June 18, 2019 Show with William F. Hill, Jr. on “Observing the Christian Sabbath (Without Becoming a Legalist)”

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Introducing William F. Hill Jr. and the Christian Sabbath

Good afternoon, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com. This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Tuesday on this 18th day of June, 2019, and I'm delighted to have back on the program a returning guest who I love to interview, a man who has become, over a short number of years, a good friend of mine, and his name is William F. Hill, Jr., the former host of the Confessing Our Hope podcast of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Taylors, South Carolina, and pastor of the Fellowship Presbyterian Church, which is a congregation within the Presbyterian Church in America, in Newport, Tennessee.

Today we're going to be addressing observing the Christian Sabbath without becoming a legalist, and it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. Pastor Bill Hill.

Hey, Chris, thanks. Thanks for having me on.

Hey, the pleasure is all mine, and I'm sure our audience as well, and tell us about, even though you've done this before, obviously, tell our listeners about the Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Newport, Tennessee.

Yeah, glad to.

And for those of you who are living in the area that was just mentioned by our guest, or perhaps you are visiting that area, or perhaps you have family, friends, and loved ones in that area, we want to make sure that you have the website, the Fellowship Presbyterian.

Church.

That website is fellowship-pca .org, fellowship-pca .org, and that's the Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Newport, Tennessee. Today we are addressing a very controversial issue. This is the theme, observing the Christian Sabbath without becoming a legalist.

The Sabbath and legalism are both controversial issues amongst professing believers because of the fact that there is a wide spectrum of belief in regard to what is the Sabbath, is there a Christian Sabbath today?

Was it fulfilled by Christ himself becoming or being the Sabbath? Is it on Sunday or Saturday? There are all kinds of things that divide the body of Christ over the Sabbath. Even those that are Sabbatarians disagree on what would be appropriate for a faithful Christian observing the Christian Sabbath in a biblical fashion, and sometimes we have brothers in Christ judging each other over how they observe the Sabbath in a wrongful fashion.

So there's all kinds of issues involved in this day known as the Christian Sabbath. First of all, why don't you, in a summary fashion, explain what the Christian Sabbath is and why you believe that it is important for Christians in the New Covenant to observe this day set apart, in the opinion of Sabbatarians, by God?

Yeah, because it's somewhat controversial, I don't know, he rested, so that's a make-law.

And of course, one of the sticky situations for Sabbatarians who are Sunday observers is that you will have folks say that all of the commands that you are citing in regard to the observance of a Sabbath day will refer, as you even just mentioned, to a seventh day.

And therefore, if we are going to perpetuate Sabbath observance, we have no business changing the day to Sunday, that it should be on a Saturday, if indeed we are to observe a Sabbath at all. So how do you best explain the change in the day, because there seems to be, in the New Testament, no absolutely clear reason given that we have a day change in regard to the Sabbath.

Yeah, and...

Sure.

And by the way, I want to give our email address for those of our listeners who would like to join us with a question of their own. Our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com, C-H-R-I-S-A-R-N-Z-E-N at gmail .com, and please give us at least your first name, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence.

If you live outside the USA, only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter. And of course, those private matters may be something like, we have a listener who disagrees with his own pastor or congregation or denomination on this issue, and they don't want to identify themselves.

That's obviously a good reason to remain anonymous. In fact, we would insist that you do if you don't want to mention specific pastors or church names. Also, you may be a pastor yourself. You may disagree with your denomination on this issue.

You may disagree with your congregation on this issue, and you'd rather not draw attention to your identity. Well, those are fine reasons to remain anonymous, but please, if it is not a personal and private matter, please at least give us your first name, your city and state, and your country of residence.

That's chrisarnsen at gmail .com. One of the questions that I have to start the ball rolling is, what would be differences, if any, in which the Christian is observing a Sabbath day than the saints of the Old Covenant in their worship and observance of Saturday as their Sabbath?

Is there any technical or specific details in regard to which Old Covenant worshipers and New Covenant worshipers observe the Sabbath? And I'm saying, not that they may have observed it, they may observe it differently for extra-biblical.

Reasons.

I'm talking about as far as what you are aware in the Scriptures, the God-breathed Word. How would there be a difference in the way that our brothers and sisters in the Old Covenant worshiped on the Sabbath than we would?

Am I allowed to pass on any questions? That's a really good question, and honestly, I've never really thought through that. Probably I should, actually. But I can think of one, I've pictured and told you all that, we don't need to.

And we do have a listener who uses a word that you just used that comes directly out of Scripture. We have Susan Margaret in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, who says, How do Sabbatarians such as yourself respond to the often-repeated argument against Sabbatarianism that is alluded to in Colossians 2, it starts at verse 16,.

Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking in his stand on visions he has seen inflated without cause by his fleshly mind. And the listener obviously included more on that text than we needed.

Basically that text is really what we are looking for in the first two sentences. Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow of what is to come.

So if you could respond to that, and the listener is correct, that is a very frequently cited passage by those who are not Sabbatarian. So if you could.

Yeah, sure. The church at Colossae is wrestling with some superstitious angels relating to this church and here Paul is at either A, he's talking about these superstitious angels.

Well something just popped into my head that's very important. As to a difference between how those observe the Sabbath and the Old and New Covenant, is that if your brother is mowing his lawn on Sunday, I'm sure you're not going to call out for his execution.

The law is not binding upon all men, in fact it's the very law that God will use to judge the nations. We objected ourselves voluntarily.

Works of Necessity and Mercy on the Sabbath

Okay, I'm going to read a question for you and I'm going to have you answer it when we come back from the first break, which we have to go to any moment now. But we have Bobby in Hartsdale, New York, who says, I have frequently heard from my Sabbatarian friends that the exemptions for working on the Sabbath are for works of necessity and works of mercy and examples would be provided such as those on the police force, those in the military, and those who are physicians or nurses or caring for the sick and disabled and wounded in hospitals and in other places.

Would you agree with these exemptions and do you have any others to add to the list? And we're going to have you answer that when we come back from our first break. If anybody else would like to join us on the air with a question of your own, our email address is ChrisArnzen at gmail .com, C-H-R-I-S-A-R-N-Z-E-N at gmail .com and please give us, as always, your first name, your city and state, and your country of residence if you live outside the USA.

Only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter. Don't go away. We'll be right back after these messages from our sponsors. As host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, I frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations.

A church I've been strongly recommending as far back as the 1980s is Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey, pastored by Alan Dunn. Grace Covenant Baptist Church believes it's God's prerogative to determine how he shall be worshipped and how he shall be represented in the world.

They believe churches need to turn to the Bible to discover what to include in worship and how to worship God in spirit and truth. Grace Covenant Baptist Church endeavors to maintain a God-centered focus.

Reading, preaching, and hearing the Word of God, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, baptism, and communion are the scriptural elements of their corporate worship, performed with faith, joy, and sobriety.

Discover more about Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey at gcbcnj .squarespace .com. That's gcbcnj .squarespace .com. Or call them at 908 -996 -7654. That's 908 -996 -7654. Tell Pastor Dunn that you heard about Grace Covenant Baptist Church on Iron Sharpens Iron.

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Hello, my name is James Renahan, and I'm the president of IRBS Theological Seminary in Mansfield, Texas. The Word of God says, if a man desires the office of an overseer, he desires a good thing. Do you have the desire to serve Jesus Christ in pastoral ministry?

Twenty years ago, the Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies at Westminster Seminary, California was born. For those two decades, these institutions worked together to train men for ministry in Reformed Baptist churches.

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We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired and inerrant Word of God, that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh who came to save sinners by his life, death, and resurrection, and that the task of the church is to honor and serve the Triune God in all things.

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Sabbath Exemptions, Church Discipline, and Legalism

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And we are now back with Bill Hill, one of my favorite guests, and the pastor of Fellowship Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian Church in America congregation in Newport, Tennessee. We are discussing the theme, Observing the Christian Sabbath Without Becoming a Legalist.

And before the break, as you may remember, Pastor Bill, we had a listener, Bobby, in Hartsdale, New York, who said he wanted to know about the reasons why someone might be given a pass on working on the Sabbath because of works of necessity and works of mercy, and he had listed among those works, working for the police department, being a soldier in the military, working for the military, and also being a doctor or a nurse, a healthcare worker, etc.

So, do you have anything to add to that? Do you agree with that? And do you have anything to add to that?

Yeah, no, I mean, I think he's absolutely right, and the Sabbath was not made for man, but man was made for the... Luke chapter 6, our program topic, was designed for... ...on a Tuesday... ...to the acts of... ...the fourth commandment is appealing to, and I mentioned earlier that the fourth commandment sits on that edge, right there at the end.

It gets... ...day, and you're preaching in the hall, but I said... ...act of mercy. It's probably an act of necessity, too. People get sick on the Lord's... ...acts of mercy demonstrated to the common good through the ordinary providence of God throughout... ...truly valid.

Now, the question, of course, then becomes... ...where it gets hard, and I get this question often... ...institute acts of necessity and acts of mercy, and you... ...this is how I would typically, or I'd like to... ...present you a list.

That's probably not going to help you at all. I mean, I... ...my bosses, I asked them if I could be freed from this responsibility on Sundays.

I...

...came to me with a big list of things I can and cannot do. You have to go to your job when you have other things to attend to by God's providence, and do on the Lord... ...so many other things that we get... ...who are having a hard time or struggling in life.

In your living room, and hospitality, and fellowship, and inviting people... ...Sunday is a goal...

Well, you know, so I am assuming, and I don't know this for sure yet, because you haven't answered the question, but I'm assuming by what you just said, you would disagree with some of our Reform Brethren.

I know Reform Brethren who are pastors. At least a couple of them are mutual friends of ours. ...who have told me during private conversations that they would put under church discipline people who were violating the Sabbath for reasons that they did not believe were permissible, such as going to a diner after church and things like that.

They were not leaving that up to the discretion, and liberty, and conscience of the person in the congregation. I don't know if these pastors ever did that, if they ever did discipline the people for eating on a Sunday at a restaurant, and I'm assuming that they meant if they were unrepentantly doing that.

But is there anything wrong with that? Or the better question is, do you agree that this is the job of a pastor, or elders, to police the lives of people who are observing the Sabbath in such a way that they believe their conscience is clear before God, but the pastors and the elders might not agree with it?

Yeah, it's a virtue. I served as his elder, and I can, at least during the time that I served as his elder, when I was in some instances, I could commit a murder.

They might want to murder the waiter if the order was wrong.

That would still be murder, even if they thought Christianity or any other thing.

In fact, we have to go to our midway break right now and pick up where you left off there.

I will.

Good question. This is our longer than normal break, because Grace Life Radio, 90 .1 FM in Lake City, Florida, requires of us a longer break in the middle of our show, because they localize Iron Trip and Zion Radio to Lake City, Florida by airing their own commercials and public service announcements during this break, while we air our own global commercials that are heard everywhere.

So please use this time wisely, write down questions for Bill Hill on the Sabbath, and also write down the information provided by our advertisers so that you can more successfully and more frequently patronize them, because remember, as I keep repeating, the more you patronize our advertisers, the more likely we are going to remain on the air, because we depend on the financial support of our advertisers who are purchasing those ads in order for Iron Trip and Zion Radio to exist.

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So please remember that. So write down as much of the information provided by our advertisers as you can, and send in your questions to Bill Hill on the Sabbath at chrisarnson at gmail .com. Chrisarnson at gmail .com.

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My name is Steve Lawson, founder and president of One Passion Ministries, as well as teaching fellow for Ligonier Ministries. I serve as professor of preaching and oversee the doctor of ministry program at the Master's Seminary in Los Angeles.

I would like to recommend the church where one of my preaching students, Andy Woodard, serves as the pastor. It's called New Covenant Church, NYC. They are a Reformed Baptist church that meets in midtown Manhattan.

You can find their service times and location on their website, which is www .ncc .nyc. They believe in a sovereign God who commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel. If you're looking for a church that believes in expository preaching, which is simply biblical preaching, in New York City, I'd like to recommend that you visit New Covenant Church, NYC.

Again, their information can be found at www .ncc .nyc. Have a great day.

As host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, I frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations. A church I've been strongly recommending as far back as the 1980s is Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey, pastored by Alan Dunn.

Grace Covenant Baptist Church believes it's God's prerogative to determine how he shall be worshiped and how he shall be represented in the world. They believe churches need to turn to the Bible to discover what to include in worship and how to worship God in spirit and truth.

Grace Covenant Baptist Church endeavors to maintain a God-centered focus. Reading, preaching, and hearing the word of God, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, baptism, and communion are the scriptural elements of their corporate worship, performed with faith, joy, and sobriety.

Discover more about Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey at gcbcnj .squarespace .com. That's gcbcnj .squarespace .com. Or call them at 908 -996 -7654. That's 908 -996 -7654. Tell Pastor Dunn that you heard about Grace Covenant Baptist Church on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

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My name is James Renahan, and I'm the president of IRVS Theological Seminary in Mansfield, Texas. The Word of God says, If a man desires the office of an overseer, he desires a good thing. Do you have the desire to serve Jesus Christ in pastoral ministry?

Twenty years ago, the Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies at Westminster Seminary, California was born. For those two decades, these institutions worked together to train men for ministry in Reformed Baptist churches.

It has been a wonderful partnership. Now we have advanced our school into an independent seminary, offering a full program of courses leading to the Master of Divinity degree. This is IRVS Theological Seminary.

We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired and inerrant Word of God, that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh who came to save sinners by his life, death, and resurrection, and that the task of the church is to honor and serve the triune God in all things.

IRVS Theological Seminary is dedicated, by God's grace, to preparing godly ministers who will be committed to these doctrines. Do you sense a call to serve Jesus Christ in his church as a pastor? Why not consider IRVS Theological Seminary?

You'll find more information at IRVSseminary .org. That's IRVSseminary .org, two S's in the middle. I hope to hear from you soon. God bless you.

Acts 15 and the Gentile Question

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This is a beautiful little hardback published by Evangelical Press. And all you have to do is order anything and then put in the comments section on the website, I want True Love by James Renahan for free.

And that last name is spelled R-E-N-I-H-A-N. In fact, you could just put, I want the book True Love for free, and they'll know what you're referring to. If you want a larger book, that's going to require a $50 minimum purchase.

That is, if you want a larger book for free, you're going to have to purchase a minimum of $50 for the merchandise, and you will receive absolutely free of charge my favorite of all time Christian biography, A Pastor in New York, The Life and Times of Spencer Cohn by my friend John Thornberry, the world-renowned Christian historian.