WHY DID CHRISTIANS OBSERVE THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK AND NOT THE JEWISH SABBATH THE LAST DAY OF THE WEEK AS THE DAY OF REST AND WORSHIP? To go into this we would definitely need some reason for trying to discover why they did so—what motivated it and why does it exist as it is today? Advent teachers tell us that it began with Roman Catholicism. Beloved, did it begin with Roman Catholicism? We will quote from the AMERICAN ENCYCLOPEDIA – giving you the historical background of what actually transpired when Roman Catholicism gained control. To say that christian observance of Sunday the first day of the week began with the Catholics is false! It became a mandatory law through the Nicean Council that the first day of the week be the day of universal worship among Christiandom. This was at the time Constantine married the church to pagan Roman state. The Emperor, through the civil law, made it compulsory throughout the empire that the first day of the week be observed as the day of worship. It so happened that this was also the day of pagan worship of the sun god. The Jewish christians did not choose the first day of the week because it carried any aspects of pagan originality at all. They chose the first day of the week only because the resurrection of Christ had occurred on that day—to them it was the beginning of a new creation.
7TH & 1ST TWO SEPARATE DAYS
Much is spoken concerning the first day and the 7th day of the week. These days are not inter-changeable – The 1st day is not the Sabbath — It is usually referred to as the Lord’s day. Always keep in mind the 7th day is not the first day of the week—never could it be! The 7th day is the last day of the week. It is the last day in the cycle of 7 which God instituted in the beginning. When you pass and fulfill the 7th day of the week you automatically revert back in the counting of days again to the first day of the week.
WHY NO MORE THAN 7 DAY
In the Genesis creation story (Gen. 1:26-31) man on the 6th day was created to rule on the earth—everything else already had been spoken into existence-vegetation, marine life, life in the uni-verse, plant life, animal kingdom etc. Man, having not been created until the 6th creative day to rule over all this only goes to show how man will always correspond to the number 6. Furthermore, it goes to prove that even in the very beginning God was bringing His natural creation into existence in this fashion, (on these particular days) unfolding a plan for mankind which would require only 7 dispensational days to complete – Here was a plan that was already in his fore-knowledge; it was his plan of redemption. Since man was created on God’s 6th day cycle it shows how man corresponds to that number 6 in ruling over this planet for 6000 years or 6 dispensational days (1000 years each). God, by foreknowledge, knew His creation would fall, therefore this is the reason we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. (Eph. 1:4) Even before Adam and Eve arrived on the scene God had all this in his mind. The book was written and all his works known unto him before the foundation of the world.
REDEMPTION STORY TOLD IN THESE 7 DAYS
The entire story of redemption was told in those 7 days. This plan did not just go into effect the day He began playing around with the elements of the universe—it was already in His mind. Now He shall begin to unfold that plan! The fact He chose only 7 days shows He definitely had something in mind. God had a definite reason for creating man in His own likeness on the 6th day and not upon the 4th or 5th day. God would require only 7 dispensational days or one dispensational week to complete His program. Man would rule on this earth and be a God-like creature. Although Adam and Eve possessed tangible physical bodies by which they made earthly contact with the natural elements of creation, their spirit being was made in the image of God to walk in harmony and fellowship with the Almighty. They possessed equal access to the spiritual realm the same as they did through their physical realm.
MAN’S COMMISSION
Creating man upon that 6th day to have dominion, reveals in God the knowledge He knew man would fall. By choosing only 7 days or one dispensational week to work in God is now ready to unfold this plan of redemption that He has foreseen in His great foreknowledge. That which was only in His foreknowledge shall now unfold into a reality. By choosing this particular day to create man showed how man would correspond to the number 6 in his earthly journey and labors of ruling the earth for 6,000 years before he himself could come into his own Sabbath or rest day. God’s natural creation embraced only 6 creative days—these 6 days brought into full focus all earth’s creation. Read, “And God said let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind,” Recall, we’re in the 6th creative day, “And cattle and creeping things and beasts after its kind,” God made the beasts of the earth after its kind and cattle after their kind and everything that creepeth upon the earth after its kind and God saw that it was good and God said let us make man in our image and likeness and let them have domin-ion over the beasts of the field and over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them, and God blessed them and God said unto them be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth” (fill it up again). This statement alone proves that this earth had been full of something ages back. Yes, and “subdue it and have dominion over the beasts of the field and the fish of the sea and every living thing that moveth upon the earth and Behold God said I have given you every herb-bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth and every tree which is of the tree yielding seed to you shall be for meat and to every beast of the earth and every fowl of the air and to everything that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life I have given every green herb for food or meat and it was so, and God saw everything that he had made and Behold it was very good.” The evening and the morn-ing here corresponds to night and day. God’s creative days always started with the night first, follow-ed then by the daylight cycle. Isn’t it strange we who live under a Roman calendar begin our day in the middle of the night and end it in the middle of the night and according to the Roman calendar our year begins in the middle or the deadness of winter and ends in the deadness of winter. Even after hundreds and hundreds of years we still find traces of that old Roman yoke in the Western World. No wonder that Roman Empire was to rule until the 2nd advent of Christ when he who was portrayed as the rock out of the mountains that came rolling down striking the image with 10 toes. (Dan. 2:45). God’s creative day began with the night and ended with the day cycle—the morning. The evening corresponds with the night part and the morning corresponds to the daylight part, that’s why the Israelites’ day begins in the evening time as the sun is setting shortly
before the night hours set in. They have 12 hours of night first follow-ed by 12 hours of daylight. Truly, that’s more scriptural. It should be, they took it from the Genesis setting. That’s exactly why their civil year begins on the very day the sun crosses the equator going south in the fall of the year when the deadness of the year cycle sets in. Therefore, they have 6 months of fall and winter which is your dead part of the year first and close out with the 6 months of spring and summer-a time when you have only life, fruition and everything, showing again the Jew-ish calendar is in perfect harmony with the scripture. Well, they have the right-it’s their book, we only borrowed it for a little season! Don’t misunder-stand my deep feeling for the Jewish way of counting time and think by it 1 sam saying throw away your Old Roman calendar, I am not! We’re only examining this to get our understanding straight-ened out and see where humanity got off course and twisted it all up.
WHY 7TH DAY WAS CHOSEN FOR REST DAY
In Chapter 2 we find the beginning of a new day, a day that shall end a certain cycle. “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 His work which He had made and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” Recall, we’re discussing a natural creation which God took 6 days to create and remember that doesn’t have to be 6 days of 24 hours either. Those creative days could have been 1000 years each because the sun-light which is used to determine time wasn’t brought into relation-ship to the earth until the 4th creative day. Later we shall discuss why the sun was brought in on the 4th day not the 1st or 2nd! Natural creation only required 6 days by which everything was brought into being, therefore (sod rested on the 7th, although after the fall nowhere in scripture do we read where man himself ever literally observed any particular day for rest. Nowhere in the writings of Moses is it found until we come to the Age of the Law. Now this does not mean that somewhere this knowledge did not exist, for it had too in order for God to have Moses place it in the law. Somewhere it probably did, although it had not become a mandatory law in the sense that man was compelled to choose a certain day. Undoubtedly the great patriarchs coming after the Garden of Eden did observe some particular day within the cycle of the 7 for a rest day. In this message all we are seeking to do now is get this natural creation in its proper perspective showing it all took only 6 days – while on the 7th day God rested from his natural creation. Our concern is why God did certain things on certain days? Is it not strange that even after the 7th thy God refused to make an 8th or 9th day to follow the 7th? Why would we begin over again after the 7th thy? What is God trying to reveal to our heart through the creation of only 7 days? Adam was made to have dominion over the natural creation. In (I Cor. 15:47) Paul stated Adam was of the earth, earthly. The first Adam became a living soul while this second Adam (who was Christ) became a quickening spirit. Since dominion and head-ship of this creation was invested in Adam to subdue it and rule over it, God could now rest on the 7th day. If that be true and it is, when Christ came to redeem humanity (and the earth) on that 4th dispensational day, he the Son of Righteousness did not come for the purpose of making a new ball of clay or create a new clump of trees, or a new animal kingdom. He, the second Adam, came a quickening spirit to re-generate, to make alive or to make new through the eternal light that which had fallen from its original state – into total darkness.
GRACE AGE HAS 7 PERIODS
Is it not strange once we consider these dispensational days of 7, we quickly realize the grace age itself also was divided into 7 gen-tile church periods? Here again God could complete His program of grace for the Gentiles in 7 stages of the church. Number 7 always is considered as perfection. God completes things in three’s and perfects things in 7. Notice how Matt. 13 contained only 7 parables – one parable for each age of the church. The 4th parable which is portrayed as a woman corresponds with the Roman Catholic Church during the terrible dark ages—this was the dark age church which was none other than the 4th church age recorded in the 4th parable of the 7. The 4th parable illustrates that this woman had taken leaven and mixed it into three measures of meal. That very parable shows what she did, brought the church to its worse state of spiritual darkness ever. – Note – just as on the 4th creative day light (sun) come to the world – also as the 4th dispensational day was coming to a close the Son of Righteousness appeared to give light. God sent the light of revelation on His word to begin shining which would even-tually bring the church out into full revelated light. It took exactly three stages from that 4th dark age period to bring that revelated mes-sage, which once had been perfect, back to perfection. Three church periods were needed to return it to the beginning or back to perfection. (Rev. 3:1-22). It took three stages after its total collapse during the dark ages (4th period) to bring it back all the way out of darkness. Notice, the first Adam was perfect before he fell. Why did not Christ come in the year 3,000 after creation instead. of the closing out of the 4th dispensational day? Yes, Christ coming on the scene was after 4,000 years, after the earth and I humanity had slipped into its low-est level (re-examine the condition of the 4th church age) and just as the numbers 5, 6, and 7 represent-. ed numbers dealing with the com-ing back out, so has it been spiritually. For 2,000 years the gospel of Christ has been pulling at the heart of men, pulling them back out of that darkness of pagan Babylon tradition and Judaism and all other religions that had filled the earth, as the world approached the end of 4,000 years. There wasn’t an-other ritual nor another) sacrifice that God could possibly send to make man any better. This only shows that man in his natural make-up had come to his darkest hour of created history and just as there was a Luther to bring light at the close of the 4th age to begin the 5th day or the 5th church age, so Christ (the Son of Righteousness) was light in all ages also came at the closing out of 4,000 years to introduce a new way of life.
THE DEAD BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE
By this time, man stinketh. (John 11:39) As shown in the resurrection of Lazarus, Christ allowed him to remain dead four days before going to him. He also waited for mankind to be dead four dispensational days before coming to them. Eph. 2:2 and 5 indicates we were dead because of our sins and transgression. This death condition had caused Lazarus to be stinking. I am sure our condition had become quite a stench in the nostrils of God. Man had been dead four days, how was Christ going to introduce man to a new way of life? By introducing him to a better animal sacrifice? NO! HE WAS the sacrifice! Did He show how to light a candle? No! He was the light of the world! In fact, Christ was everything that all those old types and ceremonies of , the Law had foreshadowed. For 2,000 years or two days the Al-mighty has been lifting man back out of his muck and mire while the 7th day or cycle had always served more or less for a day of resting for that which had started coming back to be the light in the end of the age as the Church was at the beginning of the first age. It will take the millenium or 7th day wherein the Bride Church will rule and reign to bring the earth to its much needed rest (Sabbath). (Rom. 8:19) Our main thought is not the rest of our sabbath during the 7th day or the millenium, our discussion is why did early Chris-tians observe the first day of the week to worship or rest when they had always been taught to observe the Jewish Sabbath—the 7th day? After all it was none other than the Jewish Christians who had. always worshiped on the 7th day who voluntarily began to observe the first day. Why?
CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS
Let’s back up and examine the Jewish way when the children of Israel were called out from Egyptian bondage. They were the Church of the natural (Acts 7:38). A Church (called out people) that walked by the flesh, their very existence catered to the natural environment of the world. God’s blessings were the most natural things of the earth. It is imperative we understand their natural surroundings and settings. They cor-respond only as a nation of people of the earth. Although through it all, God foreshowed something that was far greater. We know He presented them the Law. Notice, “Six days Thou shalt labor.” Same as God, who was active for six days in creating the heavens, the earth and the host thereof. On the seventh day He rested from His work to enjoy that which He had accomplished. Such an ordinance as this is now presented to Israel. Now, six days thou shalt till the fields, etc. became a statutory Law and when the law is broken it must be paid for. The seventh day was a Sabbath unto the Lord and not only were they to rest but notice this, according to that Levitical Law their land was also to enjoy a Sabbath. God said six years thou shalt sow the fields, thou shalt till the land, thou shalt prune the vineyards, BUT ON THE SEVENTH IT IS A SABBATH OF THE LAND. It is a Sabbath unto the Lord, thou shalt not prune the vineyards, thou shalt not till the fields; thou shalt not sow; thou ;halt not harvest, BUT THOU SHALT JUST GATHER THAT WHICH THE SABBATH DAY IT-SELF PRODUCED. Speaking of the land the Almighty said “you will not harvest it and you will not prune the vineyard of it but you will just go out and eat what grapes there are, but you will not harvest the grapes”. You will just at that which is convenient of that year, but you will not harvest it. Notice all this dealt strictly with the natural. Let’s get this one thing straight in our minds…Did the 7th Jay establish everything back unto its proper perspective (in every way) as in the beginning? NO, NEVER! But notice this cycle of days, when you finish with the 7th then you are ready to return to what the beginning was. I SAID YOU ARE READY TO GO BACK TO WHAT THE BEGINNING WAS! This statement 1 am about to make will no doubt probably hair lip the devil—Beloved when that divine revelated gospel of Jesus Christ left Israel and came to the gentiles, it came as a true undefiled revelation brought by a perfect type of ministry! it was a living ministry who represented Christ in spirit form to the gentiles. The gentiles never had the pleasure of knowing Christ after the flesh although through that humble five-fold ministry these men made Christ alive to the gentiles and notice, just as the creation itself was perfect and fell, and was all to be redeemed in 7 days, so was it at the beginning of the grace age that which was perfect in the beginning became polluted and passed through 7 stages before being perfected again. That was the perfect thing that was prophesied to come and you see where the gentiles have brought it! (1 Cor. 13:10) Seven distinctive gentile church ages have come upon us—We are now at the close of the 7th! It took God sending a prophet messenger with “THUS SAITH THE LORD” at the closing of that 7th age to restore the original message which had gotten so far off course that no one recognized the true message which at first had been brought to the gentiles by the Jews. This messenger turned the course of the true church around and started it back in the right direction. Seven is always the end-ing of the cycle. Never can the 7th be the first. The 7th only closes out the cycle of the week. I challenge anyone to say that 3:30 Saturday afternoon (7th.) means 6 )’clock on Sunday morning (first). ft is not! It is 3:30 on Saturday afternoon although it does show .here is not much left of the 7th lay because when you end that lay you are starting right back at the beginning or the first day of the week.
PURPOSE OF THE MESSAGE
It was to turn the hearts of the children of this seventh Church age back to the faith of the earthly Apostolic fathers (Mal. 4:6). But do we have any idea what the faith of the fathers was? This Babylon church world had made the faith of the fathers everything but what it was supposed to be and even people who were supposed to be brought out of this Babylon mess have stood just as guilty in confusing the issue by making the Messenger himself the issue of the Message. We seem to have forgotten the real purpose in His mes-sage—to fulfill Mal. 4:5 & 6. B part, The spirit of Elijah (John the Baptist) fulfilling part A— this messenger was to turn the hearts of the children of this last church age back to the original teaching of the Apostolic fathers. Bro. William Branham’s message of restoring lost truth that was preached in that first day-was to bring a rest and Sabbath to the Soul of man. All these Church doctrines our fathers had toiled over for six days were made plain and understandable to the end time Church. So few even entered into their rest, but still continue to toil and labor over these Church doctrines saying is it or isn’t it, such and such, and then within the realm of those who said they saw something in the message of the man-that it did point us back to the beginning, how many of them have truely found rest in the mes-sage that was designated by the spirit of God to bring rest to the troubled hearts of the seventh cycle? Many still are stewing and fussing over what the messenger said or meant and measuring every-one else by their code of belief. This is not rest! Its turmoil! God sent the Church a message she could rest in-yet some have taken certain statements of this Prophet and made a complete new concept of his message that is still a million miles from what was taught by the early Church and ministry of that hour. Remember, the purpose in God sending the messenger who had the Spirit of Elijah upon his ministry was to restore us to His already established program for the Church. That which is nothing but confusion is still tainted with Babylon. This was a message of rest-a message that was designed to stop this poor flusterated religious world from being all twisted up in doctrine which they had wrestled with until they were all tired out. God offered this people a message they could all enter into and find REST from their labor and toil. Coming into this message would have made them one as Jesus prayed they should be. (John 17:21) Now, because they rejected this seventh messenger who came in the 7th cycle to the Church to bring them a rest or sabbath they shall still all become one, one big mass of confusion and wind up making an image of the beast (that image will be none other than a one world church (Rev. 13: 15-16.)
SURE SUICIDE
Making the prophet himself or some statement within a sermon the object or using it as a hobby horse is spiritual suicide. God has promised damnation to any poor soul that teaches anything contrary to these Apostles (Gal. 1:6-8). Furthermore we are commanded by these Apostles to have no fellowship nor bid any one Godspeed who does not bring this doctrine which they preached (2 John 10-11). Do you know what these men preached? Do you believe it is a matter of life or death that you follow their teachings? Do you simply feel they were well meaning men who got off course and the program Babylon preaches is just about as good? God must have had a different feeling concerning the matter if He sent the Spirit of Elijah to the end time Children to restore them back to the teaching of the early Apostolic fathers–to be restored back to them is to be restored back to what they believed and taught—Not just back to the men themselves, to make idols and heroes out of them. No, it is back to what they taught. Our leader and hero of this faith is the Lord Jesus Christ! His entire mes-sage was to restore to what they taught and believed. That’s what the Church had so desperately tried to go through her three days of the cycle. Now that a message has come, do we know what they taught? Do we know what they taught about the resurrection of Christ? What day He died on, what day He arose and why on a voluntary basis, after 1400 years of observing the Law, a certain percentage of this people suddenly stop observing the Sabbath and turn to the first day of the week to worship and adore Christ?
A WEAK GENERATION
This is a generation of people today who are so weak spiritually that if they can find some one who they think is strong enough to fight the devil for them they will line up behind them. That is what they really want. That is why you will always find them catering to the large crowds no matter if its right or wrong. Furthermore, be-loved I want you to know this is one man who has no intentions of bowing to any of this because my heart has been restored to the faith of my fathers. That is the only new teaching of revelation we need! I may stand for awhile and examine certain things but one thing is sure, 1 have seen too much passed off on the people as being from God when it won’t cones-pond with the revelation taught by the Apostles. Beyond any shadow of a doubt I know why God has allowed this to test you so don’t think you will hide behind some-thing-your soul is absolutely going to have to correspond. All those beliefs and ideas must correspond with one thing—THE REVELATION AS TAUGHT BY THE APOSTLES to the Church! Beloved, you who believe God did send a man, what kind of revelation do you really have? What is it doing for your life spiritually? Does it really correspond to the blessed WORD OF GOD as taught by the Apostles? You must realize God sent a man to this seventh age to take all these teaching that had been labored and struggled over for so long through the Church ages and placed them all properly together giving the end time children of the age something to turn to and be ready to actually make a stand as the age is closing out, in order that the end time Church could have the same belief it had in those early days and by the time it does close out this end time Bride Church could be resting on those Apostles teaching and fulfilling its purpose to the age. The seventh day is always the end of the week or cycle and can never be the first day although by the time it closes out you are ready for the first day aren’t you? Beloved, we believe once God had finished His creation work that sixth day turning it all over to Adam He never again created any-thing of the natural, for He rested on the seventh day from all His natural creation. The Almighty on that day was unfolding His mystery plan of redemption—how on the seventh dispensational day man also would rest from his toil and labor. Once the first Adam (head of that creation) fell it was’ of necessity that God came and redeemed His natural creation as well as his children that had fallen from such a glorious state of relationship with Himself. Which was He obligated to save first? The earth or that which He had placed here to rule on the earth? Naturally He is obligated to redeem first that which He placed here to rule on the earth. Four days later we see Him become the second Adam, the Son of Righteousness and the Lord of Glory. Yes, here stood the very God who had created the sun, moon, and stars for Paul said in Col. all things were created by Him and for Him. Everything that exists was created by Him. (Cols. 1:16-18). He was the beginning of creation and He shall be the end. It is the Creator we see robed in flesh coming to be a Saviour and Redeemer to the human race. What had He come to Do? Had He come to tear up that which He had created? No, He had come to renew it, to regenerate it. The Creator coming at the fullness of the Law age, was born of woman for what purpose? THAT HE might redeem those out from under the curse of the Law (Gal. 4:4) AMEN! Recall how the seventh day was related to the Law? Jews worshipped on that day, his very thought “Oh, to obey God”, to worship God on that day lifts you to such a high realm of ecstasy, although little were they aware that the natural day of physical rest was only a type and shadow pointing them to a much greater rest which was in Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews stat-ed all that was in the Law was a type and shadow fulfilled in Christ. Yes that rest one may attain through the redemptive work of God! Jesus’s coming was at the end of the Law dispensation where that Law had foreshadowed and pointed only to Himself. This Law had been unable to make man perfect, man still remained conscious of guilt although he continually brought bloody sacrifices. Jesus came to be a perfect sacrifice for every sinner! Yes the Apostles taught Christ was crucified on Friday, burying Him just before sundown. Christ remained DEAD throughout all the Jewish Sabbath which fell on the seventh day sabbath but ac-cording to Leviticus 23: that sheave offering was to be present-ed to the high priest in order that the high priest might offer it unto the Lord as the first fruits of the Barley Harvest, when? On the morrow after the weekly sabbath, or first day of the week! So did Christ come forth triumphantly over death, hell and the grave on the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK (Mark 16:9). He is the beginning of a new creation, else why does the scriptures teach for in Him you are complete and again the scrip-ture said “Ye are a new creation in Christ Jesus old things have passed away and behold all things have become new.” (11 Cor. 5:17-18)
MAN’S TWO OUTLETS
In this statement He has no reference to our physical bodies which are still subject to the earthly natural environment. No, His reference is concerning this spirit man who was made when God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden Giving him dominion over it. That spirit man who walked in that vessel of clay had an outlet of touching two realms one just as greatly as the other. (1) an access to the spiritual realm and environment of God. (2) the outlet to touch a tree, horses or any other thing in that animal kingdom. What a wonderful glorious world that would have been if the inner man today, (that spirit being (man) made in the image of God) could have just as quick a contact with the spirit world as we do to the natural way. That’s exactly the position Adam was in. Adam was not subject only to the environment of his flesh, absolutely not. His physical body was only given to his inner man to have earthly contact with his earthly surroundings that inner man which had been made in the image of God I becoming an off-spring of God’s I very own nature and life itself. Adam and Eve could walk, talk and fellowship with God in the cool of the day. Walking and talking with God did not mean God was standing right over there or that they heard him walking on the leaves, or pebbles etc. No, although they did see Him when He came to redeem man for He Him-self had become a man. (1 John 1:1-2) His coming to redeem us was even more glorious for here He was coming to begin a new creation.
BEGINNING A NEW CREATION
What is this beginning of a new creation and how does it affect fallen man? Christ came to re-new the spirit man. Remember Paul said He was a quickening spirit. His coming was to do away with death, to conquer sin and do some-thing especially for the innerman, (not the flesh). That in him the inner man could be the very beginning of a new creation where-in God would be in the process of re-instating this inner man back to his former state of what he was before he fell in the Garden of Eden. Later there would be redemption for the flesh after it had paid the sin penalty death this would take place in the first resurrection. It is true in this LIFE our earthly bodies are subject to vanities but our basic concern is with the inner man since Christ is the beginning of a new creation and is concerned with the inner man. Is he going to be in the process of picking up the fallen and running you through some kind of sausage grinder, then reassembling you? Certainly not! He’s in the process of elimination- eliminating that fallen nature which constantly makes you rebellious against God; eliminating that which cuts you off from having fellowship with him. He is in the process of re-instating you back where you could begin to have a nature enabling you, by faith, to enter into the spirit world and have an access to the spiritual realm whereby you may have walking fellowship communion with God. Yes he’s the beginning of a new creation, he was the way (John 14). Is it not strange that since the creator arose on the first day of the week (a plan already in the , mind of God) that this should prefigure and fore-shadow since he was the beginning of a new creation? Through Christ-God would accomplish His objective whereby he was 6 creative days in natural creation and on the 7th day of his program he rested, so would man who had labored and struggled to free himself from all his embodiment in this world—that for 6,000 years or 6 dispensational days man would continually struggle out but on that 7th dispensational day (the millenium) God would release him from bondage giving him rest. Although the millenium is not yet the perfect day, it shall definitely be the resting to all creation especially for the animal kingdom. By faith you who have been re-deemed have already received the earnestness of his spirit, (Rom. 8:15), you already see what a day of rest is coming to that animal kingdom although the earth doesn’t see it for in Romans it says, Creation groans and travails in pain even now longing and waiting for that very day when it will literally be released. (Rom. 8:18-21) Since the millenium does not portray that complete perfect day it is the day of rest where in man is not agitated by the adversary, Satan is bound for 1000 years in the bottomless pit. Man, for a whole day (the Sabbath the 7th day), will not be faced with open sin, therefore he is free to enjoy the presence and the glory of God for an entire 7th day, hearing the wonderful things of God. What strange things the scriptures portray in Rev. 21 and 22 after that 7th dispensational day (the millenium) comes to a close and the wicked dead have all been judged? What becomes of every-thing then? Natural creation received their deliverance through the 7th day along with the entire human family who was redeemed by the grace of God through that perfect atonement. Everything then beloved will be placed back as it once was before the fall. Every-thing has been completely made new (Rev. 21) Made new in the sense it’s been redeemed and re-generated, made alive; the adversary is gone; the carnal babylon church is gone, even the last enemy, death is removed. Through Christ the revelated word all has now become a new creation. God’s dispensational week is up. The human family is re-instated. Understand now where we are? (Rev. 20-21). Everything is now back in its proper perspective to where it was at the beginning. (Isa. 65:17) (Note, we are not stating as some have, everyone eventually will be saved, NO, NO, only those who accept God’s plan of redemption.) Where does it place everything since we finished the day of rest or God’s 7th dispensational day? We are back at the beginning of the week. Since everything is back at the beginning of the week, where does that place it? It would be on the 8th day if God had such a dispensation day. There is no 8th nor 9th day etc., that next day which seems to be this 8th day simply becomes an eternal day remaining so for eternity, and worlds without end. (as it was in God’s beginning). Time never again is to be broken up into stages or cycles. By this time the eternal God will have redeemed His creation back to Himself. Isa. 65.” “For behold I create new heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered or come into mind” Think of it. You mean, Bro. Jackson, that God is literally going to take this old ball of clay and throw it out of existence! No Sir, no more than He took you anti threw you out of existence. You were born into this world a sinner. Until God’s purpose came into your life you were just as formless and destitute of God as anything could be, you were ignorant of the ways of God and until God came and redeemed you and re-instated you bringing you back on talking terms with him, you were just like this ball of clay that God hung out in space formless and destitute, without form and void, but God brooded over you, justified you and brought you into relationship again as He began convicting you of your sins and cleaning you of your desolate ways. What was the Almighty God in process of doing? He was renewing you, in other words, you are now a new creature in Christ, old things have passed away and behold all things have become new. In ha. 65 God says He would create a new heaven and a new earth. The former shall not come in remembrance, meaning the former ages, those ages in which all our past was held, it is not pleasant, once we stand in that new age or day we won’t desire to ever remember these things of the past. It will be meaningless corn-pared to this new day.
THE FAMILY NAME
Watch carefully, He who was the Father of creation (Col. 1:16 & 17) became the redeemer of the human family giving us a family name to be called by. He gave us His own name that we might have a family name. The scripture teaches the entire family of man kind when once redeemed whether in heaven or on earth is named after Him, our Creator and Redeemer. Every child that is born into any family automatically is given the family name of the father. We have been given the name of Jesus! (Eph. 3: 14 & 15) The name of Jesus is the name of the one who became redeemer of this planet earth that name also is the family name of heaven and earth and when he has reigned as King for one thousand years through that last dispensational day (the 7th) of man’s earthly struggle, and he has subdued the adversary even conquered death, hell and the grave, and the earth now has been dealt with, it too has been redeemed. Everything is now ready to return back to what it was in its original state of the first day of creation. THANKS BE TO GOD that family of God carrying the family name of Jesus will be just like the family of Adam before the fall. Christ rising on the first day of the week and not the Sabbath in itself point-ed to a new day of creation where-in things are to be re-instated to what they once were. Remember the 7th day does not put you on the first. Although once the 7th comes to a close it shows some-thing somewhere has been brought into a state of existence where by it is ready to be placed back at its very first day cycle of beginning.
NO COMMANDMENT TO WORSHIP ON 1ST DAY UNTIL 325AD
Try now to explain this from the stand-point of those early Jewish Christian who had always ob-served the Sabbath. They must have had some knowledge of this program of God. Those early Christians were Jews who for 1400 years had been taught strictly the law and the Sabbath. Certainly they knew the penalty of breaking the Sabbath. They were even aware of what a Sabbath days journey consisted. They knew the con-sequences of disobedience to this. Yet without fear they changed. Why? Everyone of them were Jews brought up under Judaistic teaching (they fulfilled the part of the children under the Elijah spirit on John the Baptist (Mal. 4:6) Once they saw by revelation the Christ, the Messiah the Saviour something happened once they realized that he had risen from the dead on the first day of the week, Christ had passed over the Sabbath and they did not take it lightly. Why the first day? To them that meant something! It was no mere coincidence. They understood, according to Leviticus 23:10-11, Christ was the beginning of a new creation, that he was that firstfruit from among the dead.
A NEW DAY FOR THE HUMAN RACE
Beloved, is it not strange that no where before His crucifixion is it recorded that Christ ever told them to worship on the first day and ignore the 7th? In no parable or teaching did Jesus ever say you observe my day of resurrection, making it a mandatory thing. Absolutely Not! Jews who were under the law were of His natural creation. They were still under the law to observe the weekly sabbath, although do you recall a statement Jesus once made — THE SON OF MAN IS LORD OF THE SABBATH? (Matt. 12:8) Sabbath in the natural realm of rest proved it was really pointing to the fact– get in me, your real rest is in me! Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and ye shall find rest for your souls.
WHY CHRISTIANS CHOSE THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK FOR WORSHIP
We are not trying to annul a physical day of rest, NO, not at all. Yet God used the physical day of rest to point to a higher meaning, and the very custom of the thing itself according to New Testament teaching shows Jesus was the very end of the law and certainly to that early christian who was Jewish, who already had that legal Judaistic background, when they knew that Christ came forth from the dead on the first day of the week with revelation in THEIR HEARTS AND LOVE FOR HIM THEIR SAVIOUR, FOR WHOM THEY HAD FORSAKEN ALL TO FOLLOW. AUTOMATICALLY THIS PUT SOMETHING IN THEM— WE ARE GOING TO WORSHIP HIM ON THE VERY DAY THAT HE CONQUERED DEATH, HELL AND THE GRAVE, AMEN!. To them there just couldn’t be any day more important than this. That is the day we will worship Him and I believe it was a revelation to be that way, therefore it wasn’t a mandatory thing. May I say beloved, a revelation is only for the real true believer who can hear what the spirit has to say to the church. IT WAS SPOKEN BY WHAT THEY SAW IN HIM You see, had it been a mandatory thing somewhere it would have been stated so. Somewhere it would have been preached – some-thing would have been written on the subject. You can go to the chapter and verse where Israel was commanded to observe the Sabbath. These early disciples were only going by what they saw in Jesus, they realized it – when they saw He (their God) WAS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CREATION. That meant something to them, and to be in him was to be in all that pleased God, knowing He was the ending of all that the age POINTED TOO. By revelation they knew He WAS THE REALITY OF ALL THE LAW FORESHADOWED. No wonder by revelation could Paul say “YOU ARE ALL COMPLETE IN HIM,” (Col. 2:10) When Christ died on the cross His death included the whole law for the righteous (those to be complete in Him). It even took care of all rituals, pots and pans etc. Col. 2:14 says “He took them and nailed them TO HIS CROSS, AMEN! In that flesh of Jesus Christ the law had to be ending right there with Can’t you, by faith, see every old pot, kettle and piece of paper pertaining to the law in any manner nailed on the cross with Him? In other words, by revelation they knew who He was, and He could look right down by revelation and say “Children I’m the end of all of this, if you can see it- but you must see it by revelation.” Truly Paul saw it, for to the Colossians he said “Therefore let no man judge you, in respect to holy days and new moons and sabbaths and meats, etc. (Col. 2:16) Do you not realize THERE’LL ALWAYS BE A FORESHADOW OF EVERYTHING THAT IS TO COME!! And when Christ became the end of all ‘of that and by these truthful statements we do not mean to leave the impression GLORY TO GOD He just turned us loose to run around like wild steers, doing anything we please – NO SIR!! When you’re really in Him, you only want to do what you know pleases him – you do only what he wants you to do, I LIKE THAT. Since you become a new creature in Him and old things have passed away with all things becoming new, YOU JUST WANT TO DO WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO DO, and you don’t want to do anything other than what He wants you to do. That’s why Paul could say That Christ has not placed us under the bondage of the law, but he has given us the law of Liberty, ONLY DON’T USE YOUR LIBERTY FOR AN OCCASION OF THE FLESH TO FULFILL THE LUST THERE-OF,”‘ Is he saying go ahead and do what you want to? OH NO! You don’t take the Grace of God and turn it into lasciviousness, you don’t take the GRACE OF GOD AND TURN IT INTO A WORLDLY WAY of living – never!! What saith the scriptures concerning the Grace of God that brings salvation that appeared to all men? We should live CLEAN, HOLY, SOBER LIVES—Live Godly in this present evil age. To that early christian believer – Christ truly was everything. I believe by revelation that early saint saw he was our all in all and truly we are complete in him. Furthermore Christ’s coming was a new day for all of us.
WE WILL ONLY WORSHIP HIM
He’s everything to us – we’ll. worship him on the very day that he rose from the dead. Adventist teachers and others squawk saying yes, but Paul went into the synagogue on the Sabbath, Certainly he did! If he ever intended to preach to those Jews HE’D BETTER!! I said he’d better go into the synagogue on the Sabbath and preach to the Jew that’s the only day you’re going to get a goodly number of Jews together. If you want-ed to get 300 Catholics together where would you go? You’d find out where they were holding mass, wouldn’t you? Usually on Sunday morning right? Certainly you would. Well it’s only common sense to understand when Paul and Barnabas and others went into the synagogue on the Sabbath, they went there to witness not to worship Jesus – had they done this they would have been kicked out. They went in the synagogues to see if they could get an opportunity to preach Christ – “Men and brethren we notice you’re Jews, is there anything you would like to say?” Glory be to God, that was Paul’s opportunity “Now men and brethren you remember our fathers” – First he related history -then once he had them all interested in their glorious history which they enjoyed reminiscing in, no doubt they felt my, you certainly are a great historian – once he had really gotten their attention – suddenly he would smack them between the eyes with the message of Jesus Christ! Who in the world are you? Get out of here with that crazy stuff they’d say! So, did he go into the synagogue to worship Jesus? Never!! He went in on the Sabbath only to preach the gospel to the Jews trying to show Christ’s place in the Old Testament. The Jews still go to the synagogue on the sabbath day, that is as far as their revelation reaches today, but if you notice once Paul met WITH THE CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS IT WASN’T ON THE SABBATH DAY (Act 20:6-7).
PAUL WORSHIPS WITH THE CHURCH ON 1ST DAY
It was the first day, here Paul would not be talking to Jews, now we shall see Paul gathering with Gentiles (revelated) believers over in the regions of Asia in Acts 20:6, “And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread and came unto them at Tarsus in five days, where we abode seven days, (one week) notice and UPON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK (what are they about to do?) When the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, Ready to depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight.” Now I suppose my critics would say well that was just one occasion. We are scripturally equipped to go a little further in a moment – but first let’s get this one thing straight. On the first day of the week he came together WITH THE CHURCH, THE SAINTS, for the breaking of bread and Paul preach-ed unto them—recall this was the night Eutychus fell out of the upstairs window. WHEN WAS IT?? ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK. WHAT WAS Paul doing? Fellowshipping with the church not the orthodox Jew. The christians had come together for the breaking of bread on the first day. Is there any other scripture we can support this with? Paul orders the churches to receive collection on the 1st day. Yes, 1 Cor. 16.1. gentiles, Paul, an apostle to the gens, (listen to his statement concerning a certain collection for the Jerusalem saints) AS I HAVE GIVEN ORDERS TO THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA even so do ye (Church at Corinth). Notice, No’! ” ONLY ONE CHURCH, but churches had received this order! EVEN SO DO YOU GIVE, UPON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK LET EVERYONE OF YOU LAY BY HIM IN STORE AS GOD HATH PROSPERED HIM THAT THERE BE NO GATHERINGS WHEN I COME.” The first day of the week was their worship day. The day they have chosen voluntarily because of their love, devotion and respect to their risen Saviour. This was the day Christ himself chose to rise from the dead – and they knew there was a definite reason he did. Why is Paul saying upon the first day of the week do this? It sounds as if he is going to put all of them to much unnecessary efforts IF SATURDAY IS THEIR REGULAR WORSHIP DAY? WHY DIDN’T HE SAY ALL YOU CHURCHES DO THIS ON SATURDAY if they were already together? Why all them to return back ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEER he says my orders to the saints a are lay by in store what God hath etc., that there be gathering when I come. In Other words, when Paul gets there he could gather the collection and take it to the poor saints in Jerusasalem. He had given ample time for them to get their collections together every time they meet on the together day for this collection because he knew that all the CHURCHES WORSHIPED ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK! SO upon the first day of the week was the most appropriate time to instruct them concerning the Jerusalem offering. Beloved, how can people take these things out of the scriptures’ – How can they be ignored? Time has come for the most enlighting part of our discussion – and I hope this will clear your mind once and for all. Even history itself relates what the early christians in the history is it recorded that Jesus made this a mandatory, nowhere in the scriptures or in first century did. Just remember, compulsory thing—that the christians ob-serve or worship him on the first day of the week. But somewhere, no doubt by revelation those early Jewish Christians together caught this vision that it was as a fitting thing to come together and worship the Lord on the first day of the week. Truly this (recall when the Holy Spirit leads his flock by revelation he leads them all the same way) would certainly cause Jews whose background in the past has been so ritualistic concerning the law and the Sabbath to stand out like a sore thumb leaving the 7th day and going to the first day for worship. Their neighboring Jews seeing them out laboring on Saturday and then suddenly see them on the first day of the week doing just the opposite from what the average Jew is doing!! You know they would stand out, wouldn’t they? That burning revelation in their souls is what made that early christian church a different people. they were different in every way – yes they were completely a changed people in their out-look on things, even their day of worship had changed. Notice what history declares. One Bible dictionary I happened to read on this subject showed how Barnabas who left Paul and went to Cyprus was murdered during Nero’s reign. Early church fathers who referred to the writings of Barnabas, the writings of Ireneas or the writings of Polycarp, every one of these men’s writings bear testimony that the early CHRISTIANS OBSERVED WORSHIP ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Barnabas was of the early church age, Polycarp was a student of the age – old apostle John. Would we dare to say their writings were not reliable? No we cannot say their writings are unreliable, I’ll have to say I’ll put them up today against any of our advent theologians. These men’s writings gives us a clear thought concerning the early christians and the first day of the week from Pentecost up to the first, second and third century. Up to the very beginning of the THIRD CENTURY we ob-served all those early christians worshipping Christ upon the first day of the week, on a voluntary basis.
SUNDAY OBSERVANCE BECAME MANDATORY 325 A.D.
Now after 300 years of voluntary observance for the first time in history we shall see Sunday observance BECOME A MANDATORY THING. Not because Jesus said so; not because the apostles said so, not because the early church fathers said so, BUT BECAUSE ROME SAID SO. All of these out of love and devotion to Him had chosen to do this, be-cause they saw in him what they had been made to be. They saw, by revelation, in him was the fulfillment of the Law. Now for the first time we see this thing get completely off course. Watch, for when we come to 325 as the church world is beginning to be-come a part of the Roman pagan !Mr state, Constantine causes the pagan secular state of Rome to be married to the christian religion. Much derision had sprung up through the christian world – because of the pagans accepting the carnal side of christianity and not the revelation of the word. Constantine the Emperor of Rome who had embraced so called christianity got all the disciples together to iron out that aged-old controversial doctrine raised up by a priest named Arian (bishop) and when they came together to discuss that and to deal with it it was here in that Nicean Council they changed the observance of the Passover from the time that the Jews observed (the Passover) to the time it is now, and that’s why Easter or shall we say the Passover is observed in a particular month and at the time that it is — all because of what took place at the Nicea Council. Also at the Nicea Council something else took place, the bishops along with Constantine (after 300 years) made it a law to observe the first day of the week since Christianity was now a state recognized religion (you know what the devil was about to do). Although they couldn’t do it then, the devil could foresee the day the carnal believers (mostly pagan) would take a bishop in Rome, place a crown on him and call him the pope of Rome, and that man in office would have a vision to make the whole world become christian in name only. So what they did through legislation, through the civil court, they made it a mandatory thing that on the first day of the week there was to be no servile work or anything like that now see the difference from the early church up to what they have made it. Up to this hour there had been no law concerning the first day. Now we read to you from the American Encyclopedia, Vol. 26, page 31- “The christian weekly festival, by theologians associated with the Jewish Sabbath while its observance is often en-forced by the citation of the 4th commandment of the law. While the Christian Church has never identified Sunday with the Jewish Sabbath, it has always quoted the 4th commandment as sanctioning, if not enacting, rest and relaxation from labor in one day out of every seven. When the church was made a department of the state of the Christian emperors of Rome the observance of Sunday was enforced by Civil law. (Notice, no where in Your Bible nor for 300 years do you find such a thing! It had been strictly a voluntary thing out of love and devotion to the resurrect-ed Christ that caused the early church to believe and worship him on that day, but SEE NOW WHAT HE IS DOING? They are making a law out of it.) “When the Roman Empire passed away, and office of Pontifex Maximus once held by the Emperor of Rome, devolved upon the bishop of Rome, Sunday observance WAS ENFORCED BY ECCLESIASTICAL AS WELL AS CIVIL LAW. The Third Council of Orleans in 538 forbid all rural work on Sun-day. Pope Gregory I made at Rome the same law as had been passed in 578 by the Council of Aurerre. On the Lord’s day it is not permitted to yoke oxen or to perform any other work, excepting for approved reasons. Charlemagne in 813 enacted that on the Lord’s day all servile work should be abstained from.” (Note how the Pope of Rome exercised the same power as did the ancient Caesars and Emperors of Rome did.) Now that’s what the Roman Catholic church did concerning the Lord’s day, the first day of the week. Because of these historical facts that are available to all, the Adventists lock hold of that and they use it as a pendulum to try to prove to the world that Sunday observance started with the Roman Catholic Church, IT DID NOT START WITH THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. The Roman Catholic Church just made it a mandatory thing, because when that power of the Caesars was turned over to the Pope of Rome during the Dark Ages the Pope of Rome would send out his militia, who compelled the citizenry of every province to become christians (by name only). Brother, the law both of the ecclesiastical and of civil, of the Vatican and that of the civil law of Rome itself made every subject a subject of the dictates of that ecclesiastical church set-up. Would you say that the Lord’s Supper stemmed from Roman Catholicism, simply because they turned it into a mass? You wouldn’t say that at all! There had to be a true basis for the mass to be what it is today. They took what was the Lord’s Supper as a memorial to the early christians and made a mass out of it, for monetary gain, and untold Billions have poured into the Vatican treasury because of this. I’m saying, upon the authority of God’s Word and that which history declares, that the early church was never commanded by Jesus to worship him on the first day of the week, but rather it came out of a revelation that was given unto them in knowing who he was—that he was a new creation. He himself was the beginning of the setting in motion of the 8th day (or new day). In him Beloved everything in God’s plan will be redeemed, and when it is completed in Him, everything will exist just as it was in its beginning, as though it had never gone astray and had to pass through all these different stages. The 7th is not the first, it’s the ending of the cycle of the week but the next day which is the first always is going back and starting over again, isn’t it? So the christians observed the first day of the week because they saw in him the beginning of a new creation, first spiritual, then in the millenium it takes on the natural side by giving to the earth its sabbatical rest, and then when that is accomplished the people as well as the earth is projected into the 8th day (new day back to the beginning), AMEN!! To be an Eternal day, to be an age that is world’s without end, never to be disrupted by the cycles of 7 or any such thing. So we can see that it is a christian principle as well as a true christian custom to worship the Lord on the first day of the week all because Christ was the beginning of a new creation, furthermore we see what Satan’s organized church world has ) done for it, thirdly we see what other teachers did coming along through later years trying to prove their theory by bringing in different things like history etc. Beloved, it is a truth both scriptural and historical that it is right to worship the Lord on the first day of the week, not because you’re commanded to, but because of who you are in Him, since your body, is still subject to the earth, therefore we know that the natural calls for a day of rest and the inner man because he sees who he is and knows that his spiritual rest is in Christ, putting the two together makes it very simple and easy to take the first day of the week, using it also as the physical day for the body to rest and to abstain from the work of the environment wherein that you give your spirit the inner man to worship and praise unto him who is the beginning of a new CREATION.
THE END
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