The Lord's day is the first day of the week, not the seventh, or Sabbath. Referring to the Lord's day as the "Sabbath" is a mistake. Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Lord's day. Saturday, the seventh day of the week, was the sabbath day. The question: Are Christians to observe the Lord's day, or the Sabbath day?
It is affirmed that God finished His work and rested on the seventh day, the Sabbath, therefore, we should observe the Sabbath and not the Lord's day. Genesis 2:3, we are told, should be our example.
Although God did finish His work of creation and "rested" on the sabbath, having "blessed the seventh day and sanctified it," it was not until 2500 years later that the Sabbath day was dedicated and set apart, sanctified, as a Holy day of worship and service. It was then God appointed the Sabbath as a day of rest for the children of Israel, after their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. Previous to this time, there is no Biblical record of any man on earth observing the Sabbath for any purpose. What God did is one thing. What man is to do, as commanded by God, is another thing!
The Sabbath was not given for the Jews to observe because God finished His work and rested on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was given to be observed by the Jews only, in memory of their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt (Deut. 5:15).
The word "sabbath" occurs for the first time in the Bible in Exodus 16:22, 23:
"And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord ...."
Moses did not command the Jews then to continue an observance of the Sabbath. This was a new observance. His detailed instructions in verses 23 through 26 of Exodus 16, is evidence that this was a new experience for the Israelites. This order was given evidently in anticipation of the law, which was to be gin at Mount Sinai, the ten commandments, the fourth of which was: "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy .. ." (Exodus 20:8-11).
The sabbath law was not given unto the Israelites until after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The law, containing the observance of the Sabbath, was given at Sinai: "Thou comest down also upon Mount Sinai, and speakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments and madest known unto them thy holy sabbath and commandest them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant" (Nehemiah 9:13, 14). It should be observed that it was made "known unto them thy holy sabbath" in the giving of the Law.
The ten commandments, including, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy," were given to the Jews, who had been delivered from Egyptian bondage. God said: "I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Exodus 20:2).
This law was not intended for anyone else. The Jews were to "Remember the sabbath," in memory of their deliverance from Egyptian servitude: "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day" (Deut. 5:15).
WHO was commanded to keep the Sabbath? The Jew who was a "servant in the land of Egypt." WHY were they commanded to keep the Sabbath? "That thou shalt remember .... thy God brought thee thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath."
Question: Are those who contend that the Sabbath should be observed today rather than the Lord's day all Jews? Do men today keep the Sabbath in memory of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage? Moses declared to those Jews, that the law, commanding their observance of the Sabbath, was not given even to their fathers, but to them. Hear him in Deut. 5:2, 3: "The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day." Suppose we ask those who contend that we are to observe the Sabbath and other statutes of the Old Law, were you among the "us" with Moses when he declared "Jehovah made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day "?
Those who advocate that the Sabbath should be observed today, do not observe the Sabbath.
When God commanded the Jews, who had been delivered from Egyptian bondage, to keep the Sabbath, He said: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." The emphasis is on "keep it holy," not just to "remember" the seventh day. Just to "remember" the sabbath without obedient action to "keep it" would be of no value. Furthermore, not to "keep" it would be a violation of specific order from God. The purpose of remembering the sabbath was to be sure of keeping the sabbath.
Keeping the sabbath necessitated burnt offerings and sacrifices:
"And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof: This is the burnt offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering and his drink offering" (Numbers 28:9, 10). Where are the "burnt offerings" and sacrifices of those who presume to "keep" the sabbath today?
Concerning keeping the Sabbath, God said: "In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates" (Ex. 20:10). No work of any kind, by anyone, not even an animal, was permitted on the Sabbath. Those who were commanded to observe the Sabbath could not even build a fire on that day: "Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitation upon the Sabbath day" (Ex. 35:3). The penalty of disobeying the command to "keep the sabbath" and refrain from work was death: "Whosoever doeth work therein shalt be put to death" (Ex. 35:2, 31:15). In Numbers 15:32-36 it is recorded that "a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day" was stoned to death by order of God.
Where is the person who does "keep the Sabbath" today? Have you heard of anyone being put to death because he didn't "keep the Sabbath," having worked or "gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day"? Is it not rather strange that those who seek to bind the Sabbath upon men today must admit they do not "keep the Sabbath" themselves? Observance of the Sabbath day, as originally commanded of the Jews by God, could hardly be found today among those who presume to keep the Sabbath instead of the Lord's day!
According to Heb. 8:8-13, the law of Moses, including the observance of Sabbath, was to pass away and a new law be given instead; the law of Christ, the New Testament.
The apostle quoted the prophet: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of Egypt."
God said, "I will make a new covenant." The apostle concluded, verse 13, "In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. But that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away." God said nothing about only a part of the law being put away. Christ declared, on the contrary, "One jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." The Old Law was supplanted by the New Law. The old Sabbath, the seventh day, was supplanted by the Lord's day, the first day of the week.
There can be no doubt that the sabbath law was abrogated by reason of the death of Jesus on the cross. The law, including the Sabbath, was abolished.
The inspired Apostle Paul wrote:
"And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ" (II Cor. 3:13, 14).
Again, the apostle wrote: "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 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" (Eph. 2:14, 15).
Furthermore, the apostle declared: "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross" (Col. 2:14).
There can be no doubt about it. Paul concludes that the Old Law, containing ordinances and commandments, including the Sabbath, which was a "partition" between Jew and Gentile, was abolished in the death of Christ.
With the change of the priesthood, Christ having become the "priest forever after the order of Melchisedec," which was "a disannulling of the commandment going before" (Heb. 7:17, 18), there was the necessity of the change of the law. The old law was removed and a new law was instituted. The inspired apostle unmistakably affirmed: "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law" (Heb. 7:12).
Is it not strange that those who contend for observance of the Old Law, do not attempt to maintain the Jewish priesthood order, as was practiced under the Old Law? Remember, the Bible says:
"For the priesthood being changed there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
The inspired author of Heb. 10:9, 10 made the strong affirmation that the first covenant, the Old Law, was removed in favor of the second covenant, the New Testament:
"He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ once for all."
The annulment of the decalogue, "the tables of the covenant," was the abolishment of the sabbath law. The annulment was effected through Christ:
"Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary....And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the Covenant" (Heb. 9:1, 3, 4).
The abolishment of the law, the "first covenant," was removal of everything in that Covenant, the "tables of the Covenant," on which were written the ten commandments, including the sabbath law. The Sabbath, therefore, is no part of the "Second" covenant, the New Testament law, by which all men are governed since the death of Christ and the "change of the priesthood."
Sabbatarians offer several objections to the New Testament teaching that the Lord's day is to be observed rather than the Sabbath day of Old Testament times.
Objection 1: The Sabbath was to be perpetual because the prophet declared, "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 Jehovah" (Isa. 66:23).
That which proves too much proves too little! This is a misunderstanding of the prophet. If the Sabbath is to be perpetual, according to this verse, then the feast of the new moon is to be perpetual. The sabbatarians reject the feast of the new moon. What inconsistency!
The New Testament forbids "new moon" and sabbath day worship:
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,or in respect of any holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days" (Col. 2:16).
The inspired apostle concluded that the feast days and sabbath day worship was "a shadow of things to come." Christians are not to walk in the shadows but to walk in the marvelous light of the New Testament truth! Furthermore, if the law, including the observance of the Sabbath, was for a perpetual covenant, as expressed in Exodus 31:16, so was the priesthood for a perpetual covenant, as stated in Exodus 40:15. Why not observe the priesthood order as a perpetual law?
Let us consider Exodus 31:16: "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant." God did not say that this law was to be a perpetual law throughout all generations, for all time, but He did declare that it was to be through "their generations," meaning, as long as the Jewish economy was in force.
Not a statement in all the New Testament can be found where Christ or His apostles ever commanded, or intimated, that Christians should meet on the Sabbath day. Christ gave a new day, the Lord's day, the first day of the week, to be observed by Christians! Those who contend for Sabbath observance have not been thoroughly converted to Christ. They live in the smoke of the city of Babylon, who observe the seventh day in memory of creation instead of the first day in memory of the resurrection.
Objection 2: Christ kept the Sabbath (Luke 4:14-16). It is true that Christ observed the Sabbath, but not as an example for us to follow today. He was "born under the law" (Gal. 4:4) and kept the law, which was in force, until his death. He observed more than the Sabbath. Jesus was also circumcised, Luke 2:21,and kept the passover. If Sabbath observance is required of Christians, by reason of Christ's observance of the Sabbath, then Christians must be circumcised and they must keep the passover feast. This is a false conclusion!
Objection 3: The New Testament commands Sabbath observance in the words, "There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God" (Heb. 4:9). This is another misunderstanding of God's word. The context clearly reveals that the "sabbath" referred to in the text is the heavenly rest contemplated by Christians. Read Heb. 4:1-11.
Objection 4: Paul preached on the Sabbath, (Acts 13:14-44, 16:13, 14), therefore, a New Testament example for observance of the Sabbath.
It should be understood that Paul did preach on the Sabbath in the synagogues, because the Jews, whom he wished to convert from the Old Law to the New Testament, from Moses to Christ, were gathered in the synagogues on the Sabbath. He took advantage of the opportunity to preach the gospel of Christnot the commandments of the Old Law. In fact, the doctrine of Christ, which he preached to them, was in conflict with the Old Law, which the Jews accepted: "But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spoke against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming" (Acts 13:45). The doctrine and practice of Paul obviously was in conflict with observance of the Old Law, including the Sabbath day, as a day of worship, because many of the Jews violently opposed Paul, even "Crying, these that have turned the world upside down are come hither also ..." (Acts 17:6).
Paul's preaching the gospel to the Jews on Saturday did not mean that he was observing the Sabbath as a day of worship, any more than preaching the gospel on Friday would mean that he was observing Friday as a holy day. Paul preached the gospel of the New Testament every day in some places. For two years he taught daily "in the school of one Tyranus" (Acts 19:9).
Objection 5: There is a distinction between the "moral law," the decalogue, and the "ceremonial law." The ceremonial law was the law "against us" and "contrary to us." The ten commandments, the "moral law," were never "against us" nor "contrary to us," therefore, were not removed.
This contention is a perversion of Bible teaching. The Bible knows nothing about two laws, such as "moral law" and "ceremonial law." It was one law. In II Chron. 31:3, it is revealed that the so-called, "ceremonial law" was a part of the Law of the Lord: "for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord. "
Malachi declared: "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments" (Mal. 4:4).
The "Book of the Law," deposited in the receptacle by the side of the ark, quotes the ten commandments twice. Read Exodus 20:1-17 and Deut. 5:6-22.
The "law of the Lord" contained both the so-called "moral law" and "ceremonial law" (II Chron. 31:3; Lev. 19:1-37; Matt. 26:36-40). Moral conditions and principles are holy within themselves. Ceremonial things are made holy by reason of commandment (Mark 2:27). "Remember the sabbath day, (the seventh day of the week-V.E.H.) to keep it holy" was a part of "ceremonial law" made so by commandment (Exodus 20:8).
The law, all the law, including all the Pentateuch; not just a "ceremonial" law, was nailed to the cross (Eph. 2:11-16; Col. 2:14-17; Heb. 10:9; Rom. 6: 14; Rom. 7:1-7; Gal. 3:23-25; Heb. 7:11, 12).
Objection 6: Christians are taught to obey the ten commandments by James: "If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou are become a transgressor of the law" (James 2:8-11).
This text does not even suggest obedience to the Old Law. The "royal law" was not the decalogue binding upon Christians. The conscience of all men, since the death of Christ, is to be regulated by the "perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25). James' reference to the "royal law," with quotation from Leviticus 19:18, and his reference to the command from the Old Law were cited to emphasize the importance of obeying all the teaching of the gospel of Christ, the New Testament law, by which we are going to be judged. His conclusion was: "So speak ye, and do so, so they that shall be judged by the law of liberty" (James 2:12). The commandments referred to by the apostle, obviously are a part of the "perfect law of liberty." The command, "Remember the sabbath," is no part of the "law of liberty."
Objection 7: The fallible authority of man, by the edict of Emperor Constantine, in 321 A. D., is responsible for changing the Sabbath, Saturday, to Sunday, as a day of worship.
This objection is stated in total disregard to the teaching of the New Testament, 300 years before Constantine was born, which reveals the 'first day," the "Lord's day," as a day of worship (Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:1,2; Rev. 1:10).
Objection 8: If the ten commandments, including: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy," is no longer binding on the conscience of men, then, neither are the other commandments binding on men.
This objection is evidence of lack of understanding of the New Testament law. All the principles of the commandments of the Old Law, the ten commandments, except the command: "
Remember the sabbath day," are included as a corporate part Of the New Testament. For example:
1. First Covenant: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me"' (Exodus 20:3).
New Testament: "That ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things therein" (Acts 14:15).
"For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by him" (I Cor. 8:5, 6).
2. First Covenant: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image ... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them ..." (Exodus 20:4, 5).
New Testament: "Little children keep yourselves from idols" (I John 5:21). "We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one" (I Cor. 8:4).
3. First Covenant: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (Exodus 20:7).
New Testament: "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation" (James 5:12). "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account therof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matt. 12:36, 37).
4. First Covenant: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8).
New Testament: There is no command, precept, nor example in the New Testament law for man to keep the Sabbath. This command was entirely omitted in the new covenant of Christ. The Lord's day, the first day of the week, was given to be observed, (Acts 20:7).
5. First Covenant: "Honor thy father and thy mother" (Exodus 20:12).
New Testament: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right" (Eph. 6:1).
6. First Covenant: "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13).
New Testament: "Let none of you suffer as a murderer" (I Peter 4:15).
7. First Covenant: "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14).
New Testament: "Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers ... shall inherit the kingdom of God" (I Cor. 6:9, 10).
8. First Covenant: "Thou shalt not steal."
New Testament: "Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good" (Eph. 4:28).
9. First Covenant: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" (Exodus 20:16).
New Testament: "Lie not one to another" (Col. 3:9). "And all liars shall have their hart in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" (Rev. 21:8).
l0. First Covenant: "Thou shalt not covet."
New Testament: "Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (I Cor. 6:10). "Covetousness, let it not be named among you" (Eph. 5:3).
These commandments of the New Testament law are to be observed because they are commandments of the new covenant instituted by Christ. The nine commandments of the first covenant were included in the New Testament because they are divine principles of righteousness, justice, and Godliness. The other command, "Remember the sabbath day," in no way relates to man and his relationship to God, or his fellowman today. That command was given only to the Jews to be kept in remembrance of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Deut. 5:15).
It should always be remembered: "Now we know that what things the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law..." (Rom. 3:19). The law was given to the Jews only, before Christ and the New Testament law.
Man is by nature a worshipping creature. The God of all creation, the God of heaven and earth and all things therein, created man with the sensibility of a supreme being, with a nature to worship. The spirit of worship is a divinely created attribute, inborn in every normal human being. The sense of God's presence in the world dwells in the soul of man.
The Lord's day is a day of worship. In the 20th chapter of Acts we have an approved example of the church engaging in worship to Almighty God on the Lord's day, the first day of the week.
It has been said that the character of our lives is made or marred by the manner in which we spend our leisure time. This principle certainly applies to the manner of observing the Lord's day, although the Lord's day is not a day of leisure to the Christian. It is a day of worship and service.
This does not mean that one can live a life of neglect during the other six days of the week, then presume to honor God on the Lord's day. A one-day religion is the devil's religion. If one serves the devil six days a week, he will also serve him seven days a week. God does not accept a divided service. There are no part-time Christians! Either one serves God, or Satan! God will not accept only one day out of seven. We should be devoted in our religion every day of the week. However, the Lord's day is a special day set aside by Christ the Lord, Himself, for worship and communion.
The first day of the week, divinely appointed, is appropriately called the Lord's day. It was on the first day of the week that our Lord arose from the grave (Luke 24:1-8). Surely no other day would have been worthy of such distinction as being called the Lord's day! It was the day of triumphant victory over death - resurrection day; the greatest day in world history! It was the day on which he appeared to his disciples by infallible proofs (John 20:1, 19, 26). It was the day of the sending of the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles into all truth.
The Lord's day was the day of the beginning of the church of Christ (Acts 2:1-47). The "day of Pentecost" always came on the first day of the week, as revealed in Lev. 23:15, 16.
Christ instituted the Lord's Supper to be observed by His disciples (Matt. 26:26-28; I Cor. 11:23-29). No other day would be more appropriate for observance of the Lord's death than the Lord's day, the first day of the week. So important was the matter that Paul "tarried seven days" in Troas that he might worship with the Christians and commune with the Lord's body and blood, through the Lord's Supper on the "first day of the week" (Acts 20:6, 7).
Paul "tarried seven days" in Troas. The Sabbath day passed by and there is no evidence that Paul, nor the other Christians there, in any way, thought of remembering the "sabbath day to keep it holy." It is obvious, however, that they did remain seven days to worship on the "first day of the week."
The commemoration of the Lord's death on the first day of the week is, in all probability, the reason for Paul's solemn injunction to the Hebrews in Heb. 10:25-27, when he wrote, "Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much more, as ye see the day drawing nigh."
The apostle John, while in prison, honored and respected the Lord's day. He declared: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day" (Rev. 1:10).
The Lord's day was the beginning of the mediatorship between God and man; the day the new covenant had its operative beginning. It was the day that forgiveness of sin was first announced in the name of Christ (Luke 24:46-49; Acts, 2nd Chapter). It is a day that should be kept and observed in reverence and hallowed memory.
The purpose of the Lord's day is for our edification and spiritual growth. On one occasion Jesus declared that the "sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27, 28). By this, it was understood that the Sabbath, with its divinely appointed exercises, was an agency for human good while in effect. Man was to make the day minister to his higher and more exalted needs. Therefore, as the Hebrews observed the sabbath in memory of their freedom from physical servitude, Christians, throughout the world, in every nation, of every color and tongue, regard the first day of the week as the Lord's day, and observe it as a memorial of their spiritual emancipation and in memory of a crucified Savior, who died and made atonement with His blood that this freedom might be gained!
The Lord's day, the first day of the week, is a spiritual feast day for Christians. It is a time when Christ and Christians meet around the Lord's table; a time when Christians commemorate the death and sufferings of our Lord by partaking of the Lord's Supper in communion with His body and His blood (Acts 20:7, I Cor. 11:23, 29).
In his statement to the church at Corinth, regarding the Lord's Supper, the apostle quoted Christ as saying, "For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till he come." Surely, Christians should desire to meet and engage in communion of the body and the blood of the Lord "as often" as the Lord appointed, and that is, every first day of the week to be continued in proclaiming His death "till he come."
The Lord's day is the day of public assembly to worship God when Christians give of their material means for the cause of the Lord (I Cor. 16:1,2). The early Christians "continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers" (Acts 2:42).
It is incredible how little the world regards the Lord's day. But, still more incredible that so many professed Christians forsake the Lord on the Lord's day.
Have you heard of this dreadful disease that is so contagious among members of the church? It is called "Morbus Sabbaticus," described as follows:
"Morbus Sabbaticus, or Sunday sickness, is a disease peculiar to church members. The attack comes suddenly on Sunday; no symptoms are felt on Saturday night; the patient sleeps well and wakes feeling well; eats a hearty breakfast; but about church time the attack comes on and continues till services are over for the morning. Then the patient feels easy and eats a hearty dinner. In the afternoon he feels much better, and is able to take a walk, talk about politics and read the Sunday papers. He eats a hearty supper, but about church time he has another attack, and stays home. He retires early, sleeps well and wakes up Monday morning refreshed and able to go to work, and does not have any symptoms of the disease until the following Sunday. The peculiar features are as follows: (1) It always attacks members of the church. (2) It never makes its appearance except on Sunday. (3) The symptoms vary, but they never interfere with the sleep or appetite of the patient. (4) It never lasts more than twenty-four hours, or just over the Lord's day. (5) It generally attacks the head of the family. (6) No physician is ever called in to see the patient. (7) It always proves fatal in the end - to the soul. (8) No remedy is known for it except prayer and fidelity, but the patient refuses that. (9) Pure religion is the antidote. (10) It is becoming fearfully prevalent among men, sweeping thousands every year prematurely to destruction and to hell."
What are your attitudes toward the Lord's day? Are you spiritually sick?
Let us regularly observe the first day of the week, as an apostolic practice, authorized by the God of heaven. It is not to be observed as a day of rest, but a day of worship, a day of inspiration and great religious activity. The first day of the week is the Lad's day! Is it the Lord's day for you?
The Lord's day is often exchanged for Father's Day, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving Day, Kids' Day, Dog Show Day, Hog Calling Day, Fishing Day, Reunion Day, Day off Day, Wedding Anniversary Day, Entertain Kinfolk Day and My Day of Rest Day. Some excuses for perverting the Lord's Day may include:
"I Have Bought a Field" Day - excuse please!
"I Have Bought a Yoke of Oxen" Day - "pray thee have me excused."
"I have Married a Wife" Day - "I cannot come" (Luke 14:16-24).
It is not difficult to see that many people have "no time" for the Lord's Day.
Are you faithfully observing the Lord's day, or is it just another day in the week? Are you a member of the church, yet absent yourself from the house of the Lord on the Lord's day? How could one be so careless and indifferent as to deny himself of one of the greatest privileges we have, the freedom of assembly, as Christians, to meet the Lord in worship and communion?
Christ has never forsaken a meeting of Christians - "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20). No doubt, thousands often forsake the Lord on the Lord's day. Have you ever forsaken the Lord?
Reprinted from the tract of the same title.