Our Day of rest - Part 3

Our Day of Rest Part 3

12. GOD’S DAY HAS CHANGED TO THE FIRST DAY. Ac 20:7
Christians practice the Sabbath rest on Sunday, the Lord’s Day.
God could not rest on the first day of creation; he was creating and so the initial order was after labour, rest. The seventh day Sabbath was part of the structure of the old covenant period’s feasts and years. Now it is all over; the seventh day of the week as a ceremonial day has disappeared with Israel itself, but one day in seven still remains. Jesus established a new order.
On the first day of the week he arose and appeared to his disciples. That fact alone is enough reason to gather in celebration on Sunday. At least six of our Lord’s eight resurrection appearances recorded in the gospels took place on Sunday.
It was on Sunday that the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost.
The early church gathered on Sunday to break bread, listen to the teaching of the Scriptures, and give offerings. Ac 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 1Co 16:2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.
It was on “the Lord’s Day” that John received that great revelation of Christ in His present glory Rev. 1:10 On the Lord‘s Day I was in the Spirit
Throughout Church history, it is Sunday that has been observed as the Christian Sabbath - evidence of this goes back as far as AD74. From early in the second century on there are many testimonies that Christians met on Sunday for worship.
Justin Martyr, who wrote in the 2nd century, says, But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, when he changed the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ, our Saviour, on the same day, rose from the dead.

13. GOD’S DAY MEANS WE MUST AVOID LEGALISM?
a) Mistakes have been made by the Jews
Well meaning religious parties can be to set up rules that are not from God and take pride in keeping them, even though our hearts are far from God. In the days of our Lord the ultra strict Pharisees made a mockery of the Sabbath by their rules and regulations. When our Lord came, the day had become a day of legalistic do's and don’ts.
The Jews had added to the commandments countless petty regulations about how you behaved. You could walk, 2000 cubits but more was wrong, but if you had food at a spot 2000 cubits from home and stopped and eat it there, you could call that spot home and get up and get going again. A woman was not to carry jewellery for that was bearing a burden, you could brush dirt off but not rub it, you must saddle your donkey overnight if he was to be ridden on the Sabbath.
What had happened had made a travesty of the day. Jesus corrected much of this.
b) Mistakes have been made by Christian dominated societies.
It is one thing to ensure society has a day of rest and an opportunity for families to be together and for people to worship. It is quite another when a society by law forces people to go to church.
Sunday first received special governmental recognition in 321, when Constantine decreed that the day of the Sun was to be used as the day of weekly Christian worship, and only needful work in agriculture was to be pursued. In this he was giving state support to a practice that reflected the practice of believers. Since then government-sponsored Sabbath keeping has prevailed in much of Europe and English speaking lands. In England Athelstan and Canute in the 10th & 11th centuries forbad Sunday Trading, and Henry 6th in 1448 likewise.
Then for generations in our country non-attendance at church resulted in penalties, fines and imprisonment. You were required by law to go to worship conducted according to the rites of the established church whether that was Roman Catholic or later on Church of England. Our believing forefathers dissented and would not conform to the Church attendance laws; they met separately for worship and suffered fines, imprisonment and banishment.
The reformers reacted to the many Holy days and Saints days and taught that Christians were simply to set aside a convenient day for bodily rest and devout participation in the exercise of religion.
The puritans stressed the place of the Sabbath in the 10 Commandments and this view prevailed. But when the puritans settled in America they got themselves a bad name for their extreme laws and attempts to enforce laws that ought to have been left to conscience. In colonial America you would have spent time in jail, or arms and feet locked into the stocks in public humiliation because you had quite innocent things on Sunday. Captain Kemble of Boston in 1656 was set for two hours in the public stocks for his ‘lewd and unseemly kissing his wife publicly on the doorstep of his house on the Sabbath day’. …..He had just returned from sea after an absence of three years! We may be rightly horrified at such excess but they also had other laws that now we embrace...stringent anti- smoking laws such as ‘a man was forbidden to smoke in another’s house’.
Even in Merry Restoration England 'The Sunday Observance Act was passed in 1677. Then in Victorian England when believers became a force in the land, parliament enforced Sabbath observance further with many restrictive acts. The Victorian Sunday, was a byword for boredom to unbelievers and gave rise to the sayings like 'a wet Sunday afternoon' or 'a month of Sundays'.
So societies where bible belief has been strong have with good intentions imposed stringent rules on the populace over Sabbath keeping.
We have as much right as anyone else in a democracy to put our point of view, particularly where we believe we have the evidence that such a change would not be for the common good. It is not only our right but our Christian duty to seek to persuade others. However when believers are in the minority as we usually are, we can only teach and live out as best we can ourselves the commands of God.
c) Mistakes have been made by some Christians. We must always remember legalism doesn’t produce godliness.
The extreme rigidity of some Christians has given the day a bad name.
English people in the past have had a rather superstitious attitude to Sunday. I come from a strongly Sabbatarian background, and have never forgotten my maternal grandfather telling me off when I was a little boy for running down stairs on a Sunday. I have known many non-Christians who would never do certain things on Sundays, but they didn’t know the Lord or love worship.
Believers may love to spend the whole day in acts of worship and service, but that can be very hard if it is imposed on adult unbelieving family members. If the mildest recreations are all forbidden the net result will be resentment and frustration. The way many enforced the full rigor of sabbatarian shibboleths on their children did more harm than good, this is not how it should be.
"Holy" does not mean being dressed up in your Sunday best and sitting in quiet solemnity all day. The idea of the Lord’s Day is not to produce a list of do’s and you don’ts, but to strive for the ideal by principle and respect for others conscience. We must always remember legalism doesn’t produce godliness.

14. GOD’S REST DAY SUGGESTS WE HAVE PRINCIPLES
a) God’s aim is for us to have a DAY, that should be a priority.
Holyoake, 1857, “the English Sunday has made and keeps England great. If you would kill Christianity, you must first kill Sunday.”
As believers we partake of the Lord’s Supper, it is both a privilege to partake and a command to obey. John the aged apostle wrote about the Lord’s Day….the day belonging to the Lord, just as the supper belonged to the Lord.
Dr Reymond tells the story of a man who was approached by a beggar. He looked in his wallet and found seven notes, feeling very sorry for the beggar he handed him six notes but the beggar grabbed the one he had kept back for himself.
Walter Chantry sees a direct relationship between the state of our churches and families and us not keeping the Lord’s Day holy. Justification for this argument comes from the fact that, were we to spend each Sunday purposefully focusing on the Lord and teaching His Word to or children, there would be a huge impact on our lives and our culture. 52 days of the year devoted solely to things of the Lord, would make a huge difference to our spiritual development and progress.
GT -The chief domestic chaplain to the French Emperor once sailed up the Thames on a Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of boats were being loaded and unloaded. Here was the most powerful city in the whole world. Next morning he was awakened by the sound of church bells, and what hit him was the total silence. There wasn’t a single docker to be seen. The only sounds to be heard were the gulls and the bells calling people to worship. Britannia ruled the waves because God was so real to many in the nation. There was a fear of God in the land.
Holyoake, the English atheist, wrote in 1857, “Whether Englishmen know it or not, it is the English Sunday that has made and keeps England great. If you would kill Christianity, you must first kill Sunday.”
Eric Liddell is rightly honoured, he was an Olympic gold medal winner in 1924. But how many other winners do we know of from that era. Liddel is famous and respected because he refused to run on Sunday because of his Christian faith. Liddell the favourite to win, was willing to miss an Olympic gold medal rather than betray his convictions. He maintained his stand despite pressure from coaches, fans, team mates, and even the prince.
Something like that happened with a United States president, too in 1849. Zachary Taylor, a believer refused to take the presidential oath of office on a Sunday.
A 19c brethren writer CHM said ‘We can safely assert that we never yet came in contact with a godly, intelligent, right-minded Christian person who did not love and reverence the Lord’s day’.
b) God’s design is that we cease from work and worship
Jesus demonstrated that three types of "work" that need to be done on the Sabbath
(i) There are works of mercy such as helping and healing people and dealing with emergencies. Doctors and nurses need to be available of course.
(ii) There are things that need to be done such as running services, maintaining law and order, providing power, running services, feeding animals and milking the cows.
(iii) There are the works of piety such as preparing the church for worship, or actually ministering in pulpit or Sunday School.
Christians sometimes find Sunday rather busy as they join in worship at both services, teach, give hospitality, drive people to and from church. Let’s remembers a good holiday is not snoozing in a deck chair but activity, so the Lord’s Day includes spiritual sacrifices for the Lord. It is not normal work but should be the most satisfying activity in the world – the work of the Lord.
c) God’s design is we are not to just please ourselves.The Christians who make the biggest impact use the Day.
If all stayed away to play football in the morning of the Lord’s Day or if all absented themselves in the evening to watch telly where would the church services be, what would that do to the corporate witness of the church.
The NT lays down no rules about the number of our worship services or the length of them. God has not commanded one service any more than he has two.
However if God delights in the assembly of His saints and we love the Lord, why should we stay away when we could come?
The Christians who have made the biggest impact in the world have had the highest view of the Lord’s Day - not an hour but the day. Those people have all been most full of God. Read Christian biographies and learn of their use of the day, these were the people who became missionaries, social reformers and workers who sacrificed their time for the Lord.
In traveling the churches I have noticed that those who are the backbone and mainstay of the churches are those who rarely miss a meeting.
Some due to health, age, children, distance, employment and unconverted spouses find two services difficult. Yet there are some who do not make full use of the opportunities to be blessed.

15. GOD’S REST IS A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE + Scripture
Where there are no biblical regulations, we use general principles.
a) Does keeping the day mean 24 or 12 hours or daylight hours?
Well what is the other part of the command, 6 days you shall do all your work? God has given us six working days but the time spent at worship will vary according to our job. The percentage of rest needed and the amount of public worship rendered will vary from person to person.
Surely the general principal will be to use as much time as we reasonably can, and make the best possible use of the day as we can.
How much time do we need for our own things, how much time do we delight to devote to the Lord. Let conscience sensitised by scripture decide!
b) Does keeping the day mean we avoid some other things?
What about Sunday working? How much travelling do we really need to do? How much if any recreation do we allow? Let consciences directed by scripture decide.
What of us today, how should we live? We don’t want to get like the Pharisees or New England Puritans but safeguards are good.
What about Sunday working. As a matter of choice pleasing God takes precedence over making more money. Believers like to avoid jobs that involve Sunday working, but it is a tough call when the choice is between unemployment or a job that includes some Sunday work. It is unavoidable in caring professions and essential services and eeping a Sabbath rhythm is not easy these days.
Every individual must weight their priorities. Our own spiritual well being, our wives and children, and the Lord’s work, make job choices a matter needing prayerful consideration.
Many men have long irregular hours, trying to make ends meet. A pastor told Brian Edwards of many men in his church had to travel on business, to be at meetings early on Monday. This not only took them away but meant their wives missed out as well because of caring for children.
If we don’t get Sunday off we may get time off later. We will get a rest for mind and body but we will have missed the regular worship service for our soul.
Nothing can compensate for the missed fellowship but we can still feed our souls on the message by picking up a recording on the internet or cassette.
How much travelling do we really need to do? Will our journeys prevent attendance at worship or make us so tired we get no rest.
How much if any recreation do we allow ourselves or our children, do we have any TV, or sport or games? We need much wisdom to be balanced. These are matters each must decide in their own mind? We should so live that the day is a blessing and we are able to feel refreshed on Monday morning for another week.
Are we making others work? Let consciences directed by scripture decide.
Where we fail or make wrong decisions, there is grace and forgiveness through Christ, but we should not use our liberty as an excuse for sin.
c) Does keeping the day mean we get the best out of it? We can plan ahead, prepare for worship afterwards spend time with loved ones, alone, sleeping, reading, prayer, reflection, walking.
We can avoid late Saturday nights so we are not tired, we can rise in time so we do not rush. When John Paton went as a missionary to Aniwa in the Pacific Ocean, the Christian converts called Saturday ‘cooking day’. Why, they developed the habit of preparing their food Saturday so they had plenty of time for worship and rest on the Lord’s Day.
We can create a right frame of mind in coming to God’s house by sacred music. The Psalms of Ascent were sung as the people walked to worship. 122:1 captures their feelings they said: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go unto the house of Jehovah." They were delighted at the prospect.
After worship, we can spend time with loved ones—perhaps time alone, extra sleep, reading, reflection, walking and prayer. In addition, we might consider the long tradition of visiting the housebound or inviting lonely ones to our table.

16. GOD’S REST OUGHT TO BE A MATTER OF JOY
A ‘week-end’ cannot rival a Sabbath well spent.
A Sabbath well spent, Brings a week of content, and health for the toils of the morrow.
What is good? It is a day of freedom not only from work but also a foretaste of heaven. By spending it with Jesus we shall know Him better and be more prepared to spend glory with Him.
If you do not enjoy the worship of God and being with God’s people, why come!
I am sure the more we love the Lord the more we delight in His day. B Edwards cites the testimony of Captain Hedley Vicars who served in the Crimea. He wrote ‘I once considered Sunday both dull and tedious but now no day is so cheering and delightful, and there is no day that passes so quickly’.
A ‘week-end’ cannot replace a Sabbath well spent. Max Gunther wrote The Week-enders and asks the question, didn’t they have fun? Didn’t they spend enormous sums of money, travel endless miles to and from crowded beaches, give and attend big, noisy parties, endure hours of strenuous sports, and raise countless blisters, painting, fixing, building, and gardening? If none of this frenzied activity yielded that sweet feeling of peace, why not?” That question is a very good one.
Man needs a day with the living God when we meet with other Christians to experience our common love for one another.
A Sabbath well spent, Brings a week of content, And health for the toils of the morrow;
But a Sabbath profaned, what ever may be gained, Is a certain forerunner of sorrow.