The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) a few weeks ago reported the resurgence of the controversy over the primacy of the Catholic church over protestant denominations.According to the BBC, the controversy raged among ecclesiastics of both sides of the great divide.
The controversy over the primacy of the Catholic Church over other denominations had raged for centuries but the cauldron after simmering for some time cooled down.
A dispassionate observer will infer that some arguments on the primacy of the Catholic church border on indoctrination passed on from generation to generation while others were fallacies and equivocations which cannot stand the test of the scripture nor historical facts.
It is unfortunate that while both sides exchanged banter over the issue they deliberately ignored or forgot or sidelined the Sabbath whose primacy is unassailable; it was instituted by God, not man as is the case with all other denominations which it predates.
The church was established in the wilderness when the Israelites were going to the Promised Land.
King James version of the Bible calls it church while other versions call it assembly or gathering, congregation or convocation which the Acts of the Apostles substantiates in chapter 7 verse 38, “ This is he (Moses) that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him on mount Sinai, and with our fathers; who received the lively oracles to give to us”.
The church under reference is neither the Catholic church nor any of the Protestant denominations while the oracle is the Decalogue or the ten commandments which enjoins man to “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”, Exodus chapter 20, verse 8.
This is confirmed by Nehemiah 9: 13- 14. It is preposterous for any denomination whether Catholic or any of the protestant churches to lay claim to the church referred to in the Acts of Apostles because such claim is not backed by the Bible nor historical facts.
The church was founded before the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman Empire. It is the Sabbath, which will lay claim to this primacy and any other denomination, which lays any claim to same live in a world of illusion.
A careful study of the Bible will show that more than half of its contents relate to one nation, the Israelites who have a very distinct place in their dealings and counsels with God who gives them specific promises not given to any other nation.
It was through Israel, not Rome, not England, not Germany etc that God gave the ten commandments to guide man to the path of piety.
From the biblical and historical point of view nobody will dispute the primacy and ascendancy of Israel over and above all nations and the same applies to the primacy of the Sabbath.
Jesus Christ was a Sabbatharian. The central figure in Christianity is Jesus Christ who was and still is a sabbatharian. it is discreetly stated of Christ that it was His custom to attend the synagogue on the Sabbath day (Luke 4:16).
Since custom is a way of life, this text proves that Jesus was and still is a sabbatharian and the Bible does not tell us of any other day other than the Sabbath that Jesus worshiped.
Another cast iron evidence is to be found in Luke chapter 6, verse 5 where Jesus says that He is “the Lord of the Sabbath” and I wonder who is the Lord of Sunday.
Only a Sabbatharian, not a Catholic nor a Protestant can be the Lord of the Sabbath.
Every Christian strives to follow Jesus in order to attain eternal life and we can only follow Jesus by keeping his commandments.
The Gospel of St. John, chapter 14, verse 15 quotes Jesus as saying “if ye love me, keep my commandments” which include “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”, the fourth commandment.
After his crucifixion, His disciples, who mere also sabbatharians, were so loyal to His teaching and example to the extent they would not embalm His body on the Sabbath. Instead, they rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandment (Luke 23:56).
Mary the mother of Jesus was a sabbatharian, not a Catholic. One of the feasts of Jehovah as recorded in Leviticus chapter 23 verse 5 is the Passover which was observed by Mary and Joseph every year.
Sabbatharians celebrate the feast in commemoration of the escape of the first born of the Jews from the Angel of Death as the Israelites were about to flee Egypt.
When Jesus Christ was 12 years Mary and Joseph took Him to Jerusalem to observe the Passover after which He stayed back for three days.
“Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures (Acts 17:1-2).
From this quotation it can be inferred that Apostle Paul was a sabbatharian who in order to keep the light shinning wrote the epistles to various churches spread allover Asia and beyond.
Through Paul alone we know that the church is the body of Christ, heavenly in calling, promise and destiny. To help develop the doctrine of the Sabbath church he wrote letters to eight churches in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossi, Thessalonica and Philemon.
He also wrote two letters to Timothy and one to Titus. This he did to help the people to know the nature, purpose and form of organisation of Sabbath churches and the right conducts of such gatherings.
The authorship of the Hebrews had remained in controversy from the earliest times but the point of view is that of Paul and the reference to second Peter chapter 3 verse 15 seems conducive that Paul is the writer, so also is Hebrews 13 verse 23. Thus Paul’s contribution has elevated the Sabbath church to its primacy, which can stand the test of time.
Both Jesus and Paul call upon men and women to love their neighbours as themselves (Matt 22:39; Rom. 13:9) just as each emphasizses the obligation to love and serve the living God whole heartedly (Matt. 22:37, 1 Cor. 10: 14-22).
From their teaching, both hold that Christian freedom is to be structured and directed by the whole law of God, the Decalogue.
We sabbatharians have never been able to find a single text in the Bible suggesting that God or His only son Jesus Christ authorised a change of Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first.
Jesus is not the Lord of Sunday and those who worship on Sundays because He rose from the dead on Sunday should read Matthew 5. 17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfill”.
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”
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