Introduction: Let's review what we covered in the past three studies. Some hyper dispensational Bible teacher would have us to believe that we are living in the age of grace while those in the Old Testament times were living under the law. They say that those in the Old Testament were saved by the keeping of the law and that violation that law would mean not only certain death, but also the loss of one's salvation. You see, if salvation is gained by the works of the law, then it can be lost by breaking that law. But, salvation is not gained by the keeping of the law nor has it ever been that way.
- "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." (Galatians 2:16)
- "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure." (Hebrews 10:1-6)
The truth is, salvation has never been by the keeping of the law. It was not that way in the Old Testament, it is not that way now, and it will not be that way in the future or during the Millennium. This is why Hebrews tells us that salvation has always been through Jesus, "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." (Hebrews 4:2)
The purpose for the law was never to save but to show us our need of salvation. It is compared to three things in the Scriptures:
- A schoolmaster; "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3:24-25) The schoolmaster was not the teacher, but brought the student to the teacher.
- A plumbline; "Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more." (Amos 7:7-8) The plumbline did not straighten a wall, but showed its need of straightening.
- A mirror; "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James 1:23 25) A mirror does not clean a man's face, but shows the need for washing the face.
The law has never made anyone perfect, but it has brought many to the place where they realized they needed a Saviour because they weren't perfect! "...For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect..."
The Ten Commandments can easily be divided into two groups of five:
- Commandments 1-5 have to do with our relationship to the LORD. The phrase "the LORD thy God" is found in each one.
- Commandments 6-10 have to do with our relationship to one another. The word "thou" is found in each one.
In the original language of the Old Testament, these 10 commandments were neither numbered nor divided. The Roman Catholic Church has traditionally divided them into two groups, the first of which consists of the first four commandments while the second is made up of the last six. However, the Jews have, from their earliest records, divided them into the two groups of five I mentioned above.
There is another interesting fact concerning these Ten Commandments. All of them deal with three areas; thought, word, and deed.
- Commandments 1-2 = thought; verses 2-6
- Commandment 3 = word; verses 7
- Commandments 4-5 = deed; verses 8-12- Commandments 6-8 = deed; verses 13-15
- Commandment 9 = word; verse 16
- Commandment 10 = thought; verse 17
Even though the Ten Commandments are in the Old Testament, are they still valid today? Yes they are!
In our first message, we dealt with Exodus 20:1-3, "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." We found that idolatry is a grievous sin and God puts it first on His list of ten commandments. Why first? If our foundation is wrong, our structure will be shaky.
In our second message, we dealt with Exodus 20:4-6. The second commandment is not a restating of the first, but rather the stating of another commandment. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6) Not only is it forbidden to have other gods before God, it is equally forbidden to make and have other gods in your possession.
In our third message, we dealt with Exodus 20:7, "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." The third commandment goes much further than the mere mispronunciation of His name. Taking His name in vain also included how we use His name and how we live as Christians.
This brings us to God's fourth commandment. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11) In many respects, the observance of the Sabbath day is one of the most confusing of the more than six hundred commands found throughout Scripture.
Many honest people are confused about the Sabbath day question. The trouble here, as in the case of other doctrines, is because many follow tradition instead of the Word of God. For example, Seventh Day Adventists say that the Sabbath is the seventh day and that all Christian people ought to keep the seventh day as a day of rest and worship. Some even go so far as to say that salvation depends upon the Old Testament Sabbath and that "the mark of the Beast" mentioned in Revelation is keeping Sunday instead of Saturday as a day of rest and worship! Another group of men answer back that since the resurrection of Christ, the Sabbath is changed from the seventh day to the first day and that now all Christians ought to observe Sunday as a day of rest and worship. These call Sunday "the Christian Sabbath," call Sunday School "Sabbath School," and believe that all of the commands in the Old Testament about the Sabbath, or Saturday, the seventh day of the week, ought to be applied to Sunday, the first day of the week. Both groups are wrong! The Bible does not say that Christians should observe the Sabbath today. The Bible says nothing about "the mark of the Beast," being the observation of Sunday. On the other hand, the Bible certainly does not call Sunday "the Christian Sabbath" nor any other kind of Sabbath.
1. The Old Testament Sabbath was the seventh day. - Exodus 20:10
"But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates."
- There can be no argument here.
- The Sabbath of rest followed six days of labor and was counted as the last day of the week. Saturday is the Old Testament Sabbath.
2. Observance of the Sabbath is not a New Testament command.
- There is not one single command anywhere in the New Testament to observe the Sabbath.
- Every other one of the Ten Commandments is repeated in the New Testament. The keeping of the Sabbath is not mentioned.
- Sabbath-breaking is never listed in the New Testament as a sin.
- Jesus never commanded His disciples to observe the Sabbath and when He was called into question regarding the Sabbath, He never once asked the public to observe the Sabbath.
- It is just simply not mentioned in the New Testament as a command to be obeyed.
3. The Sabbath was Mosaic Law given to Israel. - Nehemiah 9:13-14
"Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant."
- Notice that the Sabbath was "made known" at Sinai.
- It is here called "Thy Holy Sabbath" and refers to Genesis 2:1-3, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."
- It was made known to Israel as the fourth of the Ten Commandments given in Exodus 20:8-11.
- The Sabbath is a special sign only given to Israel as stated in Exodus 31:12-13, 16 17. "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you...Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."
4. Christians are warned about keeping the Sabbath. - Colossians 2:14
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross."
- In fact, Sabbath-keeping is discouraged.
- In Colossians 2:14, we are told that Jesus blotted out the handwriting of ordinances, since that was against us, "and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross."
- Now, look at the New Testament command in Colossians 2:16-17, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."
- The Sabbath was only a shadow which was all right until the coming of Christ, but now He is come and the shadow has been fulfilled.
- Paul spoke more about this to the churches in Galatia in Galatians 4:8-11, "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."
- The "days" mentioned here were Sabbaths, part of the Old Testament ceremonial law given to the Jews. Paul did not want New Testament Christians to be in bondage to the Old Testament Sabbath or other days, months, times, and years of ceremonial law!
5. Sunday is not the Christian Sabbath.
- Those who try to prove a Christian Sabbath find themselves greatly embarrassed when they find that they cannot prove it in Scripture.
6. The Catholics did not start first day worship.
- The Seventh Day Adventists claim that the Catholics changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week. This is simply not true!
- Notice Acts 20:7, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."
- Again, look at 1 Corinthians 16:2, "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."
- The first day of the week is never called the Sabbath and it is wrong for us to refer to it as such.
7. The first day was a day of worship, while the Sabbath was a day of rest.
- The first day of the week:
* Acts 20:7, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."
* 1 Corinthians 16:2, "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."- The Sabbath:
* "But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." (Exodus 20:8 11)
- The principle of one day's rest in seven is a good one, but it is not commanded.
- New Testament Christians have no command from God to abstain from labor on any certain day nor are they commanded to meet for worship on any given day.
- The example was set in the New Testament by those early believers, to meet on the first day of the week, but not by command.
8. Should, then, Christians observe Sunday? - Hebrews 10:24-25
"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
- Today we follow the example set by those early New Testament believers and meet for church on the first day of the week.
- In fact, any service held by a local New Testament church should be faithfully attended according to Hebrews 10:24-25.
Conclusion: The Sabbath of the Old Testament was given as a sign for the people of Israel and was to be observed until that "shadow" was fulfilled in Jesus. There is no Christian Sabbath; never has been and never will be. Today but there is the principle of rest and the example set by the early New Testament believers to meet for worship on the first day of the week.
We do not have a Christian Sabbath to observe but we do have a command to not forsake the assembling ourselves together as the manner of some is. Do you exercise that privilege or neglect it by not being at church every time the doors are open?