THE WORD OF GOD OR THE TRADITIONS OF MEN?
I contend that the Sabbath was changed by men, not by God. Much of the church today is choosing to hold to the traditions of men rather then every word of God. On March, 7th, 321 A.D. the Emperor Constantine enacted a Law. "On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and 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; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost." This law affected only the Christians and had no effect on the sun-worshiping pagans who observed Sunday already. It was common policy for the roman church to take the pagan festivals and give them a Christian significance,merging the pagans and the church together. "And what concord hath Christ with Be'-li-al? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" 2 COR 6:15.
Controversy on the true Sabbath continued, and in A.D. 603 Pope Gregory again passed a law abolishing the seventh day Sabbath, and establishing it to be the first day, claiming those who maintained that work should cease on the seventh day as "prophets of Antichrist." John Calvin said in Institution of the Christian Religion, "The Fathers put in place of the Sabbath the day we call Sunday." He knew Sunday was changed by men. Many in the church either don't know or don't care about Gods Sabbaths, and don't want to be bothered with the facts. Even if they knew the truth they would not change. We truly are in the Laodicean church age. With the world in the church and very little of the church in the world, we now have an ecumenical hodge--podge of doctrines, and more confusion, tongues and new age politically correct re translated bible perversions then the tower of babel could have possibly held.
Down through the centuries the Sabbath keeping churches have suffered bitter persecution for holding to the truth. Later I will show quotes on this subject and some history of these churches, but lets go to the bible first and then to the historical records.
GEN 2:2-3 "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."I would just like to say that this is a specific day of the week, and God established this before the ten commandments were given. Jesus said "For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." in MATH 12:8 & MAR 2:28. He didn't say a Sabbath he said the Sabbath. He also said "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." He did not say the Sabbath was made for the Jews, and a Sabbath for the Gentiles. No it was for man. All mankind from Adam to you and I. you see Jesus established it after he created all things, and because he made Adam and Eve on the sixth day they were around to observe it also, and I'm sure they did till the day they died. Does this mean Adam and Eve were Jews? Actually a Jew did not exist until after Abraham. You see, the Sabbath predates Jews. Some people say that it doesn't matter the day as long as we observe one in seven. Well, it must have mattered some because he told Moses and the Israelites exactly which day the Sabbath was even before the ten commandments were received. For 40 years a double portion of manna fell on Friday, and none fell on the Sabbath. Over 1900 times God showed his rest by not sending manna on his Sabbath, and over 1900 times God showed his mercy by sending a double portion on the sixth day.
In Hebrews chapter four the Lord talks about his rest. In verse 7 he said he limited a certain day. In verse 4 he said it was the seventh day. Verse 8 - 10 say's "For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his." Now I ask you, on what day did God cease from his works and rest? Show me one place in Gods Holy Word that tells us God changed his Sabbath rest to any other day. Please don't wrestle the scriptures with man-made theory's.
GODS COMMANDMENTS TILL HEAVEN AND EARTH PASS
1 JOHN 2:3-4 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 JOHN 2:7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
Are the ten commandments void? How would you know you've sinned? John said that sin is the transgression of the law. So when we do sin we confess and ask forgiveness through Jesus Christ. ROM 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea we establish the law. MATH 5:17-18 Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Has heaven and earth passed away? Not yet, but it will. Because we have the grace and mercy of God, does not mean we throw out Gods commandments. ROM 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? He goes on to say "God forbid."
PAUL CONTINUED TO OBSERVE SABBATH
Paul said in ACTS 825:8 "Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all." Paul kept Sabbath. In ACTS 13:42 it says, " And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." Verse 44 "And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God." ACTS 16:13, "And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made." ACTS 17:2 "And Paul as his manner was; went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures." ACTS 18:4 "And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and Greeks." In verse 11 it says "And he continued there a year and six months..." If it was Pauls manner to reason in the synagogue every Sabbath, Then he must have observed seventy-eight Sabbaths in this place. There is a place in ACTS 20:6-7 where Paul is getting ready to leave it says "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." Please remember that the first day begins Saturday at sundown. So after his discussions in the synagogue they gathered to break bread and say fair-well to Paul, and Paul talked till midnight. So at sundown in what we would call Saturday night, began what God would call the first day. Remember we are to go by Gods time clock , not mans. God has given many examples throughout his word that we are to count our days from sundown to sundown. GEN 1:5 "...And the evening and the morning were the first day."
DARK LIGHT
HIS LAW UPON OUR HEARTS
When we accept Jesus Christ as our savior we are grafted into the vine of salvation, and God then see's you as his child. You become spiritually born again. There is neither Jew nor Greek for we are one in Christ Jesus (GAL. 3:28)." And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs, according to the promise." Through Christ we are Israel. (1 COR 7:19). "Circumcision and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God." When we become his child, he writes his law upon our hearts and we love his commandments, all of them. And these are the true Israel. (ROM 9:6-8) "For they are not all Israel, which are Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called... the which are the children of God; but the children of promise are counted for seed". So when God says Israel, he is referring to his children. Are you a child of God? If so, in EXO 31:16-17 it says, "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." Perpetual and forever sounds like it would count for today, doesn't it? EZK 20:12 says, "Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them." (Deut 7:9), "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;" Has there been a thousand generations yet? ISA 24:5 tells us that during the tribulation that "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant."At Christ's return, his Sabbath will be observed just as it was in the beginning. ISA 66:22-23 "For as the new heavens and te new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and form one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come worship before me, saith the LORD. MAL 3:6 Fro I am the LORD, I change not..." HEB 13:8 "Jesus the same yesterday, today, and forever." If you will notice, every time Israel was punished, it was because they turned away from the things God commanded them, and by doing that served other gods. If you have turned away from one of Gods commandments could it be possible that you have indirectly served another god? In 321 A.D. Satan come to take away a commandment of the LORD. Read the parable of the sower in Mark chapter 4, and you can see the parallel. You see, Satan wants to take away from, or twist Gods work or cause you to error form the truth. He twisted Gods words in the garden to Eve and in the desert to Christ. Now since 321 A.D. many Christians have fallen for the same trick the devil used on Eve. Some Christians say that we are not under the law, and that is partly true. You see, we are no longer under the law of Moses and all those ordinces, but the ten commandments were written by God, and now through the grace of Christ, we can have them written in the fleshy tables of our hearts.
SUN WORSHIP IMPORTED FROM ROME
Most of early Rome was filled with Anti - Jewish contempt. They hated the Jews racially and culturally. It didn't take them long to hate the Christians also. Rome had as many pagan traditions as they had pagan gods. Most all of them were sun - worshipers. We know that the Roman Sun - cults influenced much of the early Roman Church. Two of their favorite holidays that the Roman Church refused to give up was the celibration of dies natalis solis invicti ( the birthday or rebirth of the invincible sun) celibrated on December 25th by pagans centuries before the birth of Christ. And Easter (The queen of heaven) who was a pagan fertility goddess who gave birth to the sun-god. Which is why this holiday must be observed on a Sunday facing the east worshiping the sun. History records the words of Hyginus, an Egyptian, who was the librarian at the Palestine library in Rome during the time of Caesar Agustus:" An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen from heaven into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank, where the doves having settled upon it, and hatched it, out came Venus, who afterwards was called the syrian goddess." That syrian goddess was named Astarte, from whom the title "Easter" came from. After Easter / Astarte ascended to heaven, she is said to be escorted by rabbits who lay colored eggs. The rabbits have long been a pagan fertility symbol because of their procreation habits and the eggs traditionally represented the symbol for new life.
WOW! what does the birthday of a pagan sun god have to do with the birthday of Jesus, who perposly left no command or date for us to observe it? And what does Easter a pagan fertility goddess have to do with his resurrection? nothing except it provides the leven the devil needs to transfere worship his way. Jesus didn't rise on Easter, he rose on the 17th of Abib(firstst jewish month), and Jesus was not born even in the month of December, that is too easy to prove. If you want details just write and ask, but I must get back to the topic at hand.
In the second century, the Roman Empire changed the names for the days of the week to honour their pagan dietys. Each day of the week was named after a planet, Saturn's day (Saturday), Sun's day (Sunday), ect. It was First Day, Second Day, Third Day, ect. Not a day has been lost or added since God told the Hebrews as they walked out in the Sinai Dessert what day his Sabbath fell on, and i'm sure god kept good track of them.
