Some Christians keep Saturday as a day of rest, and worship, while others keep Sunday. In both groups can be found very sincere Christians, but there are many who have never stopped to consider why they keep a certain day. It’s really a custom; something handed down from one generation to another, but in most cases, no personal examination has been made to discover the reason why. God’s word the Bible, is the Christians’s authority, so here we will find the answer to the question, "Which day should Christians keep?"
Matthew 12:8 "For the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath."
If Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath as this text clearly states, then the Sabbath is the Lord’s day. No other day has been set aside for worship other than the Sabbath, which today is commonly called Saturday. In Isaiah 58:13, the Sabbath is called "MY HOLY DAY"
Exodus 20:8-11,
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animal, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heavens and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
To observe a weekly day of rest is certainly one way to relieve stress. There are many who say all is well providing we worship one day in seven, but God is specific. He says; "Remember the SABBATH day", not any other day. He further statae, "The SEVENTH DAY is the Sabbath". A look at most calendars shows Saturday to be the seventh day of the week. Some modern calendars are different in numbering days of the week, but this is a very recent change
Luke 4:16
"He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day HE went into the synagogue, as was HIs custom. And HE stood up to read."
When Jesus was in the flesh, and lived on this earth, how did He regard the Sabbath? This text shows His habit of Sabbath observance and church attendance. He made it, but He also kept it. He is our example.
Hebrew 13:8
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
People change their views and ideas, but God is perfect - He never changes. In His sight good is always good and evil is always evil. His principles of righteousness are eternal.
Genesis 2:1-3
" Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done."
Here is this world’s first Sabbath. God set the example by working six days and rested on the seventh. Notice how He blessed this day. To bless means to make happy, but obviously it has a deeper meaning than mere surface happiness - it involves real satisfaction. Secondly, God blessed it, or "set it apart" for a holy use. It was a day different from all other days. No matter how sincerely a person may keep another day other than the Sabbath, it does not make it a holy day. Only God can make a day holy. Thirdly, it is a rest day.
So the question we can ask is;
How Can We Locate The Seventh Day In The Bible?
Luke 23:54,56; 24:1
"It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. Onb the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb."
The day before the Sabbath is called the preparation day. The day after the Sabbath is called the first day of the week. The Sabbath is the seventh day. Today we call the preparation day - Friday, and the first day - Sunday, so Saturday is the seventh day of the Bible.
Some feel that time has been lost and we cannot be certain. This is a good observation, but let us consider evidence from three areas:
1. The Jewish Nation
The Jews have always been very strict regarding Sabbath observance and would never change. Today they still observe Saturday as Sabbath. They were wrong in rejecting the True Messiah - Christ, but are right regarding the day of worship.
2. The Calendar
The calendar underwent a change in 1582 when transferring from Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Ten days were omitted in the new calendar, therefore changing the dates - but the SEQUENCE OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK DID NOT CHANGE. The same weekly cycle continued from Sunday to Saturday.
3. Archaeology
Archaeologists have uncovered many clay tablets, and on some are recorded eclipses. These are Babylonian Tablets, made many years before Christ. Any astronomer will testify to the accurate timing of the movements of heavenly bodies such as the sun, moon and stars. An eclipse can be predicted with split second timing. Examining the Babylonians tablets it can be calculated that we have not lost one thousandth of a second in time, let alone a whole day.
Leviticus 23:32
"It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourself. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath."
This text specifically mentions evening, or the first part of darkness after the sunsets. God commanded His people to observe the sabbaths, not from midnight to midnight as we do today, but from sunset to sunset. When the sun sets on Friday evening, Sabbath opens. When the sun sets on Saturday evening the Sabbath closes. (See Nehemiah 13:19 note the words evening shadows’).
Ezekiel 20:12
"Also I gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy."
To keep the true Sabbath is a sign that we belong to the true God of heaven. Sabbath observance indicates to the world that we are giving our allegiance to the Creator. It was true of literal Israel and is true of Spiritual Israel (i.e. those who accept Christ. Galatians 3:29.); for no changes in the day of worship has ever been recorded in the Bible.
Isaiah 66:22,23
"As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before Me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure...From one Sabbath to another all mankind will come and bow down before me" saith the LORD.
In the new earth, which God has promised to the faithful, the Sabbath will be observed. The Sabbath was made before sin entered the world and it was kept by God and Adam and Eve. When our first parent Adam and Eve sinned they still kept the Sabbath. THe Isralites kept it; Jesus Christ kept it and so did His followers. There is no record of a change. Then when sin is finished forever, we will still be keeping the Sabbath.
Saturday, the seventh-day of the week, is the Bible Sabbath, but many Christians observe Sunday as a day of worship. Can such a stand be supported by the Bible? Are there any text that authorise a change in the day of worship? Does the Bible say we should keep Sunday because Christ rose from the dead on that day? Many have not examined the texts of Scripture that refer to Sunday in the New Testament: but we will examine each reference that mentions the first day of the week, Sunday.
Matthew 28:1
"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Marywent to look at the tomb."
Mark 16:1,2
"When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that might go to annoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb."
Mark16:9
"When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had driven seven demons."
The record states Jesus rose from the dead on the first day, but there is no command for its observance.
Luke 242:1
"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb."
John 20:1
"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance."
Both Luke and Johnmany years after the resurrection, yet a changed day of worship is not even mentioned. Notice that Sunday is not called the Lord’s day, or even the Sabbath day, or a holy day. Some keep Sunday to honour the resurrection, but a command to do so is found nowhere in the Bible. We are command to remember His death and resurrection, but not by the keeping of a day.
Romans 6:3,4
"Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him throughy baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
The rite of Baptism is symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. When one is baptised under the water, it represents the death of Christ, and coming up out of the water represents the resurrection of Christ. It is paralleled to our Christians experience when we die to sin, and rise to a new life in Christ. Baptism is the Bible command to honour the resurrection, not the observance of Sunday. In fact, in the entire Bible no day is set aside to commemorate the resurrection.
John 20:19
"In the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
Some will say that this text shows how the disciples gathered together for religious meeting on the first day of the week. However, it will be noted that they were gathered for a particular reason - not for worship - but for fear of the Jews. They had seen what had become of Christ, and were afraid of suffering the same fate. The fact is that at this stage, they did not believe Christ had risen from the dead.
Mark 16:14
"Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen Him after He had risen."
If they did not believe Christ had risen from dead, they certainly did not gather for the purpose of honouring the resurrection.
Acts 20:7,8
"On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting."
Before Paul left Troas he gave a long sermon. He was leaving the next morning, so made the most of his time there. It was the first day of the week, and in Bible reckoning (sunset to sunset), the first day of the week commenced at sunset on Saturday night. He could have sailed that night, but chose to stay, then walk to Assos the next morning (Sunday) to catch his boat; a distance of nineteen and a half miles. He did not rest on Sunday, but regarded it as a normal day of the week. But notice that they broke bread on the first day. Many conclude that this makes the day holy, but observe the next text.
Acts 2:46
"Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts."
Breaking bread was practised every day of the week, so breaking bread on the first day does not make Sunday a holy day.
1 Corinthians 16:1,2
"Now the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
It has been felt by some that because a collection is spoken of here, then it must have been a religious gathering. However, the text makes no suggestion of a meeting. It is simply a command to put aside donations on the Sunday so that all will be ready when Paul comes.
There was a good reasons for this collection. The Christians in Jerusalem were suffering persecution and were in great need of life’s necessities. Paul wanted the collection to be organised so that no time would be lost on his arrival. Paul then, in fact, was suggesting that the followers of Christ work on Sunday by collecting the necessary items for the Jerusalem Christians.
In these eight passages which mention the first day, there is no command to keep it: there is no record of its being appointed as a Sabbath; no record of any blessing being placed on it; no record of its being made holy: no record of any sacredness being attached to it; no promise of a blessing for its observance: no threat of punishment for its non-observance: it is not once called the Sabbath, or given any sacred title; no record that Christ kept it or commanded it to be kept; no record that the early Christians churches observed it; infact there is nothing, absolutely nothing, in all the Bible that gives the slightest hint of a Sunday institution. The observance of Sunday is a practice for which there is no Bible authority: and it is therefore a practice that Bible Christians are under no obligation to observe.
Now that we have looked at the evidence, will you stand on the Scriptures or on tradition for the day you observe, will you embrace the rest and blessing of the Sabbath or the unsanctified laws of people?
Joshua 24:15
"Choose you this day, tell who will you serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Peace
Robert P Fa’atoia-Collins
Assistant Pastor
