PROOF THAT THE SATURDAY SABBATH IS NOT BINDING ON THE BORN AGAIN SAINTS:

Many of my family are Sabbatarian, including my mother and step father, some tried for almost thirty years to bring me over but are not able to. Because I am grounding in the word of God. I did not try to remove my mother and step father from their sabbath church, because the fellowship that they find is very good. Their pastor is like a son, and I saw him as a brother. However, for a Christian who was not saved in a sabbath church, becoming one can be detrimental to their faith of saving by grace. Sabbath is save by grace plus. Sunday is save by grace with no plus.

ISRAEL DID NOT KEEP THE LAW.

Matthew 18:16-AV But if he will not hear [thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

We have two people who witness against Israel that they did not keep the law. Our lord Jesus and the Deacon Stephen.

John 7:19-AV Did not Moses give you the law, and [yet] none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? John 7:20-AV The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? John 7:21-AV Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel. John 7:22-AV Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. John 7:23-AV If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

Acts 7:53-AV Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept [it].

Before you go into this study remember, that the sabbath is not binding on New Testament Christians, and you are free to worship God on any day you choose.

HERE WE GO!

IF YOU VALUE YOUR FAITH READ!

Twenty-four Reasons Why Christians Observe the First Day: 1.Sabbaths in the law of Moses have been abolished. 2.The new covenant does not command any particular day to be observed by Christians (Romans 14:5-6; Galatians 4:9-11). 3.Christians are free to choose their own day of rest (Romans 14:5-6). 4.They are commanded not to permit any man to judge them regarding a sabbath (Col. 2:14-17). 5.Rigid observance of days is rebuked by Paul (Galatians 4:9-11). 6.Sabbaths are not named as requirements of the gospel (Acts 15:1-29). 7.Real and eternal rest is in Christ, not in a day (Matthew 11:28-29; Hebrews 4). 8.The fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) was left out of the new covenant (note, �Acts 15:24).

9.The Jewish sabbath commemorated deliverance from Egyptian bondage in which Christians had no part (Deut. 5:15). 10.Going under the law to observe a sabbath would obligate one to keep the whole law of Moses (Galatians 3:10-14; Galatians 5:3,9-11; James 2:10). 11.Rest and worship on Sunday serves the same purpose as on Saturday. 12.Early Christians kept the first day of the week (John 20:1,19,26-29; Acts 20:6-12; 2 Cor. 16:1-2). 13.The Lord completed His redemptive work and His victory over death, hell, and the grave on Sunday, the first day. 14.Christ's special manifestations to His disciples after the resurrection were on the first day of the week (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 23-24; John 20:19,26). 15.After the resurrection, no recognition was given by Christ or any apostle to the old Jewish seventh-day sabbath. 16.The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was on the first day of the week, the day after seven Jewish sabbaths (Acts. 2:1). 17.After Christ's ascension, the first sermon was preached on the first day, and the first conversions (about 3,000) took place on the first day (Acts 2:1-42). 18.The lack of warning by Christ or the apostles regarding it being sinful or "the mark of the beast" (as some teach) to observe the first day of the week shows it was acceptable as a day of rest and worship. 19.Typology of the old covenant makes the first day of the week prominent. The feasts of firstfruits and Pentecost were observed on the first day, as well as the feasts of unleavened bread and tabernacles (Leviticus 23:8-14,34-39). 20.God honored the first day by giving the law on that day (Exodus 19:1,3,11; Leviticus 23:5-6 with Exodus 12:2-18). 21.God honored many first days of the week in Israel (2 Chron. 7:10; 2 Chron. 29:17; Ezra 3:6; Neh. 8:14-18; etc.). 22.God honored the first day again by giving the book of Revelation on that day (�Rev. 1:10, notes; �Acts 20:7, note). 23.The new covenant frees from such bondages of the old covenant as the death penalty for cooking, making fires, and performing other duties on a sabbath (Exodus 16:23; Exodus 20:8-10; Exodus 31:15; Exodus 35:2-5; Leviticus 23:3; Numbers 15:32). 24.The New Testament never records a distinctive gathering of Christians on the Jewish sabbath. On the contrary, Christians gathered on Sunday, the first day of the week, which was called "the Lord's day" (Rev. 1:10; John 20:1,19; note, �Acts 20:7; 2 Cor. 16:2).

Sunday Is the Christian Sabbath

1 Cor. 16:2 a[Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store] Collections were to be taken up on the first day of the week (Sunday), the day all early Christians observed as their day of rest and worship (John 20:1,19,26; Acts 20:7).

The disciples of Moses teach that the sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday by Constantine in 321 A.D., and by the Catholic Church in 364 A.D. The following facts from history prove they are wrong:

1. The Encyclopedia Britannica under "Sabbath" and "Sunday" says. "In the early Christian Church Jewish Christians continued to keep the sabbath, like other points of the law ... On the other hand, Paul from the first days of Gentile Christianity, laid it down definitely that the Jewish sabbath was not binding on Christians. Controversy with Judaizers led in process of time to direct condemnation of those who still kept the Jewish day ... In 321 A.D. Constantine made the Christian sabbath, Sunday, the rest day for the Roman Empire, but it was observed by Christians for nearly 300 years before it became law by Constantine."

2. The New International Encyclopedia on "Sunday" says, "For some time after the foundation of the Christian Church the converts from Judaism still observed the Jewish sabbath to a greater or lesser extent, at first, it would seem, concurrently with the celebration of the first day; but before the end of the apostolic period, Sunday, known as the Lord's day, had thoroughly established itself as the special day to be sanctified (set apart) by rest from secular labor and by public worship. The hallowing of Sunday appears incontestably as a definite law in the Church by the beginning of the fourth century; and the Emperor Constantine confirmed the custom by a law of the state." 3. The Catholic Encyclopedia on "Sunday" says, "Sunday was the first day of the week according to the Jewish method of reckoning, but for Christians it began to take the place of the Jewish sabbath in apostolic times as the day set apart for public and solemn worship of God." This volume quotes a number of early Christian writings of the first, second, and third centuries to prove that Sunday was kept by Christians from the earliest times.

4.The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on "The Lord's Day" says, "The Lord's day in the New Testament occurs only in Rev. 1:10, but in post-apostolic literature we have the following references: the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, IX, 1, `No longer keeping the sabbath but living according to the Lord's day, on which also our light arose ... Acts 2:46 represents the special worship as Daily. But this could not continue long ... A choice of a special day must have become necessary, and this day would, of course, have been Sunday ... Uncircumcised Gentiles, however, were free from any obligation of sabbath observance' ... No observance of a special day of rest is contained among the necessary things of Acts 15:28,29 .... A given day as a matter of divine obligation is denounced by Paul as forsaking Christ (Galatians 4:10), and sabbath-keeping is condemned explicitly in Col. 2:16. As a matter of individual devotion to be sure, a man might do as he pleased (Romans 14:5,6), but no general rule as necessary for salvation could be compatible with liberty wherewith Christ has made us free (Galatians 2:1-21; Galatians 3:1-14; Galatians 5:1-4,13)." 5. We next quote from the ten volumes called, "The Ante-Nicene Fathers," the writings of the early church fathers down to A.D. 325 and before Constantine and the Catholic Church are supposed to have changed the sabbath from Saturday to Sunday:

(1) Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who lived at the time of the apostles, 30-107 A.D. He, like Polycarp, was a disciple of John and one who should know Christian practice among the early Christians as to the sabbath. He wrote, "And after the observance of the sabbath (that the Jews kept), let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's day as a festival, the resurrection day, the queen and chief of all days of the week ... on which our life sprang up again, and victory over death was obtained in Christ ... it is absurd to speak of Jesus Christ with the tongue, and to cherish in the mind a Judaism which has come to an end .... If any man preach the Jewish law unto you, listen not to him. For it is better to hearken to Christian doctrine from a man who is circumcised, than to a Judaism from one uncircumcised" (Vol. 1, pages 63-82).

(2) In the Epistle of Barnabas, ascribed to Paul's companion by Clement, Origen, and others, we read, "He says to them. `Your new moons and your sabbaths I cannot endure' (Isaiah 1:13). Ye perceive how He speaks: Your present sabbaths are not acceptable go me ... I will make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day on which Jesus rose again from the dead" (Vol. 1, Page 147).

(3) Justin Martyr, a Gentile born near Jacob's well about 110 A.D. writes, "And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read ... But Sunday is the day on which we hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead" (Vol. 1, Page 186). In his dialogue with Trypho, a Jew, Justin Martyr says, "Is there any other matter, my friends, in which we are blamed, than this, that we live not according to the law, and are not circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers were, and do not observe the sabbaths as you do? ... Christians would observe the law, if they did not know why it was instituted .... For we too would observe the fleshly circumcision, and the sabbaths, and in short all feasts, if we did not know for what reason they were enjoined you .... How is it, Trypho, that we would not observe those rites which do not harm us-I speak of fleshly circumcision, and sabbaths, and feasts? ... The Gentiles, who have believed in Him, and who have repented of their sins ... shall receive the inheritance along with the patriarchs ... even although they neither keep the sabbath, nor are circumcised, nor observe the feasts .... Christ is useless to those who observe the law .... The sabbath and sacrifices and offerings and feasts ... have come to an end in Him who was born of a virgin .... But if some, through weakmindedness, wish to observe such institutions as were given to Moses ... along with their hope in Christ ... they shall probably be saved" (Vol. 1, Pages 199-218).

(4) Tertullian, presbyter of the North African Church, who was born about 145 A.D., writes, "The Holy Spirit upbraids the Jews for their holydays. Your sabbaths, and new moons, and ceremonies my soul hateth .... By us (Christians), to whom sabbaths are strange ... to the heathen each festive day occurs but once annually: you (Christians) have a festive day every eighth day .... Others suppose that the sun is the god of the Christians, because it is a well-known fact that we pray towards the east, or because we make Sunday a day of festivity ... you who reproach us with the sun and Sunday should consider your own proximity to us. We are not far off from your Saturn and your days of rest .... It follows, accordingly, that, in so far as the abolition of carnal circumcision and of the old law is demonstrated as having been consummated at its specific times, so also the observance of the sabbath is demonstrated to have been temporary" (Vol. III, Pages 70, 123, 155, 313-14).

(5) In "The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles," written about 80 A.D., we read, "But every Lord's day (Sunday) do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread and give thanksgiving" (Vol. VII, Page 381). (6) In the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (2nd century) we read, "Break your fast ... the first day of the week, which is the Lord's day ... After eight days let there be another feast observed with honor, the eighth day itself" (Vol. VII, Page 447).

(7) In "The Teachings of the Apostles," written 105 A.D., we read, "The apostles therefore appointed: ... on the first day of the week let there be service and reading of the Scriptures, and the oblation (Lord's Holy Supper): because on the first day of the week our Lord arose upon the world, and ascended to heaven" (Vol. VIII, Page 668). (8) Irenaeus, 178 A.D., in arguing that the Jewish sabbaths were signs and types and were not to be kept since the reality of which they were shadows had come, says, "The mystery of the Lord's resurrection may not be celebrated on any other day than the Lord's day and on this alone should we observe the breaking of the Paschal Feast ... Pentecost fell on the first day of the week, and was therefore associated with the Lord's day."

(9) Clement of Alexandria, 174 A.D., says, "The old seventh day has become nothing more than a working day." (10) Theophilus, pastor of Antioch, 162 A.D., says, "Both custom and reason challenge us that we should honor the Lord's day, seeing on that day it was that our Lord completed His resurrection from the dead." (11) Origen, about 200 A.D., says, "John the Baptist was born to make ready a people for the Lord, a people for Him at the end of the covenant now grown old, which is the end of the sabbath ... It is one of the marks of a perfect Christian to keep the Lord's day." (12) Victorianus, 300 A.D., says, "On the Lord's day we go forth to our bread and giving thanks. Lest we should appear to observe any sabbath with the Jews, which Christ Himself the Lord of the sabbath in His body abolished" (Section 4, "On the Creation"). 6. Eusebius, the Father of Church History, who made a history of the time between the birth of Christ and Constantine, and who lived 265-340 A.D., says, "From the beginning Christians assembled on the first day of the week, called by them the Lord's Day, for the purpose of religious worship, to read the Scriptures, to preach and to celebrate the Lord's Supper ... the first day of the week on which the Savior obtained the victory over death. Therefore, it has the preeminence, first in rank, and is more honorable than the Jewish Sabbath."

What the Bible does not say about the sabbath

1. That Sunday-keeping is a human institution. 2. That Christians must keep the old Jewish sabbath. 3. That Christians are obligated to keep any certain day. 4. That all who keep Sunday have the mark of the beast. 5. That all who keep Sunday are lost. 6. That Sunday-keeping is a Roman Catholic institution. 7. That Christians never held a religious service on the first day of the week (Sunday). 8. That the Ten Commandments were not done away when the old covenant was "abolished" and "done away" in Christ on the cross. 9. That the Lord's day is the seventh day or the old Jewish sabbath. 10. That the fourth commandment is part of the new covenant. 11. That Christians are not to work on Saturday. 12. That the fourth commandment sabbath is not included in the "sabbaths" that were abolished on the cross as taught in Col. 2:14-17; Galatians 4:9-11; Romans 14:1-5; Ephes. 2:15. 13. That the law of Moses and the fourth commandment sabbath were for Gentiles as well as Jews. 14. That the fourth commandment sabbath was a sign between God and Gentiles as is stated of God and Israel in Exodus 31:13-17; Deut. 5:12-15; Ezekiel 20:12-13. 15. That Saturday is a holy day, the sabbath, a day of rest, a day of worship, or a day sanctified in the new covenant. 16. That Saturday was the only day the apostles recognized as a day of rest and worship. 17. That Jesus instituted the old Jewish sabbath (the Bible says that God the Father gave the law and spoke in times past to people, Hebrews 1:1,2; Romans 1:3; Acts 3:21-26; etc.). 18. That all people observed the sabbath for about about 2,500 years from creation to Exodus 16, at which time God first commanded people to keep a certain day. 19. That Sunday cannot be as holy as any other day sanctified or set apart for the worship of God. 20. That Christians are obligated to observe a particular day of the week as people were bound to do under the old covenant. See Romans 14:5-6; Galatians 4:9-10; Col. 2:14-17; Hebrews 4. b [lay by him in store] They were to lay up week by week a certain amount for the poor and have the whole ready to send to Jerusalem when he came (1 Cor. 16:2-3). c [as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come] The basis of giving was as God prospered each week. This policy among Christians followed that of the Jews who brought their alms to the synagogue on the sabbath day.

6 occurrences refer to Paul preaching to the Jews (at non-Christian gatherings) on Jewish sabbath days (Acts 13:14,42,44; Acts 17:1,2; Acts 18:4); 2 instances refer to the law of Moses being read by Jews in their synagogues on Jewish sabbaths (Acts 13:27; Acts 15:21); one place refers to Jewish travel as not more than a mile on the sabbath (Acts 1:12); and one spot plainly says that all sabbaths were abolished (Col. 2:14-17). If there had been explicit commands to worship on any day, even the first day, it would have brought about the same bondage as the law of Moses. The higher ideals and principles of Christianity would have then been regulated to days and seasons which God promised to abolish (Isaiah 1:13; Hosea 2:11) and did abolish (2 Cor. 3:6-15; Galatians 3:19-25; Galatians 4:21-31; Galatians 5:1-3; Ephes. 2:14-15; Col. 2:14-17; Hebrews 6:20-10:18). Whereas Israel was obliged to commemorate freedom from bondage with a yoke of bondage which included the sabbath-keeping law, Christians are free to commemorate their freedom on any day they choose (Romans 14:5-6). b[bake that which ye will bake today ... and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning] All cooking had to be done the day before the sabbath.

THE FIRST MENTION OF A SABBATH:

Exodus 16:23 a[sabbath unto the LORD] This is the first mention of a sabbath for man. It was 2,513 years after God "rested" in Genesis 2:2. The word "sabbath" is used 76 times in the singular and 35 times in the plural in the Old Testament and 60 times in the singular in the New Testament. Twenty-two Facts about Sabbaths 1.The words "sabbath" and "seventh" do not come from the same word. The Hebrew word for "sabbath" is shabbath , intermission or cessation from work. It is from the verb shabath "to repose, desist from exertion; rest." Such rest does not have to be on the seventh day. It is the cessation of work that makes it the sabbath, not the day. 2.Sabbaths have been observed on different days, for different lengths of time: Sabbaths on Different Days: (1)On the first day (Leviticus 23:39) (2)On the seventh day (Exodus 20:10) (3)On the eighth day (Leviticus 23:39) Sabbaths of Different Lengths: (1)One day long (Exodus 16:23-29) (2)Two days long (Leviticus 23:6-8,15-22) (3)One year long (Leviticus 25:4) (4)Seventy years long (2 Chron. 36:21) (5)Eternity long (Hebrews 4:9) 3.The seventh-day sabbaths of Israel were changing sabbaths, being observed on two different days each year because of an additional sabbath at Pentecost. If the fifteenth day of Abib (when Israel left Egypt), which was on the sabbath, was Saturday, then the seventh-day sabbath would fall on Saturday for seven weeks or forty-nine days. The fiftieth day, Sunday, would be Pentecost. The next seventh-day sabbath after Pentecost would then fall on Sunday, and so on until Pentecost of the following year which would change the seventh-day sabbath again. Thus, there was no such thing as the sabbath always being on Saturday throughout the year, or perpetually. 4.Sabbaths were to be a delight instead of a burden and would have been had they been observed lawfully, and the true nature of rest and worship maintained (Isaiah 58:13). 5.Sabbaths were for Israel only (Exodus 16:29; Exodus 31:14; Ezekiel 20:12). Gentiles who wished to become a part of the nation of Israel could do so by meeting certain requirements, after which the sabbath laws applied to them (Exodus 12:49; Numbers 15:16). 6.Sabbaths were to be observed holy (Exodus 16:23; Exodus 20:8; Exodus 35:2; Isaiah 58:13; Jeremiah 17:21-27). 7.Sabbaths were to be observed unto God (Exodus 16:25). 8.Sabbaths were from the Lord (Exodus 20:10; Exodus 35:2; Leviticus 23:3; Deut. 5:14). 9.They were to be kept (Exodus 31:14) 10.No work was to be done on sabbaths (Exodus 20:8-11; Exodus 31:15; Exodus 35:3; Numbers 15:32; Jeremiah 17:21-27). The penalty for breaking this law was death (Numbers 15:30-36). 11.Sabbaths were to be observed as a time of rest (Exodus 35:2; Leviticus 16:31; Leviticus 23:3,32). 12.They were to be sanctified or set apart by Israel (Deut. 5:12). 13.Sabbaths were commanded (Exodus 20:8-11; Deut. 5:15). 14.To Israel the seventh-day sabbath was a memorial of deliverance from slavery under Pharaoh (Deut. 5:15), not a commemoration of God's rest upon completing His work. Man's rest could not have been the same day that God rested, because man was only created the day before God's sabbath. He had worked only one day, and six days are required before a sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11). It would be as meaningless for the church to observe the Jewish sabbath commemorating deliverance from Egypt as it would for England to observe the Fourth of July with Americans! 15.Sabbaths are to be observed in the Millennium and New Earth, so that all flesh can come before God to worship (Isaiah 66:22-24; Ezekiel 44:24; Ezekiel 45:17; Ezekiel 46:3). Scripture doesn not reveal what particular day will be observed in the future, but if it is worldwide it will be at different times throughout the earth because time varies as much as a full day around the globe. It might be local in fulfillment with representatives sent to Jerusalem. That universal gatherings to worship are to be representative is proved in Zech. 14:16-21. 16.It is lawful to do good things on sabbaths (Matthew 12:2,12; Mark 2:27-28; Mark 3:4; Luke 6:9). 17.Man was not made for sabbaths, but they were made for him (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 6:5); he is free, therefore, to do what is best for him on rest days. 18.Man was not initially required to observe the seventh day which God rested on and sanctified. God Himself did not continue observing a rest day because sin was committed almost immediately and He began the work of redemption (Genesis 3:8- 21) which still requires His time every day of the week. Sinners can be saved any time they choose to come to God. It was 2,513 years after God's seventh-day sabbath when Israel was commanded to observe any particular day (Exodus 16:23-29; Exodus 20:8-11). 19.Jews proved the principle of doing good and performing essential duties on sabbaths by: (1)Offering sacrifices (Numbers 28:9-10; 1 Chron. 9:32) (2)Caring for animals (Matthew 12:11; Mark 2:27; Luke 13:15; Luke 14:5) (3)Circumcising (John 7:22-23) (4)Other essential work (Matthew 12:5) 20.Sabbaths were typical of eternal rest (Col. 2:14-17; Hebrews 4:1-11; Hebrews 10:1). 21.The Jewish sabbaths were abolished with the Mosaic law. See note, �Acts 15:24; Eighty-five Old and New Covenant Contrasts. 22.Keeping the law and the sabbath was not required by the apostles (Acts 15:5-29; Romans 14:5-6; Galatians 4:9-11; Col. 2:14-17).

TEN REASONS THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT WAS LEFT OUT.

Acts 15:24 a [subverting your souls] Unsettling your souls in your faith. b [Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law] Many commentators seem to have missed the full and simple truth about the law being abolished. They emphasize that it was not the moral law that was abolished, but the ceremonial law. The truth is, the entire law was abolished and only nine of the ten commandments were reinstated in the new covenant. Ten Reasons Fourth Commandment Left Out 1. Neither God nor Christ made it a part of the new covenant. If they had it would be somewhere in the New Testament as the other nine are. 2. Of all the words of Jesus on earth only four references are made of the sabbath (Matthew 12:8; Matthew 24:20; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 6:5). He merely taught that it was lawful to do good on this day and that no day is lord of man. He did not once command any particular observance of any definite day.

SABBATH IS A CONTRACT BETWEEN GOD AND THE NATION OF ISRAEL.

The old Jews sabbath was part of the contract between God and Israel and a token and sign of that covenant (Exodus 20:8-11; Exodus 31:13-18; Ezekiel 20:12-20). The contract was not made with men before Moses (Deut. 5:2-3), or with Gentiles and the church (Romans 2:14; Deut. 4:7-10). The sabbath was not for them. 4. The fourth commandment was the only one of the ten that was a ceremonial, not a moral law. Its sole purpose was to commemorate the deliverance from Egyptian bondage when Israel had no rest (Deut. 5:15). It was only a type of future and eternal rest (Col. 2:14-17; Hebrews 4:1-11; Hebrews 10:1). It was natural for it to be left out of the new contract when the reality of rest came of which it was a shadow (Matthew 11:28-29; Col. 2:14-17). The physical and spiritual benefits of a rest day can be realized on any other day as well as on Saturday. 5. The fourth commandment was the only one that could degenerate into a mere form without affecting the morals of men. All others concern moral obligations of men. It is the only one of the ten that could be done away with and still leave a moral law for men God foretold and promised He would do away with the old Jewish sabbath (Hosea 2:11; Isaiah 1:10-15). 7. The prophets predicted that God would abolish the old and make a new covenant (Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 49:8; Isaiah 59:21; Jeremiah 31:13-40; Jeremiah 32:37-44; Ezekiel 36:24-38). That is referred to in the New Testament is clear in Romans 11:25-29; Hebrews 8:8-12; Hebrews 10:16-18; Matthew 26:28.

NO PASSAGE IN THE NEW TESTIMENT COMMAND MEN TO KEEP SATURDAY:

8. In no passage is it stated that men should keep the Jewish sabbath to commemorate the old creation rest. It was to commemorate deliverance from Egypt (Deut. 5:15). This was what they were to "remember" (Exodus 20:8). 9. It is the only commandment that could be and has been broken without breaking a moral law. Israel marched on that day (Numbers 33:3; Leviticus 23:5-11; Joshua 6:12-16); set up the tabernacle (Exodus 40:1,17 with Leviticus 23:5-11); searched Canaan (Numbers 13:25); and made war (1 Kings 20:29; 2 Kings 3:9; Joshua 6:12-16). David and others broke it and were blameless (Matthew 12:2-5).

CHRISTIANS CAN KEEP ANY DAY:

10. The New Testament permits Christians to keep any day as the sabbath, it being one of the doubtful things not covered by commandment in the new covenant (Romans 14:1-13; Galatians 4:9-11; Col. 2:14-17). The day early Christians observed-not by commandment but by choice-was the first day, Sunday (John 20:1,19; John 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). See note, � Acts 20:7. c [we gave no such commandment] We did not send the men that came to Antioch to disturb you (Acts 15:1

1 Cor. 16:2 a [Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store] Collections were to be taken up on the first day of the week (Sunday), the day all early Christians observed as their day of rest and worship (John 20:1,19,26; Acts 20:7). Sunday Is the Christian Sabbath The disciples of Moses teach that the sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday by Constantine in 321 A.D., and by the Catholic Church in 364 A.D. The following facts from history prove they are wrong:

DO NOT LISTEN TO ANY MAN WHO WILL TRY TO PUT YOU UNDER THE O.T LAW.

If any man preach the Jewish law unto you, listen not to him. For it is better to hearken to Christian doctrine from a man who is circumcised, than to a Judaism from one uncircumcised" (Vol. 1, pages 63-82). (2) In the Epistle of Barnabas, ascribed to Paul's companion by Clement, Origen, and others, we read, "He says to them. `Your new moons and your sabbaths I cannot endure' (Isaiah 1:13). Ye perceive how He speaks: Your present sabbaths are not acceptable go me ... I will make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day on which Jesus rose again from the dead" (Vol. 1, Page 147).

(3) Justin Martyr, a Gentile born near Jacob's well about 110 A.D. writes, "And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read ... But Sunday is the day on which we hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead" (Vol. 1, Page 186). In his dialogue with Trypho, a Jew, Justin Martyr says, "Is there any other matter, my friends, in which we are blamed, than this, that we live not according to the law, and are not circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers were, and do not observe the sabbaths as you do? ... Christians would observe the law, if they did not know why it was instituted .... For we too would observe the fleshly circumcision, and the sabbaths, and in short all feasts, if we did not know for what reason they were enjoined you .... How is it, Trypho, that we would not observe those rites which do not harm us-I speak of fleshly circumcision, and sabbaths, and feasts? ... The Gentiles, who have believed in Him, and who have repented of their sins ... shall receive the inheritance along with the patriarchs ... even although they neither keep the sabbath, nor are circumcised, nor observe the feasts .... Christ is useless to those who observe the law .... The sabbath and sacrifices and offerings and feasts ... have come to an end in Him who was born of a virgin ..

.. But if some, through weakmindedness, wish to observe such institutions as were given to Moses ... along with their hope in Christ ... they shall probably be saved" (Vol. 1, Pages 199-218). (4) Tertullian, presbyter of the North African Church, who was born about 145 A.D., writes, "The Holy Spirit upbraids the Jews for their holydays. Your sabbaths, and new moons, and ceremonies my soul hateth .... By us (Christians), to whom sabbaths are strange ... to the heathen each festive day occurs but once annually: you (Christians) have a festive day every eighth day .... Others suppose that the sun is the god of the Christians, because it is a well-known fact that we pray towards the east, or because we make Sunday a day of festivity ... you who reproach us with the sun and Sunday should consider your own proximity to us. We are not far off from your Saturn and your days of rest .... It follows, accordingly, that, in so far as the abolition of carnal circumcision and of the old law is demonstrated as having been consummated at its specific times, so also the observance of the sabbath is demonstrated to have been temporary" (Vol. III, Pages 70, 123, 155, 313-14).

(5) In "The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles," written about 80 A.D., we read, "But every Lord's day (Sunday) do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread and give thanksgiving" (Vol. VII, Page 381).

(6) In the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (2nd century) we read, "Break your fast ... the first day of the week, which is the Lord's day ... After eight days let there be another feast observed with honor, the eighth day itself" (Vol. VII, Page 447). (7) In "The Teachings of the Apostles," written 105 A.D., we read, "The apostles therefore appointed: ... on the first day of the week let there be service and reading of the Scriptures, and the oblation (Lord's Holy Supper): because on the first day of the week our Lord arose upon the world, and ascended to heaven"

THE END.