Good Morning!
Today in our catechism lesson we are going to continue to look at the Sabbath issue as it is laid out in question #58 and #59 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. As with the other commandments there is an inquiry asking the “what does this statute call us to do” question, but unlike the others there is an interest in a further explanation about how Sunday has become the day we celebrate and enjoy the Sabbath in the New Testament. There is no sense in what the Divines write that the moral Sabbath itself is done away with. If it still exists (as it does) then the natural response is: well what does God Almighty have in store for me in this blessing? If we have a negative reaction to an ordinance of the LORD there is a problem. David in Psalm 119 tells us, and Paul repeats this in Romans 6, that the law to the Christian is a good thing. It not only helps us to see where further sanctification is needed, but it is a reflection of the very character and love of God for His people. The Day of Rest is good.
However, some will tell you that the Sabbath has been so fulfilled in Christ that the 4th Commandment is no long binding on the believer. That He is in fact our Sabbath rest in the new covenant. Therefore, they note, there no longer remains any “do’s or don’ts” related to the Sabbath commandment. In that scheme we’ve been freed from the strictures of not picking up sticks or stoking fires on that day, and instead are allowed to do pretty much anything we want on the Lord’s Day, even missing worship if something else gets in the way. No one, according to these folks, can tell you not to go to ballgames or Carowinds, or whatever. Let me be blunt. That is a false teaching, and I’ll explain why in a minute. But before we get too far into it let’s look at the Q/A’s:
Q. 58. What is required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God such set times as he has appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.
Q. 59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly sabbath?
A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian sabbath.
As we see in the first question the Fourth Commandment calls all men, believers included, to remember that God alone has the right to establish the rhythm of life. He’s the one who organized the seven-day week in the time of creation and made a point to lay out the pattern of six days of labor and the one day of rest. He’s the one who has organized the rotation of the sun, earth, and moon around the solar system, thereby allocating the month/year calendar. Given all that it makes sense that He then has the authority to make certain days more important than others. In the old covenant we had myriads of seasons and special times like the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, etc… that the Jews were called to observe in accordance with the ceremonial law as an act of faith. One of the key disagreements in the New Testament between the Apostles, other ministers of the gospel, and the Judaizers was the place and role of those days in the new covenant. Paul was abundantly clear in Galatians 4:9-11 that all the old covenant seasons and days have passed away, and are no longer to be held by gospel-believing Christians.
He writes:
But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.
Notice what he says there. The liberty won by Christ at the cross and through the empty tomb means, just like in the Old Testament, that no one, whether they have the encouragement of the Church or not, is allowed to either create brand new man-made holy days or compel believers to continue to follow the ceremonies of the old covenant. To do so is to go back, as Paul says, to the “weak and beggarly elements”. He’s not making an argument that the Mosaic days were somehow bad. He is teaching new Christians, especially ones who had grown up in the old ways, that now that the Messiah has come all those typological events have ceased, because what they pointed to is now here. The common example brought up now is that once a building is built you don’t keep the scaffolding up. Similarly, if you have a gorgeous cathedral you don’t put up things around it that hide its beauty. The structure is its own testimony to the glory of its creator. It doesn’t need the help of the inhabitants.
The same is true of the New Testament Sabbath. The perfection of the gift of the resurrection and the rest it grants to the Christian is its own defense.
Some people ask every now and then why we as Presbyterians don’t (and shouldn’t) celebrate things like Lent, Advent, or other “church calendar” activities. The primary reason is given to us in the catechism answer above. Only Jehovah has the authority to declare a season or a day holy, and to be set aside for religious observance. In no place in either the Old or New Testaments do we see, or can reasonably be found a positive example that calls for these or any other days to be followed, either for pedagogical reasons, or for other motives. The Christian Sabbath, the rest we hear commended to us in Hebrews 4:9, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.”, is more than sufficient to fulfill our need to remember the resurrection, the ascension, Pentecost, the nativity, or any other portion of the life of Christ, or of His covenant people. In fact part of what we believe is that every Sunday is Easter and Christmas wrapped up into one in the celebration of the finished work of Christ. So as we heard in the opening the people who say that the New Testament Sabbath is found in Jesus are correct. He is our Sabbath rest, however, we find that rest in honoring the set time appointed in the Holy Scriptures to be sanctified in Him. He is the reason for the season of our weekly Sabbath blessing.
Here is some more to think on this:
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church