Sunday in the book of Acts?
9/9/11
I
grew up in a Sunday keeping Church as most have. It wasn’t until the
great El of heaven and earth began calling me out of Babylon (Rev.
18:4) that I understood the truth of the Sun-day.
How
about those who still observe the Sunday and adhere to it as though it is a
commandment from Yahweh? First you must understand that the very
term “Sunday” is not even found in the scriptures, nowhere! It is a
man-made term and thus a commandment of men. (Mark 7) But
the very meaning of the term is enough to see its pagan roots. It
is the “Sun” day. It is the day of the Sun.
Yahweh
Elohim only gave one day of the week a name. Although the Hebrew
language has a name for each day of the week, but Yahweh called the 7th day the
Sabbath. All other days of the week were just given numbers. By
giving one day of the week a name, He set it apart from the other days for a
special purpose.
Let
us discuss Sunday keeping in the book of Acts. The book of Acts is
actually called “The Acts of the Apostles.” It is a record of the actions
of the early followers of Messiah, how they lived, problems they encountered
and the beginnings of carrying out the great commission given unto them by
Messiah.
In
our day, Sunday is the day most recognized as the day of worship by the sect of
Christianity. Therefore, of all places in the scriptures we should
find their reasoning for observing the Sunday in the book of Acts. But
nowhere is Sunday mentioned in the book of Acts. In fact, the 1st
day is only mentioned once in the entirety of the book of Acts. (Acts
20:7)
If
you read Acts 20:7 and the other verses in and around it, you will discover
that this was a going away party and meal for the Apostle Saul after the
Sabbath had ended. A scriptural day is from sunset to sunset and
since this meeting required lights and still be on the 1st day of the week,
shows us that this would be what we consider in our day as man’s Saturday
night. Saul left on the morrow (Sunday morning) at sunup to begin a
20 mile hike to his next destination. Therefore this text does not
prove Sunday keeping in the book of Acts, it actually disproves it!
So
our count of a Sunday observance in the book of Acts = 0. But just
allowing the fact that Acts 20:7 does say the 1st day undeniably, we will make
our count as “1.” If we are to consider this as an actual Assembly
and worship service (which we know it was not) does one example make something
a custom? Does one example make something a tradition? Can
you find a commandment in Acts 20 to now keep Sunday or the 1st day? You
must admit the answer to all of these questions as a big NO! The
Congregation can meet on any day of the week. There is no command of
Yahweh that says we cannot meet on the 1st day, 2nd day, 3rd day, etc. But
we are commanded to meet upon the 7th day.
The
record of the Acts of the Apostles is quite overwhelming that they were meeting
on the 7th day Sabbath. The term “Sabbath” is mentioned 9 times in
the book of Acts. Acts 1:12; 13:14, 27, 42, 44; 15:21; 16:13;
17:2; 18:4. By the very fact that the Sabbath is mentioned should
show us that the term still had relevance to the Apostles and the early
Assembly of believers. But of these scriptures, how many are
actually showing that they were meeting on the Sabbath for the purpose of
searching the scriptures, for worship or for reasoning with others about
Messiah and His ways?
In
Acts chapter 13 we see that the Apostle Saul and his companions were in Antioch and
attended a Sabbath service wherein not only Jews but also Gentiles were
gathered together. After Saul had his turn at speaking to the group
and the service was ended, the Gentiles came to him and asked if he could speak
to them the next Sabbath. Now if the new day to meet upon was now
the Sunday, this would have been the perfect time to tell these Gentiles. But
Saul did no such thing, but it shows that the next Sabbath came almost the entire city out to hear the Word of
Yahweh. So in Acts chapter 13 we have 2 examples
of Saul, his companions, Jews and Gentiles meeting upon the 7th day Sabbath.
Let’s
count: Sabbath – 2 1st
day – 1
In
the book of Acts chapter 16:13 we see Saul and his companions meeting
for an outdoor Sabbath service by a riverside.
New
count: Sabbath – 3 1st
day – 1
Acts
17:2, we see Saul again meeting on the Sabbath with the Jews. It was
his manner or his custom to keep the Sabbath with anyone who he could meet with
and take that opportunity to preach the Messiah to them and Yah’s
ways. He often met with the Jews to try and convince them of the renewed
Covenant. In this text we see Saul met 3 Sabbath days with them.
New
count: Sabbath – 6 1st
day – 1
In
Acts 18 we see that Saul and his traveling companions were in Corinth. It
says that in verse 4 they met on every Sabbath with both the Jews and the
Gentiles showing them and persuading them of Yahshua the Messiah and of Yah’s ways. Verse 11 shows that they stayed in Corinth for
a year and six months. For a year and a half they met every
Sabbath. That would be a total of 78 Sabbaths! No mention
that they met on any other day, which would have been ok. We could
meet 7 days a week if so desired, but the record showed that they came together
on the Sabbath and not just Jews, but also the Gentiles! If there
would have been a change from the 7th day to the 1st day, Saul would have told
them and this chapter would have shown them meeting on the 1st day.
New
count: Sabbath – 84 1st
day – 1
The
evidence is overwhelming that Saul, his companions; the early Assembly of
believers, the Jews, the Gentiles was meeting upon the 7th day
Sabbath. The only 1st day meeting was a gathering
after the Sabbath (Saturday night) for a going away supper/party for Saul and
his companions and Saul preached to them.
It
was the Acts (actions) of the early believers and Saul to continue observing
the 7th day Sabbath and nowhere do we find a command to observe the 1st day or
a rebuke for observing the 7th day. Let the evidence speak for
itself!
The Old Paths Restoration Ministry
PO box 247
Marengo, IN 47140