Had the people back then only taken the Bible and looked into it they would have seen that God said the earth was a circle, or it was round! The prophet Isaiah wrote,

"It is He who sits above the circle of the earth..." Isaiah 40: 22

     The prophet wrote this 2,000 years before Columbus sailed west in search of India. Because most of the people believed the earth was flat: it didn’t make it so! There are thousands of people today who believe that the day God wants them to worship Him is Sunday, the first day of the week: but that doesn’t make it so!

     The Bible from beginning to end testifies to the fact that God has established the Sabbath day and that day is the seventh day of the week. No place in the Bible does God indicate that He has changed that day of worship and rest. Let us review for a moment what we have found by a study of His Word. When God finished creating Planet Earth and man, He created the Sabbath as a memorial of Creation on the Seventh Day of that first week. When God wrote His law at Mt. Sinai He put in the very heart of those commandments the Sabbath Commandment:

"Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day and hallowed it." Exodus 20: 8 - 11

     You will notice that He gives us His reason for asking the people to keep that day, and the reason why He established that day as His Holy Day was because He created the earth in six days... and rested the Seventh Day. Concerning His commands God, through Moses, told the people that they were not to take away from them nor add to them.

"Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you." Deuteronomy 4:2 NIV

     God also told them,

"My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips."
Psalm 89:34

     Jesus Himself showed the same determination to exalt the Law that He had given on Mt. Sinai. He told the people in the Sermon on the Mount that He did not come to set aside the Law of God but to fulfill it! Notice His words:

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away,
one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of commandments, and teaches men so,
shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven..." Matthew 5:17-19

      Jesus Himself demonstrated by His example that He wanted to honor the day that He and His Father had made holy in the first week of this world’s history.

"So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, and stood up to read."
Luke 4:16

     When the religious leaders accused Jesus’ disciples of violating the Sabbath, Jesus said He was the Lord of that day.

"...The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." Mark 2: 27, 28

     Not only did Jesus honor the Sabbath Day but He asked His disciples to pray that they could keep His holy day far down into the future. We find this request in Matthew 24:20:

"And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath."

     Jesus was speaking of the flight out of Jerusalem by His followers just prior to its destruction in A.D. 70 by the Romans. When Jesus was crucified His followers continued to honor the Sabbath. Orthodox Jews have worshiped on the seventh day since the Exodus, more than 3,500 years ago. Wherever they are in the world they still recognize Saturday, the seventh day of the week, as the day God set aside for worship.

     Even if the Bible were our only source of information, we would still be able to determine which day is the seventh day, or the Sabbath. As we turn to the account of the crucifixion, the Book of Luke summarizes the events of that weekend. After Christ died on the across on Friday, the Bible comments:

"It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Then the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared."
Luke 23: 54-56; 24:1

     Most of the Christian world celebrates what is called, Good Friday in memory of Christ’s death. They celebrate Easter Sunday in memory of Christ’s resurrection. The Bible tells us that the day in between Friday and Sunday is the Sabbath, according to the commandments. Even though Luke wrote these words many years after the cross, he still referred to Sunday as "the first day of the week," And he still called the seventh day "Sabbath." The biblical record clearly distinguishes these two days.

     In fact, the apostles continued to worship and preach on the seventh-day Sabbath for many years after the cross. The Bible speaks of Paul and his companions when they visited Antioch:

"...They...went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down." Acts 13:14

     Later

"...When the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God." Acts 13: 42,44

     It was Paul’s custom to worship in the synagogue every Sabbath as found in Acts 18:4. From these biblical facts one can easily see that there is no evidence that Christ or His disciples changed the day of worship. There is no record in the Bible commanding such a change! None of the New Testament writers told of change of the Sabbath day! It would have been the lead article in every New Testament Book of the Bible had such a momentous change occurred! God said,

"I will not...alter what my lips have uttered." Psalm 89:34

     God has not change His Law and no one has the right to alter God’s Law! Scholars from the various Sunday-keeping groups acknowledge this. Catholic Cardinal James Gibbons once wrote:

"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."
                                                           —The Faith of Our Fathers, pages 111, 112.

     Clovis G. Chappell, a Methodist, concedes the same point, when he says,

"The reason we observe the first day instead of the seventh is based on no positive command. One will search the Scriptures in vain for authority for changing from the seventh day to the first."
                                                                                         -Ten Rules For Living." p. 61

     There is no biblical record that Christ or His disciples kept any other day or instructed others to do so! "Then how did Sunday keeping get started?" you ask?

     We learn from Socrates Scholasticus, a fifth-century historian:

"Almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries (the Lord’s Supper) On the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this."
                                                   -Ecclesiastical History, As quoted by C. B. Haynes,  
                                                                                    From Sabbath to Sunday, p. 35.

     Other historians record that the Waldenses, Albigenses, and Celts observed the seventh - day Sabbath during the Middle Ages, and the practice is well - documented in modern times by Christians around the world. Many church historians place the beginning of a gradual change of days sometime between A.D. 70 and 135, the dates when two bitter and bloody insurrections by the Jews were crushed by the Romans.

     To understand the causes for this change of days, we need to consider briefly the relationship between the Roman Empire and the Jews during this time. Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi states,

"Beginning with the first Jewish Revolt against Rome (66-70), various repressive measures-military, political and fiscal-were imposed by the Romans upon the Jews."
                                                         —Divine Rest for Human Restlessness, p. 238.

     In A.D. 135 the Jewish revolt led by Bar-Kokkba was crushed by the armies of Emperor Hadrian. Outraged,

"Hadrian at this time prohibited the practice of the Jewish religion throughout the empire, condemning especially Sabbath observance."
                                                                                                                    -Ibid, p. 237.

     The mounting hostility of the Romans against the Jews coupled with the conflict between Jews and Christians, encouraged a rash of anti-Jewish literature, which, in turn, created strong anti-Jewish sentiment throughout the Roman Empire. Christians became increasingly sensitive about identification with the Jews. Since Sabbath-keeping tended to identify them with the Jews, many Christians began minimizing its obligations.

"Impressive indications (suggest) that Sunday observance was introduced at this time in conjunction with Easter-Sunday, as an attempt to clarify to the Roman authorities the Christian distinction from Judaism." Ibid, p. 237

     With this in mind, it is easy to see how Christians living in the capital city of the Roman Empire led the way in disassociating themselves from Sabbath-keeping. They were located at the center where hostility was the strongest! It is especially  understandable that they might shy away from Sabbath - keeping, which was held in contempt by the Romans, in view of the fact that the church at Rome was composed predominantly of Gentiles, who were converts from paganism. It is interesting to note how Paul addressed the church in Rome:

"I am talking to you Gentiles...’" Romans 11:13 NIV

     This indicates that most of the Christians in Rome were from Gentile nations. These Christians, recently converted from paganism, were not as well established in Sabbath-keeping as were Jewish Christians, who had always practiced Sabbath-keeping. But why was Sunday chosen rather than some other day of the week? That’s a good question! The pagans in the Roman Empire had been sun worshipers for many years celebrating Sunday as the sun’s day.

     The Roman Emperors had even represented themselves as sun gods, stamping the emblem of the sun on their coins and buildings and demanding worship from their subjects. Some theologians believe that the church saw an advantage in compromise with paganism. By adopting a few pagan customs, the pagans would convert to Christianity more quickly and feel more at home.

     It would also benefit the empire by uniting its subjects into one great religion. For centuries Sunday was celebrated, not as a holy day, but as a holiday. Then both days were kept as holy days. We read the following from Apostolic Constitutions, Book 7, Chapter 23. "Christians were not the only ones who became careless and gradually compromised their faith. The erosion of the purity of the Apostolic church stood firm and pure, but when the second and third generation Christians came along, we see evidence of compromise and apostasy."

     Dr. W. D. Killen wrote: "Between the days of the apostles and the conversion of Constantine ... rites and ceremonies of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the rank of Divine institutions."
                                                                                   -The Ancient Church, pp. 15, 16.

     This drift into compromise was accented by the first civil Sunday law passed by the Roman Emperor Constantine on March 7, A.D. 321. While still a pagan, he legislated:

"On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in the cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits."
                                —History Of the Christian Church, 1902 ed. Volume 3, p. 380.

      The next step in making Sunday-keeping an integral part of Christianity was taken by the church at Rome in the Council of Laodicea. It made the first religious law concerning the keeping of Sunday.

"In the year 325, Sylvester, Bishop of Rome changed the title of the first day, calling it the Lord’s day."
                                                                                   —Historia Ecclesiastica, p. 739.

     At another Council of Laodicea, held in 364, the following law was made:

 "Christians shall not Judaize (keep Sabbath) and be idle on Saturday..., but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especially honour, and, as being Christians, shall if possible, do no work on that day. If however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out...from Christ."
                                       -A History of the Councils of the Church, Volume 2, p. 316.

     In spite of this, Christians were still observing the Sabbath in the sixth century. For Pope Gregory denounced

"as the prophets of Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done on the seventh day."
  -The Law of Sunday, quoted in C. B. Haynes, From Sabbath to Sunday, p. 43. 96

It is important to keep in mind that the Bible was not available to everyone at that time as it is now. Doctrines were passed along by word of mouth until the laymen could scarcely distinguish between Scripture and tradition. Few people really knew the truth as it was taught by Christ and His disciples. After the sixth century the Sabbath truth lay almost dormant, hidden under centuries of tradition.

     Few closely examined to find out what the Scriptures taught. They accepted what had been passed along through generations, never questioning whether it was fact or fiction. Centuries passed, and the Protestant Reformation came, questioning, many rites and traditions that had supplanted the teachings of God’s Word. The cry of the reformation was: "The Bible and the Bible only as our rule of faith." Many like Huss and Jerome, paid for their fidelity to the Bible by being burned at the stake!

     The following statements are by Roman Catholic authors, whose church led the way in the change from Sabbath to Sunday.

"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, p. 16.

     From the Convert’s Catechism, we read:

Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
Answer: 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."

     Why, you may ask, did the Catholic Church, by its own free and open admission institute this change? The answer lies, at least in part, in the place of authority accorded by the Roman Church to tradition.

"Like two sacred rivers flowing from paradise, the Bible and divine Tradition contain the Word of God... Though these two divine streams are...of equal sacredness, ...still, of the two, TRADITION is to us more clear and safe."
                                                           —Joseph Faa di Bruno, Catholic Belief, p. 33.

     One of the main points of difference between Protestants and Catholics during the early days of the Reformation was over the authority of tradition in the church. When Martin Luther declared that he must follow the Bible and the Bible only, he challenged many of the institutions of the Catholic Church that were based solely on tradition. In fact, the Council of Trent was convened to decide exactly what position the Catholic Church should take on tradition and its relationship to the Bible.

     The question was finally settled. Notice the summary given of the speech that turned the tide, as recorded by H. H. Holtzman: "Finally, at the last opening on the eighteenth of January, 1562, all hesitation was set aside: the Archbishop of Reggio made a speech in which he openly declared that tradition stood above Scripture. The authority of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures, because the Church had changed ...the Sabbath into Sunday, not by  command of Christ, but by its own authority."
                                                                                    —Cannon and Tradition, p. 263.

     What swung the pendulum when all seemed at a standstill? It was the fact that the church had, in effect, changed one of God’s commandments on the authority of tradition! Protestants may be more surprised than Catholics over this revelation. Roman Catholics have long taken pride in what they believe to be the authority of their church to interpret Scripture in the light of tradition. The Bible, taken by itself, does not support the idea of an authoritative, extra-biblical tradition. Do you remember the question Jesus asked the religious leaders of His day? He asked, "...Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" And He added,

"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
 of men." Matthew 15:3, 9

     Do you see the issue? Will you follow Christ and the Bible, or human traditions? It is not merely a matter of days and numbers. It is a matter of masters! That is the real issue! We have sited in this study a number of trustworthy scholars and scholarly historical works, but there are people in our age that recognize the same thing that we have found that in these history books. We notice this statement,

"It was the Catholic Church that decided Sunday should be the day of worship for Christians in honor of the resurrection."
                                —Karl Keating, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, 1988, p. 38.

     Another statement that will cause you to stop and think comes from the Saint Catherine Catholic Church Sentinel, May 21, 1995. It said, "Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change that the church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday...not from any directions noted in the scriptures, but from the Church’s sense of its own power... People who think that the scriptures should be the sole authority should logically become Seventh-Day Adventist, and keep Saturday holy."

     The Catholic Encyclopedia says that after changing the day of worship the church then changed the command of God! Notice what it says: "The Church...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." Vol. 4, p. 153.

     You will remember when we studied the prophecy of Daniel that God revealed to Daniel that the

"little horn" of Daniel 7:25, was to "...think to change God’s times and laws..."

     This power has thought to do this, but God is still the same today as when He made the heavens and the earth and He has not changed what He instituted in Eden. John wrote,

"Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth— to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’" Revelation 14:6,7

     In fact, the prophecy calls for everyone everywhere to worship the Creator because He is the one who is going to judge mankind. It is given to call out a people who will be ready to meet Jesus when He returns in the clouds of glory. The people who will respond and be ready are described this way,

"Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus." Revelation 14: 12

      It goes without saying, that those who have the Faith of Jesus, out of a heart of love for God, will be keeping His Commandments! Yes, God asks us to REMEMBER Him as our Creator by keeping His Holy Day. To do as He asks means we show our loyalty to Him. When a person keeps a man-made Sabbath, he is obeying man’s traditions. When we discover God’s will it is our joy to follow it. God has something to say about man’s traditions:

"...These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." again: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!" Mark 7:6,7,9 NIV

Jesus said, "...Their hearts are far from me." You see, it is really a matter of the heart. A matter of love. The Bible says,

"For this is the love for God that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome." 1 John 5:3

     As Jesus was teaching one day, He made a surprising statement. He said that you can know a tree by its fruit, whether it was good or bad fruit. Then He said,

"Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." Matthew 7:21

     That is very plain. God knows those who are His by looking at the fruitage of their lives. It is not just those who say they belong to God but those who do what He has told them to do. It is those individuals who will be welcomed into the kingdom of God.

     If you love Him you will let Him be the one who runs your life so that you can do His will. Would you like to make the decision to commit your life to following God’s truth rather than accepting a man-made tradition?

Why not tell Jesus you will follow Him all the way as we pray.