The
Lord’s Day
Christ, Agent
of Creation
From what time was
Christ associated with the Father?
“In the
beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was with God in the
beginning.” John 1:1,2.
Who created all
things?
“And to make
plain to everyone the administration
of this mystery, which for ages past
was kept hidden in God, who
created all things.”
Ephesians 3:9. “In the past God
spoke to our forefathers through the
prophets at many times and in various
ways, but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son, whom he
appointed heir of all things, and through
whom he made the universe.”
Hebrews 1:1,2. “For by him
all things were created: things in
heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers
or rulers or authorities, all
things were created by him and for
him.” Colossians 1:16,17.
Was there anything
made without Christ?
“Through him all
things were made; without him nothing
was made that has been made.”
John 1:3.
Christ
Makes the Sabbath
Was
the Sabbath “made”?
“The
Sabbath was made for
man.” Mark 2:27.
Then
by whom was the Sabbath made?
By Christ Jesus, the
Son of God.
Note – The
conclusion is inevitable. If Christ
made all things, and the Sabbath was
one of the things that were made,
then it follows that Christ must have
made the Sabbath. This being so, the
Sabbath must be the Lord’s
Day.
What
did God do in the beginning on the
seventh day?
“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
God 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.
Note – If all
things were made by Jesus Christ,
then He, with the Father, rested on
the seventh day from His work of
creation, blessed the day, and made
it holy.
How
much honor is due to Jesus Christ?
“That all
may honor the Son just as they honor
the Father. He who does
not honor the Son does not honor the
Father, who sent him.” John
5:23. “I and the
Father are one.” John
10:30.
Note – Sabbath
keeping, then honors Christ equally
with the Father.
Christ
Keeps the Sabbath
Did Christ keep the
Sabbath?
“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.
Did
Christ’s followers keep the
Sabbath after His death?
“Then they went
home and prepared spices and
perfumes. But they rested on the
Sabbath in obedience to the
commandment. Luke 23:56.
The
Lord’s Day
On what day does
John say he was in the Spirit?
“On the Lord’s
day, I was in the Spirit.”
Revelation 1:10. [Seventh day
Sabbath]
What
does the commandment say is the
Lord’s?
“But the seventh
day is a Sabbath to the Lord your
God.” Exodus 20:10.
What
does the prophet Isaiah; speaking for
God, call the seventh-day Sabbath?
“My holy
day.” Isaiah 58:13.
Note – We do not
need to speculate as to what is the
Lord’s, if we will but take the
Word of God for our guide.
On
what day must John have been in the
Spirit?
The seventh, if
he referred to a day of the week at
all.
Note – No
other day of the week in the entire
Bible is claimed by God as His day. During
the early centuries of the Christian
era, apostasy came. Men, without any
command of Scripture, thinking to
honor Christ in spite of the Jews,
who crucified Christ, began to
neglect the Sabbath of the
commandment and to honor the first
day of the week, on which Christ rose
from the dead, and called it
“the Lord’s day.”
Finally the Sabbath was almost lost
sight of, and the Sunday generally
replaced it. But there was no warrant
for the change in the divine and
unchangeable law of God. The Bible
knows but one God, one Lawgiver, one
Mediator between God and man, one
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, one
Spirit, one faith, one baptism, and one
Sabbath. (See Jeremiah
10:10-12; Revelation 14:6, 7; 1
Timothy 2:5; Ephesians 4:4-6; Exodus
20:8-11.)
Why have the scholars
and churchmen found that there is no
Bible authority for first-day or
Sunday sacredness?
The answer is, they
have found and declared it so.
What influence does
the Bible and history shows working
in the church immediately after
apostolic days?
“Even from your
own number men will arise and distort
the truth in order to draw away
disciples after them.” Acts
20:30.
Note –
“Between the days of the
apostles and the conversion of
Constantine, the Christian common
wealth changed its aspect….
Rites and ceremonies, of which
neither Paul nor Peter ever heard,
crept silently into use, and then
claimed the rank of divine
institutions.” W.D. Killen
(Presbyterian), The Ancient
Church, Preface, pp. xv, xvi.
What did Christ say of
worship based on tradition?
“They worship
me in vain; their teachings are
but rules taught by men.”
Matthew15:9.
Note –
“Protestants often deride the
authority of Church tradition, and
claim to be directed by the Bible
only; yet they, too, have been guided
by the customs of the ancient Church,
which find no warrant in the Bible,
but rest on Church tradition only!
The Bible, which Protestants claim to
obey exclusively, gives no
authorization for the substitution of
the first day off the week for the
seventh. On what authority,
therefore, have they done so? Plainly
on the authority of that very
Catholic Church which they abandoned,
and whose traditions they
condemn.” John L. Stoddard, Rebuilding
a lost faith (1826 ed.), p. 80.
What
will be done with every plant not
planted by God?
“Every plant
that my heavenly Father has not
planted will be pulled up
by the roots.” Verse
13.
In
all matters of religion, whose
commands should we obey?
“We must obey
God rather than men!” Acts
5:29.
Note – In all
matters of religion we as Christians
must walk as Christ walked, think as
Christ thought, talk as Christ
talked. To His disciples He said,
“Go, and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to
the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19,20.
