Is Sunday Really Sacred? - By Joe Crews

7/28/2019 Is Sunday Really Sacred? - By Joe Crews

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Copyright 2004 by

Lu Ann Crews

All rights reserved.

Printed in the USA.

Published by:

Amazing Facts, Inc.

P.O. Box 1058

Roseville, CA 95678-8058800-538-7275

Cover design by Steve Miljatovic - Branch 7 Design

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Is

Sunday

really Sacred?

1. A Wrong Turn 2

2. Closed Minds and Majority Rule 4

3. Resurrection on Sunday 7

4. Locating the True Sabbath 10

5. For Fear of the Jews 13

6. No Sunday-keeping in Corinth 16

7. Pauls Longest Sermon 19

8. Why Eutychus Dropped Out of Church 239. The Day They Kept 26


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2 I S SUNDAY REA L LY SA C RED ?

Chapter One

A Wrong Turn

One of Davids most beautiful prayers isrecorded in Psalm 43:3. O send out thy lightand thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me

unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.This same earnest petition to understand

Gods Word should be in the heart of everysincere seeker for truth. A willingness to learnand to obey must characterize all of those who

expect to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Tosuch, the beautiful promise of the beatitude willbe fulfilled. Blessed are they which do hungerand thirst after righteousness: for they shall befilled (Matthew 5:6).

But it does no good to pray for the truthif we have no intention to obey it when Godanswers our prayer. One of the greatest favorsGod can bestow upon us is to give knowledgeof His Word. And the most presumptuous thinganybody can do is to pray for an understanding

of Gods will and then refuse to obey, for anyreason whatsoever, when the answer comes.

Many people are guilty of pulling the Bibledown to match their poor, weak experience,instead of bringing their experience up to meet


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3I S SUNDAY REA L LY SA C RED ?

the requirements of the Word. There is onlyone great decisive test of truth, and that is the

Bible. Every religious thought, every book weread, and every sermon we hear should bemeasured by the infallible rule of the inspiredScriptures. It does not matter what we weretaught as children, or what the majority is

following, or what our emotions lead us tothink or believe. Those factors are invalid as atest of absolute truth. The ultimate questionmust be answered: What does the Word of Godsay on the subject?

Some people think that if they are sincerein what they believe, God will accept themand save them. However, sincerity alone is notenough. One can be sincere, and be sincerelywrong. I remember driving to West Palm Beach,Florida, several years ago. At least I thought Iwas going there. It was night, and I had notseen any road signs for quite awhile. Suddenlymy car lights picked up a sign that read, BelleGlade 14 miles. Heartsick, I realized that Iwas traveling in the opposite direction from

West Palm Beach. I was on the wrong road. Noone could have been more sincere than I wasthat night, but I was sincerely wrong. Now, Icould have continued down the road sayingthat somehow, somewhere up ahead I might


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find West Palm Beach. Instead, I turned thecar around and went back to the place where I

took the wrong turn and got on the right roadleading to West Palm Beach. That was the onlyright thing to do.

Chapter Two

Closed Minds and Majority Rule

Gods Word has a lot to say to those whoare willing to be corrected. The people tobe the most pitied are those who have closed

minds. They will resist any information thatvaries from their personal views. Their mindsare made up, and they dont want to be both-ered by the facts. This is especially true con-cerning the subject of the Sabbath.

Multitudes have inherited opinions aboutthe day to be observed weekly, and they findit very difficult to look objectively at any otherviewpoint. Many of them know that one of theTen Commandments requires the keeping of theseventh day of the week. They also know that

the seventh day is Saturday. Yet they tenaciouslyfollow the tradition of observing a different dayfrom the one God commanded. They worshipon Sunday, the first day of the week, for whichthere is no biblical command.


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Why do they do it? Most Sunday keepershave simply accepted the practice of the reli-

gious majority in the community where theywere raised; assuming that it has to be rightbecause so many are doing it. Is this a safeassumption? Has the majority usually beenright in religious matters?

The Bible clearly answers these questionsin the negative. Every available source ofinformation reveals that in religious matters,at least, the majority has always been wrong.Jesus Himself said, And as it was in the days

of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Sonof man (Luke 17:26). Only eight people wentinto the ark to be saved from the flood. Christtaught that only a comparable few would besaved at the end of the world. Said He, Enterye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, andbroad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,and many there be which go in thereat: Becausestrait is the gate, and narrow is the way, whichleadeth unto life, and few there be that find it(Matthew 7:13, 14).

It is very true that the great majority ofChristians today, including many famousevangelists and theologians, are keeping Sun-day instead of the seventh-day Sabbath. Thatfact alone should not over impress anyone.


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Taken by itself, in the light of Christs words, itshould raise a flag of warning. Truth has never

been popular with the masses. And those in themajority today, as in all past ages, are not reallylooking for truth as much as they are lookingfor a smooth, easy, comfortable religion thatwill allow them to live as they want to live.

What, then, should be the test of the Sabbathtruth? Just one thing, and one thing onlytheWord of God. Unfortunately, millions have neverstudied the Bible for themselves on this subject. Ipropose that we test the Sunday-keeping practice

of this majority group and find out if it is correct.If it is biblical, then all of us should accept it andfaithfully keep every Sunday. If the Scriptures donot support it, then we should diligently searchthe Word until we find the day that our Lord hasendorsed for us to keep.

The most honest way I know to approachthis subject is to take a look at absolutelyeverything that the Bible says about the firstday of the week. There are only eight texts inthe New Testament that refer to Sunday, and by

carefully studying these verses we can be certainthat all the evidence for consideration is beforeus. If there is any biblical authority for keepingthe first day of the week, it will have to be foundin one of these verses.


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Are we willing to face the consequences ofthis kind of exhaustive study? Here is where

our prejudice will be tested! Can we open ourminds completely to whatever this objectivesearch reveals? These are not trick questions.Personally, I do not care which day is found tobe the Sabbath. If the Bible teaches it, I will gladly

keep Monday, Thursday, Friday, or Sunday.Long ago, I decided to be a Christian and tofollow the Word of God wherever it would lead,regardless of my feelings. It makes no differenceto me which day I keep holy, as long as it is the

one commanded in the Bible!I hope you feel thesame way as we begin our examination of everysingle reference in the New Testament thatmentions the first day of the week.

Chapter ThreeResurrection on Sunday

Lets begin with the first Gospel. Matthewwrites, In the end of the sabbath, as itbegan to dawn toward the first day of the

week, came Mary Magdalene and the otherMary to see the sepulchre (Matthew 28:1).Here we have some very interesting proofthat the Sabbath could not possibly be thefirst day of the week. According to this record,


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the Sabbath was ending when the first daywas beginning. They are two successive days.

Based on Scripture no one could truthfullycall Sunday the Sabbath. It would be bothconfusing and unbiblical.

The substance of Matthews testimony issimply that the women came at dawn on the

day following the Sabbath and found that Jesuswas already risen. This harmonizes perfectlywith the next Gospel, which adds a few moredetails. Notice that Mark equates the dawn withthe rising of the sun. He wrote, And when the

sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Marythe mother of James, and Salome, had boughtsweet spices, that they might come and anointhim. And very early in the morning the firstday of the week, they came unto the sepulchreat the rising of the sun. And they said amongthemselves, Who shall roll us away the stone fromthe door of the sepulchre? (Mark 16:13).

These parallel Gospel accounts clear upa common misconception that has arisenover the meaning of Matthews words as it

began to dawn toward the first day of theweek. Some have interpreted this to be justbefore sundown on Saturday evening. Sincethe Hebrew reckoning would establish theend of the Sabbath at sunset, they assume that


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the women came just before the first day wasushered in at sundown.

Here we see the value of comparing textwith text. Marks words make it impossible tohold the view that the women came Saturdaynight and found the tomb empty. He lists thevery same women as coming at sunrise Sunday

morning, but they were asking the question,Who shall roll us away the stone? Obviously,if they had been there the night before anddiscovered an empty tomb, they would haveknown that the stone was already removed

from the door. Thus, we can understand clearlythat Matthews dawn is referring to the earlymorning visit at sunrise on Sunday morning.

The third New Testament reference to thefirst day is a simple narrative statement inMark 16:9, Now when Jesus was risen earlythe first day of the week, he appeared first toMary Magdalene, out of whom he had castseven devils. Little comment is needed here,because the verse is only repeating the samestory of the resurrection early on Sunday

morning. The important thing to note is thatnothing is said in any of these texts about thefirst day of the week being holy. There is nointimation of anyone observing the day inhonor of the resurrection.


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Chapter Four

Locating the True Sabbath

One of the most complete word pictures ofresurrection events is found in the Gospelof Luke, and here we read the fourth reference

to the first day of the week. This man (Josephof Arimathaea) went unto Pilate, and begged thebody of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrappedit in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that washewn in stone, wherein never man before was

laid. And that day was the preparation, and thesabbath drew on (Luke 23:5254).Before reading further, let us carefully

examine the inspired description of this cru-cifixion day. The vast Christian majorityagrees that these events transpired on the daywe now call Good Friday. Here it is calledthe preparation day, because it was a timefor making special arrangements for theapproaching Sabbath. In fact, the text statesvery simply the sabbath drew on. This means

that it was coming up next.What else happened on that day Jesus died?

And the women also, which came with himfrom Galilee, followed after, and beheld thesepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they


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returned, and prepared spices and ointments;and rested the sabbath day according to the

commandment (Verses 55, 56).During the rest of that fateful Friday, the

devoted women bought the anointing materialsand made further preparation for their Sundaymorning visit to the tomb. Then, as the Sabbath

was ushered in at sunset, they rested the sabbathday according to the commandment. Thisidentifies that holy day as the specific weeklySabbath of the Ten Commandments and notthe Passover or some other feast-sabbath that

could have fallen on any day of the week.The next verse tells what the women did onthe day following the Sabbath. Now upon thefirst day of the week, very early in the morning,they came unto the sepulchre, bringing thespices which they had prepared, and certainothers with them. And they found the stonerolled away from the sepulchre (Luke 24:1, 2).

First, we notice that the women came to dotheir regular labor on the day of the resurrection.Modern churches refer to that particular first

day of the week as Easter Sunday. There can beno doubt that Jesus was raised sometime duringthe dark hours of that early morning. In noneof the Gospel recitals do we have any evidencethat the women, or anyone else, attached any


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sacredness to the day on which the resurrectiontook place.

Lukes account of that eventful weekendproves beyond any question that the true sev-enth-day Sabbath can still be precisely located.He describes the sequence of events over threesuccessive daysFriday, Saturday, and Sun-

day. Jesus died on the preparation day, andthe Sabbath was approaching. Christians nowrefer to it as Good Friday. The next day wasthe Sabbath according to the commandment.Since the commandment plainly designates that

the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, thatSabbath had to be Saturday.It is very interesting to note that Jesus rested

in the tomb on the Sabbath from His work ofredemption, just as He had rested from Hiswork of creation on the Sabbath.

On the day following the Sabbath, Jesusrose. Today it is referred to as Easter Sunday,but the Bible designates it the first day ofthe week. In the light of these indisputable,historical facts to which all Christianity sub-

scribes, no one can plead ignorance of the trueSabbath. It is the day between Good Friday andEaster Sunday. Lukes record is such a perfectchronological account of those three days thateven the most simple and uneducated can


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locate the biblical seventh day on our moderncalendar.

Now we are prepared to examine the fifthNew Testament statement concerning Sunday.The first day of the week cometh MaryMagdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto thesepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from

the sepulchre (John 20:1). There is very littlenew information in Johns description of theresurrection. Like all the other writers he givesno indication whatsoever that the first day ofthe week was ever counted holy or kept holy by

anyone. So far, the significant common threadin all the Gospel stories has been a total absenceof such evidence.

Chapter FiveFor Fear of the Jews

John mentions the first day again in thesame chapter, and this has often been misin-terpreted as a reference to Sunday worship.Then the same day at evening, being the

first day of the week, when the doors wereshut where the disciples were assembled forfear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in themidst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you(John 20:19).


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Even though this gathering behind lockeddoors took place on the same day as the res-

urrection, was it a special commemorationof that event? The circumstances make itimpossible for such to be the case. The textplainly states that they were gathered therefor fear of the Jews. The frightened disciples

had already learned that the tomb was empty,and they expected shortly to be charged withstealing away the body of Jesus. They huddledtogether in the locked room for protectionand reassurance.

The fact is that they did not believe Christhad been resurrected from the dead. Marksaccount reveals that they totally rejected thetestimony of Mary and the other disciples whobrought word of actually seeing the resurrectedLord. And she went and told them that hadbeen with him, as they mourned and wept.And they, when they had heard that he wasalive, and had been seen of her, believed not.After that he appeared in another form untotwo of them, as they walked, and went into the

country. And they went and told it unto theresidue: neither believed they them. Afterwardhe appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat,and upbraided them with their unbelief andhardness of heart, because they believed not


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them which had seen him after he was risen(Mark 16:1014).

Based on these words, we must quietlypass over that embarrassing Sunday afternoonmeeting in the closed room. It was notan occasion of unrestrained joy over theresurrection, as some have portrayed it. In fact,

there was not even any recognition on the partof the disciples that a miracle had taken place.They were fearful, depressed, and unbelieving.When Jesus appeared to them He spoke wordsof strong rebuke because of their lack of faith

and because they had rejected the testimony oftheir own companions. How misleading it is tomake this a happy memorial service honoringthe resurrection!

Thus far, we have carefully studied six ofthe eight New Testament references withoutfinding a single instance of Sunday observance.In fact, every one of them reveals a consistent,total ignorance of any recognition of the firstday of the week for worship, prayer, rest, orhonoring the resurrection. The Gospels were

written several years after the events transpired,giving many opportunities to the Holy Spiritto inspire the authors with the full facts. Jesustold His disciples that the work of that Spiritwas to guide you into all truth (John 16:13). If


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first-day observance had been any part of truth,then the Holy Spirit would have been divinely

obligated to reveal it to Matthew, Mark, Luke,and John. So said our Lord.

Now we turn to the two remaining refer-ences. If we find no evidence in these texts,we will have to abandon the search, for there

is nowhere else to look. Paul and Luke are thefinal witnesses who mention the first day ofthe week, and both of them have been grosslymisrepresented in what they said.

Chapter SixNo Sunday-keeping in Corinth

In 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2, Paul wrote: Nowconcerning the collection for the saints, asI have given order to the churches of Galatia,even so do ye. Upon the first day of the weeklet every one of you lay by him in store, as Godhath prospered him, that there be no gatheringswhen I come whomsoever ye shall approveby your letters, them will I send to bring your

liberality unto Jerusalem.Please carefully notice what the apostle

said, and what he did not say. Many haveassumed that a religious meeting was held anda collection plate passed. This is not the case.


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Paul was writing special appeals to the churchesin Asia Minor, because many of the Christians

in Jerusalem were suffering greatly for lackof food and daily necessities. Paul asked thechurch at Corinth to gather food, clothing, etc.,and store it up at home until he could send mento transport it to Jerusalem. The expression lay

by him in store in the original Greek gives theclear connotation of putting aside at home.Even Sunday advocates agree to this.

There was no service held on the first dayof the week. The gathering up and storing was

to be done on that day. Why did Paul suggestthat this work be done on Sunday, and what wasinvolved in getting it done?

First, the letter would have been sharedwith the church on the Sabbath when they wereall gathered for worship. The first opportunityto do the work would be the next daythefirst day of the week. Keep in mind that therewas an apparent food shortage in Jerusalem,and the need was not primarily for money.Such famine conditions were not unusual in

areas of the Middle East, as Luke reminds us inActs 11:2830.

The church in Rome gives a clue as to thespecial needs of those suffering Christians. Butnow I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the


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saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedoniaand Achaia to make a certain contribution for

the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hathpleased them verily; and their debtors they are.For if the Gentiles have been made partakersof their spiritual things, their duty is also tominister unto them in carnal things. When

therefore I have performed this, and have sealedto them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain(Romans 15:2528).

Here the apostle touches a tender spot inhis eloquent appeal. The Roman Christians

owed a great debt of gratitude to the motherchurch in Jerusalem that had sent teachers toevangelize them. Paul urges them to returncarnal, or material, gifts in appreciation ofthe spiritual truths received from them. Whatkind of gifts did Paul have in mind? It is veryinteresting that he describes it as sealing tothem this fruit. The Greek word used here iskarpos, which is the universal term used forliteral fruit. It can also have the connotation offruits of ones labor.

This throws light on Pauls counsel to theCorinthian Christians to do their work onthe first day of the week, so that there be nogatherings when I come. Such work as gath-ering and storing up produce from garden and


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field would certainly not be appropriate onSabbath. In these verses, Sunday is identified

once again as a day for secular activities andgives no indication of religious observance.

Chapter SevenPauls Longest Sermon

This brings us to the final reference that couldprovide any support for Sunday sacred-ness. In Lukes history of the early church, hedescribes the dramatic farewell meeting, which

Paul had with the believers in Troas. Thosewho grasp for any tiny excuse to justify theirdisobedience of Gods commandments havegrievously distorted this account in the book ofActs. Because it is the only record in the NewTestament of a religious meeting being held onthe first day of the week, we should examine itwith special care and interest.

The full context reveals that it was a nightmeeting. And we sailed away from Philippiafter the days of unleavened bread, and came

unto them to Troas in five days; where we abodeseven days. In addition, upon the first day ofthe week, when the disciples came together tobreak bread, Paul preached unto them, readyto depart on the morrow; and continued his


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speech until midnight. And there were manylights in the upper chamber, where they were

gathered together. And there sat in a windowa certain young man named Eutychus, beingfallen into a deep sleep: and fell down fromthe third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paulwent down, and fell on him, and embracing

him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is inhim. When he therefore was come up again, andhad broken bread, and eaten, and talked a longwhile, even till break of day, so he departed. Andthey brought the young man alive, and were not

a little comforted. And we went before to ship,and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take inPaul: for so had he appointed, minding himselfto go afoot (Acts 20:613).

There are some very unusual things aboutthis all-night meeting in Troas. First, it had to bea solemn, poignant occasion for the speaker andcongregation, as well. In verse 25 Paul declared,And now, behold, I know that ye all, amongwhom I have gone preaching the kingdom ofGod, shall see my face no more.

It is obvious that this farewell meeting washeld on the dark part of the first day of theweek. There were lights in the room, and Paulpreached until midnight. It is important tounderstand the Jewish way of reckoning time.


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Days were not counted according to the paganRoman method, from midnight to midnight. In

the Bible, the day begins at evening.Genesis describes all the days of creation

week in the same wayThe evening andthe morning were the first day the eveningand the morning were the second day, etc. In

other words, the evening always comes first inthe day.

This explains why the Sabbath is describedin these words, It shall be unto you a sabbathof rest, ... from even unto even, shall ye celebrate

your sabbath (Leviticus 23:32). But when doesthe evening begin according to the Bible? Andat even, when the sun did set, they broughtunto him all that were diseased, and them thatwere possessed with devils (Mark 1:32). Sincethe Pharisees taught that it was wrong to healon the Sabbath, the people waited until theSabbath was over before bringing their sick toJesus. Therefore, they brought them at even,when the sun did set. Moses wrote, Thou shaltsacrifice the passover at even, at the going down

of the sun (Deuteronomy 16:6).In Nehemiah, we are given another

description of the beginning of Sabbath. Andit came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusa-lem began to be dark before the sabbath, I


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commanded that the gates should be shut, andcharged that they should not be opened till

after the sabbath (Nehemiah 13:19). This defi-nitely places the first moments of the Sabbath atsunset, when it is beginning to be dark.

Now we are ready to apply this sound Bibleprinciple to the first-day meeting of Paul in

Troas. The night setting would require that it beheld on Saturday night. The Sabbath ended atsundown, and the first day of the week began.Paul, who had stayed a full seven days so thathe could be with the people over the Sabbath,

decided not to leave with the ship on Saturdaynight. Instead, he fellowshipped all night longwith the believers and then walked twenty milesacross the peninsula on Sunday morning to jointhe boat at Assos.

Incidentally, Pauls missionary companions,including Luke, who chronicled the highlightsof the carefully scheduled voyage, manned thisboat. It is very significant that they would notgo out to sea until the Sabbath was over onSaturday night. Toiling at the oars and sails

would have been no more proper for a holy daythan Pauls twenty-mile walk across the isthmuson Sunday morning. Neither Paul nor his fellowtravelers would have indulged in those secularactivities on Gods holy Sabbath.


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Chapter Eight

Why Eutychus Dropped Out of Church

The New English Bible actually states thatthe meeting was held on Saturday night.The chief focus of the story seems to be upon

the raising of Eutychus from the dead after hefell out the window. The dauntless Paul, afterministering on Sabbath and all night Saturdaynight, walked twenty miles on Sunday morn-ing to join his companions in Assos. They had

stayed with the ship as it sailed around thepeninsula on Saturday night, after the Sabbathwas over. That long journey on foot by Paul thenext day would have been very inappropriate onany kind of holy day.

Some have equated the breaking of breadwith the communion service, but such a viewcannot be supported from the Scriptures. Lukeassures us that those early Christians brokebread daily. And they, continuing daily withone accord in the temple, and breaking bread

from house to house, did eat their meat withgladness and singleness of heart (Acts 2:46).

The Bible cannot confirm the contentionthat Paul celebrated the Lords Supper withthe believers in the upper room. The wording


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seems to indicate that it was a common mealthey shared together. When he therefore was

come up again, and had broken bread, andeaten (Acts 20:11). Here we find that eatingwas associated with the breaking of bread. It isunlikely that the communion meal would bereferred to in this manner.

But even if that farewell meeting hadincluded the celebration of Christs sufferingand death, it would not lend any credence toSunday observance. We have seen from Acts2 that bread was broken daily, and nowhere is

the Lords Supper linked to any particular day.It is surely obvious to anyone that the Troasmeeting was not a regular weekly worshipservice. The importance of that all-night sessionappears in the miraculous raising of the youngman Eutychus, and in the fact that Paul wouldnever see them again before his death. Theparticular time frameall Saturday nighthasno spiritual significance whatsoever. Luke, thecareful historian, does not even record anyof the content of Pauls marathon sermon,

although he faithfully documents the miracleof the resurrected youth. Apparently, it wasthe wayEutychus dropped out of church, andnot the dayon which it happened that Luke isseeking to establish.


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We have now completed an intensiveexamination of each one of the eight New Tes-

tament references to the first day of the week.Not one of them has offered the slightest evi-dence that Sunday was ever sanctified by Godor celebrated by man. Gods great infallible test-Book has revealed that the majority is following

tradition instead of truth. Millions have beendeceived into blind adherence to an emptypagan symbol.

I am reminded of the story of a Russian czarwho took a walk one morning in the border

area of his extensive palace grounds. Therehe saw a soldier with a gun on his shouldermarching up and down near a deserted cornerof the courtyard wall. He asked the soldier, whowas apparently on sentry duty, what he wasguarding. The man replied that he was onlyfollowing orders and did not know why he wasassigned to that particular spot. The czar askedthe captain of the guard what the soldier wasdoing, but he had no idea either. The generalin charge of the palace security was consulted,

but he could give no reason for the assignment.Finally, the king ordered a search of the dustymilitary records, and the mystery was unfolded.Years and years before, the queen mother hadplanted some rose bushes in that corner of


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the courtyard, and a soldier had been sent toprotect the tender plants from being trampled.

Later, someone had forgotten to cancel theorder, and the daily sentry ritual had continuedthrough the yearssoldiers with their guns,guarding nothing but an empty rose plot.

Today there are millions of sincere Chris-

tians who are religiously trying to protect thesanctity of Sunday. They dont realize that thereis really nothing to guard. The first day of theweek is just as devoid of holiness as the desertedcourtyard of roses. Jesus said, Every plant,

which my heavenly Father hath not planted,shall be rooted up (Matthew 15:13).

Chapter NineThe Day They Kept

Now that we have exhausted all possiblesources for Sunday keeping without findingthe smallest favorable evidence, let us turnto the inspired history of that early church.If they did not keep the first day of the week,

which day did they observe? The book of Actsestablishes a consistent pattern of seventh-daySabbathkeeping. On one occasion, Paul waspetitioned by the Gentiles to hold an exclusiveservice for them on the Sabbath. And when the


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Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentilesbesought that these words might be preached to

them the next sabbath And the next sabbathday came almost the whole city together to hearthe word of God (Acts 13:42, 44).

There are some very interesting points inthese dynamic verses that validate the Sabbath

practices of Paul and his fellow Christians.After preaching in the synagogue, where theGentiles were not permitted to enter, Paulwas besieged by the Gentiles with an appealto preach to them the next Sabbath. Many

have charged that Paul only preached in thesynagogues on the Sabbath because he had aready-made crowd of Jews to work on. Thisis a false claim. In this instance, Paul madean appointment to minister to the Gentileson the following Sabbath, and according toverse 43, many of those who heard him thatday were proselytes to the faith. This meansthey were converts to Christianity, and Pauland Barnabas persuaded them to continue inthe grace of God.

How interesting it is that their Sabbathworship is spoken of in the context of con-tinuing in Gods grace! Modern critics of theSabbath try to label Sabbathkeepers as legalistswho are aliens to the grace of the gospel. Not so


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the writers of the Bible, who constantly associateobedience with true salvation by faith.

In Acts 16:13 we have positive proof thatPaul kept the Sabbath even when there was nosynagogue and no Jews. He was ministering inGreece, where there were only a few scatteredJews and no synagogue at all. What did he do

on the Sabbath? And on the sabbath we wentout of the city by a river side, where prayer waswont to be made; and we sat down, and spokeunto the women which resorted thither.

Even with no church to attend, the apostle

sought out a spot where religious worship wascarried ona place of prayer by the riverandpreached to those who went there. Surely, noone can fail to discern Pauls deep commitmentto the Sabbath as we follow him in this unusualoutdoor mission. Just suppose this Macedonianexperience had taken place on the first dayof the week instead of the Sabbath. Withoutquestion, it would be cited as absolute evidencefor Sunday worship, and we would have toconcur. But what possible arguments can one

present against this example of Paul in trueSabbathkeeping?

Again, we read about Pauls customarypractice in these words, And Paul, as his mannerwas, went in unto them, and three sabbath


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days reasoned with them out of the scriptures(Acts 17:2). And he reasoned in the synagogue

every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and theGreeks (Acts 18:4).

Finally, we cite the great apostles per-sonal testimony that he never kept one Sun-day holy in his whole life. Just before his

death, Paul made this emphatic statement tothe Jewish leaders, Men and brethren, thoughI have committed nothing against the people,or customs of our fathers, yet was I deliveredprisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the

Romans (Acts 28:17).Think for a moment! If Paul had everdeliberately broken the Sabbath, or keptanother day than the seventh, he could not havedeclared truthfully that he had done nothingagainst Jewish custom. On the strength of thisunqualified declaration by a man of unim-peachable integrity, we close the search forSunday keeping authority in the Bible. It just isnot there.

Had we been able to find it, our religious

obligation would, without doubt, be mucheasier to fulfill. We would have the supportand example of most of the great religiousinstitutions of the land, both Protestant andCatholic.


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But we are not looking for the most popularway or the most convenient way; we are looking

for the Bible way. And we have found it. In allhonesty, we must declare that the prevailingcustom of keeping a different day from the onecommanded in the great handwritten law ofGod is contrary to the Word which will finally

judge us. No amount of popular, majorityopinion can annul the weighty testimony ofa plain Thus saith the Lord. We must standupon the Bible and the Bible alone for ourdoctrine on this subject.

The Word of God declares, The seventh dayis the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thoushalt not do any work (Exodus 20:10). Untilwe find some indication in the Bible that Godretracted that moral law which He introducedto the world with such a fanfare of power andgrandeur, we will accept the Ten Commandmentsas still relevant and binding today. God said whatHe meant, and He meant what He said.

Some argue that God exempts us from thefourth commandment because it is impossible

to keep the seventh day in the competitive,industrialized society in which we have to earna living. It is undoubtedly true that Satan hasmanipulated the economic world to the distinctdisadvantage of the Sabbathkeeper, but God


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has never required the impossible. It is nevernecessary to break one of Gods commandments

for any reason.You may say, But my employer requires

that I work on Saturday, and I cant let my familystarve. The answer to that dilemma was givenby our Lord long ago in the Sermon on the

Mount. He said But seek ye first the kingdom ofGod, and his righteousness; and all these thingsshall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). Thepreceding verse defines these things as food,clothes, and job. Jesus is simply telling us that if

there is ever a conflict between obeying Him andobeying our employer, we should put Him first.Material considerations should never be mademore important than doing Gods will.

In every case, God honors the faith of aChristian who decides to keep the Sabbathregardless of what happens to his job. Manytimes God works miracles by making specialarrangements for the Sabbathkeeper. In somecases, He allows His children to be tested bylosing their jobs, and then opens up better ones

in response to their faith. Nevertheless, thethings are always added when we trust Himand obey, regardless of the circumstances.

The real secret of keeping the Sabbath ofthe Lord is to have the Lord of the Sabbath in


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our hearts! It is love that leads Gods children tochoose death rather than disobedience to one

of His commandments. Jesus said, If ye loveme, keep my commandments (John 14:15).The apostle John defined love in these words,For this is the love of God, that we keep hiscommandments (1 John 5:3).

Thus, it is not so much the question ofa day as it is of a waythe way of obediencethrough love, or of disobedience through lackof love. Mark it down and never forget it!Keeping the Sabbath, even the true seventh-day

Sabbath, is an operation in futility if it does notproceed from a heart full of love and devotionto God. Without love, all law keeping becomesmechanical and miserable, but with love, everycommandment becomes a joy and delight. Makethis kind of personal love relationship the basisof your Sabbathkeeping, and it will be thehappiest day of your week, for the rest of yourlife!


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Is Sunday Really Sacred? - By Joe Crews

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Transcript of Is Sunday Really Sacred? - By Joe Crews