The Sunday Sabbath

Berean Baptist on October 22, 2018

In these past weeks, I have enjoyed the opportunity to study the fourth commandment which teaches us to remember to keep the Lord’s Day holy. There are many who believe this Old Testament law was done away with in the fulfillment of Christ’s death which is the antitype of many Old Testament practices. However, this law was given immediately upon the completion of the creation which tells us God intended it as a perpetual law that is given to all nations to remind us of His power and sovereignty.

Recently, I listed to a sermon by someone who holds a different opinion. He claimed the idea of a Christian sabbath is not very old but is mostly of English Puritan descent and was not believed by Christians other than the Puritans. One of his arguments said that Baptists are wrong, and we ought to reject the historic confessions of faith that teach Sunday is a sabbath that replaced the Old Testament seventh day sabbath. The argument goes that our most popular confessions do not use the term “Christian Sabbath.” It is true the New Hampshire Confession of 1833 to which we closely adhere in our own statement of faith does not use the term “Christian Sabbath” in the 15th article entitled The Observance of the First Day of the Week. However, the language is very clear this is meant by the exclusions and duties that are put upon the day. In addition, the last phrase says the day is to be used for “preparation for that rest that remains to the people of God.” This reference is to Hebrews 4:3-11 in which the author says in verse 9: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” Rest in this verse is the Greek word sabbatismos which is derived from the word that means sabbath. The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 in its article on the Sabbath begins, “The light of nature shows that there is a God…” This confession begins by connecting the sabbath to laws that are written on the human heart. It ends by using the word sabbath: “The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord.”

The man who preached this message is a Southern Baptist who referred to the Southern Baptist Abstract of Principles which is their confession of faith. He noted the Abstract of Principles does not use the word sabbath. And yet the language in the Abstract uses the same concepts as are found in others that do. James Petigru Boyce, one of the founders of the Southern Baptist Convention asked in his catechism: “Why do Christians keep Sunday as the sabbath?” Answer: “Because it was on that day of the week that Christ rose from the dead.” Further: “What name is given to it on this account?” Answer: “The Lord’s Day.” Likewise, Spurgeon’s catechism emphasis the same point even more extensively in positively declaring the first day of the week is the Christian sabbath.

It is interesting to note that the Reformers did not regard a Sunday sabbath. Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, Beza, and others argued against it. However, their opinions were fashioned against the background of the abuses of Roman Catholicism in making Sundays festival days, and of course to their sacramentarian views of salvation regarding it. Their opinions prevailed over their churches for less than a century when the practice overwhelmingly returned to a Sunday sabbath. Calvin’s arguments notwithstanding that the change to a Sunday sabbath happened about A.D. 60 instead of upon Christ’s resurrection, proves to be only an argument, whereas the law written on the human heart continues to prevail.

It is therefore disingenuous to assert the Sunday sabbath is a recent invention. It appears the Sunday sabbath did not prevail as practice among Bible believing Christians for only a short interval in the late 16th century. It only seems to hold sway today among those who are bent on returning to the enlightenment of the Reformation, which in most cases is good except when it is not.

 

                                                                        Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

 

God Is Grieved with this Generation

Berean Baptist on August 7, 2017

Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

(Psalms 95:10-11)

In April when we began our reading of Book IV of the Psalter, I mentioned this portion of the psalms is linked to the book of Numbers with the theme of unrest and wandering. This is especially evident in today’s reading of Psalm 95. This psalm mentions Israel’s temptation in the wilderness and how God was grieved with their unbelief. Israel saw God’s wonderful works numerous times, yet still they hardened their hearts in sin. As punishment, God would not allow them to enter their rest in the Promised Land. The entire generation that left Egypt died in the wilderness without realizing their hope.

Two weeks ago, in preparation for this article, I was reading the results of a Pew Center study that said the numbers of people in America who identify as Christians has reached an all-time low and is still sinking. Most in our church would not find it hard to believe seeing we live in California where real Christians are as scarce as hen’s teeth. Our assumption is there are far more Christians in other places, particularly in the Bible Belt where I was born and raised. However, the phrase “real Christians” is a very limiting term. For many, many years the numbers of “real Christians” even in the Bible Belt has been dismal.

Russell Moore who is president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention noted there was a time that anyone living in the South or Midwest had to at least claim to be Christian to be considered “normal.” Good parents and good neighbors and people you weren’t afraid to have your kids around would always carry the Christian label. Any other claim would push them out of the mainstream of accepted social behavior.

Moore rightly acknowledged that Christianity for maintaining social status is not really Christianity at all. Including those types in the definition of Christian, has caused many mainline denominations to tailor their doctrinal beliefs to the masses. The result of churches making peace with the world is that too soon the church is the world with no discernible difference. These denominations are losing their identity which means the Bible Belt is taking in notches from a size 40 as if it was on a crash diet.

America is certainly in the wilderness of unbelief. We never hear of the revivals that gripped this country like they did in the early days. Poorly guarded theology is a huge reason for this which has given us unconverted “Christians.” These pseudo-Christians eventually lose the need for the label. When we think God did nothing for us, why do we want to have anything to do with Him?

As each year goes by, we wonder if there is anything worth saving in this country. Our brand of democracy has seen its own conversion to one that more seeks a mandate not to worship God rather than for freedom to worship Him. Perhaps God is letting this generation die in the wilderness. Has He sworn they will not enter His rest? If so, real Christianity is not dead. The gates of hell are no stronger than they were. As Moore said, the light of Christ still drives out the darkness of all false gospels.

Remember this—God’s Promised Land is for His people. They are still going, still trudging on with enemies on every side. The worse the foes the greater the grace, and we shall never fail to make it there.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith