What I want us to understand from Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 9 is that these chapters make
it perfectly clear that there are parts of the Old Testament that are done away in Christ.
I mean, in these two chapters we see that that which is old is ready to vanish away.
He's talking about the Old Testament, the carnal ordinances, and he starts to talk specifically
about what those things are.
It's important that we pay attention to what those specific things are because a lot of
people today, they want to pretend like the entire Old Testament has just been done away
in Christ.
And that's just not the case.
It's very specific about the things that Christ has done away with.
It says there in chapter 8 verse 7, it tells us that if the Old Testament had been faultless
in verse 7, then should no place have been sought for the second.
So the Old Testament, the sacrifices, the tabernacle, the priesthood, all of that, if
that had been perfect, if that had been faultless, then there would have been no need for Christ
to come and offer himself a sacrifice for sins.
In verse 13 it says, in that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
So he's saying, when there's a New Testament that's come, the first is made old.
Chapter 9 verse 10 tells us that they were imposed until the time of reformation.
Now the time of reformation is when Christ came and offered himself a sacrifice for sins.
And those things done away, that he put away, those things that wax old, those things that
were not perfect, those things that were not faultless, that had to be replaced with
the second, what were those things?
Those things done away are the tabernacle, the meats, the drinks, the diverse washings,
the carnal ordinances.
Now again we don't want to confuse carnal ordinances with the moral law of God.
Those are two different things.
The carnal ordinances are the things like, you know, the peace offerings and the sin
offerings and all of these are the carnal ordinances.
Those are not the civil or moral law that God instituted in the books of Moses.
So it's important we don't confuse those two things.
And one of those ordinances that I want to focus in tonight, one of those things that
is done away in Christ is worshiping on the Sabbath day.
Worshiping on the Sabbath day.
And the title of the sermon can simply be, you know, why we worship on the first day
of the week.
Why do we worship on the first day of the week?
Now obviously this isn't a struggle for you guys because it's the first day of the week
and we're all in church, right?
But it's important to understand this because there are people that not only in this doctrine
of when we ought to worship, but in other doctrines, they want to come in and bring
us into bondage and to teach us and basically what they are is they're called Judaizers.
They want to bring us back into the carnal ordinances.
They want to teach us that we have to worship on the Sabbath day.
They want to tell us that, you know, there are certain things that we need to observe
from the Old Testament as far as, you know, the Sabbath would be the one that we're
going to focus on.
And those people are called Seventh-day Adventists.
And I'm really not going to get into their doctrine, but the fact is that they do teach
that we ought to worship on the Sabbath day.
That's why they worship on Saturday.
That's why they meet, rather than on Sunday, they go and meet on Saturday.
Now go ahead and turn over to Colossians chapter 2, Colossians chapter 2.
The Bible is very clear here, not only in Hebrews, but in other places, that there are
certain things that are done away in Christ, the carnal ordinances.
And the one we're going to look at tonight and see it be done away in the New Testament
and see the new example that has been set for us that we are to worship on the first
day of the week is when we ought to come together as a church for preaching and prayer and worship.
That's what we're going to focus in on.
Look at Colossians chapter 2 verse 13.
The Bible says in Colossians chapter 2 verse 13,
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with
him, having forgiven you all trespasses.
Now that's a great verse, you know, side note for soul winning.
Colossians 2, 13, it said how many sins did Jesus Christ die for?
All of them.
Because it says He has forgiven you all trespasses.
You know, big ones, little ones.
That's just kind of a side note.
Verse 14 says,
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to
us and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross, and having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Then it goes on and says this in verse 16,
Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or the
new moon or of the Sabbath days.
He said, you're not to be judged in these things, which are a shadow of the things to
come, but the body is of Christ.
All those things were things that were pointing to Christ.
We could see them back then, they saw them as a shadow.
They couldn't see Christ, but now we see Christ, we see the body, which cast that shadow, therefore
we no longer look at the shadow of those things.
We look at the body, we look at Christ Himself, the head, and it says because of that, we
are to let no man judge us in respect of Sabbath days.
There's several things listed there.
That's why we're allowed also there, it says let no man judge you therefore in meat.
Praise God.
We can eat the bacon.
If you like seafood, you can eat the seafood.
You can go out and get the sea rat, and you can go out and get the cockroach of the sea.
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, that's lobster and shrimp.
I like to call them that because that makes them a little less appetizing.
It says that or in drink, or in sprechte of unholy day, or new moon, or of the Sabbath
days.
There's Sabbath days in the Bible, days where no work was to be done, or people would have
come together to worship God.
We are not to be judged in those things.
Why is it we're not to be judged by those things?
Well, it's because it was blotted out, that it was taken out of the way, that it was nailed
to His cross.
That's some strong language that He's using here to try to get this through to these people
saying, look, this has been nailed to the cross of Christ.
Now let me tell you, as Jesus Christ nails something to His cross, I just suggest we
leave it there.
If He went to the length to say, you know what, I'm putting this out of the way, I'm
nailing this to my cross, I'm not one who wants to take it back down and say, oh no,
no, we're keeping this.
No, it's been nailed to His cross.
He's the one who took it out of the way.
Further, He triumphed over those things.
He triumphed over them, such as the Sabbath day.
I mean, were we going to get up there and say, actually, Jesus didn't triumph over those
things?
Say, oh, He came in second.
You know, in the Bible it says He triumphed over those things.
And He talks about the fact that one of those things is the Sabbath.
Of course, that's a reference, the triumphing, the making a show of them openly was a reference
to His resurrection.
That's how He triumphed over them.
So why is it that we worship on the first day?
Well, it's because that's the day that Jesus Christ arose from the dead.
I mean, I don't need a better reason, do you?
I mean, the pinnacle moment of history.
I mean, all of civilization's calendar is built around that moment when Christ rose
from the dead.
That's an amazing thing.
That's why we worship on the first day.
That's a pretty good reason to why we ought to gather together on the first day, because
that's the day that Jesus Christ chose to be resurrected from the grave.
Go and turn to John chapter 20.
We worship on the first day because that is the day Christ arose from the dead.
Bible says, you're going to John 20, it says in Luke 24, Now upon the first day of the
week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which
they had prepared, and certain others with them.
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher, and they entered in and found
not the body of the Lord Jesus.
That makes it very clear that it was on the first day of the week.
They didn't say the day after the Sabbath, I mean, we would figure that out, right?
But he wanted us to know it was the first day of the week.
Look at John chapter 20, verse 1.
The first day of the week cometh very magdalene, early, when it was yet dark unto the sepulcher,
and seeing the stone taken away from the sepulcher.
That's why we worship on the first day, because the verse is like this.
We worship on the first day because that is the Lord's day.
Go ahead and put a bookmark in John chapter 20, and turn over to Revelation chapter 1.
Revelation chapter 1, where we see the first day being referred to as the Lord's day.
I mean, he laid claim to it.
He nailed these things to the cross, he triumphed over them, and then he claimed the day of
the week, and they called it his day.
The Lord's day.
Revelation chapter 1, look at verse 10, it says, I was in the spirit on the Lord's day,
and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet.
So who, when we say the Lord's day, well who are we referring to when we say the Lord's
day?
Well, it gives a description here, going on in verse 11, saying, I am Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last, with thou seest right in the book, and sent it unto seven churches
which are in Asia, unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, unto Sardis,
unto Philadelphian, unto Laodicea.
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks.
In the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of man clothed the garment
down to the foot, and girt about the paths of the golden girl.
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as flame
of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice
was as the sound of many waters.
You know, if a guy like that lays claim to a day, I'm not going to argue with him.
I mean, that's a fearful sight.
John says, you know, he fell on his feet and was one dead.
So that's the day he wants to call his day?
I'm not going to take it away.
I'm going to let him have it.
I'm not going to argue with the Lord about which day is his and which day isn't.
You know, he chose to rise on the first day, and he's God, and we ought to just, that ought
to be enough for us.
Now, not only because it's the day that Jesus Christ arose, and not only is it because we
see that God is the one who claimed that day as his own, do we worship on the first
day, but we also worship on the first day of the week because that is the New Testament
practice, because that is the pattern that we see set forth throughout the New Testament.
I mean, just over and over and over again you see the first day being mentioned.
Gordon, turn over to, again, keep something in John 20, but turn to Mark 16, Mark 16.
We worship on the first day because that is the day Christ arose from the dead.
We worship on the first day because that is the New Testament practice that we see.
That is the example of the early Christian church that we see.
Jesus showed himself to his disciples on the first day, the day he arose from the grave.
The day he arose, he chose himself to the disciples.
You see that in Mark 16, verse 9.
Mark 16, verse 9, when the Bible reads, Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of
the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
And she went out and told them that had been with him as they mourned and wept.
And they, when they heard that he was alive and had been seen of her, believed not.
After that, he appeared in another form unto two of them as they walked and went into the
country.
And they went and told it unto the residue, neither believed they them, neither believed
they them.
Afterward, he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat and abraded them with their
unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after
he was risen.
So when Jesus, you know, is resurrected, he shows himself to his disciples.
He shows himself to Mary Magdalene and he shows them to the two that were on their way
to Emmaus, on the road to Emmaus.
And then he shows up and abrades the eleven for their hardness of heart.
It says that here in St. John 20, but it says in Luke 24, And behold, two of them went
that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three-score
furlongs.
And they talked together of all these things that had happened, and it came to pass that
while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
So Jesus, on the very first day, the day that he's resurrected, is showing himself.
Beginning to show first to one, and then to two, and then to the rest.
Now you're in John, chapter 20, look at verse 19, John 20, verse 19.
Then the same day and evening, being the first day of the week, and he just keeps mentioning
it, the first day, the first day, the first day.
God wants us to know when this happened, it was on the first day.
When the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came
Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Now this is something I've been wanting to preach on a little while, and what really
inspired this sermon is that I replied to a guy who left a voicemail, and I learned
really quick that there is such a thing as professional time wasters, as Brother Segura
has preached previously, if you've ever heard that sermon.
PTWs, these are real people that are out there.
They just want to get your ear and just fill it with nonsense.
And you want to talk about why aren't we worshiping on the Sabbath day, and this and that.
And he told me how he went to his own pastor at his church and argued with him about it.
And I'm thinking, good night, if you're arguing with your pastor, what is some guy
a thousand miles away going to do for you over the phone?
And I just quoted, I just said, well, you know, the Bible says that they gathered together
the first day of the week, and that's what Jesus showed himself.
That's one reason.
And he says, yeah, but it says they were gathered together because of the fear of the Jews.
And right then, I'm just like, I'm immediately just trying to get off the phone with the
guy because I realize what I've done to myself.
So I don't even bother.
I'm just like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, you know, watch these sermons, and I get off the phone as quick as I can.
Because the guy, I mean, he just didn't, he already had his mind made up from everything
that I talked to him about on the phone, and he says, well, they had gathered for the fear
of the Jews.
That's why they were there.
That's not what this is saying.
That's not why they were gathered there.
They were gathered there because the Lord had just died, you know, three days earlier
that, you know, they just saw the Lord that they've been following for years, you know,
tortured and crucified, and they're mourning and they're weeping and they're distraught
and they're perplexed and they don't understand, you know, and it's not like that happened.
They just went, oh, oh, well, back to their normal life.
It's not like Peter and John just said, well, I guess that was a fluke and decided to go
back fishing.
I mean, their hearts were smoked.
They, you know, the flock was scattered and they're trying to pick up the pieces and understand
what's going on.
Now, of course, they're going to come together.
I mean, when you lose somebody that's dear and close to you, that's a time to surround
yourself with people.
That's the time to be with family and friends and mourn and weep, you know, and to get comfort.
So that's why they were gathered together.
Now, it says there that the doors were shut when the disciples were assembled together
for the fears of the Jews.
That's why the doors were shut is because of the fear of the Jews.
They weren't assembled together for the fear of the Jews.
That's why they shut the doors when they got together for the fear of the Jews.
You see that?
This guy is trying to say, well, the only reason they got together on the first day
of the week was for the fear of the Jews.
This is a ridiculous argument.
It's a stupid objection.
I don't know why I have to explain it to you guys, but if you ever run across it or if
we ever get some harebrained idea, you know, you need to understand that passage right
there.
The reason that the doors were shut was because of the fear of the Jews.
They were gathered because of the news of Jesus's body having gone missing.
I mean, Mary Magdalene shows up and is like, hey, I went to the sepulchre and the body's
gone.
I mean, aren't you going to hop on, something like that happens, you're going to be reached
out.
You're going to get on Facebook, you're going to get, you know, calling people, you're going
to be texting and people are going to be getting together, right?
You're going to want to know, this is something to talk about.
We need to get together and figure this out.
Now regardless of all that, regardless of why you think the doors are shut or weren't
shut, the fact is it was this moment when they were all gathered together in one place
being the first day of the week that Jesus appears to the apostles.
That was the moment he decided to show up.
That was when he decided, hey, you know what, now I'm going to show myself to my disciples.
It was when they were gathered together being the first day of the week.
He could have waited the next day.
He could have waited the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day.
He could have waited a whole week if he wanted to, but he didn't wait.
He did it on the first day of the week.
Now that is the pattern that we see from here on out.
That's the first time we see them gathered together on the first day of the week when
Jesus decides to show himself unto them, I believe, to set a pattern that that was what
we are to, that is why we are to gather on the first day of the week.
We see them gathering on the first day of the week throughout the rest of the New Testament.
For example, I'll have you turn over to Acts chapter 20.
Acts chapter 20.
And when you get to Acts, put a bookmark there, put a bookmark there.
We're done in John, I believe, I shouldn't speak too soon, but yeah, just once you get
to Acts, we're going to be in Acts for a little bit because this is where we see a lot of
it is in Acts.
So keep something in Acts.
Now your turn to Acts 20.
I'll remind you in Acts 2 verse 1, the Bible says that when the day of Pentecost was fully
come, they were all with the court in one place, right, and that was when the Holy Ghost
came upon them, and the flames of fire, like a cloven tongue of fire rests upon them, there
was the sound of the mighty wind rushing, we recall the story.
And I don't really have the time to develop that point, but if you were to go back to
Leviticus and Deuteronomy 16, Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16, Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy
16 clearly teach that the day of Pentecost takes place the day after the Sabbath, which
would be the first day of the week.
So the very first example in Acts, where we see them gathered together on a place on the
day of Pentecost, is a Sabbath day that took place on the first day of the week, okay?
And again, if you want to look that up and study that out, that's Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy
16.
Not only that, but we see that Paul preached to the church in Troas on the first day of
the week, you're there in Acts chapter 20, look at verse 6, and we sailed away from Philippi
after the days of unleavened bread, and came to Troas in five days, where we abode seven
days, verse 7, and upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to
break bread, they were coming together, not because Paul was there, but because it was
the first day of the week, Paul had already been there for several days.
So they come together on the first day of the week, and Paul preached unto them.
I mean, if Paul's in town, when you're having church, you better believe he's the one that's
going to be preaching, right?
I mean, there's a guest preacher in town, I don't know who was preaching there normally,
but I'm sure he was more than glad to step aside and say, Pope, it's yours, Paul.
And Paul preached to them, ready to part of the morrow, and continued his speech until
midnight.
Now there you go, that was definitely a Baptist preacher, wasn't it?
And we know it was a Baptist service because a guy fell asleep and fell out of the window,
so it was Acts chapter 20 is where we see Paul was preaching to them on the first day
of the week.
When was that?
When they were, when the apostles, when the disciples were gathered together to break
bread.
Okay, so you keep something in Acts, turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 16, we're going
to see another example of early Christians, of those that at the very beginning of the
church were gathering together on the first day of the week, and that's why we today were
preaching on the first day of the week.
We saw it in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, a holiday that took place on the first day
of the week.
We see Paul preaching to the disciples in Troas on the first day of the week.
Now in 1 Corinthians 16, we see where they were to gather money for the poor in Jerusalem
on the first day of the week.
If you recall, there was that drought in Jerusalem, there was a drought or a famine in Jerusalem
that was prophesied by, I believe it was Agabus, in the book of Acts, and then Paul
starts to say elsewhere that, you know, that the saints of Jerusalem, they ought to reap
of your carnal things, saying you guys can't even, he was imploring churches to give of
their, their substance, their, their, their, their money in order to support the poor saints
which are in Jerusalem.
And you find that in 1 Corinthians 16, look at verse 1, now concerning the collection
for the saints, he's talking about the saints which are in Jerusalem.
As I have given order into, to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye, upon the first
day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him,
that there be no gatherings when I come.
So Paul's writing ahead of, he's writing and setting this letter ahead of himself, saying
look I'm making my way to Jerusalem, I, there, the saints of Jerusalem are poor, they're
going through affliction, they need help financially, I've already told the people in Galatia to
lay, start laying money aside to build, as every man purposes in his own heart, as every,
as God prospers every man, to lay that money aside so that when I get there, we're not
going to take up an offering, the money's going to be ready to go.
Because he wanted to get that money to these people as quick as he could.
They were, they needed help, so he's saying look, that there be no gatherings when I come,
when you guys are gathered together, I want you to lay money aside and begin a collection
for these saints.
And when was that?
Up on the first day of the week.
Paul wanted the money to be ready, he didn't want, he did not, not gather it once he got
there.
And the Corinthians were to lay it up at store the first day of the week.
Another great example, and this is something I heard recently that, I don't know why I
never thought of this, but this is I think a really good case, or a really good reason
why we, or argument that we can make for worshiping on the first day of the week.
You know, those that would say, well you shouldn't, you should work up, you should worship on
Saturday, you should, you know, you should observe the Sabbath and keep it holy, right?
As if we don't have enough examples here, but consider this, that Paul was never in
church on Saturday.
You never see Paul in church on Saturday.
Where do you see Paul on the Sabbath?
Where do you see him on the last day of the week on the Sabbath throughout it?
You always see him preaching where?
In the synagogue.
He's always going into the Jews in the synagogues, right?
Which, you know, if you go to read Revelation 3, verse 11, and Revelation 2, verse 11, where
God calls that place the synagogue of Satan, or the blasphemy of the Jews, that lie, that,
you know, that's where that's going on.
So that's not the church, that is the synagogue, it's very distinct from the church.
The synagogue of Satan and the church of God are two very distinct things, but where
do you see Paul on the Sabbath days?
You don't see him in church.
You see him over and over and over again in the synagogue.
Go ahead and turn to Acts 13, Acts 13.
It says in Acts 13, beginning in verse 13, Now when Paul and his company loosed from
Paphos, they came to Perga and Pamphylia, and to John departing from them returned to
Jerusalem.
But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch and Pisidia, and went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.
And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them
saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.
Jump down to verse 42, And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, so of course Paul
preaches to them, preaches Christ to them, and when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue,
the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached unto them, the next Sabbath.
They say, Hey, we want you to come back in here next week and do it again.
We want to hear some more preaching about Christ.
Now Paul wasn't there holding a worship service.
Paul wasn't there preaching to the same.
He was there preaching Christ to the Jews, to the unsaved.
And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
I mean, talk about some effective soul-willing.
I mean, what an exciting time.
But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spake against those
things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
So we see right here, Paul going into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.
Look at Acts chapter 16.
Acts chapter 16, I'll begin reading in verse 13, Acts 16-13.
And on the Sabbath day he went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was want
to be made.
And he sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped
God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened.
And she attended unto the things which were spoken of by Paul, and she was baptized in
her household.
And she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me faithful to the Lord, come into my house,
and thereby, and she constrained us.
So Paul again on the Sabbath day is going down to the riverside to preach to these ladies
that would want to be there and to make prayer.
Look at Acts chapter 17, Acts chapter 17, we'll see again just over and over again.
Paul, you know, if we're to observe, if the day to come together and worship God is the
Sabbath day, Paul's really messing up.
Paul's not sounding a very good example.
Because every time we see Paul in the book of Acts, he's going to the synagogue and preaching
the gospel.
He's going down to the bank on the riverside and preaching to Lydia and the women that
gathered there to pray.
Look at Acts 17 verse 1, Now when they had passed through Amphilius and Apollonia, they
came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews, this is a church, and Paul,
as his manner was, this is something he did often, hey, where's the local synagogue?
It's the Sabbath, I've got to go preach to these heathens, and he'd go out and preach
to these unsaved Jews.
As his manner was, he went into them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out
of the scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must need to have suffered and risen
again from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
So we don't preach the gospel in church, I mean I know a lot of churches do, that's all
they preach ever, you know, the church is there for the edification of the body, for
the perfecting of the saints, so we all come to the knowledge of a perfect man in Christ
that we rooted up and built up in him, that's what church is for, it's for the believer,
it's not to preach to God, bring the unsaved, we go out to the unsaved and preach to them,
that's the biblical model.
And that's why you see Paul on the Sabbath day going out and preaching Christ unto the
Jews, right, because that was his day for soul winning, that was the day he went out
and did some soul winning.
Look at Acts 18, Acts 18, Acts 18 and verse 1, the Bible reads, After these things Paul
departed from Athens, and came to Corinth, and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born
in Pontus, lately come from Italy, and his wife Priscilla, because that Claudius had
commanded all Jews to depart from Rome, and came unto them.
And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought, for by occupation
they were tent makers, and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded
the Jews and the Greeks.
Now Paul was in the synagogue every Sabbath day preaching Christ.
Now does that mean that Paul was not in church the rest of the time?
No Paul was still going to church.
If we know the story here, Paul was in Corinth for a year and six months, the Bible says.
And that while he was there, he's preaching in the synagogue on every Sabbath day, but
he was also meeting in church on the first day.
I absolutely believe that, because we know that there was a church that was there.
See Paul was in Corinth for over a year, so of course he's going to be in church, of course
he's, I mean, do we know whether or not there was a church in Corinth?
Yeah, we know there was a church in Corinth, right?
Because we have 1 and 2 Corinthians, where Paul writes and addresses the church that's
there.
Now this is when he's setting that church up.
This is when he's establishing that church, when he's there for a year and six months.
So he's going into the Sabbath, or he's going to the synagogue on the Sabbath days, and
then on the first day he's going and meeting with the church that is in Corinth.
That's why it says there in verse 11 of Acts 18, and he continued there a year and six
months, teaching the word of God among them.
So no doubt we know Paul had established a church while he was there for that year and
six months.
And if you would, go ahead and turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 16.
First Corinthians chapter 16.
First Corinthians chapter 16, look at verse 19.
The churches of Asia salute you, Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord.
Now who was it that Paul met in Acts 18?
Aquila and Priscilla, right?
So he meets them there, they're tent makers, and it says that Aquila and Priscilla salute
you much in the Lord with the church that is in their house.
So Paul goes to Corinth, meets Aquila and Priscilla, they establish a church in their
house, he remains there for a year and a half, preaching and teaching the word of God
to them, and also going into the synagogue.
So we have a perfect example here of Paul, you know, doing a soul meeting on Saturday,
but going to church on Sunday, the first day of the week.
You see, the churches were not meeting in synagogues, they were meeting in houses.
Which is a great, you know, there's nothing wrong with the church meeting in a house.
You know, people have this crazy idea that a church has to have this standalone building
with this giant parking lot and this big ornate structure, and it has to have this glorious
temple and that's just, you know, there's nothing wrong with a church meeting in some
very humble and meager places such as a house.
And I would even submit unto you that there's nothing wrong with this church meeting in
this humble and meager small office space, right?
I mean, we're still doing great works, we're still going out and we've got somebody saved
today, we're still edifying the body, we're still meeting together and we're growing and
we're praying and we're seeing things done.
Does it matter what building we're in?
It doesn't matter what building we're meeting in, whether it's in a house or whether it's
in an office complex or if it's in a retail space or even an industrial building, it doesn't
matter.
We can go out and we can have church in the middle of a field, you know, we could go out
and have church, they probably wouldn't appreciate it but we could have it in Smokey Mouse, right?
It doesn't matter where we meet, you know, and on that note, let me just get this off
my chest because I keep hearing about this.
It doesn't matter what the address is on our church.
I keep hearing about people not, that people that live in Tucson, that like Pastor Anderson's
preaching and say, man, I'd love to go to a church like Faithful Word, Faithful Word
shows up in Tucson and starts a church, well, I just, I don't like the address.
You know, people like that, if it's not the address, it's going to be something else.
It's going to be like, well, it's too tight.
I don't like what color the chairs are, you know, I, he doesn't shave, you know, I don't
know what it is, you know, he wears red shirts, they'll come up with something but the address,
I mean, really, if that's what's keeping you out of church is the address because, you
know, in case anyone in the room doesn't know, our address is 2666, is it, it's 2666, it's
not 666, you know, so you, I mean, if they're, if they're going to be true to this thing,
they're going to have to go, like every place that has the number 666 in it is just off,
off limits.
Their favorite restaurant meets at, you know, 3466, you know, 3,466, and they're just going,
you know what I mean?
It's like, it's not 666, it's 2666.
I don't know, I thought it was a joke at first, I really did, but Brother Fabian told me about,
man, there's people out there that are complaining about the address, and I'm like, but it's
not 666, it's 2666, and then he actually bumps into a guy today who's like a faithful word
listener, but he actually had, he even told Fabian, well, I just don't appreciate that
address, the address has got me freaked, it freaked me out, it's crazy, I don't know,
but anyway, I got it off my chest, you know what I mean?
If that, if it's not, if it's not that, it's going to be something else, but our address
is not 666, it's 2666, anyway, I don't know how I got off on that, but, oh yeah, because
it doesn't matter where we meet as a church, you know, we can meet in a house, we can meet
here, we can meet anywhere, we see that example here, and that's where the early church was
meeting was in a house, and when were they meeting in that house?
On the first day of the week, they weren't meeting on a Saturday in the synagogues.
Go ahead and turn it over to Colossians chapter 4, we'll see another example of this, Colossians
chapter 4, I won't turn you to Colossians 6 verse 66, I think there is a 66 word, I
won't take you to John 6 verse 66, because you know, a verse like that probably shouldn't
be in the Bible.
We never mind the fact that 666 is in the Bible, you know what I mean?
That's where you even know, I don't know, okay, I just can't believe it actually ran
into me, I actually said that, anyway.
Colossians 4, look at verse 15, salute the brethren which are in Laodicea and Nymphis,
and the church which is in his house, so that's where the early church was meeting, they were
meeting in houses, they were meeting on the first day of the week.
Now why does this matter, like I said in the beginning, nobody in this room seems to be
struggling with this doctrine, we're all here on the first day of the week, you know, I
don't think anyone in this room anytime soon is going to show up on Saturday and knock
on the door and be like, this is the day I hear from church, you know, I was there yesterday
brother Corbin, I don't know where you were, I was there on Saturday, don't tell me I wasn't
trying to get to church, I didn't see you there, you know, but the fact is there are
people that would want to bring us into bondage in this matter, the seventh day Adventists,
right, they'll harp on this, but even though it's just a warning against this general danger
that's out there, that there are people, not just in the matter of the Sabbath, but they
want to bring back the Hebrew roots movement, you know, they want to start changing the
name of Jesus and saying we got to go back to the Torah, we got to start being Torah
observing Christians, they're Judaizers, they're trying to bring us back into bondage over
things which God has triumphed, they want to bring things back down off the cross that
he nailed to it and has done away with and they want to bring it back, they want to look
at the shadow when the body of Christ is right here, so we need to be careful and not let
this mentality begin to develop in our minds and understand why we do the things we do,
it's not random, it's not just at chance, it's not like the early church just picked
a day out of the hat and said, ah, Sunday, the first day of the week, that'll work, right?
No, the reason they picked that day, because that was the day the Lord arose from the dead,
that was the day that the Lord showed himself unto his disciples, and that's what we just
see throughout the New Testament.
They want to bring us into bondage in this matter, turn over to Luke chapter 6, Luke
chapter 6, what goes out in Luke chapter 6?
You know, Christ came, they want to bring us into bondage in this matter of the Sabbath,
this did not Christ, you know, and it was the, if you recall, it was the Old Testament
Jews, not the Old Testament Jews, but it was the Jews in the New Testament, this is one
of the major criticisms of Jesus Christ, is that he was doing things on the Sabbath, and
that's because they didn't understand who they were dealing with.
Bible says in Luke chapter 6 verse 1, and it came to pass on the second Sabbath after
the first, that he went through the corn field, and his disciples plucked the ears
of corn and did eat, rotting them in their hands.
And certain the Pharisees said unto him, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the
Sabbath days?
And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when
he himself was unhungred?
And they that were with him, how he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the
shewbread, and also to them that were with him, which is not lawful to eat, but for the
priests alone?
And he saith unto him, The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.
You know, he's the one that rules over the Sabbath.
The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the one who triumphed over it.
You know, he said that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
These things have been done away in Christ.
He's the Lord of it, and he's put it aside.
And now that's why we worship on the first day of the week.
Let's go ahead and pray.