Remember the Sabbath Day

It is difficult to do justice to this book in a short review. Despite being only 105 pages, it is packed with information & exhortation concerning Sunday as the Christian day of rest & worship. There are seven chapters, each by a different author. The type is clear, the layout is modern, the text is very readable & Christ centred. The chapters speak of a Day to Remember, to Observe, to Rest, to Believe, to Worship, & to Hope. The book balances duty & delight in keeping one day in seven, the first day of the week, focused on the Lord Jesus Christ as the one Mediator between the true God & us. The content is well supported by relevant quotations from familiar writers such as Pink, Henry, Dabney, & others. A quote from Matthew Henry on page 99 captures the flavour of the book. ‘It is certain that God, after the creating of the world in six days, entered into his rest; and it is certain that Christ, when he had finished the work of our redemption, entered into his rest; & these were not only examples, but earnests, that believers shall enter into their rest…’ If you love the Lord, I would say, buy a few copies of the book to pass them on to Christian friends who do not understand about the Lord’s Day & to give them to those unconverted friends who wonder why you are so concerned to keep one day each week separate & sacred. This book has the answer, well argued from Scripture & literary sources. A heading on page 42 declares, ‘It is a day commended & claimed by Christ.’

In recent years, there has been a steady stream of books on the sanctity of Sunday. This is very encouraging, because the Fourth Commandment has been neglected for far too long. This book has 6 chapters, each emphasising the word “day” - such as “A Day to Remember”, “A Day to Observe” & “A Day of Rest”. The chapters are generally about 12 pages long, except for Chapter 5, “A Day of Worship”, which is 18 pages. Each chapter, displays a veritable wealth of Biblical understanding. 3 examples of memorable points:
- God’s laws are immune from cultural change;
- Truth is not dependent upon the strength of human belief;
- The Sabbath is the mortar which binds the Christian life together.
Some Christians have singularly odd ideas about Sunday & the wider question of God’s laws. Such misconceptions are answered in a very clear explanation of the relationship between law & grace, summarised by the statement: “each of the 10 Commandments is to be kept, not to gain salvation, but to show gratitude for it”.
This book is full of sound Christian doctrine, of which one illustration will suffice. Page 42 disposes of the idea that Jesus ceased to uphold the 4th Commandment by His responses to various challenges by the scribes and Pharisees. After all, if it was to be abandoned, why did He take the trouble to correct the man-made rules? Its sub-title asks: “Is the Lord’s Day still relevant in the 21st century?” Its incisive and excellently expressed content gives this resounding answer: “Yes!”