 |
Five
Essential Bible Truths – Part 4
What
Happened to the Lord’s Day?
Most Christians today
recognize Sunday as the Lord’s day, a day to
attend church and worship God. However, since
World War II, the significance of observing
Sunday as a “holy” day had dropped
dramatically. Yes, church bells still ring and
people attend church on Sunday morning, but
Sunday afternoon is considered a holiday instead
of a holy day. The Bible teaches that God
Himself, blessed the Lord’s day, called it
holy and rested from His work the entire day. If
God rested the entire day, then shouldn’t we
observe the Lord’s day all day? Has
our society become so degraded that we no longer
know what holy and scared means? Does worshiping
God on His holy day include shopping, conducting
business, washing the car, watching TV, mowing
the lawn, cleaning out the garage, attending ball
games or skiing? Many Christians believe it does.
However, what was God’s intention for his
holy day? Answers to these and other questions
about the Lord’s day are found only in the
Bible.
The Lord’s Day Created
At Creation, the Lord set
aside one day of the week that belongs to Him. He
included a seventh day in the weekly cycle at the
time of Creation for the benefit of man. So, the
Lord’s day is as old as our world and God
designed it to be special. He did not make the
first six days of the week holy. Notice this
verse: “By the seventh day God had
finished the work he had been doing; so on the
seventh day he rested from all his work. And the
Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work of
creating that he had done.” (Genesis
2:2-3) This verse states that the Lord only made one
day of the week holy at the time of Creation.
Webster says the word holy means “to
set apart” or “to make unique.”
For example, when a couple marries, God makes
their relationship holy and they are “set
apart” from the dating crowd. In like
manner, God “set apart” the seventh day
of the week from His work of creating our world;
He blessed the seventh and then declared it holy.
If God Himself rested from His labors on the
seventh day, what do you think He required Adam
and Eve to do each week? Consider this profound
point: There is a direct link between observing
the Lord’s day and honoring the Lord. If His
people do not carefully observe the Lord’s
day, they will eventually forget the Lord. Two
Biblical examples illustrate this point. First,
the antediluvians forgot God and His laws
governing the universe, which include His weekly
day of rest. Second, the nation of Israel also
forgot God and His holy day. (Genesis 6:5-6; 2
Peter 3; Ezekiel 28) If history proves anything,
it proves that it does not take long for
succeeding generations to forget the Lord. The
time period from Adam’s creation until the
flood is a mere ten generations. In that short
span of time, mankind became so wicked that God
grieved that He had created man. By the
time of Noah’s birth, the world had
forgotten God and consequently, Adam’s
descendants eventually neglected the Lord’s
day. Because of this neglect, it should not be a
surprise that the antediluvians doubted the Lord’s
promise to destroy the world with a flood.
Lord’s Day
Renewed
Eight hundred years after
the flood, God called Moses to lead Abraham’s
descendants from Egyptian slavery to the Promised
Land. However, before God delivered Israel, He
required the slaves to rest from their weekly
labor on the seventh day of the week as a
condition to obtain freedom. God’s demand
was bittersweet. Naturally, every slave welcomed
a day of rest. Every Hebrew also wanted to be
delivered from Egyptian bondage. However, after
Israel kept their first Sabbath, Pharaoh sensed
he was losing control of the Hebrews. Therefore,
he required the slaves to produce the same quota
of bricks in six days as they had in seven. In
addition, he required them also gather straw for
the bricks as well! This unreasonable demand
pushed the Hebrews beyond their physically
ability and stamina. Their failure proved the
“license” he needed to beat the Hebrew
slaves unmercifully, since they could not meet
the demands for bricks. (See Exodus 5.)
Note: Scholars debate
whether Moses and Aaron called for God’s
seventh day Sabbath to be observed, thereby
causing a work stoppage. Even though the Bible
does not specifically say that, the slaves
observed the seventh day Sabbath, this
question can be resolved in four texts:
- The
language Pharaoh used supports the claim
that Moses and Aaron had called upon
Israel to rest from their usual labor.
Pharaoh’s words in Exodus 5:5, “…You
make them rest from their labor”
(KJV) or “You are stopping them from
working.” (NIV) identify two
points. First, Pharaoh blamed Moses and
Aaron for leading the slaves to rest from
their labor by emphasizing “You…”
Second, the word for rest Pharaoh
used was shabath (Strong’s
#7673). This is the same and idea
expressed in Genesis 2:2 when God “rested”
or ceased His creative work on the
seventh day. To suggest that God, through
Moses and Aaron, told the Hebrews to rest
from their labors on any day of the week
other than His holy day is inconsistent
with the events that soon followed in the
wilderness.
- The
Bible identifies only one holy day
between Creation and the Exodus, the
seventh day of the week. (Genesis 2:2,3)
- The
Bible reveals that God tested Israel on
their observance of His seventh-day rest before
He spoke the Ten Commandments from
Mt. Sinai. (See Exodus 16.) For example,
God’s provision of manna proves two
interesting things: First, Israel knew
about God’s seventh day rest before
He gave the Ten Commandments. Second, the
holiness of the seventh day was important
to God before He spoke the Ten
Commandments. God’s intention for
the seventh day – that it was set
apart and special – did not change
between Creation and the Exodus.
- When
the Lord spoke the Ten Commandments from
Mt. Sinai, He expressly required
observing the seventh day as a day of
rest. The fourth commandment begins with,
“Remember the Sabbath day….”
(Exodus 20:8) If Sabbath observance were
a new concept of worship codified in the
Ten Commandments at Sinai for the
Hebrews, as some scholars maintain, why
would the fourth commandment begin with
the word “Remember?” The
wording of the fourth commandment makes
it clear – the holiness of the
seventh day did not suddenly begin at
Mount Sinai. The holiness of the Lord’s
day, God’s Sabbath rest, began at
Creation and the patriarchs who walked
and talked with God knew of the Creator’s
holy day. In addition, the word “Sabbath”
(Strongs #7676), in the fourth
commandment, is a derivative of shabath
– the word Pharaoh used when he
accused Moses and Aaron of making the
Hebrews rest from their labor. Further,
God’s caution to “Remember”
His holy day is necessary, for when it is
neglected, people soon forget the Lord!
Therefore, if we honor the Lord by
keeping the Lord’s day holy, we will
not forget the Lord!
As we carefully analyze
these four points, it is obvious that the work
stoppage caused by Moses and Aaron came because
Israel elected to honor God and His Sabbath
rather than submit to Pharaoh demands. Obedience
to God and deliverance by God are inseparable. It
is possible for a person to knowingly disobey God
and at the same time receive His favor. Moses
told the Hebrew elders that deliverance form
bondage was based on Israel’s submission to
the God of Abraham. Israel’s faith in the
Most High God was to be tested by observing God’s
higher law and disobeying Pharaoh’s lower
law. Further, when Moses explained the corporate
guilt of Israel to Israel’s leaders, they
earnestly sought reconciliation with God by
asking Pharaoh for a three-day pass to offer
sacrifices for atonement, “…or he
may strike us with a plague or with the sword.”
(Exodus 5:3)
The Ten Commandments
The fourth commandment is
the only commandment that requires man to do
nothing at the right time each week! Here is the
law: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping
it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your
work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the
Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work,
neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your
manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor
the alien within your gates. For in six days the
Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and
all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh
day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day
and made it holy.” (Exodus 20: 8-11)
This command states four
principles that should be carefully considered:
- Do
not forget to set the seventh day of the
week apart from the other six.
- Do
not work on the seventh day.
- Do
not allow others who are under your
authority to work on the seventh day,
whether man or animal.
- The
seventh day belongs to God. It is the
Lord’s Day because He rested on the
seventh day, blessed the seventh day and
made it holy.
Principle 1
God was very specific when
He said, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy.” Amazingly, some people say, “It
does not matter which day of the week I worship
God.” God’s law refutes this. Some
people say, “I worship God every day of the
week. Therefore, one day is just like any other
– every day is the same.” God’s
law refutes this. Some people say, “The Ten
Commandments were nailed to the cross and the
observance of the seventh day is a Jewish
requirement – not for Christians. If the
Sabbath commandment is so important, why is it
mentioned in the New Testament? These statements
are untrue. Jesus said, “,The Sabbath was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son
of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark
2:27,28) If Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath (has
dominion over the Sabbath), then He can tell us
how and when to observe the Sabbath. If the Ten
Commandments were nailed to the cross, then God’s
grace is no longer needed and we are not sinners.
Sin is the violation of the law. If there is no
law, there can be no sin. (Romans 4: 15) If the
Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross, then
God has no law against adultery (and judging by
what goes on today, many people really believe
the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross.)
So, if there is no law, who needs grace from the
penalty of a law that does not exist? The fourth
commandment is mentioned in numerous places
within the New Testament, including Hebrews 4.
Paul clearly says: “There remains, then,
a Sabbath-rest for the people of God, for anyone
who enters God’s rest also rests from his
own work, just as God did from his.”
(Hebrews 4:9,10)
Note: Many Christians
believe the duties and sacredness of the seventh
day Sabbath were transferred to the first day of
the week when Christ was resurrected. However,
the Bible does not explicitly place man under any
obligation pertaining to Sunday observance. Part
II includes a presentation on the change from
Sabbath to Sunday observance.
Principle 2
The law says, “You
shall not do any work on the seventh day…”
This principle raises several questions.
Primarily, what is meant by “work?”
Work is defined as something we do for gain,
something we do for survival, or something that
we have to do. Does this “no work”
commandment mean that we should stay in bed on
the Lord’s Day? No. Instead, the fourth
commandment means we should no do any work on the
Sabbath that we normally do during the week.
How can a dairy farmer
observe this commandment without causing injury
to the cattle? How can a nurse keep the Lord’s
Day when patients need his or her service in a
hospital? How can a police officer keep the Lord’s
Day when criminals (lawbreakers) are at work
every day of the week? How can a mechanic,
responsible for generators that provide
electricity to thousands of homes, take the Lord’s
Day off? How can a cook in a nursing home observe
the Lord’s Day when the elderly need food
seven days a week? When God gave the fourth
commandment, didn’t He anticipate the
problems we would face in the twentieth century?
Yes, of course. So, how can these situations be
reconciled?
For a balanced perspective
regarding this aspect of the fourth commandment,
we need to look at how Jesus regarded the Lord’s
Day. This is the first of three important texts: “At
that time Jesus went through the grain fields on
the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began
to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When
the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look!
Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the
Sabbath.” He answered, “Haven’t
you read what David did when he 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. Or haven’t
you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the
priests in the temple descrete the day and yet
are innocent? I tell you that one greater than
the temple is here. If you had known what these
words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’
you would not have condemned the innocent. For
the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew
12:1-8)
In this text, Jesus makes
four points. First, gathering food to eat “on
the way” is not necessarily a defiant
violation of the Sabbath. In other words, there
are some instances when one cannot prepare food
for the Lord’s Day of rest. (Exodus 16:23,24
for the basis of the Pharisee’s complaint.)
Second, motive appears to be an important issue.
Jesus illustrated this point by sharing how David
and his men ate the “holy” bread that
was in the tabernacle without offending God (I
Samuel 21: 1-6). Third, certain tasks may be
performed on the Sabbath. Jesus used the work the
temple priests did on the Sabbath (which
desecrated the day) as an example. Even though
the Sabbath was a busy workday for them, they
were not guilty of contempt for God’s law.
(Note: The priests rotated assignments to that no
priest was continuously desecrating the Sabbath
– see Luke 1:8.) Last, Jesus rebuked the
Pharisees because as Lord of Sabbath, He –not
they – was in a position to interpret how
man should observe the Sabbath.
The next text brings more
understanding to the subject of Sabbath
observance: “Going on from that place, he
went into their synagogue, and a man with a
shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to
accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful
to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them,
“If any of you has a sheep and it falls into
a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of
it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a
man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do
good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the
man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he
stretched it out and it was completely restored,
just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees
went out and plotted how thy might kill Jesus.
Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place.
Many followed him, and he healed all their sick,
warning them not to tell who he was.” (Matthew
12:9-16)
From this text, we glean two
important points: First, Jesus did good for
others on the Sabbath. He did not sleep the
Sabbath away and pass the Lord’s Day in a
hangover from having overworked on the previous
six days. No, He used the Sabbath to minister to
others. Second, Jesus affirmed again that there
are certain matters that do not violate the
intent of the Sabbath. If rescuing an animal is
not a violation of the intent of the law, then
rescuing a human being certainly is not offensive
to God and the proper behavior in light of the
fourth commandment.
The last text reveals two
key issues dealing with the observance of the
Lord’s Day. The setting is the rebuilding of
Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah. He
writes, “In those days I saw men in Judah
treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing
grain and loading it on donkeys, together with
wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads.
And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on
the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against
selling food on that day. Men from Tyre who lived
in Jerusalem were bringing fish and all kinds of
merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the
Sabbath to the people of Judah. I rebuked the
nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is
this wicked thing you are doing –
desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn’t your
forefathers do the same things, so that our God
brought all this calamity upon us and upon this
city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against
Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.” When
evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem
before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be
shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I
stationed some of my own men at the gates so that
no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day.
Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all
kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem.
But I warned them and said, “Why do you
spend the night by the wall? If you do this
again, I will lay hands on you.” From that
time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. Then
I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and
go and guard the gates in order to keep the
Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this also, O my
God, and show mercy to me according to your great
love.” (Nehemiah 13”15-22)
These verses illustrate that
conducting business on the Lord’s Day is
offensive to God – whether it is for food or
merchandise is immaterial. Like the Levites of
old, we should “guard” the gates of our
house in order to keep the Sabbath Day holy. Did
you notice that Nehemiah clearly associates the
wrath of God (Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction
of Jerusalem) with the desecration of the
Sabbath? Just as in Nehemiah’s day, I
believe the basis of God’s coming wrath upon
the world is due, in part, to the lack of respect
for His holy day. When the Great Tribulation
begins worldwide, then God’s authority will
be placed in its proper perspective.
We honor God by resting
during the Sabbath hours from our work. If we
honor God, He will bless us. The Lord told
Isaiah, “If you keep your feet from
breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please
on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s day honorable, and if you
honor it by not going your own way and not ding
as you please or speaking idle words, then you
will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause
you to ride on the heights of the land and to
feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah
58:13,14)
Observing the Lord’s Day
So, how do we solve the
problems represented by the dairy farmer, the
nurse, the cook, the police officer, ect? What
principles do we apply to these types of
situations? Here is my view on the matter. The
Lord’s Day is the Lord’s Day – all
day long – from Friday sunset to Saturday
sunset. (Genesis 1; Leviticus 23:32) The Sabbath
was made for man. It was to be a day of rest and
renewal each week, both physically and
spiritually. Preparation for the observance of
the Lord’s Day, as far as possible, will
help us recognize God’s intended blessing.
The weekly Sabbath is not for God’s benefit,
but ours!
The Bible reveals that
preparation for the Lord’s Day is important.
In ancient times, the Jews did not have names for
the days of the week. Instead, they used numbers,
such as “the first”, or “the
third day of the week.” After the Babylonian
captivity, the sixth day of the week became known
as “The Preparation” as it summarized
the urgent importance of being prepared for the
Lord’s Day. (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke
23:54)
Therefore, the second
principle mentioned in the fourth commandment is
that any activity bringing the blessing of
Sabbath to others is permissible on Sabbath.
Sharing the blessing of Sabbath can be a good
meal for a patient or helping victims from a
tornado. Yes, the dairy farmer has to milk cows
and the doctor must respond to an emergency. The
nurse may render care and the preacher may work
harder on the Lord’s Day than any other.
However, the primary issue each of us has to
consider when trying to resolve this matter for
themselves is this: How can I best honor the Lord
on His holy day? Yes, the dairy farmer should
milk the cows, but should the barn be cleaned on
the Lord’s Day? Yes, the doctor should rush
to the hospital to care for a patient in an
emergency situation, but should usual and
customary services be provided on the Lord’s
Day? The nurse can provide care for patients, but
must he or she serve others on every Lord’s
Day? The preacher has to serve people on the Lord’s
Day, but does he have to preach every week? As
the general statement, there are two basic
principles for rendering service on the Lord’s
Day: First, do not ruin God’s purpose for
the Lord’s day with continual desecration.
It is permissible to serve as emergencies
warrant, but do not make it a customary process.
Second, neither charge nor receive compensation
for the services rendered on the Lord’s Day.
When financial gain is taken out of the picture,
“work” scheduling becomes quite clear.
If by law, you must be paid for services rendered
on the Lord’s day, donate it to the Lord’s
work since you used His day to earn that income.
Third, Nehemiah’s actions clearly indicate
that commerce on the Lord’s Day is offensive
to God. As far as possible, do not buy or sell on
the Lord’s Day. Conduct business at other
times. Look at the big picture, we have six days
– God has one. Live accordingly.
Therefore, spend the Lord’s
Day in activities that are physically, mentally
and spiritually renewing. Worshiping God on His
holy day is an invigorating and spiritually
renewing exercise. We can make the Sabbath a
delight for others by visiting those in prison,
sharing music with nursing home residents,
holding Bible studies in our home, or reading a
Bible or character building story to a child. A
hike in the woods or a drive to a scenic overlook
can enhance emotional, physical and spiritual
renewal. Each of these activities can promote
re-creation in all three dimensions: physical,
mental and spiritual. In His wisdom, the Lord
does not mandate how His holy day is to be
spent except to say that one must not work. Your
relationship with the Lord will determine,
largely, how you spend His day and the benefit
you will receive.
Principle 3
The fourth commandment says
“Do not work others under your dominion
whether man or animal on the seventh day.”
This concept raises some interesting questions.
For instance, would it be fair of God to require
His dominion (you and me) to work on the Lord’s
Day while He rested? No, of course not. Instead,
God’s Kingdom works this way: If God, the
ruler of all the Universe, gives rest to His
servants each week, then it is altogether fitting
that you, His Earthy servants, give your dominion
rest as well.
Perhaps the most often asked
question regarding this element of the fourth
commandment is the question of “eating out”
on the Lord’s Day. Does “eating out”
violate the intent of the fourth commandment?
Yes, if you allow yourself to become too busy and
neglect to prepare for the Sabbath. No, if
circumstances (such as travel or emergency)
prohibit you from preparing food for the Sabbath.
The underlying principle is this: God has one day
we have six. Live accordingly.
Principle 4
The seventh day belongs to
God. It is called the Lord’s Day because He
rested on the seventh day and made it holy. A
wonderful experience awaits those individuals who
are willing to take God at His word and honor Him
by keeping the Lord’s Day. Here is how it
works:
To properly observe the Lord’s
Day is a challenge and according to the
prophecies of Revelation, it will become
increasingly difficult as time draws to an end.
For some people, the commitment to keep the Lord’s
Day holy has meant the loss of income, job or
career. Other people have faced rejection and
ridicule by family members and friends. Keeping
the Lord’s Day always puts a person
at odds with the pace or activities of the world.
When you experience this kind of conflict, it is
often difficult to believe that God has a purpose
behind all the struggles you face regarding His
holy day. Yet, from the very beginning of time,
God’s purpose for creating a day for
Himself, included a PLAN that is far more
encompassing than most people realize. Not only
does it bring rest to the faith-full who are
weary from their weekly labors, but the Lord’s
Day will also become a definitive test of faith
to determine who trusts God implicitly during the
Great Tribulation. The command to rest sounds so
easy, but in fact, it becomes hard because it is
a test of faith. The devil has made sure that the
seventh day, the Lord’s Day, has been
forgotten by most of the world. In its place, he
has developed two spurious days – one for
the East (Friday) and the West (Sunday). However,
there is still no rest on this planet!
Nevertheless, there is a wonderful experience
behind the command to keep the Lord’s
Day holy: If wee rest
according to the commandment of God on His holy
day, He sustains all that we laid down for 24
hours so that when we resume our activities, not
one thing will be lost or hurt. If it is the
charge of every faithful steward to see that the
King suffers no loss when He arrives, what can be
said of the Faithful King who personally sees to
it that every faithful steward is rewarded for
his faithfulness?
The people who honor the
Lord’s Day honor God. Regardless of your
background, when you honor God, you are
considered a descendant of Abraham. (Galatians
3:28,29) This is why He said: “The
Israelites are to observe the Sabbath,
celebrating it for generations to come as a
lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me
and the Israelites forever, for in six days the
Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the
seventh day he abstained from work and rested.”
(Exodus 31:16,17)
Summary
The obligation to observe
the Lord’s Day is both timeless and
universal. Many individuals do not regard the
Lord’s Day, as they should. The race to make
more money and capture market share is a powerful
economic force that pushes God out of the weekly
cycle. Overextended people use what available
free time they have for pleasure and
entertainment. This leaves very little time for
God. A nation without God is a nation in moral
darkness. Further, most people are not aware of
the requirements in the Ten Commandments. They do
not concern themselves with the law of Almighty
God. This point is self-evident each time we hear
the news. We have become a lawless society. Why?
“If I were called upon to identify the
principle trait of the entire 20th
century, I would be unable to find anything more
precise than to reflect once again on how we have
lost touch with our Creator…Men have
forgotten God” (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Readers
Digest, September 1896).
Think about this: If a man
is caught breaking the law, even though he
innocently thinks that he is “within the law”
the arresting officer will tell him that
ignorance of the law is no excuse. If this is
true of man-made laws, what can be said of the
law of God? When the Great Tribulation begins,
billions of people will be surprised at God’s
response to our world’s corporate ignorance
and disobedience. So, why not begin exercising
your faith and honor the Lord on His holy day.
Enter into an experiment with God and watch what
He will do to honor your faith!
What Happened To The Lord’s
Day
Most Christians believe
Sunday is the Lord’s Day. They believe that
Jesus transferred the sacredness of the seventh
day Sabbath to Sunday, the first day of the week,
when He was resurrected. If Jesus did indeed make
this change, there should be sufficient evidence
in the Bible to prove or disprove the claim.
Because the topic of the Lord’s Day is
highly important (as written earlier), is
important that we know which day of the
week is The Lord’s Day.
New Testament Review
There are only eight texts
in the New Testament that mention the first day
of the week. Biblical support for the sacredness
of Sunday, if it exists, would have to come
exclusively from these verses. Here are the
texts:
- Matthew
28:1
- Mark
16:2
- Mark
16:9
- Luke
24:1
- John
20:1
- John
20:19
- Acts
29:7
- 1
Corinthians 16:2
The first six texts refer to
the resurrection of Jesus on the first day of the
week – a well-known fact. However, none of
these texts says anything about the sacredness of
Sunday. In fact, Luke 23:56 points out that a
group of women did not prepare Jesus’ body
for burial on Friday (the day called
Preparation), but instead, rested on the Sabbath
“according to the commandment.”
Obviously, by the time of His death, Jesus had
not informed His followers that the fourth
commandment was going to be made void because of
His resurrection.
Since the first six texts
simply discuss the resurrection of Jesus, we will
investigate the remaining two verses and note the
absence of any command to observe Sunday as the
Lord’s day.
Acts 20:7
Some Bible students refer to
Acts 20 as evidence that Sunday worship was
practiced by the apostles. Notice, “On
the first day of the week we came together to
break bread. Paul spoke to the people, and
because he intended to leave the next day, kept
on talking until midnight.” (Acts 20:7)
Let us consider the details within this verse.
In Bible times, a day began
at sunset and ended the following evening. Since
creation, the rotation of the earth has produced
this unchanging process. (See Genesis 1.) The
Jews in Christ’s time regarded a day form
evening to evening and kept the Sabbath from
Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. (Compare Luke
23:50-56 with Leviticus 23:32) Therefore, the
actual timing described in Acts 20:7 is as
follows: Paul stayed with the believers at Troas
for seven days. (Acts 20:6) At the beginning of
the first day of the week, at suppertime, the
believers came together to eat supper with Paul
and to say goodbye to their friend. Remember, the
first day of the week in Paul’s time began
Sabbath evening at sundown, or what we call
Saturday evening. After supper, Paul preached
until midnight (Saturday midnight). A few hours
later on Sunday morning, the first day of the
week, he left Troas for Assos.
Therefore, Paul met with
believers for supper and preached until midnight,
Saturday night. Does a farewell supper and
Saturday night meeting change or abrogate the
fourth commandment of God? No. Even if Paul chose
to worship on Tuesday night, would this make void
the law of God? No. Only God can void His own
law.
Some students claim that the
term “breaking of bread” indicates Paul’s
visit was a communion or worship service. Not so.
In Luke 24:13-31 Jesus “broke bread” at
supper time with two companions after He walked
more than seven miles to Emmaus with them. Even
to this day, the breaking of bread remains a
custom in the Orient since bread is baked firm
and is literally “broken” before it can
be eaten. We also know that Jesus broke bread on
Thursday night with His disciples at Passover. If
“breaking bread” means a worship
service was conducted, why would Jesus conduct a
worship service at sundown in Emmaus, just when
the second day of the week was beginning? If Paul’s
meeting was supposed to be a worship service,
Acts 20:7 gives no indication that this occurred.
I call Acts 20:7 a mystery
text because Paul did not conduct a Sunday
service in Troas. Actually, he held a meeting on
Saturday night – the first part of the week
in Bible times – but today is considered the
last part of the seventh day. (Jews still reckon
a day from sundown to sundown. Today, we “Gentiles”
reckon a day from midnight to midnight.) So, if
early Christians really followed Paul’s
example as authority for the time of worship,
they would worship on Saturday night (between
sundown and midnight). Again, an honest,
objective look at this text indicates that God
gave no authority for Sunday observance.
1 Corinthians 16: 2
Some Christians use the
following text to demonstrate how Paul insisted
that the first day of the week be used to collect
offerings for the poor. Notice: “Now
about the collection for God’s people: Do
what the Galatian churches to do. On the first
day of the week, each one of you should set aside
a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving
it up, so that when I come no collections will
have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give
letters of introduction to the men you approve
and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.” (1
Corinthians 16:1-3)
In Paul’s day, money
was not a common medium of exchange as it is
today. Most trading was done through bartering.
For example, a person might trade a chicken for
cloth or pottery. Paul instructed the church in
Corinth to begin each week with selling or
trading so they might obtain a sum of currency.
He preferred to take money with him to give to
the persecuted believers in Jerusalem, since
travel with roosters, goats, pottery and other
things of value, was nearly impossible.
Consequently, he asked that they take care of
this matter, “first thing after the Sabbath.”
(Compare with Nehemiah 13:15.) Again, the
appropriate question is, “Does Paul’s
instruction change or make void the fourth
commandment that God gave?” Not at all.
Thoughts on Romans 6
Currently, the most common
reason Christians use to defend Sunday worship is
Jesus’ resurrection on Sunday morning, the
first day of the week. Yes, the resurrection is
important and the Bible does provide a
celebration of the resurrection! It is called
baptism. Notice what Paul says, “What
shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so
that grace may increase? By no means! We died to
sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t
you know that all of us who were baptized in to
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We
were therefore buried with him through baptism
into death in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, we too may live a new life.”
(Romans 6:1-4)
However, does baptism change
or abrogate the fourth commandment? Not at all.
In fact, not one of the eight New Testament texts
says that the holiness of the seventh day was
transferred to Sunday!
What was Nailed to the Cross?
Many Christians believe that
the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross. If
it was not the Ten Commandments, then what was
nailed to the cross? Most people are surprised to
learn that the ceremonies relating to the
sanctuary services, which were a shadow or
explanation of the plan of salvation, were nailed
to the cross. The key word here is shadow. Notice
what Paul said, “For in Christ all the
fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and
you have been given fullness in Christ, who is
the head over every power and authority….When
you were dead in your sins and in the
circumcision of your sinful nature, God made you
alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
having cancelled the written code, with its
regulations, that was against us and that stood
opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the
cross….Therefore do not let anyone judge you
by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a
religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a
Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things
that were to come; the reality, however, is found
in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in
false humility and the worship of angels
disqualify you for the prize…” (Colossians
2:9-18)
If you look at these verses
carefully, you will see that Paul is discussing
the regulations regarding religious feasts,
New Moon observances and Sabbath days. The
“Sabbath days” that Paul is referring
to is not the seventh day Sabbath of the fourth
commandment. Rather, the term “Sabbath days”
applies to Sabbath “feast days,” such
as the Passover or the Day of Atonement.
(Leviticus 16:31) Feast days often fell on
different days of the week (like our birthday)
because they occurred on the same date each year.
These feast days were special Sabbaths of rest
that pointed forward to different aspects of
Jesus ministry and death. For example, the
Passover not only reminded the Jews of
deliverance from Egypt, but also pointed forward
to a time when the Passover Lamb – Jesus
Christ – would die, so all people could be
delivered from the bondage of sin!
The Jews confused the Ten
Commandments Law of God with the laws given to
Moses, much like the Christians to today. The
permanence of the Law of God versus the law of
Moses can be seen in several ways. First, the
greater law, the Ten Commandments, was written on
stone by God’s own finger and kept within
the ark. The law of Moses (ceremonial or lesser
law) was given by God to be written by Moses
(man) and kept in a pocket on the side of the
ark. (See Deuteronomy 10:1,2; 31:26.) One law was
permanent the other was temporary. This is why
the ark was often called the Ark of the Covenant,
since the Ten Commandments are the basis of God’s
covenant with man. This covenant says, “If
you choose to obey me, I will be your God.”
(Deuteronomy 30:9-11)
What about Romans 14?
What about Romans 14? Some
Christians use Romans 14 to prove it does not
matter which day of the week we use to worship
God. Notice the text: “Accept him whose
faith is weak, without passing judgment on
disputable matters. One man’s faith allows
him to eat everything, but another man, whose
faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who
eats everything must not look down on him who
does not, and the man who does not eat everything
must not condemn the man who does, for God has
accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s
servant? To his own master he stands and falls.
And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make
him stand. One man considers one day more scared
than another; another man considers everyday
alike. Each should be fully convinced in his own
mind. He who regards one day as special, does so
to the Lord. He who eats meant, eats to the Lord,
for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains,
does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For
none of us lives to himself alone and none of us
dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the
Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So,
whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
For this very reason, Christ died and returned to
life so that he might be the Lord of both the
dead and the living. You then, why do you judge
your brother? Or why do you look down on your
brother? For we will all stand before God’s
judgment seat.” (Romans 14:1-10)
The context of these verses
does not imply that we can worship God whenever
we feel like it. No, this text is addressing a
specific problem that early Christians had to
deal with, namely, the religious customs of the
Jews. In other words, if a new believer in Jesus
felt he needed to observe Passover, Paul did not
condemn the new believer except to say that his
faith was weak. In addition, if the new believer
could not consciously eat meant purchased in the
marketplace, for fear it had not been killed
correctly or that had been offered to idols, Paul
said to leave these people alone! (The Jews would
not purchase not eat meant unless it was killed
according to Mosaic code. Leviticus 19:26) Today,
many clerics use this text as support for Sunday
worship; however, I wonder if this same liberty
will be offered to those who choose to honor God’s
fourth commandment when the one world
religious/political government is established
during the Great Tribulation?
Some Christians believe that
Pentecost fell on Sunday during the year that
Christ died, therefore, proving that Sunday is
God’s holy day. However, Pentecost has
always fallen on Sunday – ever since the
Exodus. The Wave Sheaf offering was always made
on the first Sunday after Passover, and Pentecost
followed 50 days later (counting inclusively),
always occurring on a Sunday. Leviticus 23) So,
if the annual Pentecost feast occurred on Sunday
for more than a millennium before Jesus was on
earth, how does this make the fourth commandment
void? It does not.
Some Christians teach that
the Sabbath mentioned in the Ten Commandments is
“Jewish” because God delivered His
commandments to the Jews. If we extend this line
of reasoning to its logical conclusion, then we
must conclude that all Ten Commandments
are “Jewish.” (Remember, they came in a
package of ten.) Obviously, this line of
reasoning implies that titles are not under the
obligation of the fourth commandment. However,
God created the seventh day Sabbath and made it
holy long before Abraham, the first Jew, lived on
the earth. Could this be why the fourth
commandment begins with “Remember the
Sabbath day…”?
Last, some clerics claim
that nine of the Ten Commandments are mentioned
in the New Testament, but the fourth commandment
is missing. This statement is not true. In fact,
the absence of any argument from the Jews or
Jewish converts indicates the assumption by New
Testament writers that the Sabbath remained
intact without question (especially when one
considers the abundance of controversy over the
issue of circumcision or eating meat offered to
idols.) However, Paul clears this matter in the
New Testament by saying, “There remains,
then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for
anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from
his own work, just as God did from his.” (Hebrews
4:9,10)
Which is the Greatest Law?
As you might expect of a
legalistic society, the Jews loved to argue about
their laws. An expert lawyer even challenged
Jesus with a test to see which law was the
greatest! (Matthew 22:34-40) I believe the
spiritually of the Jews degenerated into a great
legal system of darkness, because they generally
misunderstood the purpose of God’s laws.
(Matthew 23:2-15) When the apostle Paul began to
explain the purposes and relationships between
the ceremonial laws and God’s moral law, you
can understand the Jewish hatred exercised
against him. Paul claimed that the laws of Moses
had expired and this was more than the Jews could
tolerate! Paul was captured and eventually
beheaded for his convictions. (Acts 21:27-36)
Paul is very explicit in
Colossians 2 and Ephesians 2 that the laws nailed
to the cross were shadows of the real thing and
these laws, cam to an end at the cross. Now, in
Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile. The
ceremonial laws requiring the observance of new
moons, Sabbath feasts and the sacrifice of lambs
have become unnecessary because the Lamb of God
has died, removing the shadow over salvation and
making it visible to all. In other words,
ceremonial laws were temporary until their
meaning was fulfilled.
So, consider Paul’s
dilemma, How could he get the Jews to understand
the true meaning of ceremonial laws and cease
doing something they had been doing for 1,800
years? We have the same problem today. How can a
whole nation change from Sunday observance to
Saturday observance?
Paul is very clear in
Hebrews 10 and Galatians 3 & 4 that these
ceremonies never brought salvation to the Jews in
the first place; rather, they were temporary and
designed to teach how salvation occurs!
Paul makes it equally clear
that obeying the Ten Commandments cannot produce
salvation either, because salvation comes only by
faith! The problem today is that most Christians
think that faith and grace make the moral law
unnecessary. Does love between husband and wife
eliminate the necessity for fidelity? No. Neither
does living together make two people married. The
relationship between love and obedience is
simple. God grants salvation to everyone who
becomes willing to do His will. He does not grant
salvation to us on our ability to do His will. We
demonstrate our willingness by receiving strength
from God to do what He wants. Paul understood
this process. (See Romans 7.) In fact, all
through his Christian life (which took place
after Calvary), Paul faithfully observed the
seventh day Sabbath. (See Acts 13:44; 16:13;
17:2; 18:4,11.)
If any question remains
about the sacredness of the seventh day Sabbath after
Calvary, perhaps this last point will clarify the
issue. Jesus confirmed the holiness of the
seventh day Sabbath by specifically saying to His
disciples that they should pray that their escape
for the coming destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70)
would not be in the winter nor on the Sabbath
day. (Matthew 24:20) Why did Jesus say that early
Christians should make this a matter of prayer?
Because escape and survival from the enemy during
winter months would obviously bring physical
hardship. Sickness, even death to those who
escaped. But, why did Jesus specifically mention
the Sabbath day as a bad time to escape from the
coming Roman siege? For two reasons: First, early
Christians would be torn between observing God’s
Sabbath day (a moral issue) and escaping on the
Sabbath day (a survival issue). Second, by
focusing on the Sabbath day, Jesus indicted how
sudden and short the window of opportunity for
escape would be. Apparently, early Christians
understood this prophecy accurately, for
historical records indicate that the Christians
were not among those who perished when Jerusalem
was destroyed.
Cannot Break One Commandment
If we take the position that
Jesus nailed the fourth commandment to the cross,
then we must conclude that He nailed the other
nine too. Whatever we do with the fourth
commandment, we must also do with the other nine.
The issue will become an important distinction
between those who love God and those who rebel
against Him during the outpouring of God’s
judgments. The Ten Commandments are
nonnegotiable. They stand, as one unit
representing the revealed will of God. The Ten
Commandments were written on two tables of stone
because they are based on two enduring principles
– love for God and love for man. The first
four commandments explain how we are to love God.
The last six commandments explain how we are to
love our neighbor. One more point: Maturity in
Christ begins when we acknowledge the claims of
God’s law upon our life. Then, realizing our
great weakness, we place our faith in Jesus so
that we can fulfill His law through His
indwelling power. Paul knew all the Ten
Commandments were intact. He said: “What
shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not!
Indeed I would not have known what sin was except
through the law. For I would not have known what
is was to covet if the law had not said, ‘Do
not covet.” (Romans 7:7)
James wrote: “If you
really keep the royal law found in the Scripture,
‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you
are doing right! But if you show favoritism, you
sin and are convicted by the laws as lawbreakers.
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles
at just one point is guilty of breaking all of
it. For he who said, ‘Do not commit
adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’
If you do not commit adultery but do commit
murder, you have become a lawbreaker.” (James
2:8-11)
James brings us to an
important and fundamental conclusion regarding
the royal law, or the King’s law. He says we
must obey all the commandments. If we break any
of them, we are guilty of breaking them all,
because the King’s law is only fulfilled
through love. We must first love God with all our
heart, mind and soul and then, our neighbor as
ourselves. How should we express our love for
God? Jesus said, “If you love me, you
will obey what I command.” (John
14:15)
Keeping the Sabbath holy
will not save anyone. Mandating Saturday laws
will not save anyone either! This is why the
final exam for the human race is carefully
designed to test our relationship with Jesus. The
basis for salvation is faith. Faith is doing what
God requires at any cost. Since eternal life
comes only through faith, and since every means
of human survival will be removed in the future,
you and I will need great faith in god in order
to remain loyal to Him! If it seems hard to obey
God now, what will it be like then?
The Seventh Day of Creation is
Our Saturday
The Bible reveals how God’s
subjects are to worship Him. This is not a matter
left to human design. Unfortunately, the devil,
during the past 6,000 years, has obstructed God’s
truth and implemented many false religions around
the world. For example, suppose you came to Earth
on a spaceship and you met three religious
leaders. The first was a Moslem, the second, a
Jew and the last, a Christian. You ask the each
person the same question: “What day of the
week do you worship on?” The Moslem would
say, “The sixth day, or Friday, because
Mohammed rested on Friday from travel.” The
Jew would say “I worship on the seventh day
of the week, or Saturday, as the fourth
commandment requires.” The Christian would
say, “I go to church on Sunday, the first
day of the week, because of Christ’s
resurrection.” As you leave Earth in your
spaceship, you marvel at this interesting point:
These three religions represent 50% of Earth’s
inhabitants and each religion claims to have the
truth about God. Each religious system also
declares that the other two religious systems are
false and yet, they unwittingly confirm the
truth. Their diversity confirms that the weekly
cycle remains intact. Here is how: The sixth day
of the week is adjacent to the seventh day, which
just happens to be adjacent to the first day of
the week. In other words, each religious system
worships on unique days that are adjacent to each
other. This fact confirms the perpetuity of
Creation’s week since Jesus was on earth and
shows that the weekly cycle has not been altered.
The Israelites have formally worshiped on the
seventh day ever since the Exodus in 1437 B.C.,
the Christians in Rome, according to Justin
Martyr, have formally worshiped on the first day
of the week since A.D. 150, and Moslems have
formally worshiped on the sixth day of the week
since the sixth century A.D. If the weekly cycle
had been altered in any way, these holy days of
worship would not be adjacent to each other! The
seventh day (Saturday) is still God’s holy
day, just as it was at Creation.
So, What Happened?
So, how did Sunday become
the day known as the Lord’s Day? Who made
the change and how did it occur? Material
documenting first century Christianity is meager
and imperfect. The best records for this period
are known as the writings of the Apostolic
Fathers. These documents are not part of the
Bible, nor do they have the authority of the
Bible. However, they do offer a glimpse into the
religious thinking of that era.
Apostolic Age
This part includes several
ancient references for the consideration because
a great number of scholars have tried to prove
from the ancient writings that Sunday observance
was a widely accepted practice during the
apostolic age (A.D. 30 – A. D. 100). Early
Christian writings however, reveal a sinister
process at work. The writings reveal how God’s
word became corrupted, even in the hands of
well-intentioned people. Consider these
references and draw your own conclusions. The
first mention of worship occurs about A.D. 97
when Clement of Rome wrote to the believers in
Corinth. He wrote: “These things therefore
being manifested to us, and since we look into
the depths of divine knowledge, it behooves us to
do all things in (their proper) order, which the
Lord has commanded us to perform at stated times.
He has enjoined offerings [to be presented] and
services to be performed [to Him], and that no
thoughtlessly or irregularity, but at the
appointed times and hours.”(Clement of Rome,
Epistles to Corinthians, Vol I Ante-Nicean
Library, (Buffalo, 1887) p.16.)
As you can see, Clement did
not endorse a particular day of the week for
worship. This early quotation, however, is
included because some scholars claim that Clement
of Rome defended Sunday observance in A.D. 97.
Here is another early
reference that people often use to support Sunday
observance in the early Christian Church. Pliny
the Younger, the pagan governor of Bythinia,
wrote this statement about A.D. 107. Writing to
Emperor Trajan, he requested advice about
Christian assemblies in his province. At that
time, Roman leaders anticipated civil revolts in
a number of provinces and Pliny was especially
cautious of a new sect of people called
Christians. He wrote:
“They [the
Christians] affirmed that the whole of their
guilt or error was that they met on a certain
stated day before it was light and addressed
themselves in a form of prayer to Christ as to
some God…” (Pliny the Younger, Pliny’s
letter to Trajan, Harvard Classics, Vol 9, (New
York, 1937) p. 404)
Again, Pliny did not say
which day of the week the Christians were
meeting. All that we can learn from him is that
they met for prayer before it was light.
Post Apostolic Age
As Christianity spread
throughout the Roman Empire, certain compromises
and transformations within Christianity were made
for a variety of reasons. Initially, Christians
in Rome were regarded as a dangerous sect since
they refused to regard Caesar as a divine god. As
time passed, however, Christianity began to
appeal to the educated and wealthy in Rome. These
individuals could afford manuscripts and they had
influence within the government of Rome. By A.D.
150, the Roman Christians and pagans had found
areas of mutual respect. About this time, a
well-educated man named Justin Martyr became a
Christian and tried to soften the hostility
existing between Romans and Christians. One area
of compromise was religious meetings on Sunday.
The Romans regarded Sunday as a holiday. As
Christians in Rome began to worship on Sunday,
they found that they met little resistance, since
the pagans regarded Sunday as a holiday. Justin
Martyr writes:
“But Sunday is the day
on which we hold our common assembly because it
is the first day on which God, having wrought
change in the darkness and matter, made the
world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same
day rose from the dead.” (Justin Martyr,
First Apology of Justin Martyr, Ante-Nicean
Christian Library, (Boston 1887) p. 187 Chapter
67.)
Justin Martyr’s
justification for holding a common assembly on
Sunday is interesting. He sited the separation of
darkness and light on the first day of Creation
as grounds for holding a common assembly, and
then, the resurrection of Jesus. Martyr offers no
Scriptural authority for holding an assembly on
Sunday, but his remarks do support the idea that
Roman Christians were anxious to divorce
themselves from the cradle of Judaism.
Christianity had no “central
office” in those days and each geographical
location adjusted doctrine to meet their needs.
During the last part of the second century A.D.,
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, became alarmed at a
number of heresies that had infiltrated the
Christian movement. He knew that Christians in
Rome were meeting on Sunday and that they had
abandoned the seventh day Sabbath. He spoke
against the practice when he wrote:
“For He [Christ] did
not make void, but fulfilled the law [Ten
Commandments].” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies,
Vol 1 Ante-Nicean Christian Library, (Boston,
1887) p. 471.)
Terullian, another church
father, wrote extensively about Christian
doctrine. He, like Irenaeus, was alarmed by the
practices of certain Christians, especially those
in Rome. In regard to the seventh day Sabbath he
wrote:
“Thus Christ did not
all rescind the Sabbath. He kept the law [Ten
Commandments] thereof….He restored to the
Sabbath the works for were proper for it.”
(Terullian, Book IV, Chapter 12, Vol 3
Ante-Nicean Christian Library, (Boston, 1887) p.
362.)
Many leaders considered
Sunday observance in those early days. Bishop
Archelaus wrote in his disputation with Manes:
“Again as to the
assertion that the [seventh day] Sabbath has been
abolished we deny that He [Christ] has abolished
it plainly. For He Himself was also Lord of the
Sabbath.” (Archelaus, The Disputation with
Manes, Vol 4 ante-Nicean Christian Library,
(Boston 1887), p. 217.)
By the time Christianity
reached the end of the third century A.D.,
confusion was taking a heavy toll on Christian
doctrine. Christians had spread to every province
within the Roman Empire. Christians in Alexandria
and Egypt (the South) were beginning to defend
views different from those in Rome (the North).
The authority of the Church was being discussed.
Church doctrine needed stronger and clearer
definition. Questions were raised for which there
was little agreement. Cultural, linguistic and
social factors were beginning to define
Christendom according to geography. The result,
which could be easily anticipated, was a highly
fractured church. A “central office”
for church leadership was needed. The Christians
in Rome believed they were in the best position
to lead a universal Christian Church, since the
Roman government was looking more favorably
toward Christianity. When Constantine came to the
throne, he used Christianity for political
advantage. Constantine thought that Christianity
could unify the Roman Empire. By endorsing a
“Roman version” of Christianity,
Constantine set a powerful sequence of events
into motion. In future years, the Church of Rome
would dominate all factions of Christianity.
What do these events have to
do with Sunday observance? The Roman Christians
were the first group to adopt Sunday observance.
Strange as it may seem, they never claimed divine
authority for this action. Further, the Roman
Christians did not consider Sunday work as
sinful. Instead, Sunday was regarded as a day of
celebration and rejoicing, not a day of fasting
or reflection.
Constantine was an astute
politician. When he ascended to the throne, the
Roman Empire was fractured by ethnicity.
Constantine was looking for a way to unify the
empire and he saw Christianity as a means to an
end. Therefore, “he got religion” and
baptized his army into Christianity by marching
them through a river. To further promote his
religion and political interests, he implemented
the first Sunday law in A.D. 321:
“Let all judges and all
city people and all tradesmen, rest upon the
venerable day of the Sun. But let those dwelling
in the country freely and with full liberty
attend to the culture of their fields; since it
frequently happens, that no other day is fit for
the sowing of grain, or the planting of vines;
hence the favorable time should not be allowed to
pass, lest the provision of heaven be lost.”
(Cod. Justin, III Tit 12, L.3., March 7, A.D.
321.)
Of course, this decree
brought great pleasure to the bishop of Rome
since the aims of the Roman church and the aims
of the government were on parallel courses. The
government wanted a stable empire and the church
wanted control over one universal Christian
church.
There is a World Out There
Even though the Roman church
was meeting on Sunday when Constantine issued his
decree, most Christians were still observing the
seventh day Sabbath. Socrates wrote at the turn
of the fourth century:
“Such is the difference
in the churches on the subject of fasts. Nor is
there less variation in regard to religious
assemblies. For although almost all churches
through the world celebrate the scared mysteries
on Sabbath of every week, yet the Christian of
Rome and Alexandria have ceased doing this.”
(Socrates, Ecclesiastical History, Book V, Chap
22, Ante-Nicean Christian Library, Vol II,
(Boston p. 132.)
However, Constantine’s
decree did not reduce the importance of the
seventh day Sabbath for most Christians Something
else would need to occur before the importance of
the seventh day could be minimized. The church in
Rome needed an elaborate doctrine that dealt
directly with the issue of the “Lord’s
Day.” Church leaders in Rome needed to
present a strong case to the Christian body.
Therefore, Eusebius, a Christian confident and
advisor to Constantine masterminded the doctrine
of Sunday observance. Notice his argument for the
observance of Sunday:
“Wherefore as they [the
Jews] rejected it [the Sabbath law], the Word
[Christ] by the new covenant, translated and
transferred the feast of the Sabbath to the
morning light, and gave us the symbol of true
rest, viz., the saving Lord’s day, the first
[day] of light, in which the Savior of the world,
after all his labors among men, obtained the
victory over death, and passed the portals of
heaven, having achieved a work superior to the
six-days creation. On this day, which is the
first [day] of light and of the true Sun, we
assemble, after an interval of six days, and
celebrate holy and spiritual Sabbaths, even all
nations redeemed by him throughout the world, and
do things according to the spiritual law, which
were decreed for the priests to do on the
Sabbath. And all things whatsoever that is was
the duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have
transferred to the Lord’s day, as more
appropriately belong to it, because it has a
precedence and is first in rank, and more
honorable than the Jewish Sabbath. All things
whatsoever that it was the duty to do on the
Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord’s
Day.” (Eusebius’s Commentary on Psalms
92, quoted in Cox’s Sabbath literature, Vol
I, p.361.)
Eusebius, who lived three
hundred years after Christ, is the first man to
be documented as claiming that Christ changed the
day of worship. THEN, Eusebius testifies that he
(and others) “have transferred all things,
whatsoever that it was the duty to do on the
Sabbath” to Sunday. Notice that Eusebius
offers no Scriptural authority for the change.
Further, no church father or authority during
that time period seconded the claims of Eusebius,
nor did Eusebius quote from another source.
Eusebius just took the thorny problem of worship
in hand and became the father of a false doctrine
that favored the Church of Rome. Can mere mortals
change the law of Almighty God? In just three
hundred years, Christians repeated the failures
of the Jews. Christians altered the plainest
truths of God’s Word. Jesus said of the
Jews, “They worship me in vain; their
teachings are but rules taught by men.”
(Matthew 15:9)
Even with Constantine’s
blessing upon Eusebius’ writings, the
seventh day Sabbath did not die in Christian
churches. By the year A.D. 460, Sozoman wrote:
“Assemblies are not held in all churches on
the same time or manner. The people of
Constantinople and almost everywhere assemble on
the [seventh day] Sabbath as well as the first
day of the week, which custom is never observed
at Rome or Alexandria.”(Sozeman,
Ecclesiastical History, Book VII, Chap 19,
Ante-Nicean Christian Library, Vol II, (Boston
1887) p. 390.)
Students of church history
know the Church of Rome eventually dominated
Christianity. Eventually, the Roman Empire and
the bishop of Rome became the Bishop of the
Universal Christian Church. For nearly 13
centuries, the kings and queens of Europe were
subservient to the Bishop of Rome. This great
time period of church domination was
appropriately called the “Dark Ages”
because religious dominion is a cruel master.
Summary
Sunday observance started in
Rome as a compromise with the pagans. Most
Christians were not of Jewish descent so Judaism
and its seventh day Sabbath was not considered a
high priority issue. In fact, early Christians in
Rome did not want to be identified with Judaism
since the Jews were hated in Rome. The early
Christians in Rome were predisposed to meet on
Sunday for religious celebrations (since this was
the pagan practice in Rome) and did not view
their actions as having serious ramifications in
ages to come. However, as centuries passed, the
church in Rome became the world’s leading
Christian church. It was strategically located
close to the leaders of world government. About
the third century A.D., the Lord’s Day
became an issue of significant concern. Eusebius
constructed a doctrine to justify Sunday
observance and Constantine implemented a Sunday
law in A.D. 321 to unify the Roman Empire. Today,
almost all of
Christianity worships on
Sunday. Protestant denominations still show
allegiance to the Church in Rome by worshiping on
Sunday.
There is no biblical basis
for Sunday sacredness and no Biblical basis for
observing the Lord’s Day on Sunday. The
support for Sunday observance and sacredness as
the Lord’s Day is based on tradition and the
arrogance of man. God’s law has not changed.
The Ten Commandments stand without impeachment.
If ten thousand men were to justify the change
from Sabbath to Sunday, this does not change the
law of God. The fourth commandment still
establishes the seventh day of the week as God’s
holy day.
I would like to close this
part with three texts. The first is written by
King Solomon. “Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God
and keep his commandments, for this is the whole
duty of man for God will bring every deed into
judgment, including every hidden thing, whether
it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes
12:13,14) Jesus said, “If you obey my
commands, you will remain in my love, just as I
have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain
in his love.” (John 15:10) Surrendering
your life to Jesus means you resolve to obey God’s
commandments at any cost, which includes
His Sabbath. Think of it this way: God offers you
and me a one-day vacation each week from the
cares of the world. He promises to sustain
everything we do until we return to work, so that
nothing will be lost. Faith in God means being
willing to obey God. When you consider His
wonderful offer, what could keep any intelligent
person from accepting it? Jesus says, “Come
to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I
will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
l top l
|
|
