# Sunday - worldwide Christian Sabbath?



## steadfast7 (Jul 27, 2010)

Is Sunday the divinely appointed day of worship for all Christians in the world? I know of situations in Islamic countries where Sunday is just another work day of the week, and their "sabbath" day of rest falls on a Friday. Christians likewise follow this as their day of public worship because it's sensible to do so - shops and offices are closed, and people rest. Is this compromise which dishonours God?

I think we sometimes take for granted our western culture and benefits that we've inherited over hundreds of years of Church-State harmony. How do the standards relate with fellow Christian brothers in other contexts?

looking forward to your thoughts.


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## Willem van Oranje (Jul 27, 2010)

Nova said:


> Is Sunday the divinely appointed day of worship for all Christians in the world? I know of situations in Islamic countries where Sunday is just another work day of the week, and their "sabbath" day of rest falls on a Friday. Christians likewise follow this as their day of public worship because it's sensible to do so - shops and offices are closed, and people rest. Is this compromise which dishonours God?
> 
> I think we sometimes take for granted our western culture and benefits that we've inherited over hundreds of years of Church-State harmony. How do the standards relate with fellow Christian brothers in other contexts?
> 
> looking forward to your thoughts.


 
Good question. The day on which the Sabbath falls is not merely a cultural choice, it is given to be the first day of the week by God's appointment, in commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ, the new creation. Living in a country in where it would be difficult or next to impossible to earn a living while keeping the Sabbath, would be a difficult situation indeed.

Incidentally, I when I was in Tunisia, a primarily muslim country in North Africa, I noticed that they overall did a better job keeping the Sunday Sabbath than America does! Most of the shops and businesses were closed on Sunday. They do this because most of their business is with Europe, where everything still closes on Sundays. I remarked to some of them that they were commemorating the resurrection of Christ, which seemed to bother them when I said it.


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## Scott1 (Jul 27, 2010)

Sunday is a special day of the week for Christians in those countries, though.

It may not be for others in the culture idolatrizing other gods, or false religion, but is the day representing the Lord's resurrection, that is the fourth commandment, the Christian sabbath.

Remember that God looks not only at the outward (resting), but also the inward, e.g. the motivation to obey and please the only true God.


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## TimV (Jul 27, 2010)

In which Muslim countries do Christians go to church etc.. on Friday?


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## PointingToChrist (Jul 27, 2010)

TimV said:


> In which Muslim countries do Christians go to church etc.. on Friday?


 
When I studied in Egypt, I worshiped with Maadi Community Church which held services on Friday morning and afternoon. This is an evangelical and very international church.


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## VictorBravo (Jul 27, 2010)

I can say that in Iraq and Jordan in the 80s, Christians worshipped on Sunday.


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## Peairtach (Jul 28, 2010)

> They do this because most of their business is with Europe, where everything still closes on Sundays.



And in Great Britain where Christian people once held more consistently to the Sabbath than those on the Continent such Sunday laws have been largely swept away.

If you're a Christian who understands the Christian Sabbath you'll want to keep it on the first day of the week because it is the First Day of the New Redemptive-Creation, which was _a far greater work of God's_ than creating the Universe or saving the Israelites from Egypt, both of which were celebrated by having the Sabbath on the last day of the week.

But persecution for righteousness sake can sometimes lead people to less than ideal compromises.

So the particular day isn't unimportant, and the Apostles would never have changed it without a word from Christ. You sometimes get the impression from the non-Sabbatarian lobby that the Apostles just woke up one morning and decided to change the particular day of rest and worship - and also decided to change its character - "off their own bat"!!!

The Apostles were the kind of guys that just messed around with the 10C according to their whimsy!!!


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## jwithnell (Jul 28, 2010)

Am I not mistaken in my understanding that in the earliest years of the church, worship was held outside of normal work hours because there was no real way for believers in a Jewish-dominate part of the Roman empire to observe a sabbath on Sunday? In other words, they honored the sabbath insofar as it was possible for them to do so given the restraints of their surroundings?


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## steadfast7 (Jul 28, 2010)

Worship is one aspect of the Sabbath, work is another. Early Christians probably worked on Sundays, presumably (?)


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## Scott1 (Jul 29, 2010)

Nova said:


> Worship is one aspect of the Sabbath, work is another. Early Christians probably worked on Sundays, presumably (?)


 


> Exodus 20
> 
> 8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
> 
> ...



Yes, you are quite correct- the forth commandment is about work and rest. It commands an ordinary pattern of labor six days and a ceasing in order to keep holy fellowship with God one day. 

That's why arguments like "every day is a sabbath" evaporate when looked at biblically. 

We are not really free to sabbath (cease) and make holy (set apart) every day because we are ordinarily preoccupied with our labor, and by derivation seeking entertainment for ourselves. Nothing wrong with that at all, it is the ordinary pattern God established for the lives of His creatures.

But God has given us that rest, He tells us in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 in order to focus on God, and particularly His attributes of creation and redemption.



> Westminster Larger Catechism
> 
> Question 120: What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to enforce it?
> 
> ...




That's why advance preparation (getting ordinary tasks out of the way so they do not distract and so that we do not ordinarily demand that others earn their living to serve us on the Lord's Day) is part of keeping the sabbath.

The sabbath in the Old Testament, while the same in substance, did look different in some ways from that of the New Testament. See for example, Numbers 20 where certain ceremonies and offerings were required on certain sabbaths or on every sabbath. These aspects are not binding on God's People today.

The Old Testament ceremonial laws and civil given Israel were binding to the Old Testament believer, but are not binding on believer's today. The former were fulfilled in the perfect life and sacrifice of Christ, the latter ended when the Old Testament theocracy nation ended. The Gospel then went out to all nations, Jew and Gentile, in accordance with God's promises to Abraham. In accord with God's plan from the very beginning- to redeem a people from every tribe, nation, kindred and tongue.

The early church changed the day of week in honor of the Lord (to whom the sabbath points), who was resurrected, nominally on that one day as apportioned among seven. Hence, John refers to it as the "Lord's Day" which is the sabbath, also known as the Christian Sabbath, which all is the fourth commandment.

And the fourth commandment is a large part of the regulative principle of worship, as it regulates a life pattern for worship. And yes, work as a normal order of life is also part of that.

Both the work and sabbath portions of the command are routinely violated by idolatrous, proud, and disobedient sinners. 

God have mercy on us.


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## jwithnell (Jul 29, 2010)

I've sometimes wondered about having an eschatalogical view of the sabbath. Yes, we are to do all we can to obey the commandment, but I'm wondering if it can be fully realized in this life? With children and a deacon husband, I don't always get the rest in Christ that is so needed.


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## Scott1 (Jul 29, 2010)

jwithnell said:


> I've sometimes wondered about having an eschatalogical view of the sabbath. Yes, we are to do all we can to obey the commandment, but I'm wondering if it can be fully realized in this life? With children and a deacon husband, I don't always get the rest in Christ that is so needed.


 
It's helpful to understand that we cannot keep any of the ten commandments perfectly. Yet, God gives us grace toward doing what we cannot, in our own strength do. In doing that, something happens, and God gets glory. That's really what it is about.

Something else happens. Obedience brings blessing. It is of a kind or kinds of God's own choosing- maybe spiritual blessing, maybe rewards in Heaven. Maybe better health and somehow, amazingly, more time to do things the other six days.

However God blesses obedience, He does do it. The more one tries to obey Him in every aspect of life, including the very visible aspect of a life regulated by work and sabbath, the more one realizes God's promises are true. They are very real.


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## JoyFullMom (Jul 29, 2010)

jwithnell said:


> I've sometimes wondered about having an eschatalogical view of the sabbath. Yes, we are to do all we can to obey the commandment, but I'm wondering if it can be fully realized in this life? With children and a deacon husband, I don't always get the rest in Christ that is so needed.


 
I sooooo agree with this! Sunday is the *least* restful day of the week for me! And I homeschool 6 children!


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## Scott1 (Jul 29, 2010)

One other aspect is that the sabbath is ceasing from ordinary work and recreation so that worship of God may be prioritized. So it is not a passive day at all. But it is restful in being able to take leave of the weariness of ordinary labors, worrying about making money- and trusting that in doing so God will provide.

Advance preparation, and structure that facilitates worship goes a long way in this. Worship being private (e.g. individual and family), and public (corporate). These are all aspects of the day. Quiet meditation in the Word, private prayer, quiet time is all part of this.


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## Willem van Oranje (Jul 29, 2010)

jwithnell said:


> I've sometimes wondered about having an eschatalogical view of the sabbath. Yes, we are to do all we can to obey the commandment, but I'm wondering if it can be fully realized in this life? With children and a deacon husband, I don't always get the rest in Christ that is so needed.


 
The eternal Sabbath is not fully realized in this life, you are correct. What we get to enjoy every week by setting aside all our ordinary labors and just communing with God, is but a blessed foretaste of what is to come.


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## Barnpreacher (Jul 29, 2010)

I see the males answering this in respect to males on the Lord's Day (putting aside ordinary labors and not worrying about money etc.). I think this is a lot easier for a man to do on Sunday than a woman. A woman (especially a mother) is still by nature going to gravitate to doing more for the children, cooking, etc. even on the Lord's Day. And from what I am reading above, I think the ladies may be seeing a pattern that it is much easier for a man to regulate his Lord's Day than it is for a wife and mother. God have mercy on us as men if we bind our godly wives down with Lord's Day restrictions that are not found in the Scriptures and restrictions that they simply cannot live up to. I am not saying anybody is doing that, but God forgive us if we are. It is our job as the head of the home to help our wives delight in the Lord's Day by relieving her of some things that we can do in her place. Of course, I am of the mindset that this principle is good for a marriage, not just on Sunday, but every day.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Willem van Oranje (Jul 29, 2010)

Barnpreacher said:


> I see the males answering this in respect to males on the Lord's Day (putting aside ordinary labors and not worrying about money etc.). I think this is a lot easier for a man to do on Sunday than a woman. A woman (especially a mother) is still by nature going to gravitate to doing more for the children, cooking, etc. even on the Lord's Day. And from what I am reading above, I think the ladies may be seeing a pattern that it is much easier for a man to regulate his Lord's Day than it is for a wife and mother. God have mercy on us as men if we bind our godly wives down with Lord's Day restrictions that are not found in the Scriptures and restrictions that they simply cannot live up to. I am not saying anybody is doing that, but God forgive us if we are. It is our job as the head of the home to help our wives delight in the Lord's Day by relieving her of some things that we can do in her place. Of course, I am of the mindset that this principle is good for a marriage, not just on Sunday, but every day.


 
There is something to be said for cold sandwiches and letting most housework go on the Lord's Day, so I think you have a point in that regard.


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## Scott1 (Jul 29, 2010)

Barnpreacher said:


> I see the males answering this in respect to males on the Lord's Day (putting aside ordinary labors and not worrying about money etc.). I think this is a lot easier for a man to do on Sunday than a woman. A woman (especially a mother) is still by nature going to gravitate to doing more for the children, cooking, etc. even on the Lord's Day. And from what I am reading above, I think the ladies may be seeing a pattern that it is much easier for a man to regulate his Lord's Day than it is for a wife and mother. God have mercy on us as men if we bind our godly wives down with Lord's Day restrictions that are not found in the Scriptures and restrictions that they simply cannot live up to. I am not saying anybody is doing that, but God forgive us if we are. It is our job as the head of the home to help our wives delight in the Lord's Day by relieving her of some things that we can do in her place. Of course, I am of the mindset that this principle is good for a marriage, not just on Sunday, but every day.


 
I think we know God applies His commandments to all in Adam, male and female.

Actually, a responsibility is placed on the man who has a family, and you are right to recognize that. It is not quite the same as on other days, but one specific to the Lord's Day.



> Westminster Larger Catechism
> 
> Question 118: Why is the charge of keeping the sabbath more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors?
> 
> Answer: The charge of keeping the sabbath is more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors, because they are bound not only to keep it themselves, but to see that it be observed by all those that are under their charge; and because they are prone ofttimes to hinder them by employments of their own.



Working this out practically is an ultimate accountability for a man who has a family.

And that includes working through all the objections that come from rebellion, in him, his wife, and his children to try, by God's grace to see the fourth commandment is obeyed in his household, for the honor and glory of God.

One practical way to deal with this is through advance preparation. Advance preparation is part of keeping the sabbath.



> Westminster Confession of Faith
> 
> Chapter XXI
> Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day
> ...



"Ordering our affairs beforehand," may involve preparing meals in advance, and arranging things so there are not the ordinary distractions and stresses that occur during the week.

The wife needs to support her husband in leading in this. Children need to respect their parents in this. The man needs to be a sacrificing, suffering servant to make sure the tone of the sabbath is set.

The fact that sinners all don't want to do this, and want to invent reasons not to do this... only calls us sweetly back to repentance before our God.


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## Barnpreacher (Jul 29, 2010)

By the way, I was not implying in any way that the ladies that posted above were doing so out of frustration toward their husbands. And I was also not implying that their husbands were laying restrictions on them. My post had nothing to do with the particular situations of these women. Rather, I was trying to show the general principle that the commandment to rest in the Lord on the Lord's Day can tend to look very different in its outward application for a woman than it can for a man. I understand that all commandments are for those in Adam, but we cannot deny how the outworking of this commandment is going to look different for a woman than it will for a man.

It's examination in my own life that prompted me to post what I did. I think it's important that we as men address this, and we don't act like the application of this commandment isn't sometimes quite a bit easier for us than it is for our wives.


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## Scott1 (Jul 29, 2010)

(One of the things a man leading his family can do to help his family keep the sabbath is take on preparing meals Saturday night for the sabbath, meals that can be simply prepared and eaten on the sabbath, the man can do this as loving service)


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## Contra_Mundum (Jul 29, 2010)

Most Egyptian Christians meet in their churches on Sunday.

As an MK, I remember meeting with Egyptian kids for "Friday School" (kind of like a "weekend" meeting for youth) on Fri. afternoons at an Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church. When's the best time for outreach? When you schedule your meetings for those days unbelievers have free time.

The church, even in Egypt (and elsewhere in the Muslim-dominated world) meets on Sunday because that's the Lord's Day, and they know that, and they love it.

If there's a place there that's given over to meeting on Friday for worship, chances are its because they have all the lousy influences of modern American pop-evangelicalism. They don't care if they are connected to historic Christian practice. Pragmatism has trumped theology. They probably don't even believe in the command to worship--i.e., that its all just convenience.


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## Willem van Oranje (Jul 29, 2010)

Contra_Mundum said:


> Most Egyptian Christians meet in their churches on Sunday.
> 
> As an MK, I remember meeting with Egyptian kids for "Friday School" (kind of like a "weekend" meeting for youth) on Fri. afternoons at an Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church. When's the best time for outreach? When you schedule your meetings for those days unbelievers have free time.
> 
> ...


 
Do Muslims actually get Friday off in some countries? I had the impression it was only during prayer hours. At least, that is the practice in Muslim countries which I have visited.


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## jwithnell (Jul 29, 2010)

My whole week is organized around the sabbath and I have appreciated the very real blessings afforded by full attendance to the means of grace; my question has more to do with the idea that the sabbath represents both our hope in a final rest as well as a hope in a time when our work will not be frustrated and our worship will not be hindered by the providential hindrances we now face on Sundays -- sick kids, tiredness from a poor night's sleep, trying to hear every other word of the sermon while dealing with the impulses of an autistic son ... or as others have mentioned, living in places in the world where our sabbath would be very difficult to deal with, just like the folks in the early church.


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## Peairtach (Jul 29, 2010)

Remember that the Medieval and earlier monks were able to set aside the whole of their lives in order to worship and contemplate God as they saw it - erroneously of course.

(a) Because we're not asked to do this

(b) Because they had other theological problems.

Modern evangelicals are so hyperspiritual that they think it is legalistic to set aside one day in seven for God and believe that they can live immersed in the world and the things of the world 24/7/52, and fit in "quiet times" with God when they can. In the New Covenant the Church has made and is making progress towards the Heavenly Eschatalogical Kingdom, but we are not there yet. Therefore there remains the keeping of a Sabbath unto the New Covenant people of God, just as there remain e.g. sacraments unto the New Covenant people of God.

Christians often swing from one error to the opposite error.

It is Christ's invitation and command that we have a 24-hour "quiet time" with Him, in addition to our shorter "quiet times" and family worships during the week. 

We little understand what damage is being done to our souls by ignoring this command and invitation because of dispensational and other excuses. The proper use of the Sabbath trains our soul to rest in Christ by faith all through the week, i.e. strengthens our rest in Christ by faith.

---------- Post added at 01:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 AM ----------




> My whole week is organized around the sabbath and I have appreciated the very real blessings afforded by full attendance to the means of grace; my question has more to do with the idea that the sabbath represents both our hope in a final rest as well as a hope in a time when our work will not be frustrated and our worship will not be hindered by the providential hindrances we now face on Sundays -- sick kids, tiredness from a poor night's sleep, trying to hear every other word of the sermon while dealing with the impulses of an autistic son ... or as others have mentioned, living in places in the world where our sabbath would be very difficult to deal with, just like the folks in the early church.



The Christian Sabbath is still a type of the Heavenly Eschatalogical Kingdom - maybe in co-ordination with the perfectly numbered week.

To be honest with you, I've never read any Vos diorectly but gleaned my understanding on this from Richard Gaffin's "Calvin and the Sabbath" which interacts with Vos.

The reason that the Sabbath wasn't a type that was swallowed up in the New Covenant era, is because it was a type that wasn't established at the Old Covenant - although certain typical meanings were added to the Sabbath at the time of Moses which subsequently were fulfilled in Christ - but it was a type of eternal Rest that was given to Man before the Fall as a Creation Ordinance, to be a continual witness between unfallen Man and God that the _raison d'etre _of Man's person, life and work was to find Rest in his Creator God and that one day when he had fulfilled the Probation and the Cultural-Creation Mandate, the work that God had given him to do, he would enjoy permanent and higher Rest with his God, Who was already resting from _His_ work. 

This transcends the whole move from Old Covenant (Moses) to New Covenant (Christ). The Sabbath isn't just a day of convenience set aside because we need a particular day on which to concentrate on worship and recharging the batteries. It's more than that.


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## Scott1 (Jul 29, 2010)

jwithnell said:


> My whole week is organized around the sabbath and I have appreciated the very real blessings afforded by full attendance to the means of grace; my question has more to do with the idea that the sabbath represents both our hope in a final rest as well as a hope in a time when our work will not be frustrated and our worship will not be hindered by the providential hindrances we now face on Sundays -- sick kids, tiredness from a poor night's sleep, trying to hear every other word of the sermon while dealing with the impulses of an autistic son ... or as others have mentioned, living in places in the world where our sabbath would be very difficult to deal with, just like the folks in the early church.


 
And to that, trying not to worry about money, work, or things that need to get done!

Entering into a sabbath rest on the Lord's Day is but a foretaste of what heaven will be like. As we grow in our ability to obey and trust God, even in keeping the sabbath, that sense, that foretaste does increase.

No wonder the Scriptures call it a delight. Even amidst the problems, busyness, distractions of others, one can experience something of a faith-born rest in Christ that is uncommon- and different from what ordinarily is much more difficult the other days of the week.



> Isaiah 58
> 
> 13If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
> 
> 14Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.


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## TimV (Jul 29, 2010)

There's the interesting example of the Reconquest, when Christian and Muslim armies would at times agree to to battle on Saturday rather than either Friday or Sunday, which is kind of chivalrous, I suppose


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## Barnpreacher (Jul 29, 2010)

jwithnell said:


> My whole week is organized around the sabbath and I have appreciated the very real blessings afforded by full attendance to the means of grace; my question has more to do with the idea that the sabbath represents both our hope in a final rest as well as a hope in a time when our work will not be frustrated and our worship will not be hindered by the providential hindrances we now face on Sundays -- sick kids, tiredness from a poor night's sleep, trying to hear every other word of the sermon while dealing with the impulses of an autistic son ... or as others have mentioned, living in places in the world where our sabbath would be very difficult to deal with, just like the folks in the early church.


 
In reading Ed Clowney's book on Jesus transforming the 10 Commandments, I was reminded that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. It is only in Jesus that we find our rest that the rest in the land of Canaan pointed to. It is in Jesus that we find our eternal rest. He knows your heart, and He knows the difficulties of dealing with those providential hindrances. He knows that you can't stop laboring with your autistic son, even on Sunday, but He calls you to find your rest and peace in Him. Sometimes that rest takes on a different outward look than some think it should, but our rest is in Him nonetheless.


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## Peairtach (Jul 29, 2010)

We do rest in Christ by faith every day and He is resting from His Work, and from our sin and guilt which He dealt with, and from the world and the Devil.

In this life we will always have an ongoing struggle with sin, the world and the Devil and other problems too, and we will always have a work to do of some kind. Although we are resting in Christ by faith every day, while we are in this world we still need the weekly Sabbath.

Of course the Lord understands our infirmities and peculiar difficulties in seeking to glorify and enjoy Him on the Sabbath and on other days and desires that His people be peculiarly understanding with various situations and not like the Pharisees' approach, who demanded sacrifice on the altar of their twisted view of God's Day, without mercy.

Children and adults with certain conditions will have to be given a degree of leeway according to the wisdom of parents and carers, that others may not be.


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## Theoretical (Jul 29, 2010)

jwithnell said:


> I've sometimes wondered about having an eschatalogical view of the sabbath. Yes, we are to do all we can to obey the commandment, but I'm wondering if it can be fully realized in this life? With children and a deacon husband, I don't always get the rest in Christ that is so needed.


 
This, by the way is one of the reasons why I try to invite families from church over to my apartment to fix lunch for them as I'm able, so that the mom --especially those with young kids -- can get some relief. Or in the alternative, to bring the food from my apartment or a cooler to their home, take over their kitchen and do the cleanup at their place. I try to give the moms a break that I can as a single man, and will bar my future wife from cooking on Sunday unless I am ill or the like, as I'll be happy to provide food for both my family and any guests we have.


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## TimV (Jul 29, 2010)

Great work, Scott.


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## jwithnell (Jul 30, 2010)

> This, by the way is one of the reasons why I try to invite families from church over to my apartment to fix lunch for them as I'm able, so that the mom --especially those with young kids -- can get some relief. Or in the alternative, to bring the food from my apartment or a cooler to their home, take over their kitchen and do the cleanup at their place. I try to give the moms a break that I can as a single man, and will bar my future wife from cooking on Sunday unless I am ill or the like, as I'll be happy to provide food for both my family and any guests we have.



That is extremely kind! I'm looking forward to the day when we can engage in more hospitality again.


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## Peairtach (Jul 30, 2010)

_For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. (Isaiah 66:22-23, KJV) _


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## Pergamum (Aug 1, 2010)

Some groups advocating high-end contextualization have argued for Friday worship for "Isa prayer groups" and then have called these groups "church plants' to their supporters back home, despite a refusal to baptize or practice the Lord's Supper, call themselves a "church" or worship on Sunday. 

However, Sunday worship (as well as the ordinances) tie all Christians together into a universal unity of expression such that these contextualized groups, refusing to join the worldwide church are thus (if we are to consider them Christians at all) cutting themselves off from the rest of the worldwide family of God.


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## Peairtach (Aug 1, 2010)

> "Isa prayer groups"



What does this mean? What is Isa?


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## steadfast7 (Aug 1, 2010)

Isa is the Islamic name for Jesus.
There are some issues here though that are worth some more thought. First, what about Quakers and Salvation Army (who do not practice baptsim), are they part of the visible church? Second, though I'm not in agreement with extreme forms of muslim contextualization like those who go to Mosque and read their Qur'an but secretly worship Isa, all church plants do tend to start from somewhere - often very meager beginnings. The early church met began in an upper room, then on the steps on the Jewish temple courts and worshipped daily, rather than weekly, then in homes and then church buildings. It's sometimes difficult to pinpoint the birth of the visible church.


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## Austin (Aug 2, 2010)

Two thoughts:

1) IS this commandment for "all in Adam"? What then do we do with the Preface to the 10 Commandments ("I am the LORD Thy God, which have brought Thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage")? 

2) I too like to come home from church and cook on Sundays. It is both my service ot my family as well as a way to relax after preaching. Then we take a nap. And ooooo, boy, are Sunday naps great!


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## Scott1 (Aug 2, 2010)

Austin said:


> Two thoughts:
> 
> 1) IS this commandment for "all in Adam"? What then do we do with the Preface to the 10 Commandments ("I am the LORD Thy God, which have brought Thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage")?
> 
> 2) I too like to come home from church and cook on Sundays. It is both my service ot my family as well as a way to relax after preaching. Then we take a nap. And ooooo, boy, are Sunday naps great!


 
Clearly, the sabbath is, in addition to being explicit among the Ten Commandments, is an ordinance of creation, and therefore applies to all of God's Creatures.

In being particularized and repeated in the Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5) He reminds His people of two of its purposes- redemption and creation.



> Westminster Larger Catechism
> 
> Q. 121. Why is the word Remember set in the beginning of the fourth commandment?
> 
> A. The word Remember is set in the beginning of the fourth commandment,[637] partly, because of the great benefit of remembering it, we being thereby helped in our preparation to keep it,[638] and, in keeping it, better to keep all the rest of the commandments,[639] and to continue a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of creation and redemption, which contain a short abridgment of religion;[640] and partly, because we are very ready to forget it,[641] for that there is less light of nature for it,[642] and yet it restraineth our natural liberty in things at other times lawful;[643] that it cometh but once in seven days, and many worldly businesses come between, and too often take off our minds from thinking of it, either to prepare for it, or to sanctify it;[644] and that Satan with his instruments labours much to blot out the glory, and even the memory of it, to bring in all irreligion and impiety.[645]





> Scripture Proofs
> 
> [637] Exodus 20:8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
> 
> ...



A couple aspects of eating at home on Sunday is not making others earn their living for your convenience, thus not allowing them to keep the sabbath, e.g. eating out in restaurants on the Lord's Day, as well as mercy in inviting over needy people for a meal and fellowship on the Lord's Day.

As far as napping (and I'm not supporting or challenging this proposition here, only mentioning it), there is a line of thinking that napping on the Lord's Day is a way of "profaning the sabbath." (Only mentioning that as you consider the full implications of the fourth command and the Westminster Summary of doctrine related to it).


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## Barnpreacher (Aug 2, 2010)

Scott1 said:


> As far as napping (and I'm not supporting or challenging this proposition here, only mentioning it), there is a line of thinking that napping on the Lord's Day is a way of "profaning the sabbath." (Only mentioning that as you consider the full implications of the fourth command and the Westminster Summary of doctrine related to it).



Even though you are not supporting or challenging this proposition, you did mention it, so I would like to see where this is implied in the fourth command.


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## Scott1 (Aug 2, 2010)

Barnpreacher said:


> Scott1 said:
> 
> 
> > As far as napping (and I'm not supporting or challenging this proposition here, only mentioning it), there is a line of thinking that napping on the Lord's Day is a way of "profaning the sabbath." (Only mentioning that as you consider the full implications of the fourth command and the Westminster Summary of doctrine related to it).
> ...



I think the idea is drawn from here (emphasis added):

I've been told there have been some great reformed sermons preached on this, though am not familiar with one, its reasoning or background.



> Westminster Larger Catechsim
> 
> 
> Q. 117. How is the sabbath or the Lord’s day to be sanctified?
> ...





> Scripture proofs
> 
> [624] Exodus 20:8, 10. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.... But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.
> 
> ...



and this....



> Q. 119. What are the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment?
> 
> A. The sins forbidden in the fourth commandment are, all omissions of the duties required,[630] all careless, negligent, and unprofitable performing of them, and being weary of them;[631] all *profaning the day by idleness*, and doing that which is in itself sinful;[632] and by all needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly employments and recreations.[633]





> Scripture proofs
> 
> [630] Ezekiel 22:26. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
> 
> ...


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## Peairtach (Aug 2, 2010)

The Judaistic teaching on the Sabbath involves not cooking on the Sabbath and not lighting a fire in any circumstances.

It is clear from a closer study of the Scriptural teaching on these subjects, including the Mosaic Scriptures taken with our Lord's Words on the Sabbath, that these are and were Jewish additions to God's intention for the Sabbath. Once again we have bad and legalistic exegesis by the Jews.

This thread deals with it.

http://www.puritanboard.com/f54/cooking-preparing-food-sabbath-day-issue-non-issue-52542/index2.html

Thomas Shepard dealt with the notion of Calvin and others, particularly Continentals, that God intended that the Jews (in a kind of ceremonial) keep to a more strict Sabbath than we Christians.

http://www.thomasshepard.org/sabbaticae.shtml

See also "Calvin and the Sabbath" by Richard Gaffin (PandR) and "Systematic Theology" by Robert Dabney(BoT), for Calvin's imperfect understanding on the Sabbath.

The Jews _were meant to _keep the Sabbath as carefully as we are, and we _are meant to_ keep the Sabbath as carefully as the Jews _were meant to_. Before the Babylonian exile the Jews were often licentious in their Sabbath-keeping. After the Babylonian exile the Jews were often legalistic in their Sabbath-keeping.


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## Austin (Aug 2, 2010)

RE: napping. I have never had a moment of conviction in my study of the sabbath when it comes to napping on Sunday. After rising at 5, arriving at church by 6, teaching for an hour, leading worship and preaching for another hour and a half, and then having people over for fellowship after church (where I cook as an act of "mercy, piety or necessity," and before evening service at 6pm, I am firmly convinced that it is a part of God's sabbath-day blessing to enjoy resting in Him for an hour or so to nap. 

I think this is also a welcome blessing to the rest of God's people who, after a long morning of worship & fellowship, can take time to enjoy what may be their only nap of the week. 

My 2 cents. 

(PS, does it ever bother anyone else that keyboards no longer have the cent symbol key?)


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## steadfast7 (Aug 2, 2010)

A point has been brought up in another thread that Sabbath is essentially a community event. So then if Christians in an islamic part of the world were to decide that the Sabbath could best be served on a Friday, would they still be transgressing the Sunday observance?


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## Peairtach (Aug 2, 2010)

Austin said:


> RE: napping. I have never had a moment of conviction in my study of the sabbath when it comes to napping on Sunday. After rising at 5, arriving at church by 6, teaching for an hour, leading worship and preaching for another hour and a half, and then having people over for fellowship after church (where I cook as an act of "mercy, piety or necessity," and before evening service at 6pm, I am firmly convinced that it is a part of God's sabbath-day blessing to enjoy resting in Him for an hour or so to nap.
> 
> I think this is also a welcome blessing to the rest of God's people who, after a long morning of worship & fellowship, can take time to enjoy what may be their only nap of the week.
> 
> ...



Although the Sabbath is primarily a day of spiritual rest, in which we specially enjoy and enter into the Rest that Christ entered into forever for us on the Resurrection Day, and enjoy that Rest with Christ in a special way on the Lord's Day, it is clear that this also involves mental and physical rest too, and we partly enjoy that spiritual Rest, not only through public and private worship, fellowship with other Christians, reading good books, prayer, etc, but also through physical rest from the labours of the week, and mental rest, by shutting out the things of the world, and the world that lies in the Evil One.

The Sabbath is still a type of, and a stairway to (step by weekly step), Heaven because it is a type that was given at Creation. Therefore it is still to be observed as a type as well as a practical necessity in order to set enough time aside for the worship of God. 

Just being still and knowing that God is God, where that is appropriate, is observing the typical character of the day, not always focussing on particular worshipful activities so that the day is choc-a-bloc with an exhausting round of particular tasks. Nodding-off while praying or reading a good book is quite in keeping with the character of the day, especially if a person is working full-time on the other Six Days of the Week.

Did God make the Sabbath for Man's spiritual Rest only or also for his mental and physical rest, which mental and physical rest is supremely, or ultimately, achieved through being at Rest in and at Peace with God?


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## Peairtach (Aug 2, 2010)

Nova said:


> A point has been brought up in another thread that Sabbath is essentially a community event. So then if Christians in an islamic part of the world were to decide that the Sabbath could best be served on a Friday, would they still be transgressing the Sunday observance?



The Sabbath is a community festal event. We should have our best food on the Sabbath and exercise hospitality and have fellowship. It's not a day for fasting.

But it is essentially a spiritual reality in the soul of the individual believer. We Rest in Christ each day by faith in the Rest that He has achieved for us and which He is already _fully_ enjoying in Heaven. 

But on the Sabbath it is as if Christ commands and invites us into the privilege of enjoying that Rest with Him in a special way once a week that is not possible on other days which are not devoted to acts of worship, necessity, mercy and physical rest.

The other days have other elements in them for the believer and non-believer alike, which are legitimate on those days, including "servile"/"customary"/"regular"/"ordinary"/"laborious" work as it's called in various versions (see e.g. Leviticus 23:7), and attention to the world and entertainments of various kinds (e.g. Isaiah 58)

The above word descibing and qualifying the type of work that was forbidden on the Sabbath and other Holy Days, was given in order to teach the Jews that they _could and should_ do works of mercy, necessity and worship on the Sabbath. By the time of Jesus, He had to make this clear again, as He did.


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## au5t1n (Aug 2, 2010)

Austin said:


> My 2 cents.
> 
> (PS, does it ever bother anyone else that keyboards no longer have the cent symbol key?)


 
Try this:


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## Scott1 (Aug 2, 2010)

Nova said:


> A point has been brought up in another thread that Sabbath is essentially a community event. So then if Christians in an islamic part of the world were to decide that the Sabbath could best be served on a Friday, would they still be transgressing the Sunday observance?


 
I'm not sure what is meant by "community event," and probably would not describe the Lord's Day/sabbath/forth commandment quite that way.

The basis of the command (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) is to sabbath "cease" from ordinary labor and seeking recreation/entertainment, in order to make holy "set apart" the whole day to prioritize the public and private worship of God.

The day also establishes exceptions for mercy and necessity.

Public meaning corporate worship, private meaning family and individual worship. Worship is only what is explicitly prescribed in the Word of God (that's the "regulative principle.").

The aspects of worship are generally defined as the Word, sacraments, prayer, singing psalms and spiritual songs, fasting, and oaths. See especially:



> Westminster Confession of Faith
> 
> Chapter XXI
> Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day
> ...



The sabbath is a true "holiday"- and wonderfully, one that comes every week!


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## Austin (Aug 3, 2010)

Another thought occurred to be this morning. And that is that each commandment has what you might think of as three aspects, each of which is a sine qua non of proper application of the Law. 

1) One is the prohibition. This is easiest to see, as they say "Thou shall not." So each commandment forbids certain activities. 

2) The second is the requirement. As the WSC & WLC remind us, the Sermon on the Mount is our hermeneutic which points us to the fact that we cannot obey the law merely by restraining active disobedience. We must also have active obedience. So each commandment requires that we DO something, basically the opposite of what is commanded. It is the hermeneutic of the Law of Love. 

3) But the 3rd is what I think most of us forget. The 3rd is a promise-- a Gospel promise-- that each aspect of the Law as directed toward God's people redeemed in Christ, is a promise that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will: a) supply our needs as we obey, b) change us by His power (apart from our works) to become a new Commandment-keeping people, and c) apply the merits of Christ to our failures and ever maintain our righteousness no matter how we obey or disobey. 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION: in regard to the 4th Commandment, I always try to remind myself & others that the greatest joy of the Sabbath-Day is that we have God's Gospel promise that on this one day in seven He Himself swears by Himself that as we rest in Christ, the Lord will provide. The Sabbath-Day is perhaps the most perfect experience of the fact that our Lord is Yahweh Yireh-- the Covenant LORD Who Provides. If we STOP-- just STOP-- this one whole day in seven, then the Lord promises that, howsoever hard we work to keep all those balls juggling in the air the other 6 days, on this day He will catch them for us so that we can rest. Of course, as the WSC & WLC remind us, we have a responsibility to try to assure that our worldly activities are set up so that we aren't expecting God to overcome our sloth. BUT, if we try to set up our week to give ourselves, our families, our employees, students, etc, the freedom to rest this one day, He will bless our meager & failing efforts by allowing us to rest. 

So, to obey the Commandment is to stop, to rest, to smell the roses and rest in Christ. The Commandment is to trust God enough to accept His promise that IT WILL BE OKAY if you don't work; if you stop striving; if you accept His Gospel Sabbath. Christ is our Sabbath. Do we doubt that, having redeemed us through His blood, he will then leave us hanging if we obey Him & trust His promise one whole day in seven? Surely not. How could we doubt His Sabbath promise? 

As the OT people used to note, the Sabbath-Day may be one of the greatest practical blessings showing the love of God for His people that there is. Truly, we are the most blessed of all nations if we have the promise of God that one seventh of our lives is granted to us as a foretaste of the eternal eschaton! 

Baruch atah Adonai, haMelech haolam, boray haShabbat. Amen. 

Shalom, y'all.


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## Scott1 (Aug 3, 2010)

Austin has nailed a very important aspect of the fourth commandment/Lord's Day/sabbath- the blessing that comes by obedience. Beyond what we can know, as is generally true of obedience to all of God's commands.

But one way that relates to the day, and pattern of life in our generation is that, wherever a believer goes in this world- there are believers, who are connected by God's spirit, part of Christ's Body, worshipping Him on the Lord's Day.

Through all the wars, upheavals and disobedience, the calendar changes, the amazing thing is that it continues, and has grown to every part of the globe- and a believer can enjoy that now!


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## Peairtach (Aug 6, 2010)

The Sabbath was/is also a sign (but not a sacrament)

E.g.

"You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, 'Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you."(Ex 31:13, ESV)

It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'" (Ex 31:17, ESV) Christ rested and was refreshed on the Resurrection Morning, and then He refreshed His Church on Pentecost (also a "Sunday") with the Holy Spirit.

"Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them". (Ezek 20:12, ESV) Christ gave us the Lord's Day/Christian Sabbath that we might know that it was God in Christ that sanctifies us.

I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. (Ezek 19:20, ESV) 

It's doubtful that the proper sign can be given to others or received by ourselves if we celebrate the Christian Sabbath on the last day of the week (Saturday) or any other day.

Exodus 31:13, Ezekiel 20:12: We now (in the New Testament period) know that it is now God in the God-Man Christ that sanctifies us, as we have been baptised into Christ at regeneration with/by the Holy Spirit. 

Notice how the Sabbath is peculiarly connected to God's work of sanctification in these passages. Can we have a sanctified evangelical Church if the Sabbath is abandoned because of the pernicious and pervasive lie of Dispensationalism that the Sabbath is not for today and that we are not obliged to that law, now we're in the New Covenant?

Exodus 31:17: We now celebrate God's greater work in Christ of re-Creation or the New Creation

Ezekiel 19:20: God is now our God in the God-Man, Christ.

The Saturday Sabbath is a sign of the Old Creation, not the commencement in principle of the New Creation.

The Saturday Sabbath isn't a sign of the Resurrection of Christ, but as it were of the Resurrection of Moses and Israel from possible annhilation at the Red Sea.

The Saturday Sabbath isn't a sign of the Greater Redemption/Exodus that Christ achieved, but is a sign of the Redemption/Exodus under Moses from Egypt.

By celebrating the Sabbath on the forward-looking First Day of the Week we are saying that we are in the "already....not yet" of biblical eschatology. Each First Day of the Week christian Sabbath, reminds us that we are looking forward to a New Heavens and a New Earth in which righteousness dwells which have commenced in principle and to which we are approaching like a long hoped-for landfall a week nearer each Lord's Day.

If we celebrate the Sabbath on the backward-looking Last Day of the Week, what are we saying to ourselves and others?

All the Commandments and words of God are signs (e.g. Deuteronomy 6:8) but the Sabbath is peculiarly singled out as being a sign among signs.


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