THE LORD'S DAY. Under the Old Testament the Israelites, by God's
command, observed the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as the Sabbath
or day of rest, because God rested from the work of Creation on the
seventh day. [Gen. 2:2-3] For the Christians all days are holy. [Rom.
14:5, 6, Col. 2:16, Acts 2:46] But from the earliest times the Christian
Church set apart Sunday as a special day of worship, [Acts 20:7, 1 Cor.
16:2] because it is the day on which Christ rose from the dead. The
Sabbath of the Old Testament commemorated the completion of _Creation_;
the Lord's Day of the New Testament commemorates the completion of
_Redemption_.

A HOLY DAY. The Lord's Day is to be kept _holy_ by devoting it to holy
things. It is to be a day of rest in order that it may be a day of
worship. Any unnecessary work or any recreation which hinders us from
hearing and profiting by God's Word is sinful.

I. WHAT IS FORBIDDEN.

We are not

TO DESPISE GOD'S WORD AND THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL, [Luke 10:16+] by

1. Making light of God's Word, or regarding and treating it as the word
of man.

2. Neglecting to go to church, and pleading poor excuses for absence.
[Heb. 10:25+]

3. Inattention and lack of devotion in church. [Eccl. 5:1+]