We must keep the seventh day?

1. When God Said Remember
By Mark Finley
John was a committed Christian. He and his wife were faithful believers. They wanted
to do God’s will. As they attended a series of meetings I conducted on Bible prophecy,
they were challenged with new truths they had never heard before. Questions loomed
large in their minds. The Bible Sabbath particularly troubled them. They were convicted
it was truth from the Bible, but their pastor raised some serious questions in their minds.
They began to doubt. They seemed confused and needed their questions answered. As
we studied the Bible together, their understanding of truth deepened. They found solid
answers for their questions. Their doubts disappeared and they discovered the true joy
and blessing of Sabbath keeping.
Possibly, you too have some questions regarding the Bible Sabbath. There may be some
Bible passages which are difficult for you to understand. The Bible provides clear
answers to our questions. In fact, throughout the Bible, our Lord invites us to ask
questions, and He provides solid answers in His Word. Jesus declared, “Sanctify them
through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17, KJV). Peter adds, “But sanctify the
Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks
you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).
The apostle Paul counsels Timothy to be someone who is “Rightly dividing the word of
truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet, asks, “Whom will he teach
knowledge? . . . For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon
line, line upon line” (Isaiah 28:9, 10).
In other words, be sure to see the scope of the Bible’s teaching on a particular topic. Do
not build your understanding on one obscure text. If you want to truly understand what
the Bible says on a particular topic, study that topic from Genesis to Revelation. Let the
Holy Spirit speak to your mind throughout the teachings of Scripture.
Ask yourself, Where is the weight of evidence on this topic? What do the majority of
passages teach? Never let something which is not as clear to you, overshadow what is
clear. If there is a text you do not understand, let the plain passages in the Bible explain
it. Do not disregard texts and passages of Scripture which are abundantly plain in order
to cling to something that is not as clear, simply to defend a doctrine you have
previously been taught.
Here are four principles in discovering truth:
1. Approach the Bible with an open mind, willing to do whatever Christ asks you (John
7:17).
2. Ask God to send His Holy Spirit to your mind to reveal truth (Matthew 7:7; John
16:13).
3. Compare each relevant passage of Scripture on a given topic (1 Corinthians 2:13).
4. Act on the truth God reveals, and He will reveal more truth. Do not wait for all the
truth to act on the truth you know (John 12:35).
As we approach His Word with sincere hearts, He will reveal His truth. He will
enlighten our minds. He will impress us by His Holy Spirit. You may have questions,
but God has answers. As you read through some of the most commonly asked questions

2. in the next few pages, and the biblical answers I have provided, pray God will give you
wisdom and understanding. You are not alone in your search for truth. Tens of
thousands of others have asked similar questions and found solid answers in God’s
Word. So read on.
Commonly asked questions regarding the law of God
Didn’t Jesus come to do away with the Ten Commandments and establish a new
commandment of love? What about Matthew 22:37–40, “ ‘ “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, . . . [and] your neighbor as yourself” ’ ”? Isn’t love to God
and our neighbors all Jesus requires? These are the new commandments.
It may surprise you to discover the Jesus was summarizing the law as given in the Old
Testament. Deuteronomy 6:5 declares “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart.’"
Leviticus 19:18 adds, “ ‘ “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ’ ” The God of the Old
Testament is a God of everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). In Matthew 22:40, Jesus
declared, “ ‘On these two commandments [love to God and our fellow man] hang all the
Law and the Prophets.’ ” The first four commandments reveal how human beings
tangibly demonstrate their love to God. The last six commandments show how they
demonstrate their love to their fellow man. Jesus did not come to “ ‘destroy the Law . . .
but to fulfill’ ” it (Matthew 5:17). He revealed how to lovingly keep the law. He came to
magnify the meaning of the law (Isaiah 42:21). Jesus reveals how love is the fulfilling
of the law (Romans 13:10). He adds, “ ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments’ ”
(John 14:15).
Does Paul teach that Christians saved by faith do not have to keep the law?
Paul teaches that Christians are saved not by faith, but by grace through faith. Faith is
the hand that takes the salvation freely offered by Jesus. Faith does not lead to
disobedience but to obedience. Paul states in no uncertain terms, “Do we then make
void the law through faith? God forbid” (Romans 3:31, KJV). Romans 6:1, 14, 15 adds,
“Shall we continue in sin [breaking the law], that grace may abound? . . . God forbid”
(KJV).
Is it true that in the Old Testament people were saved by keeping the law, while in the
New Testament salvation is by grace?
In both the Old and New Testaments, salvation is by grace through faith. God does not
have two methods of salvation. Titus 2:11 affirms, “For the grace of God which
bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men” (KJV). In the Old Testament, men and
women were saved by the Christ that was to come. Each lamb sacrificed pointed
forward to the coming of the Messiah (Genesis 3:21; 22:9–13). In the New Testament,
men and women are saved by the Christ who has come. Jesus is the only means of
salvation (Acts 4:12).
Since we are under the new covenant, is it really necessary to keep God’s law?
The new covenant is actually older than the old covenant. It was given by God Himself
in the Garden of Eden when He promised that the Messiah would come to break the
deadly hold of Satan upon the human race. The new covenant contains the promise of
redemption from sin through Jesus Christ. He saves us! He writes the principles of the
law in our hearts. Love becomes the motivation for obedience. There is a new power in
the life (Hebrews 8:10; Ezekiel 36:26; Psalm 40:8). Under the old covenant, Israel
promised to obey God’s commandments in their own strength. They declared, “All that

3. God says, we will do” (see Exodus 19:8; 24:3, 7). All attempts at external conformity to
God’s law lead to frustrated defeat. The law which we cannot keep in our own strength
condemns us (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Under the new covenant, we belong to a new
Master—Jesus Christ. We have a new heart and a new standing before God (John
1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1).
Since Paul declares, “Let no one judge you regarding the Bible Sabbath,” isn’t Sabbath
keeping unnecessary (see Colossians 2:16, 17)?
This passage, Colossians 2:16, 17, is one of the most misunderstood passages in the
Bible. One principle of Bible interpretation is that you do not allow what may be
somewhat unclear to keep you from doing what you understand. The Bible teaching on
the Sabbath is plain. It was given at Creation (Genesis 2:1–3). Jesus observed it (Luke
4:16). Paul observed it (Acts 13:42–44), and it will be observed in heaven (Isaiah
66:22, 23). The Bible mentions two kinds of sabbaths: the seventh-day Sabbath and the
yearly sabbaths. The seventh-day Sabbath, instituted at Creation and part of the Ten
Commandment law, is a weekly reminder of the loving, all-powerful Creator.
The yearly sabbath relates specifically to the history of Israel. Colossians
2:16, 17 specifically states, “Let no one judge you . . . regarding . . . sabbaths, which are
a shadow of things to come.” Hebrews 10:1 connects the law of shadows with animal
sacrifice. Ezekiel 45:17 uses the exact same expressions in the exact same order
as Colossians 2:16, 17, and connects it all with the ceremonial systems of feasts and
sacrifices (meat offerings, drink offerings, feasts, new moons, and sabbaths, to make
reconciliation for the house of Israel. Leviticus 23:5–32 discusses the ceremonial
sabbaths (Passover, verse 5; unleavened bread, verse 6; sheaf of first fruits, verse 10;
first fruits, verse 17; trumpets, verse 24; tabernacles, verse 24; and the Day of
Atonement, verses 27–32; these are all specifically called sabbaths.)
These annual sabbaths were intimately connected to events foreshadowing Christ’s
death and His second coming. They were designed by God to be shadows or pointers to
the coming Messiah. Leviticus 23:37 uses the language of Colossians 2:16, 17 to
describe these ceremonial sabbaths. Leviticus 23:38 distinguishes the ceremonial
sabbaths from the seventh-day Sabbaths by using the expression, “ ‘Beside the sabbaths
of the Lord.’ ” Since Christ has come, the shadowy sabbaths of the ceremonial law have
found their fulfillment in Him. The seventh-day Sabbath continues to lead us back to the
Creator God who made us. God’s people will keep it as a distinguishing sign of their
relationship to Him (Revelation 14:12; Ezekiel 20:12, 20).
What about Romans 14:5? “One man esteemeth one day above another: another
esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (KJV).
Really, what difference does a day make?
Sometimes it’s helpful to carefully notice what a Bible text does not say, as well as what
it does say. Verses 5 and 6 say nothing about the worship of the Sabbath. They simply
talk about regarding a day. To say this particular day is the Sabbath, is an unwarranted
assumption. Romans 14:1 sets the tone for the entire passage, indicating that the
discussion focuses on “doubtful disputations” (KJV), or disputes on doubtful matters. Is
the seventh-day Sabbath set apart by God at Creation (Genesis 2:1–3), placed within the
heart of the moral law (Exodus 20:8–11), a doubtful matter?
Certainly not! The key to our passage is found in Romans 14:6, which states, “He that

4. regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the
Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks;
and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks” (KJV). The
issue revolved around fast days, not Sabbath days. Some Jewish Christians believed
there was particular merit in fasting on certain days. They judged others by their own
standards. The Pharisees fasted at least twice a week and boasted about it (Luke 18:12).
In Romans 14, Paul is pointing out that to fast or not to fast on a certain day is a matter
of individual conscience, not a matter of God’s command.
Didn’t the disciples meet on the first day of the week? See Acts 20:7.
The reason this meeting is mentioned in the narrative is because Paul was leaving the
next day and worked a mighty miracle in raising Eutychus from the dead. It is clear that
the meeting is a night meeting. It is the dark part of the first day of the week (verse 8).
In Bible times, the dark part of the day preceded the light part (Genesis 1:5).
The Sabbath was observed from Friday night at sunset to Saturday night at sunset
(Leviticus 23:32; Mark 1:32). If this meeting is on the dark part of the first day of the
week, it is in fact a Saturday night meeting. Paul has met with the believers all Sabbath.
He will depart the next day, Sunday, so the meeting continues late into Saturday night.
The next day, Sunday, Paul traveled by foot to Assos, then sailed to Mitylene. The New
English Bible reading of Acts 20:7 also confirms this as a Saturday night meeting, with
Paul traveling on Sunday. If Paul considered Sunday sacred in honor of the
Resurrection, why would he spend the entire day traveling and not worshiping? The
record indicates that Paul was a Sabbath keeper (Acts 13:42–44; 16:12, 13; 17:2; 18:4).
Can we really tell which day the seventh day is?
There are at least four ways which we can tell for certain that Saturday is the seventh
day.
1. The Bible: It clearly reveals that Jesus was crucified on the Preparation day (Luke
23:54). His closest followers rested as commanded on the Sabbath day (Luke
23:56; Mark 16:1). Most Christians recognize Jesus died on Friday, the Preparation day;
He rested the next day, and rose the first day, Sunday. The Sabbath is the day between
Friday and Sunday, or the seventh day—Saturday.
2. Language: In more than one hundred and forty languages in the world, the word for
the seventh day, which we call Saturday, is the word Sabbath. Language testifies to the
Sabbath’s preservation through the centuries.
3. Astronomy: The leading astronomers in the world testify to the fact that the weekly
cycle has never changed. Centers such as the Royal Naval Observatory in the U.S. and
The Royal Greenwich Observatory in England affirm the fact of a constant weekly
cycle.
4. History: The Jewish people have kept an accurate record of the Sabbath. For more
than four thousand years, they have preserved the true Sabbath on Saturday.
I keep Sunday in honor of the Resurrection. What’s wrong with that? Didn’t Jesus rise
from the dead on Sunday?
Yes, Jesus certainly rose on Sunday! But He never commanded us to worship in honor
of the Resurrection. Just as the Communion service symbolizes His death (1 Corinthians
11:24, 26), baptism symbolizes His resurrection (Romans 6:1–6). The symbol of Jesus’

5. resurrection is not worship on the day of the sun, which was adopted into Christianity
from pagan Rome’s sun worship, but a beautiful ceremony of baptism as a symbol of a
new life transformed by the wonder-working power of the Holy Spirit. In the watery
grave of baptism, the old person symbolically dies and is buried, while a new life is
resurrected with Christ.
Isn’t one day in seven good enough? Why do you put so much emphasis on the
Sabbath?
The issue is more than a matter of days. It is a matter of masters. Through a master
stroke of deception, Satan has worked through apostate religion to change God’s law
(Daniel 7:25). He has cast the truth to the ground (8:12). He has made a break in God’s
wall of truth. God calls us to repair the breach by keeping His Sabbath (Isaiah
58:12, 13). We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). To worship on the
seventh day, is to accept the authority of your Creator Lord, who commanded the day be
kept (Exodus 20:8–11). To knowingly accept a counterfeit day of worship, is to accept
an institution initiated and established solely by man in the apostasy. The real question,
then, is, Whose servants are we—God’s or man’s? (Romans 6:16). All the celebrations
the day before or the day after my birthday do not make these days my birthday. The
world’s birthday is the Bible Sabbath, the seventh day. It is a memorial to our loving
Creator. No other day will do.
Was Peter the first pope? What did Jesus mean when He said to Peter, “Upon this rock I
will build my church” (Matthew 16:18, KJV)?
Cesarea Philippi was a center of Greek philosophy, Roman logic, and Jewish traditional
religion. Jesus set Himself against the back- drop of the world’s great religious and
philosophical systems asking, “ ‘Who do men say that I . . . am?’ ” (verse 13). After
they answered, “ ‘John the Baptist, . . . Elijah, . . . Jeremiah’ ” (verse 14), He asks, “
‘Who do you say that I am?’ ” (verse 15). Jesus longed to deepen their faith. He desired
to draw out a Messianic confession. Peter instantly responds, “ ‘You are Christ, the Son
of the living God’ ” (verse 16). This thought could be inspired only by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus affirms Peter’s faith by declaring, “Thou art [Petros, a moveable stone], and upon
this rock [this immovable foundation—that I am the Christ] I will build my church; and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (verse 18, KJV). The church is built upon
Jesus Christ. He is the Cornerstone rejected by the builders (1 Peter 2:4–8). Peter clearly
understood that the Rock was Jesus.
Paul clarifies the issue in 1 Corinthians 10:4 by proclaiming, “That Rock was Christ.”
David declares, “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He
only is my rock and salvation” (Psalm 62:1, 2, KJV). There is no other foundation (1
Corinthians 3:11) except Jesus. The gates of hell will never triumph over His church.
Peter misunderstood Jesus’ mission. Jesus said, “Get thee behind me Satan” (Matthew
16:23, KJV), meaning Satan was influencing him. No, the church was not built upon
Peter’s weakness, but upon Jesus’ strengths. Peter discovered the marvelous truth for
himself. Jesus became the Source of his strength, the Center of his life, and the
Foundation upon which he stood.
What are the “keys of the kingdom” that Jesus gave Peter and the rest of the disciples
(Matthew 16:19)?
Keys open and shut doors. Jesus said, “I am the way, . . . no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me” (John 14:6, KJV).

6. “There is none other name under heaven . . . whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12,
KJV). All the Scriptures testify of Jesus (John 5:39). The scribes and Pharisees took
away the “key of knowledge,” regarding the Messiah (Luke 11:52). They shut up
heaven. The “keys” Jesus gave to Peter were His words, His teachings, regarding how
men and women could have forgiveness for sin, freedom from condemnation, and peace
through His shed blood and death on Calvary’s cross. A knowledge of Jesus, the
promised Messiah, opens heaven (Isaiah 22:22).
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly
Jonathan was perplexed. His final exam was scheduled for Sabbath. To take the exam
would be a violation of his conscience. He made an appointment with his professor,
explained his situation, and asked for the opportunity to take the exam on another date.
His professor flatly refused. He explained that there were no exceptions. If he allowed
Jonathan to take the exam at another time, he might be opening the door for others who
may offer any excuse. Jonathan only had two options: either take the exam and pass the
class, or miss it and fail.
Certainly, Jonathan did not want to waste the whole semester. He did not relish retaking
the course in summer school. He earnestly prayed that God would open the door for him
to take the exam some other day besides the Sabbath.
As the day of the exam dawned, Jonathan calmly walked to church that Sabbath
morning, believing God would honor his trust. There are times when God acts
powerfully and miraculously to demonstrate His greatness. After the exam, as the
professor was walking home from class with the students’ exams securely in his
briefcase, he was robbed. The only thing that was taken was his exam-filled briefcase.
The professor was not harmed, but his briefcase with all of the exams was gone forever.
Since graduation was only a few days away, the principal of the school made a
surprising announcement. Each student in the class would get passing marks on the
exam. Their total score for the class would be their test averages up until the time of the
exam. Jonathan was overwhelmed with gratitude to the God who heard his prayer and
honored his faith.
God blesses faithfulness
God’s promise to His faithful followers in Bible times is just as true today. Our Lord
declares, “ ‘ “For those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be
lightly esteemed” ’ ” (1 Samuel 2:30). The words of Scripture echo down through the
centuries. They speak to us with just as much force today. They are no less true than
when they were written millennia ago. “ ‘And all these blessings shall come upon you
and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God’ ” (Deuteronomy
28:2). God promises His richest blessings to those who obey Him. This is especially
true of those who are committed to keep His seventh-day Sabbath each week. At
Creation, God “blessed the seventh day” (Genesis 2:3). Whatever God blesses is blessed
forever
(1 Chronicles 17:27). Since God’s eternal blessing is in the seventh-day Sabbath, we are
richly blessed as we keep it (Isaiah 56:2).

7. This leads us to some specific questions. How do we keep the Sabbath? Are there some
activities that are incompatible with the Sabbath? Are there some things that will
destroy our Sabbath blessing? What is God’s purpose for the Sabbath?
God does not give us a to-do and not-to-do list of activities for the Sabbath. He does not
define each minute detail of Sabbath keeping. He does give us principles of proper
Sabbath observance. These principles guide us. They shape our Sabbath experience. As
we seek God in prayer, committing our will to Him, the Holy Spirit will guide us into a
rich experience in Sabbath keeping. Let’s examine three biblical principles, which will
guide us in our Sabbath keeping.
Principle 1: The Sabbath is a day dedicated to worshiping our Creator.
The essence of Sabbath keeping is worship. On Sabbath, with all of heaven’s host, we
joyously proclaim,
“You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:11).
We were created by a loving God. Each Sabbath, we thank Him by worshiping Him as
Creator. According to Leviticus 23:3, “ ‘ “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh
day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation.” ’ ” The Sabbath is a “holy
convocation”—a sacred gathering of God’s people for worship and praise.
Throughout the centuries, God’s chosen people, the Jews, worshiped Him each Sabbath.
In the New Testament, Jesus gives us a positive example of Sabbath keeping. The
Gospel writer Luke records Jesus’ Sabbath practices this way: “So He came to
Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read” (Luke 4:16). For Jesus, the
Sabbath was a day of fellowship with God in worship. When the people of God meet
together to sing praises to His name, study His Word, seek Him in prayer, and
fellowship with one another, they are richly blessed. Jesus left His tools in Joseph’s
carpenter shop in Nazareth each Sabbath to attend worship in the synagogue. Sabbath
worship was important to Jesus. His custom, or practice, was to praise His heavenly
Father, absorb His Word, and fellowship with His people each Sabbath.
New Testament Christians met each Sabbath to renew their spiritual strength. They met
together to encourage one another. They followed the counsel of the apostle Paul to the
Hebrews, when he said, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and
good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of
some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day
approaching” (Hebrews 10:24, 25). Each Sabbath, God invites us to find our deepest
satisfaction in worship. Sabbath is a slice of heaven. In heaven’s plan, God allows us to
experience eternity each week as we enter the joy of Sabbath worship. On Sabbath, we
place priority on worship, not work. The Sabbath liberates us from the grind of daily
toil. On Sabbath, we are free from the burden of earning a living to experience life at its
best.

8. The fourth commandment is too plain to be misunderstood. God knew that if He simply
gave us good advice, many of us would ignore it, so He gave us a command: “
‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your
work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no
work’ ” (Exodus 20:8–10a). God says, “Remember,” but most of the world has
forgotten. We can only keep holy what God has made holy. No other day can substitute
for the Sabbath because the Sabbath is the only day God made holy. To place priority
on work rather than worship, defiles the day God made holy and dishonors God.
Jesus said, “ ‘And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’ ” (John
8:32). The truth about Sabbath worship liberates us from the unceasing burden of
continued work. Every Sabbath, we are reminded by an all-powerful God and loving
Creator that our intrinsic worth does not depend on how much we accomplish. We are
called from work to worship.
Millions of people find their identity in what they do. Their work defines them. The
Sabbath invites us to find our true worth, not in what we do, but in who we are. The
Sabbath is a weekly reminder pointing us to learn of our eternal value in God’s sight.
The French Revolution
During the godless French Revolution, with the dawning of the so-called Age of
Reason, the French adopted what they termed the French “Republican Calendar,” or
“Revolutionary Calendar.” This calendar was used by the French for twelve years, from
1793 to 1805. It eradicated the seven-day week cycle, abolished the day of worship, and
created a ten-day week. All workers worked nine days and on the tenth had a day of rest
and merriment.
Napoleon Bonaparte abolished this Revolutionary Calendar with its ten-day week and
demanded France return to the seven-day week cycle. French workers were not faring
well at all under this new calendar with nine days of work and one day of rest.1 There is
a natural rhythm in the seven-day week cycle that leads us to worship our Creator. To
ignore Eden’s weekly cycle, given at Creation, simply makes us vulnerable to physical,
mental, and emotional breakdowns. God created us for Himself. A commitment to keep
the Sabbath holy makes an enormous difference in our lives.
As I have traveled to more than seventy countries sharing Jesus and the truths of His
Word, I have seen thousands take a stand to follow Him and keep His Sabbath holy.
Some of these people have experienced real tests to keep the Sabbath. Many have been
threatened with the loss of their jobs. Their employers have bluntly told them that if
they failed to show up for work on Sabbath, they would be fired. Time after time, I have
seen God work miracles.
Sabbath-keeping experiences
Sandra was a postal worker in Illinois. Although she had seniority, her supervisor
threatened her with the loss of her job if she did not work on Sabbath. We entered into
earnest prayer for Sandra. We claimed Christ’s promise in Matthew 6:33, 34a, “ ‘Seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to
you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow.’ ” Miraculously, Sandra’s supervisor
reversed his initial decision. She kept her job and got Sabbath’s off.

9. Rodger shut down his retail store on Sabbath. Since he did nearly 30 percent of his
business on that day, his friends felt he was crazy. They really thought he had lost his
mind. He placed a sign in the store window that read, “Closed for the Bible Sabbath.”
The first few weeks were rough. Sales were down, but surprisingly, they gradually
climbed. Rodger claimed God’s promise, “My God shall supply all your need according
to His riches in glory” (Philippians 4:19). He found God to be faithful. The issue
regarding Sabbath work is one of trust. Do we trust God enough to put our lives fully in
His hands? Do we believe He will care for us if we are faithful to Him?
The decision not to work on the Sabbath is extremely difficult for many people. We
have our house mortgage or monthly rent, car payments, credit card bills, and a host of
other expenses that need to be paid. God does not always get us a better, higher paying
job, but when we decide to be faithful to Him, He always meets our needs. He always
fills us with an inner sense of contentment when we do what is right. The honor of His
throne is behind the promises He has made. Since “it is impossible for God to lie”
(Hebrews 6:18), we can be absolutely certain He will take the responsibility to provide
us with the necessities of life if we are faithful to Him.
Sabbath worship is essential for a healthy spiritual life. If we are going to grow in
Christ, weekly Sabbath worship is vital.
Principle 2: The Sabbath is a day exclusively set apart for physical, mental, and spiritual
renewal.
The Israelites drifted away from God when they defiled the Sabbath. In the days of
Nehemiah the prophet, the common activities of life crowded out the sacredness of the
Sabbath. The Israelites were influenced by their heathen neighbors. Nehemiah describes
the scene this way: “In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the
Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs and all
kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned
them about the day on which they were selling provisions” (Nehemiah 13:15).
Nehemiah was concerned. God’s Sabbath became a common, ordinary day. The day our
Creator set aside for spiritual, physical, and mental renewal became a day of exhausting
toil. The day of liberation from the bondage of buying and selling, working and earning,
had deteriorated into a business-as-usual day. Nehemiah could not keep silent. His
words echoed like thunder through the streets of Jerusalem. “Then I contended with the
nobles of Judah, and said to them, ‘What evil thing is this that you do, by which you
profane the Sabbath day?’ ” (verse 17). The principle is plain. When we become so
absorbed in the earthly that we forget the eternal, we defile the Sabbath. The book of
Isaiah adds this insight:
“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the Lord honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord;
And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth” (58:13, 14).

10. In other words, we will be abundantly blessed.
A personal testimony
When I became a Christian, I was playing basketball on a YMCA high school sports
team in Norwich, Connecticut. Our team qualified for the New England championship.
This was an exciting thing for a group of teenage boys from a small town. The
tournament was scheduled Thursday through Sunday in Springfield, Massachusetts,
which meant playing basketball all day Sabbath and, of course, missing worship. I had
recently begun to understand the significance of the Bible Sabbath and attend church on
Sabbath. For me to break the Sabbath was to be disobedient to Christ.
The Sabbath was a symbol of my allegiance to the God I served. I faced an extremely
difficult decision. Should I stay home and keep the Sabbath, or travel with the
basketball team and do what I naturally wanted to do? My mind began to rationalize.
What’s wrong with playing just this one time? But deep within the fabric of my being, I
knew that traveling to the basketball tournament and disregarding the Sabbath as the
Lord’s Day would be a violation of my conscience.
I wanted to go badly, but one question continued to echo in my mind: What is more
important, basketball or Jesus? In my anguish, I called a godly Christian woman who
had become sort of a spiritual mentor. When I asked her for her counsel, she put it in
very simple terms: “Mark, be faithful to Jesus.” Based on her advice and my inner
conviction, I made a decision not to go to the tournament. It seemed that I had just
ruined my chances to travel, sleep in a hotel, eat in restaurants, and see the world.
As I look back on this experience, I have to smile. Today I have had the opportunity to
travel to countries around the world sharing God’s love and truth. I have had the
indescribable thrill of seeing people come to Christ from Montreal to Moscow, from
Russia to Rwanda, from Chile to China. God has immeasurably enriched my life since I
made that initial commitment. Giving up my dreams enabled me to follow God’s
dreams for my life. We may think that we are making great sacrifices to follow God, but
He gives us much more in return.
The apostle Peter said to Jesus, “ ‘See, we have left all and followed You’ ” (Mark
10:28). You can almost hear Peter wondering aloud, “What will we receive in return?”
Jesus gives Peter a remarkable response: “ ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who
has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for
My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—
houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—
and in the age to come, eternal life’ ” (Mark 10:29, 30). In other words, Jesus says,
“Yes, there will be challenges if you commit your life to Me, but whatever you give up,
I will give you one hundred times more in blessings.” When we make a decision to
follow Jesus, He pledges to meet our needs and to fill our lives with joy, peace,
satisfaction, and purpose. I can certainly testify that God faithfully fulfills His Word.
One of the great blessings God gives us is Sabbath rest. How can we put a price on the
renewed physical, mental, and spiritual rest Jesus gives us as we keep His Sabbath? I
cannot put a value on the blessing of God’s Sabbath to me. Believe me, this time of
spiritual rest is an essential part of my life. It keeps me going in my hectic schedule. It
has helped to strengthen my bond with my family. This leads to the third great biblical

11. principle regarding the Sabbath.
Principle 3: The Sabbath is a day of building closer relationships with our family and
friends and blessing those around us in service.
Let your mind drift back over the millennia to the beauty and magnificence of Eden. On
the sixth day, God created Adam and Eve. The Bible records, “Then God saw
everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). There was
no sin, sickness, suffering, or death in the splendor of that Garden. Since God is love
and we are created to love, God gave our first parents a gift of love—the Sabbath (1
John 4:8; Genesis 2:1–3). The first complete day Adam and Eve spent together was the
Sabbath. Their first intimate moments of sharing and communicating were on the
Sabbath. Sabbath is a day for strengthening relationships. It gives us time for our loving
heavenly Father and for one another. It is a day to give time to strengthening our
relationship with God and those we love.
Do you ever feel the week just rushes by and time for family is crowded out? Some
studies indicate that fathers spend less than two hours a week one-on-one with their
children. The Sabbath reminds us every week of what is really important.
Herman Wouk, the Jewish playwright, would not be without the Sabbath in his life. He
describes how the Sabbath is an island of peace in the chaos of Broadway society. At
sundown Friday night, he leaves the stress of the littered theater with the frenzy of
opening night just hours away. As he arrives home to the warm embrace of his wife and
the smiles of his children, he is encircled in loving relationships. The candles are lit.
The table is set. The family eats and shares together. The children ask questions and the
world of show business is forgotten. When Wouk returns to the theater Saturday
evening after sunset, nothing much has changed there, but he has changed. His relaxing,
restorative Sabbath has drawn him closer to his God and his family.2
A colleague remarked to Wouk after he came back to the theater one Saturday night, “
‘I don’t envy you your religion, but I envy you your Sabbath.’ ”3 Who would not want
to spend a day building better relationships with those you love?
For Jesus, Sabbath was about loving relationships. It was about service. This is
precisely why Jesus performed numerous miracles on the Sabbath. On Sabbath, Jesus
revealed the Father’s compassion to suffering humanity. When the Jewish religious
leaders criticized Jesus for performing acts of healing on the Sabbath, He commented, “
‘It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath’ ” (Matthew 12:12). The Sabbath is a day for
doing good. Is a neighbor sick? Bring her a hot bowl of delicious homemade soup. Have
you heard about a friend who is discouraged? Call them on the phone to lift their spirits.
Do you sense the widower down the street is lonely? Invite him over for lunch.
On Sabbath, we remember our Creator. There is no better place to do that than out in
nature. For years, my wife and I spent many Sabbath afternoons hiking when our
children were growing up. Even now, although our children are now grown and
married, my wife and I often spend Sabbaths in nature. We enjoy sharing together in the
beauties of nature. Walking the trails near our home, listening to the birdsongs, seeing
an occasional deer, and smelling the fragrant aroma of the wildflowers relaxes our tired
bodies and lifts our spirits for another week.

12. The Sabbath is not drudgery. It is life-giving. The Sabbath is not a burden. It is a
blessing. The Sabbath is much more than a duty. It is a delight.
If you have not experienced the exhilarating joy of Sabbath worship, why not begin this
week? If you have not entered into the peace of Sabbath rest, why not start now? If you
would like a closer relationship with your loved ones and friends, the Sabbath
experience awaits you. The Sabbath is not simply something to be debated—it is a joy
to be experienced. Why not experience the blessings of Sabbath for yourself? With arms
wide open, Jesus says, “Come unto Me all you who are burdened, and I will give you
rest.”
Wikipedia contributors, “French Republican Calendar,” Wikipedia.com,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar (accessed March 11, 2009).
Herman Wouk, This Is My God (New York: Back Bay Books, 1992), 45, 46.
Ibid., 46.
The Day of the Sun
One of the strangest omissions in our modern life revolves around the calendar which
hangs on the wall at your house and mine. Astronomy can supply most of the answers
relating to the measurement of time, even when it touches the earliest years of human
history. But even the calendar experts can give us no scientific reason for the division of
time into seven day weekly cycles. Neither the stars, planets nor sun seem to provide
any logical clues as to this arrangement of time. The days and months are based on
predictable laws of planetary movements but why does our calendar today count days
off in units of seven?
Creation and the Seven Day Week
Friends, there is only one answer for this question. The Bible says that God created the
world in seven days and established a divine command for all time to come — that
mankind should so reckon his time by weeks. Here’s the text in Exodus 20:8-11:
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy
work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any
work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor the maidservant, nor they
cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth, the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day, wherefore
the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
Please notice that God Himself is the author of the calendar week of seven days. It has
passed down to us from time immemorial, and was included in the most ancient forms
of calendars, regardless of race or language. There can be little question that we are
dealing with an arrangement which the Creator established in the very beginning of
human history. And the most amazing thing is, that no time has been lost since the great
God gave His command about keeping the seventh day Sabbath in honor of creation.
What He commanded, He has enabled man to perform. Miraculously the same seven
day weekly cycle has been preserved through the ages so that man might enjoy the
spiritual blessing which was placed upon the seventh day in the beginning.
So Which Day Is It?
Today there is no serious question from either clergy or layman as to which day the
seventh day really is. Astronomers assure us that the seventh day today is the same

13. seventh day which Jesus kept when He was here over 1900 years ago.
Now we come to that strange omission I mentioned in the beginning. Why do the
majority of Christians break the Commandment of God by refusing to keep the Sabbath
He ordained, blessed, and sanctified? The seventh day, or Saturday, has been made a
day of labor and commerce in direct violation of the law written by the very finger of
God.
Surely every believer knows that the Creator rested on the seventh day and hallowed it
as the Sabbath. And all know that the fourth commandment enjoins the observance of
the seventh-day Sabbath. Most followers of Christ know that He never kept any other
day than the Sabbath day. Yet, in spite of these Bible evidences, the majority of the
Christian world observe Sunday, the first day of the week, and worship on that day.
No change from seventh-day to first day worship is recorded in the Bible. If the change
were catalogued there, it would no longer be so perplexing. But our Creator says, “I am
the Lord, I change not.” Malachi 3:6. The commandment must still stand; for the
Saviour declares that “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law
to fail.” Luke 16:17. Since heaven and earth are still standing and very much in
evidence, the fourth precept of that law must still be obligatory. Jesus said: “Think not
that I am come to destroy the law;” and, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandment.” Matthew 5:17; 19:17.
Who Changed The Day?
Notwithstanding all this, an attempt has been made to change the day of rest. The
majority today are not keeping the day that Jesus kept. And the question is, Who
changed the Sabbath day from the seventh to the first day of the week, and by what
authority? Every Christian who desires to “enter into life” should be concerned about
this. We ought to know how this change came about, and if the greater part of
Christendom is right in observing Sunday instead of the Sabbath day.
There is light on this question in the very etymology of the word “Sunday.” In early
ages, mankind, forgetting the true Creator of the heavens and the earth “and all that in
them is,” and being possessed, as all men are, with that inherent instinct which goes
seeking after an object or being to worship, began to look about for such an object or
being. Their choice rested on the biggest and brightest thing their eyes could see. They
chose the sun as god. With its brightness and welcome warmth, it caused earthly life to
bud, blossom, and bring forth; surely it must be the true god and the author of man’s
being. Thus we find in history sun god’s a-plenty. They are pictured on temples and
monuments of Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Ra, Isis, Osiris,
Baal, Mithras, Hercules, Apollo, and Jupiter all are heathen gods of the sun. Even in the
Bible, sun worship is mentioned. In Job 31:26-28, we read: “If I beheld the sun when it
shined, . . . and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God
that is above.” Again in Ezekiel 8:16: “At the door of the temple of the lord, between
the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the
temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward
the east.”
The pagans had “gods many and lords many.” Besides the sun, they worshiped the

14. moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn. And they bestowed upon the days of the
week the names of their gods. The sun, whence come the first day of the week was
given over to this first and foremost of all gods, and called the sun’s day, or Sunday.
The moon took second place and also the second day; hence Monday. Saturn held
Saturday, the last day. So from antiquity, Sunday has been held as a day of worship.
Paganism was worshiping the sun on Sunday when Christ came. When the gospel from
Judea came to our own ancestors in Europe, it found them paying homage to the sun on
the first day of the week. As the Spirit of God, manifested in Christ, began to work upon
the hearts of men, many left the worship of Apollo, the sun god, and joined the
Christians.
After Christ’s return to heaven, the great majority were still pagans worshiping the sun
on Sunday, while the followers of Jesus worshiped God on the true Sabbath, or seventh
day. With mighty manifestations of God’s Spirit, Christianity mounted, and paganism
began to wane. The Spirit-filled preaching of Paul in Asia, Macedonia, and Italy won
thousands to the ranks of Christ. The church at that time was powerful, because of its
zeal and earnestness and consecrated lives. The worship of the true God and the
following of His commandments spread over the whole world.
Before Paul laid down his life, however, he wrote to the Thessalonians: “Now we
beseech you, brethern, ... that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be
troubled, ... as that the day of the Lord is just at hand; let no man beguile you in any
wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is
called God or that is worshiped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself
forth as God. ... For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work.” II Thessalonians
2:1-4, 7, R.V.
The Man of Sin
Here is warning of apostasy. Paul saw it working in the church. A “falling away” was to
come “first”. A “mystery of lawlessness,” or a spirit of making void the law of God,
was already at work. A “man of sin” was to be revealed sitting right in the church,
“setting himself forth as God.” It is quite evident that from this one source was to come
the tendency to change the law of God. There can be but little doubt that Paul was
acquainted with the prophecy of Daniel 7:24, 25, regarding that “little horn” which was
to come up out of Rome, with eyes and mouth like a man’s (verse 8) and “speak words
against the Most High,” and “wear out the saints of the Most High,” and “think to
change the times and the law.” The same Bible consistency works here. Daniel had
prophesied of a man of sin that was to “think” to change the law; and Paul, by the same
Spirit, prophesied of the man of sin that had the mystery of lawlessness. Daniel had
prophesied of a man of sin that was to “think” to change the law; and Paul, by the same
Spirit, prophesied of the man of sin that had the mystery of lawlessness. God, who made
eyes, is not blind; and through these two seers, He made known to the people of God the
fact that there was to come into the church a power that would “change the times and
the law.” And true to the prophecy, we find its fulfillment.
Soon after Paul was put to death, there swept over the church, in the midst of its
prosperity, a sharp rivalry among the bishops of the leading churches as to whom should
be the greatest. They became thirsty for more power. They did almost anything to

15. inflate their membership, increase their bishoprics, and add to their power. They
lowered standards of truth to raise membership. Multitudes joined the church. The white
horse of purity and simplicity that the church had ridden, “conquering and to conquer,”
was exchanged for the red horse of strife and worldliness. She traded her “gold tried in
the fire” for the tinsel of popularity. Paganism stalked into the church without a changed
heart or life. Scarcely a century after his death, Paul’s prophecy was meeting its
fulfillment. There was a “falling away” from purity, and an induction of pagan
principles and philosophies into the church.
Constantine's Influence
In the early dawn of the fourth century, Constantine, a Roman general, ambitious for the
throne, adopted Christianity as a matter of political advantage. He saw paganism
declining. In reality, it was being absorbed by the church. Merely as a measure of
popularity, he proclaimed himself a Christian. The fawning bishops acclaimed him.
Constantine faced this situation: More than half the people worshiped on Sunday—
pagans. The others observed the Sabbath—professed Christians. He conceived the idea
of cementing the two factions. Though professing Christianity, he did not want to
conflict with the prejudices of his pagan subjects. Artfully balancing himself between
the two, he allayed the “fears of his subjects by publishing in the same year two edicts,
the first of which enjoined the solemn observance of Sunday, and the second directed
the regular consultation of the aruspices” —a pagan practice. (Gibbon’s Decline and all
of the Roman Empire,” Chapter 20)
Here we are then, face to face with the first law, human or divine, ever given for the
purpose of making Sunday a day of sacred rest. And it is entirely a man-made law,
uninspired by Divinity. On the seventh day of March, 321, Constantine gave forth his
Sunday law:
“Let all the judges and town people and the occupation of all trades rest on the
venerable day of the sun (Dies Solis); but let those who are situated in the country,
freely and at full liberty, attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens
that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment
being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by Heaven.” Right there we
find the genesis of Sunday keeping in the Christian Church.
The Council of Laodicea
The church followed the leadership of Constantine, and in the year 364, at the council of
Laodicea, passed a law requiring that Christians must “not Judaize by resting on
Saturday.” Eusebius, a noted bishop of the church, states, “All things whatsoever that it
was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord’s day.” Here, then,
it is plain that a human hand, and not a divine, changed the Sabbath. Eusebius says,
“We have transferred.”
Finally the Sabbath was crushed, and Sunday, the pagan holiday, was instituted.
Henceforth, it was espoused by the church, and supported, as it is in our day. Doctor
Eck, the astute lawyer and champion of the Church in its controversy with Martin
Luther, admits, “The church has changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday on
its own authority, without Scripture, doubtless under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.”
______________________________________________________________________

16. From Joe CrewsvRadio Sermon Library
Rest In God - Keeping the Sabbath Holy
Bible Principles: While this list of Bible principles on keeping the Sabbath holy is not
comprehensive, it should help you as you search the Bible to learn how to be like Jesus
and "do those things that are pleasing in His sight." 1 John 3:22
1. The Sabbath
is a day to cease our creating, working with the creation, and appreciate what God has
done in the world and is doing in us. Genesis 2
2. The Sabbath is a time to lay our burdens down and rest. We should not do any servile
work on the Sabbath. This includes our entire family, even our servants and beasts of
burden and strangers who live among us. Jeremiah 17; Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.
3.The Sabbath is an holy convocation. We should meet and worship with others.
Leviticus 23.
4. We should be reverent and show God that we love, honor, and respect His
authority. Psalm 89:7, Habakkuk 2:20
5. The Sabbath should be a day of delight and rejoicing, a day which we forsake our
thoughts and words for God's thoughts and words. Isaiah 56, 58
6. The Sabbath is a time of healing. Matthew 12, Mark 1, 3, Luke 13, 14
7. We are not to buy or sell on the Sabbath. Nehemiah 13
8. The Sabbath is a time to do good and visit and comfort the sick. We should do
spiritual work on the Sabbath, serving others. John 5
9. The Sabbath is a time of prayer. Acts 16:13
10. The Sabbath is a time to reason with others about spiritual principles, and for
ministers to teach the word of God. Acts 17:2, 18:4, 11
11. Elaborate food preparation is to be done on the day before the Sabbath so that there
is no baking or heavy cooking on the Sabbath. Exodus 16.
12. The Sabbath is a time for Singing. Ephesians 5:19-20, Colossians 3:16, Psalms 92 is
called the "Sabbath Psalm"
Separation of Church and State
The question has been raised, and is now much agitated, if a theocracy was good in the
time of Israel, why would not a theocratical form of government be equally good for
this time?
A True Theocracy

17. A theocracy is a government which derives its power immediately from God. The
government of Israel was a true theocracy. That was really a government of God. At the
burning bush, God commissioned Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. By signs and
wonders and mighty miracles multiplied, God delivered Israel from Egypt and led them
through the wilderness and finally into the promised land. There he ruled them by
judges "until Samuel the prophet," to whom, when he was a child, God spoke, and by
whom He made known His will.
In the days of Samuel the people asked that they might have a king. This was allowed,
and God chose Saul, and Samuel anointed him king of Israel. Saul failed to do the will
of God; and as he rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord rejected him from being king
and sent Samuel to anoint David king of Israel; and David's throne God established
forevermore. When Solomon succeeded to the kingdom in the place of David his father,
the record is: "then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his
father." 1 Chronicles 29:23.
The Throne of the Lord - "Whose Right It Is "
David's throne was the throne of the Lord, and Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as
king over the earthly kingdom of God. The succession to the throne descended in
David's line to Zedekiah, who was made subject to the king of Babylon , and who
entered into a solemn covenant before God that he would loyally render allegiance to
the king of Babylon. But Zedekiah broke his covenant, and then God said to him:
"thou, profane wicked prince of Israel , whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an
end, thus saith the Lord God; remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not
be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn,
overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and i will give it
him." Ezekiel 21:25-27. See also chapter 17:1-21.
The kingdom was then subject to Babylon. When Babylon fell, and Medo-Persia
succeeded, it was overturned the first time. When Medo-Persia fell and was succeeded
by Greece, it was overturned the second time. When the Greek empire gave way to
Rome, it was overturned the third time. And then says the word, "it shall be no more,
until he come whose right it is; and i will give it him."
Who is he whose right it is? "thou . . . Shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and
shall be called the son of the highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his
kingdom there shall be no end." Luke 1:31-33.
Thy Kingdom Come
And while He was here as "that prophet," a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,
the night in which He was betrayed He Himself declared, "my kingdom is not of this
world." thus the throne of the Lord has been removed from this world and will "be no
more, until he come whose right it is," and then it will be given him. And that time is
the end of this world, and the beginning of "the world to come."
To the twelve apostles the Saviour said, "I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father
hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit
on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." luke 22:29, 30.

18. From Matthew's account of Christ's promise to the twelve we learn when it will be
fulfilled; "in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye
also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Matthew 19:28.
The second coming of Jesus preceeds the setting up of His Kingdom.In the parable of
the talents, Christ represents himself under the figure of a nobleman who "went into a
far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return." Luke 19:12. And he
himself has told us when he will sit upon the throne of his glory: "when the Son of man
shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the
throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations." Matthew 25:31, 32.
Looking Forward
To this time the revelator looks forward when he says, "the kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and
ever." Revelation 11:15. The context clearly shows when this will take place: "the
nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be
judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the
saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which
destroy the earth." verse 18.
It is at the time of the final judgment, the reward of the righteous, and the punishment of
the wicked that the kingdom of Christ will be set up. When all who oppose the
sovereignty of Christ have been destroyed, the kingdoms of this world become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.
Then Christ will reign, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. " Revelation
19:16. "and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the
whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high." and "the
saints of the most high shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even
forever and ever." Daniel 7:27, 18.
Until that time the kingdom of Christ cannot be established on the earth. His kingdom is
not of this world. His followers are to account themselves "strangers and pilgrims on the
earth." Paul says, "our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ." Hebrews 11:13; Philippians 3:20, R.V.
Since the kingdom of Israel passed away, God has never delegated authority to any man
or body of men to execute his laws as such. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the
Lord." Romans 12:19. Civil governments have to do with the relations of man with
man; but they have nothing whatever to do with the duties that grow out of man's
relation to God.
Except the kingdom of Israel, no government has ever existed on the earth in which
God by inspired men directed the affairs of state. Whenever men have endeavored to
form such a government as that of Israel, they have, of necessity, taken it upon
themselves to interpret and enforce the law of God. They have assumed the right to
control the conscience, and thus have usurped the prerogative of God.
In the former dispensation, while sins against God were visited with temporal penalties,

19. the judgments executed were not only by divine sanction, but under his direct control,
and by his command. Sorcerers were to be put to death. Idolaters were to be slain.
Profanity and sacrilege were punished with death. Whole nations of idolaters were to be
exterminated. But the infliction of these penalties was directed by him who reads the
hearts of men, who knows the measure of their guilt, and who deals with his creatures in
wisdom and mercy. When men, with human frailties and passions, undertake to do this
work, it needs no argument to show that the door is opened to unrestrained injustice and
cruelty. The most inhuman crimes will be perpetrated, and all in the sacred name of
Christ.
Foundation of Religious Tyranny
From the laws of Israel, which punished offenses against God, arguments have been
drawn to prove the duty of punishing similar sins in this age. All persecutors have
employed them to justify their deeds. The principle that God has delegated to human
authority the right to control the conscience is the very foundation of religious tyranny
and persecution. But all who reason thus lose sight of the fact that we are now living in
a different dispensation, under conditions wholly different from those of Israel; that the
kingdom of Israel was a type of the kingdom of Christ, which will not be set up until his
second coming; and that the duties which pertain to man's relation to God are not to be
regulated or enforced by human authority.
Source: Patriarchs and Prophets, 1890, Appendix Quotes by America's Greatest Leaders
on the Relationship between Church and State
George Washington (First President of the United States of America.)
"Every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone
for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the
dictates of his own conscience."May 1789
Thomas Jefferson (Third President of the United States of America)
"Almighty God hath created the mind free; all attempts to influence it by temporal
punishments of burdens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of
hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our
religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by
coercions on either, as was in His almighty power to do." Acts for Establishing
Religious Freedom in Virginia, 1785 "I consider the government of the United States as
interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their
doctrines, disciplines or exercises." Words of Thomas Jefferson, Vol 5, pg 236
Abraham Lincoln (Sixteenth President of the United States of America)
"Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in us. Our defense is in the
spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands everywhere. Destroy
this spirit and you whave planted the seeds of despotism at your own doors. Familiarize
yourself with the chains of bondage, and you prepare your own limbs to wear them.
Accustomed to trample on the rights of others, you have lost the genious of your own
independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tryant who rises among
you." Speech at Edwardsville, IL, 1858
Ulysses S. Grant (Eighteenth President of the United States of America)
"Declare church and state forever separate and distinct; but each free within their proper

20. spheres." Seventh annual message, Congress December 7, 1875. "Leave the matter of
religion to the family altar, the church, and the private school supported entirely by
private contribution. Keep church and state forever separate." Des Moines, IA 1875.
James A. Garfield (Twentieth President of the United States of America)
"Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither
justice nor freedom can be permanently maintained. Its interests are intrusted to the
States and the voluntary action of the people. Whatever help the nation can justly afford
should be generously given to aid the States in supporting common schools; but it
would be unjust to our people and dangerous to our institutions to apply any portion of
the revenues of the nation or of the States to the support of sectarian schools. The
separation of Church and State in everything relating to taxation should be absolute."
Letter of Acceptance of Nomination for the Presidency July 12, 1880
Theodore Roosevelt (Twenty-sixth President of the United States of America)
"I hold that in this country there must be complete severance of Church and State; that
public moneys shall not be used for the purpose of advancing any particular creed; and
therefore that the public schools shall be non-sectarian and no public moneys
appropriated for sectarian schools." New York, October 12, 1915
Benjamin Franklin (Statesman, Inventor, Author)
"When religion is good, it will take care of itself. When it is not able to take care of
itself, and God does not see fit to take care of it, so that it has to appeal to the civil
power for support, it is evidence to my mind that its cause is a bad one."
Seven Facts About The Seventh Day
by Joe Crews.
Part of Satan’s strategy to destroy humanity’s trust in God has been to attack His claim
as the Creator. Obviously, the theory of evolution is part of this deceptive and soul-
destroying effort. With its amoral humanistic emphasis, Darwin’s doctrine has turned
millions into religious skeptics and enshrouded in darkness their need for the Savior.
Yet while many Christians rightly denounce this unscientific belief, ironically, many are
still falling into the devil’s trap of denying God’s sovereignty over the earth. That trap is
the ages-long effort to twist and destroy the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath.
Through Satan’s false information and man’s trust in traditions over the sure word of
Scripture, millions of Christians have been led to discount or even reject the importance
of observing the Sabbath. “The seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord: … in it thou
shalt not do any work” (Exodus 20:10). No one disagrees with the clear meaning of this
text, yet millions are finding ways not to follow it.
Why? The general Bible ignorance of the church and the clever arguments of Satan
have created a climate of prejudice against the holiness of the seventh day in favor of
the observance of Sunday. So in the interest of promoting God’s law over the theories
of men, let’s take a moment to rediscover some amazing facts about the seventh-day
Sabbath.
Fact #1: The Seventh-day Sabbath Establishes God’s Sovereignty

21. Why does Satan hate the Sabbath so much? Because the Sabbath identifies the true God
and His claim of ultimate sovereignty.
God certainly anticipated the controversy over the Genesis account of Creation. He
knew that after the fall of man, there would be doubts about His claims of
manufacturing all the staggering mass of matter by merely commanding it to exist.
To safeguard His sovereignty, He established a mark that denoted His absolute right to
rule as Lord. He chose to memorialize His display of creative power by setting aside the
seventh day of the Creation week as a holy day of rest and remembering.
God wrote these words: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou
labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it
thou shalt not do any work. … For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that in them is: … wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it”
(Exodus 20:8–11).
Once a week, as the earth rotates on its axis through space, the Sabbath reminder travels
around the earth reaching every man, woman, and child with the message of an instant
creation and the one who did the creating.
Why did God say remember? Because to forget the true Sabbath is to forget the true
Creator.
Does it really matter that much? See “The One Unimportant Commandment?” below.
Fact #2: The Seventh-day Sabbath Was Made for Everyone
A multitude of Christians call God’s fourth commandment the “Jewish Sabbath.” But
nowhere is this expression found in the Bible. The seventh day is called “the sabbath of
the Lord,” and it is never called “the sabbath of the Jew” (Exodus 20:10).
Luke, a Gentile writer of the New Testament, often refers to things that were
particularly Jewish. He writes of the “nation of the Jews,” “the people of the Jews,” “the
land of the Jews,” and the “synagogue of the Jews” (Acts 10:22; 12:11; 10:39; 14:1).
But he never refers to the “sabbath of the Jews,” although he mentions the Sabbath
repeatedly.
Christ also taught that “the sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27). Adam and Eve
were the only two people who existed when God actually established the Sabbath.
There were no Jews in the world until 2,000 years later, so it was never meant just for
the Jews. Jesus uses the term “man” in the generic sense, referring to all mankind. The
same word is used in connection with the institution of marriage that was also
introduced at creation. Certainly no Christian can believe that marriage was made only
for the Jews.
Fact #3: It’s Not About Just Keeping Any Day
Every word of God’s Ten Commandments was written by His own hand in stone. Every
word is serious and meaningful. No line in them is ambiguous or mysterious. Sinners
and Christians, educated and uneducated, are not confused about the words “seventh
day.” So why do they discount those words if every other word in the commandments is

22. considered to be ironclad?
Satan wants the world to accept Sunday as the day he has chosen for worship, but any
day will do for him so long as it means we’re breaking God’s command.
Genesis describes the origin of the Sabbath like this: “Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended 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” (Genesis 2:1–3).
Which day did God bless and sanctify? The seventh day. How was it to be kept holy?
By resting. Could any of the other six be kept holy? No. Why? Because God
commanded not to rest those days but to work. Does God’s blessing make a difference?
Of course. Parents pray for God to bless their children because they believe it makes a
difference. The seventh day is different from all the other days because it has God’s
blessing.
Has God ever given man the privilege of choosing his own day of rest? No. In fact, God
confirms in the Bible that the Sabbath is a matter settled and sealed by His own divine
power. Read Exodus 16. For 40 years, God worked three miracles every week to show
Israel which day was holy: (1) No manna fell on the seventh day; (2) they could not
keep manna overnight without spoilage; (3) but when they kept manna over the
Sabbath, it remained sweet and fresh!
But some Israelites had the same idea as many Christians have today. They felt that any
day in seven would be okay to keep holy: “It came to pass, that there went out some of
the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.” What happened?
“And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and
my laws?” (Exodus 16:27, 28).
God met them and accused them of breaking His law by going forth to work on the
seventh day. Would God say the same thing to those who break the Sabbath today? Yes.
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
But why the seventh day, exactly? See “Why the Seventh Day?” below.
Fact #4: We Know the True Seventh Day
Some reject the seventh-day Sabbath over the belief that we cannot know which day it
falls on today, so picking any day should be okay. But this is fallacy. Here are four
proofs that identify the true Sabbath.
1. According to Scripture, Christ died on Friday and rose on Sunday, the first day of the
week. Practically all churches acknowledge this by observing Easter Sunday and Good
Friday. “This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down,
and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never
man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. The
women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the
sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and
ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment” (Luke 23:52–
56).

23. This is clear evidence that Jesus died the day before the Sabbath! The day of His death
was a “preparation day” because it was the time to get ready for the Sabbath. Notice,
then, that the women rested over the Sabbath “according to the commandment.” The
commandment says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath,” so we know they were resting on
Saturday. The very next verse says, “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in
the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had
prepared. … And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre” (Luke 24:1, 2).
2. The calendar has not been changed so as to confuse the days of the week. Just as we
know that Jesus and His followers observed the same day as Moses, we can be positive
that our seventh day is the same day Jesus observed. Pope Gregory XIII did make a
calendar change in 1582, but it did not interfere with the weekly cycle. What did
Gregory do to the calendar? He changed Friday, October 5, 1582, to be Friday, October
15, 1582. He did not affect the weekly cycle of days.
3. The Jews have observed the seventh day from the time of Abraham, and they still
keep it today. An entire nation of people, all around the world, continue to observe a
Sabbath they have known for more than 4,000 years.
4. Over 100 languages on earth use the word “Sabbath” for Saturday. For example, the
Spanish word for Saturday is “Sabado,” meaning Sabbath. What does this prove? It
proves that when those languages originated long ago, Saturday was recognized as the
Sabbath day and was incorporated into the very name of the day.
Fact #5: The Sabbath Is Not a Memorial of Deliverance Out of Egypt
This is a belief taken and twisted out of the Old Testament: “The seventh day is the
sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy
daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any
of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy
maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land
of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and
by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath
day” (Deuteronomy 5:14, 15).
Some people suggest this means that God gave the Sabbath as a memorial of the Exodus
from Egypt. But the Genesis story of the making of the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1–3) and the
wording of the fourth commandment by God (Exodus 20:11) reveals the seventh-day
Sabbath as a memorial of creation.
The key to understanding these two verses rests in the word “servant.” God said,
“Remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt.” And in the sentence before,
He reminds them “that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.”
In other words, their experience in Egypt as servants would remind them to deal justly
with their servants by giving them Sabbath rest.
It was not unusual for God to harken back to the Egyptian deliverance as an incentive to
obey other commandments. In Deuteronomy 24:17, 18, the Bible says, “Thou shalt not
pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to
pledge. … Thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence:

24. therefore I command thee to do this thing.”
Neither the command to be just nor to keep the Sabbath was given to memorialize the
Exodus, but God told them that His goodness in bringing them out of captivity
constituted a strong reason for them to deal kindly with their servants on the Sabbath
and treating justly the strangers and widows.
In the same way, God spoke to them in Leviticus 11:45, “I am the Lord that bringeth
you up out of the land of Egypt … ye shall therefore be holy.” No one would insist that
holiness did not exist before the Exodus or that it would be ever afterwards limited only
to the Jews!
Fact #6: The Sabbath Is Not Meant to Memorialize the Resurrection
It is true that Jesus rose on a Sunday. It is one of the pivotal moments in the history of
the world.
But nowhere does the Bible hint that we should keep Sunday holy. Many other
wonderful events occurred on certain days of the week, but we have no command to
keep them holy either.
There is, of course, a memorial of the resurrection commanded in the Bible, but it is not
to determine a new day of worship. Paul wrote: “Therefore we are buried with him by
baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Baptism is the
memorial of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. However, the Sabbath is a
memorial of creation.
Still have a question about this? See “The Upper Room” below.
Fact #7: The Sabbath Will Be Celebrated for Eternity
The Sabbath is an arbitrary arrangement of God that serves a powerful purpose. It is His
claim — His seal — over the world and all human life. It is also a sign of the
redemption He offers to every single one of us.
Surely this is why God will preserve Sabbathkeeping throughout eternity. That’s right!
“For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me,
saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that
from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to
worship before me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 66:22, 23).
The Sabbath is so precious to God that He will have His people observe it throughout
all time in the beautiful new earth to come. If it is so precious to Him, should it not be
precious to us? If we are going to keep it through all eternity, why not keep it now as
our pledge of obedience to Him?
Trust and Obey: There Is No Other Way
It is easy to understand why the devil has waged a continuing, desperate battle against
the seventh-day Sabbath. He has worked through the pride of tradition, misinformation,
and religious bigotry to destroy the sanctity of God’s special sign of authority — the
Sabbath.

25. But with these Sabbath facts in hand, may God grant every Christian the courage to
honor the Sabbath commandment as His special test of our love and loyalty.
It might be a duty to keep the seventh-day holy. But it should not be a burden. In an age
of false gods and spirituality, of atheistic evolution, and the stubborn traditions of men,
the world needs the Sabbath more than ever. It is more than just a test of our loyalty to
the Creator. It is more than just a sign of our sanctification through His power. It is His
promise of a lasting, eternal gift of restoration.
More Interesting Facts!
The One Unimportant Commandment?
God made it very clear that, regardless of feelings, those who abuse the Sabbath are
guilty of breaking His law. James explains that it is a sin to break even one of the Ten
Commandments: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point,
he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now
if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law”
(James 2:10, 11).
Most of the commandments begin with the same words: ‘‘Thou shalt not.’’ But the
fourth commandment is introduced with the word “Remember.” Why? Because God
was commanding them to call something to memory that already existed but had been
forgotten.
Why the Seventh Day?
Why did God bless the seventh day as a day of worship? Because He had just created
the world in six days. It was a memorial to the birth of the world, a reason to remember
that mighty act.
So could the Sabbath memorial be changed? No. Because it points backward to an
accomplished fact. For instance, July 4 is Independence Day in the United States. Can it
be changed? No. Because the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776.
Your birthday cannot be changed either. It is a memorial of your birth, which happened
on a set day. History would have to run through again to change your birthday, to
change Independence Day, or to change the Sabbath day. We can call another day
Independence Day, and we can call another day the Sabbath, but that does not make it
so.
The Upper Room
Those who believe that Sunday worship honors the resurrection of Jesus often cite the
upper room meeting of the disciples on the same day that He rose from the grave. They
argue that this gathering was meant to celebrate His resurrection. But the Bible record
of the event reveals another set of circumstances.
Mark writes that even though the disciples were confronted with the eyewitness story of
Mary, they “believed not. After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as
they walked, and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue:
neither believed they them. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat,

26. and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not
them which had seen him after he was risen” (Mark 16:11–14).
Obviously, none of those upper room disciples believed that He was raised from the
dead, so they could not have been joyously celebrating the resurrection. John explains
their reason for being together with these words: “The doors were shut where the
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19).
The Lost Day of History
Did you know there is a very important day that almost everyone has forgotten about?
It's astounding that only a few people are aware of it, because it's one of the most
significant days in all of human history! It's not only a day in the past, but the present
and future. Furthermore, what happened on this neglected day can have a profound
effect on your life. Want to know more amazing facts about this lost day of history?
Then read over this Study Guide carefully.
When Jesus was here on earth, He worshiped on the Sabbath.
1. On what day did Jesus customarily worship?
"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he
went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16.
Answer: Jesus' custom was to worship on the Sabbath.
2. But which day of the week is the Sabbath?
"The seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God." Exodus 20:10. "And when the
sabbath was past, ...very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto
the sepulchre." Mark 16:1, 2.
Answer: The Sabbath is not the first day of the week (Sunday), as many believe, but
the seventh day (Saturday). Notice from the above Scripture that the Sabbath is the day
that comes just before the first day of the week.
3. Who made the Sabbath and when?
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." "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." Genesis
1:1; 2:2, 3.
Answer: God made the Sabbath at the time of Creation, when He made the world. He
rested on the Sabbath and blessed and sanctified it (set it apart for a holy use).

27. God wrote the Sabbath commandment with His own finger.
4. What does God say about Sabbath-keeping in the Ten Commandments, which He
wrote with His own finger?
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy
work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any
work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy
cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord
blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11. "And the Lord delivered
unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God." Deuteronomy 9:10.
Answer: In the fourth commandment of the 10, God commands us to observe the
seventh-day Sabbath as His holy day. God knew people would forget His Sabbath, so
He began this commandment with the word "remember." He has never commanded
anyone anywhere to keep any other day as a weekly holy day.
Jesus says: It is easier for heaven to pas away than for God's law to change
5. But haven't the Ten Commandments been changed?
Jesus says: "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to
fail." Luke 16:17. God says: "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is
gone out of my lips." Psalms 89:34. Notice, the Ten Commandments came from His
lips. Exodus 20:1 says, "And God spake all these words, saying ... [the Ten
Commandments follow in verses 2-17]."
Answer: No, indeed! It is utterly impossible for any of God's moral law ever to change.
All Ten Commandments are binding today.
6. Did the apostles keep the Sabbath?
"And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with
them out of the scriptures." Acts 17:2. "Paul and his company ... went into the

28. synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down." Acts 13:13, 14. "And on the sabbath we
went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat
down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Acts 16:13. "And he [Paul]
reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." Acts
18:4.
Answer: Yes, the book of Acts makes it clear that Paul and the early church kept the
Sabbath.
The apostles taught the Gentiles to keep the Sabbath holy.
7. Did the Gentiles also worship on Sabbath?
God commanded it:
"Blessed is the man ... that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it." "Also the sons of the
stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, ... every one that keepeth the sabbath from
polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant Even them will I bring to my holy
mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer ... for mine house shall be called
an house of prayer for all people." Isaiah 56:2, 6, 7, emphasis added.
Apostles taught it:
"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these
words might be preached to them the next sabbath." "And the next sabbath day came
almost the whole city together to hear the word of God." Acts 13:42, 44, emphasis
added. "And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and
the Greeks." Acts 18:4.
Answer: The apostles in the early New Testament church not only obeyed God's
Sabbath command, but they also taught the converted Gentiles to worship on Sabbath.
Never once do they refer to Sunday as a holy day.
The Sabbath was not changed to Sunday at the time of Jesus' resurrection.

29. 8. But wasn't the Sabbath changed to Sunday at Christ's death or resurrection?
Answer: No, there is not the remotest hint that the Sabbath was changed at Christ's
death or resurrection. The Bible teaches just the opposite. Please carefully review the
following evidence:
A. God blessed the Sabbath.
"The Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it." Exodus 20:11. "And God blessed
the seventh day, and sanctified it." Genesis 2:3.
B. Christ expected His people to be still keeping the Sabbath in A.D. 70 when
Jerusalem was destroyed.
Knowing full well that Jerusalem would be destroyed by Rome in A.D. 70, Jesus
warned His followers of that time, saying, "But pray ye that your flight be not in the
winter, neither on the sabbath day." Matthew 24:20, emphasis added. Jesus made it clear
that He intended for the Sabbath to be kept even 40 years after His resurrection. In fact,
there is no intimation anywhere in the Scriptures that Jesus, His Father, or the apostles
ever (at any time, under any circumstances) changed the holy seventh-day Sabbath to
any other day.
C. The women who came to anoint Christ's dead body kept the Sabbath. Jesus died on
"the day before the sabbath" (Mark 15:37, 42), which is now called Good Friday.
The women prepared spices and ointments to anoint His body, then "rested the sabbath
day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. Only "when the sabbath was past"
(Mark 16:1) did the women come "the first day of the week" (Mark 16:2) to continue
their sad work. They found "Jesus was risen early the first day of the week" (verse 9),
commonly called Easter Sunday. Please note that the Sabbath "according to the
commandment" was the day preceding Easter Sunday, which we now call Saturday.
D. Christ's follower, Luke, wrote two books of the Bible, Luke and Acts.
He says that in the book of Luke he wrote about "all" of Jesus' teachings (Acts 1:1-3).
But he never wrote about Sunday-keeping or a change of the Sabbath.
Everybody in God's eternal kingdom will keep the Sabbath holy.
9. Some people say the Sabbath will be kept in God's new earth. Is this correct?
"For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me,
saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that
from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to
worship before me, saith the Lord." Isaiah 66:22, 23.
Answer: Yes, the Bible says the saved people of all ages will keep the Sabbath in the
new earth.

30. The Lord's day is Sabbath, not Sunday.
10. But isn't Sunday the Lord's day?
"Call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord." Isaiah 58:13. "For the son of man is
Lord even of the sabbath day." Matthew 12:8.
Answer: The Bible speaks of the "Lord's day" in Revelation 1:10, so the Lord does
have a special day. But no verse of Scripture refers to Sunday as the Lord's day. Rather,
the Bible plainly identifies Sabbath as the Lord's day. The only day ever blessed by the
Lord or claimed by Him as His holy day is the seventh-day Sabbath.
Jesus instituted baptism--not Sunday keeping--in honor of His resurrection.
11. Shouldn't I keep Sunday in honor of Christ's resurrection?
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into
his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is
crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should
not serve sin." Romans 6:3-6.
Answer: No! No more than you would keep Friday in honor of the crucifixion. Christ
gave the ordinance of baptism in honor of His death, burial, and resurrection. The Bible
never suggests Sunday-keeping in honor of the resurrection (or for any other reason, for
that matter). We honor Christ by obeying Him (John 14:15)--not by substituting man-
made requirements in place of His.

31. Misguided men had the audacity to substitute Sunday for the Sabbath of God's law.
12. Well, if Sunday-keeping isn't in the Bible, whose idea was it anyway?
"And he shall think to change the times and the law." Daniel 7:25, RSV.* "Thus have ye
made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." "In vain they do
worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matthew 15:6, 9. "Her
priests have violated my law." "And her prophets have daubed them with untempered
mortar, ... saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken." Ezekiel
22:26, 28.
Answer: Misguided men of long years past announced that God's holy day was
changed from Sabbath to Sunday. God predicted it would happen, and it did. This error
was passed on to our unsuspecting generation as gospel fact. Sunday-keeping is a
tradition of uninspired men and breaks God's law, which commands Sabbath-keeping.
Only God can make a day holy. God blessed the Sabbath, and when God blesses, no
man can "reverse it." Numbers 23:20.
*The Revised Standard Version of the Bible, (C) 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.
Changing Sabbath to Sunday is an insult to God because it attempts to alter His divine
law.
13. But isn't it very dangerous to tamper with God's law?
"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught
from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 4:2.
"Every word of God is pure. ... Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and
thou be found a liar." Proverbs 30:5, 6.
Answer: God has specifically and positively forbidden men to change His law by
deletions or additions. To tamper with God's holy law in any way is one of the most
fearful and dangerous things a person can do.

32. The Sabbath is a sign of God's power to create and redeem.
14. Why did God make the Sabbath anyway?
A. Sign of Creation.
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." "For in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord
blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8, 11.
B. Sign of redemption and sanctification.
"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." Ezekiel 20:12.
Answer: God gave the Sabbath as a twofold sign: (1) It is a sign that He created the
world in six literal 24-hour days, and (2) it is also a sign of God's mighty power to
redeem and sanctify men. Surely every Christian will love the Sabbath as God's
precious sign of Creation and redemption (Exodus 31:13, 17; Ezekiel 20:12, 20). It is a
great insult to God for people to trample upon His Sabbath. In Isaiah 58:13, 14, God
says all who would be blessed must first get their feet off His Sabbath.
Breaking any commandment of God's law is sin.
15. How important is Sabbath-keeping?
"Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. "The wages of sin is death." Romans
6:23. "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of
all." James 2:10. "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should
follow his steps." 1 Peter 2:21. "He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them
that obey him." Hebrews 5:9.
Answer: It is a matter of life and death. Sabbath-keeping is enjoined in the fourth
commandment of God's law. The deliberate breaking of any one of the Ten
Commandments is a sin. Christians will gladly follow Christ's example of Sabbath-
keeping. Our only safety is to diligently study the Bible, "rightly dividing the word of
truth." 2 Timothy 2:15. We must have positive Scripture support for every Christian
practice we follow.

33. God will pour out His indignation upon religious leaders who knowingly ignore His
Sabbath.
16. How does God feel about religious leaders who ignore the Sabbath?
"Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put
no difference between the holy and profane ... and have hid their eyes from my
sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." "Therefore have I poured out my indignation
upon them." Ezekiel 22:26, 31.
Answer: In hiding their eyes from God's true Sabbath, religious leaders offend the God
of heaven. God promises punishment for such false shepherds. Millions have been
misled on this matter. God cannot treat it lightly. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for
pretending to love God while making void one of the Ten Commandments by their
tradition (Mark 7:7-13).
Everyone who enters heaven and eats from the tree of life will keep God's Sabbath holy.
17. Does Sabbath-keeping really affect me personally?
"If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15. "So then every one of us shall
give account of himself to God." Romans 14:12. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do
good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17. "Blessed are they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through
the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14. "Here is the patience of the saints: here are
they that keep the commandments of God." Revelation 14:12.
Answer: Yes, by all means, the Sabbath is your Sabbath. God made it for you, and if
you love Him you will keep it, because it is one of His commandments. Love without
commandment-keeping is no love at all (1 John 2:4). You must make a decision. You
cannot avoid it. No one can excuse you. You yourself will answer before God on this
most important matter. God asks you to love and obey Him now!
18. I am willing to follow Jesus' example of Sabbath-keeping.
Answer:

34. Thought Questions
1. But isn't the Sabbath for the Jews only?
No. Jesus said, "The sabbath was made for man." Mark 2:27. It is not for the Jews only,
but for mankind--all men and women everywhere. The Jewish nation did not even exist
until 2,500 years after the Sabbath was made.
2. Isn't Acts 20:7-12 proof that the disciples kept Sunday as a holy day?
According to the Bible, each day begins at sundown and ends at the next sundown
(Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31 Leviticus 23:32) and the dark part of the day comes first.
So Sabbath begins Friday night at sundown and ends Saturday night at sundown. This
meeting of Acts 20 was held on the dark part of Sunday, or on what we now call
Saturday night. The New English Bible* begins Acts 20:7 like this: "On the Saturday
night in our assembly ..."
It was a Saturday-night meeting, and it lasted until midnight. Paul was on a farewell
tour and knew he would not see these people again before his death (verse 25). No
wonder he preached so long! (No regular weekly service would have lasted all night.)
Paul was "ready to depart on the morrow." The "breaking of bread" has no "holy day"
significance whatever, because they broke bread daily (Acts 2:46). There is not the
slightest indication in this Scripture passage that the first day is holy, nor that these
early Christians considered it so. Nor is there the remotest evidence that the Sabbath had
been changed. Incidentally, this meeting is probably mentioned in the Scripture only
because of the miracle of raising Eutychus back to life after he fell to his death from a
third-floor window. In Ezekiel 46:1, God refers to Sunday as one of the six "working
days."
*(C) The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press,
1961, 1970. Used by permission.
3. Doesn't 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2 speak of Sunday school offerings?
No, there is no reference here to a public meeting. The money was to be laid aside
privately at home. A famine was raging in Judea (Romans 15:26; Acts 11:26-30), and
Paul was writing to ask the churches in Asia Minor to assist their famine-stricken
brethren. These Christians all kept Sabbath holy, so Paul suggested that on Sunday
morning (which was the time they paid bills and settled accounts), after the Sabbath was
over, they put aside something for their needy brethren so it would be on hand when he
came. It was to be done privately or, as La Santa Biblia (a Spanish translation) says, "at
home." Notice also that there is no reference here to Sunday as a holy day. In fact, the
Bible nowhere commands or even suggests Sunday-keeping.
4. But hasn't time been lost and the days of the week changed since the time of Christ?
No! Reliable encyclopedias and reference books make it clear that our seventh day is
the same one that Jesus kept holy. It is a simple matter of research.
5. But isn't John 20:19 the record of the disciples instituting Sundaykeeping in honor of
the resurrection?
On the contrary, the disciples at this time did not believe that the resurrection had taken
place (Mark 16:14). They had met there "for fear of the Jews" and had the doors bolted.
When Jesus appeared in their midst, He rebuked them "because they believed not them
which had seen him after he was risen." There is no implication that they counted