The Church Part 4
Does the church of Messias assemble for a worship service on Sunday?
John 4:19-24
19 The woman said unto him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
You could search the New Testament scriptures for a thousand years and never find the church of Jesus Messias assembling for a worship service. The answer to the question is they do not assemble for a worship service. The worship service was invented by religionists and sectarians and is a doctrine of men and devils. The word worship means to recognize, love and obey something. To worship God means to recognize that he is God and to love and obey him. God seeks those who worship him in spirit and truth. Worship of God is no longer done in ceremonies or ritualistic services performed by men. Messias Jesus is now the high priest after the order of Melchizedek and by God’s decree. Having entered into the Holiest of Holy he sits on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not men. Worshipping God is something that is done from the mind and heart every minute of every day. It is not something that is done for a short period of time called a worship service.
Acts 20:7
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.
The first day of the week is when the disciples of Messias assemble to break the bread and drink of the cup. When God created the earth he did it in six days and rested on the seventh. The seventh day of the week is known as the sabbath day and is also known as Saturday. When God made each day it began in the evening or when the sun sets and included the following period when the sun rises.
Genesis 1:3-5
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
When the sun sets at the end of the sabbath day or Saturday the first day of the week has began. The first day of the week is also known as Sunday. The example in Acts 20:7 states the disciples assembled to break bread on the first day of the week. It does not state they assembled for a worship service. Sometime after sunset on Saturday they met to break bread and then listened to Paul’s preaching until midnight. There is no commandment from the Messias Jesus as to what time on the first day of the week his disciples should assemble. His commandment is that they assemble to break bread in remembrance of him and is recorded in three of the gospels.
Luke 22:19-20
19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
When Messias Jesus began preaching the gospel he preached that he is the living bread which came down from heaven. That the bread that he would give is his body, which he would give for the life of the world. The disciples of Messias assemble to break bread as he commanded them to do before he was crucified. On the night he was betrayed when keeping the Passover feast he taught his Apostles to break the unleavened bread in remembrance of him. The purpose of breaking the unleavened bread to eat is to remember that he is the living bread that was broken for the world. He also gave commandment to his Apostles that they were to drink of the cup containing the fruit of the vine in remembrance of him. When drinking of the cup his disciples should remember that his blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins and enjoins them to the new covenant or testament with God. Which Jeremiah the prophet prophesied in a book of the Old Testament called by his name.
Jeremiah 31:33-34
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inner most being, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
I will put my laws into their inner most being and forgive them of their sins. The new covenant is for the spirit in man so that he can worship God in spirit and in truth.
John 6:56-63
56 He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eats of this bread shall live for ever.
59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Does this offend you?
62 What and if you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
63 It is the spirit that becomes alive; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
The Messias Jesus is in the City of Capernaum teaching the gospel. It is not the time of the Passover and he is not teaching what will become known as the Lord’s Supper. How can we eat of this man’s flesh and drink of his blood? This is a hard saying who can hear it? Were the questions those that heard him teach exclaimed. In answer to the questions Jesus states ‘it is the spirit that becomes alive the flesh profits nothing my words are spirit and life’. When his disciples break the bread and drink of the cup. They show that Jesus died for them until he returns in the day of Judgement. It is their common union with his body and blood. To eat of the flesh and drink of the blood of the Messias Jesus however is done spiritually and is accomplished by believing and obeying his commandments, which his disciples do every day. As Jesus the Messias told Satan when being tempted by him, ‘man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’. Please take the time to study and examine his words.