REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY

MEMORY VERSE: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, Exodus 20:8.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deut 1, Ps 81-82, Isa 30. 3 Jn 1

BIBLE STUDIES: Exodus 20:8-11

One of the questions people ask is when is the right day of worship – Saturday or Sunday? Saturday is the 7th day of the week and it is obviously the Sabbath day, why worship on Sunday? There are one or two things you need to know about the Sabbath day. Firstly, Sabbath means rest. Remember the Sabbath day simply means don’t forget to take a day off. The reason why God rested on the seventh day was not because He was tired. According Isaiah 40:28, He never grows tired or weary. He rested to emphasize to us the need for rest. Working seven days a week will not necessarily make you rich. Proverbs 10:22 says it is the blessings of the Lord that brings wealth. According to 1 Corinthians 3:7, it is the Lord who gives increase. It is important to rest to avoid burn out or fatigue.

Secondly, you are to keep the Sabbath day holy. Keep it holy simply means to set it aside from all other days as special. The rest is not to be aimless rest, but God-centered rests i.e. focus on the holy God. Thirdly, the holy rest day should be one out of every seven. Exodus 20:9 says six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. There is nowhere in the bible where it says that the Sabbath (‘rest day’) has to be the last day of the week or the first day of the week. The concept of weeks is not even mentioned. The command is simply work six, rest one. Every seventh day should be a Sabbath.

Why do Christians now worship on Sunday? Sunday worship started with the early church. The reason why the church came to count the first day of the week as her day of rest and worship is that the Lord of the Sabbath(Jesus) rose from the dead on the first day of the week (John 20:1). Just like the work of the first creation was finished on the seventh day of the week, the work of the new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 2:10) was finished on the first day of the week by the resurrection of Jesus. So from the very earliest days Christians have set aside the first day of the week as their usual day of rest and worship. The disciples of Jesus and even Paul worshiped on Sunday. Acts 20:7 says 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. Another instance of Sunday worship is also recorded in 1 Corinthians 16:2.

NOTE: Colossians 2:16-17 says let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy-day or of the new moon, or the Sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. A shadow is a representation cast by light of an object that has substance. The shadow is not the real thing. Jesus Christ was the substance of what these shadows represent. Jesus is the real thing, He is the key to salvation not Sabbath days or new moon.