9 28 14 Sabbath: On the First Day of the Week: Matt. 28:1-10
Here it is, the first day of the week again, and here we are, gathering in worship. If you went to any country in the world today, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will gather together and celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, the sacrament of baptism; they will open God’s Holy Word, as well as sing some praises to the Almighty God. Why do they do that?
There is not a single New Covenant COMMAND to do that, but the Church continues to set the first day of the week aside as a DAY of Worship. (Actually, there are VERY, VERY few who set the entire day aside; MOST seem to cram a little bit of worship into an hour or so of the day, and then they feel that they have paid “their dues” to God by stopping at church for an hour and then they get on with their recreation or whatever.) We are going to look at WHY DOES THE CHURCH WORSHIP on the FIRST Day of the week? And what is the Biblical intent of the Lord’s Day (Sunday) to believers?
Jesus Arose on the First day of the Week
All four Gospels tell us that it was on the first day of the week that Jesus arose from the grave: He was crucified and buried the day before the Sabbath, which would have been Friday, and on the Seventh Day Sabbath, Jesus rested from His Redemptive work of SUFFERING the PENALTY for sin. He suffered the wages of sin for anyone who would believe, and there is no forgiveness outside of Christ.
Romans 4:3: What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness… 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
God does not merely “look the other way” concerning sin. The penalty must be paid and Jesus paid the debt for anyone who would turn to Him in repentance and put their trust in Him alone as Savior. The payment for sin which Jesus suffered is credited, put on the account of the believer by Faith, not by works: 1. Only Jesus’ resurrection provides justification. ( Remember what Justification is? Through faith, looking to the accomplished work of Christ, God now looks at me just as if I never sinned and just as if I had always done did everything right.) If Jesus had stayed in the grave, sin and death would have won but Jesus’ Resurrection on the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK confirms that His death was a sufficient and effective to God, His offering for sin was TOTALLY victorious: The Resurrection proves that we can be made right with God.
2. Only Jesus’ work provides “eternal rest”: Heb. 4:9-11 says:” So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. (“Sabbath REST” in the Greek is one word: Sabbatismos- it’s the blessed ETERNAL rest that awaits the true worshippers of God. It won’t be temporary like that of Joshua’s time. It’s not weekly like OT times. It’s not a land like Canaan which had to be cleansed of enemies. It is God’s Kingdom where death and sin HAS BEEN CONQUERED by the Lord Jesus.) 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” Those who die in faith, trusting their Lord will have an eternal rest in HIM.
Alright…So Jesus died the Friday of Passover week and had to be buried hastily before sunset, which was when the Sabbath began. His body remained in the borrowed grave throughout the Sabbath day (Saturday to us) (it was borrowed because He would not need it for long), but on that Sunday morning on the First Day of the Week, when the priest was to offer the First Fruits offering in the Temple, Christ arose from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep: 3. So Only Jesus’ resurrection insures ours. (I Cor. 15:20)
I Cor. 15: says: For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.”
What did the Early Church do “on the FIRST day of the week”?
So what did the Early Church believers in the Risen Lord Jesus do on the First day of the week? 1. Believers gathered together. On the day of Jesus’ Resurrection they were gathered together when Jesus appeared. A week later, again Jesus appeared to them, the second time with Thomas present. The book of Acts mentions their Sunday practices.
2. Believers worshiped their Risen Lord, the LORD who was their Salvation. The Lord who provided their exact sacrifice for their sins. The Lamb of God who became for them the Passover Lamb. When Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene near the empty tomb, she worshiped Jesus. When He appeared to the disciples, they worshiped their RISEN Savior.
3. On the First day of the week, Believers in the Risen Lord Jesus were taught, as a matter of Biblical fact, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus on Resurrection Sunday were taught by Jesus: Luke 24 quotes the two men with Jesus as saying: 24 "Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see." 25 And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?" 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.. VERSE 20 So He went in to stay with them. 30 When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, (the sacraments were and are certainly celebrated on the Lord’s Day as believers rejoice in their Savior and Lord’s Work.) He began giving it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.” The Church continued to teach and be taught on the first day of the week.
4. Pentecost occurred on the first day of the week when believers were gathered together and they were FILLED with the very presence and power of the Spirit of God. For forty days after the resurrection Jesus appeared to His disciples in His resurrection body, and then ascended into Heaven. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the believers in Jerusalem and created the “ekklesia”(the word used in the NT 112 times), the called out body of Christ, translated church. These fulfillments were obviously no coincidence, but were part of the overall plan and purpose of God in verifying the powerful meaning of the death and resurrection of Christ, and the establishment of the new body of believers.” (Thomas S. McCall) We had looked at how God used the Power of His Word and Spirit to work in hearts and turn unbelievers into believers.
5. Those who were gathered were being saved: They were CONVICTED and convinced of their own sinfulness and unbelief. Remember Acts 2:37 NIV: When the people heard Peter preaching, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" (This was on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the Week. Incidentally, the Greek word for Sunday is “Κυριακή (Kuriakḗ ) from kuriakós- belonging to the Lord-THE DAY belonging to the Lord!)
6. Believers were so overwhelmed with the salvation of our Lord, His Life, His Death, and Resurrection, that they shared their conviction, they shared the message of the Gospel with others. We see that from the first Lord’s Day, the day that Jesus arose, after he had spent time expounding the Word of God to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we read in Luke 24: 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.”
7. Believers were “set apart”… and still are. 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” The Holy day for Muslims is Friday. The Holy day for Jews is still Saturday. There is no Holy Day for unbelievers but for believers and followers of the Lord Jesus, the day that is set apart for Holiness to our God is “the FIRST DAY of the WEEK.” Jesus fulfilled the seventh day Sabbath in His life and Death.
The Lord’s Day for believers
There is no SABBATH LAW for believers, but Hebrews 10 comes very close: “24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” We serve the Creator God of the universe and the Savior who came in the flesh to die, and who rose again FROM THE DEAD to give you forgiveness and eternal life: The LORD’S Day is not about what YOU might sacrifice for Him but about what the LORD has sacrificed for you. The Lord’s Day is not restrictive or demanding. We can worship together, take the sacraments together. We can celebrate the Lord’s Supper every Sunday for 4 times a year. No law. We can sing Psalms, hymns AND spiritual songs, or NOT. We can sing 1 song or 20. We can pray for an hour or for 6 hours. We can exhort, teach and preach for 15 minutes or until midnight. (Paul preached until midnight in Acts 20 and Eutychus fell asleep and fell from the 3rd story window) We can walk a block or a mile, eat, COOK, or fast. No law. We can meet in a building with a steeple or without, we can meet in a barn or at a park. No prohibitions.
2. The LORD’S Day is about the extreme mercy of God to sinners who have been redeemed. It should be spent in honoring your Savior in a ways that you cannot do the rest of the week. You may be restricted the rest of the week by the stuff of necessity, the things of life, but on the LORD’S Day, celebrate the LORD’S REDEMPTIVE work, NOT YOUR WORK. Use the day to bring honor to Him, to worship Him for the ETERNAL REST that you have in the salvation provided for you in the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone. From the first Resurrection Day until now, Believers in the Lord Jesus have continued to glory in HIS RESURRECTION as we wait in faith upon Him toward OUR OWN RESURRECTIONS. It is ONLY for God to abrogate the Commandment to “work six day, and keep ONE day Holy to Him”, and He hasn’t rescinded that commandment.
4. The Question concerning the LORD’S Day should never be, “What am I ALLOWED or permitted to do?” The question that SHOULD be asked is this, “LORD, what SHOULD I DO in order to bring to you the glory that YOU deserve on the LORD’S DAY. John said in Rev. 1:10: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day” (the day belonging to the Lord). If we are “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day, we will bring God the Glory that He alone deserves.
OUTLINE
Here is the previous CONTEXT for today’s message:
Genesis 2:1: The Sabbath was a Holy Day for man to Delight in God as The Creator.
Ex. 20:8-11: Remember God as Creator.
Deut. 5:12-15: Observe God as Redeemer.
2 Cor. 3: The Letter of the Law kills, the Spirit brings life.
Matt. 12:7-8: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man (Jesus) is Lord (SOVEREIGN) of the Sabbath."
I. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead occurred “on the FIRST Day of the week”. (Matt. 28, Mk 16, Luke 24, John 20)
1. Only Jesus’ resurrection provides justification. (Rom. 4:25)
2. Only Jesus’ work provides “eternal rest”.
(Heb. 4:9-11)
3. Only Jesus’ resurrection insures ours. (I Cor. 15:20)
II. What did the Early Church do “on the FIRST day of the week”?
1. Believers gathered ...
2. Believers worshiped...
3. Believers were taught....
4. Believers were FILLED…
5. Believers were convicted…
6. Believers shared their conviction….
7. Believers were “set apart”…
III. The Lord’s Day for believer’s
1. The LORD’S Day is not about what YOU might sacrifice for Him but about what the LORD has sacrificed for you.
2. The LORD’S Day is about the extreme mercy of God to sinners who have been redeemed.
3. The LORD’S Day is about celebrating the LORD’S REDEMPTIVE work.
4. Question concerning the LORD’S Day? Not what am I ALLOWED to do, but LORD, what SHOULD I Do?
