I have never been one who, in the words of Paul, "regards one day above another", but always among those who "regard every day the same".

I should explain that there was never an issue in my mind concerning what day, if any, ought to be so regarded.  The arguments for an "eighth-day" Sabbath, that by His resurrection Jesus moved the Sabbath one day, struck me as completely unsupported in the New Testament, and indeed contrary to what was suggested there.  God's Sabbath was the seventh day, the day on which He rested, and that was still Saturday.  First century Christians worshipped together seven days each week.  In First Corinthians Paul suggests that they collect the offering on the first day of the week, but far from saying that the Sabbath had been moved this text tells us that it had not been:  that phrase in Greek reads "the Sabbath plus one", that is, "the day after the Sabbath", and because Jewish believers were still adhering to the Law they would not have handled money, the instrument of commerce and thus of labor, on the Sabbath, even to contribute it to the support of the church.  The Sabbath was Saturday for anyone who observed the Sabbath.  I, however, was among those who did not.  To me, what mattered was that I found time to fellowship and worship; the day of the week was irrelevant.

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Then God, in His infinite humor, sent me to a Seventh Day Baptist church.  Despite my rather broad exposure to denominational beliefs and practices, I had not even heard of the Seventh Day Baptists prior to discovering this church.  How God arranged this particular assignment is not what this page is intended to address, but this was where God wanted me to be.

In the late Spring/early Summer of 2008, a question arose within the church concerning just exactly how we, as a church, were to observe the Sabbath.  This arose because of some rather practical problems, such as the day gravediggers were using rather noisy heavy equipment in our cemetery during our Saturday morning worship service.  The question of what ought to be permitted in church facilities was the underlying issue, but it stimulated the question of how individuals who claim to respect the Sabbath ought to reflect that respect.

Many of the proposed answers were, for me, uncomfortably legalistic.  However, I knew that there was a valid place for Sabbath-keeping within Christian liberty, and I had a pretty solid idea where to find it.

The following outline was composed to help some in the church think through these issues.  I have decided subsequently that it might be of value to others who do not understand the concept of Sabbath keeping on any day, and so have posted it here for your benefit.

--M. Joseph Young

On Sabbath:  A Perspective

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