Expert: Cooper P. Abrams III - 8/25/2004

Question
I read your answer to June, regarding the National Sunday Law by Pastor Jan Marcussen. Brother Abrams you are misleading people on the truth of the Bible. Read the book before you make the comment that you made regarding the book National Sunday Law. There is not one single Bible text supporting Sunday as a day of worship. You said there was non supporting Saturday, but you are dead wrong. there is many. Write me at P.O. Box 344 Scottsboro, AL 35768 I can prove to you from the Bible that you are wrong. I am going to send you just a few texts to feast on. James 2:12; Proverbs 3:1, 2; Romans 3:20; Romans 7:7; Psalm 111:7, 8; Luke 16:17; Psalm 89:34; I John 3:4 Romans 6:23. These few text expounded on the law. Now some Bible texts on the Sabbath.  Luke 4:16; Exodus 20:8-11; Mark 16:1, 2; Genesis 1:1; Genesis 2:2, 3; Deuteronomy 9:10; Acts 17:2; Acts 13:13, 14; Acts 16:13; Acts 18:4; Isaiah 56:2, 6, 7; Acts 13:42, 44; Acts 18:4; Isaiah 66:22, 23; Isaiah 58:13; Matthew 12:8; Daniel 7:25; Matthew 15:6, 9; Ezekiel 22:26, 28; Ezekiel 20:12; I Peter 2:21; Hebrews 5:9; Ezekiel 22:26, 31;  John 14:15; James 4:17; Revelation 14:12; and Revelation 22:14. You keep Sunday because of Rome. Study the history of this thing along with your Bible and just see how and when Sunday first became the official day of worship. That is for some of you . But for me and my house I am going to keep God's day that He made for me and you. Goid gave you and I six (6) days but He said the seventh (7) day is His day. It is a holy day, set aparyt from all the otrher six. Mark 2:27 says the Sabbath was made for man, not Jews. The Jewish Nation did not even exist until 2,500 years after the Sabbath was made.  Study the Sanctuary and its services and you will understand Colossians 2:16. Do you truly understand the text Colossians you quoted to June? I dont think so. Whose body cast the shadow on the earthly sanctuary? The body of Jesus cast a giant shadow over the whole earth for you and I. Chtrist made the DSabbath and He also kept His own Sabbath, even while in the tomb. This is sweet Please let June read this and go by the thus say the Word of God and the teaching of the Holy Spirit. God has shown her and she better hold on tho what she has learned from the book National Sunday Law.  I love you brother and I am praying that you study the sanctuary and ist services to help you better understand Colossians and the Important of the seventh day Sabbath, Saturday not Sunday. Sunday came from Sun worship, not SON worship. God's only begotten SON. gOD'S sABBATH WAS ESTABLISHED BY gOD hIMSELF, NOT MAN.

Answer
Hi,
   Following is a brief explanation of the matter of what day is proper for Christians to worship.   I hope it answers your question.
Cooper Abrams, Bible-truth.org
Are Christians Suppose to Keep the Sabbath?
(The following with some editing is taken from "SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM" By David W. Cloud
Copyright 1994, 1999, Way of Life Literature, 1701 Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277)

  The New Testament plainly teaches that the believer today is not bound to the Sabbath law.  "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ" (Col. 2:16-17).

   In all the instruction God gave the churches in the epistles, there is only one mention of the Sabbath (Colossians 2:16) and that one mention was only to show that it is not binding upon New Testament believers. Is it not strange, in light of the fact that the New Testament epistles mention the Sabbath only once and that only to show it is not now binding to Chrisitians.

  Keeping the Sabbath is more that just worshipping on Saturday.   The Sabbath law was severe and rigid. (1) No work, Ex. 20:10; 31:14-15; (2) bear no burden, Je. 17:21; (3) light no fire, Ex. 35:3. Only in relatively warm climates such as that in Israel could this be reasonably observed. The law of the Sabbath was so severe that God had an Israelite stoned merely for gathering sticks to build a fire because by this he broke the Sabbath law (Nu. 15:32-36). The law was not given to be a blessing. The Apostle Peter had lived under the law all his life until he was converted in his adult years, and he called it a yoke of bondage "which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear" (Acts 15:10).  The Lord Jesus did not change the law.  If one is to keep the Old Testament Law then one must keep it all.   Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 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" (Mt. 5:17-18).

  James 2:10 informs us that the law cannot be broken. Thus, anyone desiring to observe the Sabbath of the Mosaic law must observe it exactly as God demanded in the Old Testament. And such a one must observe every other detail of the law. The Old Testament law is not the Christian's standard; Christ is!

  By reducing the requirements of the Sabbath law, . . .destroys the power of the Mosaic law to reveal the need for the Savior. The Mosaic law was never intended as a way of life for the justified man,  "knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man..." (1 Tim. 1:9). The law was intended solely as a schoolmaster to bring the sinner to the Savior and to His salvation.

  God first gave the sabbath as a duty to man in the book of Exodus. It is true that the sabbath originated at the completion of the creation (Ge. 2:1-3), but that was God's rest, not man's. There is no record in Genesis that God gave the sabbath to man, and there is no record of men keeping the sabbath before Israel in the wilderness. Neh. 9:13,14 plainly states that the sabbath was first given to Israel. Seventh-day Adventists and other misinformed groups,  teach that men kept the sabbath from the days of Adam onward, but this is contrary to the Bible's own record.

  Ex. 31:12-18 says the sabbath was a special sign between God and Israel. If mankind in general had been given the sabbath following creation, it could not have been a sign for Israel. The fact is that the sabbath belongs to the nation Israel and not to any other people. It is also important to note that the sabbath will be an eternal possession of Israel (Ex. 31:16). This sign will never be annulled or transferred to another people. This explains why the prophets foretell that Israel will keep the sabbath even after the kingdom of Christ is established on earth (Isa. 66:23).[ The Kindgom of Christ will be set up in the Millennium, following the 70th Week of Daniel, the Great Tribulation]  It also explains why Jesus Christ mentioned the sabbath in His prophecies of the Tribulation (Mt. 24:20). Israelites in the land of Palestine still keep the sabbath today.

  In their writings to the churches, the Apostles only mentioned the sabbath three times. (1) The sabbath is a symbol of salvation rest in Christ (He. 4). (2) The N.T. believer is not bound to keep the sabbath (Col. 2:9-17). (3) The N.T. believer has liberty in the matter of holy days (Rom. 14). Those who teach that the sabbath is binding upon the Christian, are going contrary to what the Apostles taught.

  Why, then, did Jesus keep the Sabbath? He kept the sabbath for the same reason He kept all the other Mosaic laws. He also observed the feasts. Jesus did these things because He was born a Jew, born under the law, that He might fulfill it and redeem His people from its penalty and bondage (Ga. 4:4; Ro. 9:5).

  BIBLE EVIDENCE THAT EARLY CHRISTIANS WORSHIPPED ON SUNDAY:

1. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  Jesus rose from the dead (Mk. 16:9).
2. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  Jesus first appeared to his disciples (Mk. 16:9).
3. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  Jesus met with the disciples at different places and repeatedly (Mk. 16:9-11; Mt. 28:8-10; Lk. 24:34; Mk. 16:12-13; Jn. 20:19-23).
4. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  Jesus blessed the disciples (Jn. 20:19).
5. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  Jesus imparted to the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 20:22).
6. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  Jesus commissioned the disciples to preach the gospel to all the world (Jn. 20:21; with Mk. 16:9-15).
7. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  Jesus ascended to Heaven, was seated at the right hand of the Father and was made Head of all (Jn. 20:17; Ep. 1:20).
8. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  many of the dead saints arose from the grave (Mt. 27:52-53).
9. The first day of the week, Sunday,  became the day of joy and rejoicing to the disciples (Jn. 20:20; Lk. 24:41).
10. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  the gospel of the risen Christ was first preached (Lk. 24:34).
11. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  Jesus explained the Scriptures to the disciples (Lk. 24:27,45).
12. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  the purchase of our redemption was completed (Ro. 4:25).
13. On the first day of the week, Sunday,  the Holy Spirit descended (Ac. 2:1). Pentecost was on the 50th day after the sabbath following the wave offering (Le. 23:15,16). Thus Pentecost was always on a Sunday.
14. The Christians met to worship on the first day of the week, Sunday,  (Act. 20:6,7; 1 Cor. 16:2). Sunday is "the Lord's Day" (Rev. 1:10)

  The Galatians' observation of holy days caused the Apostle Paul to fear that they were not even saved!     "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. ... I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you" (Gal.  4:10-11,20).


  Since those days, the vast majority of Christians have always met to worship on the Lord's day. They do this in honor of the resurrection of their Savior. Christ was in the tomb during the sabbath, and rose as the firstborn from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday, . The sabbath signifies the last day of the old creation (Ge. 2:2). Sunday is the first day of the week, Sunday,  of the new creation.

  HISTORICAL EVIDENCE THAT EARLY CHRISTIANS WORSHIPED ON SUNDAY.

  The Epistle of Barnabas (about A.D. 100). "Wherefore, also we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead."
  The Epistle of Ignatius (about A.D. 107). "Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable. For if we still live according to the Jewish Law, we acknowledge that we have not received grace ... If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death."
  Justin Martyr (about A.D. 140). "And on the day called Sunday all who live in cities or in the country gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read. ... But Sunday is the day on which we all hold a common assembly, because it is the First day of the week, Sunday,  of the week on which God ... made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead."
  Bardesanes, Edessa (A.D. 180). "On one day the first of the week, we assemble ourselves together."
  Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 194). "He, in fulfillment of the precept, according to the gospel, keeps the Lord's Day ... glorifying the Lord's resurrection in himself."
  Tertullian (A.D. 200). "We solemnize the day after Saturday in contradiction to those who call this day their sabbath."
  Irenaeus (about A.D. 155-202). "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 off of the Paschal Feast."
  Cyprian (A.D. 250). "The eighth day, that is, the first day of the week, Sunday,  after the sabbath, and the Lord's Day."
  Apostolic Constitutions (A.D. 250). "On the day of the resurrection of the Lord--that is, the Lord's Day--assemble yourselves together without fail, giving thanks to God and praising Him for those mercies God has bestowed upon you through Christ."
  Anatolius (A.D. 270). "Our regard for the Lord's resurrection which took place on the Lord's Day will lead us to celebrate it."

  Today, believers live in the Dispensation of the churches when Christ is gathering himself a bride.   God is not working with the nation of Israel and God's prophetic clock stopped when He began the Church Age.   However, after the Rapture of the Body of Christ, God will once again begin to work with Israel during the Tribulation.   The Jews will rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and the sabbath day will be observed as it was in the Old Testament times.    The church is not the Nation of Israel.

  I hope this helps.  If you have further questions please write.....