Can the Majority Be Wrong?

Can the Majority Be Wrong?

Guide 18

Jesus, your Saviour and mine, was One against a whole nation:

"He came unto his own, and his own received him not."—John 1:11.

The Bible pictures those who find eternal life as a minority.

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, AND NARROW IS THE WAY, WHICH LEADETH UNTO LIFE, AND FEW THERE BE THAT FIND IT."—Matthew 7:13, 14.

The issue is not, Are you right? or, Am I right? The real question is the one asked of the persecuted Christ it Pilate's judgment hall — "WHAT IS TRUTH?"

The Word of God is the primary source of truth.

"Sanctify them through thy truth: THY WORD IS TRUTH."—John 17:17.

God's Holy Book is the yardstick for measuring truth.

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."—Isaiah 8:20.

Jesus recognized that every religious question must be settled by the Word of God.

"But he answered and said, IT IS WRITTEN, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."—Matthew 4:4.

Let us turn to the Word of God alone for the answer to the honest questions that test the genuineness of our love for God.

1. The majority of Christians keep Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of Saturday, the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Can the majority be wrong?

Answer: If the Bible is right, the majority are wrong on this point, for we have discovered in previous lessons that Saturday, the seventh day of the week, is the Sabbath of the Bible. Yet, only a minority are Sabbathkeepers.

Custom and tradition have a great deal to do with churches and with individuals' observing Sunday, the first day. Many are unaware of the sacredness of the seventh-day Sabbath.

It is not easy to oppose cherished traditional beliefs, but the Christian experience is one of growth. More and more is revealed to the child of God, as Proverbs 4:18 tells us. We are to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord." 2 Peter 3:18. We must be willing to "walk in the light" (1 John 1:7) as God reveals it to us.

Never accept the deceptive argument that the majority must be right. Beware lest it lead you astray and to the rejection of your Lord, as He was rejected long ago by people who used the same argument:

"The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? HAVE ANY OF THE RULERS OR OF THE PHARISEES BELIEVED ON HIM?"—John 7:46-48.

The majority, including religious leaders, rejected Jesus.

2. Isn't Sundaykeeping taught in the New Testament? (Part 1 of 4)

Answer: The word "Sunday" is not in the Bible at all, but there are eight New Testament texts that mention the "first day of the week." Let us examine them briefly for evidence of Sunday sacredness.

(1) The first text mentioning the first day of the week is Matthew 28:1.

"IN THE END OF THE SABBATH, as it began to dawn toward THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre."

There is no mention of Sunday sacredness in this text, no reference to worship in any form. The text merely states that "in the end of the sabbath," as "the first day" was dawning, two women came to examine the tomb.

(2) The next reference is Mark 16:1, 2.

"And WHEN THE SABBATH WAS PAST, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun."

These verses tell us that "when the sabbath was past," the first day of the week followed the Sabbath. They also inform us that these women had come on the morning of the first day prepared to anoint the body of Jesus. Notice, they waited until the Sabbath was over before carrying out this task.

(3) The third text mentioning the first day of the week is Mark 16:9.

"Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils."

Again there is no mention of a day of rest. Surely, if Jesus had intended that Sunday should be observed as a day of rest to commemorate His resurrection, He would have told His disciples first of all.

(4) Luke's account agrees with these other witnesses.

"Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them."—Luke 24:1.

2. Isn't Sundaykeeping taught in the New Testament? (Part 2 of 4)

In Luke 23:56, the verse just preceding this text, we are told that these loyal disciples of Jesus "rested the sabbath day according to the commandment." Then, on the next day after the Sabbath, they went to the tomb to anoint the Lord's body, work which they did not do on His holy day. This verse certainly offers no hint of a change of the Sabbath to the first day of the week.

(5) In a parallel passage John wrote:

"The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre."—John 20:1.

John wrote this verse sixty years or more after the resurrection of Jesus. Yet the words imply no knowledge of a Sabbath change. The disciple who felt closest to Jesus, evidently had never heard of Sunday keeping.

(6) The next reference appears in verse 19:

"Then the same day at evening, being THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, when the doors were shut where THE DISCIPLES WERE ASSEMBLED FOR FEAR OF THE JEWS, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."

The doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, not to honor Christ's resurrection, but "for fear of the Jews." On this occasion Jesus reproved His disciples for their failure to believe that He had risen. (Mark 16:14.) There is, therefore, no possible chance that the disciples had met on this occasion to commemorate the resurrection. Instead they had gathered for mutual protection. IN THESE SIX REFERENCES, FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS, THERE IS NOT THE MINUTEST HINT OF SUNDAY SACREDNESS.

(7) The seventh New Testament text that mentions the first day of the week is Luke's statement in Acts 20.

2. Isn't Sundaykeeping taught in the New Testament? (Part 3 of 4)

"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. . . . When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. . . . And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot."—Acts 20:7, 11, 13.

The apostle Paul was enroute to Jerusalem. His ship had stopped in Troas, and after waiting there a week for it to sail, he called the believers together for a farewell meeting. He preached until after midnight and then held the communion service with them.

Did holding communion at this farewell service make the day holy? Our Lord instituted the communion on a Thursday night. If the communion service makes a day holy, why are we not observing Thursday as the Sabbath?

In the biblical method of reckoning days, the night comes first. If this verse uses that method of reckoning — as is very likely — then the night meeting was held on what we call Saturday night. (See the New English Bible.) If so, Paul evidently did not consider Sunday particularly sacred, since he walked 20 miles to Assos the next day.

There is nothing here about the first day of the week being holy. The text simply indicates that Paul held a farewell meeting on the first day of the week. A religious meeting may be held on any day of the week, but that does not make that day holy and the Lord's day.

(8) There is only one reference to the first day of the week in all of Paul's letters.

"Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."—1 Corinthians 16:2.

2. Isn't Sundaykeeping taught in the New Testament? (Part 4 of 4)

Reliable Bible scholars generally agree that the intent of this instruction was to call Corinthian believers to bring their bookkeeping up to date on the first day of each week and then in their own homes to set aside gifts for the needy saints in Jerusalem. When Paul came to gather the gifts there would be no last-minute disorganized fund collecting.

Paul wrote this letter about A.D. 59, more than 25 years after the Lord's resurrection. Yet this text attributes no sacredness to the first day of the week. Paul said nothing here about abstaining from work on this day. There is no mention of a church service, nor of a collection box or plate. The apostle was collecting for the relief of the persecuted Christians at Jerusalem. (See also Acts 11:27-30; Romans 15:25, 26; 2 Corinthians 9:1; Galatians 2:10; Acts 24:17.) His plea was that on the first day, when church members figured their previous week's earnings, they should systematically put aside donations for the relief of their needy brethren in Jerusalem.

These eight texts do not teach Sunday sacredness. In fact, none of the gospel writers teaches the observance of a day to commemorate the resurrection of our Lord.

Since specific instruction is given in the New Testament concerning the ordinance of baptism and the communion service as instituted by Jesus, it would be reasonable to expect that if a new day of worship had been instituted by Christ or His apostles, special instructions concerning it would be recorded. Any attempt to make such a change would surely have been a subject for much discussion among the Jewish adherents to the Christian faith. The silence of the New Testament on this subject is striking evidence that Christians continued to keep the Sabbath which Christ made as a memorial of His creative power.

3. Is it proper for Christians to observe Sunday, the first day of the week, as a memorial of the resurrection?

Answer: The acceptance of Sunday rest as commemorative of Christ's resurrection is without Scriptural authority; it comes from the postapostolic compromise of the church with pagan sun worship. The Bible and history are clear and harmonious on this question.

4. How do we know that Saturday is the seventh day of the week now? Hasn't the calendar been changed, or time been lost?

Answer: Our calendar is essentially the Roman calendar used at the time Jesus lived on earth. The Jews called the days by number, as God did at creation. The Romans gave the names of their planetary gods to the days of the week. The seventh day was called Saturday (Saturn's day); the first day was called Sunday (Sun's day); and so on.

Our calendar has been changed once since the time of Christ. In 1582 the Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian. Julius Caesar had established his calendar on the basis of a 365¼-day year. Actually, the fraction is slightly less than ¼ day — enough less to have built up an error of ten days by the sixteenth century, when Pope Gregory found it necessary to get the calendar back into harmony with the sun. He left the weekly cycle undisturbed, changing only the calendar date. So it was that in 1582 Friday, October 15, followed Thursday, October 4. To prevent the problem's again arising, it was decided that years divisible by 100 — 1800, 1900, etc. — would not be counted as leap years unless also divisible by 400. (Thus the year 2000 will be a 366-day year.) Historians refer to the Julian calendar as "old style" and to the Gregorian as "new style." In the shift, however, as we have seen, THE SEQUENCE OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK REMAINED UNCHANGED.

At creation, Jesus established the seven-day week, numbering the days. (See Genesis 1.) When He came to earth, He would surely have corrected any error that might have crept into the weekly cycle. But the Sabbath following His death was the Sabbath "according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. Jesus' disciples kept the Sabbath faithfully.

The weekly cycle in the Jewish calendar has never been disrupted or changed through the centuries. The Jews still celebrate yearly festivals and feasts, and the weekly Sabbaths, in accord with their own published lunar-solar calendar. It agrees perfectly with the Gregorian calendar as far as the weekly cycle is concerned. So also do the Muslim and Coptic calendars.

So, if you want to know if your calendar is right, just check it by the calendars of the Jews, Moslems, and Copts. What will you find? Perfect agreement — Sunday the first day of the week, and Saturday the seventh.

By mathematical calculations modern astronomers are able to reckon time forward or backward. They have detected no change in the weekly cycle.

Dr. James Robertson of the U. S. Naval Observatory in 1932, in reply to a letter of inquiry, made the following statements:

"We have had occasion to investigate the results of the works of specialists in chronology and we have never found one of them that has ever had the slightest doubt about the continuity of the weekly cycle since long before the Christian era.

". . . There has been no change in our calendar in past centuries that has affected in any way the cycle of the week."

5. Isn't one day in seven all the commandment requires?

Answer: The fourth of the Ten Commandments reads:

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD THY GOD: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord BLESSED THE SABBATH DAY, and HALLOWED IT."—Exodus 20:8-11.

God commands us to remember that the first six days of the week are for work. In fact, the Bible calls them "the six working days." Ezekiel 46:1. But "the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God." That is specific — not a seventh but "the seventh day." See Genesis 2:2, 3.

Suppose your doctor should give you seven capsules, with instructions to take number 1 on Sunday, number 2 on Monday, number 3 on Tuesday, and so on until you come to capsule number 7 on Saturday. Then he explains that capsule number 7 is three times stronger than capsules 1 to 6 and warns you to take them in just the order prescribed. Would you obey his orders? Yes, certainly!

Our Creator-Redeemer has given us the six ordinary days for labor. But the seventh day is His, and on it He has placed a special threefold blessing — He rested, blessed, and sanctified the Sabbath day. (Genesis 2:2, 3.) In His command He says, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Jesus says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15. He is "Lord even of the sabbath day." Matthew 12:8. Just how much do we love Him? Enough to obey His Sabbath command?

It is true that we should worship God every day, but our worshiping on a day does not make it holy. The Sabbath is the day made holy by God, set apart and sanctified for us to keep as a memorial of creation. God does not require anyone to observe two days of the week. He has given us six days for temporal use. He made only one day holy, the seventh day, and reserved it for our spiritual welfare. We are to serve and worship God every day, but to keep holy only the day God made holy.

6. Didn't Jesus nail the Sabbath to the cross?

Answer: Paul tells us what was nailed to the cross when he speaks of Christ's —

"Blotting out THE HANDWRITING OF ORDINANCES THAT WAS AGAINST US, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, NAILING IT TO HIS CROSS; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of THE SABBATH DAYS: WHICH ARE A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME; but the body is of Christ."—Colossians 2:14-17.

The law of ceremonies, connected with the sanctuary service, pointed to Jesus, the Lamb of God. When He was crucified on the cross for our sins, the ceremonial law was no longer necessary. It was done away with — nailed to the cross. There type met antitype. Symbol faced reality. Shadow found its substance.

The "sabbath days" to which Paul was referring were those which were "a shadow of things to come." So the sabbaths mentioned here must be those that were types or symbols of something to come.

As you study the ceremonial laws of ancient Israel, you will find that they observed seven yearly ceremonial sabbaths in connection with the annual feasts. (See Leviticus 23.) These sabbaths came on a specific day of the month, rather than a particular day of the week. So the day of the week varied from year to year, just as with your birthday. These yearly sabbaths foreshadowed Christ's coming and His work. They were "beside," or in addition to, the weekly Sabbath of the Lord mentioned in Leviticus 23:3, 38. When Jesus died on the cross, these seven yearly sabbaths had fulfilled their purpose, so they were nailed to the cross.

But the seventh-day Sabbath of the commandment was NOT A SHADOW of something to come. It was not symbolic of some future event. It is RATHER A MEMORIAL or reminder of a completed fact — the creation of our world by God in six days and His resting on the seventh day. The seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment had no connection whatever with the ceremonial sabbaths — which are not even mentioned in the Ten Commandments. Those yearly sabbaths ended at the cross, while the seventh-day Sabbath, as a part of God's eternal law, is never-ending and will continue to be kept in the new earth when sin is forever gone. (Hebrews 4:9, 10, margin; Isaiah 66:23.)

7. I am under grace. Why should I keep the Sabbath?

Answer: For an answer to this question, review the lesson, "Law of Liberty." It clearly shows that God's grace is the only means of salvation. Saved by His grace, our hearts are filled with His love. It becomes natural for us to desire to obey His commandments. When Christ lives His life of perfect obedience in and through us, we will find ourselves in harmony with God's commandments.

8. Isn't the Sabbath just for the Jews? Why should Christians keep it?

Answer: Our Saviour Himself said:

"The sabbath was MADE FOR MAN, and not man for the sabbath."—Mark 2:27.

God made the Sabbath with its threefold blessing for "man" — the entire human race. The Sabbath was made by Jesus at creation long before a Jew existed.

If we admit that we belong to the human family, then God's seventh-day Sabbath is for us. Will you keep it because you love Him so much that you want with all your heart to please Him?

If the Sabbath were made for the Jews only, then the whole moral law of the Ten Commandments was made for the Jews alone. If that were the case, then Christians may take God's name in vain, worship idols, steal, kill, lie, etc.

Jesus kept the seventh-day Sabbath. "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he [Jesus] walked." 1 John 2:6. Are you walking as Jesus walked?

9. Is it true that every time Christ appeared to His disciples after the resurrection it was on the first day of the week?

Answer: No, this is not true. Jesus first appeared to His disciples on the resurrection Sunday. (John 20:1, 2, 19.) His next appearance was after "eight days." (John 20:26.) The third appearance came on an unnamed day, and Christ then found His disciples fishing. (John 21:1-6.) The appearances of Jesus after the resurrection have no bearing on the question of the true Sabbath.

10. Will all those who observe Sunday rather than the Bible Sabbath be lost?

Answer: Our heavenly Father deals with motives of the heart.

Perhaps our parents or grandparents were unaware of the fact that long ago an apostate church had changed the Sabbath. They thought that Sunday was the day God commanded. They were honestly ignorant.

"And the TIMES OF THIS IGNORANCE GOD WINKED AT; but now commandeth all men every where to repent."—Acts 17:30.

When we are enlightened on the requirements of God's holy law, then God calls on us to change our ways in obedience to the added light we have received. If we know what God's Word teaches, and then refuse to walk in the light, we become guilty.

"To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."—James 4:17.

Remember, God is looking into your heart just now, as you study this lesson. Do you love Him sincerely enough to obey Him?

11. Is God so particular that He requires Christians to keep only the seventh day as the Sabbath?

Answer: In the New Testament James declares:

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet OFFEND IN ONE POINT, he is guilty of all."—James 2:10.

If God were not particular, His law might have been abolished and it would not have been necessary for Jesus to die to save mankind from sin. But Christ died to abolish sin and to establish God's law.

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Romans 3:31.

Jesus wants to take sin out of our hearts — and, as we have learned, "sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. He wants to put His Spirit of obedience in us. Then we will find the Sabbath a delight.

Believing God's Holy Word, will you here and now surrender your life completely into His hand? Will you say, "By the grace of God, I will keep the Sabbath of Jesus, the seventh-day Sabbath of the Bible"?