a) In Ex. 31:15 God spoke about doing “any work on the Sabbath.”
b) If people worked on the Sabbath day, they were to be punished.
c) Ex. 31:15 says this punishment was death.
2) “On the Sabbath” was a very important expression for God’s people.
3) Several years later we find some information in the book of Nehemiah.
4) Neh. 10:31spoke heathen people brining grain or produce that could be bought by the Hebrews.
5) God’s people said they would not transact any business “on the Sabbath.”
6) In Jeremiah’s day the Sabbath was once again an important topic.
7) God told His people to “bear no burden” on the Sabbath (Jer. 17:21).
8) God said if His Sabbath law was obeyed, the people would greatly blessed – Jer. 17:24b-25 – READ
9) The Sabbath was also the “seventh day.”
10) There are seven days in a week, so the “seventh day” was the last day in the week.
11) This the day we now refer to as Saturday.
12) In Jesus’ day, people thought a lot about the Sabbath.
a) In Mt. 12:10 we find an example of people asking whether it was okay to “heal” on the Sabbath.
b) Jesus performed many miracles on the Sabbath and people had questions about His healing on this day.
c) In fact, Mk. 3:2 says people “watched” Jesus on the Sabbath to see if He would heal someone.
13) Jesus not only used the Sabbath day to sometimes heal, He used the 7th day to teach people (Lk. 4:16).
14) Jn. 5:16 says Jesus was “persecuted” because He did good things” on the Sabbath.
a) Instead of observing the Sabbath, Christians were using the Sabbath as Jesus had used it.
b) The 7th day of the week was a time to teach Jewish people who had assembled for worship.
c) Acts 13:14 says Christians went “into the synagogue” on the Sabbath and taught.
d) This point is made again in Acts 16:13.

IS THE SABBATH LAW STILL BINDING TODAY?

1) Is the Sabbath Day still binding today? Does God still have a special day for people?
2) The preposition “on” helps answer these questions.
3) Four times in the New Testament we find these words, “on the first day of the week.”
a) The first two verses that have these words are both found in Mk. 16.
b) Mk. 16:2 will be read first and then we will get to Mk. 16:9 – READ Mk. 16:2.
4) Let’s now look at verse 9 – READ
5) One gets the impression that with a new way to worship, God gave man a new day for worship.
6) Luke also (24:1) also indicates that Jesus was raised on the first day of the week.
7) John indicates this in Jn. 20:1.
a) Two other New Testament passages help us understand the significance of the “First day of the week.”
b) Acts 20:7 says “upon the first day of the week.”
8) Acts 20:7 also says “Paul discoursed with them.” This helps confirm that this was a time for worship.
9) A few verses later (Acts 20:11) we read again read about “breaking bread.”
10) A meal was eaten (verse 11), but the “supper” in verse 7 was the Lord’s Supper.
11) Acts 20:7 describes a worship service.
a) The Bible gives us yet more proof about Sunday from 1 Cor. 16:2.
b) This verse says, “upon the first day of the week.”
c) Why lay aside funds on Sunday instead of Monday or Saturday?
d) The answer is that Sunday is God’s designated day for worship.