You can believe that if you like. But here's a mistake I believe most people make. The "Law of God" was etched in stone by the very hand of God and given to Moses. These were the Ten Commandments. These laws are immutable moral laws. The remaining 603 laws are the "Law of Moses". These laws included social, civil, and ceremonial laws that governed society in ancient Israel. Here's another detail to consider...each of these 603 laws can be classified under one of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were the eternal "Law of God" and served as the foundational principles behind each law in the "Law of Moses". When Christ sealed the New Covenant with his blood he didn't abolish the "Law", i.e., the immutable "Law of God". In fact look closely at what Jesus said regarding the Law (the Law of God),
Matthew 5:17-19
17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus himself states the the law (the Law of God, the Ten Commandments) isn't abolished, in fact if any of us teach a man that it's OK to violate the least of them...that man will find himself relegated to being least in the Kingdom of God.
Now...what about the Fourth Commandment? It reads...
Exodus 20:8-11
8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Bro...that's FOUR verses. That's the longest commandment in the Ten Commandments. I know the Law of Moses added to this commandment some very burdensome requirements such as not lighting a fire in one's home on the Sabbath, one couldn't travel further than a Sabbath day's journey, one was even stoned for picking up sticks on the Sabbath, etc. All of these laws were designed to prevent anything that could be considered "work" on the Sabbath, the laws had no other individual significance. This was the "Law of Moses" to Israel and was done away with at the Cross. But what remains regarding the un-abolished fourth commandment, what does it command?
-We are to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy (separate).
-We are to work six days and rest on the
seventh. Notice it states "rest". We are not to perform any industrious pursuit, labor, or work for gain on the Sabbath. We instead are to worship God and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
-It's a house hold day of rest for one's entire home.
-We are to know that it was blessed and sanctified at creation.
Bro...that second point up there shows that it was commanded that our rest is to be on the SEVENTH day of the week...that's Saturday.
So here is where most people say,
"Show me where the Apostles met and worshiped the Lord on Saturday!!! The BIBLE says they met on the FIRST day, that's Sunday!"
Then they give this proof text....
Acts 20:7
7And 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.
On the surface to the casual observer this might appear to settle the issue. But if looked at closely...it doesn't. Here's why...
In the days of the Bible, the Jewish Calendar that Paul and Luke used was lunar...not solar. That means the Jewish day began at sundown...not sunup. If they met together here in verse 7 on the "first day of the week" and Paul preached and "continued his speech until midnight" that should tell us that they had gathered Saturday evening at sundown, the very beginning of the first day of the week,...and Paul then preached until midnight.
So this proof text actually demonstrates that Paul and these believers gathered together on Saturday evening for food and worship as they closed their Sabbath observance.
We see that the Apostles rutinely engaged in ministry in the synagogues on the Sabbath:
Acts 13:14
But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
Acts 13:42
And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.
Acts 13:44
And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
Acts 16:13
And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.
Acts 17:2
And Paul,
as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Acts 18:4
And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
It's a historical fact that the Catholic Church moved the Christian time of gathering to Sunday to distinguish Christians from Jews.
Now...I'm not saying it's wrong to meet on Sunday...but this is a Commandment and the Law of God wasn't abolished. I'm bound to teach it and not teach men to break it. It's meant to be a day of rest and personal devotion, even if your church officially meets on Sunday.
You may disagree...and I might be wrong. But that's my understanding.
Behold I shew you a mystery...
Luke 15:8-9
"8Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost."
It was customary for a man to give a woman he was betrothed to a head dress of ten silver coins. These coins represented the covenant of their betrothal, much like the Ten Commandments signified the foundational principles of Jehovah's covenant with His people. Here, the bride-to-be lost one of those ten coins...she searched frantically until she found it. Why? Because should her groom come back and she not have her complete head dress, she would suffer shame and humiliate her groom. She searched frantically until she found it because of her love for the groom...not the value of the coin. I wonder if any of us has lost one of the ten?
God bless.
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