God's Holy Day
Seven Studies on the Sabbath Truth
By Lester G. Osborn

And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.  -Genesis 2:3

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Lesson Four

 The First Day of the Week in the New Testament

 

We infringed on this lesson a little in discussing Paul's observance of the Sabbath, but we must go a little further into the subject. If the first day of the week had replaced the Sabbath as the weekly day of rest and worship-either by command or example of Jesus Christ or any of His apostles-it should have held a prominent place in the New Testament. It would have been considered sacred, the regular day of worship.

Just what is the status of the "first day of the week" in the New Testament? As we examine the records, we find the phrase used just eight times: six times when referring to the discovery of the Resurrection, once in connection with a meeting of Christians on the eve of that day, and once when referring to first days in general. In all, just two specific first days!

A. The Discovery of the Resurrection.

1. Luke 23:56-24:3; Mark 16:1-2.
The Sabbath just preceding the Resurrection was observed by Jesus' followers. The next day, the first day of the week, they came to the tomb to anoint His body-to work! They found the tomb empty!

2. John 20:1; Mark 16:9. (Note: Scholars tell us that in Mark 16:9, "early" qualifies "appeared" and not "rose.")

Mary, Peter, and John found the tomb empty on the first day of the week, and thought that Jesus' body had been stolen. Later, Jesus appeared to Mary. She went and told the others that she had seen Him, but they "did not believe it" (Mark 16:11).

3. Matthew 28:1.

The Greek apse literally means" late." The American Standard Version, which is the most exact translation, translates it correctly: "Late on the sabbath day." The Revised Standard Version is in error on this point, translating apse as "after." The Englishman's Greek Testament and the Riverside Cambridge both have it "late." Lamsa's "Gospels from the Aramaic has, "In the evening of the sabbath day." Some of the "modern versions," like Goodspeed's, incorrectly translate it "after."

The problem is in the phrase "as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." How could it be "dawning" in the late afternoon? Two things clear up this seeming contradiction. First, the day began and ended at sunset. The new day began when the sun went down. Second, while the word "dawn," epipliosko, is used to describe the appearance of light in the early morning, it also has the meaning of beginning or approach. In Luke 23:54, it has this sense and is translated, "drew on"-" It was the day of the preparation, and the sabbath drew on" (ASV). The Riverside Cambridge New Testament gives the true meaning in Matthew 28:1, translating, "Late on the sabbath as the first day was drawing near. The Englishman's Greek Testament has it, "Now late on the sabbath, as it was getting dusk toward the first day of the week."

The first day of the week could not be "dawning" in the late afternoon of the Sabbath, but since the first day began at sunset, it could be "drawing on" or approaching. This visit of the women "to look at the tomb" was toward evening on the Sabbath day. They found the tomb empty.

Late on the Sabbath day the tomb was empty-Jesus was gone!!

4. Note that all these references pertain to the same day of the week, and that the Resurrection is not described, nor the time it occurred. Only the discovery of the empty tomb is mentioned.

B. Supposed Traces of First Day Observance.

1. John 20:19-with Mark 16:10-14 and Luke 24:11,36-37.
This is the first time the resurrected Jesus appeared to His disciples, who were behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They were not gathered to celebrate the Resurrection, for they did not believe that Jesus had risen. There is no significance to the day; it was just the earliest opportunity He had to prove to the disciples that their leader was alive.

2. John 20:26.
"A week later" may possibly mean the following Sunday, but this is doubtful. (Cf. Matthew 17:1 with Luke 9:28. It might have been Monday or Tuesday.) Even if this does refer to Sunday, the day is not significant because the disciples gathered every day "for fear of the Jews." The specific day of Jesus' appearance is not important. The reason He appeared was to prove to Thomas that He had risen. Thomas was absent when Jesus appeared earlier.) This was not a worship meeting.

3. Acts 2:1.
This may or may not have been the first day of the week, depending on when the Passover occurred, and the method used in counting. Even if this does refer to Sunday, there is no indication that the first day of the week was sacred. This passage refers to the sacredness of the Day of Pentecost. The gift of the Holy Spirit had nothing to do with the day of the week. The disciples had simply gathered for the feast.

4. Acts 20:7-12.
This was not a weekly worship service but an incidental farewell service for Paul on "Saturday night" (following their regular Sabbath services). "Break bread" may or may not refer to the Lord's Supper. Even if it does, we see in Acts 2:46 that it was held every day, so this instance has no significance. What claim does the first day have to the Lord's Supper, anyway? It was not instituted on the first day, it does not commemorate anything that happened on that day, and there is no command to hold it on that day.

5.1 Corinthians 16:2.
This passage refers to bookkeeping and to "set aside a sum of money" for contributions. There is no hint of any meeting of any kind, and no indication of sacredness-simply business.

C. The Lord's Day.

1. Revelation 1:10.
This is not Sunday, but the "day of the Lord" -the judgment period that John writes about, into which he was projected by the Holy Spirit.

2. Psalm 118:24.
This refers not to a specific day of the week, but to the period of the Gospel and of salvation-the age of grace (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:2).

3. Exodus 20:10; Isaiah 58:13; Mark 2:28.

The seventh day is the only day of the week which can lay claim to the title, "Lord's Day." It belongs to the Lord, He calls it His own, and Christ Jesus declared Himself its Lord.

Conclusion

The phrase "first day of the week" occurs just eight times in the New Testament-six which refer to the day the Resurrection was discovered. Only one other specific "first day" is mentioned, and that pertains to a meeting on "Saturday night." In the remaining passage, first days in general are referred to as days for bookkeeping at home, not for assembling in the church. Nowhere is the first day referred to as sacred or significant. Sunday was one of the six working days; the seventh was the Sabbath-the true "Lord's Day" when they worshiped.

reprinted from- www.7thdaybaptistchurch.org

I want to tell you about my adventures in Russia this summer. I had the honor of traveling to Russia and staying a whole month there on a short term outreach with Teen Mania Ministries. Our purpose was to stay at camps that used to be Pioneer camps that taught communism to the Russian youth, but that are now owned by wealthy Russian factory owners and used as summer camps for the factory workers' children. We appeared to be average campers, but we took the Gospel with us to share with our fellow Russian campers.

We flew about 13 hours of total time in the air, and had some layover time, even an hour in an Irish airport, but it was worth it. I was assigned to go to the sports camp, and it was great. This was a real blessing because I really wanted to go to the sports camp and God knew and that is where I was assigned to go! I had some great fun! We played basketball and soccer and football and volleyball and pioneer ball. We hiked through the forest sometimes, and on our boys night out we went frog hunting and fishing and had other male bonding experiences. One night we shared skits with the Russian campers, and one night another Teen Mania team came and did a drama. Many of the Russians responded to the Gospel. We also had a chance to share with several Russian kids and I think maybe 20 of them chose to follow Jesus. We tried to make the most of every opportunity we had to share with others about Jesus and the love of God. I had the priviledge of witnessing to 4 young boys myself.

We were able to go to St. Petersburg twice to see some sites, but mostly we stayed at the camp. I saw a few of the spectacular cathedrals in St. Petersburg, and we also went to the Hermitage, which was the winter palace of the Russian Czars.

I stayed in a dorm. I slept in a bed. The food was pretty good, if you like a lot of fat!!!!

Thank you for your support and prayers.

SABBATH DAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF POLAND

"This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandmentsand remain faithful to Jesus"

(rev 14.12 NIV)

 

WHO ARE WE?

All over the Polish country, most numerously in the south though, the communities and local churches of the Sabbath day Christian Church are spread. As we live and work in Polish society, share with it some good and bad moments, we want to present ourselves in this booklet to people at large; you can find here our history and present-day, we find it proper to present and motivate our belief.

Out of necessity we have to curtail it considerably.

Who Are We?

The word `Christian` means, `belonging to Christ`. Choosing the name for our congregation, we consciously borrowed from this respectable name. That is so, because we are trying to refer to the patterns of the primal apostolic Christrianity in life and belief - our doctrine is the proof of that.

That is why we accepted and have been trying to live up to simple, biblical principles of belief based on the Scriptures, which we regard as the only authoritative source of Divine Revelation, the only gauge of life which is just and godly. We have accepted and profess only those religious teachings and beliefs which are clearly pointed to in the Bible and in the example of first Christians. All the later changes which took place in the Christian Church, along with the Tradition are regarded by us as a grave infringement of biblical teaching and we do not accept them.

But the name `Christians` does not oblige us only to formulating biblically correct principles of faith. We believe we do belong to Jesus Christ, which we regard as follawing him in all, as persistence in a living relationship with Him, personal knowing God through Jesus Christ - those are the highest christian values. That is why so great stress is put on being new-born, which, according to the Lord Jesus' words, is the basic condition of salvation (John 3, 1-7), and which accomplishes a great change of man's heart, character and life.

CHRISTIANS OBSERVING THE SABBATH

For the emphatic majority of Christians , the Holy Day is Sunday, regarded as the seventh dayof the week. Only few know that the true Holy Day is Saturday! It was the day on which God Himself rested after having done the earthly creation work, the day which He blessed and consecrated (Gen 2:2,3): " Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour 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. Therfore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."(Ex 20:80-11 NIV)

People knowing God had from the beginning observed the Sabbath day. It was also observed by God's people living in the Old Testament days - Israel. The fact that God's Son Jesus Christ came to the World has changed nothing in that matter: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets" (Mat 5:17-19), Jesus declared. He observed God's commandments, He kept the Sabbath (Luke 4:16-21), and on an occasion made a very important stantment, he said that He is "the Lord of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28). The Apostles, as well as the whole Christian Church, follwed Jesus Christ in the first centuries of the existence of the Christianity.

GOD'S COMMANDMENTS HAVE BEEN CHANGED

That great apostasy was caused by people, and it took place in the 4th century AD during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine, who was called the Great.

However, Constantine the Great, with those who cooperated with him, was only a tool in the hand of a much stronger one. In the book of Revelation 12:17 we read that all assaults at God's Law are made by satan! Through the first three centuries of the existence of Christianity, that being, hostile towards God and his people, was fighting against Christians with the use of force. That was the time of great persecutions aroused incessantly in the Empire. Men, women and children were dying on rings, Nero's gardens and other places of torture. The persecutions ceased as Constantine the Great succeded to the Roman throne. He issued the Edict of Tolerance to Christians in Milano in the year 313 AD.

The persecutions ceased and Christianity, because of other, constant actions of that Ruler, very soon received all rights in the state to became the prevailing religion in Imperium Romanum in a very short time.

In fact, what seemed the great triumph of the Church has become its tragedy and the cause of the down-fall. The emperor's endeavours were aimed at the good of the empire, which was in a deep crisis at the time. He was determined to extricate the state with the help of the power of Christianity. The privileges were to be paid for at a high cost. The accomplishment of Constantine's planes demanded creating a strong, prevailing religion; he was a realist and knew it was impossible to accept Christianity and impose it on the citizens in its pure form; that is why he focused on reaching compromise between the religions already existing in the empire. That entailed the necessity of giving up many biblical principles of Christianity.

The compromise concerned, among other things, gentiles' observing the first day of the week - Sunday - in honour of the sun (solar cult). Constantine the Great availed the attitude of a considerable part of the Church hierarchy assembled at the emperor's court (mainly Roman and Alexandrian church) and in 321 he issued the edict by virtue of which Sunday became an official holy day. the Councils held in Nice (325 AD) and in Laodicea (343-381 AD) accepted and authorised the change and gravely deviated other biblical teachings in the Church. Eversince, Sunday - 'Dies solis' (Lat), ,Sonntag, (Ger) has been a statutory holy day despite the fact that the Scriptures do not tell us to observe that day!

Christianity, which entered a dangerous and fatal road of changing biblical teaching was forced to step along it - the Church became 'Catholic', ie 'common' but wandered further and further from God and His holy Word, from the commandments and teachings of Jesus and His Apostles.

SATURDAY AS THE HOLY DAY IN LATER CENTURIES

Despite Constantine's decision and the Councils held, part of christians never agreed to the change of God's commandments. They practiced observing the Sabbath and soon the persecutions of the Church and civil authorities started. It was a great and painful experience; 'christians' by name persecuted true and faithful God's children!

It is known from the history that through all the ages there were groups of so called Sabbatharians standing faithfully on guard of the 4th commandment of God's Decalogue.

Such a situation remained up to the 12th century. At that time in England , as a result of so called Little Reformation, Seventh Day Baptist Church came into existence. It was an organised religious community which had a specified program and observed the Sabbath.

Seventh day Baptists, who were persecuted in their country, had found a refuge in America and by 1671 founded the first church; one hundred and thirty years later (1802) Seventh Day Baptists General Conference in America was created.

Some of the denominations which were originated as the outcome of religious revival paid attention to the 4th commandment, which was forgotten by the majority of christians.

God's age-old holy day - Saturday is also accepted as one of its principles by the Sabbath Day Christian Church.

THE HISTORY AND THE PRESENT

We came into being as a religious community in 1931-33; it was the result of the division in Polish Adventism. Not questioning the whole of the doctrine of the Seventh Day Adventists, we did not agree to accept both extra-biblical 'testimonies' by E.G.White, an adventist writer recognized as the 'messanger from heaven' (Z.Łyko, Nauki Pisma Świętego pp.433,34) and the teachings based on her writings. Our Church accepted the name "Autonomous Seventh Day Adventist Churches". The change of the name took place in 1967 and the independent church denominated itself as United Evangelical Seventh Day Christians. The present name was accepted in 1961 at the moment of the registration made on the grounds of the Association Law while dealing with the Statute and legal regulations of the church in The People's Republic of Poland. The evolution of the name proves that we do not attach great importance but rather to the truth we accept and live up to. The name itself has only a legal meaning.

The 2nd World War inflicted a great loss on the church. In 1949, at the first local conference we constituted a small group with no financial resources nor any outside support. Thaks to God's grace, devotion and diligence of the brethren ,who shouldered the care for God's work, the church developed. At present we have 25 local churches (with up to 6 or more than 6 members - an organisational division). The church publishes a monthly 'Duch Czasów' (The Spirit of The Times), a quarterly 'Głos Kaznodziejski' (Preacher's Voice), a yearly 'Lekcje Biblijne' (Bible Lessons) and apart from that we publish books, posters, hand-outs and others.

As a community we feel called to preaching the Good News of God's salvation in Jesus Christ, to teaching all that Jesus did (Mat 28:19,20), and together with other churches that observe the Sabbath to proclaim the truth of the forgotten 4th Commandment of God's Decalogue.

We pay much attention to the problem of Priesthood as we are aware that only healthy, living in a godly manner church can be a true witness of Jesus Christ and the herald of the Grace Gospel and God's power.

Recognizing the principle of Universal Priesthood, we attach great importance to preparing young staff to work in the church. This aim is being realised by the activities of The Bible Training Center working at the Church; the Centre runs the following courses: 'Church Evangelists Tuition Course' and 'Intermediate Bible Course' for interested persons from the church as well as from the outside. Correspondence Bible Course of 1st and 2nd degree. We are trying, to obtain our own houses of prayer; We are also doing our best to care for the poor of the church because we acknowledge this kind of work as a very important aspect of our missionary activities (Gal 2:10). We teach that one has to be a honest worker and a good citizen in the society.

In 1984, the church, retaining its full autonomy, joined The World Federation of The Seventh Day Baptists - the organisation established for supporting missionary work in various countries of the world.

Polish society has an opportunity of closer knowledge of the Sabbath Day Christian Church by means of religious auditions in Polish Radio on the 4th channel every three months.

Several times a year, in various towns of the country, the Church holds missionary meetings advertised in local press and radio. The posters which invite people to those meetings are stuck in those towns. The program of those events is made of singing, concerts of music bands, preaching God's Word and mutual Bible study There are ads about biblical courses in the press.

reprinted from KOSCIÓŁ CHRZESCIJAN DNIA SOBOTNIEGO

The Ugly Birdhouse

by Marian Smith

"That is one ugly birdhouse, " I thought, as I took my early morning walk on a new route. "Wonder why the people who live there don't do something to spruce the drab birdhouse up? They could sand and paint it, or decoupage a scene on it. Something, for goodness sake!" Just as I was mulling over all these constructive critical thoughts in my mind (!), a beautiful bluebird flew out of the above-mentioned birdhouse. He soared off into the air, with the beauty of his open wings in full display.

The unattractive appearance of the birdhouse made no difference to that little bird. He saw an appealing place to make his home - to build his nest-and he entered it and did so. Inside the wooden house, the nest is intricately woven and is made of twigs, leaves and a variety of other materials from nature.

Do you know God wants to build His nest of love inside our hearts? The exterior appearance doesn't make any difference to Him, whether we are spruced up and beautiful or dried out and weather-beaten. When God looks at you, or me, or any of His children, He sees a wonderful place to make His home. He wants to bring us all His attributes, and will build a tightly woven nest of love in our hearts. He will take twigs of compassion, self-control, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, generosity and self-control, and weave them into a wonderful love nest for our hearts to dwell in. The best component of God's love is forgiveness. He weaves that twig of forgiveness throughout the entire nest, holding it together. He is ready to forgive all our sins, and this forgiveness we receive allows us to soar to the heights of a personal relationship with Him.

I am so glad God chooses His dwelling place in the hearts of all. Not just those with polished exterior appearances. For outward appearances and beauty will fade, but the love the Lord has for us never will.

from Daily Wisdom online message.

Tour Revives Group's Faith

by Paul Lipkowitz

DeRuyter residents hope to raise money
to buy the old Seventh-day Baptist church.

A group of DeRuyter residents have embarked on a fund-raising drive to save the village's oldest church.

Led by members of the village's historical society, the group has raised about $4,500, half of what they need to buy the church. A Rochester businessman said he might dismantle it and truck it out of town if they can't come up with the money.

Christine Glave, president of the DeRuyter Historical Society, said the future suddenly looks brighter for historically minded DeRuyter residents.

"At this point with the commitments we have gotten, we have about half of the purchase price and maybe even more than that, without even soliciting anything," she said. "So we're feeling pretty good."

Rochester businessman Peter Merle bought the church last year from the few remaining members of the Seventh-day Baptist congregation. He has said he is considering moving the building to an inn he owns in the Jefferson County community of Henderson Harbor on Lake Ontario and converting the building into a banquet hall for the Charter House.

The church was built in 1835. Seventh-day Baptists used the building until about a dozen years ago, when the congregation's size had shrunk so much that it could no longer find a pastor to lead it.

The congregation offered the building to the town and village and several other local institutions. All declined the offer.

So last year, with the old church's steeple showing signs of deterioration, the congregation sold the church to Merle for $5,000.

Merle has since agreed to sell the building back to the DeRuyter residents for $9,000, said Sam Fuller, a village video store owner who met with Merle to negotiate the price.

Glave said about 17 residents met earlier this month to tour the building and talk about what to do about the building. Among the topics of discussion: how to raise money to buy the church, the cost of repairing it and what to do with the building if they purchase it.

Glave said the group set up committees to study each of the topics. Fund-raising will probably begin later this summer, she said.

But after the recent meeting, Glave said, one thing is clear: People feel strongly about saving the church, and they now believe they can.

Glave said taking a tour of the church and seeing the pews, murals and stained-glass windows in it generated a lot of excitement.

"It was the first time I'd been in the church, and I was absolutely amazed," she said. "It's really quite a beautiful space. Things were a lot more positive after this meeting."

reprinted from- Syracuse Online

I am sorry to inform you of the passing of my mother, Shirley Stimson. She passed away on Sunday, September 10, 2000 after suffering a stroke the previous week. Services were held in Estes Park, Colorado. Thank you for your friendship, prayers, and concern for her during her lifetime. All of you meant a great deal to her.

Sue McPeek

Editor's note: Shirley was a member of the Denver CO Seventh Day Baptist Church. Shirley worked faithfully for Fishermen's Net transcribing Helping Hand Daily Meditations to electronic format for uploading to the WWW. Shirley published her testimony on the web before she died. It can be read on her Rocky Stream website.

The current issues of FN are no longer posted on the Denver Seventh Day Baptist Church forMinistry.com web site.
All issues are archived on the Fisherman's Net Newsletter Archive

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