Five
Essential Bible Truths – Part 4
What
Happened to the Lord’s Day?
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New
Testament Review
There are only eight
texts in the New Testament that
mention the first day of the week.
Biblical support for the sacredness
of Sunday, if it exists, would have
to come exclusively from these
verses. Here are the texts:
- Matthew
28:1
- Mark
16:2
- Mark
16:9
- Luke
24:1
- John
20:1
- John
20:19
- Acts
29:7
- 1
Corinthians 16:2
The first six texts
refer to the resurrection of Jesus on
the first day of the week – a
well-known fact. However, none of
these texts says anything about the
sacredness of Sunday. In fact, Luke
23:56 points out that a group of
women did not prepare Jesus’
body for burial on Friday (the day
called Preparation), but instead,
rested on the Sabbath “according
to the commandment.” Obviously,
by the time of His death, Jesus had
not informed His followers that the
fourth commandment was going to be
made void because of His
resurrection.
Since the first six
texts simply discuss the resurrection
of Jesus, we will investigate the
remaining two verses and note the
absence of any command to observe
Sunday as the Lord’s day.
Acts
20:7
Some Bible students
refer to Acts 20 as evidence that
Sunday worship was practiced by the
apostles. Notice, “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.” (Acts
20:7) Let us consider the details
within this verse.
In Bible times, a day
began at sunset and ended the
following evening. Since creation,
the rotation of the earth has
produced this unchanging process.
(See Genesis 1.) The Jews in
Christ’s time regarded a day
form evening to evening and kept the
Sabbath from Friday sundown to
Saturday sundown. (Compare Luke
23:50-56 with Leviticus 23:32)
Therefore, the actual timing
described in Acts 20:7 is as follows:
Paul stayed with the believers at
Troas for seven days. (Acts 20:6) At
the beginning of the first day of the
week, at suppertime, the believers
came together to eat supper with Paul
and to say goodbye to their friend.
Remember, the first day of the week
in Paul’s time began Sabbath
evening at sundown, or what we call
Saturday evening. After supper, Paul
preached until midnight (Saturday
midnight). A few hours later on
Sunday morning, the first day of the
week, he left Troas for Assos.
Therefore, Paul met
with believers for supper and
preached until midnight, Saturday
night. Does a farewell supper and
Saturday night meeting change or
abrogate the fourth commandment of
God? No. Even if Paul chose to
worship on Tuesday night, would this
make void the law of God? No. Only
God can void His own law.
Some students claim
that the term “breaking of
bread” indicates Paul’s
visit was a communion or worship
service. Not so. In Luke 24:13-31
Jesus “broke bread” at
supper time with two companions after
He walked more than seven miles to
Emmaus with them. Even to this day,
the breaking of bread remains a
custom in the Orient since bread is
baked firm and is literally
“broken” before it can be
eaten. We also know that Jesus broke
bread on Thursday night with His
disciples at Passover. If
“breaking bread” means a
worship service was conducted, why
would Jesus conduct a worship service
at sundown in Emmaus, just when the
second day of the week was beginning?
If Paul’s meeting was supposed
to be a worship service, Acts 20:7
gives no indication that this
occurred.
I call Acts 20:7 a
mystery text because Paul did not
conduct a Sunday service in Troas.
Actually, he held a meeting on
Saturday night – the first part
of the week in Bible times – but
today is considered the last part of
the seventh day. (Jews still reckon a
day from sundown to sundown. Today,
we “Gentiles” reckon a day
from midnight to midnight.) So, if
early Christians really followed
Paul’s example as authority for
the time of worship, they would
worship on Saturday night (between
sundown and midnight). Again, an
honest, objective look at this text
indicates that God gave no authority
for Sunday observance.
1
Corinthians 16: 2
Some Christians use
the following text to demonstrate how
Paul insisted that the first day of
the week be used to collect offerings
for the poor. Notice: “Now
about the collection for God’s
people: Do what the Galatian churches
to do. On the first day of the 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. Then, when I arrive, I will
give letters of introduction to the
men you approve and send them with
your gift to Jerusalem.” (1
Corinthians 16:1-3)
In Paul’s day,
money was not a common medium of
exchange as it is today. Most trading
was done through bartering. For
example, a person might trade a
chicken for cloth or pottery. Paul
instructed the church in Corinth to
begin each week with selling or
trading so they might obtain a sum of
currency. He preferred to take money
with him to give to the persecuted
believers in Jerusalem, since travel
with roosters, goats, pottery and
other things of value, was nearly
impossible. Consequently, he asked
that they take care of this matter,
“first thing after the
Sabbath.” (Compare with Nehemiah
13:15.) Again, the appropriate
question is, “Does Paul’s
instruction change or make void the
fourth commandment that God
gave?” Not at all.
Thoughts on Romans
6
Currently, the most
common reason Christians use to
defend Sunday worship is Jesus’
resurrection on Sunday morning, the
first day of the week. Yes, the
resurrection is important and the
Bible does provide a celebration of
the resurrection! It is called
baptism. Notice what Paul says, “What
shall we say, then? Shall we go on
sinning so that grace may increase?
By no means! We died to sin; how can
we live in it any longer? Or
don’t you know that all of us
who were baptized in to Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? We were
therefore buried with him through
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.”
(Romans 6:1-4)
However, does baptism
change or abrogate the fourth
commandment? Not at all. In fact, not
one of the eight New Testament texts
says that the holiness of the seventh
day was transferred to Sunday!
What
was Nailed to the Cross?
Many Christians
believe that the Ten Commandments
were nailed to the cross. If it was
not the Ten Commandments, then what
was nailed to the cross? Most people
are surprised to learn that the
ceremonies relating to the sanctuary
services, which were a shadow or
explanation of the plan of salvation,
were nailed to the cross. The key
word here is shadow. Notice
what Paul said, “For in
Christ all the fullness of the Deity
lives in bodily form, and you have
been given fullness in Christ, who is
the head over every power and
authority….When you were dead in
your sins and in the circumcision of
your sinful nature, God made you
alive with Christ. He forgave us all
our sins, having cancelled the
written code, with its regulations,
that was against us and that stood
opposed to us; he took it away,
nailing it to the
cross….Therefore do not let
anyone judge you by what you eat or
drink, or with regard to a religious
festival, a New Moon celebration or a
Sabbath day. These are a shadow of
the things that were to come; the
reality, however, is found in Christ.
Do not let anyone who delights in
false humility and the worship of
angels disqualify you for the
prize…” (Colossians
2:9-18)
If you look at these
verses carefully, you will see that
Paul is discussing the regulations
regarding religious feasts, New
Moon observances and Sabbath days.
The “Sabbath days” that
Paul is referring to is not the
seventh day Sabbath of the fourth
commandment. Rather, the term
“Sabbath days” applies to
Sabbath “feast days,” such
as the Passover or the Day of
Atonement. (Leviticus 16:31) Feast
days often fell on different days of
the week (like our birthday) because
they occurred on the same date each
year. These feast days were special
Sabbaths of rest that pointed forward
to different aspects of Jesus
ministry and death. For example, the
Passover not only reminded the Jews
of deliverance from Egypt, but also
pointed forward to a time when the
Passover Lamb – Jesus Christ
– would die, so all people could
be delivered from the bondage of sin!
The Jews confused the
Ten Commandments Law of God with the
laws given to Moses, much like the
Christians to today. The permanence
of the Law of God versus the law of
Moses can be seen in several ways.
First, the greater law, the Ten
Commandments, was written on stone by
God’s own finger and kept within
the ark. The law of Moses (ceremonial
or lesser law) was given by God to be
written by Moses (man) and kept in a
pocket on the side of the ark. (See
Deuteronomy 10:1,2; 31:26.) One law
was permanent the other was
temporary. This is why the ark was
often called the Ark of the Covenant,
since the Ten Commandments are the
basis of God’s covenant with
man. This covenant says, “If
you choose to obey me, I will be your
God.” (Deuteronomy 30:9-11)
What
about Romans 14?
What about Romans 14?
Some Christians use Romans 14 to
prove it does not matter which day of
the week we use to worship God.
Notice the text: “Accept him
whose faith is weak, without passing
judgment on disputable matters. One
man’s faith allows him to eat
everything, but another man, whose
faith is weak, eats only vegetables.
The man who eats everything must not
look down on him who does not, and
the man who does not eat everything
must not condemn the man who does,
for God has accepted him. Who are you
to judge someone else’s servant?
To his own master he stands and
falls. And he will stand, for
the Lord is able to make him stand.
One man considers one day more scared
than another; another man considers
everyday alike. Each should be fully
convinced in his own mind. He who
regards one day as special, does so
to the Lord. He who eats meant, eats
to the Lord, for he gives thanks to
God; and he who abstains, does so to
the Lord and gives thanks to God. For
none of us lives to himself alone and
none of us dies to himself alone. If
we live, we live to the Lord; and if
we die, we die to the Lord. So,
whether we live or die, we belong to
the Lord. For this very reason,
Christ died and returned to life so
that he might be the Lord of both the
dead and the living. You then, why do
you judge your brother? Or why do you
look down on your brother? For we
will all stand before God’s
judgment seat.” (Romans
14:1-10)
The context of these
verses does not imply that we can
worship God whenever we feel like it.
No, this text is addressing a
specific problem that early
Christians had to deal with, namely,
the religious customs of the Jews. In
other words, if a new believer in
Jesus felt he needed to observe
Passover, Paul did not condemn the
new believer except to say that his
faith was weak. In addition, if the
new believer could not consciously
eat meant purchased in the
marketplace, for fear it had not been
killed correctly or that had been
offered to idols, Paul said to leave
these people alone! (The Jews would
not purchase not eat meant unless it
was killed according to Mosaic code.
Leviticus 19:26) Today, many clerics
use this text as support for Sunday
worship; however, I wonder if this
same liberty will be offered to those
who choose to honor God’s fourth
commandment when the one world
religious/political government is
established during the Great
Tribulation?
Some Christians
believe that Pentecost fell on Sunday
during the year that Christ died,
therefore, proving that Sunday is
God’s holy day. However,
Pentecost has always fallen on Sunday
– ever since the Exodus. The
Wave Sheaf offering was always made
on the first Sunday after Passover,
and Pentecost followed 50 days later
(counting inclusively), always
occurring on a Sunday. Leviticus 23)
So, if the annual Pentecost feast
occurred on Sunday for more than a
millennium before Jesus was on earth,
how does this make the fourth
commandment void? It does not.
Some Christians teach
that the Sabbath mentioned in the Ten
Commandments is “Jewish”
because God delivered His
commandments to the Jews. If we
extend this line of reasoning to its
logical conclusion, then we must
conclude that all Ten
Commandments are “Jewish.”
(Remember, they came in a package of
ten.) Obviously, this line of
reasoning implies that titles are not
under the obligation of the fourth
commandment. However, God created the
seventh day Sabbath and made it holy
long before Abraham, the first Jew,
lived on the earth. Could this be why
the fourth commandment begins with
“Remember the Sabbath
day…”?
Last, some clerics
claim that nine of the Ten
Commandments are mentioned in the New
Testament, but the fourth commandment
is missing. This statement is not
true. In fact, the absence of any
argument from the Jews or Jewish
converts indicates the assumption by
New Testament writers that the
Sabbath remained intact without
question (especially when one
considers the abundance of
controversy over the issue of
circumcision or eating meat offered
to idols.) However, Paul clears this
matter in the New Testament by
saying, “There remains, then,
a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;
for anyone who enters God’s rest
also rests from his own work, just as
God did from his.” (Hebrews
4:9,10)
Which
is the Greatest Law?
As you might expect of
a legalistic society, the Jews loved
to argue about their laws. An expert
lawyer even challenged Jesus with a
test to see which law was the
greatest! (Matthew 22:34-40) I
believe the spiritually of the Jews
degenerated into a great legal system
of darkness, because they generally
misunderstood the purpose of
God’s laws. (Matthew 23:2-15)
When the apostle Paul began to
explain the purposes and
relationships between the ceremonial
laws and God’s moral law, you
can understand the Jewish hatred
exercised against him. Paul claimed
that the laws of Moses had expired
and this was more than the Jews could
tolerate! Paul was captured and
eventually beheaded for his
convictions. (Acts 21:27-36)
Paul is very explicit
in Colossians 2 and Ephesians 2 that
the laws nailed to the cross were
shadows of the real thing and these
laws, cam to an end at the cross.
Now, in Christ there is neither Jew
nor Gentile. The ceremonial laws
requiring the observance of new
moons, Sabbath feasts and the
sacrifice of lambs have become
unnecessary because the Lamb of God
has died, removing the shadow over
salvation and making it visible to
all. In other words, ceremonial laws
were temporary until their meaning
was fulfilled.
So, consider
Paul’s dilemma, How could he get
the Jews to understand the true
meaning of ceremonial laws and cease
doing something they had been doing
for 1,800 years? We have the same
problem today. How can a whole nation
change from Sunday observance to
Saturday observance?
Paul is very clear in
Hebrews 10 and Galatians 3 & 4
that these ceremonies never brought
salvation to the Jews in the first
place; rather, they were temporary
and designed to teach how
salvation occurs!
Paul makes it equally
clear that obeying the Ten
Commandments cannot produce salvation
either, because salvation comes only
by faith! The problem today is that
most Christians think that faith and
grace make the moral law unnecessary.
Does love between husband and wife
eliminate the necessity for fidelity?
No. Neither does living together make
two people married. The relationship
between love and obedience is simple.
God grants salvation to everyone who
becomes willing to do His will. He
does not grant salvation to us on our
ability to do His will. We
demonstrate our willingness by
receiving strength from God to do
what He wants. Paul understood this
process. (See Romans 7.) In fact, all
through his Christian life (which
took place after Calvary), Paul
faithfully observed the seventh day
Sabbath. (See Acts 13:44; 16:13;
17:2; 18:4,11.)
If any question
remains about the sacredness of the
seventh day Sabbath after
Calvary, perhaps this last point will
clarify the issue. Jesus confirmed
the holiness of the seventh day
Sabbath by specifically saying to His
disciples that they should pray that
their escape for the coming
destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70)
would not be in the winter nor on the
Sabbath day. (Matthew 24:20) Why did
Jesus say that early Christians
should make this a matter of prayer?
Because escape and survival from the
enemy during winter months would
obviously bring physical hardship.
Sickness, even death to those who
escaped. But, why did Jesus
specifically mention the Sabbath day
as a bad time to escape from the
coming Roman siege? For two reasons:
First, early Christians would be torn
between observing God’s Sabbath
day (a moral issue) and escaping on
the Sabbath day (a survival issue).
Second, by focusing on the Sabbath
day, Jesus indicted how sudden and
short the window of opportunity for
escape would be. Apparently, early
Christians understood this prophecy
accurately, for historical records
indicate that the Christians were not
among those who perished when
Jerusalem was destroyed.
Cannot
Break One Commandment
If we take the
position that Jesus nailed the fourth
commandment to the cross, then we
must conclude that He nailed the
other nine too. Whatever we do with
the fourth commandment, we must also
do with the other nine. The issue
will become an important distinction
between those who love God and those
who rebel against Him during the
outpouring of God’s judgments.
The Ten Commandments are
nonnegotiable. They stand, as one
unit representing the revealed will
of God. The Ten Commandments were
written on two tables of stone
because they are based on two enduring
principles – love for God
and love for man. The first four
commandments explain how we are to
love God. The last six commandments
explain how we are to love our
neighbor. One more point: Maturity in
Christ begins when we acknowledge the
claims of God’s law upon our
life. Then, realizing our great
weakness, we place our faith in Jesus
so that we can fulfill His law
through His indwelling power. Paul
knew all the Ten Commandments were
intact. He said: “What shall
we say then? Is the law sin?
Certainly not! Indeed I would not
have known what sin was except
through the law. For I would not have
known what is was to covet if the law
had not said, ‘Do not
covet.” (Romans 7:7)
James wrote: “If
you really keep the royal law found
in the Scripture, ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself,’ you are
doing right! But if you show
favoritism, you sin and are convicted
by the laws as lawbreakers. For
whoever keeps the whole law and yet
stumbles at just one point is guilty
of breaking all of it. For he who
said, ‘Do not commit
adultery,’ also said, ‘Do
not murder.’ If you do not
commit adultery but do commit murder,
you have become a lawbreaker.” (James
2:8-11)
James brings us to an
important and fundamental conclusion
regarding the royal law, or the
King’s law. He says we must obey
all the commandments. If we break any
of them, we are guilty of breaking
them all, because the King’s law
is only fulfilled through love. We
must first love God with all our
heart, mind and soul and then, our
neighbor as ourselves. How should we
express our love for God? Jesus said,
“If you love me, you will
obey what I command.” (John
14:15)
Keeping the Sabbath
holy will not save anyone. Mandating
Saturday laws will not save anyone
either! This is why the final exam
for the human race is carefully
designed to test our relationship
with Jesus. The basis for salvation
is faith. Faith is doing what God
requires at any cost. Since eternal
life comes only through faith, and
since every means of human survival
will be removed in the future, you
and I will need great faith in god in
order to remain loyal to Him! If it
seems hard to obey God now, what will
it be like then?
The
Seventh Day of Creation is Our
Saturday
The Bible reveals how
God’s subjects are to worship
Him. This is not a matter left to
human design. Unfortunately, the
devil, during the past 6,000 years,
has obstructed God’s truth and
implemented many false religions
around the world. For example,
suppose you came to Earth on a
spaceship and you met three religious
leaders. The first was a Moslem, the
second, a Jew and the last, a
Christian. You ask the each person
the same question: “What day of
the week do you worship on?” The
Moslem would say, “The sixth
day, or Friday, because Mohammed
rested on Friday from travel.”
The Jew would say “I worship on
the seventh day of the week, or
Saturday, as the fourth commandment
requires.” The Christian would
say, “I go to church on Sunday,
the first day of the week, because of
Christ’s resurrection.” As
you leave Earth in your spaceship,
you marvel at this interesting point:
These three religions represent 50%
of Earth’s inhabitants and each
religion claims to have the truth
about God. Each religious
system also declares that the other
two religious systems are false and
yet, they unwittingly confirm the
truth. Their diversity confirms that
the weekly cycle remains intact. Here
is how: The sixth day of the week is
adjacent to the seventh day, which
just happens to be adjacent to the
first day of the week. In other
words, each religious system worships
on unique days that are adjacent to
each other. This fact confirms the
perpetuity of Creation’s week
since Jesus was on earth and shows
that the weekly cycle has not been
altered. The Israelites have
formally worshiped on the seventh day
ever since the Exodus in 1437 B.C.,
the Christians in Rome, according to
Justin Martyr, have formally
worshiped on the first day of the
week since A.D. 150, and Moslems have
formally worshiped on the sixth day
of the week since the sixth century
A.D. If the weekly cycle had been
altered in any way, these holy days
of worship would not be adjacent to
each other! The seventh day
(Saturday) is still God’s holy
day, just as it was at Creation.
So,
What Happened?
So, how did Sunday
become the day known as the
Lord’s Day? Who made the change
and how did it occur? Material
documenting first century
Christianity is meager and imperfect.
The best records for this period are
known as the writings of the
Apostolic Fathers. These documents
are not part of the Bible, nor do
they have the authority of the Bible.
However, they do offer a glimpse into
the religious thinking of that era.
Apostolic Age
This part includes
several ancient references for the
consideration because a great number
of scholars have tried to prove from
the ancient writings that Sunday
observance was a widely accepted
practice during the apostolic age
(A.D. 30 – A. D. 100). Early
Christian writings however, reveal a
sinister process at work. The
writings reveal how God’s word
became corrupted, even in the hands
of well-intentioned people. Consider
these references and draw your own
conclusions. The first mention of
worship occurs about A.D. 97 when
Clement of Rome wrote to the
believers in Corinth. He wrote:
“These things therefore being
manifested to us, and since we look
into the depths of divine knowledge,
it behooves us to do all things in
(their proper) order, which the Lord
has commanded us to perform at stated
times. He has enjoined offerings [to
be presented] and services to be
performed [to Him], and that no
thoughtlessly or irregularity, but at
the appointed times and
hours.”(Clement of Rome,
Epistles to Corinthians, Vol I
Ante-Nicean Library, (Buffalo, 1887)
p.16.)
As you can see,
Clement did not endorse a particular
day of the week for worship. This
early quotation, however, is included
because some scholars claim that
Clement of Rome defended Sunday
observance in A.D. 97.
Here is another early
reference that people often use to
support Sunday observance in the
early Christian Church. Pliny the
Younger, the pagan governor of
Bythinia, wrote this statement about
A.D. 107. Writing to Emperor Trajan,
he requested advice about Christian
assemblies in his province. At that
time, Roman leaders anticipated civil
revolts in a number of provinces and
Pliny was especially cautious of a
new sect of people called Christians.
He wrote:
“They [the
Christians] affirmed that the whole
of their guilt or error was that they
met on a certain stated day before it
was light and addressed themselves in
a form of prayer to Christ as to some
God…” (Pliny the Younger,
Pliny’s letter to Trajan,
Harvard Classics, Vol 9, (New York,
1937) p. 404)
Again, Pliny did not
say which day of the week the
Christians were meeting. All that we
can learn from him is that they met
for prayer before it was light.
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