SATURDAY OR SUNDAY WORSHIP - WHICH IS RIGHT?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rod Askew on September 25, 2010 at 12:34am

Hi Ron,

Clearly there is only one reason for a Sunday worship.
The traditions of man.
God's designated day of rest and worship was the 7th day, Saturday.
Man changed the day from Saturday Sabbath worship to Sunday "church" for their own reasons.

Blessings
Rod

Permalink Reply by Rod Askew on September 25, 2010 at 12:41am

Christian holy days
The weekly Sabbath: is it
to be Saturday or Sunday?

Why and when the weekly Sabbath was moved
The only interval during which Christianity was unified ocurred between the execution of Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) circa 30 CE, and the arrival of Paul in Judea near the end of that decade. The Jewish Christian movement was under the leadership of James -- the brother of Jesus, Peter and other disciples. They sacrificed in the Temple and observed the Laws of Moses, including Sabbath observance on Saturdays.

Until the late 4th century CE, when Christianity was made the official religion of Rome, Christians lived in a predominately Pagan world. There was a mosaic of Pagan religions in the Roman Empire:

The long established, official religion of the Roman Empire was Pagan. It involved worship of -- or at least nominal sacrifices to -- a pantheon of Roman deities, both Gods and Goddesses.
A strong competitor to Christianity in those days was a third religion: Mithraism. This faith involved the worship of a Persian God Mithra, and was popular among the Roman civil service and military.
There were many other smaller religions, including the Pagan religions of Greece and Egypt, and the mystery religions.

The Roman religion and Mithraism reserved Sunday as their day of religious observance. Many Christians were probably tempted to follow suit.

The Christians were also motivated to change the Sabbath day as a method of distancing themselves from the Jews. Two reasons were:

The Government intermittently persecuted the Jews at this time; it was safer for Christianity to be considered as a separate religion rather than as a sect of Judaism.
Relations between the Jews and Christians was hostile at this time. The early Christian church had suffered much persecution from the Jews.

In 321 CE, while he was a Pagan sun-worshiper, the Emperor Constantine declared that Sunday was to be a day of rest throughout the Roman Empire:

"On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for gain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost."

The Church Council of Laodicea circa 364 CE ordered that religious observances were to be conducted on Sunday, not Saturday. Sunday became the new Sabbath. They ruled: "Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day." There are many indicators in the historical record that some Christians ignored the Church's ruling. Sabbath observance was noted in Wales as late as 1115 CE. Francis Xavier was concerned about Sabbath worship in Goa, India in 1560 CE; he called for the Inquisition to set up an office there to stamp out what he called "Jewish wickedness". A Catholic Provincial Council suppressed the practice in Norway in 1435 CE.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/sabbath.htm

Permalink Reply by swtswan on September 25, 2010 at 3:14am

I agree w Rod; that it is the tradition of man that Sunday was chosen; unfortunately most peole have this idea as well, we as christias have been led so to speak to the slaughter if you will; as far as the true Sabbath day; unknowingly following mans traditions, and Yes I do believe that we should pray unceasingly. God Bless, and thank you Brother Ron for bringing up this great subject
Swtswan~;~+_
(((((((<+>))))))

Permalink Reply by Ron Payne on September 25, 2010 at 4:25am

Hi Rod and Hi - (may I call you "Sweetswan, sounds better than Swtswan or even Sweatswan) Joking of course

OK.... So for the moment it appears that the change from Saturday to Sunday came down to us through the traditions of men. The question now still remains: "Which is Right?"

Ron

Permalink Reply by Rod Askew on September 25, 2010 at 4:40am

Hi Ron

Is there anything higher than the commands of God?

Blessings
Rod

Permalink Reply by Leonard T on September 25, 2010 at 5:24am

Hi Everyone,

We've already had numerous discussions on this topic under other forums. Please see http://www.allaboutgod.net/forum/topic/show?id=1383940%3ATopic%3A94474 and http://www.allaboutgod.net/forum/topic/show?id=1383940%3ATopic%3A19023 for two of the previous discussions.

Please also see http://www.gotquestions.org/Saturday-Sunday.html for an excellent treatment of this subject.

HOT TOPIC WARNING

This topic has been marked as a hot topic and will be monitored closely. This forum will remain open as long as the discussion stays on topic and remains civil.

Lord Bless,
LT
TheNET Coordinator

Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on September 25, 2010 at 5:55am

Hi Ron.

I've heard it said many times that we aren't under the Law but under Grace. The Law says that the Sabbath is Saturday. I think Grace would imply that man may select his day of rest. However, we need to worship God EVERY DAY. Also, we need one day a week when we are at rest, when we rest of bodies and minds from the activities of the first 6 days. What ever day that is...so be it.

I actually need a second day as well...to most it is Wednesday, but some have other days.

So my answer to your *Why* question would have to be another question. Why not???

Blessings to you both from Georgia to S. Africa,
Rita

Permalink Reply by Ron Payne on September 25, 2010 at 7:10am

Hi Rita,
Yes to answer your question "WHY NOT?" I reply: "YES, WHY NOT! WHY NOT SUNDAY THROUGH TO SATURDAY?
When we start tying down worship to a specific day in the week, we are robbing ourselves of multiple blessings.

Thank you for your Blessings and reply.

Ron

Permalink Reply by forgiven on September 25, 2010 at 2:59pm

Yes, I also agree with Rod, that it was 'man' who changed the Sabbath. I also agree with LT that it can digress into an ugly arguement, and it has been widely talked about. Yes we know Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath, and that 'the law was nailed to the cross.....but Jesus never gave anyone permission to change the day of the Sabbath, neither did any of the Apostles, none of 'the Mary's'...or any man of God from Genesis to Revelation.
I believe that any 'biblical' persons would be truely shocked and appalled.....however, I also believe, and this, I think, is the clincher....Salvation remains, to 'preach the Gospel'...the good news of the coming of our Saviour, yet remains unchanged. Whether or not there has been an 'offence'....and offences will come, The intent of our Saviour remains the same. A 5 year old child who believes Jesus loves them...is not wrong whether they are in a 'church' on Saturday oor on Sunday. Was it a 'sin' to change the Sabbath? Perhaps so. Is the man who keeps Sabbath on either Saturday oor Sunday without sin? Perhaps not. But yet He loves us.
If you are in doubt...either way, worship on Saturday and Sunday. For that matter...sing praises and worship while you mow your lawn. (:

Permalink Reply by Rod Askew on September 25, 2010 at 3:28pm

Blessings Raj

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'



We were given 10 commandments directly by God.

Mainstream Christianity has no problem honouring 9 of these however when it comes to number 4 the reaction is always the same.

“Oh No! We are not under the law any longer we are under grace.”

So by their reasoning we can have other gods, carved idols, take the Lord’s name in vain, dishonour our parents, murder, have affairs, steal, lie about our neighbours and lust after other people’s belongings.
Because we are now under grace!!!

Or they say the others are covered by moral reasoning or civic laws. Ha!

SO

We listen to the sheriff and do what he wants and says but we dishonour what God has told us to do, because we are under grace.

The traditions of man above the word of God.

Doesn’t that make us Pharisees?

In His love
Rod

Permalink Reply by Rod Askew on September 25, 2010 at 3:50pm

Hello Raj,

Of course we can change back the Saturday Sabbath.
It comes down to the will and obedience of man.

It would be a hard and almost impossible road to convince modern churches to change of course.

Perhaps the simplist route is the one stated above by Forgiven.
Keep both days.
Honour God's Sabbath day and then go to church on Sunday.

This is what I have personally chosen to do.

The other suggestion of everyday as the Sabbath doesn't hold water in my opinion.
The more we water down the observance the less time we dedicate to it.

Clearly the commandmaent states" 6 days shall thou labour and the the 7th you shall rest".

Rest in my opinion means rest in the Lord, it doesn't include shopping, restaurants, football games etc etc.
It says "rest" not entertain ourselves.

Blessings
Rod

Permalink Reply by RoyW on September 25, 2010 at 9:41pm

Guys,

I cannot believe what I am hearing. Of course, there is nothing wrong with worshiping on Saturday. Unless, that is, you feel it is necessary. Rod, are you so quickly reverting back to the Law? Am I hearing this correctly? I really hope I am missing something in these posts.

Come on, guys, we are not under Law but under grace. Jesus Christ is the absolute total fulfillment of the Sabbath rest. All those in Him have rested from all their works. Our sabbath rest is in Him and not on any certain day. If you have to work on Saturday and Sunday, I recommend you find a place of worship that worships on Monday. One of the greatest complaints the Jewish leaders had against Christ was His continual breaking of the Sabbath.

It could be that I am just misunderstanding the posts.

Roy

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• …
• 6
• Next ›
• Page