This is a production of World Video Bible School.
To God be the glory!
What about the Sabbath day?
Should Christians today be keeping the Sabbath?
Should the Sabbath be our day of worship?
First, let's establish, when is the Sabbath day?
According to Exodus 20:8, the Sabbath is the seventh--or last day--of the week.
Listen to the text.
"Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of
the Lord you God.
In it you shall do no work."
Now, we of course understand that the seventh day of the week is Saturday.
And so, that's our question.
Should Christians today set aside Saturday as a day of rest and a day of worship.
And friends, the answer to that question is: No.
Now, very quickly, I want to set forth five reasons why we are not obligated or required
to keep the Sabbath today.
Reason number one: The Sabbath did not apply to anyone prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments.
The reason this is important is because people today who seek to bind the Sabbath day, they
will argue that the Sabbath has always been binding on mankind.
They suggest that from the creation of the world, man has always been required to keep
the Sabbath day.
But friends, such is simply not the case.
The keeping of the Sabbath day did not apply to anyone prior to the giving of the Law of
Moses and the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.
Listen to this.
Deuteronomy 5:2 says, "The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today,
all of us who are alive."
You see, this law that was given to Moses--which included the Sabbath day--was not given to
mankind prior to Mount Sinai.
In fact, nowhere in the Bible is there any hint that people practiced the Sabbath Day
from the creation of Adam until the time of Moses.
Reason number two that the Sabbath is not binding on us today is that the purpose of
the Sabbath is that it was a sign between God and Israel.
Exodus 31:16 says, "Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe
the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever."
Friends, this passage very specifically states that the Sabbath was for Israel.
And again, never prior to this do we read about men keeping the Sabbath or about God
binding the Sabbath.
And it's very interesting that after the New Testament Law--the Law of Christ--was given,
never again do we find people keeping the Sabbath or a commandment to keep the Sabbath.
Reason number three that the Sabbath is not binding on us today is that the point of the
Sabbath was to remind Israel how God had delivered them from Egypt.
That’s what the Sabbath was all about.
Immediately after God commanded the Israelites to keep the Sabbath, He says this in the very
next verse: "And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord
your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstreched arm; therefore..."
Here's the reason for the Sabbath: "Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the
Sabbath day," Deuteronomy 5:15.
Now, what's my point?
My point is that this was something special between God and Israel.
It has nothing to do with Christians today.
Point number four.
A fourth reason that the Sabbath is not binding on us today is that the cross of Christ took
away the Sabbath day as being binding on God's people.
The cross of Christ did away with the Sabbath.
Colossians 2:14 states that the Law of Moses--the Old Law--was taken out of the way because
Christ nailed it to the cross.
I want you to listen to verse 16--two verses later.
"So..."
(In light of the fact that the Law was nailed to the cross.)
"So let no one judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths."
Friends, the New Testament specifically tells us the Sabbath was nailed to the cross.
And in light of that, it is no longer binding and no one has the right to judge us with
regard to keeping it.
Number five.
Here's a fifth thing for us to consider.
What about this idea of a Christian Sabbath?
It's sometime argued by people today that the Sabbath has not been done away, but rather
it has been changed from Saturday to Sunday.
Friends, first the Bible nowhere uses the terminology 'Christian Sabbath.'
This phrase is something that has been created by man.
I believe that the reason men came up with the idea of 'Christian Sabbath' is because
they believe that the Ten Commandments are still binding on us today and they run a difficulty
when they get to the fourth commandment that says, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it
holy."
They realized that New Testament worship occurred on Sunday, not Saturday, and so they're troubled.
What do you do with the fourth commandment?
What do you do with the Sabbath day?
And so arose the concept of the 'Christian Sabbath.'
But friends, if we understand that the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross along
with the rest of the Law of Moses, then this difficulty goes away.
Now, someone says, "Does that mean that you believe that the other nine commandments are
not binding today?"
Certainly, they are binding today but not because they are a part of the Law of Moses.
But rather because nine of the ten commandments are included in the Law of Christ as a part
of the New Testament.
This concept of a Christian Sabbath is unscriptural.
It was never practiced by New Testament Christians.
Dear friend, the early Christians always met and worshipped on the first day of the week.
Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 tell us that Christians came together every Sunday
to worship.
In fact, the only time that the Sabbath is mentioned after the New Testament church begins
is either number one, when it's being forbidden that we bind it, or number two when early
Christians would go to the synagogue on the Sabbath would try to reach and convert Jews
who were still meeting on that day.
Friends, from the day the church began, faithful children of God have met on the first day
of the week--on Sunday--to worship Him.
The Decalogue--or more commonly--the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments can be found in Exodus 20:1-17.
They were given to Moses and the children of Israel at Mount Sinai shortly after their
exodus from Egypt.
And friends, many people believe that the Ten Commandments contain the fullness of man's
responsibility toward God.
And that if I'm going to go to heaven today, they say it will be by keeping the Ten Commandments.
Friends, I want to tell you, that's not true and it never has been true.