According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Sunday worship came from an understanding of several scriptures.
The practice of meeting together on the first day of the week for the celebration of the Eucharist Sacrific is indicated in Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; in Apocalypse 1:10, it is called the Lord's Day. In the Didache (14) the injuction is fiven: "On the Lord's day come together and break bread. And give thanks (offer the Eucharist), after confessing your sins that your sacrifice may be pure". St. Ignatius (Ep. ad Magnes. ix) speaks of Christians as "no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which our Life rose again.: "Most usually if someone is attempting to convince you of the authenticity of Sunday worship these scriptures are included in their defense.
Firstly, understand that the Bible is about to tell us that this understanding, is from Rome, not Jerusalem, it is therefore, Roman in nature and not necessarily Christ-like. If your denomination subscribes to this set of scriptures to mean that "The Lord's Day," is every Sunday that is where they got that understanding from, Rome!
Now let us explore!
In the book of Zephaniah we find the prophet expounding on the, 'Day of the Lord.'
We will find out very quickly, that the Lord's Day is Not Sunday! Neither is it the Sabbath day. Nor is it any 24-hour cycle...
"The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord : the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord : and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung." Zephaniah 1:14-18
Very different from what is commonly taught, the Lord's Day. Notice who will bring the distress in verse 17.
'I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord...'
If you have ever been told that God doesn't do or bring 'evil,' click here to read some examples.
"The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see... They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt... Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." Isaiah 13:1, 5-7, 9
What you just read about was the destruction of Babylon (also known as the European Union EU) at the hand of God through men, namely those of the East, Russia also known as Medeia (the Medes), Gog or Magog and its allies. This is part of what will take place during the, 'Day of the Lord!'
Now i know you're waiting to go to the New Testament, and before we do, the link to the New Testament lies in the Old Testament:
"For the satras of heaven and the consetllations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be
darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible... Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord or hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger." Isaiah 13:10-13
You should really take time this week to read the entire 13th chapter of Isaiah; it gets deep.
However, for now remember these unmissable/unmistakable events in verses 10 and 13.
Finally: one of the scriptures used to explain the Lord's Day as Sunday was, Revelation 1:10
Let's begin at the beginning of Revelation as a reminder about what the book of Revelation is about.
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw." Revelation 1:1-2
The purpose of the Book of Revelation was for Jesus Christ to reveal things which must shortly come to pass to His servants.
Now to the verse in question:
"I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet," Revelation 1:9-10
Notice how it didn't say that John was in exile, or that he was in prison on Patmos. John was on the Island of Patmos to receive the word of God and to record what he saw in a book v. 11. Verse 10 is simply saying that physically John was on the isle of Patmos, but spiritually (his mind was projected) he was present on the Lord's Day or The Day of the Lord! Likely he was there because of the close proximity to the seven churches he would be writhing to.
Firstly, let us reason together saith the Lord, so I ask the question what significance does the day of the week have in the prophecy of the End Times? Anyone who has read the book of Revelation know that the events of only 1 chapter cannot happen in a 24-hour cycle.
Next let's look at something that John saw:
"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places." Revelation 6:12-14
"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places." Revelation 6:12-14
Did you catch the links! John was seeing the same time period that Isaiah saw,. The Day of the Lord's wrath! Isaiah said the Sun shall be darkened, John said it became black. This is an unmissable/unmistakable event, it can only happen once right?
Now that that fallacy has been debunked, the other two verses used to justify Sunday worship do not even mention the phrase, the Lord's Day.
"Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." 1Corinthians 16:2
This verse alone says nothing. Alone this verse proves nothing. Beginning at verse 1 Paul is talking about taking up a collection on the first day of the week. Has nothing to do with what day to meet for worship. In comparison read the Old Testament and see if you can find Israel ever taking up a collection on the day of worship? If you think about it, to take up a collection on the day 'designated for worship,' seems a little backwards. I thank the God of Israel that my church does not participate in the practice of taking up collections for anything. There is simply a tithe box for you to drop tithes and offerings in on your way in or on your way out of the building.
Lastly in Acts 20 Paul breaks bread with the disciples on the first day of the week and preached to them. I will not quote it here because I believe it holds that little relevance. But I will comment and say that every day that the disciples ate together, you can bet your last money, that they broke bread together.
The fact that Paul preached to the disciples on the first day of the week means nothing except that Paul was a preacher.The post that you are currently reading was began on a Monday (the 2nd day of the week), I worked on this well beyond midnight and into Wednesday (the 3rd day of the week). My Church has a TV show where the ministers preach on Tuesday and Thursday nights depending on where you live. During Bible study Q and A on Wednesday nights the teachers 'preach!' So again means nothing, proves nothing! That is so over-obvious that I feel like I am talking down to you my readers by typing this paragraph (I'm sorry :'-[ ).
May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and studying of His word in Jesus name.
Locksmif... Knowledge is the key
- To read the entire Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Sunday, click here.
- More Scriptures about the Day of The Lord
Joel 2:1-12
Zephaniah Chapter 2
Amos 5
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Word. Every person I ask about the Sabbath gives me some bs answer too. They start off saying the churches agreed or thats how its been done. I always look at them thinking...its ok to to steal and committ adultery too huh? I mean as long as I talk ot over with a few people. Hmmm. Bless you brother.
ReplyDeletePraise God in the name of Jesus for you aren't just reading, but are actually living #StudyTheBibleNotTheSermon
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