Well, you can turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 5. Deuteronomy chapter 5. I'll read verses 12 to 15, and then we'll take up our theme of the Christian Sabbath. So beginning in Deuteronomy chapter 5 at verse 12.

Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm.

Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for the written word of the living and true God.

We thank you that you have given it by inspiration. It is literally God-breathed, both testaments, and we rejoice in that. We pray that you would guide our thoughts now, instruct our minds and hearts, and grant us grace to comply with what the word of God says. We ask again for the forgiveness of all sin and anything that would darken our understanding, and just bless us now by the presence and the power of your Holy Spirit.

And we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well,

Introduction and Review

we've been looking at the theme of the Christian Sabbath under the consideration that if the government tries to shut down the churches, the churches need to have a reason why they do what they do. There is a conspicuous call in the Bible for public worship. The fact that we are here is good. We're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

The God of heaven and earth has called for us to worship Him together. As well, He has set apart a day. So the God of heaven and earth has set apart a day for the people of God to meet in the house of God that they may worship. Now for most of us, we've been brought up perhaps in a reformed setting. and we've not questioned the teaching of the Bible concerning the Sabbath.

We may struggle in terms of obedience, we may struggle in terms of application, we may struggle with a whole lot of things along the way, but the fact is, is that the fourth commandment, with the other nine commandments, are binding upon us for today. And with reference to those who have not been brought up in a Reformed context, where some of this stuff may seem new, it is my conviction that every church should have a robust understanding of what Scripture says concerning the Day of God, upon which the Church of God is to meet in the house of God for the public worship of God. And to that end, we've looked at the exposition of this commandment, and then we looked at the Sabbath and the Old Covenant. Essentially, we have the paradigm or the pattern of God's Sabbathing in Genesis chapter 2.

As well, we see in Genesis chapter 4, prior to Sinai, that Cain and Abel came at the end of days, the end of the days of the week, to bring offerings to present to Yahweh. They learned about the presentation of offering from their father Adam. They also learned the day upon which they were supposed to do this, because Adam watched God and Adam followed God in terms of this idea of Sabbath. You see in Exodus chapter 16, prior to Sinai, there is a Sabbath for the people of God.

They were to collect a double portion of bread on the sixth day, so as not to violate the command on the seventh day. You see, of course, the giving of the law at Sinai in Exodus 20. And the rationale behind the commandment there is creation. For in six days the Lord your God created, and the seventh day He rested.

You see the giving of the law here in Deuteronomy, on the plains of Moab, prior to the entrance into the Promised Land. And the rationale, it's not different, but it's similar in nature. There's reasons why Sabbath is to be done. And in Exodus, its creation here in Deuteronomy, it is redemption.

We saw as well the prophet's response to Sabbath-keeping in the New Covenant. Isaiah 56, Isaiah 58, there's a blessing attached with reference to Sabbath-keeping in the Messianic Age. You see the Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34, prophecy concerning the New Covenant. And God says through the prophet that he would write his law upon the hearts of his people.

So then we get to the new covenant. We see our Lord's response to the law is very similar. Matthew 5, 17 to 20. Do not even begin to think that I've come to abrogate or to disregard or abolish the law, Jesus says.

I've come to fulfill it. He sets forth his hermeneutic concerning the law and the prophets, and then he teaches consistently with that. We then see that it's the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on that first day of the week that each of the gospel writers point out in detail to indicate that is the day upon which the church meets for worship. Hebrews 4 provides the theological rationale.

There remains, according to verse 9, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Verse 10 answers the question, when that Sabbath rest in the New Covenant is to obtain. It's the day wherein our Lord entered into His rest. Parallel with the Father who created and then rested, we have the Son who new creates and then rests.

And it's on that day that the people of God enter in for worship. We saw the worship service at Troas in Acts 20, verse 7. They were there for an entire week, including Saturday, but the church meets together on the first day. 1 Corinthians 16, not only the church at Corinth, but the churches at Galatia were told by Paul to set apart money for collection on the first day of the week. And then we see John in the Spirit on the island of Patmos on the Lord's Day, according to Revelation chapter 1 and verse 10.

So that is a biblical theology of the Sabbath. You begin in Genesis, you run to the end of the book of Revelation, and you see what Scripture says concerning Sabbath-keeping. Now, along the way, in the New Covenant, there are some anti-sabbatarian texts. Actually, I will call them alleged anti-sabbatarian texts.

There are passages in the New Testament that some suppose is the Apostle Paul disregarding the abiding validity of the Fourth Commandment. Perhaps you've always just assumed that that was what was being spoken to. And I think it's pretty common against Sabbatarianism to use these three texts to try to make the case that what we're doing is legalistic, or what we are doing is Judaizing. Or what we are doing is to go backward in redemptive history.

I tried to share with you the argument is simple. God gave ten commandments. He hasn't rendered any of them null and void. He hasn't invalidated any one of them.

The Sabbath commandment has a moral obligation attached. One day out of seven, the creature comes into the presence of his creator and he worships. There were ceremonial aspects attached to the fourth commandment as well, but those are fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ, so the day change is something we would expect in terms of covenant. And so that's the basic argument.

Three Alleged Anti-Sabbatarian Texts

So I want to look now at the three passages that are alleged anti-sabbatarian texts in the New Testament. The first is in Romans 14, the second is Galatians 4, and then the third is Colossians 2.

Romans 14: Christian Liberty

So you can turn to Romans chapter 14. Always good to know what the context is when we interpret texts. In other words, when we do exegesis, we not only want to uncover the meaning of a specific passage, but in order to successfully do that, we must understand it in its context. Specifically, what Paul is dealing with in Romans 14 is matters concerning Christian liberty.

And Christian liberty is simply those things that the Bible doesn't necessarily address. There are things that God hasn't ruled on. In other words, God's not like the federal government. He doesn't give us a billion laws.

Rather, he gives us 10 commandments, and then he gives us examples on how to apply those things, but he doesn't micromanage every jot and detail of our lives. Our Father is very gracious that way, and we ought to appreciate that. G.K. Chesterton made the observation, if men will not be ruled by the Ten Commandments, they'll be ruled by 10,000 commandments.

When you choose an alternate lawgiver, you're going to get the federal government. You're going to get micromanagement. You're going to get cradle-to-grave authority over your life. God's not like that.

There are matters in the Christian life that aren't directly addressed by God. If something isn't identified as a sin, then we're not supposed to call it a sin. I realize that's tough for us because we all want to put ourselves in the posture of a lawgiver. We want everybody to follow the rules of the laws that we think are acceptable.

Well, no. With reference to the church, there are matters of liberty. There are issues that we are free to do or not do without any condemnation from God Most High. And Romans 14 is that specifically.

The apostle wants harmony in the churches over things indifferent or over matters of liberty. And then the specific issues in view. Notice the eating of meats in verses 2 and 3. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him. So you've got this eating of meats, which is likely a reference to Jewish food laws. And then in verses five and six, you have the observation of specific days, which likely reflects a commitment to Israel's calendar. But with reference to the context, it's not the Sabbath command.

It's not the weekly Lord's Day observance, but it is rather the feast days of Israel. It is rather those things that were still okay in terms of cultural or ethnic appreciation. Even something like circumcision. Paul condemns circumcision if we do it in order to gain our acceptance with God.

But in terms of circumcision as an indifferent matter, as a cultural practice, as something that is ethnic, he had Timothy circumcised when he went into a Jewish region. Timothy's father was a Gentile. Timothy had not been circumcised. So Paul orders that he become circumcised so that he's not an offense to the Jews in that missionary journey.

So there are things that as long as we don't attach or append religious significance to, we're free to do. And in this instance, whether you had this day or not, wasn't the issue. It was your attitude in terms of judging somebody who saw things differently. You had the weaker brethren who thought that they must abstain from meats.

You had the stronger brethren who thought that it was okay to eat the meats. With reference to the meats themselves, that's not the issue. The problem is that the weaker brother has the tendency to judge the stronger brother. And the stronger brother has the tendency to disregard the weaker brother and sort of parade his liberties over him.

This has nothing to do with the day of God, ordained by the God of the day for the worship of God. It's not a fourth commandment issue. It is rather Israel's calendar. Now, Israel's calendar is going to come up a few times in this study, and I want to make this observation.

The fourth day of creation is explained in lengthier detail than all the other days. And one of the reasons for these light-bearing sources is for signs and for seasons. Calendar reigns supreme in the life of Israel. And part of the sun and the moon and the stars was to point to those things or to highlight those things.

So there was this emphasis in Israel upon their calendar, which lay behind each of the texts that we're going to look at. And we need to comprehend that. One commentator, Wenham, says, the creation of the sun, moon, and stars is described in much greater length than anything save the creation of man. He goes on, what is clear is the importance attached to the heavenly body's role in determining the seasons, in particular fixing the days of cultic celebration.

This is their chief function. So when there's these debates concerning the calendar that Paul has to deal with, you hopefully understand why. Because Israel as a people had much owing to the calendar. There were feasts, there were new moons, there were occasional Sabbaths, there were a whole host of days where the children of Israel were to gather together and worship God.

So now Christ comes, Messiah comes, people believe on Him, there is transition from Old Covenant to New Covenant, but some of those things still extend. The people that were committed to Christ, that were from the Jewish nation, still thought in terms of the calendar. And they perhaps thought, we need to do this, and everybody else needs to do it as well. So it's not the calendar, it's not circumcision, it's not the meats, it's the attitude of the believer that goes into this.

If you are a stronger brother, don't make fun of or ridicule the weaker brother. If you're a weaker brother, don't judge the stronger brother. And Paul gives the rationale in verse four. Notice he says, excuse me, who are you to judge another servant?

To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand for God is able to make him stand. In other words, whatever you do, weak brother, strong brother, you better be able to give an answer to the Lord. And we as a weak brother or a strong brother that disagrees with them need to appreciate they're ready to stand before the Lord.

They don't ultimately have to answer to me. They don't ultimately have to give an account for their conduct and things indifferent to me, to any ecclesiastical body, or certainly to no civil government. Rather, they stand before God Almighty. Notice in verses 5 and 6, he highlights the observance of days.

One person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord.

And he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat to the Lord, he does not eat and gives God thanks. The apostles' concern is that observers of these days do not bind the consciences of those who do not.

That's the context, Christian liberty. It is not the suspension of the fourth commandment. It is not a disregard for the day of God ordained by God for the church of God to worship God. That is a complete stretch when it comes to this passage.

He's dealing with harmony in the context of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not dealing with the disregard of the fourth commandment from the Bible. William Ames says, the Apostle in Romans 14 expressly speaks of the judgment about certain days which then produced offense among Christians. But the observance of the Lord's Day, which the Apostle himself teaches, had already taken place in all the churches, 1 Corinthians 16, and could not be the occasion of offense.

It is most probable that the apostle in this passage is treating of a dispute about the choosing of days to eat or to refuse certain meats. For the question is put in Romans 14, 2 about meats, and in verses 5 and 6, the related problem of duty is discussed. And in the remainder of the chapter, he considers only meats, making no mention of days. What he is saying is that the point is not, are we supposed to be regulated by the Jewish calendar?

The point is, is that if ethnically or culturally we still imbibe those particular practices, we're not to hold this out as an obligation for others who see things differently. The argument is one concerning liberty and harmony in the context of the churches and not the disregard of the perpetual Sabbath for the people of God.

Galatians 4: Justification by Faith

In the next place, turn to Galatians 4. Galatians chapter 4. Now, the very context, not only of the chapter, but of the book is absolutely crucial. Look at Galatians chapter 1 for a moment.

Galatians 1, beginning in verse 6. Paul says, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you, then what you have received, let him be a curse." Now, Paul was a long-suffering man.

Paul was a very patient man. Paul was a very gracious man. In fact, if you compare 1 and 2 Corinthians to Galatians, you'll see a bit of a different approach. For the Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, he spends a lot longer time basically praising God for the Corinthians.

He is praising the Corinthians for their activity on behalf of Jesus Christ. Now, if you know anything about Corinth, you'll know there was a lot of mess and the apostle had to deal with a lot of stuff in that particular letter. But it was a mess that concerned what we call sanctification. In other words, it was a mess that all of us as Christians mess up our lives with.

We always need to be corrected when it comes to sanctification. And Paul chides them, Paul rebukes them, Paul reproves them, but at the same time, Paul doesn't disenfranchise them. Not so with Galatians. With Galatians, he says that I marvel that there are actually persons that are making a way upon you.

The issue with Galatians isn't sanctification and living the Christian life. It is justification. It is acceptance with God. It is the reality.

How does God, who is holy, holy, holy, accept guilty, vile sinners? Well, the Bible everywhere answers, they're justified freely by God's grace through faith in Christ. So that's the issue that's obtained here in the churches of Galatia. Now notice in Galatians chapter 4.

We have specifically at verses 8 to 10. But then indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not God's. But now after you have known God or rather are known by God, isn't that a beautiful way to say that? After you have known God or rather are known by God, we know Him, we love Him because He first knew us and loved us.

He goes on to say, but now after you have known God or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. The point in 4.8-10 is that we cannot look to the observance of these days to try to help in the matter of justification.

So when Paul goes to these churches in Galatia on his first missionary journey, he preaches a law-free gospel. And by law-free gospel, I simply mean this. He tells sinners, guilty, vile, helpless sinners, to look unto Jesus, to believe on Him, and they will be saved. It's a beautiful, wonderful thing that each of us who is saved is hanging our souls upon, the reality that we're justified by faith alone.

But these people called Judaizers had come in on the heels of the Apostle Paul, and they had said, it's good to believe on Jesus as the Messiah. He is the Messiah. He is the one promised in the Old Testament. The law and the prophets pointed forward to him, and here he has come.

But... In addition to faith in Jesus Christ, you also need to be circumcised. In addition to faith in Jesus Christ, you also need to become like Jews. Remember, the Galatians, for the most part, were Gentiles.

So these Judaizers came along and said, faith in Christ plus the ceremonies of Moses in order to be saved. And I think that's something that we need to get into our minds. There aren't a lot of religious systems that teach justification by works. alone. We oftentimes think that Roman Catholicism is that way.

They're not. They mingle faith in Christ plus attachment to the Church of Rome. Faith in Christ plus obedience to the sacraments. Faith in Christ plus your faithfulness in the life of sanctification.

That is Judaizing. That is mingling faith plus works in order for salvation. And in this Galatian church situation, perhaps the Judaizers said, it's not only circumcision, but it's all these feast days. It's Israel's calendar.

If you want to be a real Christian, if you want to be a really saved person, you not only need faith in Christ, but you need circumcision and you need the calendar. Those two additional C's will supplement your relation to Christ, and then God will accept you. That's the problem that Paul is dealing with in Galatians. Notice what he says in verse 21.

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? What he means by that is under the law in terms of your acceptance with God. As believers in Christ justified freely by grace, there is a sense we're under the law as a pattern for our sanctification, as the definition of what God is and who God is and what is pleasing to Him. But we're not under the law as a covenant of works in order to try to earn our favor with God.

In other words, we're not the Israelites in Exodus 24 saying, all that the Lord has said, we will do it. And that's why we're included in the new covenant. That's not it at all. We're under grace in the sense that God has made provision.

God has accepted us freely in his beloved son. To see the connection with circumcision, look at chapter 5. Chapter 5. Again, it isn't the Sabbath day in terms of the one day out of the seven that the people of God get together for worship.

It is rather thinking that law-keeping along with faith in Jesus is what ultimately endears us to God. Notice in 5.1, stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. In other words, don't go backward in redemptive history. Don't pick up circumcision and the calendar as the means by which God will receive you.

Verse 2, Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. Again, he cannot be talking in terms of culture or ethnicity. He had Timothy circumcised. He did that.

Well, I don't know if he actually did this, but he had somebody do this so that Timothy would be a circumcised man. When they went into the regions of the Jews, he would not be an offense. So we cannot mean that in terms of a cultural or ethnic practice, but it is in terms of religious significance and acceptance with God issue. Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.

And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law." You have to think through this, brethren. If somebody gets circumcised as a cultural or ethnic thing, that's not the situation that Paul is writing about. He's writing about the choice to approach God for approval via the law. If that is our mindset, this is then the reality.

I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. So you see what he's saying? There's one of two ways to get to God, if you will. There's the way of grace through faith in Christ, which is most blessed and most wonderful, or there is the way of the law.

And that is you doing what God tells you to do perpetually, exactly, entirely, and personally. In other words, if you don't fulfill the law of God at every jot and tittle, you're going to end up cut off and you're going to end up in hell. That's why the good choice, the right decision, is to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ for full, free acceptance by our God. So the issue is not the Lord's Day and the people of God gathering together.

It is the choice of calendar observance in order to gain acceptance with God. Then notice what he says in verse 4. He says, you have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law. That's the problem in Galatia.

And brethren, I would say that if somebody is able to recite Second London Confession in terms of the Sabbath, the Christian Sabbath, if they're able to go to Genesis 2, they're able to go to Genesis 4, they're able to go to Exodus 16, they're able to go to Exodus 20, they're able to go to Isaiah 56 and 58, They're able to go to Jeremiah 31. They're able to go to Matthew 5, Matthew 12. They're able to go to all those first-day observances, and yet they understand that and think that by their keeping of it, they will gain acceptance with God? That is as wrongheaded as these Galatians who opted for the calendar and circumcision to gain acceptance with God.

Someone might have a right approach to the Christian Sabbath, but if that person is using the right approach to the Christian Sabbath as a means of justification, that is an unlawful use of the law, and that needs to be condemned as well. It would be at this point that if we were in a church in Southern California, I'd say, can I get an amen? Because you need to understand that's what's happening in Galatia. He's not saying there's no more fourth commandment.

It's not what's happening in Romans 14. It's not saying there's no more fourth commandment. He is rather dealing, in the one instance, with issues concerning liberty, and in this situation, with issues concerning justification. You could adopt the best law code, you can understand the Ten Commandments, but if you misuse that law as a means of acceptance with God, that is as condemnable as is the Galatians looking to circumcision and the calendar.

And it's in this context that we need to appreciate what he goes on to say. Verse 4, you have become estranged from Christ who attempt to be justified by law. You have fallen from grace. That's not an Arminian proof text that somebody can actually be saved and fall from grace.

He's talking about law as approach to God and grace as an approach to God. If you try to mingle the two, you've fallen from grace. If you opt for only law, you have fallen from grace. It's not a proof text that believers, genuine believers, can lose their salvation.

He's dealing in covenant categories. The old covenant is about law. It's a covenant of works. All these things we shall do.

And the new covenant is a gracious response. The new covenant, brethren, is actually a covenant of works as well. And the beauty of it is that it's a covenant of works kept for us by the Lord Jesus Christ, the covenant head. That's the beauty, that's the significant blessing that we have in this new covenant situation.

And then verse five, for we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love. He repeats that in verse 15 in chapter 6. Notice, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation. Ames again says, in the Galatians passage, the discussion relates only to the observance of days, months, and years as an aspect of bondage to weak and beggarly elements.

But it was far from the apostles' mind and altogether strange to Christian faith to consider any commandment of the Decalogue or any ordinance of Christ in such a vein. In fact, you turn up the heat in our studies in the book of Acts. Paul actually took vows. Paul actually responded to the Jewish calendar.

He not only had Timothy circumcised, but he himself did what James bid him to do in order to facilitate harmony amongst Jews and Gentiles in that transition phase. But he never did it with a view to gain his acceptance with God. So a big difference between, oh, there's no more fourth commandment and what Paul is actually dealing with in Galatians chapter four. And

Colossians 2: Mystical Legalism

let's look thirdly and finally at Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two, that's an interesting situation. In Colossae, they were plagued with people that had a whole bunch of strange ideas. And basically what there was was a mixture of or a mingling of angels, Judaism, and Christ.

Again, it's not typically the case that they say, oh, get rid of Christ altogether. Rome does not do that. None of the pseudo-Christian cults do that. It's always Jesus plus.

See, that's as heretical as no Jesus. Jesus plus is as heretical as no Jesus at all. We think that that's somehow a bit better, but Paul condemns with anathema a Jesus plus approach in the churches of Galatia. So in Colossians chapter two, we have, the opponents of Christ and the opponents of Christ's Church attempting to cheat the Colossians and to judge them.

Notice in Colossians 2.8, Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. And then notice in verse 16, so let no one judge you in food or in drink. Again, probably not beer and pizza, most likely those things that made their way into Israel's diet and made their way onto Israel's calendar. That's the issue that the apostle is dealing with.

And the Colossian heresy mingled not only Christ with Judaism, but through an angels for an extra dose of holiness. As well, the apostle warns them not to let that happen, and then he gives concrete expression to how it may happen. In the first place, there's an emphasis on mystical legalism. Notice in 2.16-19.

So let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substances of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not holding fast to the head from whom all the body nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments grows with the increase that is from God. So be on guard against this sort of mystical legalism. The legalism is seen there in the commitment to Israel's calendar.

But the mystical is seen there in the angels and in that sort of ethereal place. And we want to bring that down here and govern you with that sort of a mindset. And if you're not like that, then you're bad. Don't let them do that.

Don't let them judge you concerning these particular things. And then the next violation is found in verses 20 to 23. And this refers to asceticism. And asceticism is simply the principle that teaches, stay away from certain things, don't eat certain things, don't drink certain things, and everything will be hunky-dory.

Everything will be absolutely okay. This is what drove the monks to go live on poles out in the wilderness. This is what drove the monks to go live out in caves. The thought is, is that if I withdraw myself from all these worldly temptations, then I'll be godly and holy.

Well, we all know how well that works out. We could be, as I've said before, limbless people on a desert island and sin 24-7 against God Most High. We have hearts that are messed up. And so it's not simply removing ourselves from those things which defile.

No, there are obviously things that we should remove ourselves from. Arsenic, hemlock, certain things we shouldn't ingest because they'll end our lives. But the ascetics taught that if you just separate yourself well enough, then everything will be okay. So look at verse 20.

Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourself to regulations? Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, which all concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men. In other words, that's not what commends us to God. Our acceptance with God is not based on what we don't eat and what we don't touch and where we don't go.

Our acceptance with God is fully grounded upon the finished work of the Savior. Notice what he says in verse 23. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. Perhaps you've read Puritans or the Reformers and you've seen that emphasis on will-worship.

And what they mean by will-worship is what is codified in our confession in terms of our approach to God. With reference to the acceptable way of worshiping the true God, it is instituted by Himself and so limited by His own revealed will that He may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men. Men always want to take the role of lawgiver. Men always want to take the role of healer.

Men always want to take the role of rescuer. And men always want to ruin your life if you give them the opportunity to do so. God is gracious. God is good.

God has provided a way of acceptance with Himself that is not according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. So let's go back now, having considered the context and considered the actual point of the argument. See how that frees you up in exegesis? Romans 14 isn't about the dissolution of the Sabbath.

It's about harmony in the Church. Galatians chapter 4 isn't about the dissolution of the Sabbath. It's about don't try to use law to try and get to God. And Colossians 2, it isn't about the dissolution of the Sabbath.

It is rather, don't be hoodwinked by these people who teach you that commitment to Israel's calendar, along with the worship of angels, is somehow going to endear you to our thrice holy God. But look at verse 16 for a moment. It is intriguing, and it does seem to be a proof text against Sabbath-keeping. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths.

So Paul is shaking his finger at you Reformed people, and he is telling you, with all of your confessions that summarize the biblical theology of the Sabbath, you guard against judging others that do not see regard for the Lord's Day in a manner that you do. Well, brethren, he's not talking about the Lord's Day. He's not talking about the weekly Sabbath. Again, he is talking about Israel's calendar.

These three terms are used several times in the Old Testament, and I think it would do us well to reflect on those.

Israel's Calendar in the Old Testament

Turn back first to 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles, to see these three terms utilized in conjunction one with another, so that what's going on in terms of Paul's address to the Colossians, he is not disregarding or dissolving weekly Sabbath keeping on the part of the justified people of God, where they meet with the God of heaven and earth publicly in his house to worship him. Rather, it is Israel's calendar that is no longer binding on the New Covenant Church. So, 1 Chronicles 23. 1 Chronicles 23, verse 31. And at every presentation of a burnt offering to the Lord on the Sabbaths.

Notice it's pluralized. Leviticus 23 highlights there were occasional Sabbaths as well. While there is the one perpetual Sabbath that has both moral and positive sort of aspects to it, in terms of other Sabbaths there were occasional ones, ones that didn't even fall on Saturday, and typically, I'm not sure always, I don't want to go out on that branch at this point, but it's typically pluralized. Notice in verse 31, at every presentation of a burnt offering to the Lord on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them regularly before the Lord.

Turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 2. 2 Chronicles chapter 2. Preparation of building the temple. Verse three, Solomon sent to Hiram, king of Tyre, saying, as you have dealt with David, my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the Lord, my God, to dedicate it to him, to burn before him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings, morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts of the Lord our God.

This is an ordinance forever to Israel. Turn over to 2 Chronicles 31. The king also appointed a portion of his possessions for the burnt offerings, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and the new moons and the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord. Turn over to Ezekiel 45.

Ezekiel 45. Again, just to show you, these three terms are not used in a vacuum by Paul in Colossians 2. They represent Israel's calendar. He's telling the Colossians, don't let anybody bind your conscience with reference to the new moon, with reference to these occasional Sabbaths, with reference to these feast days. 4517, you see the same three terms held in close contact.

Then it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings at the feasts, the new moons, the Sabbaths, and at all the appointed seasons of the house of Israel. And then one final text is in the minor prophet Hosea. While you're turning there, I'll remind you, the minor prophets are not minor in importance, they are just shorter writings. It's not that the major prophets were more important.

You've got to listen to Isaiah more than Hosea. No, it's just that their writings aren't as long. But notice in Hosea too. Now, I should tell you that Hosea lived at the same time as Isaiah.

And so the pro-Sabbath in the new covenant that Isaiah speaks of in Isaiah 56 and 58 is not something that would be lost on Hosea. It's not something that would be absent to Hosea. But in terms of these three things that represent Israel's calendar, look at what Hosea 2.11 says. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, her Sabbaths, all her appointed feasts.

The abrogation of these three, contra the weekly Sabbath, grounded in the fourth commandment of God, patterned after the example that God sets, and that is everywhere held up in the Bible.

Three Texts Vindicated

Romans 14, Galatians 4, and Colossians 2 are not anti-sabbatarian texts. To say that they are is to misrepresent the mind of the apostle and the mind of the Holy Spirit himself. The Colossian heresy mingled angels, Judaism, and Christ, and Paul rejects such mingling. Again, William Ames says in Colossians 2, the Sabbaths mentioned are specially and expressly described as new moons and ceremonial shadows of things to come in Christ.

But the Sabbath commanded in the Decalogue and our Lord's day are of another nature entirely. And then a man by the name of Gilfillan, he says, while moreover his words discard the days of Judaism, they touch not the authority of the ancient statute of paradise. and in undermining ceremonial rights, leave unshaken the moral foundation on which rests the prescription, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." I am certainly open to listening to an anti-Sabbatarian rant, but it has to be exegetically responsible. It has to be biblically, theologically responsible. You don't just cherry-pick a few texts that mention days in the New Testament and come out an antinomian.

That's not responsible, brethren. That is not the way to do Bible study or interpretation. What we have, rather, is this existing command, along with nine others, that demands our attention. Not in an unlawful way.

Hey, I'm going to keep the Sabbath in order that I might be saved. But in a lawful way. I've been saved by grace through faith. God's given me this blessed gift.

A day upon which I can rest. I get to sanctify it. I get to keep it holy. And I get to enjoy the great things of God.

That is a completely different approach. And one that I hope our Sabbath keeping will represent and will demonstrate in terms of those watching us. Call the Sabbath a delight. That is the emphasis that we find from Genesis to Revelation.

The Colossian heresy attempted to shift the focus off of Christ back to the shadow of things to come. Again, the shadow of things to come was perfect in the old covenant. Prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, those ceremonies pointed the people of God to consider Messiah. But now that Messiah is here, we don't go back to that.

We don't retreat from the substance to the shadow. Our confession of faith treats the ceremonial law this way. It says, besides this law, commonly called moral, the Ten Commandments, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel ceremonial laws containing several typical ordinances. partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits, and partly holding Fort Diver's instructions of moral duties, all which ceremonial laws, being appointed only to the time of Reformation, are by Jesus Christ, the true Messiah and only Lawgiver, who was furnished with power from the Father, for that end, abrogated and taken away. So when Jesus says, do not think that I came to abolish the law, he's talking about the moral law.

He fulfills the ceremonial law. Those things prefiguring his coming, now that he has come, they're no longer necessary. We don't need the picture when we're standing with the grandkid. We don't need the ceremony in Moses' tabernacle when we have a Messiah with us.

This is the backward movement in redemptive history that an appeal to the Jewish calendar reflected with reference to these Colossians and then as well with reference to the Galatians. I hope everybody got that.

Conclusion and Application

We're gonna end now with just a few thoughts and a lot of material. I realized that if anybody is interested and they want notes, tell me, I can send you the notes. Not that the notes are great, but they've got quotes and those sorts of things. And hopefully you can kind of follow along.

And then there's books to be sure written on the subject. I recommended one to a brother recently. Probably the most helpful introduction to a reform view of the Lord's day is by a man named Joseph Piper. Not John Piper, but Joseph Piper, P-I-P-E-R.

It's very readable, very accessible. It's a popular treatment, but it's very, very good. And if this has at least pricked your conscience or has at least enticed you to want to study further, that would be a good place. And then, of course, you can move on to the big daddies. that really go in great detail with reference to the Christian Sabbath.

But I've already given you the summary.

Creation and Redemption as Rationale

Secondly, in terms of the theology, the emphasis on creation and redemption as the rationale for Sabbath-keeping in both covenants. the emphasis on creation and redemption as the rationale in both covenants. So, in the Old Covenant, Moses, under God, argues from creation. In Exodus 20, he argues from redemption. In Deuteronomy 5, When we come to the New Covenant, it's the same rationale, creation and redemption affected by the second person of the Trinity, and that's the scenario envisaged in Hebrews chapter 4.

As God rested on the seventh day as a pattern and as a reflection of His complacency over what He had made, so Christ entered into His rest on that first day when He resurrected from the dead. That is the day upon which these two themes serve as the rationale for Sabbath keeping.

Practical Questions on Sabbath-Keeping

In terms of practical help, whenever we engage in instruction on the Sabbath, the inevitable question comes up, well, can I go to Tim Hortons? Can I play Monopoly? Can I go to the lake? Can I this, that, and the other?

People are smiling. Yeah, you probably asked those questions, right? Let me just read our confession of faith. I'm gonna take the weasel way out.

Just read the confession and let it be, not let it be your guide, let the Bible be your guide. But realize, brethren, there's a lot of differing opinions on this. There's another very helpful book on Sabbath in the New Covenant, and it's called Call the Sabbath a Delight. And the author makes the observation, you know, you've got one family, and the son comes to the dad, and he says, Dad, can we go out and ride our bikes?

And the dad says, no, today is Sunday, today is the Lord's Day, we have to stay inside. And then they're staying inside, and they're looking outside the window, and then there's a family from their church, that rides their bikes right down the street. Of course, that perplexes the kid. It perplexes everybody involved.

Well, what we don't know is that this family is riding their bikes to the park because they like to sit in the park while they go over catechism and recite memory verses and that sort of thing. In other words, the temptation is very much in us to get very judgy when it comes to this whole issue, and we need to guard our hearts against that, this really judgy attitude. Now, there are obviously things that you shouldn't do. I mean, on a day of rest, and a day of blessing, and a day of sanctification, a day wherein we get to worship our true and living God.

I mean, there are things that we shouldn't do. There are things that we should cease from, and there are things that we should, you know, free ourselves up from. Our confession, again, I think is helpful. The Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe a holy rest all day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship and in the duties of necessity and mercy." Now, before you go, man, who could ever do that?

Because I've heard that before. That's just way restrictive. That's just way terrible. Well, it's kind of like the commandment, the seventh commandment.

Ideally, you're not supposed to have relations with another human, right? You're not supposed to have a thought about having relations with another human. You set out the parameters that are required. You set out what lawfulness looks like.

Of course, we're gonna fall short in every single commandment given by our God. Is there any of you who can boast or any of us who can boast, wow, I do the first commandment so well. I have no other gods before me ever. Do you realize what kind of an admission or confession that is?

I would suggest that you really don't understand that statement or the fifth commandment. I gotta tell you, that's been one of my big struggles over the last year, big time. I know about subordination to the governing authority. I embrace the whole thing in principle.

But man, there's some of this that really drives me nuts. But in terms of treatment, you would expect ethicists or people commenting in terms of the Bible that you need to submit. Your heart needs to be in it. You need to do so in a willing, loving way.

Well, brethren, I struggle with that. I'm sure you struggle with certain things as well. I don't know why when it comes to the fourth commandment, we forget all that. We forget it's either absolute perfect compliance or obedience, or we're just the most devilish people in the world.

Well, none of the other commandments are like that. I'm not saying it in order to go out and disobey them, but I am saying it to remind us that we need to keep looking at the commandment keeper, our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one in the history of the world that ever kept the commandments perfectly. He did it exactly.

He did it entirely. He did it perpetually. He did it personally. Everything God demands in terms of law keeping, Christ did on our behalf.

But in terms of what it looks like, I think that our confession represents well this approach. As well, with reference to the use of the fourth commandment, I've mentioned the threefold use of the law. You have the civil or political use. Wouldn't it be great if everybody in the world actually took a day off?

I mean, there's more to life than money. There's more to life than labor. There's more to life than all the things that are held out as the primary emphasis in our world. I mean, it wouldn't kill us to take a day off and rest in our blessed God.

The second is the pedagogical use. You want to know your sin? Look at how you keep the Sabbath day. You want to see your need for Jesus?

Look at how you keep the Sabbath day. There's a great benefit to using the law lawfully in this particular manner. And then normatively, how do we live? How do we function?

How do we orchestrate our lives of sanctification? Well, we should try to keep the day holy. We should try to cease from our earthly labors. We should try to think God's thoughts after Him.

We should try to regulate our lives, not according to Israel's calendar, but according to God's Word revealed in the moral law for His people in whatever covenant they find themselves in.

Questions for Anti-Sabbatarians

And then the final thing that I think is important, and I think that is necessary, is questions for anti-sabbatarians. I have felt this press, and I'm not saying it in the sense of, oh, poor little me. No, but I felt the press that always it's the Sabbatarians that have to defend themselves. It's never the anti-Sabbatarians that have to defend themselves.

I would suggest anti-Sabbatarians take their cue from our provincial government. This provincial government has been able to do what New Covenant theology and dispensational theology hasn't, kill the Christian Sabbath. That is an unfortunate reality that has gone the way in all of this. The Sabbath has been set apart by our government, and for whatever reason, churches have followed suit.

But in terms of some questions for anti-Sabbaterians, why does God establish the six-in-one pattern at creation? God's God, He's infinitely wise. Whatever He does by example is for His creatures. There is a six-in-one pattern at creation.

Why does Sabbath observance predate Sinai? Genesis 4, Exodus 16. Why does God at Sinai tell them to remember the Sabbath? See, dispensationalists will tell us that the Ten Commandments were given to the Jews.

No, the Ten Commandments were given by God to man. The Ten Commandments predate Sinai, including Sabbath, such that when we get to Sinai, God tells them to remember. Why does God refer to both creation and redemption in the giving of the Sabbath law? Because creation sets forth for us the pattern of God in Genesis 2, and redemption sets for us the pattern of God in the saving of his people.

Why does Isaiah speak of Sabbath keeping during the Messianic age? Isaiah 56 and 58 are closely attached to Isaiah 53. It is the work of the suffering servant, that man of sorrows, who was crucified for us, that leads to the blessing seen in Isaiah 54, in terms of the peace and stability of the people of God. Isaiah 55, the foundation upon which sinners are called to faith and repentance. 56, talking about eunuch inclusion in the New Covenant community, and Sabbath keeping in the New Covenant community.

Why does Jesus claim lordship of the Sabbath in Mark 2 and in Matthew 12? Only to invalidate it after his death? He is the Lord of the Sabbath, but you don't really need to be too concerned about that, because once I die and fulfill it once and for all, there'll be no more Sabbath. No, most or a lot of or a majority of his confrontation with the religious leaders was concerning Sabbath wars.

Why does Jesus say that the Sabbath was made for man? He doesn't say for Jew. He doesn't say for Israel. It could be man, Adam, or it could be man generically, which either way, Adam represents Adam and man generically.

The Sabbath was made for the man. That brings us back to creation. The best of Christian interpretation with reference to Sabbath keeping sees it first as a creation ordinance. There are things established in the garden that are paradigmatic for the creature of God going forward.

Why would Jesus clear away Jewish corruptions only to destroy it not long after? Why does the early church meet on Sunday, the first day of the week? And again, we looked at that material. It is there, it is conspicuous.

Why does the integrity of the Ten Commandments suffer in the New Covenant? In other words, why should we expect only nine out of the ten are for the people of God in the New Covenant? No, it's the Ten Commandments. It doesn't matter if you're Old Covenant.

It doesn't matter if you're New Covenant. This is a revelation of who God is. It is a revelation of what God demands from His people. And why does the author of Hebrews emphatically assert that a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God?

Those are some questions that I would really like answers to from somebody who says, oh yeah, we're under 9 of the 10 commandments. And this weaselly way of saying, well, Jesus fulfilled the law. He certainly did. And he fulfilled the law on not murdering.

He fulfilled the law on not committing adultery. But we find ourselves subject to those laws still as a pattern for sanctification in this new covenant arena. and to the argument that Sabbath keeping takes away from the spontaneity of the Christian man. I mean, you've heard that before. Well, every day is the Lord's day.

It's kind of like racism today. If everything is racism, nothing is. If every day is special, none of them are. The blessedness of God has ordained one day out of seven for the church to cease from her worldly labors, to enter into the presence of God, to worship Him.

So yeah, the Lord owns every day. He owns all the food, but there's a specific reference to the Lord's table, 1 Corinthians 11, and the Lord's day. and Revelation 1. But in terms of the spontaneity or that it's inconsistent with Christian liberty, again, William Ames, Christian liberty is not at all diminished in this conception, as some seem to feel without cause. For it is not liberty, but non-Christian license, which results, if any, think themselves free from the observance of any commandments of the Decalogue or the institutions of Christ.

Experience also teaches that license and the neglect of holy things more and more prevail when due respect is not given to the Lord's day." In other words, if we are going to relax on that, our sanctification is going to be affected across the board. But finally, the gospel of our salvation. will never be saved by the law, will never be saved by our Sabbath keeping, it is always and alone in and through the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 14, we should learn on how we ought to love one another in spite of our differences. Galatians chapter 4, we should learn that it's not faith in Christ plus the law, the ceremonial law of Moses that gets me favor with God.

And in Colossians chapter 2, it's not these people that want to judge us, it's not these people that inflict will worship on us, but solely and alone it's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. He is the law keeper, he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and he is the one that was raised again the third day for our justification. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the consistency of scripture from Genesis to Revelation. We thank you for your law. We know it's good, it's holy, it's right, it's just.

We know the problem is always with us. but help us to appreciate that the commandments of God are not grievous, they're not burdensome, they're not something that you afflict us with, but there's something given to protect us and something given to help us along the way. And we know ultimately we are saved not by our law-keeping, but by grace through our Lord Jesus Christ and the blessedness of his life and death and resurrection. May you encourage us and may you help us now as we go forth to keep the day, to rejoice in the Lord God Most High, and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

We'll close with a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Genesis 2; 4
• Exodus 16; 20; 24
• Leviticus 23
• Deuteronomy 5:12-15
• 1 Chronicles 23:31
• 2 Chronicles 2:3; 31
• Ezekiel 45:17
• Hosea 2:11
• Isaiah 53; 54; 55; 56; 58
• Jeremiah 31:31-34
• Matthew 5:17-20; 12
• Mark 2
• Acts 20:7
• Romans 14:2-3; 14:4; 14:5-6
• 1 Corinthians 11; 16
• Galatians 1:6; 4:8-10; 4:21; 5:1; 5:2; 5:4; 5:5-6; 6:15
• Colossians 2:8; 2:16-23
• Hebrews 4:9-10
• Revelation 1:10