Why do we worship on Sunday? What does the Bible say?

Well, if you would, I want you to turn to two places in Scripture this morning. I want you to turn to Galatians chapter 4. We're going to look at verses 9 to 11 and Colossians chapter 2 verses 16 to 17. I'll repeat those for you. We're going to turn to those a little later on in the message so you can just have your Bible open there. But Galatians chapter 4 verses 9 to 11 and Colossians chapter 2 verses 16 to 17. Now most of you know that I grew up Methodist and I had fond memories from my childhood at Justice Heights United Methodist Church there in Laurel, Mississippi.

I remember as a child getting in trouble for going out by the church sign. If you went out by the church sign after it rained, you'd get in the mud. I'd get in trouble if I got mud on my good shoes and on my good Sunday school pants. But I remember those days well. I remember the pancake suppers in the old fellowship hall. The men would get together and cook pancakes and all of the church would be there and enjoy that pancake supper. I remember the massive coffee pots they had and I remember the smell of that coffee going all through the church.

I remember the coke machine down the hall where the pastor study was and I remember you could buy those glass bottle cokes for 10 cents. I remember when it went up to a quarter. I don't know if anybody complained. I sure didn't because I love those old coke cokes. I remember the wasps in the worship service and the old men taking the church bulletins and trying to kill them. I knew that if I got up to try to kill one, I would get killed. But I remember them killing those wasps. And I remember the men's bathroom. It was kind of funny. It was under the steps and it was unfinished.

But I remember that men's bathroom under those steps and every Sunday my dad would take me in there and I went to the bathroom whether I had to or not because I wasn't going to get up. You know we might need to get back to some of those days. I know there's always a reason why somebody needs to get up. But we need to remember when we get up and we move around and we shouldn't, it can disturb someone when they're hearing God's word. And I tell you my parents had respect for the worship service and I was not going to get up. I remember that vividly. But you know in all my years of growing up Methodist, I always remember that we met on Sunday.

I'm sure when you went to church as a kid whether it was a Baptist church or a Methodist church or some other kind of flavor, I'm sure you worshiped on Sundays as well. I have been on several foreign mission trips throughout my years. This summer I'm going on an Anchor and Truth mission trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. We will minister to and with Allie McLachlan who is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church there in Edinburgh. I look forward to getting to know that brother and that pastor.

I remember when I went to the Philippines I was a part of the team that preached at the True Church Conference which is held every November at Grace Life Church of Quazon City. Now Quazon City is right outside of Manila. I remember meeting so many pastors that are a part of Anchor and Truth and the network of churches there in Southeast Asia. I remember going and preaching at Pastor Tony's church outside of Manila. It was in like a mall area and they had an area of that mall that was rented for a church. But you know they all worshiped on Sundays. Now they all worshiped different than us.

I remember being at Grace Life Church there at Quazon City, Pastor Tim's church. They had a very large music program, a large choir. It was very, very worshipful and they worshiped different than us but they all sat aside Sunday for worship. Some of you are interested in church history. I am from time to time. I'll listen and read certain things about church history. "During the Great Awakening which took place in the 1730s and 1740s," here in what we would call America, "under men like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, those churches that were involved in that great move of God, well they worshiped on Sunday.

Sunday was set aside for worship in all matters pertaining to the church." The Puritans in England in the 16th and 17th centuries. I remember studying them when I was in seminary and took church history. "Men like John Flavell and Stephen Charnock and John Owen, they worshiped on Sundays and they set apart Sunday." The Puritans who came to the New World in the 17th century, they worshiped on Sundays as well. Now if you go back further in the church history to the Protestant Reformation, all of the individual churches that were associated with Calvin, they're in Geneva, they worshiped on Sunday.

With those associated with Luther, they're in Germany, they worshiped on Sunday. Those who were associated with Zwingli and even those poor persecuted Anabaptists, they all set aside Sunday and worshiped on Sunday. Now if we go all the way back into church history to the 1st and 2nd centuries, we will see that those churches set apart Sunday from any of the other days in the week and they worshiped on Sunday.

Now in the beginning of the church, which is seen and recorded in the book of Acts, we see that those Christians who were converted to Christ out of Judaism, they did continue to worship at the Temple and in the Jewish synagogues on Saturdays, which was the Jewish Sabbath. Scholars tell us that by 20 years or so after the birth of the church, Sunday was seen as the primary day of meeting together for worship. Simply it took many of those Jewish converts to Christ a little time to break away from their Jewish past and it took a few years for those Jewish Christians to fully leave the Temple and the synagogues and Jewish worship on Saturdays.

But it is no doubt that Sunday was set apart and it was seen as the day of meeting together as the church for worship. Now this leads me to a couple of questions. Why has the church always chosen to worship on the 1st day of the week, which is Sunday? Why do we as a church set apart Sunday and worship on Sunday? And on top of those questions, ask Christians what should we do on Sundays? And then the question that so many get so caught up with, what shouldn't we do and what should we do? Those are questions that Christians and churches have debated and they've actually fought over throughout the centuries.

What should we do on Sundays and what shouldn't we do on Sundays? Now this morning, those questions will be at the heart of the message. And these are very important questions and these are questions that Christians, individual Christians and churches should ask from time to time and the answers should be fixed in our Christian walk. The answers should be fixed in our minds and in our hearts and fixed into the fabric of our families. And as your pastor, I want to help you all view Sunday the way it should be viewed.

And I want to help us all to do what we should do on Sunday and I want to help us all to not do the things that we shouldn't do on Sunday. Now I'll go ahead and give you the title of the message. It's two questions. Why do we worship on Sunday? What does the Bible say? Now we're going to look at three themes. We're going to look at the Old Testament teaching. Then we're going to look at the New Testament churches' practice. And then we're going to look at the New Testament teaching. Now this will be a lot of overview. This will be a fast and a large flyover.

And as I'm progressing through the message, I'm going to mention other scripture, quite a few. I would encourage you to write those down, gather them together and make this a part of your study. Now we all listen differently. For some of you, you need to put the pen and the paper down and just listen. But however you listen and however you study, we need to get all of these things together. And it's a lot, but I believe it will help us all in wrestling with these questions. So number one, the Old Testament teaching. I want us to look at the Old Testament teaching.

Now within the entirety of the Old Testament, the people of God did not worship on the first day of the week. This may surprise some of you, although some of you may know this. Now there are two significant scriptures which did determine when the Jews did worship. First at the end of the creation account in Genesis 2, and that is when God rested from His work. I believe we studied that last week at our small group study on Sunday nights. And then second in Exodus 20, at the giving of the Ten Commandments through Moses, which is sometimes called the Law of God. Now I want to briefly examine these two.

So first, why did God rest at the end of His creation? Now I want to read you this portion of scripture. You don't have to turn there. But we see this in Genesis chapter 2, and I want to read verses 1-3. "And thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all of His work that He had done. And so God blessed the seventh day, and He made it holy because on it God rested from all of His work that He had done in creation." Now I want to call your attention to the fact that here in these verses there are three verbs.

They're easy for us to see. The verb finished, the verb rested, and the verb blessed. The text says God finished His work, God rested from His work, God blessed the seventh day. And we must see that God did not rest because He was tired from His work. No, He was not tired, He was not weary like a man or like an animal. Simply God was providing an example and establishing a pattern of work and rest for man. God exemplified six days of work and then one day of rest. And then God established that as a pattern for man and mankind. So we see that God established a pattern of work and rest, work and rest.

This pattern of six days for work, and then He set aside, He exalted the seventh day as the day of rest. And we need to see the purpose of the seventh day and that rest. This was a day for man to reflect on God's creation and to rest. But at this place in the Old Testament, we do not see a command for worship. That might surprise some of you. None of the Old Testament saints from Enoch all the way to Abraham were commanded to worship on the seventh day, nor is there a record of them setting aside the seventh day for worshiping. But then second, I want us to see what we see in the Ten Commandments.

Many of you know that they are found in Exodus and in Deuteronomy, but in Exodus 20 we see the record of God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses for the Jews. That would be the people of God. Within these commandments, God gives one that relates to worship, and that is the fourth commandment. Now, I want us to read these verses. I want to read them because I want you to see how they progress. Verses 1 to 11, "And God spoke all of these words, saying, 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.'" And here this commandment starts, "You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image or a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in earth beneath or that is in the water unto the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers of the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." And verse 8, the fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all of your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner or traveler who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord God made heaven and earth to see and all that is in them and he rested on the seventh day.

Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and he made it holy." Again we see that every seventh day was holy and it was set apart for rest and worship. But notice here it is called the Sabbath day. And this word Sabbath is a key word. It actually means to rest from labor. It was set apart for rest and then we're going to see that it was ultimately for worship as well. So here in Exodus 20 we see that God was commanding the Jews to rest from their labor and in so doing they would have remembered God in his creation for this commandment does echo Genesis chapter 2.

And also they would have worshiped the God that delivered them from Egyptian captivity. That is because in the second giving of the commandments in Deuteronomy 5 Moses called them to remember their days of Egyptian captivity. Now there are other passages that highlight this teaching. In these examples we see that this is a way of life. That would be six days for work and the seventh day was set aside for rest and worship. And in these examples we see that the Jews adhered to this way of life. First the giving of the manna to the people of God in Exodus 16.

Of course this is when the Jews had been set free from Egyptian slavery and they were in the wilderness and literally literally God was feeding them supernaturally. God commanded the Israelites to gather enough manna for their daily needs only. If they gathered extra to store it up for the next day the text says it would breed worms and stink but not on the sixth day which was the day before the Sabbath day. On the sixth day they were to gather twice as much because God would not rain down manna on the seventh day. He did not provide manna for them on the seventh day because they were to rest from their labor on the seventh day.

And then second the gospels. As we see how Jesus lived in the gospels. In all four gospels it is plain to see that the Jews had set aside the seventh day as the Sabbath day of rest and worship. But they did more. They did more than set aside the seventh day. Scholars in history tell us that they had actually constructed hundreds of laws that if they obeyed those laws were supposed to ensure that they kept the Sabbath day. This is one of the conflicts that Jesus had with the religious leaders that we see all throughout the gospels. With a casual reading it seemed that Jesus did whatever he pleased on the Sabbath.

And that was because he willingly and purposely broke their manmade laws. But he never broke the Sabbath. In the Jewish leadership they were enraged because he dared to break their laws. Which in their eyes was breaking the Sabbath. Now what's my point here? I want to give you a brief education or a reminder of the things that we do know. Some of you do know these things and some of you do not. But simply in the Old Testament and under what's called the Old Covenant God's people were commanded to keep the seventh day holy. It means it was set apart. And it was set apart from work and it was set apart for rest and it was set apart for worship.

And just like I said when I started in the Old Testament or under the Old Covenant the people of God did not worship on Sunday. They worshiped on the seventh day which was Saturday. And then number two, the New Testament churches practice. I want us to see the New Testament churches practice. Now the practice of the New Testament church can be difficult to see at first. We have to really pay attention because after the death and the resurrection of Christ things really begin to take off fast. The growth of the New Testament church just kind of explodes.

And the growth spiral of the New Testament church gets broader and broader from the book of Acts all throughout the New Testament. But here I want to make three observations which will help us see the New Testament churches practice and its development. First notice what day certain major events took place in the New Testament. The resurrection it took place on the first day of the week which was and is Sunday. Now here I want to read a passage out of Matthew. Matthew chapter 28 verses 1 to 6. We're familiar with this portion of scripture.

Now after the Sabbath we know that Saturday the Jewish day of worship toward the dawn of the first day of the week that would be Sunday. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb and behold there was a great earthquake where an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and he sat on it. His appearance was like lightning in his clothing white as snow and for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified but he is not here for he has risen as he said come see the place where he lay.

Now some of you know this we also see the very same things in Luke's account in Luke chapter 24 verses 1 to 3. And then also the two post resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples they take place on the first day of the week which is Sunday. John chapter 20 verse 19 it says on the evening of that day the first day of the week the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews Jesus came and stood among them and he said peace be with you. And in John 20 verses 24 to 25 we see that Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus revealed himself to them.

Now remember Thomas he said that he would not believe unless he could put his fingers in the nail holes doubting Thomas. John 20 verse 26 reads eight days later his disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them although the doors were locked Jesus came and stood among them and he said peace be with you. And then also the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost it happened on the first day of the week which was and is Sunday. And Acts chapter 2 verse 1 that verse reads when the day of Pentecost arrived they were all together in one place.

Now it doesn't say it plainly but notice if you do the work on the Jewish calendar you will see that this is the first day of the week and that's Sunday. So it's easy to see that two of the most important events after the cross happened on the first day of the week and that is Sunday. The resurrection of Jesus which proved that he had provided salvation of man and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which was the birth of the church. These events occurred on the first day of the week and that is and was Sunday. And then second notice when the church begins to meet for worship. One example is the church in Troas.

Acts chapter 20 verse 7 reads on the first day of the week when we gather together to break bread Paul talked with him intending to part on the next day and he prolonged his speech until midnight. Listen look at me. Don't ever get in a car and complain that I preach a long sermon. But here we see the church gathered for two very important reasons. First they were eating together and second they were gathered for instructions from God's word and we see that Paul instructs him yes well into the night. Maybe that's a case for a PM service. But notice all these things took place when? On the first day of the week that's Sunday.

And then our next example is the church of Corinth. In Corinthians chapter 16 verses 1 to 2 those verses read now concerning the collection for the saints as I directed the churches in Galatia so you also are to do. Now notice he's talking about the church at Corinth and the churches in the region of Galatia. Verse 2 on the first day of every week each of you is to put something aside and to store it up as he may prosper so that there will be no collecting when I come. Here we see Paul is giving the church or the churches instructions on how to take up a collection.

Notice he says on the first day of every week and this strongly implies if not outright says that the church at Corinth met on the first day of the week every week and that is Sunday. And if we do some language study here it makes things very very interesting. And all four gospels there is an unusual way of expressing the first day of the week for the resurrection of Jesus and in the original it literally reads the number one of the Sabbath. Language scholars tell us that this is very bold language.

The simple word for first those words are seen all over the New Testament over 150 times but this unusual wording is found in the gospels and only pertaining to the resurrection except for two other places in the New Testament. Acts 20 verse 7 that we read and 1 Corinthians 16 verse 2 that we read. So the determination here is that resurrection day and the first day of the week when the church met for worship those were distinguished as unique and special days by this emphasis given from this unusual bold wording. That needs to be repeated. That needs to be in your mind.

The determination here is that resurrection day and the first day of the week when the church met they were distinguished as unique and special days by this emphasis given with this unusual and strong language. So it's easy to see that the New Testament Christians both Jews and Gentiles the church they began to worship on the first day of the week and that is Sunday. Sunday was seen as the completion of God's redemption redemptive work and it was and is a day of victory celebration and worship.

So it was natural that the church would meet on the first day Sunday and resurrection day and the first day of the week when the church met they were clearly distinguished as unique and special days because of the unique and bold way they were described and labeled. Sunday resurrection day and Sunday worship was the number one of the Sabbath and I'm going to come back to that a little later. And then third notice that a unique name for Sunday seems to have taken hold by the time we get to the book of Revelation there at the end. We know what was taking place as John wrote the book of Revelation.

John the Apostle was in exile on the Allen of Patmos and as God begins to unfold to him those great visions that we call the Revelation. John says in chapter 1 verse 10 he says I was in the spirit on the Lord's day. So it seems that John is giving the first day Sunday a new name the Lord's day. Now what's my point here? The New Testament church did two things. First they began to worship on the first day of the week that Sunday. They began to worship on resurrection day for that is when their Lord rose again. They began to worship on Holy Spirit day for that is the day when their church was born.

And second they even designated resurrection day and the day that they met for worship is a unique day by the way they described it and they named it. It became the number one day of the Sabbath or the number one day after the Jewish Sabbath. Sunday the Lord's day. Maybe it would do us some good to call it the Lord's day from now on. Think about that. It would be like John. Maybe it would do us some good to call it Sunday the number one day after Saturday from now on. The number one day the Lord's day. And look, look church. Sunday should be called the Lord's day or the number one day after Saturday.

Not because your pastor says so or because your pastor preaches on this. No. But because this day, the number one day of the week is, it is the Lord's day if we're really going to be biblical. And then number three, the New Testament teaching. The New Testament teaching. As we have seen, the New Testament strongly implies and I believe exemplifies that the church is to meet on the first day of the week that Sunday. It is the first after the old Sabbath. It is the Lord's day.

And in the New Testament, it is obvious that we see the seventh day give way to the first day as the old covenant fades into obscurity and the new covenant is revealed in Christ. Then we see the church assembled on the first day all throughout the New Testament. So it is obviously implied, exemplified and expected that we meet on the first day even though it is not stated or commanded that the church is to meet on the first day. But the New Testament church modeled that the church is to meet on the first day.

And for the most part, the church all throughout church history has testified to this fact and this reality by meeting on the first day. Now in the New Testament, there are specific instructions concerning the day of worship. But these instructions are against keeping the old covenant Sabbath day in the church. Let me repeat that because you need to hear it. In the New Testament, there are instructions concerning the day of worship. But the specific instructions are commands are given against keeping the old covenant Sabbath in the church. Now this is what was happening.

We see in the New Testament that there were false teachers who infiltrated many of the New Testament churches. Many times they came right behind Paul. And they were teaching that a person is saved by grace through faith but they added something to grace. They said that the Christian must keep the Old Testament law as well so as to be a Christian. Simply they were mixing salvation by grace through faith with Judaism, law keeping. They were mixing salvation by grace through faith with keeping the law so as to be right with God. Now at this point, there are three portions of scripture I want us to look into.

That's an entire chapter, Romans chapter 14 and the situation that Paul was addressing there in the Roman church. Now within the church there at Rome, there were mature Jewish and Gentile Christians and there were immature Jewish and Gentile Christians as well. And basically this is what was happening when Paul wrote the letter to the Roman church. Some Jewish Christians were holding on to Old Covenant dietary laws and Sabbath days but Paul calls them weaker Christians. He does not strongly condemn them and that might shock some of you but he definitely calls them weaker brothers. So Paul calls these brothers weaker Christians.

This is not an open condemnation but it is not an affirmation either but most importantly Paul calls all of those Christians there at the church in Rome, he calls them to acceptance and love, acceptance and love and get that. He did not rebuke the weaker Christians, he did not rebuke the stronger Christians, he did not exalt the stronger Christians, he did not exalt the weaker Christians. He calls all of them in the church to live a life of accepting one another and loving one another. But then second the Galatian situation and here is one of the verses I want us to read and look at together. Galatians 4 verses 9 to 11.

Paul says to the Galatian church, remember he is dealing with those false teachers who brought law back into grace but now that you have come to know God or rather known to be known by God. Let me stop, he is speaking to Christians, you are known by God, you are born again, you are believers. How can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world? Whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years. This is talking about things of the old covenant. I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

Now within the church there at Galatia there were a group of false teachers specifically called Gnostics and they had infiltrated the church and the Gnostics were calling those Christians back into keeping certain parts of the Mosaic law. False teaching called them to keep certain Jewish Sabbath days, Sabbath months and Sabbath years. Here Paul strongly condemns this practice. In verse 9 he says they were going back, notice to weak and worthless elementary things. Paul says that they were going back to even being slaves all over again.

So Paul clearly condemns those who were seeking to go back to keeping certain parts of the Mosaic law and those days would have been the old covenant Jewish Sabbath days. And then third, the Colossian situation. Here is where I want you to turn to those verses in the book of Colossians. Chapter 2 verses 6 to 17. I want you to read these verses with me as well and I want you to remember these verses 6 to 17. Again, a similar situation with the church at Colossae. Here's what Paul says. "Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

These are a shadow of the things to come but the substance belongs to Christ." Now within the Colossian church there was a group judging Christians because they were not keeping the Jewish law, specifically the dietary regulations, festivals and Sabbath days. And here Paul condemns this judgment. He calls them to Christ and he reminds them that all things in the law were a mere shadow of what was to come. Now what was to come? Christ. And that needs to be repeated. Paul condemns this teaching which called these Christians to keep the Jewish dietary regulations those festivals and Sabbath days and he calls them back to Christ.

He reminds them that all things in the law were a mere shadow of what was to come and that was and is Christ and he had come. So Paul clearly condemned those who were expecting the Colossian Christians to keep Jewish Sabbath days which was the Sabbath day and he calls them back to Christ. Now an overview of what we see here and in the rest of the New Testament. Nowhere in the New Testament are Christians commanded to keep the Old Covenant Sabbath or any Old Covenant regulations. Again that needs to be repeated. The New Testament does not command Christians to keep the Old Covenant Sabbath day or any of the Old Covenant regulations.

Hebrews 8.13 states that the Old Covenant is obsolete. Yes, obsolete. And in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem Council the church leaders met to work out some of the first theological problems there in the fledgling church. And in the judgments that the leaders handed down they never imposed worshipping on the Old Covenant Sabbath day for the new Gentile believers. And holding on to any Old Covenant regulations those things were condemned in Romans 14, Galatians 4, and Colossians 2. Let me repeat that again. Holding on to any of the Old Covenant regulations was and is clearly and strongly condemned in Romans 14, Galatians 4, and Colossians 2.

So in its example the New Testament church met on Sunday the first day. By implication and expectation the New Testament teaches us that the church should meet on Sunday the first day. Now what's my point here? I want to give you a brief education. Some of you know this, might not know this. And I want to give you a brief reminder. And some of you do know this but you need a reminder. But we must see that the New Testament strongly condemns the keeping of any Old Covenant regulations by New Covenant believers and that includes the Old Covenant Sabbath day and Sabbath days.

And by implication and expectation the New Testament teaches us that the church today should meet on Sunday the Lord's day the first among all of the other days. Now at this point I want to move away from all that we've looked at in the scripture a fast flyover I know. And I want to make a few comments and I want to make some application here. But first what should be our position? What should be our position? Well several. First position we must be gracious, accepting and loving towards one another in the church even when we may live out our Christian lives a little different than others.

In Romans 14 we learn that those who have liberty in an area of life and those who have conviction in the same area of life they must walk hand in hand, hand in hand, hand in hand. Romans 14 teaches us that we must accept, love and support one another even in the areas of conviction where we may differ and to judge one another is sin. Now let me give you a practical example and then I'm going to come back to the Lord's day. This is where Romans 14 shines. I often mention how we choose to educate our children. You know the scriptures do not tell us how we should educate our children.

We are not commanded to use public school or home school or private school. That is left up to us as we relate to the Lord Jesus. We're led by the Lord. It's called the Christian conscience and we support one another, we encourage one another and we come alongside one another even if we choose to educate our children much different than the brother right next to us. We will not judge one another here. We will not despise one another here. But think about the Lord's day. That relates to how we do what we do on the Lord's day.

One brother may have freedom on the Lord's day over here and we might have conviction on the Lord's day over here but we do not despise one another, condemn one another. No, we love one another, we accept one another and we support one another. If a brother has liberty over here and we have conviction in the same place, we will not judge, despise or look down on one another. Romans 14 teaches that we cannot do that. It is a matter of the Christian conscience and much of what we do on the Lord's day is a matter of the conscience and I'll come back to that. In our second position, we must be New Testament biblical.

Now let me explain what I mean. The Old Covenant pointed to Christ, right? The Old Covenant in the Old Testament is full of shadows that pointed to Christ who was to come and He is here right now. He has come so we do not adhere to the Old Covenant. Hebrews 8.13 says that the Old Covenant is obsolete. Why? Because it was and is fulfilled in Christ. Now of course there are parts of the Old Testament that we certainly adhere to and obey. The moral law is definitely binding on all peoples. That would be the Ten Commandments. But we must see that the New Testament condemns keeping any parts of the Old Covenant regulations.

Old Testament festivals? We're not bound by them. Old Testament, Sabbath days? We're not bound by those. The dietary regulations? We're not bound by those. All of those things have their fulfillment in who? In Christ. So we are not Old Covenant keepers of the Old Sabbath. We are to be New Testament biblical here. And then third, a third position. We must see Sunday as the Lord's Day. You might say, "Pastor, you've said that." It needs to be said again. I think it is important, even what we call it. Sunday was never called the Sabbath in the New Testament. Some of you need to hear that. Sunday was never called the Sabbath in the New Testament.

Sunday, the first day of the week, was called the first day of or after the Sabbath and it was called the Lord's Day. And for me, I'm not a Christian Sabbatarian. I can't find Christian Sabbatarianism in the New Testament. But I can find in Hebrews where it says that the Old Covenant is obsolete. It was fulfilled in Christ. To me, to use that kind of language is confusing and it can even be unhealthy. Now I want to give a list of some possible errors and traps and sins that some can make here. First, the error of not setting aside Sunday is the Lord's Day. I believe it should be set aside as a unique day, a holy day, a day given by the Lord.

It's the first among all the other days, the Lord's Day. But there are those who do whatever they want to do because it's just like another Saturday to them. They play golf on Saturday. They play golf on Sunday. They play tennis on Sunday. They play tennis on Saturday. They hunt and fish on Saturday. They hunt and fish on Sunday. They work around the house on Friday, on Saturday, on Sunday. They go camping on Friday. They go camping on Saturday. They go camping on Sunday. It's just another Saturday. Those people are not committed to the church. They're not committed to the work of the church and they usually never are.

So here's my first error and that is not setting aside Sunday as the Lord's Day. Now here's a question. Is that an error? Is that a trap? Is that a sin? The second error is setting aside part of the day as the Lord's Day. I saw this happen to a friend of mine who was pastoring a rather large church at the time in his ministry. They were in the process of canceling the early service. Now I'm not against an early service and a later service. It depends on why you do that. But they needed to cancel the early service. And he said that there were some people who came and they complained. And he said the complaint was always the same.

They wanted to keep the early service because that gave them time to do what they wanted to do the rest of the day. And in their heart, mind and spirit, see Sunday was just half Sunday, half the Lord's Day. And the rest of the day was half Saturday. Now my question, is that an error? Is that a trap? Is that a sin? I believe it is. All three. And then the third error, the error of carrying in your pocket what I call a trump card to be used against the Lord's Day when you need it. Do you know what a trump card is? You know if you play cards, you know that an ace is a little more valuable than a two.

You know that a queen is a little more valuable than a nine. Isn't that right? But you know whatever game you're playing, if you have a trump card, the trump card trumps all the cards. Isn't that right? Even if you have a fistful of aces. And see what I'm showing you is this. There are some, they always have things that always seem to trump the Lord's Day. Family needs and family times always trump the Lord's Day. Work can sometimes trump the Lord's Day. Families can trump the Lord's Day.

I know guys that will be faithful to the church, but oh when opening day of gun season comes, or turkey season comes, or duck season comes, well that trumps the Lord's Day. And sometimes work can be what trumps the Lord's Day. Now here's a couple of questions here. When an issue comes up, can it wait? Can it wait? Is it more important than the Lord's Day? Is it more important than all that we're commanded to be a part of in the Lord's Day? And is this mindset, and is this practice, is it an error, is it a trap, and is it a sin? And then the fourth error. This is what I call the proverbial ox in the ditch.

Some of you know the passage of scripture and teaching I'm referring to. This is a reference to Luke 14.5. And this is where under the Old Covenant it was lawful to get an ox out of the ditch or out of a well on the Sabbath. You see that was work on the Sabbath. And work on the Sabbath was a violation. But that work was lawful and it was even good. Why? Because of the great need for the animal and the value of the animal. The Jews would have been expected to work to get the ox out of the ditch or out of the well on the Sabbath. But notice, there are always some, they always seem to have an ox in the ditch.

I knew a man years ago, he always had this ox in the ditch. He always said, "Pastor, I'm sorry I had to miss church. You know, I had an ox in the ditch. He would always bring that out. He always had an ox that would get in the ditch and cause him not to be there on the Lord's Day." Well, here's my question. Did he need to get that ox out of the ditch on Saturday or Friday or Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday? And see, is that an error? Is that a trap? Is that a sin? In many ways it can be. And then the fifth trap, the last trap. And that is extreme rules for the Lord's Day. See the wrong question here is this.

What shouldn't I do on the Lord's Day? There are always people who get hung up on that question. They live and breathe for that question. What shouldn't I do on the Lord's Day? And there are always people, if they get hung up on that, they're going to argue with you and they're going to debate with you about what you shouldn't do. If you harp on what you shouldn't do, you miss the point. You miss the point. That's the wrong question. The right question is this. What should I do on the Lord's Day? See if it's the Lord's Day, we do the Lord's activities.

If it's the first day, the first day among all of the others and the Lord's Day, then we are to be caught up in God's activities. Let's rest, but worship and God's activities and all of the activities of the church, yes. And notice, we're very balanced here. We're very balanced here. There are times I ask you to be very, very committed early in the morning and even into the evening, but then there are some Sundays we meet and we eat and we fellowship and we worship and we say, "Go home and rest." I like what John Piper says here. He captures it well.

He says, and this is a loose quote, "We want a swirl of God activity on the Lord's Day." I love that. We should be busy with a flurry, a swirl of what? God's activity on God's Day. Now what is our position here at Grace Life Church of Brookhaven? This is a kind of a loose purpose statement for all that we do on Sunday. Listen, Sunday is the Lord's Day. It's the first day among all of the other days. It's a day of rest. It's a day of worship. It's a day to reflect, yes. But Sunday is the first day before all of the other days of the week and it should be set aside for a swirl of God activity and rest and worship and reflection.

A couple of probing questions and then we'll close. Is small group a swirl of God's activity? Yeah. Is meeting on Sunday morning like this a swirl of God activity? Yes. If we have a fellowship, is it a swirl of God activity? Yes. If we were to add a Sunday night service back to the rotation, would that be a swirl of God activity? Back in the old days at Nola, we had a Sunday night service and old people were faithful to drive all the way out to the woods to meet on Sunday night. And what I'm showing you is this, we don't waste your time. We have a swirl of good God activity all on the Lord's Day, Sunday.

So let's pray and let's ponder over this question and the questions that are stirred up. Why do we worship on Sunday? What does the Bible say?