where there was Never a day off. People worked seven days a week. year in and year out and I thought What a horrible thing. Never to have relief. Never have a time.
set apart for something different. And that's what the scripture, I believe, calls us to. I believe it's what apostolic practice models for us. And I believe It's what will be a blessing for us. The Lord's Day.
A day of worship and rest for the people of God. A blessing. Not a burden. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind on this Friday. I'm your host, Nathan W.
Bingham. W. Robert Godfrey was our featured teacher today, and in his complete six part series on the Lord's Day he goes even deeper. He answers objections and considers how any duty on the Lord's Day ought to translate to delight. We'll send you the complete series on D V D, unlock the messages and study guide in the free Ligoneer app so that you can listen to this series on the go, plus we'll send you a copy of the Scriptures to take with you when you gather with the people of God or to give to a friend.
Simply call us at 800-435-4343 or visit renewingyourmind.org to make a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind and the global outreach of Ligonier Ministries before midnight tonight. We've included a convenient link in the podcast show notes as well. Use this series in an upcoming Bible study. or consider afresh the importance of corporate worship. This is a one-day-only offer.
So visit renewingyourmind.org before midnight tonight. Or visit renewingyourmind.org slash global if you live outside of the US and Canada, and you'll receive digital access to the messages and study guide. Thank you. In the United States, next Thursday is Thanksgiving. But as Christians, we should be thankful to God every day.
Every good gift comes from Him. In fact, God is sovereign over whatsoever comes to pass. And to help us think through the doctrine of God's sovereignty, God's providence, next week you'll hear select messages from RC Sproll's series on the providence of God. That's beginning Monday, here on Renewing Your Mind.
