Dear friends, have you read this?
No, no, don’t click it and go away yet! Let me first tell you what it’s about.
Pope Benedict XVI, at the end of his tour of Austria earlier this month, warned that the observance of Sunday worship was “not just a ‘precept’ to be casually adhered to, but a ‘necessity’ for all people.”
Did you notice he said that Sunday worship was a “necessity for all people“?
Does that send alarm bells ringing in your head? It did for me.
Our Lord Jesus Christ observed the Shabbat with His Apostles during His ministry on earth, as did the Apostles after His ascension, as did the early Church established by the Apostles.
In case some might lead astray, what I mean by the “Church established by the Apostles” here refers to the body of believers in Christ Jesus our Lord, not any denomination and certainly not the Roman church.
It was only in fourth century that Constantine (the true founder of the Roman church and not Peter as the Roman church will have you believe) established Sunday, the pagan day for worship of the sun, as the day to rest and worship God.
Furthermore, read this: “The pope has been very vocal about Europe’s Christian — or Catholic — roots, and is pushing to have them included in the European Constitution.”
And with fore-knowledge given unto us by our Lord Jesus Christ that there shall arise the revived Roman Empire with the Roman church lending the former her spiritual powers, surely we can see how this Sunday-only legitimacy will be law in time to come, and soon affect everyone on earth.
This is a warning, my friends, that the day when those who choose not to bow to the law to observe Sunday instead of the true Shabbat shall be punished and persecuted.
And history teaches us that right after Constantine moved the Lord’s Day from the seventh day of the week to the first (Saturday to Sunday), it was anathema for any Christian to observe Shabbat on Saturday, and those who flout the law were severely punished and even put to death!
My friends, if you have previously not given too much thought to observing Shabbat as it should be, or given it too much thought by thinking that it doesn’t really matter if it falls on Saturday or Sunday so long as you rest and worship, then it is time to make a decision today.
And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Genesis 2:2-3
This is the day that God our Father had blessed and sanctified since the Creation.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus 20:8-11
So is this day mentioned in the 10 Commandments given unto us, and which we are to keep every one of, that we are to labor six days and rest on the seventh and observe it as the shabbat of the Lord our God. Amen!
I pray you make a stand today for what God hath given unto us as a commandment, to keep it and to observe it.
Shabbat Shalom.
Tags: Europe, Pope, Revived Roman Empire, Roman Catholic Church, Shabbat, Ten Commandments
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They actually already have just 9 now, even before this.
Because they removed the one on the making of graven images, and split the tenth into 2.
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You are certainly entitled to believe in keeping the shabbat (Sat) as holy. Paul himself said that in Rom. 14:5 “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”
I don’t mean any disrespect, and I wanna keep your friendship ;-), so I wanna say this respectfully. I’m more of the opinion of the other man in Romans 14:5. Paul calls this one of disputable matters (Romans 14:1) and that we should not look down on those who are not of the same opinion as us (Romans 14:3) which, by the way, I’m not saying that you do.
I guess we should all be careful (myself included) that we do not become like the believers in Galatia who mixed the “old” system of Judaism with the “new” covenant of grace.
Shabbat Shalom.
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Ma sh’lom’cha Sicarii,
I have been reading up on Constantine and found some interesting things about him. Or should I say confusing. This is a quote from De Imperatoribus Romanis.
“Constantine was commanded in a dream to place the sign of Christ on the shields of his soldiers. [[12]] Twenty-five years later Eusebius gives us a far different, more elaborate, and less convincing account in his Life of Constantine. [[13]] When Constantine and his army were on their march toward Rome - neither the time nor the location is specified - they observed in broad daylight a strange phenomenon in the sky: a cross of light and the words “by this sign you will be victor” (hoc signo victor eris or ). During the next night, so Eusebius’ account continues, Christ appeared to Constantine and instructed him to place the heavenly sign on the battle standards of his army. The new battle standard became known as the labarum.
Whatever vision Constantine may have experienced, he attributed his victory to the power of “the God of the Christians” and committed himself to the Christian faith from that day on,”
Later, in the same article, it says this.
“Although Constantine himself seems to have been sympathetic to the Christian faith as early as 312, he only converted to Christianity when he was baptized by the Arian Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia shortly after 3 April 337.[[10]]”
What I get from this, is that he committed himself to “helping” the Christian faith. Not actually becoming a Christian until just before his death on 22 May 337 A.D. This is telling me that he was a Christian for only 49 days. Am I understanding this correctly?
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. I look forward to hearing from you again.
God bless!
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Daniel,
You said: You are certainly entitled to believe in keeping the shabbat (Sat) as holy. Paul himself said that in Rom. 14:5 “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”
Paul states “one man considers one day more sacred….. However, the last time that I read the scripture, it says God blessed and sanctified it.
What does your bible say? Genesis 2:3
Peace to All
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I have my own views, as you know, but I just have one question for King’s Kid (and I mean this with total and utmost respect) Why does it seem that you don’t believe the New Testament to be just as “God breathed” as the Old Testament. God told Paul what to write. Therefore, if God told Paul what to write, what difference does it make if God blessed Sunday, and then 43 generations later says keep a day holy, whichever one you prefer? I just don’t understand that. Again, this is said with total respect, and not in an argumentative tone at all. I am just curious. Thanks. Blessings to all.
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Shalene,
My response is not in an argumentative tone, either. The Old and New Testaments compliment each other, not contradict. Do you see that Jehovah is Jesus; He is the only God that has interacted with man?
I ask you this question, “Why do you believe that the Old Testament is to be overlooked in light of the New Testament?”
.Do you feel that the new negates the old?Isaiah spoke this God breathed message long before Paul became the Apostle to the Gentiles, Isaiah 56:1-7. What do these verses mean to you?
In James 1:16-17, What does no shadow of turning mean to you?
Peter says of Paul in 2 Peter 3:14-15, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. What does this scripture say to you?
Men can be misunderstood, and men can make mistakes: Read Mark 10:4-9
Peace to All
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Shalene,
Will you agree that Matthew 24:20-21 is speaking of a time to come in the future? If the Sabbath is no more, why does Jesus tell us to pray that we do not have to flee on the Sabbath??
Peace to All
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Dear Daniel:
I thank you for your consideration of our friendship, but please know that by disagreeing with me, you won’t jeopardize it in any way.
I am open to discussions, because for one, I don’t profess to know everything there is to know about God’s Word — I am still a ‘babe’ in Paul’s words.Secondly, oftentimes it is only through discussion that arise from differing views that we all learn something new, and for the better.
Don’t you agree?
Coming back to our discussion, I disagree on Romans 14 that it refers to the Shabbat. What Paul was going on about in Romans 14 is of the different seasons and celebrations that the people celebrate, not the Shabbat.Let me substantiate with the Bible.
In Genesis 2, God sanctified the Shabbat as the special day when we are to rest as He did. Notice also that the Shabbat was sanctified before man was created, i.e. Shabbat before man.
Our Lord Christ Jesus confirmed this.
Mark 2:27-28 (KJV) tells us “And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”
If therefore our Lord Christ Jesus is also Lord of the Sabbath and we are to obey Him and His commandments, we will likewise keep the Shabbat.
Note also that when the Shabbat shall be celebrated is also of an issue because in the last days it shall become an issue and hence my post.
Daniel 7:25 (KJV): “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”
There is one principality on earth that has done all the above: the Roman church. There is ample proof that the Roman church changed the Shabbat from Saturday to Sunday only because she believes she can! Not because there is any scriptural basis for doing so.
Now if even the Roman church finds no Scriptural basis for changing the Shabbat from Saturday to Sunday, why are we who claimed to have left her yoke fighting over Romans 14 to claim that Paul did away with observance of Shabbat on the seventh day of the week in particular?
God gave us the Shabbat to observe unto all generations, so for me it’s a choice as to who we follow — God’s commandment to observe the Shabbat or the Roman church’s change of the Shabbat from Saturday to Sunday?
Romans 6:16 (KJV): “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
God bless, and Shalom.
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Ma sh’lom’cha Bobby:
I am fine, thank you. And thank you for visiting and leaving a comment!
I pray this message finds you well.
You are quite right on Constantine. You see, Constantine (if I remember my history correctly as I studied this in high school) needed the support for what remained of the Roman empire against the Moslem invaders, and the Christians were quite a force to reckon with during those times.
Though he only became a Christian much later, he was already directing Christian affairs throughout those days when he wasn’t one.
Here is a good study on Constantine I think you might find interesting:
http://www.thywordistruth.com/Revelation_Commentary/Constantine.html
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Dear Shalene, and all my dear brothers and sisters:
I just want to address one more issue here with regards to our debate on the issue of Shabbat.
You all know well that I went through a period with a heavy heart asking God what I should or should not observe with regards to the Shabbat, circumcision and other issues.
Here’s key to why while I decided that while we the Gentiles need not observe circumcision according to Scripture, but yet we need to keep the Shabbat:
Firstly, we need to ask ourselves if the Ten Commandments are indeed applicable still to us today?
I am quite sure the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.
If so, what has given us power to ignore the fourth commandment to keep the Shabbat?
And we all know that the Shabbat is the seventh day of the week, not the first as taught by the Roman church.
Exodus 20:8-11 (KJV): “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
When we keep the Shabbat, we keep in mind that God is the creator of all — heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is. In other words, we recognize that God is Creator and Lord of all.
That convinced me very very strongly that though we can do away with circumcision and the Feasts and so on, but of the Shabbat we are to keep forever.
God bless, and Shalom!
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Christians: The seventh day Sabbath rest is a memorial of the Seventh Day Millenial (thousand year) Reign. I strive to live that I will be worthy to come up in the first resurrection.
Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.
2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”;
5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”
6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience,
7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.It is safe to say that the generation that died in the wilderness will not arise with the saints in the first resurrection.
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Peace to All
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I truly wish I could take you all with me to church, so that I could have you all with me, when I discuss this with my pastor, so that I could present all your points, as I fear I will forget them. I want to discuss it with him, as I don’t know if it’s my emotional state (the pregnancy) that’s making me feel heavy of heart, or if I am feeling convicted. (It is very early, and I have not yet read KingsKid’s scriptures, though I will.) Those of you that know me, know that I do follow the Lord with all my heart and all my soul. I do not think that God contradicts Himself at all. (You raised a good point there, KingsKid.) I’m just wondering about one other thing too. Was Sunday always the first day of the week? I am not debating this issue at this point, as I truly do want to follow our Lord on this. I want to cry at the thought that I may have been remaining willfully ignorant of this. But no more. Thank you for bringing this to light again Isaiah. I am going to be praying about this in depth, and getting advice from someone more spiritually mature than I. As I mentioned previously, my church will soon be having services on both Saturday and Sunday, so I will be able to worship on the Sabbath (whichever one it is.) I would like to know how everyone observes the Sabbath as well. What exactly do you do, or not do on that day? I know the letter of the law is not what is important, so what is it that constitutes observance to all of you? I do observe a day of rest. Have always known it to be necessary, but what exactly does it mean to you to observe a day of rest?
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Dear Shalene:
The last thing I want to add to anyone is a heavy heart as i had felt!
I, too, was “blissfully” ignorant of the need to observe the true Shabbat until recently. It did not pain me as much as the issues on circumcision and being kosher, but maybe because to me the Bible is clearer on this issue than what I was considering.
Moreover, when I read that the Roman church wilfully changed the Shabbat from Saturday to Sunday, it convinced me. That was when I realized that if the Roman church could take the trouble to change the day, there must be something to it.
I started reading up on the early Church before the advent of Roman Catholicism, and I was convinced that they, too, observed the Shabbat as our Jewish friends do — from sundown on Friday to sundown Saturday.
Don’t let it burden your heart as it did mine. I hope your pastor is able to help. I shall pray God guide you in your search.
God bless!
Shalom Aleichem.
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Hi Isaiah, can you answer the other part of my question then? How do YOU observe the Sabbath. What is is to you, that constitutes Sabbath observance. What does taking a day of rest look like to you? The Bible gives us the letter of the law, but what does it look like to today’s Christ follower? Is it a day of service for Him, or is it just a day of rest? I am very interested to know your answer to this, and everyone else’s for that matter. Blessings to you and Shalom.
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Dear Shalene:
I start Shabbat on Friday evening, and make it a point to reach home before 8 pm.
On Shabbat, I refrain from doing any work at all, including not cooking (kindling a fire), but I do go out for meals nearby (the Apostles gathered food as they walked through a field), and I will head to church once I find one (our Lord Jesus Christ spent Shabbat teaching at synagogues).
Since I don’t attend church, I take time to read the Bible.
As for whether it is a day of rest or service, I don’t think it’s a “or” scenario. For me personally, I believe it is more of an “and” scenario — rest and service to the Lord.
I, too, would like to know how others celebrate Shabbat actually.
God bless, and Shalom!
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Isaiah and others,
I truly admire all of your desires to worship and obey the Lord. If only Christians all over the world have you guys’ sincerity and dedication, we can win the world for Christ quicker.
However, I’m also reading all these posts with a heavy heart because I believe we are in danger of “adding” to what is the true Gospel of Christianity. Christ has freed from the bondage of the law by grace. And to me that’s “Good News.” I’m not a Jew but I have been one of those people that are burdened by the yoke of obeying the laws. I thought the more I obey God the more He would love me. I want to please Him by obeying his laws but I found myself kept falling short all the time. Which is why the word of our master “Come to me all ye who are weary and heavy laddened (by the yoke of the laws) and I will give you rest” is so refreshing to me.
I suggest we all read again the whole book of Galatians where I believe Paul addressed this very issue.
What Jesus said was right “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” I take it to mean that Sabbath was designed for us to rest our body, mind and spirit, for our own good and for us to enjoy our relationship with our heavenly Father.
Peace everyone.
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Dear Daniel:
Thank you very much for your kind words.
As it is I am re-reading Galatians now, and I’ll be sure to pay special attention to the issue that Paul addressed.
God bless, and Shalom Aleichem.
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Ma sh’lom’cha Sicarii,
I am doing great, thanks for asking. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a note in my C BOX. You should really get one. The reason i’m commenting is that I just did a short little post on this same subject. Thought you might want to read it. My wife is thinking hard about the Sabbath, so I decided to look into it also.
God bless!
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You don’t know how great this is to find others who actually believe in the TRUE Sabbath! Also, Galatians confirms the observance of the Sabbath. This is a huge topic, hard to talk about here.
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Dear Bobby:
Please just call me Isaiah, as most people do here.
I did consider putting up the C Box, but thought it would clutter so decided not to, but I do agree it’s kinda great to have it.I have actually read your piece on Constantine which was rather interesting. Thank you for posting it — not many people know about his role in shaping Christianity (for better or worse).
Regarding the Shabbat, I am also looking into it in more detail since Daniel mentioned to read Galatians which I am doing now. Perhaps I’ll post some commentary on it when I am done reading and meditating on the book.
God bless, and Shalom Aleichem.
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Dear Carol:
I am reading Galatians now following the suggestion from Daniel, and hope that God will reveal His truth while I read and meditate on it.
God bless, and Shalom Aleichem.
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Isaiah, you might consider reading Hebrews 4:8-10 focusing on verse 10. (Of course you would want to read the entire chapter in whole, but I found these verses make the issues even more complex, I think.) Blessings to you and Shalom.
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Dear Shalene:
Hm… it does require study.
Thank you for pointing me to the verses, I’ll have to really seek for the truth in them.
Shalom!
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If anyone’s interested, I find the following articles on the Sabbath to be pretty thorough, yet easy to understand:
http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/articles/list.cfm?cat=20
~Free
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