Lay it to Heart

HOME	THE BEGINNING	THE PAST
THE PRESENT	THE FUTURE	THE END
	SITE MAP

Saturday is Still the Sabbath

If Jesus rose from the grave on Saturday then we should still honor Saturday as the sabbath. In Mark 2:28 Jesus stated, "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath." He didn't reject it. What about the Lord's day? The Lord's day is the result of persecution but not something that changes our work week. The Resurrection of Jesus was on Saturday. So what's different? People are not willing to leave their comfort zone of tradition. God said in Exodus 20:8, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy:". People forget the word "remember". Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For 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." Heaven and earth have not passed away. How does this apply to us? For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Jesus is the end of the law of for righteousness. He is not the end of the law of righteousness. That means we are not saved by the law. The commandments, however, are not done away. They are fulfilled. Jesus fulfilled all of the sacrifices. Hebrews 10:12 says of Jesus, "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;". The sabbath was not a sacrifice or offering. It is a commandment and model for living.

Preachers have a different model for living today which can conflict with other needs. If you cannot show up per their schedule they may claim you are too busy. This is followed with the comment that if you're too busy to serve God then you're just too busy. Are you judging someone based on the schedule that you made up or God's schedule? God commanded us to work on Sunday and keep the Sabbath but believers have twisted this to working on the Sabbath and pretending Sunday is mandated by God for rest. Some pastors pretend or act as though God commanded us to meet on Wednesday nights but it does not say to do this anywhere in his word. They turn to Hebrews 10:25 and claim this is covered by that verse. The verse does not mean going to church anytime and every time during the week someone want to meet. They are really referring to a man made standard and not God's. Then they have services later in the evenings geared for late risers and not early risers and feel self righteous because they are following God on their schedule.

God created the heavens and earth in six days and rested the seventh. God did not recreate the heavens and earth when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, neither did he change our model for work and worship. If Jesus wanted to change our day of worship, why didn't he say anything about it before he died? He taught and preached a lot before he gave his life for our sins. Why didn't he tell everybody he was going to change it? Actually, Jesus said he would not change it when he said not one jot or one tittle would pass away. Jesus said in John 16:2, "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." If Christians were not going to the synagogues on Saturday they would not be put out. Following the resurrection believers did not start worshipping on Sunday. The day of worship was changed by men not God.

We are to work Sunday through Friday and worship on Saturday. We should not have yard sales or youth car washes on Saturday to raise funds for the church. We should not be cleaning the church on Saturday but instead worshipping on Saturday. Now scholars come along and say, "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: (Colossians 2:16) What's interesting is the people who say this the most are the first to judge someone for worshipping on the sabbath and not worshipping on Sunday. Some go as far as to suggest if that if you obey the sabbath your are trying to get saved by obeying the law or you are teaching a false gospel. That is certainly wrong. It is a matter of obedience not a matter of salvation. These people are just avoiding the truth. Believers are not meeting on Sunday because they have but instead ignorance, fear and tradition. Most of Sunday worship is really living in bondage and in the flesh. God never commanded the Sabbath to be changed to Sunday. Jesus Christ did not command it to be changed. The apostles never passed along any such commandment. Notice that the apostles continued going to the synagogues on the sabbath in Acts 13:14, 13:44, 17:1-2, 17:10, 17:17, 18:4 and 19:8. Jesus Christ mentioned that his followers would still keep the sabbath in John 16:2, "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." This did not happen before the crucifixion. It happened, instead, after Jesus had risen from the dead. Christians still worshipped on the sabbath which is Saturday. No where in the Bible does it say to worship on Sunday instead of Saturday.

Exodus 31:17 says, "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant." Perpetual means forever. What part of forever don't people understand? Again, what part of "remember" did they forget?

When Jesus comes back he will set things in order and what will he do? Isaiah 66:23 says, "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD."