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返回研究目录 上一篇 下载中文 下一篇 我们是否尊崇耶稣如同尊崇祂父一样 我们是否尊崇耶稣如同尊崇祂父一样？ 腓立比书 2:6 “他本有上帝的行像，不以自己与上帝同等为强夺的， 约翰福音 5:21-23 父怎样叫死人起来，使他们活着，子也照样随自己的意思使人活着。22 父不审判什么人，乃将审判的事全交与子，23 叫人都尊敬子如同尊敬父一样。不尊敬子的，就是不尊敬差子来的父。 马太福音 11:27 一切所有的，都是我父交付我的。除了父，没有人知道子；除了子和子所愿意指示的，没有人知道父。 马太福音 28:18 “耶稣进前来，对他们说：“天上地下所有的权柄都赐给我了。” 路加福音 10:22 “一切所有的都是我父交付我的。除了父，没有人知道子是谁；除了子和子愿意指示的，没有人知道父是谁。” 约翰福音 3:35 父爱子，已将万有交在他手里。 约翰福音 16:15 “凡父所有的，都是我的，所以我说，他要将受于我的告诉你们。” 约翰福音 17:10 凡是我的都是你的，你的也是我的，并且我因他们得了荣耀。 约翰福音 13:3 耶稣知道父已将万有交在他手里，且知道自己是从上帝出来的，又要归到上帝那里去， 以弗所书1:20-23 20 就是照他在基督身上所运行的大能大力，使他从死里复活，叫他在天上坐在自己的右边， 21 远超过一切执政的、掌权的、有能的、主治的和一切有名的，不但是今世的，连来世的也都超过了。 22 又将万有服在他的脚下，使他为教会作万有之首。 23 教会是他的身体，是那充满万有者所充满的。 上一篇 返回研究目录 下一篇 到最頂

All trinity studies Previous Download Next When Christians are Asked if They Believe in the Trinity When Christians are asked if they believe in the trinity, they often say yes without even knowing exactly what it is. And most also say that it does not really matter anyway as it is not a salvation issue. But that could not be further from the truth and if we truly love the Lord then we should want to know anyway. As seen earlier, John called those teaching that all three are one were antichrist. Are those John calls antichrist saved? Not likely! Many serious problems arise from not knowing as we have seen already, but the following is one of the worst. Seventh day Adventists are most easily misled here because when informed of the truth, they typically turn to the internet where they eventually find a handful of easily misunderstood quotes by Ellen White, which were compiled by LeRoy Froom with the deliberate intent to deceive. Without even checking what the Bible says, they put their trust in these misunderstood quotes and never look deeper, or examine her other writings to see what she really meant. Some have the mentality that their Church could never be wrong. What a tragic mistake. Reading Revelation chapters 13 and 14 we find that the mark of the beast is about who we worship. Isaiah 14:12-14 says that Satan desires to be worshipped as God. But if Satan asked you to worship him, would you do it? Of course not. And Satan of course knows this. So Satan gets himself a front man and props him up so when they are worshipped, he receives worship by proxy. This is called worship by representation. There are two ways Satan does this with Christians and both come from sun worship, which as you have already seen is really the worship of Satan. The first way is through Sunday worship. For those who are unaware, Scripture informs us that the Lord's Sabbath is a sign that it is God whom we worship and God who sanctifies us when we keep His Seventh day Holy. Revelation 13:2 says Satan gave his power, throne and great authority to the first beast which is the Papal Church system. So when this beast power is being worshipped, who is really being worshipped? Satan himself! So where does worship come into this? By Satan through the Catholic Church implementing his own day of worship being Sunday. That is, Sunday worship that evolved from sun worship. The second way is by worship of the Holy Spirit as a non-existent literal being, and so Satan steps in to receive this worship by representation once again. This was something he put in place a long time ago in 381 A.D. The Bible never teaches that the Holy Spirit is God or that the Holy Spirit should be prayed to or worshipped, and yet the Catholic Church does this. Today there are more and more from other denominations now doing the same. Previous All trinity studies Next Back to top

All trinity studies Previous Download Next Is Jesus Christ GOD (Short version) Is Jesus God? The word God is used in two different ways in Scripture. Firstly, the word “God” is used to refer to the Supreme Being of the universe who is the ultimate source of all things. Every time the Bible refers to the one true God, it is referring to this supreme being who is the one that was before all else and from whom all life ultimately came. In this sense no one else is God. But the word God is also used to refer to someone who possesses the attributes of divinity, or the characteristics of God. Many times the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the begotten Son of the one true God the Father, and being the Son, He possesses the same attributes and characteristics as His Father. It is an obvious fact that every son inherits the nature of his father. And since Christ came out of the Father, He is of the very substance of His Father and hence has the same God nature of His Father as He possesses by birth all the attributes and characteristics of His Father. In fact, Hebrews 1:3 says He is the “express image of His person.” A son also and always rightfully takes the name of the father and so Christ as the only begotten Son of God has rightfully the same name. Note that Hebrews 1:1-9 says that Jesus is an heir who has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than the angels and that name is God! So Jesus inherited His Father's name, character and divine nature in the same way a human son inherits the human nature and name of his parents. So Jesus is God because He is the Son of God. But He is not and cannot be “God the Father.” He is the “Son of God” just as the Bible so plainly states more than one hundred times. He is God's literal Son. To say that Jesus is God the Father is to say that the “Son is the Father” which means the Son is not really a Son and the Father is not really a Father. Or to put it another way, to say that Jesus is the Father because He has the same God nature as His Father is no different to saying that since my Father is Human and I am Human, therefore I must be my father! This is not good logic or theology and suddenly hundreds of Scriptures supposedly would no longer mean what they say at all. The truth is that Scripture means what it says and says what it means. God is the Father of Christ; Christ is the Son of God. The Bible never calls Jesus “God the Son” as Trinitarians do and with very good reason. It is always the “Son of God” because that is who He is. Satan's plan is for us to deny the Father and Son as this is what John called antichrist. 1 John 2:22-23. He does not care if our belief is Trinitarian, Unitarian or other. As long as it denies Jesus is the literal Son of God which also denies God is a Father. Confessing Jesus is the Son of God is our only means to the Father and to deny this has eternal consequences. In conclusion, Jesus is not “a” God or “the” God but God only by nature through inheritance being the Son. Jesus is a divine being but He is not the supreme being. The Father is the supreme being and the source of all things and the life of the Father flows through the Son and out to all. Jesus is the channel through which all things come and why the Father has given all things into His hands. Only the Father is described as the one “of whom are all things.” He is the great Source of all. Jesus is not another source “of whom are all things.” That would make Him another God. Rather Jesus is described as the one “by whom are all things.” The Father has given Christ authority to rule over all things but this does not include the Father Himself. The Father is greater in authority and always will be. God the Father is the source of all things including His Son. Thus all things proceed from the Father; including Christ Himself, but it has pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell (Colossians 1:19). So when we say “Jesus is God,” we have to be careful to state exactly what we mean. Christ is a divine being, but not the supreme being. When we speak of the Supreme Being there is only one such person and it is not Jesus. So there is but “one” God. Jesus is “not” God, He is the Son of God. He carries the “name” of God by virtue of His “inheritance.” And because He is the Son of God, He is “equal” with God. “But to us there is but one God, the Father, OF WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, BY WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, and we by him.” 1 Corinthians 8:6 “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:6 “GOD IS THE FATHER OF CHRIST; CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD. To Christ has been given an exalted position. HE HAS BEEN MADE EQUAL WITH THE FATHER.” — (E.G. White, 8T 268.3) “HE [CHRIST] WAS NOT THE FATHER but in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” — (E.G. White, Lt8a, July 7, 1890) “The man Christ Jesus was not the Lord God Almighty,” — (E.G. White, Ms140, Sept, 1903) “Only one being in the universe besides the Father bears the name of God, and that is His Son, Jesus Christ.” — (J.E. White, Coming King, p. 33) Previous All trinity studies Next Back to top

All trinity studies Previous Download 看中文 Next Jesus has a God- Jehovah, God the Father Jesus has a God – Jehovah, God the Father 1 Corinthians 8:6 - But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Revelation 3:12 - Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. 1 Corinthians 15:28 - And when all things shall be subdued unto him (God), then shall the Son (Jesus) also himself be subject unto him (God) that put all things under him (Jesus), that God may be all in all. Ephesians 4:6 - One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. John 20:17 - Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. Ephesians 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 2 Corinthians 11:31 - The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. 1 Peter 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, John 17:3 - And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Ephesians 1:17 - That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 1 Corinthians 11:3 - But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Romans 15:6 - That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. John 12:44-45 - Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. John 20:31 - But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. John 20:21-22 - Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: John 14:10 - Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. John 14:24 - He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. Matthew 27:46 - And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Revelation 3:5 - He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. “The man Christ Jesus was not the Lord God Almighty,” — Ellen White, Manuscript 140, September 27, 1903 “He [Christ] was not the Father but in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” — Ellen White, Letter 8a, July 7, 1890 “God is the Father of Christ; Christ is the Son of God. To Christ has been given an exalted position. He has been made equal with the Father. All the counsels of God are opened to His Son.” — Ellen White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 268.3 Previous All trinity studies Next Back to top

返回研究目录 上一篇 下载中文 下一篇 守安息日为圣 今天我们要简单地探讨安息日这个课题当中的一些要点。相信这教导对许多人来说是了如指掌的，也是多年以来最备受关注的课题，特别是安息日会复临信徒。 大多数人是因为安息日而认识了基督复临安息日会这个教派。事实上，上帝在过去兴起基督复临安息日会的主要目的之一，就是要恢复安息日的遵守。上帝已指定我们必须在这一天敬拜祂，这也是十条诫命当中的第四条。 在怀爱伦先知的著作里有一个预言清楚说到：“时候将到，安息日将会被世人轻视”。首先，让我们回到上帝的诫命，是记载在出埃及记，并详细地读完第四条诫命，然后再看看可以从中汲取什么教训。 出埃及记 20:8-11 “当记念安息日，守为圣日。六日要劳碌作你一切的工，但第七日是向耶和华你上帝当守的安息日。这一日你和你的儿女、仆婢、牲畜，并你城里寄居的客旅，无论何工都不可作，因为六日之内，耶和华造天、地、海和其中的万物，第七日便安息，所以耶和华赐福与安息日，定为圣日。 这里说当记念安息日，并要做什么呢？守为圣日。这是第四条诫命中的核心点。我们不仅要纪念安息日，还要守这日为圣。那我们知道安息日的设立是为了纪念创世大工，纪念上帝在六日之内创造天地万物并在第七日安息了。 因此，安息日的设立是为了让我们纪念创造跟我们的创造主。但是它并没有停在那里，上帝不仅单单要我们纪念祂。这段经文接着说： 守为圣日。六日要劳碌作你一切的工，但第七日是向耶和华你上帝当守的安息日。这一日你和你的儿女、仆婢、牲畜，并你城里寄居的客旅，无论何工都不可作，因为六日之内，耶和华造天、地、海和其中的万物，第七日便安息，所以耶和华赐福与安息日，定为圣日。 我想花一点时间来探讨这个圣洁,或神圣的概念。因为这是第四条诫命的中心点。我们不光要纪念安息日，还要守它为圣日。现在就让我们翻开圣经的最后一本书，启示录 15:3-4。 启示录 15:3-4 唱上帝仆人摩西的歌和羔羊的歌，说：“主上帝，全能者啊，你的作为大哉，奇哉！万世之王啊（“世”或作“国”），你的道途义哉，诚哉！主啊，谁敢不敬畏你，不将荣耀归与你的名呢？因为独有你是圣的，万民都要来在你面前敬拜，因你公义的作为已经显出来了。” 在这里，我们读到唯独上帝是圣洁的。问题是，诫命要我们守安息日为圣。但是这里却说独有上帝才是圣的。换句话说，上帝是唯一圣洁的一位，那祂如何命令我们守这日为圣或使我们成圣呢？ 我们必须明白的是，上帝有一位独生子，从祂怀里出来的亲生儿子，希伯来书称耶稣为上帝本体的真像。那作为上帝真实的儿子并祂本体的真像，耶稣与父一样，同是圣洁的。不然的话，祂就不是真神的真像了。 这就是圣洁的泉源结束的地方，就是唯独上帝，那万有的本源，和祂儿子耶稣在本质上是圣洁的。因此，除了他们俩以外没有人是圣洁的。除非我们与圣洁的源头结合，或领受祂们的圣洁。 让我们来探讨圣经中几个有关圣洁的情景，几个与上帝和祂的圣洁有关联的例子。我们从启示录 4：8-11 开始。 启示录 4:8-11 四活物各有六个翅膀，遍体内外都满了眼睛。他们昼夜不住地说：“圣哉，圣哉，圣哉，主上帝是昔在、今在、以后永在的全能者！”每逢四活物将荣耀、尊贵、感谢归给那坐在宝座上、活到永永远远者的时候，那二十四位长老就俯伏在坐宝座的面前敬拜那活到永永远远的，又把他们的冠冕放在宝座前，说：“我们的主，我们的上帝，你是配得荣耀、尊贵、权柄的，因为你创造了万物，并且万物是因你的旨意被创造而有的。” 我们能够想象这幕场景吗？围绕着上帝宝座的所有生物都清楚理解圣洁是什么。我们都必须查考圣经以学习有关圣洁的课题，因为遵守第四条诫命是极为重要的。 在安息日休息不工作是不足够的，加上我们不但要纪念这一日，还要做到守安息日为圣。由此，今天我们每一个人都必须知道如何守安息日为圣。 我们必须明白的是，我个人对圣的定义和你对圣的定义也许会不一样，每个人或许有自己的看法和理解，所以我们必须从圣经中找出它最正确的定义。 我们先来看圣经里的一个故事，它特别为我们启示，一个人若没有跟从与圣洁攸关的指示，其所带来的后果会是怎样的，而且这后果必是非常严重的。我们来看 撒母耳记下 6:6-11 到了拿艮的禾场，因为牛失前蹄（或作“惊跳”），乌撒就伸手扶住上帝的约柜。上帝耶和华向乌撒发怒，因这错误击杀他，他就死在上帝的约柜旁。大卫因耶和华击杀（原文作“闯杀”）乌撒，心里愁烦，就称那地方为毗列斯乌撒，直到今日。那日，大卫惧怕耶和华，说：“耶和华的约柜怎可运到我这里来？”于是大卫不肯将耶和华的约柜运进大卫的城，却运到迦特人俄别以东的家中。耶和华的约柜在迦特人俄别以东家中三个月，耶和华赐福给俄别以东和他的全家。 当我们读到这个故事时，我们可能会想，等等，这是怎么回事呢，为什么会这样。这个人单纯地只想做一件好事。眼看牛失蹄了，这位男人就因为害怕约柜会倒在地上，而伸出援手去扶住它。 他是怀着善意的，他的出发点单单是想避免约柜倒在地上。到底他何错之有呢？如果我们只读完这段经文，我们可能心想我们所侍奉的上帝或许不太公平，甚至有些残忍。 为什么上帝要击杀这位好心人呢？让我们翻开民数记以找出答案。民数记 4:15 民数记 4:15 将要起营的时候，亚伦和他儿子把圣所和圣所的一切器具遮盖完了，哥辖的子孙就要来抬，只是不可摸圣物，免得他们死亡。会幕里这些物件是哥辖子孙所当抬的。 “将要起营的时候，亚伦和他儿子把圣所和圣所的一切器具遮盖完了，哥辖的子孙就要来抬”， 让我们在这里停顿一下。我们知道以色列人在旷野搭建了一个圣幕。我们也晓得这些以色列人不会长久呆在一处，他们在旷野中不断迁移。所以上帝在如何设立圣所并谁能在圣所里供职这些方面上给了他们清楚的指示，而且祂这样做是有原因的。让我们继续读完这节经文。 “只是不可摸圣物，免得他们死亡。会幕里这些物件是哥辖子孙所当抬的。” 上帝无比清楚地给了他们明确的指示，让他们知道要如何处理圣物。另外，我们从这里学到的教训就是，圣洁是比我们想象中还要大的，且更为要紧的。 话说回来，大卫在这件事情发生后心里非常矛盾和困惑。他无法理解上帝为什么要这么做。怀爱伦先知在先祖与先知这本书里 有稍微谈到大卫当时的反应。让我们来读一读，看看事情为什么会如此发生。 大卫与他的百姓会合，他们安排了这项神圣的任务，是以欢欣乐意的心情来从事的； 但由于他们没有遵照耶和华的指示而行，因此祂就不能悦纳他们的服务。非利士人不知道上帝的律例，所以当他们把约柜送回以色列之地时，虽然把它放在牛车上运走，但耶和华却认可他们如此行。可是以色列人的手中有上帝的圣旨，有关于搬运约柜之事的明确指示，所以当他们忽略了这些指示，就是侮辱了上帝。乌撒则犯了更大的擅专之罪。他曾违犯了上帝的律法，故对约柜的神圣性感觉麻木了，他身上还有未曾承认的罪，竟敢冒犯上帝的禁令，而擅自触摸那代表上帝临格的象征。上帝不能接受一部分的顺从，不容许人在遵守他诫命的事上疏忽大意。他要借着那降在乌撒身上的刑罚使全以色列人得到深刻的印象，知道严格注意上帝命令的重要性。这样，一个人的死亡可以令百姓悔改，免得上帝的刑罚降在千万人身上。（怀爱伦著，《先祖与先知》原文第705页，第3段） “大卫与他的百姓会合，他们安排了这项神圣的任务，是以欢欣乐意的心情来从事的； 但由于他们没有遵照耶和华的指示而行，因此祂就不能悦纳他们的服务。非利士人不知道上帝的律例，所以当他们把约柜送回以色列之地时，虽然把它放在牛车上运走，但耶和华却认可他们如此行。” 上帝对他们的无知睁一只眼闭一只眼。上帝根据每个人所得到的亮光来审判各人。 “可是以色列人的手中有上帝的圣旨，有关于搬运约柜之事的明确指示，所以当他们忽略了这些指示，就是侮辱了上帝。乌撒则犯了更大的擅专之罪。他曾违犯了上帝的律法，故对约柜的神圣性感觉麻木了，他身上还有未曾承认的罪，竟敢冒犯上帝的禁令，而擅自触摸那代表上帝临格的象征。上帝不能接受一部分的顺从，不容许人在遵守他诫命的事上疏忽大意。” 朋友们，是什么造成死亡呢？什么事必定会导致死亡呢？就是罪，因为经上记着说，罪的工价乃是死。 “他要借着那降在乌撒身上的刑罚使全以色列人得到深刻的印象，知道严格注意上帝命令的重要性。这样，一个人的死亡可以令百姓悔改，免得上帝的刑罚降在千万人身上。” 所以即使在这一个大卫认为不公平的举动之中，我们也看见了上帝大爱的彰显，因为这件事救了千万人免受刑罚。不过上帝并没有任意选了乌撒来罚他或牺牲他的，而是乌撒本身有罪，因此承受了罪的代价。接下来，在怀爱伦著作中的下一面，她提到了大卫，我们来看。 上帝的谴责在大卫身上已经生效。他因此空前地体会到上帝律法的神圣，以及严格顺从的必要。上帝施恩给俄别以东全家，使大卫再希望约柜会使他和他的百姓蒙福。（怀爱伦著，《先祖与先知》原文第706页，第2段） 当然这里的律法是概括性的，这包括祂所有的律法和话语。但是当我们回到第四条诫命时，显而易见的就是这与我们所谈到的都有相同的道理。这是关乎一个神圣的课题，是一个宇宙的上帝要求或指示我们守之为圣的日子。 圣经里有一个很好的故事，虽然它与安息日没有直接的关系，但是它对我们今天所要学习和理解的道理很有帮助。这故事记载在路加福音 10:38-42，在我们读的当儿，我要你们好好思考以下这个问题，安息日其实是为了什么而被设立的呢？是什么让这一日成为圣洁的呢，而我们在那日又如何成为圣洁呢？ 路加福音 10:38-42 他们走路的时候，耶稣进了一个村庄。有一个女人名叫马大，接他到自己家里。她有一个妹子名叫马利亚，在耶稣脚前坐着听他的道。马大伺候的事多，心里忙乱，就进前来说：“主啊，我的妹子留下我一个人伺候，你不在意吗？请吩咐她来帮助我。”耶稣回答说：“马大，马大！你为许多的事思虑烦扰，但是不可少的只有一件，马利亚已经选择那上好的福分，是不能夺去的。” 圣经在这儿为我们呈现了两种人。 马利亚清楚明白耶稣的身份并耶稣对她的重要性。只要有机会与耶稣同在，她就愿意把所有的一切都放下，不让其他事物来占据她的思想。她想要做的唯一事情就是花时间与耶稣共处并与祂交谈，向祂学习并享受祂的同在。 反之，我们看到她的姐姐马大依然在劳碌奔波，忙东忙西，继续忙着做她一贯所做的事情。她忙着打扫，忙着预备食物等等，希望能为她的主预备一切，使他得到最好的待遇。 尽管如此，主以为我们预备了一个特别的日子，使我们能得到所谓的充电，一个我们都应该把焦点完全放在祂身上的日子。为什么呢？因为祂赐给了我们六天的时间来忙碌，来完成自己的私事。 这就是我们每一天的生活，我们必须做工，读书，做饭，打扫家居，照顾家人等等。但是到了第七日，耶稣以一种特别的方式来到我们的生命中。我们都晓得上帝给安息日赐下了特别的祝福。而玛利亚也清楚明白了与主同在并与主联系意味着什么。我们来看历代愿望一书中的一段引言。 马大不应该缺少“一件事”，就是安详虔诚的精神，一种对关乎将来不朽之生命的知识，和灵程长进所必需的恩典更为深邃的思虑。她应该少为暂时的事操心，而多为永恒的事焦急。耶稣教导他的儿女们，务必抓紧每一个机会来获得真知识，使他们能有得救的智慧。基督的圣工固然需要审慎积极的工人；广大的工作园地，正需要像马大这样热心从事宗教活动的人；但是，他们务要先同马利亚一起坐在耶稣脚前；务要藉基督的恩典使他们的殷勤、敏捷和魄力成圣；然后他们的人生才能成为一股不可征服的向善的力量。（怀爱伦著，《历代愿望》原文第525页，第2段） 弟兄姐妹们，若要遵守一个日子为圣，我们就必须与圣洁的来源合而为一。 我们都像马利亚一样，需要坐在耶稣的脚前向他学习，选择那永远不能被夺去的上好福分。我们像马大一样也需要常常竭力多作主工。那较高超的基督徒成就，惟在乎多用双膝跪下作诚恳的祈祷。……若有一丝自私的根保留在心灵之内，当不防备之时或要发芽生长，因而有多人沾染污秽。（怀爱伦著，《使我们认识祂》原文第351页，第4段） 在以赛亚书第58章最后两节，上帝在安息日的课题上给了我们一些明确的指示和教导，并让我们晓得上帝在这一天对我们的要求是什么。 以赛亚书 58:13-14 “你若在安息日掉转（或作“谨慎”）你的脚步，在我圣日不以操作为喜乐，称安息日为可喜乐的，称耶和华的圣日为可尊重的，而且尊敬这日，不办自己的私事，不随自己的私意，不说自己的私话，你就以耶和华为乐。耶和华要使你乘驾地的高处，又以你祖雅各的产业养育你。”这是耶和华亲口说的。 “你若在安息日掉转你的脚步，在我圣日不以操作为喜乐，称安息日为可喜乐的，称耶和华的圣日为可尊重的，而且尊敬这日，不办自己的私事，不随自己的私意，不说自己的私话。” 那我们要是不说自己的私话，那我们应该说谁的话和听谁的话呢？ 自己的话吗？我们一周内的成就吗？我们生意上的成绩吗？不是的，是基督的话语才对。玛利亚就是知道基督的话语有多么的可贵。她明白这些话语是公义和圣洁的来源。让我们继续读下去。 “你就以耶和华为乐。耶和华要使你乘驾地的高处，又以你祖雅各的产业养育你。这是耶和华亲口说的。”上帝藉着安息日赐下特别的福气给那些愿意领受的人。 论到安息日，有一件我们必须注意的事，是不要论断别人，因为我们不能看透人心，也不理解别人的处境。也许他人还未得到亮光，未明白安息日的真理，或者缺乏知识，不晓得要如何守安息日。这就是为什么上帝根据个人所得的亮光来审判世人。 尽管如此，上帝给我们祂的话语，即圣经和预言之灵，是有其原因的。我们得到了这些亮光，就应该好好地去研究，明白真理并与他人分享。现在让我们翻开教会证言卷六，来看看上帝赐给怀爱伦先知的一些知识，使我们有一些概念，在安息日来临前该做什么准备，并在安息日当天有什么要特别注意的。 安息日开始 在星期五这一天，为安息日所作的一切准备都应当完成。所有的衣服都要预备妥当，一切的饭食也当作好。此外如擦鞋，沐浴等事，均应一一办妥。这是可能做到的，只要你肯定规把它做成，则自然不难办到。安息日这天并不是给人缝补衣裳，烹调食物，寻求欢乐，或从事其它俗务的。在日落之前当将一切世俗的工作放在一边，一切世俗的报章杂志，也当收藏起来。做父母的当向儿女说明其所以如此行的原因和目的，并让他们也在这准备遵照诫命守安息日的事上有份。（怀爱伦著，《教会证言卷六》原文第355页，第3段） 根据上帝的话语，要遵守一个日子为圣是有一些条件的。我们再来看一段引言，也是同一页的上一段。 许多人须受教知道如何整肃仪表，以参赴安息日崇拜聚会。他们来到上帝面前，不应还穿着平素的衣服。各人都当有一身特为安息日而制备的服装，作为到上帝殿中参赴聚会时穿着之用。我们固然不应效法世界的风尚，但也决不可不关心自己的仪表。我们虽应避免盛妆艳服，但仍须讲求清洁整齐，因为上帝的子民在外表和内心都当纯洁。（怀爱伦著，《教会证言卷六》原文第355页，第2段） 接下来，我们来翻开第360页的第1段。 当我们迫不得已而需要在安息日旅行之时，也当设法避免与那些会吸引我们去注意俗事的人同行。当保守我们的心意，专心思念上帝，与衪谈心。遇有机会，就当向人传讲真理。要时常准备，以便救济受难的人，帮助缺乏者，在这一类的事情上，上帝要我们将衪所给的智慧和知识，付诸实用。但我们却不应商谈业务，或作任何普通的、世俗的谈话。因为随时随在，上帝都要我们藉着尊敬安息日，证实我们对衪的忠诚。（怀爱伦著，《教会证言卷六》原文第360页，第1段） “当我们迫不得已而需要在安息日旅行之时，也当设法避免与那些会吸引我们去注意俗事的人同行。当保守我们的心意，专心思念上帝，与衪谈心。遇有机会，就当向人传讲真理。要时常准备，以便救济受难的人，帮助缺乏者，在这一类的事情上，上帝要我们将衪所给的智慧和知识，付诸实用。但我们却不应商谈业务，或作任何普通的、世俗的谈话。” 我们不应该做任何世俗的谈话。为什么呢？记得我们在以赛亚书上所读的吗？在上帝的安息日不可说自己的私话。 “因为随时随在，上帝都要我们藉着尊敬安息日，证实我们对衪的忠诚。” 这段话是特别写给上帝的传道人的，就是那些到各个地方去传福音的弟兄姐妹们，当然我们尽可能要避免在圣安息日旅行到别的地方去。 但是如果无可避免的话，那我们应该注意我们的心思意念和言行举止。因为上帝所看的，是我们的出发点和我们行为的动机。 很多时候，我们没有遵守安息日的行为只是一些症状，而我们没有守安息日为圣的原因，或问题的根源，是因为我们个人没有与基督建立美好的关系。 也许我们还不明白玛利亚所明白的道理。我们没有玛利亚所拥有的欲望，就是当基督在她身边的时候她所要得到的。因此，很多时候，我们不断地想把这些症状治好，但却不断失败，也许每一次都失败。 因为我们没有对症下药，或更准确地说，我们不知道这问题的根本所在。好，现在让我们再读一段引言。 “我们要命令所有人，如果可以避免的话，尽可能不要在安息日洗他们的碗碟。在上帝的圣日做任何不必要的工作会让上帝蒙羞。如果可以的话，碗碟应该留到安息日结束之后才洗，这样做不会显得不一致，反而更加妥当。” （怀爱伦著，《信函》第104号，1901年，原文第9段） 我们尽可能避免在安息日洗碗碟，除非逼不得已。我们是在家里进行家庭崇拜的，那比如说用餐时我们不够碗碟供大家使用的情况，那么先用完餐的弟兄姐妹可以先把碗碟洗干净，再把餐具传给其他人。因此，正如我刚才所说的，很多时候最重要的是我们的出发点。接下来我们看这一段： 关于上帝就祂的圣日对你的要求，你必须有更高的见解。凡在上帝已赐给你的那六天能做成的事，你都应在那六天完成。但是圣日的时间，你不应抢夺上帝一时一刻。（怀爱伦著，《教会证言—卷二》原文第701页，第3段） 安息日结束 当太阳西沉之时，要有祈祷之声和赞美的歌声表示神圣的时间的终止，邀请上帝在劳作周的种种忧虑中与我们同在。（怀爱伦著，《教会证言—卷六》原文359页，第1段） 朋友们，我们刚刚在旧约圣经中所看到的，就是上帝对于守安息日为圣这件事上所作的一些要求，而这些要求被详细地记载在这些证言中，是有它的目的的。除此之外，我们越发亲近上帝时，就会越发明白这些真理。 因为你与上帝越要好，你就会越不想在上帝的圣日中抢夺祂的一分一秒。因为我们会以耶和华为乐，我们会在这特别的日子与我们这位特别的神，并祂儿子享受在一起的美好时光。 难得我们可以在这一天完全撇下一切的工作，一切的劳苦重担，忧愁挂虑并世俗的任何事情而来到上帝的面前，全心全意地与父和子相交，享受从天而来的福份。 说到这里呢，我想分享一个对我们很重要但许多人却都忽略的道理，记载在雅各书2:8-10。 雅各书 2:8-10 经上记着说：“要爱人如己。”你们若全守这至尊的律法，才是好的；但你们若按外貌待人，便是犯罪，被律法定为犯法的。因为凡遵守全律法的，只在一条上跌倒，他就是犯了众条。 我们必须遵守全十条律法。那让我来问你，你能够守安息日为圣却不孝敬父母吗？根据这段经文，答案很明显是不能。我们不能在守安息日或任何一条诫命的当儿又同时干犯另一条诫命。我们若是拜其他神或拜偶像的话，试问能守得安息日为圣吗？当然不能。为什么呢？因为圣经说，凡遵守全律法的，只要在一条上跌倒，他就是犯了众条。 这就是为什么上帝末时的子民，也被称为余民或圣徒, 不仅是守安息日的，而且也是守上帝诫命和耶稣真道的，你可以在启示录14：12看到这一点。我们不可能只守一条，但在其他诫命上跌倒，却误以为自己遵守了诫命。 我们必须有基督住在我们里头，靠着祂的力量来遵守全十条诫命，并结出圣灵的果子。只有这样，我们才能有基督的品格并有能力去面对那要来临的兽印记的大艰难时期。 单单知道关于安息日是不足够的，只知道星期日和三位一体敬拜是兽的印记也是不足够的。因为当那时候来到时，我们很有可能会跌倒。唯有基督藉着祂的灵住在我们里面，为我们塑造祂的品格，我们才能遵守得住所有的诫命并忍耐到底，直等到基督复临。 朋友们，让我们继续寻求上帝的公义，并祈求祂藉着祂儿子赐给我们祂的义，也让我们能遵守祂的安息日为圣，作为一个能使我们分别为圣的印记并藉着这一日与父并祂儿子更亲近。愿我们每一位都能认识上帝，经历祂，并有坚定的信心来奔走天国的道路。愿上帝赐福每一位，阿门。 上一篇 返回研究目录 下一篇 到最頂

All trinity studies Previous Download 看中文 Next Father, Son and Holy Spirit "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" There are many churches and Christians today who worship the trinity god, because they believe Matthew 28:19 and 1 John 5:7 are speaking of three co-equal and co-eternal beings. But what they all fail to do is actually use the Bible to interpret these two verses. We are told in Isaiah 28 that we are to use the "line upon line" precept when studying the Bible. Which means we are to interpret scripture with scripture, and not with what we "think" something means. So this is what we are going to do on this page regarding Matthew 28:19 and 1 John 5:7. Instead of just "thinking" ourselves what those verses mean, we are going to use scripture to properly interpret them. Let us start with those two Bible verses in question: Matthew 28:19 ...'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' 1 John 5:7 ...'For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.' So let us find out who these 'three' are. I am merely going to provide many scripture verses and then make a small comment at the end of each section. The Father John 17:1-3 ...'These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.' John 20:17 ...'Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.' 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 ...'As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.' Matthew 11:25 ...'At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.' John 4:22-24 ...'Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.' John 8:54 ...'Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God.' John 14:1 ...'Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions.' Acts 3:13 ...'The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.' Acts 4:24-27 ...'And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed.' 2 Corinthians 1:3 ...'Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.' 2 Corinthians 11:31 ...'The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.' Romans 1:7-9 ...'To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with? my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.' Ephesians 1:2-3 ...'Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.' Ephesians 4:4-6 ...'There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.' 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 ...'For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.' 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 ...'Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.' Philippians 2:11 ...'And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' 1 John 5:20 ...'And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.' So as we can see, when using the rest of scripture, that "THE FATHER" is none other than the 'one and only true God' Himself. And He is not just our God and Father, He is also the God and Father of Jesus Christ. So who is the Father? He is the one true God. The Son/Word John 20:31 ...'But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.' Matthew 16:15-17 ...'He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.' John 1:14 ...'And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.' Matthew 17:5 ...'While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.' Mark 1:1 ...'The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.' Mark 3:11 ...'And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, thou art the Son of God.' John 1:18 ...'No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.' John 3:16-18 ...'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.' John 5:26 ...'For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.' John 5:43 ...'I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.' John 6:68-69 ...'Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.' John 10:36 ...'Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?' John 11:27 ...'She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.' John 17:1 ...'These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.' John 20:17 ...'Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.' Acts 3:13 ...'The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.' Acts 9:19-20 ...'Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.' Romans 1:9 ...'For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.' Romans 8:3 ...'For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.' Galatians 4:4 ...'But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.' Galatians 4:6 ...'And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.' Colossians 1:13-15 ...'Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.' 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 ...'For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.' Hebrews 1:1-5 ...'God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?' Hebrews 4:14 ...'Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.' Hebrews 5:5 ...'So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.' 1 John 1:3 ...'That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.' 1 John 3:8 ...'He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.' 1 John 4:9 ...'In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.' 1 John 4:15 ...'Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.' 1 John 5:20 ...'And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.' 2 John 1:3 ...'Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.' Psalm 2:7 ...'I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.' Proverbs 8:22-30 ...'The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.' (NOTE: 1 Corinthians 1:24 confirms that Christ is 'the wisdom of God') Proverbs 30:4 ...'Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?' Micah 5:2 ...'But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.' John 16:27-29 ...'For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, AND am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.' John 17:7-8 ...'Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.' So it is clear that "THE SON" is Jesus Christ, and He is the literal, only begotten Son of God the Father, who is the one true God. Jesus is not the one true God Himself, or the so called 'second person of the trinity'. He is the literal Son of God the Father, who was begotten of the Father in eternity past, as a true Son. This is why the Bible says that God 'SENT' His Son. The Holy Spirit Acts 2:32-33 ...'This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.' Luke 24:49 ...'And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.' John 3:34-35 ...'For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.' John 7:37-39 ...'In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)' John 20:21-22 ...'Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.' Romans 8:9-10 ...'But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.' 2 Corinthians 3:17 ...'Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.' Galatians 4:6 ...'And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.' Philippians 1:19 ...'For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.' Titus 3:4-6 ...'But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.' Revelation 5:6 ...'And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, HAVING seven horns and seven eyes, WHICH ARE the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.' So the Bible tells us that "THE HOLY SPIRIT" is the Father's own divine Spirit, which He has given to His Son Jesus, and comes to us through Christ, NOT some other 'third being'. Jesus is the one with the Holy Spirit to give us. So who are the 'three' in Matthew 28:19 and 1 John 5:7? They are God the Father, who is the 'only true God'. Jesus Christ, who is the literal, only begotten Son of God the Father. And the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ, which He has received from His Father. Jesus Christ comes to us HIMSELF as the Holy Spirit (John 14:18, Revelation 3:20, Colossians 1:27, Galatians 2:20), not some other unknown 'third being'. This is the truth concerning Matthew 28:19 and 1 John 5:7. Previous All trinity studies Next Back to top

返回研究目录 上一篇 下载中文 Read in English 下一篇 父，子和圣灵 “父，子和圣灵” 今时今日有许多教会和基督徒都崇拜三位一体神，因为他们相信马太福音28:19所讲的是三位同等和同永恒的生物。但事实上他们都没有做到的是用圣经来解释这节经文。以赛亚书28章告诉我们我，在研究圣经时，我们我们必须使用“命上加命、令上加令、律上加律、例上加例，这里一点、那里一点”的原则。这意味着我们要以经解经，而不是我们凭我们个人的理解来了解其意思。所以这就是我们将在这个关于马太福音28:19的课题上做的事情。我们将使用经文来正确地解释它，而不仅仅是“思考”这经文的含义。 马太福音 28:19 所以，你们要去，使万民作我的门徒，奉父、子、圣灵的名给他们施洗（或作”给他们施洗，归于父、子、圣灵的名“）。 那么让我们找出这“三位“是谁。我只仅仅提供许多的经文并在每个部分的末尾做一个小评论。 父 约翰福音17：1-3 耶稣说了这话，就举目望天说：“父啊，时候到了，愿你荣耀你的儿子，使儿子也荣耀你；正如你曾赐给他权柄管理凡有血气的，叫他将永生赐给你所赐给他的人。认识你独一的真神，并且认识你所差来的耶稣基督，这就是永生。 约翰福音 20:17 耶稣说：“不要摸我，因为我还没有升上去见我的父。你往我弟兄那里去，告诉他们说：我要升上去见我的父，也是你们的父；见我的上帝，也是你们的上帝。” 哥林多前书 8：4-6 论到吃祭偶像之物，我们知道偶像在世上算不得什么；也知道上帝只有一位，再没有别的神。虽有称为神的，或在天、或在地，就如那许多的神，许多的主。然而我们只有一位上帝，就是父，万物都本于他，我们也归于他；并有一位主，就是耶稣基督，万物都是藉着他有的，我们也是藉着他有的。 马太福音 11:25 那时，耶稣说：“父啊，天地的主，我感谢你！因为你将这些事向聪明通达人就藏起来，向婴孩就显出来。 约翰福音 4：22-24 你们所拜的，你们不知道；我们所拜的，我们知道，因为救恩是从犹太人出来的。时候将到，如今就是了，那真正拜父的，要用心灵和诚实拜他，因为父要这样的人拜他。”上帝是个灵（或无“个”字），所以拜他的，必须用心灵和诚实拜他。” 约翰福音 8:54 耶稣回答说：“我若荣耀自己，我的荣耀就算不得什么；荣耀我的乃是我的父，就是你们所说是你们的上帝。 约翰福音 14:1 “你们心里不要忧愁，你们信上帝，也当信我。 使徒行传 3:13 亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的上帝，就是我们列祖的上帝，已经荣耀了他的儿子耶稣，你们却把他交付彼拉多。彼拉多定意要释放他，你们竟在彼拉多面前弃绝了他。 使徒行传4：24-27 他们听见了，就同心合意地高声向上帝说：“主啊，你是造天、地、海和其中万物的，你曾藉着圣灵托你仆人、我们祖宗大卫的口说：‘外邦为什么争闹？万民为什么谋算虚妄的事？世上的君王一齐起来，臣宰也聚集，要敌挡主，并主的受膏者（或作“基督”）。’希律和本丢彼拉多、外邦人和以色列民果然在这城里聚集，要攻打你所膏的圣子耶稣， 哥林多后书 1:3 愿颂赞归与我们的主耶稣基督的父上帝，就是发慈悲的父，赐各样安慰的上帝。 哥林多后书 11:31 那永远可称颂之主耶稣的父上帝知道我不说谎。 罗马书 1：7-9 我写信给你们在罗马为上帝所爱、奉召作圣徒的众人。愿恩惠、平安从我们的父上帝并主耶稣基督，归与你们！第一，我靠着耶稣基督，为你们众人感谢我的上帝，因你们的信德传遍了天下。我在他儿子福音上，用心灵所侍奉的上帝，可以见证我怎样不住的提到你们； 以弗所书1：2-3 愿恩惠、平安从上帝我们的父和主耶稣基督归与你们！愿颂赞归与我们主耶稣基督的父上帝，他在基督里曾赐给我们天上各样属灵的福气。 以弗所书4：4-6 身体只有一个，圣灵只有一个，正如你们蒙召，同有一个指望；一主，一信，一洗，一上帝，就是众人的父，超乎众人之上，贯乎众人之中，也住在众人之内。 帖撒罗尼迦前书1：9-10 因为他们自己已经报明我们是怎样进到你们那里，你们是怎样离弃偶像，归向上帝，要服侍那又真又活的上帝，等候他儿子从天降临，就是他从死里复活的、那位救我们脱离将来忿怒的耶稣。 帖撒罗尼迦前书3：11-13 愿上帝我们的父和我们的主耶稣，一直引领我们到你们那里去；又愿主叫你们彼此相爱的心，并爱众人的心，都能增长、充足，如同我们爱你们一样，好使你们当我们主耶稣同他众圣徒来的时候，在我们父上帝面前心里坚固，成为圣洁，无可责备。 腓立比书 2:11 无不口称耶稣基督为主，使荣耀归与父上帝。 约翰一书 5:20 我们也知道上帝的儿子已经来到，且将智慧赐给我们，使我们认识那位真实的，我们也在那位真实的里面，就是在他儿子耶稣基督里面。这是真神，也是永生。 当我们比较所有的经文时就可以看到，“父”就是那“独一的真神”。祂不仅是我们的上帝和天父，祂也是耶稣基督的上帝和父亲。因此父是谁呢？祂是那独一的真神。 子/道 约翰福音 20:31 但记这些事，要叫你们信耶稣是基督，是上帝的儿子，并且叫你们信了他，就可以因他的名得生命。 马太福音16：15-17 耶稣说：“你们说我是谁？”西门彼得回答说：“你是基督，是永生上帝的儿子。”耶稣对他说：“西门巴约拿，你是有福的！因为这不是属血肉的指示你的，乃是我在天上的父指示的。 约翰福音 1:14 道成了肉身，住在我们中间，充充满满地有恩典，有真理。我们也见过他的荣光，正是父独生子的荣光。 马太福音 17:5 说话之间，忽然有一朵光明的云彩遮盖他们，且有声音从云彩里出来说：“这是我的爱子，我所喜悦的，你们要听他。” 马可福音 1:1 上帝的儿子，耶稣基督福音的起头。 马可福音 3:11 污鬼无论何时看见他，就俯伏在他面前，喊着说：“你是上帝的儿子！” 约翰福音 1:18 从来没有人看见上帝，只有在父怀里的独生子将他表明出来。 约翰福音3：16-18 “上帝爱世人，甚至将他的独生子赐给他们，叫一切信他的，不至灭亡，反得永生。 因为上帝差他的儿子降世，不是要定世人的罪（或作“审判世人”。下同），乃是要叫世人因他得救。信他的人，不被定罪；不信的人，罪已经定了，因为他不信上帝独生子的名。 约翰福音 5：26 因为父怎样在自己有生命，就赐给他儿子也照样在自己有生命； 约翰福音 5:43 我奉我父的名来，你们并不接待我；若有别人奉自己的名来，你们倒要接待他。 约翰福音 6：68-69 西门彼得回答说：“主啊，你有永生之道，我们还归从谁呢？我们已经信了，又知道你是上帝的圣者。” 约翰福音 10:36 父所分别为圣，又差到世间来的，他自称是上帝的儿子，你们还向他说‘你说僭妄的话’吗？ 约翰福音 11:27 马大说：“主啊，是的，我信你是基督，是上帝的儿子，就是那要临到世界的。” 约翰福音 17:1 耶稣说了这话，就举目望天说：“父啊，时候到了，愿你荣耀你的儿子，使儿子也荣耀你； 约翰福音 20:17 耶稣说：“不要摸我，因为我还没有升上去见我的父。你往我弟兄那里去，告诉他们说：我要升上去见我的父，也是你们的父；见我的上帝，也是你们的上帝。” 使徒行传 3:13 亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的上帝，就是我们列祖的上帝，已经荣耀了他的儿子耶稣，你们却把他交付彼拉多。彼拉多定意要释放他，你们竟在彼拉多面前弃绝了他。 使徒行传9：19-20 吃过饭就健壮了。扫罗和大马士革的门徒同住了些日子，就在各会堂里宣传耶稣，说他是上帝的儿子。 罗马书 1:9 我在他儿子福音上，用心灵所侍奉的上帝，可以见证我怎样不住的提到你们； 罗马书 8:3 律法既因肉体软弱，有所不能行的，上帝就差遣自己的儿子成为罪身的形状，作了赎罪祭，在肉体中定了罪案， 加拉太书 4:4 及至时候满足，上帝就差遣他的儿子，为女人所生，且生在律法以下， 加拉太书 4:6 你们既为儿子，上帝就差他儿子的灵进入你们（原文作“我们”）的心，呼叫：“阿爸，父！” 歌罗西书1：13-15 他救了我们脱离黑暗的权势，把我们迁到他爱子的国里，我们在爱子里得蒙救赎，罪过得以赦免。爱子是那不能看见之上帝的像，是首生的，在一切被造的以先。 帖撒罗尼迦前书1：9-10 因为他们自己已经报明我们是怎样进到你们那里，你们是怎样离弃偶像，归向上帝，要服侍那又真又活的上帝，等候他儿子从天降临，就是他从死里复活的、那位救我们脱离将来忿怒的耶稣。 希伯来书1：1-5 上帝既在古时藉着众先知多次多方地晓谕列祖；就在这末世藉着他儿子晓谕我们，又早已立他为承受万有的；也曾藉着他创造诸世界。他是上帝荣耀所发的光辉，是上帝本体的真像，常用他权能的命令托住万有。他洗净了人的罪，就坐在高天至大者的右边。他所承受的名既比天使的名更尊贵，就远超过天使。所有的天使，上帝从来对哪一个说，“你是我的儿子，我今日生你”？又指着哪一个说，“我要作他的父，他要作我的子”？ 希伯来书 4:14 我们既然有一位已经升入高天尊荣的大祭司，就是上帝的儿子耶稣，便当持定所承认的道。 希伯来书 5:5 如此，基督也不是自取荣耀作大祭司，乃是在乎向他说“你是我的儿子，我今日生你”的那一位。 约翰一书 1:3 我们将所看见、所听见的传给你们，使你们与我们相交。我们乃是与父并他儿子耶稣基督相交的。 约翰一书 3:8 犯罪的是属魔鬼，因为魔鬼从起初就犯罪。 上帝的儿子显现出来，为要除灭魔鬼的作为。 约翰一书 4:9 上帝差他独生子到世间来，使我们藉着他得生， 上帝爱我们的心在此就显明了。 约翰一书 4:15 凡认耶稣为上帝儿子的，上帝就住在他里面，他也住在上帝里面。 约翰一书 5:20 我们也知道上帝的儿子已经来到，且将智慧赐给我们，使我们认识那位真实的，我们也在那位真实的里面，就是在他儿子耶稣基督里面。这是真神，也是永生。 约翰二书 1:3 恩惠、怜悯、平安从父上帝和他儿子耶稣基督，在真理和爱心上必常与我们同在！ 诗篇 2：7 受膏者说：“我要传圣旨。耶和华曾对我说：‘你是我的儿子，我今日生你。 箴言 8：22-30 “在耶和华造化的起头，在太初创造万物之先，就有了我。从亘古，从太初，未有世界以前，我已被立。没有深渊，没有大水的泉源，我已生出。大山未曾奠定，小山未有之先，我已生出。耶和华还没有创造大地和田野，并世上的土质，我已生出。他立高天，我在那里；他在渊面的周围划出圆圈，上使穹苍坚硬，下使渊源稳固，为沧海定出界限，使水不越过他的命令，立定大地的根基。那时，我在他那里为工师，日日为他所喜爱，常常在他面前踊跃， 箴言 30：4 谁升天又降下来？谁聚风在掌握中？谁包水在衣服里？谁立定地的四极？他名叫什么？他儿子名叫什么？你知道吗？ 弥迦书 5:2 伯利恒以法他啊，你在犹大诸城中为小。将来必有一位从你那里出来，在以色列中为我作掌权的；他的根源从亘古、从太初就有。 约翰福音 16：27-29 父自己爱你们，因为你们已经爱我，又信我是从父出来的。我从父出来，到了世界；我又离开世界，往父那里去。” 门徒说：“如今你是明说，并不用比喻了。 约翰福音 17:7-8 如今他们知道，凡你所赐给我的，都是从你那里来的；因为你所赐给我的道，我已经赐给他们。他们也领受了，又确实知道，我是从你出来的，并且信你差了我来。 所以很明显，“子”是耶稣基督，祂是父上帝，那独一真神，唯一的亲生儿子。耶稣不是独一的真神，也不是所谓的“三位一体的第二位”。祂是父上帝的独生子，在永恒的日子里为父所生，是父真实的儿子。这就是为什么圣经说上帝'差'祂的儿子。 圣灵 使徒行传 2:32-33 这耶稣，上帝已经叫他复活了，我们都为这事作见证。他既被上帝的右手高举（或作“他既高举在上帝的右边”），又从父受了所应许的圣灵，就把你们所看见、所听见的浇灌下来。 路加福音24：49 我要将我父所应许的降在你们身上，你们要在城里等候，直到你们领受从上头来的能力。” 约翰福音3：34-35 上帝所差来的，就说上帝的话，因为上帝赐圣灵给他，是没有限量的。父爱子，已将万有交在他手里。 约翰福音 7:37-39 节期的末日，就是最大之日，耶稣站着高声说：“人若渴了，可以到我这里来喝。信我的人，就如经上所说‘从他腹中要流出活水的江河来’。”耶稣这话是指着信他之人要受圣灵说的，那时还没有赐下圣灵来，因为耶稣尚未得着荣耀。 约翰福音 20：21-22 耶稣又对他们说：“愿你们平安！父怎样差遣了我，我也照样差遣你们。”说了这话，就向他们吹一口气，说：“你们受圣灵。 罗马书 8：9-10 如果上帝的灵住在你们心里，你们就不属肉体，乃属圣灵了。人若没有基督的灵，就不是属基督的。基督若在你们心里，身体就因罪而死，心灵却因义而活。 哥林多后书 3:17 主就是那灵；主的灵在哪里，那里就得以自由。 加拉太书 4：6 你们既为儿子，上帝就差他儿子的灵进入你们（原文作“我们”）的心，呼叫：“阿爸，父！” 腓立比书 1：9 因为我知道，这事藉着你们的祈祷和耶稣基督之灵的帮助，终必叫我得救。 提多书 3:4-6 但到了上帝我们救主的恩慈和他向人所施的慈爱显明的时候，他便救了我们，并不是因我们自己所行的义，乃是照他的怜悯，藉着重生的洗和圣灵的更新。圣灵就是上帝藉着耶稣基督我们救主厚厚浇灌在我们身上的， 启示录 5：6 我又看见宝座与四活物并长老之中，有羔羊站立，像是被杀过的，有七角七眼，就是上帝的七灵，奉差遣往普天下去的。 因此，圣经告诉我们“圣灵”是父上帝自己神圣的灵，赐给了祂儿子耶稣，并藉着耶稣赐给我们，不是什么“第三位生物”。耶稣有着圣灵并要把祂的灵赐给我们，祂要藉着祂的灵住在我们里面。 所以马太福音 28：19里的那 “三位”是谁呢？他们是天父上帝，“独一的真神”。耶稣基督，天父上帝真实的唯一亲生儿子。圣灵，就是基督的灵，是耶稣从祂父那里领受的。 耶稣自己要亲自以灵的形式到我们这里来（约翰福音14：18，启示录 3：20，歌罗西书1：27，加拉太书2：20）不是什么来历不明的“第三位生物”。这就是关于马太福音 28：19的真理。 上一篇 返回研究目录 下一篇 到最頂

All trinity studies Previous Download Next Why is the Holy Spirit Left Out of Every Greeting Why is the Holy Spirit Left Out of Every Greeting? The Trinity doctrine teaches that the Holy Spirit is a literal being that is CO-EQUAL with the Father and Son. CO-EQUAL means equal in every single way possible. So what an inexplicable oversight for Paul if the Spirit were indeed a literal being CO-EQUAL with the Father and Son, because Paul excluded the Holy Spirit in EVERY SINGLE ONE of his greetings in EVERY SINGLE LETTER he wrote! And Peter and John did the same. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:7 “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 1:3 “Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:2 “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,” Galatians 1:3 “Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:2 “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:2 “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Colossians 1:2 “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:1 “Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:2 “Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Timothy 1:2 “Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” 2 Timothy 1:2 “Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.” Titus 1:4 “Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philemon 1:3 “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,” 2 Peter 1:2 “Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father,” 2 John 1:3 How can the Holy Spirit be a literal co-equal being when it is consistently left out of every greeting? If the Spirit was an individual being co-equal with the Father and Son, then this consistent omission is incomprehensible. It would have been effrontery and insubordination by the apostles at the highest level. This would be like having a country with three presidents but only ever acknowledging two of them. In fact, not once is the Holy Spirit ever uplifted or praised in the Scriptures. It is always just God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. And why is that? Because “there is but ONE God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and ONE Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” 1 Corinthians 8:6. That's why! The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of God,” not something called “god the spirit” which is a phrase that does not exist in the Bible and came from the Catholic Church to match the Trinity doctrine they created over 200 years AFTER the Bible was written. Previous All trinity studies Next Back to top

All trinity studies Previous Download 看中文 Next Can Trinitarians Receive God's Seal Can Trinitarians Receive God's Seal? Is it possible for someone who worships the trinity god to receive the seal of God which we find in Revelation 7 and 14? This is a very important issue, as only those who receive God's seal in the last days will be saved. "A knowledge of God is the foundation of all true education and of all true service. It is the only real safeguard against temptation. It is this alone that can make us like God in character. This is the knowledge needed by all who are working for the uplifting of their fellow men. Transformation of character, purity of life, efficiency in service, adherence to correct principles, all depend upon a right knowledge of God. This knowledge is the essential preparation both for this life and for the life to come. 'The knowledge of the Holy is understanding.' (Proverbs 9:10). Through a knowledge of Him are given unto us 'all things that pertain unto life and godliness.' (2 Peter 1:3) 'This is life eternal,' said Jesus, 'that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." (John 17:3) (E.White, Ministry of Healing, p. 409) Now many Trinitarians say it is not important to understand the God we worship, claiming that God is a 'mystery'. This is a common excuse used by those who worship the trinity, because they are unable to understand what it is they worship. But if this is the case, and we cannot know the God we worship, then that automatically means it is acceptable to worship the Roman Catholic god or the Muslim god. Because if we merely say that finite mind cannot comprehend the God we worship, and it is not important to know if God is one being or a trinity, then no proposition of "God" is to be rejected, and ALL are to be accepted as possibly valid. And once you understand this, you then begin to realize the ecumenical nature of the trinity god. And this is why we are seeing the majority of churches today involved in this ecumenical movement. They are unable to stand apart, as they all have a confused idea as to who God is. They no longer use God's Word as divine revelation and the supreme test of faith. Instead, they are led by human imagination. But those who stand by a 'thus saith the Lord' are able to stand apart from this ecumenical movement, because they recognize, through divine revelation that the god of the ecumenical movement is NOT the God of the Bible. So can someone who worships the trinity receive the seal of God? Let us look at Revelation 14 regarding this ... Revelation 7:2-3 ...'And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.' Revelation 14:1 ...'And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.' We can note two clear things from these verses. The seal is the 'seal of the living God'. And what is that 'seal'? It is the name of the 'Lamb's Father'. The Lamb is Jesus Christ, so who is the Father of Jesus? It is God the Father. Take a look at the following verses. Matthew 16:16 ...'And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.' John 6:69 ...'And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.' John 17:1-3 ...'Father ... this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.' 2 John 1:3 ...'Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.' So Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is the Son of God the Father. And Revelation 14 confirms that the seal of God is the 'name of the Father'. Revelation doesn't say that we are sealed with the name of the 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit', or 'God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit'. It clearly confirms that we are sealed with the name of 'the Father'. And the Bible confirms that God the Father is the one true God, as we see below, not this trinity god that the churches worship. John 17:1-3 ...'Father ... this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.' 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 ...'For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.' John 20:17 ...'Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.' Don't you think we should listen to the testimony of the 'Faithful Witness', Jesus Christ the Messiah? And Jesus confirms that His Father is the one true God. Not only that, Jesus says that God the Father is His God too! And Hebrews 1:9 also confirms this fact. It is interesting to note that the Jews did not worship a trinity, but knew that God the Father was their God (John 8:41). Jesus did not worship a trinity, or two other gods, but knew that His Father was the one true God (John 17:3). And the apostles did not worship a trinity, but worshipped and acknowledged God the Father as the one true God (1 Corinthians 8:6). Although they did give recognition and worship to Jesus also, being the Son of the living God. It Doesn't Matter! REALLY? There will still be many Trinitarians who claim that this just doesn't matter, that God is a 'mystery', and that we just cannot know the God we worship. But they fail to recognize Divine REVELATION. And it is just that, a REVELATION! Jesus made it clear that eternal life was based on 'knowing' God the Father and Himself. Jesus says we can 'know' God, while Trinitarians say we cannot know God. Who would you rather trust? The wisdom of the 'Faithful Witness', or the wisdom of man? Now take a look at what Jesus said to the woman at the well in John chapter 4. John 4:21-24 ...'Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.' "YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU WORSHIP" ... Who is that a statement to today? Trinitarians! All throughout the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles reveal that the Father is the one true God, and it is to Him, that our allegiance and worship is due. And Jesus confirms that it the true worshippers who worship God the Father as the one true God. Which means those who worship this trinity god are not the true worshippers. And if we are not worshipping the one true God, then can we receive the seal of the living God? No, not a chance! Can a Roman Catholic who remains within Catholicism receive the seal of God? No. Why? Because they are not worshipping the one true God. And this also is the same for anyone who worships the trinity god. They are not worshipping the one true God and therefore cannot receive His seal of approval. And notice what else Revelation 14 says about those who DO receive the seal. Revelation 14:4 ...'These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God AND to the Lamb.' A woman in the Bible and prophecy is a symbol of a church. So to be 'defiled with women' means to be defiled by the fallen churches. And what does it mean to be defiled by the fallen churches? It means to be deceived by their false teachings and false worship. And the trinity teaching is a false teaching from Babylon. So to worship the trinity means you are defiled by women and cannot receive the seal of God the Father. The final controversy is over worship. And Revelation 14 reveals who it is we are to worship … The Call to Worship our Creator God Revelation 14:6-7 ...'And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.' In Genesis 1, we see a statement as follows ... "And God said, let us make man in our image." ... Now Trinitarians believe this is the 'trinity' speaking. But, as we have seen from above, the Bible reveals that God is the Father. So who is speaking here? God the Father is speaking. And who is He speaking to? Well, Ephesians 3:9 and 1 Corinthians 8:6 confirms that God the Father created all things through His Son Jesus Christ. So who is God the Father speaking to? He is speaking to His Son. Now look at what King David said in 1 Chronicles 29. 1 Chronicles 29:10-11 ...'Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.' Who is the 'head above all'? ... 1 Corinthians 11:3 ...'But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.' ... So the head of ALL is GOD THE FATHER. And Jesus confirmed this Himself in Matthew 11:25 ... 'Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth.' So who is the one true God, LORD and Creator of heaven and earth, whom Revelation 14 is calling with a 'LOUD CRY' to worship? It is God the Father, the one true God, the source of all life (1 Corinthians 8:6). And who's name do the end time servants of God receive? They receive the name and seal of the living God, the one true God, GOD THE FATHER. Yes, we can also give honor and worship to Jesus the Messiah, as He is the SON of the one true God, and Revelation 5:13 confirms that for all eternity, God the Father and 'the Lamb' (Christ) are to be worshipped. But all the honor that Christ receives is for the 'GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER'. Philippians 2:11 ...'And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' So our worship primarily is to go to God the Father, as He is Head of all, God of all and the source of all life. But those who worship the false trinity god of Babylon are not worshipping the one true God of the Bible, and therefore CANNOT receive the seal of God. Friends, this is so important. Our eternal lives depend on this. If you are someone who still believes in and worships the trinity, then I urge you to study this for yourself and find the truth. Do you want to receive the seal of God? Then worship the one true God, the Father. Previous All trinity studies Next Back to top

All trinity studies Previous Download Next Christ Appeared to the Patriachs and Prophets I’m citing a few passage below where the “Almighty” appeared or spoke directly to the patriarchs and the prophets: Gen 35:11 And God said unto him[Jacob], I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; Gen 48:3 “3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, Exodus 6:1-3 “Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. 2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord: 3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them. Exodus 33:11 “And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.” Exodus 33: 19-23 "And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live……And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen. The Almighty appearing to the patriarchs are generally understood to mean that the Father appeared to them... And yet, we are told that no one has seen God: John 1:18 “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. John 5:37 “And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, NOR SEEN HIS SHAPE.” 1 Tim. 6:13-16. “I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things...who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom NO MAN HATH SEEN, NOR CAN SEE; to whom be honor and power everlasting." The way I reconcile these seemingly contradictory statement is that Christ acted in Father's stead as the God of the Old Testament. both Scripture and SOP (if you believe in the writings of Ellen White) make it pretty clear. One thing most people overlook is that the “Almighty” that spoke to Moses on the Mount Sinai actually appeared to him as the “Angel of the Lord.” "Behold, I send an ANGEL before thee, to keep thee in the way, and TO BRING THEE INTO THE PLACE WHICH I HAVE PREPARED. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for HE WILL NOT PARDON YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS: FOR MY NAME IS IN HIM." (Ex. 23:20,21) "And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an ANGEL OF THE LORD in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, THE VOICE OF THE LORD came unto him, Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold." (Acts 7:30-32) "This is he [Moses], that was in the church in the wilderness with the ANGEL which SPAKE TO HIM in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us." (v. 38) [mine] “Christ is the One THROUGH WHOM God has AT ALL TIMES revealed Himself to man. “BUT TO US THERE IS BUT ONE GOD, THE FATHER, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.” 1 Corinthians 8:6. “This is he [Moses], that was in the church in the wilderness with the Angel which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us.” Acts 7:38. This Angel was the Angel of God’s presence (Isaiah 63:9), THE ANGEL IN WHOM WAS THE NAME OF THE GREAT JEVOHAH (Exodus 23:20-23). THE EXPRESSION CAN REFER TO NO OTHER THAN THE SON OF GOD.” {PP 761.4} “The priest went through the ceremony of his official work. He took the child in his arms, and held it up before the altar. After handing it back to its mother, he inscribed the name “Jesus” on the roll of the first-born. Little did he think, as the babe lay in his arms, that it was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory. The priest did not think that this babe was the One of whom Moses had written, “A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you.” Acts 3:22. HE DID NOT THINK THAT THIS BABE WAS HE WHOSE GLORY MOSES HAD ASKED TO SEE. But One greater than Moses lay in the priest’s arms; and when he enrolled the child’s name, he was enrolling the name of One who was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. {DA 52.2} Previous All trinity studies Next Back to top

Back to Contents Previous Download 看中文 Next Denominational Statements on the Sabbath AMERICAN CONGREGATIONALIST QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH The current notion that Christ and His apostles authoritatively substituted the first day for the seventh, is absolutely without any authority in the New Testament. —Dr. Layman Abbot, in the Christian Union, June 26, 1890. ANGLICAN QUOTES ABOUTTHE SABBATH And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day... The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the Church, has enjoined it. —Isaac Williams, Plain Sermons on the Catechism, pages 334, 336. BAPTIST QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH There was and is a command to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will however be readily said, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week, with all its duties, privileges and sanctions. Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which I have studied for many years, I ask, where can the record of such a transaction be found: Not in the New Testament – absolutely not. There is no scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week. —Dr. E. T. Hiscox, author of the ‘Baptist Manual’. To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years' discussion with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question, discussing it in some of its various aspects, freeing it from its false [Jewish traditional] glosses, never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during the forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated. Nor, so far as we know, did the Spirit, which was given to bring to their remembrance all things whatsoever that He had said unto them, deal with this question. Nor yet did the inspired apostles, in preaching the gospel, founding churches, counseling and instructing those founded, discuss or approach the subject. Of course I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history as a religious day as we learn from the Christian Fathers and other sources. But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of Paganism, and christened with the name of the sun-god, then adopted and sanctified by the Papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism. —Dr. E. T. Hiscox, report of his sermon at the Baptist Minister's Convention, in 'New York Examiner,' November 16, 1893 The Scriptures nowhere call the first day of the week the Sabbath. . .There is no Scriptural authority for so doing, nor of course, any Scriptural obligation. —The Watchman. We believe that the law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of His moral government. —Baptist Church Manual, Art. 12. There was never any formal or authoritative change from the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath to the Christian first-day observance. —WILLIAM OWEN CARVER, The Lord's Day in Our Day, page 49. There is nothing in Scripture that requires us to keep Sunday rather than Saturday as a holy day. —Harold Lindsell (editor), Christianity Today, Nov. 5, 1976 BRETHREN QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH With the views of the law and the Sabbath we once held ... and which are still held by perhaps the great majority of the most earnest Christians, we confess that we could not answer Adventists. What is more, neither before or since have I heard or read what would conclusively answer an Adventist in his Scriptural contention that the Seventh day is the Sabbath (Ex. 20:10). It is not 'one day in seven' as some put it, but 'the seventh day according to the commandment.' —Words of Truth and Grace, p. 281. CATHOLIC QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church. —Priest Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth, NJ ‘News’ on March 18, 1903. Protestants ... accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change... But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that ... in observing Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the Church, the pope. —Our Sunday Visitor, February 5th, 1950. Of course these two old quotations are exactly correct. The Catholic Church designated Sunday as the day for corporate worship and gets full credit – or blame – for the change. —This Rock, The Magazine of Catholic Apologetics and Evangelization, p.8, June 1997 Q. Have you any other proofs that they(Protestants) are not guided by the Scripture? A. Yes; so many, that we cannot admit more than a mere specimen into this small work. They reject much that is clearly contained in Scripture, and profess more that is nowhere discoverable in that Divine Book. Q. Give some examples of both? A. They should, if the Scripture were their only rule, wash the feet of one another, according to the command of Christ, in the 13th chap. of St. John; —they should keep, not the Sunday, but the Saturday, according to the commandment, "Remember thou keep holy the SABBATH-day;" for this commandment has not, in Scripture, been changed or abrogated;... —Rev. Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism; New York in 1857, page 101 Imprimatuer 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. —Rev. Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism; New York in 1857, page 174 Q. In what manner can we show a Protestant, that he speaks unreasonably against fasts and abstinences? A. Ask him why he keeps Sunday, and not Saturday, as his day of rest, since he is unwilling either to fast or to abstain. If he reply, that the Scripture orders him to keep the Sunday, but says nothing as to fasting and abstinence, tell him the Scripture speaks of Saturday or the Sabbath, but gives no command anywhere regarding Sunday or the first day of the week. If, then he neglects Saturday as a day of rest and holiness, and substitutes Sunday in its place, and this merely because such was the usage of the ancient Church, should he not, if he wishes to act consistently, observe fasting and abstinence, because the ancient Church so ordained? —Rev. Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism; New York in 1857, page 181 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 transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday. —Rev. Peter Geiermann C.SS .R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50 Q. Must not a sensible Protestant doubt seriously, when he finds that even the Bible is not followed as a rule by his co-religionists? A. Surely, when he sees them baptize infants, abrogate the Jewish Sabbath, and observe Sunday for which [pg. 7] there is no Scriptural authority; when he finds them neglect to wash one another's feet, which is expressly commanded, and eat blood and things strangled, which are expressly prohibited in Scripture. He must doubt, if he think at all. … Q. Should not the Protestant doubt when he finds that he himself holds tradition as a guide? A. Yes, if he would but reflect that he has nothing but Catholic Tradition for keeping the Sunday holy; ... —Controversial Catechism by Stephen Keenan, New Edition, revised by Rev. George Cormack, published in London by Burns & Oates, Limited - New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benzinger Brothers, 1896, pages 6, 7. 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. —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. The [Roman Catholic] Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday. In this matter the Seventh-day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant. —The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p. 4. All of us believe many things in regard to religion that we do not find in the Bible. For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath Day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the Church outside the Bible. —The Catholic Virginian, To Tell You The Truth,” Vol. 22, No. 49 (Oct. 3, 1947). ... 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. —The Faith of Our Fathers, by James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, 88th edition, page 89. Originally published in 1876, republished and Copyright 1980 by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., pages 72-73. Deny the authority of the Church and you have no adequate or reasonable explanation or justification for the substitution of Sunday for Saturday in the Third - Protestant Fourth - Commandment of God... The Church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.' —Catholic Record, September 1, 1923. But since Saturday, not Sunday, is specified in the Bible, isn't it curious that non-Catholics who profess to take their religion directly from the Bible and not the Church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Yes, of course, it is inconsistent; but this change was made about fifteen centuries before Protestantism was born, and by that time the custom was universally observed. They have continued the custom, even though it rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon an explicit text in the Bible. That observance remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from which the non-Catholic sects broke away - like a boy running away from home but still carrying in his pocket a picture of his mother or a lock of her hair. —The Faith of Millions Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. "The Day of the Lord" (dies Dominica) was chosen, not from any directions noted in the Scriptures, but from the Church's sense of its own power. The day of resurrection, the day of Pentecost, fifty days later, came on the first day of the week. So this would be the new Sabbath. People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy. —Sentinel, Pastor's page, Saint Catherine Catholic Church, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995 If Protestants would follow the Bible, they would worship God on the Sabbath Day. In keeping the Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church. —Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the Cardinal, in a letter dated February 10, 1920. The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church. —Monsignor Louis Segur, ‘Plain Talk about the Protestantism of Today’, p. 213. What Important Question Does the Papacy Ask Protestants? Protestants have repeatedly asked the papacy, "How could you dare to change God's law?" But the question posed to Protestants by the Catholic church is even more penetrating. Here it is officially: You will tell me that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. Changed! but by whom? Who has authority to change an express commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken and said, Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day, who shall dare to say, Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of worldly business on the seventh day; but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead? This is a most important question, which I know not how you can answer. You are a Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and the Bible only; and yet in so important a matter as the observance of one day in seven as a holy day, you go against the plain letter of the Bible, and put another day in the place of that day which the Bible has commanded. The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the ten commandments; you believe that the other nine are still binding; who gave you authority to tamper with the fourth? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really follow the Bible and the Bible only, you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered. —Library of Christian Doctrine: Why Don't You Keep Holy the Sabbath-Day? (London: Burns and Oates, Ltd.), pp. 3, 4. There is but one church on the face of the earth which has the power, or claims power, to make laws binding on the conscience, binding before God, binding under penalty of hell-fire. For instance, the institution of Sunday. What right has any other church to keep this day? You answer by virtue of the third commandment (the papacy did away with the 2nd regarding the worship of graven images, and called the 4th the 3rd), which says 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.' But Sunday is not the Sabbath. Any schoolboy knows that Sunday is the first day of the week. I have repeatedly offered one thousand dollars to anyone who will prove by the Bible alone that Sunday is the day we are bound to keep, and no one has called for the money. It was the holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday, the seventh day, to Sunday, the first day of the week. —T. Enright, C.S.S.R., in a lecture delivered in 1893. Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters. —C. F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons, in answer to a letter regarding the change of the Sabbath, November 11, 1895. Tradition, not Scripture, is the rock on which the church of Jesus Christ is built. —Adrien Nampon, Catholic Doctrine as Defined by the Council of Trent, p. 157 The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine law". The pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts a vicegerent of God upon earth —Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, art. Papa, II, Vol. VI, p. 29. The leader of the Catholic church is defined by the faith as the Vicar of Jesus Christ (and is accepted as such by believers). The Pope is considered the man on earth who "takes the place" of the Second Person of the omnipotent God of the Trinity. —John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 3, 1994 ...pastoral intuition suggested to the Church the christianization of the notion of Sunday as "the day of the sun", which was the Roman name for the day and which is retained in some modern languages.(29) This was in order to draw the faithful away from the seduction of cults which worshipped the sun, and to direct the celebration of the day to Christ, humanity's true 'sun'. —John Paul II, Dies Domini, 27. The day of Christ-Light, 1998 (Prominent protestant leaders agree with this statement - See here for a statement by Dr. E. T. Hiscox, author of the ‘Baptist Manual’) The Sun was a foremost god with heathen-dom…The sun has worshippers at this hour in Persia and other lands…. There is, in truth, something royal, kingly about the sun, making it a fit emblem of Jesus, the Sun of Justice. Hence the church in these countries would seem to have said, to 'Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified.' And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus. —William Gildea, Doctor of Divinity, The Catholic World, March, 1894, p. 809 The retention of the old pagan name of Dies Solis, for Sunday is, in a great measure, owing to the union of pagan and Christian sentiment with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine to his subjects - pagan and Christian alike - as the 'venerable' day of the sun. —Arthur P. Stanley, History of the Eastern Church, p. 184 When St. Paul repudiated the works of the law, he was not thinking of the Ten Commandments, which are as unchangeable as God Himself is, which God could not change and still remain the infinitely holy God. —Our Sunday Visitor, Oct. 7, I951. Question: How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holydays? Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church. —Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine (1833 approbation), p.58 (Same statement in Manual of Christian Doctrine, ed. by Daniel Ferris [1916 ed.], p.67) Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the NEW LAW, that he himself has explicitly substituted Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as holy days. The church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days. —Vincent J. Kelly, Forbidden Sunday and Feast-Day Occupations, Washington, DC, Catholic University of America Press, Studies in Sacred Theology, No. 70.,1943, p. 2. If we consulted the Bible only, we should still have to keep holy the Sabbath Day, that is, Saturday, with the Jews, instead of Sunday; ... —A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies, by Rev. John Laux M.A., Benzinger Brothers, 1936 edition, Part 1. Sunday is a Catholic institution, and... can be defended only on Catholic principles.... From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first. —Catholic Press, Aug. 25, 1900 The Sabbath was Saturday, not Sunday. The Church altered the observance of the Sabbath to the observance of Sunday. Protestants must be rather puzzled by the keeping of Sunday when God distinctly said, 'Keep holy the Sabbath Day.' The word Sunday does not come anywhere in the Bible, so, without knowing it they are obeying the authority of the Catholic Church. —Canon Cafferata, The Catechism Explained, p. 89. Reason and sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible. —John Cardinal Gibbons, The Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893. CHRISTIAN CHURCH QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH I do not believe that the Lord's day came in the room of the Jewish Sabbath, or that the Sabbath was changed from the seventh to the first day, for this plain reason, where there is no testimony, there can be no faith. Now there is no testimony in all the oracles of heaven that the Sabbath is changed, or that the Lord’s Day came in the room of it. —Alexander Campbell, in The Reporter, October 8, 1921 It has reversed the fourth commandment by doing away with the Sabbath of God's Word, and instituting Sunday as a holiday. —Dr. N. Summerbell, History of the Christian Church, Third Edition, p. 415 There is no direct scriptural authority for designating the first day the Lord's day. —Dr. D. H. Lucas, Christian Oracle, Jan. 23, 1890. The first day of the week is commonly called the Sabbath. This is a mistake. The Sabbath of the Bible was the day just preceding the first day of the week. The first day of the week is never called the Sabbath anywhere in the entire Scriptures. It is also an error to talk about the change of the Sabbath. There never was any change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. There is not in any place in the Bible any intimation of such a change. —First-Day Observance, pp. 17, 19. CHURCH OF CHRIST QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH But we do not find any direct command from God, or instruction from the risen Christ, or admonition from the early apostles, that the first day is to be substituted for the seventh day Sabbath." "Let us be clear on this point. Though to the Christian 'that day, the first day of the week' is the most memorable of all days ... there is no command or warrant in the New Testament for observing it as a holy day. The Roman Church selected the first day of the week in honour of the resurrection of Christ. ... —Bible Standard, May, 1916, Auckland, New Zealand. ... If the fourth command is binding upon us Gentiles by all means keep it. But let those who demand a strict observance of the Sabbath remember that the seventh day is the ONLY sabbath day commanded, and God never repealed that command. If you would keep the Sabbath, keep it; but Sunday is not the Sabbath. The argument of the 'Seventh-day Adventists' is on one point unassailable. It is the Seventh day not the first day that the command refers to. —G. Alridge, Editor, The Bible Standard, April, 1916. There is no direct Scriptural authority for designating the first day the Lord's day. —DR. D. H. LUCAS, Christian Oracle, Jan. 23, 1890. The first day of the week is commonly called the Sabbath. This is a mistake. The Sabbath of the Bible was the day just preceding the first day of the week. The first day of the week is never called the Sabbath anywhere in the entire Scriptures. It is also an error to talk about the change of the Sabbath. There never was any change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. There is not in any place in the Bible any intimation of such a change. —First-Day Observance, pages 17, 19. It has reversed the fourth commandment by doing away with the Sabbath of God's Word, and instituting Sunday as a holiday. —DR. N. SUMMERBELL, History of the Christian Church, Third Edition, page 4I5. It is clearly proved that the pastors of the churches have struck out one of God's ten words, which, not only in the Old Testament, but in all revelation, are the most emphatically regarded as the synopsis of all religion and morality. —ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, Debate With Purcell, page 214. I do not believe that the Lord's day came in the room of the Jewish Sabbath, or that the Sabbath was changed from the seventh to the first day, for this plain reason, where there is no testimony, there can be no faith. Now there is no testimony in all the oracles of heaven that the Sabbath was changed, or that the Lord's day came in the room of it. —ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, Washington Reporter, Oct. 8, 1821. CHURCH OF ENGLAND QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH Many people think that Sunday is the Sabbath. But neither in the New Testament nor in the early church is there anything to suggest that we have any right to transfer the observance of the seventh day of the week to the first. The Sabbath was and is Saturday and not Sunday, and if it were binding on us then we should observe it on that day, and on no other. —Rev. Lionel Beere, All-Saints Church, Ponsonby, N.Z. in Church and People, Sept. 1, 1947. Nowhere in the Bible is it laid down that worship should be done on Sunday. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. ...! That is Saturday. —P. Carrington, Archbishop of Quebec, Oct. 27, 1949; cited in Prophetic Signs, p 12. The observance of the first instead of the seventh day rests on the testimony of the church, and the church alone. —Hobart Church News, July 2, 1894; cited in Prophetic Signs, p 14. Where are we told in Scripture that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the Seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day. The reason why we keep the first day holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many things, not because the Bible, but because the Church, has enjoined them. —Rev. Isaac Williams, Ser. on Catechism, p. 334. The seventh day, the commandment says, is the Sabbath of The Lord thy God. No kind of arithmetic, no kind of almanac, can make seven equal one, nor the seventh mean the first, nor Saturday mean Sunday. ... The fact is that we are all Sabbath breakers, every one of us. —Rev. Geo. Hodges. Not any ecclesiastical writer of the first three centuries attributed the origin of Sunday observance either to Christ or to His apostles. —SIR WILLIAM DOMVILLE, Examination of the Six Texts, pages 6, 7. (Supplement). There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday. . . . Into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters…, The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday. —CANON EYTON, 'The Ten Commandments, pages 52, 63, 65. Is there any command in the New Testament to change the day of weekly rest from Saturday to Sunday? None. —Manual of Christian Doctrine, page 127. The Lord's day did not succeed in the place of the Sabbath....The Lord's day was merely an ecclesiastical institution. It was not introduced by virtue of the fourth commandment, because for almost three hundred years together they kept that day which was in that commandment...The primitive Christians did all manner of works upon the Lord's day, even in times of persecution, when they are the strictest observers of all the divine commandments; but in this they knew there was none. —BISHOP JEREMY TAYLOR, Ductor Dubitantium, Part I, Book II, Chap. 2, Rule 6. Sec. 51, 59. Sunday being the day on which the Gentiles solemnly adore that planet and called it Sunday, partly from its influence on that day especially, and partly in respect to its divine body (as they conceived it), the Christians thought fit to keep the same day and the same name of it, that they might not appear causelessly peevish, and by that means hinder the conversion of the Gentiles, and bring a greater prejudice than might be otherwise taken against the gospel. —T. M. MORER, Dialogues on the Lord's Day, pages 22, 23. The Puritan idea was historically unhappy. It made Sunday into the Sabbath day. Even educated people call Sunday the Sabbath. Even clergymen do. But, unless my reckoning is all wrong, the Sabbath day lasts twenty-four hours from six o'clock on Friday evening. It gives over, therefore, before we come to Sunday. If you suggest to a Sabbatarian that he ought to observe the Sabbath on the proper day, you arouse no enthusiasm. He at once replies that the day, not the principle, has been changed. But changed by whom? There is no injunction in the whole of the New Testament to Christians to change the Sabbath into Sunday. —D. MORSE-BOYCOTT, Daily Herald, London, Feb. 26, 1931. The Christian church made no formal, but a gradual and almost unconscious transference of the one day to the other. —F.W. FARRAR, D.D., The Voice From Sinai, page 167. Take which you will, either of the Fathers or the moderns, and we shall find no Lord's day instituted by any apostolical mandate; no Sabbath set on foot by them upon the first day of the week. —PETER HEYLYN, History of the Sabbath, page 410. Merely to denounce the tendency to secularise Sunday is as futile as it is easy. What we want is to find some principle, to which as Christians we can appeal, and on which we can base both our conduct and our advice. We turn to the New Testament, and we look in vain for any authoritative rule. There is no recorded word of Christ, there is no word of any of the apostles, which tells how we should keep Sunday, or indeed that we should keep it at all. It is disappointing, for it would make our task much easier if we could point to a definite rule, which left us no option but simple obedience or disobedience. . . . There is no rule for Sunday observance, either in Scripture or history. —DR. STEPHEN, Bishop of Newcastle, N.S.W., in an address reported in the Newcastle Morning Herald, May 14, 1924. CONGREGATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH The Christian Sabbath [Sunday] is not in the Scripture, and was not by the primitive [early Christian] church called the Sabbath. —Timothy Dwight, Theology, sermon 107, 1818 ed., Vol. IV, p. 49 Note: Timothy Dwight (1752-1817) was president of Yale University from 1795-1817. It is quite clear that, however rigidly or devoutly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath ... The Sabbath was founded on a specific divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday ... There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday. —Dr. Dale, The Ten Commandments, pp. 106, 107. It must be confessed that there is no law in the New Testament concerning the first day. —Buck's Theological Dictionary page 403. There is no command in the Bible requiring us to observe the first day of the week as the Christian Sabbath. —ORIN FOWLER, A.M., Mode and Subjects of Baptism. The current notion that Christ and His apostles authoritatively substituted the first day for the seventh, is absolutely without any authority in the New Testament. —DR. LYMAN ABBOTT, Christian Union, Jan. 18, 1882. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH There is no direct Scriptural authority for designating the first day ‘the Lord’s Day.’ —Dr D.H. Lucas, Christian Oracle, January, 1890 EPISCOPALIAN QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church of Christ. —Bishop Symour, Why We keep Sunday. The Bible commandment says on the seventh-day thou shalt rest. That is Saturday. Nowhere in the Bible is it laid down that worship should be done on Sunday. —Phillip Carrington, quoted in Toronto Daily Star, Oct 26, 1949 [Carrington (1892-), Anglican archbishop of Quebec, spoke the above in a message on this subject delivered to a packed assembly of clergymen. It was widely reported at the time in the news media]. INFIDEL QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH Probably very few Christians are aware of the fact that what they call the 'Christian Sabbath' (Sunday) is of pagan origin. The first observance of Sunday- that history records is in the fourth century', when Constantine issued an edict (not requiring its religious observance, but simply abstinence from work) reading, 'let all the judges and people of the town rest and all the various trades be suspended on the venerable day of the sun.' At the time of the issue of this edict, Constantine was a sun-worshipper; therefore it could have had no relation whatever to Christianity. —HENRY M. TABER. Faith or Fact (preface by Robert G. Ingersoll), page 112. I challenge any priest or minister of the Christian religion to show me the slightest authority for the religious observance of Sunday. And, if such cannot be shown by them, why is it that they are constantly preaching about Sunday as a holy day? … The claim that Sunday takes the place of Saturday, and that because the Jews were supposed to be commanded to keep the seventh day of the week holy, therefore the first day of the week should be so kept by Christians, is so utterly absurd as to be hardly worth considering....That Paul habitually observed and preached on the seventh day of the week, is shown in Acts 18:4-'And be reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath' (Saturday). —Id., pages ,114, 116. LUTHERAN QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH The observance of the Lord's Day (Sunday) is founded not on any command of God, but on the authority of the Church." Augsburg Confession of Faith. They [the Catholics] allege the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord's day, contrary to the Decalogue, as it appears, neither is there any example more boasted of than the changing of the Sabbath day. Great, say they, is the power and authority of the church, since it dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments. —Augsburg Confession of Faith, Art. 28, par. 9. They [Roman Catholics] allege the change of the Sabbath into the Lord's day, as it seemeth, to the Decalogue [the ten commandments]; and they have no example more in their mouths than they change of the Sabbath. They will needs have the Church's power to be very great, because it hath dispensed with the precept of the Decalogue. —The Augsburg Confession, 1530 A.D. (Lutheran), part 2, art 7, in Philip Schaff, the Creeds of Christiandom, 4th Edition, vol 3, p64 [this important statement was made by the Lutherans and written by Melanchthon, only thirteen years after Luther nailed his theses to the door and began the Reformation]. For up to this day mankind has absolutely trifled with the original and most special revelation of the Holy God, the ten words written upon the tables of the Law from Sinai. —Crown Theological Library, page I78. The Christians in the ancient church very soon distinguished the first day of the week, Sunday; however, not as a Sabbath, but as an assembly day of the church, to study the Word of God together, and to celebrate the ordinances one with another: without a shadow of doubt, this took place as early as the first part of the second century. —Bishop GRIMELUND, History of the Sabbath, page 60. The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance. —AUGUSTUS NEANDER, History of the Christian Religion and Church, Vol. 1, page 186. I wonder exceedingly how it came to be imputed to me that I should reject the law of Ten Commandments...Whosoever abrogates the law must of necessity abrogate sin also. —MARTIN LUTHER, Spiritual Antichrist, pages 71, 72. We have seen how gradually the impression of the Jewish Sabbath faded from the mind of the Christian church, and how completely the newer thought underlying the observance of the first day took possession of the church. We have seen that the Christian of the first three centuries never confused one with the other, but for a time celebrated both. —The Sunday Problem, a study book by the Lutheran Church (1923) p.36 But they err in teaching that Sunday has taken the place of the Old Testament Sabbath and therefore must be kept as the seventh day had to be kept by the children of Israel .... These churches err in their teaching, for scripture has in no way ordained the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath. There is simply no law in the New Testament to that effect —John Theodore Mueller, Sabbath or Sunday, pp.15, 16 LUTHERAN FREE CHURCH QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH For when there could not be produced one solitary place in the Holy Scriptures which testified that either the Lord Himself or the apostles had ordered such a transfer of the Sabbath to Sunday, then it was not easy to answer the question: Who has transferred the Sabbath, and who has the right to do it? —George Sverdrup, ‘A New Day.’ METHODIST QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH This 'handwriting of ordinances' our Lord did blot out, take away, and nail to His cross. (Colossians 2: 14.) But the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, He did not take away.... The moral law stands on an entirely different foundation from the ceremonial or ritual law. ...Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind and in all ages. —JOHN WESLEY, Sermons on Several Occasions, 2-Vol. Edition, Vol. I, pages 221, 222. No Christian whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral. —Methodist Church Discipline, (I904), page 23. The Sabbath was made for MAN; not for the Hebrews, but for all men. —E.O. HAVEN, Pillars of Truth, page 88. 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. The early Christians began to worship on the first day of the week because Jesus rose from the dead on that day. By and by, this day of worship was made also a day of rest, a legal holiday. This took place in the year 321. 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... Our Christian Sabbath, therefore, is not a matter of positive command. It is a gift of the church... —CLOVIS G. CHAPPELL, Ten Rules for Living, page 61. Sabbath in the Hebrew language signifies rest, and is the seventh day of the week... and it must be confessed that there is no law in the New Testament concerning the first day. —Charles Buck, A Theological Dictionary, Sabbath In the days of very long ago the people of the world began to give names to everything, and they turned the sounds of the lips into words, so that the lips could speak a thought. In those days the people worshiped the sun because many words were made to tell of many thoughts about many things. The people became Christians and were ruled by an emperor whose name was Constantine. This emperor made Sunday the Christian Sabbath, because of the blessing of light and heat which came from the sun. So our Sunday is a sun-day, isn't it? —Sunday School Advocate, Dec. 31, 1921. The moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, He [Christ] did not take away. It was not the design of His coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken... Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind and in all ages; as not depending either on time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other. —JOHN WESLEY, Sermons on Several Occasions, Vol. I, Sermon XXV. The Sabbath instituted in the beginning, and confirmed again and again by Moses and the prophets, has never been abrogated. A part of the moral law, not a jot or a tittle of its sanctity has been taken away. —New York Herald 1874, on the Methodist Episcopal Bishops Pastoral 1874 MISCELLANEOUS QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH You will tell me that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. Changed! But by whom? Who has authority to change an express commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken and said, 'Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day,' who shall dare to say, 'Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of business on the seventh day; but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead'? This is a most important question, which I know not how you can answer. You are a Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and the Bible only; and yet in so important a matter as the observance of one day in seven as a holy day, you go against the plain letter of the Bible, and put another day in the place of that day which the Bible has commanded. The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the Ten Commandments; you believe that the other nine are still binding; who gave you authority to tamper with the fourth? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really follow the Bible and the Bible only, you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered. —The Library of Christian Doctrine, pages 3, 4. The first precept in the Bible is that of sanctifying the seventh day: 'God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.' Genesis 2:3. This precept was confirmed by God in the Ten Commandments: 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep It holy. ...The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.' Exodus 20: 8, 10. On the other hand, Christ declares that He is not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. (Matthew 5: 17.) He Himself observed the Sabbath: 'And, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.' Luke 4: r6. His disciples likewise observed it after His death: 'They . . . rested the Sabbath day, according to the commandment.' Luke 23: 56. Yet with all this weight of Scripture authority for keeping the Sabbath or seventh day holy, Protestants of all denominations make this a profane day and transfer the obligation of it to the first day of the week, or the Sunday. Now what authority have they for doing this? None at all but the unwritten word, or tradition of the Catholic Church, which declares that the apostle made the change in honour of Christ's resurrection, and the descent of the Holy Ghost on that day of the week. —JOHN MILNER, The End of Religious Controversy, page 71. Sabbath means, of course, Saturday, the seventh day of the week, but the early Christians changed the observance to Sunday, to honour the day on which Christ arose from the dead. —FULTON OURSLER. Cosmopolitan, Sept. 1951, pages 34, 35. I do not pretend to be even an amateur scholar of the Scriptures. I read the Decalogue merely as an average man searching for guidance, and in the immortal 'Ten Words' I find a blueprint for the good life. —Id., page 33. Most certainly the Commandments are needed today, perhaps more than ever before. Their divine message confronts us with a profound moral challenge in an epidemic of evil; a unifying message acceptable alike to Jew, Moslem, and Christian. Who, reading the Ten in the light of history and of current events, can doubt their identity with the eternal law of nature? —Id., page 124. The Sabbath is commanded to be kept on the seventh day. It could not be kept on any other day. To observe the first day of the week or the fourth is not to observe the Sabbath. . . . It was the last day of the week, after six days of work, that was to be kept holy. The observance of no other day would fulfil the law. —H. J. FLOWERS, B.A., B.D., The Permanent Value of the Ten Commandments, page 13. The evaluation of Sunday, the traditionally accepted day of the resurrection of Christ, has varied greatly throughout the centuries of the Christian Era. From time to time it has been confused with the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath. English speaking peoples have been the most consistent in perpetuating the erroneous assumption that the obligation of the fourth commandment has passed over to Sunday. In popular speech, Sunday is frequently, but erroneously, spoken of as the Sabbath. —F. M. SETZLER, Head Curator, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institute, from a letter dated Sept. 1, 1949. He that observes the Sabbath aright holds the history of that which it celebrates to be authentic, and therefore believes in the creation of the first man; in the creation of a fair abode for man in the space of six days; in the primeval and absolute creation of the heavens and the earth, and, as a necessary antecedent to all this, in the Creator, who at the close of His latest creative effort, rested on the seventh day. The Sabbath thus becomes a sign by which the believers in a historical revelation are distinguished from those who have allowed these great facts to fade from their remembrance. —JAMES G. MURPHY, Commentary on the Book of Exodus, comments on Exodus 20: 8-11. MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH The Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. This fourth commandment begins with the word 'remember,' showing that the Sabbath already existed when God wrote the law on the tables of stone at Sinai. How can men claim that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding? —D.L. MOODY, Weighed and Wanting, page 47. I honestly believe that this commandment [the fourth, or Sabbath commandment] is just as binding today as it ever was. I have talked with men who have said that it has been abrogated, but they have never been able to point to any place in the Bible where God repealed it. When Christ was on earth, He did nothing to set it aside; He freed it from the traces under which the scribes and Pharisees had put it, and gave it its true place. 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.' It is just as practicable and as necessary for men today as it ever was-in fact, more than ever, because we live in such an intense age. —Id., page 46. This Fourth is not a commandment for one place, or one time, but for all places and times. —D.L. Moody, at San Francisco, Jan. 1st, 1881. PRESBYTERIAN QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH The Christian Sabbath (Sunday) is not in the Scriptures, and was not by the primitive church called the Sabbath. —Dwight's Theology, Vol. 14, p. 401. A further argument for the perpetuity of the Sabbath we have in Matthew 24:20, Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter neither on the Sabbath day. But the final destruction of Jerusalem was after the Christian dispensation was fully set up (AD 70). Yet it is plainly implied in these words of the Lord that even then Christians were bound to strict observation of the Sabbath. —Works of Jonathon Edwards, (Presby.) Vol. 4, p. 621. We must not imagine that the coming of Christ has freed us from the authority of the law; for it is the eternal rule of a devout and holy life, and must therefore be as unchangeable as the justice of God, which it embraced, is constant and uniform. —JOHN CALVIN, Commentary on a Harmony of the Gospels, Vol. 1, page 277. God instituted the Sabbath at the creation of man, setting apart the seventh day for the purpose, and imposed its observance as a universal and perpetual moral obligation upon the race. —American Presbyterian Board of Publication, Tract No. 175. The observance of the seventh-day Sabbath did not cease till it was abolished after the [Roman] empire became Christian, ... —American Presbyterian Board of Publication, Tract No. 118. The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that not only in regard to the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator who gave it. Neither doth Christ in the gospel in any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation. —Westminster Confession of Faith, Chap. 19, Art. 5. The Sabbath is a part of the Decalogue-the Ten Commandments. This alone for ever settles the question as to the perpetuity of the institution ... Until, therefore, it can be shown that the whole moral law has been repealed, the Sabbath will stand...The teaching of Christ confirms the perpetuity of the Sabbath. —T.C. BLAKE, D.D., Theology Condensed, pages 474, 475. Sunday being the first day of which the Gentiles solemnly adored that planet and called it Sunday, partly from its influence on that day especially, and partly in respect to its divine body (as they conceived it) the Christians thought fit to keep the same day and the same name of it, that they might not appear carelessly peevish, and by that means hinder the conversion of the Gentiles, and bring a greater prejudice that might be otherwise taken against the gospel —T.M. Morer, Dialogues on the Lord's Day There is no word, no hint in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday. The observance of Ash Wednesday, or Lent, stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday. Into the rest of Sunday no Divine Law enters. —Canon Eyton, in The Ten Commandments. Some have tried to build the observance of Sunday upon Apostolic command, whereas the Apostles gave no command on the matter at all.... The truth is, so soon as we appeal to the litera scripta [literal writing] of the Bible, the Sabbatarians have the best of the argument. —The Christian at Work, April 19, 1883, and Jan. 1884 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH The day is now changed from the seventh to the first day ... but as we meet with no Scriptural direction for the change, we may conclude it was done by the authority of the church. —‘Explanation of Catechism’ SOUTHERN BAPTIST QUOTES ABOUT THE SABBATH The sacred name of the Seventh day is Sabbath. This fact is too clear to require argument [Exodus 20:10 quoted]… on this point the plain teaching of the Word has been admitted in all ages… Not once did the disciples apply the Sabbath law to the first day of the week, -- that folly was left for a later age, nor did they pretend that the first day supplanted the seventh. —Joseph Hudson Taylor, ‘The Sabbatic Question’, p. 14-17, 41. The first four commandments set forth man's obligations directly toward God.... But when we keep the first four commandments, we are likely to keep the other six. . . . The fourth commandment sets forth God's claim on man's time and thought.... The six days of labour and the rest on the Sabbath are to be maintained as a witness to God's toil and rest in the creation. . . . No one of the ten words is of merely racial significance.... The Sabbath was established originally (long before Moses) in no special connection with the Hebrews, but as an institution for all mankind, in commemoration of God's rest after the six days of creation. It was designed for all the descendants of Adam. —Adult Quarterly, Southern Baptist Convention series, Aug. 15, 1937. Previous Back to Contents Next Top

All trinity studies Previous Download Next Stephen N. Haskell on the Trinity Stephen N. Haskell on the Trinity More words from one of the founding members of the Seventh day Adventist Church and the truth the Adventist Church was founded on. “The rainbow in the clouds is but a symbol of the rainbow which has encircled the throne from eternity. Back in the ages, which finite mind cannot fathom, the Father and Son were alone in the universe. Christ was the first begotten of the Father, and to Him Jehovah made known the divine plan of Creation. The plan of the creation of worlds was unfolded, together with the order of beings which should people them. Angels, as representatives of one order, would be ministers of the God of the universe. The creation of our own little world, was included in the deep-laid plans. The fall of Lucifer was foreseen; likewise the possibility of the introduction of sin, which would mar the perfection of the divine handiwork. It was then, in those early councils, that Christ's heart of love was touched; and the only begotten Son pledged His life to redeem man, should he yield and fall. Father and Son, surrounded by impenetrable glory, clasped hands. It was in appreciation of this offer, that upon Christ was bestowed creative power, and the everlasting covenant was made; and henceforth Father and Son, with one mind, worked together to complete the work of creation. Sacrifice of self for the good of others was the foundation of it all.” — (S.N. Haskell, The Story of the Seer of Patmos, pp. 93, 94, 1905) “Before the creation of our world, “there was war in heaven.” Christ and the Father covenanted together; and Lucifer, the covering cherub, grew jealous because he was not admitted into the eternal councils of the Two who sat upon the throne.” — (S.N. Haskell, The Story of the Seer of Patmos, pages 217, 1905) "Christ was the firstborn in heaven; He was likewise the firstborn of God upon earth, and heir to the Father's throne. Christ, the firstborn, though the Son of God, was clothed in humanity, and was made perfect through suffering. He took the form of man, and through eternity, He will remain a man.” — (S.N. Haskell, The Story of the Seer of Patmos, pp. 98, 99, 1905) Previous All trinity studies Next Back to top