Nehemiah put Jerusalem into lockdown on the Sabbath Days. He threatened force against the foreign businessmen assembled outside the gates. They were all set to do business when the gates were opened on the first day of the week. Nehemiah knew the Sabbath Law went beyond the people. It was a blessing of rest for man and beast alike. It was God’s holy day; founded when He ceased from creating the heavens and the earth.Many in generations past called Sunday ‘The Christian Sabbath.”Most did not work on Sundays, and many went to church, coming home to enjoy a roast meal with their families.Gone are those days. Work, recreational activities and sleep have replaced religious traditions.It is a mistake to superimpose the Old Testament ‘Sabbath Worship’ upon the New Testament ‘Sunday worship.’ Israel was a Theocrasy. A whole nation under God’s laws. The ‘religious laws’ were the Law of the Land. Christians live under the law of Christ. We live in secular countries with secular laws.Some argue that governments, under the influence of Catholicism and later Protestantism, established Sunday worship by constituting state churches, priesthoods, and liturgies.This, of course, was merely a re-establishment of Old Testament-type worship practices. One can also argue that the day that Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, it was the day that Christians began institutionalized Sunday worship.I have said it before and will say it again: ‘Too many modern Christians have reduced their concept of Christian worship to a 60 minute Sunday morning experience.’ Christians are privileged to get together on the Lord’s day—Sunday. We commune in prayer, song, preaching, giving and the Lord’s Supper. Be it be two or ten thousand, it is an honour to worship God on the day that Jesus rose from the dead.John StaigerIf you have been blessed by this message, please feel free to: Like, Comment or Share it with your friends. (327)
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