The Sabbath

and the Lord's Day

The Old and New Sabbaths Contrasted

  1. The shadowy Sabbath was the observance of every seventh day. "The seventh day is the Sabbath" (Exod. 20:10). The new covenant Sabbath is not the observance of this particular day. "One man [the Jew] esteemeth one day above another: another [the Gentile Christian] esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.... He that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he cloth not regard it" (Rom. 14:5, 6). "Ye observe days.... I am afraid of you" (Gal. 4:10, 11). "Let no man therefore judge you in respect . . . of the sabbath days" (Col. 2:16)). These texts refer particularly to law days.

  2. The old was a rest of the body but one day in seven. The new is a rest of our souls every day. "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his" (Heb. 4:10). After God finished creation's work, he rested the seventh day. But his rest did not stop there. He rested the eighth, ninth, tenth. eleventh, twelfth day, and he has been resting from creation's work ever since. So we who have entered his rest cease from our works—self efforts—and enjoy a perpetual soul rest.

  3. The old was a bodily rest, a temporal rest. The new is a spiritual rest that we enter by faith (Matt. 11:28, 29; Heb. 4:1 11), and is eternal. [113]

  4. The old was enjoined in the law, and was binding upon Israel as a nation (Exod. 16:29; 31:13). The new is found in Christ under the new covenant and is to be enjoyed by all nations.

  5. Under the law but one day in seven was kept holy (Exod. 20:8, 10). Under the gospel we keep every day holy (Luke 1:74, 75).

  6. Total abstinence from manual labor constituted a holy day—Sabbath—to the Jews (Deut. 5:14). Abstinence from manual work does not make a day holy or unholy to us under the gospel (Rom. 14:5, 6; Gal. 4:10, 11; Col. 2: 16). By totally abstaining, ceasing from our self works, and living a righteous life, we keep every day holy (Heb. 4:10; Luke 1:74, 75). In the former the people totally abstained from manual work; while in the latter we cease from self strivings, and enter the glorious rest of a perfect salvation.

  7. By performing the least amount of manual work on the seventh day, the Jews broke their Sabbath, and were stoned to death (Num. 15:32 36). By indulging in the least amount of sin, we now lose our sweet Sabbath rest, and spiritual death is the result (1 John 3:8; Jas. 1:15).

  8. The old was a "shadow" or type of the new (Col. 2:14 16; Heb. 4:1 11).

The Lord's Day

  While John was on the Isle of Patmos he testified "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day" (Rev. 1:10). This is the first place in the Bible that we have the expression "Lord's Day." John wrote this language sixty six years after the Jewish Sabbath was abolished; hence he must have referred to some memorial day peculiar to the new dispensation. Never once was the seventh day ever termed the "Lord's Day"; "Sabbath" was the term always applied to that day. In not one single instance in the Bible or in history can a passage be found where the term "Lord's Day" is applied to the Jewish Sabbath. Sabbatarians themselves never call the seventh day the "Lord's Day" (except when they attempt to explain away "the Lord's Day" [114] in Rev. 1:10); but in all their teachings, writings, and conversations, they say "Sabbath Day." The word "sabbath" is not used in Rev. 1:10. The Sabbath Day was abolished at the cross (Col. 2:14 16; Gal. 4:10; Rom. 14:5), more than sixty years before John wrote on Patmos; therefore, he could not have referred to that day. Another fact worthy of note here is that immediately after John's tine whenever the term "Lord's Day" was used by the early church it was always applied to Sunday, and never once to the Sabbath.

  In the New Testament we have "the blood of the Lord," "this cup of the Lord," "the disciples of the Lord," "the Lord's table," "the Lord's death," "the Lord's body," "the Lord's Supper," and "the Lord's Day." All these expressions refer to something that belongs to Christ exclusively under the gospel. Every intelligent person can at a glance comprehend this fact.

  The Lord's Day is a memorial day, a day of commemoration. People keep days because of what occurred on them. For example: We in the United States celebrate the fourth day of each July to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So has every nation its memorial days. Religion as well as nations has erected certain memorials to commemorate great events in her history. In the old dispensation the seventh day of the week was a holy sabbath for Israel and was also a memorial day to them, commemorating their deliverance from Egypt. Pentecost and the Passover were also memorial days. Would it not be strange, then, that the grandest of all institutions, the gospel, should have no memorials?

  The two greatest events that ever occurred on earth 're have in the gospel. They are the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The salvation of all mankind centers in Christ's death and resurrection. All other events fade into mere insignificance when compared with these. Two monuments have been erected in the Christian age to commenmorate these events. They are "the Lord's Supper', and "the Lord's Day." The first is in "remembrance" of his death; the last commemorates his resurrection. The Lord's Supper is to show his death "till he come"; the Lord's Day is a day of holy convocation, a day of rejoicing [115] and spiritual devotion, because "he is risen." Tertullian, one of the early Christian writers, says, "We celebrate Sunday as a joyful day." [116 top]

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