Take your copy of God's Word and turn with me to the book of Acts. Acts 20. Acts 20 and verse 7. Here now the Word of the Living 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. Let's pray. Father, we pray now that you would encourage our hearts, give us eyes to see, ears to hear, help us to walk through various texts tonight, to be faithful to them, and may we make application from them. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, tonight's sermon is going to be structured a little bit differently. Normally, we pick a passage of scripture and walk through it. And we did that last week by the Lord's aid from Isaiah. And we've been walking through the catechism looking at various doctrines. And we're in that section that deals with the Ten Commandments, each commandment abiding for the believer, no longer a means of condemnation, but a means whereby we know how we can glorify God. And we talked last week about the Sabbath from Isaiah. And once more tonight, before we move to the fifth commandment, we are looking again at the Sabbath. But tonight is really structured in seven different areas. Tonight's message is entitled, Common Objections to Sabbath Keeping. And what I want to do tonight is not discuss as much what we do with the Sabbath, why we keep the Sabbath and some of the other things which we spoke about last week. But tonight I want to specifically look at seven common objections to the idea that we should be Sabbath keepers, that we should be a people who see the Lord's Day as the Christian Sabbath and that it be a whole day long. There are, again, two resources for you. I want to point them out to you just so that you can do some study. On the back of the bulletin is this week's installment, and it really kind of fleshes out a Reformational understanding of the moral law of God. This set of questions deal with the Fourth Commandment. But also there is a short little booklet out there. It's blue. It's called The Day Changed and the Sabbath Preserved by Archibald Hodge. And that is really a good resource. It's a quick resource to consider the Sabbath and specifically the question of if the Sabbath was the seventh day then why is it that Christians who keep a Sabbath keep it on the first day? Of course, last week we saw the answer to that question in brief. That is the day of new creation. That is the day of Christ's resurrection. And that is the day, as we see in Acts 20, among other passages, that the apostles set aside for the worship of God. But tonight I wanna answer seven objections to Sabbath keeping, seven different objections. And so let's look at these briefly together. And we will be bouncing from text to text, really as an attempt to answer some of the objections that come from good and godly brothers and sisters in the faith. So we see in Acts chapter 20 that Paul in one of his missionary journeys on the first day of the week, which is Sunday, when the disciples came together specifically to break bread, a reference frequently in the book of Acts to the Lord's Supper, we see communion and preaching occurring on the first day of the week. Now I'm assuming in this room no one is gonna argue that we should gather on Sundays. It's an apostolic pattern. But many wrestle with calling the first day of the week the Sabbath. The scriptures in the New Testament call it the Lord's Day. But many wrestle with the concept that an entire day should still be set aside for worship and rest, an entire day that is holy to the Lord. Let's look at several objections to this idea. And again, these are objections mostly which come from good and godly and God-fearing brothers and sisters. This discussion of texts tonight is not a battle among enemies, but a discussion among brothers and sisters trying, struggling to get this right. Well, the first objection is the largest one, and that is this, the Ten Commandments no longer apply to the believer. That's the first objection. The Ten Commandments as a unit no longer apply to the believer. This argument typically goes like this. Jesus Christ fulfilled the entire Mosaic law. And therefore, when he has come to bring redemption, he has freed us from the law and has instead given us a new law. Many who say this refer to the Sermon on the Mount, perhaps, as this new law. But let's turn over to Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three in verse 31. Paul, as we'll see in just a week or two, will finish this bold declaration of righteousness through faith and not through the law. And then he'll say, after this bold gospel declaration, verse 31 of Romans three, do we then make void the law through faith Certainly not. On the contrary, we establish the law. The question that every Bible reader needs to answer when reading Romans 3.31 is what law? What law is established even through faith? And this takes us, brothers and sisters, to a very necessary distinction when we read our Bibles. There are two types of commandments in the scriptures. There are moral commandments, moral law, and positive commandments, or positive law. So for instance, it shouldn't surprise us when we see Abraham not practicing the Lord's Supper. It shouldn't surprise us when we see Moses not practicing baptism in the triune name. Why do I use those examples? They sound silly, but why do I use them? Well, those would be positive institutions. Those would be commands that are given to a particular people in a particular time for a particular reason. So circumcision is done away with. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are brought in. These are positive laws. Similarly, if you and I were walking in the Middle East and we happen to stumble upon the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, We wouldn't necessarily even recognize it if such a tree still existed, but it wouldn't be sinful for you and I now to accidentally eat of this tree because that was a positive law. Well, what's the other kind of law? Moral law. These are laws that are a reflection of God's character. They're given to human beings on their hearts at creation. They are fleshed out throughout the pages of scripture. They are encoded, if you will, in summary form in the Ten Commandments. They're taught on by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. They are used by Paul, just in the Book of Romans. In most every case when he refers to the law, the Ten Commandments are not far away. These are moral commandments. They do not change. They abide. There are certainly positive aspects to them which will change. But each one, in principle, does not. What do I mean by positive ones that do? Well, for instance, go to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. There we see Paul quoting one of the Ten Commandments. as a basis for instruction. He says in Ephesians 6.1, children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, quote, that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth. The same commandment abides, and yet, if you read the fifth commandment, which Paul quotes in Ephesians from Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5, there are positive aspects to it, life in the land. If you read the fourth commandment in Exodus 20, there are positive aspects to it, such as keeping your servants and animals at rest. There are positive aspects to the moral law, but the actual laws themselves do not change. I would commend to you Philip Ross's book on the Ten Commandments, if you're wrestling with the idea that the Ten Commandments can be divided into ten different commandments and only some carrying over. The Ten Commandments are a unit. They're written by the finger of God and they are used as such throughout all the pages of scripture. This is probably not new for us, brothers and sisters. Our confession proclaims this, we teach this, we encourage this, but you need to know that it is one of the common objections to Sabbath keeping. To my knowledge, most people in the world do not push back on the idea that we shouldn't murder. Most Christians don't push back on the idea that we shouldn't commit adultery, we shouldn't steal, we shouldn't lie, but often, The fourth commandment is the one commandment that many want to pull away from the 10 commandments and divide them. And we need to understand how the law is used throughout the pages of scripture. So number one, the 10 commandments no longer apply as a unit. They're not a united whole. They're not for us in the new covenant. But secondly, many will give this objection. The Sabbath is not mentioned in the New Testament. The Sabbath is not mentioned in the New Testament. Now, the word Sabbath, of course, is in the New Testament, it's in the Book of Acts, it's in the Gospels, but what is meant by this is the Sabbath itself is not mentioned. The Lord's Day is mentioned, but not the Sabbath. Many would say, Sabbath is Saturday only. And now that Christ has come and fulfilled the law, we no longer Sabbath, because it's not in the New Testament. But I would encourage you to look at the apostolic example, John 20, verse 19. Acts 20, verse seven, our opening text. First Corinthians 16.2, Revelation 1.10. There clearly is something important that centers the people of God under the new covenant to a particular day, which as whole Bible readers should cause us to think about what we've seen under the old covenant. In the garden, a day set aside. Under Israel, the people of God, a day set aside. In the new covenant, a day set aside. And it all has to do with God's work in creation and in new creation. This takes us to something that is beyond the scope of our discussion tonight, but it is this. We should avoid the kind of interpretation of the Bible which says a command must be re-articulated in the New Testament in order for us to keep it. We should avoid this kind of idea that the New Testament is, as a whole, something that must articulate everything or else we're not bound by it. Since the Sabbath is not mentioned in the New Testament, many would say, we don't need to observe the Sabbath. We just go to church on Sunday. Many would even say just go to church sometime during the week. Just go to church and that's really all you do on the Lord's Day. And then it's like every other day. So these two objections are larger objections. But as you read the Bible as a united whole, you begin to see that there is a movement of a day in every period, in every covenant for the people of God. A day in which the worship of God and the rest of God's people has been given. Here's a third one. And it goes like this. We are now under grace and can give ourselves grace. We are now under grace and can give ourselves grace. Or another version of this one goes like this. Sabbath-keeping can lead towards legalism or is legalistic. Sabbath-keeping can lead towards legalism or is legalistic, and we need to give ourselves grace. Well, of course, in this room tonight, I'm sure that none of us has the attitude that we just give ourselves grace in every aspect, that we don't have to obey God. But let's turn to Romans 6, verse 1. Romans 6, verse 1. Prior to chapter 6 verse 1, Paul writes this. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. So that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul then, as he often does in this book, Expecting a pushback says this, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Well, two implications for us from this passage. Number one, if we're told that we who died to sin shouldn't sin anymore, we need to know what sin actually is. What is the standard of sin? What makes something sinful and not? Is it the Ten Commandments? Is it the ceremonial law? Is it the civil law? Is it only the Sermon on the Mount? What actually is sin? That's number one. But then, more specifically answering our objection, grace does not change what sin is. Grace does not change what sin is. It simply means we are no longer condemned in our sin. Of course, many would push back and say, I just mean, preacher, that if we really encourage people to keep a Sabbath, it could tend towards legalism. And I would actually agree. There are many things in the law of God that if we're not careful, if we adopt in the wrong way, can press us towards legalism. But legalism is making law out of what is not law, or it is saying you can be saved in some way by law keeping. But actually looking at the law of God and seeking to obey it for God's glory as a saved one is not legalism. So these are three general, broad objections that are often given in the discussion. And again, this is not a discussion among enemies, but brothers and sisters in Christ. But let's get into some specific textual objections. The first would be Galatians chapter four. Galatians chapter four. So number four in our objection list, Galatians four, verse nine and 10. This is one of four texts that is often used in the discussion of whether the Sabbath abides. Paul writes this. Galatians 4, 9, and 10. But now, after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. Many will say that Galatians 4, verse 10, Paul actually condemns the observation of a day. And so, clearly, the Sabbath is something that we shouldn't return to. That's part of the law that has been fulfilled, and now Paul is afraid that people are going back to the law. Two things need to be said regarding Galatians 4, 9, and 10. Paul is not throwing out the law. but he's pushing back, he's arguing against the view that is being preached in Galatia, that you must keep the law to be saved. Context here is key. Paul is not saying you're observing a Sabbath and that bothers me because you don't need to obey that law anymore. What's the book of Galatians about? It's about people saying you need to add circumcision to Jesus. And in a sense, you need to add the moral law to Jesus that together you might be saved by these two things. And so context is crucial here. Paul is not saying don't obey the Ten Commandments. He's saying you've gone back to a Jewish system that you're trying to add to the merits of Christ in order to be saved. But secondly, in this text, context is important. Notice what he says in verse 10. You observe days and months and seasons and years. Now in the Bible, have we ever seen a list of days and months and seasons and years? Yes, everywhere in the Jewish ceremonial law. The reason that these appear together is because there are specific days and months and seasons and years. If you remember our study through the book of Leviticus, specifically Leviticus chapter 23 and chapter 25, there was a Jewish cycle of ceremonial celebrations, many of which occurred on specific Sabbaths. So Paul is not saying, I'm concerned about you. You don't really understand grace, Galatian Christians, because you're actually setting aside one day a week and calling it Sabbath. No, the context is clear. He's saying to them, I am concerned because you're giving up the gospel by saying you must add to it. And number two, the context is clear that Paul has in mind a Jewish ceremonial cycle. But lastly, and this one would be slightly more of an irony, if Paul is condemning someone for setting aside a day, then he would need to condemn his own self as well as the other apostles because they clearly were setting aside Sundays for something every week. Paul does it in 1 Corinthians 16. We've seen him do it in Acts chapter 20. They set aside a particular day for preaching and for Lord's Supper. So Galatians 4, 9, and 10, context is key. But number five, the fifth common objection would be Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two. Look at Colossians chapter two, verses 16 and 17. Paul, writing to a different church, says this in Colossians 2.16. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Now we've gotten from, we've gone from very broad down to very specific. And admittedly, Colossians 2 verses 16 and 17, and I say this humbly, this is really the first of all of these that seems to be a potential argument against Sabbath keeping. And the others, to me, in my humble opinion, are much clearer to answer. But here, in Colossians 2, Paul basically says, look, these things are a shadow of things to come. The substance is Christ. So don't let anyone judge you regarding these things. What is Paul saying here? Willemis Abrakel, in his famous work, A Christian's Reasonable Service, Speaking of this text, writes this, in order to understand this text, it must first be noted that the Jews had many Sabbaths. There were the 15th day of the first month, Leviticus 23, the last day of the Passover, and in verse 21, yet another feast day is mentioned. Furthermore, there are the first day of the 7th month, Leviticus 23, the 10th day of the 7th month, Leviticus 23, and the 8th day of the Feast of the Tabernacle, Leviticus 23, verse 36. All of these were ceremonial in nature. In addition to these, there was, however, one which already had been there from the beginning and which has been commanded in the fourth commandment of the moral law. This Sabbath was of an entirely different nature. It was of a moral nature. See, Abrakel is saying the Jews really had two kinds of Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath instituted at creation, which hasn't ended, and then various Sabbaths upon which they had ceremonial practices and the feasts. And if you look at the verse closely, it seems that Paul is referring to specific occurrences. Look what he says. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival, So harken back to what Abrakel is saying here. Or a new moon, seasons, festivals, seasons, or Sabbaths, plural. Sabbaths, plural. Specific festivals, seasons, or Sabbaths, plural. He does not say regarding the weekly Sabbath. What is a shadow of things to come? The Jewish ceremonial system. Christ is the substance. Colossians 2 verses 16 and 17 is not an argument against a weekly Sabbath, a day that is set aside and made holy unto the Lord for worship and rest. It is a bold declaration that Christ is the substance of the old covenant system. And we need not keep those feasts, those seasons. Christ is the substance. He has come. And so don't let anyone judge you in regard to those things or even into the food or drink differences of the Jewish law. A sixth objection would be Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14, Paul. writes this. Romans 14 one, receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him. Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord. And he who does not observe the day to the Lord, he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord. For he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat to the Lord, he does not eat. and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. Here again, context is crucial. Paul, as we've seen in our own journey through the Book of Romans, is writing to a church that is made up of Gentiles and Jews, wrestling with how to get along both as followers of Christ, various issues come up between Jews and Gentiles in this book. And here, the context is clear that he is discussing a larger issue, kind of a weaker brother issue. And once again, in this context, it involves food and drink and festival days. Food and drink and festival days. So the context of the entire book gives us a little bit of a clue as to how to interpret this difference here in verse five. One person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. And it is from Romans 14 that many say, see, some will keep a Sabbath and some won't. Everyone needs to be convinced in his or her own mind. But is the context the weekly Sabbath of God? It's clear that the apostolic pattern is to observe a particular day, at least for worship. Is that the pattern? Or is the pattern, once again, specific days, specific foods, and specific seasons? One other component to this text is important, and that is if you follow Paul's logic, You will also run into another challenge in the same chapter. Look at chapter 14, verse 14. I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself. But to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let your good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore, let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith, for whatever is not from faith is sin. Now follow this for a moment. If you take the logic of the first half of Romans 14 and you say, Romans 14 verse five means each one needs to be decided about days. and you apply that same logic consistently to the second half of Romans 14, each one needs to be consistent to themselves. They need to make up their own mind about food and about drink. Then you have now a system where no particular day and no particular food can be considered sacred. But what would be the problem with that argument? You now could use Paul to say, I don't have to come to the Lord's Supper, because you can't tell me that any eating and drinking at all is sacred, if you're gonna use that logic. Of course we wouldn't do that. We wouldn't say to someone, well, you can choose to come to the Lord's Supper or not. We would say to believers rightly, if you are coming with repentance and faith, you need to come to the table. Because we rightly see that Paul is not talking about something that God has commanded, which abides. Similarly, we would say the same thing about the Lord's Day. In Romans 14, verse 5 then, Paul, of course, is not taking the moral law of God and say, hey, it doesn't matter. He's talking to a room, a congregation, a group of churches in Rome, who are Jews and Gentiles, and he's saying to them, some of you are going to want to esteem certain days and seasons and foods above others. Neither of you should break down the other for doing it. The moral law of God, which transcends and comes before even the Old covenant itself is not what Paul has in view. Well, lastly, as we close, and we talked about this briefly last week, but Hebrews chapter four, Hebrews chapter four, and we'll close with this. We looked at this passage last week, and all I wanna say tonight is that this passage is often misunderstood in one particular way regarding Sabbath practice. Hebrews four, verse nine and 10. There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God. In some translations, you'll read a Sabbath rest. That's actually what the Greek word is there, sabbatismos, a Sabbath rest. There remains, therefore, a Sabbath 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. I don't want to read this text. If you weren't with us last week, we dug in for a few moments here to say that in verse 10, the he who enters his rest is Jesus. It's not the believer. Many would argue today it's the believer. And the problem with that, as we saw last week, is then what has the believer rested from? Like God rested from. Right? You see that? Verse 10. For he who has entered his rest has himself also seized from his works as God did from his. What works did you have before you came to Christ? Sinful ones. What works that were sinful did God ever have? None. And so John Owen writes this. This passage shows the analogy that is between the creation of all things and the building of the church. That is the works of the old and new creation. As then God wrought in the creation of all, so Christ, who is God, wrought in the setting up of his new church state. We looked last week at the idea that God set aside a day at the end of creation, and now that Christ has entered into his rest, He brings in a new creation. The first day of the week becomes the day of rest. But where this text is often used is some people will interpret it this way. Hebrews 4, 9, and 10 says Jesus is my Sabbath. In the new covenant, Jesus is our Sabbath. So the Sabbath has been fulfilled in Jesus and he is my Sabbath. All day, every day, Jesus is my Sabbath. Not only do I think that misses the point of the text, but the text would then not be given its full weight. There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Why? Because Jesus has entered his rest. This passage really speaks about entering into salvation. But you'll often hear brothers and sisters say, this text is just saying Jesus is my Sabbath rest. And so the Sabbath is a shadow and Jesus has become our Sabbath. And I would just wanna lovingly encourage a brother or sister, and just have a discussion with them and say, Ephesians 5 says that marriage is a picture of Christ and the church. So is Jesus now your marriage keeping? You don't have to keep your marriage vows anymore? Other commandments in the moral law of God are pointing to Christ. We've seen Paul use one in Ephesians chapter six. Would we be willing to take those commandments and say, Jesus is my not murdering, so I don't have to really not murder anymore. Jesus is my truth telling, so I don't really have to worry about not lying anymore. Of course we wouldn't do that. So why would we do that with the Sabbath? And why would we take this text and do it with this text? So why spend an evening looking at the objections? Because last week we talked about the glorious benefit that the Sabbath is. But I have to lovingly tell you, brothers and sisters, that there are good and godly believers who use various passages of Scripture and see them in a different way. And if we're going to understand why it is that we should uphold the Sabbath, we should have answers. We should understand these texts. We shouldn't just dismiss them. We should look at these texts and wrestle through them. So I would encourage you to consider these things, that the New Testament in no way does away with the Sabbath, that even the objections of the New Testament really are not objections at all, but are dealing with other matters. Isaiah, speaking of the New Covenant, says that God's people, in the new covenant, we'll keep Sabbath. Let us consider, even with these objections by good and godly brothers and sisters, that the rest that Christ has entered us into is a rest that until he comes, comes with an actual practice, and it's good for us, and it's beneficial for us. Let's pray. Lord, tonight we ask, I ask, that you would help us as we wrestle with these things to get them right, to seek to understand them, to see them through the lens of your word, to put the pieces of the Bible together in ways that are true and right, help us as we wrestle with these things to not fall into a form of legalism and to deny the grace that we have, the bold grace, the finished work of Christ. But help us to also see that this blessing and Sabbath that you've given your people is good. And it's not something that is done away with, but is now seen in the fuller light of rest in God because of Christ. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.