THIS IS THE DAY

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city". Revelation 22:14

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it" Exodus 20:8-11

The Sabbath day is the seventh day. Exodus 20:10 “...the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God.” It is not any day in seven, nor is it the first day, Sunday. It is “the seventh day,” the last day of the week which memorialises creation, the only day God ever blessed, hallowed and sanctified. It is the day Jesus kept. It is the only commandment that begins with “Remember...” God knew it would be forgotten. It is the day we are commanded to rest from secular work.

Which day is the Seventh day? 1. Jesus and the Jews observed the seventh day. Religious Jews continued to keep the seventh day Sabbath till today - and it equates to sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. 2. The seven day week is observed all over the world. The seventh day in many languages is some form of the word Sabbath.

3. Lunar records show that time has not been lost. The seventh day today is the same as the seventh day in Jesus time. Hundreds of eclipses over the centuries confirm this.

Does the Bible pin-point which day is the Seventh day? "And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:50-56. "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. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." Luke 24:1-7

Christ was crucified on Friday, the Preparation Day

Christ rested in the tomb on Saturday, the Sabbath Day

Christ rose on Sunday, the first day of the week.

God gave the Sabbath at the end of creation week Genesis 2:1-2 “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. 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.”

The Sabbath was made for mankind Mark 2:27 “And he [Jesus] said unto them, The sabbath was made for MAN.” The Sabbath was made for all men not just Jews. The sabbath commandment is even for the “stranger.” (Exo 20:8-11; Isa 56:6).

The Sabbath will be observed by ALL peoples throughout eternity Isaiah 66:22, 23. “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, [that] from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall ALL FLESH come to worship before me, saith the LORD.” God is not going to have a group of people in heaven observing the Sabbath and another group observing Sunday.

Jesus observed the Sabbath Luke 4:16 “...as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.” John 15:10 “...I have kept my Fatherʼs commandments” If Jesus hadnʼt kept the Sabbath He would have been a sinner. Jesus did not however keep the burdensome unbiblical traditions that the Jews had added to the Sabbath.

Christ did not change His Sabbath day Matt 5:17-18 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

Christ will never change His sabbath Ps 89:34 “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” Exodus 20:1 “And God spake all these words, saying...[the ten commandments, including the Sabbath commandment, follow].”

The Sabbath did not end at Calvary. It is still the Lordʼs day “Rev 1:10 “I was in the spirit on the Lordʼs day...” This was written ~60 years after Calvary and shows that the Lord still has a day. Sometime after the Bible was finished certain writers began to call Sunday the Lordʼs day. However the inspired writers of the Bible only ever calls the seventh day the Sabbath, the Lordʼs day (Mark 2:28; Matt 12:8; Isa 58:13; Exo 20:8-11). As the Bible must be allowed to define the “Lordʼs day” and as Jesus says the 7th day is the day of which He is Lord, it is clear that the Lordʼs day is the seventh day Sabbath.

Christʼs followers observed the 7th day Sabbath even after Calvary Luke 23:53-24:1 “...beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.”

The Sabbath cannot be changed As Jesus made no changes to the Sabbath before His death it can never be changed after his death. Heb 9:16-17 “For where a testament [is], there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament [is] of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” When the testator (will maker) dies no changes can be made. Gal 3:15 “Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though [it be] but a manʼs covenant, yet [if it be] confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.”

The Apostles observed the Sabbath Acts 17:2 “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,” Acts 18:4 “And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.”

Acts 13:13-14, 42-44 “...they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down... And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath...And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.”

Acts 16:13 “And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted [thither].”

Note: It was Paulʼs habit to observe the Sabbath. He sought worshippers on the Sabbath. He reasoned with Jews AND Greeks. He never told the Gentiles to meet on Sundays. The lack of controversy over the Sabbath between Jews and Christians shows that they observed the same day.

The seventh day is still the sabbath The writers of the New Testament writing AFTER Calvary still called the seventh day of the week “the Sabbath,” which they would not have done had the Sunday become the Sabbath.

Christ wanted His followers to observe the Sabbath even after His death Matt 24:20 “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:”

Note: The Christians fled Wed. AD66.

Godʼs foretold that the Gentiles would observe the Sabbath “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... Also the sons of THE STRANGER, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, EVERY ONE that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it...” Isaiah 56:2, 6, 7

The Sabbath is a sign of righteousness by faith. The Sabbath rest reminds us that God CREATED us and that He CREATES in us a clean heart (Ps 51:10). As we rest on the Sabbath we remember that salvation is not by our works but by Godʼs works.

How important is Sabbath keeping? James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.” Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” James 4:17 “...to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.” Note: To those who know that God commands us to observe the seventh day Sabbath, it is a matter of life and death.

God is upset by the ministers who knowingly ignore His Sabbath Eze 22:26 “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things... have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.”

How are the saints described? “Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev 14:12. Rev 22:14 “Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”

What does this mean for those who keep Sunday? Acts 17:30 “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:” Christ accepts many of those who keep Sunday. However, when the light of truth comes only those who walk in the light continue to be accepted by Christ (John 3:19).

God makes a perfect law and perfect laws are not changed. God wrote it on stone to show that He meant it to last forever.

QUESTIONS Col 2:14-17 “Blotting out the handwrit- ing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross... Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

There were ceremonial sabbaths “BESIDES the [weekly] sabbaths of the Lord.” See Lev 23:32, 37-38. Colossians 2 refers to these ceremonial sabbaths such as the first day of the feast of unleavened bread which was a shadow pointing forward to Christ. These ceremonial sabbaths were “against us” but the weekly Sabbath was made “FOR man.” Mark 2:27-28. Eze 45:17 mentions the “burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths.”

This “law of commandments [contained] in ordinances,” Christ “abolished.” Eph 2:15. Because Christ has abolished and blotted out these ceremonial things we are not to let anyone judge our non-observance of them. Christ blotted out the CEREMONIAL LAW of ordinances (rights and ceremonies) not the moral law of ten commandments.

Exodus 16:29 Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day The context shows that this applied to not going out of oneʼs place TO GATHER MANNA. Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath (Luke 4:16), He walked in the corn fields (Matt 12:1) and He was not a sinner. In heaven all peoples all over the world will come to worship before God every Sabbath (Isa 66:23).

Does Exo 31:13 show that the Sabbath is a sign ONLY between God and Israel? It does not say that it is a sign ONLY between God and literal Israel. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for MAN (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath was given at the end of creation week long before the Jewish race existed (Gen 2:2-3). Isaiah foretold the blessing that would come on “the son of the stranger” that “keepeth the Sabbath.” (Isa 56:1-8). All men will observe the Sabbath through-out eternity (Isa 66:22-23). The Jews released from bondage was to encourage them to keep the commandments. Our release from the bondage of sin should encourage us to keep our Lordʼs commandments.

Acts 1:12 A Sabbath days journey? The Pharisees, not God, invented the sabbath days journey restrictions. (See Mishnah, Shabbath 7.2). It is used as a distance in Acts 1:12 but it is not a God given restriction.

Neh 9:12-13 Was the Sabbath first made known to men at Sinai? “Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And MADEST KNOWN unto them thy holy SABBATH, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:”

Does this show that the Sabbath did not exist before Sinai? In Ezekiel 20 God said, “...I MADE MYSELF KNOWN unto them [Israel], in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.” (Eze 20:9). Does this show that God did not exist before Israel came out of Egypt?! The people knew of the Sabbath before Sinai just as they knew of God before the Exodus (See Exo 16, esp... v 23).

The Sabbath commandment begins with the words “Remember the Sabbath...” showing that it was already known. If Nehemiah 9 meant that the Sabbath did not exist before Sinai then it also meant that neither did Godʼs commanded precepts, statutes, and laws for they were also given at Sinai. Men certainly knew of Godʼs law before Sinai. “Where no law is, there is no transgression (Rom 4:15) and as transgression did exist before Sinai the law existed before Sinai. The Sabbath was made for man and sanctified (set aside for holy use) at the end of creation week (Gen 2:1-3) and Adam was a man who kept the Lord's Sabbath.

Where are we commanded to observe the Sabbath in the New Testament? It would be more appropriate to ask, where are we told to STOP observing the Sabbath? The Sabbath was kept throughout the Old Testament. 59 New Testament texts mention the Sabbath and none tell us to stop observing it. None call it Jewish. The Apostles observed it (Luke 23:56; Acts 13:42-44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4). The only day the Lord calls His is the Sabbath and the Lordʼs day still exists (Rev 1:10).

The Sabbath still existed in AD66 when the Christians fled Jerusalem (Matt 24:20). The lack of any controversy between Jews & Christians as to which day to observe is powerful evidence that they kept the same day.

Nowhere in the Bible are we told to observe Sunday.

Jesus said: "But he answered and said,It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4

Jesus also laid down what it means to be a true follower of Christ, a true Christian: "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31,32

Trust God's word and follow it and you will find true freedom from SIN.