You may wonder why some people put so much emphasis on the 7th day Sabbath/Saturday versus the 1st day, Sunday, as a Holy day of worship. Here are several reasons, and I'm sure there must be many more.
1) It's the only commandment people seem to have trouble with, so it stands out more. All the other 9 seem pretty obvious (except for some who hate number 2 as well). But as I mentioned in a previous blog, it's an arbitrary day for a reason. It's one thing that seems to naturally stand out by its "oddness" to the rest of the Christian world. (I have seen on the internet how Seventh-Day Adventists are hatefully attacked - they must be doing something right, LOL!)
2) It brings two great "authorities" into conflict. By whose authority do we worship on the 7th day and by whose authority do we worship on the first day? Many people haven't even thought of this question. They think God himself changed His Holy day from the 7th to the 1st. We'll look at this question in particular in this blog.
3) We know that the two great forces - God and Satan - are dueling it out - Who is more powerful? Who is the true God? Who is worthy of our worship? Who is more worthy of our allegiance? Whose government is more right, fair and the best for all concerned? In other words, there is a controversy going on all around us. And we actually get to play a part in this "great controversy". By choosing God's way, we give our allegiance to Him.
4) ALL the commandments are right, true and just. But the 4th one brings to light the great controversy and the part we must play in it. It is purely a matter of the choice of allegiance. It reveals our allegiance (if we know about it and understand it, of course!)
5) Lastly, there are MANY things Seventh-Day Adventists teach and preach, including the gift of salvation in Jesus, the literal second coming, and the judgment. This is only one of the doctrines of Jesus which is preached.
Actually, there are many more things I could say but I want to get on to the authority that changed the Holy day to Sunday. And I can't give a complete history of the change here. This is a very BRIEF synopsis.
We know that there is nowhere in the Bible that changes the 7th to the 1st day. Of course there are the allusions to breaking bread on the 1st day; preparing offerings etc on the 1st day but nowhere has God specifically said to change it into a Holy day. Jesus kept the 7th day and He is our example. But even if He planned for a change in the future, He didn't mention it. He did mention other rites and symbols that would change (the ceremonies of sacrifice that pointed to Him as the Lamb of God would not be necessary anymore; the new rite of communion and foot-washing in remembrance of His death for us on the cross was introduced; baptism symbolizing death to self and new life in Christ; and the continuation of marriage; and other values of His commandments were mentioned specifically.)
Wow, I can see this blog could be very long. I might have to split it! And I'm not even a theologian, as you can prolly tell - just one who loves studying these things.
Anyway, plugging on.
It may surprise you to find out that there is a system (not specific persons, but a religio-political system) that claims to have the authority to change the 7th to the first day. Despite the fact that it is a religious system, it did NOT get its authority from the Bible, which is the unchanging Word of God Himself. In case you think I'm putting words in their mouth, they are proud to say it themselves. Here are a number of their quotes which you can look up to verify.
For the record, Sebastian Matula is on Facebook, which is where I collected his quotations! All the words in green are from him. Thanks, Sebastian!
Many people find no fault in the change to Sunday. Many say they will follow the RCC anyway. That is their choice of course.
However, behind the change is the rejection of the Word of God as the SOLE source of doctrine. Sola Scriptura should be our only guide (for obvious reasons), not any earthly authority or tradition.
Points 2) and 3) above show us that Satan is behind the push, because by us choosing to worship on the substitute Holy Sabbath day, he is claiming the authority only God should have, and thus claims OUR allegiance too.
Why does only God have this authority? Because He created us and put His "seal" of authority into the Sabbath commandment ("the 7th day is the sabbath of the Lord Thy God....for in 6 days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is...." Exodus 20:8-11 (and originally shown in Genesis 2)
So, for this reason, we believe the 7th day versus the 1st day will become more and more pertinent and prominent as time goes on. Soon we will all be confronted with the choice - to follow God or to follow the dragon, Satan, on this issue. And why is it an "issue"? I believe it's because Satan has made it into an issue!
OK, more on this later....
1) It's the only commandment people seem to have trouble with, so it stands out more. All the other 9 seem pretty obvious (except for some who hate number 2 as well). But as I mentioned in a previous blog, it's an arbitrary day for a reason. It's one thing that seems to naturally stand out by its "oddness" to the rest of the Christian world. (I have seen on the internet how Seventh-Day Adventists are hatefully attacked - they must be doing something right, LOL!)
2) It brings two great "authorities" into conflict. By whose authority do we worship on the 7th day and by whose authority do we worship on the first day? Many people haven't even thought of this question. They think God himself changed His Holy day from the 7th to the 1st. We'll look at this question in particular in this blog.
3) We know that the two great forces - God and Satan - are dueling it out - Who is more powerful? Who is the true God? Who is worthy of our worship? Who is more worthy of our allegiance? Whose government is more right, fair and the best for all concerned? In other words, there is a controversy going on all around us. And we actually get to play a part in this "great controversy". By choosing God's way, we give our allegiance to Him.
4) ALL the commandments are right, true and just. But the 4th one brings to light the great controversy and the part we must play in it. It is purely a matter of the choice of allegiance. It reveals our allegiance (if we know about it and understand it, of course!)
5) Lastly, there are MANY things Seventh-Day Adventists teach and preach, including the gift of salvation in Jesus, the literal second coming, and the judgment. This is only one of the doctrines of Jesus which is preached.
Actually, there are many more things I could say but I want to get on to the authority that changed the Holy day to Sunday. And I can't give a complete history of the change here. This is a very BRIEF synopsis.
We know that there is nowhere in the Bible that changes the 7th to the 1st day. Of course there are the allusions to breaking bread on the 1st day; preparing offerings etc on the 1st day but nowhere has God specifically said to change it into a Holy day. Jesus kept the 7th day and He is our example. But even if He planned for a change in the future, He didn't mention it. He did mention other rites and symbols that would change (the ceremonies of sacrifice that pointed to Him as the Lamb of God would not be necessary anymore; the new rite of communion and foot-washing in remembrance of His death for us on the cross was introduced; baptism symbolizing death to self and new life in Christ; and the continuation of marriage; and other values of His commandments were mentioned specifically.)
Wow, I can see this blog could be very long. I might have to split it! And I'm not even a theologian, as you can prolly tell - just one who loves studying these things.
Anyway, plugging on.
It may surprise you to find out that there is a system (not specific persons, but a religio-political system) that claims to have the authority to change the 7th to the first day. Despite the fact that it is a religious system, it did NOT get its authority from the Bible, which is the unchanging Word of God Himself. In case you think I'm putting words in their mouth, they are proud to say it themselves. Here are a number of their quotes which you can look up to verify.
I. "The RCC (Roman-Catholic Church) declares, `Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the church ever did, happened in the 1st century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. The day of the Lord was chosen, not from any direction noted in the scriptures, but from the church's sense of its own power. People who think that the scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically keep Saturday holy.'" [St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Albanick?, MI, May 21, 1995.]
II. "Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined Sunday as the new day of worship in the new law. That He Himself had explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as a holy day. The church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days." [John Lock, A Course in religion from Catholic High Schools and Academies, Ed. 1936, Vol. I, p. 51.]
III. "The Catholic church for over 1000 years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday. The Protestant world, at its birth, found the Christian Sabbath too strongly entrenched to run counter to its existence, it was therefore placed under the necessity of acquiescing in the arrangement, thus implying the Catholic Church's right to change the day for over 300 years. The Christian Sabbath is therefore to this day the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church as the spouse of the Holy Ghost without a word of remonstrance from the Protestant world." [James Cardinal Gibbons, `The Catholic Year, Sept 23, 1893. ]
IV. "The authority of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the scriptures, because the church had changed the Sabbath into Sunday, not by the command of Christ, but by its own authority." [`Canon and Tradition,' p. 263.]
V. `To Tell You The Truth' - "For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ of the apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses `Keep holy the Sabbath day,' - that is, the 7th day of the week - Saturday. Today, most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the RCC outside the Bible." [`The Catholic Virginian, Oct 3, 1947, p. 9.]
VI. "They (the Protestants) deem it their duty to keep the Sunday holy. Why? Because the Catholic Church tells them to do so. They have no other reason. The observance of Sunday thus claims to be an ecclesiastical law entirely distinct from the divine law of Sabbath observance. The author of the Sunday law is the Catholic Church." [`The Ecclesiastical Review,' Febr 1914.]
VII. "It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the RCC(Roman-Catholic Church) and those who observe the day, observe a commandment of the Catholic Church." [`The News,' Elizabeth, N.J., March 18, 1903.]
VIII. "It was the Catholic Church which has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Therefore, the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Cath. Church." [Monsignor Louis Figure, `Plain Talk about Protestantism of Today,' p. 213.]
The Bible gives no hint that God transferred the sanctity of His holy day to resurrection day. That day is only to be preached about often to lead people to Jesus Christ. It is not a day to be kept `holy' every week.
IX. "Protestants accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Cath. Church made the change. In observing the Sunday they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the pope." [`Our Sunday Visitor,' Febr. 5, 1950. ]
X. "I have repeatedly offered one thousand dollars to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible, it is a law of the holy Cath. Church alone. The Bible says, `Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' The Cath. Church says, `No! By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the 1st day of the week. And lo, the entire civilized world bows down in reverend obedience to the command of the Holy Cath. Church." [Father T. Enright, Redemptory College, Kansas City, `A Lecture at Hartford, KS, Feb. 18, 1884. In `History of the Sabbath,' p. 802.]
"I am the Lord, I change not" Mal 3:6
Quotes collected by Sebastian Matula on Thursday, December 30, 2010
This shameless change was made by the Roman Catholic Church.They are not trying to hide that they have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, they are proud of it! I have no words... But once again it has been prophesied by the prophet Daniel 2500 years ago in the Bible. Daniel 7:25 "[25] And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
I hope that you have read all ten quotations (I have hundreds of them) and I hope that you have discovered something new and revolutionary and that you have realized the beauty of the Seventh-day Sabbath!
Revelation 18:4 " And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."
God bless brothers and sisters!
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
For the record, Sebastian Matula is on Facebook, which is where I collected his quotations! All the words in green are from him. Thanks, Sebastian!
Many people find no fault in the change to Sunday. Many say they will follow the RCC anyway. That is their choice of course.
However, behind the change is the rejection of the Word of God as the SOLE source of doctrine. Sola Scriptura should be our only guide (for obvious reasons), not any earthly authority or tradition.
Points 2) and 3) above show us that Satan is behind the push, because by us choosing to worship on the substitute Holy Sabbath day, he is claiming the authority only God should have, and thus claims OUR allegiance too.
Why does only God have this authority? Because He created us and put His "seal" of authority into the Sabbath commandment ("the 7th day is the sabbath of the Lord Thy God....for in 6 days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is...." Exodus 20:8-11 (and originally shown in Genesis 2)
So, for this reason, we believe the 7th day versus the 1st day will become more and more pertinent and prominent as time goes on. Soon we will all be confronted with the choice - to follow God or to follow the dragon, Satan, on this issue. And why is it an "issue"? I believe it's because Satan has made it into an issue!
OK, more on this later....
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