Sermon Tone Analysis

*Sabbath Law, the Christian, and the Lord’s Day*

/Preached by Pastor Phil Layton at Gold Country Baptist Church on September 2, 2007/

www.goldcountrybaptist.org

/ /

Is the Sabbath Commandment Required of Christians?

It is one thing to answer this question yes; it is quite another thing to actually apply the Sabbath /the way God’s law requires./

For example, as we saw last week, the Fourth Commandment told God’s people to work every Sunday through Friday, and to rest on the seventh day (Saturday).

Few so-called Sabbatarians work on Sunday as commanded, fewer try to consistently begin Sabbath observance at Friday sunset as Leviticus 23 called for, none believe /all/ the Sabbath laws are for today, especially the mandatory Sabbath sacrifices and stoning Sabbath breakers.

View #1: Strict Sabbatarian.

In recent centuries a number of groups within Christendom (broadly defined) have attempted to apply literal OT Sabbath laws at least somewhat consistently.

The most notable Sabbatarian groups include:

-         Seventh Day Adventists (SDA)[1]

-         Seventh Day Baptists[2]

-         Worldwide Church of God (those who follow Armstrong)[3]

-         Messianic Jewish Movement (many)[4] 

 

SDA theology in the past had gone so far as to say that any who do not observe the seventh day have the mark of the beast, and they believe the Catholic Pope changed the day to Sunday as prophesied – so what we’re doing here today on Sunday in worshipping would identify us with the antichrist to some hardcore SDAs.

If you want a good reply to Sabbatarianism, more than I can give today, I would refer you to /Sabbath in Christ /by Dale Ratzlaff.

He withdrew from the SDA because of other teachings but still believed the Sabbath to be very important, so he did an inductive thorough study of the subject on his own – with no motive to argue against the Sabbath but just to study it free from outside pressures to conform to a particular statement of faith.

The fruit of his study is one of the best works I can recommend to you.

Another former SDA Sabbatarian described his similar journey this way:

 

“But after keeping it twenty-eight years; after having persuaded more than a thousand others to keep it; after having read my Bible through verse by verse, more than twenty times; after having scrutinized, to the very best of my ability, every text, line and word in the Bible having the remotest bearing upon the Sabbath question; after having looked up all these, both in the original and in many translations; after having searched in lexicons, concordances, commentaries and dictionaries; after having read armfuls of books on both sides of the question; after having read every line in all the early church fathers upon this point; and having written several works in favor of the Seventh-Day, which were satisfactory to my brethren; after having debated the question for more than a dozen times; after seeing the fruits of keeping it, and weighing all the evidence in the fear of God, I am fully settled in my own mind and conscience that the evidence is against the keeping of the Seventh-Day.”5

View #2: Non-Sabbatarian.

The majority of Christians through the ages have viewed Old Testament Sabbath law as not binding Christians in the church age.

The reason most Christians worship on the first day of the week is because the Lord rose on the day, not because they believe it is the Sabbath, and certainly not because of what any Pope did.

Some call the day instead “The Lord’s Day” (Rev.

1:10), a title I prefer for Sunday.

There’s a wide spectrum within this view obviously, the majority have probably never seriously studied the subject but just follow tradition, some would disregard the Sabbath because they pretty much ignore the O.T. (ex: antinomian) – I much prefer the way the Reformers handled the Sabbath question, as we /do/ need to do justice to the moral demands and intent of God’s Law.

There are differing convictions within this view, some would consider the Lord’s Day more important than others, but they do not believe it is the /Sabbath/ from scripture, and they base Sunday practice from the N.T. and~/or tradition rather than the Torah.[5]

All agree that the ceremonies and old covenant law were abolished, but some see the Sabbath’s moral internal principle as continuing in a weekly, daily, or lifetime rest and~/or worship and~/or ultimate fulfillment in Christ, salvation, and the eternal rest of heaven.[6]

It is admitted by even careful scholars of opposing viewpoints that non-Sabbatarian views were the virtually unanimous understanding in the first three centuries of the church,[7] and continued to be the dominant conclusion of the Reformers.[8]

This view in various forms was held by Martin Luther,[9] Ulrich Zwingli,[10] John Calvin (see below), and their European successors throughout the continent.[11]

R.L. Dabney, in his /Systematic Theology, /explains that Luther, Melancthon, and their followers believed

‘that the Sabbath, with its strict and enforced observances, was purely a Levitical institution.

In the 28th article of the Augsburg Confession … [it says] “the Holy Scripture has abolished the Sabbath, and it teaches that all ceremonies of the old law … may be discontinued …  neither the observance of the Sabbath, nor of any other day, is indispensable.”

(p.

452)

 

The Helvetic Confession (Chapter 24) summarizes the position of the Reformers:

‘we give no place to the Jewish observance of the day or to any superstitions.

For we do not count one day to be holier than another, nor think that mere rest itself is acceptable to God.

Besides, we do celebrate and keep the Lord’s Day, and not the Jewish Sabbath, and that with a free observance.’

Dabney concludes (p.

456):

‘On the whole, it may be said that the Protestant Churches of continental Europe have all occupied this ground, concerning the sanctification of the Lord’s day.

These Churches, properly speaking, have never had the Sabbath …’

 

Calvin writes:

‘[T]here can be no doubt, that, on the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ceremonial part of the commandment was abolished.

He is the truth, at whose presence all the emblems vanish; the body, at the sight of which the shadows disappear.

He, I say, is the true completion of the Sabbath … Christians, therefore, should have nothing to do with a superstitious observance of days … The sabbath being abrogated, there is still room among us, first, to assemble on stated days for the hearing of the Word, the breaking of the mystical bread, and public prayer … The resurrection of our Lord being the end and accomplishment of that true rest which the ancient sabbath typified, this day, by which types were abolished serves to warn Christians against adhering to a shadowy ceremony …’

 

[His summary ~/ application]:  ‘*First *that during our whole lives we may aim at a constant rest from our own works, in order that the Lord may work in us by his Spirit; *Secondly* that every individual, as he has opportunity, may diligently exercise himself in private, in pious meditation on the works of God, and, at the same time, that all may observe the legitimate order appointed by the Church, for the hearing of the word, the administration of the sacraments, and public prayer: *Thirdly*, that we may avoid oppressing those who are subject to us.’[12]

View #3: Sunday Sabbatarian.

This is technically a “Semi-Sabbatarian” view, in that it modifies the law and transfers the required day.[13]

Generally this group does not simply assert that Christians worship on Sunday /instead /of observing the Jewish Sabbath, this group says Sunday /is /the Sabbath, they call it a “Christian Sabbath.”

The amount of modification varies widely, not all agree on the rules, which ones we should bring over from the O.T. and how to apply.[14]

But generally all agree that the Sabbath has been transferred to Sunday morning through evening, rather than Friday evening through Saturday evening.

Although the Continental Reformers did not share this view, it can be traced to the English-speaking Protestants in the Reformed tradition, especially the Puritans by the start of the 17th century.[15]

Philip Schaff in his /History of the Christian Church /(Vol.

5, p. 494), is favorable to the view but admits it is a peculiarly “anglo-American theory” originated in the U.K. and U.S. 

 

This position includes many personal heroes and theologians of highest rank, and became dominant in the English-speaking Reformed tradition including those who came to America from that tradition.

I love and read the Puritans and have many of their sets and books on my shelf, and hope many of you read their deep and wonderful works that exalt Christ.

I also greatly respect and read the Reformers, and they went a different route: value in worshipping on Sunday, and some saw a moral principle in the fourth commandment, but the Reformers saw the Old Covenant Sabbath law as mostly ceremonial in nature, so they did not share the Sabbatarian view of the later Puritans.

But the Sunday Sabbath view became more dominant in Reformed theology history through the confessions of faith that developed in England in the 17th century (Westminster, London Baptist).

I greatly appreciate those traditions and would be in substantial agreement theologically, but this is one area where I don’t believe the confessions are perfect, and not being bound to a confession, Scripture alone is our guide and creed.

At this point in my study I am more persuaded by the view of John Calvin than the Puritans - I think he had a more biblical and balanced understanding here.

*WHEN AND TO WHOM WAS THE SABBATH GIVEN?*

/I believe the answer is to the Jewish people through Moses/

 

Read Nehemiah 9, noting chronology from creation in verse 6 and following: “You came down also /on Mount Sinai/, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.

/You made known to them Your holy Sabbath,/ And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, /By the hand of Moses Your servant./"

(Nehemiah 9:13-14)

 

Therefore /I made them go out of the land of Egypt/ and brought them into the wilderness.

Moreover /I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me/, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

Yet the House of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness (Ezekiel 20:11-12)

 

Last week we noted that the word Sabbath is nowhere in Genesis, and I gave you several reasons why it doesn’t seem Adam and Eve were given Sabbath rules and do’s and don’t in the garden.

It seems that the Sabbath was given specifically to the Jewish people in the wilderness in Exodus, but even if it had been practiced before the time of Moses, that doesn’t prove that the practice must continue after Christ, as I noted.

We see sacrifices taking place in Genesis 4 and from earliest time (ex: Job 1), we see circumcision as a requirement for Abraham, etc.

These were not part of the Mosaic law, but that doesn’t mean they automatically are required after the Mosaic covenant ended.

Genesis 1:29-30 does explicitly command vegetarianism as a “creation ordinance” if you will – this does not mean that all God’s people must eat fruits and plants only until Jesus comes back, we have to let the rest of scripture come into play, so even if the Sabbath was a “creation ordinance” in Genesis 2 doesn’t settle the question – we have to let Jesus and later revelation weigh in.

“Speak also to /the children of Israel/, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for /it is a sign between Me and you/ throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you … /it is a sign between me and the sons of Israel forever/" (Exodus 31:13, 17)

The Sabbath was not merely a part of the God’s Law and covenant with Israel through Moses, it was the sign of the Mosaic Covenant.

The sign of the Abrahamic Covenant was circumcision (Gen.

17), but it’s no longer required for New Covenant believers, so why would the old covenant sign of the Sabbath be required?

/What about the Gentiles and the Sabbath?/

God does not in the O.T. pronounce non-Jewish nations guilty for not observing the Sabbath, while the prophets contain extensive rebukes on the nations for long lists of other sins.

In Acts 15, there is a controversy about Gentiles coming to Christ, as some were saying in verse 5 “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the law of Moses.”

In verses 6 and following Paul and the Jerusalem elders and the apostles are all there for this council about whether the law of Moses or Old Covenant signs like circumcision are to be required for Gentile converts.

The council’s decision:

 

Acts 15:19-21 (NASB95) \\ 19 “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, \\ 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.

\\ 21 “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

\\ \\

Notice that both circumcision and the Sabbath were mentioned in this chapter, the 2 defining signs and marks of Judaism, but neither were part of the basic requirements for Gentile Christians.

Verse 21 also makes it very clear that the N.T. Christians did not call the first day of the week “Sabbath” – this verse clearly refers to the Jewish seventh day Sabbath “from ancient generations”

 

This is a difficulty for those who hold the Christian Sabbath view arguing that Sunday became the Sabbath on the Resurrection.

*WAS THE SABBATH MORALLY BINDING FOR ALL PEOPLE AND TIMES WITHOUT EXCEPTIONS?*

There are a number of big assumptions in the Christian Sabbath view:

-         N.T. Christians considered Sunday the Sabbath (we will discuss this more later)

-         It was a creation ordinance for all people (our study last week and the verses above suggest it was not given to Adam but it was given to Israel through Moses)

-         The Sabbath is moral law rather than ceremonial

 

But with other laws traditionally classified as “moral,”[16] it is easy to demonstrate that they are never right under any circumstance, ex: shall not murder, commit adultery, blaspheme God, etc.  Christians generally agree, however, that ceremonial, sacrificial, ritualistic, and external laws were part of the Old Covenant which was nailed to the cross, when God tore the curtain of the temple open on the whole system from top to bottom.

In considering which category the Sabbath should be classified in, the typical definition of moral law is not as perfect a fit as many think:

-         It is significant that when Jesus was confronted about his disciples allegedly violating Sabbath Law (Matt.

12:1-2, cf.

Ex. 16:23-29, 34:21), Christ’s response is a defense based on David violating a /ceremonial law/ about eating showbread reserved for the priestly system (Mt.

12:3-4).

Scripture does not give David leeway with violating a moral law like adultery though with Bathsheba.

-         Rather than arguing about their interpretation, or telling them the Sabbath law is moral and inviolable without exception, Jesus went on to cite other acceptable violations of the ceremonial law such as the priests breaking the Sabbath every week (v.

5), and the validity of laying aside the law if an animal needed help (v.