Bible Readings for the Home

Chapter 93

The Lord's Day

On what foundation is the Christian church built?
"And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." Ephesians 2:20.

By whom were all things created?
"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." Ephesians 3:9.

When was the creation finished?
"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." Genesis 1:31.
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." Genesis 2:1.

What did the Creator do on the seventh day?
"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." Genesis 2:2.
NOTE.-If all things were made by Jesus Christ (John 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16), then He rested on the first seventh day from His labor of the creation Of the world, just the same as did the Father.

After resting from His creative work on that seventh day, what did the Creator do?
"And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Genesis 2:3. John 1:3, 10, says that not only was the world made by Christ, but that without Him was not anything made that was made.

For whom did Christ say the Sabbath was made?
"And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." Mark 2:27.

What is Christ's relation to the Sabbath?
"Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath." Mark 2:28.

How much honor is due to Christ?
"That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." John 5:23.

Did Christ keep the Sabbath?
"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16.
"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." John 15:10.

When the Saviour predicted the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the consequent flight of the disciples from all Judea, how did He urge them to regard the Sabbath in that flight?
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day." Matthew 24:20.

Did the followers of Christ keep the Sabbath after His death?
"And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.

What did they do on the next day? and what day of the week was it ?
"Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." Luke 24:1.
NOTE. - Then the Sabbath "according to the commandment," which was kept by Christ and His disciples, was the day preceding the first day, or Sunday.

What day does the commandment say is the Sabbath?
"But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." Exodus 20:10.

How enduring are the commandments?
"The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." Psalms 111:7,8.

What did Christ say of the commandments?
"And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17.

What was Christ to do to the law when He came?
"The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable." Isaiah 42:21.

What did the Saviour say about the Sabbath?
"How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days." Matthew 12:12.

How did the apostle Paul use the Sabbath days?
"And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures." Acts 17:2. See also Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 16:13; 18:1-4, 11.

On what day was John in the Spirit?
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet." Revelation 1:10.
NOTE. - In view of what the Saviour has said of being Lord of the Sabbath day, there can be no reasonable doubt that the Sabbath made by Christ in Eden, which He blessed and sanctified for man, and which He kept during His life, and commanded His disciples to keep even in their hasty flight from Judea, is the Lord's day and the true Christian Sabbath.