| Most of us were born and reared in a Sunday
keeping world. I was, and I never thought to question it. Somewhere, I heard
that the Jewish people kept Saturday, but I never asked why. In Exodus 20: 8-11 we read {and simply look over the fact} that God commands us to keep the seventh day {Saturday} and that He blessed and hallowed it. Or perhaps we noticed it and asked our pastor. He would say, "Oh, it has been changed." But who has the right to change God's law? Malachi 3:6 tells us, "I am the Lord, I change not." Jesus and the Apostles and the early Church kept the 7th day. There was always much antagonism between the Romans state and the Jews. This had a lot to do with the substitution of Sunday for the Sabbath. The Council of Laodicia {4th century} did not forbid worship on the Sabbath but decreed that Sunday would be especially honored. The Sabbath was not abandoned for a long time and was observed long after Sunday had come to be kept. The Roman Catholic Church is responsible for the change. In a Doctrinal Catechism by Reverend Stephen Keenan, we read: "Question: Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?" "Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her-she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority." When the disciples asked Jesus about His return and the end of this age {Matt. 24:20} He told them to pray their flight not be on the Sabbath day. If it were ever to be changed, this scripture would make no sense. There have been countless articles and books written on this subject. In spite of these, many people are not aware that the Sabbath is Saturday, not Sunday. Not only is the Sabbath a memorial of creation, Holy to the Lord, but it is a sign between God and His people Ex. 31:13. It is the test commandment- the test of man's devotion to God and obedience to Him. By the time I learned this, Sunday keeping had become a habit to me and old habits are hard to break. I searched the Scripture trying to find a way out of keeping Saturday. It just didn't suit. I argued, yes we should keep a day, but does it really matter which? I came to see it matters to God. John 5:3 "For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous." James 2:10 tells us, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." Matt. 5:19 "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.� This is why I no longer keep Sunday. The commandment that says we are to keep the 7th day, also says, "Six days shalt thou labor." If you know these things, happy are ye if you do them. John 13:17 |
For questions or comments e-mail us by clicking on this link.
(Please leave the subject alone so the email is not detected as spam)