God bless you. So you worship God on Sunday? Didn't God commanded us to keep the Sabbath day? Let's look at the Bible if God really told us to keep the Sabbath day:
Jer. 17:24-27 ["But if you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD...keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it,...this city will be inhabited forever.... But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses."]
Exodus 20:11 [For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.]
So God commanded us, through the Bible, to keep the Sabbath day holy by giving this day to Him to worship Him. Now let's find out when is the Sabbath day through the Bible:
Mark 16:9 [When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.]
So we celebrate Jesus resurrection on Sunday. The Bible says that Jesus rose on the "first day of the week". So that makes Saturday the seventh day of the week. Let's even look at our own Dictionary online to see the meaning of Sunday and Saturday:
Saturday - seventh day of the week, following Friday.
Reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Saturday
Sunday - first day of the week, observed as the Sabbath by most Christian sects.
Reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Sunday
So why most Christians are keeping Sunday, the first day of the week, as the Sabbath day when God Himself made Saturday, the seventh day of the week, the rest day and made it holy for Him. Now did Jesus and His Apostles kept the Sabbath day?
Matthew 12:8 [For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.]
Luke 6:5 [Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."]
Luke 4:16 [He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom....]
Acts 17:2 [As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures...]
Clearly, Jesus and His Apostles kept the Sabbath day as God's custom. So how did it change from the seventh to the first day?
After the apostles died, Christianity spread to western regions, including Rome. The gospel was preached to sun-god worshipers, and in the early 4th century, even the Roman emperor had heard the message of Christ. The emperor happened to be a leader of the sun-god worshipers, and when he converted to Christianity, many sun-god worshipers began to attend Church. As time passed, the faith of the Christians weakened, and they began to accept the customs of the sun-god worshipers. During this turn-over, they even began to rest and to worship on the first day of the week [Sunday]. In A.D. 321, Constantine, a Roman emperor, decreed an edict:
"All judges, city-people and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the Sun."
Some argue that the abolishment of the Sabbath compelled many people to convert to Christianity, but we must not forget that altering God's commandments was Satan's scheme. Satan, the devil, opposes God and has historically harassed God's people, using various methods.
So if most Christians are worshipping God on Sunday, are they following God's tradition or rules taught by men:
Mark 7:6-9 [He [Jesus] replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"]
I hope it's clear to you. God bless you.
God's Sabbath Day - Saturday or Sunday?
by brofromzion 4 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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brofromzion
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digderidoo
You've come to the wrong place if you think JW's only worship on a Sunday. Witnesses do believe the Sabbath is a Saturday, so maybe you should have done a bit of research before you preached your Seventh day views here.
Witnesses also believe that the Sabbath should no longer be observed, that the need to keep the sabbath was done away with along with the Ten Commandments at Jesus death.
Witnesses worship every day, not just a Sabbath.
Maybe you should have looked into this before you started to preach at us. But not only that, you will find that many here are ex JW's not practicing. I would like to say where you can take your preaching, but i think it will be moderated.
God bless you too.
Paul
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brofromzion
digderidoo said "Witnesses also believe that the Sabbath should no longer be observed, that the need to keep the sabbath was done away with along with the Ten Commandments at Jesus death."
Digderidoo, are you sure about that? Can we actually worship God whenever we want? By the way, I'm not a Seventh Day Adventist. I follow God according to the Bible, not the opinion of men. Let me show you what the Bible really testifies:
Matthew 12:8 [For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.]
Luke 6:5 [Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."]
Luke 4:16 [He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom....]
Acts 17:2 [As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures...]
Clearly, Jesus and His Apostles kept the Sabbath day as God's custom. digderidoo, are these words not clear to you?Matthew 5:17-20 ["Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven]
digderidoo, are you sure we can worship God anytime we want or should we follow Jesus and the Apostles customs?
1 Corinthians 11:1-2 [Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.]
digderidoo, it's probably okay to preach God's words anytime but as far as worshipping God, it should be on Sabbath day, not anytime we feel like.
John 5:41 ["I do not accept praise from men]
Mark 7:6-9 [He [Jesus] replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"]
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Mary
Can we actually worship God whenever we want?
In one word? 'Yes'. I agree with your view that the Sabbath is from Friday after sundown to Saturday after sundown and I don't think you'll find anyone here who disagrees with that. In fact, the WTS has never denied that this is when the Sabbath took place. But as it's already been mentioned, they feel that it was 'done away with', when Jesus died and therefore, is no longer binding on Christians.
I see nothing in the bible that would indicate that we can only worship God on a certain date-----in fact, the opposite is true. The bible is filled with examples of believers worshipping God at any given time, not only on the Sabbath, so I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.
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brofromzion
Mary, if your saying that you can worship God whenever you want then that's absolutely wrong. If you guys saying that you guys keep that Sabbath Day and also keep the 1st - 6th day or worship, are you guys really following God's commandments?
The words of God are absolute, and there can not be any exceptions to the absoluteness. If you take exceptions to God’s word, it is because you do not regard His words as absolute. When you carry them out absolutely, the absolute results will follow. God said, “Do not add and subtract” (Deut. 4:2), “Do not add and take away” (Rev. 22:18). And God gave a warning: If anyone adds anything to His words, He will add to him the plagues described in the Bible, and if anyone takes away from them, He will take away from him his share in the tree of life (eternal life). These words show well how absolute the word of God is and how authentic result it accompanies.
We can see how absolute God’s word is and what blessing it brings from Abraham’s case. God granted Isaac as an heir to Abraham who was 100 years old. To him, Isaac was absolute being and the most precious treasure among all his possessions. God, however, commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as an offering whom he cherished and loved as much as his life, in order to test whether or not he loved God absolutely. Then Abraham made up his mind to obey God’s command as more absolute than his possession. Those who stuck only to common sense might grumble against God and His disposal, saying “God! Why did You give me Isaac? Have I ever asked for a son? You gave me a son unilaterally, but now You intend to take him away from me. Why do You give me an agony shattering a ray of hope of old man? Abraham could have grumbled against God like that. But he obeyed God’s will, with the faith that life, death, fortune, and misfortune of men depend upon God. So he determined to sacrifice Isaac as an offering. When he was about to kill Isaac, he heard the merciful voice of God, “Do not lay a hand on the boy.” Such faithful obedience won him the praise of the people, that he was called “the father of faith”.
Through the works of Noah, we can also find out what the result of the absolute faith is. In the days that not a drop of rain fell, God commanded Noah to make an ark (wooden ship) on the top of the mountain. In fact, it was beyond common sense; as for scale, the ark was to be 137 meters long, 23 meters wide, 14 meters high, and it was almost impossible to build such a tremendous ship with the techniques of those days. Of course, it can be construct easily with modern techniques including timbers and various kinds of building materials. However, it must have been difficult to build the ark with those day’s technique, because it required high techniques and expenses with which today’s shuttle can be made. Even under those circumstances, Noah never complained of God and began to construct the ark, believing that God would help him. It is estimated that it took as long as 40 years at least or even 100 years to make the ark. From this, we can guess it took a lot of perseverance for Noah to do the work. As the result of obeying the absolute words of God without adding or subtracting, only Noah and his family were saved when all the people were destroyed by the flood. Thus, the result of regarding the words of God as absolute was great blessing and joy.
Here is another case; Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was cured of his serious disease by obeying the word of God absolutely. When Naaman was suffering from mortal disease, leprosy, he visited Elisha who lived in the land of Israel, through the recommendation of Hebraic maidservant whom he kept in his house. Then Elisha didn’t allow Naaman to see himself, but only sent a messenger to command him to wash himself seven times seven times in the Jordan. Naaman would go away in angry, counting impolitely Elisha’s treatment for the commander of the army of a nation. For he expected that Elisha would come out to him and lay his hands on himself and cure of his disease. But the prescription for his disease was far from his thought, and he could not believe that he would be healed by such a recipe. But Naaman changed his mind and washed himself in the Jordan with the mind of obedience, and he was cured of his skin like that of little child (2 Kings 5:1-27). If general Naaman had not obeyed absolutely the word of God spoken through Elisha, he would have finished his miserable life as a leper.
Even when the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan in order to possess the land of Canaan after forty years in the desert, the absolute obedience was required. In the rainy season that the river overflew all it’s banks, God commanded the Israelites to go ahead of them. In common knowledge, ferries or rafts at least would be required to cross a river. But Joshua believed absolutely that the words of God would bring forth a gracious result. Indeed, as soon as the Israelites dipped their feet into the Jordan, believing the words of God absolutely, so much water was pushed out, that they could cross over the Jordan as on dry land.
When the Israelites arrived in the land of Canaan, the fortress of Jericho stood dreadfully before them. Without conquering Jericho the firm fortress, they couldn’t enter Canaan. Under such circumstance, they were ordered to march around the Jericho. It would be an ordinary way of conquering the fortress to build siege ramps and make ladders, arrows, spears, shields and battering rams for breading the gate and to plan a strategy. However, God told them an unreasonable and strange operation beyond common sense, and those who believed God with common sense couldn’t carry it out.
On the first day, they marched around the city once, but nothing happened. And on the second day, they marched around the city in the same manner, but it didn’t still move at all. On the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth day, they did so. Those who didn’t have absolute faith must have been anxious; they might have fallen into men’s common sense, “We would rather sharpen our swords or make one more spear or make battering rams to break the gate”. On the seventh day that they marched around the city seven times, they might have despaired deeply, doubting, “Will it collapse or not”? or “We may collapse from exhaustion”. But what result did God give the Israelites who obeyed absolutely His words? When they shouted with a great shout, the wall collapse. By conquering the city of Jericho, they prepared the foundation for entering the promised land of Canaan..
But after Israelites came out of Egypt, they didn’t keep such absolute faith until the end. As a result, six hundred thousand men were killed miserably in the desert. As it is written:
Hebrews 3:17-19 [And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.]
We come to a conclusion that no one can follow the commands of God without absolute obedience. Even what is beyond common sense will be settled naturally if we only carry it out with absolute obedience toward God. Such an absolute obedience is also required to keep the commands of God. Some persist in their arrogant opinions: “It doesn’t matter whether we worship on Sunday or Saturday” or “If we appoint 25th of December as the holy birthday of Jesus Christ and celebrate it, though we don’t celebrate Passover, God will be pleased with it”, or “We will be saved, though we don’t keep the Passover, for we have Communion every month or every week”. The reason they say such nonsense is that they don’t regard the words of God as absolute, but degrade them lower than the insistence of men. Those who believe God with their own thoughts will never be saved.
Sometimes, those who obey the words of God absolutely seem to be abnormal to the eyes of those who do not regard them as absolute: Naaman who washed himself even seven times in the dirty water of the Jordan, not in the clear water, the Israelites who marched around the city Jericho instead of attacking it, Abraham who was willing to sacrifice his precious son as an offering, Noah who made the ark on top of the mountains, sweating profusely, on the clear days. All of them might seem to be abnormal and crazy to the eyes of the people. But if we realize that God asks us to do something only for our own sake, we will obey God’s words absolutely without persisting our own thought, by which we can become perfect. When God demands us absolute obedience, it is not to oppress us dictatorially, but to give benefits to us who cannot foresee the future.
These days, it is regarded as very reasonable and natural that men or animals or images of nature move as reality on television. But only 100 years ago, people couldn’t even imagine such a thing at all; if anyone said that there would be television, he must have been treated as a mad man.
Men can not know the things to come 100 years or later or 10 years or one year later. Really they are ignorant, and they can’t foresee what will happen even after a second. To them, what will God teach and what will He explain?
John 3:12 Jesus said to them [“I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?”] Like Jesus’ word, men cannot fathom God’s great will.
But God always prepares righteous and beneficial results, and allows them only to those who believe and follow Him. Nevertheless, most people do not believe the fact completely, that they sometimes undergo sufferings and sometimes wander about and fall into death after all. Now, we should keep in mind that the way to proceed to the kingdom of heaven is only to obey the commands of God absolutely and to believe that we are to receive His absolute blessing after absolute obedience. God gave us absolute commands to give us His absolute love.
Mary, don't just say you love God. Follow His words absolutely by only keeping what He told you and not adding something else like "I can worship God anytime I want." Again, Naaman kept the Word of God by absolutely following His words exactly as God told him to wash himself in the dirty river. Or the Israelites who marched around the walls of Jericho 7 times because they kept God's words absolutely instead of their common sense to just attack it. God bless you.