| Why do so many main line denominations purposely disreguard God's Law? What is their reasoning for refusing to live a Godly life? Why do they refuse to walk in the steps of our Savior Jesus Christ? Why do they refuse to follow the example of the Apostles and instead follow the traditions set by a secular world? I did some researching into why these denominations purposely disreguard the Lord's Sabbath and here it is in their own words. Also I have included the links to the pages where the information was obtained. Take your time and notice the lack of Scriptural support for their position, then ask yourself wether you will follow the teachings of men or the Scriptures and their clear directive to follow God's Law. Taken from Wesleyan Church Dicipline http://www.wesleyan.org/beliefsframes.htm Lord's Day The Lord's Day (Sunday) is to be observed by divine worship and spiritual edification, avoiding all unnecessary commerce, labors, travels, and pleasures which do not contribute to the moral and spiritual ends of the day. The Wesleyan Church opposes legalization of merchandising on the Lord's Day (Discipline 265:1; 410:7). Taken from Souther Baptist Convention Website: http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp VIII. The Lord's Day The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. �It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion. Taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church http://www.catholic.org/clife/catechism/ 1163 "Holy Mother Church believes that she should celebrate the saving work of her divine Spouse in a sacred commemoration on certain days throughout the course of the year. Once each week, on the day which she has called the Lord's Day, she keeps the memory of the Lord's resurrection. She also celebrates it once every year, together with his blessed Passion, at Easter, that most solemn of all feasts. In the course of the year, moreover, she unfolds the whole mystery of Christ. . . . Thus recalling the mysteries of the redemption, she opens up to the faithful the riches of her Lord's powers and merits, so that these are in some way made present in every age; the faithful lay hold of them and are filled with saving grace." "SC 102." The Lord's day, the day of Resurrection, the day of Christians, is our day. It is called the Lord's day because on it the Lord rose victorious to the Father. If pagans call it the "day of the sun," we willingly agree, for today the light of the world is raised, today is revealed the sun of justice with healing in his rays. "St. Jerome, Pasch.: CCL 78, 550." "By a tradition handed down from the apostles which took its origin from the very day of Christ's Resurrection, the Church celebrates the Paschal mystery every seventh day, which day is appropriately called the Lord's Day or Sunday." "SC 106." MY NOTE: This is a lie that can not be backed up or supported anywhere in scripture. The day of Christ's Resurrection is both the first day of the week, the memorial of the first day of creation, and the "eighth day," on which Christ after his "rest" on the great sabbath inaugurates the "day that the Lord has made," the "day that knows no evening." "Byzantine liturgy." Sunday is the pre-eminent day for the liturgical assembly, when the faithful gather "to listen to the word of God and take part in the Eucharist, thus calling to mind the Passion, Resurrection, and glory of the Lord Jesus, and giving thanks to God who �has begotten them again, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead' unto a living hope" "SC 106" When we ponder, O Christ, the marvels accomplished on this day, the Sunday of your holy resurrection, we say: "Blessed is Sunday, for on it began creation . . . the world's salvation . . . the renewal of the human race. . . . On Sunday heaven and earth rejoiced and the whole universe was filled with light. Blessed is Sunday, for on it were opened the gates of paradise so that Adam and all the exiles might enter it without fear. "Fanq�th, The Syriac Office of Antioch, vol. VI, first part of Summer, 193 B" 1193 Sunday, the "Lord's Day," is the principal day for the celebration of the Eucharist because it is the day of the Resurrection. It is the pre-eminent day of the liturgical assembly, the day of the Christian family, and the day of joy and rest from work. Sunday is "the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical year" (SC 106). Taken from the Seventh Day Baptist Website http://www.seventhdaybaptist.org/cov2.html IX. Sabbath We believe that the Sabbath of the Bible, the seventh day of the week, is sacred time, a gift of God to all people, instituted at creation, affirmed in the Ten Commandments and reaffirmed in the teaching and example of Jesus and the apostles. We believe that the gift of Sabbath rest is an experience of God's eternal presence with His people. We believe that in obedience to God and in loving response to His grace in Christ, the Sabbath should be faithfully observed as a day of rest, worship, and celebration. Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 16:23-30; Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 5:17-19; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 4:16; Acts 13:14, 42-44; 16:11-13; 17:2-3; 18:4-11; Ezekiel 20:19-20; Hebrews 4:9-10; John 14:15; Isaiah 58:13-14; Luke 23:56. MY NOTE: They offer Scripture, not man made tradition to support their position. Church of God http://www.chog.org/churches/sabbaticals.asp My Notes: I did a search to find their basis for not observing the Biblical Sabbath but could find nothing on it in writing. I did however find that they give every seventh year off as a "Pastoral Sabbatical" for a renueing of the Pastors mind and spiritual walk. It is worth noting that they use the Sabbath of the Bible to justify a year off from actively running a church (which I think would be a great practice in EVERY denomination for the welfare of the pastor) but do not honor the Holy Sabbath that the Lord set up as a way to "identify you as my people". The Lord gave us the Sabbath not man. It is man who uses it when it fits his need and simply shrugs it off when it is not convenient. United Methodist Church Tradition: The story of the church reflects the most basic sense of tradition, the continuing activity of God's Spirit transforming human life. Tradition is the history of that continuing environment of grace in and by which all Christians live, God's self-giving love in Jesus Christ. As such, tradition transcends the story of particular traditions. "From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2000. Copyright 2000 by The United Methodist Publishing House." Scripture: United Methodists share with other Christians the conviction that Scripture is the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine. Through Scripture the living Christ meets us in the experience of redeeming grace. We are convinced that Jesus Christ is the living Word of God in our midst whom we trust in life and death. "From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2000. Copyright 2000 by The United Methodist Publishing House." MY NOTE - I would like to make a point here that when Jesus confronted the Pharises (many times) He quoted what we now refer to as "Old Testament Scripture" to make His point. He also, without fail, critizied them for leaning on their own Traditions that were set up by the ruling members of the church. I also must point out that in the area's he criticised them it was where they had corrupted the Scriptures and bent them to make them work to their favor instead of doing what God had told them to do. The biblical sabbath was a day to keep holy. How people have interpreted the call to Sabbath and how they have observed it over the millennia has varied. In the Hebrew tradition, the rest and holiness reserved for the day is associated with God�s completion of Creation and rest on the seventh day, which Genesis writers say God "hallowed." Early Christians met the first day of the week to worship and remember the predawn resurrection of Christ. By 321 CE, newly-converted Roman Emperor Constantine declared Sunday the Christian Sabbath, an official day of rest throughout the empire, with exceptions granted for farmers who were allowed to make use of good weather whenever it happened to come. Much later in 17th century, governments in colonial North America enforced Sunday Sabbath "blue laws" that banned work, mandated church attendance and imposed sanctions against those who habitually skipped church. Although a sprinkling of counties across the United States still have blue laws, Christians have in many ways come full circle: we must choose to claim a Sabbath rest for ourselves, and we must seek out ways to keep it holy. http://gbgm-umc.org/Response/articles/sabbath.html God's commandment to keep the Sabbath holy is often difficult for pastors working in a tradition that observes its day of rest on Sunday. Sunday is the busiest day of the week for pastors, who are ensuring that their congregations are spiritually fed. They fill the rest of the week responding to the demands of others so much that they often neglect their own spiritual needs and fail to set aside a time of rest for themselves. http://umns.umc.org/02/jan/010.htm MY NOTE - These are a few things I found on their site(s) that indicate to the reader the Sabbath was "Changed" to Sunday. I would like to point out that there is absolutely NO Biblical backing to this claim or viewpoint. - The sentence above in green and underlined does not refer to first generation (Paul, Peter, James etc.) Christians, nor is there any physical evidence in writing to indicate that second or even 3rd generation Christians did this. - The sentence above in red and underlined does in fact give the first verification of "Official" Sunday Observance which was put into effect 321A.D. (thats 300 years after Christ has left this earth and returned to heaven). Here we see the "Official" rewriting of God's word found in the Bible which was done on the authority of man...NOT God. - The sentence above in bold black plainly states they teach that the Biblical Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. But where do they get their authority to do this? They make repeated statements on their site to "Reclaim the Sabbath" but tell people to do it in a way AGAINST what God has written in His Holy Bible. Now that their position is made, which will you follow? Will you follow the traditions of men or the teachings of Christ and the Apostles? |
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