Sunday in the New Testament

       You can search your exhaustive concordances in vain to find the word "Sunday" in the Bible. The word appears nowhere in the Holy Scriptures. Actually, the word is of completely pagan origin--as are the names of all of the days of the week.
       Even as ancient pagan emperors appropriated the names of months for themselves (as did Augustus Caesar, adding an extra day to compete with Julius Caesar's "July" of 31 days) so are the days of the week endowed with pagan names.
       Monday is the day of the moon. Tuesday is the day of Theus, or a pagan Nordic god. Wednesday is the day of Woden, same comment. Thursday is the day of Thor, a pagan deity. Friday is the day of Freia, a pagan goddess. Saturday is the day of Saturn and has no relationship whatsoever to the word "Sabbath" even though the words share the first two letters.
       Likewise, Sunday is "the day of the sun" in honor of the ancient, pagan sun god.
       Originally, God did not name but one day of the week! He numbered the rest.
       The first day is what the pagans began to call the day of the sun and is a normal work day. So, also, is the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth. Over the centuries men began calling the sixth day of the week "Preparation day," and the expression is used in the Bible.
       Almighty God names only one day of the week--the Sabbath.

The First Day of the Week in Scripture

       Though "Sunday" is never mentioned in the Bible, the day following the Sabbath, or the "first day of the week," is in only eight specific places.
       Let's take a look at each of these eight scriptural references to the first day of the week and see if we can find any authority WHATSOEVER for "Sunday observance" in these scriptures. For, remember, if there is to be any biblical authority whatsoever for "Sunday keeping," then we must find it in one, or some, or all of these eight scriptural references to the first day of the week! One more comment: the Bible challenges us to "prove all things, hold fast that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). This entire subject is being approached solely from the point of view of the Bible, the written Word of God, as the ultimate authority concerning the Sunday-Sabbath question. Naturally, the Catholic Church does not consider the Bible its sole authority, and many Catholics freely admit that the only authority for "Sunday keeping" today is the authority of the Catholic Church. There are two other "authorities" accepted by the Catholic Church other than the Bible. They are the "Tradition of the fathers," and the Pope, himself, when speaking from the "Holy See."
       Though most Protestants would not like to acknowledge this plain fact of history, it was only the authority of the Catholic Church which finally brought about the change from Sabbath observance to "Sunday keeping" by the second and third centuries after the time of Jesus Christ.
       Now to the scriptures:
       1) Matthew 28:1: "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre."
       Taking the Gospels in chronological order, this is the first place in Scripture where today's "Sunday" or "the first day of the week" is mentioned. Either Matthew or I Thessalonians occupy the place of the first book written in New Testament times. Likely, they were not written until about A.D. 55! Therefore, these words may not even have been written until about 24 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Surely any established practice of the early Christian church would have been thoroughly entrenched in that church after so long a time.
       What does the scripture say? It does not say anything about a church meeting, special assembly, day of worship, or special nature or character applied to the "first day of the week."
       What does the scripture say? It plainly says that as that Sabbath day was over, and it was drawing toward the first day of the week, the two women came to see the sepulchre and found it open, the stone rolled away, and Jesus Christ gone!
       It also tells us that the only designated Sabbath day of the Bible is the day just before the "first day of the week."
       That means the Sabbath day is always the seventh day in Scripture and can never be any other! No authority here for Sunday observance.
       2). Mark 16:2: "And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came to the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." This is the identical occasion as written by another of the Gospel writers, Mark. Every comment that applied to the scripture above must apply to Mark 16:2. This is also another clear proof that the first day of the week (see verse 1) comes only after the Sabbath day is past.
       3) Mark 16:9: "Now when Jesus was risen, early the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons." Be careful with the placement of the second comma in this verse! If a husband and wife were driving down the road and she exclaimed, "What's that up in the road, a head?" The husband, startled, might assume his wife saw the decapitated head of something or someone in the road. But if she said, "What's that up in the road ahead?" the meaning becomes clear.
       It is very clear from all scriptures on the subject of the resurrection (which correctly belongs in another booklet) that Jesus was already risen "as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." Correctly read then, Mark 16:9 shows, "Now when [after] Jesus was risen [past tense], He appeared first to Mary Magdalene on the first day of the week." If it were correctly paraphrased, there would be no problem understanding this verse in the identical context with all the others. But, most importantly, it again proves everything asserted concerning the text in Matthew. This was no special meeting--but merely another gospel writer's account of one of the first appearances of Jesus Christ following His resurrection. Nothing in this scripture sets apart Sunday as a day for a holy purpose--or calls it "the Lord's day," or commands any Christian to ever observe it!
       4) Luke 24:1: "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." In Luke's account, he adds the detail that the women were bringing additional spices, hoping to gain admission to the tomb prior to the fourth day, after which Jewish law and common prudence would have prohibited it. Reading the preceding verse in the chapter just before this text, you discover that the women were continuing to obey the Sabbath commandment and that no additional comment was offered by Luke, the chronologer, concerning this commonplace custom, even though he wrote this material many years (perhaps as many as thirty or more!) following the fact!
       Luke wrote the book of Acts probably between 59 and 61 A.D. During this intensive period of writing, he very likely wrote the Gospel account as well. This places this Gospel very nearly thirty years after the resurrection!
       Why did Luke casually mention these women preparing their spices and then "rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment" unless he knew that the custom was still commonplace, still obeyed? If Luke and the other early Christians had been "keeping Sunday" by this time, nearly thirty years after the resurrection of Christ, then he surely could have made comment concerning the custom of the women resting "on the Sabbath day according to the commandment." But no, Luke goes right on and narrates the chronological events with no comment whatsoever concerning the women's observance of the Sabbath day.
       Here were women performing work requiring a long walk, toiling up a steep hill and preparing to go about the business of completely unwrapping a buried body, rubbing salves and ointments of every description upon it, then rewrapping the body and placing it back on the bier in the crypt!
       This would have represented hard physical labor, and shows that this first day of the week was a day completely different in character from the day preceding. On the preceding day, the women had "rested according to the commandment"! Now that the Sabbath day was over, it was perfectly all right for the women to go to the arduous task for which they had been waiting for these twenty-four hours, for now it was the first day of the week, a common workday, and there was no further requirement to "rest."
       5) John 20:1: "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre." It is likely the Gospel of John was written still later following Luke's Gospel. Again, this is merely John's corroboration of the testimony of the other Gospel writers concerning the day and the time element when the two Marys and Peter, John and others of the disciples began to discover the tomb was empty.
       It was the day following the Sabbath--of that you are absolutely certain. The Sabbath was a rest day, of that you are sure. The first day of the week (called Sunday today) was a common workday to these people at that time! Further, it was still considered a common workday at the time these men wrote these segments of the Bible! Certainly there was no "religious" character to the day in any of the scriptures we have read so far.
       But what about the next one?
       6) John 20:19: "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you."
       First, understand what the verse does not say. It says it was that same day "at evening." This meant it was very late, just before sunset. It is obviously still "the first day of the week." The disciples were definitely "assembled." But WHY? What was the purpose of their assembly? Was this a "religious assembly"?
       Absolutely not! A careful perusal of the four gospel accounts concerning the activities of the women and the disciples who companied with Jesus proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that they "all forsook Him and fled!" Even following several startling appearances, many still doubted, and Thomas was one of the last to be convinced! Remember, none of these disciples really expected Jesus to be resurrected. All had forsaken Him, and Peter even cursed and denied His name. To them, it was all over. To them, Jesus was still dead--and His body had somehow been taken away! No, by no twisting, distorting or perversion of the Bible can anyone attempt to make this into a "religious assembly."
       Rather, the Bible plainly says they were "assembled FOR FEAR OF THE JEWS"! What was the purpose for their assembly? It was "fear"!
       By no stretch of the imagination can anyone pervert this scripture into an alleged "Christian meeting," for the people involved did not yet believe Jesus was risen--did not even want to believe it and were assembled in a common upper room where they lived, for only one reason only, that being the "fear of the Jews"! And naturally, they would be afraid! Why? Because the Jewish leaders had already murdered their mentor and leader, Jesus Christ! They feared their own deaths might follow! Here was a group of frightened, perhaps terrified people, physically trembling, jumping in fright at the slightest sound, hoping and praying every moment not to be discovered.
       The scenario from the holy Word of God is very clear! When Jesus appeared to them it was a shocking event. They didn't expect it!
       No, John 20:19 was not a "religious assembly"!
       7) Acts 20:7, "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. And there were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered.
       Remember, God begins and ends His days at sunset. It is plain from this scripture that the meeting was over a meal; "breaking bread" merely meant sitting down to a meal, which could have featured any number of courses and have consisted of meats, vegetables, and many other edibles besides bread. The apostle Paul spoke on and on, "until midnight." Yet, the Bible says it was still "the first day of the week." Therefore it is very clear to us today that this would appear to be a "Saturday night meeting"! It is, of course, a purely pagan practice to begin and end the days in the middle of the night at "midnight." But this meeting took place only "until midnight"! Therefore, it is noteworthy to remember that the way we would look at it today, this was a "Saturday night meeting"!
       Actually it was on the nighttime part of the "first day of the week."
       And it certainly was a meeting in which the apostle Paul was speaking concerning Jesus Christ, for it plainly says "Paul preached unto them."
       But now notice the rest of the verse and pick up the narrative! "Paul preached unto them, READY TO DEPART ON THE MORROW"! The expression "on the morrow" meant with approaching daylight, or on the daylight part of that same "first day of the week," or "Sunday"!
       Where did he go? Luke says, "We sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread [notice that expression--puzzling isn't it, how these Bible writers continually mention the annual Sabbaths, as well as the weekly?] and came unto them at Troas in five days where we abode seven days. 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" (Acts 20:6). This text shows Paul and those traveling with him had remained in Troas for a week. Luke says the remainder of the men "went before [meaning before Paul] to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in" (verses 13-14).
       If you could see this area on a map, you might draw a little peninsula similar to the tip of your index finger. On the upper portion would be the location of Troas, and on the bottom portion, Assos. While it was only approximately twenty miles overland, it would have been about sixty-mile trip around the peninsula by sea from Troas to Assos.
       Here is a biblical narrative which shows Luke and other traveling companions leaving the apostle Paul on the jetty at Troas, continuing to ply their vessel around the peninsula intending to drop anchor in Assos and meet the apostle Paul later. Paul then preaches to a group of the believers late that "Saturday night" (or the dark part of the "first day of the week") and the Bible says he was "ready to depart on the morrow." And depart he did. When the daylight part of Sunday came, the apostle Paul went approximately twenty miles over the stony trails and steep, rough roads of the Asia Minor peninsula from Troas to Assos! That is what Paul did on that "Sunday"! Here again we find the principles involved in the story treating the "first day of the week" like any other common workday--the apostle Paul, the leading figure in the narrative, going to the incredible effort of a twenty-mile walk on that common workday!
       Some have assumed the expression "break bread" means a religious service.
       It does not.
       It was a common expression which meant "to sit down to a meal." It had nothing whatsoever to do with "communion," and this is proved by verse 13 where the Bible says, "and had broken bread, and eaten!"
       Up until the days of the Civil War, it was still quite common for families to say they "broke bread" together, meaning enjoyed a supper or a dinner!
       For proof, notice Acts 2:46: "...continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness." Here is another biblical text in which "breaking bread" merely means sitting down to a meal and has nothing whatsoever to do with a "religious occasion."
       8) I Corinthians 16:2: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him."
       What was it these hard-working Christians were to go out and accomplish on the first day of the week? They were agrarians: farmers, orchard keepers, and laborers who worked with their hands on the land. The context is found in the entire chapter and also in Romans the 15th chapter! A terrible drought had afflicted many of the brethren in the Judaean region, and the apostle Paul had said he would "go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia [and that's where Corinth was] to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem...When, therefore, I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain." Obviously, then, the apostle Paul was urging these Corinthian brethren to get out into their fields and orchards and labor "on the first day of the week" in the gathering of grains, vegetables and fruits! They would have a certain period of time in which to do this, and the apostle Paul was asking that they donate whatever number of days (depending upon the number of weeks involved) by setting aside the sum total of that day's hard labor and "storing it up" ("let every one of you lay by himself in store"!) so they would have the dried fruits and stored grain of several days' volunteer labor waiting for Paul and his traveling companions when they came. If I were to say to a farmer friend of mine that I was coming to visit and urged him to "lay by yourself in store on the first day of the week, so you don't have to be out there gathering when I come by," the gentleman would never in his wildest dreams think I was implying either a "Christian assembly" on Sunday, nor taking up a collection in church!
       Then why is that, as a custom, this scripture is oftentimes printed on the back of little collection envelopes distributed in church pews? As a boy I remember that very same scripture rubber-stamped on the back of collection envelopes--as if to imply this same scripture had something to do with giving an offering in church!
       Here were farmers and orchard keepers being asked of the apostle Paul to set aside the first workday of the week which was the "first day of the week" for volunteer labor.
       They would go out and work hard all the day long, sacking up and gathering foodstuffs and "laying it by in store," meaning storing it up until Paul came!
       If you "lay by yourself in store," doesn't that mean you conserve, put up, preserve, or store whatever it is you have gathered? Does it not also mean you keep it in your own house or barn on your own property?
       Of course it does!
       Paul went on to say, "And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality [all the foodstuffs they had laid up in store] unto Jerusalem."
       Remember, these are the only eight places in the Bible where the "first day of the week" is even mentioned! You cannot find one hint, or one remote indication that the first day of the week was viewed by Christians in the first century, or by the Bible writers, themselves, as anything other than a common workday!
       You do not see in any scriptures the "designation," or "hallowing," or "setting apart" of Sunday as "the Lord's day."

The Lord's Day

       But what about this expression "the Lord's day"? Millions of church-going, professing Christians are accustomed to referring to Sunday as "the Lord's day." As little children they have grown up hearing references to Sunday in such spiritual-sounding phraseology until it has become custom, habit.
       Now, continuing our verse-by-verse examination of all scriptures on this vital subject, let's look at the places in the Bible which mention "the Lord's day."
       Read Revelation 1:10: "I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice."
       Read the entire context. In this awesome book of Revelation, the apostle John is transported by the spirit into a time in the future which is spoken of in many biblical prophecies as "the Lord's day," or "the Day of the Lord"! What he begins to see and unfold in this book is a series of the most awesome cataclysms to ever descend upon the head of sinning, rebellious mankind!
       Just as other Bible writers (among them Isaiah, Joel, Micah and others) warn repeatedly about the great, dark, gloomy cataclysmic and destructive "Day of the Lord," so does the apostle John spell out in graphic and symbolic detail the great events of the coming intervention of God during the great and terrible "day of the Lord."
       It is a total distortion and wresting of the scripture for anyone to imply that the apostle John was speaking of Sunday as being "the Lord's day," for there is no mention whatever of "the first day of the week," or "Sunday," in this text!
       Other English versions of the Bible show the verse should be paraphrased, "I found myself projected forward into the great and terrible Day of the Lord by the spirit!" (paraphrased).
       Version after version of the Bible proves that John was referring to the transporting of himself forward into time so that what he saw and put down in his "Apocalypse" was the entire panorama of events from the beginning of the Great Tribulation until the end of the day of the Lord. No mention whatsoever of a "church meeting" or a spiritual occasion of any kind.
       But of what day is Jesus Lord? Turn to Mark 2:27: "And He said unto them, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath"! (Mark 2:27,28).
       Read that scripture carefully. It says the Sabbath was a day that was made. Of course! God created the Sabbath day by resting on the seventh day of His creation week! By putting His holy presence into that day and resting on that day, He "created" the Sabbath day! He set it apart and "hallowed it" as a day holy "unto the Eternal"! It is God's day, not ours.
       It belongs to Him! By the time Moses gave God's Ten Commandments to the Israelites, the Fourth Commandment said "REMEMBER the Sabbath day, to keep it holy!" The Ten Commandments given on Mount Sinai did not "make" the Sabbath day holy--they ordered the Israelites to remember that the Sabbath day had been "made holy many centuries earlier! It reminded them to "remember the Sabbath day" and to "keep" it holy--since it already was holy, and they should preserve the Sabbath day in that holy state by their conduct upon it!
       Notice, too, that the Sabbath was not "made for the Jews." It was made for man! That means it was made for the Chinese, Russians, Africans, North Americans, and all peoples! The Sabbath day was made for man; not just for one race, or one church, or one religion--but for all mankind!
       And, finally, notice the day of the entire week is the day of which Jesus is Lord! The Bible plainly says Jesus Christ is "Lord also of the Sabbath"! (Mark 2:28).
       Remember, Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the personality who dealt with the prophets and patriarchs of old. One has but to read the first chapter of John's Gospel, together with the first chapter of Hebrews, to prove this to himself conclusively.
       The "Word" of John 1 is clearly the One who was the Creator. "Without Him was not anything made that was made...He was in the world, and the world was made by Him" (John 1:10). See also I Corinthians 10:4 where Christ is identified as the Rock that was present with Israel during the Exodus.
       Therefore, the person of the Godhead who became our Savior, Jesus Christ of the New Testament, is the same person who created the Sabbath. He MADE the Sabbath; He is Lord of it--it is His special, hallowed, HOLY DAY!
       Jesus kept the Sabbath day all His human life. Of course, none of the Sunday-professing churches deny this. They try to imply the custom was changed following Jesus' resurrection. But was it, really? Let's let the Bible answer and not lean to our own understanding!

Paul Taught Gentiles on the Sabbath

       Millions assume the Sabbath is purely a "Jewish" holy day. They look upon it with contempt; call it a yoke of bondage--a legalistic, ritualistic, requirement that was "done away" on the cross!
       Then we should expect to find the famous "apostle to the Gentiles," Paul, insisting that Gentile Christians keep Sunday and completely REJECT the so-called "Jewish" Sabbath! In fact, the Word of God proves the opposite!
       Read of Paul and Barnabas during their travels through Gentile lands and cities, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God. On which day was this preaching and Bible teaching done?
       "But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia and went into the synagogue ON THE SABBATH day and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on" (Acts 13:14-15). Then follows Paul's lengthy discourse concerning Christ.
       Now notice! "And when the Jews were GONE OUT of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath" (Acts 13:42).
       These Gentiles supposed Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, would not be holding another religious meeting; would not preach and teach again until one whole week had transpired. Did Paul "keep Sunday" by this time, MANY YEARS after Christ's resurrection? Did he teach Gentiles to "keep Sunday"? Remember, the Jews were gone, now. No Jewish ears remained to hear Paul's answer to these eager Gentiles. Now that the Jews were GONE, shouldn't Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, have informed these Gentiles, "Why, you Gentiles don't need to wait a WHOLE WEEK for another teaching session--why, we New Testament, non-Jewish Christians always KEEP SUNDAY! You can come back TOMORROW! No need to wait a whole week for the next 'Jewish Sabbath,'" he could have said.
       But he didn't! He said nothing about any "Sunday" observance! Read the truth in your own Bible!
       "And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God" (Acts 13:44).
       A few verses later came Paul's famous statement "...lo, we turn to the Gentiles," following another bitter rejection from the Jewish religious leaders.
       And, after this famous statement, notice Paul's continuing custom! "And it came to pass in Iconium that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews and so spake..." (Acts 14:1). As Luke's narrative continues, after Paul said he turned to the Gentiles, we see him continuing to reach Jewish and Gentile "proselytes," and strangers in the main place of worship in each city and on the only day of recognized worship, the Sabbath!
       Much later, after the Jerusalem conference, Paul finally went to Macedonia, to Philippi. Read what happened in Acts 16:13. "And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Lydia was converted, and a great stir resulted which caused Paul and Silas to be thrown into prison! On what day did these apostles preach and teach? On the Sabbath. This was years and years after Christ's resurrection--and the account was not written by Luke until between 59 and 61 A.D.!
       Read the whole 16th chapter. Now, turn to chapter 17. Notice verse 2, "And Paul, as his manner was [this was custom, habit with the apostle Paul, the apostle to Gentile Christians!] went in unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, 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."
       Paul preached about Christ--and he continually preached on the Sabbath!
       When Paul went to Corinth, it was to be introduced to Aquila and Priscilla and to stay in their own home working at their trade, tentmaking. God was raising up a new church in the big city of Corinth. Notice how He did it! "And he [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks" (Acts 18:4). Later, after being beaten for preaching Christ to them, Paul said, "I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem," showing he was still observing God's annual Sabbaths, or holy days as well as the weekly Sabbath!
       Luke, the writer of Acts, wrote the book during Paul's Roman imprisonment from about 59 to 61 A.D. Read Acts 17:9. Luke is merely mentioning the season of the year; yet, he includes God's annual holy day, the "Day of Atonement." "Now when much time was spent and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was past..." Bullinger's Companion Bible carries the following footnote: "Fast: i.e. the tenth day of the seventh month, the day of Atonement, about October 1." The Philadelphia version of the King James carries a marginal reference saying Acts 27:9 refers to "the day of Atonement." This is the only commanded fast day and is an important annual Sabbath. It was natural for Luke, the chronologer and historian, to add this information, for the early church was still observing these holy days!

The Sabbath was Created

       But now let's go back--clear back to the very beginning--and see what God's Word says about the Sunday/Sabbath question.
       Open your Bible to Genesis, the first and second chapters. Remember, Jesus Christ said, "The Sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27).
       The Sabbath, then, according to your Savior, was MADE! God actually created the Sabbath day by resting on that day; by blessing, sanctifying and hallowing (making holy) that twenty-four hour period of time!
       God says, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them.
       "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made" (Genesis 2:2).
       Notice God finished "all his work." But God did NOT finish creating at the end of the sixth day.
       He was still to create yet one more "day" and begin the weekly cycle by the creation of that day--His holy Sabbath!
       "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made" (Genesis 2:3).
       Here is the creation account of the Eternal Creator God resting on the seventh day, thereby putting His presence into, sanctifying and making holy the seventh day of the week!
       Remember, there is no way you can tell one day from another without the use of a calendar. You may be able to discern gradual and subtle changes of the seasons; the days growing gradually shorter toward the colder winters (in the northern hemisphere) and longer during the summers--but without the aid of a calendar, you cannot tell which day is which!
       Months are easy to discern by merely glancing up at the moon. Years are not difficult to determine; they are reckoned not only by seasonal changes, but by the solstice and the vernal equinox.
       Each year our earth makes one journey around the sun. Each month the moon makes one journey around the earth. Each day the earth turns once on its axis. These are the facts and the laws of our immediate solar system; and this journey--this passage through time--is the way time is measured on this earth!
       Almighty God put the sun, all of our planets, our moon, and all the stars of the vast universe in their place! He calls them by name! The limitless POWER of that great God is not truly understood by most carnal men; and those who wish to argue, reason, use their own limited carnal and human minds in trying to sort out and decide for themselves how to worship God simply do not see His awesome greatness; are not truly worshiping the God of the universe, the great Creator God, who MADE all things and set them in motion!
       A "day" is a divine unit of time! How so? Because it is God who set the earth in its pattern around the sun started it rotating on its axis, and placed the moon where it is!
       Man may observe what God has done--but only God started the process; only God sustains the process; only God can stop the process.
       By putting His presence into the seventh twenty-four hour day of the creation week, God Almighty "blessed" and "sanctified" (meaning set apart for a holy purpose) the Sabbath day.
       Notice that none of the other days had names. As mentioned in the beginning of this booklet, the only day of the week dignified by a name is God's Sabbath day! He merely numbered the rest.
       From earliest antiquity the patriarchs observed God's Sabbath day.

The Law of God

       Many assume falsely that the law of God was not given until Sinai. Nothing could be further from the truth.
       Some of the most common scriptures quoted by evangelists are those concerning sin and the wages of sin. We know that all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and come short of the glory of God, and that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
       But few seem willing to acknowledge what sin IS. There is one vitally important scripture in the Bible that many Protestant evangelicals will never quote for the simple reason that it deals with the law of God--His Ten Commandments!
       Read it in you own Bible! "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" (I John 3:4).
       Of course it is utterly impossible for you to be arrested for "breaking the law" if no law exists! If there is no stop sign at a street intersection, it would be ludicrous for a traffic officer to pull you over and give you a ticket!
       God's Word says, "...for where no law is, there is no transgression" (Romans 4:15).
       Of course! There is only "sin" where there is a law being broken.
       The law of God was revealed orally and was perhaps transmitted from patriarch to son in various written forms long before the giving of the Decalogue on Mount Sinai!
       It was known even by pagan rulers that to break the principles of the Ten Commandments of God was sin. Notice that your Bible says "...the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Eternal exceedingly" (Genesis 13:13). Here, while God was still dealing with Abraham, long before the birth of Abraham's grandson, Israel (as his name was changed from Jacob) and any of his children who were the "children of Israel," your Bible shows God labeling certain actions, deeds, and ways of life as "sin"! And sin is law breaking!
       Read the account of how Abimelech was outraged when he discovered Abraham's falsehood to him concerning his wife (Genesis 20).
       Because Abraham had used the same artifice once earlier, he told Abimelech, king of Gerar, that Sarah was his sister. Notice that this pagan king understood it would have been a sin for him to have touched Abraham's wife!
       "Then Abimelech called Abraham and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? And what have I offended thee that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done" (Genesis 20:9).
       Remember the scriptures we read? Where there is no law, there can be no sin! Therefore, there was a law in existence--a law which was thoroughly understood even by these pagan kings who were not related to the patriarchal line.
       After Abraham had been tested and God knew his obedience and faith was absolute, God made the promise to Abraham unconditional.
       In reiterating His promise of multiple seed; great countries, nations, lines of kings, and national wealth which were to come to the progeny of Abraham, God said, "And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws" (Genesis 26:45).
       Here, long before Exodus 20 and the account of the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai, God's Word lists "My commandments, my statues, and my laws." Commandments mean the Ten Commandments. Statues mean written laws in addition to the Ten Commandments, and "laws" mean other laws and principles involving man's relationship to his fellow man and to his God.
       An entire system of law had been communicated from God to the patriarchs and handed down over the generations. It had to do with, as one can easily discern by using only those chapters of the Bible from Genesis 1 to Exodus 19 (excluding anything after Exodus 20 and the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai) the laws of inheritance, birthright, clean and unclean (Genesis 7), tithing (Genesis 14:20), landmarks, places of burial, theft, murder, adultery, the worship of the one true God, and many, many other laws and principles including the digging of wells, possession of personal property, separation of herds and cattle, and laws against perversion.
       In reading the history of Abraham's children, following Joseph's being sold into slavery, one is struck with the miraculous way in which the Almighty God intended preserving the children of Israel alive until they became a great nation, prior to His releasing them from slavery by a series of great miracles that broke the economic back of Egypt and reduced it to a lesser state--a place which it has occupied ever since.
       During their time in captivity, the Israelites had known nothing of any calendar except that of the Egyptians.
       It is vitally important to realize that when God began calling His people out of slavery (which is a type of sin) He had to reveal to them the meaning of time all over again!
       The Eternal spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you" (Exodus 12:12). Read the entire chapter of Exodus 12, and you will see God told them to take an unblemished lamb on the tenth day of that first month (Abib) and keep it until "between the two evenings" on the fourteenth day of that same month, at which time they were to kill the Passover!
       He said, "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Eternal throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance FOREVER!" (Exodus 12:14).
       This was binding between God and Israelitish people so long as a single Israelite remained alive. Are there Israelites still living today? If millions of Americans knew the truth of their national identity; their ancient origins; that the peoples of the United States and the British Commonwealth of Nations represent the "lost tribes" of the House of Israel, they would know a great deal more about the great responsibilities God shouldered upon us as a people--and a great deal more about biblical prophecies which are about to be fulfilled!
       It is vitally significant to notice that God called out His "church in the wilderness" by a combination of powerful miracles, and the designation of the first of His annual Sabbaths--the solemn feast of the Passover, and the seven days of Unleavened Bread!
       "Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
       "And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this self same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt; therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever.
       "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the month at even" (Exodus 12:14-17).
       Remember, Jesus said the Sabbath day WAS MADE! He did not say it was made "for the Jews"! He said it was made for man!
       The Sabbath was made when man was made-- and the annual holy days were pointed out and sanctified to God's people when the church was made The Israelitish nation brought out of Egypt is called "the church in the wilderness!"
       It was established by a powerful series of miracles on the first annual holy day!
       Notice that the New Testament church was established by a powerful miracle on an annual holy day--the Feast of Pentecost! (Acts 2).
       The Passover pictures the shedding of Christ's blood; His death, burial and resurrection. The Israelites, by painting the lamb's blood on the door posts and lintels of their homes, were protected when the death angel took the firstborn of Egypt!
       By contrast, New Testament Christians who accept the shed blood of Jesus Christ in their hearts are sanctified to God as the firstfruits to God from this world--and the miracle on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) sealed these "firstfruits" unto God from the spiritual wilderness of this world!
       Therefore God called His physical church out of a physical wilderness by great miracles on an annual holy day; and called His spiritual church out of a spiritual wilderness on an annual holy day!

The Test Commandment

       The Ten Commandments, written with the finger of God on stone, did not originate God's laws! God's holy laws were in existence from eternity--and began to be revealed to the first man, Adam! As you have seen, early patriarchs knew the truth about the type of an animal sacrifice picturing the need for a Savior for sins; knew the truth about tithing, clean and unclean, and certainly understood the weekly Sabbath day and kept it holy.
       Before the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, God plagued rebellious Israelites for refusing to rest on His holy Sabbath day!
       Turn to Exodus 16 and read the whole chapter. God sent "manna" for them to eat. He says, "And it came to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came unto Moses.
       "And he said unto them, This is that which the Eternal hath said, tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Eternal: bake that which ye will bake today and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
       "And they laid it up until the morning as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
       "And Moses said, eat that today; for today is a Sabbath unto the Eternal: today ye shall not find it in the field.
       "Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none."
       Here, Moses was instructing them concerning the gathering of food--toiling in the fields to gather twice as much on the sixth day as preparation for the Sabbath--and then resting on the Sabbath day!
       The people rebelled. It was found that some had gone out to gather on the Sabbath day but found none.
       As a result "...the Eternal said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" (Exodus 16:28).
       Notice, this is two whole chapters BEFORE Exodus 20--and the account of the giving of the Ten Commandments in stone!
       Yet God is showing the Sabbath is the test commandment--and asking the people how long they will refuse to keep His "commandments and His laws!"
       God said, "See, for that the Eternal hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
       "So the people rested on the seventh day" (Exodus 16:29,30).

The Ten Commandments

       Now turn to Exodus 20. At the giving of the Ten Commandments, the wording of the important fourth commandment: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Eternal thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, not thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Eternal made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Eternal blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8-11).
       First notice what this commandment does NOT say! It does not say the seventh day is the Sabbath "of the Jews!"
       It does say the Sabbath day was to be remembered--looking back to creation week when God made the Sabbath day; setting apart and even sanctifying it, making it a holy time!
       It shows that the seventh day belongs to God.
       It explains that God rested on the Sabbath day and "blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it."
       Only the Creator God can "make time." He made time by setting the entire universe in its place, our solar system, and our earth in their relative places--and commencing their various journeys about our own "star," a "yellow dwarf" among other stars in the Milky Way, our sun.
       The great, awesome power of the great God who did all this, commands that we acknowledge the FACT of His great creation; that He IS Creator--by looking back to that creation once every week!
       Sinning, rebellious, forgetful mankind, by failing to observe God's weekly Sabbath day, forgets that the great God created the heavens and the earth; that He gives them every beat of their heart, every breath of air they breathe into their lungs--that He has the power over their lives, their death, and the life hereafter!
       Many professing, church-going, "Christian" people do not look to God in great awe as Creator! They see only a limited God; an old, "retired" kind of God who does not have the awesome POWER to intervene in human affairs at any instant!
       Because billions of sinning human beings have forgotten God's Sabbath--they have forgotten to remember Him as CREATOR, and have therefore forgotten God!

A Perpetual Sign

       Even as God instituted His annual Sabbaths as a perpetual ordinance between Himself and His people--for so long as a single Israelite remained alive on this earth--so, in like fashion, He ordained that the weekly Sabbath was to be observed throughout the generations of the children of Israel!
       "And the Eternal spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children, saying, Verily my Sabbaths shall ye keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Eternal that doth sanctify you.
       "Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you; everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
       "Six days may work be done: but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Eternal: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
       "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
       "It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Eternal made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:12-17).
       This perpetual sign between God and His people was never abrogated. It has never been changed!
       Because God-rejecting, sinning human beings have substituted pagan customs for God's holy Sabbath day does not make it right. No body or collection of human beings, organized into any religious association or "church" whatsoever, has ever been given the right and the power to change the Sabbath!
       Notice that God once again points to the immutability of creation itself (Exodus 31:17) as He proclaims that the weekly Sabbath is a perpetual sign between Him and every generation of Israelites.
       Throughout the history of the two separate kingdoms of the house of Judah, with the capital at Jerusalem, and the house of Israel, with the capital at Samaria, you notice that whenever they forgot God, it was through the abandonment of His annual Sabbaths!
       Read II Chronicles 30. Here all Israel was commanded to keep God's Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread! So great was that Passover, and so greatly blessed were the people--and so greatly pleased was God, that they kept one of the greatest Passovers in all history.
       "So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, there was not the like in Jerusalem" (II Chronicles 30:26).
       Time and time again when a revolutionary restoration of the true service and worship of God took place, under the reign of a righteous king, the very first thing he did was to restore the knowledge and the observance of God's annual Sabbaths!

The Sabbath in the Millennium

       We have seen that the holy Sabbath day was kept long before the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. We have seen that the Ten Commandments require man to "REMEMBER" the Sabbath day; looking back to creation acknowledging God as Creator, and not to forget to keep His holy day!
       We see that the physical nation of Israel, the "church in the wilderness" was established by the mighty hand of God on an annual holy day (annual Sabbath). We have seen that each time there was a great restoration to the true ways and the knowledge of God, the righteous restored the observance of God's annual Sabbath!
       Now turn to Isaiah 56 and notice the setting of this chapter.
       God says, "Thus saith the Eternal, keep ye judgment and do justice for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
       "Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the Son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
       "...for thus saith the Eternal unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
       "Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
       "Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Eternal, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Eternal, to be His servants, everyone that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
       "Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
       "The Lord Eternal which gathered the outcasts of Israel, saith, yet will I gather others to Him, besides those that are gathered under Him" (Isaiah 56: 1-8).
       The setting of this chapter is millennial. God makes it clear that His salvation is "near to come"; that His righteousness will "be revealed," and that He will bring even Gentiles, and those who could not normally have entered into the camp of Israel, into His "house," and give them "an everlasting name!"
       Why?
       In part, for not failing to keep the Sabbath! Now read Zechariah the 14th chapter. Again, the setting is millennial.
       Verse 1 describes the Day of the Lord; verse 2, the great battle of Armageddon, and verse 4, the second coming of Jesus Christ. What will be one of the very first commands the great King of kings and Lord of lords will issue after He stands upon the Mount of Olives, the resurrected saints all about Him, and the very beginning of the Kingdom of God in evidence?
       Notice!
       "And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left, of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Eternal of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
       "And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Eternal of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
       "And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague wherewith the Eternal will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
       "This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles!" (Zechariah 14:16-19).
       Now, go back and get the whole picture.
       The Sabbath day was created at creation. It was made for man and given to all mankind, long before the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.
       It was known even by pagan kings that to break any point of God's law constituted sin.
       When God formally presented His newly founded nation (called out of Egypt on an annual Sabbath) He gave them the Fourth Commandment in order to insure they would remember the fact that He had created holy time thousands of years before at creation!
       They were tested and tried again and again. The Sabbath was the great "test commandment" as to whether the people of God would be faithful to His commands or not.
       Even prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments, God had asked them, "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" referring to their rebellion in attempting to gather food on the Sabbath!
       He instituted the Sabbath as a perpetual sign between Himself and His people.
       Whenever righteous kings got back to the way of God, they restored knowledge of both the weekly and the annual Sabbaths.
       God showed that the observance of the Sabbath was a requirement for even the eunuchs and Gentiles to enter into His Kingdom.
       The first edict the returning, conquering Christ will send forth will be an order that even such pagan nations as Egypt, are commanded to come to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles!
       The entire scope and sweep of this span of time goes from creation, itself, until the beginning of the Kingdom of God!
       Even if there were no New Testament examples, we would be able to discern from the Old Testament alone that the Sabbath day spans the entire distance in time from creation to the millennium! It was made, instituted and "sanctified" at creation. It was revealed to the patriarchs. It was known by pagan kings. God made the Sabbath a part of the Decalogue, insisting the Israelites remember the day He had made holy many years before.
       Righteous kings, in restoring the true worship, always got back to the weekly Sabbath and the annual holy days.
       It will be implemented in the Millennium!
       Is there any argument which is going to stand up before Almighty God in the judgment day from carnal, rebellious mankind who insist on clinging to man-made traditions, fables, mythology, or the so-called "authority" of the Roman Catholic Church?

The "Spirit of Anti-Christ"

       What is the seeming automatic resentment in human hearts and minds against God's Holy Sabbath day? Why do so many insist on seeing the beautiful rest, the full twenty-four hour period of relaxation, contemplation, Bible study, prayer, church attendance, and warm fellowship with God's people, as "bondage"?
       The carnal mind is automatically enmity, resentment, against God! It is not "subject" to the LAW of God! (Romans 8:7). The carnal, fleshly, unconverted mind seeks excuses, arguments, human reasons for getting around God's laws. Why?
       Notice!
       "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is the spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is in the world" (I John 4:2-3).
       The Greek word for "is to come" is Erchomai, and is only used in the present or imperfect tenses--not the past. This scripture is not saying, "every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ once came in the flesh..." It is telling us we must confess that Jesus Christ is now coming in the flesh!
       But how?
       Through the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit!
       Notice! "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ BE IN YOU, the body is dead because of sin: but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead DWELL IN YOU, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that DWELLETH IN YOU!" (Romans 8:9-11). Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).
       Many scriptural references show how Christ is to live His life within us!
       Paul said, "Christ in us, the hope of glory..."
       This is not merely an empty, human "emotion"! It is not "playing church," or "playing at religion." It is much, much more than a "spiritual-sounding phrase"!
       God's Word shows it must become FACT!
       That means that the powerful, life-giving, indwelling presence of your very Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, is to miraculously LIVE WITHIN YOU--dwell within your mind and heart!
       The spirit of "antichrist" denies this great miracle; this is essential to salvation!
       But those who "in Christ Jesus" are those who know the very mind of Christ, Himself, must dwell in them!
       Jesus Christ is the Person of the Godhead who wrote the Ten Commandments! He is CREATOR (John 1, Hebrews 1) and was the "Rock" that followed the Israelites in the wilderness! (I Corinthians 10:4).
       As such, He is the Creator of the Sabbath day! He is "Lord of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28).
       That same great Creator God of the Old Testament became flesh; became your Savior (I John 1:3,14).
       Notice that this great Being NEVER CHANGES! "For I am the ETERNAL, I change not: therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" (Malachi 3:6).
       "Jesus Christ the same yesterday [from creation until now], TODAY (right NOW, TODAY), and forever [for ALL ETERNITY!] (Hebrews 13:8).
       If any Christian-professing person denies that this SAME great Creator Being who wrote the Ten Commandments in stone, and who CREATED the Sabbath day, is not living His same, consistent, law-abiding life within that Christian person, he is NOT "Christian" at all--but of the spirit of "antichrist"!
       The Sabbath day is the great sign between God and His people down through the ages! Its counterfeit is the "day of the sun," Sunday, which Satan the devil has foisted off on an unsuspecting, deceived mankind.
       Think about what you have read.
       The Bible clearly proves Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament. Christ must live His righteous, Spirit-filled life within us if we are truly Christians! He says He never changes.
       The great Creator (Christ) MADE the Sabbath day, and He made it for man. He is Lord of the Sabbath day today.
       Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath day when He was on this earth, and He has set us an example that we should follow His steps (I Peter 2:21).
       If Jesus Christ says HE CHANGES NOT; if He says He is the SAME yesterday, today, and forever; if Jesus Christ is living by His Spirit within you, then WHICH DAY WOULD HE BE KEEPING TODAY? God's Holy Sabbath, of course!
       Paul told the Hebrews, "For if Joshua [a type of Christ] had given them rest [a symbol of the Millennium and type of the Sabbath], then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a KEEPING OF THE SABBATH [Greek: Sabbatismos] to the people of God" (Hebrews 4:8,9).
       No amount of clever argument will ever alter the facts of your Bible! The Sabbath day belongs to God. It was created at creation for mankind. The Creator who brought time, itself, into existence, and who hallowed the Sabbath, came down to earth and died for His own creation, He can now live His life within truly converted persons through the power of the Holy Spirit. The evidence that we are converted is Christ within us; the Holy Spirit of God motivating, leading, guiding and inspiring us. If Christ is in you--He will be keeping His holy Sabbath day today--tomorrow--and forever!