word sight: newsroom

First day texts.
1. "The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach." [Acts 1:1-3]
  1. The Gospel of Luke was an account of all the Jesus did and taught. Luke 23:52-24:3
  2. Matthew and Mark reconfirm what Luke said.
    1. Matthew 28:1
    2. Mark 16:1-2,9
    3. John 19:39
  3. John's account of the resurrection:
    1. a. John 20:1-2
    2. John 20:19-20
2. The two most important texts for Sunday worship.
  1. Paul's council about iving for the poor in Jerusalme.
    1. 1 Corinthians 16:1-3
    2. An offering was being taken for the poor in Jerusalem. Acts 11:27-30
    3. Lay something aside. Eight translations of the Bible say, "privately" or "at home."
    4. "No collections" did not mean they were not going to take and offering, but referred to having their offering ready. Since very few people had gold coins, most business was done by the bartering system. They would trade a bushel of wheat for two bushes of corn.
    5. Does the passage say the "first day" is a day of worship or holy day? No. Does it command God's people to gather on the "first day" for church service? No. Does it say they were meeting each "first day" for worship? No. Does this passage evern refer to a public meeting? No.
  2. Paul's meeting with the believers in Troas. Acts 20:7-12
    1. This was a night meeting.
    2. Paul's third missionary journey.
    3. Paul is going to Jerusalem. He is told y the Holy Spirit that if he does, he will be bound and taken to Rome. Acts 21:10-11
    4. Last time the believers will see Paul.
    5. Farewell meeting for Paul. This is the reason they stay up all night. It is also why I believe they were celebrating the Lord's Supper.
    6. Paul's companions catch a ship to Assos. Acts 20:13
    7. Paul walks 20 miles on Sunday to catch the ship at Assos. Acts 20:7-8
3. The only text in the Old Testament the mentions the "first day" of the week.
  1. Genesis 1:5
    1. The dark part of the day comes first.
    2. The Bible says the Sabbath was to be kept from evening until evening - meaning from sunset to sunset. Leviticus 23:32
    3. The farewell meeting for Paul in Acts 20 took place on a Saturday night, because the "first day" of the week began at sunset Saturday. Remember there were many lights in the upper room. Also, Paul preached until midnight. If this had been Sunday night it would have been the second day of the week.
  2. God says that He made the other six days as work days. Ezekiel 46:1
What brought about the change from the Sabbath to Sunday?
1. As we will see, the change was not by God's command.
  1. God never bless, hallowed or sanctified any other day than the Sabbath. There are no tests in the Bible that support the claim that Sunday is a holy day.
  2. Bible scholars recognize there is no Biblical support. "There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week, with all its duties, privileges, and sanctions. Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which I have studied for many years, I ask, where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament, absolutely not. There is no such Scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week." [Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, author of The Baptist Manual].
  3. The early Christians kept the Sabbath as well as did the Jewish people.
    1. The jews were in revolt to the Roman government.
    2. The Romans would come in and kill Christians as well as Jews. They did not know the difference.
    3. Effort was made to make a distinction between Jews and Christians, so some of the Christians started keeping the first day of the week as the Sabbath.
    4. By the time we reach 300 A.D., half of the Roman Empire is Christian. The Emperor Constantine can see the politically it would be advantageous for him to become a Christian. He said he had a dream and in that dream he saw a cross and was going to become a Christian; however, he never did. He marched his army through the river Tiber and told them they had all been baptized and were now Christians. Then he signed into effect the Edict of Constantine on March 7, 321 A.D..
    5. "On the venerable day of the sun let the Magistrates and people residing in the cities rest, and let all workships be closed." [Edict of Constantine, March 7, 321 A.D.]
  4. The Catholic Church added its blessing to it. "Christians shall not Judaize [keep Sabbath] and be idle on Saturday [Sabbath original] but shall work on that day, but the Lord's day they shall especially honor." [Council of Laodicea, Canon 29]
2. Luther's stand and Dr. Eck's challenge.
  1. The Catholics allege to the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord's day, contrary to the decalogue, as it appears. Neither is there any example more boasted of that then the changing of the Sabbath day. Great, say they, is the power and authority of the church, since it dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments." [Luther, Your Augsburg Confession, quoted in The Creeds of Christendom, Phillip Schaff, Vol. 3, p. 64.]
  2. "The authority of the Church could, therefore, not be bound to the authority of the Scripture, because the Church had changed…the Sabbath into Sunday, not by the command of Christ, but by its own authority." [Canon on Tradition, p. 263]
3. The issue is on what do you build your faith?
  1. Luther said you could not build your faith on the church, but only on the Word of God.
  2. Do you find truth by the Church or by the Word of God?