The Sabbath question is one that has been argued back and forth for centuries. This battle has been raging for nearly two thousand years, with Sunday seemingly winning the war.

This issue of "The Remnant Speaks" is devoted entirely to this most important issue.

A close examination of this controversy finds two major arguments against keeping the seventh day Sabbath.                                                

1.  The Sabbath on the seventh day of the week  was changed by the Church to Sunday, the first day of the week.

2. The Sabbath was a day given to Israel by God through the law of Moses and the Old Covenant; therefore, when Christ died on the cross everything contained in the old covenant was abolished.

"The Remnant Speaks" will prove once and for all time that the seventh day Sabbath is still in force under the new covenant and that it is still binding on all Christians as a rest day and a day to worship our Father in Heaven.

All we ask is an open mind and an open bible. If you do this, the Remnant Church of God feels confident you too will be among those who ask the question:

Why is the one commandment God tells people to remember, the very commandment most people like to forget?

Pastor Rolland Wile

These are some of the hard questions Christians need to ask themselves and these are the questions the remnant needs to answer.

First of all it is imperative that we understand the great deception that has taken place under the guise of Christianity. In Revelation 12:9 we read that Satan has deceived the whole world. This great deception has taken place primarily through his ministers (II Cor. 11:13-15) and his spirit (I Cor. 2:12), which is called the spirit of this world. In Eph. 2:2 we are told that this spirit guides those who love to disobey God.

Few people who have ever lived have realized that Satan is the god of this present evil world (II Cor. 4:4). Even fewer yet have understood that God appointed the great archangel Lucifer as ruler of this world and even though he rebelled against God, he is still this world’s ruler till Christ replaces him at the seventh trump, Rev. 11:15.

We will address this issue more thoroughly in our next "The Remnant Speaks", titled "Satan’s Deception". Don’t forget to request a free copy.

In Jer. 23:1-2 and Ezekiel 34:2-10, we see God’s scathing indictment against those shepherds or pastors who feed their sheep (or church members) false information. One might ask, how long has this deception been going on? The answer is we can’t be quite sure as we read in Rev. 12:4 that in some time period prior to the creation of human beings Satan managed to deceive one third of God’s holy angels. We can be sure that the deception has been going on at least since Gen. 3:1-6 where Satan deceived Eve into eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Acts 20:29-31 we see Paul issuing a warning to the church that after his death Satan would raise up ministers out of the midst of the church itself. These false ministers would be speaking perverse things to gain their own following. The word "perverse" comes from the Greek word diastrepho, which means to distort, twist, or corrupt. These ministers of Satan would distort and twist the gospel that Paul preached into a false gospel message, which included a false Christ. Paul also warned the Corinthian Church about this deception in II Cor. 11:4 and explains in verses (13-15 of that same chapter that it is really Satan who is behind that deception. Paul again warns the Galatian church about this very same deception in Gal. 1:6-9.

APOSTASIA - A FALLING AWAY FROM TRUTH

In his epistle to the Thessalonian church Paul not only eludes to a false gospel message being preached and a false Jesus being worshipped, but also a great falling away from the truth experienced by the Church. In II Thes. 2:3 the Greek word from which falling away is translated into English is "apostasia" which can mean only a falling away from the truth. In Verse 7 he reveals that this deplorable situation had already begun to occur in his time.

Paul wrote his epistles from about 52 AD to about 66 AD; so we need to understand that these deceptive teachings began almost immediately after Christ’s crucifixion.

Paul wrote in II Tim. 4:3 that the Church would not only receive and accept false doctrine but would come to the point in time where she would shut her ears to the truth of God and accept a doctrine laced with fables. The Greek word for fable is muthos and means myths and fiction. It originates from the word mueo, which means to teach or instruct. So when we read verse 3 we understand that Paul is saying that at some point in time Christians would gather to their congregations teachers who would teach them false religious concepts based on myths rather than God’s truth.

Paul wasn’t alone in writing about this religious deception. Peter wrote about it as well probably around 67 AD in II Pet. 2:1 again warning that false teachers would arise out of the Church itself teaching heresy and false doctrines to their congregations.

John also warned about this deception in I John chapters 2, 3 and 4; and last but not least Jude who explains one of Satan's greatest deceptions in Jude 4.  This one verse tells us that  false teachers would arise out of the Church itself teaching a false concept of grace. This doctrine, which is very popular among major denominations today, teaches that all that is needed for salvation is faith in Christ; that you can continue to live the same old life you’ve always lived and still receive salvation by your  faith in Christ.   

The truth of God teaches  otherwise. Christ told Nicodemus in John 3:3 that you must be born again; that you must begin to live a new life in Jesus Christ in order that you be saved.  Paul  too in Rom. 12:2 tells us that our minds must be  changed; that we must live and                     think a different way.                                                                                                                  

Jesus said in Matt. 7:21, "Not everyone that says unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father."

The will of the Father has always been and will continue to be to believe his son and do what he says. Jesus himself said in Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me Lord and do not what I say!" Getting back to religious deception, from Jesus to the Ephesian Church a condemnation that they had left their first love. What was this first love? In Rev. 2:5, we see that they had fallen away from that first love and Christ admonished them to return to it and again do the works that it required.

Their first love is something that they and most Christians down through the centuries have fallen away from and that reminds us once again of II Thes. 2:3 where we understand that the great falling away is from the truth of God. God’s truth is every-one’s first love and in Verse 10 we see the real tragedy of religious apathy. True Christians who believe the fables and lies of Satan and his ministers are admonished by this verse. Notice that they did receive the truth; they just didn’t love it enough to keep it. They fell away from it just as Paul warned in verse 3 and Christ warned in Rev. 2:5.

We need to remember that what Satan and his ministers promote doesn’t look like lies; it looks like the truth and it appeals to our human nature. In II Cor. 11:13-15 we see that what Satan promotes and his ministers teach looks good and righteous while instead is very evil and far removed from the truth of God.

In Matt. 24:5 Jesus, from his own testimony, tells us that many false teachers would come in his name saying he (Jesus) was the Christ but would deceive many by their false doctrines.

The good news is that if you are one of those who have fallen away from the truth of God you can return. Notice Rev. 2:5; Christ tells us here to repent and do the first works or he will remove the candlestick, which represents the Church and its works.

In Matt. 24:24 we read that the elect cannot be deceived. Are you among the elect of God or are you among the many who have been duped by the greatest hornswaggler of all time? Are you among the elect who have revered the truth of God or are you among the many who didn’t love God’s truth enough to keep it?

Don’t feel ashamed that you have fallen for Satan’s deception for you are not alone. Rev. 12:9 tells us that Satan has deceived the whole world. Without a doubt Satan’s greatest deception has been to deceive the Christian Church into believing that she couldn’t be deceived.

The truth is that the Christian Church of today and its doctrines would hardly be recognized by Christ and his apostles.

This issue of "The Remnant Speaks" is totally devoted to the truth of the seventh day Sabbath of God. In this portion (The Remnant Speaks with a Purpose) our purpose has been to enlighten you on Satan’s role in this enigma of the Seventh Day Sabbath vs. the first day.

With Satan’s deception in mind and our minds and Bibles open let’s understand the truth about the seventh day Sabbath of God and why you should remember it and keep it holy rather than forget and profane it as most of the world has done.

The Remnant Speaks Out

God has made the fourth command a test command. Obedience to it is the one great distinguishing sign separating true Christians from heretics.

Here are the candid admissions of Protestant and Catholic clergymen. These confessions bring to light the doubts and frank admissions of the clergy regarding their utter LACK OF BIBLE AUTHORITY FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY.

Most Christians profess that one must obey God. But they do not agree as to just what constitutes obedience to God. Yet Jesus explained exactly what obedience means.

The New Testament plainly shows that we are still to keep the Ten Commandments. Where, then, do men get the authority to change the fourth commandment by substituting Sunday in the place of the original Sabbath which Christ and the Apostles kept?

The answer to this question will astound you!

Here are the theologians’ confessions. You will be amazed!

What was the first law made to enforce Sunday?

Chamber's Encyclopedia" 1882 ed., Vol. VIII, p. 401, art "Sabbath," declares: "By none of the Fathers before the fourth century is it [the first day] identified with the Sabbath; nor is the duty of observing it grounded by them either on the fourth commandment or on the precept or example of Christ or His apostles. Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of that day [Sunday] is known to have been ordained, is the edict of Constantine, 321 AD, of which the following is a translation: ‘Let all judges, inhabitants of the cities, and artificers, rest on the venerable day of the sun. But in the country, husbandmen may freely and lawfully apply to the business of agriculture; since it often happens that the sowing of corn and the planting of vines cannot be so advantageously performed on any other day.’"

Notice what the world-famous Britannica admits:

"The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty," admits the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. 26, p. 95, art. "Sunday," "is a constitution of Constantine in 321 AD, enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die solis), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural labor."

There is the first law made to enforce Sunday!

Here is what the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Know-ledge" Vol. IV, pp. 2259-60, art. "Sunday" says: "SUNDAY (dies solis, of the Roman calendar, ‘day of the sun', because dedicated to the sun), the first day of the week" was adopted by the early Christians as a day of worship.It was called the 'Lord’s Day" ... No regulations for its observance are laid down in the New Testament, nor indeed, is its observance even enjoined. In the second century its observance was universal … The Lord’s Day (Sunday) was not a continuation of the Jewish (or God’s) sabbath, which was also at first observed, but a substitute for it."

So, it was not until the second century after Christ that Sunday observance became general, and it was not until 321 AD that it was enforced by State decree!

Most Catholics and Protestants would like to assume that the Sabbath law was changed either by command or by example in the New Testament. But this is not true! You will not find one single verse authorizing such a change from Saturday to Sunday.

First, let us go to the Catholic Church to see what she has to say on this subject. In the August 26, 1900, issue of the Catholic Press, of Sydney, Australia, we read: "SUNDAY IS A CATHOLIC INSTITUTION, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles … From beginning to end of the Scriptures there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day (Saturday) of the week to the first (Sunday)."

Here is an interesting comment from Cardinal Gibbon’s book, Faith of Our Fathers, 110^th ed., p. 89: "You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and YOU WILL NOT FIND A SINGLE LINE AUTHORIZING THE SANCTIFICATION OF SUNDAY. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify."

On September 23, 1893, Cardinal Gibbons also made this statement in the Catholic Mirror: "The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, CHANGED THE DAY FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY …The Christian sabbath (Sunday) is therefore, to this day, the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church as the spouse of the Holy Ghost, without a word of remonstrance from the Protestant world."

T. Enright, a Catholic Priest, while president of Redemptorist Fathers’ College made the following statement in 1893 in a lecture delivered at Des Moines, Iowa: "There is but one church on the face of the earth which has the power, or claims power, to make laws binding on the conscience, binding before God, binding under pain of hell fire. For instance, the institution of Sunday.

Let me give you one more statement from the Catholics before turning to Protestant sources. I now quote from pages 3 and 4 of The Library of Christian Doctrine, by Burns and Oates of London, art. ‘Why Don’t You Keep the Sabbath Day?’

The above testimony amply shows how the Catholics feel on this subject of who changed the Sabbath.

They believe that the Catholic Church has the power to make laws and to change the Word of God. But the Protestants are supposed to believe in no authority but the Bible.

Next, let us see what the Protestants have to say, or admit, on this important subject.

"Some BAPTISTS are fond of demanding a ‘Thus saith the Lord’ for everything and profess to accept nothing for which explicit authority cannot be produced from the word of God. Probably not a reader [meaning a Baptist] of this paragraph would be willing to follow this principle to its legitimate conclusion. It would involve the immediate return to Sabbath worship, the abolition of Sunday schools." Quoted from the Baptist ‘Examiner,’ January 4, 1894.

Quite a candid admission!

And what have the Methodists to offer? Notice!

That is quite an admission!

Dr. Lyman Abbott in "Christian Union," Jan 19, 1882, has to confess: "The current notion that Christ and His apostles authoritatively substituted the first day for the seventh, is absolutely without any authority in the New Testament."

The Lord’s day was merely an ecclesiastical institution. It was not introduced by virtue of the fourth commandment because they for almost three hundred years together kept that day which was in that (the fourth) commandment."

The renowned preacher, Henry Ward Beecher, made the following statement: "There is no direct command on the subject [of observing Sunday]. The only obligation resting upon us to observe Sunday is that which comes up through our nature." From "Bible Studies," p. 242, by Henry Ward Beecher.

Here is also a final admission: "The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday." From "The History of Christian Religious and Church," Neander, page 186, translated by Henry John Rose, D.D.

There are many more confessions, which could be added to this list, both Catholic and Protestant. But the above list will suffice to prove that Sunday observance was not instituted in the New Testament, but was instituted by Constantine the Great in 321 AD and enforced by the Catholic Church [at the Council of Laodicea – about 364 AD] – and the Catholic Church bequeathed this pagan first day of the week, wrapped up in a Sunday wrapper to the Protestant churches – her daughters!

These quotes taken from church annals reveal what many denominations actually believe about the Sabbath day.

Please listen to these quotes from Unger’s Bible Dictionary, pages 256 and 257, article - Decalogue. I quote:

"The Decalogue is a statement of the terms of the covenant which God made with his chosen people; and in this respect is to be distinguished from the elaborate system known as the Law of Moses. The vast legal system of Israel, civil, criminal, judicial, and ecclesiastical, was formed after the covenant law, not with a view of expanding, but to enforce it.

This elaborate system was designed as an education to lead people to the great principles of life embodied in the Decalogue and afterward exhibited in Jesus Christ.

It (the Law of Moses) was only a temporary expedient to achieve a given end); Hebrews 9:8,10, while the Decalogue is a statement of principles to continue for all times.

This unique place of the Decalogue is also seen in the circumstance of its delivery. While all the rest of the law was given by God through the lips of Moses, this (ten point law) was spoken by God himself, and with an awesome display of splendor and solemnity never before witnessed.

In addition to that, the Decalogue was written by God’s own finger on durable tables of stone. In the symbolism of the East, the stone signified the perpetuity of the law written upon it; written on both sides it signified the completeness of the code.

The foundation and source of the Decalogue is God’s own character. The Hebrew name for God used to introduce the Decalogue in Ex.: 20 is Everlasting, Eternal, Almighty, and intimates that the principles of the law have their standing in the very character of God himself. "I am … therefore …thou shalt". That is the connection. And it is that which makes the Decalogue so awesome in its unchangeable majesty. It is law because God is God. It cannot be changed without changing the character of God himself. Right is what it is because God is who he is, and therefore, is as unchangeable as God."

Quite a quote from the distinguished Merrill Unger.

I will now quote from the Adam Clarke commentary (page 404 and 405) article, the Fourth Commandment.

"God calls them to remember it; as if he had said; do not forget that when I had finished my creation I instituted the Sabbath, and remember why I did so and for what purposes. The Hebrew word shabbath signifies rest or cessation from labor; and the sanctification of the seventh day is commanded as having something representative in it; and so indeed it has, for it typifies the rest, which remains for the people of God. Paul testifies of this future rest in Hebrews 4, verse 9.

Because this commandment has not been particularly mentioned in the new testament as a moral precept binding on all, therefore some have presumptuously inferred that there is no sabbath under the Christian dispensation. The truth is the Sabbath is considered as a type. All types (no exception) are of full force until the thing signified by them takes place.

The thing signified by the weekly seventh day Sabbath is that rest in glory which remains for the people of God; therefore, the moral obligation of the Sabbath must continue till time be swallowed up in eternity."

Quite a quote from Adam Clarke.

There is it; straight from the mouths of two of the most renowned biblical scholars ever. No man or ecclesiastical institution - Roman Catholic Church or Protestant daughters, have the right to tamper with or change any of the sacred and immutable laws of God almighty contained in the Decalogue, including the fourth commandment.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

The Remnant Speaks Admonishment

Nearly all of this confusion can be overcome if we can come to the realization that God sanctified the seventh day of the week and made it holy long before the existence of the Israelite nation, the church, or the old covenant; and that there is a great purpose in God demanding man to keep it.

In Gen. 2:3 we read: "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his work which He had done". Here we understand that God sanctified or set the seventh day of the week aside for holy use and then entered into a rest. Here we have a 24-hour period of time; something that cannot rust or rot away, that comes to us every seventh day (whether we like it or not), and is set apart from the six working days of the week for a spiritual purpose.

Heb. 3 illustrates how the nation of Israel, which was a physical type of spiritual Israel (or the church), wandered in the desert forty years not believing God even though they saw his miracles. Because of their unbelief they weren’t allowed to enter the promised land, which again was a physical type of the spiritual Kingdom of God and the millennial rest of Jesus Christ. The word rest in Heb. 3:18 means abode or place of rest which signified the physical promised land to them but was a type of the Kingdom of God and Christ’s millennial rest.

In Heb. 4:1 we see that Christians have a promise of entering into that spiritual or millennial rest of God as well

And just as the nation of Israel could not enter into the type (the promised land) because of their unbelief, neither can Christians enter the antitype (the millennial rest of Christ) without believing in God’s promises. This is called faith. In Heb. 4:3 we see true believers do enter into a rest with God and since the millennial rest has not arrived yet, this rest that believers enter into must be the type of that millennial rest which is the 24-hour period of time that God sanctified in Gen. 2:3 and called the Sabbath. Verse 4 of.

The seventh day of rest which God sanctified and made holy in Gen. 2:2 at creation pre-dates by hundreds of years the Israelite nation, any Jewish individual and any covenant God made with the Jewish race.

God "loaned" the Sabbath day and the other nine commandments in Exodus 20 to Israel to show them how he wanted them to live their lives in relation to him and their fellow man. These Ten Commandments became the backbone of the covenant he made with them and the framework from which the Law of Moses was derived. Jesus said in Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. This tells us two things: First, that this day was created not just for the Jew but also for all mankind and, second, that it was created for man. In other words, it was created to benefit man to become a delight to him and a day that all men could look forward to; a day in which all peoples could rest and refrain from the previous six work days and be refreshed. Since it is sanctified by God, it is very special and a day in which God desires us to come together in a holy convocation to worship him. Heb. 10:25.

We also see in Lev. 23:3 the command to assemble in a holy convocation and to rest from our weekly labors. Also notice that it is the Sabbath of the Lord, not the Jews. God makes it plain that it is his Sabbath that he allows Christians to use and not any man’s or race of people. As mentioned before, God chose a 24-hour period of time which comes around to us every seven days whether we like it or not. It won’t rust or rot, or decay like any man-made object, but will last as long as time itself.

God knows that man needs a day in which he can be refreshed physically as well as spiritually. He also knows that unless he commands man to keep it; man won’t. In fact, most of the world doesn’t keep it even though it is a direct command from Almighty God, spoken by his own lips and written by his own finger.

As mentioned before, God "loaned" his great moral law, the Ten Commandments, including the seventh day Sabbath, to the nation of Israel and it became the backbone of the covenant he made with them. The old covenant also included the "law of Moses" which included the Levitical priesthood, which was a type of the Melchizedek priesthood of Jesus Christ.

Most of the law of Moses, it’s Levitical priesthood, and it’s carnal ordinances were designed to lead humanity to Jesus Christ and the new covenant like a school master. Gal. 3:24.

Since they were a type of Christ and his redemption work, they were dissolved when Christ (the anti-type) died on the cross. The Ten Commandments were never a type of Jesus Christ and his redemptive labor. In fact, these laws were the catalyst that made our redemption necessary.

The Ten Commandments are God's great, eternal, moral laws that define sin and show us what we are doing wrong. In I John 3:4 we are told that sin is transgression (or the breaking of the law). When we break these laws it illustrates and proves to us our need for a savior and his power or redemption.

When we steal, commit murder or adultery, lie, covet, dishonor our parents, put something in place of God, or allow pagan ideas and practices to enter our worship service, God tells us we are committing sin or breaking his laws. But what does the breaking of the Sabbath day tell us? It imparts to us the knowledge that we have done wrong. It shows us we have sinned and need to ask God’s forgiveness. How do we break the Sabbath day commandment? We break it when we work on that day, or when we fail to rest on that day, or when we fail to keep it holy or very special. The commandment is very specific; we are allowed to work the first six days of the week but are commanded to not work the seventh day. Ex. 20: 10, 11. Notice that God tells us that the Sabbath day is his day, (not any person’s or race of peoples) and commands us not to work on that day. He then tells us that he hallowed or sanctified the seventh day (a 24 hour period of time) and made it holy. Why? Lev. 23: 3 tells us the reason God sanctified the seventh day was the fact he desires it to be used for a holy convocation or worship service. Webster’s defines the word "sanctify": to set apart as holy. The Hebrew word used in Gen. 2:3 conveys more than Webster’s definition. The Hebrew word Qadash not only means to make holy, but also to purify and to make clean.

Under the first covenant God gave his people his universal code of conduct, the Ten Commandments. These laws were the foundation of the covenant he made with them and to guide them to live the righteous life that he intended Israel’s greatest downfall was her continued Sabbath breaking and God explains why this happened in Ezekiel 22:26. He states the fault lies with the priesthood, Israel’s religious leaders and teachers. God tells us Israel’s pastors put no difference between the holy and profane, or between the clean and unclean. This means the Sabbath, or seventh day, God purified and made clean and holy; the other six days He didn’t purify and are still unclean.

They hid their eyes from God’s Sabbaths, meaning they did not acknowledge them and instead taught the people all seven days are the same.

In Jeremiah 23:1,2, God issues a scathing indictment against the pastors that are teaching his people falsely. Ezekiel 34:1-10 also condemns shepherds (pastors) who teach false doctrines to his people.

Times haven’t changed one iota. Most religious leaders of today teach their flocks it does not make any difference which day of the week you keep holy, leading them into error, and most people, not taking the time to check the scriptures, follow their pastors like sheep in keeping another day in place of the seventh day Sabbath.

What a pity that most people on earth today are not reaping the blessings that God pours out on those who are able to discern between the clean and the unclean and the holy and the profane in keeping the seventh day holy. And what a pity that most people have not enjoyed the intimate relationships with God that they desire because of Sabbath breaking.

The Remnant Speaks Encouragement

Many people express the view that if I begin to keep the seventh day Sabbath of God, I won’t fit in with the rest of the world and that is emphatically true, but that is exactly what God tells us a true Christian must do. Jesus, from his own testimony states in John 17:14 that his disciples aren’t of the world. John 15:18-19 states that the world would hate the true followers of Jesus Christ because they have come out of the world. And James 4:4 tells us that whoever is in harmony with the ways of this present evil world is an enemy of God. That’s the reason Paul in II Cor. 6:16, 17 tells Christians to come out from among them and be separate from the world and touch not the unclean thing.

Sunday, as the official day of worship, is a man-made item. Man cannot make any thing holy, nor does he have the authority to change any point of the Decalogue. So the question each Christian has to ponder upon reading the truths in this magazine is: am I going to obey God and keep his Sabbath or obey man and keep another day.

In Ex. 19: 5, 6, God told the ancient Israelite nation that if they would obey him and keep his covenant they would be a very special people to him and he would consecrate them as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Israel failed miserably and one of their major shortcomings was Sabbath breaking. Only by keeping the seventh day Sabbath can a Christian have a right relationship with the great creator God of Gen. 2:2, 3 and a right understanding of the future millennial rest of Heb. 4.

In Ezekiel 20:12, 13 God states that he gave Israel his Sabbaths to be a sign that he sanctified them and set them apart from the world for a purpose, that purpose was for them to be a kingdom of kings and priests and a holy nation. God desired them to be a model nation that would be like a beacon light to demonstrate to the rest of the world how God desired them to live. Israel continually polluted God’s Sabbaths and broke his covenant and so God blinded them spiritually as we are told in Rom. 11:25.

The ancient, physical nation of Israel was a type of spiritual Israel, which is the church or the body of Christ. In I Peter 2:9, 10, we are told that under the new covenant the church is to become a holy, spiritual nation and a kingdom of priests. In effect we are told that the mantel has now fallen from the old covenant nation of Israel to the new covenant Church of God.

The encouraging part of this article is that God’s promises for keeping the seventh day Sabbath are still in force. Notice Is. 58: 13, 14. Here God states that if his people will keep his Sabbath day correctly then it will become a delight to that person and that God himself will bless that individual tremendously.

Here are some of the personal testimonies of the members of the Remnant Church of God on why they remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

After I had married and had children we attended a Sunday church. The people were very nice and the Minister and his family were the greatest. We became close friends with several in the church, but there was something missing for me. I kept telling my husband that I didn’t understand much of what the pastor was teaching. We finally left that church after several years and didn’t go anywhere. One day I told my husband that I wanted to attend the kind of church that my Dad had talked about when I was younger. He was dead set against it. I knew for years that God was calling me into his church, so one Saturday I just went to church without my husband. That day God gave me the peace that I had been searching for. Not only did I feel closer to my God but I started to learn again. No one can ever convince me that his Sabbath is not different than another day of the week.

Later God blessed me by calling my husband into his church. If you think that one day is no different than another (as far as learning about our heavenly father and his plan for us), just ask my husband. He will tell you that all the years that he went to church on Sunday, he really never knew the Lord or understood his word.

God set aside the Sabbath for a reason. He blessed it and made it holy in order for us to learn more of him and his plan for mankind. Nowhere in the bible can I find where God gave man the right to set apart or bless any other day of the week. So until God tells me that he has changed the Sabbath to another day of the week I will continue to keep his Sabbath holy (as much as a human can). I can’t praise God enough for giving me the Sabbath and for the spiritual blessing of understanding his word.

Now that is only one reason why I like going to church; another would be the people that I get to fellowship with. Once you have good Christian relationships with others in your congregation its hard to miss being with them at least once a week. I can say that some in my congregation are closer to me than some of my blood relatives. When one of them misses a Sabbath service I feel like one of my family is missing. Don’t misunderstand, I love my brothers and sisters, but there is a special bond between church brethren. One of the things that amazes me about these Christian relationships is that I can tell another man, woman or child that I love them and they know that I mean it. It doesn’t make any difference if they are white, black, yellow, red, young, or old, we are all the same in God’s eyes. I love having that kind of freedom.

I have even been asked why I go to church on Saturday instead of Sunday. My first response to that is BECAUSE JESUS DID. Then someone will say that the Sabbath was changed when Christ was crucified. Boy, is that the wrong answer. I don’t think there is a place in my Bible that tells me that God changed his Sabbath. Man may have changed it because it was more convenient for man, but not God. I am certainly not the kind of a person that wins in a debate so I try not to get involved in them. I have always believed that the Sabbath was Saturday (even when I attended Sunday services). Back then I figured that as long as you kept one day that was better than not keeping any. The strange thing was that I never kept it the way a person is supposed to keep the Sabbath. I continued to do the same things on Sunday that I did the rest of the week. I would work (if I could) as well as go to all the yard sales in the area. I didn’t understand that God had made this day called the Sabbath special for us. I didn’t understand that we needed a day off from all of the pressures of the world and I didn’t understand that if you set that one day aside just to be closer to him, that your life would be much more fulfilled.

It’s so great for me now because I don’t have to make excuses to anyone for just lying around and resting.

So why do I go to church on God’s Sabbath?? Because the Holy Spirit within me tells me that it’s the right thing to do. Because I love hearing the word of God spoken in a way that I can understand it. Finally, because I love being with God’s people, and the place I find God’s people are at Sabbath services.

Gary L. Weaver               

To be with friends and to learn how he wants us to live our lives and to learn more about him. Also, to renew our faith and strength in him.

God always reveals some new things to you that you missed before. And to always have such peace, understanding and love, the way God wants us to have with him through his teachings.

Florence Smith                

I strongly believe in all of the Ten Commandments, not nine but ten. This of course would include the fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath Day and Keep it Holy".

J.L.              

My physical and spiritual life are centered around the 24 hour of holy time and here’s why - -

I look forward to singing songs of praise to our father and worshipping him on this day; because I know it pleases him very much. Also being with God’s people. Love is the only word there is.

Only the 7^th day of the week identifies the individual who claims to be the great creator God; and only on this day did God rest from his labors. He created a 24-hour period of holy time that he personally set apart and sanctified. All other days of the week point to counterfeit gods and false religion.

Only God has the authority and power to create holy time.

This holy time will never rust or fade away. It will always be there for me, to worship God and his son, Jesus Christ. These are the reasons I remember the Sabbath and keep it holy just as God commanded.

Sandy Wile                 

It is so good to be able to come apart from the world and gather with God’s people on this day in a church that still believes it is God’s true Sabbath day. A day to praise our great Father and our Lord and Savior. To enjoy each other in love and fellowship.

I thank and praise Him for it.

Audrey Crawford                    

Over the many years that I have kept the Sabbath its meaning has changed for me. As a teenager the Sabbath was a day we went to church not because we wanted to but because my Dad made my sisters and I go. The Sabbath was a day of you can’t do this and you can’t do that because it was the Sabbath. The Sabbath held no significance for me.

When I came to learn the meaning of the Sabbath my feelings about the Sabbath changed. Now instead of a day of you can’t do this or you can’t do that, it has become a day to look forward to, a day of joy, and a day of getting together with brethren who believe the same things I do. A day of learning more about God and his plan; a day to encourage others and a day to be encouraged. It’s a day of celebration. A day to get away from the world and all its troubles. God has given us this day to keep in remembrance of him. It is the fourth commandment. I have a hard time understanding why people who have kept the Sabbath for many years don’t feel it is necessary to keep it anymore. God did not do away with the Ten Commandments. They are in our hearts. The physical parts of the law could not be kept so with the death of Christ, the spiritual part came into it. The Sabbath day enhances our lives; it lets us remember God and his plan. A weekly Sabbath is a blessing in our lives. Thank God for the Sabbath.

Donna Smith                    

An even more likely, people have had to deal with meaningful disappointments in their lives as most of their dreams were crushed by the events in their lives. Perhaps, you were not able to achieve what you wanted to do in school, or your career was not what you had dreamed it would be. Has your marriage been troubled like most marriages are? Have your children experienced problems with any of the temptations of alcohol, drugs, or sex? Have you and your children been successful at relationships with other people and with the Great God? Have you suffered emotional and mental distress from problems and events that have befallen you? The answers to these questions obviously are yes for the vast majority of humanity.

Therefore, a person is likely to ask the question: "If there is a God, why does He allow so much suffering to afflict His children? What is God doing? What are His plans? Since God has removed Himself from our intimate presence, He has not been available for anyone to converse with directly. Even the disciples of Jesus’ day didn’t ask these questions. Jesus did not plainly say what His Father was doing, what the plan was. The answers to these questions will be difficult to find because the written word of God, the Bible, does not clearly, simply, state the plan of God. Still there is hope of understanding God’s plans, if a person is willing to undergo the conversion process of allowing the mind of Christ to take over the person’s will. Especially, if a person will observe the Sabbath and other Holy Days that God sanctioned at creation. For it is by a contrite heart that a person learns of God.

Then, a person learns slowly through the principle of "here a little and there a little" as the person reads the words of God and observes the creation. Slowly being given by the Holy Spirit, the eyes to see, the ears to hear, the mind to remember the things of God, including His plan.

The Sabbath day is the first of the periods of time (the Holy Days) God created and sanctified as listed in Lev. 23. It is the first step in understanding what God is doing. It becomes obvious to those followers of Sabbath observance that God has given the creation over to travail for a six thousand years (6 days) age. That there is coming a new age of a one thousand years (the Sabbath day) that will be quite different from the turmoil chaos, and adversity of this six thousand-year age.

With the Sabbath leading the way, the other Holy Days reveal more of the plan of God. This plan is the way by which He intends to provide access for almost all of the conceived children of humanity, to an eternal life as His spiritual children. For right now, we are barely anything more than His physical children and are assured only of death. Thus the Sabbath becomes a tremendous joy to those to whom it begins to reveal the plan of God. Answering for them the questions of why suffering and afflictions are so much a part of human life.

Learning the love from above,

Bruce Smith

    From someone who quit keeping the Sabbath for a couple of years I can understand how quickly the truth can slip away.

As I continued with my inner search I concluded that the Sabbath was a good idea and then it hit me - of course it was a good idea - it was God’s idea.

God is an orderly God. We see it everywhere in his creation. He set the planets, etc. in their orbits and it is the same with the Sabbath. It is holy time, set apart by God. One cannot show up on a different day and expect to be fed spiritually. There is a special window of understanding open on the Sabbath day. That is not to say that we don’t have access to God any day or any time; we do; but the Sabbath was set apart for a reason; and if a person tries to keep a different day for worship, true knowledge and understanding are not imparted from God. I experienced first hand how truth can fade and doubts can give way to acceptance of any way of worship but God said we must worship him in spirit and truth.

As I began to once again keep the Sabbath, I rediscovered the love of truth I once had; and the confusion and doubt left me. I would beg all those who are turning their backs on the Sabbath to take the time to look again at what they are giving up.

   Mary Kay Giannotta              

Nothing means more to me than my God and keeping the Sabbath.

Mr. And Mrs. Edward Sparks

Verda Stokes        

This creation consists not only of the heavens and the earth and all living things therein, including humanity, but also time itself including the seventh day week. Upon working for six 24-hour time periods, God rested on the seventh day, blessed that 24-hour time period and sanctified it or set it apart from the other days of the week for special, holy services.

The Holy Spirit is the spiritual catalyst that unites the Father and the Son with the body of Christ and it is the keeping of the Sabbath day that points us back to Gen. 1 and 2, our great creator God, and His creation.

Many today recognize that the change from the seventh day to the first day was not valid and didn’t have God’s stamp of approval. Many today understand that the Easter Sunday resurrection of Jesus Christ (which is the proof many give for the seventh day to first day transition) is one of the myths or fables Paul warned about in II Tim. 4:4.

Jesus said in John 2:19, destroy this temple (his body) and in three days I will raise it up. Jesus also proclaimed in Matt. 12:40 that the only sign he would give proving he was the messiah was that he would be in the grave three days and three nights. It is impossible to cram three days and three nights (three 24 hour time periods) between a Friday crucifixion and a Sunday resurrection. The truth is Jesus was not crucified on Friday, neither was he resurrected on Sunday. If you would like more information on this subject please request our free booklet: "The Resurrection - Fact or Fiction?"

Make no mistake Satan is behind the action to dismantle the seventh day Sabbath and then to discard it on the great garbage dump of old testament theology. (Please request the next free issue of The Remnant Speaks titled, "All About Satan".

We need to understand that God’s remnant church is not going to be sleeping in a mythical place of safety, nor is she going to be protected in a spiritual wilderness. The remnant is going to be protected by the armor of God and his Holy Spirit in an all out war with Satan. Rev. 12:17.

We see why Satan hates the remnant; because she keeps the commandments of God (including the seventh day Sabbath) and holds fast to the testimony of Jesus. Another reason he is going to hate us so much is we are going to expose him for what he is: a liar, a murderer and a master of deception. We of the remnant label him the greatest hornswaggler of all time.

Those theologians who promote the demise of the seventh day Sabbath realize that many people today don’t believe the revelation of the Catholic Church; that she had the authority to change holy time from the seventh day to the first day. So they had to invent another revelation; that the Sabbath is abolished with the Old Covenant and the Law of Moses.

It is certainly true that the Ten Commandments became a part of the law of Moses, but only because they were delivered to the Israelite nation by and through Moses. But Moses was only acting on God’s behalf and had no more a part in instituting these ten commands then he did in authorizing the bill of rights to become a part of the U.S. Constitution. As such renowned scholars as Merrill Unger (Unger’s Bible Dictionary) and Adam Clark (Clark’s Commentary) point out, these ten commands were written by God’s own finger on permanent stone tablets, whereas the law of Moses was given verbally through Moses as a mediator.

"The Hebrew name used to introduce the great moral law, the Ten Commandments, in Ex. 20 is: Everlasting, eternal, almighty, and so intimates that the principles of these laws have their standing in the very character of God. I am – thou shalt. That is the connection and it is this that makes these laws so majestic. It is law because God is. It cannot be changed without changing the character of God himself." Quite a quote from Merrill Unger.

The law of Moses and the Old Covenant along with the Levitical priesthood and it’s sacrificial system were ratified and brought into existence after the Israelites were thrust out of slavery in Egypt; whereas the Ten Commandments were in force long before God made the covenant with Israel. I John 3:4 tells us that sin is the breaking of these ten commands and James 2:10-11 tells us that if you break one of the ten points of this law you are guilty of breaking them all and are guilty of sin. The breaking of the seventh command against adultery was a sin long before the nation of Israel existed. Gen. 19:6 and Gen. 39:9 both confirm the fact that adultery was sin hundreds of years before the old covenant and its law of Moses came into existence.

We read in Rev. 12:9 that Satan has deceived the whole world; almost all of humanity has been duped by this master of deception. Acts 4:12 tells us that Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven given whereby humanity can be saved; and yet Satan has deceived billions of people on this planet into believing that Jesus isn’t the messiah.

The greatest deception Satan has ever promoted is deceiving the Christian Church (the body of Christ) into believing that she couldn’t be deceived. Most people don’t understand that Satan is the god of this present evil world, II Cor. 4:4. Satan is the one who is really worshipped through the lusting after material things and through misuse of the holy time God has given us called the Sabbath day. Both James 4:4 and I John 2:15, 16 warn Christians to steer clear of the evil material things of the world. How does Satan foster his deception? He uses two methods:

First: Satan works through the spirit of this world which is anti-Christ, I Cor. 2:12. This spirit tempts an individual and entices them into breaking one or more of God’s commands and committing sin, James 1:14-15. As Satan’s spirit continues to work in an individual, it becomes easier and easier for a person to disobey God and sin, Eph. 2:1-2. If this condition continues for very long an individual’s conscience becomes seared with a hot iron or in other words they don’t see anything wrong with sin, I. Tim. 4:2. This condition leads directly to the final evil condition found in Eph. 4:18-19 in which an individual enjoys sinning.

After John’s death toward the end of the first century AD we see in the message to the Ephesian Church in Rev. 2:4-5 a very strong warning for all Christians. We see them falling away from their first love which is the truth of

God. We see this warning repeated in II Thes. 2:3. Many pastors teach that this "falling away" is a falling away in numbers by people from the Church. This is a great error for the Greek word "apostasia" is used here and can mean only one thing (a falling away from the truth). We understand even more as we read Verse 10. We see in Verse 10 that the church at one time held to the truths of God, just as the church at Ephesus did; they just didn’t love the truth enough to keep it. As the church fell away from the truth of God, they fell right into Satan’s trap and began to embrace false doctrine promoted by Satan’s ministers which included fables or myths like Christmas, Easter, and Halloween with all of the pagan signs and symbols associated with these days, II Tim 4:1-4. Christians everywhere believe false ministers as they teach false doctrines such as Jude 4 which teaches a false concept of grace. This teaching promotes that all you have to do is believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You can still live the same old life as before and still be saved. Holy scripture teaches no such thing. Romans 12:2 tells us we must be transformed or changed. The old man (or our former way of life) in Eph. 4:22-24 must be put to death and the new man in Christ Jesus must come alive. Jesus in John 3:3 called this the "born again" experience. John 15:1-7, Matt 25:31-46, and James 2:14-26 all speak of the same actions in a Christian’s life. Good works are necessary for salvation to become complete.

Let me make myself perfectly clear else some gather a wrong meaning from our teachings. No amount and I mean absolutely no amount of good works and no amount of law keeping will gain you salvation or entrance into the Kingdom of God; but the lack of good works and fruit in a Christian’s life and the breaking of God’s laws with impunity will certainly keep you out of God’s Kingdom and deny you the salvation you seek.

Many Christians today understand that all ten of the commandments of God are still intact including the fourth or Sabbath command. They are aware that John the apostle wrote in I John 2:4: "He that says, ‘I know him,’ and keeps not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him." They also see what he wrote in I John 5:3: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not a burden." They also understand that these commandments constitute God’s great universal law that regulate or govern our relationship with him and our fellow man. The first four show us how to love God and the last six show us how to love our fellow man. It’s just as important not to steal from another man, as it is to not lie about him. And it’s just as important to keep the Sabbath, as it is to not take God’s name in vain.

In Rev. 12:17 we see the last Church age coming on the scene just before the second coming of Christ. We see a church raised up called the remnant who keeps the Ten Commandments of God (including the fourth) and holds fast to the testimony of Jesus. We are of that remnant church and that is what we preach; the Ten Commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus. (If you don’t understand what the testimony of Jesus is please write for our free booklet, "The Testimony of Jesus, The Greatest Doctrine of All Time".

Jesus didn’t tell us to keep the Sabbath but he didn’t tell us not to keep it. This is called the Sabbath position of silence. Jesus didn’t say either yea or nay; but the silence on this vital subject certainly favors the pro-Sabbath advocate or believer.

How…Through the powerful examples given, to any who have an ear to hear, in the testimony of Jesus.

In Matt. 5:17 Jesus said that he didn’t come to destroy the law but to fulfill it. He began to fulfill the law at His first coming and will complete that fulfillment when He returns.

In Luke 4:16 we read that it was Jesus’ custom to keep the Sabbath day and to worship on it as well.

In Acts 18:4 we read that Paul taught in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. The Greeks were gentile converts and here was a perfect time to explain to them that they should begin to worship God on the first day if it had in fact been changed.

In Acts 13:14 we see Paul preaching on the Sabbath. In verse 42 we understand he was teaching both Jews and gentiles. Notice carefully what verse 42 says. "The gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." Here was the perfect time for Paul to instruct the gentiles that they wouldn’t have to wait until the next Sabbath day. Here was the perfect time for Paul to straighten the gentiles out on this vital point, that the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday. What did Paul do? He waited until the next Sabbath day and taught them again, verse 44.

In Mark 2:27-28 Jesus tells us that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath and that he was Lord of that day. Here we see three important truths. First, the Sabbath was made for man to use not just the Jew. Second, it was made to bless man and to benefit his life and not to be his burden. Also Jesus tells us he is Lord of the Sabbath telling us that only he is able to tell us how to keep it correctly.

In Mark 16:1 we see that the Sabbath was still in force after the death and resurrection of Jesus. In Luke 23:56 we see the women disciples of Jesus still resting the Sabbath day according to the fourth commandment three days after everything that was to be nailed to the cross had been accomplished. If the Sabbath were to be abolished or changed, why would he leave these women in the dark on such an important subject.

In Matt. 24:20 during the great tribulation just prior to Christ’s return we see that the Sabbath day is still in force.

Probably the greatest mistake theologians have made regarding the Ten Commandments is found in Hebrews 7:12. The whole context of Chapter 7 is the great change from the Levitical priesthood under the old covenant to the Melchisedec priesthood under the new covenant.

We see in Verse 12 that since the priesthood was changed, the law had to be changed as well. Most theologians explain this to be the tithing law and this is a major error. This is not just speaking about the tithing law, but the whole law has to be changed, but not the way most theologians expect. Heb. 9:10 shows us that all of the religious rites contained in the law of Moses along with the sacrificial system, the priesthood and the high priest were to culminate in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. This religious system was the schoolmaster that was to show the way to Jesus the Messiah. Notice how the Ten Commandments were to change. Its still a sin to murder or steal or to covet so the commandments haven’t changed but the way we keep them has. This is explained in Heb. 10:14-17. Notice verse 16. Under the new covenant the Ten Commandments are place in our hearts by the Holy Spirit and they became a part of our very being. Under the new covenant we keep them out of love for God not out of fear and we keep them because we know it pleases our heavenly Father.

The remnant church is here and that means the second coming of Christ is ever closer. We will continue to preach and teach the Ten Commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus. This testimony of Jesus is the message that God sent Jesus Christ to deliver to his elect. In a nutshell it tells us how God desires us to live our lives under the new covenant in relation to him and our fellow man.

Remember Jesus’ words in Matt. 24:35: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away"; and part of his words are:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

By: Pastor Rolland Wile                

www.theremnantchurchofgod.org