Resting For Greatness Series

Before we get into the heart of the sermon I want to address idea of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was the 7th day of the week and that’s SATURDAY. On the Sabbath, Jews would worship God, spend time with their families. And… essentially, they did little else. The Sabbath was a DAY OF REST. In fact, that’s exactly what the word Sabbath means – “To Rest.”

So, why do we Christians worship on SUNDAY rather than Saturday? I mean, if Saturday worship was so important to the Jews why wouldn’t Christians just continue to do what the Jews did? Some false teachers have said that the Roman Emperor Constantine changed the day of worship to Sunday back in 321 because he was a Sun worshipper (Sun-day was named after the Sun god). Other false teachers have said that early church changed the day of worship because they hated the Jews and wanted to avoid worshipping on the same day.

NONE OF THAT IS TRUE!!!

So, why DO we Christians worship on Sunday rather than Saturday? Well, we worship on Sunday because that’s what the early church did. The early Christians worshipped on the first day of the week… and so we do to.

• Matthew 28:1 says “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, Mary Magdalene and the othe Mary went to see the tomb.” (Jesus had risen from the dead, on Sunday).

• Acts 20:7 “On the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, when we were gathered together to break bread …” (Christians met on Sunday to take Communion).

• 1 Corinthians 16:2 On the FIRST DAY OF EVERY WEEK, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. (Christians met on Sundays… and they collected offerings on Sunday)

There is NO RECORD of any Christians meeting to worship on Saturday (Sabbath). Now, Paul did preach to the Jews in the Synagogues on the Sabbath because that was where the Jews gathered for their worship… and Paul went to the Synagogues to tell the Jewish worshippers about Jesus.

But now, why should we care. Why would that be important? Well, it’s important because there are folks out there who will try to convince you that we need to worship on the Sabbath… or we have sinned. They maintain that unless people worship on Saturday, they are sinning against God. BUT THEY’RE WRONG. IT’S NOT TRUE. The Jews were required to worship on Saturday… but we (as Christians) aren’t!!!

ILLUS: About 15 years after John wrote Revelation, he had a student named Ignatius who wrote an "Epistle to the Magnesians (long version), Chapter 9, Ignatius wrote: “Let us therefore NO LONGER keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner… Let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's Day (SUNDAY) as a festival, the resurrection day, the queen and chief of all the days... on which our life both sprang up again, and the victory over death was obtained in Christ."

ILLUS: Just a few years later, another Christian writer named Justin Martyr wrote: “On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memories of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read... when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought... and there is a distribution to each... and they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit... and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because... Jesus Christ, our Saviour - the same day, rose from the dead” (First Apology, chapter 67).

Christians worshipped on Sunday (the first day of the week) because that was the day Jesus rose from the dead. Don’t let anyone deceive you into thinking that Christians need to worship on Saturday. IT’S JUST NOT TRUE! As Christians, God no longer REQUIRES us to keep a Sabbath day.

God doesn’t require Christians to do that… but the civil law of our nation actually did! Years ago, there were laws on the books called “Blue Laws”. They were also referred to as Sunday closing laws, Uniform day of rest laws. and Sabbath laws. These laws originated in England and were THEN enacted in the colonies to protect what they called the Christian Sabbath. (SUNDAY) These laws were designed to restrict or ban certain kinds of activities on Sundays and were intended to promote a day of rest: THESE LAWS INCLUDED limiting the sale of certain items, especially alcohol; Prohibiting the opening of businesses; and restricting travel, hunting, professional sports, and other activities. During the 18th & 19th centuries people were often arrested for breaking the Sabbath. They were often fined or forced to serve a jail sentences because they had violated the Law.