Once again John Coulter gives the Belfast Newsletter (25th September) readers the benefit of his bottomless folly! He writes under the title: ‘How should Christians really unwind on the Sabbath?’
In the article he seeks to muddy the clear waters of the Bible’s clear teaching on the Sabbath Day and lend support to and offer excuses on behalf of those who would see God’s commands regarding this essential element of Christianity defied and abandoned.
I might first of all state that God ordained the seventh day as the Sabbath in the Old Testament era in order to commemorate the finishing the work of creating all things in six days and resting the seventh day. The word ‘Sabbath’ means ‘rest’.
In the New Testament age, the end of which I believe is approaching fast, the Lord changed the seventh day to the first day of the week as the day of ‘rest’ in order to commemorate His rising from the dead and thus demonstrating that He had finished His great work of the redemption of His elect.
John Coulter would have us believe that there is confusion surrounding how a Christian should behave on the Sabbath.
That is true concerning Coulter and those of his ilk in this age of Bible-rejection and ecumenical apostasy but for hundreds of years, in the in post-Reformation period, Christians from their earliest years were taught what the mind of the Lord was regarding the Sabbath.
The superlative ‘Shorter Catechism’ part of the Westminster standards, the name given to the documents that came forth from the Westminster Assembly of godly Protestant divines, (1643–1649) sets forth God’s mind on the Sabbath.
It has been taught to innumerable generations of children ever since the 17th century and of course it was but the essence of what had been believed since the days of the apostles by those who accept the Word of God as the ‘only rule of faith and practice’!
That it was the practice of the apostolic age may be seen in Acts 20:7. “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”
This practice amongst the early Christians is again set forth in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2.“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”
The first day of the week was the day when Christians gathered around the table of the Lord and offered financial support to the work of God.
It is still the same amongst those deridingly called ‘fundamentalists’ by Coulter.
The Shorter Catechism says the following regarding the Christian Sabbath. It starts off by indicating the source of our views of the Sabbath Day — the TEN COMMANDMENTS!
QUESTION 58: What is required in the fourth commandment?
Answer: The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself.*
*.Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:30.
Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Deuteronomy 5:12.
QUESTION 59: Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?
Answer: From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath;* and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.**
*.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.
**.And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them. Acts 20:7a.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day. Revelation 1:10a.
QUESTION 60: How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
Answer: The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days;* and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship,** except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.***
*.Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein. Leviticus 23:3a.
**.<<A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.>> It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night. Psalms 92:1,2.
***.What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. Matthew 12:11-12.
QUESTION 61: What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?
Answer: The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission or careless performance of the duties required,* and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful,** or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.***
*.Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. Malachi 1:13.
**.They have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. Ezekiel 23:38b.
***.If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words. Isaiah 58:13.
QUESTION 62: What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
Answer: The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’s allowing us six days of the week for our own employments,* his challenging a special propriety in the seventh,** his own example,*** and his blessing the Sabbath-day.4****
*.Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath. Exodus 31:15-16a.
**.Ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. Leviticus 23:3b.
***.It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. Exodus 31:17.
****. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it. Genesis 2:3a.
Thus there has been set forth and embraced for hundreds of years just what the Sabbath entails. As Christ taught, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath,” Mark 2:27. Its institution and its observance is for the benefit of mankind.
Of course, those who reject Christ and His Lordship of the Sabbath find it irksome and a denial of their pursuit of earthly and sinful pleasures. John Coulter, in his imprudence, sets himself up as a spokesman for such!
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
26th September 2024