2. The Lord's Day is the sign of the New Covenant - the new creation.
a. The Lord was resurrected on a Sunday (Mk 16:9).
b. Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper room on a Sunday evening (Jn 20:19).
c. The next Sunday Jesus appeared again when Thomas was there (Jn 20;26).
d. Pentecost, the birthday of the church, was on the Lord's Day! Do the math; 50 days from Passover Friday is a Sabbath. Since holidays were never celebrated on a Sabbath, it was postponed until the next day - a Sunday!
3. It was the practice of the church to meet on the 1st day of the week!
a. Paul was in Troas 7 days so he could meet with the church on the 1st day of the week to have communion, worship & preach (Act 20:1-10).
b. I Cor 16:2 - On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
c. Why save money on the 1st day of the week? Because that's when they came together to worship & passed the offering plate!
II. What Should This Mean to You?
A. The Lord's Day is to be a day of privilege - not obligation.
1. Heb 10:24-25 - And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 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.
2. You don't come together to worship because you'll get zapped if you don't! That's Old Testament thinking!
3. You come to worship on the Lord's Day because you want to express your thankfulness to the Lord.
B. The Lord's Day is to be a day of personal rest & renewal.
1. One of the purposes of the Sabbath Day was to provide physical & emotional rest & relaxation for our bodies & minds.
2. You need rest or you get burned out & over stressed which leads to physical collapse & emotional breakdown.
3. You need to follow the principle of 1 day in 7 being a time to unwind & relax from the routine.
C. The Lord's Day is to be a day of honor to the resurrected Lord!
1. The Sabbath Day focused on the Lord of Creation - The Lord's Day focuses on the Lord of resurrection & salvation!
2. We come together each Sunday to celebrate, rejoice, remember & share.
3. We celebrate the Lord's Supper with thanksgiving because we have been redeemed.
4. It's a proper time to express our gratitude together as God's family!
http://biblelifemessages.org/

The Ten Commandments - # 4
Honor the Lord's Day
Exodus 20:8-11
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh
day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or
daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six
days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh
day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
I. What Did This Mean to Them?
A. What is the Sabbath Day?
1. It is our Saturday - the 7th day of the week.
2. v8 - It was a holy day (Ezek 44:24).
a. The Jews worship either on Friday night or Saturday morning. ILL: Boys watching for the
sun to go down for the Sabbath to begin.
b. The Law of Moses prescribed the death penalty for those who broke the Sabbath
(Num 15:3235). Ex 31:14 - Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone
who desecrates it must be put to death.
3. v11 - It was to be a day of rest from labor because the Lord rested from creation on that day.
4. It was a day when no purchases were to be made. Neh 10:31 - When the neighboring peoples
bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath
or on any holy day.
5. It was a day to check yourself from doing wrong (Is 56:2).
6. It was to be enjoyed & to celebrate because keeping it would bring special blessings. Is 58:13 -14 - If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not
going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find
your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the
inheritance of your father Jacob.
B. How did Lord Jesus define it?
1. During Jesus' time, the religious leaders made a burden out of Sabbath keeping.
2. What did Jesus teach?
a. You can prepare food & eat it. ILL: Jesus plucking & eating grain (Matt 12:1-2).
b. You can teach people & perform miracles (Mk 6:2). (Paul did it in Act 16;13; 17:2; 18:4).
c. You can serve the Lord & do good (Matt 12:12).
d. It was not to be a burden but to benefit us (Mk 2:27).
C. So, why do we worship on Sunday instead of Saturday like the Jews did?
1. The Sabbath was a sign of the Old Covenant - the old creation.
a. Ex 31:16-17 - The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.
b. Heb 4:4 - For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."