FISHERMAN'S NET LIBRARY

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| |   |            Frequently Asked Questions           |   | |
| |   |    About the Sabbath and Seventh Day Baptists   |   | |
| |   |                By: Kyle D. Pratt                |   | |
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          As a member of the Seventh Day Baptist church I
     would like to give my Christian brothers and sisters
     answers to common questions about my church, the
     Sabbath and my faith.
     
     1.  What is the Seventh Day Baptists church?
     
          While not the biggest or most well known of the
     Sabbath keeping churches the Seventh Day Baptist church
     is, perhaps, the oldest.  The Seventh Day Baptist
     church has over a 300 year history in North America and
     even longer in England.  While they are a Sabbath
     keeping church they are first and foremost a Christian
     church with beliefs and practices very similar to that
     of other Baptist believers.  
     
     
     2.   Why do Seventh Day Baptists keep the Sabbath.
     
          Seventh Day Baptists keep the Sabbath out of a
     conviction that the Ten Commandments remain valid moral
     code for us today.  The fourth commandment, the only
     one we are told to remember, says, 
          
         8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
         9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy
             work:
        10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the
             LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work,
             thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
             manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle,
             nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
         11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and
             earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and        

    
             rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed
             the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
       (Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15) 
          
          Seventh Day Baptists believe the Sabbath is a
     sacred time, instituted at creation and affirmed
     throughout the Bible.  Because we desire to follow
     God's commandments, Christ's example and the will of
     God we observe the Sabbath as a time of rest, worship
     and celebration.
     
     
     3.  Aren't the Ten Commandments just for the Jews?
     
          The Sabbath was ordained by God at the creation of
     the  Earth (Genesis 2:3) and given to Adam and Eve, not
     Moses, so it predates the Jews by millennia.
     Further, Christ affirms everyone of the Ten
     Commandments he mentions.  Indeed he says in Matthew
     5:17-20 that, "Whoever breaks one of the least of these
     commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least
     in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches
     them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of
     heaven."
     
          
     4.  But isn't the fourth commandment the only
     commandment not repeated in the New Testament?
     
          While it is correct that there is no scriptural
     record of Christ specifically affirming the fourth
     commandment it can be said with absolute certainty that
     he lived all ten commandments.  Only two customs of
     Christ are recorded in scripture, teaching the people
     (Mark 10:1 in any modern translation) and keeping the
     sabbath. (Luke 4:16)  Although Jesus was constantly
     challenged on the issue of the Sabbath He never said,
     or even implied, that the Sabbath, or any of the Ten
     Commandments  is or ever would be abolished.  Christ
     stated clearly in Matthew 5:18 that, "Till heaven and
     earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass
     from the law, till all be fulfilled".  Christ, our
     example, kept all Ten Commandments all of his life.
          Further we must insist that the Bible is the word
     of God from Genesis to Revelation.  Just because
     something is not stated in the New Testament does not
     mean that it is not the fully inspired word of God. 
     When Paul wrote in 2 Tim 3:16 "All Scripture is
     God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
     correcting and training in righteousness", he was
     referring to the Old Testament.  The New Testament had
     not yet been completed.
     
     
     5.  Didn't Jesus say it was okay to break the Sabbath?
     
          Some Christians claim that in Matthew 12:1-13 and
     the corresponding account in Luke 13:10-17 Christ is
     saying you can ignore the Sabbath.  Let's look at the
     Matthew account.
     
          12:1  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath
       day through the corn; and his disciples were an
       hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and
       to eat.
          2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said
       unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is
       not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
          3  But he said unto them, Have ye not read
       what David did, when he was an hungered, and they
       that were with him;
          4  How he entered into the house of God, and
       did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for
       him to eat, neither for them which were with him,
       but only for the priests?
          5  Or have ye not read in the law, how that
       on the sabbath days the priests in the temple
       profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
          6  But I say unto you, That in this place is
       one greater than the temple.
          7  But if ye had known what this meaneth, I
       will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not
       have condemned the guiltless.
          8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the
       sabbath day.
          9  And when he was departed thence, he went
       into their synagogue:
          10  And, behold, there was a man which had
       his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is
       it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they
       might accuse him.
          11  And he said unto them, What man shall
       there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and
       if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he
       not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
         12  How much then is a man better than a
      sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the
      sabbath days.
         13  Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth
       thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was
       restored whole, like as the other.
       
          The Pharisees, who must have been watching Christ
     looking for a chance to discredit him, said that the
     act of picking grain was harvesting and therefore work. 
     But Christ replies if you are hungry on the Sabbath it
     is right to eat the food that is available and reminds
     the Pharisees of King David when he eat the bread
     reserved  for the Priests. (1 Samuel 21:1-6)  Also it
     is lawful, Christ points out, to do God's work on the
     Sabbath as the priests did.  If the priests were
     guiltless when they worked on the Sabbath could those
     who work for the Son of God be guilty? (Numbers
     28:9,10)  Finally, Christ asks us if we would help an
     animal of ours that was in distress on the Sabbath.  If
     we would then could it be wrong to help another person
     on the Sabbath?  Is it wrong to do good on the Sabbath? 
     Of course not!  Christ has in these verse cleared away
     much of the human clutter that had built up around the
     fourth commandment and shows us, His followers, how we
     should observe His sabbath.
     
     
     6.  If he didn't say it was okay to break the Sabbath
     did he change the day to Sunday?
     
          In all of the New Testament Jesus Christ never
     mentions Sunday or the first day, as it was called at
     this time.  In fact there are only eight references to
     the first day of the week in the New Testament. 
     (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, 9, Luke 24:1, John 20:1, 19,
     Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2)  The first six of
     these refer to the same first day of the week, the day
     Christ arose from the dead.  While this was, and is,
     the greatest event of all time the fact remains God
     blessed the Sabbath and commanded us to remember it to
     keep it holy.  If Christ had wished us to transfer the
     holiness of the Sabbath to Sunday he would have said
     so.  But he did not.  Christ, our example, kept the
     Sabbath all his life.
          
     
     7.  But after Christ's death didn't the Apostles meet
     on Sunday? 
     
          If Christ did not see fit to change the Sabbath to
     Sunday what authority would the Apostle have to change
     it?  But the fact is they did not change it.  On the
     day of the resurrection, referred to in John 20:19 the
     disciples are assembled together in fear of mobs of
     Jews, not for worship.  
      
     
     8.  Did Paul change the Sabbath to Sunday?
     
          Again, if Christ did not see fit to change the
     Sabbath to Sunday. What authority would Paul have to do
     so?  But he did not change it either.  Throughout the
     book of Acts we read of Paul, Barnabus and the others
     worshiping on the Sabbath.  (Acts 13, 16:14, 15, 17:2-
     4, 18:4)  Paul followed Christ's example and made it
     his practice to attend synagogue on the Sabbath. (Luke
     4:16, Acts 17:2)  In Acts seventeen we read;
     
          2  "And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto
       them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them
       out of the scriptures,
          3  Opening and alleging, that Christ must
       needs have suffered, and risen again from the
       dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you,
       is Christ.
          4  And some of them believed, and consorted
       with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a
       great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
          5  But the Jews which believed not, moved
       with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of
       the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set
       all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house
       of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the
       people."
       
          We see from these and other verses that Paul had a
     powerful ministry to God fearing Jews who were already
     attending synagogue and nowhere is it written that he
     told them not to continue to attend the synagogue.
     
     
     9.  But in Acts 20 it says Paul preached on Sunday so
     doesn't that prove the early church kept Sunday?
     
          Paul certainly preached on the first day of the 
     week, and the second and the third and every other day.    
     That only proves Paul's devotion to the faith, something
     that is not in question.  The reference in Acts reads;
     
          7  And upon the first day of the week, when the 
       disciples came together to break bread, Paul 
       preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; 
       and continued his speech until midnight.
          
          What is recorded in these verses is a meeting that
     began on Saturday evening and extended until midnight.  
     We know this because the Jews started their days at 
     sundown.  The first twelve hours of a day is at night 
     and the next twelve hours in daylight.  This is why in
     Genesis we read, "And the evening and the morning were 
     the first day", and so on.  Sundown on Saturday is, for
     the Jews, the start of Sunday.  While the meeting 
     referred to in Acts 20:7 is certainly a Christian 
     gathering it appears to have been held because Paul 
     planned to depart the next day, on Sunday.  The 
     reference to the breaking of bread may refer to the
     Lord's Supper, a meal or the Lord's Supper as part of 
     a meal.  (See Acts 2:46)  All these forms are still 
     done today at Christian gatherings on any day of the 
     week.  This text neither mandates or even implies that
     Christians should forsake the Sabbath.  
          
     
     10. Are you saying the early church didn't meet on 
     Sunday?
     
          No, not at all.  They held meetings on everyday of
     the week.  Look at a modern Sunday keeping church, they
     might have a men's prayer meeting on Monday, a women's
     meeting on Tuesday, choir practice on Wednesday, a 
     Thursday night Bible study and a youth meeting on Friday,
     but Sunday is their special day of worship.  The early
     church didn't have all those programs but would meet eat,
     sing and preach on a moments notice. ( Acts 2:42-47 )  
     But the early church kept the Sabbath as their special 
     day of worship.  
     

      11. If neither Christ or the Apostles changed the
      Sabbath to Sunday, who did?
      
          In the year 66 the last Roman Procurator of Judea
     stole vast quantities of silver from the Temple in
     Jerusalem.  The Jews of Jerusalem revolted and
     destroyed the Roman garrison in the city.  The Roman
     Governor of Syria sent in a large force to restore
     order but these troops were also routed.  These two
     victories convinced the Jews they could cast off the
     Roman occupation and regain their freedom.  Thus began
     the Jewish revolt of 66-70 A.D. which led to one of the
     great catastrophes in Jewish history.   Rome sent the
     General Vespasian and his legion to restore order. 
     Vespasian did so in a brutal methodical way.  In 68
     A.D. he destroyed the Qumran community but not before
     they hid their scrolls in the caves by the dead sea. 
     In 70 A.D. the last major stronghold of the Jews in
     Jerusalem was destroyed along with the second temple,
     except for the wailing wall.  In 73 A.D. the last
     remanent of free Jews were holding out at the mountain
     top fortress of Masada.  These defenders committed mass
     suicide rather than surrender to Rome.  The Romans then
     imposed a war reparations tax on all Jews.  No one
     knows how many Jews were raped, tortured or sold into
     slavery, but it has been estimated, that as many as one
     million died in the revolt.  
          Christians were still identified as a sect of the
     Jewish faith at this time.  No one will ever know how
     many Christians living in Judea and Galilee suffered
      and died with their Jewish neighbors. 
          The Jews of Judea were blooded but not destroyed. 
     In 132 A.D. Bar-Kokhba lead a revolt against the
     Romans.  Again the Jews were encouraged by early
     victories but the Romans came back at them with a
     vengeance.  Roman General Severus and his legion began
     the systematically destruction of Jews fortresses and
     walled cities.  When he was done 50 percent of the
     population of Judea was dead and tens of thousands of
     men and women who remained alive were sold into
     slavery.  Jews were forbidden to set foot in Jerusalem
     and the provence was renamed Palestine.  It was a dark
     and dangerous time to be identified with the Jews.
          During this period the predominate day of worship
     among Christians gradually began to change from the
     Sabbath to Sunday.  The day changed, in part, because
     of the need to disassociate the Christian movement from
     the rebellious Jewish nation.  Sunday, the day that
     Christ arose and already a pagan day of worship, was an
     easy choice.
           Two hundred years later when the Roman Emperor
     Constintine legalized the Christian church in 313 A.D.
     the tradition of Sunday worship was already well
     established.
     
     
     12. But in Ephesians 2:15, Paul says that Christ
     abolished the Law!
     
          Do you really think that God has abolished the law
     that says, "You shall not murder". "You shall not
     commit adultery", or "You shall not steal?"  It will
     always be wrong to worship another God, steal, commit
     adultery or murder, and not merely because these laws
     were repeated in the New Testament!  Remember what
     Christ said in Matthew 5:18  For verily I say unto you,
     Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall
     in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled".  
          Christ did, through his life, death and
     resurrection abolish "the of law of commandments
     contained in ordinances" mentioned in Ephesians 2:15. 
     These are the Laws of Moses.  These ceremonial and
     ritual laws kept Israel as a separate nation and
     foreshadowed the coming of Christ.  These ordinances,
     such as those concerning sacrifices, ritual
     cleanliness, and feasts, were fulfilled with Christ and
     have no further purpose.  The Ten Commandments do not
     foreshadow Christ and still have a purpose in defining
     sin today.  The Ten Commandments will only be fulfilled
     at the second coming. 
     
     
     13. So you don't believe that we must obey all the Laws
     of Moses?
     
     No.  The Bible makes a clear distinction between
     the Ten Commandments and the Laws of Moses.  The mere
     fact that God has set them apart from the rest of the
     law should show us they are special laws.  Indeed God
     did not entrust the Ten Commandments to a mere human
     scribe but came down from heaven himself and spoke the
     Ten Commandments directly to all the assembled Hebrew
     nation and then wrote them in stone with his own finger
     and gave them to Moses. (Deuteronomy 5:22-27)  I know
     this is not how Hollywood portrayed the events but it
     is how the Bible records them.  Even today recording
     something in stone, either figuratively or in reality,
     is a sign of permanence.  
          When it came to the rest of the law, the Law of
     Moses, God passed it to a single man, Moses, and
     allowed him to recorded it on scrolls.  
          The stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments
     were then placed inside the ark of the covenant but the 
     rest of the law, what we call the Law of Moses, was
     kept outside the ark.  
          All of these actions, giving the Ten Commandments
     one time and the Mosaic law another time, recording the
     Ten Commandments on stone, the Mosaic law on scrolls,
     keeping the Ten Commandments in the ark and the Mosaic
     law outside the ark were done to make clear the
     distinction between the two.  The Ten Commandments are
     God's eternal moral law, the Mosaic laws were
     applications of the Ten Commandments containing
     instruction on the calendar, feasts, civil government,
     ceremonial purity and morality.  The Mosaic law is what
     was fulfilled by Christ on the cross.
          In the New Testament Christ continued to show the
     distinction between the Ten Commandments and the Law of
     Moses when in the Sermon on the Mount He affirms every
     commandment he mentions.  In verse 21 Christ affirms
     and expands the commandment on murder.  In verse 27 He
     affirms and expands the commandment on adultery.  But
     when it comes to the law of Moses and the law of an eye
     for an eye (Leviticus 24:20) Christ, in Matthew 5:38,
     sets it aside with the command to turn the other check. 
     In 5:43 Christ sites the law of Moses to love your
     neighbor and hate your enemy (Deuteronomy. 23:3-6) and
     sets it aside with love your enemies. 
     
     
     14.  So do you make a distinction between Ceremonial
     Law and Moral Law?
     
     There is only one distinction, the one that God
     makes in the Bible, between the Ten Commandments and
     the Mosaic laws.
     
     
     15.  Didn't Christ redeem us from the law and it's
     curse?
     
          Here is what Galatians 3:13, 14 actually says;
     
          13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
       the law, being made a curse for us: for it is
       written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a
       tree:
          14  That the blessing of Abraham might come
       on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we
       might receive the promise of the Spirit through
       faith.
           
          Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law,
     the Law of Moses, which is, if we did not obey it we
     would be under the curse of death.  Do you really think
     that if you murder, commit adultery, steal or worship
     another God that you will not suffer the penalty of
     your sins?  Remember, 
     
          7  Little children, let no man deceive you:
       he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as
              he is righteous.
          8  He that committeth sin is of the devil;
       for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this
       purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he
       might destroy the works of the devil.
       (1 John 3:7,8)
          
     
          Sin is defined in the Bible as the breaking of the
     law or lawlessness.  (1 John 3:4)  I ask you, how can
     there be lawlessness without a law?  What law remains
     so that there can be lawlessness?  The answer is the
     Ten Commandments remain as God's moral law!
     
    
     16.  But doesn't Paul say that the law is a tutor to bring
     us to Christ?
     
          Here is what the Bible says:
     
          Galatians 3:19  Wherefore then serveth the law? 
       It was added because of transgressions, till the seed
       should come to whom the promise was made; and it was
       ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
            20  Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, 
       but God is one.
            21  Is the law then against the promises of God?
       God forbid: for if there had been a law given which 
       could have given life, verily righteousness should 
       have been by the law.
           22  But the scripture hath concluded all under 
       sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might 
       be given to them that believe.
           23  But before faith came, we were kept under the
       law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards 
       be revealed.
           24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to 
       bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by 
       faith.
          25  But after that faith is come, we are no 
       longer under a schoolmaster.
          26  For ye are all the children of God by faith
       in Christ Jesus.
          
          We see from verse nineteen that whatever Paul is
     referring to was added through a mediator.  The Ten
     Commandments were given to mankind directly from God.
     So the law that Paul was referring to here can only 
     be the law of Moses.  These laws were added, as 
     mentioned in verse nineteen, to the Ten Commandments
     as amplification and applications  and served as
     a schoolmaster guiding us to Christ.   
     
 
     17.  But aren't Christians justified by faith in
     Christ, not the law?
     
          Absolutely, but does that mean we are free to sin,
     to break the law of God?  No!  As Paul said in Romans
     6:23, the wages of sin is death.  How do we learn what
     sin is so as to avoid it?  Read Romans 7:7-13.
     
          7  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."
         8  But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded
       by the commandment, produced in me every kind of
       covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead.
         9  Once I was alive apart from law; but when
       the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I
       died.
         10  I found that the very commandment that
       was intended to bring life actually brought death.
         11  For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded
       by the commandment, deceived me, and through the
       commandment put me to death.
         12  So then, the law is holy, and the
       commandment is holy, righteous and good.
         13  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.
       (NIV)
          
          Paul is saying here as clearly as anyone can that
     the law remains in effect, holy righteous and good, to
     show us the sin in our lives.  Paul, a student of the
     Torah, a man who meet Christ face to face, and became
     an apostle of God said, "I would not have known what
     sin was except through the law."  But yet many today
     say that the Ten Commandments are null and void and 
     they serve no purpose for Christians.  
          In Titus 2:11-14 we read,
     
       11  For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
       salvation to all men,
       12  instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly
       desires and to live sensibly, righteously and
       godly in the present age,
        13  looking for the blessed hope and the appearing
       of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus
       Christ;
       14  who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem
       us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself
       a people for His own possession, zealous for good
       deeds.  (NASB)
          
          Christ has redeemed us from our lawless sins but
     we are still human and we will still sin.  Therefore as
     Christians we are instructed to deny ungodliness and
     worldly desire and to live righteousely.  The
     difference between our humble efforts at leading a
     Christ-like life and the sinless perfection that God
     the Father demands is covered by the blood of Christ.  
          
     
     18.  Colossians 2:16-17 says you should not act as a
     judge in regard to a Sabbath day.  Why do you?
     
     First, when have I judged you?  I am simply
     stating my reasons for keeping the Ten Commandments and
     the Sabbath.  Only God is the judge.
          But let's take a look at the verses in question.
              
          "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or
          in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the
          new moon or of the sabbath days: which are a show
          of things to come; but the body is of Christ."
          
          It should be clear from all I have said and from
     an open minded reading of these verses that Paul is
     referring to the volume of Mosaic laws.  These laws
     included many regulations on meats, drinks, holydays,
     new moons and sabbaths.  The fact that Seventh Day
     Baptists do not keep the Mosaic Sabbath regulations in
     no way changes the necessity of observing the seventh-
     day Sabbath of the fourth commandment.  The Colossian
     converts, who at this time would have been still
     attending synagogue on the Sabbath, would have
     understood this.    
          Now you must decide for yourself what is the will
     of God, apart from the customs and traditions of men.
     
     Kyle Pratt is an Elder in the Abundant Life Seventh Day
     Baptist church in Portsmouth Virginia however, the
     answers given here are his own and do not necessarily
     represent the view of the denomination.
	       
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