God changed Seventh Day Sabbath Worship to First Day of the Week

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GerhardEbersoehn

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Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. (Matthew 22:29)

Oh, that I may know Him and the Power of his RESURRECTION!
Where is the Power of God in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in your SDA doctrine of the Sabbath of the Lord?
Where the Jews' is, on your IGNORE LIST, right on top! And inside as well.You don't love it, you despise it. You abhor the Truth and Power of it.

Did you not, you have had 200 years nearly to show your LOVE for the Lord's FEAT BY THE EXCEEDING GREATNESS OF HIS STRENGTH WHEN GOD RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD AND EXALTED HIM TO HIS OWN RIGHT IN HEAVENLY PLACES THROUGH HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.

Or are you just doing what the Jews are doing concerning the Seventh Day the Sabbath Day of the Law Written on Stone, REFUSING it its rightful honour of having been the day whereupon GOD, RESTING IN CHRIST THE SAVIOUR, REVIVED AND REVIVING IN THE SAVIOUR OF HIS PEOPLE, RESTED, ON THE Seventh Day? What makes any difference between SDA and Jew?
 

GerhardEbersoehn

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I thought God said on the sixth day that everything was cool, and then created the seventh to take a break?
I think the Lord knew there was going to be hell to pay on the first day.. or 8th day.
He was going to have to cut them off.

So your saying, that having pre-knowledge of this, God created the Sabbath as a rescue plan?

hmm

Hugs
The weaker the brain the better toy the Scriptures make.
 

robert derrick

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walk by faith not by sight.

on the right hand and as leaflets between their eyes.

leaflets.. coverings.. fig leaves.. veil.

Man was given A physical day, because he forfeited spiritual eternity.
For a bowl of soup.
or a piece of fruit.
For their stomach sake.

figuritively speaking.

Isaac blessed Esau as well as Jacob.
Abraham blessed Ishmael as well as Isaac.

One got the high road and the other got the low road.
One got the earthly, the other the spiritual.

Where heaven meets earth,

the firmament.

Gen 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Dan 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.



1Pe 3:1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

Because Adam listened to his wife.
and she listened to the serpent.

Does that mean Eve was the ..... of Babylon the mother of the waters of all living?

what does it mean to go a ....... after other gods?

Don't bite me, I'm just thinking..
Hugs
Physical vs spiritual, high vs low road:
Sticking to a Sabbath day is outside the garden, where the law of was given. Walking after the Spirit is at rest from his own works with God in the garden.

Good point about both Esau and Jacob, Ishmael and Isaac receiving a blessing: the one was physical only, and in bondage to it, the other was of promise after the Spirit. (Gal 4)

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

A Sabbath law now only serves the Sabbath, but the sons are with the Lord of the Sabbath and God at rest.

Does that mean Eve was the ..... of Babylon the mother of the waters of all living? what does it mean to go a ....... after other gods?

That's another story.

We depart from God's Word for our own, and we depart from God the Word to be our own god: And ye shall be as gods.

I put your post in Mystery Babylon. I'd like to hear more from you, if you want to take a look.
 

GerhardEbersoehn

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Physical vs spiritual, high vs low road:
Sticking to a Sabbath day is outside the garden, where the law of was given. Walking after the Spirit is at rest from his own works with God in the garden.

Good point about both Esau and Jacob, Ishmael and Isaac receiving a blessing: the one was physical only, and in bondage to it, the other was of promise after the Spirit. (Gal 4)

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

A Sabbath law now only serves the Sabbath, but the sons are with the Lord of the Sabbath and God at rest.

Does that mean Eve was the ..... of Babylon the mother of the waters of all living? what does it mean to go a ....... after other gods?

That's another story.

We depart from God's Word for our own, and we depart from God the Word to be our own god: And ye shall be as gods.

I put your post in Mystery Babylon. I'd like to hear more from you, if you want to take a look.
The star of Robert Dereck shall fall from heaven's blackhole brim in eternal darkness and stench of death.
 

BarneyFife

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Oh, that I may know Him and the Power of his RESURRECTION!
Where is the Power of God in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in your SDA doctrine of the Sabbath of the Lord?
Where the Jews' is, on your IGNORE LIST, right on top! And inside as well.You don't love it, you despise it. You abhor the Truth and Power of it.

Did you not, you have had 200 years nearly to show your LOVE for the Lord's FEAT BY THE EXCEEDING GREATNESS OF HIS STRENGTH WHEN GOD RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD AND EXALTED HIM TO HIS OWN RIGHT IN HEAVENLY PLACES THROUGH HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.

Or are you just doing what the Jews are doing concerning the Seventh Day the Sabbath Day of the Law Written on Stone, REFUSING it its rightful honour of having been the day whereupon GOD, RESTING IN CHRIST THE SAVIOUR, REVIVED AND REVIVING IN THE SAVIOUR OF HIS PEOPLE, RESTED, ON THE Seventh Day? What makes any difference between SDA and Jew?
What happened to you, GE?
You just said the other day that God was thanking me. You've said a lot of nice things to me.
I'm confused.
 

BarneyFife

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You disappoint me. There is nothing personal here,and if we met without knowing it, we would no doubt fellowship in Christ, but unfortunately, your ability to understand exactly what you are doing with Scriptural dispute is very limited.
You're not fooling anyone but yourself. You say there's nothing personal and then you effectively call me stupid. You've posted in this thread sufficient for all to see your contempt for the 4th commandment and those who endeavor to obey it. Insults are personal. We are online and it doesn't matter what we might do hypothetically in some other environment.

The details of how to properly keep the Sabbath are between the individual and God. No two people do it exactly the same way. But there is enough counsel in Scripture on the subject for people to keep it according to the dictates of their own consciences. Hopefully, that is obvious enough, regardless of your ability to understand what you are doing with Scripture.



And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
(Joshua 24:15)​
 

robert derrick

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You're not fooling anyone but yourself. You say there's nothing personal and then you effectively call me stupid. You've posted in this thread sufficient for all to see your contempt for the 4th commandment and those who endeavor to obey it. Insults are personal. We are online and it doesn't matter what we might do hypothetically in some other environment.

The details of how to properly keep the Sabbath are between the individual and God. No two people do it exactly the same way. But there is enough counsel in Scripture on the subject for people to keep it according to the dictates of their own consciences. Hopefully, that is obvious enough, regardless of your ability to understand what you are doing with Scripture.



And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
(Joshua 24:15)​
You say there's nothing personal and then you effectively call me stupid.

I'm afraid you effectively showed yourself stupid. And by not addressing the stupidity I point out, you unfortunately are confirming it.

One last time: You say it is lawful to accept employment, that requires any day of the week to do and be paid, so long as that employment involves the good work of gvt, emergency, and national defense.

It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, even when that good is work on the job? (Infrastructure building would be included also)

Yes, or no.

The details of how to properly keep the Sabbath are between the individual and God. No two people do it exactly the same way. But there is enough counsel in Scripture on the subject for people to keep it according to the dictates of their own consciences.

How to properly keep the Sabbath in detail by law is simple: do not work therein.

Once you start bringing in dictate of conscience, then you reject it as by commandment.

If one chooses to keep a Sabbath for themselves, and they do so according to the dictates of their own conscience, they do well.

If they then go on to preach that Sabbath as commandment of God in Christ jesus, they then preach their own dictates of conscience for doctrine of God, and they do not well, but do as them that rejected Jesus, in order to keep their own tradition of commandments.

Is Sabbath a commandment for the body of Christ?

yes or no.

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Sabbath, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve:

You serve yourselves in obeying your Sabbath as by law. I serve no such thing. I choose to serve the risen God of Israel, who has no such commandment of law to obey.

Unless, you can show a Scripture of His apostles, where they plainly did so, as did Moses to the physical seed of Israel.

You also go on to judge others by a day and a Sabbath contrary to the plainly written Scripture to do no such thing. As neither do I. I don't judge you for keeping a Sabbath. I reject your commanding me to do so, when the apostles have not.

They were also told to face the temple and Jerusalem when praying, as did Daniel when that temple was broken down, as it is today. Do you you do that? Or is that just another carnal command to the physical seed that you skip over.
 

BarneyFife

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A Day for Doing Good
Of course, we can become so focused on what not to do on Sabbath that we neglect the good things we can do. Jesus once spoke to a group of Pharisees in a synagogue who asked Him if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. He answered them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:11, 12).

Sheep still fall into pits today. In other words, there are unforeseen emergencies that arise on the Sabbath that call for our practical attention. If a woman goes into labor on the Sabbath, should we tell her not to “labor” on a rest day and to wait to have her baby another day? When people suffer on the Sabbath and it is within our abilities to help them, shouldn’t we have a heart for them, even more than for suffering animals stuck in a ditch?

Jesus once spoke to a group of stubborn Jews who were angry that He healed a crippled man lying near the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. Jesus basically told them, “You circumcise baby boys on the eighth day ac- cording to the law—even if it falls on the Sabbath day—yet you are upset that I made a man completely better?” (see John 7:22, 23). Another time Jesus said, “Have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?” (Matthew 12:5).

Sometimes there is work on Sabbath— just ask most pastors—that is good and necessary. Priests in the Old Testament did certain jobs associated with the temple services, yet they were not condemned. They hauled wood and water for the sacrifices and the washing, all for the service of God. It is important to keep in mind the context of these situations. They did not focus on self-pleasing; these were done in service to God.

There are some jobs that we do on Sabbath as part of the service of the church that are necessary and important for worship—opening the building, possibly heating up the sanctuary, turning on lights, providing water for foot washing, greeting people, handing out bulletins, or setting out food for a fellowship meal. Even these good things should be done with balance. Volunteers should rotate so that the same members do not miss out sitting at the feet of Jesus, like Martha needed to do. Some members love to help with potlucks each week and miss hearing a sermon for months at a time. We should avoid this and rotate Sabbath responsibilities.

The Ox in the Ditch
Sometimes, in an effort to explain away our actions on the Sabbath, we joke about our deed as being “an ox in the ditch,” based on Jesus’ reference in Luke 14:5. There are other references in the Bible to donkeys and sheep falling into pits as well. What does this mean? I think when an urgent need comes to our attention on Sabbath, we should pitch in and help someone out of a difficulty.

I’ve stopped on Sabbath to help people stranded beside the road with a dead car battery. In one case, after briefly looking under the hood, I reconnected a tube on a carburetor and had them on their way in no time. Another time my son Stephen and I were driving home from church when we came on a scene where someone’s car had stalled in the middle of an intersection. Everyone else driving by was honking at them. We looked at each other, pulled over, jumped out, and helped push the car off to the side of the road. On the other hand, we can go too far in identifying donkeys in ditches on Sabbath until we are spending all of our time—as some youth ministries suggest—cleaning people’s yards, painting houses, and mowing lawns. I believe this can take young people away from worship and lead them to believe it is okay to work on Sabbath. I don’t think this is what Jesus had in mind.

There might even be “good” things that we set aside on Sabbath. When Christ died, certain women came to assist with His burial. Late on Friday, as the sun was going down, these women, who loved Jesus, brought spices to honor Christ’s body and prepare it for burial. But notice what the Bible says as the Sabbath drew near: “And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56). They did not complete the job they came to do. You would think, under these circumstances, that it would be appropriate to care for Christ’s body. After all, this was Jesus! But they set this work aside.

“Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared” (Luke 24:1). It is interesting that these women, who followed Jesus for three years, did not complete the work of embalming Christ’s body; instead, they chose to observe the Sabbath. Most people would say, “Well, we realize the sun is going down, but we’re not quite done caring for Jesus’ body, so let’s keep working.” I think this passage teaches us that some things can wait. Let’s not be too quick to call something an “ox in a ditch” if it can wait until the Sabbath is over.

We can also too easily classify what we think is “necessary” work on Sabbath but that actually profanes God’s holy day. Sometimes schools schedule exams on Sabbath. Wouldn’t it be a necessary job to take that exam so that we can complete our education? Fortunately, in the United States, we have laws that protect students who have religious convictions about their day of rest. But if we didn’t, to what length would we go to try to work around that difficulty? I think what often happens is that we begin to make little compromises. Over a period of time, these small concessions start to change our convictions until we excuse many more things. There are times we need to take a stand for God.
 

BarneyFife

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You say it is lawful to accept employment, that requires any day of the week to do and be paid, so long as that employment involves the good work of gvt, emergency, and national defense.

It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, even when that good is work on the job? (Infrastructure building would be included also)
You can make assumptions and call me stupid all you like. You are engaged in the all-or-nothing logical fallacy. The fact is there is no place in the Bible where there is a detailed blueprint for keeping the Sabbath. I personally know Sabbath-keepers who work in the medical field and try to limit their Sabbath work and also donate their earnings from it in addition to their tithe. Let the mocking begin.
 

robert derrick

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You can make assumptions and call me stupid all you like. You are engaged in the all-or-nothing logical fallacy. The fact is there is no place in the Bible where there is a detailed blueprint for keeping the Sabbath. I personally know Sabbath-keepers who work in the medical field and try to limit their Sabbath work and also donate their earnings from it in addition to their tithe. Let the mocking begin.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt limit thy work.

This is such a mockery of God's Word. The hypocritically obvious is beyond belief.

And then to buy off God as 'charity'.

If they were under contract, and then proselytized by your people, then they would immediately be required to quit. ANd in the military, they would need refuse to work on their 'Sabbath' day, and they would be discharged with courts martial dishonorably.

This is brazen proof, that God's commandments have no exemptions, but men's commandments mock God by exemptions.

A prostitute does not 'limit' her prostitution upon salvation of Jesus Christ.

You are all Little children playing games in the marketplace of God's Word. Self-righteously.
 

BarneyFife

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Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt limit thy work.

This is such a mockery of God's Word. The hypocritically obvious is beyond belief.

And then to buy off God as 'charity'.

If they were under contract, and then proselytized by your people, then they would immediately be required to quit. ANd in the military, they would need refuse to work on their 'Sabbath' day, and they would be discharged with courts martial dishonorably.

This is brazen proof, that God's commandments have no exemptions, but men's commandments mock God by exemptions.

A prostitute does not 'limit' her prostitution upon salvation of Jesus Christ.

You are all Little children playing games in the marketplace of God's Word. Self-righteously.
Again, contempt. You would've made a good Pharisee.
 

sundown sam

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You can make assumptions and call me stupid all you like. You are engaged in the all-or-nothing logical fallacy. The fact is there is no place in the Bible where there is a detailed blueprint for keeping the Sabbath. I personally know Sabbath-keepers who work in the medical field and try to limit their Sabbath work and also donate their earnings from it in addition to their tithe. Let the mocking begin.
-----------------------------

If you are responding to derrick, all he is he doing is pinning the Son of God (Yeshua) against his Father. I had a lengthy private conversation with him, he does not respond to questions, he is a person who wants to impress with what he thinks he knows, but he knows nothing, the one thing he knows is how to pull verses out of context to fit his own distorted view. He made God to be a covenant breaker blinding himself to Psalms 89:34 where God himself says, "my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." Apparently, his God needs to repent because the God of my fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), the God and Father of Yeshua (the Messiah) does not break his covenants. I don't even think derrick has a relationship with God in Christ, his interest is to debate. By the way, to say that God broke his covenant is a blaspheme statement because it is depicting God as a liar, not to mention, it is also a diabolical statement that is being made as well which is exactly what he (derrick) did.

I explained to him that the law has to do with obedience to what God's commands of us, and has nothing to do with Salvation and I gave him scriptures. Being obedience to what God commands of us allows us to refrain from adultery, stealing, covet, etc., and this is fulfilled through two commandments and I gave him biblical truth and he refuse to respond, deliberately blinding himself because he is a proud person and you can see it in his distorted posts. He used the word stupid as well, that told me even more about him.

Let me make this statement, many people like him are more concern to debate a topic that they are ignorantly incompetent of then to have a relationship with God in Yeshua. Notice, he post just to get in a debate.

I pulled myself from discussion with him only because he is not truthful, he does not respond to my post, he does not answer my questions, all he does is post what he thinks he knows, what he knows is how to distort the truth of God's word. Stay away from him, and hope many will read this post. If this post is deleted that is upon his request because he know that I am speak the truth about him.
 
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BarneyFife

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Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt limit thy work.

This is such a mockery of God's Word. The hypocritically obvious is beyond belief.

And then to buy off God as 'charity'.

If they were under contract, and then proselytized by your people, then they would immediately be required to quit. ANd in the military, they would need refuse to work on their 'Sabbath' day, and they would be discharged with courts martial dishonorably.

This is brazen proof, that God's commandments have no exemptions, but men's commandments mock God by exemptions.

A prostitute does not 'limit' her prostitution upon salvation of Jesus Christ.

You are all Little children playing games in the marketplace of God's Word. Self-righteously.
Google "logical fallacy" and see how many you're committing. I just don't have time to address all of your nonsense.

Simply explain what God was up to when He placed a temporary, ritualistic commandment right in the middle of His eternal moral code for human beings, and we can dispense with all of the debate.


Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)​
 

robert derrick

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Google "logical fallacy" and see how many you're committing. I just don't have time to address all of your nonsense.

Simply explain what God was up to when He placed a temporary, ritualistic commandment right in the middle of His eternal moral code for human beings, and we can dispense with all of the debate.


Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)​
You people mock a commandment you claim to keep, by only doing so in limited fashion, and then you accuse others of 'logical fallacy'.

Simply explain what God was up to when He placed a temporary, ritualistic commandment right in the middle of His eternal moral code for human beings.

Because His eternal moral code was not in the law of Moses, nor those carnal commandments, nor the passover day, nor the priesthood.

Being yet carnal, you do not know His eternal moral code begins with purity of heart and faith to do His will and commandments according to His righteousness.

The first covenant was a temporary one made after law with a carnal and rebellious people. He knew they would all break their agreed covenant with Him, when He would come to them to confirm it. And He knew He would rise again and be freed from that commanded and law left in the grave, to fulfill His promised covenant to Abraham through Himself as a man and Risen Saviour.

You know nothing of these things, because your faith in Him goes no further than a so-called physical obedience to a carnal commandment, that you don't even keep as He once gave it.

The only way that covenant and law will ever apply again with any man, is if He revives it in the future, which He can certainly do, because He can destroy and make alive at will.

Until then, you are trying to mix covenants and law and commandments, that do not mix, and are therefore so mixed up, that you actually justify working on the Sabbath in limited fashion.

That is hypocrisy that any normal child could rebuke, and any unbelieving sinner would laugh at.

For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.

Your limited sabbath is no Sabbath at all, by breaking the Sabbath God commanded of old. You're not even real Sabbath keepers. You are not a serious people.

A serious Sabbath keeper would rebuke your hypocrisy, even as Paul rebuked Peter for his dissembling from the saints in Jewish manner.

As Jesus said, you set up yourselves as guardians of the commandments of God, and you say, but you do not. (Matthew 23)
 
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BarneyFife

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You people...
The eternal cry of the bigoted
Until then, you are trying to mix covenants
I didn't know that not being a dispensationalist was such a horrible crime.

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6)

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. (Genesis 17:7)​
 

BarneyFife

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You people mock a commandment you claim to keep, by only doing so in limited fashion,


Matthew 12
1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

3He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:5,7)
 

BarneyFife

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Closed Minds and Majority Rule
God’s Word has a lot to say to those who are willing to be corrected. The people to be the most pitied are those who have closed minds. They will resist any information that varies from their personal views. Their minds are made up, and they don’t want to be bothered by the facts. This is especially true concerning the subject of the Sabbath.

Multitudes have inherited opinions about the day to be observed weekly, and they find it very difficult to look objectively at any other viewpoint. Many of them know that one of the Ten Commandments requires the keeping of the seventh day of the week. They also know that the seventh day is Saturday. Yet they tenaciously follow the tradition of observing a different day from the one God commanded. They worship on Sunday, the first day of the week, for which there is no biblical command.

Why do they do it? Most Sunday keepers have simply accepted the practice of the religious majority in the community where they were raised; assuming that it has to be right because so many are doing it. Is this a safe assumption? Has the majority usually been right in religious matters?

The Bible clearly answers these questions in the negative. Every available source of information reveals that in religious matters, at least, the majority has always been wrong. Jesus Himself said, “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Luke 17:26). Only eight people went into the ark to be saved from the flood. Christ taught that only a comparable few would be saved at the end of the world. Said He, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13, 14).

It is very true that the great majority of Christians today, including many famous evangelists and theologians, are keeping Sunday instead of the seventh-day Sabbath. That fact alone should not over impress anyone.Taken by itself, in the light of Christ’s words, it should raise a flag of warning. Truth has never been popular with the masses. And those in the majority today, as in all past ages, are not really looking for truth as much as they are looking for a smooth, easy, comfortable religion that will allow them to live as they want to live.

What, then, should be the test of the Sabbath truth? Just one thing, and one thing only—the Word of God. Unfortunately, millions have never studied the Bible for themselves on this subject. I propose that we test the Sunday-keeping practice of this majority group and find out if it is correct. If it is biblical, then all of us should accept it and faithfully keep every Sunday. If the Scriptures do not support it, then we should diligently search the Word until we find the day that our Lord has endorsed for us to keep.

The most honest way I know to approach this subject is to take a look at absolutely everything that the Bible says about the first day of the week. There are only eight texts in the New Testament that refer to Sunday, and by carefully studying these verses we can be certain that all the evidence for consideration is before us. If there is any biblical authority for keeping the first day of the week, it will have to be found in one of these verses.

Are we willing to face the consequences of this kind of exhaustive study? Here is where our prejudice will be tested! Can we open our minds completely to whatever this objective search reveals? These are not trick questions. Personally, I do not care which day is found to be the Sabbath. If the Bible teaches it, I will gladly keep Monday, Thursday, Friday, or Sunday. Long ago, I decided to be a Christian and to follow the Word of God wherever it would lead, regardless of my feelings. It makes no difference to me which day I keep holy, as long as it is the one commanded in the Bible! I hope you feel the same way as we begin our examination of every single reference in the New Testament that mentions the first day of the week.
Resurrection on Sunday
Let’s begin with the first Gospel. Matthew writes, “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre” (Matthew 28:1). Here we have some very interesting proof that the Sabbath could not possibly be the first day of the week. According to this recordthe Sabbath was ending when the first day was beginning. They are two successive days. Based on Scripture no one could truthfully call Sunday the Sabbath. It would be both confusing and unbiblical.

The substance of Matthew’s testimony is simply that the women came at dawn on the day following the Sabbath and found that Jesus was already risen. This harmonizes perfectly with the next Gospel, which adds a few more details. Notice that Mark equates the dawn with “the rising of the sun.” He wrote, “And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?” (Mark 16:1–3).

These parallel Gospel accounts clear up a common misconception that has arisen over the meaning of Matthew’s words “as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.” Some have interpreted this to be just before sundown on Saturday evening. Since the Hebrew reckoning would establish the end of the Sabbath at sunset, they assume that the women came just before the first day was ushered in at sundown.

Here we see the value of comparing text with text. Mark’s words make it impossible to hold the view that the women came Saturday night and found the tomb empty. He lists the very same women as coming at sunrise Sunday morning, but they were asking the question, “Who shall roll us away the stone?” Obviously, if they had been there the night before and discovered an empty tomb, they would have known that the stone was already removed from the door. Thus, we can understand clearly that Matthew’s “dawn” is referring to the early morning visit at sunrise on Sunday morning.

The third New Testament reference to the first day is a simple narrative statement in Mark 16:9, “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.” Little comment is needed here, because the verse is only repeating the same story of the resurrection early on Sunday morning. The important thing to note is that nothing is said in any of these texts about the first day of the week being holy. There is no intimation of anyone observing the day in honor of the resurrection.
 

BarneyFife

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Locating the True Sabbath
One of the most complete word pictures of resurrection events is found in the Gospel of Luke, and here we read the fourth reference to the first day of the week. “This man (Joseph of Arimathaea) went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on” (Luke 23:52–54).

Before reading further, let us carefully examine the inspired description of this crucifixion day. The vast Christian majority agrees that these events transpired on the day we now call Good Friday. Here it is called the “preparation” day, because it was a time for making special arrangements for the approaching Sabbath. In fact, the text states very simply “the sabbath drew on.” This means that it was coming up next.

What else happened on that day Jesus died? “And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment” (Verses 55, 56).

During the rest of that fateful Friday, the devoted women bought the anointing materials and made further preparation for their Sunday morning visit to the tomb. Then, as the Sabbath was ushered in at sunset, they “rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.” This identifies that holy day as the specific weekly Sabbath of the Ten Commandments and not the Passover or some other feast-sabbath that could have fallen on any day of the week.

The next verse tells what the women did on the day following the Sabbath. “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre” (Luke 24:1, 2).

First, we notice that the women came to do their regular labor on the day of the resurrection. Modern churches refer to that particular first day of the week as Easter Sunday. There can be no doubt that Jesus was raised sometime during the dark hours of that early morning. In none of the Gospel recitals do we have any evidence that the women, or anyone else, attached any sacredness to the day on which the resurrection took place.

Luke’s account of that eventful weekend proves beyond any question that the true seventh-day Sabbath can still be precisely located. He describes the sequence of events over three successive days—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Jesus died on the preparation day, and the Sabbath was approaching. Christians now refer to it as Good Friday. The next day was the Sabbath “according to the commandment.” Since the commandment plainly designates that “the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord,” that Sabbath had to be Saturday.

It is very interesting to note that Jesus rested in the tomb on the Sabbath from His work of redemption, just as He had rested from His work of creation on the Sabbath.

On the day following the Sabbath, Jesus rose. Today it is referred to as Easter Sunday, but the Bible designates it “the first day of the week.” In the light of these indisputable, historical facts to which all Christianity subscribes, no one can plead ignorance of the true Sabbath. It is the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Luke’s record is such a perfect chronological account of those three days that even the most simple and uneducated can locate the biblical seventh day on our modern calendar.

Now we are prepared to examine the fifth New Testament statement concerning Sunday. “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre” (John 20:1). There is very little new information in John’s description of the resurrection. Like all the other writers he gives no indication whatsoever that the first day of the week was ever counted holy or kept holy by anyone. So far, the significant common thread in all the Gospel stories has been a total absence of such evidence.
For Fear of the Jews
John mentions the “first day” again in the same chapter, and this has often been misinterpreted as a reference to Sunday worship. “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, 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” (John 20:19).

Even though this gathering behind locked doors took place on the same day as the resurrection, was it a special commemoration of that event? The circumstances make it impossible for such to be the case. The text plainly states that they were gathered there “for fear of the Jews.” The frightened disciples had already learned that the tomb was empty, and they expected shortly to be charged with stealing away the body of Jesus. They huddled together in the locked room for protection and reassurance.

The fact is that they did not believe Christ had been resurrected from the dead. Mark’s account reveals that they totally rejected the testimony of Mary and the other disciples who brought word of actually seeing the resurrected Lord. “And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And they, when they had 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. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen” (Mark 16:10–14).

Based on these words, we must quietly pass over that embarrassing Sunday afternoon meeting in the closed room. It was not an occasion of unrestrained joy over the resurrection, as some have portrayed it. In fact, there was not even any recognition on the part of the disciples that a miracle had taken place. They were fearful, depressed, and unbelieving. When Jesus appeared to them He spoke words of strong rebuke because of their lack of faith and because they had rejected the testimony of their own companions. How misleading it is to make this a happy memorial service honoring the resurrection!

Thus far, we have carefully studied six of the eight New Testament references without finding a single instance of Sunday observance. In fact, every one of them reveals a consistent, total ignorance of any recognition of the first day of the week for worship, prayer, rest, or honoring the resurrection. The Gospels were written several years after the events transpired, giving many opportunities to the Holy Spirit to inspire the authors with the full facts. Jesus told His disciples that the work of that Spirit was to “guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). If first-day observance had been any part of truth, then the Holy Spirit would have been divinely obligated to reveal it to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So said our Lord.

Now we turn to the two remaining references. If we find no evidence in these texts, we will have to abandon the search, for there is nowhere else to look. Paul and Luke are the final witnesses who mention the first day of the week, and both of them have been grossly misrepresented in what they said.
 

BarneyFife

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No Sunday-keeping in Corinth
In 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2, Paul wrote: “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order 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 … whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.”

Please carefully notice what the apostle said, and what he did not say. Many have assumed that a religious meeting was held and a collection plate passed. This is not the case. Paul was writing special appeals to the churches in Asia Minor, because many of the Christians in Jerusalem were suffering greatly for lack of food and daily necessities. Paul asked the church at Corinth to gather food, clothing, etc., and store it up at home until he could send men to transport it to Jerusalem. The expression “lay by him in store” in the original Greek gives the clear connotation of putting aside at home. Even Sunday advocates agree to this.

There was no service held on the first day of the week. The gathering up and storing was to be done on that day. Why did Paul suggest that this work be done on Sunday, and what was involved in getting it done?

First, the letter would have been shared with the church on the Sabbath when they were all gathered for worship. The first opportunity to do the work would be the next day—the first day of the week. Keep in mind that there was an apparent food shortage in Jerusalem, and the need was not primarily for money. Such famine conditions were not unusual in areas of the Middle East, as Luke reminds us in Acts 11:28–30.

The church in Rome gives a clue as to the special needs of those suffering Christians. “But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain” (Romans 15:25–28).

Here the apostle touches a tender spot in his eloquent appeal. The Roman Christians owed a great debt of gratitude to the mother church in Jerusalem that had sent teachers to evangelize them. Paul urges them to return carnal, or material, gifts in appreciation of the spiritual truths received from them. What kind of gifts did Paul have in mind? It is very interesting that he describes it as sealing to them “this fruit.” The Greek word used here is “karpos,” which is the universal term used for literal fruit. It can also have the connotation of “fruits of one’s labor.”

This throws light on Paul’s counsel to the Corinthian Christians to do their work on the first day of the week, “so that there be no gatherings when I come.” Such work as gathering and storing up produce from garden and field would certainly not be appropriate on Sabbath. In these verses, Sunday is identified once again as a day for secular activities and gives no indication of religious observance.
Paul’s Longest Sermon
This brings us to the final reference that could provide any support for Sunday sacredness. In Luke’s history of the early church, he describes the dramatic farewell meeting, which Paul had with the believers in Troas. Those who grasp for any tiny excuse to justify their disobedience of God’s commandments have grievously distorted this account in the book of Acts. Because it is the only record in the New Testament of a religious meeting being held on the first day of the week, we should examine it with special care and interest.

The full context reveals that it was a night meeting. “And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. In addition, 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. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: … and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot” (Acts 20:6–13).

There are some very unusual things about this all-night meeting in Troas. First, it had to be a solemn, poignant occasion for the speaker and congregation, as well. In verse 25 Paul declared, “And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.”

It is obvious that this farewell meeting was held on the dark part of the first day of the week. There were lights in the room, and Paul preached until midnight. It is important to understand the Jewish way of reckoning time. Days were not counted according to the pagan Roman method, from midnight to midnight. In the Bible, the day begins at evening.

Genesis describes all the days of creation week in the same way—“The evening and the morning were the first day … the evening and the morning were the second day,” etc. In other words, the evening always comes first in the day.

This explains why the Sabbath is described in these words, “It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, ... from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath” (Leviticus 23:32). But when does the evening begin according to the Bible? “And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils” (Mark 1:32). Since the Pharisees taught that it was wrong to heal on the Sabbath, the people waited until the Sabbath was over before bringing their sick to Jesus. Therefore, they brought them “at even, when the sun did set.” Moses wrote, “Thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun” (Deuteronomy 16:6).

In Nehemiah, we are given another description of the beginning of Sabbath. “And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath” (Nehemiah 13:19). This definitely places the first moments of the Sabbath at sunset, when it is beginning to be dark.

Now we are ready to apply this sound Bible principle to the first-day meeting of Paul in Troas. The night setting would require that it be held on Saturday night. The Sabbath ended at sundown, and the first day of the week began. Paul, who had stayed a full seven days so that he could be with the people over the Sabbath, decided not to leave with the ship on Saturday night. Instead, he fellowshipped all night long with the believers and then walked twenty miles across the peninsula on Sunday morning to join the boat at Assos.

Incidentally, Paul’s missionary companions, including Luke, who chronicled the highlights of the carefully scheduled voyage, manned this boat. It is very significant that they would not go out to sea until the Sabbath was over on Saturday night. Toiling at the oars and sails would have been no more proper for a holy day than Paul’s twenty-mile walk across the isthmus on Sunday morning. Neither Paul nor his fellow travelers would have indulged in those secular activities on God’s holy Sabbath.