The Lord's Day

Which day ought Christians to keep? The Sabbath, or the Lord's Day? (1 sec. pause)

The first time God gave the seventh day as a day of rest to the children of Israel, was when He gave them the manna in the wilderness. They did not know of it before. Then God put the Sabbath commandment into the Ten Commandments, which He gave them after they came out of Egypt. The Ten Commandments were for the children of Israel. Nine commandments are mentioned and given again to Christians in the Epistles in the New Testament. One is not given - the Sabbath commandment. God gave the Sabbath to the children of Israel as a mark (sign) to show that they were different from the nations that did not keep it.

God also gave to the children of Israel feast days like the Passover, Pentecost, Day of Atonement, and the new moons to keep holy. But the children of Israel forsook God. So God said that by and by He must make a finish to all her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths. God did this when they crucified the Lord Jesus (when the Lord Jesus was crucified). Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, early in the morning. After the Lord Jesus rose from the dead He did not keep the Sabbath, but He showed Himself to His disciples on the first day of the week to bless them, and on the next first day of the week to bless them again. God chose the first day of the week, not the Sabbath, for the Holy Spirit to come down to begin the Church.

In the book of Acts we read that Paul used the Sabbath to preach the Gospel about Jesus to the Jews, because they only met together that day in their synagogues (meeting places). He did this as long as they were willing to listen, but when they were no longer willing to hear, Paul no longer preached to them on the Sabbath.

But the Christians of the church never once kept the Sabbath as their day to worship God. They gathered together on the first day of the week to keep the Lord's Supper, where they worship God and remember the Lord Jesus until He comes back. The Christians obey all the other commandments by loving God and one another. When Paul preached the Gospel to the Gentiles they believed in the Lord Jesus. But the Jews came later and said to them that they must keep the feast days, the new moons, and sabbaths, to be saved. This is not true. Man is not saved by keeping days holy, but by believing in Jesus as one's Saviour. So Paul writes, "Let no man judge you about a feast day, or a new moon, or a Sabbath, because you do not keep them. These days are only a shadow pointing to the Lord Jesus." So today we who believe in Jesus do not let any man judge us because we do not keep the Sabbath. We keep the first day of the week because Jesus rose again that day. The name in the Bible for the first day of the week is the "Lord's Day." Some false teachers have said that keeping the first day holy is the "Mark of the Beast." This is not true. The mark of the beast, the Antichrist, is a mark which is put on a man's right hand or on his forehead. You can't put a day on a man's right hand or on his forehead. If the keeping of the first day is a big sin in the eyes of God, then God would not answer the prayers of those who do it. But God answers the prayers of many people who keep the first day of the week as the Lord's Day.