The Lord's Day

Hebrews 4:9
"So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God."

It was while reading Pink's commentary on Hebrews that I came across a very interesting statement that he made, he made the case that this is somewhat of a side remark in the middle of the passage, which is speaking of the heavenly rest (or eternal Sabbath) which awaits believers. This was based partially around the word "remains" which I wanted to do a small word study on. The word is the greek word Apoleipo, and means "to leave, leave behind, abandon, left, remains." While this might not seem like anything special at first glance, lets take a look at the other examples of where this is used in the New Testament.

2Ti 4:13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

2Ti 4:20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus.

Tit 1:5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you--

The word is translated "left" in each of these passages and from the context of each passage we would be very confident in asserting that it means, passively to leave something, in other words, it stays there. It's not something that is looked for in the future (i.e. "there is still going to be") but something which has been left.

That the passage (Heb 4:1-11) as a whole refers to a future rest I have no doubt, but from this one word, I would agree with Pink in that this sentence appears to be an interjection, interrupting from the future look of things to something that is "left behind" for us, remaining for now. The following is a long quote but I feel it is well worth the reading. He (Pink) says:

"It needs to be most carefully observed that in this verse the Holy Spirit employs an entirely different word for "rest" than what he had used in Heb_4:1, Heb_4:3-5, Heb_4:8. There the Greek word is rightly rendered "rest," but here it is "sabbatismos" ....
"The purpose of the Holy Spirit in employing this term here is not difficult to discover. He was writing to Hebrews, Jews who had professed to become Christians, to have trusted in the Lord Jesus. Their profession of faith involved them in sore trials at the hands of their unbelieving brethren. They denounced them as apostates from the faith of their fathers. They disowned them as the "people of God." But as we have said the apostle here reassures them that now only believers in Christ had any title to be numbered among "the people of God." Having renounced Judaism for Christ the question of the "Sabbath" must also have exercised them deeply. Here the apostle sets their minds at rest. A suitable point in his epistle had now been reached when this could be brought in: he was speaking of "rest," so he informs them that under Christianity also, "there remaineth therefore a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God." The specific reference in the "therefore" is to what he had said in Heb_4:4 : God did rest on the seventh day from all His works, there]ore as believers in Christ are the "people of God" they must rest too.
"There remaineth therefore a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God." The reference is not to something future, but to what is present. The Greek verb (in its passive form) is never rendered by any other English equivalent than "remaineth." It occurs again in Heb_10:26. The word "remain" signifies "to be left after others have withdrawn, to continue unchanged." Here then is a plain, positive, unequivocal declaration by the Spirit of God: "There remaineth therefore a Sabbath-keeping." Nothing could be simpler, nothing less ambiguous. The striking thing is that this statement occurs in the very epistle whose theme is the superiority of Christianity over Judaism; written to those addressed as "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling." Therefore, it cannot be gainsaid that Heb_4:9 refers directly to the Christian Sabbath. Hence we solemnly and emphatically declare that any man who says there is no Christian Sabbath takes direct issue with the New Testament scriptures.....
"'It appears to me that it is the rest of Christ from His works, which is compared with the rest of God from His works in creation.' (Dr. John Owen).
"The reference to Christ in Heb_4:10 (remember the section begins at Heb_3:1 and concludes with Heb_4:14-16) completes the positive side of the apostle’s proof of His superiority over Joshua. In Heb_4:8 he had pointed out that Joshua did not lead Israel into the perfect rest of God; now he affirms that Christ, our Apostle, has entered it, and His entrance is the pledge and proof that His people shall — "whither the Forerunner is for us entered" (Heb_6:20). But more: what is said of Christ in Heb_4:10 clinches our interpretation of Heb_4:9 and gives beautiful completeness to what is there said: "There remaineth therefore a Sabbath-keeping to the people of God. For He that is entered into His rest, He also hath ceased from his own works, as God from His."
"Thus, the Holy Spirit here teaches us to view Christ’s rest from his work of Redemption as parallel with God’s work in creation. They are spoken of as parallel in this respect: the relation which each "work" has to the keeping of a Sabbath! The opening "for" of Heb_4:10 shows that what follows furnishes a reason why God’s people, now, must keep the Sabbath. That reason invests the Sabbath with a fuller meaning than it had in Old Testament times. It is now not only a memorial of God’s work of creation, and a recognition of the Creator as our Proprietor, but it is also an emblem of the rest which Christ entered as an eternal memorial of His finished work; and inasmuch as Christ ended His work and entered upon His "rest" by rising again on the first day of the week, we are thereby notified that the Christian’s six work-days must run from Monday to Saturday, and that his Sabbath must be observed on Sunday. This is confirmed by the additional fact that the New Testament shows that after the crucifixion of Christ the first day of the week was the one set apart for Divine worship. May the Lord bless what has been before us."

This is something that has been laid on my heart lately. I think that every Christian would agree that we are still under the moral law of God, Jesus upheld the Ten Commandments when he said:
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt 22:37-39)

He did not come to abolish the law, every person in the world, Christians especially, are not to murder, bear false witness, take the Lord's name in vain etc. This also applies to the Sabbath. While it is true that as Christians do not have the rituals that the Judaizers had heaped upon themselves unscripturally - or that Christians ought to keep in particular the seventh day holy - as Pink aptly pointed out above, we do indeed have a day of rest, one day in seven, for the worship of God and this is looking ahead to the consummation of that rest, the entering into the eternal Sabbath and in honour of Christ resting from his work once he had risen from the dead and secured our resurrection.

I say this because there are some who would say that we are not under the Old Testament law, that there is no specific New Testament command to observe a Sabbath day. To this we would reply that there is also no New Testament command not to make idols. Because of the absence and no express command or hint to the opposite, we must consider the moral law (i.e. the Ten Commandments and the like) to be still in effect. As ever, it is still the law of God. Some would claim that passages such as Colossians 2:16, which says

"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. "

refer to the passing away of the Sabbath. However, this is a plural form of Sabbath. Barnes says:

"Greek, “of the Sabbaths.” The word Sabbath in the Old Testament is applied not only to the seventh day, but to all the days of holy rest that were observed by the Hebrews, and particularly to the beginning and close of their great festivals. There is, doubtless, reference to those days in this place, since the word is used in the plural number, and the apostle does not refer particularly to the Sabbath properly so called."

The plural form of "Sabbath" is used only one other place and that is understandable when you read the verse, in Acts 17:2
"And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,"
because it is speaking of more than one. This particular verse is not talking about the Sabbath however, the seventh day, or so it would seem. Even if it was however, the object of this is the rituals and sacrifices, which we all do agree have passed away, they were (as the next verse intimates) a shadoe of things to come. The Sabbath itself was instituted by God at the creation though, and is different from the sacrificial system. Interestingly, the same wording for this verse ("feasts, new moons, Sabbaths") occurs in these Old Testament passages:

1Ch_23:31 and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the LORD on Sabbaths, new moons and feast days, according to the number required of them, regularly before the LORD.
2Ch_2:4 Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the LORD our God, as ordained forever for Israel.
2Ch_31:3 The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Law of the LORD.
Eze_45:17 It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.
Hos_2:11 And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts.

It appears to refer to the ceremonies, celebrations, and sacrificial system as a whole. But even if it was referring to the Sabbath, I agree whole-heartedly that we do not have the rituals and laws that the Judaizers had heaped upon themselves, because as the next verse intimates, they were only a shadow. John MacArthur holds this view of Col 2:16 and says
"The weekly celebration of the seventh day, which pictures God's rest from creation. The NT clearly teaches that Christians are not required to keep it."

I agree so far as he goes, in that we do not keep the seventh day, but as for keeping a Sabbath, a holy day unto the Lord, I firmly believe that there is no cessation from the command of God to obverve a day in seven, changed to the first day of the week in honour of Christ. I do not know Dr MacArthur's personal views on the subject since these words do not give enough information, but I agree as far as he takes it, in regards to the specific Jewish customs and celebration of the seventh day.

Another verse that has been cited in opposition to the Sabbath continuing is Romans 14:5
"One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind."

Though there is no indication that this is in reference to the Sabbath. One person esteems all days alike some say is a reference that "every day" is a Sabbath day. To this we would answer that according to the text, it isn't condemning one or the other view, and there are a number of examples of the gathering of believers on the first day of the week.
1Co 16:1-2 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

Yes, every day is a day unto the Lord, but this is not a higher calling than was made to the Old Testament believers, e.g. Deu 6:5
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

How can there be a higher mandate than that? To love God with all of your being. God's requirements have not changed in the slightest, what has changed is that he helps us, by His Spirit to fulfill that calling.

Hodge says:
"If we hold fast the fundamental principle of our Protestant faith and freedom 'that the Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice,' we must be able to plead express divine authority for the religious observance of the Lord's Day, or allow every man so to keep it or not as he sees fit. To his own master he stands or falls; to Him alone is he accountable for the use which he makes of his Christian liberty. But as no man is at liberty to steal or not to steal as he sees fit, so all 'English speaking' Christians with one voice say, he is not at liberty to sanctify or profane the Sabbath, as he sees fit. He is bound by the primal and immutable law given at the creation, to keep one day in seven holy to the Lord."
Hodge's Systematic Theology, Vol 3, pg 334

Our Christian liberty is a marvelous thing, but it isn't a liberty to do as we please, but a liberty to obey God and to serve him. It's a liberty from our own previous enslavement to sin, a liberty unto life and in serving our risen Lord. We can't choose to worship God as we choose, but we should worship Him as he tells us to, in obedience, as sons and no longer slaves to sin.

Let me take a moment to cite a little bit from the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter twenty-one and section seven and eight in particular:
7. "As it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in His Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, He hath particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto Him (Exo_20:8, Exo_20:10, Exo_20:11; Isa_56:2, Isa_56:4, Isa_56:6, Isa_56:7): which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week (Gen_2:2, Gen_2:3; Act_20:7; 1Co_16:1, 1Co_16:2), which, in Scripture, is called the Lord’s Day (Rev_1:10), and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath (Exo_20:8, Exo_20:10, with Mat_5:17, Mat_5:18)."
8. "This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments, and recreations (Exo_20:8; Exo_16:23, Exo_16:25, Exo_16:26, Exo_16:29, Exo_16:30; Exo_31:15-17; Neh_13:15-22; Isa_58:13), but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy (Isa_58:13; Mat_12:1-13)."

Which of course is not to be regarded as Scripture itself as far as authority, but is a very good summary in my opinion. The RPCNA Testimony places alongside this these words:
"God promises rich blessings for keeping the Lord's Day holy. Isa_56:2-7; Isa_58:13-14; Mar_2:27;"

And that comes down the the conclusion of my study, that the Lord's Day (as it is indeed properly called, I have made the mistake of saying ".... spending my Sunday....") and it is a blessing to treat it as such! As Mark 2:27 says, the Sabbath was made for man, it is an enjoyment because of rest and fellowship with God and blessings are promised to those that keep it, Isaiah 58:14 promises "then you shall take delight in the Lord." The Lord is our inheritance, our joy, the very object of our devotion! I have been convicted the last few years that I need to treat it more like the Lord's Day and less like my own, not begrudgingly, but willingly and joyfully, rendering unto the Lord only a portion of what he has given to me, and relishing the time to learn all I can about him (through reading and study) and communion with him. On that note however, the rewards given to me are beyond what I had imagined, this last year has been the largest in terms of spiritual growth (by far) that I have ever experienced. I realize that it is the work of the Spirit to work in men's hearts and I am simply stating the case how I see it, and because I don't see why people shouldn't revel in the Lord and having a whole day devoted to him, even more so than the others. Not only do I believe it is a biblical mandate to keep the Sabbath, instituted from Creation, but I believe that it should be a delight to the Lord and spent in a manner that is pleasing to him rather than pleasing to our own selves. It isn't merely another day for ourselves, but it is special in that we can set it aside, more fully than any other, to God. Ideally would all days be spent in this manner. In closing, allow me to quote from Albert Barnes, whom I don't agree with all the time but who made some very searching statements on this matter:

"(2) heaven will be like a Sabbath. The best description of it is to say it is “an eternal Sabbath.” Take the Sabbath on earth when best observed, and extend the idea to eternity, and let there be separated all idea of imperfection from its observance, and that would be heaven. The Sabbath is holy; so is heaven. It is a period of worship; so is heaven. It is for praise and for the contemplation of heavenly truth; so is heaven. The Sabbath is appointed that we may lay aside worldly cares and anxieties for a little season here; heaven that we may lay them aside forever.
(3) the Sabbath here should be like heaven. It is designed to be its type and emblem. So far as the circumstances of the case will allow, it should be just like heaven. There should be the same employments; the same joys; the same communion with God. One of the best rules for employing the Sabbath aright is, to think what heaven will be, and then to endeavor to spend it in the same way. One day in seven at least should remind us of what heaven is to be; and that day may be, and should be, the most happy of the seven.
(4) they who do not love the Sabbath on earth, are not prepared for heaven. If it is to them a day of tediousness; if its hours move heavily; if they have no delight in its sacred employments, what would an eternity of such days be? How would they be passed? Nothing can be clearer than that if we have no such happiness in a season of holy rest, and in holy employments here, we are wholly unprepared for heaven. To the Christian it is the subject of the highest joy in anticipation that heaven is to be “one long unbroken” sabbath - an eternity of successive Sabbath hours. But what to a sinner could be a more repulsive and gloomy prospect than such an eternal Sabbath?
(5) if this be so, then what a melancholy view is furnished as to the actual preparation of the great mass of people for heaven! How is the Sabbath now spent? In idleness; in business; in traveling; in hunting and fishing; in light reading and conversation; in sleep; in visiting; in riding, walking, lounging, “ennui;” - in revelry and dissipation; in any and every way “except the right way;” in every way except in holy communion with God. What would the race be if once transported to heaven as they are! What a prospect would it be to this multitude to have to spend “an eternity” which would be but a prolongation of the Sabbath of holiness!
(6) let those who love the Sabbath rejoice in the prospect of eternal rest in heaven. In our labor let us look to that world where wearisome toil is unknown; in our afflictions, let us look to that world where tears never fall; and when our hearts are pained by the violation of the Sabbath all around us, let us look to that blessed world where such violation will cease forever. It is not far distant. A few steps will bring us there. Of any Christian it may be said that perhaps his next Sabbath will be spent in heaven - near the throne of God.
- A. Barnes

I hope this short and most inadequate study has been enough to whet one's appetite to search the matter out for his or herself, and that it has been an encouragement and a blessing to you as you grow in your walk with Christ.