Why do we no longer keep the Sabbath?

[brianbbs67]

Show me how God's day of rest was changed by Him. I have studied Theology and read Tanakh, KJ, Strong's, Thomson, NKJ and many others. God says he does not change, why would his day? All of my study, shows that there are lots of beliefs, some right to me , others not. But, since Peter's church worshipped on the Sabbath, why are we not?

Constantine decreed Sunday. Roman church(325) approved and adopted "christmas" and other pagan traditions.

If we follow as Christ instructed, known of this would hold water. I am sure this has been covered before, but I am truly curious.

[rstrats]

bjs,
re: "Christians worship on Sunday because that is the day that Jesus rose from the dead."

Just so it's understood that scripture is silent with regard to any one worshiping on the first day of the week in observance or honor of the resurrection.



re: "We are told in Acts 20:7 that the church gathered 'On the first day of the week…'"

Other than John 20:19 which says that the disciples were gathered together in a locked room on the first after the crucifixion because they were afraid of the Jews, (and it couldn't have had anything to do with the resurrection because at that point they didn't believe that it had taken place), the Acts 20:7 meeting is the only time in all of scripture that has anyone getting together on the first of the week, much less for rest and worship or in honor of the resurrection.




re: "…In First Corinthians 16:2 Paul explicitly told the Corinthians to worship on the first day of the week."

Not in any translation that I've seen. What one are you thinking of?

[showme]

[Replying to post 81 by rstrats]

The day of rest was changed by the 7th head of the beast of Revelation 17:10, who was also known as the “beast with two horns like a lamb�, who was the emperor Constantine, in the year 321 A.D. in honor of his god Sol Invictus, the sun god, also known as Apollo, the son of Zeus. The sun god being the dragon/Satan, who gave his “authority� to the 7 headed beast (Revelation 13:2 & 4). Constantine derived his power through Julius Caesar, who ruled as dictator for 42 months (Revelation 13:5) and who was “slain and his fatal wound was healed�, and who again lived as Augustus Caesar, as with Constantine, who assumed his authority as head of the Roman pagan church, Pontifex Maximus. All this in fulfillment of Revelation 13:14, whereas the beast with two horns like a lamb, which were Peter and Paul, was to deceive “those who dwell on the earth� .

Constantine's law of…321 [C.E] uniting Christians and pagans in the observance of the "venerable day of the sun" It is to be noted that this official solar worship, the final form of paganism in the empire…, was not the traditional Roman-Greek religion of Jupiter, Apollo, Venus, and the other Olympian deities. It was a product of the mingling Hellenistic-Oriental elements, exemplified in Aurelian's establishment of Eastern Sun worship at Rome as the official religion of the empire, and in his new temple enshrining Syrian statutes statues of Bel and the sun…. Thus at last Bel, the god of Babylon, came into the official imperial temple of Rome, the center of the imperial religion. It was this late Roman-Oriental worship of one supreme god, symbolized by the sun and absorbing lesser divinities as subordinates or manifestations of the universal deity, that competed with young Christianity. This was the Roman religion that went down in defeat but infiltrated and colored the victorious church with its own elements, some of which can be seen to this day. (Cramer 4)
On March 7, 321, Sunday was declared the official day of rest, on which markets were banned and public offices were closed,[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin ... ristianity

[brianbbs67]

Acts 20:7, actually says the disciples gathered, as was their custom. This , of course was after the Sabbath ended at sunset Saturday .

[rstrats]

brianbbs67,
re: "Acts 20:7, actually says the disciples gathered, as was their custom."

I'm not aware of any translation/version that includes the phrase, "as was their custom". What do you have in mind?

[brianbbs67]

brianbbs67,
re: "Acts 20:7, actually says the disciples gathered, as was their custom."

I'm not aware of any translation/version that includes the phrase, "as was their custom". What do you have in mind?

Acts 20:7 Old King James "And upon the first(day) of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached..."

When was is? First day, means Saturday sunset.

The next clause indicts thru punctuation that it compliments the first phase.
Which shows the first day(evening) was when the disciples gathered to break bread.

Paul was preaching...is the subject of the sentence not the phrases at the beginning.

[rstrats]

brianbbs67,
re: "Acts 20:7 Old King James "And upon the first(day) of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached..."

I don't see where the phrase "as was their custom" is included in that passage.



BTW, I'm not aware of any Bible with the name "Old King James".

[showme]

[Replying to post 86 by rstrats]

The only "custom" for the 1st day of the week, was Paul collecting money, something that continues with his "flock" (Zechariah 11:7), even today.

1 Corinthians 16:1-2New American Standard Bible (NASB)

16 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2 On the first day of every week each one of you is to [a]put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.

[brianbbs67]

brianbbs67,
re: "Acts 20:7 Old King James "And upon the first(day) of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached..."

I don't see where the phrase "as was their custom" is included in that passage.



BTW, I'm not aware of any Bible with the name "Old King James".

I added old to make you aware it was not the NKJ, but it says a similar thing with a couple phrases reversed.

"Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them ..."

As was their custom is my words as the wording of the verse says the same.

when=fisrt day, what did they do on the first day=break bread, (this indicates this is what they did)
Paul, the subject of the sentence was there to speak. So, this means, they gathered at the beginning of the first day to break bread(letting the reader know what they did and when they gathered)

[rstrats]

brianbbs67,
re: " So, this means, they gathered at the beginning of the first day to break bread(letting the reader know what they did and when they gathered)"

But your adding of the phrase "as was their custom" to the verse implies that they gathered together every first day of the week to break bread. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't; the verse doesn't say.

[myth-one.com]

Show me how God's day of rest was changed by Him. I have studied Theology and read Tanakh, KJ, Strong's, Thomson, NKJ and many others. God says he does not change, why would his day? All of my study, shows that there are lots of beliefs, some right to me , others not. But, since Peter's church worshipped on the Sabbath, why are we not?

Constantine decreed Sunday. Roman church(325) approved and adopted "christmas" and other pagan traditions.

If we follow as Christ instructed, known of this would hold water. I am sure this has been covered before, but I am truly curious.

Ask any Christian which day of the week is the Sabbath and most will state that it is Sunday. Others might state that the "Christian Sabbath" is Sunday and the Jewish Sabbath is Saturday.

In fact, there is only one Sabbath and it is the last or seventh day of the calendar week, which is Saturday.

So how did Christians get deceived into changing the Sabbath day from the last day of the week to the first day of the week?

On March 7, 321 Roman Emperor Constantine I decreed: "On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in the cities rest, and let all workshops be closed." This "Day of the Sun" is our Sunday and was so named in honor of the sun god, Apollo. Although this decree sanctioned Sunday worship, the practice clearly existed many years prior to 321 CE. Observe the following quote of St. Ignatius who died in the year 107 CE:

Sunday is expressly distinguished from the Sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the Sabbath. In Christ's Passover, Sunday fulfills the spiritual truth of the Jewish Sabbath and announces man's eternal rest in God. For worship under the Law prepared for the mystery of Christ, and what was done there prefigured some aspects of Christ: Those who lived according to the old order of things have come to a new hope, no longer keeping the Sabbath, but the Lord's Day, in which our life is blessed by him and his death. -- St. Ignatius of Antioch

By the time Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation, Sunday had become engrained in the Catholic Church as the "Christian Sabbath."

It has remained so in most Protestant denominations. Very few Protestant churches had the courage to return to the true Sabbath. It is obvious that the significance of the Sabbath was lost on all these piously religious men.

But take note from the quote of St. Ignatius of Antioch above that the Catholic church recognizes the first day of the week, Sunday, is not the Sabbath! It replaces the Sabbath.

What do the Protestants really believe? Do the Protestant leaders recognize that Sunday is not the Sabbath? In a pamphlet published by Life Way Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention entitled The Baptist Faith and Message, beliefs important to Southern Baptists are listed. This pamphlet is described as "A statement adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention June 14, 2000." Under the heading VIII. The Lord's Day is the following:

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

There is nothing wrong with that statement as such. It does not state that the "Lord's Day" replaces the Sabbath. However, listed below their statement are Bible references which supposedly support that statement. The first reference is Exodus 20:8-11, which begins:

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8)

Duh?

There is no relationship between the above Southern Baptist statement and the fourth commandment of remembering the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. There is nothing wrong with their statement. However, regardless of what they do on Sunday, the first day of the week, they should keep the Saturday Sabbath holy and not work on that day.

To this day most Christians do not see any harm in this change. So what? It just does not matter. In a sense, people who say this are correct. Since they do not understand the significance of the Sabbath and what it is a sign of, it would not make any difference if they did keep the true Sabbath holy. Except of course that they would be keeping the fourth commandment.

Would God even care that we changed the Sabbath? What's the big deal?

Except for the fact that we are disobeying the fourth commandment, what else are Christians losing by not recognizing the Sabbath? Is there any other significance to the Sabbath? Let's explore this further:

It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. (Exodus 31:17)

Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. (Exodus 31:13)

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)

Christians may have switched to Sunday to disassociate themselves from the Jews. The above verses specifically state that the Sabbath is a sign between God and the children of Israel. However, although the scriptures were sent to God's chosen people first, they apply equally to Jews and Gentiles:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

If Christians switched the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday due to anti-Semitism it was even more misguided. The Ten Commandments apply to all mankind! Man is almost comical. He is always asking God to give him a sign:

But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it... (Matthew 12:39)

For the Jews require a sign... (I Corinthians 1:22)

Don't just tell us, give us a sign! Show us.

So God gives man an obvious sign. It is blatantly broadcast as a sign! This is not some deeply hidden remote scripture. In three separate verses discussing the Sabbath day, the Bible states:

It is a sign... (Exodus 31:13)

It is a sign... (Exodus 31:17)

I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign... (Ezekiel 20:12)

How does man respond? The "Christian" church ignores the sign. It replaces the Sabbath with a day of their choosing. They know a better way! Let's observe our "Sabbath" on the first day of the week and call it the "Lord's Day." That will certainly please God. Wrong! It pleases Satan!

From the above verses it is evident that the Sabbath, the seventh day of the calendar week, Saturday, is given to all mankind as a sign; but a sign of what? What does the sign point to? What are we supposed to look for? A Sabbath is a period of rest following six previous equal periods of work. The periods are not always equal to a day:

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. (Leviticus 25:2-4)

The Sabbath defined above for farmland is to sow and harvest the land for six years, then let it rest the seventh year. If one performed a study today, this would be discovered to be the most productive method to farm land. Much land has been ruined in the past by over farming. Today we add fertilizers to artificially keep the land productive.

Today's Christians should be at work spreading the gospel:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you... (Matthew 28:19-20)

Although all cannot go, we can make it possible to send others. In addition, we can feed, clothe, house, visit, and heal people in need. It is obvious that all Christians should presently be in a working mode.

Is there a period of rest or Sabbath coming for Christians?

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10)

A sabbath is defined as a period of rest following six equal periods of work. The people of God await the millennium period of rest. It is a thousand-year period in which our adversary Satan is imprisoned. Since Satan is locked away during this time, it is truly a period of rest, as we have been working against Satan.

For the millennium to be a sabbath, it must have been preceded by six equal periods of work. Therefore, from the Genesis creation of man, we should have six one thousand year long periods of work before the millennium Sabbath begins.

So the sign which the six-day Genesis recreation followed by the Sabbath day of rest points to is what we are living through presently! This is the age of man. Our age will be six thousand years of work, or six days to God since a thousand years is like one of our days, followed by a thousand years of rest which is the millennium Sabbath. It is an exact replica of the Genesis recreation:

. . . 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 20:11)

Since we have been tricked into observing the wrong day as the Sabbath we do not recognize this pattern or sign. Theologians have been incorrectly guessing the date of the end times and the Second Coming of Christ because they have never understood the sign pointed to by the true Sabbath.

So, how close are we to the Second Coming? Remember, if the Sabbath is a sign pointing to the end times and the Second Coming, then these events will occur 6,000 years from the Genesis recreation.
By my calculations performed in the year 2009, 5967 years with a possible error of plus or minus 10.5 years have passed since the Genesis recreation.

My approach was to start from the first man Adam and go forward to some significant event which is documented in history books as well as in the Bible. That event was the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar during the period 586-588 BC.

If the Sabbath is truly a sign pointing to the millennium, indicating that we have six one thousand year periods or God days before the millennium or end times occur, and 5967 years have passed since man was created, then we are truly near the end times. If 5967 is a good calculation the millennium will begin approximately (6000 - 5967) years from the year 2009. This would be in the year 2042.

However, my calculations contained a plus or minus error of 10.5 years. Taking that into account, the millennium should occur within the period of years 2032 to 2052, with the likely date being the year 2042.

That would date the millennium approximately twenty-four years in the future from the year 2018!