The Change Of Sabbath

“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of
Jesus.” – Revelation 14:12

In our last two lessons, we have studied how Jesus urges us, with His help, to keep all of the Ten
Commandments. We discovered that the Bible Sabbath is Saturday, the seventh day of the week, instead of
Sunday, the first day of the week, which is now honored by most people.

Some say that it is not necessary to keep any particular day but that we should keep it everyday. However, one
cannot keep from buying or selling, working or playing every day of the week. Therefore, it would be
impossible to keep everyday holy.

Adam was in need of a Sabbath before sin ever entered this world; and Jesus, pure and holy as He was,
carefully observed the Sabbath. If Jesus needed to observe the Sabbath, then certainly we need to keep it. And
surely we should keep the same Sabbath that He kept and asked us to observe.

GOD’S LAST MESSAGE

1. How does the Bible describe God’s people in the last days? (See memory verse.)

The Bible describes God’s people in the last days as a “commandment-keeping people.” The reason for this is
that for many centuries, many Christians have been keeping only nine of the Ten Commandments. Only during
the past one hundred years has there been a worldwide movement back to God and to the keeping of all the
Ten Commandments. In lesson twelve, we learned that nearly all the world has forgotten about the fourth
commandment, which tells us to keep holy the seventh day of the week.

According to prophecy, God’s people in the last days will return to the keeping of all ten of His
commandments, including the fourth. The call to return to the observance of God’s true Sabbath (Saturday),
the seventh day of the week, is closely related to the last message that is to be given to the world.

TO THE LAW AND TO THE TESTIMONY

2. If we are Jesus’ disciples, what will be our constant guide?

“Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples… To the law and to the testimony! If they do not
speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” – Isaiah 8:16, 20

These are very strong words. If men teach doctrines contrary to God’s Ten Commandments, we dare not
follow them. For God says that if they speak not according to the law and to the testimony (the life and witness
of Jesus), it is because there is no light in them.

The first day of the week is mentioned only eight times in the New Testament and not once it is referred to as
the Sabbath or a holy day. The whole Bible teaches the observance of only the seventh-day Sabbath
(Saturday).

3. Does Jesus care if we go on keeping Sunday instead of His Sabbath?

“He answered and said to them, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your
tradition?... And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men… Every plant
which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.’” – Matthew 15:3, 9, 13

This is very clear. Jesus has told His followers for all time that, if they follow tradition (man-made rules and
teachings) instead of His commandments, they worship Him in vain and their beliefs shall be uprooted. So we
owe it to ourselves to learn which teachings are merely the traditions of men and which are the real
commandments of Jesus.

PAUL’S CUSTOM

4. Some people say that Paul, the great missionary to the Gentiles, keep Sunday instead of the Sabbath.
But what does the Bible say?

“Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the
Scriptures.” – Acts 17:2

Paul went to church every Sabbath. That was his manner, his custom, his habit. Aren’t you glad that the Bible
speaks of these things so plainly that no one needs to be confused?

“And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.” – Acts 18:4
“And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made…” –
Acts 16:13

Some people will tell you that the Sabbath was not kept after the cross. But everytime a day of rest is referred
to in the New Testament – after Jesus’ death, or before – it is always the seventh-day Sabbath.

Some also say that Paul only met with the Jews on the Sabbath. But this is not true. Sabbath was his day of
worship when he met with the Gentiles also.

“So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them
the next Sabbath… On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.” – Acts
13:42, 44

These verses may not seem very important to you. But as you talk to your friends about the Sabbath and ask
them to keep it, they will often say that the Sabbath was just for the Jews. Many believe that the Sabbath was
to be kept only up to the time Jesus died on the cross.

But the New Testament shows that the Sabbath was the only day that was ever kept holy by Jesus and His
disciples. The verses show that Paul, in his work for the Gentiles, observed Saturday as the Sabbath instead of
Sunday.

The Bible records only one meeting that Paul had on the first day of the week – a farewell address. (See Acts
20:7-8.) This was really a Saturday night meeting. No one keeps Saturday night holy. In Paul’s time, a day is
considered to begin at sunset, that is, Saturday evening. The day which Paul regarded as sacred was the
Sabbath, the seventhday Sabbath. This is the same day that God gave man to observe in Eden. He included the
Sabbath in the Ten Commandments and he tells us that we are to keep the same Sabbath in the new earth – the
seventh-day Sabbath.

ORIGIN OF SUNDAY-KEEPING

5. How did the people begin keeping Sunday?

“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also
from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after
themselves.” – Acts 20:29-30
“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work… with all power, signs, and lying wonders… And for this
reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie...” – 2 Thessalonians 2:7, 9, 11

Paul was greatly worried that in the future, wicked religious leaders would come into the church and teach
false doctrines and deceive the followers of Jesus. He said that they were already at work in his day – like
vicious wolves among innocent sheep and lambs.

As the early church grew in power, it grew in popularity. Being popular, it became rich and worldly. The
leaders began to bring into the original Christian church many false doctrines and heathen practices. They did
this because many of them had joined the church only in name but were still heathen at heart. They still wanted
to hold their former beliefs which the commandments of God condemned. To accommodate the people, the
leaders ignored the Ten Commandments and changed them to conform to their former beliefs.

6. What did the people worship other than God?

For over three thousand years, the heathen worshipped the sun. The Old Testament contains many warning
against sun worship for it was a common practice in those days. (Deuteronomy 4:19, 17:3; 2 Kings 23:5, 11;
Ezekiel 8:16) The people used to observe great feast days, with dancing and drinking in honor of the sun.
Sometimes, they called these great holidays as “Sun Days.” That is where we got our present word, “Sunday.”
Millions today, without realizing it, are dishonoring God by worshipping on the heathen holiday of Sunday. As
tens of thousands of sincere Christians learn of their mistake, they are returning to God’s true Bible Sabbath.

By honoring God’s holy seventh day, they are keeping the fourth commandment as well as the rest of the Ten
Commandments and worshipping God as the Creator of heaven and earth.

7. How was the Sabbath day changed?

In A.D. 321, the Roman Emperor Constantine decreed that the whole Roman Empire should celebrate the first
day of the week as a national holiday. All government offices were to close. In making this decree, he openly
called the first day of the week as “The Venerable Day of the Sun.” He knew that Sunday was a pagan holiday
on which sun worship was practiced.

A few years later, at the time of the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364), the church voted to change the Sabbath
from Saturday to Sunday. Thus, the church joined hands with the government in forsaking the fourth
commandment. They explained that in making this change, they would from henceforth observe Sunday in
honor of the resurrection of Christ. But no man or group of men can make such a change nor actually make a
day holy! Sunday remained what it always had been – a pagan feast day.

8. Does it really matter if we keep the Sabbath?

For a long time, many could not decide whether to continue observing the Sabbath which Jesus kept or to
change and keep Sunday – the man-made day. Of course, most of them didn’t care, the same as today. As you
talk to people about keeping God’s true Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, they shrug their shoulders and
say, “Oh, what difference does it make?” They don’t seem to realize that, when the Bible light comes to them,
they will be held accountable in the judgment day for refusing to keep the Sabbath.

You may ask, “But how could the church do this?” You see, the church claimed the right to change the Word
of God and even the Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God. In this way, millions were and still are
being deceived and continue to keep Sunday. But we must make Bible our guide and not follow the teachings
of men! God is bitterly disappointed when ministers close their eyes to His Sabbath.

“Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy
and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden
their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.” – Ezekiel 22:26

THE REFORMATION

9. What is the Reformation?

About four hundred years ago, there came a great revival: the Reformation. Men began to study the Bible for
themselves and follow its teachings rather than the teachings of false religious leaders. “Back to the Bible” and
“salvation by faith in Jesus” was being upheld by the reformers.

The Reformation started in October 1517 and was a pivotal event in church history. God’s truth was never
extinguished. The Reformation is best understood in the following Latin dictums: Solo Christo (by Christ
alone), Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone), Sola Gratia (by grace alone), and Sola Fide (by faith alone). These
summarizes the truth neglected by the Roman church. Yet, the Reformation has not ceased but continues.

For the past hundred years, men of God have continued the work of Reformation, calling men to return to the
whole Bible, including the Bible Sabbath. This message of reform is being preached in almost every country in
the world and thousands are forsaking the teachings of men and are obeying the commandments of God.
10. What is the message of God to His people?

God commands His messengers in the last days to point people back to His holy Ten Commandments.

“Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of
Jacob their sins… If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day…
Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD.” – Isaiah 58:1, 13-14

God calls the Sabbath, “My holy day.” Will you heed God’s appeal and return to His true Sabbath while so
many are trampling it underfoot? You may say, “But it’s too hard. People will think I am odd. I’ll be alone if I
change and keep the Sabbath.” Remember, soldiers leave their sweethearts, fathers, mothers, wives, children,
their jobs, and comfortable homes to obey the call of their country and follow their flag. Won’t you do as much
for Jesus who gave up everything for you?

Will you make that decision just now?

Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee. All things else I have forsaken, Thou from hence my
all shall be.  - Henry F. Lyte