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The Bible teaches . . . | | What leaders and history
say about Sunday-keeping |
It is the day
of Sabbath rest.
(Genesis 2:2; Exodus 34:21). | | It is the first day
of six working days.
(Exodus 20:9; 34:21). Sunday is a man-made day of rest. Constantine the Great made a law
for the empire in 321 A.D. that Sunday
should be kept as a day of rest.
(Encyclopedia Americana, article "Sabbath) |
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"God blessed the seventh day
and sanctified it"
(Genesis 2:3). | | Sunday is a working day,
a secular day
(Exodus 20:9). "You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify" ( Cardinal Gibbons, Faith of Our Fathers, pg. 111) |
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"God blessed the sabbath day
and hallowed it"
(Exodus 20:11). He called it "my holy day"
(Isaiah 58:13). | | Sunday is NOT
a holy day. "The Catholic Church of its own infallible authority created Sunday a holy day to take the place of the Sabbath of the old law" (Kansas City Catholic, February 9, 1893). |
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"The seventh day is the sabbath
of the Lord thy God"
(Exodus 20:10). | | Sunday was originally kept in honor of the sun god. "Let all judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the Sun" ( Constantine's Law). |
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| Sabbath was instituted by God
in the beginning of Creation
(Genesis 2:3). | | The first Sunday law was passed
by Emperor Constantine
on March 7, A.D. 321. |
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Sabbath stands as a memorial of the great
creation work of the first week of time and
pays homage to the Creator.
(Exodus 20:11). | | "The observance of Sunday by the Protestants
is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves,
to the authority of the [Catholic] Church"
(Plain Talk about Protestantism Today, pg. 213). |
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"It is a sign between Me and the children of
Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the
heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day
He rested and was refreshed"
(Exodus 31:17). | | Observing Sunday as the day of worship,
acknowledges papal authority
instead of the authority of God. |
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"The Son of Man [Messiah] is
Master also of the Sabbath"
(Mark 2:28). | | Sunday observance indicates the
authority of the pope, who thought
"to change times and laws"
(Daniel 7:25, KJV)
AND
who opposes and exalts himself above
all that is called God . . . so that he sits
as God in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God."
(2Thessalonians 2:3-4, NKJV). |
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| God declared that the Sabbath
is "my holy day" (Isaiah 58:13),
and John the Revelator said the Sabbath
is God's day. (Revelation 1:10). | | Sunday is a Catholic institution and so the
Roman Church and Protestants claim it as
their own day of worship. |
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"The Sabbath was made for man"
(Mark 2:27) and not for Jews only.
It is given for the heathen too (Isaiah 56:2-8).
It is the Sabbath rest for man and beast
(Exodus 20:10). | | Sunday observance is meant only for the
Catholic Church and her daughters,
the Protestants, according to their claim. |
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"Remember the Sabbath
day, to keep it holy"
(Exodus 20:8). | | Sunday is kept not as a holy day but as a
holiday. Catholics are restricted only to
attend mass on Sunday, after which they
may spend the rest of the day as they wish. Constantine the Great made a law for the whole
empire (A.D. 321) that Sunday should be kept as a
rest day in all cities and towns; but he allowed the
country people to follow their work. |
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| The Sabbath was kept by God
(Genesis 2:3, Hebrews 4:4);
by Jesus
(Luke 4:16);
by female believers
(Luke 23:55-56);
by the apostles and early believers
(Acts 15:21)
by the apostle Paul and Gentiles
(Acts 17:2, Romans 11:13). | | "Is there no express commandment for observing
the first day of the week as Sabbath,
instead of the seventh day? None whatever.
Neither [Messiah] nor the apostles nor the first Christians celebrated the first day of the week"
(New York Weekly Tribune, May 24, 1900). |
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| When Jerusalem and the temple had to be
destroyed by the Romans as prophesied
by the Messiah, and the believers had to flee
from there, He said, "Pray ye that your flight be
not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath"
(Matthew 24:20). WHY? | | The temple of Jerusalem was destroyed by
General Titus in A.D. 70, almost 40 years
after Messiah's resurrection and ascension.
So the disciples were praying and keeping
the Sabbath for these 40 years after
the Messiah's resurrection and ascension. Jesus did not ask the believers to pray
that their flight would not be on Sunday,
neither did the disciples pray or keep Sunday
all the 40 years after His resurrection. |
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"There remains therefore a rest
for the people of God."
(Hebrews 4:9). | | Sunday is meant for the exclusive observance
of the Roman Catholic Church and her
daughters, whereas the Sabbath remains
for the keeping of the people of God only. |
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Two tables of testimony, tables of stone,
written with the finger of God contain the
Decalogue, of which the fourth commandment
pertains to the keeping of the Sabbath
(Exodus 31:18). | | "The observance of the first, instead of the
seventh, day rests on the testimony of the
[Roman] Church and the Church alone"
(Hobart Church News [Episcopalian] July 2, 1894). |
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| On the new earth "'And from one Sabbath
to another, all flesh shall come to
worship before Me,' says the Lord."
(Isaiah 66:22-23). "There remains therefore a rest
for the people of God."
(Hebrews 4:9). | | What will be the fate of the followers of
Sunday keeping in the new earth?
What will happen to the observance of
Sunday then? Let the Roman Catholic Church
and the Protestants answer for themselves. |
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Written by: Pastor Alex D. Ratnam
edited by BibleStudy.org |
