James David Malm

                                     What is the Christian Sabbath? When is the Christian Sabbath? What should be done on the Christian Sabbath? And how should it be observed? Before we answer these questions, it would be helpful to find out what the word ‘Christian’ means.

                                   
What is a Christian?
For this, we turn to the Book of Acts 11 and verse 28. Where it says on verse 25, “Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul,” and verse 26, "and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole year; they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."

                                   
So what is a Christian? Is a disciple of Martin Luther a Christian? Is a disciple of the Pope a Christian? Is a disciple of Herbert Armstrong a Christian?  No, of course not.

                                   
A Christian is a follower of Christ, a disciple of Jesus Christ. Anyone who says, “I believe the Bible as explained by this person or that person” is not a follower of Jesus Christ. Such a person is a follower of the one whose explanations he depends upon. He is not a follower of Jesus Christ. A follower of Jesus Christ follows Jesus Christ as he is led by the Holy Spirit of God. Not as he is led by any man. A follower of Jesus Christ tests men to see whether they are telling the truth according to the Word of God. The test is always the Word of God. The words of any man must be tested against the Word of God. The disciples at Ephesus, the church at Ephesus were commended for testing those who claimed to be apostles. And in performing these tests, in checking up on these so-called apostles, checking them and checking their words against the Word of God, they found these apostles to be false apostles trying to mislead them.

                                   
We are commanded by Moses to test all those who claim to be prophets against the Word of God. The test is always the Word of God. Anyone who says anything contrary to the Word of God and does not repent of that, and does not change, is a false prophet or a false apostle. And anyone who predicts things in the Name of God or by God’s authority which do not come to pass, and does not acknowledge that, and does not repent, and does not change, and does not keep the Words of the Scriptures, the Words of Almighty God, such a person is a false prophet or a false apostle. It is Jesus Christ and God the Father, and them alone who are perfect and infallible. They are Our Father. That is, The Father is our adoptive father and Jesus Christ is Our Father because He created us.

                                   
So, we find in Acts 11 and verse 26 in the last part the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. A Christian is a fellow citizen with the saints and a member of the household of God. In Ephesians 2 and 19, “Now, therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ and is a follower of the apostles and prophets who wrote the Holy Scriptures because they were sent personally by Jesus Christ to write the Holy Scriptures. And the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Bible, is the Word of God. It is the mind and will of the Father and of Jesus Christ expressed in print.

                                   
A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ and therefore stands upon the whole Word of God and does not stand on the explanation of that word provided by any man. When any man says anything about the Scriptures, go to the Book, check it out, and prove all things; holding fast only that which is good and true and right according to the Word of Almighty God. A Christian is not a follower of any man. A Christian is a follower of God the Father and Jesus Christ.

                                   
When is The Christian Sabbath?  

Since we have chose     
Walking the path of being a Christian, let us not rely on the teachings of any man or on the traditions of this group or that group, but let us go directly to the Word of God concerning the Sabbath Day. So, we go to Genesis chapter 2, where it is written beginning in verse 1, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all the work that He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all His work which God created and made".

                                   
So we have it. God created all things in six days. That is all present things, in six days. And on the seventh day, He rested. Who rested? The Jews? Or this man? Or that man? Or some organization? No, it was the Creator, God who rested on the seventh day. And He sanctified it, which means He set it apart. He set that day apart and hallowed it. He set it apart for holy use. And holy means of or pertaining to God. Therefore the seventh day is set aside to be used for things of or pertaining to God. The seventh day is holy time. It is God’s time. It is time that God rested and God commanded that all men should rest upon that day and spend time with Him.

                                   
We know that Jesus Christ existed before He was made flesh. And that He existed with the Father and that with the Father, Jesus Christ made all things for Jesus Christ was the Creator God. He was God and was with God, as John writes. For more on the divinity and pre-existence of Christ please see The Mystery of Jesus Christ.

Now, Paul writes in Colossians chapter 1, and verse 12, “We should be giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. The Father has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”

                                   
So we are redeemed through the blood, the sacrifice, the life given for us—the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are redeemed by Jesus Christ. For in verse 15, “Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God.” The visible being a likeness or reflection; an image of the invisible, the firstborn of every creature. So Jesus Christ was the firstborn from the dead changed to spirit. For by Him, by Jesus Christ, where all things created that are in heaven and that are in the earth, all things both visible and invisible whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.

                                   
All things were created by Him, by Jesus Christ, and for him, for Jesus Christ. And He, Jesus Christ, is before all things. He existed before all things. And by Him, all things consist. All things exist because they were created by Jesus Christ. And He, Jesus Christ, is the head of the body, the Church; Christ is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead changed into spirit that in all things He might have the preeminence. So as the firstborn form the dead, He might be acknowledged as the leader and the pioneer of the saints going forward from the physical to the spiritual. And forward into eternity, we must always be subject to him as our leader and we must follow Jesus Christ.

                                   
In Mark 2 and verse 28 we are told, Jesus Himself speaking, “Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Now, how could He be Lord of the Sabbath? There is only one way that He could be Lord of the Sabbath. The word “Lord” means in charge of, or in command of, or in control of. Jesus Christ was the Lord, that is, He was the ruler of the Sabbath Day. Now, how could He be the ruler of the Sabbath Day? There is only one way that this could be so. And that is if Jesus Christ Himself created the Sabbath Day. He, Jesus Christ, was the one who created all things as we know them today in six days and six nights and rested on the seventh day.

                                   
By creating the Sabbath, sanctifying it, and making it holy, Jesus Christ was and became originally the Lord of the Sabbath. He was the Lord of the Sabbath, the ruler of the Sabbath because He created the Sabbath. The Sabbath was His day. At creation, when Jesus Christ created the Sabbath Day, there were only Adam and Eve existing as human beings. There were no Jews. The Sabbath day was made for Adam and Eve for all mankind, for they were the parents of all mankind. The Sabbath was not made exclusively and only for one particular group of people or one of the families of man.

                                   
The Sabbath was made for Adam and Eve and all their descendents. For all mankind are obligated to obey their Creator Father and to spend time with Him. And that time is specified by our Creator as the seventh day. And the same seventh day is to be observed week by week forever as time to be spent with God in peace and in rest ,learning of Him and as a memorial of the completion of creation in six days, the seventh being a rest from that creation and a memorial of that creation.
 
NO Christian, ever observed Sunday instead of the Biblically Commanded weekly Sabbath ;which begins at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday; as it was observed by Jesus Christ for an example that we should follow.  To reject God's command regarding the Sabbath is to reject God and Christ in favour of some humanly devised tradition!

How then did Sunday observance and the pollution of the Sabbath of Jesus Christ become a common matter?  
 

on a Sab                      

                                   We should be willing to forgive debts especially on the seventh year, which is the Land Sabbath, which we will go into in another talk. But the Sabbath Day, people shall not buy or sell. And they agreed that they would not do that in Nehemiah 10, verse 31. Now, in Nehemiah 13, and verse 16, “There dwelleth men of Tyre also therein, that is in Jerusalem, which brought fish, in all manner of ware and sold on the Sabbath unto the children of Judah and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, ‘What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day? Did not your father’s thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath.’ And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, which is at twilight at the beginning of sunset, I commanded that the gates be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath. And some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in to the city on the Sabbath Day.

                                   
So, the merchants and sellers of all kinds of ware lodged about Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them, and said to them, ‘Why lodge ye about the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hold on you.’ And from that time forth, came they no more on the Sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath Day.”

                                   
Now this is Nehemiah speaking and he says, “Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.” Nehemiah writes that he is doing God a great service by being zealous for the holy Sabbath Day of the Eternal Creator God. And he asked God to be merciful to him because of his zeal for the Sabbath in keeping out those who would buy and sell on the Sabbath Day.

                                   
We are not to buy, brethren, on the Sabbath Day. We are not to pay others to serve us on the Sabbath Day. We are not to go in the stores and buy things. We are not to go into restaurants to buy goods and services. We are not to travel. We are not to do heavy cooking. We are not to work. And we are not to be responsible for anyone else having to work on God’s Sabbath Day. God’s day is a day of rest for all His creation, for all the creation of God. It is a time of rest and it is sanctified to be holy time so that all men could spend time with God. And if all men did observe the Sabbath Day, and did rest on that day, and did seek the Eternal with all their hearts, believe me, they would find the way to peace, which at present time they know not.

                                   
Now what are we really to do on the Sabbath? What is lawful on the Sabbath? We need only ask the Lord of the Sabbath by going to His Word. So, we should go to Mark 2 and verse 23, “And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the Sabbath Day. And his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.” Now, to put this in modern terms, in 1611 King James English, the word ‘corn’ is not the word ‘maize’ or corn today. The word ‘corn’ simply meant a grain of something. Like a piece of grain or a piece of sand. Corn was used in 1611 to refer to grains of things. And it referred to grains of wheat.

                                   
So, in the King James translation, when you see the word ‘corn,’ it does not refer to  the term ‘maize’ as we have in North America, maize was not known in the Middle East at that time. The term ‘corn’ referred to grain. It referred to the various grains such as wheat or barley, which form little ears and grains within those ears. So, we find in verse 23 that they were walking along the side of a field and as they went, they began to pluck the ears of grain. And the Pharisees said unto him, “Behold, why do they on the Sabbath Day that which is not lawful?' And He, Christ, said unto them, 'Have you never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the bread of presence, which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests only, and gave also to them which were with him?' And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath Day.”

                                   
Let us examine what is taking place here. Notice the disciples were hungry, and they picked some ears of grain and began to eat. They did not do any cooking. They did not bear any great burdens. It would be no different than as if you walking through a field and were to pick an apple to munch on; on a bright Sabbath Day. There was no real work involved. They did not gather a whole big basketful. They did not grind it and bake it. There was no work or effort. They simply picked up something readily available and munched on it. But did they pay for it? No, they didn’t buy it. For the law of gleaning was in effect.

                                   
We can turn to Deuteronomy 24, and verse 19, “When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and has forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back again to fetch it. It shall be left for the stranger, the fatherless, and for the widow that the Eternal thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs the second time. It shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and for the widow. And when thou gathereth the grapes of thine vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward. It shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond man in the land of Egypt. Therefore I command thee to do this thing.”

This is God's answer to the Welfare State.  Instead of giving the people everything; at least make them go out and gather it in themselves.  Thus preventing an overburden of the laborours and providing some incentive to effort, by the needy.
                                   
There is a command of God to allow the hungry to partake of the harvest of your field. There was no hint whatsoever of buying, or of any kind of labor or work. There was only the law of mercy which said that if a person was hungry, they have a right. A God-given, God-commanded, God-supported right to pick a little bit and feed themselves and take care of their immediate need. This is why Jesus Christ referred to the actions of David and Abiathar, the high priest. For David did eat the bread of presence. David ate this after having been fleeing for his life for three full days, having been hungry, and starving, and in imminent danger of being caught and killed, murdered by his enemies.

                                   
David was in a desperate situation and Abiathar gave mercy. He helped out because the law of mercy supersedes. And what is the law of mercy? The very sacrifice of Jesus Christ atoning for our sins is an example of a law of mercy. The mercy of Our Creator and the mercy of Our Father in Heaven. Continuing now in Mark 3, “And He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man which had a withered hand. And they watched Him whether they would heal Him on the Sabbath day that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man which had the withered hand, ‘Stand forth.’ And He said unto them; the gathered people. ‘Is is lawful to do good on a Sabbath Day, or to do evil? To save life or to kill?’ And they held their peace.

And when He had looked around about on them, with anger being grieved for their blindness and the hardness of their hearts, He said unto the man, 'Stretch forth thine hand.' And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored whole as the others. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.”

                                   
Brethren, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath Day. If your neighbor bang son your door and says, “My pipe is broke and my house is flooding, help me turn the water off.” Or someone should come and say, “There’s been an accident on the street. Help me call the authorities.” Of course you would help them. Of course you would. The Sabbath is made for all men. Not men for the Sabbath. But the Sabbath was made for men, all men. And all men should have at least the opportunity even if they’re not willing to use it, to rest on the Sabbath Day, to have peace on the Sabbath Day, to have time to spend with God.

Even those people who are not inclined to rest or have peace or spend time with God on the Sabbath should not be placed under any obligation by us to do anything and to work on the Sabbath.

                                   
If we go into a restaurant on a Sabbath, the first problem is that we are setting a wrong example. We are showing them that we are willing to pay them to do things we wouldn’t do ourselves. We have become hypocrites. And believe me, they will notice that. The second problem is that we are breaking the Commandment against buying on the Sabbath Day. And third, we are breaking the commandment not to cause anyone else to work or serve us on the Sabbath Day. This is a wrong thing.

This is a great sin. And we are commanded to avoid partaking of the sins of others; we are NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SINS OF OTHERS!  Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. in the churches of God today there is no respect for the commandments, no respect for the Sabbath, and no respect for Almighty God. And respect is paid only to numbers and dollars and filthy lucre. Because of this, the people of God are facing a terrible judgment and a terrible correction. It is time to wake up and start putting God first. And start putting His commandments first. And stop being totally self-centered in all of our actions. And start thinking about others and our effect on others and the example we are setting for others. It is time to start living and acting in a righteous manner, keeping the commandments of God which we pretend to espouse.

                                   
We know then that the Sabbath was made for all men and all animals, all creatures. And that we are to rest on the Sabbath and spend time with God. And we are not to interfere in the potential right of anyone else to rest and spend time with God.

The Sabbath is the seventh day. The memorial. The day of rest after the six days of creation. How do we know that we have the right day today? It’s very simple. Jesus Christ was Lord of the Sabbath Day. Surely He knew which day was the right day. And He observed and kept the very same day that was kept by the Jews during His lifetime. He acknowledged they were keeping the Sabbath Day if in an improper manner. And they were critical of Him for observing the same Sabbath Day that He kept in a manner different form how they observed it. The seventh day that the Jews have observed since the time of Christ is well known and has not been lost.

                                   
Therefore we know that the seventh day is Saturday. And not Sunday. And the Sabbath Day runs from sunset to sunset. Therefore the seventh day, the holy Sabbath Day of Almighty God runs from sunset Friday to Sunset Saturday.

                                   
How then did some people who call themselves Christian come to observe a Sabbath on a Sunday? How did they come to see Sunday as a Sabbath? And the answer to that lies in the history of Constantine. Constantine the sun worshipper commanded the assembled bishops at the Council of Nicea to stop Judaising by observing the seventh day Sabbath and they must begin to observe the venerable day of the invincible sun; the first day of the week. And all should rest from their labors on the first day of the week. The venerable day of the Invincible Sun, or be Anathema, rejected from the Church and subject to the discipline of the Empire of Rome.

                                   
The people in the period from about 350-365 AD onward were forced by the sword of Rome to observe Sunday. For more about this transition, please visit The Kingdom Messenger site; which is dedicated to covering the history of  this matter. And the truth is, the vast majority of people in Rome were already observing Sunday. So, it was a small thing to force the so-called ‘Church of God’, the Church of Jesus Christ, to start observing Sunday. They just enforced it with the sword and with blood. And those who didn’t want to die fled the Roman Empire. So, that all that was left was apostate Christianity, who bowed to the invincible sun by observing Sun-day, the day of the Sun God, who is known in [Phoenicia] as Baal. Christians do not observe Sunday. They do not bow to the Roman Emperor. They do not bow to the sun. They observe the Sabbath Day. Created by God. The seventh day of the week in which God Almighty, the Creator of all life rested. They observe the Sabbath Day of Jesus Christ who was the Lord of the Sabbath. The very day that He observed throughout His lifetime, the seventh day from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.

                                   
Followers of Jesus Christ do just that. They follow Jesus Christ. The Sabbath was made for all men. All men should have the opportunity to observe the Sabbath. No man should therefore require another man or even a beast to work on a Sabbath. No man should suborn their breaking the Sabbath by offering them payment for breaking the Sabbath. No man should make use of their services on a Sabbath. No man should work himself on a Sabbath. No man should travel or do his own pleasure on a Sabbath. We should make the things of God our pleasure and we should seek the things of God. We should rest from our daily routine, our regular labors and seek our God with all our bodies, with all our minds, with all our hearts, with all our strength. And in so doing we will become true followers of Jesus Christ.

                                   
True Christians keep the commandments of God and observe the Biblical Sabbath and thereby will merit the blessing in Revelation 22:14, “Blessed are they that do His Commandments that they may have a right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city, the New Jerusalem.” Only those who keep all God’s commandments, including the commandment to remember and observe the seventh day will have a right to enter into the kingdom of God. The seventh day Sabbath is a sign between God and His people. It is a sign of faithfulness, of obedience, and of respect. And only by observing the seventh day and showing respect for God and His commandments can we learn so many things about God and His plan. Because if we do not take the time to spend time with Him, on the day that He has chosen to spend time with us, we cannot learn.

                                   
If we choose a different day, we can keep a different day any day. We can observe any day we want. The problem with that is we are doing our own thing because God will not be there. God has promised the seventh day. He has commanded the seventh day. He rested on the seventh day. He made the seventh day holy. And is on the seventh day that He will be available to us. If we say we are going to work on the seventh day and take the first day Sunday off, or Wednesday or any other day, what we are doing is saying, “You have to be available for us on our schedule.” It doesn’t work that way. He is a ruler, a great King and we have to meet Him on His schedule. We have to do what He says. We have to keep his commandments and if He is willing to be with us on a certain day, then we should meet Him on that day. And if we’re not there, we missed the meeting. And we if show up on the wrong day, we missed the meeting.

                                   
It’s as simple as that. If we observe the day we want, if we observe any other day, except the day He commands, then we are missing our meeting with Him. And we are just doing our own thing in our own way, and we’re just doing our own thing, we’re not going to benefit from doing things our own way. The fact is, we have access to God at anytime through prayer. However, He has made this special time for us—a special time to commune with us, and be one with us, and to be teaching us and giving us time from our daily routine to spend time with our Father and His Word to spend time with our Maker, to show respect for Him by keeping our appointment and keeping His commandments.

                                   
And what about those who do not keep His commandments? Who do not observe the Sabbath? They will answer some day to our Creator for having done this. And it is up to us at this time, not to participate with them in their sin. Not to join them in their commandment breaking, but to set an example, to be different, to let our light shine, and to reveal to them through example the Godly way.

Copyright 2009