The Importance And Sanctity Of The Lord's Day

by Dorricott, J. | Category: General | Nov 1954

It appears the Lord had before Him from of old the first day of the week; this is brought before us in the Old Testament, shadowing forth the glorious day of Christ's resurrection. We also see the emphasis that the Holy Spirit places upon it as recorded in the New Testament. The seventh day of the week, the Sabbath, was God's day of rest in creation when He had finished His work, as it is said

"And He rested on the seventh day from His work. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth" (Exodus 20.11).

God did not rest because He was tired, but because of a finished work, in which He could and did find delight and satisfaction, as Genesis 1.31 says, "Behold, it was very good." Israel was commanded to keep the Sabbath day holy, as a day for complete rest for man and beast, for the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it (Exodus 20.8-11). The Sabbath day, which Israel had to keep holy, must not be confused with the first day of the week, which is the Lord's day. The Lord, so far as the Scriptures tell us, did not enjoin upon the Gentile nations to keep the Sabbath day holy as He did Israel.

An end of the old dispensation is seen in the cross of Christ, when Israel rejected and crucified their Messiah. The Lord's body was in the grave on the Sabbath. The first day of the week must not be regarded as a transfer of the old Sabbath to the first day of the week, for this day is something entirely new. The Lord's day is the glad day on which we commemorate the death and glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus from among the dead, the triumph of His finished sacrificial work at Calvary. This Day was foreshadowed in the Old Testament Scriptures. It was on the first day of the week that God said, "Let their be light: and there was light. And God called the light Day." Here was the harbinger of the glorious works to follow.

In Genesis 8.4 we see the ark (figure of Christ) rested upon Mount Ararat in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the month. This month was the month Abib, and the seventeenth day was three days after the Passover, which was kept on the fourteenth day. Israel had to take three days journey and they came forth on the seventeenth day on the resurrection side of the Red Sea. Peter by the Spirit refers to baptism as an antitype of the salvation of Noah and his family through water, and shows this as a figure of Christ in resurrection, and our death and resurrection with Him as expressed in baptism (1 Peter 3.18-22). The ark rested on the seventeenth day, and it was on the seventeenth day when our Lord was raised again.

Another type is seen in the waving of the sheaf of firstfruits before the LORD on the morrow after the Sabbath (Leviticus 23.11). This spake of our Lord's resurrection, on the first day of the week, the Lord's day, "the morrow after the Sabbath." We have no doubt of whom and what this speaks, even "Christ the flrstfruits," the Harbinger of the glorious harvest.

Again, seven sabbaths were to be counted from the waving of the sheaf, and on the morrow after the Sabbath (i.e., 50 days) two wave loaves were to be presented to the LORD. The answer to this is the first day of the week, as seen in the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended fifty days after our Lord's resurrection. Here is seen the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Lord's day.

We will now come to this glorious day, and note the important place, the first day of the week, the Lord's day, has in the New Testament. The resurrection of our Lord taught the disciples a great lesson. Before this they marvelled and understood not when He spake of His resurrection from (out from) among the dead. We rejoice in the fact that three days after He died, He was raised again, raised by the exceeding strength of God's might, raised through the glory of the Father. We see an empty tomb, and we hear the voice of the angel saying,

"He is not here; for He is risen ... Come, see the place where the

Lord lay" (Matthew 28.6).

We hear His own voice through the Word saying:

"I am .... the Living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore" (Revelation 1. 17, 18, R.V.M.).

Christ is risen, and the Lord's day is the day of this wondrous fact.

The Lord's day calls for no mere rest, as man and beast rested on the Sabbath of old; its due honour does not consist in bodily quiet, but it calls for a prepared heart to render homage, worship and praise to our God, in the remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ at the breaking of bread, and to render service in the Gospel and to make known His truth according to our gift and grace given by Christ. We must remember that the Lord's day is no adjunct of Judaism; it is in no way connected with the sabbath of creation or with the law. God has been pleased to put special honour on the first day of the week, and it should have its own proper place with saints. We are writing for Christians and not for the world.

Now let us consider things brought before us in the New Testament in connexion with this day.

(1) It is the day of His triumphant resurrection, the antitypical day of the Waving of the sheaf, the firstfruits as seen in 1 Corinthians 15.20, 28. He is the Beginning of the creation of God, and also the Head of the new creation.

(2) The Lord appeared to His disciples on this day when they were together in sadness in the upper room. He gladdened their hearts when He showed unto them His hands and His side. He gave them His peace and sent them forward as the Father had sent Him. Moreover, with resurrection power He breathed on them, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit," clothing them with spiritual vitality and power. What a day this was for them! (John 20.19-28).

(3) He appeared to them again on the second Lord's day, Thomas then being with them. The Lord takes His rightful place in the midst of them. The sight of the Lord's wounded hands and side caused Thomas to exclaim, "My Lord and my God." What a revelation this was of Himself on the second Lord's day!

(4) On another Lord's day the disciples and others with them (about 120) are seen again in the upper room, fulfilling the word of the Lord-" Tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24.49). These continued in prayer with the women, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

"And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were' all together in one place" (Acts 2. 1).

(5) Then in Acts 20.7, we find the practice of the early churches, as seen in the church in Troas, was that they gathered together to break bread upon the first day of the week for remembrance of the Lord Jesus.

(6)The Lord's day is again mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16.1, 2; for the laying by in store on the first day of the week for the poor

saints in Judea, according as the Lord had prospered them. What a place this day has in the will of the Lord, in New Testament Scripture's

(7) We also see that "The' Revelation of Jesus Christ" was given by our Lord to John on the Lord's day for, says he,

"I was in the Spirit on the Lard's Day" (Revelation 1. 10).

The Holy Spirit sets His seal on the name given for the first day of the week, "THE LORD'S DAY."

In conclusion we would say, how very sad it is to see the growing disregard for the Lord's day! As one remembers the past, and compares it with the present, it has degenerated much. There is a danger of spending part of it, at least, as though it were our own day, instead of the Lord's. To prostitute the Lord's day by transacting business, or purchasing small things from open shops, or preparing for examinations, or staying at home to cook dinners which prevents being at the Lord's Table, or doing unnecessary things which may hinder doing the Lord's things, etc., should cause real searching of heart, confession and forsaking the same. Where a Christian has contracted in his or her calling to be on duty, on necessary services on certain Lord's days, these must be honoured. Prayerful consideration should be given where one has a choice for a situation where it prevents a Christian temporarily fulfilling the commandment of the Lord. We are not under law in this, and nursing and other duties have to be performed, but a Christian whose heart is set. on being well-pleasing to the Lord will find no difficulty in these matters. Our voice is against any who are careless and indifferent in these things.

It is not the law saying to us "we must," but rather the loving voice of grace calling to us to fulfil His desires, saying "we may," and true love will respond. "IF YE KNOW THESE THINGS, BLESSED ARE YE IF YE DO THEM" (John 13.17).

Dorricott, J. | Nov 1954
General