What is the Sabbath day?

The Sabbath was the seventh day; the Lord's day is the first.

The Christian's Sabbath is designated the LORD'S DAY — and is as distinct in principle from the Jewish legal Sabbath as the opening, or first day of a new week is from the close of a past one. The Lord lay in death on the Jewish Sabbath: the Christian keeps the first day of the week, the resurrection day. See LORD'S DAY.

I need scarcely remind you that many speak of the Lord's Day as the Sabbath. That is not the language of Scripture. We ought to be intelligent and scriptural in our use of words. When Scripture speaks of the Sabbath it refers to the last day of the week. The Jew gave the Lord the seventh, the last day. The Christian gives the first day of the week to the Lord. And I should certainly claim for the Lord's Day a higher sanctity than the Jew does for the Sabbath. There ought to be a dedication of that day to the Lord, and the Lord's interests only. Such, alas! is not always the case with the Lord's people now. Nor is the reason of this far to seek. If the saints habitually breathe a worldly atmosphere, it is not at all difficult for them to assimilate what is all round about, but I do not think it is to our credit or profit, beloved brethren. I say that little cautionary word in passing, because if the thin end of a wedge get into a log of wood, it may soon be riven asunder, and if our thought of the Lord's Day is borrowed from the world, certain loss ensues. It is the day we ought to devote to His interests in every possible way.

The question might then be asked, "Has the Christian believer no Sabbath day to keep?" The answer is, No. If we speak of a Sabbath day then surely it must mean the seventh day, and if we desire to keep the Sabbath day holy we must keep not the first day of the week but the seventh day. But some will say, "the Sabbath has been changed from the last day of the week to the first day." This is often said; but there's no scriptural authority for it. Neither Christ nor His apostles declared such a change. It is, therefore, wrong to call the first day of the week, known by the name "Sunday," the Sabbath or "Christian Sabbath." The first day of the week is the Lord's day, the day of resurrection, the day of the new creation. This day was kept in the very beginning of the Christian age as a precious memorial of Him who was dead and was raised from the dead, who is seated in the Highest Heaven and who is coming again. It was with the early Christians, and should be so still, a day of worship, when they came together to break bread and partake of the blessed cup, to show the Lord's death, till He come again. Some one has expressed it in the following short sentences: " Israel was commanded to observe the Sabbath day; the church is privileged to enjoy the first day of the week. The former was the test of Israel 's moral condition; the latter is the significant proof of the Church's eternal acceptance. The Sabbath day manifested what Israel could do for God; the Lord's day perfectly declares what God has done for us."

The sabbath is not the first day but the seventh day of the week. There is no such thing as a "christian" sabbath. "The sabbath" or seventh day was connected with the old creation, the "first day" with the new. The N.T. unites with the Lord's name, the first day, and also the supper; for the adjectival form of the word used in 1 Cor. 11:20 "the Lord's" supper is identical with "the Lord's" day in Rev. 1:10, and these two places form its only occurrence. The first of the week is constantly spoken of in the N.T. People make so much of the uniform seventh day — a certain 24 hours — but this cannot apply all over the world, because while it is mid-day here it is midnight at the antipodes. But in a limited area to a people "folded" off it exactly suited. The sabbath is incorporated in the law of a carnal commandment; the Lord's day is a day of holy liberty. "He that regards the day," has no reference to the Lord's day. There were Jews who regarded certain days as still of God's appointment; to such those who knew their liberty as risen with Christ were to be gracious. We ought to be on our guard to avoid legality. We are under grace and ought to be jealous of it.

Well, the "Elder" says that these brethren hold "that every day is a Sabbath, and every day is to be held alike as a holy day." He does not tell you what the teachings are, but simply says we hold every day alike holy. It is well to observe that the "Elder" did not quote one accredited author among the Brethren. The pith of his statements is, that we refuse to admit the distinctive place of the Lord's day. I shall endeavour to show you the difference between the "Sabbath" and the "Lord's day"; for ignorance respecting these two very distinct days, has led to much confusion in Britain and other places. The Sabbath is a divine institution, as mentioned in the second chapter of Genesis. You read that after the work of six days, God rested on the seventh day, and sanctified it. Carefully note that it was GOD'S rest, not man's. God rested after He had finished His work. It was not that He rested from labour, as man needs to do, for none of us would say that; but "He rested on the seventh day" with a certain measure of complacency no doubt, in what He had done, "from all His work, which He had made" (Gen. 2:2). It is not said God rested in His work, as He assuredly will one day, in divine complacency, founded on the atoning value of the work of Christ in redemption (Compare Zeph. 3:17; Heb. 4; Rev. 21). But it is expressly stated, "He rested on the seventh day from all His work," etc. That which was capable of being spoilt could neither be a sufficient satisfaction to God, nor a permanent blessing to man. It served as a sign of a rest that remains, and in which man, through redemption, will participate with Him (Heb. 4). And this was the meaning of the Sabbath in Ex. 16, founded on a redemption typically accomplished (Ex. 12 — 15); the shadow and earnest of better things to come, as we are told in Col. 2:17; though as Christians, we have now, for faith, the body or substance in Christ.

The weekly sabbath is mentioned first of all. For six days work was to be done, but every seventh day was to be a time of complete rest. Other scriptures indicate the special character of the sabbath. For instance, Deuteronomy 5:15, states that it was to act as a reminder of their deliverance from Egypt. Again, Ezekiel 20:12, shows that it stood as a sign between God and Israel, that there was a covenant between them. It signified rest after work accomplished. This was the case in creation when, after six days of work which was very good, God rested. Under the law Israel was to work for six days, and so earn a rest on the seventh.

The fourth commandment occupies four verses (vs.12-16), insisting on Israel's observance of the Sabbath day. It was to be sanctified apart from all other days. Though they could labor for six days, labor was to cease of the seventh day, which of course is Saturday. This restriction extended to every family, children and servants, and included their animals. We must remember that the law was given to Israel, not to Gentiles, who are not to be judged in reference to Sabbath days (Col. 2:16). Under grace no law demands the keeping of any special day, but those who have appreciated the grace of God are glad to give the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, a place of special importance, for it was on this day the Lord rose from the dead, the day he appeared in the midst of His gathered disciples (Jn.20:19, the day also "when the disciples were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7). It has been a great mercy of God that He has led in allowing the western nations at least to set aside this day that He might be specially honored -- not as a law, but as a spiritual privilege.

The sabbath was instituted, as we know, at the beginning. It formed the close of the week devoted by God to making the heavens and the earth which now are. It set forth the precious truth, that He who had deigned to work in forming the earth for man always looked onward to a rest which the renewed creature should share; not merely a rest for us, but for Him and us together, when there will be no more working. The sign of this was the sabbath or seventh day.

This was to be observed every week on the seventh day, so that it overspread the whole year. It was to be a day of rest, with no work to be done. It teaches us that we are to rest on the value of God's work already accomplished, not daring to add any work of our own to this. Such a reminder was necessary for Israel, and is necessary for us.