The Almost

Forgotten Day

Mark A. Finley
 The Mnost Foigotten Day
Tor from Him and through Him and to Him are all

things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen."

—Romans 11:36.

Cover Design & Artwork

Mark Decker

Copyright © 1988. 1994 by The Concerned Group, Inc..

Siloam Springs. AR 72761.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations

in criticcd cuticles or reviews, no pcirt of this book
may be reproduced in any manner without prior
written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted. Scripture quotations are taken

from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984. International Bible
Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible
Publishers. Quotations from the King James Version,
Copyright 1979 by Holman Bible Publishers.
Quotations from the New King James Version,
copyrightl979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Quotations from the Revised Standard Version,
copyright 1952, 1946, 1971 by the Division of
Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

Litho in USA.

ill
 Dedication

To Mom - whose genuine honesty has led me

to search for truth, and

To Dad - whose firm commitment has led me

to follow it,

this book is lovingly dedicated.

Iv
 Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

The Surprising Answer to Tension 1

CHAPTER 2

Truth Exposes a Myth 10

CHAPTERS

History's Best Kept Secret 29

CHAPTER 4

The Centuries Bear Witness 52

CHAPTERS
The Authorities Testify! 93

CHAPTERS
Tour Questions Answered 106

V
 The Surprising Answer
To Tension

erched atop a cliff in the beautiful

country of Portugal sits cinancient monastery.
Visitors to this lofty retreat are rewarded with a
magnificent view of the countryside. But there
is one problem. The only way to reach the
monastery is to be hoisted by an aged monk up
the cliff in a wicker basket tied to a rope.
One day a guide and a visitor were leaving
the monastery via the basket. As the grayed
monk was lowering them down the precipice, the
basket swung out over the rocky basin below.
The nervous visitor turned to the guide smd in a
trembling voice asked, "Sir, how often do they
replace the rope?" Stone-faced, the guide
replied, "each time the old rope breaiks."
It's easy to imagine the tension the visitor

must have felt all the way down the cliff. Yet
1
thousands of people rush through life under
similar circumstances. Constantly pushing
themselves, the tension mounts. Anxiety
heightens! More and more work is crammed
into less cind less time. As each day closes,
people return from work exhausted. They fall
—
on the couch and flick on the TV ^but that's
about all. The cycle repeats itself—day after
—
day cifter day and chronic fatigue sets in.
The rope is about ready to snap.
Where will it lead? What will cause us to
slow down? When will we learn to relax?
What will it take for us to discover that life's
greatest joys do not come from the posses-
sion of things, but from close, intimate
relationships with our family, our friends,
and our God? Where cam we find the peace of
mind and inner spiritual strength necessary
to cope with the stresses of our times?
These cire tough questions. In order to
answer them, let's go back to the beginning of
the humcin race. Perhaps if we can discover
how we were put together we c£in keep from
falling apart.
When our loving Creator established
planet Ccirth, He made available to the
humain race all the elements essentied for life,
heedth, and the fullest happiness. The air was
clean, the water pure. Healthful fi*uits, nuts,
£ind grains grew in abundgince. Radiant sun-
light basked our first parents in garments of
light.
Invigorating work was part of their daily
routine. God commanded them to "dress 8ind
keep" the garden. Their health was to be
continually invigorated by the satisfaction
that comes from useful work. In close
communion, they shared life's deepest joys
together. They were designed for happi-
—
ness happiness as a result of a loving, trust-
ing, cind obedient relationship with their
Creator.
But did Adam and Eve suffer chronic
fatigue? Did they work seven days a week, 1
hours a day, until they were exhausted? Did
they ever slow down and relax? How did they
deal with stress?
Genesis, chapter 2, verses 1 to 3, tells
part of the story:
Thus the heavens and the earth
were completed in all their vast
array. By the seventh day God
had finished the work he had
been doing; so on the seventh day
he rested from all his work. And
Ck>d blessed the seventh day and
made it holy, because on it he
rested from all the work of creat-
ing that he had done.
After carefully fashioning the earth in six
days, God rested on the seventh day. He took
a break from His work. Why? Was He tired?
No! On that first Sabbath God rested because
—
He had a perfect sense of fulfillment He had
done everything possible to ensure Adam
and Eve*s happiness. Nothing they needed
was left undone. He rested with tiie Jo5^ul
amticipation of an intimate relationship with
the creatures He had made.
By resting on the seventh day or
Sabbath, God was setting an example for
Adam aind Eve. It was His intent that they rest
from their work of dressing eind keeping the
garden. (The word "sabbath" means to stop or
rest.) So He planned a special day for them
a day on which they stopped their work
routine, rested, and worshipped. The Sab-
bath was God's cinswer for Adam aind Eve.
And the Sabbath is God's answer to
the hectic pace of twentieth century liv-
ing. It is His remedy for the unceasing round
of toil that drives modem man. It invites us to
stop trying to make more money so we can
buy fancier clothes, live in more magnificent
homes, emd drive more expensive automo-
biles. It is an invitation by a living Creator to
rest our tired minds and exhausted bodies by
—
fellowshipping with Him to become united
with our Creator.
In our modem age of evolution, the Sab-
bath calls us back to the worship of our
Creator. It is a perpetual reminder of a loving
God who is constantly planning for our hap-
piness. The Sabbath sings a song of God's
personal concern: "You did not evolve! You
are more than bones covered with skin. You
eire more than £in enlarged protein molecule.
Your origin is not from some dcirk £ind slimy
primeval pit. You are not merely a collection
of chemiccds combined by chance. I made
you! You are created in My image.**
 Since the Sabbath was sanctified by God
as a special day, those who keep it holy will
receive a special blessing. It is a day designed
for mental and physicad refreshment. In God's
command to "Remember the Sabbath day by
keeping it holy/ it is interesting to note that
the word "holy" comes from the same root
word as "whole" and "healthy." God's Sab-
bath command can be loosely translated,
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it
healthy." The Sabbath says, "Stop! Halt! Life
is more than an endless round of work! It is
—
a time to rest ^to become whole again."
The Sabbath is also a call to spend time
with our families. It is possible to become so
busy during the week that family members
hardly see each other. In some families,
meaningful dialogue is non-existent. One
study indicates that the average American
father spends less than one hour per week in
personal communication alone with his chil-
dren. It is even possible for spouses to be-
come so involved in work, community projects,
and other time-consuming activities that they
hsirdly know each other.
God's original intent for families was
different.The Sabbath was the first day that
the newly married Adam and Eve spent to-
gether. Undoubtedly, they spent many more
happy Sabbaths. God's originsd intent was
for the Sabbath to be a special day for rela-
—
tionships a day to become reacquainted
with our human faimily and friends, as well as
our Creator. It is a day to share our joys.
hopes, smd ambitions as well as our heart-
aches 8ind disappointments.
My wife and I, along with our children,
often spend Sabbath aiftemoon hiking in the
forest sharing together the joy of God's
specially created day amidst His magnificent
natural creations. Our entire family looks
forward to the Sabbath as the happiest day of
the week.
The Sabbath also brings a sense of
security to all of life. It provides a reference
point to help us deed with the pressures of
life. A few yesirs ago, I read of a group of

medicgd researchers who were studying the

effects of stress on the central nervous
system. Their research involved an experi-
ment with twin lambs. For the first part
of their experiment, one of the leimbs was
placed in a pen all alone. Electricsd pulsing
devices were hooked up at several feeding
locations in the pen. As the lamb wsindered to
each feeding station in the enclosure, the
resccirchers gave the little fellow a short
burst of electriccd current. Each time this
happened, the lamb would twitch and scam-
per to einother part of the pen. The lamb never
returned to the same location once it had
been shocked. This was repeated at each
feeding station until the frightened Icimb
stood in the center of the pen shaiking. He
had no place to run. There were shocks
everywhere. Completely overcome and filled
with anxiety and stress, the lamb had a
nervous breakdown.
 The second part of the experiment
involved the first little lamb's twin brother.
The researchers took him cind put him in
the same pen. Only this time they put his
mother in the pen with him. Presently, they
shocked him. Like his twin brother, he
—
immediately twitched and ran only he ran
directly to his mother. He snuggled closely
to her while she grunted softly in his ear. I
don't know what she said, but evidently she
reassured him because the little fellow
promptly returned to the exact spot where
he was shocked the first time. The research-
ers threw the switch again. Agcdn the lamb
ran to his mother. Again she grunted in
his ear and again he returned to the same
place. This happened over and over again,
but as long as there was a reference point
for the lamb to return to after each shock,
he could handle the stress. He was able to
cope.
The Sabbath is such a reference point.
Like the little lamb fleeing to his mother,
we can have rest £ind security in Jesus.
The Sabbath is a palace in time. Whfle
most palaces are magnificent structures buflt
for royalty in the here and now, the Sabbath
is a palace created in time which descends
from heaven to earth each seventh day.
Retreating to the palace of the King, we can
receive strength to face the tensions of life.
Fellowship with Him on the Sabbath
provides the basis for daily fellowship
during the week. The Sabbath gives us the
confidence to say, "I believe God made me
and that He has an immense concern for my
well-being. I can rest in His love. He is worthy
of my deepest allegiance, my highest
worship. Through His power I can now face
the stresses of life.**
Our Creator loves us. He desires to soothe
our frayed nerves. He desires to ease our
restless longings. And He can do all these
—
things for He made us. You and I, friend,
matter to Him. We are His children.
Long ago Jesus gave us this beautiful
invitation:

Come to me, all you who are weary

and burdened, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, and you will
. . .

find rest for your souls. (Matthew

11:28-29).
True rest isfound in a loving, trusting
relationship with our Creator. Through the
centuries His gentle invitation remedns the
same: "Come to me, . and you will find rest.**
. .

The seventh-day Sabbath symbolizes a

life of restful trust in a loving Creator. It is

because Satan desires to destroy this

relationship that he has viciously attacked
the Sabbath. Although God's day has been
sdmost forgotten, faithful men and women of
God have kept it through the centuries.
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, eind Dsiniel
were all Sabbathkeepers. Peter. James, John
—
and Paul ^they too, were faithful. They did

8
not forget God's Sabbath. And neither did
Jesus.
In the next chapter, we will explore what
the Bible teaches us about God's Holy Day.
 Truth Exposes a Myth

M .yths are easily accepted as truth

they have been around a long time. Take the
if

case of the spider. About 350 B.C.. the great

Greek philosopher Aristotle classified the
spider as having six legs. And for the next 20
centuries everyone believed the spider had
six legs. No one even bothered to count. After
all, who would dare challenge the great

Aristotle?
Well, along came Lamarck, the outstand-
ing biologist and naturalist. He carefully
counted the legs of the spider. And guess how
many legs he counted? Exactly eight! The
myth that had been taught as truth for
centuries was destroyed because Lamarck
bothered to count.
The free-thinking Copernicus, a Pole, also
challenged a "truth" believed by the so cgdled
"scientists** of his day. "The sun, not the earth,

10
was the center of the solar system/ he
declared. The church men ranted, "It csmnot
be! You cannot change God's heavens." But
Copernicus was not changing God's heav-
ens. He was simply revealing the truth and
exposing a myth.
There are many other exaimples of myths,
both scientific and otherwise. And people
throughout history have believed them.
While it may not seem all that critical to
accept scientific myths, the acceptance of
religious myths could have life and death
consequences. In other words, in matters of
eternal import the ability to distinguish
between fact and fiction, myth £ind truth
becomes essential.
But how do we know which religious
beliefs cire myth and which are not? How can
we distinguish between religious fact and
What is our authority?
religious fiction?
Undoubtedly, God is the final authority.
And the Bible is the record of His word. It
contains unchanging eternal truths. By study-
ing God's word, religious myths that have
been believed for centuries will be revealed.
The book of Revelation reveals just such
a myth. The great message to prepare men
and women for our Lord's return is found in
Revelation 14:6-12. We read these words in
verse 7:
. .Fear God and give him
.

glory, because the hour of his

judgment has come. Worship him

11
 who made the heavens, the earth,
the sea and the springs of water.
On the reading, this passage may not
first
appeair to reveal any religious myths. But
let's explore a bit further.
The message of God's approaching
judgment is so important that God pictures
it as being carried by three angels flying
swiftly from His throne through the heavens
to the whole world. It is to be carried as
rapidly as fire spreading through dry stubble,
to every nation, tribe, language and people
(verse 6). This message is to leap across
geographical boundeiries. It is to bridge
cultures and language groups. As heaven's
final judgment approaches. Revelation 14,
verse 7, strongly urges all mankind to return
to Creator worship.
But in order to return to Creator
worship, we must understand what it means.
The very basis of worship is thefact that
we are creature inste(Md of Creator. The
reason God is worthy of our supreme homage
and allegicince is that He made us. Revelation
4:11 giffirms:
Tou are worthy, our Lord and
God, to receive glory and honor
and power, for you created all
things, and by your will they were
created and have their being.
In an age when the evolutionary
hypothesis has taken the scientific world by
storm, the Bible has sent a message Ccdling

12
all menworship the Christ of Creation.
to
Ephesians 3:9 provides this significant
insight:

. and to make all people see

. .

what is the fellowship of the mys-

tery, which from the beginning of
the ages has been hidden in God
who created all things through
Jesus Christ; (NKJV) (Please see
adso Colossieins 1:13-17.)
How were all things created? "By Jesus
Christ!** The message that goes forth in the
last days calling all men
everywhere to
"worship him who made the heavens and
eairth** is a message cedling men and women

to worship Jesus Christ as the Creator.

But how does one worship Christ as
Creator? Has He left a memorial of His
creative work? What is the sign of creation?
Turning back to the book of Exodus, we
—
find in the very heairt of God's law ^the Ten
—
Commemdments a memoriad of His creative
power. It is a memorial that, if remembered,
will keep fresh in our minds that He is the
Creator and we are His creatures. This
memoriad is described in Exodus 20:8-11:
Remember the Sabbath day by
keeping it holy. Six days you shall
labor and do all your work, but the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the
Lord your God. On it you shall not
do any work, neither you, nor
your son or daughter, nor your
13
 manservant or maidservant, nor
your animals, nor the alien within
your gates. For in six days the
Lord made the heavens and the
earth, the sea, and all that is in
them, but he rested on the sev-
enth day. Therefore the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day and made
it holy.
God says, "Remember to keep holy the
Sabbath day, for it is a great memorial of My
creative power."
Notice the similarity in the wording of
Revelation 14:7 and Exodus 20:11. The
message for the last generation is:
Worship him who made the heavens,
the earth, the sea and the springs of
water. (Revelation 14:7)
Exodus 20: 1 1 says:
For in six days the Lord made the
heavens and the earth, the sea,
and all that is in them, . . .

The sacred Sabbath commandment is

enshrined in the heart of God's law as a
perpetual reminder of His supreme authority
and creative power. It is indeed the sign of
Creation.
Let'sgo back to the book of beginnings,
the book of Genesis, and explore creation.
The entire first chapter of Genesis is a
description of the process of creation and the
beauty and splendor of Eden. The second

14
chapter begins:
Thus the heavens and the earth were
completed in all their vast array. By
the seventh day God had finished the
work he had been doing; so on the
seventh day he rested from all his
work. And €rod blessed the seventh
day and made it holy, because on it he
rested from all the work of creating
that he had done. (Genesis 2:1-3)
After creating this world in six days, God
set the seventh day aside as a memorial of His
creative work.
Notice the three things that went into
the making of this memorial:
— First, God rested (verse 2). Not because
He was weary, but rather as an example to
the humsm race. It was His intent that every
seventh day humain beings should rest from
their work just as the Creator did. The
purpose was to remind us that He made this
world.
—Second, God blessed the seventh day
(verse 3) God took 24 common hours and put
.

a special blessing on them. By meeting with

Him on this day He will provide a special
—
blessing renewed strength, a peaceful heart,
a closer walk with Him.
—Third, God sanctified or made holy the
seventh day. The word "sanctified" means
hallowed or set apart for holy use
consecrated; it refers to something that is
sacred 2ind not common. God is the only one

15
who can make things sacred or holy. True
human worship involves homage to whatever
God has made holy—^because He, as God,
has made it holy! And according to Genesis,
God has made the seventh day holy.
So the seventh day Sabbath was created
by God as a memoried to His creative power.
It isHis holy day.
I have met people who have said, "One

day is as good as the next. It really doesn't

make much difference which day you keep,
as long as you keep one in seven.** Yet, notice
the clear teaching of the Bible. Which day did
God sanctify? The seventh day. Nowhere
does the Bible say that God rested upon,
blessed, or sanctified the first day or the third
day or the fifth day of the week. The only day
God ever set apart was the seventh. And it*s
the only day that could ever be a memorial to
Creation. In six days God worked He —
created His masterpiece. Then, on the
seventh day. He established a memorial of
— —
His great work the Sabbath on which He
rested. No other day would fit.
Supposeyourbirthday is June 25. That's
the day you were bom. If someone says,
"Well, what difference does it make? You Ccin
celebrate it June 24 or June 26. It doesn't
really matter, does it?" No doubt you would
reply, "It does matter! My birthday is on June
25, and no amount of celebrations on the
day before or the day after will change the
fact that I was bom on June 25!" Or, suppose
you were mgirried on a certain day. Each
16
year aifler, on that special day, you celebrate
your commitment to your spouse. Your
wedding anniversary day reminds you of the
nicirriage commitment between you aind your
spouse. It is a special day to celebrate
together.
So it is with the Sabbath. There's only
one day God has set aside and that's the
seventh.
Throughout history the Sabbath has
been kept as a memorial of Christ's creative
power. It has been His sign of loyalty, liberty,
and love in every age. Look at Ezekiel 20:20:
Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they
may be a sign between us. Then
you will know that I am the Lord
your God.
Throughout the Old Testament, the
Sabbath was a sign of cdlegiance. It distin-
guished God's people from the heathen. It
was established at Creation and observed
before the existence of the Jewish nation. It
was kept by God's people through the entire
Old Testament period.
But what about the New Testament?
What about Jesus Christ? What was His
practice? Since He is our great example, and
"whoever claiims to live in him must walk as
Jesus did" (I John 2:6), it is logical for us to
look to His example for guideince.
Let's turn to the NewTestament. In Luke
4: 16 we find this clccir statement:

He went to Nazareth, where he

17
 had been brought up, and on the
Sabbath day he went into the
sjmagogue, as was his custom.
And he stood up to read.
Christ's custom, His practice, was to
attend church on the Sabbath. If we could go
back in time to the little Ccirpenter shop
where Jesus worked we would probably hear
the sound of the hammer and the saw at —
least on the first day of the week or the second
—
day of the week or any other day except the
seventh. Maybe we would see a little sign,
"Open for Business.** But on the seventh day
the shop would be vacant. The hamimer and
saw would be silent, and the little sign on the
door might read, "Closed on Sabbath.**
Some have suggested, "Well, Jesus was
a Jew and that*s why He kept the Sabbath.**
What does Exodus 20:10 say? ". . but the
.

seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your

God.'* No, the Sabbath isn't Jewish! It is the
Sabbath of the Lord. It is Christ*s day —
memorial of His creative power. The Sabbath
was established at the creation of man
centuries before the existence of the Jewish
nation. Truly, Jesus was right when he said
in Mark 2:27, *The sabbath was made for
man.**
Others have said that Christ chsinged
the Sabbath when He came to this earth.
Does it make sense?
Let's examine this point.
If Christ had come to change the Sabbath, if
He had come to change the law written by

18
God's own on Mount Sinai, wouldn't
finger
He have changed it while He was living?
Wouldn't He have shown His disciples this
chsinge? I think He would have, don't you?
But instead. He left us a positive example of
Sabbathkeeping. He said:
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. (Matthew 5: 17)
Let's explore some of Jesus' comments
a bit further. In Matthew 24, Jesus is dis-
cussing the destruction of Jerusalem in 70
A.D., (approximately forty years cifter the
crucifixion) and He says:
Pray that your flight will not take
place in winter or on the Sab-
bath. (Matthew 24:20)
It is Jesus uttered these
significant that
words to His closest followers. This would
suggest that Jesus didn't anticipate any
chcinge in the Sabbath.
But what about aifter Jesus returned to
heaven? What did His disciples do? Does
the Bible tell us which day the disciples and
the early church considered to be the
Sabbath? Does it tell us what day the New
Testament church kept? Acts 13: 14:
From Peiga they (Paul andBamabas)
went on to Pisidian Antioch. On
the Sabbath they entered the
synagogue and sat down.

19
During the Sabbath morning service, Paul
and Baimabas discovered an opportunity to
preach Christ as the fulfillment of the Old
Testament (verse 15). Although most Jews
were angered, the Gentiles were receptive.
Verse 42 continues:
And when the Jews went out of
the synagogue, the Gentiles
begged that these words might be
preached to them the next Sab-
bath. [NKJV]
The Gentiles wanted to he2ir Paul preach
agciin. But notice how the story continues in
verse 44: "On the next Sabbath almost the
whole city gathered to hear the word of the
Lord." If Paul was keeping Sunday, the first
day of the week, he would have said to
these Gentile Christians, "You don't need to
wait until the next Sabbath. Come back
tomorrow, on Sunday. That is the new day for
Gentile Christians. But Paul didn't say that.
**

The Bible tells us that the Gentiles heard

Paul on the next Sabbath. This shows us that
fourteen years after the resurrection, the
disciples were still keeping the Sabbath.
So the New Testaiment church was a
Sabbathkeeping church. Certainly there is
no clear command for keeping any other day.
There is not a single recorded insteince in
which the disciples taught that Jesus cheinged
the Sabbath.
John, the beloved disciple, gives us
another clue. Exiled on the rocky island of

20
Patmos, John writes:
On the Lord's Day I was in the
Spirit, and I heard behind me a
loud voice like a trumpet, . . .

(Revelation 1:10)
John suggests that there was a special day
the disciples worshipped on during the first
century. It was cadled the "Lord's Day." But
John doesn't tell us which day of the week the
Lord's day is. Some have speculated about it.
However, our only authority is the word of
Christ Himself. Surely He knows what day He
is the Lord ofl In Matthew 12:8, He says, "For
the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." Here
we have a clear statement. The Sabbath is the
Lord's day. Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath.
It is His day.

Yet some ask, "Can we really tell which

day is the seventh day? It is true God has a
specicd day. It is the Sabbath. But we can't
really tell which day the seventh day is."
Well, let's look a little deeper. Does it make
sense that Christ would establish a day as a
—
memoriad of His creative power a specicd
day when all are to worship Him and rest
and then not reveal which day it is? No! That
doesn't make sense. There must be some
clues about which day is God's special day.
Let'sexamine them.
There are three ways that we can
positively identify the seventh-day Sabbath:
—Biblically.
—Linguistically.
21
 —Astronomically.
Let's look Jirst at the Bibliccd evidence.
The Bible clearly shows us. In Luke 23 we
have recorded the crucifixion of Christ.
Writing about the day Christ died, Luke
declares in verse 54:
It was Preparation Day (the day
Christ died), and the Sabbath was
about to begin.
Then in verse 56, Luke describes the activity
of the women (followers of Jesus) the day
after Christ's death. He writes:

Then they went home and pre-

pared spices and perfumes. But
they rested on the Sabbath in
obedience to the commandment.
So the conunandment was still in effect after
the cross, and these women, as followers of
Jesus, observed it. They loved their Master;
therefore they observed His commandment
and rested on Sabbath while Jesus was in the
tomb. The resurrection scene is described in
chapter 24, verse 1:

On the first day of the week, very

early in the morning, the women
took the spices they had pre-
pared and went to the tomb.
Luke writes about three successive days:
—
First, the preparation day the day Christ
—
died. Second, the Sabbath day ^the day the
—
women rested. Third, the first day the day
of the resurrection.

22
 The Christian world is basically united
as to which day Christ died. We call it Good
Friday! And what about the day Christ arose?
No problem identifying it. Christians all over
the world celebrate Easter Sunday. So the
three days in succession are: the day Christ
died, Friday; the day Christ was in the tomb.
Sabbath; and the day He arose, Sunday. The
Sabbath is the day between Friday and
Sunday, or the day we now call Saturday.
Simple math reveals that if Sunday is the first
day, then Friday is the sixth and Saturday
the seventh. The Bible is abundantly plain on
this matter.
Second, let's look at additional
evidence language. Consult any common
dictionary. Under the heading "Saturday,**
what do you find? "Saturday is the seventh
day of the week." Webster* s Standard
Dictionary. Since Saturday is the seventh day
of the week, and the Sabbath is the seventh
day. Saturday is clearly the Sabbath. In fact,
108 languages of the world define our day
Saturday as "Sabbath." In Portuguese and
Spanish, it is "Sabbado"; in Russian,
"Subbata"; in Bulgarian, "Shubbuta"; and in
Arabic, "As-Sabt." The language of the world
testifies to the grand and glorious fact that
the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week
Saturday.
Third, what about astronomy? What is
the evidence? Have you ever consulted a
calendar to discover which day of the week is
the seventh day? What did you discover?

23
Sunday is the first day; Monday is the second;
Tuesday is the third; Wednesday, the fourth;
Thursday, the fifth; Friday, the sixth; and
Saturday, the seventh. Has it always been
that way? Where does this cycle come fi-om?
—
The sun? No the yearly cycle is governed by
the sun (it's the time it takes the earth to
make a complete orbit around the sun). Does
the moon govern the weekly cycle? No ^the —
moon coordinates our monthly cycle (a month
is the time it takes the moon to make one
complete revolution). Well, what about the
eeirth turning on its axis? Does the weekly
cycle come fi-om this? —
No ^the daily cycle
does (a day is the length of time it takes the
earth to make a complete rotation on its axis)
In an attempt to get concrete evidence
on the origin and continuity of the weekly
cycle, I decided to write to the Astronomer
Royal at the Royal Greenwich Observatory,
London, England. The Greenwich Observa-
tory keeps an accurate record of time for
the entire world. Here is my letter, dated
February 11. 1974:

"De£ir Sir:
£im currently doing research regeird-
"I

ing the unbroken sequence of the weekly

Europeein astronomers state
cycle. Veirious
that the weekly cycle has come down to us
unbroken fi*om ancient times: in other words,
that the seventh day of our present week,
24
 seventh day
for example, is identical with the
of the week of Bible times. My question is
threefold:
1. investigation show
What does your
regarding the unbroken antiquity of the
weekly cycle from aincient times?
2. Have our changes in the calendar in
past centuries (Juliam to Gregorian, etc.)
affected in any way the cycle of the week?
3. Is the Saturday of our present times
the lineal descent in unbroken cycles of
seven from that Saturday mentioned in the
Bible record of the crucifixion?
"I greatly appreciate your time in

einswering these questions and look forweird

to your soon reply.
Sincerely,
Mark Finley"

And this was his reply:

"Dear Sir:
"Your the Astronomer Royal at
letter to
Greenwich has been sent on to us here, and
the Director has asked me to reply.
*The continuity of the seven-day week
has been maintained since the earliest days
of the Jewish religion.
"The astronomer may be concerned
in the decisions relating to the time, the
calendar date, and the year number. But
since the week is a civil, social, and religious
cycle, there is no reason why it should be
disturbed by any adjustment of the csdendar.
25
Any attempt to disturb the
seven-day cycle
has always ciroused most determined oppo-
sition of the Jewish authorities, and we are
quite certain that no such disturbance has
ever been put into effect. The change from
Juliam to Gregorian calendar (1582-1927)
has always been made so as to leave the
weekday sequence undisturbed.
Yours faithfully,
R.H. Tucker
Information Officer"

There is absolutely no question about it!

The evidence from Biblical history, from the
languages of the world, and from astronomy
is abundantly clear. The Bible Sabbath is
Saturday, the seventh day of the week.
When this dawns on many people,
fact
they often ask "What about my relatives and
my friends who never understood the
Sabbath? What about all those Christians in
the past ages who were faithful to Jesus but
never knew this truth?*' The Bible clearly
states:

Anyone, then, who knows the good

he ought to do and doesn't do it,
sins. (Jamies 4:17)

It isour responsibility to follow the light we

have. That is all that is required of us. But
today, as the message of the three cingels of
Revelation is proclaimed to all the world ^to —
26
"every nation, and tribe, and language, and
people" with a loud voice saying, "Fear God
and give him glory, because the hour of his
judgment has come. Worship him who made
the heavens, the earth, the sea and the
—
springs of water" (Revelation 14:7) God is
calling us back to the Sabbath.
Although the group of Sabbathkeepers
may appear small at first, great men of the
ages have kept it. Adam was a Sabbath-
keeper, as were Moses amd Elijah, Isaiah and
David. All the great men of the Old Testament
obeyed God's commandment and
faiithfully
kept the day the Lord blessed, sanctified, and
established at Creation. And all the apostles
were Sabbathkeepers too.
But towering above them all is the Man,
Christ Jesus. As the great Creator, He rested
on the Sabbath after He created the
world. He blessed it eind He made it holy.
Then, hundreds of yeeirs later, as the Son of
man. He wedked among us for thirty-three-
cind-one-half yccirs. It was His custom to rest
and worship upon the day He set aside at
Creation.
And now, today, this same Jesus
stretches out a beckoning hand to you and to
—
me a hand that was once nailed to the cross
—
of Calvary for our sins and He gently
appeals, "Follow Me." Thousands are gladly
responding year by year to His gracious call.
There are multitudes who now worship Him
—
on His own appointed rest day the seventh
—
day Saturday. They are represented in nearly
27
every country of the world. You will find them
on practically every inhabited island. Their
universal testimony is that the Sabbath has
brought a new joy and a great blessing into
their Christian lives.
What is your choice now? Will you stand
with Christ and His disciples? Will you accept
the invitation of a loving Jesus as He appeals,
"If you love me, you will obey what I
command" (John 14:15)?

28
 History's Best
Kept Secret

day during the time of Imperial

'ne
Russia, the czar was walking through one of
the beautiful parks connected with his
palace. He came upon a sentry standing
gu£ird near a patch of shrubs. Surprised to
find a guard in that place, he inquired, "What
are you doing?" "I don't know," answered the
sentry, "I am following the captaiin's orders."
The czar asked the captain, "Why do you have
a sentry standing guard over a patch of
shrubs?" "Regulations have always been that
way," the captain responded, "but I don't
know the reason for it." After a thorough
investigation, the czar discovered that
nobody in his court could remember a time
when it had not been that way. So the czar
turned to the archives containing the eincient
29
records and, to his surprise, this is what he
discovered. One hundred years before,
Catherine the Great ordered a rose bush to be
planted and had stationed a sentry nearby so
that no one would trample on the young
plant. The plant had long since died. Now
a guard stood watching. But he didn't know
what he was guarding.
"How incredible!", you might exclaim.
But that, my friend, is what scores of people
—
in Christian churches are doing guarding,
believing, and defending a doctrine that has
slipped into the church through tradition
a doctrine that is a myth and not a command-
ment of God.
In this chapter we'll discover exactly how
tradition has been exalted above God's word.
We will also discover that the word of God
predicted it —
would happen that an attempt
would be made to change God's law and exalt
tradition above it. The archives of history will
verify it.

But before exploring this topic, let's

remember one thing: you and I read this book
with varied backgrounds. We have come
from different denominations. Yet one
common thread runs through our experi-
ence. We love the Lord Jesus Christ and
desire to follow His truth. That's why we are
studying, isn't it? We have an intense longing
to know truth £ind an earnest desire to follow
it. The Scriptures give us this admonition:

Study to shew thyself approved

30
 unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly divid-
ing the word of truth. (II Timothy
2:15 KJV)
So, in order to understand God's truth we
must study His word. And His word, though
written hundreds of years ago, reveals
timeless truths that we can apply to our
lives today.
The prophecies of Daniel cind Revelation
apply with pairticular force to the end of the
world. Jesus quoted the prophecies of Dainiel
and personally recommended that His
disciples study them. When the disciples
asked. Tell us... when will this happen (the
destruction of the temple), and what will be
the sign of your coming and of the end of the
age?" (Matthew 24: 3), peirt of His answer was:
So when you see standing in the
holy place 'the abomination that
causes desolation,' spoken of
—
through the prophet Daniel ^let
—
the reader understand ^then let
those who are in Judea flee to the
mountains. (Matthew 24:15, 16)
Jesus warned the generation of His day that
the prophecies relating to Jerusalem's
destruction were about to be fulfQled. His
reply to the disciples is filled with predictions
about Jerusalem as well as the end of the
world. And He
suggests that the disciples
study the prophecies of Daniel to gain a
better understanding about both events.

31
 In the book of Daniel, the prophet has
traced hundreds of years of history from —
Babylon to our day—^with uncanny accuracy.
Through symbolic visions aind dreams, God
has used a visual method of communication
to share His truth with us. The aincient
Chinese philosopher Confucius put it well
when He said, "One picture is worth a
thousand words." Let's explore in detail the
picture Daniel gives us.
In Daniel chapter 2, God predicts
hundreds of years of history through the
symbolic figure of a metallic man. In Daniel
7, the same period of history is covered in
more detail, only this time four animals are
used to represent the story of the human
race. Chapters 8 and 11 fill in the picture
even more. Each of these chapters covers the
same time period. Each adds additional de-
tails, some of which apply with special force
to earth's last generation.
Daniel 7 begins in the first year of
Belshazzar, king of Babylon. Daniel has a
dream and faithfully records the entire thing.
Notice Daniel's description of the vision in
verses 2 through 7:
In my vision at night I looked,
and there before me were the four
winds of heaven churning up the
great sea. Four great beasts, each
different from the others, came
up out of the sea.
The first was like a lion, and

32
 it had the wings of an eagle. I
watched until its wings were torn
off and it was lifted from the
ground so that it stood on two
feet like a man, and the heart of a
man was given to it.
And there before me was a
second beast, which looked like a
bear. It was raised up on one of its
sides, and it had three ribs in its
mouth between its teeth. It was
told, 'Get up and eat your fill of
flesh!'
After that, I looked, and there
before me was another beast, one
that looked like a leopard. And on
its back it had four wings like
those of a bird. This beast had
four heads, and it was given
authority to rule.
After that, in my vision at
night I looked, and there before
—
me was a fourth beast ^terrifying
and frightening and very power-
ful. It had large iron teeth; it
crushed and devoured its victims
and trampled underfoot whatever
was left. It was different from all
the former beasts, and it had ten
horns.
Itwas a vast seascape on a stormy day
that Daniel saw in his vision. Strong winds
whipped the waves into a fury as the four

33
curious-looking beasts meirched up out of
the surf. Winds, waters, and beasts are
conunonly used symbols in Scripture. They
represent seas of people, multitudes,
—
nations, aind languages ^the sea of human-
ity through the ages (please see Revelation
17:15). Winds often symbolize war and strife
—
and all such movements diplomatic,
—
military, and political that shape the
history of the world (see Jeremiah 49:36).
Daniel continues: The four great beasts
are four kingdoms that will rise ft-om the
earth. (Daniel 7:17) As a result of the wars
among the nations, four great kingdoms would
rise and fcdl. And the four metcds gold,—
—
silver, brass, and iron in the image of Daniel
2 represent these four powers. History clesirly
supports this.
There have been only four universal
kingdoms since Daniel's day. Let's notice
briefly the course of history as it was shown
to Daniel in the form of four beasts.
First, a lion with eagle's wings appeared.
Like the gold in the image of Daniel chapter
2, it represents the kingdom of Babylon. The
symbols used to describe Babylon are some
of the most spectacular creations on eeirth:
gold, the finest of metcds; a lion, king of
and an eagle, lord of the air. Ancient
beasts;
Babylon was a mighty empire! Recent
gircheological discoveries reveal that the
Babylonians used the lion with eagle's wings
as a symbol of their might. They commonly
pictured it on their Wcdls. Jeremiah also
34
describes the conquering power of Babylon
as similar to a lion.
Secondf a bear with three ribs in its
mouth rose up. In the year 539 B.C. Medo-
Persia superseded Babylon. The ribs, no
doubt, stand for the three conquests that
adlowed the Persians to gaiin power: Egypt,
Lydia, and Babylon. This was the second
world empire. It was represented in the image
of Daniel 2 by silver. Medo-Persia is aptly
described as a blood-thirsty bccir. Without a
doubt, its armies were ruthlessly brutal in
their savage attacks.
Thirdf a leopgird with four wings on
its back, which represents the third world
empire, overthrew the bear. The Grecians,
under Alexander the Great, literally flew from
conquest to conquest as they conquered
Medo-Persia emd the world. The leopard had
four heads. This S5mibolizes the fourfold
partition of the empire after Alexander's
passing. This kingdom was represented by
the brass in the image of Damiel 2.
Fourthf the dreadful, terrible indescrib-
able beast, sometimes thought of as the
dragon, crushed everything in its path. This
beast represents the cruel, crushing power of
Rome. She ruled the world for six centuries,
beginning in 168 B.C. In the great image, this
fourth world kingdom of the Caesars is
likened to iron that "breaks and smashes
everything." It would "crush and devour its
victims.** And the iron monsirchy of the world
did just that!

35
 Fifth, the ten horns, representing ten
kingdoms, came up out of the dreadful beast.
"The ten horns are ten kings who will come
from this kingdom" (Daniel 7:24). No animed
in nature has ten horns. The ten horns of this
symbolic beast were revealed to Damiel 1 ,000
years in advance and accurately forecast
the breakup of Rome into exactly ten parts.
The divisions of the Roman Empire laiid the
foundations of the modern European
nations. History verifies this. Rome domi-
nated Western Europe until the middle of the
4th century when it was overthrown, not by
another nation, but from within by the
warring Barbarian tribes.
Sixth, something new eind unusual ap-
peared before Dciniel. The next importamt
development in Europe cifter the founding of
the ten kingdoms was revealed Daniel writes:
.

While Iwas thinking about the

horns, there before me was an-
other horn, a little one, which
came up among them; and three
of the first horns were uprooted
before it. This horn had eyes like
the eyes of a man and a mouth
that spoke boastfully. (Damiel 7:8)
After them (the ten kingdoms) an-
other king will arise, different
from the earlier ones; he will sub-
due three kings, (verse 24)
What horn power Daniel
is this little
writes about? What nation is it? How can we

36
identify it? Let's examinestep by step:
it

—First, it came up among the ten horns.

This means it girose in Rome out of the head
of the Roman Empire which is the fourth
beast.
—Second, arose after the ten horns. This
it

means, chronologically, just A,D. 476.

sifter
—Third, this power would be "different from
the earlier ones" (the ten horns). The ten
horns were political organizations only. This
little horn would draw its authority from a
—
different source a religious source as we
shall soon discover.
— Fourth, three of the ten kingdoms would
be displaced in its rise to power. "He will
subdue three kings," the prophet writes.
— Fifth, this little horn would have "eyes like
the eyes of a man." Throughout the Bible eyes
aire a symbol of divine intelligence (please see
Ephesians 1:18). A prophet in Scripture is
sometimes called a "seer." He looks with
divine illumination into the future. He has
divine wisdom. He sees with God's eyes. This
horn has "eyes," not of God, but of man. It is
guided by human intelligence, human
leadership, and humain authority.
So the question is, what power fits all
these descriptions? What power rose to promi-
nence in Western Europe around A. D. 476 by
subduing three nations? How was this power
different from the four succeeding kingdoms?
History provides an answer and only—
—
one answer to the identity of the little horn
power. Just after Rome fell and the ten
37
kingdoms of Europe were established, a
religious-political state was also formed. It
steadily expeinded its influence over severed
centuries and rose to prominence in Western
Europe. It rose to power exactly at the time
the prophecy foretold, in the location the
prophecy predicted, and in the way the
prophecy indicated. Its rise to power was
highlighted by the destruction of the Heruli,
Ostrogoths, and Vandals. These three tribes
were plucked up by the roots as the prophecy
predicted. We cam still trace the roots of seven
of these tribes in Europe today. For example,
the Franks settled in France, the Anglo-
Saxons in Englcind, and the Alemani in
—
Germany. But these three ^the Heruli, the
—
Ostrogoths, £ind the Vsindgds ^were com-
pletely destroyed by the rise of the little horn
power because of their differing beliefs. And
the little horn, as defender of the orthodox
faith, attempted to convince these three tribes
of their errors. Unable to do this, the popular
church turned to coercion.
The little horn power is different from
any power ever to rule before. It is a religious-
political power. as the prophecy so
It is,

clearly states, "different" from the other

kingdoms. The world has never before seen
such an unusual combination of spiritual
8ind political power as that demonstrated by
the horn.
little

At this point in our study of Dainiers

prophecy, it might be helpful to notice some
paredlel predictions from the New Testament

38
reg£irding the experience of the early Chris-
church. Paul was very concerned about
ticin
the future of the church. To the elders of
Ephesus he confided these apprehensions:
I know leave, savage
that after I

wolves will come in among you

and will not spare the flock. Even
from your own number men will
arise and distort the truth in
order to draw away disciples after
them. So be on your guard!
Remember that for three years I
never stopped warning each of
you night and day with tears.
(Acts 20:29-31)

To solemn warning he added in a letter

this
to the Thessailonians, "For the secret power of
lawlessness is already at work..."
(IIThessalonians 2:7)
Three things troubled Paul about the
future of the early church. First, there would
be opposition from without. Paul compares
external opposition to the damage wolves do
among a flock of sheep. Paul foresaw the
savage persecution by which Satan would
endeavor to destroy the church.
But the external persecution Paul
envisioned here would not be neeir the threat
to the church as Paul's second concern
apostasy from within. He declared, "Even
from your own number men will arise..."
(please see Acts 20:28-3 1). Men would eirise
and distort the truth. The word "distort"

39
means to twist out of true meaning. Paul
pleaded with tears for the preservation of tlie
purity of the faith but he knew apostasy
would come. And it did. To theThessalonians,
he wrote:
Don't let anyone deceive you in
any way, for that day (Jesus' sec-
ond coming) will not come until
the rebellion occurs and the man
of lawlessness is revealed, the
man doomed to destruction.
(II Thessalonians 2 3) :

The third area that concerned Paul was

that the beginnings of apostasy would come
quickly. In other words, wouldn't be long
it

until apostasy would penetrate the church.

Let's examine more
this rebellion in
detail. In the Greek, Paul uses the word
apostasy, which means literally "a falling
away" or a departure from the purity of the
faith. Paul warns that this falling away will be
led by the "man of lawlessness (or sin)," "the
man doomed to destruction." The term "the
man doomed to destruction" is used in only
one other place in Scripture —to
describe
Judas Iscariot. Judas betrayed Jesus while
acting the part of a friend. He displayed
outward signs of love and aiffection while
betraying his Lord and Saviour.
Paul's use of the Scime term "the man
doomed to destruction" to describe the
apostasy suggests that this power might
have similar characteristics to those

40
displayed by Judas Iscariot. In other words,
this power would betray the essentials of the
gospel while madntaining adl the outwaird
forms £ind professions of fidelity. It would be
led by a "man of lawlessness (or sin),"
professing and believing himself to be the
main of God.
With that background in mind, let's re-
turn to Daniel. In Daniel 8, a figure similar to
the little horn which "grew in power*' was
revealed to Dsiniel. Daniel writes that "...
truth was thrown to the ground" (Daniel
8: 12) by this power.
Is the picture becoming clearer? The
great struggle of the centuries would not be
the battle between religion and irreligion. It
would be a battle between truth and error.
Opposition from without would purify and
strengthen the church. The enemy, the "man
doomed to destruction," would work most
effectively from within to overthrow the truth
eind use the very church of God to spread
falsehood. Daniel writes:
He willspeak against the Most
High and oppress his saints and
try to change the set times and
the laws. The saints will be handed
over to him for a time, times and
half a time. (Daniel 7:25)
Thus, the apostasy within the Christian
church would in some way attempt to
undermine the authority of God.
As we discovered in previous chapters,

41
God's authority is based on His position as
Creator 2ind Sustainer of the universe
including our world. Reccdl what John the
beloved wrote:
Fear God and give him glory, be-
cause the hour of his judgment
has come. Worship him who made
the heavens, the earth, the sea
and the springs of water. (Revela-
tion 14:7)
God's right to be worshipped and the author-
ity of His law are built on the fact that He
made the physical world. He also made us.
Yet Daniel writes that this little horn power
would eventually be so bold as to usurp God's
authority £ind "... try to change the set times
and the laws." The laws referred to here
cannot be mere human laws. Human laws
change automatically when one kingdom
succeeds another. TTlierefore the prophecy
must be referring to the eternal laws of the
Most High. To meddle with these would, in a
very real sense, be speaking agcdnst the Most
High.
As previously noted, chsinging the law
would be contrciry to Jesus' words. He saiid:
Do not think that I have come to
abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them
but to them. I tell you the
fulfill
truth, luitil heaven and earth dis-
appear, not the smallest letter,
not the least stroke of a pen, will
42
 by any means disappear from the
Law until eversrthing is accom-
plished. (Matthew 5:17. 18
Goodspeed)
God's law will stand as long as heaven cind
earth exist. Belittling this law, diminishing
its authority, or attempting to change its
precepts is unthinkable. The Bible makes it
cle2ir that the little horn power would attempt
to do exactly this. And it really did happen.
Of course, not sdl within the church
accepted the apostasy. Those who refused
were persecuted. "He will . . oppress his
.

saints ..." writes the prophet (Daniel 7:25).

This can only refer to the religious persecu-
tion which history verifies did occur.
Notice the rest of verse 25: "He will . try
. .

to change the set times and the laws...**

(Daniel 7:25) This reference to set times is
interesting and important. A moment's
reflection will bring to mind that there is only
one reference to time in the law of God the —
weekly Sabbath day. As we have already
discovered, the Sabbath is God's holy day, a
perpetual reminder of His creation. God rested
on the Sabbath, He blessed it, and He
sanctified it. It was established in the Garden
of Eden and will be kept in the Eden to come.
Iseiiah 66:23 says:
From one New Moon to another
and from one Sabbath to another,
allmankind will come and bow
down before me, says the Lord.
43
 The question is, what law did the little
horn power "try to change**? Was the
Sabbath, as established in God's law, ever
changed? If so, how? When?
In the preceding chapter we studied how
the Sabbath day was remembered and
celebrated by early Christians as their weekly
day of rest and worship. John had his vision
on "the Lord's Day" (Revelation 1:10). The
church continued worshipping on the
Sabbath until the end of the first century.
But early in the second century some
Christians voluntarily began celebrating the
crucifixion weekend. They centered their cel-
ebrations on the crucifixion day which was
the day of the Jewish Passover. But because
of a series of Jewish revolts against the
Romans, the Jews became more sind more
unpopular and Christians begem to suffer
because of their origin as a Jewish sect.
Celebration of the Passover in memory of the
crucifixion was seen by many as further
identifying Christianity with Judcdsm. So,
some of the Christiams decided to make a
change.
It was Sixtus, the bishop or "papa" of the

Christism church in Rome, who began the

process that led to a transference of the day
of worship from the Sabbath to Sunday. He
convinced Christians to celebrate the resur-
rection, which occurred on Sunday, instead
of the Crucifixion. At first the celebration was
not a weekly observance but an smnucd one.
By changing this celebration to Sunday and
44
applying it to the resurrection, the Christiains
in Rome were able to disassociate themselves
from the Jews.
It just so happened this resurrection
celebration concided with a joyous Roman
festival in honor of the sun. The converted
sun worshipper felt very much at home with
the Christian spring festival, held on the
sun's day, to honor the resurrection. Thus
Sixtus, by encouraging Christians to
celebrate the resurrection on the first day,
actually put them in the position of honoring
the sun's day.
The next importcint act occured in A.D.
200 when Pope Victor sought to enforce the
einnual observance of resurrection Sunday.
He ordered all bishops excommunicated who
would not follow the plan of celebrating the
resurrection festival. This decree enforcing
Sunday observance was used by the bishop
of Rome as a tool in his attempt to gain
control of the church. Rome's Socrates, the
skilled church historian, later wrote: "For
although almost all churches throughout the
world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the
sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of
Alexandria 2ind at Rome, on account of some
ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.'
(Italics supplied)" Ibid, p.65 1 The "aincient
, .

tradition" was no doubt the emphasis Sixtus

£ind Victor put upon honoring Sunday.
The first law actually commanding
Sunday rest was issued by the Emperor
Constantine in March, 321 A.D. His decree
45
declared, "On the venerable Day of the Sun
let the magistrates cind people residing in
cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In
the country, however, persons engaged in
agriculture may freely and lawfully continue
their pursuits." SDASowceBook, p. 999. But
church historian Philip Schaff meikes this
significant point: "... the Sunday law of
Constantine must not be overrated . There
. .

is no reference whatever in his law either to

the fourth commandment or to the resurrec-
tion of Christ. Besides he expressly exempted
the country districts... Christians and
pagans had been accustomed to festival rests;
Constantine made these rests to synchro-
nize, cind gave the preference to Sunday." —
Ihid,, pp 999, 1000.
Slowly but surely the movement into
apostasy predicted by Paul and Daniel gained
momentum. In the yccir 386 A. D Theodosius
. ,

I forbade litigation on Sunday aind originated

another practice still widespread in the

western world: "No person shall demcind
payment of either a public or private debt [on
Sunday]." Theodosius II, in the year 425
A.D., turned his attention to the sporting
activities of his people £ind forbade all amuse-
ments, both circuses and theaters, on Sun-
days. The third Synod of Orleans, in 538
A.D., forbade all work in rural areas on
Sunday. And so, step by step, the sun's day
was adopted into the Christian church amd
made the day of rest for the majority of
Christians. The times were indeed cheinged!

46
(See SDA Source BooK pp. 1001, 1002.)
But what does the Roman Catholic
church have to say about its role in the
cheinge of the Sabbath? Does it agree or
disagree? What is its position?
The Romsm Catholic church sees in the
change of the Sabbath a sign of the power of
the church. Statements made by Catholic
church authorities show this clearly:
1 In response to the question, **Have you

any other way ofproving that the church has

power of precept?**,
to institute festivals
Stephen Keenein wrote, "Had she not such
power, she could not have done that in which
all modem 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 ScriptureJ
authority." —Stephen Keenan, A Doctrincd
Catechism, p. 174.
Another comment: "You may read the
2.
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 never semctify." —
Cairdinal
Gibbons, Faith of Our Fathers, p. Ill, 112.
3. And Monsignor Segur wrote, "It was
the Catholic Church which, by the authority
of Jesus Christ has transferred this rest to
Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection
of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday
by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in
47
spite of themselves, to the authority of the
[Catholic] Church,'' — Plain Talk About the
Protestantism of Today, p. 225.
Father Enright, a Roman Catholic priest,
was reported in the American Sentinel New
York, as saying, *The Bible says, 'Remember
that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.' The
Catholic Church says, *No! By my divine
power I have abolished the Sabbath day and
command you to keep holy the first day of the
week. And now the entire civilized world bows
down in reverent obedience to the command
of the Holy Catholic Church.'**
The Romein Church's position is entirely
clear. Daniel predicted the change and the
Catholic church admits it. In fact, she proudly
points to this change as proof of her power in
matters of religious doctrine.
Even reformers during the Protestant
Reformation expressed their concern. Martin
Luther, for example, who was lairgely respon-
sible for the compilation of the Augsburg
Confession, said, 'They [the popes] adlege the
change of the Sabbath into the Lord's day,
contreiry, as it seemeth, to the Decadogue;
and they have no example more in their
mouths than the change of the Sabbath.
They will needs have the church's power to be
very great, because it hath dispensed with a
precept of the Decalogue." — Philip Schaff,
The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3, p. 64.
Yet despite all this evidence, there eire
some who say, "What difference does it
still

make? A day is a day! Time is time! Do we

48
really have to be so exact?" I believe we do.
After all, even in our daily appointments with
men we would not dreaim of showing up the
day afterl
But the real issue is not a matter of
days. It is a matter of masters. Let's examine
two simple questions: When we rest on the
seventh day of the week in reverent worship
to God, whom are we obeying? The answer is
quite easy: we are obeying God. When we
work on the seventh day of the week or use
it for secular pleasure or business purposes

and rest and worship on the first day of

the week, whom are we actually obeying?
It cannot possibly be God, since God has

never given any command to do this.

Which master do you plan to obey? The
Bible says:
Don't you know that when you
offer yourselves to someone to
ohey him as slaves, you are slaves
to the one whom you obey
whether you are slaves to sin,
which leads to death, or to
obedience, which leads to
righteousness? (Romans 6:16)
Those who have boldly followed the law
of God through the centuries have found that
from time to time the commands of men and
the commandments of God come into
conflict. Peter found himself in just such a
position £uid Ccime to this conclusion:
Peter and the other apostles
49
 replied: *We must obey God rather
than men!* (Acts 5:29)

Peter and the other apostles did not hesitate.

When a matter of God's law was at stake,
their decision was clearcut. And their deci-
sion is our excimple. Though the psirticular
aspect of God's law under question may
change, the principle remains forever the
ssmie: "...we must obey God rather than
men!"
The matter is before us. We have on the
one hand Jesus Christ who declared Himself
to be the "Lord of the sabbath." He told the
. . .

people plciinly that He had not come to

abolish the law of God or to lessen its
authority. In fact. He came to show us how to
keep it.He said:
They worship me
in vain; their
teachings are but rules taught by
men." (Matthew 15:9)

It is not the voice of God that cedls us to

worship on another day. It is only the voice of
man. No command of God suggests Sunday
sacredness.
As Jesus' soon return approaches and
God's message of truth sweeps on into sdl the
world, the chcdlenge of Elijah, who long ago
called his wayward people from sun worship,
is before us:
How long will you waver between
two opinions? If the Lord is God,
follow him; but if Baal is God,

50
 foUow him. (I Kings 18:21)
There can be no compromise with sin. The
issue in this fingd conflict is loyalty. The
choice is between the commandments of God
eind the tradition of men. Jesus put it plainly
when He said:

worship me in vain;
*...They
their teachings are but rules
taught by men.' You have let go of
the commands of God and are
holding on to the traditions of
men. (Mark 7:7, 8)
My friend, this is Christ's message of
love to you. The
Bible clccirly points out that
the seventh day Sabbath is the sign of the
Creator's power. It has also revealed that
Jesus Christ planned no change whatever in
His day of worship. With these thoughts in
mind, I challenge you, even as Joshua
challenged the Israelites, to "...choose for
yourselves... whom you will serve.
.
" (Joshua
.

24:15). Are you ready to say, "I choose

Jesus cind the commamdments of God. I will,
by His grace from this day on, 'Remember the
sabbath day by keeping it holy'"?
There have been thousands throughout
the centuries who have loved Jesus enough
to fully obey Him. In the next chapter you will
read some of the most thrilling accounts
ever recorded of faithfulness to God's
Sabbath day.

51
 The Centuries
Bear Witness

Ai.busy editor developed serious trouble

with his eyes. The long hours of tediously
pouring over detailed manuscripts had
severely strained them. Thinking he might
need a custom-fitted pair of glasses, he
visited an eye specialist. But the specialist
told him his regd need was not new glasses
but rest for his eyes. The editor explained to
—
the specialist that this was impossible his
work required him to sit cdl day bending over
a desk, reading and writing. The speciedist
then asked where he lived. The editor replied
that he lived within sight of a high ridge on
the majestic Pemine Mountian chain in
France. When the specialist hccird this his
advice was, "Go home and do your work as
usuad, but every hour leave your desk, go out
on your porch £ind look at the mountcdns.
52
The fcir away look will rest your eyes after the
long strain of reading manuscripts and
proof sheets." (Quoted from Focus Magazine,
vol. 6, No. 3, p. 8.)
And so it is with the Sabbath. It is an
invitation to rest our eyes from the common
things filling our lives and take the far away
look at the things of eternity. It is designed
to help us "refocus" our vision on the things
that really matter. Throughout the centuries
faithful Sabbathkeepers have kept their
hccirts £ind minds focused on the things of
true value.
But before we exaimine this historical
witness, let's briefly review what we have
covered this far. The Sabbath was carefully
observed by the Hebrews throughout the
Old Testament period. Jesus and His
disciples carefully kept the Sabbath in
loving obedience to a gracious heavenly
Father. They looked forward with delight to
each weekly Sabbath. Throughout the first
century, both Jewish and Gentile converts to
Christicinity observed the Sabbath.
But severed factors combined to induce
Christians to give up the Sabbath in favor of
Sunday in the succeeding centuries. After
the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the
crushing of the Jewish revolt against the
Romsms in A.D. 1 35, the Jews were scattered
throughout the empire. Their name cind
religion were strongly opposed. In most
circles, a Jew was considered a "persona
non grata.**
53
 One of the most obvious outward marks
of a Jew was the keeping of the Sabbath.
Pagan religions throughout the centuries
have placed special significance on sun
worship. Sun worship was common in Egypt.
Babylon, Persia, and Rome. It is not surpris-
ing that early Christiam leaders, attempting
to disassociate themselves from Judaism as
well as make Christicinity more acceptable to
Rome, saw in the resurrection of Christ on
the first day of the week such a bridge.
Sun worship gradually grew in
prominence throughout the Roman empire.
Although initicdly opposed, the third century
Roman ruler, Aurelian, who ruled from A.D.
270 to 275, strongly supported sun worship.
By the eeirly fourth century, Constantine, a
Christian Roman emperor, passed the first
Sunday law on March 7, A.D. 321, entitling
Sunday "the venerable day of the sun."
Church and state leaders gradually united to
shift the emphasis from the true Bible
Sabbath to its substitute day. In a
compromise measure, early church leaders
gradually exalted Sunday in place of the
true Bible Sabbath. However, Sabbath
observance was still practiced. Faithfiil
champions of God's truth were unwilling to
surrender the claims of God upon their
conscience. To them, the Sabbath was more
than a matter of days. It was cin issue of
obedience to God.

54
 Historical References of Sabbath
Observance Through the Centuries

On the following pages of this chapter,

you will discover that God has adways had a
people willing to lovingly obey Him. Although
their numbers have been small at times,
there has adways been a faithful remnant
keeping God's commands. The straight chain
of truth spams the centuries. As you carefully
consider these pages, may the Holy Spirit
inspire you to be among God's faithful
commandment keepers. Stories of God's
heroes through the centuries have been added
with the prayer that they will encourage you
to be one of God's faithful.

The Early Apostate Years

A summary of the historical evidence from

the First to the Fifth centuries.

A careful study of the existent historical

sources from the First to Fifth centuries
reveals the amazing fact that the
transference of the sacredness of the true
Bible Sabbath to Sunday was a long and
gradual process. Dr. Kenneth Strand,
Professor of Church History at Andrews
University in Berrien Springs, Michigan,
categorically states, "Until the Second
Century there is no concrete evidence of a
Christian weekly Sunday celebration

55
anywhere. The first specific references
during that century come from Alexandria
and Rome, places that also eairly rejected the
observance of the seventh-day Sabbath."
[The Sabbath In Scripture and History,
p. 330, Review and Herald Publishing
Association, 1982.)
Why did both Alexandria £ind Rome
surrender the Sabbath truth earlier than
most cities? The answer can be found in an
understanding of early Christianity. New
Testament Christianity was largely composed
of converted Jews. Later, thousands of
Gentiles flocked into the church. While the
early Christians faithfully upheld the claims
of God's law by observing the true Sabbath,
these new converts, whose background was
tainted with sun worship, were more likely to
surrender the Sabbath. The centers of
Christianity shifted from Jerusalem to
Alexandria and Rome. Gentile converts who
did not have the same regaird for the Sabbath,
and who were strongly influenced by the
resurrection of Christ on Sunday, and their
own background of sun worship, accepted
the compromise measures more easily.
The situation in Alexandria cind Rome
was not typical of all cities in the empire.
A fifthcentury church historian, Socrates
Scholasticus, gives us this significant
insight: "For almost all churches throughout
the world celebrate the sacred mysteries
(Lx)rd's Supper) on the Sabbathof every week.

56
Yet the Christians at Alexcindria cind Rome,
on account of some aincient tradition, have
ceased to do this. The Egyptians in the
neighborhood of Alexandria and inhabiteints
of Thebais hold their religious assemblies on
the Sabbath, (Italics supplied.) (Socrates
Scholasticus, Ek:clesiastical History, 5.22
(NPNF)/22:132.) "The people of
Constantinople emd almost everywhere as-
semble together on the Sabbath, as well as on
the first day of the week, which custom is
never observed at Rome or Alexandria.**
(Itadics supplied.) (Sozomen, Ecclesiastical
History, 7.19 (NPNF) 2/2:390.)
As we have already discovered, the
attempted change of the Sabbath to Sunday
happened ever so slowly. When Sunday first
emerged in Christian circles it continued to
be a day of work but included a worship
service in honor of the resurrection. It did not
immediately replace the Sabbath as the above
quotations clearly reveal. For 200 yeairs 1 00-(

300 A.D.) Sunday observance existed side by

side with true Sabbath observance. But
the trend set by Constantine eventually led
to the chamge of Sabbath to Sunday.
Yet fadthful men and women of God
resisted the trend. Existing historical
documents reveed a deep interest in Sabbath
worship. God had His faithful and obedient
followers who championed His truth.
Although the candle of Sabbath truth flick-
ered, loyal stalwarts of truth obediently
guarded the flame.
57
First Century A.D.

Josephus. 'There is not any city of the

Grecians, nor any of the barbarians, nor any
nation whatsoever, whither our custom of
resting on the seventh day hath not come!"
(M'Clatchie, Notes and Queries on China
and Japan, edited by Dennys, Vol. 4, Nos. 7,
8, p. 100.)

First Century Christians. "Then the

spiritual seed of Abraham fled to Fella, on the
other side of Jordsin, where they found a
safe place of refuge, and could serve their
Master and keep his Sabbath." (Eusebius'
Ecclesiastical History, b, 3, chapter 5.)

Philo. Declares the seventh day to be a

festival, not of this or of that city, but of the
universe. (M'Clatchie, Notes and Queries,
Vol. 4, 99.)

Second Century A.D.

Early Christians. "The primitive Christians

had a great veneration for the Sabbath, and
spent the day in devotion and sermons. And
it is not to be doubted but they derived
this
practice from the Apostles themselves, as
appears by several scriptures to that
purpose." (Dialogues on the Lord's Day,
p. 189. London: 1701, by Dr. T.H.
Morer,
a Church of England divine.)

58
"...The Sabbath was a strong tie which
united them with the life of the whole people,
and in keeping the Sabbath holy they
followed not only the example but also the
command of Jesus." (Geschichte des
Sonntags, pp. 13, 14.)

The Gentile Christians observed also the

Sabbath. (Gieseler's Church History, Vol. 1,
ch. 2, par. 30, p. 93.)

"The primitive Christians did keep the

Sabbath of the Jews... therefore the
Christians, for a long time together, did
keep their conventions upon the Sabbath, in
which some portions of the law were read:
and this continued till the time of the
Laodicean council." (The Whole Works of
Jeremy Taylor, Vol. IX, p. 416, R. Heber's
EdiUon, Vol. XII, p. 416.)

certcdn that the ancient Sabbath did

"It is
remain and was observed together with the
celebration of the Lord's day by the
Christians of the East Church, about three
hundred years after our Saviour's death."
(A Learned Treatise of the Sabbath p. 77.)

NOTE: By the "Lord's Day" here the writer

mccins Sunday and not the true "Lord's Day"
which the Bible says is the Sabbath. This
quotation shows Sunday coming into use in
the early centuries soon gifter the death of the
59
Apostles. Recall that Paul foretold a great
"falling away" from the Truth which would
take place soon sifter his death.

Third Century A.D.

Egypt. (Oxyrhynchus Papyrus, 200-250 A.D.)

"Except ye make the sabbath a real sabbath
[sabbatize the sabbath —
Greek], ye shall not
see the Father. (The Oxyrhynchus PapyrU pt.
**

1, p. 3, Lx)gion 2, verso 4-11, London: Offices

of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 1898.)

Early Christians. "The seventh-day

Sabbath was solemnised by Christ, the
. . .

Apostles, and primitive Christians, tillthe

Laodicean Council did in a manner quite
abolish the observations of it.** [Dissertation
on the Lord's Day, pp. 33, 34. 44.)

Palestine to India (Church of the East).

As early as A.D. 225 there existed large
bishoprics or conferences of the Church of
the East (Sabbath-keeping) stretching from
Palestine to India. (Mingana, Early Spread of
Christianity, Vol. 10, p. 460.)

India (Buddhist Controversy, 220 A.D.).

The Kishan Dynasty of North India called a
faimous council of Buddhist priests at Vedsalia
to bring uniformity among the Buddhist
monks on the observance of their weekly
Sabbath. Some had been so impressed by the
writings of the Old Testament that they had
60
begun to keep holy the Sabbath. (Lloyd, The
Creed of Half Japan, p. 23.)

Fourth Century A.D.

Italy and East. "It was the practice generadly

of the Easteme Churches; and some churches
of the west . . For in the Church of Millaine
.

[Milcinl; ... it seemes the Saturday was held

in a farre esteeme . Not that the Easteme
. .

Churches, or any of the rest which observed

that day, were inclined to ludaisme [Juda-
ism]; but that they came together on the
Sabbath day, to worship Jesus [Jesus] Christ
the Lord of the Sabbath." (History of the
SabbatK [original spelling retained], Part 2,
par. 5, pp. 73, 74. London: 1636. Dr. Heylyn.)

Council lAiodicea—A.D. 365 "Canon 16 —

On Saturday the Gospels and other portions
of the Scripture shall be read aloud." "Canon
—
29 Christians shall not Judaize and be idle
on Saturday, but shall work on that day;
but the Lord's day they shall especially
honor, and, as being Christians, shsdl, if
possible, do no work on that day." (Hefele's
Councils, Vol. 2, b. 6.)
The Council of Laodicea was an eastern
gathering which represented Greek
Orthodox attitudes. An eastern church
was revising the celebration of the Lord's
Supper on the Sabbath at about the time this
Council was held. The Council of Laodicea
attests to the re-establishment of Sabbath

61
observance in the East. This was one factor
which led to the split in eastern £ind western
branches of Christianity.

Abyssinia. "In the last half of that century

St. Ambrose of Milan stated offtcicdly that the
Abyssinian bishop, Museus, had ^travelled
almost everywhere in the country of the
Seres* (China). For more than seventeen
centuries the Abyssiniain Church continued
to sanctify Saturday as the holy day of the
fourth commandment." (Ambrose, De
Moribus, Brachmanorium Opera Omnia,
1 132, found in Migne, Patrologia Latina, Vol.

17. pp. 1131-1132.)

Orient. The ancient Christians were very

careful in the observation of Saturday, or the
seventh day ... It is plain that all the Oriental
churches, aind the greatest part of the world,
observed the Sabbath as a festival...
Atheinasius likewise tells us that they held
religious assemblies on the Sabbath, not
because they were infected with Judaism,
but to worship Jesus, the Lord of the
Sabbath, Epiphanius says the same.**
[Antiquities of the Christian ChurcK Vol. II,
Book XX, chap. 3, Sec. 1, 66.1137, 1138.)

Persia 335-375 A.D. (40 years persecution

under Shapur II). The populsir complaint
against the Christisins —"They despise
our sun-god, they have divine services on
Saturday, they desecrate the sacred Ccirth by
62
burying their dead in it." [Truth Triumphont
p. 170.)

Fifth Century A.D.

5th Century Christicuis. Down even to the

fifth century the observcince of the Jewish
Sabbath was continued in the Christian
church. [Ancient Christianity Exemplified,
Lyman Colemein, ch. 26, sec. 2. p. 527.)

In Jerome's day (420) A.D.) the devoutest

Christicins did ordinary work on Sunday.
[Treatise of the Sabbath Day. by Dr. White,
Lord Bishop of Ely, p. 219.)

France. "Wherefore, except Vespers £ind

Noctums, there are no public services among
them in the day except on Saturday
[Sabbath] and Sunday." (John Cassian, a
French monk, Instituttes, Book 3, ch. 2.)
John Cassian promoted the observance
of both Sabbath and Sunday in his monas-
tery in the south of France. He taught that
the seventh day was the Sabbath of creation,
written with God's own finger on tables of
stone cind given to the humain race for all
time. He reftised to accept the Romcin plan of
observing only Sunday. Although Cassian
attempted to get the practice of observing
Sabbath, as well as Sunday accepted in
France, the Roman church authorities
refused. Consequently, his plem of observing
Sabbath was never fully accepted in Frsince.
63
Sidonius (speaking of King Theodoric of the
Goths, 454-526 A.D.) "It is a fact that it was
formerly the custom in the East to keep the
Sabbath in the same msuiner as the Lord's
day and to hold sacred assemblies: while on
the other hand, the people of the West,
contending for the Lord's day have neglected
the celebration of the Sabbath." [Apollinaris
Sidonii Epistolse, lib. 1, 2; Migne, 57.)

Constantinople. 'The people of Constantino-

ple, and almost everywhere, assemble
together on the Sabbath, as well as on the
first day of the week, which custom is never
observed at Rome or at Alexandria." (Socrates,
Ek:clesiastical History, Book 7, chap. 19.)

Egypt. 'There are several cities and villages

in Egypt where, contrary to the usage
established elsewhere, the people meet
together on Sabbath evenings, and, although
they have dined previously, partake of the
mysteries." (Sozomen, Ek:clesiastical History,
Book 7, ch. 19.)

Pope Inn€}cent 402-41 7A.D. Pope Sylvester

(3 14-335) was the first to order the churches
to fast on Saturday, and Pope Innocent (40 1-
417) made it a binding law in the churches
that obeyed him. (In order to bring the
Sabbath into disfavour.) "Innocentius did
ordaine the Saturday or Sabbath to be alwayes
fasted." (Dr. Peter Heylyn, History of the
Sabbath, Part 2, ch. 2, p. 44.)
64
 Runaway and Heir to
Slave,
the Throne, Witness for Bible Truth

The Sabbath truth preserved through the

Sixth to Eleventh centuries.

Seized in the quietness of his country

village, Patrick was beaten and dragged to a
waiting ship. He gained consciousness in
time to recognize that he was being trans-
ported to Ireland as a slave. After serving
there a short time, he discovered a way to
escape. He fled to Gaul where he heard the
preaching of Christ's gospel. He accepted it
and was baptized. Sensing a responsibility
to preach the gospel in the land of his
enslavement, he set sail for Irelaind. Here he
preached moving Biblical sermons which led
multitudes to the foot of the Cross. Even the
royal "high kings" of Ireland were impressed
by his deeply spiritual preaching.
Eventually, the king's son, Conall, along
with thousands of others, was baptized by
Patrick. Conall's great-grandson, Columba,
was in line for the throne through the royal
heritage of his mother Eithne. Columba had
accepted the Bible message preached by
Patrick. In fact, it is likely that he went so far
as to give up his throne for the cause of
Christ. Along with Patrick, he upheld the
Bible as the only foundation of faith. He
placed strong emphasis on the necessity of
loving obedience to the Ten Commandments

65
which he called "Christ's Law."
The Spirit of God wrought mightily
through Columba. He founded a Christian
school and missiongoy center on the small
island of lona, just off the British coast, in
approximately 563 A.D. It is probable that he
personsdly hand-copied the New Testamient
at least 300 times as well as large portions of
the Old Testament.
According to Dr. Leslie Heirdinge in
his outstanding work The Celtic Church
in Britain, one of the distinguishing
characteristics of the Celts was a sacred
regard for the Bibliccd Sabbath. The last
hours of Columba's Iffe are recorded as
follows: "Having continued his labors in
Scotland for 34 years, he clearly aind openly
foretold his death, £ind on Saturday, the
ninth of June, said to his disciple Diermit:
"This is the day called the Sabbath, that is,
the day of rest, and such will it be to me; for
it will put an end to my labors.' "[The Celtic

Church in Bntain, (SPCK) 1972, pp. 80-89.)

Andrew Lang, in writing about the
history of the Celtic church, says, *They
worked on Sunday but kept Saturday in a
Sabbatical manner." (A History of Scotland,
Andrew Lang, Vol. 1, p. 96.) In his carefully
chronicled Religious History of Scotland,
Moffat adds: "It seems to have been custom-
guy in the Celtic churches of Ccirly times in
Ireland, as well as Scotlcind, to keep Satur-
day, the Jewish Sabbath, as a day of rest from

66
labor. They obeyed the fourth commandment
literadly upon the seventh day of the week"
(page 140).
God's champions, Patrick and
—
Columba one a runaway slave and the other
the heir to a throne—kept the light of God's
truth burning in Ireland cind Scotlcind during
the Dark Ages. Truth Triumphant, Pacific
Press Publishing, 1944, p. 108.

Sixth Century A.D.

Scottish Church. "In this latter instance

they seemed to have followed a custom of
which we find traces in the early monastic
church of Irelamd by which they held Satur-
day to be the Sabbath on which they rested
fromall their labours." (W.T. Skene, Adamncai
Life of St Columba. 1874, p. 96.)

Scotland, Ireland. "We seem to see here an

allusion to the custom, observed in the esirly
monastic Church of Ireland, of keeping the
day of rest on Saturday, or the Sabbath."
[History of the Catholic Church in ScotlancL
Vol. 1, p. 86, written by Catholic historiain
Bellesheim.)

Seventh Century A.D.

Scotlcmd and Ireland. Professor James C.

Moffatt, D.D., Professor of Church History
at Princeton, says: "It seems to have been

67
customary in the churches of early
Celtic
times, in Ireland as well as Scotleind, to keep
Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, as a day of
rest from labour. They obeyed the fourth
commandment literally upon the seventh
day of the week." (The Church in Scotland, p.
140.)

*The Celts used a Latin Bible unlike the

Vulgate (R.C.) and kept Saturday as a day of
rest, with special religious services on Sun-
day.*' (Flick, The Rise of the Medieval ChwcK
p. 237.)

Rome. Gregory I (A.D. 590-604) wrote against

"Romcin citizens [who] forbid any work being
done on the Sabbath day." {Nicene and Post-
Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. XIII, p.
13, epist. 1.)

Pope Gregory I, A.D. 590 to 604. "Gregory,

bishop by the grace of God to his well-beloved
sons, the Roman citizens: It has come to me
that certain men of perverse spirit have
disseminated among you things depraved
£ind opposed to the holy faith, so that they
forbid gmything to be done on the day of the
Sabbath. What shall I call them except preach-
ers of anti-Christ?" {Epistles, b. 13:1.)

Eighth Century A.D.

Council of Liftinae, Belgium—A.D. 745

(attended by Boniface). "The third
68
allocution of this council waims against the
observance of the Sabbath, referring to the
decree of the council of Laodicea." (Dr. Hefele,
ConciliengescK 3, 512, sec. 362.)

India, China, Persia, Etc. "Widespread and

enduring was the observance of the seventh-
day Sabbath among the believers of the
Church of the East and the St. Thomas
Christians of India, who never were
connected with Rome. It also was maintained
among those bodies which broke off from
Rome aifter the Council of Ch2dcedon namely,
theAbyssinians, the Jacobites, the Maronites,
£ind the Armenians." (Schaiff-Herzog, The New
Enclopaedia of Religious Knowledge, art.
"Nestorians"; also Realencyclopaedie fur
Protestantische Theologie und Kirche, art.
"Nestorianer.")

China—A.D. 781. In A.D. 781, the famous

China Monument was inscribed in marble to
tellof the growth of Christianity in China at
that time. The inscription, consisting of 763
words, was unearthed in 1625 near the city
of Changan and now stands in the "Forest of
Tablets," Chaingan. The following extract from
the stone shows that the Sabbath was
observed: "On the seventh day we offer
sacrifices, 2ifter having purified our hearts,
and received absolution for our sins. This
religion, so perfect and so excellent, is
difficult to name, but it enlightens darkness

69
by its brilliant precepts. [Christianity in China,
**

M. I'Abbe Hue. Vol. I, ch. 2, pp. 48, 49.)

Ninth Century A.D.

Bulgaria. "Bulgaria in the early season of its

evangelization had been taught that no work
should be performed on the Sabbath.**
(Responsa Nicolai Papae I and Consulta
Bulgarorum, Responsum 10, found in Mansi,
Sacrorum Concilorum Nova et Amplissima
Collectio, Vol. 15; p. 406; also Hefele,
Conciliengeschicte, Vol. 4, sec. 478.)

—
Bulgaria Pope Nicholas J, in answer to a
letter from Bogaris, ruling prince ofBidgaricu
"Ques. 6 — Bathing is allowed on Sunday.
Ques. 10 — One is to cease from work on
Sunday, but not also on the Sabbath." (Hefele,
4 346-352, sec. 478.)

Bulgaria. "Pope Nicholas in the ninth

I,

century, sent the ruling prince of Bulgairia a

long document sa3dng in it that one is to
cease from work on Sunday, but not on the
Sabbath. The head of the Greek Church,
offended at the interference of the Papacy,
declared the Pope excommunicated.** [Truth
TnumphanU p. 232.)

Tenth and Eleventh Centuries A.D.

Church of the East—Kurdistan. "The

70
Nestorians eat no pork and keep the
Sabbath. They believe in neither auricular
confession nor purgatory." (Schaff-Herzog,
The New Encyclopaedia of Religious
Knowledge, art. "Nestorians."

Scotland. "It was another custom of theirs to

neglect the reverence due to the Lord's day,
by devoting themselves to every kind ofworldly
business upon it, just as they did upon other
days. That this was contreiry to the law, she
(Queen Margaret) proved to them as well
by reason as by authority. 'Let us venerate
the Lord's day,' said she, 'because of the
resurrection of our Lord, which happened
upon that day, and let us no longer do servile
works upon it; bearing in mind that upon this
day we were redeemed from the slavery of the
devil. The blessed Pope Gregory affirms the
Scime.' " [Life of Saint Margaret, Turgot, p. 49
British Museum Library.)

Scotlcmd—Historicm Skene commenting

upon the work of Queen Margaret.
"Her next point was that they did not duly
reverence the Lord's day, but in this latter
instance they seemed to have followed a
custom of which we find traces in the early
Church of Ireland, by which they held
Saturday to be the Sabbath on which they
rested from adl their labours." (Skene, Celtic
Scotland, Vol. 2, p. 349.)

71
Scotlcmd and Ireland. 'T. Ratcliffe Bamett,
in his book on the fervent Catholic queen of
Scotlcind who in 1 060 was first to attempt the
ruin of Columba's brethren, writes: 'In this
matter the Scots had perhaps kept up the
traditional usage of the ancient Irish Church
which observed Saturday instead of Sunday
as the day of rest.' '*
(Bamett, Margaret of
Scotland: Queen and Saint p. 97.)

Council of Clermont. "During the first

crusade. Pope Urban II decreed at the council
of Clermont (A.D. 1095) that the Sabbath be
set aside in honour of the Virgin Mary.'*
[History of the Sabbath, p. 672.)

Constantinople. "Because you observe the

Sabbath with the Jews aind the Lord's day
with us, you seem to imitate with such
observance the sect of Nazarenes." (Migne,
Patrologia Latina, Vol. 145, p. 506; also
Hergenroether, Photius, Vol. 3, p. 746.)
Note: The Nazarenes were a Christian
denomination.)

Greek Church. *The observance of Saturday

is,as everyone knows, the subject of a bitter
dispute between the Greeks cind the Latins."
(Neale, A History of the Holy Eastern ChurcK
Vol. 1, p. 731.) Note: Referring to the separa-
tion of the Greek Church from the Latin in
1054.

72
 Alpine Mountains E)cho the
Ring of Truth

The Sabbath truth preserved in the Twelfth

through Sixteenth centuries.

Even during the height of persecution by

the papal power during the Middle Ages the
Sabbath was not totadly forgotten as a day of
rest. Although there is no firm historical
evidence that all of the Waldenses kept the
Bible Sabbath, it is clear that some did. The
Waldenses were a group of Bible-
believing Christians who accepted no other
creed except the Scriptures They looked to
.

Jesus as the only head of the church.

Because of this belief, they were often fiercely
persecuted.
From their mountain hideouts in
southern France cind Northern Itady, they
descended on the cities of France,
Switzerland, and Italy disguised as
merchants. Constantly alert for sincere
seekers after truth, they often shared, at the
risk of their own lives, precious handwritten
Bible manuscripts which they had CcirefuUy
sewn into their long flowing robes.
Dr. Daniel Augsberger of Andrews
University makes this interesting
observation regarding the Waldenses: "...it
is interesting to note that instances of
Sabbathkeeping occur where the Waldenses
had preached with the greatest success.**

73
(Daniel Augsberger, The Sabbath in Scripture
and History, Review and Herald Publishing
Association, 1982, p. 208.) Undoubtedly, the
Waddenses* emphasis on Scripture led to a
deepened understcinding of the importance
of Sabbath observance.
On one occasion in northern France, the
secret meetings of a group of Sabbath-
keepers were revealed to the authorities in
1420. Sixteen to eighteen persons were
arrested. Along with their preacher, they
were tried by a church tribunal called the
"Inquisition." Legad documents from this
period record that the group was condemned
for heresy. The charges included among other
things, "keeping Saturday as their Sabbath."
The preacher of the group, Bertoul Thurin
was executed for his Sabbathkeeping
practices. (Daniel Augsberger, The Sabbath
in Scripture and History, p. 209.)
In his book. Truth or Propaganda, a good
friend of mine. Pastor George Vandeman of
the "It Is Written" television program, tells
this fascinating story: "A few years ago a
pastor led a group of young people on a
guided tour of the Waldensian Vadleys of
Piedmont. One evening they were singing
£iround the campflre and telling mission
stories. Some of the Waddensian people
drifted in and stood listening in the darkness.
Their hearts were touched as they listened
to the testimonies of those young people
£ind hccird them singing about the Second
Coming of Christ.
74
 When the songs and stories were over, a
Waldensicin elder stepped into the light of the
campfire and said, 'You must carry on! We,
the Waldensian people, have a proud
heritage behind us. We are proud of the
history of our people as they have fought to
preserve the light of truth high upon these
mountainsides eind up and down these
vsdleys . This is our great heritage of the
. .

past. But we really do not have any future.

We have given up the teachings we once
believed in. The sad thing is, we cire not
moving forward with courage to face the
future. You must cany onr
*The cry of the centuries comes ringing
down the corridors of time, echoing in our
ears this very moment. Someone must cairry
on. Someone must cairry the torch of truth.
Someone must faithfully preserve the truth
He died for. Someone must stsmd guard till
He comes." (Truth or Propaganda, George
Veindeman, Pacific Press Publishing Associa-
tion, 1986, pp. 164, 165).

Twelfth Century A.D.

Lombardy. "Traces of Sabbathkeepers are

found in the times of Gregory I, Gregory VII,
and in the twelfth century in Lombardy.'*
[Strong's Cyclopaedia, 1, 660.)

Waldenses. "Among the documents, we have

by the same peoples, an explcination of the
Ten Commandments dated by Boyer 1 120.
75
Observance of the Sabbath by ceasing from
worldly labours, is enjoined." (Blaiir, History
of the Waldenses, Vol. 1, p. 220.

Wales. "There is much evidence that the

Sabbath prevailed in Wales universally until
A.D. 1115, when the first Romain bishop was
seated at St. Davis's. The old Welsh Sabbath-
keeping churches did not even then
cdtogether bow the knee to Rome, but fled to
their hiding places." (Lewis, Seventh Day
Baptists inEurope andAmerica, Vol. 1 p. 29.)
,

Pasagini. (The papal author, Bonacuisus,

wrote the following against the **Pasagainr :)
"Not a few, but many know what are the
errors of those who are called Pasagini...
First, they teach that we should obey the
Sabbath. Furthermore, to increase their
error, they condemn and reject all the church
Fathers, and the whole Romain Church."
(D'Achery, Spicilegium I, f. 211-214;
Muratory, Antiq. med. aevi. 5, f. 152, Hahn,
3, 209.)

Hungary, France, England, Italy,

Germany. (Referring to the Sabbathkeeping
Pasagini.) 'The spread of heresy at this time
is admost incredible. From Bulgaria to the
Ebro, from northern Fraince to the Tiber,
everjrwhere we meet them. Whole countries
are infested, like Hungary and southern
France; they abound in many other coun-
tries; in Germany, in Italy, in the Netherlainds

76
and even in Engl2ind they put forth their
efforts.'' (Dr. Hahn. GescK derKetzer, 1. 13.)

Thirteenth Century A.D.

Waldenses. *They say that the blessed Pope

Sylvester was the Antichrist of whom
mention is made in the Epistles of St. Paul
as having been the son of perdition. [They
also say] that the keeping of the Sabbath
ought to tcike place." (Bk:clesiastical History
ofthe Ancient Churches ofPiedmonUp, 169 —
by a prominent Roman Catholic author
writing about Waldenses.)

Waldenses of France. *The inquisitors...

that the sign of a Vaudois, deemed
[declgire]
worthy of death, was that he followed Christ
and sought to obey the commandments of
God." [History of the Inquisition of the Middle
Ages, H.C. Lea, Vol. 1.)

Fourteenth Century A.D.

Waldenses. *That we aire to worship one only

God, who able to help us, cind not the
is
Saints depsirted; that we ought to keep holy
the Sabbath day." [Luther's Fore-runners,
p. 38.)

England, Holland, Bohemia. "We wrote of

the Sabbatariains in Bohemia, Trsinsylvemia.
Englsmd and Holland between 1250 and
1600 A.D." (Wilkinson, p. 309.)
77
Bohemiaf 1310 (Modem Czechoslovakia).
"In 1310, two hundred years before Luther's
theses, the Bohemigm brethren constituted
one-fourth of the population of Bohemia, £ind
that they were in touch with the Waldenses
who abounded in Austria, Lombardy,
Bohemia, north Germany, Thuringia, Bran-
denburg, aind Moravia. Erasmus pointed out
how strictly Bohemiain Waldenses kept the
seventh day Sabbath. (Armitage, A History of
the Baptists, p. 318; Cox, The Literature of the
Sabbath Question, vol. 2, pp. 201-2.)

Norway. Then, too, in the "Catechism" that

was used during the fourteenth century, the
Sabbath commandment read thus: "Thou
shadt not forget to keep the seventh day."
(This is quoted from Documents and Studies
Concerning the History of the Lutherna
Catechism in the Nordish Churches, p. 89.
Christiania: 1893.)

Norway. "Also the priests have caused the

people to keep Saturdays as Sundays."
[Theological Periodicals for the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Norway, Vol. 1, p. 184.
Oslo.)

Fifteenth Century A.D.

Bohemia. "Erasmus testifies that even as

late as about 1 500 these Bohemiams not only
kept the seventh day scrupulously, but
£dso were called Sabbatarians. (Cox. The
78
Literature of the SabbathQuestioi%Vol. 2, pp.
201, 202; Truth Triumphant p. 264.)

Norway, Church Council held at Bergen,

Norway, August 22, 1 435. *The first matter
concerned a keeping holy of Saturday. It had
come to the attention of the airchbishop that
people in different places of the kingdom had
ventured the keeping holy of Saturday. It is
strictly forbidden —it is stated in the—
Church-Law, for any one to keep or to adopt
holy days, outside of those which the pope,
archbishop, or bishops appoint." (The His-
tory of the Norwegian Church under Catholi-
cism, R. Keyser. Vol. II, p. 488. Oslo: 1858.)

Norway, 1435, Catholic Provincial Coun-

cil at Bergen. "We are informed that some
people in different districts of the kingdom,
have adopted and observed Saturdaykeeping.
It is severely forbidden —
in holy church
—
canon one and all to observe days excepting
those which the holy Pope, archbishop, or
the bishops command. Saturdaykeeping must
under no circumstances be permitted here-
after further than the church canon com-
mands. Therefore, we counsel all the friends
of God throughout all Norway who want to be
obedient towards the holy church to let this
evil of Saturdaykeeping alone; aind the rest
we forbid under penalty of severe church
punishment to keep Saturday holy." (Dip.
Norveg..7, 397.)

79
Norway, 1 436, Church Conference at Oslo.
"It is forbidden under the same penalty to
keepSaturdayholy by refraining fromlabour.*'
[History of the Norwegian Church, p. 401.)

—
France Waldenses. King of
"Lx>uis XII,
Freince (1498-1515), being informed by the
enemies of the Waldenses, inhabiting a part
of the province of Province, that severed
heinous crimes were laid to their account,
sent the Master of Requests, and a certadn
doctor of the Sorbonne, to make inquiry into
this matter. On their return they reported
that they had visited all the parishes, but
could not discover amy traces of those crimes
with which they were charged. On the con-
trary, they kept the Sabbath day, observed
the ordingince of baptism, according to the
primitive church, instructed their children in
the articles of the Christian faith, and the
commandments of God. The King having
heeird the report of his commissioners, said
with an oath that they were better men thein
himself or his people." [History of the Chris-
tian ChurcK Vol. II, pp. 71, 72, third edition.
London: 1818.)

The Lord of the Sabbath

A Master Worth Dying For
The Sabbath truth preserved from the
Sixteenth through Twentieth centuries.

80
 Oswcdd Glciit repeatedly risked his life
for the Sabbath truth. He was captured in
1545 while on an evangelistic mission in
central Europe. After a year and six weeks in
jail, he awaikened at midnight to the thunder-
ous footsteps of soldiers mairching down the
hall to his cell. These cruel mercenaries
bound him hand and foot, dragged him
through the city and cast him into the Danube.
Little did they realize that the truth he gave
his life for, like the ripples created by a rock
thrown into a clean pond on a tranquil
evening, would rapidly spread throughout
central Europe.
This truth spread to Great Britain and
Scandanavia, and was later transferred to
America. For many an early English seventh-
day Sabbathkeeper, the Lord of the Sabbath
was worth dying for.
John James, an English Sabbathkeeping
minister was preaching Sabbath afternoon,
October 19, 1661, when the police entered
his church and demanded, in the name of
King Charles II, that he cease. Not one to be
easily intimidated, he continued preaching.
A commotion arose. James was arrested and
convicted by a rigged jury on false charges.
He was sentenced tobe hanged, dragged
through the city by a horse, and chopped up
limb by limb with an axe. In spite of two brave
appeals to the king by his wife his sentence
was carried out. After he was hanged his
body was taken down and butchered; his

81
heart was drawn out of his chest and flung
into the fire; and his head was placed on a
pole outside his church as a grim warning to
ginyone who desired to keep the seventh-day
Sabbath.
John James* witness for truth speaks
eloquently to us today. His courage testifies
of the power of God. His blood symbolically
cries out from the ground, "Don't ever com-
promise truth!*' The words of Scripture spccik
in trumpet tones to our generation:
Therefore, since we are sur-
rounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off every-
thing that hinders and the sin
that so easily entangles, and let
us run with perseverance the race
marked out for us. (Hebrews 12: 1)
Friend, embrace the truth and run the
race. The martyrs of the
lives of faithful
Middle Ages beckon you on! (Tell It To The
World, Merv)^! Maxwell, Pacific Press Pub-
lishing Association, 1976, pp. 71-73.)

Sixteenth Century A.D.

Russia —Council, Moscow, 1503. *The ac-

cused [Sabbathkeepers] were summoned;
they openly acknowledged the new faith, and
defended the saime. The most eminent of
them, the secretsuy of state, Kuritzyn, Ivan
Maximow, Kassian, archimandrite of the Jury

82
Monastery of Novgorod, were condemned to
death, and burned publicly in cages, at Mos-
cow. Dec. 27. 1503." (H. Stemberfi. Geschichte
derJuden, Leipzig, 1873, pp. 117-122.)

Sweden. *This zeal for Saturdaykeeping

continued for a long time: even little things
which might strengthen the practise of keep-
ing Saturday were punished." (Bishop Anjou.
SvenskaKirkansHistoriaefier Motet iUpsala.)
Lichenstein. *The Sabbatarians teach that
the outwaird Sabbath, i.e. Saturday, still
must be observed. They say that Sunday is
the Pope's invention. [Rejutation of Sabbath,
by Wolfgang Capito, published 1599.)

Bohemia—the Bohemian Brethren. Dr. R.

Cox says: "I from a passage in Erasmus
find
that at the early period of the Reformation
when he wrote, there were Sabbatarians in
Bohemia, who not only kept the seventh day,
but were sedd to be scrupulous in resting
. . .

on it." [Literature of the Sabbath Question,

Cox, Vol. II, pp. 201, 202.)

Historian's List of Churches —16th Cen-

tury. "Sabbatarians, so called because they
reject the observance of the Lx)rd's day as not
commanded in Scripture, they consider the
Sabbath alone to be holy, as God rested on
that day cind commamded to keep it holy and
to rest on it." (A. Ross.)

83
Germany—Dr. Ecfc, while refuting the
Reformers. "However, the church has trans-
ferred the observance from Saturday to Sun-
day by virtue of her own power, without
Scripture." (Dr. Eck's Enchiridion, 1533, pp.
78. 79.)

Europe. About the year 1520 many of these

Sabbathkeepers found shelter on the estate
of Lord Leonhardt of Lichtenstein, "as the
princes of Lichtenstein held to the obser-
Vcince of the true Sabbath." (History of the
Sabbath, J.N. Andrews, p. 649, ed.)

Norway, 1544. "Some of you, contrary to the

warning, keep Saturday. You ought to be
severely punished. Whoever shall be found
keeping Saturday, must pay a fine of ten
marks." {History of King Christian the Third,
Niels Krag and S. Stephanius.)

—
Finland, Dec. 6, 1 554 King Gustavus Vasa
L of Sweden's letter to the people of Finland.
"Some time ago we heard that some people in
Finland had fallen into a great error and
observed the seventh day, called Saturday."
(State Library at Helsingfors, Reichsregister,
Vom J., 1554, Teil B.B. leaf 1120, pp. 175-
180a.)

Switzerland. *The observance of the Sab-

bath is a part of the moral law. It has been

84
kept holy since the beginning of the world."
(ref. Noted Swiss writer. R. Hospiniain. 1592.)

Hollcuid and Germany. Bairbara of Thiers,

who was executed in 1529, declared: "God
has commanded us to rest on the seventh
day." Another martyr, Christina Tolingerin,
is mentioned thus: "Concerning holy days
and Sundays, she said: 'In six days the Lx)rd
made the world, on the seventh day He
rested. The other holy days have been insti-
tuted by popes, cardineds, aind archbishops.*
" (Martyrology of the Churches of Christ,

commonly called Baptists, during the era of

the Reformation, from the Dutch of T.J. Van
Braght, London, 1850, 1, pp. 113-114.)

Seventeenth Century A.D.

Englcuidf 1668. "Here in England are about

nine or ten churches that keep the Sabbath,
besides many scattered disciples, who have
been eminently preserved." (Stennet's
letters, 1668 and 1670. Cox, Sab., 1, 268.)

England. Mr. Thomas Bampfield, who had

been Speaker in one of Cromwell's parlia-
ments, wrote cdso in behalf of seventh-day
observance, and was imprisoned for his
religious principles in Ilchester jaiil. (Calamy,
2, 260.)

Sweden and Finland. "We can trace these

opinions over almost the whole extent of

85
Sweden of that day —
from Finland and
northern Sweden. In the district of Upsala
the farmers kept Saturday in place of
Sunday. About the year 1625 this religious
tendency became so pronounced in these
countries that not only large numbers of the
common people began to keep Saturday as
the rest day, but even many priests did the
Scime." {History ojthe Swedish Church, Vol. I,
p. 256.)

America, 1 664. "Stephen Mumford, the first

Sabbathkeeper in America came from
London in 1664." (Hist, of Seventh-day Bap-
tist Gen. Conf. by Jas. Bailey, pp. 237, 238.)

Americaf 1671 —Seventh-day Baptists.

"Broke from Baptist Church in order to keep
Sabbath." (See Bailey's History, pp. 9, 10.)

England—Charles I, 1647, when querying

the Parliament Commissioners. "For it will not
be found in Scripture where Saturday is no
longer to be kept, or turned into the Sunday
wherefore it must be the Church's authority
that changed the one and instituted the
other." (Cox, Sabbath Laws, p. 333.)

England—John Milton. "It will surely be far

safer to observe the seventh day, according to
express conmiandment of God, than on the
authority of mere human conjecture to adopt
the first." (Sab. Lit. 2, 46-54).

86
Eighteenth Century A.D.

Germany, Tennhardt of Nuremberg. "He

holds the doctrine of the Sabbath,
strictly to
because it is one of the ten conunandments.**
(Bengel's Leben und Wirkeix Burk, p. 579.)

He himself says: "It cannot be shown that

Sunday has tsiken the place of the Sabbath
(p. 366). The Lord God has sanctified the last
day of the week. Antichrist, on the other
hand, has appointed the first day of the
week." (Kl Auszug ausTennhardt's Schriften,
.

p. 49, printed 1712.)

—
Bohem^ia and Moriivia (today Czechoslo-
vakia.). Their history from 1635 to 1867 is
thus described by Adolf Dux: *The condition
of the Sabbatarians was dreadful. Their books
cind writings had to be delivered to the
Karlsburg Consistory to become the spoil of
flames." [Aus Ungam, pp. 289-291. Leipzig,
1880.)

Moravia —Count Zinzendorf. In 1738

Zinzendorf wrote of his keeping the Sabbath
thus: *That I have employed the Sabbath for
rest many years already, and our Sunday for
the proclamation of the gospel." [Budingsche
Sammlung, Sec. 8. p. 224, Leipzig, 1742.)

America, 1 741 (Moravian Brethren lif- —

ter Zinzendorf arrivedfrom Europe). "As a

87
special instance it deserves to be noticed that
he resolved with the church at Bethlehem
is
to observe the seventh day as rest day. (Id.,
pp. 5, 1421, 1422.)

America. But before Zinzendorf and the

Moravians at Bethlehem thus began the
observance of the Sabbath £ind prospered,
there was a small body of German Sabbath-
keepers in Pennsylvania. (See Rupp's History
of Religious Denominations in the United
States, pp. 109-123.)

Nineteenth Centiuy A.D.

China. "At this time Hung prohibited the use

of opium, £ind even tobacco, and all intoxicat-
ing drinks, and the Sabbath was religiously
observed." (The Ti-Ping Revolution, by Lin-Le,
an officer among them. Vol. I, pp. 36-48, 84.)

"The seventh day is most religiously cind

strictly observed. The Teiiping Sabbath is
kept upon our Saturday, (p. 319.)

China. "The Tedpings when asked why they

observed the seventh day Sabbath, replied
that it was, first, because the Bible taught
it, and, second, because their ancestors
observed it as a day of worship." [A Critical
History of the Sabbath and the Sunday.)

India and Persia. "Besides, they mciintain

88
the solemn observsmce of Christian worship
throughout our Empire, on the seventh day."
(Christian Researches in Asia, p. 143.)

Denmark. In 1875, Pastor M.A. Sommer

begain by observing the seventh day, cind
wrote in his church paper, IndovetKristendom
No. 5, 1875, an impressive article about the
true Sabbath. In a letter to Elder John G.
Matteson, he says: "Among the Baptists here
in Denmark there is a great agitation
regarding the Sabbath commandment . . .

However, I am probably the only preacher in

Denmarkwho stands so near to the Adventists
and who for meiny years has proclaimed
Christ's second coming." (Advent Tidente,
May, 1875.)

Sweden, Baptists. "We will now endeavour

to show that the sanctification of the Sabbath
has its foundation and its origin in a law
which God at creation itself established for
the whole world, and as a consequence thereof
is binding on all men in all ages." (May 30,
1863, p. 169. Evangelisten (The Evangelist),
Stockholm, May 30 to August 15, 1863,
organ of the Swedish Baptist Church.)

America, 1845. "Thus we see Daniel 7:25,

fulfilled, the little horn changing 'times and
laws.' Therefore it appears to me that all who
keep the day for the Sabbath are Pope's
first
Sundaykeepers and God's Sabbath-
breakers." (ElderT.M. Preble, Feb. 13, 1845.)

89
Seventh-day Adventists. A group of Bible-
believing Christians who keep the Sabbath
according to the Ten Commandment law of
God, the Seventh-day Adventists are a people
who continue to carry the torch held high
through the centuries by the heroes of faith.
In fact, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
has over 7 million members in over 200
countries. Nearly 2000 people each day are
baptized as Sabbathkeeping Adventists.

Ck>d's Knock on My Door

As you have Just read, the light of God's

truth flashes through the centuries. It
penetrates the remotest comers of the earth
in pursuit of sincere seekers after truth.
Geeta Lall was raised in India. Since both her
parents died when she was young, she was
—
brought up by a retired college professor ^a
staunch Baptist who regularly took her to
Sunday school.
Through the miraculous providence of
God, a Sabbathkeeping Adventist book S£iles-
man began renting a room in their home.
Eventually, this book sedesmgin married
Geeta's cousin. When the Hindu -Moslem war
broke out in 1946, Geeta stayed with her
cousin during school vacation periods. She
describes her experience in her own words:
"One day an Adventist pastor visited my
cousin's home. During this pastor's visit I
was asked to serve him a fruit drink instead
of the customary tea. I wondered about this.
90
My cousin explained the reason, adding that
Adventists refrain from drinking tea or
alcoholic beverages, eating pork, or smoking.
"I was curious. Edging into the living

room, I began asking the pastor questions

about the Adventist faith. During our
conversation he mentioned the seventh day
as being the hallowed day and the true
Sabbath day. I told him, *No way. It may have
been in the Old Testament, but when Christ
came to die for us. He changed the day to
Sunday, the day He rose from the dead.' The
pastor was quiet. Finally he said that if
I could find a text in the New Testament

stating that Christ had changed the day of

rest, he would become a Baptist. However, if
I could not find such a text I would have to

t£ike Bible studies from him. I hastily added

that I would become an Adventist if I could
not find a text showing that Christ changed
the seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday!
"Needless to say, I could not find such a
text although I hunted through the Bible
diligently for hours. Moreover, I was
surprised to find that Christ Himself went to
the synagogue on Sabbath.
"Bible studies followed, and I was
baptized in April, 1946, cind joined the
Calcutta Adventist church. In June, I joined
students bound for Spicer College, where I
spent the next six years in study.
"Amid war and turmoil, gloom and
loneliness, God plucked me out of a city of six
million... " (Geeta R. Lall, Ph.D.. Consultant,

91
Early Childhood and Speciad Education,
Berrien Springs, Michigan.)
My friend, it is no accident that you are
reading this book. Like Geeta Lall, you, too.
are an honest-hccirted man or woman. How
do I know that? The fact that you've read this
book up to this point demonstrates that God
has been speaking to your heart. Now is the
time to decide to fully follow Him. As you
continue to read, pray that God will enable
you to so.

(Author's note: The author is indebted to John Coltheart,

former European evangelist, for much of the original
research for the material within this chapter.)

92
The Authorities Testify!

We have Just reviewed the historical

evidence about Sabbathkeepers through the
centuries. In chapter three, we briefly
mentioned the Catholic church's position on
the change of the Sabbath. In this chapter,
we willreview the comments by scores of
Protestant and Catholic authors both —
—
historiams and theologians acknowledging
that the Sabbath was not changed by Christ
or His disciples but by the church in the early
centuries.
We begin by turning to Augustus
Neander, perhaps the greatest of edl church
historians, who says in his General History of
the Christian Religion and ChwcK Vol. 1,
p. 187: "The festival of Sunday, like all other
festiveds, was only a human ordinance, and
it was fcir from the intentions of the apostles,

93
and from the early apostolic church, to
transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday."
The Schqff-Herzog Encyclopedia of
Religious Knowledge further confirms
Nccinder's contention. "Sunday (dies solis of
the Roman calendeir, 'day of the sun* because
it was dedicated to the sun), the first day of

the week, was adopted by the early

Christians as a day of worship. The *sun* of
Latin adoration they interpreted as the 'Sun
of Righteousness'... No regulations for its
observance are laiid down in the New Testa-
ment, nor, indeed, is its observance even
enjoined." (Vol. VI, Art. Sunday, p. 2259, 3rd
edition.)
One author on the life of Constantine, in
reference to the compromises made in the
early Christiam church, wrote the following:
"This drift into compromise in order to win
the pagans was accented by the first civil
Sunday law in A.D. 321, passed by the
emperor of Rome, Constcintine. It was one of
his first official acts following his nominal
acceptance of Christianity, when he put
himself under the spiritual direction of the
Romgin Catholic clergy and "made the priests
of God his counselors." (Eusebius, Life of
Constantine, book 1, chap. 32, in Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 1, p.
491.)
Note also the paganistic label in the
opening lines of Constantine's first Sunday
law: "On the venerable day of the sun [that
is, Sunday! let the magistrates and people

94
residing in the cities rest, £ind let work-
all
shops be closed." This is very different from
the Sabbath law of our Lord, which says
nothing of the "venerable" sun, but gives
worship to the Creator of the sun.
The Romein Catholic Church cites the
Council of Laodicea as the official voice which
tramsferred the "solemnity from Saturday to
Sunday." Note the language of one catechism:
"Question— Which is the Sabbath day?
—
"Answer Saturday is the Sabbath day.
—
"Question Why do we observe Sunday
instead of Saturda}^
—
"Answer We observe Sunday instead
of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in
the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 336),
trainsferred the solemnity from Saturday to
Sunday." — Rev. Peter Geiermann, C. SS. R.,
The Convert* s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine,
p. 50, 2nd edition, 1910.
Constcintine issued at least six decrees
affecting Sunday observance. From his time
forward, both emperors and popes added
other laws that strengthened Sunday
observance. Yet, despite these laws the
Sabbath truth was kept alive during the
Middle Ages by faithful men and women of
God who would not allow their consciences to
be swayed. The Reformation, with its
emphasis on the Bible and the Bible only,
gave rise to some Sabbbathkeeping spiritual
giants.
Andrew Fisher, a one-time Catholic
priest, thought cairefully about his decision

95
to worship on the Sabbath. He argued that
the Sabbath commandment was not a part of
the ceremonied law because it was instituted
at creation, before the sacrificial system was
in place. Quoting MatthewS: 17-18, he showed
that Jesus refused to remove one iota from
the law. Referring to Jemies 2:10-12, he
demonstrated that the disciples didn't change
the Sabbath. He boldly pointed to the
Catholic church as the source of the
apostasy. Sunday worship, he suggested,
was the direct fulfillment of the papacy's
"changing the set times and the laws" as
predicted in Daniel 7:25. And Fisher lost his
life because of his stand. In 1529, Mr. And

Mrs. Andrew Fisher were sentenced to death.

As we studied previously, Protestant
reformers also commented on the Sabbath
change. During the sixteenth century,
Luther's old colleague, Andreas Ceirlstadt,
accepted the Sabbath. In 1524, two years
after his break with Luther, he wrote a major
treatise entitled, Concerning the Sabbath and
CornmandedHohiDaiis. Interestingly enough,
Luther responded in the following way to
Karlstadt's treatise on the Sabbath. "Yes, if
Karlstadt were to write more about the
Sabbath, even Sunday would have to give
way, and the Sabbath that is Saturday would
be celebrated." (quoted in Sahbath in
Scripture and History, Review and Herald
Publishing Association, 1982, p. 217.)
In his famed Augsburg confession, Luther
penned this powerful statement indicating
96
his grasp of the significcint issues: The
Catholics allege the Sabbath changed into
Sunday, the Lord's day, contrary to the
decalogue, as it appears. Neither is there any
example more boasted of than the changing
of the Sabbath day. Great, say they, is the
power and authority of the church, since it
dispensed with one of the Ten Commands."
(Luther, Your Augsburg Confession, quoted
in The Creeds of Christendom, Philip Scheiff,
Vol. 3, p. 64.)
During Luther's triad, the Archbishop
Reggio employed the famous Dr. Eck to
challenge Luther. The issue centered airound
the authority of the church. The basic
question was "Is the voice of God, speaking
through the Bible, superior to the voice of
God speaking through the church? Where is
the highest authority? What is the final court
of appeal? If there is an apparent contra-
diction between the Bible and the church,
which do you rely on?"
The battle waged for days. Finadly Dr.
Eck brought his concluding argument. Since
the Catholic church changed the Sabbath
from Saturday to Sunday, the authority of
the church is superior to the Bible, he claimed.
By accepting Sunday, Protestants accept
the authority of the Catholic church. Eck's
airguments turned the tide of the Reforma-
tion back in favor of the Catholic church.
But the relevemt question for us to
consider is this: "Did the Catholic church
have the authority to chainge God's law? Is
97
the church above the Bible? Who is the final
authority?"
As you carefully read the statements
from various denominational clergy which
follow, you must decide the answer to these
questions for yourself.

The Catholic Testimony

The Roman Catholic clergy clearly

acknowledge the change of the Sabbath from
Saturday to Sunday. In fact, leading Roman
Catholic authorities openly suggest that the
chsmge is a sign of the church's authority.
Note this statement: *The observaince of
Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they
pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of
the Catholic Church." [Plain Talk About
Protestantism, by Father Segur, p. 213.)
Note these three comments: "If you look
to the Bible as an authority for the
observance of the day, you will not find it.
It is well to remind the Presbyterians,

Methodists, Baptists, and all other

Christians outside the pale of the Mother
Church, that the Bible does not support
them anywhere in the observance of Sunday.
The Seventh-day Adventists are the only
ones who properly apply the term "Sabbath,*
because they do observe the seventh day,
and not the first day, as the day of rest.'
(Clifton Tracts. Vol. IV, p. 15.)
"Protestantism, in discarding the
authority of the church, has no good reason
98
for its Sunday theory, and ought, logically, to
keep Saturday with the Jews.' [American
Catholic Quarterly Review, Jan. 1883.)
"Now, every child in school knows that
the Sabbath day is Saturday, the seventh day
of the week; and yet, with the exception of the
Seventh-day Adventists, all Protestants keep
Sunday instead of the Sabbath day, because
the Catholic Church made this chsinge in the
first ages of Christianity." (Father Gerritsma,
in the Winnipeg Free Press, April 2 1 1884.)
,

The Papacy clearly admits chainging the

Sabbath fi-om Saturday, the seventh day of
the week, to Sunday, the first day of the week,
and declares this change demonstrates
her ecclesiastical authority. One writer
commented, 'The Catholic Church for over
one thousand years before the existence of a
Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission,
changed the day from Saturday to Sunday."
(Catholic Mirror, Sept. 1893.)
Other Catholic authors have commented
about the Protestant position on the Sabbath
change. "You are a Protestaint, and profess to
go by the Bible only; and yet you go against
the plciin letter of the Bible, and put another
day in the place of the Sabbath. The
command to keep holy the seventh day is one
of the Ten Commeindments; who gave you the
authority to tamper with the fourth?" Library
of Christian Doctrine, p. 3.)
"Protestants have no Scripture for the
measure of their day of rest —
they abolish
the observance of Saturday without warraint
99
of Scripture — and substitute Sunday in
its place without Scriptural authority —
consequently they have for all this only
traditional authority. — Keenain's Doctrinal
Catechism, p. 354.)
"If the Bible is the only guide for the
Christian, then the Seventh-day Adventist is
right in observing the Saturday with the Jew.
Is it not strange that those (Protestants) who
make the Bible their only teacher should
inconsistently follow in this matter the
Church?" [The Question Box, by Father
Conway, p. 179.)
"Reason and conmion sense demand
the acceptance of one or the other of these
alternatives; either Protestantism cind the
keeping of Saturday, or Catholicity and the
keeping of Sunday. Compromise is
impossible." (American Catholic Quarterly
Review, Jan.. 1883.)

The Baptist Testimony

*There was and is a commaindment to

keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath
day was not Sunday. It will be said, however,
and with some show of triumph, that the
Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to
the first day of the week, with all its duties,
privileges, and sanctions. Eeimestly desiring
information on this subject, which I have
studied for many years, I ask, where can the
record of such a transaction be found? Not in
the New Testaunent, absolutely not. There is
100
no such Scriptural evidence of the change of
the Sabbath institution from the seventh to
the first day of the week.
"I wish to say that this Sabbath
question, in this aspect of it, is the gravest
and most perplexing question connected with
Christicin institutions which at present
claims attention from Christian people;
£ind the only reason that it is not a more
disturbing element in Christiain thought and
in religious discussions, is because the
Christian world has settled down content on
the conviction that somehow a transference
has tciken place at the beginning of Christian
history.
*To me it seems unaccountable that
Jesus, during three yeeirs' intercourse with
His disciples, often conversing with them
upon the Sabbath question, discussing it in
some of its vairious aspects, freeing it from
false glosses, never adluded to any transfer-
ence of the day; also, that during forty days
of His resurrection life, no such thing was
intimated. Nor, so far as we know, did the
Spirit, which was given to bring to their
remembraince all things whatsoever that He
has said unto them, deal with this question.
Nor yet did the inspired apostles, in
preaching the gospel, founding churches,
counseling and instructing those founded,
discuss or approach this subject.
"Of course, I quite well know that
Sunday did come to use in early Christicin
history as a religious day, as we learn from

101
the Christian Fathers and other sources. But
what a pity that it comes branded with the
mark of paganism, and christened with the
name of the sun god, when adopted and
sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and be-
queathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!**
(Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, author of The Baptist
Manual, quoted in The New York Examiner,
Nov. 16, 1890.)

The Methodist Testimony

true there is no positive command

"It is
for infant baptism... nor any for keeping holy
the first day of the week." (Dr. Binney, M.E.
Theological Compendium, p. 103.)

The CongregationaUst Testimony

quite clear that, however rigidly or

"It is
devoutly we may spend Sunday, we are not
keeping the Sabbath... The Sabbath was
founded on a specific, divine command.
We can plead no such command for the
observance of Sunday There is not a single
. . .

sentence in the New Testament to suggest

that we
incur amy penalty by violating the
supposed sanctity of Sunday.** {The Ten
Comnnandments, R.W. Dale, D.D.)

The Presbjrterian Testimony

*The Christian Sabbath (Sunday) is not

in the Scripture, cind was not by the primitive
102
church called the Sabbath." (DwighVs
Theology. Vol. IV, p. 401.)
"God instituted the Sabbath at the
creation of man, setting apairt the seventh
day for that purpose, and imposed its
observance, as a universal and perpetucd
moral obligation upon the race." (Dr. Archibald
Hodges, in Tract No. 175 of the Presbyterian
Board of Publication.)

The Church of England

"The seventh day of the week has been

deposed from its title to obligatory religious
observance, and its prerogative has been
carried over to the first, under no direct
precept of Scripture." (William E. Gladstone
in Later Gleanings, p. 342.)
*There is no word, no hint, in the New
Testament about abstadning from work on
Sunday... Into the rest of Sunday no divine
law enters... The observance of Ash
Wednesday or Lent stands on exactly the
same footing as the observance of Sunday."
(Canon Eyton in Ten Commandments,
pp. 62, 63, 65.)

The Christian Church

"Ido not believe that the Lord's day came

in the room of the Jewish Sabbath, or that the
Sabbath was chsinged from the seventh to
the first day of the week... Now there is no
testimony in all the oracles of heaven that the
103
Sabbath was changed, or that the Lord's day
Ccune in the room of it there is no divine
. . .

testimony that the Sabbath was changed."

(Alexander Campbell, founder of the
Christian Church. Washington Reporter,
Oct. 8, 1821.)

Conclusion

You have read the evidence. Historians

through the centuries, as well as Catholic
and Protestant authors, have testified to the
fact that the Catholic church changed God's
holy day of worship in the early centuries.
There is no doubt. But the real issue, as we
have discovered, is not the fact that the
Catholic church changed God's day of
worship. The real issue is more than a matter
of days. It is a matter of masters.
Long ago, a rebel angel, cast out of
heaven after a titanic struggle, declared that
obedience to God's law was unnecessary. He
clcdmed God's law was unfEiir. "What sense
did it make," he asked, "to restrict Adam and
E>e's access to the most beautiful tree in the
garden? After all, a tree is a tree and fruit is
ftnit. It really won't matter!" Listening to his
voice, our plunged this world
first pcirents
into rebellion against God.
Although at first it might appear that the
real issue at stake in the garden of Eden was
a matter of trees or fiuiit, it was much more.
The real issue involved a love relationship
with their Creator. This loving relationship
104
had led Adam and Eve into a completely
unquestioning, trustful obedience to His law.
It was the breaking of this relationship with

their Master that led our first parents to

break God's law.
So it is today, my friend. The resd issue
today is more than a matter of days. It is
a matter of trust. It is a matter of a relation-
ship with God.
As each of us learns more about God, His
love compels us put Him first in our life!
to
Sometimes, as with Martin Luther, first may
mean before friends, before family, and even
before our church.
You alone know what God's Spirit is
asking you to decide. May your decision be
one that is weighed not only with this life in
mind, but also with eternity in view.
Peter answered, 'We have left
ever3rthing to follow you! What
then will there be for us?'
Jesus said to them, 'I tell you
the truth, at the renewal of all
things, when the Son of Man sits
on his glorious throne, you who
have followed me will also sit on
twelve thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel. And everyone who
has left houses or brothers or
sisters or father or mother or
children or fields for my sake will
receive a hundred times as much
and will inherit eternal life.*

105
 Your Questions
Answered

In the preceding pages of this book we

have explored the seventh-day Sabbath. We've
discovered that throughout Scripture the
seventh-day Sabbath is a sign a sign of—
loyalty between a loving God cind His faithful
followers. It was set aside at creation £ind
given to all mankind as a symbol of God's
creative power (Genesis 2:1-3; Mark 2:27,
28). And be observed by His people
it is to
throughout all generations (Exodus 31: IS-
IS; Ezekiel 20:12, 20). Jesus kept the
Sabbath as an example of His worship and
allegiance to His Father (Luke 4:16). He
predicted His closest followers would
remember this eternal sign of His love
(Matthew 24:20).
And love is sdways demonstrated by
conduct. God's Ten Commsindment law is
codified love. It reveals how the loving man or

106
woman will respond in his or her relations to
both God and main (Exodus 20:1-17; John
14:15, 1 John 2:1-6). Rather than being a
legalistic requirement s)mibolizing bondage
to the law, God's seventh-day Sabbath is a
dyncimic symbol of loyalty to, cind freedom in,
Jesus Christ. It commemorates the fact of
creation. He made us! We did not evolve. We
are His. In an age of evolution, the Sabbath
calls us to our "roots." It speaks eloquently of
our heritage.
We were created by a loving God who is
personally interested in each detail of our
lives. Not only did He create us, but when our
first parents voluntarily chose to rebel against
the wisdom of His law He also set in motion
a plan to deliver the race from the bondage of
sin. Our rest on the Sabbath is a sjonbol of
our rest in Christ as our deliverer from the
death penalty of sin. Even as God rested on
the seventh-day of creation from all His work
declaring, "It is finished," so on the cross
Jesus triumpheintly declared, "It is finished."
Hebrews 4:9 asserts, 'There remains, then, a
Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ..." The
Sabbath is a marvelous symbol of this
redemptive act of Christ. Resting each
Sabbath symbolizes a life of trust, commit-
ment, and loyalty to the Christ who has
accomplished our salvation. He redeemed us
when we could never redeem ourselves;
therefore we rest in full assurance of His
finished work on the cross.
Through the ceaseless ages of eternity
107
we each
shall sing praises of His worthiness
Sabbath by coming into His presence to
worship. It is written:

'From one New Moon to another

and from one Sabbath to another,
all mankind will come and bow
down before me/ says the Lord.
(Isaiah 66:23)

Sabbath afterSabbath the redeemed shall

enter into the joyous ecstasy of worshipping
their Creator, Redeemer, and King. Sabbath
worship will be their deepest delight and
highest pleasure.

Questions and Answers

About the Sabbath

You may, at this moment, be consider-

ing sincere questions relating to the
Sabbath. The questions which follow are the
most common ones asked. The emswers are
found in the Bible. Please examine them with
a prayer on you lips that God's Spirit will lead
in your understanding.

Question #1 ;Does the New Testament teach

that the disciples worshipped on the first day
of the week?

Answer: It is often stated that the disciples

and the early church kept the first day of the
week holy in honor of the resurrection of
Christ. The Bible teaches clearly, however,
108
that the disciples observed the seventh-day
Sabbath (Acts 13:14. 42, 44; Acts 17:2, 3;
Acts 18: 1-4; Hebrews 4:4-8). In fact, the first
day of the week is mentioned only eight times
in the entire New Testament and six of these
texts refer to the same day. These texts are
listed below:

Matthew 28:1—
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the
first day of the week, Mary Magdal-
ene and the other Mary went to
look at the tomb.
Mark 16:2—
Very early on the first day of the
week, just after sunrise, they were
on their way to the tomb...
Mark 16:9—
When Jesus rose early on the first
day of the week, he appeared first
Mary Magdalene, out of whom
to
he had driven seven demons.
Luke 24:1—
On the first day of the week, very
early in the morning, the women
took the spices they had pre-
pared and went to the tomb.
John 20:1 —
Early on the first day of the week,
while it was still dark, Mary
Magdalene went to the tomb and
saw that the stone had been re-
moved from the entrance.
109
 The five texts above refer to the
historiccd fact that Jesus rose from the dead
on the first day of the week. Obviously, none
of these texts even suggest worship on that
day. In fact, it would appear that the closest
followers of Christ did not consider the first
day of the week a day of worship. Notice that
they embedmed His body on the first day,
after they "...rested on the Sabbath in
obedience to the commandment" (Luke
23:56). So, it appears that all the disciples
were Sabbathkeepers.
Let's examiine the remaining three texts
in greater detail.
John 20:19—
On the evening of that first day of
the week, when the disciples were
together, with the doors locked
for fear of the Jews, Jesus came
and stood among them and said,
'Peace be with you!*
Does this passage teach that the
disciples assembled on the first day of the
week? Yes it does! But the point in question
here is: Why did they assemble? What was
the purpose of their gathering? The disciples
had just witnessed the death of their Master.
hopes were dashed. Fear smd doubt
All their
loomed like a mountain before them. The
Bible says that they "...were together for fear
of the Jews..." That's why the doors were
locked. Jesus appeared to them to announce
His resurrection and triumph. Today, we

110
celebrate this good news through the
baptisimad service (I Corinthians 11:24-27;
Romans 6:2-20). But there is no command
to worship on the first day.

I Corinthians 1 6:2—
On the day of every week,
first
each one of you should set aside
a sum of money in keeping with
his income, saving it up, so that
when I come no collections will
have to be made.
There are some who feel Paul advocated
offerings in church on the first day of the
week. They use this text to support Sunday
observance. A ceireful analysis of the text and
its context proves otherwise. The Apostle
Paul was promoting a special project in
behalf of needy believers in Jerusalem (verse
3). Thus he suggested that Corinthian
Christians set aside a specific portion of their
income for believers at Jerusalem on the first
day of each week. The reason for this was
because many people reviewed their finances
from the previous week's business on
Sunday morning in preparation for einother
week of business. On Friday afternoon they
would close their shops and prepare for the
Sabbath. Then, on Sunday morning they
would review the previous week's business
activity. Paul was simply asking them to set
some money aside each week so that when he
arrived the gift would be ready to take to
Jerusalem.

111
 The phrase "set aside" means litercdly
"by himself," in the original Greek
manuscript. It is also equivalent to the
English "at home." So Paul was asking them
to do this at home, not, as some suggest, at
a special church gathering. Rather than
establishing Sunday worship, this text clearly
shows that there was no specicd significance
attached to the first day.
Acts 20:7—
On the first day of the week we
came together to break bread.
Paul spoke to the people and,
because he intended to leave the
next day, kept on talking until
midnight.
This text records the only religious
meeting held on the first day of the week in
the New Testament. The author writes that a
religious meeting was called because Paul
intended to leave the next day. Because of
this, Paul cadled the believers together for an
evening meeting on the dark part of the first
day of the week. (See the answer to Question
#8 for a further explanation of this point).
The New English Bible puts it this way:
On the Saturday night, in our
assembly for the breaking ofbread,
Paul who was to leave next day,
addressed them, and went on
speaking tmtil midnight.
This meeting was on the dark part of the

112
 day of the week. In both the Old and New
first
Testaments, time was reckoned from sunset
to sunset. So this meeting was on our
Saturday night. The believers often
celebrated communion together (Acts 2:42-
46). The emblem of Christ's sacrifice meant
everything to them. Thus before Paul
departed, they celebrated communion again.
According to verses 1 1 through 14 of Acts 20,
Paul spent the light part of the first day
traveling to Assos. It is cleeir that he placed
no special significance on it.

In summary, there no command

is
throughout the New Testament to keep Sun-
day holy; and there is no evidence of the
disciples leaving a Sundaykeeping example.

Question #2; Since we're not under law, but

under grace, is it necessary to keepSabbath?

Answer: The apostle Paul makes it

abundantly pleiin that the Christian is not
"under law" but "under grace" (Romans 6:14).
But what does Paul mean? Let's explore it.
thing we know for certain. When
One
Paul says the Christiain is not "under law**
but "under grace" he does not mean that the
Christian can openly, knowingly, and
willingly break God's law. Romans 6:15
emphaticcdly declares:
What then? Shall we sin because
we are not under the law but
under grace? By no means!

113
 So what does Paul meain by the expres-
sions "under law** and "under grace"? What
was Paul's attitude toward the law? In
Romans 7:12, he declares:
...the law is holy, and the
commandment is holy, righteous
and good.
There is no problem with the law according to
Paul. It is holy and good. But what is its
purpose?
First, the law reveals God's concrete,
objective stsindard of moredity. It reveals the
etemed principles of heaven's government. It
defines right and wrong. Romeins 7:7 points
out, "... I would not have known what sin
was except through the law." Romans 3:20
adds, "...through the law we become
conscious of sin." The function of the law is
to reveal God's standard of moral behavior. It
graphically underlines our guilt in not living
up to that standard. Thus, through the law:
...every mouth may be
silenced and the whole world held
accountable to God. (Romans 3: 19)
Looking into the perfect righteousness of
the law, every msm, woman, and child is
condemned. The law demands perfect
obedience, unblemished righteousness and
unswerving allegicince to the principles of
God's kingdom. For Paul, to be "under law"
meant to attempt, by his own power and
strength and through the merits of his works.

114
to save himself. This, Paul correctly declaires,
is impossible (Romans 3:23-28). To be under
grace means to accept the provisions made
available by Jesus Christ on Calvary for our
salvation. It means by faith to accept the fact
that it is impossible to save ourselves. Christ
died in our behalf! His sacrifice was for us!
Through His death, we can live.
According to Paul, there were two
systems: the "law system** and the "grace
system". The law system holds up a stcindard
which human beings, in their own strength,
cainnot possibly adhere to. The grace system
provides both pardon for the past eind power
for the present through Jesus Christ. Paul
emphatically denies that Jesus' death does
away with the necessity of obedience. He
concludes his magnificent discussion of grace
in Romans 3 by declsiring:
Do we, then, nullify the law by
this faith? Not at all! Rather, we
uphold the law. (verse 31)

The apostle could not have made it plainer.

He answers our question.
But, does God's grace do away with the
law? Human religious leaders mayanswer,
"yes." The apostle settles it with these words,
"Not at £dl!" Does God's grace do away with
the necessity of Sabbath obedience. No more
than it does away with the commandments
which say, "You shedl not murder. You shall
not commit adultery. You shsdl not steal. You
shall not give false testimony agciinst your

115
neighbor." Logic demeinds that if the sinner
saved by grace lovingly observes nine of the
ten commandnients, he or she will observe
all ten as a sign of obedience to their Lord.

Question #3; Does the apostle Paul state

that the Ten Commandments were nailed to
the Cross?

Answer: The passage under question is

Ephesians 2:15. Let's read it:

...by abolishing in his flesh

the law with its commandments
and regulations. His purpose was
to create in himself one new man
out of the two, thus making
peace...
The specific laws or points under
discussion are the "regulations." The Ten
Commandment law is God's eternal,
unchangeable code of ethics. It is the
foundation of His government. It specifically
defines our relationship to God and our
fellow human beings. In this text, Paul is
concerned that the regulations or ordinances
which God gave to Israel as an identifying
sign foreshadowing the coming of the
Messiah were becoming barriers in the
accomplishment of the church's mission.
These ordinances, such as circumcision, the
ceremonial washing of cups and pots, the
yearly feasts, and the sacrificial system, were
specifically designed by God to prepare

116
Jewish minds for the coining of the Messiah.
Perverting the meaning of these
symbols, many Jews assumed the symbol
had merit. Instead of focusing on the
itself
meaning of the symbol, they looked to the
outer performance of the ritual as virtuous.
Consequently, these ordinances became
barriers between themselves and the
Gentiles who did not peirticipate in them.
When Christ came, the sacrificial
system which foreshadowed His coming was
fulfilled. The Gentiles, who were "separate
from Christ**, "excluded from citizenship in
Israel," £ind "foreigners to the covenants of
the promise", were brought "nesir" through
Chrises blood. (Ephesians 2:12,13). The
"dividing wall of hostility," (Ephesians 2:14,
15) or the set of rules and regulations given
exclusively to Israel and designed to point
forward to the coming Messicih, was broken
down. Christ had come! All of the sacrificial
services £ind ordinances had pointed forward
to the cross. And at the cross, Jews and
Gentiles discovered mercy and forgiveness.
In Christ, all of us find pardon for the past
£ind power to live righteously in the present.
So, what was done away with at the
cross? Certainly not God's eternal,
immutable, unchangeable standard of
morality, HisTen Commandment law. Rather,
at the cross, the laws contained in the
ordinances given exclusively to the Jews
were done away with. These regulations met
their complete fulfQlment in Jesus Christ.

117
Question #4; Since Jesus decleired that the
greatest of all the conunandments is love, do
we have to be concerned with keeping the
Ten Commandnients as long as we love God
and our fellow human beings?

Answer: A lawyer fired his stredght-forward

questions at Jesus. Attempting to ensnare
Him, he skeptically asked *Teacher, which is
the greatest commandment in the Law?"
(Matthew 22:36). Jesus response, bom of
heavenly wisdom, sets the matter straight:
'Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind' This is the
first and greatest commandment.
And the second. . . 'Love your neigh-
bor as yourself.* All the Law and
the Prophets hang on these two
commandments. (Matt. 22:37-40)
What most people do not recognize about
Jesus' answer is that He is quoting directly
from the Old Testament. The lawyer who
asked Jesus should have known the answer
to his own question. He was a student, not of
civil law, but of sacred divine law. He had
spent his life studying the Old Testament.
Thus, Jesus quoted the summary of the law
as given in Deuteronomy and Leviticus.
Deuteronomy 6:5 succinctly declares:

Love the Lord your God with all

your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength.
118
Leviticus 19:18 adds, "...love your neighbor
as yourself' (last part). Certainly Jesus was
not introducing anything new! If we were to
reduce the law to one word, the word is love.
In two phrases, the law is "love God" and
"love your neighbor."
The Ten Commandment law simply
summarizes how a perfectly loving person
responds. This is why Jesus concludes the
discussion by declaring in Matthew 22:40,
"All the Law and the Prophets hang on these
two commandments." Love is the fulfilling,
not the sinnulling, of the law (Romans 13:10).
The law reveals how the loving person will
respond in concrete, specific human
situations. Love is not some vague, ethereal,
sentimental emotion. It is obediently respond-
ing to God's will as manifest in His laws. Love
is faithfully accepting God's principles of life
as manifest in the Ten Commandments,
l^ve cdways leads to obedience, never to
disobedience. This is precisely why Jesus
instructs, "If you love me, you will obey what
I command" John 14:15.

Question #5; Does the apostle Paul teach

that we shouldn't judge one another regard-
ing the Sabbath and that it is unnecessary to
keep the Sabbath? Isn't it all a matter of
individucd conscience and opinion?

Answer: That's certainly a good question. In

answering it, there is an importcint Biblical
principle to keep in mind. As we study the

119
Bible, we should always allow what is
obvious to explain what is not so obvious. We
should not disregard a hundred clear texts
on a specific topic because of one or two
which may be initially difiicult to under-
stand.
With that in mind, let's review the text in
question, Colossiems 2:13-17. Paul writes:
When you were dead in your sins
and in the uncircumcision of your
sinful nature, God made you alive
with Christ. He forgave us our
sins (verse 13), having canceled
the written code, with its regula-
tions, that was against us and
that stood opposed to us; he took
it away, nailing it to the cross
(verse 14). And having disarmed
the powers and authorities, he
made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them by the cross
(verse 15).
Therefore do not let anyone
judge you by what you eat or
drink, or^with regard to a
religious festival, a New Moon
celebration or a Sabbath day
(verse 16). These are a shadow of
the things that were to come; the
reality, however, is found in
Christ, (verse 17)
What does Paul mean when he says,
**...do not let einyone judge you... with regard

120
to a... Sabbath day'* (verse 16)? Let's explore
it. In verse 1 3 Paul writes that through Jesus
we are raised from spiritual death to spiritual
life. Jesus died so we cam live. Inverse 14, the

expression "canceled the written code, with

its regulations" comes from the Greek
expression meaning "bond of indebtedness."
It is the equivalent of our expression "an I

owe you."
Ifl borrow $500 fromyou, my I.O.U. with
my signature at the bottom indicates my
debt to you. In the same way, we owe a debt
of perfect rightness to the law of God. Failure
to live up to the high standard of God's law
means death (Romans 6:23). We "all have
sinned" (Romans 3:23); therefore, we all
deserve to die. But Jesus lived a perfect life
the life we should have lived. He also died a
—
padnful death the death we deserve to die.
In other words, He paid our debt. He paid the
lOU. So we are free from the condemnation of
the law which we have broken (Romans 8:1).
The Old Testament sacrificial system,
with its lamb offerings, was a visible
manifestation of this bond of indebtedness
the path through the sanctuary was and is a
blood-stained path (Hebrews 9:22; Leviticus
17: 1 1). But Paul writes that "in Christ" the
sacrificial system met its fulfillment
(Colossians 2:16, 17). All sacrificial regula-
tions pointing forward to the coming of Christ
passed away. Paul emphaticadly proclaims
that, 'These are a shadow of the things that
were to come; . .
" (verse 17).

121
 So, the Sabbath days Paul writes about
in verse 16 must refer to those Sabbath days
which aire a shadow of things to come. The
logical question then is, which Sabbath days
is Paul talking about? Are there two kinds of
Sabbaths? Is there a Sabbath which points
forward to something?
As we have already discovered, the
seventh-day Sabbath of God's Ten
Commandment law is not a shadow of some-
thing to come. Rather, it is a memorial of
something which has already occurred
Creation. The commandment states:
Remember the Sabbath day by
keeping it holy. Six days you shall
labor and do all your work, but the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the
Lord your God. (Exodus 20:8-10)
Verse 1 1 cleariy gives the reason for God's
commsind. It says:
For in six days the Lord made the
heavens and the earth, the sea,
and all that is in them, but he
rested on the seventh day. There-
fore the Lord blessed the Sabbath
day and made it holy.
The seventh-day Sabbath is a perpetual
memorial to the truth of creation. It reminds
us that we did not evolve. God created us. It
is because He is Creator and we are
created that He is worthy of our worship.
Since the Sabbath of the Ten Cormnand-

122
merit law a memorial of something that
is
happened previously, what Sabbath could
Paul be writing about?
In Hebrews 10: 1, Paul writes:
The law is only a shadow of the
good things that are coming—not
the realities themselves. For this
reason it can never, by the same
sacrifices repeated endlessly year
after year, make perfect those
who draw near to worship.
In this text Paul is writing about the law of
sacrifices. Ezekiel 45: 15-18 reveals that meat
offerings, drink offerings, new moon feasts,
holy days, and ceremonial Sabbaths are
part of the sacrificial law which pointed
forward to the coming of the Messiah. So
there is another type of Sabbath referred to in
the Bible.
In Leviticus 23, both tjrpes of Sabbaths
are mentioned. Throughout the chapter, God
instructs Moses about the feasts and sacred
assemblies the Israelites cire to observe. In
verse 3, God reminds Moses about the
seventh-day Sabbath of God's Ten
—
Commandment law it is to be a weekly
Sabbath, a "day of sacred assembly." The
rest of the chapter records the annual
ceremonial feasts God wanted the Israelites
to celebrate. There are seven: Passover,
Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Wave Sheaf,
the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atone-
ment, eind the Feast of Tabernacles.

123
 Let's briefly examine these feasts. The
Jewish agriculturgd calendar was divided
—
into two seasons spring and fall. Thus,
there were spring feasts and fall feasts. The
Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits
and Wave Sheaf were spring feasts. The
Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement,
and the Feast of Tabernacles were fall feasts.
The spring feasts were designed by God to
point forward to the first coming of Jesus.
The fcdl feasts pointed forward to events
—
beyond Jesus' first coming His Second
Coming.
However, the important point is that
throughout Leviticus 23 there are several
references to these feasts as a "sabbath." For
example, Leviticus 23:4 describes the Feast
ofTrumpets as a "sabbath-rest" (NKJV). More
modem translations refer to it as a day of rest
(the original Hebrew word used is "Shabbath")
Verse 32 commands that the Day of Atone-
ment "shall be a sabbath of rest." Since the
Feast of Trumpets was celebrated on the first
day of the seventh month aind the Day of
Atonement on the tenth day of the same
month, both days could not possibly be
the seventh-day Sabbath of the Ten
Commgmdment law.
Leviticus 23:37 helps us distinguish
between them. It says:
These are the Lord's appointed
feasts, which you are to proclaim
as sacred assemblies for bringing

124
 offerings made to the Lord by
fire— ^the burnt offerings and grain
offerings, sacrifices and drink of-
ferings required for each day.
These offerings are in addition to
those for the Lord's Sabbaths and
in addition to your gifts and what-
ever you have vowed and all the
freewill offerings you give to the
Lord.
The Israelites were to observe these feasts or
regulations in addition to the seventh-day
Sabbath of the Lord. These feasts pointed
forward to the coming Messiah. When Jesus
Cctme they were fulfilled.
Thus, Paul was in essence saying, "...do
not let anyone judge you by what you eat or
drink, or with regard to a religious festivcd, a
New Moon celebration, or even the seven
annual Sabbaths which all are part of the
sacrificial system and point forward to the
coming of Christ. They are shadows of things
to come. But the body is Christ." Certainly,
he makes no attempt to do away with
the seventh-day Sabbath of God's Ten
Commandment law.

Question #6; If the Sabbath is God's speciad

day, why don't the great religious leaders of
our world keep it?

Answer: It may surprise you, but this ques-

tion has been asked before (at least one

125
version of it). Let's examine it. In John 7:46-
48 the conversation is recorded:
*No one ever spoke the way this
man does,' the guards declared.
*You mean he has deceived you
also?' the Pharisees retorted. 'Has
any of the rulers or of the Phari-
sees believed in him?'
Evidently, the officers of the temple
were impressed with Jesus' teachings. In an
effort to squelch their interest, the Pharisees
told them, "Don't be deceived. Wait for the
religious leaders. If Jesus is the Messiah they
will inform you! They will be the first to
know." Yet, it was these religious leaders,
supposed students of Scripture, who rejected
the teachings of Jesus cind ultimately nailed
Him to the Cross.
It is interesting to note that there were

three classes of religious leaders in Christ's

day. First, there were those who were
ignorantly blind. These leaders did not reject
the Messiah consciously. At the same time,
they did not fully comprehend who He was
(see especially James 4:17; Acts 17:30).
Second, there were those who were willingly
blind. This group sensed who Jesus was but
were unwilling to make the changes neces-
sary to follow Him. Jesus did not meet their
selfish expectations of the Messiah (John
9:41).John writes that "they loved praise
from men more than praise from God" (John
12 : 43) Third, there were the honest-hearted
.

126
religious leaders who were seeking the truth.
This group worked behind the scenes to
influence the other leaders favorably towards
Jesus. Both Nicodemus and Joseph of
Arimathea belonged to this group. Many in
this group took a bold public stcind for Christ.
After His death and the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the
author of Acts writes:
So the word of God spread. The
number of disciples in Jerusalem
increased rapidly, and a large
number of priests became obedi-
ent to the faith. (Acts 6:7)

Today there are also three classes of

religious leaders: the ignorantly blind, the
willingly blind and the honest-hearted truth
seekers. Many in this last group are as yet
undecided. But soon, under the influence of
God's Spirit, they will make a decided
response for truth.
However, the important thing to keep in
mind is that God does not ask, "What did
your religious leaders do?" Instead, God says
that "each of us will give cin account of
himself to God" (Romans 14:12), and that
"we must cdl appear before the judgment seat
of Christ..." (II Corinthians 5:10).
My friend, each of us has a personal
responsibility to God. It matters not what the
religious leaders of our day do. It matters
only how you and I respond to God's truth. If
God has personally convicted you regarding

127
the truth of His Sabbath, then it is at the peril
of your own soul to hesitate. When God
reveals truth, how will you respond?

Question #7; Paul writes in Romans,

chapter 14, that the true Christian does not
need to "consider one day more sacred than
another" (Romems 14:5, 6). Is he referring to
the Sabbath? Or some other day?

Answer: This text has been a source of

confusion for mainy. It doesn't need to be.
Let's examine it in full. Paul writes:
One man considers one day more
sacred than another; another man
considers every day alike. Each
one should be fully convinced in
his own mind. He who regards one
day as special, does so to the
Lord. He who eats meat, eats to
the Lord, for he gives thanks to
Grod; and he who abstains, does so
to the Lord and gives thanks to
Crod. (Romans 14:5, 6)

Let's notice first what the text does not

say. Two
questions will aid in our analysis.
Does the text say anything about the
Sabbath? Does say anything about
it

worship? Clearly the answer is no. The writer

suggests giving thanks to God, but does not
mention the Sabbath, or worship of God. So,
it would be dangerous to assume this text is

referring to the Sabbath.

128
 What then is the text about? What day is
it referring to? Whose value of a day does the

text discuss?
The text is quite plain. It says:

One man considers one day more

sacred than another; another man
considers every day alike.
Paul is writing about how man exalts one day
above another. The passage does not
mention the Sabbath or worship or the
—
command of God only man's personal
estimate of a day. Therefore, Paul is
obviously discussing a matter of human
option rather than a divine command written
with the finger of God on tables of stone.
The first verse of the chapter gives us the
key. Paul writes:
Accept him whose faith is weak,
without passing judgment on dis-
putable matters. (Romans 14:1)
Paul is writing to those who are in the faith
about those who are wesik in faith. He advises
the strong in faith to refrain from passing
judgment on "disputable matters*' or matters
of opinion.
One of these matters of opinion was the
appropriateness of eating meat offered to
idols (please see I Corinthians 8). Much of the
meat sold in the mairketplace had been
offered to the idols worshipped by the seller.
There were some conscientious Jewish Chris-
tians who believed that eating meat offered to

129
idolswas as bad as idolatry itself. Mciny
became vegetarians, not to protect their
physical health, but to avoid spiritual
defilement. This issue became a point of
contention in the church at Rome.
In addition to the meat issue, some still
believed there was inherent righteousness in
fasting (Luke 18:12). This group fasted on
certain days. Others, who did not fast on
these days, were looked down upon. Paul
writes, "One man considers one day more
sacred than another; . (Romains 14:5), and
.
**

also:

He who regards one day as spe-

cial, does so to the Lord. He who
eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he
gives thanks to God; and he who
abstains, does so to the Lord and
gives thanks to €rod. (verse 6)
Some
of the Jewish Christicins were
continuing to strictly adhere to their former
fast days. Their "faith was wesdc.
They judged
**

others by their own stamdaird and it caused a

division in the church. This division was over
human non-essentials, not doctrinal essen-
tials.The apostle Paul set the record straight:
"If you decide to fast, fine, but don't judge
everybody else by your choice.**
Paul's main concern is about
individuals who divide the church over
matters of human opinion, not matters of
divine law. Recall how he vigorously affirmed

130
 ...sothen, the law is holy,
and the commandment is holy,
righteous and good. (Romans 7:12)
He states clearly, "through the law we
become conscious of sin" (Romans 3:20), and
"I would not have known what sin was except

through the law" (Romans 7:7). Then he

adds:
Do we, then, nullify the law by
this faith? Not at all! Rather, we
uphold the law. (Romans 3:31)
Paul's position on the law is clear. And
certainly, in Romans 14, Paul is not contra-
dicting everything he has stated before in the
book of Romans. No amount of human
personal opinions are worth dividing the
church, ever!

Question #8;When does the Sabbath begin?

Does the Bible give us any clues about how
to keep the Sabbath?

Answer: From the eairliest times the faithful

people of God have observed the Sabbath
from sundown Friday night to sundown on
Saturday. This practice was followed by the
Old Testament It is
Israelites throughout the
rooted in the creation story in Genesis 1.
Describing the day. Genesis declares, **And
there was evening, and there was morning
the first day" (Genesis 1:5). This phrase is
repeated throughout chapter 1 in reference
to each day of Creation. The Gospel of Mark

131
affirms:

That evening (after the Sabbath)

after sunset the people brought
to Jesus all the sick and demon-
possessed. (Mark 1:32)
God does not use a Rolex watch to time the
days. Instead, He uses the celestial bodies He
placed in the universe during Creation.
In the Bible, the dairk part of the day
precedes the light part. How wonderful our
God is. He allows us to rest before we work.
It's sifter the darkness that the light comes.

After rest comes The Bible Sabbath

labor.
begins at sunset. What a joy to welcome in
God's Sabbath with prayer eind rejoicing
each Friday evening at sunset. It is God's
plan that each of us do this each week.
What clues does the Bible give us about
how to keep the Sabbath? God has designed
the Sabbath to be the happiest day of our
week. Therefore He's given us specific
Biblical guidelines to preserve the sacred-
ness and beauty of the Sabbath.
God's purpose for us on the Sabbath is
He desires that the Sabbath
threefold. First,
be a day of spiritual worship and praise
(please see Exodus 20:8-11; Leviticus 23:2;
Luke 4:16). Second, He has designed the
Sabbath to be a day of physical rest (see
Exodus 20:8-11). Third, God has intended
for the Sabbath to be a day of fellowship with
one cinother, especicdly our families. It is
also to be a day of blessing to other people

132
(Matthew The Bible says that all
12:8).
secular employment should be finished
before the Sabbath begins (Exodus 20:8- 1 1).
Italso declares that all purchases should be
made before the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13: 15-
18). Anything which would take our minds
from the things of eternity should be set
aside for the deeper Joy and greater pleasure
that we find in Christ on the Sabbath (Isaiah
58:13, 14). We can look forward to each
Sabbath as a special time of joy and fellow-
ship with Jesus Himself. He is looking
forward and longing for you to have the
experience of worship with Him this very
Sabbath.

Question #9;Since Jesus rose from the dead

on the first day of the week, Sunday, isn't it
proper for Christians to worship on that day?

Answer: The resurrection is one of the most

sublime and glorious truths of the entire
Christian church. Jesus has risen! Death is
not a long night without a morning. The
grave is not a dark pit with no light at the end
of the tunnel. Christ has conquered death.
But, the fact that Christ rose from the
dead on Sunday does not hallow it as a day
of worship any more than the fact that His
death on Friday sanctifies Friday as a day of
worship. As we have already discovered,
those who worship on Sunday because Jesus
rose from the dead on that day do so without

133
any command from Jesus.
However, Jesus did specificcdly give two
emblems as memorials of His death and
—
resurrection communion and baptism.
Communion is a symbol of His death which
occurred on that dcirk Friday. Paul's words
are too cleair to be misunderstood:
For whenever you eat this bread
and drink this cup, you proclaim
the Lord's death until he comes.
(I Corinthians 11:26)
The broken bread and unfermented juice of
the grape that are part of communion,
respectively represent the broken body and
spilt blood of our Lord. Thus He commainds
that we commemorate His death through the
communion service.
Baptism is a memorisd of His resurrec-
tion. Romans 6 affirms:

We were therefore huried with

him through baptism unto death
in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead through the
glory of the Father, we too may
livea new life. If we have been
united with him like this in his
death, we will certainly also be
united with him in his resurrec-
tion, (verses 4 & 5)
Just as Christ died, entered the grave, aind
was resurrected to new life,so the believer is
crucified with Christ. Surrendering the old

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lifeof sin, the old self dies. Buried in the
watery grave of baptism, the believer is
resurrected to new life. We commemorate
Christ's resurrection through our baptism.
In both His life aind death, Jesus kept
the Sabbath, not Sunday. Luke 4: 16 reveals,
"... 8ind on the Sabbath day he went into the
synagogue, as was his custom.** As a faithful
obedient son. He worshipped the Father each
Sabbath. In death. He rested upon the
Sabbath, fully trusting His Father to radse
Him up. His closest followers weiited until
eifter the Sabbath to embalm His body. Jesus
never gave any special endorsement to the
first day of the week. He never ssinctioned
any change in His law or said one word about
the first day of the week replacing the Holy
Sabbath.
What we must realize is this: the New
Testament is absolutely silent on the change
of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday in
honor of the resurrection. It's just not there.
Jesus and each of the disciples were
Sabbathkeepers. His words come echoing
down the centuries, "Now that you know
these things, you will be blessed if you do
them" (John 13:17).

A Personal Appeal
Has your heart been touched as you
have read the pages of this brief book? It is no
accident that you picked it up. The God of

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heaven who loves you with an immense love
desires you to know His truth. He has seen
within you a basic honesty. Maybe you have
been a faithful Christian, living up to all the
truth God has shown you. In the providence
of God, you have read this book. God desires
you to take another step. He desires you to
follow Him more fully. Will you tell Him today
that you cire willing to do whatever He asks?
Perhaps you've wondered if it was even
possible to know the truth. Something has
been missing in your life. There has been an
emptiness inside. As you have read these
pages you believe you have discovered truth;
deep within your heart you are willing to
follow it. Whatever you surrender for Jesus,
He will replace it with the joy of His own
presence. You can seifely trust Him. He
declares:
'I tell you the truth, ... no one
who has left home or brothers or
sisters or mother or father or
children or fields for me and the
gospel will fail to receive a hun-
dred times as much in this present
age (homes, brothers, sisters,
mothers, children and fields ^and —
with them, persecutions) and in
the age to come, eternal life*
(Mark 10:29. 30)
What an investment return! Whatever we
give up for Jesus, He will return a hundred
times more.

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 The peace, joy and inner fulfillnient we
have in following Him is incalculable. Would
you commit yourself to following Him
like to
completely today? Would you like to say,
"Jesus, I am yours. My life is totally in your
hands. I am willing to trust you. Whatever
you ask me to do I shall do it"? Friend, why
not bow your head right now and pray this
simple prayer:
Dear Lord, today I surrender
my life to you. I willingly choose
to follow all of your truth. Since
you are both my Creator and
Redeemer, I cast myself at your
feet in adoration and praise.
As a sign of my immense love
to you I choose to keep your
seventh-day Sdbbath by worship-
ing you on the day you have set
aside each week. Thank you.
Lord, for this weekly invitation
to receive directlyfrom your hand
new spiritual power.
Lord, it is with eager antici-
pation that I look forward to
seeing you face to face and
continue worshiping you each
Sabbath in the earth made new.
In Jesus name. Amen.
If your personal
this prayer reflects
commitment, you have just made one of the
most important decisions of your life. And
you cire not alone! Millions of others who

137
have made this same commitment are
rejoicing together in worship each Sabbath.
Why not fellowship with them soon?
To find those worshiping nearest you.
simply call toll-free, 1-800-253-3000, or
write to:

AIM
Berrien Springs, Michigan
49104-0970
Someone waiting for your call and they'll
is
be glad to assist you in any way they cam. God
bless you as you continue to follow Jesus and
His Word.

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