Acts chapter 20, starting in verse seven and going to verse 12, hear now the word of God. Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together, And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep. And as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, do not trouble yourselves for his life is in him. Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed. And they brought the young man in alive. And they were not a little comforted. Well, my friends, tonight we're gonna be looking at the whole question of why we worship on the first day of the week. Today, we begin a series on the Christian Sabbath. The last several weeks, we've been looking at the doctrine of worship. This is in chapter 21 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, Presbyterian Standards. And the latter part of that chapter deals with the Christian Sabbath or the Lord's Day. And as I'm sure you're aware, this revolves around the Fourth Commandment. We had tonight Exodus 20, verse 8, as a memory verse, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Of course, the commandment goes on for another three verses and fills out that idea. But it revolves then around the fourth commandment. And my friends, we know that the law of God is still binding. That is to say, the moral law of God is still binding. We had a very good Sunday school lesson this afternoon with Dr. Bob Horton. Now, talking about the book of Leviticus and many of those ceremonial laws, we know that the ceremonial law has been done away by the blood of Christ, but the moral law is still binding on all of us, whoever we are, whatever we believe, it is still binding universally. And Sabbath observance, then, is part of the moral law of God. It doesn't matter whether those folks attending the soccer game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this afternoon believe it or not, it is still binding on them. Now there will be many questions with which we will deal over the next several weeks with respect to Sabbath keeping. But the answers will be sought with full assurance, full confidence of the law being still valid and in force. Now one key question that you deal with when you deal with the issue of the Sabbath is, is it the natural day, that is to say, midnight to midnight that is in view? Midnight to midnight. I believe, although there are some theologians that would question that, I do believe that that is the case. Exodus 16.23 says, Tomorrow is the rest of the Holy Sabbath. If the Sabbath began in the evening, Moses would have said, this evening begins the rest of the Sabbath, but he says tomorrow. Matthew 28 verse one says, in the end of the Sabbath, that is to say the Jewish Sabbath, the Saturday Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, If the Sabbath were ending in the wee hours of the morning, then it must have begun in the wee hours of the morning. Matthew 28.1 would also indicate that the Christian Sabbath began as it grew towards light, not towards darkness or evening. Furthermore, Christ's resurrection and commemoration of which the Christian Sabbath is observed was early in the morning, very clearly, early in the morning, not in the evening. And finally, John 20, verse 19, John 20, verse 19, refers to the evening of the first day of the week, the evening, therefore, of the Christian Sabbath. In other words, that first day of the week, speaking of it as still in terms of the evening. And so I do believe that the natural day is what is in view in terms of the Sabbath. But another key question is this, which day of the week should we keep holding? As you may know, there are folks such as Seventh-day Adventist and others, Seventh-day Baptist, others who worship on Saturday. But the church historically has worshiped on Sunday, the first day of the week. And that's what we're going to look at this evening. As a matter of fact, as we look, we'll be looking at a number of scriptures tonight, and we're going to come to our text, our specific text that will sort of sum it all up, Acts 20, verse seven, at the end of the service. But based on all of these passages, including Acts 20, verse seven, we see that the Bible commands us to worship on the first day of the week. The Bible commands us to worship on the first day of the week. Well, first of all, we would note then that the seventh day was the original Sabbath, and this is very clear, of course, from the creation account. Genesis chapter 2, we read, thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished, And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his work, which God had created and made. And so this is part of the pattern of creation that we see, that God, a lot of people say we believe in seven-day creation. Actually, we believe in six-day creation. And then it's the seventh day, of course, where God rested. At one time, the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week. However, that does not mean that the particular day for the Sabbath cannot be changed. The principle that the fourth commandment is getting at is that of one-seventh of our time. Just like we give one-tenth of our increase to the Lord, so we make $100 and we give $10, or children, you get a dollar allowance, you give a dime, right? In terms of the church, just like that's a token, giving a tithe is a token of the fact that you're saying, well, all of it really belongs to God, but it's a tithe that is specially given for his service. In the same way, the Sabbath, then, is one-seventh of our time that is particularly devoted to God, in which we are to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. So the principle is that of one-seventh, but God can change the day on which the Sabbath is to be observed. And in point of fact, as we shall see, he did change the day. That's why we are worshiping today on the first day of the week. Well, let's look then at the change of day. Let's look why we know, why we believe that the day has been changed from the seventh day to the first day of the week. First thing we would note is that the significance of the Sabbath is expanded in the New Covenant. The significance is expanded in the New Covenant. Now the primary emphasis, as we saw just a moment ago from Genesis chapter two, the primary emphasis was originally with regard to creation and rest from that. Now, that's a theme that still continues in the New Covenant also. But in the New Testament, there is great emphasis on re-creation or redemption and rest in that. In Hebrews 4, Hebrews 4, verse 8, We read, for if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God, for he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his. So there, the emphasis is on redemption, on the recreation that is found in Christ in terms of that work which he has done. There's a greater, there's a more full emphasis or more full understanding of the Sabbath in the New Covenant. Secondly, the Lord Jesus has shaken the heavens and the earth. He has shaken things up. As we will see, this includes the change of day of the Sabbath. In and of itself, we wouldn't say that mandates the change of day, but it tells us something about what Jesus has done, that he has shaken things up, and this can certainly be included in this change. Thirdly, all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, record the fact that Jesus was raised on the first day of the week. If you have your Bibles, turn to Matthew 28, Turn to Matthew 28, verse one. Turn to Matthew 28, verse one. Now after the Sabbath, that is say the Jewish Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb, and behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, his clothing as white as snow. and the guards shook for fear of him. It became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." The first day of the week. And of course we had from Mark chapter 16, we had as our call to worship this evening, Mark 16, one through six, Very similar account. Now, when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices that they might come and anoint him. Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen and they said among themselves, who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? But when they looked up, they saw the stone had been rolled away for his very large, and entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. But he said to them, do not be alarmed. You see Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him." And Luke chapter 24, Luke chapter 24, verse 1, Now, on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared and so forth. Notice again, verse 5, why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee saying, the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise again. And then the Gospel of John, chapter 20. Of all the four Gospels, John is the one that is the least like the other three, and yet this is one of the places, one of the, in some ways, relatively rare places where you have a parallel, John 20. Now the first day of the week, are you getting the pattern here? Now the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw the stone had been taken away from the tomb. And then you go on and of course Simon Peter came and following John went into the tomb and he saw the linen cloths lying there. And again, the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead, as a matter of fact, later in the chapter, just a few verses on, he appears to Mary. And so all four Gospels record the fact not just that Jesus rose again from the dead, but all four Gospels record the fact that he was raised from the dead on the first day of the week. And now, fourthly, please note with me that Jesus was present in the midst of his followers on the first day of the week twice in a row, twice in a row. Look at Luke chapter 24, starting in verse 13. Luke 24, starting in verse 13. Two of them, two disciples, were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. They talked together of all these things which had happened. They had heard the story about Jesus rising from the dead. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were restrained, so they did not know him. And so he engages them in conversation, and he, He says in verse, Jesus says in verse 25, he said to them, O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken, ought not the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. When they drew near, he indicated he would have gone farther. They constrained him, saying, Abide with us. It is toward evening, the day is far spent. Now it came to pass as he sat at the table with them that he took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew him and he vanished from their sight. And what did they do? They immediately went back. At that very hour, they returned to Jerusalem. They had said, didn't our heart burn within us? While he talked with us on the road, while he opened the scriptures to us. And so they went. And they gathered with the other disciples, saying, The Lord is risen indeed, as appeared to Simon, and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread. And as they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, Peace to you." See, Jesus is conveying the Word. He's effectively preaching the Word. the breaking of bread. It wasn't exactly communion, but you could almost argue that it was. Certainly, he was with them, and he was right there in their midst. And then if you look at John chapter 20, if you look at John chapter 20, which parallels what we were just talking about here, John chapter 20, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst instead of them. Peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Receive the Holy Spirit, he says. But notice verse 24, Thomas called Didymus, or the twin, one of the 12, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, we have seen the Lord. Of course, you remember doubting Thomas, we call him, as I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails, put my hand into a side I will not believe. But look at verse 26. And after eight days his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, peace to you. You see, this is what the Sabbath is all about. It's about being the presence of God. It's all about being with Jesus. And now two Sabbaths in a row, two Lord's Days in a row, that's when it says eight days, it means the eighth day, so the first day is Sunday, then the second day is Monday, third day is Tuesday, the eighth day is that next Sunday. Twice in a row now, Jesus appeared to his disciples so they were in the very presence of the Lord. Then look at Acts chapter 2. Look at Acts chapter 2. We see in Acts chapter 2 where Peter preached this great sermon, the day of Pentecost, verse 1. On the day of Pentecost had frilly come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And so Peter then preaches this great sermon about how this is in fulfillment of the prophecy that the Lord will pour out his spirit upon all flesh. And in point of fact, you see in verse 41, then those who gladly received his word were baptized. And that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. You see, Here you have this special manifestation of the Holy Spirit. We can say the baptism of the church by the Holy Spirit, then on the day of Pentecost, it was the first day of the week, and then the literal baptisms that followed. Those that gladly received his word were baptized. In Revelation 1, verse 10, we read that John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. So we talk about the Christian Sabbath, but we can also refer to it as the Lord's Day, the day that is specially devoted to the Lord. That's not a term used of the Jewish Sabbath. It's a term used of the Christian Sabbath. And then what really sums it all up, what What confirms the case, if you will, is what we find in 1 Corinthians 16 and Acts chapter 20. First of all, 1 Corinthians chapter 16. where Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 16, 1 and 2, now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. And so, what is Paul saying here? He's saying that on the first day of the week, they were to set aside the collections. Now you know we have a tithe box at the back here for folks to give. Why did Paul say that those collections should be done on the first day of the week? Because that's when the church was meeting. That's the point. And therefore, he's saying, I have given orders to the churches of Galatia. On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. And then we come back to Acts chapter 20, from which we wrote. Now, this is a very interesting passage. Acts chapter 20, verses seven through 12, where Paul is ministering in Troas. And of course, young people, children, did you notice? Did you notice what is talked about here? This young man called Eutychus. Poor Eutychus, he was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep. As a matter of fact, he was sitting in the window and he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. Now this is not, I just want to clarify, this is not a condemnation of long-winded preachers. Okay, that's not what that, all right. But, but, actually it is a, not a condemnation, but it is a rebuke to Eutychus, is it not? It is a rebuke. This is why you need to pay attention, and older people too, you need to pay attention, because if you fall asleep, as it were, you might fall under God's judgment. But notice, notice it was on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread. So in other words, to have communion, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. So again, this is a clear indication that God wants us to worship on the first day of the week. God commands us to do that by virtue of the approved example of the apostles. And indeed, what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 16, on the first day of the week, lay aside the collections. Oh, let me also mention in terms of Acts 20, what is interesting here. Not only is this a public service of worship, with various elements of worship being mentioned, preaching of the word, the administration of the Lord's Supper. But again, notice something very interesting here. This worship service was in the context of a resurrection. Isn't that interesting? And the resurrection of Eutychus was a reminder to the people of the resurrection of Jesus. It was as a result of the resurrection power of Jesus, just like Dorcas being raised from the dead at the end of Acts chapter 9. In the same way, it's the same thing here. It's because of Jesus having been raised from the dead that one of his apostles here, Paul, is able to raise Eutychus from the dead. And so once again, therefore, we see the connection between Sabbath and resurrection. Now there is also confirmation of this truth in church history. Much of this material I'm gonna mention is by the great Southern Presbyterian theologian, Robert Louis Dabney. Pliny the Younger, a magistrate under Emperor Trajan. Now this is during the persecution of the church around early part of the second century. Pliny the Younger wrote that Christians were accustomed to worship on a, quote, stated day, that is, the Lord's Day, just like we saw in Revelation 110. Ignatius, one of the early church fathers, wrote, this is the Lord's Day, the day consecrated to the resurrection, the chief and queen of all days. Barnabas, not the one that we see in the Book of Acts, but Barnabas, lived AD 74 to 132, said, wherefore, we Christians keep the eighth day for joy, on which also Jesus arose from the dead, and when he appeared, ascended into heaven. Justin Martyr, who died in 160, said that the Christians neither celebrated the Jewish festivals nor observed their Sabbaths, nor practiced circumcision. And he also wrote about how Christians worshiped on Sunday. Clement of Alexandria, a true Christian, according to the commands of the gospel, observes the Lord's Day by casting out all bad thoughts and cherishing all goodness, honoring the resurrection of the Lord, which took place on that day. Eusebius of Caesarea, commenting on Psalm 92. We sang Psalm 92 at the beginning of the service. You notice in the title, it says that that is a Psalm for the Sabbath day. Commenting on the 92nd Psalm, among other things, among other things, he talks about how on this day, which is the first of the light and the true sun, we assemble after the interval of six days and celebrate holy and spiritual Sabbath. even all nations redeemed by him throughout the world assemble and do those things according to the spiritual law which were decreed for the priest to do on the Sabbath. And the Council of Laodicea, AD 363, commanded Christians to rest on the Lord's Day from all secular labors except those imposed by necessity. As a matter of fact, there were many other councils throughout the fourth century. that ordain that public worship and the sacraments be observed on that day. And so we don't want to appeal to history as a way of proving the case, but it does confirm the case. Now, I have one observation with a few subpoints and then two points of application. First of all, the observation. As we think about the Sabbath, we're really talking about time. And there are many attacks today on a Christian view of time. As an historian, I am painfully aware of the use of CE and BCE. You know what that means? CE is Common Era, BCE before Common Era. which are replacing the use of A.D. and B.C. A.D., anno domini, the Latin for in the year of our Lord, and B.C., before Christ. And of course, these attempts in biblical studies and in the field of history and in many other places, these attempts to use C.E. and B.C.E. rather than A.D. and B.C. are deliberate and direct assaults upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the king of the universe and the king of time. They are deliberate assaults on the Lord Jesus. They are deliberate attempts by the devil and his emissaries to try to erase this reality that history is defined by and divided by the resurrection of Christ. Even then, they can't get away from it fully. They still use the same years. They can't really do away with the reality, but they do all that they can to try to subdue, to try to put down that conscience within them to destroy that witness within their own conscience. of this reality, that yes, it is Jesus that rose from the dead, and therefore time is defined by that. We also have World Day, World Day. Did you ever notice that every year, let's say whenever your birthday happens to fall, it falls, what, on the next day, on the next day of the week, right? The next year or whatever day it may happen to be, it keeps, you know, keeps advancing because we have 365 rather than 364 days a year. Well, there's been a proposal for a world day that would be, it would not be Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, whatever. Well, what would that do? That would destroy this every seven day pattern. Once again, a devilish attempt largely by those who are into world government, world globalism. It is an attempt to erase, do away with, deny, attack the Christian view of time. And also calendars, where Monday is listed as the first day of the week. Whenever my wife and I get a calendar from Great Britain, it is rare that the Lord's Day is the first day of the week. And again, this shows the secular nature of Great Britain today. But these are attempts, once again, to deny the priority of the first day, the Sabbath. So I have two points of application. The first is this. Were you looking forward today with anticipation, or was this merely a duty? Were you looking forward to today with anticipation, Or was this merely a duty? You know, in days gone by, Christians would often say to each other, one person, one Christian would say to another, on the Lord's day, the Lord is risen. And the other believer would respond, he is risen indeed. And that's why we're here. That's why we're here, because the Lord is risen, and He is risen indeed. And we therefore, on this, His Sabbath day, the Lord's day, the Christian Sabbath, we have the opportunity to come as the people of God into His very presence, and with the ears of faith to hear what He said in John 20. Peace be to you. The Lord is risen. He is risen indeed. Let me also mention in this regard that the Sabbath is a token of the Lord's redemption. That's why it's the Lord's day. Because it was on that day that our redemption was accomplished. And secondly, by way of application then, are you enjoying the Sabbath? You see, it can be enjoyed only by those who know the risen Savior. I understand why those pagans that are going to the soccer game, I understand why they're doing that. Because they have no hope. There may be some Christians there that are living in sin. But largely, they have no hope. That's what they live for. They have no hope. And that's why they squander the Sabbath. but it can be enjoyed, enjoyed as it is to be enjoyed, only by those who know the risen Savior. And if you do know Him, then you will enjoy the Sabbath because it is the best of days, it is the chief of days, it is the queen of days. And it is so because of the resurrection of Christ on that day. the resurrection, which helps to tell us why God commands us to worship on the first day of the week. Amen. Will you please stand for prayer? And our Father, we pray that this message would penetrate deeply into our hearts. We pray, Lord, that we might be convicted of our sin, even our violations of the fourth commandment. Indeed, Father, our not viewing the Sabbath as we should, not rejoicing in it as we ought. And so, Father, be pleased to correct us, be pleased to forgive us, Be pleased to grant us repentance and enjoyment of the Sabbath because, oh God, the Lord is risen and he is risen indeed. We pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen. In closing, please turn to Psalm 93, Selection A. Psalm 93, Selection A. After the benediction, we will sing Psalm 68E is the closing doxology, but right now we will sing Psalm 93, selection A, it's on your large print sheets as well. Jehovah reigns, he's clothed with majesty most bright. Jehovah is arrayed with strength. He girds himself with might.