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SUNDAY OR SATURDAY …
WHICH?
In man's society, ignorance of the
law is no excuse. Time and again those who are issued traffic citations may
plead innocence by reason of ignorance. "But officer, I didn't see that
stop sign," is repeated thousands of times a year. And to no avail. The
ticket is written anyway.
God's law is the same.
Gravity prevailed long before Newton was born to define it. God's
spiritual laws are like gravity. They live. They are active, alive; they apply
to us today! The great test commandment God placed before a
stiff-necked people was His seventh-day Sabbath. Today, the millions
of this world reject God's Sabbath day, contemptuously and complacently sure
that, since the majority are "Sunday-keepers," it is safe to go
along with the majority.
But is it, really?
If your very salvation--your life for all eternity--were at stake, wouldn't
you want to make sure?
You live in a Sunday-observing world. From earliest awareness, most peoples
in the English-speaking "Christian" world are familiar with Sunday
as the day of Christian worship. Nostalgic memories of church bells, musty
pews, the church bus, choirs, church picnics, and
"Sunday-go-to-meeting-clothes" are firmly lodged in the hearts of
millions.
But what of the many groups, among them the Seventh-day Adventists, various
Seventh-day Churches of God and other "Sabbatarians"?
To most Protestant Church Christians, these "Sabbatarians" are
legalistic, ritualistic, and are decidedly on the "fringe" of
accepted mainstream religion; out of step with the majority and perhaps a
little odd. But have you ever proved it one way or the other yourself? Can
you, at this moment, turn to one single scripture in your own Bible and prove
why you go to church on Sunday? Your answer to that question will be heard by
no one. It will be a private answer in your own mind and heart. That is--if
there is no God. But if there is, and if that God is all knowing and
everywhere present, then God knows the answer you gave. Will He hold you
accountable to "prove all things" as He says in His Word? Will God
be satisfied with worship carelessly taken for granted? Suppose the
Sabbatarians are right? The point is--unless you have proved it one way or
the other, you don't really know do you?
Sunday in the New
Testament
You can search your exhaustive concordances in vain to find the word
"Sunday" in the Bible. The word appears nowhere in the Holy
Scriptures. Actually, the word is of completely pagan origin--as are the
names of all of the days of the week.
Even as ancient pagan emperors appropriated the names of months for
themselves (as did Augustus Caesar, adding an extra day to compete
with Julius Caesar's "July" of 31 days) so
are the days of the week endowed with pagan names.
Monday is the day of the moon. Tuesday is the day of Theus,
or a pagan Nordic god. Wednesday is the day of Woden, same comment. Thursday is the day
of Thor, a pagan deity. Friday is the day
of Freia, a pagan goddess. Saturday is the day of
Saturn and has no relationship whatsoever to the word "Sabbath"
even though the words share the first two letters.
Likewise, Sunday is "the day of the sun" in honor of the ancient,
pagan sun god.
Originally, God did not name but one day of the week! He numbered the rest.
The first day is what the pagans began to call the day of the sun and is a
normal work day. So, also, is the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth.
Over the centuries men began calling the sixth day of the week
"Preparation day," and the expression is used in the Bible.
Almighty God names only one day of the week--the Sabbath.
The First Day of the
Week in Scripture
Though "Sunday" is never mentioned in the Bible, the day following
the Sabbath, or the "first day of the week," is in only eight specific
places.
Let's take a look at each of these eight scriptural references to the first
day of the week and see if we can find any authority whatsoever for
"Sunday observance" in these scriptures. For, remember, if there is
to be any biblical authority whatsoever for "Sunday keeping," then
we must find it in one, or some, or all of these eight scriptural references
to the first day of the week! One more comment: the Bible challenges us to "prove
all things, hold fast that which is good" (1 THESSALONIANS 5:21). This entire subject is being approached solely
from the point of view of the Bible, the written Word of God, as the ultimate
authority concerning the Sunday-Sabbath question.
Naturally, the Catholic Church does not consider the Bible its sole authority,
and many Catholics freely admit that the only authority for "Sunday
keeping" today is the authority of the Catholic Church. There are two
other "authorities" accepted by the Catholic Church other than the
Bible. They are the "Tradition of the fathers," and the Pope,
himself, when speaking from the "Holy See."
Though most Protestants would not like to acknowledge this plain fact of
history, it was only the authority of the Catholic Church which finally
brought about the change from Sabbath observance to "Sunday
keeping" by the second and third centuries after the time of Jesus Christ.
Now to the scriptures:
1) MATTHEW 28:1: "In the end of the
Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre."
Taking the Gospels in chronological order, this is the first place in
Scripture where today's "Sunday" or "the first day of the
week" is mentioned. Either Matthew or 1 Thessalonians occupy the
place of the first book written in New Testament times. Likely, they were not
written until about AD 55! Therefore, these words may not even have been
written until about 24 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Surely any established practice
of the early Christian church would have been thoroughly entrenched in that
church after so long a time.
What does the scripture say? It does not say anything about a church meeting,
special assembly, day of worship, or special nature or character applied to
the "first day of the week."
What does the scripture say? It plainly says that as that Sabbath day was
over, and it was drawing toward the first day of the week, the two women came
to see the sepulchre and found it open, the stone rolled away, and Jesus
Christ gone!
It also tells us that the only designated Sabbath day of the Bible is the day
just before the "first day of the week."
That means the Sabbath day is always the seventh day in Scripture and can
never be any other! No authority here for Sunday observance.
2) MARK 16:2: "And very early in the morning, the first day of the
week, they came to the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." This
is the identical occasion as written by another of the Gospel writers, Mark. Every comment that applied to the
scripture above must apply to MARK 16:2. This is also another clear proof
that the first day of the week (see verse 1) comes only after the Sabbath day
is past.
3) MARK 16:9: "Now when Jesus was risen, early the first day of
the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven
demons." Be
careful with the placement of the second comma in this verse! If men were
invited to a party and one of them exclaimed, "What's for dinner,
girls?" One might assume "girls" were on the menu. But if he
said, "What's for dinner girls?" the meaning becomes clear.
It is very clear from all scriptures on the subject of the resurrection that Jesus was already risen "as
it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." Correctly
read then, MARK 16:9 shows, "Now when [after] Jesus was risen [past tense], He appeared
first to Mary Magdalene on the first day of the
week." If
it were correctly paraphrased, there would be no problem understanding this
verse in the identical context with all the others. But, most importantly, it
again proves everything asserted concerning the text in Matthew. This was no special meeting--but
merely another gospel writer's account of one of the first appearances of Jesus Christ following His resurrection.
Nothing in this scripture sets apart Sunday as a day for a holy purpose--or
calls it "the Lord's day," or commands any Christian to ever
observe it!
4) LUKE 24:1: "Now upon the first
day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre,
bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with
them." In
Luke's account, he adds the detail that
the women were bringing additional spices, hoping to gain admission to the
tomb prior to the fourth day, after which Jewish law and common prudence
would have prohibited it. Reading the preceding verse in the chapter just
before this text, you discover that the women were continuing to obey the
Sabbath commandment and that no additional comment was offered by Luke, the
chronologer, concerning this commonplace custom, even though he wrote this
material many years (perhaps as many as thirty or more!) following the fact!
Luke wrote the book of Acts probably
between 59 and 61 AD. During this intensive period of writing, he very likely
wrote the Gospel account as well. This places this Gospel very nearly thirty
years after the resurrection!
Why did Luke casually mention these women
preparing their spices and then "rested the Sabbath day according
to the commandment" unless he knew that the custom was still
commonplace, still obeyed? If Luke and the other early Christians had been
"keeping Sunday" by this time, nearly thirty years after the
resurrection of Christ, then he surely could have made
comment concerning the custom of the women resting "on the Sabbath
day according to the commandment." But no, Luke goes right on and narrates the
chronological events with no comment whatsoever concerning the women's
observance of the Sabbath day.
Here were women performing work requiring a long walk, toiling up a steep
hill and preparing to go about the business of completely unwrapping a buried
body, rubbing salves and ointments of every description upon it, then
rewrapping the body and placing it back on the bier in the crypt!
This would have represented hard physical labor, and shows that this first
day of the week was a day completely different in character from the day
preceding. On the preceding day, the women had "rested according to the
commandment"! Now that the Sabbath day was over, it was perfectly all
right for the women to go to the arduous task for which they had been waiting
for these twenty-four hours, for now it was the first day of the week, a
common workday, and there was no further requirement to "rest."
5) JOHN 20:1: "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene
early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre." It is likely
that the Gospel of John was written still later following Luke's Gospel. Again, this is merely John's corroboration of the testimony
of the other Gospel writers concerning the day and the time element when the
two Mary’s and Peter, John and others of the disciples began
to discover the tomb was empty.
It was the day following the Sabbath--of that you are absolutely certain. The
Sabbath was a rest day, of that you are sure. The first day of the week
(called Sunday today) was a common workday to these people at that time!
Further, it was still considered a common workday at the time these men wrote
these segments of the Bible! Certainly there was no "religious"
character to the day in any of the scriptures we have read so far.
But what about the next one?
6) JOHN 20:19: "Then the same day at evening, being the first day
of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for
fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and said unto them,
Peace be unto you."
First, understand what the verse does not say. It says it was that same day
"at evening." This meant it was very late, just before sunset. It
is obviously still "the first day of the week." The disciples were
definitely "assembled." But WHY? What was the purpose of their
assembly? Was this a "religious assembly"?
Absolutely not! A careful perusal of the four gospel accounts concerning the
activities of the women and the disciples who accompanied with Jesus proves beyond a shadow of a doubt
that they "all forsook Him and fled!" Even following
several startling appearances, many still doubted, and Thomas was one of the last to be
convinced! Remember, none of these disciples really expected Jesus to be resurrected. All had
forsaken Him, and Peter even cursed and denied His name. To them, it was all
over. To them, Jesus was still dead--and His body had somehow been taken away! No, by no
twisting, distorting or perversion of the Bible can anyone attempt to make
this into a "religious assembly."
Rather, the Bible plainly says they were "assembled FOR FEAR OF THE
JEWS"! What was the purpose for their assembly? It was "fear"!
By no stretch of the imagination can anyone pervert this scripture into an
alleged "Christian meeting," for the people involved did not yet
believe Jesus was risen--did not even want to believe it, and were assembled
in a common upper room where they lived, for only one reason only, that being
the "fear of the Jews"! And naturally, they would be afraid! Why?
Because the Jewish leaders had already murdered their mentor and leader, Jesus Christ! They feared their own deaths
might follow! Here was a group of frightened, perhaps terrified people,
physically trembling, jumping in fright at the slightest sound, hoping and
praying every moment not to be discovered.
The scenario from the holy Word of God is very clear! When Jesus appeared to them it was a shocking
event. They didn't expect it!
No, JOHN 20:19 was not a "religious
assembly"!
7) ACTS 20:7, "And upon the first day of the week, when the
disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to
depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight. And there were
many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered.
Remember, God begins and ends His days at sunset. It is plain from this
scripture that the meeting was over a meal; "breaking bread" merely
meant sitting down to a meal, which could have featured any number of courses
and have consisted of meats, vegetables, and many other edibles besides
bread. The apostle Paul spoke on and on, "until midnight." Yet, the Bible says it was
still "the first day of the week." Therefore it is very clear to us
today that this would appear to be a "Saturday night meeting"! It is,
of course, a purely pagan practice to begin and end the days in the middle of
the night at "midnight." But this meeting took place
only "until midnight"! Therefore, it is noteworthy to remember that
the way we would look at it today, this was a "Saturday night
meeting"!
Actually it was on the nighttime part of the "first day of the
week."
God wants to know what you are going to do with this knowledge. Feel free to
join our fellowship next Sabbath. Bring your friends and family for everyone
is welcome. Come prepared & ready to offer praise to our loving God. If
you have additional questions or need further information, please email us
or give us a call at (204) 231-1926.
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