Sabbath Worship?

[DaveW]

Mat 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.

Sabbath and first day are quite clearly different.

Joh 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 saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Jesus met with the disciples who were all gathered on the first day, and did nit rebuke them for their meeting that day.

In fact....
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

now if the day spoken of before is the first day of the eight, then they were meeting the next Sunday and Jesus appeared to them again. And once again didn't rebuke them for meeting on a day other than the Sabbath.

And:

Act 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.

It seems that in this case they met on the first day of the week for the express purpose of hearing the preaching of the Word of God.


And,
1Co 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Without getting into what was being laid by, it is noted that again this was done on the first day, with the express purpose that there be no gathering when he came.
Written to a church, with the intent that this happen on the first day, indicating a gathering at least for that purpose.

Now there are other passages that show that these Christians met on all sorts of days, but the Bible is quite plain that organised meetings were absolutely definitely held on Sundays.

There is no biblical command for Christians to meet officially on any day, but by example we see that if a specific day of the week is nominated, it is Sunday.

Sunday worship is in the new Testament clearly.

That should be enough, but in any case historical record shows Sunday worship also occurred BEFORE the Catholic so called church existed.

Ignatius recorded "If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death. "

The quote continues on, but you get the idea. Ignatius died around 107AD, Constantine didn't start the travesty of the Catholic system ill about 200 years after Ignatius died, and didn't make his decree about Sunday worship until 321AD.

So Sunday worship can't have been a Catholic invention, primarily because the New Testament records it, and history agrees......

Edited February 6, 2014 by DaveW

[candlelight]

Maybe you could post this for Banner in the other thread, DaveW?  I am certain he/she won't read it here.

[rstrats]

On ‎2‎/‎5‎/‎2014 at 8:04 PM, DaveW said:

Now there are other passages that show that these Christians met on all sorts of days, but the Bible is quite plain that organised meetings were absolutely definitely held on Sundays.

Actually, as far as scripture is concerned, there are only two times mentioned with regard to anybody getting together on the first (day) of the week - John 20:19 and Acts 20:7. There is never any mention of them ever again being together on the first. The John reference has them together in a closed room after the crucifixion because they were afraid of their fellow Jews. Nothing is said about a worship service or day of rest.  And it couldn't have been in recognition of the resurrection because at that time they didn't even believe that the resurrection had taken place.  

The Acts reference has them together very likely because Paul happened to be in town and he wanted to talk to them before he had to leave again. The "breaking of bread" could simply be saying that the disciples got together to eat a meal on this particular first day of the week . The phrase, "to break bread", does not have to refer to a religious service - unless it is specifically stated - but to dividing loaves of bread for a meal. "It means to partake of food and is used of eating as in a meal...... The readers [of the original New Testament letters and manuscripts] could have had no other idea or meaning in their minds" (E.W.Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, pp. 839,840.
 

[Ukulelemike]

On 2/9/2018 at 3:43 AM, rstrats said:

Actually, as far as scripture is concerned, there are only two times mentioned with regard to anybody getting together on the first (day) of the week - John 20:19 and Acts 20:7. There is never any mention of them ever again being together on the first. The John reference has them together in a closed room after the crucifixion because they were afraid of their fellow Jews. Nothing is said about a worship service or day of rest.  And it couldn't have been in recognition of the resurrection because at that time they didn't even believe that the resurrection had taken place.  

The Acts reference has them together very likely because Paul happened to be in town and he wanted to talk to them before he had to leave again. The "breaking of bread" could simply be saying that the disciples got together to eat a meal on this particular first day of the week . The phrase, "to break bread", does not have to refer to a religious service - unless it is specifically stated - but to dividing loaves of bread for a meal. "It means to partake of food and is used of eating as in a meal...... The readers [of the original New Testament letters and manuscripts] could have had no other idea or meaning in their minds" (E.W.Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, pp. 839,840.
 

And yet, there are NO references to believers gathering an other day for the purpose of corporate worship. The reference in Acts 20 indicates, in the context, that this was a common thing, to meet and break bread on the first day-Paul happened to be there then, and met with them. And since they met 'to break bread', this more likely refers to the Lord's Supper. Everything about the reference indicates this was an assembly of believers for worship. 

[Invicta]

43 minutes ago, Ukulelemike said:

And yet, there are NO references to believers gathering an other day for the purpose of corporate worship. The reference in Acts 20 indicates, in the context, that this was a common thing, to meet and break bread on the first day-Paul happened to be there then, and met with them. And since they met 'to break bread', this more likely refers to the Lord's Supper. Everything about the reference indicates this was an assembly of believers for worship. 

I agree, but nowhere as far as I can see is that they used the 1st day as a day if rest,  Not to say they didn't, but I don't think it says so,  

[rstrats]

On ‎2‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 5:02 PM, Ukulelemike said:

 (see below)

re:  "And yet, there are NO references to believers gathering an other day for the purpose of corporate worship."

 

Nor are there any indisputable references to believers gathering on the first day of the week for the purpose of corporate worship.

 

 

 

 

re: "The reference in Acts 20 indicates, in the context, that this was a common thing, to meet and break bread on the first day..."

 

How does the context show that it was common to observe the Lord's Supper on every first day of the week?

 

And again,  The phrase, "to break bread", does not have to refer to a religious service - unless it is specifically stated - but to dividing loaves of bread for a meal. "It means to partake of food and is used of eating as in a meal...... The readers [of the original New Testament letters and manuscripts] could have had no other idea or meaning in their minds" (E.W.Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, pp. 839,840." 

 

But even if it did always mean the Lord's Supper, Acts 2:46 says that the believers broke bread every day which removes any special importance with regard to the first day of the week. 

 

Also, a further explanation taken from B Ward Powers’ First Corinthians - An Exegetical and Explanatory Commentary: 

 

"The expression 'the breaking of bread' found in Acts 2 was commonly used amongst the Jews to refer to the sharing of a meal in conscious religious fellowship, and this usage is found in the New Testament, not least in the Gospel by the same author as Acts and even elsewhere in the Acts."

 

"The significance of the religious aspect of the breaking of bread would be greatly heightened for the disciples in the light of the Last Supper, but this is not the same as saying that they held a ritual meal deliberately re-enacting the Last Supper in ­conscious obedience to the command of Christ, commemorating his death through eating bread and drinking a cup; and these features would be necessary if we are to regard the 'breaking of bread' as equating with the Lord’s Supper."

 

"Rather, the evidence indicates that in the New Testament the expression 'the breaking of bread' or 'broke bread' refers to the usual Jewish practice of prayer with which a hunger-satisfying meal commenced. When we recognize that references to the breaking of bread are not references to the Lord’s Supper, we see the significance of what we learn from Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians."

 

Edited February 14, 2018 by rstrats

[*Light*]

It is to my dismay that most churches forget the true purpose of why there are even local churches at all to begin with regardless of what day they decide to assemble on. The key thing is the PURPOSE of assembly: teaching and learning the truth and the mutual encouragement which comes from sharing the truth.  Since most local churches do not teach the truth as their reason for existing -- and in fact for the most part what little they do teach is usually either wrong or seriously flawed -- it doesn't matter if they meet Sunday or Saturday or every day.  For most, Paul's stricture against the Corinthians applies: "Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse." (1 Cor.11:17; cf. Is.1:11-12; Amos 5:21; Mal.1:10).

Edited February 13, 2018 by (Omega)
Grammer and words

[Ukulelemike]

On 2/11/2018 at 3:49 PM, Invicta said:

I agree, but nowhere as far as I can see is that they used the 1st day as a day if rest,  Not to say they didn't, but I don't think it says so,  

I agree: there was no "Christian" Sabbath

[BobbyH]

On 2/13/2018 at 11:35 PM, Ukulelemike said:

I agree: there was no "Christian" Sabbath

I think Acts 14 demonstrates that Paul did much preaching in the synagogues on the sabbath. He certainly built churches on the sabbath. Maybe Saturday should be "soul-winning day".

[DaveW]

1 hour ago, BobbyH said:

I think Acts 14 demonstrates that Paul did much preaching in the synagogues on the sabbath. He certainly built churches on the sabbath. Maybe Saturday should be "soul-winning day".

Hmmmmmm - I wonder why Paul preached in the Synagogues on the Sabbath?

He absolutely did - in fact it was his manner.....

Act 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

So why did Paul choose to preach to the Jews in the Synagogue on the Sabbath and not some other day?

How many people would he be preaching to on say a Friday?

Or a Tuesday?

Paul's manner, his normal way of things, was to go to the Jews first in every town he went to, and to preach in the Synagogue. The people gathered at the Synagogue on the Sabbath day.

So Paul preached in the Synagogues when there were people in them. 

Something I hinted at, but not state plainly in my first post is that a church can meet on any day, but it cannot be commanded to meet on the Sabbath.

ANY DAY is a good day to worship the Lord.

There are however examples of churches meeting on the first day of the week - specifically mentioning the first day of the week.

There are NO OTHER days are specifically mentioned, although the Bible does say things like "daily".

If we would choose a single day to hold our regular church services, all the weight falls upon Sunday as the first day.

[Baptist_Bible_Believer]

It was just Paul becoming all things to all men; that by all means he might save some!

[DaveW]

It was Paul preaching when the place had people in it......

[Baptist_Bible_Believer]

Amen, and he never missed an opportunity.

[rstrats]

Fact:   No where does scripture say that anyone met on the 1st day of the week for rest and worship, much less that they did it on a recurring basis.  

Fact:  No where does scripture ever say that the Sabbath commandment was rescinded.  

Seems as far as scripture in concerned that there is no scriptural reason for thinking that the status quo didn't remain in place. 
 

[DaveW]

Fact: the ONLY day that is specifically mentioned as having a church service OF ANY SORT, is the first day.

That DOESN'T mean that a church service HAS to be on the first day. In fact there are references to churches meeting daily, so apparently ANY DAY is OK to have a church service.

But there is another FACT: Nowhere is it commanded to have a church service on the Sabbath day.

If certain people want to ignore what the Bible says about meetings happening on the first day, then that is their right, but you cannot force a Christian to observe the Sabbath day and you cannot restrict the chosen day of worship from being the first day of the week.

A church should meet on whatever day suits them the best - regardless of what some people say, there is INDICATION that the first day of the week was a day that some churches met on, so if you want to follow their example, then go right ahead.

Traditionally it was convenient to meet on a Sunday because the majority of western nations recognised it as a day for church, and since there is no biblical prohibition against it, Sunday is as good as any other day.

Fact: God gave commandment about this matter:

Col 2:16-17
(16)  Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
(17)  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Meet whatever day you like for church, but do not judge those who do not keep the Sabbath as YOU want them to.

Bible folks..... it is kinda important to read it.