Sabbath in the Bible – Biblical Sabbath KJV
And the only way you could tell whether they were law-keepers and bitterly deny the resurrection, or whether they was Christians and believed the resurrection, one went to church on Saturday and one went to church on Sunday, which was a mark between them.
Would you explain Sunday is the first day of the week and Saturday is the seventh day? Christians go to church on Sunday, the first day of the week. Shouldn’t they go on Saturday, the seventh day of the week?
127 Well, now, dear friend, ever who asked that, that’s a very good question. It’s an old question that’s been argued among thousands of students today, but could I, you just let me give my version, you see, is all I can do. And if I’m not right, well, you-you bear with me, and God forgive me, you see, if-if I make it wrong.
128 Now, as far as a law… Now, it’s probably a Seventh-day Adventist person sitting here. That was my first study, was Seventh-day Advent. That’s right. Was Seventh-day Adventist, what I studied first. And when they come and told me that “the Saturday was the seventh day,” brother, that was according to the Jewish calendar. And the Roman calendar didn’t fix it up, and Saturday really was to be Sunday. Well, they had me sold on something that I thought was right. And as long as I was reading their literature I was right in for it, a hundred percent, but one day I got a hold of a Bible and I seen that was different then. See?
129 Now, Saturday is the sabbath day according to the cycle of the week. Now, we don’t know. It’s been changed, and we’ve got so many changes you’d never know just which was. See? Because we… Now, the Jews claim that we’re just about… it’s right now about 1970 something, according to their cycle, their calendar. The Roman calendar takes it 1953. And they had another calendar that takes it somewhere else. But that’s what makes it proof of Christianity, it’s all based back to the birth of Christ. You see, that’s where we take it.
130 Now, but now as a seventh day, now, there’s a lot of Pentecostal people that’s sabbath-sabbath sabbatarians, keeps the Saturday sabbath. Now, they say, “There is no Word in the Bible for you to keep Satur-… Sunday as a day.” Now, I’ll say the same thing about the sabbath in the New Testament. See? Now, Saturday was the sabbath day that was given to the Jews. Now, it was only given in a space.
131 Now, this may raise another question to fire back at it. But, now notice. When God rested on the seventh day, then the seventh day was not observed, as-as far as I know into the Scripture, on until nearly fifteen hundred years. And in the wilderness, God gave Israel the seventh day for a sign between… God.
132 And God rested the seventh day, His memorial rest day. I’m saying that like that on the benefit of this might be a-a Seventh-day Adventist brother or sister, see, and they have a lovely church. And now notice, I just would differen with them a little bit on-on this question.
133 Now, God hallowed the seventh day. Six days was man. Seventh day was God’s rest day, which was a type, a type of the Millennium. Now, now notice this, how-how it blends in. Now when Jesus came to the earth, what crucified Jesus was that He didn’t keep the sabbath day; the only two accusations they had against Jesus was that “He broke the sabbath day, and made Himself God.” And He said He was Lord of the sabbath. He had… He was also God’s Sabbath, and He was God. So they had no way of accusing Him.
134 Now, let me just settle this for you and show you what day we’re to keep. Now, is there a Scripture? I’ll ask this for your benefit:
Is there a Scripture, Brother Branham, telling us and authorizing us to keep Sunday just like the Jews kept Saturday?
135 No, sir, there is not. Not a Scripture in the Bible, for in theNew Testament, for us to keep either Saturday or Sunday. But the reason we keep Sunday, is a memorial of the resurrection. Nothing…
136 Now, you’re going to say, “The Roman Catholic did that.” They claim they did it, but if they did, Saint Paul was a Roman Catholic, and so was Peter, John, and James, and the rest of them, for they met on the first day of the week for their worship. And, according to historians, the only way they could tell between a Christian Jew and an orthodox Jew (they both went to synagogues), but one went on Saturday (which denied the resurrection of Jesus), and the other one went on Sunday (which believed that Jesus rose from the dead). And that was a mark. And it’ll be, it’s a mark yet, and it might come out in being the mark of the beast.
137 Now, I know that the, our dear Seventh-day Adventist brethren think that that’s the Seal of God. They said, “You’re sealed by keeping the sabbath.” There’s not a Scripture in the Bible says that.
138 And here’s a Scripture in the Bible that says that-that you’re sealed, Ephesians 4:30, said, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of your redemption,” the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
139 Now I’ll prove to you that God’s Seal is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. See? That’s the baptism of the Spirit, is the Seal of God. Now, Isaiah 28, he said, “Precept must be upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little.”
140 Now watch, now, dear friend. Now, the people who quit working… See, men are trying to find something to save hisself. There’s not a thing you can do about it. You’re saved by grace. God does the calling, God does the saving. You just follow the-the footsteps of God, that’s all. You can’t say. That’s what’s the nature of a man is. They try to quit eating meat, they try to keep sabbath days, they try to… “If you’d quit doing this.” It’s… You’re not saved by not eating meat.
You’re not saved by this, that, or the other, You’re saved by grace! And God, by grace, gives you the new, Eternal Life. See what I mean? And Eternal Life is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
141 Now let me show you. What does the word sabbath mean? Anybody know, will just raise your hand? Sabbath? [A sister says, “Rest.”-Ed.] Rest. Exactly. S-a-b-b-a-t-h, sabbath day, means “r-e-s-t,” rest day. Get your marginal reading in the Bible and look, “Rest” day. Now let’s go to Hebrews, the 4th chapter, right quick now. And we’ll…
142 This-this is my last question right here. And, brother, see if Brother Neville has got them there. I know a couple of them is short ones, so we won’t keep you too much longer. Now, excuse me while I get them.
143 Now, when you see the word here, rest, then you know that means “sabbath.”
144 Now, here’s the New Testament. Jesus, in Saint Matthew, He begin at the 5th chapter of Saint Matthew, and He begin like this: “You have heard them say, them of old time, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’” That, what was that? The law, commandments. “But I say unto you, that, whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her.” Changed it, didn’t He? “You’ve heard them say, them of old time, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ but I say unto you!” Changed it, didn’t He? (Thought He didn’t change the law?) All right. He said, “But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause has killed already.” That never was back under the Old Testament, that’s New Testament. He just swept along in yonder beyond that. See? He went ahead and give those commandments out, but He missed, He skipped the fourth one, which is the seventh day. Now in the 7th chapter, where He…
145 In the Beatitudes, here’s what He said, He said, “You’ve heard them say, them of old time, ‘Thou shalt, and thou shalt not,’ and I say unto you different. You’ve heard them say, ‘A tooth for a tooth, and an eye for an eye,’ but I say unto you! You heard them say different, but I say unto you!”
146 Now, at the end of it all, He left out the fourth commandment. Now, that was, “Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.” Now He said:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest unto your soul.
147 Now watch, “Whosoever commits adultery must be stoned,” they had to be right in the act of committing adultery. Is that right? And it had to be physically done. “Whosoever kills,” he had to be a murderer.
148 But Jesus said, “Whosoever looketh upon a woman,” his soul, spirit, nothing in his body now. His soul’s redeemed, it wasn’t then; it was a schoolmaster, see, the law was. Now He said, “Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery already with her in his heart.” Now He said, “You’ve heard them say, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ but I say whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause has killed already.”
149 Now He said, in other words, about the sabbath, He said: Come to me, all ye that labour and… heavy laden, and I will give you rest unto your souls, sabbath unto your souls. (Not to the physical body, to your soul.)
150 Now, listen-listen at Paul now. If you can just… I know it’s hot and everything, it’s hot up here, too. But, now, let’s get this close now so we’ll be sure to settle it. Now, Paul, writing to the Hebrews. Who was the Hebrews? Speak up. The Jews. Is that right? Now, them was the law-keepers, the sabbath-keepers. Is that right? Is that right, brother, preacher? They were sabbath-keepers, they was the law-keepers. All right.
151 Now, Paul is bringing the Jews, by shadows and type, showing what the law typed, “The law having a shadow of the good things to come,” and he goes ahead and gives it there in one place as the moon and the sun. As the-the-the moon is just a shadow of the sun shining on some other country or some other world, and it’s reflecting back here. Now, but now, and it could not, the… Hebrews 9.
152 Now, notice now in Hebrews 4, he comes to the Sabbath proposition. Now look:
Let us therefore fear, lest, the promise being left us to enter into his rest,…
153 Now, Paul speaking to sabbath peoples now, the people that kept the sabbath day. “Let us fear lest a promise being left us about a sabbath day,” in other words. Or if you’ll notice your marginal reading, or the “keeping of a sabbath.” It’s “j” in mine, off the Scofield Bible, or the “keeping of a sabbath.” See? All right.
Let us… fear, lest, a promise being left us… to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them (back under the law): but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith to them that heard it.
154 Now, that’s back under the law. They didn’t have faith,’cause there’s nothing to base it on. See? All right:
For we which have believed to enter into His rest, as he said,…
155 Now, “His” rest. Now, “His,” it’s Christ’s Rest. All right, His Rest, His “sabbath.” And every time I’ll use rest, is wrote there, I’m going to use the “sabbath” so you’ll understand about keeping of a day. See?
For we which have believed to enter into His sabbath, rest, as he said,… I have sworn in my wrath, (to the Hebrews) they shall not enter into my rest: although… (Now, watch Paul go make it God’s sanctified day)… although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day for a rest, or a sabbath… (Is that right? I’m going to lay that there, see.)
For he spake in a certain place (in the law) of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest on the seventh day from all his works.
156 There’s your seventh day. Now, Paul would admit that God give it to them, that was the seventh day. And God did rest the seventh day, He blessed the sabbath day, He hallowed it, and He sanctified it, and made it a day of rest. God did do it, from all His works.
And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. (Jesus speaking.)
157 Now, there’s another sabbath somewhere. Where is it? Now, remember this here, “God’s rest,” that seventh day. Paul said, “They had that in a certain place.” But now again he said, “If they shall enter into My Rest,” speaking of Jesus in Matthew alright.
Seeing that it remains that some must enter in, and to them to whom it was first preached entered not… because of unbelief: Again,…
158 Now listen close! Everybody listening, say “Amen!” [Congregation says, “Amen!”-Ed.] Listen: Again, he limiteth a certain day,…
159 He limited a day here. What was it? Everybody say it at once. The sabbath! Is that right? He limited the seventh day of the week as a sabbath in this place.
And again, he limited a certain day, saying in David (in the Psalms), To day, after so long a time; (till Jesus comes, you see, the first time)… it is said, To day if you… hear his voice, harden not your heart. (there’s another rest coming; not a physical, a spiritual)
160 Now, watch. Oh, you say, “When we have the seventh day, too.” Now, hold it just a minute. Let’s read the next verse, see, don’t get it too fast. All right:
For if Jesus had have given them… For if-if Jesus had have given them rest, rest day, then would he not afterwards have spoken of another day.
161 When He changed the law, from the law to the grace, wouldn’t He have given them a day to rest, a rest day, a certain day? But He never said nothing about the sabbath. He never
said nothing about Sunday, He never said nothing about Saturday. But here’s what He did say, Paul said. Now watch, “There… ” The 19th… or the 9th verse:
There remaineth therefore a sabbath to the people of God. (That’s today!)… There remains… a sabbath to the people of God.
For he (you or I) who has entered into his rest (Jesus’ Rest, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, I’ll give you Rest”), he (you or I) has ceased from his own work, as God did from his at the beginning.
162 Amen! There’s your sabbath. Is that right?
Let us labour… (said Paul)… to enter into that rest, lest any man should fall after the same example of unbelief (of days and so forth, see).
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even… the dividing asunder of the soul… and a discerner of the… and of… (let’s see)… of the spirit, and of the… (just a minute)… dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, and… the joints and the marrow, and… a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.
Neither is there any creature… is not manifested in his sight: for all things are naked and open before His eye of him in whom we have to do.
163 Now, look, God rested the seventh day, created the seventh day, give it to the Jews for a memorial. I’m speaking of Saint Paul now, see, here. Now, you think he was bringing It? Do you think he had a right? Now, what’d he say in Galatians 1:8? “If an angel from Heaven would come and teach you any other Gospel than that what I have said, let him be unto you accursed.” See, the gospels are plain. Now, watch.
164 “Well, Brother Branham, now what would I do, just believe Jesus Christ?” No. That’s not the Rest.
165 Now, if you want to know what… How many would like to know what the Christian Rest is, say “Amen.” [Congregation says, “Amen!”-Ed.] Now, you can mark it if you want to, Isaiah 28. He said, “Precept must be upon precept-precept,” speaking. “Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little, and hold fast to that what’s good.” The prophet speaking of the time coming, about Rest, sabbath. Read the whole chapter, see, he’s saying, “Times there when the Sabbath day will be done away,” and they’ll sell shoes on the Saturday the same as they did it on Monday, or whatevermore. You see? Said, “When will this time be?” Said:
… precept upon precept;… line upon line; here a little, and there a little: hold fast to that what’s good. For with stammering lips and with other tongues will I speak to this people.
… And this is the sabbath, the rest that I said that they should enter into. And for all of This they hardened their hearts and wagged their heads and rejected It. (Just the same thing they did on Pentecost when the Holy Ghost fell upon the people, and the Holy Ghost was first given to the people back there on the Day of Pentecost. That is the Rest, the sabbath to the people of God.)…
166 So the only reason that we keep Sunday, started by our ancient fathers of the Bible, Saint Paul, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and all them, they went from house to house, they taken communion on the first day of the week when the disciples come together, and it was called, not a sabbath, but the Lord’s day.
167 John said, on the Isle of Patmos, had already been officially established in the church, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” That’s right. See? And then he saw…
168 And-and, now, the Lord’s day is-is the day that the Lord arose. Now, you go get the historian, Josephus, Actibus [Uncertain spelling-Ed.], many of those other. Or not Actibus, oh, I can’t… Any of their ancient writers, and you’ll find out back there. The historians of the church, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, many others, and you’ll find out there that the only difference… They are a group of Jews. One of them they called “cannibals,” that was the Christians. They said, “There was a man that Pontius Pilate killed and the disciples come and stole His body. And they got it hid, and every-every Sunday they go eat a part of it.” They was taking communion, you see. They just… They was taking His body, you see. They said they was taking the Lord’s body, the communion. And they didn’t know what it was, and he said, “They were cannibals.” Said, “They go eat on the first day of the week, they meet together and eat this man’s body.”
169 And the only way you could tell whether they were law-keepers and bitterly deny the resurrection, or whether they was Christians and believed the resurrection, one went to church on Saturday and one went to church on Sunday, which was a mark between them.
170 That’s pretty strong, isn’t it? All right. Hope that gets it. The Holy Ghost is…
171 Now, you got something there, brother? You want… Do you want-do you want to go up and answer it? Let’s see, right here. Oh, yes.
