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YOUR THOUGHT QUESTIONS ANSWERED

1. But isn't the Sabbath for the Jews only?

ANSWER: No, Jesus said, "The sabbath was made for man." Mark 2:27. Not for the Jews only, but for man -- all men and women everywhere. The Jews did not even exist until 2500 years after the Sabbath was made.

2. Doesn't I Cor. 16:1, 2 speak of Sunday School offerings?

ANSWER: No, there is no reference here to a public meeting. The money was to be laid aside privately at home. There was a famine in Judea (Rom. 15:26, Acts 11:26-30), and Paul was writing to ask the churches in Asia Minor to help out. These Christians all kept Sabbath holy, so Paul suggested that on Sunday morning, after the Sabbath was over [which was the time they paid bills and settled accounts] they put aside something for their needy brethren so it would be on hand when he came. It was to be done privately as the Spanish version says, "at home." Notice also that there is no reference here to Sunday as a holy day. In fact, the Bible nowhere suggests or commands Sunday-keeping.

3. Isn't Acts 20:7-12 proof that the disciples kept Sunday as a holy day?

ANSWER: According to the Bible, each day begins at sundown and ends at the next sundown, (See Gen. 1:5, 8. etc. and Lev. 23:32) and the dark part of the day comes first. So Sabbath begins at Friday night sundown and ends Saturday night at sundown. This meeting of Acts 20 was held on the dark part of Sunday. or on what we now call Saturday night. [The New English Bible puts Acts 20:7 like this:* "On the Saturday night in our assembly."]. It was a Saturday night meeting. and lasted till midnight. Paul was on a farewell tour and knew that he would not see the people again before his death (verse 25.) No wonder he preached so long. [No regular weekly service would have lasted all night.] This meeting was held on the dark part of the first day of the week [or what we now call Saturday night] because Paul was "ready to depart on the morrow." The "breaking of bread" has no "holy day" significance whatever, because they broke bread daily (Acts 2:46.) There is not the slightest indication in this Scripture passage that the first day is holy, nor that these early Christians considered it so. Nor is there the remotest evidence that the Sabbath had been changed. The Bible refers to Sunday as a "working day" in Ezek. 46:1. God has never asked anyone to observe Sunday as a holy day for any reason whatever. Incidentally, this meeting is mentioned in the Scripture only because of the miracle of raising to life the young man who had a fatal accident during the service.

4. But hasn't time been lost and the days of the week changed since the time of Christ?

ANSWER: No!. Reliable encyclopedias and reference books make it plain that our seventh day is the same one that Jesus kept holy. It is a simple matter of checking.

5. But isn't John 20:19 the record of the disciples instituting Sunday-keeping in honor of the resurrection?

ANSWER: On the contrary, these disciples did not believe that the resurrection had taken place (Mark 16:14.) They had met there for "fear of the Jews," and had the doors bolted fast. There is no indication that they counted Sunday as a holy day. There are only eight texts in the New Testament that mention the first day of the week. ["Sunday" is not in the Bible]. The first five deal with the resurrection: Matt. 28:1, Mark 16:2, Mark 16:9, Luke 24:1, John 20:1. We have just discussed the other 3 texts (John 20:19, Acts 20:7, 1 Cor. 16:12) in the previous questions. None of them even imply that it is holy.

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6. Doesn't Col. 2:14-17 do away with the seventh-day Sabbath?

ANSWER: Not at all. it refers only to the Sabbaths which were "a shadow of things to come," and not to the seventh-day Sabbath. There were seven yearly holy days or holidays in ancient Israel which were also called Sabbaths. These were in addition to, or "beside the sabbaths of the Lord" (Lev. 23:38) or seventh-day Sabbath. These all foreshadowed the cross and ended at the cross, but God's seventh-day Sabbath was made before sin entered, and therefore could foreshadow nothing about deliverance from sin. That's why Col. 2 differentiates and specifically mentions the Sabbaths which were "a shadow." These seven yearly Sabbaths which were abolished are listed in Lev. 23.

7. According to Romans 14:5, the day we keep is a matter of personal opinion, isn't it?

ANSWER: The words "every day" refer to the six working days. (See Ex. 16:4, 5, 26. etc.) The seventh-day Sabbath is not in involved. The discussion here is regarding the seven annual holy days, and their effectiveness after the cross. Notice that the whole chapter is on judging (See verses 4, 13) one another. Paul doesn't say either is right or wrong. He simply says. "don't judge each other." (Rom. 7:7, 12, 14; 1 Cor.7:19; 9:21).

*FromThe New English Bible, New Testament. The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961. Reprinted by permission.