Is
Sunday the Christian Sabbath? By
Nicholas August 03, 2008
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Amos 8:11 "Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor
a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:"
As prophecied, most
Christians refuse to open Bibles today to verify what their pastors say. In this
age of convenience they have been conditioned to trust the pastors without
question. This prophecied “lukewarm”
mindset, as Revelation 3:16 calls it, has given rise to false preachers all
around the world. These wolves in sheep’s clothing can easily lie to their
congregations knowing with absolute confidence that the majority of their
victims will never check up on them. As for the small number of Christians that
do investigate their false message using the Bible, they are quickly kicked out
of the churches so as to prevent the truth from spreading. To keep those remaining
in the church happy, they now preach prosperity messages on how to gain wealth,
amusing sermons, and even rock music mixed with Gospel lyrics to keep the
people entertained. As prophecied, they then use false doctrines that all the
world agrees with to make their flock feel they are safe and doing the right
thing with the thought that since everyone else believes this way it must be
right. Case in point, one of the oldest and most successfully evangelized false
doctrines has to be the so called Sunday sabbath. In this newsletter we will look at
the verses they claim are saying the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh
day to the first day of the week.
CLAIM #1… 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.”
This meeting
was held at night. If you read on you also find in the next verse it mentions
the "many lights in the upper chamber.” Later in verse 11 it also states after they
ate, Paul “talked a long while, even till break of day.” The question then is, are they
saying this is a church service because they broke bread, and since it was on the “first day” it must mean the Sabbath was
changed? Problem with that thought is, in Acts 2:46 it says that they normally
continued "…daily
…breaking bread from house to house." Since they define this is
a church service, this must be the format the church must emulate today. If
Acts 20:7 is the definitive proof we need to validate Sabbath being changed
from the seventh day to the first day of the week, then all Sunday keeping
churches must...
- Hold
church at NIGHT
- Hold
church EVERY NIGHT
- Hold
church TILL THE BREAK OF DAY
CLAIM #2… I Corinthians 16:2 “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.”
There is absolutely no
reference whatsoever of a public meeting, or church service mentioned here for
when Paul arrives. Some declare this to be a church service because Paul is
gathering what they call “tithes.” But if you read past the verse they give out
of context, you find the word “liberality”
is actually used to describe this offering in verse #3 of that same chapter.
That word defined is “monetary gift”
in Strong’s Bible Concordance. (#5485) Also notice Paul is asking for that to
be given from what "God hath prospered" in the passage given
to sanction Sunday as sabbath. I ask, is this normal tithing practices of a
church service to give from what God has prospered which is now stored in
savings? Is not Luke 18:12 rather plain wherein it says, "I give tithes of all that I possess."
Biblical truth is, it's
not a church service because first and foremost it's never declared as such.
Nor is it tithing that Paul is gathering, which for some reason they claim
makes it a church service. Paul was gathering what we call “love offerings”
today. Finally, if the entire passage is read in context it’s discovered the
passage is actually about Paul stopping by on his way to Jerusalem to pick up financial relief for the Christians
in financial distress in Jerusalem. (See
Romans 15:26, & Acts 11:26-30 which also confirm this as fact.)
CLAIM #3… Revelation 1:10 “I was in the Spirit on the
Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet”
Some use this verse to
declare Sunday is now Sabbath simply because John uses the term "the Lord's day." Truth is, the
Scriptures already define the seventh day Sabbath as the Lord's day thousands
of years prior in Isaiah 58:13 wherein we find the Lord calling, "…the sabbath, …my holy day;”
quite bluntly. Even Jesus Himself stated in the New Testament Scriptures in Matthew
12:8 that, “…the Son of man is Lord
even of the Sabbath day.”
Many forget the very first
thing recorded in the Bible itself is work being done on Sunday in Genesis 1:1-5.
God in point of fact commands all men to work upon the first day of the week in
the heart of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:8-11. He specifically says in
verse nine of that Commandment that, "Six
days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:" Is it wrong
for us to obey God? Did not the apostles state in Acts 5:29 that, “…we ought to obey God rather then men.”
God calls Sunday a work day in Exodus 23:12; 31:15; 34:21; 35:2, Leviticus
23:3, Deuteronomy 5:13, Ezekiel 46:1 and Luke 13:14 as well.
"...as a solar festival, Sunday was the sacred
day of Mithra; and it is interesting to notice that since Mithra was
addressed, as Dominus, 'Lord," Sunday must have been 'the Lord's Day'
long before Christian times." -The Paganism in Our Christianity, Arthur
Weigall, 1928, p136
The term "The Lord's day" was first coined
by John in the book of Revelation for the New Testament Christian church, yes.
But the Pagans of old used that term to describe their "lord's day"
as well. When Constantine demanded all Christians keep Sunday
holy in 321AD, he also called it the "lord's day" at that time. The warped
history being preached by pastors today, wherein they changed what John
referred to as "Sabbath" to what the Pagan's referred to as
"Sunday" proves the Vatican was involved in this prophecied end time agenda.
For they have admitted time and time again the following for all the world to
see.
"The [Catholic] Church took the pagan
philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took
the pagan Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the
martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the
Christian Sunday. …The sun has
worshipers at this hour in Persia and other lands . . . Hence the
Church would seem to say, 'Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall
remain consecrated, sanctified.' And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to
Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus"--William L. Gildea, "Paschale Gaudium," in
The Catholic World, 58, March, 1894, p. 809 [A Roman Catholic weekly].
As prophecied by Daniel 7:25, this church has
most assuredly tried to change the “times
and laws” of the Creator God.
CLAIM #4… Mark 2:23-28 "And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on
the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears
of corn. And the Pharisees said unto
him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read
what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were
with him? How he went into the house of
God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which
is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with
him? And he said unto them, The
sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the
sabbath."
Some have
recently started using this passage to say the Sabbath is no longer valid
because Jesus broke it, or disregarded it when He was walking among us. First
of all, nowhere in this passage does it say Jesus abolished or broke the
Sabbath. What it does say here is the Pharisees assumed Jesus and the apostles
were breaking the commandment by picking corn to eat. Yet Jesus proves with
Scriptural facts regarding King David, whom the Jews respected, that He and His
apostles were not breaking Sabbath at all. Jesus clearly corrected the false
teachings of the Pharisees here. If it was ok for David to relieve his hunger
and the hunger of those with him by eating bread that had been consecrated and
set apart for holy use, then it was perfectly ok for the disciples of Christ to
satisfy their hunger by plucking the corn on Sabbath day as well. Both David
and the Apostles were in God’s employment. Basic reality dictates the temple
priests, and even pastors today, perform greater labors on each Sabbath as they
do God’s work, do they not? The same type of labor in secular business would in
fact be considered sinful. However, the work of the priests was in the service
of God. The labors they performed each Sabbath pointed to the redeeming power
of Christ. Their labor was in perfect harmony with the object of the Sabbath
day so as to get the work done that brought souls into the truth. But now,
Christ Himself had come, and was walking among them. As all Christians will
agree, the disciples, were employed by God to do a holy and sanctified work. They
were merely doing that which was necessary for the achievement of their Heavenly
appointed work on Sabbath day. Jesus
confirmed this truth by stating He is “Lord
of the Sabbath.” Seeing how His apostles followed and emulated Him, this
proves they are employed to do His work and therefore free from guilt. Just
because the Pharisees didn’t see them as men employed by God doesn’t make it
true.
Jesus or His
apostles didn’t break the Sabbath here at all. Biblical truth is, “sin is the transgression of the law”
according to 1John 3:4. In other words, breaking the Law of God is how sin is
committed. Commandment #4 concerns the Sabbath day. To say Jesus broke Sabbath,
is to say Jesus sinned by breaking God’s Law. This is exactly what the
Pharisees are trying to declare here because they hated Him and His message. Yet
as Christians we know Christ never sinned. Truth is, if He did commit sin, He
would never have been that spotless Lamb of God, and Saviour to you and me.
Jesus proved in Mark chapter two that the Pharisees were in error regarding a
sin they invented about plucking corn on Sabbath day for Gospel workers. Yes, it
would be sin for those that harvested corn for a living if done so on the Sabbath.
But Jesus and His apostles were not employed as farmers. They were simply
hungry men employed of God.
By the way, for
those who assume it is ok to break Sabbath by using this passage, you are in
reality trusting the word of a non-believing Pharisee, who was just corrected
and exposed as in error by Jesus Christ Himself. In other words, those that
believe the Jews were correct in their assumptions, and ignore how Jesus defended
the Sabbath truth, and corrected the lying Pharisees, are in fact taking the
word of the Pharisees as truth over Christ. As we all know, the Pharisees deny
Christ as Lord to this day. Who then is telling the Truth? The ones who know
not the Word? Of the one who wrote the Word Himself?
CLAIM #5… Colossians 2:16-17 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in
drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath
days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of
Christ.”
Simple truth here is, the
"sabbaths" mentioned here are not the weekly Sabbath of the Lord. Please
read Leviticus 23:23-38 and you will find that the sabbaths mentioned in
Colossians chapter 2 are the annual sabbaths, or what most today refer to as “feast
days” that acknowledged certain events that would be fulfilled in the future when
Christ came as Messiah. This is why Paul referred to them as “a shadow of things to come” in this
passage. Make special note that after it
lists the annual sabbaths in Leviticus 23:23-37 that it says in Verse 38 that
these annual sabbaths are “besides the Sabbath of the Lord.” In
Matthew 5:17 Jesus said, "Think
not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfil." No one can “fulfill”
a weekly Sabbath because it points all the way back to creation. That is why
the 4th Commandment starts with the word “Remember" when speaking of Sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath is a
day to worship the Creator of all things. You simply cannot “fulfill” an event that has already
passed. When those annual sabbaths were instituted, it was thousands of years
before Jesus would come to fulfill all that the annual sabbaths were pointing
to. The children of God were symbolically keeping the feast days back then as a
way to look forward to the prophecied arrival Messiah when He would actually
fulfill them in reality. For example, even the lamb sacrifice they offered for
their sins back then was a “shadow of
things to come,” which was fulfilled
when “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world” (John 1:29) actually died on the cross. This is why
Jesus said “it is finished” just
before He died in John 19:30.
Please read Leviticus
23:23-38 and you will find FIVE annual "sabbaths" are defined as
"feast days" of the Lord within a 15 day period. This means they can in
no way be considered the weekly Sabbath when 5 are kept within 15 days.
By the way, this is not
the only reason the sabbaths in Colossians 2:14-17 can’t possibly be weekly
Sabbaths. When you read Leviticus 23:23-38 you will notice it talks about the meat and drink offerings
mentioned in the same way they are spoken of in Colossians 2:14-17. If these
annual sabbaths are the same as the Sabbath mentioned in the Law of God, then I
must ask all that use this passage to preach Sunday as the Christian Sabbath to
please share with me where in the Ten Commandments they see "meat, drink, holydays, or new moons” as we see Colossians chapter
2 speaking of. I must also ask if they do believe this verse preaches such a
thing, why don’t their Sunday keeping churches honor “meat, drink, holydays, or new moons” today?
The Law of God is not the
same as the law of Moses that Leviticus and Colossians are obviously referring
to here. Moses law, or “commandments
contained in ordinances” ended at
the cross as Ephesians 2:15 proved. And God’s Law stands forever as Luke 16:17
proclaimed.
Hebrews 9:1,10 says, "Then verily the first covenant had
also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. Which stood
only in meats and drinks, and divers
washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation."
CLAIM #6… Galatians 4:9-11, "But now, after that ye have known
God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly
elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days,
and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in
vain.
Some believe
this is speaking of Sabbaths because the word "days" in a way that suggests religious observance. However,
again we find that the weekly Sabbath is not mentioned here at all. If this is
read in context we find that Paul knew how the Galatians were at one time
Pagans, and therefore used to ritualistic forms of worship. The Jewish converts
to Christianity, like those in the book of Colossians, wanted to continue on
with their feast days. Their legalistic form of worship appealed to the
Galatians because of their Pagan roots, and had to be dealt with by Paul
because he hoped to prevent what we now see happening today. Like today’s feast
day movement, they sought to mix the annual Sabbaths into New Testament church worship.
This carnal law was only “until the time
of reformation” as we learned earlier. By causing the Galatians to fall for
this error they were able to eclipse the atoning work of Christ on Calvary just as the enemy of souls planned.
By observing these “days and months”
they were declaring their own abilities, rather then Christ’s sacrifice suitable
for salvation. But the truth is it’s "Not
of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:9) This is also why
Paul was concerned his preaching to them was a “labour in vain” because they were showing signs of desiring to “be in bondage” to the annual sabbaths Jesus already declared
were “finished” at the cross. If you
notice, this is the same method of twisting the false preachers used with
Colossians 2:16-17. Therefore the same method of revelation can be used to
expose it. Where I ask in the Commandments does it speak of “days, months, times, & years” as we
see it doing in Galatians? Since it doesn't, this passage can’t possibly be
speaking of the Sabbath.
CLAIM #7… Romans 14:5 "One man esteemeth one day above
another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in
his own mind.
Again, nowhere
in this passage does it say we should keep Sunday as Sabbath. This is again speaking
of the annual holy-days that some of the Jews still felt compelled to keep. Most
Gentile converts to Christianity were not compelled to keep such feast days. Many
of the Jews had difficulty in giving up their life long traditions. A good way
to compare this with today’s Christian church is where some keep Pagan holidays
like Christmas and Easter, where others prefer not partake in such celebrations
and merrymaking. If they truly see no wrong in this act, we are not to judge
them. We can try to warn them of course, but that’s where our job ends. That’s
why it clearly states, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind”
here. We cannot force any man to believe anything we believe. By the way, if you
read all of Romans 14, you will discover the true topic and find it was again taken
completely out of context.
God never
rested on the first day of the week. He never blessed it, nor did His Son Jesus
ever acknowledge the first day of the week in any way shape or form. The
Apostles never rested on it either. In fact, the New Testament Christians were
never recorded as being at rest on the first day of the week in any historic
reference, or bible Scripture known to man. If those that believe such things would
have researched their own church history they would have found that in 321AD Constantine made the Pagan Sunday sabbath law of
the land. Historic fact is, all Christians kept Sabbath for hundreds of years
after Jesus ascended. Think about that fact for a moment. Had you known that,
you would have known before your pastors spoke that every verse ever used to
suggest the Apostles were part of, or even alive during the Sabbath to Sunday
change was a bold faced lie because it was never suggested to be changed until
321AD, hundreds of years after they died. When 321AD came, only those
Christians that feared Roman rule and failed to trust God kept Sunday as
sabbath. The lying preachers of today would have you believe the Sabbath was
changed during the time the Bible was penned. Historic, and biblical fact is,
they lied.
You cannot find
one single line of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation that proclaims Sunday
to be blessed, sanctified, made holy, or even enforced! Think about that for a
moment. NO LAW was ever made by the God of creation to enforce the first day of
the week. Romans 4:15, says "...where
no law is, there is no transgression." You cannot commit sin unless
there is a law being broken. Would not our Lord and Saviour at least given us
one simple verse to proclaim Sunday as the Sabbath if in fact He meant to do
such a thing? Why should we as His followers consider something holy that He
never considered to be holy? The reality here is that it is simply called. "The
first day of the week" in
all Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
One more thing should be
mentioned here. Many do claim that the day Jesus rose from the dead is the
reason all should keep Sunday holy. However, the Word of God is quite clear
about how we as Christians are to acknowledge the death and resurrection of
Christ. It is not as all the Sunday preachers suggest by going to church on
Sunday. It is done by baptism.
Romans 6:3-5, "Know ye not, that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by
baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his
resurrection:"
In other words, when you
go under the water, you symbolize and acknowledge His death and burial. When
you come out of the water, you symbolize and acknowledge His resurrection.
Merely stepping into a church on the day He arose each week simply cannot do
this. In fact, if His death and resurrection was really the reason for going to
church on Sunday, why is it no one goes to church every Friday? Isn’t that the
day He died?
A $10,000.00 CHALLENGE
Some years ago I posted on the ministry website a challenge for all pastors,
preachers and even bible studying Christians to find a verse that declares God
changed the Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the
week. If they were able to send the verse, I promised (and still do) to send
them $10,000.00 cash! Since then I have received quite a few attempts from
people using the verses I shared in this newsletter. Not a single pastor, preacher,
or bible teacher have ever been able to find that verse. What most people are
unaware of is, all of the religious leaders have already agreed in writing
there is no such verse in the Bible wherein it says God changed the Sabbath
from the day seven to day one. This Sunday sabbath is nothing more than a "TRADITION OF MEN." (Mark 7:8)
Think about this as well. The
Lord thy God worked on that day when He started creation. He even worked
on this day when He rose Jesus from the dead 2000 years ago. Biblical and
historic fact is, He actually rested and left His Son in the tomb on the Sabbath day. Even the New Testament
Christian women who went to anoint the body of Jesus, stopped in their tracks
and decided not to anoint Him because the Sabbath was drawing near. Luke 23:56 tells us that those women, “rested the Sabbath day according to the
commandment”
Without getting too
technical. It's easy to see that the Lord's day is in fact the 7th
day. This same God that said in Malachi 3:6 “For
I [am] the Lord, I change not... “ also said in Psalms 89:34 regarding
this covenant that we should “…not break, nor alter the
thing that is gone out of my lips.” The Sabbath is important because “…the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that in them is, and rested
the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:11)
And I Chronicles 17:27 says “...it shall be blessed for ever.”
If your church uses the
scriptures shared here to say Sunday is the Sabbath, then the Lord plainly says
in Revelation 18:4 that you should “…Come out of her, my people, that ye be
not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
After all is
said and done, if you just read this entire newsletter, you know that you just discovered
Biblical evidence that absolutely every single verse every used to claim Sunday
is the Sabbath was done so in a deceptive manner to make Scripture appear to
say something it never said. Some will ask why have all the churches done such
an evil act as this? In Daniel 7:25 we find it prophecied that a beast would “think to change” the Sabbath so as to
get “all the world” to wonder after
him as Revelation 13:3 predicts happens right before the end of the World. Look
around. Do you see it fulfilled? All Christian churches now keep Sunday as
Sabbath, even though you now know for a fact there is not a single verse in the
Christian Bible to warrant such change as this. In case you missed the hint as
to who it is that changed the Sabbath earlier. Perhaps the following will help.
"Of course the Catholic Church claims that
the change (Saturday Sabbath to Sunday) was her act... And the act is a MARK
of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things." -H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons.
Nov. 11, 1895
"Sunday
is our MARK of authority. .
.the church is above the Bible,
and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact" -Catholic Record of London, Ontario Sept 1,1923.
“The Bible says, Remember that thou keep holy the
Sabbath day. The Catholic church
says, No! By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day, and command you to keep the first day of the week. And lo,
the entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of
the holy Catholic church!” -Fr Enright, C.S.S.R. History of the Sabbath, p. 802
"Is not yet too late for Protestants to redeem
themselves. Will they do it?... will they indeed take the written word only,
the Scripture alone, as their sole authority and their sole standard? Or
will they still hold the indefensible, self contradictory, and suicidal
doctrine and practice of following the
authority of the Catholic church and wear the SIGN of her authority? Will
they keep the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, according to Scripture?
Or will they keep the Sunday according to the tradition of the
Catholic church, - Rome's Challenge, (Why do Protestants
keep Sunday?) page
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