Our Example

Jesus is our perfect example in everything we do as Christians. With regards to God’s Sabbath, almost all of Christendom is in direct opposition to God’s call to honor His true Sabbath. Rather, they passionately embrace Sunday sacredness, a tradition of the Roman Catholic church which claims that she is God’s church on earth.

However, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ addresses the immutability of His law: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19). Those commandments include His Sabbath commandment which reads: “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 ‘ (Exodus 20:8-11).

Quite interestingly, it was on the Sabbath-day that Jesus chose to declare to the world who He was and what His mission was all about. It was indeed on the Sabbath that He declared to the world His ministry of redemption, liberation, healing, and reconciliation. Such are the blessings of the Sabbath. The record reveals: And he (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:16-19).

This record alone is evidence enough regarding Jesus’ attitude towards the Sabbath. How men can conjecture that Jesus abolished the Sabbath is beyond reason and without Scriptural foundation. Contrary to popular teachings, Jesus never violated, abolished, or changed God’s Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first. No such account can be found anywhere in Holy Writ. The apostle Peter offers the road map for the Christian’s journey: “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:21-23).

Jesus, being his/her example, the committed Christian should follow His example by honoring God on His blessed Sabbath-day. By so doing he/she would be in the company of their Savior as they answer His call: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). The book, God’s Sabbath Truth, highlights Jesus’ teaching and practice on the Sabbath. Know the truth: read online or get your copy today.

Contrary to our  perfect example of Jesus Christ, the Church of Rome is relentless in its pursuit to establish Sunday as an international day of worship. The world wide movements in this direction are rapidly intensifying. Here in the United States of America, the Religious Right, The Lord’s Day Alliance, National Back to Church Sunday, and other organizations are uniting their efforts to combat the moral decline of the nation. They are coming together with Roman Catholics and other Evangelicals to return the nation back to honoring God by reestablishing the sacredness of Sunday.

The God of creation also has a movement. It is led by His Holy Spirit who speaks to us through His ambassador John: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:6-7). This is a call for all men to worship God, our Creator, by honoring and embracing His seventh-day Sabbath which He gave as part of His Eternal Law, the Ten Commandments. He, in stark contrast to the aims and agenda of the Roman papacy, is lovingly beckoning men and women to keep holy His blessed Sabbath-day, not Sunday.

Hence, there arises a controversy and each must choose whose side their on….the God of Creation or the Pope of Rome. In fact, the Bible predicts a tectonic conflict of apocalyptic proportions over God’s Sabbath-day versus Rome’s tradition of Sunday sacredness.  John the Revelator gives us a glimpse into the conflict: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17). See also Revelation 13:11-18; 17:12-15 for more detail. Jesus wins.

Famed nineteenth century Bible commentator, Ellen G. White, warns and persuades us, “The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness. The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending. Its professions are mild and apparently Christian, but when it shall speak it will reveal the spirit of the dragon. ” ( E.G. White,Testimonies to the Church, Vol.5,  pg. 452). In his encyclical entitled Laudato Si, released on June 15th, 2015, Pope Francis referred to the sacredness of God’s 7th day-Sabbath and its obligation on the human heart. He then conveniently  and incorrectly branded it the Jewish Sabbath. There has never been such an animal. Like all the other oracles of God delivered to the Jews, it was to be shared with the entire human family.

The prophet Isaiah informs us: “And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). Yes, indeed, God’s light and salvation is for all humanity. That salvation is obtainable only through Jesus  Christ who confirmed, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).

Francis’ subtle, yet blatant usurpation of the God of Creation then becomes  evident when  he  stated, “On Sunday, our participation in the  Eucharist  has special importance.  Sunday, like the  Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the “first day” of the new creation, whose first fruits are the Lord’s risen humanity, the pledge of the final transfiguration of all created reality. It also proclaims “man’s  eternal rest in God” (LAUDATO SI’, Section 237).

How can a mere human being transfer the meaning, sacredness, and sanctity of God’s Sabbath, the 7th day of the week, to Sunday, the first, and by extension relegate the blessings of the Creator’s Jubilee to one he  and his church have invented? But this is indeed what Francis is doing in LAUDATO SI’. The Bible calls such actions blasphemy. “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God” (John 10:33). Of course, Jesus is God. He was being wrongfully accused. But the Pope of Rome, claiming the prerogative to abrogate God’s holy law? May God have mercy upon his soul.

Kevin P. Emmert, in his June 19, 2015, article, Why the Pope Is Going Green, appearing in Christianity Today Online, puts Francis’ encyclical in perspective when he observes, “The encyclical, however, is far more than a doomsday letter or a how-to of environmental care. Underlying the warnings and prescriptions, he offers a theology of creation that emphasizes how, by God’s design; human beings and the created world are deeply connected. If we understand this, Francis says, it can change the way we relate to God, to one another, and creation.” But we must relate to God, each other, and to creation based on God’s prescription, His Ten Commandments, which includes His Sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:2-17). Francis’ LAUDATO SI’ which prescribes Sunday sacredness and the Eucharist in its place will not suffice. Will you rest your hopes on the word of Creator God or upon the sinking sand of Francis’ empty promises? The choice is yours to make.

Francis is not God, Sunday is not God’s Sabbath and the 50th anniversary of Vatican Council II is not His Jubilee. The Eucharist and Sunday sacredness are inventions of his church and are patently opposed to the word of God. The Bible plainly teaches, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28, 10:14). Contrariwise, the Eucharist is thus defined: “By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ  himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (Catechism  of the Catholic Church, 1413).

The question is: ” Will you follow Jesus Christ and honor God’s seventh-day Sabbath; or will you follow the Pope of Rome in imbibing  the tradition of Sunday sacredness? There is no middle ground. Now is the time to choose. Choose the Perfect Example, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
He offers you a free choice. The enemy, as his history testifies, forces.