I was prepared to begin this teaching featuring the 1st day (Sunday) Sabbath when the Lord stopped me and instructed me to insert a message found in Matthew 15 concerning the false teachings that are the focus of this series. His insert involves those individuals who teach those errors and those who believe and obey them. In verses 1 and 2 we find Jesus being questioned by a group of Pharisees and scribes who asked Him why His disciples did not obey THE TRADITIONS OF THE JEWISH ELDERS that had been handed down from generation to generation? Today traditionalists ask the same question but in a different way. The wonder why I do not believe and obey THE TRADITIONS OF THE CHURCH ELDERS that have been handed down from generation to generation.? The Lord’s response to His enemies rings as true today as they did 2000 years ago. He wants to know:

“Why do you break the commandments of God by obeying your own traditions?” (vs 3). “Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites, saying, ‘You people come near to Me with your mouths and honor Me with your lips, but your hearts are far from Me.’ YOU WORSHIP ME IN VAIN BY TEACHING YOUR OWN DOCTRINES WHILE REJECTING MY COMMANDMENTS” (vss 7-9). Concerning those who taught the people false doctrines, He told (tells) His disciples to “Ignore them, for they are the blind leading the blind, both of whom will fall into the ditch.” In Galatians 1:6-9 the Apostle Paul places a DOUBLE CURSE on anyone who preaches any other Gospel than the Gospel he and the other apostles preached–THE GOSPEL THEY RECEIVED FROM JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF.

I will take this opportunity to thank my holy Lord for the miracle He performed only a few minutes ago. We had received an alert that a severe storm was headed toward Athens, Texas at 20 miles per hour. It was bringing strong winds and golf ball sized hail that WOULD severely damage roofs, siding, cars and animals. We were told to stay away from windows that WOULD be broken. We were told to get ready, IT WAS ABOUT TO HIT ATHENS. I asked the Lord to protect our property. Moments later we received the word that just before reaching Athens the storm split into two parts. One part had turned north and the other part had turned south. We received no wind and no hail. What we received was RAIN, WHICH WE NEEDED.

The Lord promised true believers that He would send them rain in due season. Sometimes He includes a some excitement to that promise. God is the God of His Word. An added blessing is that others often receive the benefit of living near a true believer. In this instance He also blessed an entire city whose citizens reject Him. Recall that Jesus often healed great multitudes of sick and possessed people, then spoke to them in parables so that they could not understand what He was saying (Matt. 1-3; 10-15). Read Does God Bless Sinners and Answer Their Prayers? Key word–Answer. We will now return to the focus of this series–counterfeit Christendom’s heathen beliefs and customs.

THE SUNDAY SABBATH: God created the weekly Sabbath (Heb.–rest) for man (Mk. 2:27). However, He is still the Lord of THE Sabbath Day and controls what can and cannot be done on that holy day (Mat. 12:8). His people obey Him. What we must understand is that the 7th day of the week is special to the Lord who not only created it, but then placed His own evaluation in THAT DAY and in no other day of the week. In Genesis 2 we find God, having ended the creation process, then rested (“refreshed Himself”–Exo. 31:17). “And God BLESSED THE 7TH DAY AND SANCTIFIED IT (SET IT ASIDE FOR HOLY USE) (vs 3). Many centuries later we find Him saying: “THE SABBATH IS MY HOLY DAY … THE HOLY (DAY) OF THE LORD” (Isa. 58:13). In that verse He also commands His people to value THAT DAY He does by calling it a delight and honoring Him by fulfilling His will on that day.

Soon after freeing the Israelites from Egyptian slavery the God of the Old Testament (the Word Who became Jesus of Nazareth) established the beginning of the first month of His year (Exo. 12:2) and identified the beginning of each month by the moon. In the Hebrew language the word “month” is “moon.” Later, at Mt. Sinai, He commanded His chosen people to do all of their work during the first six days of the week, then to rest on the 7th day–HIS HOLY SABBATH. In Exodus 31:12-16 He made a special covenant with His people by designating His Holy Sabbath as a “sign” of His ownership of those who “wear” that sign. He is the Lord, He does not change (Amos 3:6). He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8). Observance of the 7th day Sabbath is still the “sign” that one has voluntarily enslaved himself to Almighty God for having been “bought with a price” (2 Cor. 7:23). The Lord’s special Sabbath Covenant between Himself and those who are His true children reveals how important it is that we observe HIS HOLY DAY EACH WEEK by doing His will only. Those who call themselves by His name but refuse to observe His Holy Day are His people in name only. Read Who Are God’s People and “My People Who Are Called by My Name.” Key words–People and Called.

It is important that we know WHEN the Holy Sabbath was rejected and replaced by a heathen day of rest, WHY it was rejected and replace and WHO assumed the authority to defy commandment number 4 of God’s stone-etched Law. The Roman Empire ruled much of the world for many years. Catholicism was the religion of that empire. When Rome conquered a nation the people of that enslaved nation were forced into the Catholic Church. In order to keep them happy the church embraced many of their religious beliefs and customs, making them part of church orthodoxy.

It is from this practice that many of the modern church’s doctrines, traditions, beliefs, etc. became God’s supposed “truths.” Many of the empire’s captives were sun worshipers. In order to appease them Pope Sylvester I changed the Sabbath from the 7th day to the 1st day of the week–SUNDAY–the Sun’s Day on which worshippers paid homage to their god–the sun. This transition took place at the Council of Laodicea in 363 A.D. It has been viewed as “God’s truth” ever since. Today God’s Words on the subject have no effect. Church doctrine, not the Holy Bible, rule within professing Christendom. Satan owns and controls “the church.” His “sign” of his ownership is his Sunday Sabbath.

following the “Sabbath Switch” each of the following generations assumed that the various beliefs they were taught were from God because the people were not allowed access to a Bible on threat of death. Even hearing a Bible read could cost the hearer his life. When the Protestants left the church they took many of her heathen beliefs with them, the Sunday Sabbath being one of them. The home page of this website lists over a dozen such pagan “truths.” Read Simon of Samaria: The Legacy (key word–Legacy) for a historical view of how so many heathen practices and beliefs came to be part of “the church.” L.J.