The Vision (12/13/12): Lord also of the sabbath

Here are some notes to the concluding applications from last Sunday’s sermon from Luke 6:1-11:

 

What do we glean from the two Sabbaths in Luke 6:1-11?

 

1.       Jesus did not teach the abrogation of or doing away with the moral law of God, including the Sabbath.

 

Notice that Jesus did not in any way shape or form do away with the Sabbath.   In v. 6, in particular, even after his confrontation with judgmental Pharisees, observe how Jesus is back in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  This tells us that there are still Ten Commandments in the moral law of God.  God has ordained that in his universe one day in seven in to be given over to rest in him and worship of him.  It has been this way since the creation.  Human beings function best when one day in seven is given over to the God and the things of God.  The Sabbath is designed to give glory to God and blessing to man.  We ignore this aspect of God’s law to our peril.

 

There’s a bluegrass song by Ricky Skaggs called “A Simple Life” where the chorus says, “A simple life is the life for me, a man and a wife and a family, and the Lord up above he knows I’m trying to live a simple life in a difficult time.”  One of the verses says, “I work six days and I rest for one, ‘cause the old rat race ain’t never been won.” That song gets it right.

 

2.       Jesus taught the centrality of Biblical obedience to the law of God, including the fourth commandment.

 

The problem with the Pharisees was that in their zeal to keep the law they went beyond what was written and introduced extra-biblical, man-made rules. The danger is that we can do the same.  There is a warning against that in this passage.

 

3.       Jesus taught the positive rather than the negative aspects of obedience to God’s law, including the keeping of the sabbath (see especially v. 9).

 

Perhaps the best evaluative question to ask is not, “What must I avoid that is wrong?” but “What may I do that is right and pleasing to God?”

 

With regard to the Sabbath, we can hardly improve on the wisdom of the Puritan fathers who in the catechism ask, “How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?” and answer:

 

The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

 

Notice, by the way, that the two exceptions:  necessity and mercy derive from our passage.  To eat is a necessity and so it is lawful to eat on the Sabbath and to do anything else that is necessary for life and well being.  To help another human being or creature as an act of mercy is likewise lawful on the Sabbath.

 

4.       Jesus declared himself to be equal with God.

 

We see this in the declaration of v. 5:  “And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”  Who created the world including the Sabbath as a creation ordinance?  The God of the Bible.  So what is Jesus saying when he declares that he is Lord also of the Sabbath?  He is declaring himself to be equal in essence, power, and glory with the Father.   He is the one who made men’s hands, and he is the one who can restore them when they are twisted and withered (vv. 6-10).  He is the one who made men’s hearts and men’s lives, and he can restore them when they are twisted and withered.

 

There are only two responses to that.  Either we believe and obey or we react with an irrational fury, a madness that drives us even further from him (v. 11).  How will you respond?

 

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

When does the Christian Sabbath begin and end?

There was an interesting discussion recently on the RB Yahoo list concering the proper timing of the Christian Sabbath.  Is it from sundown Saturday to sundown Sunday or is it from sunup Sunday to sunup Monday?  One post included this link to a blog article by Old School Presbyterian Andrew Webb arguing for the sunup Sunday to sunup Monday view (borrowing from the Puritan Thomas Vincent).  I'm still thinking about the arguments.

JTR

Bunyan on the Lord's Day in "The Life and Death of Mr. Badman"

I’ve been reading John Bunyan’s The Life and Death of Mr. Badman of late.  This is one of Bunyan’s lesser known spiritual allegories.  The story is set as a dialogue between Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Attentive, reflecting on the death of their unconverted neighbor, Mr. Badman.

In this dialogue Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Attentive review the life of Mr. Badman and his various sinful shortcomings.  These include his unwillingness to honor the fourth commandment.  Even as a child, says Mr. Wiseman, “he could not endure the Lord’s Day because of the Holiness that did attend it….”

Later, the two men discuss the importance of the Lord’s Day in the Christian’s life:

Mr. Attentive:  Doth not God by the instituting of a day unto holy Duties, make great proof how the hearts and inclinations of poor people do stand to Holiness of heart, and a Conversation in holy duties?

Mr. Wiseman:  Yes, doubtless; and a man shall shew his Heart and his Life what they are, more by one Lord’s-day, than by all the days of the week besides: And the reason is, because on the Lord’s-day there is a special restraint laid upon men as to Thought and Life, more than upon other days of the week besides.  Also, men are enjoined on that day to a stricter performance of holy Duties, and restraint of worldly business, than upon other days they are; wherefore, if their hearts incline not naturally to good, now they will shew it, now they will appear what they are.  The Lord’s day is a kind of an Emblem of the heavenly Sabbath above, and it makes manifest how the heart stands to the perpetuity of Holiness, more than to be found in transient Duty, does.

On other days a man may be in and out of holy Duties, and all in a quarter of an hour; but now, the Lord’s Day is, as it were, a day that enjoins to one perpetual Duty of Holiness:  Remember that thou keep the holy Sabbath day (which by Christ is not abrogated, but changed, into the First of the week,) not as it was given in particular to the Jews, but as it was sanctified by him from the Beginning of the world; and therefore is a greater proof of the frame and temper of a man’s heart, and does more make manifest to what he is inclined, than doth his other performances of Duties:  Therefore God puts great difference between them that truly call (and walk in) this day as holy, and count it Honourable, upon the account that now they have an opportunity to shew how they delight to honour him; in that they have, not only an Hour, but a whole Day to shew it in:  I say, he puts great differences between these, and that other sort that say, When will the Sabbath be gone, that we may be at our worldly business.  The first he called a Blessed man, that brandeth the other for an unsanctified worldling.  And, indeed, a delight to ourselves in God’s service upon his Holy days, gives a better proof of a sanctified Nature, than to grudge at the coming, and to be weary of the holy duties of such days, as Mr. Badman did.

Bunyan’s obvious high view of the continuing relevance of the fourth commandment in the moral law, evident in the diaologue, is striking, especially given the fact that “New Covenant” theologians sometimes appeal to Bunyan as an advocate for their views.

JTR

Does Romans 14:5 have to do with Christian Sabbath observance?

I preached yesterday on Avoiding Doubtful Disputations, beginning an extended exposition of Romans 14:1—15:13 on the subject of Christian liberty and conscience.

I noted that Paul begins with a thematic statement (v. 1), followed by two examples: eating meat (vv. 2-4) and esteeming days (vv. 5-6). One question of interpretation is what Paul means by esteeming days. Does this refer to particular aspects of observance of the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath? Or does it refer to the esteeming of other Jewish holy days, particularly by some Jewish Christians (cf. Gal 4:9-11; Col 2:16-17)?

In his exposition of Romans 14:5-6 titled “Holy Days or Holy People?” (Romans, Vol. 4, pp. 1739-45), James M. Boice rejects the Westminster Confession position on the fourth commandment, citing this passage to justify his stance. He notes that his position had brought him into conflict with others in his PCA denomination where, he says, “there are people who would like to get pastors like me excluded, because we think this is a nonessential matter on which the Westminster Confession of Faith simply has gone beyond what ought to be required of anyone” (p. 1741). Boice claims that his position is more in line with Calvin than the Puritans. He adds that “an emphasis on Sabbath-keeping leads easily to legalism” and concludes, “Even today, people who insist on a strict Sabbath tend to be legalistic in other matters also” (p. 1742). Nevertheless, he also admits that “observing the Lord’s Day freely can lead to libertinism” (p. 1743).

Sadly, Boice’s exposition of the passage is lacking in close exegesis of the verses. It is also noteworthy that in this section, Boice makes no reference to John Murray’s commentary, which in other sections he typically freely cites with approval. Boice clearly avoids Murray, because Murray’s careful exegesis upends Boice’s position.

Murray devotes an Appendix to the topic in his commentary titled “Romans 14:5 and the Weekly Sabbath” (Romans, Vol. 2, pp. 257-259). Here is Murray’s succinct conclusion:

“To place the Lord’s day and the weekly Sabbath in the same category [i.e., as the ceremonial holy days of the Levitical institution clearly abrogated in the NT] is not only beyond the warrant of exegetical requirements but brings us into conflict with principles that are embedded in the total witness of Scripture. An interpretation that involves such contradiction cannot be adopted. Thus the abiding sanctity of each recurring seventh day as the memorial of God’s rest in creation and of Christ’s exaltation in his resurrection is not to be regarded as in any way impaired by Romans 14:5” (p. 259).

My exposition agreed with Murray.

JTR

Five Resources for Understanding the Lord's Day as the Christian Sabbath

In a past blog article I noted that one of the dividing lines between neo-evangelical Calvinists and those embracing thoroughgoing Reformed theology is the issue of the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath.

Here are five resources—both doctrinal and practical— for those who want to give this subject more serious consideration:

1. Chapter 22 “Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day” in the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689).

These eight paragraphs with scriptural proofs follow the Savoy Declaration and the Westminster Confession with only slight variation in laying out the Puritan and Reformed view of the Lord’s Day as “the Christian Sabbath.” Here is the distilled wisdom of our Protestant Reformation and Particular Baptist forebears.

2. Robert Lewis Dabney, “The Christian Sabbath: Its Nature, Design, and Proper Observance” in Dabney’s Discussions, Volume I (Sprinkle reprint, 1982): pp. 496-550.

The Presbyterian stalwart doggedly defends the classical Reformed position by exhaustively reviewing the Biblical texts to defend the fourth commandment as “moral and perpetual.” Of note is his exegetical review of “objection passages” like Romans 14:5-6; Galatians 4:9-11; and Colossians 2:16-17 (see pp. 521-530). Dabney does not suffer lightly those with mushy and inconsistent thinking on this issue.

3. Richard C. Barcellos, In Defense of the Decalogue: A Critique of New Covenant Theology (Winepress, 2001).

Barcellos offers a critique of “New Covenant” theology (an effort to blend Calvinistic soteriology and dispensationalism) from a Reformed Baptist perspective. Though this booklet covers the Christian’s view of the moral law in general, it readily applies to the question of the continuing validity of the fourth commandment, which NCT rejects.

4. Walter Chantry, Call the Sabbath a Delight (Banner of Truth, 1991)

Classic booklet by longtime Reformed Baptist Pastor and Banner of Truth editor which both offers a Biblical and doctrinal explanation of the fourth commandment and provides practical counsel on how positively to observe the Lord’s Day without straying into legalism.

5. Bruce A. Ray, Celebrating the Sabbath: Finding Rest in a Restless World (P & R, 2000).

Another worthy attempt to do what Chantry’s book does. This brief book (only 125 pp) is ideal for parents and families to read and study together in order to discern a Biblically faithful way to enjoy the Lord’s Day without becoming Pharisaical.

JTR

Thomas Watson on "holy conferences"

I concluded my teaching series last night on "The Christian Understanding of the Sabbath" by addressing practical issues.  One of the questions addressed:  "Apart from various prohibitions, what should I positively do on the Lord's Day?"  Among the suggestions:

Attend public worship
Read the Bible and Christian books
For parents:  teach children
Fellowship with believers (stay focused on spiritual topics)
Family worship and singing
Take a nap!

As a follow up to public worship, I added the comments by Thomas Watson in his discussion of the Lord's Day in The Ten Commandments wherein he urges "holy conferences" to discuss the day's sermon:

Having heard the word in a holy and spiritual manner, for the further sanctification of the Sabbath, confer with the word. We are forbidden on this day to speak our own words, but we must speak of God’s word. Isa 58: 13. Speak of the sermons as you sit together; which is one part of sanctifying the Sabbath. Good discourse brings holy truths into our memories, and fastens them upon our hearts. ‘Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.’ Mal 3: 16. There is great power and efficacy in good discourse. ‘How forcible are right words!’ Job 6: 25. By holy conference on a Sabbath, one Christian helps to warm another when he is frozen, and to strengthen another when he is weak. Latimer confessed he was much furthered in religion by having conference with Mr. Bilney the martyr. ‘My tongue shall speak of thy word.’ Psa 119: 172. One reason why preaching the word on a Sabbath does no more good is because there is so little good conference. Few speak of the word they have heard, as if sermons were such secrets that they must not be spoken of again, or as if it were a shame to speak of that which will save us.

JTR