The Lord's Day: Do You Devote It to Him?

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That the Lord’s Day is a different day, and of a different character, from the Sabbath will hardly be questioned by any for whom this little paper is intended.
The Sabbath was the seventh day of the week; the Lord’s Day is the first.
The Sabbath commemorated God’s rest from His work of creation and is a type of the eternal rest that remains for Him and His people, when He will again have ceased to work — a rest founded on redemption, and to be realized when sin will have been completely removed from God’s dominions. This will be in the new heaven and the new earth. (See Heb. 4:111; Rev. 21:1717And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. (Revelation 21:17).)
The Sabbath was also a “sign” between Jehovah and Israel of the covenant He made with them, and was incorporated in the law of the ten commandments, with the penalty of death attached for its violation (Ex. 31:12-1812And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 13Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. 14Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15Six 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. 16Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17It 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. 18And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. (Exodus 31:12‑18); Ezek. 20:1212Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. (Ezekiel 20:12)). Nor is there any evidence that it was ever given to any other, or that it was ever observed before the Christian era by any except those within the pale of Judaism.
The Lord’s Day celebrates the resurrection of our blessed Lord, and it is a day known alone to Christianity. There is no specific command given to keep it as a day of rest, or to observe it in any way. But it does not, therefore, follow that there is no obligation, for Christianity is not a system of legal commands and declared penalties, but a revelation of truth from God which ought to command the obedience of every subject and loyal heart — “the obedience of faith.” (See Rom. 1:5; 16:265By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: (Romans 1:5)
26But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: (Romans 16:26).)
Let us now see how the day is characterized in Scripture.