FISHERMAN'S NET SABBATH PUBLICATION

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| | | A COMPRESENSIVE STUDY OF THE SABBATH | | |
| | | by Greg Killian | | |
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Question one: Who can/must celebrate the "feasts" and the Sabbaths?

Exodus 20:1-11 And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who
brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no
other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form
of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am
a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third
and fourth generation of those who hate me, But showing love to a thousand
[generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not
misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone
guiltless who misuses his name. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a
Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you,
nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your
animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the
heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the
seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

* The Sabbath applied to all people, aliens (gerim), and animals within the
gates of the Israelites. (The question: "Who is Israel", is profound. If you
do not know, you need to study further.)

Leviticus 19:34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your
native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the
LORD your God.

* An alien is a not a native of the land. This is the Hebrew "ger", a
righteous non-Hebrew who has been grafted into Israel.

Exodus 23:12 "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so
that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household,
and the alien as well, may be refreshed.

* All animals and people were commanded to rest on the Sabbath. The passage
does not indicate that they had to be within the "gates".

Exodus 31:13-17 "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths.
This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you
may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. "'Observe the Sabbath,
because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death;
whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. For six
days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to
the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. The
Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to
come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites
forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the
seventh day he abstained from work and rested.'"

* The Israelites must observe the Sabbaths.
* Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.
* The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath as a lasting covenant.
* The Sabbath day was to be a sign between God and the Israelites forever.

Leviticus 19:1-3 The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of
Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
"'Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my
Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.

* God gave the Sabbath day commands to Israel through Moses.
* The entire assembly of Israel must observe God's Sabbaths.

Numbers 15:13-16 "'Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this
way when he brings an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
For the generations to come, whenever an alien or anyone else living among
you presents an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, he
must do exactly as you do. The community is to have the same rules for you
and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the
generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD:
The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living
among you.'"

* The same laws and regulations will apply to both Israelite and the alien
living among them.

Deuteronomy 5:14-15 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.
On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor
your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your
animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and
maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and
that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an
outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe
the Sabbath day.

* The Sabbath applied to Israelites and aliens within Israel's gates.
* The Sabbath applied to the animals within Israel's gates.

Deuteronomy 31:11-12 When all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God
at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their
hearing. Assemble the people--men, women and children, and the aliens living
in your towns--so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and
follow carefully all the words of this law.

* All Israel and the aliens living in their towns were commanded to follow
God's law.

Joshua 8:32-35 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua copied on
stones the law of Moses, which he had written. All Israel, aliens and
citizens alike, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on
both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD, facing those who carried
it--the priests, who were Levites. Half of the people stood in front of Mount
Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the
LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of
Israel. Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law--the blessings and
the curses--just as it is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a
word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole
assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the aliens who
lived among them.

* The whole assembly of Israel including the aliens who lived among them
heard God's law.

Isaiah 14:1 The LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose
Israel and will settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them and unite
with the house of Jacob.

* Aliens will join them in the land and unite with the house of Jacob.

Ezekiel 47:21-23 "You are to distribute this land among yourselves according
to the tribes of Israel. You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves
and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have children. You are
to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be
allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the
alien settles, there you are to give him his inheritance," declares the
Sovereign LORD.

* Aliens, in Israel, and Israelites were given an inheritance in land.

Ephesians 2:17-22 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and
peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the
Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens,
but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, Built
on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as
the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises
to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built
together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

* Foreigners and aliens, who accept the Lord, are fellow citizens with God's
people.

Romans 11:13-21 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle
to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry In the hope that I may somehow
arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection
is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life
from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then
the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. If some
of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot,
have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap
from the olive root, Do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider
this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say
then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." Granted. But
they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be
arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he
will not spare you either.

* There is a distinction between a Gentile believer and a Jew, but, they are
both part of the olive tree, and called "Israel".
* Gentile believers are holy because the Israelites are holy.

Answer one:
* The Sabbath applied to all people, aliens, and animals within the gates of
the Israelites.
* An alien is a not a native of the land.
* All animals and people were commanded to rest on the Sabbath.
* Israelites must observe the Sabbath because it is holy.
* Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.
* The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath as a lasting covenant.
* The entire assembly of Israel must observe God's Sabbaths.
* The same laws and regulations will apply to both Israelite and the alien
living among you.
* The Sabbath applied to Israelites and aliens within Israel's gates.
* The Sabbath applied to the animals within Israel's gates.
* All Israel and the aliens living in their towns were commanded to follow
God's law.
* The whole assembly of Israel including the aliens who lived among them
were commanded to hear God's law.
* Aliens will join them in the land and unite with the house of Jacob.
* Aliens, in Israel, and Israelites were given an inheritance in land.
* Foreigners and aliens, who accept the Lord, are fellow citizens with God's
people.
* There is a distinction between a Gentile believer and a Jew, but, they are
both part of the olive tree, which is called "Israel".
* Gentile believers are holy because the Israelites are holy.
* * *

Question two: What are the attributes and requirements of the Sabbath?

Genesis 2:2-4 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing;
so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the
seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of
creating that he had done. This is the account of the heavens and the earth
when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens--

* It is holy because God rested from His creation work.

Exodus 16:12-36 "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At
twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread.
Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'" That evening quail came
and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the
camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on
the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What
is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the
bread the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded:
'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you
have in your tent.'" The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered
much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered
much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too
little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. Then Moses said to them,
"No one is to keep any of it until morning." However, some of them paid no
attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of
maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning
everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted
away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much--two omers for each
person--and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He
said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of
rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what
you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" So they
saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get
maggots in it. "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the
LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to
gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."
Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it,
but they found none. Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse
to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the LORD has given
you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days.
Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." So
the people rested on the seventh day. The people of Israel called the bread
manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with
honey. Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Take an omer of
manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I
gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.'" So Moses
said to Aaron, "Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it
before the LORD to be kept for the generations to come." As the LORD
commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna in front of the Testimony, that it might
be kept. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that
was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (An
omer is one tenth of an ephah.)

* The seventh day is the Sabbath.
* It is a day of rest.
* We are to stay where we are and not go out.

Exodus 20:8-11 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you
shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the
LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or
daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien
within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth,
the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore
the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

* We remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy.
* You shall not work on the Sabbath.
* The Sabbath is blessed and holy.

Exodus 23:12-13 "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work,
so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household,
and the alien as well, may be refreshed. "Be careful to do everything I have
said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard
on your lips.

* Do no work on the seventh day so that you may be refreshed.

Exodus 31:13-17 "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This
will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may
know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. "'Observe the Sabbath, because
it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever
does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. For six days, work
is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD.
Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. The Israelites
are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a
lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever,
for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh
day he abstained from work and rested.'"

* The Sabbaths are a sign between the Israelites and God.
* Anyone who desecrates the Sabbath must be put to death.
* Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.
* The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath as a lasting covenant.
* It is a sign between God and the Israelites forever.

Exodus 34:21 "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall
rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

* Rest on the seventh day even though work may be critical.

Exodus 35:1-3 Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them,
"These are the things the LORD has commanded you to do: For six days, work is
to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to
the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death. Do not light a
fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day."

* We must work for six days.
* The seventh day shall be your holy day.
* Whoever works must be put to death.
* Do not light a fire in your dwellings on the Sabbath day.

Leviticus 19:30 "'Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary.
I am the LORD.

* The Israelites are to observe God's Sabbaths.

Leviticus 19:30 "'Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary.
I am the LORD.

* The Israelites are to observe God's Sabbaths.

Leviticus 23:1-44 The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to
them: 'These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which
you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. "'There are six days when you may
work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You
are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.
"'These are the LORD'S appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to
proclaim at their appointed times: The LORD'S Passover begins at twilight on
the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the
LORD'S Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread
made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular
work. For seven days present an offering made to the LORD by fire. And on the
seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.'" The LORD said to
Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I
am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of
the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it
will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after
the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt
offering to the LORD a lamb a year old without defect, Together with its
grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil--an
offering made to the LORD by fire, a pleasing aroma--and its drink offering
of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new
grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be
a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. "'From
the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering,
count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the
seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. From
wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine
flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD.
Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect,
one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD,
together with their grain offerings and drink offerings--an offering made by
fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin
offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. The
priest is to wave the two lambs before the LORD as a wave offering, together
with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the LORD for
the priest. On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no
regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,
wherever you live. "'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to
the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave
them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.'" The LORD said to
Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are
to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do
no regular work, but present an offering made to the LORD by fire.'" The LORD
said to Moses, "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.
Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to
the LORD by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement,
when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. Anyone who does not
deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from
among his people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work
at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,
wherever you live. It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny
yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following
evening you are to observe your sabbath." The LORD said to Moses, "Say to
the Israelites: 'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD'S Feast
of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred
assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present offerings made to the
LORD by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an
offering made to the LORD by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular
work. ("'These are the LORD'S appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as
sacred assemblies for bringing offerings made to the LORD by fire--the burnt
offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for
each day. These offerings are in addition to those for the LORD'S Sabbaths
and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill
offerings you give to the LORD.) "'So beginning with the fifteenth day of
the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate
the festival to the LORD for seven days; the first day is a day of rest, and
the eighth day also is a day of rest. On the first day you are to take choice
fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice
before the LORD your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the
LORD for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the
generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for
seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths So your
descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought
them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'" So Moses announced to the
Israelites the appointed feasts of the LORD.

* Six days you may work.
* The seventh day is a Sabbath of rest.
* The Sabbath is a day of sacred assembly.
* You are not to do any work.
* The Sabbath applies to Israelites no matter where they live.
* The Day of Atonement is a Sabbath.

Leviticus 24:5-8 "Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using
two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. Set them in two rows, six in each row,
on the table of pure gold before the LORD. Along each row put some pure
incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be an offering
made to the LORD by fire. This bread is to be set out before the LORD
regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting
covenant.

* The bread for the Sabbath was a lasting covenant.

Leviticus 25:1-10 The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, "Speak to the
Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I am going to give you,
the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your
fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in
the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD.
Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of
itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a
year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food
for you--for you, and for your servant, and for your maid, and for your hired
servant, and for the stranger that sojourns with you, and for your cattle, and
for the beasts that are in your land, all that the land produces may be eaten.

"'Count off seven sabbaths of years--seven times seven years--so that the
seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the
trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day
of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth
year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall
be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and
each to his own clan.

* The land itself must observe a sabbath every seven years.

Leviticus 26:2 "'Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I
am the LORD.

* The Sabbath observance is a command.

Numbers 15:32-36 While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found
gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought
him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, And they kept him in custody,
because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the LORD said to
Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp."
So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD
commanded Moses.

* Gathering wood on the Sabbath required the death penalty.

Numbers 28:9-10 "'On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year
old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of
two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil. This is the burnt
offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its
drink offering.

* The Sabbath required a drink, grain, and burnt offering.

Deuteronomy 5:12-15 "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD
your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do
any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or
maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien
within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you
do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought
you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the
LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

* We observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy.
* No one is to work, man or beast.

I Chronicles 23:28-31 The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron's descendants
in the service of the temple of the LORD: to be in charge of the courtyards,
the side rooms, the purification of all sacred things and the performance of
other duties at the house of God. They were in charge of the bread set out on
the table, the flour for the grain offerings, the unleavened wafers, the
baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size. They were
also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the
same in the evening And whenever burnt offerings were presented to the LORD
on Sabbaths and at New Moon festivals and at appointed feasts. They were to
serve before the LORD regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed
for them.

* Burnt offerings were proper on the Sabbaths.

Nehemiah 8:1-12 All the people assembled as one man in the square before the
Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of
Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the
seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was
made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud
from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the
presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people
listened attentively to the Book of the Law. Ezra the scribe stood on a high
wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood
Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were
Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.
Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing
above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the
LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded,
"Amen! Amen!" Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to
the ground. The Levites--Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai,
Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah--instructed the
people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the
Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the
people could understand what was being read. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra
the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said
to them all, "This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep."
For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to
those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not
grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." The Levites calmed all the
people, saying, "Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve." Then all
the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to
celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been
made known to them.

* The Sabbath is sacred to the LORD our God.
* We ought not to mourn or weep on the Sabbath.
* We ought to enjoy choice food and sweet drinks on the Sabbath.
* We ought to share our food and drink with those who have none.
* We should not grieve on the Sabbath.
* We ought to celebrate with great joy on the Sabbath.
* The first day of the seventh month is a sabbath.

Leviticus 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh
month, in the first [day] of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of
blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
============================================================================
7677 shabbathown, shab-baw-thone'; from 7676; a sabbatism or special holiday:-
rest, sabbath.
---------------------------- Dictionary Trace -------------------------------
7676 shabbath, shab-bawth'; intens. from 7673; intermission, i.e. (spec.) the
Sabbath:-(+ every) sabbath.

Nehemiah 9:13-17 "You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven.
You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and
commands that are good. You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave
them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. In their hunger
you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water
from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had
sworn with uplifted hand to give them. "But they, our forefathers, became
arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands. They refused to
listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They
became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to
return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not
desert them,

* The Sabbath is part of the commands, decrees, and laws.

Nehemiah 10:31 "When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to
sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy
day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all
debts.

* We will not buy anything on the Sabbath.

Nehemiah 13:15-22 In those days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on
the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with
wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all
this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling
food on that day. Men from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish
and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to
the people of Judah. I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is
this wicked thing you are doing--desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn't your
forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity
upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel
by desecrating the Sabbath." When evening shadows fell on the gates of
Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened
until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so
that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. Once or twice the
merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem.
But I warned them and said, "Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you
do this again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they no longer
came on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go
and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for
this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.

* We ought not to sell food on the Sabbath.
* Buying and selling food on the Sabbath desecrates the Sabbath.
* The Levites guarded the gates to keep the Sabbath holy.

Psalms 92:1-15 {A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.} It is good to praise
the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, To proclaim your love in
the morning and your faithfulness at night, To the music of the ten-stringed
lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands. How great are your works, O LORD,
how profound your thoughts! The senseless man does not know, fools do not
understand, That though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers
flourish, they will be forever destroyed. But you, O LORD, are exalted
forever. For surely your enemies, O LORD, surely your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered. You have exalted my horn like that of a wild
ox; fine oils have been poured upon me. My eyes have seen the defeat of my
adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes. The righteous
will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,
Proclaiming, "The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness
in him."

* We ought to sing praises to the Lord on the Sabbath.

Isaiah 56:1-7 This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is
right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be
revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who
keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any
evil." Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will
surely exclude me from his people." And let not any eunuch complain, "I am
only a dry tree." For this is what the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who keep
my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-- To
them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better
than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not
be cut off. And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to
love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath
without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant-- These I will bring
to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt
offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be
called a house of prayer for all nations."

* The one who keeps the Sabbath holy is blessed.
* The eunuch who keeps the Sabbath will recieve an everlasting name. (eunuch
= official)
* The Lord will give joy to foreigners who keep the Sabbath.

Isaiah 58:13-14 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from
doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the
LORD'S holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and
not doing as you please or speaking idle words, Then you will find your joy
in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to
feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has
spoken.

* The Lord's holy day is the sabbath.
(This also the Lord's day as spoken by John in Revelation 1:10).
* If you keep the Sabbath holy you will find joy, you will ride on the heights
of the land, and you will feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.

Isaiah 66:22-23 "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure
before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure.
From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind
will come and bow down before me," says the LORD.

* The Sabbath will be kept in the new heaven and the new earth.

Jeremiah 17:21-27 This is what the LORD says: Be careful not to carry a load
on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. Do not bring a
load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath
day holy, as I commanded your forefathers. Yet they did not listen or pay
attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to
discipline. But if you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD, and bring
no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath
day holy by not doing any work on it, Then kings who sit on David's throne
will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their
officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men
of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited
forever. People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around
Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the
hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain
offerings, incense and thank offerings to the house of the LORD. But if you
do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you
come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an
unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.'"

* Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath or bring it through the
gates of Jerusalem.
* Do not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath.
* Do not do any work on the Sabbath.
* We are to keep the Sabbath day holy. This is a command.
* There are blessings for Jerusalem if we keep the Sabbath holy.
* There are curses for Jerusalem if we fail to keep the Sabbath holy.

Ezekiel 20:10-24 Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the
desert. I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, for the man
who obeys them will live by them. Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign
between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy. "'Yet the
people of Israel rebelled against me in the desert. They did not follow my
decrees but rejected my laws--although the man who obeys them will live by
them--and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my
wrath on them and destroy them in the desert. But for the sake of my name I
did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose
sight I had brought them out. Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the
desert that I would not bring them into the land I had given them--a land
flowing with milk and honey, most beautiful of all lands-- Because they
rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths.
For their hearts were devoted to their idols. Yet I looked on them with pity
and did not destroy them or put an end to them in the desert. I said to their
children in the desert, "Do not follow the statutes of your fathers or keep
their laws or defile yourselves with their idols. I am the LORD your God;
follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Keep my Sabbaths holy, that
they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God."
"'But the children rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they
were not careful to keep my laws--although the man who obeys them will live
by them--and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath
on them and spend my anger against them in the desert. But I withheld my hand,
and for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in
the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. Also with
uplifted hand I swore to them in the desert that I would disperse them among
the nations and scatter them through the countries, Because they had not
obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and
their eyes [lusted] after their fathers' idols.

* The Sabbath is a sign between us and the Lord, so that we would know that
the Lord made the Sabbath holy.
* The one who desecrates the Sabbath will have the wrath of God poured out
on them.
* The Israelites did not enter the promised land because they did not keep
God's laws and desecrated the Sabbath.
* Keeping the Sabbath day holy allows the Sabbath to be a sign between us and
the Lord.
* The Israelites were scattered through the world because they failed to obey
God's laws, rejected God's decrees, desecrated the Sabbath, and lusted after
their father's idols.

Ezekiel 44:24 "'In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide
it according to my ordinances. They are to keep my laws and my decrees for
all my appointed feasts, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

* The priests are to keep the Lord's Sabbath holy.

Ezekiel 46:1-5 "'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The gate of the inner
court facing east is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath
day and on the day of the New Moon it is to be opened. The prince is to enter
from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost.
The priests are to sacrifice his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings.
He is to worship at the threshold of the gateway and then go out, but the
gate will not be shut until evening. On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people
of the land are to worship in the presence of the LORD at the entrance to that
gateway. The burnt offering the prince brings to the LORD on the Sabbath day
is to be six male lambs and a ram, all without defect. The grain offering
given with the ram is to be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs
is to be as much as he pleases, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.

* The East gate is to be open only on the Sabbath and on the day of the new
moon.
* The prince is to enter through the east gate.
* On the Sabbath the people are to worship in the presence of the Lord at the
entrance to the east gateway.

Amos 8:1-10 This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit.
"What do you see, Amos?" he asked. "A basket of ripe fruit," I answered. Then
the LORD said to me, "The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them
no longer. "In that day," declares the Sovereign LORD, "the songs in the
temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies--flung everywhere! Silence!"
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land,
Saying, "When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the
Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?"--skimping the measure, boosting
the price and cheating with dishonest scales, Buying the poor with silver and
the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: "I will never forget anything they
have done. "Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink
like the river of Egypt. "In that day," declares the Sovereign LORD, "I will
make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will
turn your religious feasts into mourning and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that
time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.

* Keeping the Sabbath holy requires the right attitude.
* Because the Sabbaths were desecrated and sin filled the land, the Lord
will judge the land.

Matthew 5:17-24 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the
Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the
truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the
least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until
everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be
called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your
righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law,
you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. "You have heard that it
was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will
be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his
brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother,
'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will
be in danger of the fire of hell. "Therefore, if you are offering your gift
at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to
your brother; then come and offer your gift.

* Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but, to fulfill it.
* The law will not disappear until everything has been accomplished.
* Anyone who breaks the law or teaches others to do so will be called least
in the kingdom of heaven.
* Whoever teaches and practices the law will be called great in the kingdom
of heaven.

Matthew 12:1-13 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the
Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and
eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples
are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." He answered, "Haven't you read
what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of
God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful
for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that
on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are
innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had
known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not
have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, And a man with a
shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked
him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" He said to them, "If any of you
has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of
it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore
it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch
out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just
as sound as the other.

* It is lawful to harvest the food you eat on the Sabbath.
* The priests desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent.
* The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
* It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

Matthew 24:20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the
Sabbath.

* We ought to pray that the tribulation flight will not take place on the
Sabbath. The Sabbath is obviously to be a factor at the tribulation time.

Mark 2:23-3:5 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his
disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees
said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" He
answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were
hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the
house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests
to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." Then he said to them, "The
Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord
even of the Sabbath." Another time he went into the synagogue; and there was
a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would
heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto
the man which had the withered hand, "Stand forth." And he saith unto them,
"Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life or
to kill?" But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and,
deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your
hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

* It is lawful to heal on the Sabbath.
* The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
* The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.
* It is lawful to do good and to save life on the Sabbath.

Mark 6:1-2 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his
disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and
many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they
asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does
miracles!

* It is lawful to teach the things of God on the Sabbath.

Luke 4:14-19 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news
about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues,
and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he
stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord
is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has
sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the
blind, to release the oppressed, To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

* We ought to read the scriptures on the Sabbath.

Luke 6:1-11 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his
disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat
the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful
on the Sabbath?" Jesus answered them, "Have you never read what David did
when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and
taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat.
And he also gave some to his companions." Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of
Man is Lord of the Sabbath." On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue
and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The
Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse
Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.
But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled
hand, "Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do
good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" He looked around at them
all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his
hand was completely restored. But they were furious and began to discuss with
one another what they might do to Jesus.

Luke 13:10-17 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, And
a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She
was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he
called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your
infirmity." Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up
and praised God. Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the
synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and
be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." The Lord answered him, "You
hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from
the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a
daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be
set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" When he said this, all his
opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the
wonderful things he was doing.

* We ought to take care of our livestock on the Sabbath.
* We ought to give freedom on the Sabbath.

John 7:22-23 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did
not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the
Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of
Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man
on the Sabbath?

* It is lawful to circumcise on the Sabbath.

Acts 13:14-16 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath
they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and
the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, "Brothers, if
you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak." Standing
up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: "Men of Israel and you Gentiles who
worship God, listen to me!

* We should read from the Law and the Prophets on the Sabbath.
* It is lawful to preach on the Sabbath.

Acts 13:42-44 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people
invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. When
the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to
Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to
continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath almost the whole city
gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

* Paul and Barnabas kept the Sabbath.
* We ought to gather together to hear the word of the Lord on the Sabbath.

Acts 15:13-22 When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me.
Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from
the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement
with this, as it is written: "'After this I will return and rebuild David's
fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, That the remnant
of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the
Lord, who does these things' That have been known for ages. "It is my
judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles
who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to
abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of
strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city
from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some
of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose
Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the
brothers.

* Gentiles were required to keep only a minimal part of the law, until they
had time to learn the books of Moses on the Sabbath.
* The Apostles, elders, and the whole church kept the Sabbath.

Acts 16:13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where
we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the
women who had gathered there.

* We ought to pray on the Sabbath.

Colossians 2:9-17 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily
form, And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every
power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of
the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with
the circumcision done by Christ, Having been buried with him in baptism and
raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from
the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your
sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
Having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us
and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And
having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of
them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge
you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New
Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were
to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

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�does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the �
�man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone �
�else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand,�
�for the Lord is able to make him stand. Who are you to judge someone �
�else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, �
�for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more �
�sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one �
�should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as �
�special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he �
�gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives �
�thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies �
�to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die �
�to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. � � �
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�Galatians 4:1-11 What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a �
�child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole �
�estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by �
�his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the �
�basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God �
�sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, To redeem those under �
�law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons,�
�God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out,�
�<"Abba>, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you �
�are a son, God has made you also an heir. Formerly, when you did not �
�know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now �
�that you know God--or rather are known by God--how is it that you are �
�turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be �
�enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and �
�months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have �
�wasted my efforts on you. �
���������������������������������������������������������������������������

* Do not let anyone condemn you for keeping the Sabbath.
* The Sabbath, new moon, and religious feasts are a shadow of things to
come. The reality is found in Christ. This does not means that they have gone
away!

Hebrews 4:4-11 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these
words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." And again in
the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." It still remains
that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached
to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set
a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through
David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your
hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later
about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;
For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did
from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no
one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

* There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.
* Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.

Answer two:
* It is holy because God rested from His creation work.
* The seventh day is the Sabbath.
* It is a day of rest.
* We remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy.
* You shall not work on the Sabbath.
* The Sabbath is blessed and holy.
* Do no work on the seventh day so that you may be refreshed.
* The Sabbaths are a sign between the Israelites and God.
* Anyone who desecrates the Sabbath must be put to death.
* Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.
* The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath as a lasting covenant.
* It is a sign between God and the Israelites forever.
* Rest on the seventh day even though work may be critical.
* We must work for six days.
* The seventh day shall be your holy day.
* Whoever works must be put to death.
* Do not light a fire in your dwellings on the Sabbath day.
* The Israelites (v.2) are to observe God's Sabbaths.
* Six days you may work.
* The seventh day is a Sabbath of rest.
* The Sabbath is a day of sacred assembly.
* You are not to do any work.
* The Sabbath applies to Israelites no matter where they live.
* The Day of Atonement is a Sabbath.
* The bread for the Sabbath was a lasting covenant.
* The land itself must observe a sabbath every seven years.
* The Sabbath observance is a command.
* Gathering wood on the Sabbath required the death penalty.
* The Sabbath required a drink, grain, and burnt offering.
* We observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy.
* No one is to work, man or beast.
* Burnt offerings were proper on the Sabbaths.
* The Sabbath is sacred to the LORD our God.
* We ought not to mourn or weep on the Sabbath.
* We ought to enjoy choice food and sweet drinks on the Sabbath.
* We ought to share our food and drink with those who have none.
* We should not grieve on the Sabbath.
* We ought to celebrate with great joy on the Sabbath.
* The first day of the seventh month is a sabbath.
* The Sabbath is separate from the commands, decrees, and laws.
* We will not buy anything on the Sabbath.
* We ought not to sell food on the Sabbath.
* Buying and selling food on the Sabbath desecrates the Sabbath.
* The Levites guarded the gates to keep the Sabbath holy.
* We ought to sing praises to the Lord on the Sabbath.
* The one who keeps the Sabbath holy is blessed.
* The eunuch who keeps the Sabbath will recieve an everlasting name. (eunuch
= official)
* The Lord will give joy to foreigners who keep the Sabbath.
* The Lord's holy day is the sabbath.
(This also the Lord's day as spoken by John in Revelation 1:10).
* If you keep the Sabbath holy you will find joy, you will ride on the
heights of the land, and you will feast on the inheritance of your father
Jacob.
* The Sabbath will be kept in the new heaven and the new earth.
* Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath or bring it through the
gates of Jerusalem.
* Do not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath.
* Do not do any work on the Sabbath.
* We are to keep the Sabbath day holy. This is a command.
* There are blessings for Jerusalem if we keep the Sabbath holy.
* There are curses for Jerusalem if we fail to keep the Sabbath holy.
* The Sabbath is a sign between us and the Lord, so that we would know that
the Lord made the Sabbath holy.
* The one who desecrates the Sabbath will have the wrath of God poured out
on them.
* The Israelites did not enter the promised land because they did not keep
God's laws and desecrated the Sabbath.
* Keeping the Sabbath day holy allows the Sabbath to be a sign between us
and the Lord.
* The Israelites were scattered through the world because they failed to obey
God's laws, rejected God's decrees, desecrated the Sabbath, and lusted after
their father's idols.
* The priests are to keep the Lord's Sabbath holy.
* The East gate is to be open only on the Sabbath and on the day of the new
moon.
* The prince is to enter through the east gate.
* On the Sabbath the people are to worship in the presence of the Lord at the
entrance to the east gateway.
* Keeping the Sabbath holy requires the right attitude.
* Because the Sabbaths were desecrated and sin filled the land, the Lord
will judge the land.
* Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but, to fulfill it.
* The law will not disappear until everything has been accomplished.
* Anyone who breaks the law or teaches others to do so will be called least
in the kingdom of heaven.
* Whoever teaches and practices the law will be called great in the kingdom
of heaven.
* It is lawful to harvest the food you eat on the Sabbath.
* The priests desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent.
* The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
* It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
* We ought to pray that the tribulation flight will not take place on the
Sabbath. The Sabbath is obviously to be a factor at the tribulation time.
* It is lawful to heal on the Sabbath.
* The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
* The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.
* It is lawful to do good and to save life on the Sabbath.
* It is lawful to teach the things of God on the Sabbath.
* We ought to read the scriptures on the Sabbath.
* We ought to take care of our livestock on the Sabbath.
* We ought to give freedom on the Sabbath.
* It is lawful to circumcise on the Sabbath.
* We should read from the Law and the Prophets on the Sabbath.
* It is lawful to preach on the Sabbath.
* Paul and Barnabas apparently kept the Sabbath.
* We ought to gather together to hear the word of the Lord on the Sabbath.
* Gentiles were required to keep only a minimal part of the law.
* We ought to preach from the books of Moses on the Sabbath.
* The Apostles, elders, and the whole church apparently kept the Sabbath.
* We ought to pray on the Sabbath.
* The law has authority over a man only as long as he lives.
* We have been released from the law so we serve in the new way of the
Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
* The law is not sin.
* The law is holy and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
* If I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
* In my inner being I delight in God's law.
* Do not let anyone condemn you for keeping the Sabbath.
* The Sabbath, new moon, and religious feasts are a shadow of things to
come. The reality is found in Christ.
* There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.
* Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.

* * *

Question 3: When was Sabbath observance begun?

Exodus 16:12-36 "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At
twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread.
Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'" That evening quail came and
covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the
desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is
it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread
the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one
is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in
your tent.'" The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some
little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not
have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one
gathered as much as he needed. Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep
any of it until morning." However, some of them paid no attention to Moses;
they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to
smell. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning everyone gathered as much
as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. On the sixth day,
they gathered twice as much--two omers for each person--and the leaders of
the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, "This is what
the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the
LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save
whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" So they saved it until morning,
as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. "Eat it today,"
Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of
it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day,
the Sabbath, there will not be any." Nevertheless, some of the people went
out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. Then the LORD said
to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?
Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth
day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the
seventh day; no one is to go out." So the people rested on the seventh day.
The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed
and tasted like wafers made with honey. Moses said, "This is what the LORD
has commanded: 'Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come,
so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you
out of Egypt.'" So Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar and put an omer of manna
in it. Then place it before the LORD to be kept for the generations to come."
As the LORD commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna in front of the Testimony,
that it might be kept. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came
to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of
Canaan. (An omer is one tenth of an ephah.)

* God first commanded rest on the Sabbath in relationship to the manna. The
law was not given until Exodus chapter 20!

Genesis 1:31 - 2:3 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And
there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day. Thus the heavens
and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God
had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from
all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on
it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

* The Sabbath day was obviously on God's mind when he created the world.

* * *

* Question 4: Are we not under grace rather than law?

* Gentiles were required to keep only a minimal part of the law, until they
had time to learn the books of Moses on the Sabbath.
* The Apostles, elders, and the whole church apparently kept the Sabbath.

Acts 21:18-29 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all
the elders were present. Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God
had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard this, they
praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of
Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been
informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away
from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according
to our customs. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come,
So do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take
these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that
they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth
in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to
the law. As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision
that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the
meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality." The next day Paul took
the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to
give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the
offering would be made for each of them. When the seven days were nearly
over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They
stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, Shouting, "Men of Israel, help us!
This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law
and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and
defiled this holy place." (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in
the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple
area.)

* You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them
are zealous for the law.

* but that you yourself (Paul) are living in obedience to the law.

* offering would be made for each of them:

Numbers 6:1-27 The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to
them: 'If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of separation to
the LORD as a Nazirite, He must abstain from wine and other fermented drink
and must not drink vinegar made from wine or from other fermented drink. He
must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as he is a
Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even
the seeds or skins. "'During the entire period of his vow of separation no
razor may be used on his head. He must be holy until the period of his
separation to the LORD is over; he must let the hair of his head grow long.
Throughout the period of his separation to the LORD he must not go near a
dead body. Even if his own father or mother or brother or sister dies, he
must not make himself ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the
symbol of his separation to God is on his head. Throughout the period of his
separation he is consecrated to the LORD. "'If someone dies suddenly in his
presence, thus defiling the hair he has dedicated, he must shave his head on
the day of his cleansing--the seventh day. Then on the eighth day he must
bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the
Tent of Meeting. The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other
as a burnt offering to make atonement for him because he sinned by being in
the presence of the dead body. That same day he is to consecrate his head.
He must dedicate himself to the LORD for the period of his separation and
must bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. The previous days do
not count, because he became defiled during his separation. "'Now this is
the law for the Nazirite when the period of his separation is over. He is to
be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. There he is to present his
offerings to the LORD: a year-old male lamb without defect for a burnt
offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering, a ram without
defect for a fellowship offering, Together with their grain offerings and
drink offerings, and a basket of bread made without yeast--cakes made of fine
flour mixed with oil, and wafers spread with oil. "'The priest is to present
them before the LORD and make the sin offering and the burnt offering. He is
to present the basket of unleavened bread and is to sacrifice the ram as a
fellowship offering to the LORD, together with its grain offering and drink
offering. "'Then at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Nazirite must
shave off the hair that he dedicated. He is to take the hair and put it in the
fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering. "'After the
Nazirite has shaved off the hair of his dedication, the priest is to place in
his hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and a cake and a wafer from the
basket, both made without yeast. The priest shall then wave them before the
LORD as a wave offering; they are holy and belong to the priest, together
with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. After that,
the Nazirite may drink wine. "'This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his
offering to the LORD in accordance with his separation, in addition to
whatever else he can afford. He must fulfill the vow he has made, according
to the law of the Nazirite.'" The LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron and his
sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: "'"The LORD
bless you and keep you; The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious
to you; The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."' "So they will
put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."

* Paul was participating in a Nazirite vow and was providing the offering!

Acts 18:18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers
and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed,
he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken.

* Paul also apparently took a Nazarite vow! (with the associated sacrifices)

Acts 20:1-7 When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after
encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia. He traveled through
that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally
arrived in Greece, Where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot
against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back
through Macedonia. He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea,
Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also,
and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. These men went on ahead
and waited for us at Troas. But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we
stayed seven days. On the first day of the week we came together to break
bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next
day, kept on talking until midnight.

* Paul apparently observed the "Feast of Unleavened Bread".
* Paul also kept the Sabbath as he was conducting a Havdolah service to
conclude the Sabbath.

Acts 28:13-28 From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the
south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. There we
found some brothers who invited us to spend a week with $�Q�them. And so we
came to Rome. The brothers there had heard that we were coming, and they
traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At
the sight of these men Paul thanked God and was encouraged. When we got to
Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him. Three
days later he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled
Paul said to them: "My brothers, although I have done nothing against our
people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem
and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and wanted to release me,
because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. But when the Jews
objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar--not that I had any charge to
bring against my own people. For this reason I have asked to see you and talk
with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain."
They replied, "We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and
none of the brothers who have come from there has reported or said anything
bad about you. But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that
people everywhere are talking against this sect." They arranged to meet Paul
on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was
staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the
kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses
and from the Prophets. Some were convinced by what he said, but others would
not believe. They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul
had made this final statement: "The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your
forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet: "'Go to this people and
say, "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever
seeing but never perceiving." For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise
they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, under�(S�stand with
their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' "Therefore I want you to know
that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!"

* Paul said to them: "My brothers, although I have done nothing against our
people or against the customs of our ancestors

* We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of the
brothers who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you.

Romans 7:1-25 Do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to men who know
the law--that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For
example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is
alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So
then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is
called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law
and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man. So, my brothers,
you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to
another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear
fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful
passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit
for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from
the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way
of the written code. What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not!
Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would
not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not
covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced
in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I
was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life
and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life
actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the
commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So
then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did
that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that
sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good,
so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that
the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not
understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is,
it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that
nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire
to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good
I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I
do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living
in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil
is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; But I
see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law
of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my
members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind
am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

* The law has authority over a man only as long as he lives.
* We have been released from the law so we serve in the new way of the
Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
* The law is not sin.
* The law is holy and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
* If I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
* In my inner being I delight in God's law.

Hebrews 8:7 - 9:4 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant,
no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the
people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not
be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my
covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant
I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I
will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be
their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more." By calling this covenant "new," he
has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon
disappear. Now the first coven1}X�ant had regulations for worship and also
an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the
lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place.
Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, Which had the
golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark
contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone
tablets of the covenant.

* The new covenant may not yet be fully in place.

John 1:14-18 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have
seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full
of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying,
"This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because
he was before me.'" From the fullness of his grace we have all received one
blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,
who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

* Both law and grace came from God.

Romans 4:1-16 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered
in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something
to boast about--but not before God. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham
believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now when a man
works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked,
his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he
speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart
from works: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins
are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against
him." Romans 4:9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for
the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to
him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after
he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received
the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith
while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who
believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be
credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only
are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our
father Abraham had before he was circumcised. It was not through law that
Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the
world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who
live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,
Because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be
guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring -not only to those who are of the law
but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

* Abraham was credited with righteousness because he believed God.
* Righteousness was credited to Abraham before his circumcision.
(circumcision seems to be a post salvation work.)

Romans 5:12-21 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and
death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--
For before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into
account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of
Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a
command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is
not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,
how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one
man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like
the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought
condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man,
how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of
the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men,
so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings
life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the
many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many
will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase.
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, So that, just as sin
reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

* The law was added so the trespass might increase. But where sin increased,
grace increased all the more.

Romans 6:13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of
wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought
from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of
righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law,
but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but
under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to
someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--
whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which
leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be
slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you
were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to
righteousness.

* For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under
grace.

Galatians 2:17 - 3:13 "If, while we seek to be ju�^�stified in Christ, it
becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ
promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I
am a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live
for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for
if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus
Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one
thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by
believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit,
are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so
much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit
and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you
believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was
credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe
are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the
Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All
nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed
along with Abraham, the man of faith. All who rely on observing the law are
under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue
to do everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified
before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." The law is
not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live
by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for
us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

* For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
(The law brought the knowledge of sin.)
* I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained
through the law, Christ died for nothing! (righteousness cannot be gained
through the law.)
* We recieve the Spirit by believing what we heard in the gospel.

I Corinthians 5:1-9 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality
among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his
father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with
grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Even though I
am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed
judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. When you are
assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the
power of our Lord Jesus is present, Hand this man over to Satan, so that the
sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through
the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch
without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been
sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the
yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of
sincerity and truth. I have written you in my letter not to associate with
sexually immoral people--

* Paul encouraged the Corinthian church to celebrate the festival of Passover.

* The law is a joy:

Psalms 19:1-14 {For the director of music. A psalm of David.} The heavens
declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after
day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is
no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out
into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he
has pitched a tent for the sun, Which is like a bridegroom coming forth from
his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end
of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its
heat. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the
LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are
right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving
light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The
ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more
precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than
honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is
great reward. Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your
servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be
blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my
Redeemer.

Psalms 119:1-176 {Aleph} blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk
according to the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and
seek him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways.
You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were
steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I
consider all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn
your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.
{Beth} How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have
hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to
you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that
come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in
great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight
in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. {Gimel} Do�-d� good to your
servant, and I will live; I will obey your word. Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law. I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your
commands from me. My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.
You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed and who stray from your commands.
Remove from me scorn and contempt, for I keep your statutes. Though rulers sit
together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees. Your
statutes are my delight; they are my counselors. {Daleth} I am laid low in the
dust; preserve my life according to your�word I recounted my ways and you
answered me; teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching of your
precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders. My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word. Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious
to me through your law. I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart
on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD; do not let me be put to
shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.
{He} Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the
end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my
heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn
my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away
from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your
promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I
dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life
in your righteousness. {Waw} May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your
salvation according to your promise; Then I will answer the one who taunts me,
for I trust in your word. Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I
have put my hope in your laws. I will always obey your law, for ever and ever.
I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. I will
speak of your statutes before kings a�hf�nd will not be put to shame, For I
delight in your commands because I love them. I lift up my hands to your
commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees. {Zayin} Remember your
word to your servant, for you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering
is this: Your promise preserves my life. The arrogant mock me without
restraint, but I do not turn from your law. I remember your ancient laws, O
LORD, and I find comfort in them. Indignation grips me because of the wicked,
who have forsaken your law. Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I
lodge. In the night I remember your name, O LORD, and I will keep your law.
This has been my practice: I obey your precepts. {Heth} You are my portion, O
LORD; I have promised to obey your words. I have sought your face with all my
heart; be gracious to me according to your promise. I have considered my ways
and have turned my steps to your statutes. I will hasten and not delay to obey
your commands. Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your
law. At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws. I am a
friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts. The earth is
filled with your love, O LORD; teach me your decrees. {Teth} Do good to your
servant according to your word, O LORD. Teach me knowledge and good judgment,
for I believe in your commands. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now
I obey your word. You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.
Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all
my heart. Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law.
It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The
law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver
and gold. {Yodh} Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to
learn your commands. May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I
have put my hope in your word. I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous,
and in faithfulness you have afflicted me. May your unfailing love be my
comfort, according to your promise to your servant. Let your compassion come
to me that I may live, for your law is my delight. May the arrogant be put to
shame for wronging me without cause; but I will meditate on your precepts. May
those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes. May my
heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame. {Kaph}
My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your
word. My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, "When will you comfort
me?" Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.
How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors? The
arrogant dig pitfalls for me, contrary to your law. All your commands are
trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause. They almost wiped
me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts. Preserve my life
according to your love, and I will obey the statutes of your mouth. {Lamedh}
Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness
continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.
Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you. If your law had not
been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget
your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life. Save me, for I am yours;
I have sought out your precepts. The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I
will ponder your statutes. To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands
are boundless. {Mem} Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have
more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have
more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my
feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed
from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to
my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your
precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. {Nun} Your word is a lamp to my
feet and a light for my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I
will follow your righteous laws. I have suffered much; preserve my life, O
LORD, according to your word. Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth,
and teach me your laws. Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will
not forget your law. The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not
strayed from your precepts. Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are
the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.
{Samekh} I hate double-minded men, but I love your law. You are my refuge and
my shield; I have put my hope in your word. Away from me, you evildoers, that
I may keep the commands of my God! Sustain me according to your promise, and I
will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. Uphold me, and I will be delivered;
I will always have regard for your decrees. You reject all who stray from
your decrees, for their deceitfulness is in vain. All the wicked of the earth
you discard like dross; therefore I love your statutes. My flesh trembles in
fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws. {Ayin} I have done what is righteous
and just; do not leave me to my oppressors. Ensure your servant's well-being;
let not the arrogant oppress me. My eyes fail, looking for your salvation,
looking for your righteous promise. Deal with your servant according to your
love and teach me your decrees. I am your servant; give me discernment that I
may understand your statutes. It is time for you to act, O LORD; your law is
being broken. Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold,
And because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path. {Pe}
Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. The unfolding of your words
gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant,
longing for your commands. Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do
to those who love your name. Direct my footsteps according to your word; let
no sin rule over me. Redeem me from the oppression of men, that I may obey
your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your
decrees. Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.
{Tsadhe} Righteous are you, O LORD, and your laws are right. The statutes you
have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy. My zeal wears me out,
for my enemies ignore your words. Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
and your servant loves them. Though I am lowly and despised, I do not forget
your precepts. Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true. Trouble
and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight. Your
statutes are forever right; give me understanding that I may live. {Qoph} I
call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD, and I will obey your decrees. I
call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes. I rise before dawn and
cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the
watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. Hear my voice in
accordance with your love; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your laws.
Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your law. Yet
you are near, O LORD, and all your commands are true. Long ago I learned from
your statutes that you established them to last forever. {Resh} Look upon my
suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law. Defend my cause
and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise. Salvation is far
from the wicked, for they do not seek out your decrees. Your compassion is
great, O LORD; preserve my life according to your laws. Many are the foes who
persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes. I look on the faithless
with loathing, for they do not obey your word. See how I love your precepts;
preserve my life, O LORD, according to your love. All your words are true; all
your righteous laws are eternal. {Shin} Rulers persecute me without cause, but
my heart trembles at your word. I rejoice in your promise like one who finds
great spoil. I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your law. Seven times a day
I praise you for your righteous laws. Great peace have they who love your law,
and nothing can make them stumble. I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I
follow your commands. I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly. I obey
your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you. {Taw} May
my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word.
May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise. May
my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. May my tongue
sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. May your hand be ready
to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, O LORD,
and your law is my delight. Let me live that I may praise you, and may your
laws sustain me. I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I
have not forgotten your commands.

* * *

History:

By the time of the Council of Nicea (325 C.E.), Constantine, who was very
anti-semitic, had taken over the church. Laws were issued forbidding Jewish
believers to circumcise their children, Passover was replaced with Easter (the
Babylonian fertility goddess), Sukkot was replaced by Christmas (the Roman
birthday of the sun god), and so on.

* * *

===========================================================================

Arguments against "keeping the Sabbath Holy"

1. Jesus gave the law a deeper and richer meaning
Matthew 5:17-20 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the
Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the
truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the
least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until
everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be
called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your
righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you
will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

* Jesus did not abolish the law.
* We are to practice and teach the law!

2. The ten commandments summed up
Matthew 22:35-40 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this
question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus
replied:" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the
second is like it: 'Love your nei [Dghbor as yourself.' All the Law and the
Prophets hang on these two commandments.

* How do we 'love our God'? (we keep His commandments!)
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love
the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your
hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

I John 5:1-4 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,
and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we
know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his
commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are
not burdensome, For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the
victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command.

John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.
He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show
myself to him."

John 14:23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My
Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

3. Saved by grace - not law works
Galatians 2:14-16 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the
truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew,
yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you
force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? "We who are Jews by birth and not
'Gentile sinners' Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but
by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that
we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because
by observing the law no one will be justified.

* The error was in forcing gentiles to follow Jewish custom.
* No one in either the new or the old testament was justified by the law
Romans 3:29 - 4:5 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles
too? Yes, of Gentiles too, Since there is only one God, who will justify the
circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we,
then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
What then shall we say that [DAbraham, our forefather, discovered in this
matter? If, in fact, Abraham was jus [Dtified by works, he had something to
boast about--but not before God. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham
believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now when a man
works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked,
his faith is credited as righteousness.

Galatians 3:11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because,
"The righteous will live by faith."

Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own
that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the
righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

Acts 13:38-39 Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus
the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who
believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the
law of Moses.

4. Sabbath made for man and not man for Sabbath
Mark 2:27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for
the Sabbath.

* This seems to be saying that the Sabbath was a blessing.
Exodus 23:12 "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so
that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household,
and the alien as well, may be refreshed.

5. Jesus is lord of the Sabbath. (I agree!)

6. Sunday is a memorial to resurrection.
Matthew 28:1-6 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent
earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the
tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning,
and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they
shook and became like dead [D men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be
afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is
not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Mark 16:1-6 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of
James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.
Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on
their way to the tomb And they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away
from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they looked up, they saw that the
stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb,
they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and
they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus
the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place
where they laid him.

Luke 24:1-6 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the
women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the
stone rolled away from the tomb, But when they entered, they did not find the
body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men
in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the
women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,
"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!
Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:

John 20:1-21 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark,
Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from
the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the
one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we
don't know where they have put him!" So Peter and the other disciple started
for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and
reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen
lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived
and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, As well as the
burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by
itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached
the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not
understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the
disciples went back to their homes, But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As
she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb And saw two angels in white,
seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away,"
she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned
around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away,
tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her,
"Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which
means Teacher). Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned
to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my
Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went to the
disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had
said these things to her. On the evening of that first day of the week, when
the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus
came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this,
he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw
the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I
am sending you."

* This may make the first day of the week special, but, it does not say that
the Sabbath, the seventh day, is abolished or replaced.

7. Christians after resurrection met on Sunday (Dates back in historical
records as proof of their observance of Sunday)

Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul
spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on
talking until midnight.

* Since the Sabbath ended at sun down Saturday, this event took place on
Saturday evening. This seems likely because Paul spoke until midnight.

* Sabbath observance was terminated by Constantine. He also enforced the
first day observance

I Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set
aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I
come no collections will have to be made.

* This seems like a powerful argument as the collections for the poor were
normally taken on the Sabbath.

8. What about Galatians chapter 3?
Galatians 3:1-29 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your
very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to
learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the
law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with
the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you
suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? Does God give you
his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because
you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was
credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe
are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the
Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All
nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed
along with Abraham, the man of faith. All who rely on observing the law are
under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to
do everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified
before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." The law is
not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live
by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for
us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed
us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles
through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the
Spirit. Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one
can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it
is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The
Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your
seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law,
introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously
established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance
depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his
grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. What, then, was the purpose of
the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the
promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a
mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is
one. Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not!
For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would
certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole
world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through
faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith
came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be
revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be
justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the
supervision of the law. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus. If y[02;01Hou belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

* No one ever received the Spirit by observing the law. This is not new.
* Since the law could never save we have always had to be justified by faith.
* Before faith was revealed it appeared that we were justified by the law.
* The law is no longer our tutor, God is. The law does not supervise us, the
spirit does. This scripture must be consistant, as it regards the law, with
the rest of scripture.

9. We are not under law. We are under grace.
Romans 6:12-18 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you
obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as
instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who
have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him
as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you
are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not
under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer
yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom
you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience,
which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be
slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you
were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to
righteousness.
* * *

QUESTIONS FOR SABBATH OBSERVERS

1. Where is the proof that men kept the seventh day, or Sabbath, prior to the
giving of the law at Mt. Sinai?--

Exodus 20:1-17 And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who
brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other
gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of
anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You
shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a
jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and
fourth generation of those who hate me, But showin g love to a thousand
[generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not
misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone
guiltless who misuses his name. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six day s you shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a
Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor
your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor
the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. "Honor your father
and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is
giving you. "You shall not murder. "You shall not commit adultery. "You shall
not steal. "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. "You
shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's
wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that
belongs to your neighbor."

2. If you keep the Sabbath because, as you think, it was kept before the law
of Moses, why do you not practice circumcision, seeing it was plainly
commanded and practiced before the law was given?--

Genesis 17:9-14 Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my
covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This
is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are
to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo
circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For
the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be
circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from
a foreigner--those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household
or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh
is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been
circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my
covenant."

Galatians 5:1-7 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm,
then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark
my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ
will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets
himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are
trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen
away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the
righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing
itself through love. You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept
you from obeying the truth?

3. If Christians are required to keep the seventh day, why do you depart from
your dwelling on that day, since those to whom the law was given were plainly
commanded not to do so?--

Exodus 16:11-30 The LORD said to Moses, "I have heard the grumbling of the
Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you
will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'"
That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a
layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on
the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said
to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to
them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD
has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for
each person you have in your tent.'" The Israelites did as they were told;
some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who
gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have
too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. Then Moses said to them,
"No one is to keep any of it until morning." However, some of them paid no
attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of
maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning
everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted
away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much--two omers for each
person--and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He
said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of
rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what
you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" So they
saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get
maggots in it. "E at it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the
LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to
gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."
Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it,
but they found none. Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to
keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the LORD has given you
the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days.
Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." So
the people rested on the seventh day. The people of Israel called the bread
manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

4. If you keep one Sabbath (the seventh day) why not keep them all--the
seventh year and the year of the Jubilee?--

Leviticus 25:3-13 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your
vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a
sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your
vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your
untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields
during the sabbath year will be food for you--for yourself, your manservant and
maidservant, and the hired worker and temp orary resident who live among you,
As well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the
land produces may be eaten. "'Count off seven sabbaths of years--seven times
seven years--so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of
forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of
the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your
land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to
all its inh abitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to
return to his family property and each to his own clan. The fiftieth year shall
be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or
harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat
only what is taken directly from the fields. "'In this Year of Jubilee
everyone is to return to his own property.

5. Is it the duty of Christians to put to death those who desecrate the
seventh day?--

If Yes, who will be the public executioner? If No, what will you do with the
law?--

Exodus 35:1-2 Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them,
"These are the things the LORD has commanded you to do: For six days, work is
to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to
the LORD. Whoever do es any work on it must be put to death.

If you say the penalties are abolished, you set aside the law.--
Deuteronomy 4:1-2 Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to
teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession
of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Do not add
to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of
the LORD your God that I give you.

James 3:5-10 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes
great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It
corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is
itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and
creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, But no man
can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the
tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been
made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My
brothers, this should not be.

If you admit that the penalties are still in force, there is not a Sabbath
observer on earth who can escape the vengeance of the broken law.

6. Jesus journeyed and healed on Sabbath days--
Matthew 12:1-8 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.
His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing
what is unlawful on the Sabbath." He answered, "Haven't you read what David
did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and
he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them
to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the
Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I
tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what
these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have
condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

Luke 6:6-11 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching,
and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the
teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched
him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they
were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand
in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them,
"I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save
life or to destroy it?" He looked around at them all, and then said to the
man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored.
But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do
to Jesus.

John 5:10-18 And so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the
Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who
made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" So they asked him,
"Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" The man who was
healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that
was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are
well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The man went
away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. So, because
Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus
said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too,
am working." For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not
only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father,
making himself equal with God.

-and it angered the Jews. Why did He do this on the Sabbath and why did He
answer them,"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am
working." ?--

7. Why did Jesus not require the young ruler to keep the Sabbath, when
enumerating the commandments?--

Matthew 19:16-22 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good
thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?"
Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey
the commandments." "Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied," 'Do not
murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,
Honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'" "All
these I have kept," the young man said, "What do I still lack?" Jesus answered,
"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man
heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Mark 10:17-22 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on
his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit
eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--
except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit
adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor
your father and mother.'" "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept
since I was a boy." Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack,"
he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He
went away sad, because he had great wealth.

8. When Judaizing teachers sought to bring Gentile Christians under the law,
and the apostles and elders at Jerusalem met about this question, why did they
stigmatize those teachers as "SUBVERTING YOUR SOULS, SAYING, YE MUST BE
CIRCUMCISED AND KEEP THE LAW"? adding "TO WHOM WE GAVE NO SUCH COMMANDMENT."--

Acts 15:1-30 Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the
brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses,
you cannot be saved." This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and
debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other
believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this
question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through
Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news
made all the brothers very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, they were
welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported
everything God had done through them. Then some of the believers who belonged
to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be
circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses." The apostles and elders
met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and
addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among
you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and
believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the
Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us
and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to
test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor
our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of
our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." The whole assembly
became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the
miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me. Simon has
described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the
Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with
this, as it is written: "'After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen
tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, That the remnant of men
may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who
does these things' That have been known for ages. "It is my judgment,
therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are
turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from
food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled
animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the
earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath." Then the
apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their
own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas
(called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.
With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your
brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.
We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and
disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to
choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul--
Men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we
are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden
you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from
food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and
from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. The
men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church
together and delivered the letter.

Why did they make no mention of the Sabbath in their recommendation to the
Gentile Christians?--(verses 28 and 29).

9. Where in Scripture is there any command to any Gentile nation to keep the
law of Moses?

10. The Lord Jesus was in the tomb on the Sabbath; He rose from the dead on
the FIRST day of the week; He appeared to His disciples twice on the FIRST day
of the week; the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on the FIRST day of the
week--

Acts 2:1-3 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one
place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven
and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be
tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

Leviticus 23:15-16 "'From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the
sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days
up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new
grain to the LORD.

-and the disciples came together to remember the Lord in the breaking of bread
on the FIRST day of the week--

Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul
spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on
talking until midnight.

Thus the LORD'S DAY is the Christian's day--
Revelation 1:10-11 On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind
me a loud voice like a trumpet, Which said: "Write on a scroll what you see
and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira,
Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."

We are warned against law- teachers-- ,
Galatians 5:1-4 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm,
then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark
my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ
will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets
himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are
trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen
away from grace.

Galatians 6:12-13 Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are
trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to
avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are
circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may
boast about your flesh.

-but the Sabbath is never commanded to Christians. How do you account for this?

Reader, the Sabbath observers are all astray on the law question. It was given
to Israel, not to Gentiles--God using Israel as a sample of mankind, to show
that no man can be justified before God by the law--

Galatians 3:10-11 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it
is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written
in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified before God by the law,
because, "The righteous will live by faith."

The law DEMANDED righteousness, but did not give life. It CURSED the sinner,
but could not save him. It effectually closed the mouth of boasters by
convicting them of sin and transgression, bringing man in as "GUILTY" before
God--

Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are
under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held
accountable to God.

Thus it was designed to teach man his absolute need of Christ--
Galatians 3:24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might
be justified by faith.

so the sacrifices appointed under the law constantly pointed to Him that was
to come. Having come, He voluntarily offered Himself as sin-bearer upon the
cross, that we might be justified by faith in Him--

Galatians 3:6-13 Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to
him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe are children
of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed
through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man
of faith. All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is
written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in
the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified before God by the law,
because, "The righteous will live by faith." The law is not based on faith; on
the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is
written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

Now the believer is no more under law, but under Christ, as:

Romans 7:1-6 Do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to men who know the
law--that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For
example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive,
but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if
she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an
adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not
an adulteress, even though she marries another man. So, my brothers, you also
died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another,
to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused
by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But
now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so
that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the
written code.

clearly shows. We have died with Christ; we are out of the Law's dominion;
Christ is our life, we are risen spiritually with Him, that in the liberty and
gladness of His grace we may "BRING FORTH FRUIT UNTO GOD." May this blessed
liberty and fruitfulness be the reader's present happy realization.

Bible Facts Concerning the Seventh Day

1. After working the first six days of the week in creating this earth, God
rested on the seventh day.

Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their
vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing;
so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the
seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of
creating that he had done.

This stamped that day as God's rest day, or Sabbath day as Sabbath day MEANS
rest day. To illustrate: When a person is born on a certain day, that day
becomes his BIRTHDAY. So when God rested upon the seventh day, that day became
His rest, or Sabbath, day. Therefore the seventh day must always be God's
Sabbath day. Can you change your birthday from the day on which you were born
to one on which you were not born? No. Neither can you change God's rest day
to a day on which He did not rest. Hence the seventh day is still God's
Sabbath day.

2. The Creator blessed the seventh day.

Genesis 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it
he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

3. He sanctified the seventh day. (He never sanctified the first day!)

Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the
sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the
LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

4. He made it the Sabbath day in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast
array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on
the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day
and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that
he had done.

It was made before the fall; hence it is not a type; for types were not
introduced till after the fall.

5. Jesus says it was made for MAN, that is, for the race, as the word MAN is
here unlimited; hence for the Gentile as well as for the Jew.

Mark 2:27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for
the Sabbath.

6. Not only is the Sabbath made for man, but Jesus said that He was Lord of
the Sabbath.

Mark 2:28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

7. It is a memorial of creation.

Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea,
and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD
blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Every time we rest upon the seventh day, as God did at creation, we
commemorate that grand event.

8. It was given to Adam, the head of the human race.

Mark 2:27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for
the Sabbath.

Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast
array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on
the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day
and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that
he had done.

It is not a Jewish institution for it was made 2,300 years before ever there
was a Jew. The Bible never calls it the Jewish Sabbath, but always "the Sabbath
of the Lord thy God." Men should be cautious how they stigmatize God's holy
rest day.

9. Evident reference is made to the Sabbath and the seven-day week all through
the patriarchal age.

Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast
array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on
the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day
and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that
he had done.

Genesis 8:10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the
ark.

Genesis 29:27 Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the
younger one also, in return for another seven years of work." And Jacob did
so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel
to be his wife.

10. It was a part of God's law before Sinai.

Exodus 16:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven
for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In
this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.

Exodus 16:23-29 He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow
is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to
bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until
morning.'" So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did
not stink or get maggots in it. "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is
a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six
days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not
be any." Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to
gather it, but they found none. Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will
you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the
LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread
for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to
go out."

11. Then God placed it in the heart of His moral law.

Exodus 20:1-17 And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who
brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no
other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of
anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You
shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a
jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third
and fourth generation of those who hate me, But showing love to a thousand
[generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not
misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone
guiltless who misuses his name. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a
Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you,
nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your
animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the
heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the
seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the
LORD your God is giving you. "You shall not murder. "You shall not commit
adultery. "You shall not steal. "You shall not give false testimony against
your neighbor. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet
your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or
anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Why did He place it there if it was not like the other nine precepts which
all admit to be immutable?

12. The seventh-day Sabbath was commanded by the voice of the living God.

Deuteronomy 4:12-13 Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the
sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. He declared to you
his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then
wrote them on two stone tablets.

13. Then He wrote the commandment with His own finger.

Exodus 31:18 When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave
him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the
finger of God.

14. He engraved it in the enduring stone, indicating its imperishable nature.

Deuteronomy 5:22 These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud
voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the
cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on
two stone tablets and gave them to me.

15. It was sacredly preserved in the ark in the holy of holies.

Deuteronomy 10:1-5 At that time the LORD said to me, "Chisel out two stone
tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a
wooden chest. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first
tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the chest." So I made
the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first
ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. The
LORD wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments
he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the
assembly. And the LORD gave them to me. Then I came back down the mountain and
put the tablets in the ark I had made, as the LORD commanded me, and they are
there now.

16. God forbade work upon the Sabbath, even in the most hurrying times.

Exodus 34:21 "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall
rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

17. God destroyed the Israelites in the wilderness because they profaned the
Sabbath.

Ezekiel 20:20-25 Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us.
Then you will know that I am the LORD your God." "'But the children rebelled
against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my
laws--although the man who obeys them will live by them--and they desecrated
my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger
against them in the desert. But I withheld my hand, and for the sake of my
name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations
in whose sight I had brought them out. Also with uplifted hand I swore to them
in the desert that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them
through the countries, Because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected
my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes [lusted] after their
fathers' idols. I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws
they could not live by;

18. It is the sign of the true God by which we are to know Him from the false
gods.

Ezekiel 20:20 Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then
you will know that I am the LORD your God."

19. God promised that Jerusalem should stand forever if the Jews would keep
the Sabbath.

Jeremiah 17:24-25 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD, and
bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the
Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, Then kings who sit on David's
throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and
their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the
men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited
forever.

20. He sent them into the Babylonian captivity for breaking it.

Nehemiah 13:18 Didn't your forefathers do the same things, so that our God
brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up
more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath."

21. He destroyed Jerusalem for its violation.

Jeremiah 17:27 But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not
carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath
day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that
will consume her fortresses.'"

22. God has pronounced a special blessing on all the Gentiles who will keep
it.

Isaiah 56:1-12 This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is
right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be
revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who
keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any
evil." Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will
surely exclude me from his people." And let not any eunuch complain, "I am
only a dry tree." For this is what the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who keep my
Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-- To them I
will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than
sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut
off. And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the
name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without
desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant-- These I will bring to my
holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings
and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a
house of prayer for all nations." The Sovereign LORD declares--he who gathers
the exiles of Israel: "I will gather still others to them besides those already
gathered." Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts
of the forest! Israel's watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are
all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.
They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds
who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own
gain. "Come," each one cries, "let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer!
And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better."

This is in the prophecy which refers wholly to the Christian dispensation.

23. God has promised to bless all who keep the Sabbath.

Isaiah 56:2 Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who
keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any
evil."

24. The Lord requires us to call it "honourabble."

Isaiah 58:13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing
as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD'S
holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not
doing as you please or speaking idle words,

Be you who take delight in calling it the "old Jewish Sabbath," "a yoke of
bondage," etc.?

25. After the holy Sabbath has been trodden down "many generations" it is to
be restored in the last days!

Isaiah 58:12-13 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up
the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer
of Streets with Dwellings. "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD'S holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own
way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

26. When the Son of God came, He kept the seventh day all His life.

Luke 4:16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the
Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to
read.

John 15:10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I
have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.

Thus He followed His Father's example at creation. Shall we not be safe in
following the example of both the Father and the Son?

27. The seventh day is the Lord's day.

Revelation 1:10 On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind
me a loud voice like a trumpet,

Mark 2:28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Exodus 20:10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you
shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your
manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.

28. Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath

Mark 2:28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

that is, to love and protect it, as the husband is the lord of the wife, to
love and cherish her.

I Peter 3:6 Like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are
her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

29. He vindicated the Sabbath as a merciful institution designed for man's
good.

Mark 2:23-28 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his
disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees
said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" He
answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were
hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the
house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests
to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." Then he said to them, "The
Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord
even of the Sabbath."

30. Instead of abolishing the Sabbath, He carefully taught how it should be
observed.

Matthew 12:1-13 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the
Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and
eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples
are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." He answered, "Haven't you read
what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of
God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful
for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that
on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are
innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had
known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not
have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, And a man with a
shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him,
"Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" He said to them, "If any of you has a
sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and
lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is
lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your
hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as
the other.

31. He taught His disciples that they should do nothing upon the Sabbath day
but what was "lawful".

Matthew 12:12 How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is
lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

32. He instructed His apostles that the Sabbath should be prayerfully regarded
forty years after His resurrection.

Matthew 24:20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the
Sabbath.

33. The pious women who had been with Jesus carefully kept the seventh day
after His death.

Luke 23:56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they
rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

34. Thirty years after Christ's resurection, the Holy Spirit expressly calls
it "the sabbath day".

Acts 13:14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they
entered the synagogue and sat down.

35. Paul, the apostle to Gentiles called it the "sabbath day" in A.D. 45.

Acts 13:27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus,
yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read
every Sabbath.

Did not Paul know? Or shall we believe modern teachers, who affirm that it
ceased to be the Sabbath at the resurrection of Christ?

36. Luke, the inspired Christian Historian, writing as late as AD 62 calls it
the "sabbath day".

Acts 13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the
word of the Lord.

37. The Gentile converts called it the Sabbath.

Acts 13:42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people
invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath.

38. In the great Christian council, A.D.49, in the presence of the apostles
and thousands of disciples James calls it the "sabbath day".

Acts 15:21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times
and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."

39. It was customary to gather together on that day.

Acts 17:2-3 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three
Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, Explaining and proving
that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am
proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said.

40. Paul read the scriptures in public meetings on that day.

41. It was his custom to preach upon that day.

42. The book of Acts alone gives a record of his holding eighty-four meetings
upon that day.

Acts 13:14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they
entered the synagogue and sat down.

Acts 13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the
word of the Lord.

Acts 16:13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where
we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the
women who had gathered there.

Acts 17:2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three
Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

Acts 18:4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews
and Greeks.

Acts 18:11 So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of
God.

...

43. There was never any dispute between the Christians and the Jews about the
Sabbath day. This is proof that the Christians still observed the same day
that the Jews did.

44. In all their accusations against Paul, they never charged him with
disregarding the Sabbath day. Why did they not, if he did not keep it?

45. But Paul himself expressly declared that he had kept the law. "Neither
against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against
Caesar, have I offended any thing at all."

Acts 25:8 Then Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong against the
law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar."

How could this be true if he had not kept the Sabbath?

46. The Sabbath is mentioned in the New Testament fifty-nine times and always
with respect, bearing the same title it had in the Old Testament, "the sabbath
day."

47. Not a word is said anywhere in the New Testament about the Sabbath's
being abolished, done away, changed, or anything of the kind.

48. God has never given permission to any man to work upon it. Reader, by
what authority do you use the seventh day for common labor?

49. No Christian of the New Testament, either before or after the
resurrection, ever did ordinary work upon the seventh day. Find one case of
the kind, and we will yield the question. Why should modern Christians do
differently from Bible Christians?

50. There is no record that God has ever removed His blessing or
sanctification from the seventh day.

51. As the Sabbath was kept in Eden before the fall, so it will be observed
eternally in the new earth after the restitution.

Isaiah 66:22-23 "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will
endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants
endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all
mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD.

52. The seventh-day Sabbath was an important part of the law of God, as it
came from His own mouth, and was written by His own finger upon stone at Sinai.

Exodus 20:1-17 And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who
brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other
gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of
anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You
shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a
jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third
and fourth generation of those who hate me, But showing love to a thousand
[generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not
misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone
guiltless who misuses his name. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a
Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you,
nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals,
nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and
the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. "Honor your
father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your
God is giving you. "You shall not murder. "You shall not commit adultery. "You
shall not steal. "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's
wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that
belongs to your neighbor."

When Jesus began His work, He expressly declared that He had not come to
destroy the law. "Think not that I am come to destoy the law, or the prophets."

Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the
Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

53. Jesus severely condemned the Pharisees as hypocrites for pretending to
love God, while at the same time they made void one of the Ten Commandments
by their tradition. In the same way men of today have made their own traditions
in the keeping of Sunday, or the first day of the week. For, worshipping on
Sunday is only man's tradition.

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Bible Facts Concerning the First Day of the Week

1. The very first thing recorded in the Bible is work done on Sunday, the
first day of the week.

Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now
the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there
be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he
separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the
darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the
first day.

This was done by the Creator Himself. If God made the earth on Sunday, can
it be wicked for us to work on Sunday?

2. God commands men to work upon the 1st day of the week.

Is it wrong to obey God? By the express command of God, His holy people used
the first day of the week as a common working day for 4,000 years, at least.

3. God Himself calls it a "working" day.

Ezekiel 46:1 "'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The gate of the inner
court facing east is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath
day and on the day of the New Moon it is to be opened.

4. God did not rest upon it.

5. He never blessed it.

6. Christ did not rest upon it.

7. Jesus was a carpenter

Mark 6:3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of
James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they
took offense at him.

and worked at His trade until He was thirty years old. He kept the Sabbath
and worked six days in the week, as all admit. Hence, He did many a hard days
work on Sunday.

8. The Apostles never rested upon it.

9. This was a work day for the Apostles.

10. Christ never blessed it.

11. It has never been sanctified.

12. It has never been blesed by any divine authority.

13. No law was ever given to enforce the keeping of it, hence it is no
transgression to work upon it. "Where no law is, there is no transgression"

Romans 4:15 Because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no
transgression.

I John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

14. The New Testament nowhere forbids work to be done on it.

15. No penalty is provided for its violatiion.

16. No blessing is promised for observance.

17. No regulation is given as to how it ought to be observed. Would this be
so if the Lord wished us to keep it?

18. It is never called the Christian Sabbath.

19. It is never called the Sabbath day at all.

20. It is never called the Lord's day.

21. It is never called even a rest day.

22. No sacred title whatever is applied to it. Then why should we call it
holy?

23. It is simply called "first day of the week."

24. Jesus never mentioned it in any way, never took its name upon His lips,
so far as the record shows.

25. The word Sunday never occurs in the Bible at all.

26. Neither God, Christ, nor inspired men ever said one word in favor of
Sunday as a holy day.

27. The first day of the week is mentioned only eight times in all the New
Testament.

Matthew 28:1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

Mark 16:2-9 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they
were on their way to the tomb And they asked each other, "Who will roll the
stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they looked up, they saw
that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered
the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right
side, and they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking
for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See
the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is
going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'"
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said
nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. When Jesus rose early on the first
day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven
seven demons.

Luke 24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women
took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

John 20:1-19 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark,
Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from
the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the
one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we
don't know where they have put him!" So Peter and the other disciple started
for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and
reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen
lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived
and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, As well as the
burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by
itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached
the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not
understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the
disciples went back to their homes, But Mary stood outside the tomb crying.
As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb And saw two angels in white,
seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away,"
she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned
around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking
he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me
where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She
turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.
Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with
the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these
things to her. On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples
were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood
among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul
spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on
talking until midnight.

I Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set
aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I
come no collections will have to be made.

28. Six of these texts refer to the same first day of the week.

29. Paul directed the saints to look over their secular affairs on that day.

I Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set
aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I
come no collections will have to be made.

30. In all the New Testament we have a record of only one religious meeting
held upon that day, and even this was a night meeting.

Acts 20:5-12 These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. But we
sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five days later
joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days. On the first day of
the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because
he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were
many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was
a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked
on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story
and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and
put his arms around him. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "He's alive!" Then he
went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he
left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

31. There is not an implication that they ever held a meeting upon it before
or after that.

32. It was not their custom to meet on that day.

33. There was no requirement to break bread on that day. We have an account
of only one instance in which it was done.

Acts 20:7-11 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.
Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept
on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we
were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was
sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep,
he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went
down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. "Don't be
alarmed," he said. "He's alive!" Then he went upstairs again and broke bread
and ate. After talking until daylight, he left.

That was done as part of a Havdalah service from right after sunset until
midnight. Jesus celebrated it on Tuesday evening:

Luke 22:7-21 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb
had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make
preparations for us to eat the Passover." "Where do you want us to prepare
for it?" they asked. He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar
of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, And say to the
owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may
eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, all
furnished. Make preparations there." They left and found things just as Jesus
had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When the hour came, Jesus and
his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly
desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will
not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." After
taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you.
For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the
kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave
it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of
me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is
the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. But the hand of him
who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.

and the disciples sometimes did it every day.

Acts 2:42-46 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with
awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the
believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions
and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to
meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate
together with glad and sincere hearts,

34. The Bible nowhere says that the first day of the week commemorates the
resurrection of Christ. This is a tradition of men, which contradicts the law
of God.

Matthew 15:1-9 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from
Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?
They don't wash their hands before they eat!" Jesus replied, "And why do you
break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor
your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be
put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother,
'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to
God,' He is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of
God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he
prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts
are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules
taught by men.'"

Baptism commemorates the burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Romans 6:3-5 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through
baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been
united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with
him in his resurrection.

35. Finally, the New Testament is totally silent with regard to any change of
the Sabbath day or any sacredness for the first day.

* * * QUOTEABLE QUOTES:

"Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, the Sabbath, but shall
work on that day; but the Lord's day (Sunday) they shall honor, and as being
Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If, however, they are
found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ." -Canon 29, Council of
Laodicea, 364 C.E.

"All things whatsoever it was the duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have
transferred to the Lord's day (Sunday)... because it is more honorable than
the Jewish Sabbath." - Eusebius of Caesarea, 4th century

"Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church
transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday." -Converts Catechism of
Catholic Doctrine

"Every Sabbath on account of the burial (of Jesus) is to be regarded in
execration (denounciation) of the Jews... In fact it is not proper to observe,
because of Jewish customs, the consumption of food and the ceremonies of the
Jews." -Pope Sylvester 314-335 C.E.

"The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a
Protestant, by virtue of her divine misssion, changed the day from Saturday to
Sunday." -The Catholic Mirror

* * *
When is the Sabbath? How can we be sure of the day?

Just before the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, three million people saw
bread from heaven (manna) for six days with a cessation on the Sabbath. This
went on for forty years!

Nineteen hundred years ago, Yeshua affirmed the Sabbath as it had been
observed since that time:

Luke 4:16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the
Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to
read.

We have secular sources as well:

According to the "Encyclopedia Americana" - 1953 edition, volume 24, page 78:
"The Sabbath was the seventh day of the Hebrew week and lasted from sunset on
Friday to sunset on Saturday."

Our modern calendars, for the most part, still show Saturday as the seventh
day.

The Software Toolworks Multimedia Ecyclopedia say the the Sabbath is: "The
seventh day of the Jewish week--from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday--the
Sabbath commemorates the seventh day of creation, on which God rested. It is
a divinely appointed day of rest (Exod. 20:8), to be devoted to prayer and
study, and its observance is a mark of Jewish faith."

and:

"The Sabbath, from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, is observed by refraining
from work and by attending a synagogue service. Friday evening is marked in the
home by the lighting of a lamp or candles by the woman of the household, the
recital of the kiddush (a ceremonial blessing affirming the sanctity of the
day) over a cup of wine, and the blessing of children by parents. The end of
the Sabbath is marked by parallel ceremonies called havdalah. Similar home
ceremonies occur on the festivals."

This study was written by Greg Killian. Comments may be submitted in writing
to: BEIKVOT HaMASHIAH Attn: Greg Killian P.O. Box 565 Kent, WA. 98035

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