Episode Transcript
Are you ready to experience the amazing love of God and his plan for your life? Are you curious about the fast fulfilling Bible prophecies? Amidst the rapidly changing world, secrets of prophecy is your gateway to unlocking these exciting realities. Join Pastor David Price on a journey of discovery that will not only transform your life, but will equip you with inner peace and an unshakable hope to face the future. It's my pleasure to welcome you to secrets of prophecy session number twelve.
It's great to be together for this important study. In session twelve, we are going to investigate the origins of Sunday as a day of worship. Let's get straight into our discovery questions.
Our discovery points are, number one, we need to ask which day really is the Lord's day? Because many people believe the Lord's day is the day of the sun. Sunday number two, was the Sabbath abolished in the New Testament? Was it ever cancelled, abrogated or done away with? Number three, did the apostles or the early church actually keep the 7th day Sabbath number four, how did the christian worship day actually change? That's an important point. And number five, what's the primary reason for keeping God's 7th day Sabbath? So it's good to be together and as is our custom, let's ask God to be with us.
Gracious heavenly Father, again we would ask for the blessing of the Holy Spirit to rightly understand your holy scriptures, that your blessing might rest upon us and give us wisdom and understanding. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.
So I'd like to thank you for joining me for symbol of the sun session number twelve. And you can download the study guide from under the description bar on the online channel. Let's get started.
Throughout history, many ancient cultures worship the sun. Light and heat were essential elements to cultures dependent on agriculture. And as a result, the great force of the sun became the object of their worship.
Sun worship began in Babylon with the God Shamash and spread to Egypt with the God Ra, to Assyria with the God Baal, to Persia with Mithra, and to Canaan with Moloch. And over time, sun worship spread to Greece, the Aztecs, the Incas of Peru, Japan, India, and even the empire of Rome. The sun and its life giving rays became a universal religious symbol.
This symbol can be seen in the ark and architecture of virtually every ancient civilization of the world. By the time of pagan Rome, sun worship was typically conducted on the first day of the week. While the Hebrews simply numbered the days of the week except for the 7th day which was called the Sabbath.
The pagan religions named the days. According to their planetary gods, the first day of the week became Sunday, since the sun was the greatest of all the stars and the planets. But friends, God was very clear in his opposition to false worship.
He was against the worship of the stars and the planets. In deuteronomy 17 three we who has gone and served other gods and worshipped them, either the sun or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded. Friends, in the early church, there was a clear distinction between God's people and the surrounding pagan nations.
There were those who followed the creator, the creator God, and worshipped him on the 7th day, Sabbath. They were honouring their creator. The pagans, however, worshipped on the first day of the week, the non Christians honouring that which was created.
That is the son coming to modern times. In the book the Da Vinci Code, Sir Lee Teabing makes an interesting observation. We quote even Christianity's weekly holy day, Washington stolen from the pagans.
Originally, Christianity honoured the jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but Constantine shifted it to coincide with the pagans veneration day of the sun. To this. Most churchgoers attend services on Sunday morning with no idea that they are there on account of the pagan sun gods weekly tribute.
That is Sunday. So is Lee teabings correct in his view of history? Did the Sabbath actually change from Saturday to Sunday? And if so, who made the change? And let's ask, when did it all happen? We also need to ask, should christians keep Sunday in honour of the resurrection? And is it possible that christians today are honouring the sun God instead of the son of God? In this study guide, you will discover the amazing secrets behind one of the greatest deceptions and cover ups throughout history. And that is the change of the Sabbath into Sunday.
So thank you so much for joining us for secrets of prophecy session number twelve, which is entitled the symbol of the sun. Let's go straight into question number one. According to the Bible, which day is the Lord's day? Well, the Bible is very, very clear on that.
And so we're going to go to Exodus 2010 and we are going to consult the fourth commandment Moses wrote on behalf of the Lord God. But the 7th day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. So the Bible is very, very clear that the 7th day is the Sabbath of the Lord.
Let's now consult Jesus. In Matthew 228, we're asking, according to the Bible, which day is the Lord's day? The Lord Jesus himself said, therefore, the son of man is lord of the Sabbath. So Jesus claims to be the creator, the Lord, the master, the boss, of the 7th day Sabbath.
According to the last book of the Bible, the revelation of Jesus Christ, written by John the revelator, the disciple of Jesus, the Lord has a special day that's mentioned in revelation 110. This day has been blessed and made holy in both the old and the New Testaments. The Lord's day is the Sabbath.
Not once does the Bible refer to Sunday as the Lord's day. It's just another workday within the week. So let's ask a question.
Which day is really the Lord's day? Well, let me summarise. In Exodus 2010, we just discovered the 7th day is the Sabbath of the Lord. In Mark 228, we just discovered that Jesus Christ said he was the lord of the Sabbath.
In Isaiah 50 813, the Sabbath is called my holy day. It's also called the holy, meaning the holy day of the Lord. So we have to ask the question, can any other day but the 7th day Sabbath? The fourth commandment refer to the Lord's day, and the answer is no.
Or Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Let's go to question number two. Does the Bible indicate that Sunday is the new worship day for christians? Now we have to discover how somebody has changed the 7th day of the week, the biblical Sabbath, which falls on Saturday into the first day of the week that is Sunday, as the new day of worship.
So let me share with you three points that we need to find as we go through this study. The question must be asked, what would be needed to conclusively prove that Sunday is now authorised as the new day to worship God? Point number one, we would need a specific text or command by someone of authority to obliterate the Sabbath. It would be even be better if it came from the Lord God himself.
That's absolutely essential. Point number two, we would need a specific command by the Lord Jesus Christ to observe the first day of the week as a new day of worship. That's the second point that we would need.
Thirdly, we would need clear examples of Sunday worship by New Testament Christians, led by the apostles Paul and Peter and the others. So, friends, let's place that test alongside our discovery tonight and see if any of those points can be validated. The note under question two says, the underlying principle throughout this secrets of prophecy Studies series is a commitment to base every belief on one thing and one thing alone.
That is the word of God in the entire Bible. There are just nine references to the first day of the week. You will now be able to examine every passage to see for yourself what the Bible actually says.
About Sunday. And there are the nine first day texts found in the holy scriptures on your screen. Well, let's go systematically through each one of these to see if any of these first day texts give us an indication that it is indeed a new day of worship.
Let's go to reference number one, and that is the creation of the world. And we'll go to our first day text, which is Genesis one and verse five. This is reference one of the nine texts of Moses wrote that God called the light day and the darkness he called night.
So evening and morning were the first day. The Book of Genesis actually provides the historical record of God creating the world. God worked on the first six days of the week, then rested on the 7th day in Genesis two.
Two, the days of creation. Point out where and how the 7th day was established as the Sabbath. Let's go to reference points number 2345 and six to the first day of the week in the scriptures.
We're moving now to the New Testament starting in Matthew 28 one. These all have to do with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. All days in scripture were numbered by numbers, named by numbers.
So the first day of the week was the first day after the Sabbath, second day, third day, etcetera, etcetera. So let's have a look at reference number two of nine. In Matthew 28 and verse one, Matthew wrote, now, after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, and Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
So this is just a historical record that as the Sabbath passes and the sun sets, they go into the first day of the week and it begins to dawn. And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, they come to see the tomb. What's exciting in these passages is you'll see the different perspectives of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and how they view the resurrection accounts.
So we go to our reference number three, or the second of the resurrection accounts in mark 16. Let's have a look at verses one and two. Now, when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, brought spices that they might come and anoint him.
It continues on very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. So, friends, it's merely a historical account of the women visiting Jesus tomb. Let's go to Mark, chapter 16 and verse nine reference four of the nine for first day text.
It says, now, when Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons. So we're getting extra information about the encounter of Jesus with Mary at the tomb. Let's go and see what Luke says in Luke, chapter 24 one.
This is reference five of nine and the fourth resurrection. Reference Luke wrote, now, on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared. That's a very significant text because it tells us that they did not anoint Jesus body with the spices on that good Friday afternoon.
And there's a very good reason for that. In John, chapter 20 and verse one, what did John have to say in reference six of nine first day texts? John wrote, now, the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the term early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So, friends, how can we summarise what we've just read? These five references to the first day of the week provide a historical account of the resurrection of Jesus.
But not one of them indicates that Sunday was or would become a holy day. There are four other points of interest that we want to share with you. Let's consider them.
Number one, the first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath. Therefore, Sunday could not possibly be the Sabbath of the Bible. See Matthew 28, one and mark 16, one and two.
As we have just read point number two, the women came to the tomb to do some work on Sunday that they were not prepared to do on the Sabbath. Mark 16 one and two, Luke 23 57 and Luke 24 one. That work was the anointing of Jesus body.
Isn't that interesting? They would not anoint Jesus Christ's body because the Sabbath had arrived and they were not going to work on the Sabbath, and they kept it according to the commandment. Had the Sabbath been done away with, this is very surprising because they would not. They would have been able to anoint his body if the Sabbath had been done away with.
And I'm sure that Jesus would have told them. Point number three. The Book of John, which was written over 60 years after the resurrection, does not even hint at a change in the day of worship.
So point number four is the first day is not referred to as the Lord's day or even the new Sabbath. Jesus rested in the tomb on the Sabbath and rose again on the first working day of the week, which was Sunday. Let's go to our next heading.
This is reference number seven. About the frightened disciples. We're needing to find out if the disciples were starting a new day of worship.
Some have seen in the verse in John 2019 the start of a new worship day service. So here is reference seven of nine. We go to John, chapter 20 and verse 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, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, peace be with you. Isn't this fascinating? So we're told why they have joined together. The doors are shut.
It can't be a worship service. They're not letting anybody in. Friends, the group of discouraged disciples huddled together in a room because they were scared of the jews.
They weren't meeting for a worship service. They had just witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus and they were fearful of suffering the same fate. The disciples did not even believe Jesus had risen from the dead in mark 1614, so they certainly were not holding a worship service in honour of the risen Christ.
I'm going to take a moment to share with you mark 1614. To prove the point, Mark wrote in chapter 16 and verse 14. Later, Jesus appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table.
And Jesus rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who'd seen him after he had risen. Our next heading is reference number eight. We're looking now at Paul's preaching.
Is this another instance of a new day of worship that has started in the New Testament? We're going to acts chapter 20 and we're going to look at verses seven to 13. This is reference eight of nine. Luke writes in acts chapter 20, for he was the doctor, the physician and the historian.
Now, on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered. Friends, I'm just going to take some time out here and share with you some extra material to just summarise and tease out what was actually going on here in acts 27 to 13.
So this, of course, is, as the scripture said, the first day of the week. We need to ask, what time of the day was it? Well, there were many lamps in the upper room. We know the scripture said that Paul was long preaching.
He spoke until midnight at least. So I must ask the question, was the meeting in the daytime or the nighttime of the first day of the week? Now, we have three options and we need to ask, in Bible times, when does a Bible day begin and end? And some would say midnight, because that's the roman system. Modern people would say the day begins at sunrise, and yet some believe the day begins at sunset.
So we need to get our answer on when the day actually begins. So let's go to scripture and the book of beginnings. The book of Genesis is the place to start.
Let's go to Genesis one and have a look at the following verses. In Genesis one, it says, verse five. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
In verse eight, it says, and so the evening and the morning were the second day. In verse 13, it says, so the evening and the morning were the third day. In verse 19, it says, so the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
Friends, scripture is very, very clear, isn't it? According to the Bible, a day begins and ends at sunset. So we know the ancients did not have all the time keeping pieces that we have, phones, watches, etcetera, digital devices. So they knew their day began with sunset in a blaze of glory.
So this then raises a question about what's going on here, what time this so called worship service was being held in acts 27 and eight. It's interesting how the good news Bible interprets it. Instead of saying, on the first day of the week, the good news Bible correctly translates, on Saturday evening, we gathered together for the fellowship meal.
Paul spoke to the people and kept on speaking until midnight, since he was going to leave the next day. Now, it's obvious if he spoke to midnight, that it must be, of course, Saturday night. So this is very, very important that we understand that after midnight, the scripture says, and in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep.
He was overcome by sleep. And as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. Let's go on.
But Paul went down, fell on him, and, embracing him, said, do not trouble yourselves, for your life is in him now. When he come up, he had broken bread and eaten and talked a long while, even till daybreak, which, of course, is dawn Sunday morning. And then Paul departed.
We're in acts 20 713. Then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Essos there, intending to take Paul on board. Also, he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot.
And when he met us at Essos, we took him on board and came to Mytilene, end of quote. Friends, did you note all this activity and work actually takes place on Sunday, which some are suggesting is the new day of worship. So let's just review the events of acts, chapter 20, verses seven to 13.
Point number one. It was Saturday evening, the biblical first day of the week, or Sunday, when Paul was preaching. Paul preached at midnight.
But sometime after midnight, Eutychus falls out of the window and dies. Paul goes downstairs, raises him up, means resurrected him, and continues talking and preaching till daybreak. Sunday morning.
Sunday morning his friends sail to Essos around Cape Lectum, while Paul walks the 30 odd kilometres. Then Paul joins them at Essos and they sail on to Mytilene. Maybe it's easier if we can show you on a map.
So here's the map from Troas to Essos. Apparently the walking road was 30 kilometres, 20 miles, but by boat it was 96 kilometres. Friends, this is very, very interesting because Paul was just saying goodbye.
At the top of page seven here we find Paul preaching a very long sermon. As a travelling evangelist, Paul preached on most days of the week. On this occasion, he was preaching at night.
On the first day of the week. According to the Bible, a day begins and ends at sunset. See Genesis one five and see Leviticus 23 32.
A day begins and ends at sunset, with the dark part of the day coming first. Thus Paul was preaching Saturday night. He continued preaching until midnight.
On the next morning, Sunday, Paul walked nearly 30 kilometres from troas to catch his boat at Essos. Well, he certainly didn't treat the day as a new day of rest or even a day of worship. But some christians believe that because the church broke bread on the first day, Sunday must be a holy day.
The reality is that Jesus Christ broke bread on Thursday night, the night before his crucifixion. The early church also broke bread on a daily basis as they moved from house to house. See acts 246.
So once again, there's no evidence in this text to say that Sunday had replaced the Sabbath or had become the new day of worship. That takes us to our next reference point. Reference point number nine.
Let's look at personal donations to the church. Is this a new day of worship being held on the first day of the week? Question number two. Does the Bible indicate that Sunday is the new worship day for christians? Where in first corinthians, chapter 16, verses one and two.
Now, concerning the collection for the saints, Paul's writing to the church in Corinthry. As I've given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. Friends, this is an interesting passage.
Paul is trying to take up a collection of goods and money and food for the christians in Israel and especially in Jerusalem. With the famine that was on and so he's collecting donations from the surrounding churches on his way back to Jerusalem. We're in first corinthians 16 two.
On the first day of the week, Paul writes, let every one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collection when I come. Friends, this does not sound like a traditional offering in a church to me because it says to store up the offering and to lay it aside, not to put it in the plate. So these people were actually instructed to hang on to it.
Let's go to a modern version. In one corinthians 16, one, four. And the message regarding the relief offering for poor christians? It's been collected.
You get the same instructions I gave the churches in Galatia. Every Sunday, each of you make an offering and put it in safe keeping. Be as generous as you can.
When I get there, Paul says, you'll have it ready and I won't have to make a special appeal. Then after I arrive, I'll write letters authorising whomever you delegate and send them off to Jerusalem to deliver your gift. This request by Paul to budget and put aside goods, most likely food and clothing, for those suffering in Jerusalem on the Sunday does not refer to an offering in a worship service.
This is a collection for the saints, not of the saints. This letter was probably read to the church on the Sabbath, and the first possible time they could fulfil Paul's request would have been after the Sabbath, on the next day, the day of the sun, Sunday. Paul was simply asking the church to get everything organised by working on the Sunday, so he didn't need to worry about that issue whenever he arrived in Corinthe.
So, friends, in the nine passages of the Bible that refer to Sunday, none of them actually mention a change of the Sabbath. Secondly, none of them say Sunday is a holy day or offer the promise of a blessing for keeping it. None of them forbid work on that day, as the fourth commandment does.
And none of them even mention that anyone in the Bible was keeping that day in place of the Sabbath. It is clear there's no evidence from the Bible that Sunday is anything other than a work day, one of the normal six days. Any Christian who attempts to keep Sunday holy and disregards the Sabbath does so without any scriptural authority.
All right, well, that is at the end of our examiner of all of the first day texts. Let's go to question number three. And we're asking in the scriptures, what memorial symbolises the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Is it the first day of the week, the day of the sun, Sunday.
In Romans chapter six, Paul writes to the church of Rome. Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? Friends, before you go under the water, especially with immersion baptism, you need to take a final breath, which is almost signifying death in terms of spiritual death. Death to the old life, the old body, the old man of sin.
Then you go under the water and you are raised up or resurrected to a new life. Let's go on. In romans six three, six, let's have a look at verses three and four.
Paul said to the church in Rome, therefore we were buried with him, meaning Jesus through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we should also walk in newness of life. There is a common thought that Sunday worship was instituted to commemorate the resurrection of Christ. From a biblical perspective, baptism is the christian experience that honours the resurrection when we're baptised.
This symbolises a parallel between our new christian life and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Did you know there's not one place in the Bible which indicates that any day has become holy as a result of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Let's go to question four. Was the Sabbath abolished in the New Testament? This is a very important point because some people think that it was.
We go to Hebrews four and verses four to ten. Paul writes to the Hebrews, for he has spoken in a certain place of the 7th day in this way. So he's actually quoting Genesis, chapter two, one, three, which was written by Moses and God rested on the 7th day from all his works.
End of sub quote. Paul goes on in Hebrews 4410, there remains therefore a rest for the people of God. So friends, what does that actually mean? Well, it's very simple.
The Sabbath is the perfect symbol. What is it? The Sabbath is the perfect symbol of a trust relationship with Jesus. The Sabbath is a rest from our works.
It is worship that honours God and demonstrates our love for him. The word rest in verse nine is the greek word sabbatismos. It literally means Sabbath rest.
The Bible is very clear. There remains a Sabbath rest for the New Testament Christian. And what is that Sabbath rest? To trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation.
So the rest that remains for all of us who have decided to be faithful. 7th day Sabbath keepers is to trust in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. Question number five.
Did the apostles and early church keep the Sabbath? Let's have a look at it. So we are going to find out more in acts chapter 17, verses one to four, we're going to look firstly at Paul and the apostles, their worship on the Sabbath. We go to acts chapter 17 and let's have a look at verses one to four.
It says then Paul, as his custom was, it was Paul's custom and it was his habit, just as it was for Jesus. Then Paul, as his custom was, went into them and for three sabbaths, reasoned with them from the scriptures. That's acts, chapter 17 and verse two.
So friends, it's very, very evident that the apostle Paul was keeping the 7th day Sabbath. Let's go to acts 18, four and eleven, it says there. And Paul reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.
In fact, there were many, many sabbaths that Paul kept that there are actually a record of. In fact, there's a record of over 84 sabbaths that Paul kept. So friends, Paul and the apostles chose to keep every 7th day Sabbath as their worship day.
There was the day they spent preaching to both Jews and Gentiles almost 15 years after the resurrection of Christ. The Book of Acts records over 80 sabbaths observed by the apostles. Let's go on.
Are there further examples? There certainly are. In acts 1613, Luke writes that on the Sabbath day we. Who's he speaking about? He's speaking about Paul and Silas and Timothy and himself, Luke.
And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside where prayer was customarily made. And we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now, what is very significant about this verse is why didn't Paul and the other apostles go to the jewish synagogue? Well, there needed to be ten jewish men to start a jewish synagogue and there was no jewish synagogue.
So they go down to where they know or they hope that there will be people worshipping. So the apostles went into nature on the Sabbath, a perfect environment for worship and sharing the gospel. Evidently, this was a location where the women often gathered on the Sabbath to pray and spend quality time with goddesse.
So here is the ancient city of Philippi. And if you go there today, here is a tourist park. And here is the gangite stream, or what used to be the Ganjite stream, which in ancient times ran into the river stridum.
And here is a baptismal font. And the church here is called the Church of the holy baptistery of St. Lydia of Philippi, because, of course, Lydia was baptised.
Here. Let's have a look at question five, part b. Did the gentiles worship on the Sabbath? That's a very, very good question.
Did normal jews actually worship on the 7th day Sabbath or were they keeping another day of worship the first day of the week? Let's go to acts 1342 to 44. Luke writes, so when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. They were begging Paul, weren't they? And on the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.
That's acts 1342 and 44. Friends, if the whole city came together to hear the word of God, this was not a jewish city. There was no synagogue.
It was a gentile city. So, friends, this shows us that non Jews were worshipping on the 7th day Sabbath. The Gentiles knew Paul's commitment to keep the Sabbath and worship on that day.
They didn't ask him to come and preach to them on the following day, Sunday, the first day of the week, they begged him to come and preach to them on the next Sabbath. I'd like to share with you some extra information not in the study guide. A certain professor known as Samuel Bakioki wrote a book a number of years ago.
In 1977. It was called from Sabbath to Sunday. It is on the COVID saying a historical investigation of the rise of Sunday observance in early Christianity.
It's published by the Pontifical Gregorian University Press in Rome in 1977. Friends, Samuel Bacchiocchi wrote this book. And what was his summary? He said, quote, the absence of any echo of Sabbath Sunday controversy in the New Testament is a most telling evidence that the introduction of Sunday observance is a post apostolic phenomenon.
So friends, if the 7th day Sabbath had been changed or cancelled or abrogated or done away with, then we would know about it because it would all be all the way through the New Testament, like circumcision and the cancelling of the feast days. It is always being brought up by the Jews. So he says, the absence of any echo of any sound of any Sabbath Sunday controversy shows us that the first day of the week, the day of the Sunday worship, came in a long time after the apostles.
And that is absolutely true. Join me in question six at the top of page eleven. How did the christian day of worship change from Sabbath to Sunday? This is very important, isn't it? Because what we find in history is that God's holy day, on the 7th day, Sabbath, Saturday, was changed into the first day of the week, the day of the sun, Sunday.
And it became a holiday, a holy day became a holiday. And there is the origin of our weekend throughout the lifetime of the apostles and the New Testament writings, there's no evidence of Sunday keeping within the church. The early church faithfully kept the 7th day Sabbath, but Paul had warned there would be a great falling away of truth in the church.
Second, Thessalonians two, three. The church would allow a number of corruptions into it as it moved further away from the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The process towards Sunday took many centuries and began with a yearly celebration of the Resurrection day, Sunday.
But over time, the church in Rome encouraged this celebration to become weekly rather than just an annual event. By the middle of the second century, a number of christians were keeping two days. The Sabbath was a day of rest and fasting, while Sunday became a religious day of festival.
Isn't that interesting, friends? The 7th day Sabbath of the fourth commandment was pushed down and made a miserable day of total rest and fasting. And Sunday became a fun day, a religious day of festival. Well, over time, the religious leaders attempted to distance themselves from the Jews.
The Jews were seen as troublemakers and the race who rejected and crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. So Sunday became more prominent and the Sabbath became less prominent. The first day of the week was also a day of celebration to the secular pagans in Rome, a festival in honour of the great sun God.
Any move towards Sunday would certainly have been a wise political move. Therefore, something had to happen. And it was the roman emperor Constantine who in 321 AD first passed a law to put Sunday above the Bible.
Sabbath. Let's read his first Sunday law. Quote on the venerable day of the sun, let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.
End of quote from the Codex Justinianus, book three in shafts. Book History of the Christian Church, volume three, fifth edition, page 380. All references are in the study guide.
So, friends, this was actually confirmed in the middle of the fourth century. The fourth century. Did you get that by the church at the Council of Laodicea? Here they this is the early christian church officially claimed to transfer the blessing and holiness of the Sabbath into Sunday.
Here was their ruling. Christians shall not judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day, but the Lord's day. They shall especially honour and as being Christian shall, if possible, do no work on that day.
If, however, they have found judaising, they shall be shut out from Christ. End of quote from Charles Joseph Hafili a history of the Christian Council's volume two, page 316. Friends, this resulted in unity between the pagans and the Christians in their day of worship.
The Christians had compromised by worshipping on the day devoted to thee, sun God, instead of the day devoted to thee, son of God. In fact, as a sola festival, Sunday was the sacred day of Mithra. And it is interesting to notice that since Mithra was addressed as dominus, meaning Lord, Sunday must have been the Lord's day long before the christian times.
A. Weigel's book, the paganism in our Christianity, page 145. So the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath and perceived their ability to do so as a mark of their authority over the religious world.
Let's go to the catholic catechism of catholic doctrine which says the following. It is based on a teaching model of question, answer, question, answer. This is what the converts catechism of catholic doctrine says.
Question, which is the Sabbath Day? Rome answers, Saturday is the Sabbath day. Question why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? The Church of Rome says, we observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church in the Council of Laodicea transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday. That's Peter Gierman's Converts Catechism of catholic doctrine, 1957 edition, page 50.
There's more evidence, friends, on how God's 7th day Sabbath was changed into the first day of the week, the day of the sun, Sunday. I want you to notice these statements by roman catholic leaders. First, Cardinal Gibbons, in the faith of our fathers, page 89.
You may read the Bible from Genesis to revelation and you will not find a single line authorising the sanctification of Sunday. The scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctified. End of quote.
Here is another quote. Monsignor Louis Gaston Segur, plain talk about Protestantism of today, page 225. It was the Catholic Church which by the authority of Jesus Christ has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord.
Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is a homage they pay in spite of themselves to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. So what are we discovering? It's clear that the christian world has accepted the authority of human beings within the church over the authority of the Bible scriptures. Most Christians today are unaware of this great counterfeit and God does not hold them responsible for what they do not know.
However, when someone discovers the truth, that person needs to immediately put away the errors and old habits and follow the Lord in love and obedience. Let me share with you two extra quotes. The first one is from the faith explained a book written by Leo J.
Trisi. Nothing is said in the Bible about the change of the Lord's day from Saturday to Sunday. We know of the change only from the tradition of the church.
That is why we find so illogical the attitude of many non Catholics who say that they will believe nothing unless they can find it in the Bible and yet will continue to keep Sunday as the Lord's day on the say so of the Catholic Church. That's his book, faith explained. Pages 200 to 202 in question.
Seven. We read. And if Sunday is not part of the scriptures, what does it symbolise? Let's go to mark seven, seven nine.
The words of Jesus where he said, and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. He said to them, all too well, you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. So friends, we need to beware the commandments of men and the commandments that rest upon human words and tradition.
So Sunday observance is not just a pagan symbol of worship, it's also a symbol of tradition. Tradition should never be placed above the Bible or God's commandments. Sunday is purely a tradition and a commandment of man.
It has no authority or role in christian worship. Well, do we need more proof? Let me share extra material not found in the study guide in the catholic record, a roman catholic church paper. On September 17, 1893, we read this.
The Church of Rome says, Sunday is founded not of scripture but on tradition and is distinctly a catholic institution. As there is no scripture for the transfer of the day of rest from the last to the first day of the week. Protestants ought to keep their sabbath on Saturday and thus leave Catholics in full possession of Sunday.
What would scripture say about that? Well, Jesus said in Matthew 15 three, why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? Friends, anything that is the commandments of man that take the place of the commandments of God is a very, very serious offence against the kingdom of heaven. We're in question eight. What does God think about religious leaders who actually ignore the Sabbath? We go into the Old Testament.
Ezekiel 22, verses 26 and 31. Ezekiel wrote, her priests, these are the jewish priests, have violated my law and profaned my holy things. He speaks here on behalf of the Lord God.
They have not distinguished between the holy and unholy. And they've hidden their eyes from my sabbaths so that I am profaned. Among them means defiled or dishonoured.
Therefore, God says, I've poured out my indignation on them. Friends, the Old Testament jewish priests had hidden their eyes from the Sabbath. They were involved in not teaching it, not preaching it, not observing it and defiling it.
One of the major reasons why Sunday keeping has become a tradition is because some of the ministers and religious leaders have closed their eyes to the plain teachings of the Bible. To discard Sunday and keep the Sabbath is a life changing step, especially for religious leader. God will, however, hold these leaders responsible for disregarding his 7th day Sabbath.
So what does the Roman Catholic Church say? We go to their paper. Our Sunday visitor, March 7, 1971. You can go through the New Testament with the finest of fine combs and not come out with one verse that justifies or that even mentions the changing of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.
Catholics take their beliefs both from scripture and tradition. Each is basically the word of God, the one written, the other handed down orally from generation to generation. In this particular instance, it is only tradition that tells us that the infant church buried the Sabbath and chose Sunday as the Lord's day.
End of quote. So friends, the Church of Rome are very honest. They've just told us that you can't find the change in the scripture.
The church of Rome has followed tradition over the Bible and is proud of doing so. They say they have the authority to do that. More on that in our next session.
But friends, this is a situation where tradition is honoured and valued over the actual word of God and the ten Commandments. Question number nine, what is the primary reason for keeping the Sabbath of the Bible? Some see it just as something you have to do. What did Jesus say in John 14 and verse 15? He said, if you love me, keep my commandments.
Friends, Jesus wants in the 7th day Sabbath to have a relationship with all of his children, the sons and daughters of God. And so any obedience that's not motivated by love for Jesus is a worthless form of worship. Jesus wants you to love him with all of your heart and obey him in acts of worship that bring honour to him.
Jesus showed his love for you by dying on Calvary. You can demonstrate your love to him through worship, loyalty and obedience. Are you willing to keep God's ten commandments? Why not choose today to have a personal love relationship with Jesus and spend time getting to know him better through keeping God's true 7th day Sabbath.
So let's go back where we started. Did we find the 7th day Sabbath was cancelled in the New Testament? I'll say the question again. What would be needed to conclusively prove that Sunday is now authorised as the new day to worship God? Number one, a specific text or command by someone of authority, preferably the Lord God, to obliterate the Sabbath.
Did we find that? No. Number two, did we find a specific command by Jesus Christ himself to observe the first day of the week as a new day of worship? No, we did not. Another fail point.
Number three, were there clear examples of Sunday worship by New Testament Christians led by the apostles? No, absolutely not. So we have to ask the obvious question, why didn't we find the missing text? Where is it? Well, the Roman Catholic Church, the church of Rome, is very, very honest and tells us why. Quote from the catholic record, September 17, 1893.
Rome says, quote, Sunday is founded not of scripture but on tradition and is distinctly a, what they say, a catholic institution. Very, very interesting, isn't it? So we could have started with that quote and saved ourselves this Bible study. But friends, the majority of christians today believe that the first day of the week, the day of the sun, Sunday, is the original day of worship that they were following and it is totally backed up by scripture.
Let's summarise what we have studied in our Bible study in session number twelve. Number one, there's not one text in the Bible which supports Sunday as a holy day. Number two, the Roman Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday.
Correct. And number three, Sunday worship symbolises obedience to man over obedience to God. So if you have thought through those three issues, and maybe some of you are surprised, then I'm going to ask you two questions.
Firstly, can you see that keeping Sunday is a commandment of man and does not come from Goddesse or the holy scriptures? I'm hoping that you can see that the answer is yes. Number two, is that your plan now? To honour God through keeping the true 7th day Sabbath of the Bible? I hope your answer is yes. Friends, I want to tell you that that 24 hours period of time from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset is an absolutely blessed time.
Spending it in worshipping God, reading his word, worshipping with other christians, spending time with family. It's absolutely brilliant. Some relational questions that arise from the study.
Why do you think so many christians are unaware of the facts that are actually shared in this presentation? Well, friends, I think that people just assume that Sunday is just the original day of worship in the Bible and they don't know any better. What would Jesus say? He would warn us to not transgress the commandments of God because we are placing tradition above the Bible as he did to the Jews in Matthew 15. Three, relational question number two.
Do you think it's a difficult thing to change your day of worship? Why or why not? Friends, I think it is hard because it might have become a habit and involves family traditions, but it certainly can be done. And many people have done it as soon as they found out that the 7th day Sabbath is the day that God originally gave, and it is still the day that is honoured by the kingdom of heaven. And the scripture says we can do all things through Jesus Christ, who strengthens us.
Relational question number three, how can you present this truth to others without sounding like you were judging them? I love Ephesians, chapter 415, where it says that we need to always be speaking the truth in love, friends, if we share in love and ask for the power of the Holy Spirit, then God can speak to people's hearts and minds can be changed. Well, we started with our five discovery questions. Number one, which day really is the biblical Lord's day? It's very, very clear in scripture that the 7th day, Sabbath on Saturday, is the Lord's day, because Jesus is only the Lord of the Sabbath.
He's not the Lord of the first day. He's not the lord of the day of the sun. Sunday, the sun God.
Number two, was the Sabbath abolished in the New Testament? The answer is no. We know that Paul kept at least 84 sabbaths, and that just doesn't mean he dropped into a few jewish synagogues, but was keeping Sunday the rest of the time. Number three, did the apostles early church keep the 7th day Sabbath? Absolutely they did.
And they widely shared the gospel, the good news, with the Gentiles, all the non Jews. And remember, that whole city came to hear about the Lord God on the 7th day Sabbath at ancient Philippi. Number four, how did the christian worship day actually change? It changed gradually over centuries via politics with Emperor Constantine, but also with the religious side, with the council of Laodicea and the church of Rome.
And Rome takes the credit for actually changing the day. Number five, what's the primary reason for keeping the Sabbath friends? Sabbath keeping is always the result of a love relationship that we have with the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's our secret to prophecy, symbol of the sun.
Let's go to our five quiz questions, which are multiple choice, and there's just one answer per question. Number one, what is the most ancient religion? What most ancient religion did Sunday originate from? Now notice the word ancient. This will have to be the oldest one.
A, mithraism. B, the church of Rome. C, sun worship starting in Babylon.
And even before those times, what would be the most ancient religion that Sunday worship originated from? Lock your answer in and we'll give you the answer now. I think you know the answer it's c. That is the sun worship that goes back millenniums.
Question number two. Which day is the biblical Lord's day? A, is it the Passover? B, is it Sunday or C, is it Saturday? Which day is the biblical Lord's day? Passover Sunday or Saturday? Lock in your answer. I think that's very, very easy.
We know it is the 7th day, Sabbath, so the answer is c, which of course is Saturday. If you're unclear, please refer to the previous session. Session number eleven.
Number three, how were the biblical days of the week actually named in scripture? Were they named by numbers? First day, second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, 6th day after the Sabbath. Were they named by Moses and were they named by Paul? Please lock in your answer. Were they named, were they named or were they numbered? And the answer is a.
They were only numbered. Later on, the pagan names came, and they were all to do with the gods of the heavens, the pagan gods, Monday, the moon day, etcetera. Question number four, why were the disciples actually meeting on Sunday? A, for fear of the Romans.
B, for fear of the Jews. C, they were actually having a worship service. So we're going off the scripture here.
I'm sure you remember it very clearly. Why were the disciples meeting on Sunday? Lock it in. The answer is b.
They were meeting in the upper room for fear of the Jews, and they'd locked the door when Jesus came in amongst them. Question number five, why can't we find a change of the Sabbath in the Bible? A, well, the disciples just forgot to write it down. B, Paul was too afraid to mention it to the Jews because they'd been upset when circumcision was cancelled.
Or c, the Church of Rome actually claimed many, many times that she changed it and she had the power and authority to change it and more on that in our next session. Our answer here very clearly is c. All right, we'll give yourself a score out of five in our secrets of prophecy wall of biblical truth.
In session eleven, it was on finding rest for your souls that the Sabbath is a stress antidote, and that is such a blessing if you are prepared to take that window of time, that 24 hours period in our session, number twelve that we've just completed, it was a symbol of the sun. And we found out that Sunday is not actually God's ancient worship day, his old Testament worship day, his New Testament worship day, or his worship day today. And in session eleven, we established that the Sabbath will be kept in heaven.
If you would like more information, there are more information in the prophecy seminar session number twelve. The lesson is called did God authorise the little horn to change his Sabbath? Also in my other series, the revelation seminar number eleven, called Sunday Observance and Revelation. These lessons go into a lot more detail than we could cover here in this introductory series of lessons.
I want to thank you so much for joining us for session number twelve. Let us end with prayer and praise. Gracious heavenly Father, we want to thank you for this amazing topic.
We realise, Lord, in these last days it's difficult to often remember that the most important commandment said, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. We know, Father, today that half the world keeps Friday and half the world keeps Sunday. But Father, the Sabbath is the blessed day, the rest of the blessed day, and therefore we know also it is the great test day.
So may we be true and faithful as we continue to pray and consider these things, and we ask it in Jesus precious name. Amen.
Secrets of Prophecy with Pastor David Price has been brought to you by 3ABN Australia radio. For more resource in this series you can visit the YouTube page trueblue SDA all one word that's trueblue SDA.
