D. James Kennedy's Sermon "The Gift of Rest"
Leading the way to the Mark of the Beast
Dr. Kennedy Responds | Update — January 2002 | Update — July 2004 | Update — March 2006 | Update — June 2006
There is an increasing tendency by Christians in America to defend the public display of the Ten Commandments in the courtrooms and other state or federal governmental buildings, in an effort to publicize the foundational nature of God's Law in the fabric of the nation's legal system, and promote their enduring value to the general welfare and safety of the public at large. This puts the majority of Christian pastors in a very awkward position when it comes to preaching the value of observing the Ten Commandments, because when it comes to the Sabbath commandment (third by Catholic count, and fourth by some Protestants), the Sunday keeping preacher needs to explain, somehow to his congregation, just why it is that God's eternal law commands the keeping of the seventh day (Saturday), but that is no longer valid―that God's Law has been changed, and it is now the first day of the week (Sunday) that should be kept holy today by Christians.
A diligent search of the New Testament will discover no command from Jesus or the Apostles to cease keeping the Sabbath, or that it has been replaced by the first day of the week, yet the Sunday keeping Protestant pastor finds himself in the predicament of exhorting his congregation to keep Sunday, in striking contradiction to God's clear command to keep the seventh day Saturday Sabbath. On November 4th, 2001, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale Florida, broadcast on television a remarkable sermon by Dr. D. James Kennedy, where this dilemma of Sunday sacredness, and the change of God's Law, was addressed. Excerpts from his full length televised sermon have been transcribed and are presented in the blue boxes. These excerpts are copyright 2001 by Coral Ridge Ministries, now called D. James Kennedy Ministries.
May God speak to our hearts through his holy word and may His name ever be praised. Amen. God so loved the human race that he gave us — the Sabbath. When you
think about that, you will realize how remarkable that is. He is, why He
is the boss. He is the ultimate authority, and what have we heard all of
our lives from such folks as that. Get up off your duff and get to work!
What are you doing there lazy? Get going! Move! Push! Lift! Work! WORK!
WORK! God says, rest. Sabbath from the Hebrew shabbat means, very
simply, rest. He gave us a day of rest. When everybody else, from the
task masters of the Pharaoh with their whips, down to the slave owners
of the South in this country, where saying work, lift, push, haul, God
says rest, my Son, rest my daughter. The amazing thing is
that there are some people who are so thick-headed that they won't do
it. |
Up to this point, at least, Dr. Kennedy is absolutely correct on all points.
| A recent study of 100,000 people revealed, that if a person merely goes to church on Sunday, he cuts his chances of heart attacks, fatal heart attacks, in half. And that's regardless of what he does with the rest of day. If he kept the Sabbath holy, he might cut those chances by one, by nine tenths. |
Now here Dr. Kennedy departs from biblical truth and mixes in the traditions of men. Sunday, the first day of the week, is never designated in scripture to be a Sabbath day.
| God so loved the human race that He gave us the
Sabbath. In fact, before the state, before the church, before even the
family, the first institution that God gave to mankind was the Sabbath.
Having created the heavens and the earth and all things therein, he
rested on the seventh day and blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.
And He commands us to keep it as such, because He loves us. And if we
love Him we will love His Sabbath. ... The Sabbath, the first institution given to man, is one that is vitally important. It is the longest commandment of the ten, more words dedicated to that throughout the rest of the scripture, mentioned more than virtually any other, and it was a very serious matter. God intended us to keep it. There is an old saying that goes, 'As goes the Sabbath, so goes the nation', because when the Sabbath becomes profaned and desecrated, church attendance is ignored, the teaching of God's holy word and His morality and spiritual life is forgotten, and the nation sinks deeper and deeper into the mire of sin. And that has a profound negative impact upon any country. |
What Dr. Kennedy says here about the Sabbath is indeed true, but God never refers to the first day of the week, Sunday, as a day to be kept holy and to rest. HTML5 Video
| There are those today that, that don't think anything about the Sabbath. You know your great grandfather called it the holy Sabbath. Did you know that? Your grandfather called it the Sabbath. Your father probably called it Sunday. We call it the weekend. Would you think that the Sabbath is being demeaned in the eyes of the American public. I'm afraid that it is, even though it is very important. |
As bible believing Christians can see for themselves, Sunday was never proclaimed in scripture to be the new Sabbath to replace the seventh day Sabbath. There are no biblical exhortations to rest on the first day of the week, and no biblical penalties decreed for profaning Sunday by working that day. Now Protestantism was founded largely on the principle of Sola Scriptura, the Bible only for doctrine, and there is no Bible decree that declares the keeping of Sunday holy. The keeping of Sunday is, in fact, a tradition of men.
| It [the Sunday Sabbath] is attacked by those who would say that we are not even supposed to be worshipping on the first day of the week. There are those that say we are supposed to be worshipping on the seventh day of the week. And the commandment is "Six days shalt thou labor and the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord our God". How did we go, they will ask, from being, Saturday being the Sabbath, to Sunday being the Sabbath. Who changed the Law? Well, seventh day celebrators, Seventh-day Adventists who celebrate Sabbath on the seventh day, will usually tell you that is was Constantine, in the early 300's, 325 A.D. that had the temerity to take upon himself, the authority, simply because he was the Caesar of Rome, to change the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday. Do you buy that? Think about it. Like for example, the Romans had no Sabbath at all. Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday, none! They had no Sabbath to change. What Constantine simply did, was, make Sunday a legal holiday so that they wouldn't have to worship in the catacombs before light on early Sunday morning and then go to work. He would not certainly have wanted to jeopardize the support of all of the millions of Christians that had grown up in those three centuries, that had allowed him to take over the Roman empire, by changing their day. Can you imagine what would happen if some Presidential candidate had said, while running for this presidency in this election, that he was going to change the Sabbath day to Tuesday? Why he wouldn't have had a chance of being elected. Neither would Constantine have had a chance of ruling Rome. But it was changed by Christ, and by His Apostles by their example. |
In the above part of his sermon, Dr. Kennedy now introduces what is called by apologists a "straw man". A straw man is a misrepresentation of an opponents argument in order to make it easy to refute. He asserts that Seventh-day Adventists teach that Constantine is responsible for changing the seventh day Saturday Sabbath over to Sunday. That is his straw man, and he then proceeds to demolish this notion. However, Dr. Kennedy provided no authoritative Seventh-day Adventist sources as documentation of his claim. Adventists have long acknowledged that Sunday keeping got its start long before Constantine, and we do not attribute the change to Sunday to Constantine. Here is what Adventists have actually said about Constantine:
... Himself a worshiper of the sun in the form of Apollo, Constantine was willing to recognize Jesus Christ—"the Sun of Righteousness"—as another manifestation of the sun deity. In certain similarities between the church and paganism that had resulted from reciprocal borrowing, he at first thought he saw an opportunity for forging a unified imperial sun cult, uniting Christians and sun worshipers. His nominal conversion to Christianity did not take place until 323 or 325. ...
When Constantine legalized the church in 313 it was forced to review its opinion of the state, and it hailed a benevolent government as its friend. Constantine followed his decree of liberation with other decrees favoring the church in its various operations, with grants of funds, of privileges, and of powers, both judicial and executive.
Since many Christians had been using Sunday as a day of worship for more than a century and a half, and since many sun worshipers had come to regard the first day of the week as the special astrological "day of the sun," he issued the world’s first Sunday law (321), calling for rest from labor on that day.
Constantine did not make Christianity the state religion, but in some respects a bureau of the state. The church accepted these seeming benefits with gratification, not realizing the inherent danger in them until the question arose as to whether the state should dominate the church.Source: Nichol, Francis D., The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association) 1978., Volume 7, page 19.
In the early part of the fourth century the emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday a public festival throughout the Roman Empire. The day of the sun was reverenced by his pagan subjects and was honored by Christians; it was the emperor's policy to unite the conflicting interests of heathenism and Christianity. He was urged to do this by the bishops of the church, who, inspired by ambition and thirst for power, perceived that if the same day was observed by both Christians and heathen, it would promote the nominal acceptance of Christianity by pagans and thus advance the power and glory of the church. But while many God-fearing Christians were gradually led to regard Sunday as possessing a degree of sacredness, they still held the true Sabbath as the holy of the Lord and observed it in obedience to the fourth commandment.
Source: Great Controversy, by Ellen White, 1911 edition, page 53.
Note that Seventh-day Adventists agree with Dr. Kennedy that Sunday keeping predates Constantine. What the pagan emperor Constantine did, was officially establish Sunday as a legal civil holiday for the Roman Empire:
First Sunday Law Decreed by Constantine
On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time [a.d. 321].)
Source: Codex Justinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3 (5th ed.; New York: Scribner, 1902), p. 380, note 1, quoted in the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 9, Bible Student's Source Book, page 999.
The First Sunday Law (March, 321) was Civil, Not Christian
[p. 379] So long as Christianity was not recognized and protected by the state, the observance of Sunday was purely religious, a strictly voluntary service, but exposed to continual interruption from the bustle of the world and a hostile community…
Constantine is the founder, in part at least, of the civil observance of Sunday, by which alone the religious observance of it in the church could be made universal and could be properly secured… [p. 380] But the Sunday law of Constantine must not be overrated… There is no reference whatever in his law either to the fourth commandment or to the resurrection of Christ. Besides he expressly exempted the country districts, where paganism still prevailed, from the prohibition of labor… Christians and pagans had been accustomed to festival rests; Constantine made these rests to synchronize, and gave the preference to Sunday.
Source: Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3 (5th ed.; New York: Scribner, 1902), pp. 379, 380, quoted in the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 9, Bible Student's Source Book, page 999.
Now, had Constantine made the change from Saturday to Sunday, as Dr. Kennedy asserts that Adventists say, there would have to be some statement from the emperor transferring the Saturday Sabbath rest to Sunday, but this is not in his decree, cited above. So if Constantine did not make this change, who did?
But notwithstanding all the efforts to establish Sunday sacredness, papists themselves publicly confessed the divine authority of the Sabbath, and the human origin of the institution by which it had been supplanted. In the sixteenth century a papal council plainly declared: "Let all Christians remember that the seventh day was consecrated by God, and hath been received and observed, not only by the Jews, but by all others who pretend to worship God; though we Christians have changed their Sabbath into the Lord's day." [Thomas Morer (1651-1715), Kyriake hemera = Discourse in Six Dialogues on the Name, Notion, and Observation of the Lord's Day: with an account of several canons, decrees and laws, foreign and English, for the keeping it holy: the way of worship in the Church of England vindicated: and an office or collection of devotions proper for the day, London: printed for Tho. Newborough, 1701, pages 281, 282] Those who were tampering with the divine law were not ignorant of the character of their work. They were deliberately setting themselves above God.
Source: Great Controversy, by Ellen White (a prominent Adventist), published in 1888, page 577.
Satan's chief agent in bringing about the rejection of the fourth commandment, and the institution of the first day of the week as a day of rest, has been the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church does not deny the part she has acted in this change, but makes a boast of her power as shown in the change which she has brought about in the world. Papists acknowledge that the Bible gives no sanction to this change, and that Protestants have no Scriptural authority for Sunday worship. The Catholic Church changed the day of rest from the seventh to the first day, and without the shadow of divine sanction it has been accepted by almost all the Protestant churches, and Rome, pointing to the adherents of her doctrines, claims the supremacy. In changing the fourth precept of God's law, the papal power has thought itself able to exalt itself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. This was the very work that the prophesy foretold would be done by this power.
Source: Signs of the Times, published by Adventists, Nov. 19th, 1894.
Pope Sylvester I (314-335 A.D.) Decrees the Transfer of Sabbath Rest to Sunday:
Rabanus Maurus (776-856), abbot of Fulda and later archbishop of Mainz, Germany, was rated one of the greatest theologians of his age and probably the most cultured man of his time, and exceptionally learned in patristics. Besides, he was a zealous defender of the papacy and its teachings. In one of his works, he says,
Pope Sylvester instructed the clergy to keep the feriae. And, indeed, from an old custom he called the first day [of the week] the "Lord's [day]," on which the light was made in the beginning and also the resurrection of Christ is celebrated.6
Rabanus Maurus does not mean to say that Sylvester was the first man who referred to the days of the week as feriae or who first started the observance of Sunday among Christians. He means that, according to the testimony of Roman Catholic writers, Sylvester confirmed those practices and made them official insofar as his church was concerned. Hence Rabanus says elsewhere in his writings:
Pope Sylvester first among the Romans ordered that the names of the days [of the week], which they previously called after the name of their gods, that is, [the day] of the Sun, [the day] of the Moon, [the day] of Mars, [the day] of Mercury, [the day] of Jupiter, [the day] of Venus, [the day] of Saturn, they should call feriae thereafter, that is the first feria, the second feria, the third feria, the fourth feria, the fifth feria, the sixth feria, because that in the beginning of Genesis it is written that God said concerning each day: on the first, "Let there be light:; on the second, "Let there be a firmament"; on the third, "Let the earth bring forth verdure"; etc. But he [Sylvester] ordered [them] to call the Sabbath by the ancient term of the law, [to call] the first feria the "Lord's day," because on it the Lord rose [from the dead], Moreover, the same pope decreed that the rest of the Sabbath should be transferred rather to the Lord's day [Sunday], in order that on that day we should rest from worldly works for the praise of God.7
Note particularly, he says that "the same pope [Sylvester I] decreed that the rest of the Sabbath should be transferred rather to the Lord's day [Sunday]."8 According to this statement, he was the first bishop to introduce the idea that the divinely appointed rest of the Sabbath day should be transferred to the first day of the week. This is significant, especially in view of the fact that it was during Sylvester's pontificate that the emperor of Rome [Constantine] issued the first civil laws compelling men to rest from secular labor on Sunday, and that Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, was the first theologian on record to present arguments, allegedly from the Scriptures, that Christ did transfer the rest of the Sabbath day to Sunday.
6 Rabanus Maurus, Liber de Computo (A book Concerning Computation), Chap. XXVII ("Concerning Festivals"), as translated by the writer from the Latin text in Migne's Patrologia Latina, Vol. CVII, col. 682.
7 ------------, De Clericorum Institutione (Concerning the Instruction of the Clergymen), Book II, Chap. XLVI, as translated by the writer from the Latin text in Migne's Patrologia Latina, Vol. CVII, col. 361.
8 The wording in the Latin text reads: "Statuit autem idem papa ut otium Sabbati magis in diem Dominicam transferretur, ut ea die a terrenis operibus ad laudandum Deum vacaremus."
Source: Sabbath and Sunday in Early Christianity, by Robert L. Odom, © 1977 by the Review and Herald Publishing Association (An Adventist publishing house), pages 247-248.
The Catholic Church Claims She Changed the Day of Rest
The Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord's Day. The Council of Trent (Sess. VI, can. xix) condemns those who deny that the Ten Commandments are binding on Christians.
Source:
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Commandments of God, Volume IV, © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company, Online Edition © 1999 by Kevin Knight, Nihil Obstat — Remy Lafort, Censor Imprimatur — +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York, page 153.
Besides the Sabbath, the Jews observed other festivals which were instituted by the divine law, and the end and aim of which was to awaken in the people the recollection of the principal favours conferred on them by the Almighty. On these festivals the pastor will see Leviticus, (28) Numbers, (29) and Deuteronomy; (30) and on the moral objects contemplated in the institution of such festivals, he may also consult S. Cyril, (31) and S. Thomas. (32)
But the Church of God has in her wisdom ordained that the celebration of the Sabbath should be transferred to "the Lord's day:" as on that day light first shown on the world, so by the resurrection of our Lord on the same day, by whom was thrown open to us the gate to eternal life, we were called out of darkness into light; and hence the Apostle would have it called "the Lord's day."Source:
A Catholic Catechism for Converts
Q. Which is the Sabbath day?
A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
A. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.
Q. Why did the Catholic Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her.
Q. What does the Third Commandment command?
A. The Third Commandment commands us to sanctify Sunday as the Lord's Day.Source:
The Roman Catholic church, as demonstrated above, stands up and says they
have made the change, in the 4th century. They claim to have transferred the
rest of the Saturday Sabbath to Sunday, and can show the historical proof in
the canons of the Council of Laodicea in the 4th century. The
Council of
Laodicea in Phrygia Pacatiana, (343-381) was a local, Eastern,
Greek-speaking synod, and the canons referring to the Sabbath or Sunday/Lord's
day are listed here:
LAODICEA, CANON 16. — The Gospels are to be read on Sabbath, with the other Scriptures [apparently at Communion services; see canon 49, below].
LAODICEA, CANON 29. — Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.
LAODICEA, CANON 49. — During Lent, the Bread must not be offered except on the Sabbath Day and on the Lord's Day only.
LAODICEA, CANON 51. — The nativities of Martyrs [actually, the death days, on which martyrs were considered to have been born to eternal life] are not to be celebrated in Lent, but commemorations of the holy Martyrs are to be made on the Sabbaths and Lord's days.
Constantine, while still a heathen, issued a decree enjoining the general observance of Sunday as a public festival throughout the Roman empire. After his conversion, he remained a staunch advocate of Sunday, and his pagan edict was then enforced by him in the interests of his new faith. But the honor shown this day was not as yet sufficient to prevent Christians from regarding the true Sabbath as the holy of the Lord. Another step must be taken; the false Sabbath must be exalted to an equality with the true. A few years after the issue of Constantine's decree, the bishop of Rome [Sylvester] conferred on the Sunday the title of Lord's day. Thus the people were gradually led to regard it as possessing a degree of sacredness. Still the original Sabbath was kept.
The arch-deceiver had not completed his work. He was resolved to gather the Christian world under his banner, and to exercise his power through his vicegerent, the proud pontiff who claimed to be the representative of Christ. Through half-converted pagans, ambitious prelates, and world-loving churchmen, he accomplished his purpose. Vast councils were held, from time to time, in which the dignitaries of the church were convened from all the world. In nearly every council the Sabbath which God had instituted was pressed down a little lower, while the Sunday was correspondingly exalted. Thus the pagan festival came finally to be honored as a divine institution, while the Bible Sabbath was pronounced a relic of Judaism, and its observers were declared to be accursed.
The great apostate had succeeded in exalting himself "above all that is called God, or that is worshiped." [2 Thess. 2:4.] He had dared to change the only precept of the divine law that unmistakably points all mankind to the true and living God. In the fourth commandment, God is revealed as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and is thereby distinguished from all false gods. It was as a memorial of the work of creation that the seventh day was sanctified as a rest-day for man. It was designed to keep the living God ever before the minds of men as the source of being and the object of reverence and worship. Satan strives to turn men from their allegiance to God, and from rendering obedience to his law; therefore he directs his efforts especially against that commandment which points to God as the Creator.
Protestants now urge that the resurrection of Christ on Sunday, made it the Christian Sabbath. But Scripture evidence is lacking. No such honor was given to the day by Christ or his apostles. The observance of Sunday as a Christian institution has its origin in that "mystery of lawlessness" which, even in Paul's day, had begun its work. Where and when did the Lord adopt this child of the papacy? What valid reason can be given for a change concerning which the Scriptures are silent?Source: Spirit of Prophecy, by Ellen G. White, Volume 4, published in 1884, pages 56, 57.
This attempted change of a commandment of God is actually prophesied in scripture:
Dan 7:25 And he [the little horn] shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws [of the most High ]: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Daniel was speaking about the antichrist power, who would think to change the times and laws of God, and only one of the Ten Commandments of the Law of God deals with time, the commandment to keep holy the seventh day. For over one hundred years Seventh-day Adventists have clearly taught that this change from Sabbath to Sunday, an act of papal Rome, is in fact the mark of authority of the beast, spoken of in the book of Revelation.
... "He shall think to change times and laws." The change in the fourth commandment exactly fulfills the prophecy. For this change the only authority claimed is that of the church. Here the papal power openly sets itself above God.
The claim so often put forth, that Christ changed the Sabbath, is disproved by his own words. In his sermon on the mount he declared: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven." [Matt 5:17-19.]Roman Catholics acknowledge that the change of the Sabbath was made by their church; and they cite this change as evidence of the authority of the church to legislate in divine things, and declare that Protestants, by observing the Sabbath as thus changed, are recognizing her power. The Roman Church has not relinquished her claim to supremacy; and when the world and the Protestant churches accept a Sabbath of her creating, while they reject the Bible Sabbath, they virtually admit this assumption. They may claim the authority of apostles and Fathers for the change; but in so doing they ignore the very principle which separates them from Rome,--that "the Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants." The papist can see that they are deceiving themselves, willingly closing their eyes to the facts in the case. As the Sunday institution gains favor, he rejoices, feeling assured that it will eventually bring the whole Protestant world under the banner of Rome.
The fourth commandment, which Rome has endeavored to set aside, is the only precept of the decalogue that points to God as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus distinguishes the true God from all false gods. The Sabbath was instituted to commemorate the work of creation, and thus to direct the minds of men to the true and living God. The fact of his creative power is cited throughout the Scriptures as proof that the God of Israel is superior to heathen deities. Had the Sabbath always been kept, man's thoughts and affections would have been led to his Maker as the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel.That institution which points to God as the Creator is a sign of his rightful authority over the beings he has made. The change of the Sabbath is the sign, or mark, of the authority of the Romish Church. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false in place of the true Sabbath, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. The change in the fourth commandment is the change pointed out in the prophecy, and the keeping of the counterfeit Sabbath is the reception of the mark. But Christians of past generations observed the first day, supposing that they were keeping the Bible Sabbath, and there are in the churches of to-day many who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine appointment. None of these have received the mark of the beast. There are true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion. The test upon this question does not come until Sunday observance is enforced by law, and the world is enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath. Not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men, will those who continue in transgression receive the mark of the beast.
Source: Spirit of Prophecy, by Ellen G. White, volume 4, published in 1884, pages 280, 281.
| You see, that on the seventh day we remembered the creation of the world, for in six days the Lord created the heavens and the earth, and rested on the seventh. And so the Jews celebrated the creation, the old creation of the physical heavens and earth. We celebrate the resurrection of Christ and the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, and that everlasting kingdom that is brought in by His resurrection and glorious victory over death. |
Dr. Kennedy, papal Rome agrees with you:
Faerber's Catechism
THIRD COMMANDMENT OF GOD
Thou shalt keep holy the Lord's day.209. Which is the Lord's day?
Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Lord's day.
On Sunday, God the Father began creation, God the Son arose from the dead, and the Holy Ghost descended from Heaven.—The Jews observed the last day of the week, the Sabbath, and the Apostles, commissioned by our Lord Jesus Christ, substituted for it the first day, the Sunday.Source:
Sunday — fulfillment of the sabbath
2175 Sunday is expressly distinguished from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath.
Source:
However, the Roman Catholic Church has for many years rightly maintained that Sunday keeping is not something the Bible requires of Christians:
Keenan's Catechism
[pg. 53]
Q. When Protestants do profane work upon Saturday, or the seventh day of the week, do they follow the Scripture as their only rule of faith?
A. On the contrary, they have only the authority of tradition for this practice. In profaning Saturday, they violate one of God's commandments, which he has never clearly abrogated; "Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day."
Q. Is the observance of Sunday, as the day of rest, a matter clearly laid down in Scripture?
A. It certainly is not; and yet all Protestants consider the observance of this particular day as essentially necessary to salvation. To say, we observe the Sunday, because Christ rose from the dead on that day, is to say, that we should rest on Thursday, because Christ ascended to heaven on that day, and rested in reality from the work of redemption.[ pg. 54]
Q. What do you conclude from all this?
A. That Protestants have no Scripture for the measure of their day of rest; that they abolish the observance of Saturday without warrant of Scripture; that they substitute Sunday in its place without scriptural authority; consequently, that for all this, they have only traditional authority. Yet Protestants would look upon a man who would do profane work after five o'clock on Sunday, or keep the Saturday, and profane the first day, as a victim of perdition. Hence we must conclude, that the Scripture, which does not teach these things clearly, does not contain all necessary truths; and, consequently, cannot be the only rule of faith.[ pg. 108]
Q. Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her — she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.Source: Controversial Catechism, by the Rev. Stephen Keenan, Second Edition, published in 1851 in Edinburgh; by C. Dolman, 13 South Hanover Street, and 61, New Bond Street, London,
Cardinal Gibbons on Sunday
"... is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But, 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."
Source:
So Sunday sacredness, which the Roman Catholic Church has long denied as being taught in Scripture, Dr. Kennedy will now attempt to prove:
| And so we see that Christ rose from the dead, on the first day of the week. |
(cf. Matt 16:21; Luke 24:1).
Yes, Christ did rise from the dead on the first day of the week, but that was mere coincidence. You see, the crucifixion day (Passover) was to be celebrated every year on 14th day of the first month (Nisan), by God's direction:
Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover.
Now Passover has been celebrated every year, since Israel was freed from bondage in Egypt, on the 14th day of the first month, by God's calendar. This feast day, as it was set for a day of the month, varied from one year to another as to the day of the week it fell on (just as your birthday can be a different day from one year to the next). Now it is true that on the year of the crucifixion, Passover happened on a Friday, placing the resurrection day, the 3rd day, on Sunday. However, if Christians were going to celebrate the dates set by God, it would be the 14th of Nisan for the crucifixion, and 16 Nisan for the resurrection.
It is also worth noting that neither Passover (14 Nisan), nor resurrection day (16 Nisan) were to be observed as convocation/sabbath days, but the day between them, the first day of the feast of Unleaven Bread, was a Sabbath day:
Lev 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
So what warrant is there for keeping Sunday as a Sabbath, when there is simply no "thus saith the Lord" in the Bible for Sunday sacredness to honor the resurrection? Dr. Kennedy suggests the following:
| We see that He appeared unto the women on the first day of the week. |
Luke 24:1
Yes, Jesus was first seen by Mary Magdalene that Sunday morning (John 20:1), but where did Jesus tell anyone that Sunday should now be observed as a new Sabbath day?
| That He appeared unto the disciples, all except Thomas, on the first day of the week. |
John 20:19-28
Late on the day of the resurrection Jesus did appear to the eleven Apostles, but were they then told by Jesus to begin keeping that day instead of the seventh day Sabbath? The scriptures are quite silent on that point.
| That a week later on Sunday He appeared to them all, including Thomas. |
John 20:24-30
Yes, the following Sunday all the Apostles were again gathered together, and Christ again appeared to them, but where in the scriptural accounts were they instructed that the new Sabbath day was the first day of the week?
| We see furthermore, that the church began on the first day of the week, that Pentecost was the first day of the week, and the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church on the first day of the week. And the first Christian sermon was preached on the first day of the week. |
Acts 2:1; 20:16, 1 Cor 16:8
Yes, since 16 Nisan was on a Sunday the year of the crucifixion, Pentecost, fifty days later, also fell on a Sunday. But why were the Apostles gathered together on that day?
Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
You see, it was because it was Pentecost that they were gathered together. Like Passover, Pentecost varies as to the day of the week it falls on, that is if you follow God's calendar. That Passover was on a Sunday was coincidence. Where in scripture does it indicate that the Christians began keeping Pentecost always on Sunday from that year forward? There is no such record in scripture, because the apostolic church knew nothing of a change to Sunday sacredness.
| And on the first day of the week they celebrated the Lord's Supper. |
Acts 20:7
The presumption being presented here is that the "breaking of bread" indicated the Lord's Supper.
Acts 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
Then what of the following verse:
Acts 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
It seems clear that "breaking of bread" indicates simply eating a meal together, but does not necessarily mean the celebration of the Lord's Supper. But let's assume for a moment that in Acts 20:7 the Apostles did in fact have communion, after all, Paul did preach until midnight. Why were they gathered together? Scripture tells us, because Paul was departing the next morning, there is nothing in the text that tells us they were gathered together because it was the new Sunday Sabbath. This is a remarkable omission, if the Apostles were indeed keeping Sundays.
| And on the first day of the week they laid aside their money as offerings, and that came to be known, as John described it, as 'the Lord's day.' |
1 Cor 16:2
Here Paul encourages the Corinthians, at the beginning of each week, to set aside a portion of their income, so that when he arrives the offerings for the Jerusalem church will have already been allocated. However, there is not even the slightest hint here of a church service, or the keeping of Sundays by the Corinthian church. Note the following:
Acts 18:1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
Acts 18:4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
Acts 18:11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
That's 72 Sabbaths that Paul preached in Corinth, preaching to Jews and Gentiles. There can be no question that Paul raised up a Sabbath keeping church in Corinth, a church that knew nothing of observing Sunday as a holy day. So there is simply no reason to suggest that 1 Cor 16:2 demonstrates the keeping of Sunday by Paul or the Corinthian church.
Rev 1:10
That John means Sunday here is pure speculation. While Sunday has become known through Tradition as the Lord's day, scripture does not designate it as such, but we can find the following, referring to the Saturday sabbath:
Mat 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
Mark 2:28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
Luke 6:5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
In the above verses it is quite clear that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath day, referring to the biblical sabbath, the sabbath instituted at creation and written on tables of stone by the finger of God (Exo. 20:8-11). The only day of the week John would have considered to be "the Lord's day" was not Sunday, but the biblical seventh day Saturday Sabbath spoken of by Jesus Himself.
| And it happened long before Constantine ever came to power. ... |
As the Bible doe not provide a "thus saith the Lord" for Sunday, Dr. Kennedy then, almost predictably, proceeds to the testimony of the following early church fathers for support of Sunday keeping:
- Barnabas — keeping the eighth day (120 A.D.)
| ... And so, the "eighth day" is always, throughout the Old and New Testaments, talking about the first day. ... |
There are 18 instances in which the phrase "eighth day" occurs in the Old Testament:
EIGHTH DAY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
- Exo 22:30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me. (Newborn animals fit for sacrifice only after eight days old)
- Lev 9:1 And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; (Eighth day of consecration of Aaron and his sons)
- Lev 12:3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (Eighth day after birth, Gen. 17:12)
- Lev 14:10 And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. (Cleansing of the leper, v. 2)
- Lev 14:23 And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the LORD. (Cleansing of the leper, v. 2)
- Lev 15:14 And on the eighth day he shall take to him two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and give them unto the priest: (Uncleanness, issue of men, v. 13)
- Lev 15:29 And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. (Uncleanness, issue of women, v. 28)
- Lev 22:27 When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD. (Newborn animals fit for sacrifice only after eight days old)
- Lev 23:36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. (Eighth day of feast of Tabernacles — 22 Tishri)
- Lev 23:39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. (Eighth day of feast of Tabernacles — 22 Tishri)
- Num 6:10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: (Law of Nazarites, eighth day after a sudden death)
- Num 7:54 On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh: (Eighth day of dedication of the tabernacle, 8 Nisan)
- Num 29:35 On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein: (Eighth day of feast of Tabernacles — 22 Tishri)
- 1 Ki 8:66 On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people. (Eighth day of feast of Tabernacles — 22 Tishri)
- 2 Chr 7:9 And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. (Eighth day of feast of Tabernacles — 22 Tishri)
- 2 Chr 29:17 Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. (8 Nisan)
- Neh 8:18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner. (Eighth day of feast of Tabernacles — 22 Tishri)
- Ezek 43:27 And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD. (Eighth day of dedicating the altar, v. 18)
Note that none of the above verses says the "eighth day of the
week". I maintain that when studied in context, not one of these verses refers
to the first day of the week. It is incumbent upon Dr. Kennedy to provide the
proof that even one of the above Old Testament verses is intended to
indicate the first day of the week. This he will not be able to do.
In the New Testament, the phrase "eighth day" appears in three verses:
EIGHTH DAY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
- Luke 1:59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
- Acts 7:8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.
- Phil 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
In each case the New Testament is referring to circumcision on the eighth day after birth (Gen. 17:12), which has no connection what-so-ever to the first day of the week.
So I would submit, that Dr. Kennedy's claim that the "eighth day", in every instance in scripture refers to Sunday, is without merit. On the contrary, scripture never designates the first day of the week as the "eighth day."
Dr. Kennedy continues with these early fathers of the Church:
- Justin Martyr — Sunday communion (150 A.D.)
- Clement of Alexandria — keeping the Lord's day, Sunday (194 A.D.)
- Tertullian — solemnized the day after Saturday (200 A.D.)
However, for the Protestant, appeals to early church fathers is a violation of the Sola Scriptura principle, and so has no standing or validity in the establishment of doctrine. If the case cannot be made from the Bible, then no amount of testimony from early church fathers has any standing.
| So did Constantine the Great change the Sabbath? Not at
all. He simply recognized the day which, for 300 years, Christians had
been celebrating. So, it is the first day of the week, it is the Lord's
day, it is the Christian Sabbath, it is our day of rest, our day of joy
and gladness. ... |
Yes, Sunday keeping began long before Constantine, but Adventists have not taught that Constantine made the change from Sabbath to Sunday. Rather, Adventists do teach that papal Rome made this change, and that it is a tradition not taught in scripture, to which the Roman Catholic has long agreed:
Not one scintilla of scriptural proof that Sunday is divinely appointed:
And now we would ask upon what religious grounds these earnest advocates for a more strict observance of Sunday [Protestants] base their claims to make Sunday a day of worship. If all the new law is contained in the Scripture, there is not one scintilla of proof that it is the divinely appointed day. Their citadel is not built upon sand—its condition is worse, it has no foundation at all. It is said in Holy Writ that "on the first day of the week the disciples were gathered for prayer and the breaking of bread." It is also said that on "another occasion, they were gathered for the same purpose on the first day of the week to hear St. Paul, who preached until midnight." St. John, it is said, was in the spirit on "the Lord's day." But this is a mere recital of facts, it is not the promulgation of a law. It is not the language, nor does it carry the sanction of a law. Who then, made Sunday, the first day of the week, the newly appointed day of worship? The divine organism that traces its history through the centuries back to Christ, that received the commission, "Go and teach all nations;" that received from the hands of Christ, the divine founder of the new covenant, the new law of worship, in whose hands was placed the gift of infallible truth. To that divine organization, the Catholic Church, was given the law of worship, and she alone decreed and she alone had the right to decree that Sunday, the first day of the week, should be the future day of religious worship. The substance remained as St. Paul says and the victim of her altars was to be worshipped. So the substance was preserved; she, therefore, decreed the law, the day of worship and all the ordinances of that worship. All outside of her [Protestants] are fighting from a religious point view for a cause which does not belong to them. The Christian Sunday rests solely upon the teachings of tradition, which they reject.
Source:
Now Dr. Kennedy, the Roman Catholic Church says you have no biblical authorization for keeping Sunday, that by promoting the Sunday Sabbath, you are a squatter on the Catholic ground of Tradition, which you as a Protestant reject in principle. Dr. Kennedy, which will it be, the seventh day Saturday Sabbath and Sola Scriptura, or the keeping of the papal Sunday and a recognition of the authority of Catholic Tradition? Catholics have been quite correct in pointing out, for several hundred years, that the two positions are mutually exclusive, and cannot be reconciled.
Following his sermon, the Coral Ridge Hour program presented a brief story on Chick-fil-A restaurants, which are closed on Sundays as a matter of policy, to observe the "Christian Sabbath". This was offered as a demonstration that even in this hectic modern culture, the "Lord's day" can be kept holy by Christians. During his sermon, Dr. Kennedy also advocated that Christians should not even patronize businesses on Sunday, much less open their own businesses that day. Dr. Kennedy is openly asserting that on the Christian Sabbath of Sunday, Christians should refrain from buying or selling. Adventists have known for many years, from scripture, where this will ultimately lead:
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
I invited Dr. Kennedy to publicly respond to my criticism of his "Gift of Rest" sermon, and this was his reply of 19 December 2001, sent via Mary Ann Bunker.
Dear Mr. Scheifler:
Your belabored treatise taking issue with my recent sermon broadcast over the Coral Ridge Hour and entitled "The Gift of Rest," was — as far as I am concerned — scarcely worth the effort that went into writing it, or that would have required my reading it.
Vintage Ellen White, your attack on the Christian sabbath contains no new information or opinions other than those which have been promulgated since the late Nineteenth Century.
But I have no intention of engaging in a debate with you over what are patently denominational distinctives. The First Amendment grants to each of us the right to proclaim our convictions, as I did in my sermon, and as you have chosen to do via other channels of communication. So be it.
Sincerely in Christ,
D. James Kennedy, Ph.D.
Senior Minister
Yes, Seventh-day Adventists have a distinctive message about the Sabbath―the seal of God, and Sunday―the Mark of the Beast. It is present truth, and I would suggest that Dr. Kennedy chose to avoid a substantive reply because the points I have raised about errors in his sermon regarding a Sunday sabbath are valid, and he is simply not able to refute them. Dr. Kennedy should renounce his nominal Protestantism, and declare his allegiance to Rome, because when it comes to Sunday, he is teaching the Traditions of papal Rome, and not the doctrinal authority of scripture, Sola Scriptura, and to this the Catholics agree.
On Dr. Kennedy's "Truths That Transform" radio programs of January 7th, 8th, 2002, edited versions of his "Gift of Rest" sermon were broadcast, and were available for listening online for at least 3 months. In these programs Dr. Kennedy continued to present the substantial errors regarding the keeping of Sunday, even after having them pointed out to him weeks before in the above rebuttal, which he has acknowledged reading, but refuses to respond to in any detail. I submit that Dr. Kennedy is not presenting truths that transform when it comes to Sunday keeping, but rather he continues to advocate the keeping of the Traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, in stark contrast to the explicit command of God to keep holy the seventh day, which is Saturday. To quote Dr. Kennedy:
"The amazing thing is that there are some people who are so thick-headed that they won't do it [rest on God's Saturday Sabbath]."
Dr. Kennedy, YOU are the man you speak of so eloquently there.
Note the following statement by Dr. Kennedy in his recent abbreviated series on the Ten Commandments:
"I hope that today's study in the Ten Commandments has both awakened you and whetted your appetite for more. These perfect ten, if you will, were inscribed by our Creator Himself upon tables of stone. They are eternal, unchangeable, and we ignore them at great risk". ― Dr. D. James Kennedy, from the final word at the end of the Truths That Transform radio program titled Why the Law of God (Part 1) (Real Player), dated July 12th, 2004. [Program no longer available.]
Dr. Kennedy's assertion there is quite correct. The Ten Commandments are eternal, and unchangeable, and that includes the Sabbath commandment, which commands rest on the seventh day of the week, and the seventh day of the week is Saturday, not Sunday. As he says, the Sabbath commandment is unchangeable, therefore he indeed keeps the Tradition of the papal Sunday, and ignores God's seventh day Saturday Sabbath commandment at his own risk, and so, dear reader, do you!
Update — March 2006
Dr. Kennedy is listed as a supporter of "Ten Commandments Day", to be held on Sunday, May 7th, 2006. It will be interesting to hear his sermon for that day, when he will likely again proclaim the need to keep God's Ten Commandments, but it should be noted that the Sabbath of the Lord can only be kept on the seventh day of the week, and that day is, without any doubt, Saturday.
As far as I was able to determine, Dr. Kennedy took no notice of the first Ten Commandments Sunday on his web sites, or his TV program. He apparently ignored it.
Update — June 2006
Dr. Kennedy revisits the Sabbath — Sunday issue in a program broadcast June 22, 2006 on his radio show "Truths That Transform". The program is titled "Eden Revisited (Part 1)" and can be Downloaded Here. [Program no longer available.]
In his sermon he presents the same basic arguments and misinformation as he did in his previous "Gift of Rest" sermon as documented above, and my rebuttal still applies.
Rome's
Challenge to Protestants
Did the Apostles keep Sunday?
The
Mark of the Beast and the Seal of God
Sunday is NOT the Sabbath!
 http://www.biblelightinfo.com |