Sabbath wars
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I have heard people insist that others are not born again, just because they worship on Saturday, rather than Sunday.
Or……that they worship on Sunday, rather than Saturday.
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Who is right?
Does it matter?
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Although Saturday is biblically correct, it should not matter which day someone worships God on.
Ideally, they should do it every day.
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All days are for the Lord
Paul explains that individuals may have their own way of doing observance unto God, and it is all good:
Rom 14:5 One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day [alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Rom 14:6 He that regards the day, regards [it] unto the Lord; and he that regards not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [it]. He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks.
We are not under the law, but of grace. With the Holy Spirit, there is liberty.
With this liberty, we can worship God any time we want.
With a heart willing to please God, we will do our best to obey him at the same time.
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Jesus and the Sabbath
Even Jesus “broke the Sabbath” by healing someone on that day.
We must remember what Jesus said about the observance of the Sabbath:
Mar 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
We know Jesus, the Messiah, was the Lord of the Sabbath, yet he “worked” on the Sabbath, thus breaking the letter of the law.
He explained that it was the HEART of the law which mattered.
To do good on the Sabbath was greater than the restraint from some definition of work.
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Location, location, location!
Jesus also explained to the woman at the well (according to the letter of the law, an unbeliever, a sinner) that the location of worship was no longer important as well.
Jhn 4:19 The woman said unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Jhn 4:20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Jhn 4:21 Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Jhn 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Jhn 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him.
Jhn 4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
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Private prayer is most special to the Father
Congregational worship has its own spiritual benefits, and should not be ignored, but when we are in private, our hearts can be more open and intimate with God.
Mat 6:5 ¶ And when you pray, thou shall not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:6 But thou, when you pray, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which sees in secret shall reward thee openly.
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Conclusion:
None ……… maybe?
Is there a difference between how to observe and worship on the Sabbath and other days?
I shared some thoughts, but what do you think?
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Other viewpoints on this topic:
Sabbath: God’s Gift to Mankind
Heaven Awaits 
Excellent review.
I like to give a final nail to close the coffin of the dead issue of sabbath day keeping – live issue for sabbatarians ;-<.
That is, sabbath is God's shalom, the very person of Yeshua. You find in Him rest and refreshing your soul. God's gift to mankind from the day of creation. The 7th day sabbath keeping ordinance dear (and terrifying to break) to the Jews was the gift to Israel (in Ten Commandments). Sadly it all became to be what-not-to-do rules lording over mankind. Seventh day Adventists and others love to get on the bandwagon of Judaic tradition, which was nailed on the cross.
Please subscribe to my blog http://sabbathsermons.com for great sermons and more!
“Seventh day Adventists and others love to get on the bandwagon of Judaic tradition, which was nailed on the cross.”
I hope you read all the comments below on this topic. Let me say that I am not a seventh day adventist…I am a Messianic gentile believer in Yeshua who God has shown must obey his Torah out of my love for him…keeping the Sabbath is the 4th commandment. This is not “Judaic tradition” but YHWH’s command. IT is holy and sanctified. What was “nailed to the cross”, were the man-made rules that YHWH never ever intended or commanded people to follow. Yeshua paid the blood price for breaking of the law…but this does not mean the law was done away with, as he himself stated he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, meaning that we no longer need to suffer the punishment of death for transgressing the law. This is not the same as saying we no longer have to obey it! It’s still the law! People always use that story of the judge going down and paying the price for his son who is on trial for murder or whatever, to illustrate how Jesus paid the price for our sins. Well, you don’t say in that scenario that now there does not need to be a law against murder that we should obey! Of course not.
blessings,
Liz
I to am neither Seventh day Adventists nor a Messianic Jew but the Holy Spirit has definitely spoke to me about keeping Saturday as my Sabbath day…I believe that doing good things for people as in helping the poor, eldering, hungry is ok to do on the Sabbath but for me I am not to “work” nor shop,nor eat in restarants, nor make anybody else have to work. I agree ….it is the 4th commandment, one of 10 that God wrote in stone not to change.
Only the Hand written ordinance by Moses that were placed in the side of the Ark of the covenant, were nailed to the Cross. Gods 10 commandments were not done away with at the cross. His laws stand forever. The are not grievous to mankind. If you love God keep His commandments
The writer referenced John 4:19-24 but highlighted the what was convenient and popular, but think of the Savior’s word to the woman in verse 22, “, You my dear lady is sincere about your worship, but you are sincerely wrong, because you are worshiping and yet you have NO idea what it is you are worshiping, but if you really need to know then you have to seek out the Jews for we the Jews are the ONLY one who has the truth and know the true God and Salvation ONLY comes from the way the Jews worship”. My question to you who still reads the Jewish Bible and serve the Jewish Messiah, how can you have a Jewish establishment of worship that is not Jewish. For according to Romans 11:16-24 The Gentiles were grafted in, God DID NOT PLANT A NEW TREE, therefore the Fruits might shape a little different but it still exist on the same tree with the same ROOTS. How can you Nail LOVE to the cross, pray tell me.
For the 10 commandments are the characters of God, representing who he is according to 1John 4:8 for GOD IS LOVE. The first 4 commandments on one table of stone show Love for God.
On the 2nd table of stone it shows Love for mankind.
How would you nail this on the cross and not have total pandemonium on earth while still trying to preach love you neighbor, It is the heights of hypocrisy to tell a person not to steal, commit adultery, lie,kill, envy his/her neighbor, respect his/her parents when the commandments have been nail to the cross and they are now living under grace where lawlessness RULES. For where there is NO LAW there is NO SIN.
Jhn 4:19 The woman said unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Jhn 4:20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Jhn 4:21 Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Jhn 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Jhn 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him.
Jhn 4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
ivan
true, which is the gospel must be preached 🙂
amen…..
http://sabbathsermons.com/2009/08/30/the-new-testament-sabbath/
Irony is that in modern Israel Jews follow Jesus’ version of observing the Sabbath (ie Sabbath for man and not vice versa), in opposition to Pharisees of his day who would not allow to heal on Sabbath…today religious Jews work in hospitals full-time on Sabbath and a person is liberated from many Sabbath constrictions if he is sick…it’s because Halacha – Jewish law is based on teachings of Hillel, not teachings of Shammai who were majority back in those days.
To me it doesn’t matter as long as we pray for all people in all nations,here in the united states as well.We should go by what mother Theresa say’s pray each day for one another and we want go wrong.Just pray and love each other no matter what race.Thanks,GP
Correct, to you it doesn’t matter but it matters to God.
http://sabbathsermons.com/2009/08/30/the-new-testament-sabbath/
THE SABBATH IS A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME
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Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]:
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Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
You’ve totally misunderstood this bible verse. It actually means, don’t let anyone judge you in not keeping the CEREMONIAL laws anymore. Note it says SABBATH DAYS plural not the Sabbath day singular ten commandments moral law.
Colossians 2:16 EXPLAINED!
The Hebrew sanctuary was the not the real thing as it was a shadow of the real. The sacrifices that were being made were not doing very much for the sinner in reality because it didn’t really cleanse him. It was a symbolic function. It did not make him that did the service perfect as it was only in symbolic activities.
Hebrews 10:1 For the Law having a shadow of good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
It was a symbolic activity with the holy days, meats and drinks. They were not something that could cleanse a person from sin.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]:
2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
Because these are not the actual body, when Jesus died and the curtain was rent from top to bottom this meant that the ceremonial Laws were no longer to be practised. It was done away with.
Don’t let anyone put you back on that symbolic path anymore. It is finished. Let no one judge you in not keeping the ceremonial Laws – meats, drinks and holy days connected with the sanctuary. It’s not necessary, that was done away with.
That’s what it means, don’t let anyone judge you for NOT keeping the ceremonial laws.
http://sabbathsermons.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/6-melchisedec-the-high-priest-of-the-body-temple/
The Jews recognize that it is a ritual law among the ten, so did Jesus (being a Jew). He speaks of it in the context of temple law and not moral law in Matthew 12. So do Moses and the Prophets:
http://youarecompleteinhim.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/sabbath-moral-or-ceremonial-law/
If we take each day as a holy day we want go wrong.It will alwaays be that some one will say i think it should be sat.another person argues that it is Sunday.That why i say treat each day as a holy day.We can’t please man you will go crazy it’s just no way on earth that we can do it.
you will go wrong as God has commanded we keep the seventh day holy. http://sabbathsermons.com/category/the-sabbath/
Time to put out the alternate view : ) I have to say that 2 years ago, I would have agreed w/ you and other posters, but about a year ago God began to challenge me on the question of the Sabbath…and He has convinced me w/out a doubt that we are to keep the 4th commandment, just as we do the other 9. Sure, we are to love and worship YHWH every single day, and yes, we are only saved by grace through the death and resurrection of Yeshua(BTW, I never heard any of the people that I read/listen to ever say a person was not saved if they worshipped on Sunday), but Jesus very explicitly stated in Matthew 5:17-20, that the law is not abolished, and whoever teaches others that it is, is least in His kingdom. So, that said, the somewhat confusing passages of Paul must be understood somehow in light of the fact that the law is NOT abolished, and Yeshua and the apostles all did obey the law.
Jesus did not break His Sabbath by healing or allowing the disciples to eat grain, what he did was show the Pharisees that they had ADDED to His law and thus showed they did not understand it (just as He showed them the deeper level of the other ocmmands not to murder, commit adultery, etc)…the Sabbath was made for man…so we are not to add burdensome rules that are not found in the Torah of Yahweh…this does not in any way mean we are not to keep the Sabbath or to follow the rules about the Sabbath that ARE found in His Word!
It was the Catholic church that changed the day to Sunday in the 3rd century, out of convenience and to placate the pagans that Constantine wanted to convert to Christianity (not to mention the anti-semitism and drive to get rid of anything “Jewish”). Since then, even Christians who say they keep the Sabbath on Sunday, don’t really keep it (most anyway), because they go to church, then out to lunch, then on about their housework or pleasure seeking (again, i’m speaking generalities here).
Keeping the 7th day Sabbath is a wonderful time of complete rest and focus on Yahweh and his creation, and his Word. It’s much needed in our fast-paced culture, and as a single mother I have really been rejoicing in this COMMAND to rest and not work for a whole 24 hour period, and to just focus on study and prayer, and walks in nature etc. It is not a burden, it is a gift, for our good. However, it is still a command, and not to be treated lightly by Christians who seem to think that liberty in Christ means that rules just don’t apply anymore as long as they supposedly “love God and love neighbor”. Well, one of the ways we demonstrate that we love God is by obeying His commandments! Yeshua and the Father are ONE, and Yeshua said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). In Revelation 12:17 it says that the dragon made war against the woman’s offspring (us), “..those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Yeshua”.
All I can say is, pray about this issue, ask God if He wants you to keep the Friday to Saturday Sabbath. And read passages such as Exodus 20, Hebrews 4:8-10 (“If Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His”), Isaish 66:23 (“And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me”, says YHWH”, also Isaiah 56:2-3, 6-7; Isaish 58:13-14.
Consider Genesis 2:2-3: “By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and SANCTIFIED it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made”.
Finally, Ezekiel 20:12: “I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a SIGN BETWEEN US, so they would knkow that I, YHWH, made them holy.”
Thanks for posting this important question…it certainly should not be a “war”, but we ought to challenge one another as we grow in the Savior!
Peace in Him,
Liz
hi Liz
I agree with you. The idea here is not about which day is which, but how to observe the sabbath. The law is important, but the condition of the heart is more important.
Hi Marianne,
You said, “The law is important, but the condition of the heart is more important”. I think we are in agreement on this topic…but I do want to just say a few things about the law versus the heart for others who I think could misinterpret this concept.
Clearly, the condition of the heart is the true test of our faith, and God knows our hearts even better than we do, so He can assess our true motives all the time. But I think some people tend to use this idea of “it’s only the heart that matters, not how perfectly I keep the rules” to enable them to have a mediocre faith, to excuse their disobedience and lackadaisical Christianity. We need to remember that “Faith without works is dead”. Or in common language, “actions speak louder than words”. Our actions/works PROVE that our faith, our heart, is in the right place.
As an analogy, if you have a child, and you have 10 rules that you have always clearly explained to your child that he must keep…and he really does do his best to keep them, although he may stumble now and then, you could probably conclude that the child loves you and respects your rules. But, if he only keeps a few of the rules, and some of them he never ever even tries to keep, and tells other siblings that they don’t need to keep them either…what do you conclude? ARe those the actions of someone who truly loves you? Real love does not usually just throw expectations out the window like that. But, that is what most Christians do –they decide which rules of YHWH need to be kept, rather than reading the whole Torah/Word of YHWH, and trying their best to keep ALL the laws/rules as best they can, as our Savior kept them all perfectly.
Another example is our freedom in the U.S. We are “free” here…free to pursue life, liberty, happiness. Yet, we gladly obey literally THOUSANDS of laws, statutes, regulations every single day….laws that keep our freedom going, laws then ENABLE us to be free! This is the same with God’s laws…they are for our good, they give us freedom, they show us how to love God, how to love our neighbor…and if we love God, we will obey them as best as we can.
Blessings to you!
Liz
“The idea here is not about which day is which, but how to observe the sabbath. ”
Personally, i’m still learning and growing in how I observe the Sabbath. Mainly, I do my best to not do things that are work for ME…this would include obviously my paid job, but also housework that is unpleasant for ME. Some people might actually enjoy certain little jobs around the house, so perhaps that is not work for them. I do not cook extravagent or time consuming meals…but might prepare eggs or heat up soup, make a sandwich, etc. I enjoy gardening, so that is not really work..but for others it might be. So, I rest from work, I read the Torah portion for that week, and study it, pray, meet with other believers to discuss and worship our Father. I might go for a walk or otherwise take delight in God’s creation. It’s a day of rest, study, contemplation, enjoyment of creation and quality time with family and/or friends. There are scriptures that indicate we are not to buy or sell on the Sabbath, so I avoid those activities unless it’s an emergency.
The main thing is it ia a day that is set-apart, and sanctified by YHWH, so we are to honor it, to do no work, and not seek our own pleasure.
To quote Isaiah 58:13-14
“If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, YHWH’s holy day, worth honoring; then honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them. 14 If you do, you will find delight in YHWH- I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya’akov, for the mouth of YHWH has spoken.”
Liz
I agree. I am referring to those who have always been taught to observe on Sunday, and do so willingly and with love. They do obey the commandments, and consider Sunday the Sabbath, instead of Saturday.
I am not saying their thinking is correct, but it is sincere, based on how they were raised. I was never told the true sabbath was on Saturday when I was growing up. I found out later.
So, does this cancel all my sincere efforts to please God, attend church, and honor him with my life all those years?
If one’s heart is in the right place, they will make adjustments to their thinking, as they find out what is true, and not true. But we need to let each person come to this truth on their own, and not condemn them in their sincere pursuit of God on a different day.
Hi Marianne,
I do agree with you. YHWH will reveal these things to each of us as we seek Him, and He will do it in his good timing, and He will judge us based on what we know and what we do with what we know. For those who don’t know, I know he is merciful. There are many, however, who have heard all these things, and yet insist that the law is done away with ….I worry for them, but it is not my place to make a judgement…I just pray Yahweh will reveal the truth to them.
HI Liz
The next problem is, for most, where will they worship on Saturday?
Most churches meet on Sunday.
The ones who do meet on Saturday may have other issues. There are 10 commandments, not one, and other doctrinal positions, which may or may not be biblical.
Yes, this is the predicament i’m in myself. Basically, I do not attend a formal congregation at this time as there is not a messianic one nearby that I am comfortable with. I do not feel comfortable at regular churches in general, since, even though they often teach excellent truths from the Word, they also advocate some unbiblical theologies such as that the law is done away with, and that it’s fine to celebrate Xmas and have a big tree on the “altar”, etc. So, two friends and I have our own weekly “Shabbat service” by either meeting together to study and pray, or meeting on Skype since we live about an hour apart. I also usually listen to Shabbat services online at lionlamb(dot)net. There are some others online, as well as I fellowship with some like-minded believers that i’ve met thru youtube (you can find my channel at Lizz7711).
But, it’s a lonely road unless you’re in an area with a lot of messianic torah observant believers. It does take discernment and diligence to sift thru the various groups out there…and ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance and wisdome. If anyone is from Texas, it seems there are a billion messianics there…must be something in the water, lol! I’m in mid-Michigan, and it’s pretty devoid of messianics in general.
Blessings to you.
Although I do keep the Sabbath as Saturday it is what God has spoken to ME on…but until I did not know (from not studying the word as I should) I did not know or realize that Saturday is his true Sabbath. When I was enlightened to the truth was when the Holy Spirit started working on me to keep the the true Sabbath from Friday night sundown to Saturday night sundown. Now..occasionally yes something does come up and I have to realize in this world today that may happen but I make every effort to do as I believe we are to do during that 24 hour period. For sure no buying/selling and making anyone work…
No, it is about which day is which. It matters to God. He just asks us to obey but we say “no.” The bible says ‘remember’ the Sabbath day but it is the one commandment Christians would rather forget.
Is there anything of value in the seventh day of the week? Is there any value in a day? It is just another day, it’s the seventh day of the week. They are all just days. Is there any value in a day?
What is specifically written about the seventh day?
Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
What did God do when he blessed the seventh day? He sanctified it. Is there anything in the seventh day? God said there is. The seventh day is blessed and it is sanctified. There is a special value in the seventh day of Gods week. That is why the fourth commandment says remember the seventh day to keep it holy because God has sanctified that day.
Here is the problem with general professed Christianity. They say one in seven will do. If it’s not the seventh a Friday or Sunday, what’s the difference? What are they saying? They see nothing in the day. That is what they are saying.
Why? Why do people not see anything in the seventh day? Why? Very simple, holiness is lacking. When God sanctifies man, then man can understand the sanctity of the Sabbath. Not until he is holy can he appreciate the holy Sabbath day. It is inseparable. Personal sanctification unveils the measure of the Sabbath sanctity. The measure of personal sanctification unveils the measure that you can see of the blessing and holiness of the Sabbath. That is the reason why the Sabbath appreciation becomes progressively more beautiful. The Sabbath is always pure, perfect and holy but to you and me that sanctification of the Sabbath is to the degree we are progressing in holiness. It is a progressive development in glory. By beholding we become changed into his image even as by the spirit of the Lord from glory to glory. The glory of the Sabbath becomes more glorious as we go from glory to glory, character to character.
http://sabbathsermons.com/2010/02/18/in-harmony-with-sabbath-sanctity/
spot on! http://sabbathsermons.com/category/the-sabbath/
Oh my! Jesus did not break the Sabbath or any other law! (If He did, He wouldn’t have been the Messiah…which He was!) He showed what the law truly meant all along…i.e., it never WAS against Sabbath to heal on it, to stroll through a field and pick something growing nearby and eat it, etc. Jesus followed the law to the letter, AND showed the fullness of what it had meant all along, meanwhile openly, strongly, and purposely (again and again) opposing in word and action the man-made traditions that the Pharisees had added to law.
Law = good!
Tradition of man = bad!
Sabbath = blessing! 🙂
hi Sissy
I agree. 🙂 That was my point. Man has his own interpretation of what the law means. Jesus showed us the true meaning.
Yeshua DID break Sabbath regulation – of course, according to the judgment by the Judean authorities.
I believe I am resting with Father, and that he hears and blesses me for it as it draws me closer to Him. It is a heart condition, as we are not under the law. But, the 4th commandment has been changed by man, and personally I have repented of that and as I have sought to obey Yehsua has greatly blessed me…I love Shabbat and do call it a delight.
Actually ministry is allowed on Shabbat and that is what Jesus did, he was not at work; He was doing His Fathers will. Big difference.
Amen Elaine…I love Shabbat, it is so wonderful that we have this gift/permission/command to REST for 24 hours each week and just immerse ourselves in our KING! Halleluyah!
Jesus fulfilled the law. We don’t live by the law as the law does not provide rightousness. Revelations has revealed the truth to John as the eucharist is accepting the body and blood of jesus christ. It is when heaven and earth meet and the angels and saints and church pray togeher to honour jesus and the living God. When jesus died and was resurrected, he provided the gift of the holy spirit in the heart of his children so that we can have a relationship with him at anytime and anywhere. We offer service to him on Sundays because that is when he was resurrected. The ascension is the fulfillment of the word. Please stop thinking carnal and focus on the spiritual. The sabbath is still relevant and was given as a gift by the Lord as a day of rest but we are christians now and we praise Jesus every day including Sunday if we choose. this is the same reason why the Jews did not get it. Jesus was the son of God and was God. this was spiritual and not of flesh.
“Please stop thinking carnal and focus on the spiritual.”
Yes, let’s!
“For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” – Romans 7:14.
“…for sin is the transgression of the law.” – 1 John 3:4.
We can come together with other believers any day of the week for any reason we want…every day of the week! But of course this does not alter the written word of God that says Sabbath is the 7th day in which He has expressed His will that we rest.
“Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” – Romans 7:12.
We are justified by faith in Jesus…we obey because we love Him. 🙂
Hi Sissy
This sounds good and right to me. 🙂
God bless you.
God bless you Marianne!
Excellent comments, Sissy. The sword of the Spirit, YHWH’s WORD, cannot be disputed!
“this is the same reason why the Jews did not get it”
Where in God’s word does it say we are to observe Sabbath on Sunday now simply because that is when Yeshua was resurrected? Nowhere. That is human tradition, adding to the Word. The Word says hundreds of times to observe the 7th day Sabbath, period.
The reason the Jews “did not get it” has many aspects. First of all, it was prophesied that “his own will despise him”…if they had actually all jumped on the train and loved him, that would have actually been a sign that he was NOT the true Messiah, since the Messiah was despised by his own! The “time of the gentiles” had to be fulfilled, and then the Jews will come to faith..and they are, and will continue. But, one of the reasons more Jews have not converted all these millenia is because Christianity from around 300AD has been infused with so many pagan traditions such as Christmas and Easter and Sunday worship, and eating pork…and basically disregarding all of the laws of YHWH’s Torah. The Messiah did obey all of the Law, but not the oral laws (traditions of men)…and if we are his followers we should live as he did. If Christians had not replaced the appointed feasts of God with pagan mixed “holidays” that MAN decided (actually the catholic church and Constantine) were now “Christian”, then I believe many Jews would have more readily come to faith in Yeshua. But now, how would they even recognize this religion as being the faith of the Messiah?? It makes no sense! Oh, and another reason they may not have “gotten it” is because Constantine and his kind persecuted them and forced the Jewish believers in “Jesus” to give up observing the Saturday sabbath and keeping the other commandments!
In these last days, Yahweh is calling His people back to his Word and opening our eyes to the fact that grace and law are not opposites or exclusive…we can be saved by grace, but still be called upon to obey the laws of our Heavenly Father out of love for Him. His entire Word is one story of love…not two. Yahshua means “Yahweh is our salvation”. He was present throughout the entire Bible in the lives of the Israelites, he was the water that gushed out of the rock in the desert (see 1 Corinthians 10:1-4) Why did his name get changed to “Jesus”? He was never once even called “Jesus”! I’m not a legalist on this, I still call him Jesus sometimes just becuase that’s what I’ve gotten in the habit of doing, but really…it’s like calling Albert Einstein “Pedro” or something. (only worse of course, becuase this is our LORD we are changing the name of!) Anyway, that’s another issue, but just an example of how far we as Christ followers have strayed from those early believers lives and faith.
blessings,
Liz
your funny..”pedro” 🙂
I actually feel more power coming from the name “Yeshua”
If Jesus resurrected on sunday. He would have been 4 nights in the earth. The reason Yahweh healed on the 7th days. Jesus said I do that which I see my Father doing. 7th day is also the 7th 1000 years from Adam. For Jesus rules the earth and all of creation is restored or healed from the curses.
The hour Jesus died http://sabbathsermons.com/2009/09/29/the-hour-jesus-died/
Leviticus 23:4 These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
23:5 In the fourteenth [day] of the first month at even [is] the Lord’s Passover.
Exodus 12:3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth [day] of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of [their] fathers, a lamb for an house:
When was the lamb killed? On the fourteenth day. When did you select the lamb? On the tenth day. Four days earlier. It was not something done carelessly. It was also separated from the other animals once selected.
Who are the children of Israel?
Gal 3:29 And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Exd 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, [for] a perpetual covenant.
Did the Christians of the New Testament church keep the Sabbath or no? Let us analyse the scriptures as our authority. Did Jesus keep the commandments of God or did he not?
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Jesus says by the testimony of himself he did keep the fathers commandments. Did he observe the seventh day Sabbath? Let us look at what his custom was.
Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
What did Jesus do customarily on the Sabbath? He went to the synagogue.
Luke 4:31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days.
What did Jesus do on the Sabbath? He taught people. Jesus observed the seventh day Sabbath. Are we to follow the example of Jesus or do something different?
1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
What did Jesus do? He left us an example so that we can follow in the same things that he was doing. What should we do with the example of Jesus?
1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
What are we to do? We are to walk in the same way that Jesus walked. Jesus kept the seventh day Sabbath and so should we. Did the new testament mean the seventh day Sabbath? Did some changes happen along the way? Did it mean something else other than the seventh day?
Luke 23:52 This [man] went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.
23:53 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.
23:54 And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on.
23:55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.
23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.
Notice it says and that day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew on. We have a time line of each day and that the Sabbath was drawing. The Sabbath was drawing close and notice just before the Sabbath it says that day was the preparation. It talks about a day of preparation. The day before was the preparation day. Which day is the preparation day?
continued;
http://sabbathsermons.com/2009/08/30/the-new-testament-sabbath/
Nice, thanks for these posts!
blessings of Yahweh to you,
Liz
hi Sabbath Sermons
I am glad you weighed in on this topic. I figured you would explain the “Saturday sabbath” point of view the best.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.The sabbath is not dead and neither are the rest of the commandments. We are all sinners and break the laws everyday but we focus on the sabbath and seek righteous by keeping some laws as the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Jesus knows that we are sinners and he wanted us to seek the kingdom inside us through the holy spirit and not through laws. we have to spiritually grow now and stop focusing on excuses to judge other christians. that is satan’s plan. the law is now written in our hearts and we are to praise God everyday at all times and anywhere. The sabbath is a day of rest and we worship God on that day but we worship God everyday. the early christians knew the truth and these sects that started in the recent centuries seem to think that only their way is the right way and they decide when to pray. Do you believe that God who made everything is so petty to judge us cause we pray on sunday or saturday. this carnal thinking is so satan. Jesus retrieved the key and open the doorway to heaven via the holy spirit so that we can assemble with angels and saints and cherubims and seraphims in praising God at all times.
Hi Zed,
I completely agree with you that we can pray on any and every day. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that. 2 years ago I didn’t even know to keep Sabbath…I was no less saved and in love with Jesus all the time I didn’t know. 🙂
As we seek to obey God, rule #1 is ignore what everyone is doing and see what the Scripture actually says! Look at what Scripture (God) says is the way to observe Sabbath. You will find that it is simple and refreshing. Man (esp. the Jewish religion with their Talmud and added writings) has added to this law and confused the masses.
Also, I don’t keep Sabbath to seek to be righteous any more than I love my neighbor as myself to seek to be righteous. I do whatever I do because my Father tells me to, and because I know His way is the best way.
I assemble with other believers sometimes on Sunday, sometimes on Sabbath, sometimes on other days. I only rest from my works “as God did from His” on Sabbath.
None of this is about judging others (at least for me!) but about sharing Truth in love. 🙂
God bless you brother!
Marrianne;
I’m glad you did a post on this subject, because it has been bugging me. I was reading a a post by James Giordano’s and I was going to address the Sabbath and then you did this page.
I tried the Messianic movement, because I have always seen my faith through Jewish eyes. I love the symbolism. But it’s all about Yeshua, not the symbolism. A lot of people get so hung up on it and not Yeshua. I was raised in a ritualistic tradition for 14 years before becoming a believer. From what I have learned the Sabbath was a covenant made between God and Israel. We are to rest in the Lord every day. I like this page Chuck Missler did on the Sabbath. It states what I believe:
Christians and the Sabbath:
The Seventh Day
by Chuck Missler
PURSUE THIS TOPIC:
RESOURCES
The 7th Day
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made . – Genesis 2:3
Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. – Exodus 20:8
Many Christians still remain uncomfortable over the issue of the Sabbath day. Observing Sunday as a memorial of the resurrection of our Lord is our traditional day of worship, and yet many are disturbed over this issue.
(Anyone who thinks this is a simple issue to resolve hasn’t studied it very carefully!)
A number of key questions still remain unresolved for some:
o Did God institute the Sabbath just for Israel?
o Is a Christian supposed to keep the Ten Commandments?
o Does a Christian have to keep the Sabbath?
o When did Sunday replace Saturday as “the holy day”?
Noah’s Animals?
First, how many of each animal did Noah take into the ark? Often overlooked is the fact that Noah was to take seven of the “clean” and only two of the “unclean.”1 But how did Noah know which were “clean” and which were “unclean?” These are ecclesiastical definitions.
It seems that many concepts which were later codified in the Law under Moses had previously been ordained in Eden.2
(Notice, too, that Noah was not circumcised and still was able to observe these “Levitical” distinctions. Abraham, too, was declared righteous prior to his circumcision in Genesis 15:6; circumcision was established in Genesis 17:10ff. Note also that the priestly instructions linked these concepts with the Sabbath.3 )
The Origin of the Sabbath
Jesus emphasized that:
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath . – Mark 2:27
His words point back before the Ten Commandments, to the original purpose and will of God. The Sabbath came into being when man came into being. It was set apart and blessed-as a divine example-for the use and benefit of man, at the Creation (Genesis 2:1-3).4
First Mention
The first mention of the “Sabbath” (from the Hebrew verb shabbat , meaning “to rest from labor”; the day of rest) is in Exodus 16:23, regarding the gathering of manna:
And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning . – Exodus 16:23
Notice that this is four chapters before the Law was given at Mt. Sinai. They were to gather twice as much on the sixth day in anticipation of a day they were apparently already observing.5
It is clear that the Sabbath had been instituted long before the giving of the Law at Sinai: it was ordained in Eden.
The Decalogue
And, of course, the Sabbath was included in the Ten Commandments:6 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
That the Sabbath had been ordained prior to Sinai is even accounted for in the very wording of Exodus 20:8: “Remember…”7
The Sabbath was part of the covenant which God made with Israel at Sinai.8
Applicable to All People?
This ordination of the Seventh Day acknowledges the moral duty of man to worship his Creator.9 It also recognizes the basic need of man for a weekly day of rest.
The physical necessities of man require a Sabbath of rest. He is so constituted that his bodily welfare needs at least one day in seven for rest from ordinary labor.
The failure to set aside the seventh day may account for the toll of stress in our modern society. (It has been reported that an 8% increase/decrease in traffic accidents surround the changes to/from “daylight savings time.”)
God even established Himself as the ultimate example. How can we ignore this day? If you love God, you need to spend time with Him. (In contrast to our hectic pace as double-income families, etc.)
In Mosaic Legislation
Under the Mosaic law, strict regulations were laid down regarding its observance.10 These were peculiar to that dispensation.
In the subsequent history of the Jews, frequent references are made to the sanctity of the Sabbath.11 The kindling of a fire on the Sabbath was forbidden.12 The penalty for profaning the Sabbath by doing any work on it was death.13 And yet, the priests still carried on their duties about the Tabernacle.14 The Temple was full of activities.15 The rite of circumcision was performed on the Sabbath if it was the eighth day after the child’s birth.16
In later times they perverted the Sabbath by their traditions. Isaiah condemned the hypocrisy of the worshipers in his day.17 He defined true Sabbath-keeping as turning from one’s own ways and own pleasures and taking delight in the Lord.18
Other prophets also raised their protests against the abuse of the Sabbath.19 They regarded the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews as due-at least in part-to their desecration of the Sabbath.20 Their 70-year exile in Babylon was directly linked to the Sabbath instructions.21 God clearly takes His instructions for the Sabbath, and Sabbatical years, seriously.
You can’t legislate devotion. Even today, in Israel’s secular state, a visitor is confronted with Sabbath elevators (stopping at every floor during the Sabbath); and other travel inconveniences quite removed from the real intent of the Sabbath observance.
The New Testament Period
As time passed, the true meaning of the Sabbath had been obscured by the multitude of restrictions laid upon its observance; it had become largely external and formal. And, of course, as the rules surrounding the observance of the Sabbath multiplied, so did the fanciful and far-fetched rituals to circumvent them.22
It was Jesus’ custom to attend the synagogue on the Sabbath.23 It was inevitable that Jesus would come into conflict with the Jewish leadership over the Sabbath.
In His teaching He upheld the authority and validity of the Mosaic Law.24 His emphasis, however, was not on the external observance of the law, but on a spontaneous performance of the will of God which underlaid the law.25
In regards to the Sabbath, He clarified the true meaning by showing the original purpose for its institution:
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath . – Mark 2:27
Six Conflicts
Jesus asserted His lordship over the Sabbath.26 He defended His disciples for plucking grain on the Sabbath by alluding to the time when David and his men ate the bread of the Presence.27 In so doing, Jesus placed the Sabbath commandment in the same class as the ceremonial law. Human need had precedence over the ceremonial requirements.
He also reminded His critics that the priests in the Temple profaned the Sabbath and were held guiltless.28 He referred to the circumcision of a male on the Sabbath Day.29
Jesus expressed anger over those at Capernaum who showed more concern for the punctilious observance of the Sabbath than for a human being who was deprived of the use of a hand.30 Likewise, he was angered by the ruler of the synagogue who became indignant when Jesus healed a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for 18 years.31
There were seven healings on the Sabbath.32 (However, there were also healings on other non-Sabbath days.33 ) In all of these instances, Jesus showed that He placed human need above mere external ceremonial observance of the Sabbath. He never did or said anything to suggest that He intended to take away from man the privileges afforded by such a day of rest.
The Early Christians
The early Christians were loyal Jews; they worshiped daily in the Temple at Jerusalem;34 they attended services in the synagogue;35 they revered the law of Moses.36
The dispute over the requirements of a Gentile Christian were resolved at the Council at Jerusalem.37
The Dangers of Legalism
Paul emphasized that the law was a yoke of bondage from which the Christian had been set free.38 Paul made no distinction between moral and ceremonial law. It was all part of that old covenant which was done away in Christ.39 It was “nailed to the cross.”40 This is the central teaching of the New Testament.
There are no grounds for imposing the Sabbath on the Christian, who is free from the burden of the law’s demands. The Spirit of Christ enables him to fulfill God’s will apart from the external observances of the law.
The Sabbath is mentioned along with the festivals and new moons, all of which are declared to be “only a shadow of what is to come.”41 To “observe days, and months, and seasons, and years” is deemed to be slaves to “the weak and beggarly elemental spirits.”42 The ritual observance of days is a characteristic of “the man who is weak in faith.”43
The writer of Hebrews emphasizes that the Sabbath is also a type of “God’s rest” which is an inheritance of all the people of God.44 We are urged, in a larger sense, to “strive to enter that rest.”
The Sunday “Sabbath”
The first day of the week is now widely observed as the Sabbath. But where has God expressly authorized this change?
After His resurrection, which took place on the first day of the week, Jesus appeared to His disciples on four occasions which were on a Sunday.45 This becomes a major part of the basis of the veneration of Sunday as the “Lord’s Day,” ostensibly replacing the traditional Sabbath.
Pentecost, the birth of the church, was also, by definition, on a Sunday.46 They did meet on a Sunday night,47but that would actually be Monday in Jewish reckoning.
While these are suggestive, they are far from a conclusive teaching.48 (The oft-quoted1 Corinthians 16:1, 2 is also unclear: “…that there be no gatherings when I come.”?)
The Hebrew Sabbath, has, of course, continued to be observed by non-Christian Jews to the present time. During the first century some Jewish Christians also continued the practice of observing the seventh day of the week, as well as the assembly for worship on the first day of the week, but their influence on Christianity, discernible for several centuries, dwindled rapidly. It has been suggested that with the rise of anti-Semitism in the early centuries, Sunday worship was a convenient means of excluding the Jewish believers.
Caveats About the “Early Church”
The writings of a number of the early church fathers in the 2nd and 3rd centuries support the tradition of Sunday worship. However, the views of the early church after the book of Acts is, in some views, an unreliable basis to establish doctrine.
When Jesus sent His Seven Letters to Seven Churches (Revelation Chapters 2 and 3), each was surprised by their report card. Those that thought they were doing well weren’t. Those that thought they were not doing well, were.
Even by the late 90s the church was already substantially deviant from the Lord’s desires.
Also, eschatological errors (i.e., Amillennialism, et al.) were rampant, as well as errors due to the Gnostic influences, etc. Furthermore, the rising anti-Semitism in the early church, along with the allegorical hermeneutics promoted by Origen and later by Augustine, makes their views regarding the Sabbath rather suspect.
These anti-Semitical tendencies subsequently rose to include the emergence of “blood libel” and other abuses that were reflected in the Crusades and other medieval horrors. Most of us as Gentiles have little appreciation for the abuses suffered by the Jews-under the banner of “Christ”-unless we have undertaken a careful study of the bloody history of the church.49
The “Christian Sabbath” Views
There are, of course, many diverse views regarding Sunday as the “Christian” Sabbath, and there are those who strongly adhere to the traditional Saturday as the Sabbath. Many of us may have encountered the legalistic zeal of the Seventh-Day Adventists over this “Seventh Day” issue; however, it is not the Seventh Day which emerges as the critical theological issue – it is the role of the law, and our liberty in Christ, that is really the fundamental issue.
The Epistles to the Galatians, Colossians, and Romans far overshadow any particular cultural customs and ritual observances, and clearly emphasize our freedom from all external rules as the key to the entire New Testament Gospel. That, indeed, is the “Good News.”
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days : – Colossians 2:16
It is interesting that Paul emphasizes that it is the “weaker” ones in faith that burden themselves with such things (Cf. Romans 14:1-6).
Prophetic Implications
From the standpoint of Bible prophecy, however, there are some provocative enigmas which also emerge from the Seventh Day issue. The Sabbath is an intrinsic part of the creation, specifically for man.50 It isn’t intrinsically limited to the Mosaic Covenant. Sabbaths will continue as a basis for worship in the Millennium:
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. – Isaiah 66:22, 23
The Sabbath will also be honored in Ezekiel’s Temple: the gate to inner court will be closed six days and only opened on the Sabbath and on the day of the new moon.51
Since the Sabbath apparently survives the church period,52 this seems to cloud the view that Sunday replaced the Sabbath.
Conclusions
The veneration of the first day as a memorial of the Resurrection is certainly appropriate, although its historical role as a replacement day of worship is arguable. Its formal institution appears to have been an expedient exploited by Emperor Constantine and following.53
The Sabbath is intended as a time of devotion, not a subjection to burdensome rules. It is for the benefit of man, to be taken advantage of. As a demonstration of God’s love, and a partaking of His blessing, the seventh day apparently has not been permanently set aside.
Our God is Jewish. “Salvation is of the Jews.”54 All of our benefits are derivative from the Abrahamic covenant. We are grafted in the true olive tree, from the root of Abrahamic covenant (Romans 11).
We should not forget that we serve the King of the Jews. We are members of a church founded by Jewish leaders; our highest authority is a Jewish Bible. While we have been freed from the law, we still can enjoy the benefits of Creation.
In our culture, we enjoy two free days each week, in any case. The first-day worship is thus available to us as an opportunity. The seventh-day Sabbath is also still available to us as an opportunity, yet not under the law:
One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. – Romans 14:5
So the question is, Can we enjoy the benefits of the Sabbath without “coming under the law?” [We adopt other Jewish practices to our benefit without incurring the burdens of the law: circumcision (for hygienic reasons), some of the dietary practices, etc.]
It is clear to me that Adam, Cain, Enoch, Noah, et al., all had instruction on the seventh day of rest. It was the pattern in Exodus 16 before the manna was given and was memorialized in the Decalogue. In addition, it was observed by Christ ceremonially.
The error we can easily fall into, however, is legalism and its deprivations of the fundamental blessings of our redemption. (Study Paul’s definitive teaching in Romans.)
Our Personal Resolution
Nan and I, personally, have resolved-in the absence of travel or other logistic or scheduling constraints-to “remember the Sabbath Day” by adopting the following procedure:
1. From Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, we “set aside” the time for study, meditation, and as a departure from our normal routines.
2. We have resolved to do whatever we do deliberately and together.
3. There are no other “rules.”
We don’t make it a “burden”: we simply attempt to avail ourselves of His intended blessing. We attempt – in an informal but deliberate way – to study and reflect on His Word and find ways to praise Him.
(Our schedule usually has us traveling or speaking on weekends. If we were ever to organize our own local fellowship, we would prefer to meet Friday evenings, and leave the weekend free for family time.)
hi kitti
Chuck gives a good explanation of the Sabbath.
I will leave this reply that jesus arose on a sunday therefore this is our sabbath I’m am not here to argue and dont need your just look it up.
“just look it up” Genesis….the evening and the morning…the first day….the TRUE sabbath is FRiday at Sundown until Saturday at Sun down!
There is only one requirement for salvation, one requirement to be born again, and that is faith in Jesus Christ, accepting God’s gift of salvation by faith. Anything more and you revert to the legalistic type religion that required works. Works are a result of being born again, but they are not a requirement to be saved.
Worship of God is something we do 24/7, but yes we are told to set aside the Sabbath to worship and honor God. Somehow I don’t think God will hold it against any of us if we choose Saturday or Sunday, that seems to be “nit picking” to me when we consider the wonder and majesty of our Heavenly Father.
Just my humble opinion.
I returned to the catholic church and I have learnt many things on my return home.
1. the catholic church has service every day and not only on the sabbath.
2. the teachings are from the old testament, psalms,new testament, hail mary, our father, the eucharist for the body and blood of jesus christ and the cofesstions of sins.
3. in most of the christian churches, the power is the pastor and he is treated as God because it is his word. the devil knows the bible and can quote sriptures as he used psalm 91 during the tempatation of jesus.
4. no authority is given to the catholic priest during mass.
5. the early christians have proven time and time again by their blessings and stigmatas and miracles that God is listening to their prayers.
6. A priest is not a millionaire and does not own any church and is not out for his glory. he lives a life totally devoted to God by celibacy which is a gift of God and by his humble lifestyle.
Now tell me who would you trust with your salvation, a multimillonaire pastor or a humble priest who lives in the world but not of the world???
“For you know them by their works.” test the spirits and if they offer conflict by using the sabbath as a weapon or changing the word to suit their carnal needs”. You would never hear from true men of god cause they would live in isolation and humble surroundings. not these antichrists who seek after riches and fame by using the word of the Lord. Get behind thee satan!!!!
hi Zed
What is important is that you are comfortable with your decision, because you have thought it out, and have decided what is best for you. May God bless you in these end times.
The simplest and finalist answer to the 7th Sabbatarians is this:
(1) The original (O.T.) sabbath day keeping (as well as the giving of the entire Torah) was a gift to Israelites, NOT to the Gentiles which include us now and here ;-< What a wishful and fancy idea Ellen White got in her dream of seeing the 4th commandment flashing.
(2) The key to Sabbath issue is this: Sabbath is Yeshua himself. He let us find sabbath (resting and refreshing) in Him, not on keeping regulations (of 'can do this' and 'don't do that') on a certain day from sundown to sundown! He Himself is our Sabbath and our Shalom. 🙂
I just picked up this Newsletter from Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn. It fit perfect for today and the holiday Thanksgiving that is coming up. It always amazes me that there are new insights to learn about in the Bible.
http://www.hopeoftheworld.org/
http://www.bethisraelworshipcenter.org/aboutjonathan.htm
November 2010
“We say the Messiah rose on Sunday. That is true and it is not true. Messiah, of course, did rise and He did rise on the day after the Sabbath but it was never called “Sunday”. In Israel, of course, they didn’t speak English, and they didn’t name their days after celestial bodies or gods. The day Messiah rose was called “Yom Rishone”. “Yom Rishone” means literally the “first day.” the “Chief day”, the “Day of the Beginning.” Why is this significant? It is significant because it is the same day which began the creation of the universe. It was on “You Rishone” that God said, “Let there be light”. So the resurrection, happened on the same day that the universe happened.
In the beginning of the creation, there was darkness. So too, in the tomb of Messiah, there was darkness. In the beginning of the creation, the earth was formless and void. In the tomb of Messiah, all the hopes and dreams of the disciples became formless and void. In the beginning, the Spirit of God moved upon the waters. In the tomb, the Spirit of God moved upon Messiah himself. In the beginning, God said, “Let there be light? and there was light. So in the tomb, God also said, “Let there be light!” and there was light and there was life and there was the resurrection.
Why did the resurrection take place on the first day of the creation? Because the resurrection marks the first day of new creation.
And there’s another reason. You Rishone means, “The First Day.” The First Day means there is nothing before it. So Messiah rose on the first day because the resurrection is the new beginning. It is day One. It means for all intents and purposes, there is nothing before it and everything is new. Whatever happened before the resurrection is as if it never existed. The old sins are gone, the old past is gone, the old mistakes are gone, the old failures are gone, the old life is gone and the old creation has passed away.
And for you, who live in Messiah, it means you’re called to walk in the power of Yom Rishone. It means you can live everyday of your life as if it were the First Day, the Chief Of Days, the Beginning of Days. It means that no matter what went before, today is a day of newness and blessing. So seek to spend this month learning the secret of Yom Rishone in Messiah. Let the Spirit of the Lord move over the surface of your life and heart and let God say, “Let there be light!” in every part of your life and there will be light?
Isn’t that Cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cool . good thoughts.
I didn’t know Adon Alom was a song about and for the Sabbath. Cool. Enjoy!
ADON OLAM
MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE
Adon olam, asher malach,
b’terem kol y’tzir nivra.
L’et na’asah v’cheftzo kol,
azai melech sh’mo nikra.
V’acharey kichlot hakol,
l’vado yimloch nora.
V’hu haya, v’hu hoveh,
v’hu yih’yeh b’tifara.
V’hu echad, v’eyn sheni
l’hamshil lo, l’hachbira.
B’li reishit, b’li tachlit,
v’lo ha’oz v’hamisrah.
V’hu Eli, v’chai go’ali,
v’tzur chevli b’et tzarah.
V’hu nisi umanos li,
m’nat kosi b’yom ekra.
B’yado afkid ruchi
b’et ishan v’a’irah.
V’im ruchi g’viyati,
Adonai li v’lo ira.
The Lord of the Universe who reigned
before anything was created.
When all was made by his will
He was acknowledged as King.
And when all shall end
He still all alone shall reign.
He was, He is,
and He shall be in glory.
And He is one, and there’s no other,
to compare or join Him.
Without beginning, without end
and to Him belongs diminion and power.
And He is my G-d, my living G-d.
to Him I flee in time of grief,
and He is my miracle and my refuge,
who answers the day I shall call.
To Him I commit my spirit,
in the time of sleep and awakening,
even if my spirit leaves,
G-d is with me, I shall not fear.
(Mat 11:28 KJV) Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(Mat 12:1 KJV) At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
I have often wondered why so many people add to or try to take away from what the Word of God, the Bible, Jesus and the Holy Spirit do Say.. http://postedat.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/the-false-demotion-of-the-holy-spirt-jesus-2/
Now are they really listening to the voice of God or to the voice of the devil now? why do they listen to the devils voice over God is it due to their false, selfish pride, the need to do one’s own thing? it sure seems so.. It falsely still appeals to one’s flesh one being able to earn one’s salvation or to add to it.
http://comeholyspirit.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/a-sabbath-rest-or-a-godly-rest/
Nonconformer;
I don’t see any contradiction in what you are saying on your blog and what Jonathan Cahn and Chuck Missler are saying.
This was cute was someone posted on J. Vernon McGeee
http://funnysermons.com/illustrations/reason/sabbath-is-saturday-3.html
Sabbath Is Saturday
17 AUGUST 2007
POSTED IN ILLUSTRATIONS
J. Vernon McGee tells this story about a man who wanted to argue about the Sabbath. The man said, “I’ll give you $100 if you will show me where the Sabbath day has been changed.” McGee answered, “I don’t think it has been changed. Saturday is Saturday, it is the seventh say of the week, and it is the Sabbath day. I realize our calendar has been adjusted, and can be off a few days, but we won’t even consider that point. The seventh day is still Saturday, and it is still the Sabbath day.” He got a gleam in his eye and said, “Then why don’t you keep the Sabbath day if it hasn’t been changed?” McGee answered, “the day hasn’t changed, but I have been changed. I’ve been given a new nature now, I am joined to Christ; I am a part of the new creation. We celebrate the first day because that is the day He rose from the grave.” That is what it means that the ordinances have been nailed to the cross, Colosians 2:14.
J. Vernon McGee.
This guy illustrated in a video all the verses of what I believe concerning the sabbath. Very well done!
Kittii;
Thanks, this is very important!
This really does confirm the importance of understanding the
new covenant. The sabbath is not binding, and it is certainly
untenable in modern times. It worked for old covenant Israel,
because their social structure facilitated it. For those who
insist on keeping the sabbath in modern times, should consider
how they benefit from the exploits of those who break the
sabbath in their eyes. For example sabbath keepers will
benefit from work done on Saturdays by sabbath breakers in
all areas of life. Just hope that they may not need emergency
treatment on a Saturday;or do their shopping on a Sunday when
the shelves were stocked up for them on a Saturday; and so on…
But since we are now spiritual Israel,we are free in the Spirit!
God bless.
p.s. Should mention that this was not intended for you
James; but rather the groups who would have you believe
that you are a defaulting Christian if you fail to observe
what they consider to be vital matters of salvation.
i.e..J.W.’s, SDA’s and the like.
God bless, Squire.
Kittii;
You are keen on making your feelings known, in no uncertain terms,
towards those whom you consider to be propagating false teaching,so
if you don’t mind me asking; What is your take on the universal
belief that “the unsaved” will suffer unimaginable torment without
let-up for 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years,
to the power of the same, recurring, ad infinitum ?…this is of
course assuming that eternity means forever, and that forever means
eternity and multiplying the two together makes no difference to the
value of either(always good to double-check), then; if you should
believe this; At what point during a session of sharing the Good News,
do you make known the consequences of rejecting Jesus ? Is it normally
after you have struggled to find the words to express just how loving
and merciful God is, or do you just put it across in the matter of
fact way your pastor does, when he gives his 12 part discourse, proving why the not so bad lady next door deserves to be roasted until she can never quite finish being cooked..or because of embarrassment, do you avoid it altogether?…………………….
Hope you don’t mind me asking, but I am seriously concerned about
your spiritual well-being.
Just a brief answer in your own words would be fine(please no lengthy
cut and pasted commentaries or videos). Thanks
God bless.
I do not understand your take on the sabbath. It was first initiated by GOD at creation and was sanctified an made HOLY!!!! I thought there has to be a reason the lord made the seventh day HOLY. It was to be a sign between him and us to revere him as our creator on a specific day, the day he sanctified. Sanctified, a “verb to set aside or to make holy” I understand where you get the arguments against “the law” in the new testament. But how do you explain the fact that the only words that were written by the LORD “himself” were the “ten” commandments with his own finger!!!
Now is it not true that GOD cannot lie, and that He is Alpha & Omega. God does not change nor can he.
And is still not true that He says our flight should “not” be on the sabbath during the end times?
No ,man does change but GOD does not nor can HE!!!
You have a proclamation on your web site that you and your lovely wife would prefer to keep the sabbath??? So what gives.
I would hate to think a man that I have grown to admire would just preach to the choir what they want to hear as not to lose them???
Yours in CHRIST,
Ronald Pinta
PS Not (Jewish)
hi ronald
this post was written because some say if you worship on sunday instead of saturday, you cannot be born again, and you are in sin.
what do you think?
Hello,
it is not up yo me to judge another person. I can only point to scripture and what the lord says. He will change times & laws. He who? Satan of course . If it were possible he would deceive the very elect!!!! Are you one of the elect? We have to know our bibles not be thwarted by the evil one. The scripture says that someone who is truly born again will turn from there wrongful ways and follow him. That means His ten commandments. Jesus says If you break one of the least of my commandments you are guilty of breaking them “all”. I do not know how the Lord Jesus Christ can tell his beloved anything different.
( Revelation 12:17.)
I am trying very hard not to give you my point of view on Sunday worship. All I have been saying is that whomever is truly born again will seek to keep Gods laws and pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance after their conversion. That word means what it says, noun; the act or instance of converting or the process of being converted. Basically to make an about face.
One certainly can be baptized while going to Sunday worship. What he or she does after that is totally up to them and how sincere there conversion is.
If you knock you shall find me.
Please whomever you are remember that wide is the road that leads to destruction and”many” shall follow it, but narrow is the road that leads to salvation and “few” shall follow it.
May the Lord shine His blessing upon you,
Yours in Christ,
Ron
Does anyone have a comment for Ron?
hi ron
everyone seems to be over on another page, in discussion.
https://heavenawaits.wordpress.com/wrinkle-free-rapture-ready/
that is what happens here sometimes.
there are 570 pages, so people will move from page to page.
I don’t have the time or the eyesight, to read ALL the responses here; but the ones I skimmed were very good. It seems a lot of modern Church confusion and division seems to stem from the fact that many of us don’t know much about early Church history (just as many Americans don’t know our history either, to our own hurt). In studying early Church, we have to remember that virtually all of them – for the first few decades, anyway – were Jewish.
This Messianic Church still observed the holy days, feasts, and sabbath for the first 400 yrs or so: until Constantine had his false ‘conversion’, and systematically ripping the Jewish foundation from under the Church. They added “Sunday” as the day to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, and did so because they still observed the Sabbath (Saturday); they did BOTH! The Jewishness was very much a part of the early Church , until it was “persecuted out of them” over the course of four or five centuries. As this progressed, the Church began to lose its spiritual power and digressed into a politically powerful organization that plunged Europe into the Dark Ages.
I’m seeing God restoring to the Church, our Jewish roots, all over the place! In fact, our church will be celebrating Hanukkah, starting this December. But I really don’t think God is going to be requiring we return to the Law, as Jesus fulfilled that for us; but He is restoring our understanding of His special days, and our Jewish foundation!
Cindy,
Again BEAUTIFUL, and I agree with you completely.
Tell me….. What does the HOLY SPIRIT tell your heart when you read Leviticus 23: 9 through 14?
Rest in that truth.
Praise and Glory to YESHUA HAMASHIACH the KING of kings.
good thoughts.
Cindy,
You may find this link helpful as well.
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Parashah/parashah.html
Praise and Glory to YESHUA HAMASHIACH the KING of kings.
Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished” (Mt. 5:17-18)
“pray that your flight may not be on a Sabbath” Mt 24:20
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches [them], he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. MT 5:19
Sunday worship was forced on Christians so Pegans could worship the sun on same day, ie. Women Clothed in the sun.
dear saved
I agree that saturday is the real sabbath.
I also think it is ok to worship on Sunday, and every day, as along as it is toward the real God of the bible, and not a pagan god.
What was the Day that Yeshua the Lord of Salvation and Grace chose to perform many of His healing Miracles?
The “SABBATH”
Keeping it “Holy” means doing THE LORDS work.
Loving OTHERS as HE LOVED US.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly , triumphing over them in it.
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come ; but the body is of Christ. (Colossians 2:8-17.)
Praise the Lord Yeshua our Salvation.
the 4th commandment clarly states from the mouth of God our Fathr himself who said ”thou shalt keep this day Holy. ” He himself chose the 7th day as His day of rest. Foron the seventh day He Rested…
He sanctified it and Even wrote it himself upon the tablets of stone. Nowhere in the bible has it been changed. God himself sanctiified the 7th day as the Sabbath.
Yes Jesus worked miracles upon that day but that wasnt to say that the sabbath was null n void becauseof it. He was merely pointing out that far better to be a good active christian and show His love for the needful and heal them. He was not taking away from the significance of the sabbath.
It is and always will be the 7th day, which is a saturday.
Constantine changed it himself tto suit the papacy’s need to incorporate the masses into their own ideology and thereby changing it to a sunday and calling it Gods holy day..
Another lie another sin used to fool the nations..”come out of her ”babylon the great ” Jesus cries.. He s wanting all those who are misled by the Papacy to come ‘out of there. Jesus is not with het. She is the harlot that rides the beasy.
I suggest you need to investigate more thoroughly your own findings here and stop writing rubbish which is leading only towards your idea sensationalism. Find and see the real truth yourself..
I don’t see any rubbish posted by alienated. It appears it is from the Bible.
Are we to judge one another by which day we rest? Or, do we judge as we wish to be judged?
Perhaps, sally you can relax a bit. Finding love in your heart for a bother in Christ.
I think she was referring to my post, not alienated’s comment.
No rubbish there either.
I feel blessed to read this blog. It am new to reading the scriptures and I have questions about sabbath, which I have learned a lot here. Blessings to all of you.
God is not looking for “Sabbath-keepers” any more than he is looking for people to only worship Him in only in Jerusalem. True worship is in spirit and in truth; God desires such to worship him. This debate or holy days threatened to split the Roman, Colossian and Galatians churches – Paul pointed them to the fact that in Jesus we are complete, and that through faith in His completed work, we are already made perfect and acceptable to God, without rituals or ceremonies. The Sabbath can be a blessing, but Sabbatarian”ism” is a curse, a tool of control used by legalistic organizations to rule their members. Please read:
http://youarecompleteinhim.wordpress.com/2013/11/15/sabbath-a-blessing-or-curse/
Simply put, what God HALLOWED in the beginning (at creation), what on earth possesses ANYONE to think that they can UNDO?!!! He NEVER changed what He declared Holy, and therefore it REMAINS Saturday, the SEVENTH day. Period.
From out of their own mouths…
“The church…took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday…. The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom…. And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday.” (Dr. William L. Gildea, The Catholic World , March, 1894)
“They [the Protestants] deem it their duty to keep the Sunday holy. Why? Because the Catholic Church tells them to do so. They have no other reason. …The observance of Sunday thus comes to be an ecclesiastical law entirely distinct from the Divine law of Sabbath observance. .The author of the Sunday Law…is the Catholic Church.” (Walter Drum, Catholic priest, Ecclesiastical Review, February, 1914)
“The authority of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures, because the Church had changed the Sabbath into Sunday, not by command of Christ, but by its own authority.” (Canon and Tradition, p. 263)
“The Roman Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days, as holy days.” (Vincent Jo Kelly, Forbidden Sunday and Feast day Occupations, Catholic University Press, 1943, p. 2)
“Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. “The Day of the Lord” (dies domini) was chosen, not from any directions noted in the Scriptures, but from the Church’s sense of its own power. The day of resurrection, the day of Pentecost, fifty days later, came on the first day of the week. So this would be the new Sabbath. People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy.” (The Pastor’s page of The Sentinel, Saint Catherine Catholic Church, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995)
“Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles….. From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.” (Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August 1900)
“Question: Which is the Sabbath day?”
“Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath.”
“Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?”
“Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 336) transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” (The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, by Peter Geiermann, 50)
“The civil authorities should be urged to cooperate with the church in maintaining and strengthening this public worship of God, and to support with their own authority the regulations set down by the church’s pastors. For it is only in this way that the faithful will understand why it is Sunday and not the Sabbath day that we now keep holy.” (Roman Catechism, 1985)
“A history of the problem shows that in some places, it was really only after some centuries that the Sabbath rest really was entirely abolished, and by that time the practice of observing a bodily rest on the Sunday had taken its place.It was the seventh day of the week which typified the rest of God after creation, and not the first day.” (Vincent Jo Kelly, Forbidden Sunday and Feast day Occupations, Catholic University Press, 1943, pp. 15, 22)
“Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:
1) That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.
2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws.
It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible.” (Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Society, 1975, Chicago, Illinois)
“Nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the apostles ordered the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the seventh day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] Church outside the Bible.” (Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947)
” ‘Our Lord rose from the dead on the first day of the week’, Said Father Hourigan of the Jesuit Seminary. ‘That is why the Church changed the day of obligation from the seventh day to the first day of the week. The Anglican and other Protestant denominations retained that tradition when the Reformation came along’.” (Toronto Daily Star, October 26, 1949)
“I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ The Catholic Church says: ‘No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.’ And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church.” (T. Enright, C.S.S.R., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, Feb. 18, 1884)
Which church does the whole civilized world obey? Protestants call us every horrible name they can think of-anti-Christ, the scarlet-colored beast, Babylon, etc., and at the same time profess great reverence for the Bible, and yet by their solemn act of keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the power of the Catholic Church.” (Industrial American, Harlan Iowa; a published lecture by T. Enright, December 19, 1889)
“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change [Scriptural Sabbath to Sunday] was her act… And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things.” (H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons)
“But the Church of God [that is, the Romish church, NOT the true Church] has thought it well to transfer the celebration and observance of the Sabbath to Sunday.” (‘Catechism of the Council of Trent’ translated by John A. McHugh and Charles J. Callan, p 402)
“It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is a homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church.” (Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, by Mgr. Louis Segur, 1868, p.213)
“Question: What day was the Sabbath?”
“Answer: Saturday.”
“Question: Who changed it?”
“Answer: The Catholic Church.”
(Rev. Dr. Butler’s Catechism, revised, p. 57)
“Question: Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals or precepts?”
“Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her, -she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” (Rev. Stephen Keenan’s A Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174: Edward Dunigan and Brothers, New York, 1851)
“The Sunday, as a day of the week set apart for the obligatory public worship of Almighty God…is purely a creation of the Catholic Church. It is…not governed by the enactments of the Mosaic law. It is part and parcel of the system of the Catholic Church.” (John Gilmary Shea, The American Catholic Quarterly Review , January, 1883)
“Question: How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?”
“Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.”
“Question: How can you prove that?”
“Answer: Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest [of the Catholic feasts] by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.” (Rev. Henry Tuberville’s, (D.D.R.C.) “An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine”, p.58. New York: Edward Dunigan and Brothers, approved 1833)
“You will read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we [Catholics] never sanctify.” (Cardinal Gibbons’ Faith of Our Fathers, p. 111)
“Protestantism, in discarding the authority of the [Roman Catholic] Church, has no good reasons for its Sunday theory, and ought logically to keep Saturday.” (John Gilmary Shea, American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883)
“It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.” (Priest Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth, N.J. ‘News’ of March 18, 1903)
“The church has changed the Sabbath into the Lord’s day by its own authority, concerning which you have no Scripture.” (Johann Eck, Handbook of Common Places Against the Lutherans, 1533)
“Protestants…accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change. But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that.in observing the Sunday, in keeping Christmas and Easter, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church–the Pope.” (Our Sunday Visitor, February 5, 1950.)
“The idea of importing into the Sunday the solemnity of the Sabbath with all its exigencies was an entirely foreign one to the early Christians.” (Director of at Rome’s Ecole Francaise, Louis M.O. Duchesne (1843-1922), Christian Worship, p.47)
“If Protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath Day. In keeping the Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church.” (Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the Cardinal, in a letter dated February 10, 1920.)
“If you follow the Bible alone there can be no question that you are obliged to keep Saturday holy, since that is the day especially prescribed by Almighty God to be kept holy to the Lord. In keeping Sunday, non-Catholics are simply following the practise of the Catholic Church for 1800 years, a tradition, and not a Bible ordinance…. With the Catholics there is no difficulty about the matter. For, since we deny that the Bible is the sole rule of faith, we can fall back upon the constant practise and tradition of the Church.” (Francis G. Lentz, The Question Box, 1900, pp. 98, 99)
“Is it not strange that those who make the Bible their only teacher should inconsistently follow in this matter the tradition of the Church?” (Bertrand L. Conway, The Question Box Answers, 1910, p. 255)
“A history of the problem shows that in some places, it was really only after some centuries that the Sabbath rest really was entirely abolished, and by that time the practice of observing a bodily rest on the Sunday had taken its place.It was the seventh day of the week which typified the rest of God after creation, and not the first day.” (Vincent Jo Kelly, Forbidden Sunday and Feast day Occupations, Catholic University Press, 1943, pp. 15, 22)
“You will have noticed, my dear children, that the day on which we keep Sabbath is not the same as that on which it was observed by the Jews. They kept and still keep the Sabbath upon Saturday, we on Sunday; they on the seventh, we on the first day of the week.understand how great is the authority of the [Roman Catholic] Church in interpreting or explaining to us the commandments of God-an authority which is acknowledged by the universal practice of the whole Christian world, even of those sects [i.e., protestants] who profess to take the Holy Scriptures as their sole rule of faith, since they observe as the day of rest not the seventh day of the week commanded by the Bible, but the first day, which we know is to be kept holy, only from tradition and teaching of the Catholic Church.” (Henry Gibson, Catechism Made Easy (No.2), Ninth Ed., Vol. 1, pp.341,342)
Facts as they say, is FACTS
Question: What day was the Sabbath?”
“Answer: Saturday.”
“Question: Who changed it?”
“Answer: The Catholic Church.”
(Rev. Dr. Butler’s Catechism, revised, p. 57)
I guess that settles it, right?
ROME, or the powers that be, decided to try to change Yahveh´s eternal set apart days but… Yahveh is not subject to man or angels. That is why Isa 66 talks about an eternal Sabbath when Messiah Yeshua returns.
All true.
the bible never gave a specific day for the sabbath. It only stated the seventh day. “Saturday” was created by whom?
mike
god created everything, and he can count to 7
What might be important to remember is that the forth commandment instructs us to REMEMBER the Sabbath day.
Later in the commandment is states that “the seventh day is the Sabbath”
Further, the text states to keep the seventh day Holy.
Yes, the Bible does give a specific day for the sabbath.
Additionally, the seventh millennium is likely holy, and we are right in the eve of the 6th millennium.
It’s showtime boys and girls. Time to wakie, wakie.
Hi Marianne,
Thank you for sharing this 🙂
If it’s not a burden I have a question,
I have a class only held at Saturdays, and it is present in all college courses offered here in my place, what should I do?
erron
you do not have any control over this if you are already enrolled. and it is offered only on Saturdays. this is due to time constraints in scheduling at the college you are at, and you cannot choose another day.
go ahead to your class, and take it easy the rest of the day.
doctor, nurses and emergency staff have this problem also.
there are legitimate exceptions to the sabbath rule. technically, only the teacher is working and you are just sitting there learning.
jesus said we are not made for the sabbath, but the sabbath was made for us. so the day is for us to choose what is best for us.
Thank you so much for you time. 🙂
Jesus is your Sabbath and your rest. Don’t go back to bondage (law). The Law was a picture of something more to come and for CHILDREN of God. If you are a child then you are no more than a slave with no rights. Trust and claim the Lamb of God, Jesus as your savior. His work at the cross, He died for all sin and those who BELIEVE in Him.
Do not disrespect God’s work at the cross. His words say it and believe it. Accept Christ and accept His gift. Become a Son of the Most High God and put your rest on Him. Once you truly believe in Jesus, receive His gift, repent and forgive all and then ask to receive his Holy Spirit.. He will give you all knowledge and truth. He will lead you into what He wants of you and all truth. Have faith because faith is the only thing that can please God.
Don’t go back to legalism and bondage. Jesus loves you. That is HIS word and gospel.
The seventh day sabbath is legally and morally binding, as are the other 9 commandments. To presume and/or argue otherwise is circular and specious
The Sabbath[s] were made for man, not man for the Sabbaths. As such, Sabbaths were/are a blessing from God. Why would anyone argue that such is a burden, and that it was done away with?
liberal thinking permits about anything except being contradicted.
If we are under grace, does that then mean that we are at liberty to break any law of the Ten Commandments? Is this moral, or is it instead immoral to think that its okay to murder my brother? Logically, is this mode of thinking applies to the Sabbath commandment – it then applies to all of the Ten Commandments. I ask this because Dispensationalist theology was completely unknown to the Reformers. This was a relatively late development which took place in the early nineteenth century and was a tool which was utilise during the counter-Reformation to divert the prophetic eyes of the Protestants from Rome. Perhaps I should no longer use the term `Protestant’, as Bishop Tony Palmer (who later died in a motorcycle accident) stated – Protestants no longer protest against Rome and are instead embracing Rome as their spiritual mother.
good points
What happened to this thread? Are people tired of this discussion?
The Sabbath is one of the most important topics of our time
dan
there are many topics on this site…people tend to move onto newer topics…
however, there are some who keep threads going for years…
and a good way to bring people back is to start commenting on a post of interest…..
those that subscribe will follow the most recent comments, and MAY want to comment also
I was wrong. Sabbath of the fourth commandment is no longer binding.
dan
what makes you say the sabbath is no longer binding?
Jesus did not break the law of the Sabbath. You need to understand, the law never said you cannot do good on Shabbat (donkey/ox in a ditch type of good, healing), and never said you cannot pick grain or food (fruits or vegetables) on Shabbat. The Pharisees and Sadducees had their own set of laws that they added to YHVH’s Torah and make the people obey them ( placing burdens upon the shoulders of the people Mathew 23:1-4; Mark 7:9). Yes we should worship YHVH each and everyday (which is obedience), but He set one day aside, the seventh day, to keep holy and never changed it. Hebrews 4:1-13 tells us that we should not be like the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years not being obedient. Verse 11 Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.
michael
FYI
Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. Jer 17:22
If you look at the original Hebrew word for ‘burden’ you will see it means ‘your hearts desire’ and ‘bearing a load-work’.
michael
here it meant work. against the law to carry anything, not according to pharisees, but according to Torah.
notice quote is from Jeremiah, not new testament
one person in Torah was killed because he picked up sticks for a fire.
so some in Jesus time interpreted picking grain to eat as breaking the law.
Are you a Christian, and someone who just wants to argue against keeping Torah? If that is the case, I am done with this conversation. Yeshua coming to earth in flesh changed absolutely nothing about the Torah of YHVH, we still have to keep it.
michael
read what I said again. I was telling you what the Torah said, not arguing against it.
Yes I agree that the Torah tells us not to work or give in to our hearts desires, but Torah does not say we can not help people out when it is something necessary or we cannot pick some food and eat it, only the Pharisees were teaching that. It is just the opposite and that is what Yeshua came and taught -Torah- the correct way, the way it was to be obeyed.
michael
That is what is meant by fulfilling Torah, which is to properly explain the meaning of Torah, so that there is a correct interpretation.
Agreed, amein.
Seeing how old these comments are, let me kick a little dust from the shelves! I tend to be loquacious, but will try to abbreviate this as “time is short”. Lol.
When it comes to the Bible we tend to see it from a very close in perspective, losing the picture and often giving warped ideas about a specific point. I just wish to draw our attention out for a broader look concerning the 7th day Sabbath .
In Genesis God sanctified it and later told Israel that it was a sign between Himself and them that they might know that it was He that sanctified them.
In essence it was a call to intimacy to enter into a relationship with Him, of which human intimacy was only a shadow. If you study this carefully, the Sabbath was a signature of God’s deepest relationship with humanity.
Israel had a propensity for going after other Gods. The Canaanite worship of the sun god and goddess of fertility brought Israel into frequent correction by Yahweh.
Sadly, we still have that propensity. When Daniel and Jesus spoke of seeing the “abomination of desolation standing in the holy place”, the prophetic time line comes right down to us! They were referring to seeing the unholy supplanting the holy.
Up until about the 13th century, a large portion of believers were still keepers of the One holy commandment, the 4th of the 10. It was a royal edict of the Roman Church that transferred the Holiness of the seventh-day Sabbath to the first day, the venerable day of the Sun, Sunday.
Why does this matter? Could you believe that even the story of the Gospel is wrapped up in resting in God? Unbelief is why Israel left so many bones in a dry desert. It is not the day, just as the day of your wedding anniversary is just another day on the calendar, but people hold the day dear because of what it commemorates. God hasn’t changed, we have, and make excuses to His face why……. just like ancient Israel . He loves you every day, but He set apart a special time for intimacy……He did that , why would you tell Him you prefer something else…. again like ancient Israel??
This is so very abbreviated, but our salvation is a story that will shine across all eternity.
Ted
good points.