This subject has confused bibical students from the time it was first written and many have their opinion about it,but if we allow the bible to explain itself it becomes so clear..
The first �key� to spiritual victory, breakthrough, and overcoming is simple, godly faith. But what kind of faith? Just what IS �faith�?
The apostle Paul explained, �Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. . . Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God . . . But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him� (Heb.11:1-6).
Abraham set us all an example of faith. We read of him: �[Abraham] being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He STAGGEERED NOT at the promise of God through unbelief; but was STRONG IN FAITH, giving glory to God; and being FULLY PERSUADED that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform� (Rom.4:19-21).
Faith ALONE Is Not Enough!
But faith alone, is dead and worthless. We must also do our own part!
70
The apostle James said, �What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?� (James 2:14). James continues, �If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled: notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone� (James 2:15-17).
Now don't blame me -- I didn't say that. James did! And GOD inspired him to do it! Those who teach that there are �NO WORKS� required for salvation can eat their hat -- their words -- or eat straw! They are DEAD WRONG! In order for our faith to be effective, we must have good works -- that is, we must OBEY God's commandments, keep His laws, and follow the example set by Yeshua our High Priest and the Captain of our salvation!
James adds, �But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is DEAD?� (v.20). James mentions the example of Abraham, �Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?� (v.21-22). James concluded, �For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also� (James 2:26).
We need faith AND WORKS in order to become OVERCOMERS! What �kind� of works? The works of OBEDIENCE to the laws and commandments of GOD!
The apostle Peter declared, �And we are witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that OBEY him� Acts 5:32). Faith in God must be combined with obedience to the LAWS of God! The apostle Paul wrote, �Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! [God forbid!] On the contrary, we ESTABLISH the law� (Rom.3:31, NKJV).
The apostle Paul wrote: �Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have NO PLEASURE in him. But we are NOT of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul� (Hebrews 10:38-39).
This wonderful attribute of faith is not something we must work up ourselves, by our own human efforts. Not at all. But as Paul tells us, �For by grace are ye saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves: it [the very FAITH itself!] is the GIFT OF GOD; not of works, lest any man should boast� (Eph.2:8-9).
This faith is the very faith of Christ put within us by the Spirit of God. It is the very same faith Jesus had.
Whenever Paul talks about the stuff contained in the law of Moses, he says it doesn't apply to the new covenant.
Acts 15:24 "Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: 25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. "
He says that he gave the gentiles no such command to keep the law. But whenever he talks about one of the Ten Commandments, he says to keep them. Is he contradicting himself? Or is he making a distinction between the law of Moses and the Ten Commandments? And if he is saying to keep 9 don't you think he would include the 10th as well?
Hebrews 4:4 "For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
This seems like a good argument for the seventh day. "We must cease from our works, as God did from His." "For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day."
I know it's not a very good argument. It's the only time I can find Paul talking about the 7th day sabbath, and not ceremonial ones. But it's a little better then the "breaking bread" verse that supposedly means we can disregard one of the 10 commandments.
I just think that considering the lack of scriptural support for the "first day" or "any day", and the fact that the bible is very clear we're supposed to be keeping all the commandments....that we should keep them all. Not just 9. And I still say that the apostles never had to debate the Sabbath because there was only one choice. The 7th day was always God's Sabbath. Sunday worship didn't creep in until after the apostles were all dead. And I also think it's funny that people who keep the Sabbath are called legalistic. People that keep the Sabbath are resting, not working. I'm probably going to step on toes here. But if you have decided to keep Sunday, do you keep it holy? Do you use it as a day to worship God? To serve others? Most of the Sunday keepers I know spend the day with sports as soon as church is over. Or it's yard work day. Party day. Not much about serving God/others and keeping the day holy. Maybe you guys are different. Just saying, your fellow Sunday keepers aren't being a good witness to your belief. Maybe you should have a chat.
The "Law of Moses" and the Mosaic Covenant are one and the same. There is no distinction.
The Mosaic Law/Covenant was a specific Covenant given exclusively to Israel and was never binding upon mankind as a whole. This has been a source of confusion among Christians. Let's look at to whom the Mosaic Covenant was given to.
Exod 31:16-18
16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 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.
18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.(KJV)
Deut 5:1-3
1 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
(KJV) [Moses them recounted the 10 Commandments in the following verses].
We see clearly from these statements that the Old Covenant, and particularly the 10 Commandments, were NOT universal laws binding on all mankind since creation, but were specific to Israel, from the days of Moses onward. So are the Ten Commandments part of the Mosaic Covenant?
Exod 34:28
28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
(KJV)
Deut 4:13
13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
(KJV)
So we see from the above scriptures that the Ten Commandments are in fact "The Covenant" or let's say the centerpiece of the Mosaic Covenant.
Now when Jesus came He came to give us a New Covenat via His sacrifice for us. It is through His sacrifice in which we are able to be grafted into the Jewish New Covenant and inherit the blessings of entering the Kingdom of God.
Jer 31:31-32
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: (KJV)
It must be emphasised that this NEW Covenant is NOT a Gentile Covenant but a Jewish Covenant given to Israel First and then we who are Gentiles can be "grafted into" this Jewish Covenant. Jesus gave the New Covenant to His Apostles who are the 12 representatives of the 12 tribes of Israel in whom the Promise of this NEW Covenat was promised by God.
So now that we have a New and better Covenant, what happened to the Old one? It was completely done away with and replaced. You cannot have two covenants running at the same time. That defeats the purpose of the New one.
Heb 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH�
9 NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DISREGARDED THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
10 FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
11 NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
12 FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
Now look what Paul says next about the New and Old Covenants.
13 In that He says, "A NEW COVENANT," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Paul said that the first Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, has been made "obsolete" and that it was ready to "vanish away". Why is that? Because The New Covenant that was promised by God has now come into being. God fulfilled His promise to Israel that He made in Jeremiah 31:31. He was going to make a New Covenant and it was not going to based upon the Old Mosaic Covenant. It was going to be something entirely new.
Heb 10:8-10
8 Above when he said, "Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law";
9 Then said he, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (KJV)
In verse 9 above we have clear language that demonstrates that God took away the Mosaic Covenant so that He may establish the Second Covenant.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Above in Ephesians 2:14 we see that Jesus Christ "abolished" the Law of commandments contained in ordinances. What are those? Those are all the Laws contained in the Mosaic Covenant. All 613 of them which includes the original Ten Commandments. Does this mean that we can now murder and commit adultery? Of course not. Jesus implimented God's "Moral Principles" in the New Covenant which is also known as "The Law of Christ". It is important to distinguish between God's "Moral Principles" and the laws themselves. In part two I will address the New Covenant, The Law of Christ. Before I do I would like for you to examine the situation that the Early Church was having regarding the Gentiles and how the leaders of the Church came to the theological conclusion that the Gentile Christians were never under "the Mosaic Law" and were never bound to any of it's requirements.
(Acts 15:23-24) �The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings,
Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, �You must be circumcised and keep the law� � to whom we gave no such commandment � it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.� .
Act 21:18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
19 When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law;
21 but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.
22 What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come.
23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow.
24 Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.
25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality."
If the ten commandments were nailed to the cross along with the law of Moses, then why are we still under 9 of them? The law of Christ leaves one out? I have to ask why.
Mark, this completely answers your question. It is cited at the end. John MacArthur wrote this, and I am thrilled to say that I moved to L A to attend his Grace church. Enjoy!
Now, just a brief review, we did talk about seventh day observances in Genesis and in Exodus, and we already said that Sabbath Law, in the Mosaic Covenant is no longer binding. Colossians 2:16-17, Paul says, �Don�t let anybody hold you to a Sabbath, that was a shadow, we now have Christ who is the substance.� There is no more Sabbath. There is no more binding Sabbath Law. We are not under Mosaic economy; there are no more dietary laws, there are no more Sabbath laws, it is no longer necessary to observe feasts and festivals, and new moons, that according to Colossians, chapter two, and Galatians, chapter four.
So we learned that we are not under any Mosaic Law, we are not under any Sabbath Law. However, that does not mean that the seventh day, Saturday, is a day that we don�t pay any attention to, in fact, when we go back to Genesis, chapter two, we find that God blessed the seventh day. We learned in our study of this, that He blessed it in this sense, that every seventh day memorializes and reminds us that God created the entire universe, as it is now, in six days. God rested on the seventh day from everything He had created in six 24-hour days, and then He blessed the day, and in blessing it He simply said, �Every time a seventh day rolls by, on the calendar, that�s a good opportunity for you to stop and glorify your Creator. The work of God was finished in six days; God was satisfied; God was delighted. He looked at everything that He had created and said that it was very good, and so He blessed the day. He elevated the day.
Now, let me remind you, in Genesis, nothing was said about man resting--nothing. It wasn�t a day designed for man to rest, man didn�t need a day to rest, he was in a state of permanent rest, because the �Fall� didn�t come until Genesis, chapter three. Before sin man�s life was all rest, even tending the Garden was a delightful activity, and nothing existed to dissipate man�s strength, because he possessed eternal life--He didn�t need a day of rest. But every seventh day that rolled around, in his permanent life of rest, he celebrated the fact that God was a great Creator, who in six days had created the entire universe. We can enjoy that sense of the seventh day, and I think as Christians we can go back to the Genesis seventh day, and every time a seventh day rolls around we ought to be reminded of the fact that God created the universe in six days, and we ought to give Him glory as our Creator.
Traditionally, throughout sort of the Christian influence in history, that has pretty much been the way Saturday has been treated. We have developed a five-day workweek and we take Saturday, usually, as the day, when we enjoy the creation. It�s not the day of worship for us, but it is a day of recreation. It is a day to enjoy the creation, to work in the yard; to go outside; to take a trip, or whatever it is--to delight in God the Creator. So we can hold to that, but as far as any Sabbath Law that was attached to the Mosaic economy, that�s all passed away, that all ended. A death blow was struck on Sabbath ceremony at the Cross of Jesus Christ. The seventh day has no place in New covenant teaching, it has no place in New Testament teaching.
The Sabbath law was intended to cause man to see God as judge, to see God as Law-giver, and to see himself as a violator of God�s Law. On the Sabbath day, under Mosaic Law, you couldn�t go anywhere, you couldn�t do any work, you just sort of sat around your home, and you contemplated your condition, and your condition before God was one of a sinner. You were reminded of the Law of God. You remember that in the middle of the Ten Commandments was the command, �Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,� so as you looked at that commandment, number four, and you looked above and saw all the three that you had violated against God, and all the six that you had violated against man--remembering the Sabbath day was a day that you sat and basically focused on God as Law-giver and judge, and how you violated His law--it was a day of conviction. It really wasn�t a day of celebration. It was a day when you could view God as Creator, but you also had to realize that His creation had been scarred and marred and stained and polluted by sin, and that you were a part of that.
So Sabbath Law was a day to contemplate one�s sin. The Sabbath law crushed man. You could hardly keep the Sabbath Law, it was so intricate, there was so many rules and regulations and routines for him to follow. But when Jesus came and died on the cross He took us out from under the bondage of the Law; He broke the back of the oppression of the Law. He ended the ceremony of the Sabbath, and the ritual of the Sabbath, and the binding nature of the laws of the Sabbath and set us free from all those things.
So we don�t observe the Mosaic Sabbath, though as I said, when Saturday rolls by we can remember that in six days God created the heavens and the earth to His glory, He is our great and glorious Creator. But when it comes to the first day, that�s our day, because that�s the day we glorify God, not as Creator, not as judge and Law-giver, but we glorify God as Savior--as Savior.
The New Covenant, then, has its own day--the first day, and there�s good reason for that, and I want to show you that reason. Let�s turn in our Bibles to the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew 28. I�ll give you a little flow this morning that will establish in your minds the importance of this first day of the week.
Matthew 28, �After the Sabbath,� which is the seventh day, as you know, �as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,� that�s Sunday, �Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (who is the mother of James) came to look at the grave.� That�s the grave of Jesus, He died on Friday, was placed on the cross while it was still Friday. He�s been there through Saturday the Sabbath; it�s now Sunday morning.
They came to look at the grave. These women were so concerned about the body of Jesus, and how He was being treated, �And behold, a severe earthquake,� verse two, �had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. And his appearance was like lightening, and his garment as white as snow; and the guards,� who had been assigned to protect the body, so that no one would steal it, and falsify a resurrection, �shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. And the angel answered and said to the women, �Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, �Don�t be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me.��
So, it was dawn on Sunday morning, the morning Jesus arose and appeared to Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James (and that is indicated in Matthew 27:56). They literally see Jesus--He appears to them (verse 9), and He greets them, and they came up and took hold of His feet, and they worshiped Him.
Folks, the first worship service of the New Covenant Age was held on a Sunday morning. That was it--the first Sunday worship service.
Now, before this, Sunday had absolutely no importance in the Jewish calendar. There was only one event that occurred on a Sunday, throughout the year, and I will mention that a little later. Sunday was like any other day in the Jewish calendar, just another day, it had no particular significance--until this event, until the resurrection of Jesus. God decided that Jesus should rise on Sunday. God decided that it would be three days in the grave, not two, not four, not six, not five, and that when he came out of the grave it would be a Sunday.
Turn to Luke, chapter 23, at the end of the chapter, the last verse. Again, it refers to these women who came; they were preparing some spices and perfumes to anoint the body of Jesus, to sort of try to retard the decay that naturally occurred, because the Jews did not embalm corpses. But they didn�t come on the Sabbath, the end of chapter 23, verse 56, �on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.� They were still following Sabbath Law. But chapter 24, verse one, �On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, �Why do you seek the living One among the dead?� He is not here, but He has risen.�� And here again, the notation, beginning of the chapter, �the first day of the week�--Jesus rose on the first day of the week.
Of course, the angel reminded them that, ��he had spoken to you while He was still in Galilee, and said to you, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.� And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. And these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at that which had happened.�
Here again, was more information on the resurrection that occurred on Sunday. It was dawn on Sunday, and the Lord had come out of the grave. He had risen, He was alive. He has been raised for our justification. He had conquered sin and death and hell. He had borne our sins in His own body. He had been made sin for us, and triumphantly came out of the grave, and rose on a Sunday morning. So this then becomes the New Covenant Day. Saturday, the Sabbath, His body was dead in the grave, and that was the death, really, of Sabbath. When Jesus died, Sabbath died. When Jesus rose, a new day dawned--this is New Covenant Day.
Now, let�s follow the day. The first worship service took place in the morning, as I noted for you from the account in Matthew, but let�s see what happens.
It�s a little later in the day, after that first worship service with the women worshipping Him. In verse 13 (Luke 24:13), two disciples (these are not among the �eleven� as verse 18 indicates. One of them is named Cleopas. We don�t know the name of the other one). But, �two of the followers of Jesus were going that day to a village named Emmaus, about six or seven miles from Jerusalem (to the north and to the west of Jerusalem).� And they are conversing with each other as they walk along the road, about all the things that have taken place. �And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached, and began traveling with them.� And verse 16 says, �their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.� They didn�t know who He was.
�And He said to them, �What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?� And they stood still, looking sad.� They had been talking about the fact that their Messiah was dead. �And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, �Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?�� Where have you been? I mean the whole city of Jerusalem has been in a tumult and an uproar over Jesus; and there was a trial; and there was all of the crowd; and they demanded His blood; and they marched Him up the hill; and they executed Him--where have you been, when all these have were happening?
�And He said to them, �What things are these?� And they said to Him, �The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him.�� I mean, they are incredulous--you don�t even know about this?
�But, (verse 21) we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.� And now He is dead! �Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.� Apparently, the word had gone around that He had said that He would rise on the third day, but they haven�t heard for sure that he is alive--they have an inkling. Verse 22, �Some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said (that would be Peter and John); but Him they did not see.� So they are still not sure what is going on here.
And here you have folks the �first sermon� ever preached on a Sunday, �And He said to them, �O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?� Haven�t you carefully read the prophets? Haven�t you read Isaiah? Don�t you realize what it says in the Psalms, that the Messiah is going to die, but His body will not see corruption--He will come out of the grave? Don�t you know He will be wounded for you transgressions, and bruised for your iniquities, and the chastisement of your peace will be upon Him; and by His stripes you�ll be healed, haven�t you read all of that? Don�t you remember that the Messiah had to suffer before he could enter into the glory of His kingdom?
�And (verse 27) beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.� Folks, this is the first sermon ever preached on a Sunday, and it�s an expository sermon. Now, am I glad, or am I glad about that? And Jesus opens up the Scripture and explains the Scripture to them. So this is a wonderful day: in the morning was the first worship service, as they worshiped the risen Christ; little later in the day, we are now in the afternoon, is another service and this one features an expository sermon, by the Lord Himself, who sets the pattern for all preaching here. What a wonderful moment this is: it�s dawn on Sunday, the Lord has risen, the Lord is alive, and He preaches the first Sunday sermon and it�s an expository sermon.
Verse 28 says, �And they approached the village (of Emmaus) where they were going, and He acted as though He would just keep going further. And they urged Him, saying, �Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.�� You don�t want to go wherever You�re going to go, it�s a long way . . . . I don�t know where they thought He was going, but it�s a long way to the next village, and it�s seven miles back to Jerusalem. �Why don�t You just stay?� �And He went in to stay with them. And it came about that when He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight! And they said to one another, �Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?�� That is what every faithful preacher does--explain the Scriptures.
So here�s an incredible afternoon service. We had a morning worship and an afternoon expositional service, but that�s not all, look at verse 33. No sooner had Jesus left, even though it was late in the day, �they arose that very hour,� they were not about to stay in Emmaus, not after having seen the risen Christ, and had the whole Old Testament made clear to them. �They returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered the eleven . . . .� They went back to, �the eleven and those who were with them, and they said, �The Lord has really risen, and He has appeared to Simon.� And they began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.� Verse 36, �And while they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst!�
By now it is night time. And the disciples are gathered, along with others, and Jesus shows up. �They were startled,� verse 37, �they were frightened, they thought they were seeing a ghost. And He said to them, �Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit (or ghost) does not have flesh and bones that you see that I have.�
Verse 40, a somewhat disputed verse, does say that �He showed them His hands and His feet.� Disputed in the sense that it�s not in all of the ancient manuscripts, but certainly it is a fact--He showed those to them and they had the evidence. �And while they still couldn�t believe it for joy and were marveling, He said to them, �Have you anything here to eat?� And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.� And that proves positively that He is not a ghost--He ate.
�Now He said to them, �These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.�� The Old Testament was divided into three sections: the Law of Moses (the Pentateuch), the Prophets (all the prophetic books), and the Sacred Writings (the Hagiographa, sometimes referred to as the Psalms).
So He, �Then opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.� And here you have the evening service of the first Lord�s Day, and another Scripture exposition. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. �And He said to them, �Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. So behold, I am sending forth the promise of my father upon you (that�s the Holy Spirit); but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.��
Wow! You know how that first Sunday ended? It began with a worship service around the risen Christ; it continued on the road to Emmaus with the first expository sermon preached, as Jesus preached to the two disciples; it continued in the upper room that night, when Jesus showed up, where the eleven and others were gathered, and He again opened the Scriptures and gave their minds understanding of the Scriptures. And not only that, but He also gave them the Great Commission, that they were to go and preach to all nations the message that repentance for forgiveness of sins is available. You start in Jerusalem; you go to the world, but before you go, wait for the Holy Spirit who is going to empower you to do that.
Now, this is some Sunday--isn�t it? This is the launch of New Covenant Day. It was the evening of that Sunday; Jesus came to the disciples; He taught them. He commission them; He promised them the Holy Spirit.
Now, Mark, not to be left out, weighs in on this whole scene--Mark 16, the last chapter in Mark�s gospel. And again, verse one, of Mark 16, �When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.�
And again, verse two, �Very early on the first day of the week . . . .� Every time there is a narrative about the resurrection, or about the events, it always clearly indicates that this happened on the first day of the week. So, �they came on the first day of the week to the tomb when the sun had risen,� and the account goes from there, indicating the same events that we have already described.
Again, down in verse nine, �Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, he first appeared to Mary Magdalene.� Again, it is almost as if the Lord wants to make sure we get it clear, that this is the �first day of the week.� It just keeps being repeated, and repeated, and repeated. The �first day of the week� has great significance.
Now, go to John, chapter 20. John, the fourth gospel writer, starts chapter 20 in verse one, �Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. And so she ran and came to Simon Peter,� etcetera. So John chronicles the resurrection: �first day of the week� and features himself in the story and Peter, who came running to the tomb. John also discusses Jesus� appearance to Mary Magdalene, �Mary standing outside the tomb,� in verse eleven, �Stoops down to look in the tomb and sees the two angels. They said, �Why are you weeping?� (verse 13) She said, �Because they have taken away my Lord.�� That indicates what the first thought was, somebody has stolen His body. ��I don�t know where they have laid Him.� When she had said this, she turned around (verse 14), and beheld Jesus standing there, and she didn�t know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, �Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?� Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, �Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.� Jesus said to her, �Mary!� She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, �Rabboni!� (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, �Stop clinging to Me,� stop holding on to Me, as if you could keep me here; �I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, �I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.� So, Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, �I have seen the Lord,� and that He had said these things to her.�
And then again, starting in verse 19, John tells the story of that Sunday night, �the first day of the week� verse 19, again �the first day of the week; the doors were shut and Jesus came and stood in their midst.� He came through the wall! No wonder He said, �Peace be with you,� there must have been instant panic! �He showed them His hands and His side,�--you remember that?
By the way, a little note, verse 24, �Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.� That�s what happens to people who don�t go to church on Sunday night!
Now, there is another event in verses 21 to 23, �Jesus said to them, �Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.�� So here�s the commission that we read about in Luke. �And He said to them,� after breathing on them, sort of symbolically breathing or blowing on them, �Receive the Holy Spirit.� He promised them the Holy Spirit, so this is repeating the same thing, He is commissioning them to take the message of the gospel of forgiveness to the whole world, but not to go until the Holy Spirit is coming, but by breathing on them He gives them the sort of the symbol of the fact that the Spirit is going to come.
Verse 23, �You are going to be able to forgive sins; you are going to be able to tell people their sins are forgiven, or not forgiven by what they do with the gospel.� This is a wonderful moment. Here is the Savior�s promise and pledge that they would receive the Holy Spirit in the future, the near future. And they would be able to boldly declare the certainty of the sinner�s forgiveness by whether or not they believed the gospel. They could tell the whole world: all the nations, that repentance for forgiveness of sins is available, and if you come to Christ and repent and embrace Him as Savior and Lord, your sins will be forgiven; if you don�t your sins will be retained.
What a Sunday! What a New Covenant launch day this was! And it starts early, while it is still dark; Jesus rises from the dead early on a Sunday, and He appears on that Sunday--morning, noon, and night, it�s a full day. And the first worship service is held early in the morning: He shows Himself alive to the women on that Sunday, and they had that first Sunday worship. And then He met two disciples on that same day, and He broke bread with them and revealed Himself to them, and miraculously vanished, but not until He had preached the first expository sermon ever preached on a Sunday. Then that evening He met the eleven, minus Thomas, and twice pronounced peace on them and ate with them to show them that He was actually physically alive. And He taught them again that night, opening the Scriptures and giving their minds understanding.
It was on that same Sunday that He told His disciples that they were going to be sent to take the message of forgiveness to the whole world, and that they would be able to announce to all who would repent, that there was forgiveness of sins from God, provided through the death of Jesus Christ, and it was available to the whole world. So on that Sunday, He launched the worldwide mission of evangelism, commissioning the disciples, and telling them, they now possessed divine authority--literally to tell people their sins were forgiven, if they believed the gospel, repented and received the Savior. It was on that Sunday that He pledged to His disciples that they would be empowered to do this by receiving the Holy Spirit, who would come upon them.
This is New Covenant Launch Day; the great New Covenant was ratified on Sunday. When Jesus died and was dead and buried on Saturday so was the Sabbath! When Jesus came out of the grave on Sunday a new day was established--a new day--what a day! What a glorious day, all the way from dawn till probably late into the night. The New Covenant was fully ratified on that Sunday, and with that moment Sundays would never, ever be the same again.
Sunday became New Covenant resurrection day in their minds, and it wasn�t a tradition, and it wasn�t that they chose it, it was that God ordained it! Now that�s not all.
Go down to John, chapter 20, verse 26. Now remember Thomas wasn�t there the first Sunday. Verse 26, �And after eight days again His disciples were inside . . . .� Now wait a minute, eight days from Sunday is Sunday! The Jews would count starting with the day that they were on, till the eighth day, would be the next Sunday. Here they are, eight days later gathering. Does this indicate that based upon what happened on the first Sunday, that Sunday had now become their day? Perhaps, but whatever they were thinking isn�t really the issue. What is the issue, is the following Sunday they were together inside, and Thomas was there and Jesus came. They hadn�t seen Him since the last Sunday. Jesus didn�t come on a Tuesday; He didn�t come on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday; He didn�t come on a Saturday--He waited eight days, until the following Sunday before He reappeared.
Again, �He came through with the doors being shut, and stood in their midst, and said, �Peace be with you.� Then He said to Thomas, �Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and stop your doubting and believe.� Thomas answered and said, �My Lord and My God!� Jesus said to him, �Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who didn�t see, and yet believed.�� This happened on a Sunday!
Now if there was any question from the first Sunday, whether that was the day or not, this would end it all, because they don�t see Jesus again until the next Sunday. I don�t know whether they had decided they were going to have their special meeting on Sunday or not, but the Lord decided that He would have His meeting with them on Sunday. It was a sovereign choice to appear on a second Sunday, and that must have punctuated in their minds, indelibly, that this was New Covenant Day! It wouldn�t take long for them to understand that the Sabbath was no longer an issue--this was by divine choice and not human tradition. I mean, why do you even think that John is inspired to say �after eight days� if it is not important? Why even say when it happened, if it is not significant?
I believe the Lord is setting aside Sabbath completely, and instituting a new day, a New Covenant day. Oh yes, we can still look at every Saturday that goes by, and we can praise God as Creator, because in six days He created the universe. And we can look at Saturday as it goes by and thank God that we are not under Law. But our day is the first day--resurrection day! And that was worship, and preaching, and fellowship, and rejoicing, and praising the risen Christ! It wasn�t the disciples plan, in fact they were shocked when Jesus showed up; but it was His plan.
Let�s go to Acts, chapter two. I think this is very interesting, Acts, chapter two. You remember Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit and when the Holy Spirit came the Church was founded--the Church was established. The New Covenant has already been ratified; the New Covenant is in place--forty days later Jesus ascends to heaven, after 40 days of teaching His disciples things concerning the kingdom.
Then we come to what is very familiar to any student of the Bible, the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:1, �When the day of Pentecost had come, everybody was together in one place� (120 disciples gathered in the upper room). And all of sudden there comes this phenomenon, �from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they sitting. And there appeared to them little tongues of fire (literally little flames) distributing themselves, and resting on each individual.� Sort of a miraculous symbol of the fact that the invisible Spirit was entering them. God gave them a visible sign of an invisible reality.
It says in verse 4, �They were all filled the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.� So there was plenty of evidence that the supernatural was happening. The Holy Spirit had come, and it was indicated by the little flames that were on the heads of everybody in the room, and it was also indicated by their ability to speak languages they didn�t know. It is a miraculous moment as the Holy Spirit comes, and it happened on the day of Pentecost.
Now when this happened, the Church was born. Christ by sending the Spirit creates the Church; by sending the Spirit He creates His one body; by sending the Spirit He brings gifts to the Church; by sending the Spirit He empowers the Church for world evangelization, �You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you.� It was on that day that the Church was born, that it began to grow. It was later that same day, verse 14, �Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice and preached.� At the end of his sermon, over in verse 41, it says, �Three thousand souls were added to the Church.� So the day the Church was born, the Church grew to three thousand! It was a monumental day!
Now, why am I talking about the day of Pentecost? Did you ever wonder what day, the day of Pentecost was? What day of the week? Did you ever wonder that? Well, maybe you never wondered that, and you don�t need to, because I�m going to tell you.
Back in Leviticus, chapter 23, and verse 16; there is a discussion there about the day of Pentecost, and it says this, verse 16, �You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath.� You start on a Sabbath; you count seven sabbaths and then the 50th day. Seven sabbaths is 49 days--right? Seven times seven is 49, so if you had seven sabbaths, then the 50th day would fall on what day? Sunday! Right? The feast of Weeks was designed to dedicated the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat, usually around May and June. It was called Pentecost, because it occurred 50 days, �pente� is five. Fifty days after the Sabbath that preceded the feast of Firstfruits. So simple calculations indicate that Pentecost always, always, always fell on a Sunday--on a Sunday.
Pentecost was a Sunday! Now isn�t that amazing? This is so consistent. The Holy Spirit didn�t establish the Church on a Tuesday, or a Thursday, or a Saturday--the Holy Spirit established the Church--sent His Holy Spirit on a Sunday!
Now, are you getting the message? It is very clear--the Lord Himself has ordained a day: the events of the resurrection; the events of the birth of the Church; the completion of salvation; the coming of the Holy Spirit--all of that on a Sunday! Sunday is New Covenant Day.
Now, the other thing that is important to say: there aren�t any rules for Sunday, anywhere in the New Testament. There aren�t any warnings about violation, just Hebrews 12, that says, �Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together�--do it, when the Church meets--be there. There aren�t any rules, there aren�t any regulations. It doesn�t say anything about work; it doesn�t say anything about play; it doesn�t say anything about what you can do--what you can�t do--nothing! Because New Covenant is freedom from bondage; New Covenant is freedom from Law--this is not Sabbath. And those �Sabbatarians� who want to take the Old Testament Sabbath and drag it over and imposed it, somehow, on the Lord�s Day, are dragging the �weak and beggarly elements of a dead covenant into a living covenant.
It�s very clear to me that the Lord identified this day--it�s His day, He chose it, but He was concerned, not with some external observances, but He was concerned with the spiritual nature of that day--that it be a day in which His people celebrated God as their Savior.
It is not at all like the Mosaic Sabbath, which was restrictive and limiting and focused on violations and judgment and Law and punishment. And it was a day when you didn�t celebrate at all, you just got ground down by the realization that all you could do was break the Law.
No, New Covenant Sunday is much more like the seventh day of Genesis two, it�s a day that God blessed; it�s a day that is elevated as a day of honor; a day of celebration; a day of joy--not to God as Creator, but God as Redeemer and Savior. It�s the day when we delight in our Savior; not with external regulations; not with rules and forms. In Christ, Eden lost is found; Paradise Lost is regained--the soul is filled with joy, and peace, and delight. And the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking; it�s not externals--it�s joy in the Holy Spirit, says Romans. It�s the day to remember that the righteousness of Christ has been granted to you; it�s the day to remember that your sins are forgiven. And Sabbath Law has no place--Galatians 4 says, it�s the �weak and beggarly, elemental things, and they�re gone--they�re dead, they�re removed.
So, there is a reason why we meet on the first day--a good reason. This becomes the pattern of the early church, look at Acts 20, a very interesting passage, a fascinating passage. We go to Troas with Paul; the Gentile church has been established. And we go to Troas, verse 7, it says this, �And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread.� Gathered together for the Lord�s Table, most likely, to have the love feast and to worship. �First day of the week,� by now it is the pattern. I mean, it couldn�t be any other day, there is just absolutely no way it could be any other day, because this day is the day of resurrection; this day is the day of the second appearance of Christ; this day is the day when the Lord established the Church and sent the Holy Spirit, and gifted His people. This is the day!
And they were gathered, �and Paul began talking to them, and he prolonged his message until midnight.� Oh, great! So they had an evening service. �And there were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together,� and it got real stuffy in there. It was warm and smoky and you could just feel the environment stifling. �And there was a certain young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep.� It is also somewhat comforting to know that even the Apostle Paul had people fall asleep on him! �And as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and fell on him and after embracing him, he said, �Don�t be troubled, for his life is in him.�� He raised him from the dead! Perhaps we could suggest that�s because he wasn�t through with the sermon and he wanted to get back up. Well, that�s what verse 11 says, �And when he had gone back up, and broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while, until daybreak!�--you got to love that! It sounds like Russia. �They took away the boy alive, (verse 12) and were greatly comforted.� What a story he had to tell when he got home. Meeting on a Sunday night, the church at Troas--worshipping on Sunday.
Look at First Corinthians 16--there�s never any variation from this, Paul writes to the Corinthians, and he says, �I�m going to come, and I want some money to take back to the poor saints in Jerusalem; they are having a lot of struggles there and you folks, I want you to get some money together that I can take it.� So he is talking about the collection for the saints in verse one. In verse two, he says, �On the first day of every you should put aside, as you may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.� In other words, he is saying, �when you meet on the first day of the week, give your money, store it up, so that when I come, I don�t have to take a special offering.� Again, an indication that the Church met on the first day of the week. That�s when they came together for their worship; that�s when they gave as an act of worship.
Now, it�s not a day that is more holy than other days; I mean every day is holy unto the Lord. New Covenant life is living to the glory of Christ, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, everyday of the month, everyday of the year, all through your life. We are not saying that there are laws and restrictions; we are talking about the heart here. I�m glad some people work on the Lord�s Day. I hate to get sick and go to the hospital and find nobody there. Some people need to do that. There are some folks who perhaps are forced to do those kind of things for the support of their family and by necessity, but if it not necessity, then we need to do a real heart examination about how we spend that day.
And it�s not that you can�t work, and it�s not that you can�t play, and it�s not that you can�t enjoy some fellowship and some recreation--it�s that it�s the Lord�s special day, and that our whole-hearted devotion ought to be lifted up before Him on that day.
In fact, it is very unfortunate that we have this ridiculous name, �Sunday� and I�m sure you agree with me that none of us worship the sun. So I prefer the Biblical name--look at Revelation one, and this is what developed; Revelation one, John the Apostle is on the island of Patmos, where he has been exiled as a prisoner for the testimony of Christ and the Word of God. In verse 9, John says, �I, John, your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord�s day.� Wow! Now all of a sudden this day has a name--it�s the Lord�s day--I love that; that�s what I always call it. I don�t refer to it as Sunday, unless I do that unthinking, it�s the Lord�s day. What does that mean? It�s a Possessive; it belongs to Him; it�s unique to Him; it�s His possession, not by Law, but to celebrate grace. It�s the Lord�s day. I don�t worship the sun, but I do worship the Lord. It�s the Lord�s day.
By the way, that title, is all though early Christian writings and has continued through all the world until today--the Lord�s day. Since we don�t worship the sun, I suggest we always call it the Lord�s day. Isn�t it interesting that it was on the Lord�s day, the Lord didn�t have to give him a vision on the Lord�s day, He could have given him the vision on a Wednesday, but He gave it to him on the Lord�s day, and it�s a vision of the Church! It�s described as a vision of the Church down in verse 20, �the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands; the seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.� In the message; the one vision given in the Book of Revelation, the one vision given on the Church, is given on the Church�s special day.
It was on a Lord�s day that John received his vision of the Lord of the Church, and the Lord of the Church is seen in the vision moving among the candlesticks--that�s moving in His Church. None of John�s other visions, and the Book of Revelation is full of visions, none of them are associated with any day of the week--just this one.
So who established the Lord�s day? The Lord did. And by the way, it�s not the Lord�s �hour�--it�s not even the Lord�s �morning�--it�s His day. It�s not the world�s day; it�s not the family�s day; it�s not the kids� day--it�s the Lord�s day.
I guess there is a reason why we don�t have a Saturday night service, it�s not law, it�s not necessarily wrong. You could have a service everyday or every hour of every day and it would be right, but definitely God ordained a day when Christ would be exalted all the time. A day that would be set apart for Him, and He didn�t fill it with law, He just filled it with grace. And He said the measure of this day is not going to be what you don�t do because you are told not to do it; the measure of this day is where your heart is; the measure of your observance of this day is the honor you give to the Savior in your heart. This is His day, and as long as I preach it�s going to be His day--all day--in the morning, in the evening. I love to bracket the day with worship, singing, and preaching. It will always be His day--morning and night, even if people fall over dead.
What does God expect of us? Well, all I can say is there aren�t any rules. It�s not legalistic. There aren�t any commands; grace doesn�t require, however, less than law--it just requires your whole heart. How much do you love Christ? How much do you desire to worship Him? To honor Him? How grateful are you for your salvation. There aren�t any external rules to drop on you, and anybody who takes a whole lot of that Sabbath Law and drags it over and imposes, doesn�t understand grace, and doesn�t understand the line drawn between covenants that are dead and the New Covenant. Everything about the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant, including our day. I like our day better, don�t you?
Wouldn�t you be rather living in the joy and celebration of the Lord�s day than under the pressure of the Mosaic Law of Sabbath? I don�t need a day full of regulations, those are elemental things for immature people. I don�t want to be under a system of condemnation. I don�t want to live in a shadow that points to a reality; I have entered into rest; I have the reality; I have the Savior; Paradise is found; I�m no longer under Law; I�m not under bondage; I�ve been set free, but that doesn�t call for less from me, that calls for more, and out of my heart should be elicited love and adoration, and praise that fills up the Lord�s day.
So ask yourself: �What does my love for Christ ask of me on the Lord�s day?� It is not a question of what is forbidden--nothing is forbidden. But the high ground is your heart given to the Lord on His day--centered on worship, centered on delight, centered on thanks--search your heart--is it really His day? That�s what He ordained, and what a privilege to celebrate Him as Savior.
Father, we thank You for what the Word teaches us. We thank You that this special day has been given to You, and it�s a day when we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, because we need to stimulate one another to love and good works. We need to worship and praise you. We need to hear the Scriptures expounded, so that our minds can understand the truth, and we need to think about You, even when we are not here worshipping, and to delight in You. And it needs to be a day of joy, and happiness, and celebration, and gratitude. We can enjoy the wonders of all Your grace to us in Christ, not a day of bondage, not a day of legalism, but a day that really measures the devotion of our hearts. We thank You for it, and may we honor it that You might be honored, in Christ�s Name. Amen.
Transcribed and added to the John MacArthur Collection by:
And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, �Don�t be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me.��
So, it was dawn on Sunday morning, the morning Jesus arose and appeared to Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James (and that is indicated in Matthew 27:56). They literally see Jesus--He appears to them (verse 9), and He greets them, and they came up and took hold of His feet, and they worshiped Him.
Folks, the first worship service of the New Covenant Age was held on a Sunday morning. That was it--the first Sunday worship service.
So here�s an incredible afternoon service. We had a morning worship and an afternoon expositional service, but that�s not all, look at verse 33. No sooner had Jesus left, even though it was late in the day, �they arose that very hour,� they were not about to stay in Emmaus, not after having seen the risen Christ, and had the whole Old Testament made clear to them. �They returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered the eleven . . . .� They went back to, �the eleven and those who were with them, and they said, �The Lord has really risen, and He has appeared to Simon.� And they began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.� Verse 36, �And while they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst!�
Now, why am I talking about the day of Pentecost? Did you ever wonder what day, the day of Pentecost was? What day of the week? Did you ever wonder that? Well, maybe you never wondered that, and you don�t need to, because I�m going to tell you.
----------------
I'm sorry, but I have to laugh at this a little...that guy sure goes through a lot of hoops to get proof doesn't he? Hey, too bad Pentecost was a ceremonial sabbath from the old covenant, lol...can't keep Sunday either. Works! Legalism! Just kidding. Anyway. As long as people are alive they are going to be living on Sunday. Just because people met together, talked about scripture, bowed at the feet of Jesus...I'm having a hard time understanding how this eliminates the 4th commandment. "We keep 9...and we even keep the 4th...we just moved it to a different day." Want to know all the proof I need? Jesus kept the Sabbath. I can even turn your little resurrection around on you and say "Jesus kept the sabbath in the grave". If it didn't matter then why did He do that? Just because it was prophesied that He would? Doesn't work like that. He planned it. He isn't bound by prophecy, He makes prophecy.
----
So Sabbath Law was a day to contemplate one�s sin. The Sabbath law crushed man. You could hardly keep the Sabbath Law, it was so intricate, there was so many rules and regulations and routines for him to follow. But when Jesus came and died on the cross He took us out from under the bondage of the Law; He broke the back of the oppression of the Law. He ended the ceremony of the Sabbath, and the ritual of the Sabbath, and the binding nature of the laws of the Sabbath and set us free from all those things.
-----
You could say that about every law. Apparently we are still under 9 commandments. How crushing is it when you covet something in your heart? Man...I wish that one was the one that got picked out. I can handle resting. It's actually really nice. No worries, no work, no world. Usually I can't wait for Sabbath to come around. My pastor was a "Sunday" pastor until 9 years ago. He says he can't believe the peace he feels now. God really does bless you for doing what He asks. I just wish you guys could feel it. I have proof in my own life that God wants us to keep the 7th day, "peace that passes understanding". And the best proof of all. Jesus did it. I thought it was kinda funny that MacArther went through all that trouble just to say he keeps a ceremonial sabbath. The point is...all those regulations and restrictions were written on the parchment kept outside the ark of the covenant. The 10 commandments were very short, most of them less then 2 verses, and written on stone, kept inside the Ark that the holiness of God sat on. It just makes sense to me. The law of Moses wasn't part of God's character, it was only for the Jews. However, the 10 commandments are an expression of God's eternal character and love. They can be summed up in love. Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. If you obey those 2 commands you fulfill the law. Why? Because if you love God you will do everything He asks you. If you love your fellow man you will treat them like you want to be treated. If Jesus says that one jot of the law won't pass away until all is fulfilled then why was the 4th commandment nailed to the cross? That's more then a jot. And why does Paul say we establish the law? And as for the "meeting" on the first day verses, there are many more that say the apostles kept the sabbath as well. The disciples even kept it instead of preparing their blessed lord's body for the grave. Wouldn't you think that while He was alive and teaching Jesus would have told them at some point that they didn't have to? So why did they? And I don't know where MacArther got his "burdensome sabbath" info from...but I can testify that the Sabbath according to the 4th commandment(not the law of Moses) is the one day of the week that I feel truly blessed.
And I'm really very curious about this paragraph because I've heard it before...
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord�s day.� Wow! Now all of a sudden this day has a name--it�s the Lord�s day--I love that; that�s what I always call it. I don�t refer to it as Sunday, unless I do that unthinking, it�s the Lord�s day. What does that mean? It�s a Possessive; it belongs to Him; it�s unique to Him; it�s His possession, not by Law, but to celebrate grace. It�s the Lord�s day. I don�t worship the sun, but I do worship the Lord. It�s the Lord�s day."
I'm searching through the bible trying to find where the "Lord's day" is the first day...and um...I can't find it anywhere. Can someone show me where the "Lord's day" is Sunday? Ahahah*finger wag*...and don't tell me it was because he was in the spirit. Just because someone is in the spirit doesn't mean it's the first day of the week. Anyway, I really would like to see the verse.
First of all ten commandments is part of the law, there is no difference. Note: 1 John 3:4: "Whoever commits sin transgresses also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law." Is then the commandments part of the law? Yes! Or else it should be for sin is the transgression of the commandments.
DHTM: The law of Moses is still found in the ten commandments?
Daniel: Yes. All of the Moses law can be classified into the ten commandments.
DHTM: What about the laws of sacrifice?
Daniel: You shall have no other gods before me. You break the law, you sin. You repent and pay your debt using blood of the lamb to the one and only God. NT teachings do not contradict in term of animal sacrifice and worship with the OT. Read Hebrew 9 and Hebrew 10. It is too long, so I cannot paste it here. Jesus was the high priest, his blood is shed to cleanse our sin, and He is the sacrificial lamb. In fact, the law is a shadow, which point to Jesus as the sacrificial lamb. Psalm 40:6: explain that this sacrifice of animal is not desire by God, although it is required by the Law. The Law is still fulfilled, blood was shed to cleanse our sin. So, we still practice the law of sacrifice.
DHTM: The Jewish holidays?
Daniel: you said it already, it is the Jewish holiday. For the Jews.
DHTM: Laws of cleanliness?
Daniel: The principle behind them is that is just a symbol or ceremony of clean and unclean. �22 Eat them as you would gazelle or deer. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat. 23 But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.� Deuteronomy 12. So the law actually allows us to eat unclean animal but we must not eat blood. Again there is no contradiction between NT and OT teachings which implies the law still applies. So what nailed? Our sins! Regulation against us? It points out sins! Again our sin!
DHTM: Whenever Paul is talking about "Not being under the law", he's talking about circumcision, food and drink requirements, food offered to idols, festivals, sacrifices, and so on.
Daniel: Festivals is for the Jews to remember the LORD. Circumcision is still practiced (Colossians 2:11) and circumcision is not on the outside but inside. There is only one drink and food requirement in the OT which is reemphasized in the NT. We still practice sacrificial law, and so on. Not being under the law means that we had a mediator between us and God.
DHTM: The law of Moses is all about works.
Daniel: Yes the law of Moses is about works but if we have faith it will leads us to do the works. For faith w/o work is dead. Moses law is to point out what is sin. If there is no sin, there is no need for salvation.
DHTM: Well...He created light on the first day. Ok. Thats one. Separated the waters into the firmament on the second day. Ok. Thats two.
Daniel: YA, and God said that day one is Sunday, day 2 is Monday, etc. That�s my point. Day one is Sunday�. is the commandments of man not God.
DHTM: Rested the seventh day from His labor.
Daniel: Again you misunderstand the scripture. Here the labor means creation. According to John 5:17-18 God had been working everyday including Sabbath at least till the day Jesus said in below, whether it is everyday after that I dunno.
�17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.� John 5.
So why Sabbath? Because we are man not God we need rest and regeneration! The true meaning of Sabbath is regeneration and to remember God (Read Exodus 23:12, 31:15).
What Paul actually said regarding the status of the Law:
Romans 3:31 "Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law."
Romans 2: �13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)�
Clearly, the law including all those small teachings in the Book of Moses are not abolished.
Other scripture
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 & Hebrews 8:1
And most importantly what Jesus said:
�And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17
�17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.� Matthew 5:17-19
�When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. �Luke 2:39. And Paul asked us to imitate Jesus.
�For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.� John 1:17. Which summed up the law includes ten commandments.
�Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?� Again there is no separation of ten commandments from the rest.
In Luke 10,
�26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself."
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."�
DHTM: And I still say that the apostles never had to debate the Sabbath because there was only one choice.
Daniel: Or they all agreed that Sabbath can be any day. As long as every 6 days apart. The apostle never said that Saturday is Sabbath. There are evidence that early Christians also met on Sundays (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:12)
Your argument base on 3 wrong assumptions:
1. Ten Commandments is not part of Moses law a contradiction to Luke 10:26-28 and many others verses, where there is no separation between Commandments and Law.
2. Sabbath must be Saturday as observed by the Jews. If then how do you explain Sabbath year. If there is a specific day, then there is also specific year. Then it will be the year of famine.
3. Moses law had passed away. Jesus never teach this, instead he taught that the law is forever. So did Paul.
To prove the Moses Law had indeed passed away, show me where in the NT the teachings are not in accordance with the OT. That is your challenge.
Well, since according you that the Mosaic law had pass away then there must be teachings in NT that is contradictory to the Law. Can you show me there is one?
There is only one law, which is given through Moses.
�For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.� John 1:17.
The eternity of Law.
�And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17
�17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.� Matthew 5:17-19
I see you are trying very hard to "explain away" Acts 3:38. You can't do it and be faithful to the establish method of Biblical interpretation. You cannot take an unrelated passage in Luke as you did and try to diminish or explain away Acts 2:38. You are not going to be able to reconcile Acts 2:38 nor Mark 16:16 with your beliefs because what you believe does not line up with the whole counsel of God. Whenever you have a clear passage such as Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16 for examples, you have to take them literally as they are. The grammatical Hermeneutic does not allow you to alter it's meaning or intent. When you have a passage so clear as Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16 that does not agree with your theology or let's say if taken at face value refutes your theology then the question is this. "Are the scriptures in error or is my belief/theology in error?" You have to deal with this my Brother and be willing to accept the real possibility that what you have come to understand theologically may be seriously wrong. I don't say this to offend you but to get you to think about this more deeply. A few years ago I had to do this very thing. It took a little while because it required me to re-examine all passages related to Baptism, what really is a work and what really is not a work and all the Faith scriptures as well. I went into the Greek and consistently applied all the principles of Hermeneutics guided by the Holy Spirit. I allowed God's word to shape my understanding and correct my errors. When you do this you have to throw away all preconceptions.
So let's look again at Acts 2:38.
Acts 2: 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
At this point Peter had nailed them hard and after they were convicted of their sin they asked Peter and the Apostles what they needed to do. It is obvious that at this point they had faith and believed that Jesus was the Christ whom they crucified but as we can see even with their true faith in Christ, they were still NOT saved as yet. Peter then responds.
38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ UNTO (for) the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Now notice that Peter told them what they needed to do in order to be purged from their guilt of their sin and to receive forgiveness of their sin and receive the Holy Spirit.
First they needed to "Repent". Then he said the needed to be baptized in Jesus name and that is FOR the remission of sins. To be baptized in Jesus name means to be baptized in His authority. It is the same when we Baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Next in the passage we see what happens AFTER being baptized and that is to receive the Holy Spirit.
The Greek text conclusively demonstrates that the word "FOR" in this passage only has one meaning. The word "FOR" is better translated "UNTO". Both carry the same meaning. The word "FOR" or "eis" is a Greek "transitive preposition" and is used 1774 times in the New Testament and in every instance it means FOR or UNTO and NEVER does it mean "because of". If the word meant "because of", it would imply that remission of sins is due to a PRIOR act and that baptism played no part. Unfortunately for those who try to make that argument, the Greek does not support that conclusion or definition. A transitive preposition means that it has a forward progress to an object to a desired result. Baptism is FOR/UNTO the remission of sins.
The text of Peter's sermon states plainly that baptism is �for the remission of sins.� The Greek word translated �for� is the preposition, �eis.� It is extremely common in the New Testament, appearing some 1774 times.
�Eis� is a transitive preposition, meaning that progress is inherent in the meaning. It is most often translated �into� or �unto� in the KJV. The general sense is progression to a point reached. The inherent forward progress is always present when used with a transitive verb � a verb that implies motion, progression, or transition. The transitive force of �eis�is sometimes even apparent when used with intransitive verbs (state of being verbs) � which normally do not themselves imply progress, yet the transitive nature of "eis" overpowers the intransitive power of the verb (cf. Rom. 1:16)
Let's examine also Paul's Baptism.
Acts 22: 12 "Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there,
13 "came to me; and he stood and said to me, �Brother Saul, receive your sight.� And at that same hour I looked up at him.
14 "Then he said, �The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.
15 �For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
16 �And now why are you waiting? Arise AND BE BAPTIZED, AND WASH AWAY YOUR SINS, calling on the name of the Lord.� NKJV
Now let me make something perfectly clear. When a person gets baptized in water, it is not the water that saves you. Water just gets you wet. God is the one who saves us! Baptism is the occasion where God supernaturally "circumsizes your heart" and this is when the Holy Spirit comes into you.
Furthermore Baptism is not a work.
Titus 3:5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, THROUGH THE WASHING OF REGENERATION and renewing of the Holy Spirit, NKJV
What is the "washing of Regenration? Water Baptism. Notice that it is God who saves us according to HIS mercy,..."THROUGH the washing of regeneration ...AND the renewing of the Holy Spirit". Notice these two main elements as before have been listed by Jesus in Mark 16:16 and John 3:3-5. "the washing of regeneration" is not the Holy Spirit as some try to claim. Paul separates Washing of Regeneration from the "renewing of the Holy spirt" but using the conjunctive word "and" or "kai" in Greek. This demonstrates that there are two separate events, but simulteanously. Let me make one point that is important concerning "washing of regeneration" or Baptismal Generation. Different Christian denominations have different meanings for this term. So you must be very careful and not broadstroke everyone the same way.
Col 2:11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
How can we be buried with Christ in Baptism unless we are Baptized?
Here are some quotes from the Early Church Fathers.Ante-Nicene. Ignatius below was the personal disciple of John the Apostle. The last one is from Irenaeus who was the disciple of Polycarp (Pastor of the Smyrna Church. See Revelation 2:8) who was the Disciple of John the Apostle.
Why are these quotes important?
Because historically they demonstrate a continuous consistent teaching from John the Apostle to His Disciples and from those Disciples to their Disciples.There are many more quotes but these should suffice.
Ignatius (disciple of John the Apostle) appeals to Rom. 6:5
"Wherefore also, ye appear to me to live not after the manner of men, but according to Jesus Christ, who died for us, in order that, by believing in His death, ye may by baptism be made partakers of His resurrection." (Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians, II)
Baptism Unites us to Christ's Death (Rom. 6:5)
"For if there is one God of the universe, the Father of Christ, �of whom are all things;� and one Lord Jesus Christ, our [Lord], �by whom are all things;� and also one Holy Spirit, who wrought in Moses, and in the prophets and apostles; and also one baptism, which is administered that we should have fellowship with the death of the Lord; and also one elect Church; there ought likewise to be but one faith in respect to Christ. For �there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one Godand Father of all, who is through all, and in all.�" (Ignatius, Epistle to the Philippians, I)
The Gnostics Pervert Baptism
"It happens that their tradition respecting redemption is invisible and incomprehensible, as being the mother of things which are incomprehensible and invisible; and on this account, since it is fluctuating, it is impossible simply and all at once to make known its nature, for every one of them hands it down just as his own inclination prompts. Thus there are as many schemes of �redemption� as there are teachers of these mystical opinions. And when we come to refute them, we shall show in its fitting-place, that this class of men have been instigated by Satan to a denial of that baptism which is regeneration to God, and thus to a renunciation of the whole [Christian] faith." (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Bk. I, ch xxi)
Paul tells the gentiles that they have no command to keep the "law", just to abstain from fornication, blood, food offered to idols, etc. He says if you keep from those things you fare well. But then all through his writings he "contradicts" himself and tells us we need to keep the Ten commandment laws. What I think happened at the cross was that Jesus separated his law from the requirements for the Jews, so that all we had left were the ten commandments. He abolished the law bound up in ordinances and put us back into the law we will be keeping in heaven. In heaven we will not be making sacrifices for sin(Jesus' blood or otherwise)anymore, but we will be keeping the whole law of God. Even in the last days it says we should be. I just think the whole point is that Israel failed to keep the covenant of God through their own righteousness, so He put in place a new covenant, free from works...under grace. I'm just of the opinion that the bible is very clear about the eternal holy nature of the ten commandments, and the temporal nature of the ordinances/law of Moses. When Jesus died He stripped Moses's law out of the covenant so the gentiles could enter into it. Every time Paul talks about the sacrifices and feast days and food laws, he says that they no longer apply. Whenever he talks about one of the 10 commandments he says that they are still in effect, and not to disobey them. Just seems like a big hint, or a big contradiction. And if the whole law was done away with I have a hard time believing that God just took out one commandment. And on top of that, it's the only one that says "remember". That's the one He wants us to forget? Anyway, I hope I answered your question. Paul says we don't have to keep the ceremonial Sabbaths or feasts, he says we don't have to make animal sacrifices, don't have to rest the ground, men don't have to have beards, don't have to make guard rails around flat roofs, etc...just stay away from blood, food offered to idols, fornication, and things strangled. But the NT says not to commit idolatry, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to lie, not to murder, not to worship any other gods, not to take God's name in vain, etc...and just vaguely referring to the sabbath. Jesus kept it, the apostles kept it, Paul kept it, there was no dispute about the day because "the first day" was not an issue yet. There was only one day. I'm fairly positive the bible says to keep it, and as a witness from my own life I can testify that God does bless you if you keep it like He wants.
