Sir Jeff
My email to your below provided answer is replied back in blue color for easier view ability and readability.
Greetings :
Greetings to you too, from Sunny Goa, India.
Thank you so much for your comments and your desire to find the answers to
living righteously in God’s Word. Since God made us, He knows us better than
anyone and is the final authority on everything right.
I totally agree with you. “All scripture is given by inspiration of
Yahweh, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness:”
|
That the man
of Elohim may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Timothy
3:16,17 (Restoration Study Bible, 04th Edition) |
You are to be commended for going to the Bible for solutions to life’s
issues. I hope I can help you find His answers.
Thanks
The fact that the New Testament church was gathering together day by day
connects both the worship assemblies and the euphoria of the establishment of
the church being experienced in the infant Jerusalem congregation.
I would not use the word, “Infant” for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Century Jerusalem Christian Congregations. Before the Council of Nicaea around 325 AD, for approximate 300 + years the Original “Church of Christ” as you say, was mature and had matured enough. By this time even the New Testament was completed. 300 years had passed for the original church of Christ, so hence they were NOT any infant church or just a church with early beginnings…….
It must have been an exciting time and it is plain from Acts 2 that
there was a great amount of teaching happening daily.
Okay
"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." Acts 2:42
"So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart." Acts 2:46
These two verses indicate that there was a considerable amount of
togetherness in the church.
Okay
That some of this time was spent in worship cannot be denied, however,
there is no timeframe, or specifically a day, articulated in these verses.
“OR SPECIFICALLY A DAY”
And when
the day
of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Acts
2:1
Leviticus 23 says Pentecost / Shavuot is the Morrow of the SHABBAT. So day of Pentecost / Shavuot is not Sabbath day, but the day after the Sabbath. So Almighty God did not institute 2 Sabbaths one after the other. One on Saturday the Seventh day and the other on Sunday. Then just because Pentecost fell on Sunday, that does not give us humans the right to claim that, hey since Pentecost fell on Sunday, so this is the new Sabbath Sunday. The God of the Bible did not say that. Sir Jeff, you are implicating that into the scripture.
On Paul's missionary journeys, he frequently met with people on the
Sabbath, both in the synagogue (Acts 13:15, 42; 14:1; et al.) and wherever
"prayer was customarily made" (Acts 16:13) because there were
opportunities to be a teacher of the Gospel, as was his habit, "for the
Jews first and also for the Greeks" (Romans 1:16).
Okay
There is no indication that any worship, as occurs on the first day of
the week,
happened on these Sabbaths.
The above is your “Assumption”. Not a Scriptural fact.
The first mention of a time frame is in Acts 20:7. The early disciples
did meet on Sunday (Acts 20:7);
The day this meeting was on is not relevant in any case, as one can have a gathering to preach or study the Word on any day of the week and that does not change a Commandment of God.
this being the only reference to their custom or habit
of a worship day that included the Lord's Supper, it is the only legitimate,
authorized day in which a Christian can partake of the Lord's Supper.
The other factor that leads many astray with this verse is the mind-set of always associating the breaking of bread with Communion. In Biblical times, breaking bread was done at every meal and was an expression used for any meal. When most think of communion, they typically associate it with a little cup of grape juice and a piece of wafer or bread. Is this how it was with the last supper? Not at all. It was supper as in a complete meal and the bread was broken as it was at every meal.
Furthermore, Christ arose on the first day of the week (Mark 16:9) so no
other day could possibly be a more appropriate day than the first day of the
week to remember the Lord's death, burial and resurrection (cf. Matthew
26:26-28).
THIS IS A MAN MADE COMMANDMENT. Not a Commandment of the Most High and Almighty Elohim Yahweh of the Bible. If it was so, as you are teaching, then this would have been plainly and simply recorded in God’s word, and God would have said: I raised my son from the dead on Sunday, so henceforth I cancel my old Saturday Sabbath and institute a new Sabbath on Sunday. NO. NOTHING LIKE THIS EVER HAPPENED.
Actually the waving of the first of the barley harvest in Lev. 23:9-11 represents the resurrection of Yahshua Messiah. See also 1Corinthians 15:20. This day starts the count to Pentecost/Shavuot and again Scripture says that it is the day after the Shabbat. So the day of the resurrection is not the Sabbath but the day after the Shabbat.
To argue that the early disciples did not worship on the first day of
the week is an argument from silence - no one can provide any evidence for any
other day wherein Christians partook of the Lord's Supper, which was the one
unique practice that occurred only on the first day of the week assembly (Acts
20:7).
“This Scripture does not say Paul observed
Sunday, the first day of the week, as a day of worship. If this were an example
for us today, we would be starting the service on Saturday night – not on Sunday
morning. Verse 7 shows Paul preached to them until midnight.
Also services would have to continue till dawn (verse 11).”
Please note that Paul spoke
until midnight (verse 7), healed the young man who
fell down from the third story (verses 9-10); THEN broke bread and ATE (verse
11); and continued preaching until daybreak (same verse), ready to depart “on
the morrow” (verse 7) or SUNDAY morning (the New King James Bible states that
he was ready to depart “on the next day”; that is misleading as it could give
the impression that he wanted to depart on Monday).
By this approved example, there is no authority to partake of the Lord's
Supper on any other day than the first day of the week, since we only have one
Bible reference articulating this point.
Your one Scriptural Support has been answered above.
This must be accepted in order to shed light on the text in question.
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for
He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir
up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as
is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you
see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a
certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation with will devour
the adversaries." Hebrews 10:23-27
Okay
The Hebrew writer warns his audience of judgment and fiery indignation
for several sins in this text, including "forsaking the assembly of
ourselves together." In the context of holding fast our hope, being full
of love and full of good works, the essentiality of these things in order to be
found faithful is the overriding theme: one cannot be a faithful Christian if
one does not hold fast his/her hope, etc. Therefore, the assembly articulated
here must be mandatory to our faithfulness. Some in this text
had begun to forsake the assembly and there is an implied condemnation in such
forsaking.
Are you not forsaking the Sabbath that was instituted by the Almighty? “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”. Exodus 20:8
Therefore, what assembly is mandatory? This brings into question the
authority for an assembly. Since we receive our directives from God's
revelation, not His silence, the only known text that mentions a day (however,
no time is mentioned) is the first day of the week.
The above man made assumption and conclusion is done BY ADDING A THOUGHT OR IDEA into God’s word and not taking the truth AS IT IS.
It is in that one assembly wherein the Lord's Supper is offered. We are
commanded by Jesus to partake of the Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:26-28) and Paul
gave direction on partaking of it in a proper manner (1 Corinthians 11:23-29),
stating that it was a divinely authorized reason for the assembly on that
occasion.
“Next, we realize that the breaking of bread
was not a religious service, but merely the eating of a meal. Acts 27:33-38
proves this. Notice Paul’s situation. He was a Roman prisoner in the midst
of many Gentiles on board a ship (Acts 27:1-2). Obviously Paul was not holding
a religious service. The men ate for their health (verses 33-34).”
Verse
36 states expressly that “they were all very encouraged and ALSO took FOOD
themselves.” Other examples, showing that breaking bread simply refers to the
“ordinary” act of eating a meal, can be found in Acts 2:42, 46 (“breaking bread
from house to house, they ate their FOOD with gladness…”) and also in Luke
24:30, 35 (two disciples recognized Jesus when He broke bread to eat with
them).
“Acts 20:7 does not describe
a regular service. Notice the context. Paul was en route
from Greece to Jerusalem (Acts 20:2-3, 16). Since he did not know when he would
see the brethren again, he wanted to teach them as much as possible. The people
were more than willing to listen. So, after the Sabbath Paul remained behind
teaching the brethren, while his ship sailed around the peninsula (verse 13).
He remained talking with them till midnight and continued after a short meal
until daybreak (Verse 11). Then after Paul had stayed as long as he could, he
left them to walk across the peninsula to meet the boat (verses 13-14). He
worked on that Sunday by taking this long walk of some 19 miles!
“There
is nothing in the above Scripture to indicate it was Paul’s custom to observe
Sunday. In fact, all through the book of Acts we see it was Paul’s custom to
observe the Sabbath (Acts 17:2; 13:14-15; 42-44). We also note in reading Acts
20:6 that Paul was traveling after having observed the Days of Unleavened
Bread. He continued to observe the annual holy days as well as the weekly
Sabbath years after Christ had died as He remained faithful to the commands of
God.”
And in Acts 2:46 we
again see that breaking of bread was done with every meal and does not imply
communion. The Disciples going
from house to house witnessing and fellowshipping with others implies no such
thing and obviously does not change a Commandment of God either.
Based on the translation in
the New King James Bible, it seems obvious that the
activities in Acts 20:7 refer to the first day of the week. Since days start
and end with sunset, the disciples stayed after Sabbath services and after the
Sabbath had ended, to have a meal together on Sunday, while Paul continued to
preach to them. Why is it then that some claim that the gathering of the
disciples and the breaking of bread occurred on the Sabbath and not on Sunday?
The answer is based on a
peculiar choice of words in the Greek, as in the original, the word
for “week” is “sabbaton” (the word “sabbaton” refers in some way to the
Sabbath). The entire phrase “first of the week” (the
word “day” is not in the original) is derived from the Greek
expression “MIA TON SABBATON” (that is, FIRST (“mia”) of THE (“ton”) WEEK
(“sabbaton,” i.e., OF WEEK). The Luther Bible from 1545 renders Acts 20:7 as
follows: “On a Sabbath, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul
preached to them…” (“AVff einen Sabbath aber / da die Jünger zusamen kamen /
das Brot zu brechen / prediget jnen Paulus…”)
As we see, Luther rendered the word “sabbaton” here as “a Sabbath,” while most translations say, “of week.” The Interlinear Translation also says, “On first of the week…” To understand the problem with the different translations, a lengthy and somewhat technical explanation is required.
"Therefore when you
come together in one place, is it not to eat the Lord's Supper."
1 Corinthians 11:20
WHY ARE YOU PLAYING(tampering) WITH THE WORD OF GOD SIR JEFF?
The scripture at 1 Corinthians 11:20 clearly states that THIS IS NOT to eat the Lord’s Supper and you support some bad translation just to prove your wrong point and false teaching.
New
International Version
So then, when you come together, it is not the
Lord's Supper you eat,
English Standard
Version
When you come together, it is not the Lord’s
supper that you eat.
Berean Study
Bible
Now then, when you come together, it is not the
Lord’s Supper you eat.
Berean Literal
Bible
Therefore, of you coming together in one place,
it is not to eat the Lord's supper.
New American
Standard Bible
Therefore when you meet together, it is not to
eat the Lord's Supper,
New King James
Version
Therefore when you come together in one place,
it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.
King James Bible
When ye come together therefore into one
place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
Christian
Standard Bible
When you come together, then, it is not to eat
the Lord's Supper.
Contemporary
English Version
When you meet together, you don't really
celebrate the Lord's Supper.
Good News
Translation
When you meet together as a group, it is not the
Lord's Supper that you eat.
Holman Christian
Standard Bible
Therefore, when you come together, it is not
really to eat the Lord's Supper.
International
Standard Version
When you gather in the same place, it is not to
eat the Lord's Supper.
NET Bible
Now when you come together at the same place,
you are not really eating the Lord's Supper.
When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat.
A Faithful
Version
Therefore, when you assemble together in one
place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper.
GOD'S WORD®
Translation
When you gather in the same place, you can't
possibly be eating the Lord's Supper.
New American
Standard 1977
Therefore when you meet together, it is not to
eat the Lord’s Supper,
King James 2000
Bible
When you come together therefore into one place,
this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
American King
James Version
When you come together therefore into one place,
this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
Douay-Rheims
Bible
When you come therefore together into one place,
it is not now to eat the Lord's supper.
Darby Bible Translation
When ye come therefore together into one place,
it is not to eat [the] Lord's supper.
English Revised
Version
When therefore ye assemble yourselves together,
it is not possible to eat the Lord's supper:
Webster's Bible
Translation
When therefore ye come together in one place,
this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
Weymouth New
Testament
When, however, you meet in one place, there is
no eating the Supper of the Lord;
World English
Bible
When therefore you assemble yourselves together,
it is not the Lord's supper that you eat.
Young's Literal Translation
ye, then, coming together at the same place --
it is not to eat the Lord's supper;
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The coming together was "as a church" (1 Corinthians 11:18),
"in one place" (1 Corinthians 11:20) "to eat" (1
Corinthians 11:33). Note the contiguous theme: the assembly of the saints as a
church in one place to eat the Lord's Supper was what defined this assembly as
mandatory, in that none of the aforementioned criteria could be practiced
without such an assembling.
“When ye come together therefore into one place, this
is not to eat the Master's supper”.
1 Corinthians 11:20 (RSB Bible 04th Edition)
In fact, the separation between the breaking of bread (a common meal)
and the breaking of bread (the Lord's Supper) is here specifically
differentiated (comp. 1 Corinthians 11:20-22). It clarifies the previous texts
in Acts 2 as to what the brethren were doing in both their house to house
eating of meals and their congregated partaking of the Lord's Supper (Acts
2:42-46) and in Acts 20 where Paul waited delayed his travels in order to come
"together to break bread" with the saints on Sunday (Acts 20:7).
People often quote
the story in Acts 20—of Paul and his fellow workers meeting on the first day of
the week to “break bread together” (v. 7)—as evidence that Paul celebrated the
Communion service as part of a worship service on a Sunday. They assume that
this demonstrates Paul’s regard for Sunday as a sacred day. There are a few
problems with this idea.
Jesus instituted the Communion service on the
Thursday night before His crucifixion as a way to commemorate His death
(Matthew 26:26:30), not His resurrection. Paul confirms this when he writes to the church in Corinth,
“As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s
death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). According to these Scriptures,
participating in the Communion service highlights
Christ’s sacrificial death.
“Breaking
bread” is not clearly defined in the Scriptures as being a Communion service. Luke, the writer of Acts, records one other time when
believers met to break bread together: “So continuing daily with one accord in
the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with
gladness and simplicity of heart” (Acts 2:46). If we assume that “breaking
bread” means having a communion service, these believers were celebrating every
day!
Going back to the story of Paul, after having
broke bread, the record says that Paul preached until midnight and “there were
many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together” (Acts 20:8).
Luke is referencing the biblical method of counting days, beginning in the
evening (Genesis 1). Following this reckoning, this meeting would have taken
place on what we consider Saturday night.
Since this is the only record of a Christian
meeting on the first day of the week, it would seem that Luke would highlight
the importance of honouring Christ’s resurrection if the Sabbath had been
changed. But the key point of this story is a resurrection of a dead believer,
with no reference at all to Christ.
Therefore, if the different things mentioned by the Hebrew writer deal
with mandatory Christian activities, then partaking of the Lord's Supper (which
is mandatory) is what makes an assembly mandatory, which would fit the context
of the Hebrew writer. The first-day-of-the-week assembly is a God-ordained
assembly.
Not a Biblical teaching or commandment or mandate from the Almighty Creator. It’s just another Man-Made human law made by the great pagan and apostate Catholic Church which Sir Jeff you are still following maybe ignorantly or innocently. That I leave to God to judge.
This being said, the elders of a congregation are at liberty to set
alternative times and places to worship, study and sing praises for the
edification of the saints. If a Christian is in submission to an eldership
(Hebrews 13:17) and the eldership calls the saints together for a Bible study,
fellowship meal or any other meeting for reapproval, rebuke or exhortation, a
faithful Christian will wish to be there. This would be an elder-ordained
assembly, authorized by God for leaders, "for they watch out for your
souls" and "take care of the church of God" (cf. Hebrews 13:17;
1 Timothy 3:5). During these assemblies, it is not required, nor is it
authorized, that the congregants partake of the Lord's Supper (as in a Bible
study, or as was condemned during Corinth's common meal, 1 Corinthians
11:21-22); herein lies the distinction between the two authorized assemblies of
the saints (God-ordained and elder-ordained).
Elohim (God) ordained Sabbath is Seventh day of the week that is Saturday. Elder (Human) ordained Sabbath is First day of the week that is Sunday. Bible commands the DAY OF DEATH of our Messiah Yahshua to be commemorated. Never the Day of Resurrection. NO. NEVER the Day of Resurrection. NOT AT ALL.
Elders do not have the authority to adjust the first-day-of-the-week
assembly in which the Lord's Supper is served to another day of the week but
all other assemblies are within their rule to adjust as they see the need in
view of the congregation's needs.
You have already cancelled and annulled by Human laws and human imperfect understanding the Saturday day of Sabbath to Sunday – day of Resurrection as Lord’s Day or Christian Sabbath. When you gave yourself the authority to change God’s Saturday Sabbath to Sunday, then now you will worry if others will take their own liberty and change the first-day-of-the-week assembly to another day of the week.
The service that offers the Lord's Supper, the topic of 1 Corinthians
11, is a mandatory, God-ordained assembly, which is what the Hebrew writer is
discussing.
“On the first day of the week, when the disciples came
together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and
continued his message until midnight.”
Is this meeting in which the disciples came
together to break bread on the first day of the week sufficient evidence for
the Sabbath being changed from the seventh day to the first day? Were Paul and
the believers observing the first day as a holy day—or were they merely
breaking bread without any suggestion of the Lord’s Supper or of established
procedure?
First, the meeting in
question did not begin on what is now known as Sunday at all, but on Saturday evening! According to the
Bible method of reckoning time, each day begins at sunset and goes to the
following sunset (Leviticus 23:32; Mark 1:32). Hence, the first day of the week
begins on the evening of the seventh day, the second day of the week begins on
the evening of the first day, and so on—just as Christmas Day begins on
Christmas Eve, the evening before. Because “there were many lamps in the upper
room where they were gathered together” (Acts 20:8), the meeting had to have
begun on the dark part of the first day of the week—what we know as Saturday evening.
Verse 7 says that Paul was “ready to depart the next day.” Using the Bible’s
method of reckoning time, if Paul were now a Sunday observer, surely he
wouldn’t have planned to travel on a holy day!
Would using the Roman reckoning of time, our
method today, provide evidence for Sunday keeping by Paul and the believers? In
this case, Paul’s meeting would have begun on Sunday evening after dark, and
since the Bible says that they broke bread after midnight (Acts 20:7–11), this
principal feature of the meeting would have occurred on Monday. Hence, if the
breaking of bread made a new day holy, then Christians should be observing
Monday!
Were Paul and the believers participating in a
communion service designated for a holy day? Not only does the evidence refute
this, but also, there is nothing in the Scriptures to show that the celebration
of the Lord’s Supper was confined to any particular day of the week. Paul
himself recorded, “As
often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the
Lord’s death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26, emphasis added).
The only exception God has revealed would be incapacitation or inability, which might have been John's case when exiled on the isle of Patmos (Revelation 1:10). I have heard some use the "ox in the ditch" argument (Luke 14:5) as an excuse for missing the first-day-of-the-week assembly in which one is to partake of the Lord's Supper, but I firmly suggest if the ox keeps falling into the ditch, one should fill the ditch or shoot the ox. Attendance at elder-ordained assemblies would be within the elders' authority to mandate, excuse or mitigate (Hebrews 13:7).
“Remember them which have the rule over you, who have
spoken unto you the word of Elohim: whose faith follow considering the end of
their conversation”. Hebrews 13:7 (RSB Bible 04th Edition)
Hebrews 13:7 simply does not give grant or give any rights or powers to Ordained Elders to change the commandments of the Most High God Yahweh.
Elders often see fit to offer exhortation at assemblies in which they reasonably would not expect all members to attend but offer it, nevertheless, as an opportunity to grow, not as an opportunity to castigate.
To conclude in brief
THE PASSAGE IN QUESTION…
•Acts 20:7: “And upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”
Wrong interpretation— The common idea is that Paul was holding a Sunday worship service.
Proper explanation— Note that the word “day” is italicized in the King James Version, meaning it was added by translators. The phrase 3 should properly read, “And upon the first of the…” The word “week” in the Greek is Sabbaton, or Sabbath, Strong’s Greek Dictionary. In Word Studies in the New Testament, M.R. Vincent notes, “The noun Sabbath is often used after numerals in the signification of a week” (Acts 20:7 note). The Greek text behind this phrase, therefore, literally reads “And upon the first of the Sabbaths.”
First for what?
The verse refers to the first weekly Sabbath in the seven-Sabbath (seven-week) count to Pentecost. Paul was moved to give a message on this day. This occurred following a regular meal that the disciples had enjoyed on a weekly Sabbath, not Sunday
I hope this answers your question. If I can help you with any other Bible questions please feel free to contact me at this address.
I hope my answers make your heart, mind and soul to see the Biblical Truth and not the Pagan traditions & teachings of the Non 1st, 2nd & 3rd Century Church of Christ. Yes. The World Video School presentation was excellent. Let’s say you had 9 Truths right and then in the end of the video you erred with 1 Lie.
In the spirit of 2 Timothy 3:16 I have provided the above Bible answers. All glory and praise to the one true Almighty Yahweh and his only begotten Son and our Messiah Yahshua.
Yours in Yahweh through Yahshua.