| Author | Message | ||
| Jtree |
Strict Sabbatarians believe the Old Covenant commandment hallowing Saturday as the weekly Sabbath (Exod 20:8-12) is yet in effect. The most prominent Strict Sabbatarians today are Jews who reject Jesus as Messiah, and Seventh-Day Adventists. The latter insist Christians today must observe the custom of Paul the apostle stated in Acts 17:2 regarding worshipping on the weekly Sabbath, Saturday. They are correct, but not in the manner they suppose. Paul did indeed customarily attend Sabbath worship services. According to The Acts of the Apostles, he did so in Perga (13:14), Iconium (14:1), Thessalonica (17:1), Berea (17:10), Athens (17:16), Corinth (18:1,4), and Ephesus (19:1,8). But Paul attended Sabbath worship services in order to preach the gospel to unbelievers. This fact is either conveniently overlooked or willfully disregarded by those who read Acts 17:2 apart from its context. We read in this context, Acts 17:1-3, that Paul "came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, 'This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.'" Note well that on the Sabbath Paul was found in a "synagogue of the Jews," not a church of Jesus Christ. Churches of Christ met not on the Jewish Sabbath, but "on the first day of the week," Sunday, the Lord's Day (Acts 20:7). Note also that on the Sabbath Paul was preaching "Jesus ... is the Christ" to those who did not believe so, not to Christians who did. Note furthermore the response of those who heard Paul preaching the gospel on the Sabbath. Unlike the Christians who rejoiced in Paul's gospel in their Lord's Day services, those to whom he preached on the Sabbath with but few exceptions despised his Christ and his gospel. In Perga "they opposed the things spoken by Paul" (Acts 13:45). In Iconium "the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren [i.e. believers]" (Acts 14:2). In Thessalonica "the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason [a believer]" (Acts 17:5). When many Bereans believed Paul's gospel and his Christ, "the Jews from Thessalonica ... came there also and stirred up the crowds" (Acts 17:13). In Corinth "they opposed him and blasphemed" (Acts 18:6). In Ephesus "some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way [i.e. of Jesus Christ (John 14:6)]" (Acts 19:9). On one occasion those to whom Paul the apostle preached on the Sabbath despised the gospel of Christ which he preached so much that they stoned him and left him for dead (Acts 14:19). But Paul did not observe the Sabbath as the law of Moses required (Gal 4:9; Rom 14:5; Col 2:16). (This point will be expanded in subsequent messages,) Christians today should of course follow the custom of Paul regarding the Sabbath. If a congregation of Sabbath-keepers permits a disciple of Jesus Christ to address them, he should with all faithfulness "reason with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, 'This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.'" This is the message Sabbath-keepers need to hear, and the only message gospel preachers should give to them. He should also hope to find among them Bereans (Acts 17:11): "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." But sadly, most Sabbath-keepers today will despise the gospel of Jesus Christ as much as did Sabbath-keepers in Paul's day. Joshua of the Rock! |
