I went out head hunting last night by God's grace. I came across a friend of mine named Timo. Timo is assured that the Law must be fulfilled still in cooperation with the grace of Christ and that protestantism is hypocritical because we no longer keep the Sabbath (Sat). This is the crux of where the conversation got weird. I need some biblical support as to how we keep the Sabbath which is a commandment but we don't keep the sabbath because we celebrate the Lord's day on Sunday. This wasn't a big thing to me until this witness came up. So if you all can help with this please do. Also if you could please pray for me if I am lead to continue with this witness. Timo smokes a lot of pot and that was a struggle for me in the past. Last night the Lord kept me faithful in that I didn't smoke with Timo when it was offered. That's it have a groovy day in Christ Jesus.
I have done quite a bit of studying on the Sabbath, and I can't find anything that would indicate Biblical authority of a change from the 7th Day Sabbath to the 1st Day Sabbath. Christ has authority over the Sabbath, but nowhere did He change the Sabbath to the 1st Day.<br><br>The Roman Catholic church admits such, and officially states that the change to worshipping on Sunday is only by authority of the church. These quotes are a bit shocking to me.<br><br>From the Catechism of Catholic Doctrine:<br>"Question: Which is the Sabbath day?<br>"Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.<br>"Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?<br>"Answer. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."<br>______________________________<br>Speaking of Roman Catholics, an interesting quote by Martin Scott in his book Things Catholics are asked about .<br>"Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday .... Now the Church ... instituted, by God's authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made. We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday."<br>______________________________________<br>Another one by Peter Kraemer, a Romanist.<br>"Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:<br><br>"1) That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.<br><br>"2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws.<br><br>"It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible."<br>_______________________________________<br><br>Steve<br>
I am of a different generation I suspect as I am not sure what "head hunting" is in this context!<br><br>It is probably amazing the conversation didn't get weird before it did, seeing that he was smoking pot, don't you think?<br><br>My understanding of the Sabbath is that it was a type and shadow of the true Sabbath, Christ, as He is our rest.<br>I think there is nothing wrong in setting aside a day of rest and complete fellowship with Christ and His Church, however, to do it as in keeping of the law, or for in any way as a type of works righteousness would mean the rest it fore shadowed had never come.<br><br><br>You are in my prayers. It might be good to go back and read the story of Joseph and Potiphars wife.<br>
Linda...It is probably amazing the conversation didn't get weird before it did, seeing that he was smoking pot, don't you think?<br><br>averagefellar...Why? Does pot cause this in everybody who uses it? Or was this supposed to be a funny remark? I could be taking it wrong I suppose.<br><br><br>God bless,<br><br>averagefellar
wow! sometimes it is scary to even post on here!<br><br>I lived through the 60's and 70's hippie era and was remembering trying to witness to people back then who were in the same frame of mind. It was just a flashback(not a real one!)<br><br>Sorry if I offended anyone.
No need for you to apologize about anything you wrote, especially in your terse remark about "potheads" or is the Politically Correct term now something like "partaker of alternative delights"? [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif" alt="laugh" title="laugh[/img] Aaron mentioned that this friend of his is a "heavy user of pot". No doubt his brain has been adversely affected and his ability to think clearly at any particular time depends upon when smoked his last joint. I am all too familiar with trying to witness or even speak about anything to those who are drunk, or should I say, (those who were enjoying life more than me) or under the influence of pot, drugs, etc. It's an exercise in futility 99.99% of the time. There is a time when you are actually no less guilty of offending God BY witnessing than you are by NOT witnessing:
Matthew 7:6 (KJV) "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
Mark 6:11 (KJV) "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city."
We are to guard ourselves as well, in that we should not put ourselves into situations where we might be tempted to fall into sin; using it as an excuse for involving ourselves in a "good cause", etc. We are to honor Christ in all things, which at times actually means abstaining from what would otherwise be wholesome and good.
No offense at all. And I'm not trying to uphold smoking weed as a good practice. I'm just real anti-stereotypical. <br><br><br>God bless,<br><br>william
Thanks Pilgrim for the encouragement. <br><br>I was actually thinking of the verse from Matthew 7 when I wrote the email. And how true it is and by example I know that it is unwise to knowingly enter into a situation that would be a struggle for us.<br><br>I really didn't mean to stereo-type anyone, as the scriptures has surely done that for me...........sinners.<br><br>At times it is for our benefit we are speaking of Heavenly things to others instead of for theirs <br><br>Linda
Would someone please just answer the question? Why Sunday instead of Saturday? It seems to me that none of the posts try to. Some of the posts have links to other writings, but those are too long and convoluted for someone of my simple intelligence to follow.<br><br>I am beginning to suspect that the real reason is simply that Sunday is what we have always used so we continue with it, but this would mean that the question of what God commanded is side stepped.
I don't want to be out of line here, but I believe the answer is because the Roman Catholic church, by her supposed authority, changed it from Friday evening through Saturday evening (the 7th day), to Sunday. Scripture does not authorize such a change. I cannot see that the 4th Commandment was, in any sense, altered in the New Testament. <br><br>Steve
In reply to:[color:"blue"]but I believe the answer is because the Roman Catholic church, by her supposed authority, changed it from Friday evening through Saturday evening (the 7th day), to Sunday.
Steve,
Can you show me where in either Exodus 20:8-11 or Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Saturday is said to be "the Sabbath"? The N.T. Church, however, understood the essence of the Moral Law as taught in the Decalogue and had no trouble changing the "day" on which they met and yet not violate the Fourth Commandment one iota. If you haven't read Jonathan Edwards' second sermon in his 3-part series, I would commend it to you as it deals specifically with the "change" of the day from that observed by the old covenant and theocratic Saturday, to the new covenant and universal church's Sunday; i.e., "The Lord's Day".