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well please turn with me in your bibles to deuteronomy chapter five considering the christian sabbath we're looking at part two this morning just want to read deuteronomy 5 12-15 i'll pray and then we'll look at the material deuteronomy chapter 5 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 well let us pray father in heaven we come to what some consider to be a controversial subject we ask that you would guide us now by the holy spirit give us wisdom give us understanding give us grace to see that none of the commandments of god are burdensome cause us to reflect upon the blessedness of a god who gives his people the gift of a day a day to cease from their worldly laborers a day to come in from out of the world to gather together in the presence of god to sanctify it of the day to call it a delightful day to keep it as a holy day we ask now that you would bless us and help us lord god in this guide us by the spirit we pray in jesus name amen well when we consider the doctrine of the sabbath we looked at the exposition of this commandment and then last time we looked at the sabbath in the new uh in the old covenant this morning we're going to take up the sabbath in the new covenant under the few headings of the ministry of christ the resurrection of christ and then the teaching of the apostles but just by way of a bit of a review we see sabbatarian islam or sabbath keeping first patterned by god in genesis chapter 2 verses 1 to 3. it serves as a pattern or a paradigm for the created order on the heels of that account we have cain and abel coming at the end of days the end of the days of the week to bring sacrifice that adam had commanded them on the day that adam had commanded them we see that the sabbath is pre sinai in terms of observance in exodus chapter 16 they were supposed to gather on the sixth day a daily portion so that they would not have to work on the seventh day the sabbath day of course we see the giving of the law and the codification of the sabbath in the in the fourth commandment in exodus chapter 20 the rationale for sabbath keeping is the reality that god created the heavens and the earth in the space of six days the rationale in deuteronomy is that god redeemed israel out of bondage in egypt so those twin themes of creation and redemption obtain an old covenant sabbath keeping i will argue they obtain in new covenant sabbath keeping as well and our text for that will be hebrews 4. before we turn there it's going to be in a few minutes but but just a bit of a review you see the sabbath in the prophets jeremiah 31 31-34 doesn't mention anything particular to sabbath but mentions about new covenant blessing in the times of messiah in the time of the new covenant the lord god will indeed write his law on the hearts of his redeemed people he will give them a knowledge of himself he will forgive their sins all features that were present in the old covenant but were not essential in the new covenant those are essential features anyone in the new covenant must be identified as one who's been forgiven of sin one who's had the law of god internalized including the the fourth commandment and those who have the spirit abiding in that we see in the prophet isaiah isaiah 56 it is a prophecy concerning new covenant reality and the new covenant is going to see the inclusion of eunuchs deuteronomy 23 1 forbid eunuchs from entering into the assembly of the lord well in isaiah 56 we learn that the eunuchs will be able to come to the house of god you see that fulfilled in acts chapter 8 when philip meets that ethiopian unit and that ethiopian eunuch is baptized and he's added to the very church of god most high and then in isaiah 58 the prophet upbraids the nation for two ordinances that they had engaged in with the wrong motives fasting and sabbath keeping and again that section in isaiah 50 points to new covenant bless it it all hinges upon or is rooted in isaiah 53 and the substitutionary atoning work of the servant of yahweh the lord jesus christ so based on what he has done there are certain features essential to new covenant religion that the prophets speak of so when we get to the new covenant we see those things come to fruition and when it comes to the law of god most high remember the threefold division there is that ceremonial law those feast days that we just read about in exodus 23 those prefigured those typified the coming messiah those are fulfilled by him so there is no longer an obligation on the new covenant church to hold to the ceremonial law there is the judicial law which is that section in exodus that we are reading the ten commandments are given in exodus 20 and then there are case law concrete examples of how to do society that is the judicial law again it has expired with the commonwealth of israel but there is a general general equity that obtains and then of course the moral law that's exodus 20 the 10 commandments that's deuteronomy 5 the 10 commandments that is abiding that is perpetual that continues that has not been abrogated it has not been fulfilled it has not been done away with christ fulfilled the ceremonial law the the jews or the commonwealth of israel is dissolved so there is no more judicial law technically speaking but the moral law is extinct it is for us and it's not just nine out of the ten commandments but rather it is all ten of the commandments now as a reformed church that subscribes to a reformed confession we affirm a reformed hermeneutic so if the new testament doesn't get rid of something then it continues to be binding for us i realize there are persons that suggest that the new covenant does do away with sabbath keeping we'll take up those alleged anti-sabbatarian tax god willing next sunday but for now i want to consider the sabbath and the new covenant turn first with me to matthew chapter 5. matthew chapter 5 as we look at the ministry of christ i have two sub points here first is doctrine concerning the law and second his practice concerning the sabbath we'll take up first the doctrine concern his doctrine concerning the law in matthew 5 17 to 20. look at what it says do not think that i came to destroy the law or the prophets i did not come to destroy but to fulfill for assuredly i say to you till heaven and earth pass away one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven for i say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven so what we have here is christ's hermeneutic now kids the word hermeneutic simply means principles of interpretation if you don't know what principles means too bad you're going to have to ask your parents at lunch but the idea is is that when we come to the bible there's some frame of reference by which we interpret the bible in other words what you put in in terms of exegesis is what you get out in terms of application i said that if you have not been in a reformed church you will have heard the allegation that reformed people who believe that the sabbath is still perpetual for us are legalistic or were judaizing the new testament well again that's a result of their hermeneutic either dispensational theology or new covenant theology with the hermeneutic they put in they come out on the other side with no sabbath it is different for the reform the hermeneutic that we that we utilize comes out on the other side with an abiding sabbath again it goes back to the threefold division of the law threefold use of the law and all those sorts of things but christ is setting forth now his hermeneutic how he deals with the bible how he deals with the old testament his popularity and his fame had been spreading there were people that were drawing nigh to hear him in fact we see that at the outset of the sermon on the mount all the multitudes drew to him he sits down in the position of an official rabbinic teacher and he expounds the word of god not only for his disciples but for the multitudes no doubt religious leaders had come because they had heard of the popularity of jesus and one of the pressing issues would no doubt have been what does he think about moses what does he think about isaiah what does he think about what we now call the old testament in other words how does he handle the scriptures so he sets forth these principles in the first place he says do not think that i came to destroy the law or the prophets i did not come to destroy but to fulfill he does this in his work he doesn't invalidate the law or the prophets that means the old testament but rather he fulfills it in other words what it says concerning him deuteronomy 18 a prophet will be raised up among the children of israel him you shall hear ii samuel chapter 7 a son of david that would build the house for god isaiah 53 the suffering servant who would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and who would go to the cross for us men and for our salvation so he doesn't come to invalidate or to abrogate or to destroy the law and the prophets but he comes to fulfill it in his own work the fulfillment of all that was written to of him in the prophets and the active obedience of christ to everything written in terms of law he had to fulfill that in order for us to achieve this righteousness we will never fulfill that law perfectly we will never do it perpetually we will never do it exactly and we'll never do it entirely so if the priest does not come the representative of his people does not come and do that for us then we will perish in hell forever but he fulfills all righteousness he carries out every obligation of the law and he does that so that we can receive a righteousness imputed to us and receive by faith alone he fulfills the ceremonial law in the sacrifice of himself he's not only the priest but he's the victim he's not only the offerer but he is the offer he is the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world and thus in the work of christ he fulfills the law and the prophets and his actions spurgeon says he is himself the fulfillment and substance of the types and prophecies and commands of the law secondly he fulfills the law in his doctrine and this is what he sets forth here do not think the tense of the verb suggests we ought to interpret it this way do not let it even begin to arise in your mind that i have come to destroy the law and the prophets i didn't come to destroy the law and the prophets i have come rather to fulfill them and by fulfill he means again so that we might have a righteousness but by fulfill he's confirming he is strengthening he is demonstrating the beauty and the glory of it again spurgeon makes the observation our king honors his father's law he took care to revise and reform the laws of men but the law of god he established and confirmed our king has not come to abrogate the law but to confirm and reassert it so he makes that statement do not even let it begin to rise up don't even begin to think that i came to destroy the law or the prophets i did not come to destroy but to fulfill notice the abiding perpetuity of god's moral law i already see that the ceremonial is is fulfilled by jesus the judicial expires with the commonwealth of israel but in verse 18 i say to you till heaven and earth pass away one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled so he confirms it according to spurgeon i think he's right there he strengthens the obligation even under the new covenant it's not the case that we are to disregard it or to relegate it it's not the case that because jesus fulfilled the law relative to the seventh commandment that now we can go out and commit adultery or that jesus has fulfilled the law relative to the sixth commandment we can go out and commit murder well that jesus has fulfilled the law concerning the sabbath doesn't mean that we're free now to have no obligation with reference to the sabbath that is a non-sequitur it does not follow and that is not what christ is doing in terms of his hermeneutic he issues this caution against those who breaks or uh verse 19 whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven so in terms of an antinomian those who do not have a high regard for the law he nevertheless says they will be leased in the kingdom of heaven but notice what he says concerning legalism or neo-nomianism in verse 20 he says for i say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven notice it's the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees that is the target not the righteousness of the the law of moses and in verses 21 to 44 he goes on to give a series of antithesis between what has been said in pharisaic misinterpretation to what has always been the original purpose given by god in the giving of the law so christ's hermeneutic christ's principle of interpretation christ's framework with dealing with the law is one that is pro-law he's not an antinomian and that simply means one who gets rid of one who is against or one who disregards the law of god he's also not a neo-nomian or what we call a legalist he knows that the righteousness that is demanded by him in the sermon on the mount is afforded by him in terms of his redemptive work on behalf of his people so christ navigates between antinomianism and neo-nomianism and sets forth parameters so that the church can do likewise so with reference to the ministry of christ we see his doctrine concerning the law it's like jeremiah 31 31-34 doesn't say anything about the law uh the law of the sabbath but it tells you how you're supposed to think about the law in general and then the particular commandments in particular and then with reference to the his practice concerning the sabbath we see that in matthew 12. you can turn there so this general overarching pro-law sentiment on the part of our blessed savior and then we see his practice concerning the sabbath in matthew chapter 12 verses 1 to 14. and when jesus teaches he is also giving us some necessary qualifications with reference to the law we looked at this two weeks ago in part one when we considered mark god didn't make the man so that the man could observe the sabbath god made the sabbath as a gift given for the man and we need to understand the original intention of god john tells us in first john 5 3 his commandments are not burdensome in isaiah 58 13 and 14 were to call the sabbath a delight brethren i've debated this and talked about this and preached about this and as a confessional baptist since the the time i was in ministry and when we propagate the doctrine of the christian sabbath much to the chagrin of the opponents of the christian sabbath this isn't legalism this isn't judaizing this is rather liberation it is rather a blessed gift it is rather something good that our god gives us our god who commands us to rejoice is a god who gives us a day upon which to rejoice in his presence so with reference to christ we see these sabbath wars that he engages the pharisees and the religious leaders in and in the first section in matthew 12 1-8 notice in verse 1 at that time jesus went through the grain fields on the sabbath and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat and when the pharisees saw it they said to him look your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath these guys were the you know the consummate fault finders these were the consummate karen's these were the the guys that just tried to make life miserable i think the best illustration of what's called christian fundamentalism if you know what that means you'll understand it's the strange idea that somewhere someone is actually enjoying themselves we need to eradicate that mindset and here i think those in the context of the church ape the government at times but with reference to these guys they say look your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath well that's not charged rhetoric is it that's not a simple question that's not a simple you know call for understanding well what does jesus do does jesus say oh yeah you're right we're sabbath-breaking wretches no he says you're wrong you don't understand the scope of the sabbath when it came to david they went into the holy place and they ate the bread that was for the priests only would it been better for them to die they needed food they needed resources they needed health and strength in order that they might go forth in the fear of god conquering the enemies of god he then invokes after david he invokes the priests they work on the sabbath day they had back-to-back services it's likely to kill that there's a lot of labor involved in preaching back to back brethren if you pray practically pray that open the churches again so we can get a bit of space between the time but in terms of the priests they labored on the sabbath and they weren't violating that holy day and then jesus asserts his superiority over temple and that's a major theme in new testament uh new testament theology christ has not come to replace the temple you hear it referred to at times as replacement theology covenant theology is not replacement theology it is fulfillment theology it is organic the promises made to adam abraham isaac jacob come to fruition in the israel of god which is jesus christ our lord the temple was for a time it pointed forward to the one that would be superior and over and supreme in other words the one the temple pointed to is the primary is the superior one and then notice as well with reference to his teaching he is the lord of the sabbath so verse 8 for the son of man is lord even of the sabbath but in this particular context our lord jesus shows us that the works of necessity are consistent with sabbath keeping in other words it's not a cessation from life it's not sit in your living room all day long but it is rather do good things and encourage people gather in the house of god for the worship of god and there are works of necessity if you are in a position where you have to eat or you'll die then by all means eat that's not a violation of the sabbath we we approach this commandment like we don't with any other we we just have this view of god just trying to hedge us in it and and kill us and be the cosmic karen to ruin our lives no that's not it at all works of necessity are consistent with sabbath keeping but he also indicates in the next section that works of mercy are consistent with sabbath keeping notice in verse 9 now when he had departed from there he went into their synagogue and behold there was a man who had a withered hand and they asked him saying is it lawful to heal on the sabbath that they might accuse him again they're not looking for information the gospel writers the evangelists often times tip the hat in terms of what's the actual motivation behind these pharisees or religious leaders is it lawful to heal on the sabbath that they might accuse him now notice he said to them what man is there among you who has one who has one sheep and if it falls into a pit on the sabbath will not lay hold of it and lift it out of how much more value then is a man than a sheep therefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath sabbath keeping does not invalidate works of mercy works of mercy are absolutely positively consistent on the sabbath day so it's not a cessation from labor to the place of inertness or static-ness where you just sit on your couch all day and engage in the holy observation of sabbath no works of necessity works of mercy but underscoring this is the outflow of jesus overall approach to the law i mentioned before that it would be very curious if christ was going to invalidate or to abrogate or to destroy or to do away with the sabbath that there would be all of these sabbath wars recorded for us in the gospel narratives many times that jesus and his opponents butt heads it is over the doctrine of the sabbath one man has made this observation he says christ was careful to clear it from jewish corruptions and if there was any precept more particularly vindicated by him and honored then another it was that requiring the sabbath day to be kept holy it is not the practice of a wise man to repair a house which he is about to pull down why would he do that it makes no sense rather he vindicates it and he highlights the reality that there is a proper approach to sabbath keeping as is there an improper approach uh improper approach you see that in first timothy 1 8 the apostle paul says we know just something the church had settled back then for whatever reason we don't have this lesson down today he says but we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully if you teach people that it's keeping the law that gets them into heaven you're not teaching them properly if you're teaching them that the law has been abrogated and it is no longer a revelation of who god is and a pattern for your sanctification then you are teaching it unlawfully but when you have that three-fold uh use of the law and you use it lawfully then that is a great benefit and something the church must engage and so jesus uses the law lawfully and he distinguishes it from the pro malpractice of the religious leaders in his time so we have the ministry of christ his doctrine concerning the law and his practice concerning the sabbath now let's look at the resurrection of christ he rose the first day of the week matthew 28 matthew chapter 28 we'll just read the passages because this is absolutely crucial matthew 28 1. now after the sabbath that's the seventh day saturday sabbath as the first day of the week began to dawn mary magdalene and the other mary came to see the tomb so it was the first day of the week upon which our lord had risen from the dead turn over to mark's gospel mark 16. mark 16. each of the gospel writers indicate this for us the reason why they indicate for us is that there has been a shift in terms of the day upon which the church celebrates sabbath now while you're turning there i'll remind you of something i think i said in part one when it comes to the sabbath commandment it is both moral law and ceremonial or we might say it's both moral and positive the moral aspect is one day out of seven the people of god worship the god of the people the the the ceremonial or positive aspect is the day upon which conditioned by the covenant that the people of god do that so there are both moral and positive elements involved in the sabbath commandment but notice in mark 16 1-2 now when the sabbath was passed mary magdalene mary the mother of james and salome brought bought spices that they might come and anoint him very early in the morning on the first day of the week they came to the tomb when the sun had risen again christ rose again on the first day of the week turn to luke 24 luke chapter 24 if you are curious about my use of moral or positive or ceremonial again i encourage you to take a copy of our church's confession of faith and read chapter 19 of the law of god it is a wonderful presentation of reformed theology relative to god's law but in luke 24 we read now on the first day of the week very early in the morning they and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb turn over to john 20 john chapter 20 verse 1 very similar now the first day of the week mary magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb now drop down to verse 19 when does jesus appear to his disciples 2019 then the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the jews jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them peace be with you so you have the disciples gathered together secretly for fear of the jews and jesus comes to them on that first day of the week now it's the la uh it's the disciples minus thomas the following week thomas is now with them and notice the same day that christ comes to them verse 26 and after eight days his disciples were again inside and thomas with them jesus came the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said peace to you it's inclusive so it means the first day of the week we have the resurrection of christ as that day upon which the church and the new covenant gathers together for worship as the confession of faith says which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of christ was the last day of the week and from the resurrection of christ was changed into the first day of the week which is called the lord's day and is to be continued to the end of the world as the christian sabbath the observation of the last day of the week being abolished so you have the ministry of christ with reference to the law and his practice concerning the sabbath you have the resurrection of christ which is conspicuously on the first day of the week each of the gospel writers underscores that for us and john does it twice he does it when the disciples meet without thomas he does it again when the disciples meet with thomas but in both instances the church of christ is gathered on the first day of the week now turn with me thirdly in terms of the actual structure of the sermon to the teaching of the apostles so turn to hebrews chapter four i won't get into the reasons why i believe that paul wrote hebrews i think if paul wrote hebrews it doesn't prohibit what's called an emanuensis paul would use another person to actually put pen to paper but the apostle paul is responsible for the book of hebrews again that's been debated in the context of the church it ultimately doesn't matter you're not going to go to hell if you don't accept pauline authorship of hebrews and i hope you don't go to hell if you the pauline authorship of of hebrews because then i'm going to be there but notice we have first in terms of the teaching of the apostles the sabbath that remains now when it comes to hebrew hebrews 4 we're doing what's called biblical theology now there is a text specifically in the context that tells us there is a sabbath rest that remains for the people of god verse 9 is very conspicuous in that way in fact it's only the new king james as far as i can tell of the english translations the modern ones that doesn't use the theologically charged terminology of sabbath rest if you have the esv you have the niv you have the nasb verse 9 tells us there is a sabbath rest for the people of god but in terms of the context as i said we need to do a bit of biblical theology in the first place the context is perseverance in the christian faith perseverance in the christian faith if you go back to chapter three you'll see an exhortation two exhortations to that end verse six but christ his son over his own house whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end see the book of hebrews is charged with that particular doctrine persevere overcome endure go forward don't shrink back if as i suspect it was written prior to the destruction of jerusalem the specific admonition comes to hebrew christians and they are being told not to recant christ and go back to the temple and go back to the sacrificial system you need to endure and persevere and then notice as well verse 14 for we have become partakers of christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end and then you have this negative example portrayed in verses 16 to 19. for who having heard rebel indeed was it not all who came out of egypt led by moses now with whom was he angry forty years was it not with those who sinned whose corpses fell in the wilderness and to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest but to those who did not obey so we see then that they could not enter in because of unbelief so that's the larger context for hebrews chapter four persevere endure overcome now he gets into the specific application notice with reference to this emphasis on rest for one therefore since a promise remains of entering his rest god's rest is the blessedness of the creature communing with the creator it is the blessedness of us entering in to the covenant promises of god almighty and as we move through this passage we learn that sabbath keeping was a great boon and a great help and a great encouragement for the people of god to persevere and to endure and to overcome notice the declaration concerning god's rest in verse 4. for he has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way and god rested on the sabbath or seventh day from all his works so god's rest again is paradigmatic it is a pattern for the creature in genesis 2 1-3 now notice the emphasis in verses 6 and 7 the reality that canaan was typical of the rest for the people of god so along the way in israel's history there were these not only weekly sabbaths but the land itself typified or foreshadowed or prefigured or looked forward to that consummate rest when the people of god enter in to the presence of god for all eternity notice according to verse 8 the rest promised by god was not fulfilled in the land of canaan verse 8 says for if joshua had given them rest then he would not afterward have spoken of another day i think the argument of the apostle is simply this the ultimate end for the people of god is to enter into god's rest god's rest is most glorious it is most excellent we engage it now on the sabbath day but it's not fully entered into as to what it's going to be and so there have been these things in history that have signified or typified that rest but it hasn't exhausted the reality and so in history we have canaan to keep us going we have weekly sabbath keeping to keep us going now notice what he does in verse 9. he says there remains therefore a rest a sabbath rest for the people of god now it is very intriguing what the apostle does here sometimes when you're reading passages of scripture you'll see the use of synonymous words but but they're different i mean they're the same word in terms of meaning but they're different from a literary point of view in other words you don't want to have this same repetition of the same word over and over again but there are other times when a new word is used which has theological significance so the word that has been used throughout up until verse nine has been a general word for the word a general word for rest kara pausan is the word now he uses a very theologically charged word sabbatismos sabbath rest it is used in the greek translation of the old testament on a couple of places as a verbal a verbal form the people of god sabbath according to exodus 16 30. it's also used in a verbal form for the land the land was given its sabbath rest so the author here now uses this theologically charged word and what he says here is there remains therefore a sabbath rest for the people of god just like in the old covenant they had the weekly sabbath that helped spur them on in terms of perseverance and endurance just like in the old covenant they had canaan as a type as a prefigure meant as a helpful pointer to what would ultimately obtain in the eternal state so in the new covenant we have a sabbath rest for the people of god this is a passage that does exactly what many in our day say the bible never does they say things like i can't understand how any student of the new testament could find sabbath keeping in the new testament well the apostle tells us under the inspiration of the holy spirit there remains therefore a sabbatismos for the people of god certainly in terms of consummate glory certainly in terms of eternal rest but if in the old covenant that weekly sabbath function to encourage the people of god could it not be the case that in the new covenant there is a weekly sabbath that is calculated to encourage the people of god i think that's precisely what the apostle is getting at in this place the sabbath rest typifies the eternal rest that is to come g k beal a new covenant or a new testament biblical theologian he said if the eschatological reality eschatological eschatologist just means doctrine of last things the study of end times the study of the eschaton what happens when this life is over and we enter into the final or into the the age to come he says if the eschatological reality of final sabbath rest has not consummately come then it is unlikely that the typological sign pointing to that ultimate rest has ceased in other words if one of the functions of sabbath under old covenant was to spur urge and encourage the people of god to march on until the consummate rest since the consummate rest has not come then it follows that the people of god in a new covenant situation still need that help they still need that encouragement they still need that boon they need that blessing to aid them along the way he goes on to say that is if the weekly sabbath included the function of pointing forward to consummate rest and that rest has not yet come then that weekly sabbath should continue this is a man i don't want to get into any sort of uh what is it an appeal to authority i can't remember the latin here but he's no he's no amateur i mean g.k bill is a pretty accomplished father in israel and this is not some judaizing of the new testament or legalizing of the new testament and then a w pink who i'm sure many of you have heard of his comment on 4 9 is very interesting he says here then is a plain positive unequivocal declaration by the spirit of god there remaineth therefore a sabbath keeping nothing could be simpler nothing less ambiguous the striking thing and this is really needs to be pondered because one of the things that the book of hebrews is doing is showing the superiority of christ over angels showing the superiority of christ over moses showing the superiority of christ over the levitical priesthood it's all about how christ is so much better because he is the one they pointed forward to so he says the striking thing is that this statement occurs in the very epistle whose theme is the superiority of christianity over judaism written to those addressed as holy brethren partakers of the heavenly calling therefore it cannot be dane said that hebrews 4 9 refers directly to the christian sabbath hence we solemnly and emphatically declare that any man who says there is no christian sabbath takes direct issue with the new testament scriptures now when we ask the question what is the day upon which the people of god of god observe that verse 10 provides the answer now if you are using the new king james you will notice that the new king james capitalizes references to deity the personal pronouns are capitalized in the new king king james so if you have he or him or you and it's a reference to deity then it's capitalized i don't think the english versions out there i don't think niv does that i don't think nas does that maybe old nas did i don't know if new i'm looking at shane does nas capitalize pronouns okay i'm not sure about the esv i don't think the esv does but but but they do that i i suspect for reverence we want to be reverent to the deity so we'll capitalize that pronoun okay but it's also an interpretative call when you capitalize a reference a personal pronoun you are making an interpretative call that the pronoun represents deity now in the new king james at verse 10 you do not have capitalized uh pronouns so verse 10 reads for he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works as god did from his the natural or typical interpretation is that refers to the believer that refers to us no it refers to jesus and the twin themes picked up in exodus and in deuteronomy of creation and redemption obtained not only for the father but also for the son that's the theology of the change of the day in verse 10. in the first place the comparison it's christ's works and rest to god's works and rest not the believer's works and rest compared to god's works and rest go back to verse 3 for he or we who have believed do enter that rest as he has said so i swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest although the works were finished from the foundation of the world for he has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way and god rested on the seventh day from all his works so god at the cessation of the creation account or rather the completion of it ceases from his labors it is complacency it is approbation it is approval he looks upon what he has made and he rests jesus does that on the first day verse 10 for he christ who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works as god did from his there's a change of pronoun not just a capitalization of it but throughout the context the plural form is used not now there is a singular person it is the one christ who ceased from his works on the first day he is the author the inaugurator of new creation and of redemption in terms of all that it got all that god had promised the first day of the week is the cessation of christ's labors and the entrance into his rest as well the rest of verse 10 is completed while the rest of verse 11 is not completed and is to be strived after if verse 10 refers to the believer then verse 11 doesn't make any sense why would it be the case that we have entered into the rest verse 10 and then verse 11 let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest it isn't us in verse 10 it's jesus by way of analogy turn over to hebrews chapter 10. hebrews chapter 10 another passage that i think goes misunderstood and arminian sees upon it and tell us that this is how we can lose our salvation but if you look at hebrews chapter 10 at verse 29 the context is apostasy a defection from god verse 29 of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the son of god under foot counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the spirit of grace we look at that and we say wait a minute we have been sanctified we've been included in this blood of the covenant and we're considering this a common thing the he there is jesus he was sanctified he was set apart he was the one that is disregarded by those engaged in apostasy so beware of capitalization reference to deity beware of red letters again it's helpful but if you put all of your interpretative marbles in that bag sometimes you're going to be sorely vexed you're going to end up with just the opposite meaning i think there's another place in 2nd thessalonians chapter 2. the new king james reflects dispensational translators and they capitalize the he and they try to buttress their idea that it's the spirit restraining again the theology is then fit into the passage that's not the goal of exegesis we're supposed to unpack the meaning of scripture and that informs our theology we don't bring our theology to overwrite our exegesis we let our exegesis feed our theology but back to chapter 4 we have this statement he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works as god did from his so the theology of the passage indicates that there is an eternal rest ahead of us but it's typified it's prefigured still in this new covenant setting with a weekly sabbath in first in fact verse 9 there remains therefore a sabbath rest for the people of god yes consummate glory but yes weekly observance what day are we supposed to do that on lo and behold it's the first day of the week when our blessed lord jesus ceased from his labors entered into the rest of his father and sets forth a paradigm based on creation and redemption that the church is to do likewise in terms of sabbath keeping the old theologian william ames says the reason for the change by the consent of all is the resurrection of christ which is itself a confirmation on this day the creation of a new world or of a world to come wherein all things are made new was completed and christ's rising from the dead ceased and rested from his greatest work just as in the beginning god rested from his work and blessed and hallowed the day wherein he rested so also it is right that the very day wherein he rested so also it is right that the very day wherein christ rested from his labors should be hallowed now i realize in the space of 20 minutes or 15 minutes going through this it can be a bit confusing especially if you've never read hebrews with this mindset i'm not trying to confuse you since i can't convince you if you're interested email me i will send you notes i can give you some authors that have written in detail on this particular subject it's not new it's not novel it wasn't recently hatched and it is a biblical theological reading of the text of scripture that again the church needs to do more of because the bible was written in spite of the fact that there were 40 human authors one author prior to the enlightenment the church accepted that after the enlightenment the bible has been dissected the bible has been torn apart the bible has been marginalized by scholarship trying to show some degree of ability with the sacred text yes god used human authors but the entirety from genesis to revelation is ascribed to god most high and there are biblical theological concepts throughout the old testament refers to old testament the new testament refers to old testament the new testament refers to new testament these theologians that wrote scripture were doing what's called intertextual intertextual exegesis they're working with pres uh previous tax capitalizing on them making their arguments in light of that the bible is holistic the bible is a whole and we ought to receive it as such so we have the day the sabbath that remains in hebrews 4. look secondly at the worship service at troas these next few will be quick i know we've covered them and we'll close acts chapter 20 at verse 7. well verse six we sailed away from philippi after the days of unleavened bread and in five days joined them at troas where we stayed seven days now again i'm not a rocket scientist i didn't make up the calendar but i know this that if you were there seven days you were there on a saturday if you were there seven days you were there on a saturday unless they were working with a different calendar which they weren't they were there during a saturday but then notice in verse 7 now on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread the breaking of bread there was most likely the lord's supper it probably wasn't just a common meal though it could have been and that doesn't invalidate the implication but they come together on the first day of the week and then paul ready to depart the next day spoke to them and continued his message until midnight so the people of god gather together they break bread together and then paul preaches to them we typically refer to that as a church worship service ff bruce says the reference to the meeting for the breaking of bread on the first day of the week is the earliest text we have from which it may be inferred with reasonable certainty that christians regularly came together for worship on that day now notice thirdly the collection in corinth in first corinthians chapter 16. first corinthians chapter 16. the apostle orders he doesn't suggest he doesn't recommend but he's giving authorized orders to the church notice in verse one now concerning the collection for the saints as i have given orders to the churches of galatia so you must do also on the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside storing up as he may prosper that there be no collections when i come and when i come whomever you approve by your letters i will send to bear your gift to jerusalem but if it is fitting that i go also they will go with me now that's a bit ambiguous it doesn't say they were having worship services and they had a box in the back and their little envelopes you put your money in there and you put it in the box and sometimes the deacons would go and count that and then do whatever it is the deacons do with the money and all that doesn't say that but it's conspicuous that on the first day of the week you lay aside the doe so that paul can gather it and take it back to judea to alleviate the suffering of the people of god in jerusalem and then notice thirdly or notice fourthly we got the the day the sabbath that remains the worship service that troads the collection in corinth fourthly the vision at patmos turn to revelation 1. revelation 1. verse 10. we'll look at verse 9. i john both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of jesus christ see those things are consistent in the christian life it's not the case that we have one or the other very often we have all of them above we have patience and we have tribulation and we still have kingdom the presence of tribulation doesn't argue against the kingdom of god in fact the kingdom of god encompasses this world which means we will have tribulation but notice he was on the island that is called patmos for the word of god and for the testimony of jesus christ i was in the spirit on the lord's day and i heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet now the form of the word that is used here i've explained this recently but i'll rehearse that it's only used one other time in the new testament and that is found in first corinthians 11 20. there it refers to the lord's supper or the lord's table here it refers to the lord's day it's where the word kirk comes from kuryake in greek means something possessed by the lord something owned by the lord now god owns monday through saturday to be sure but he specifically owns the lord's day he owns every bit of food you put in your mouth everything you eat comes from the hand of god but the lord's table or the lord's supper according to first corinthians 11 20 is set apart it is something unique it is something that the people of god treasure because it's the lord's table or the lord's supper and because it's the lord's day this is what john tells us he is in the spirit on the lord's day now the use of the word in revelation 1 10. it's not the eschatological day of the lord because john lives to fight another day he's not only here writing he's not only receiving these visions but this is not consummate he ends the book with even so come lord jesus if it was the lord's day in terms of eschatological reality then the end of come lord jesus doesn't make sense as well it has the idea or rather it has the specific reality that it's the lord's possession specifically that john is enjoying i was in the spirit on the lord's day one commentator on the book of revelation makes this observation he says as the lord's supper is for the remembrance of his death till he come again so is this day for remembering the work of redemption and his resurrection till he come again so when you come to the new testament in conclusion you don't find a particular passage saying romans 17 that says thou shalt worship on sunday which is now the christian sabbath the lord's day but you see all of it i hope when it's laid out for you and i think our confession of faith again in chapter 22 portrays a good biblical theological reading of scripture as it compiles data concerning the christian sabbath it is binding it is for us not as a means of our salvation but as a pattern of what pleases god and as something that taps into the reality that there's something bigger brighter and better than this present world each uh each time we gather together as the lord's people on the lord's day in the lord's house we know there's something beyond this we're getting a taste of it we're getting a glimpse of it we're getting blessed we're getting thrilled we're getting encouraged to be sure but hopefully we're all departing with this longing for more and i think that's the emphasis in hebrews chapter four the father entered into his rest the son entered into that rest as well at the cessation of their respective works old creation and redemption new creation and redemption they gave her the lord gives to us this day in order to help us along in our march to that consummate rest and glory and are we going to be the kinds of people that say oh no i don't want to do that let me just go get my obligation out of the way so i can do what i really want now i realize it doesn't come out that course for the most part i realize it doesn't come out that sort of blatant for the most part but there is antipathy the sabbath keeping among the churches of jesus christ again i've been accused of being a legalist been accused of being a judaizer been accused of reading scripture in a way that nobody ever could see it well brethren the first day is distinguished by the uh apostolic ministry the first day is distinguished by our lord's resurrection and that theology of hebrews four if it's not crystal clear now ponder it think through it consider it and realize that as the father ceased from his works so the son ceased from his works when we were in the old covenant we rested on the day the father ceased from his works in the new covenant we rest on the day that the son ceases from his works now in conclusion i just want to rehearse a bit of our confession because again it's not scripture it's not infallible but it is a good summary statement of what the scripture teaches first the sabbath is consistent with natural law now natural law is we don't have time for that but as the confession uses natural law it sees adam in the garden now what adam has in the garden is every bit as much as what israel receives at sinai we know that because persons were punished persons were sanctioned for violating the ten commandments prior to the giving of the ten commandments so natural law sees adam in the garden coming from the hand of god hardwired with the law of god in him and our confession says as it is the law of nature that in a general proportion of time by god's appointment be set apart for the worship of god the sabbath secondly according to our confession is revealed in the word of god so by his word just like by his word we know not to murder people just like by his word we know not to engage in adultery by his word we know not to be idolaters so by his word we know that the rhythm of life concerns one day out of seven wherein man gathers in the presence of his god to worship and to glorify him the confession highlights that sabbath is positive law positive law in the hands of the reformers and the puritans meant something that was commanded for a specific time in other words the prohibition against eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil it's not wrong to eat fruit from trees it was wrong under positive law to eat fruit from that particular tree positive law relative to sabbath dictates the day upon which the church meets for worship and that is conditioned by covenant so under the old covenant it is saturday sabbath keeping under the new covenant it is sunday sabbath keeping as well the confession highlights that there is in fact moral law in the uh the confession of faith it says that it is therefore a perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages so again it's the hermeneutic or the principle of interpretation that you put in and you wha determines what you get out reform people have a particular hermeneutic and as a result we have all 10 of the 10 commandments dispensationalists and new covenant theology has different operating assumptions i'm not saying different in the sense that one group's hellbound and the other's not brethren this is an intramural debate and we ought to exercise caution and charity and love and kindness and in the absence of churches actually preaching sabbath keeping we really ought to bear and forebear with the people of god in our generation so having that knowledge of charity nevertheless with reference to dispensationalism and new covenant theology their hermeneutic excludes sabbath keeping in the new covenant that's not so with the reform so again it's not judaizing it's not legalization legalizing but rather it is to interpret the bible in the way that god decreed it to just kidding the way you're supposed to that's a joke somebody out there is going to hear that and get triggered and cry oh he called us non-christians he said we don't know how to read the bible you don't at this point but i'm just hey what what's the old proverb when you're in a hole stop digging i'm gonna keep digging and just just really you know alienate everybody out there so confessional uh statement in chapter 22 is very positive very very powerful as well we need to remember the qualifications the lord jesus specifies that works of necessity and mercy are authorized sabbath keeping does not earn one salvation sabbath keeping is a reflection of or an application of the normative use of god's law in other words we have the civil or political use of god's law it restrains preachers we have the pedagogical or child tutor law or function of the law where it shows us our need for christ once we by grace go to christ we're saved by christ christ points us back to the law for the normative use our normal use of the law so just as we're not supposed to commit murder so just as we're not supposed to commit adultery we don't think well i didn't kill anybody today so i've earned my place in heaven that's not how it works brethren this is the reflex of those saved by grace through faith in jesus they want to do what the father says they want to obey the law they have the spirit to enable them to comply and so they do not see the commandments of god even the fourth commandment as a burdensome thing or as something grievous the believer must avoid the abuse of the legalist i think some positive damage has been done to sabbaterianism by legalism some sabbaterians i mean the whole idea that you can't do this you can't do that you can't do this you can't do that again it sounds like the the restrictions of federal government we ought to look at it as you get to do this you get to do that you get to cease from your earthly employments and for one day gather with the people of god in the presence of god in the house of god to worship him on the day of god it is a good thing not a bad thing and we need to see it and treat it as such but as well the believer must avoid the abuse of antinomianism there is antinomianism built into dispensationalism and built into new covenant theology i realize they don't want to hear that and i realize they don't like to hear that and i'm not suggesting it's practical antinomianism practical antinomianism would be go ahead and commit murder go ahead and commit adultery go ahead and do whatever it is you want but it is a doctrinal antinomianism that teaches that the law of god is no longer binding upon the people of god that is not a good conclusion that one should take away from a deductive study of holy scripture and then the believer must see or hopefully will see the blessing involved in sabbath keeping turn to isaiah 58 we'll end on that high positive note isaiah 58 13-14 i think this underscores what your heart is vos has said that the sabbath has faithfully accompanied the people of god on their march through the ages isaiah 53 i'm sorry 58 verse 13. if you turn away your foot from the sabbath from doing your pleasure on my holy day and call the sabbath the delight the holy day of the lord honorable and shall honor him not doing your own ways nor finding your own pleasure nor speaking your own words then you shall delight yourself in the lord and i will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of jacob your father the mouth of the lord has spoken the most blessed and the wonderful thing again not that we do in order for salvation but that we do because we've been saved it's a gift given to us by god for the encouragement and for the assistance of his people as they march to zion the way of salvation is to look in faith at the the the paradigm of sabbath keeping the lord jesus christ kept the law of god the lord jesus died and a curse of death and the lord jesus christ was risen the third day such that whoever looks to him in faith will have everlasting life well let us pray father thank you for your word and thank you for your graciousness and giving to man this gift of the sabbath you call us to rejoice you call us to have that that blessedness you call us to engage our souls to you on the lord's day and what a privilege it is and what a blessing it is and i pray that we would see it as such and that we with david would say i was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the lord we ask that you would go with us now we pray that you would watch over us in this coming week grant us grace and that peace that does surpass all understanding and we ask in jesus name amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation