Are You Resisting A Rest?
We live in a hectic world. There seems to be a never-ending list of things we need to get done every day. We are so busy with the cares of everyday life that we are not taking time to "stop and smell the roses". I talked to a friend some time back and he said he hadn't had a day off of work in several years! This is not what God wanted for us! Our bodies and minds need rest! God designed the human body and knows better than anyone what it needs. Not only is a rest good for us, it is commanded!
Many people know about the Sabbath mentioned in the Bible and understand that it is referring to the seventh day of the week, or Saturday. Yet, many today think it has been done away and replaced with Sunday or "the Lord's Day". Many people fail to realize that there is not one word of this "Sabbath replacement" mentioned anywhere in the scriptures! With even minimal research, it can be easily found that MAN made this decision, not God! Let's go notice a few things -- FROM THE SCRIPTURES!
In Genesis 2:2-3 it says, "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." God Himself rested on the seventh day, blessed it, and sanctified or set it apart from ALL of the other days! God made this day special and set this day ONLY as His Sabbath. Keep in mind that God says in Malachi 3:6 that He does not change. This day will always be His Sabbath!
So called modern religion believes that the seventh day was just the Sabbath of the Jews. Remember that man had been created on the sixth day. There were no kingdoms or nations of men yet -- no Jews. There was only one man created by the time God established and set apart the seventh day. In Mark 2:27 Christ Himself said the Sabbath was made for MAN! He did not say it was made only for the Jews! The Sabbath was established at creation and will still be kept even after Christ returns! Notice Isaiah 66:23 says "...from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." It was established from the beginning and will be kept after the return of Christ. Does it make any sense that it would be established, changed, then changed back? NO!
A man recently told me that he realized that Saturday was the Sabbath, but Sunday was the Lord's Day! He believed that it had been changed after Christ died. The only problem with this -- and it IS a problem -- is that this line of reasoning is not supported ANYWHERE in scripture! The adversary has deceived people into believing this LIE! The ONLY place the King James version of the Bible uses the term "Lord's Day" is in Revelation 1:10 and is clearly speaking of a coming time in prophecy. There is absolutely no reference to Sunday. Sunday being the *Lord*s Day* is not a Biblical concept! People erroneously use other scriptures to "prove" that the Sabbath was moved to Sunday. Those often used are as follows:
Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1-- These scriptures are simply time references to the day following Jesus* resurrection and to the disciples early morning discovery of the empty tomb. Note that the women brought spices to the grave of the Savior on the first day, something they would not do on the Sabbath (Luke 23:56).
Luke 24:33-40-- They were gathered for fear of the Jews. This was not a service. There is no mention of prayer, exhortation, or reading of the scriptures which were all done during a church service.
John 20:19-- Describes how the disciples were assembled behind locked doors for FEAR OF THE JEWS. This cannot be construed as some sort of Sunday "Sabbath" celebration. Jesus gave not so much as a hint that the first day was to be kept as a Sabbath.
Acts 20:7-- They came together to break bread! Acts 2:46 said they broke bread together daily! Any time Godly people come together, they should talk about what truly matters. While they were here together, Paul talked about what he always talked about, but this did not replace the Sabbath! He even talked until the break of day! Throughout the book of Acts, it says Paul kept the Sabbath!
I Corinthians 16:1-2--The Churches of Galatia were commanded to take up a collection of items on the first day of the week to be sent to the saints at Jerusalem; this was not to be done on the holy Sabbath! This collection was mainly food, not money. It would not need to be laid by in store if it was just money.
There simply are no scriptures that support changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday! Anyone wanting to see the truth will see several places in the book of Acts long after Christ had been crucified and resurrected that Paul still kept the Sabbath!
Remember that God does not change. Scripture says in Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." The Father or Jesus Christ never changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. You can't truthfully find anywhere in the scriptures that Paul or any other Godly man changed the day either. As a matter of fact, it is a Catholic doctrine! The Catholic church readily admits that it made this change and boasts that it had the authority to do so because the "Pope" supposedly is God here on earth! Here is a quote easily found by anyone really interested in the truth:
"Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles... From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first." -The Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August, 1900.
There are MANY other quotes of this nature from the Catholics themselves. Catholic newspapers and various other documents are easily obtained that prove that the Catholics made this change - not God! If you go to church on Sunday, you are doing so only on Catholic authority! It is not scriptural, it is not Godly, and it won't be allowed to continue once Christ returns! God established and commanded a day of rest and the seventh day or Saturday IS THAT DAY. This law, just like all of God's laws, are for your benefit. God not only wants you to have this rest, He commanded it! Remember, it is against the law to resist a rest!
Tim Hall