Psalms 118:24

Psalms 118:24 says, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

“This is the day.” Which day is being talked about here? Sunday? Monday? Teusday? Wensday? Thursday? Friday? Saturday? Well, which day did the Lord make? He made all days of the week did He not? Therefore this statement, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it,” you can apply to any day of the week.

The important thing isn’t what day is it but the important thing is that I rejoice in the Lord and be glad. If something is good to do on one day of the week it is good to do on any day of the week.

Romans 14:5-9 says, “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.”

There is a problem isn’t there? Some people think One day is more holy than another day. If you ask most Christians they will say it is Sunday because that is when they go to church. But where in the Bible does it say that? If you ask an orthodox Jew who is still living under the law and even some Christians who do not understand the difference between law and grace they will say it is Saturday, or the Sabbath day.

This verse in Psalms makes it clear that God made every day of the week. Is there a day of the week God did not make? No. Psalms 118:24 says, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

So lets look at Sunday and the Sabbath day and what the Bible teaches on these two days.

Mark 16:9 says, “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.”

As it is clearly stated in the gospels it was the first day of the week, Sunday, when Jesus rose from the grave. This is one of the reasons that Christians began meeting on the first day of the week. The other reason they began meeting on the first day of the week is tradition. The apostles themselves are the ones who started the tradition of meeting on the first day of the week.

Acts 20:7 says, “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.”

Actually, if you look in the Gospel of John chapter 20:19 you will see that the first Sunday that the disciples gathered was the very Sunday evening of Jesus’ resurrection. The question is why did the disciples begin this practice of meeting on the first day of the week?

To answer this question all we have to do is look at the life of Jesus in the gospels. If you read through the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John you will see that Jesus constantly did not obey the Sabbath. Jesus himself admitted to working on the Sabbath day.

John 5:17-18 says, “But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”

So we see in these verses that Jesus admitted to working on the Sabbath and that He broke the Sabbath. Now did Jesus sin when He broke the Sabbath? No. Why? Because Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.

Luke 6:5 says, “And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.” If Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath then that means He can do whatever He wants with the Sabbath day. The question is why did Jesus intentionally not obey the Sabbath? The answer is that was He showing us that He was doing away with the law. The Sabbath was part of the law. Part of living under the Old Testament law was obeying the Sabbath.

The Apostle Paul understood this and he said in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

Well what does it mean to be under something? The word under used in this verse is actually a preposition and it indicates place. The idea is that of subjection to. If you are under the law then you are in subjection to the law. You are obligated to obey the law.

Now what was the Old Testament law? It was a list of do’s and do nots, a list of regulations, ordinances and religious rituals that the Jews had to follow. Really you could say there are two parts too Old Testament Law. There is the moral law, the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery and so forth and then there is all the dietary and ritualistic laws that had to with all kinds of things such as what to ware what to sacrifice, and so forth

Here is what Jesus said about the law. Mathew 5:17, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”

The word fulfill means to complete. It also means to end. Jesus fulfilled the law. When Jesus walked this earth He perfectly kept the law. He never sinned. He fulfilled the law. That is the reason Jesus was able to take the wrath of God upon Himself on the cross and die for the sins of the world because He fulfilled the law. Only a righteous person could do that. And there is none righteous but Jesus.

Now Jesus also said in Luke 16:16, “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”

So according to this verse the law ended when John came on the scene. If you had to pick an exact point when the age of the law ended and the age of grace began it was with the beginning of John’s gospel ministry.

So what was so special about the Sabbath day? First of all it was the day God rested from His work. Genesis 2:1-3 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. 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.”

Why did God rest on the seventh day? Was He tired? No , God does not get tired. He was teaching something. He was foreshadowing what would happen at the crucifixion of Jesus. You see it was on the Sabbath day that Jesus came off the cross.

John 19:31 says, “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” When was the judgment of God finished? It was finished when Jesus was hanging on the cross and cried, “it is finished” and gave up the ghost. But the body of Jesus came down off the cross on the Sabbath day.

Now what is the Old Testament commandment about the Sabbath day? Exodus 20:8 says, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” This verse is actually one of the Ten Commandments. But we know that Jesus didn’t keep the Sabbath. So which is it, the Sabbath day or is it Sunday that is holy? Which day is the day that followers of Jesus should gather?

Well we know now that Jesus fulfilled the law and did away with the Sabbath day laws. We also know there is no commandment that says a Christian should meet on Sunday. You could have church on Monday or on Thursday.

What do these verses in Romans say? Romans 14:5-6 “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.” So one man estemmeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Lets say we have three people: one esteemeth the Sabbath day, one esteemeth Sunday and one esteemeth every day alike? Who is right? Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.

Another way of saying it is Colossians 2:16 which says, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:”

What matters is that you do not go against your conscience. God wants a Christian to have a clear conscience. If you want to regard Sunday that’s fine. If you want to regard Saturday that’s fine too. If you want to regard Monday that’s fine. If you want to regard every day of the week as the same that’s fine as well.

The important thing is to understand the difference between law and grace and to not put yourself under the law again. God doesn’t want us living under law. God wants us living under grace. There are a lot of Christians that will say they are not under the law but under grace or that will say they understand the difference between law and grace but really do not understand the difference.

The difference between law and grace is one of the central teachings of the gospel. It’s very important to understand it. So what is Christianity? Is Christianity a set of rules and regulations that we follow? No it is not. True Christianity is living by faith in the promises of God.

Promises such as Romans 8:28 which say, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

If you are trying to follow a list of rules and regulations then you are living under law just like an Old Testament Jew. That’s not a good testimony to lost people. Because it doesn’t show them that faith pleases God. It doesn’t teach them that they need to trust in Jesus. Instead what they see are men restricted in their freedom.

Psalms 118:24 says, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

God made all 7 days of the week. Rejoice in all seven days of the week. If something is good to do on one day it is good to do on another day. Take prayer for example. It’s good to pray on Teusday’s and it’s good to pray on Sunday’s. It’s good to pray every day of the week.

This issue about days of the week is one that is very misunderstood in Christianity. There are divisions even, or you could say denominations based on which day of the week a person should meet for church. These divisions or denominations show the failure of Christians to understand the difference between law and grace.

The basic difference between law and is the gospel it self. It means that righteousness comes not by the works of the law but through Christ. Of myself I have no righteousness but through Christ I am made righteous. If you are honest enough with yourself to see and to admit that you are a sinner in need of righteousness then come to Jesus today. Repent of your sins and trust in Him. Today is the day of salvation.

$Description: C:\BibleGemsDoc\Image37.gif$

___________________________________________________