THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 5, NUMBER 3, JANUARY 23, 2005

UPON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK

PART 7

            This is the final installment of this series.  I have received a few favorable comments about it and those were truly appreciated.  It has helped me in getting ready for the presentation of it in Florida in February.

            In His Dialogue with Trypho, Justin makes a very interesting statement.  While it does not address the regular first day of the week assembly of the saints, it does show that the early church did not require Sabbath-keeping.  He wrote, “Is there any other matter, my friends, in which we are blamed, than this, that we live not after the law, and are not circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers were, and do not observe Sabbaths as you do” (10:1-3)?

            A little less than two hundred years later we find Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, writing about the beliefs of certain heretics called Ebionites, (ebion meaning poor in Hebrew).  He wrote:

            “These, indeed, thought on the one hand that all the epistles of the apostles ought to be rejected, calling him an apostate from the law, but on the other, only using the gospel according to the Hebrews, they esteem the others as of but little value.  They also observe the Sabbath and other disciplines of the Jews, just like them, but on the other hand, they also celebrate the Lord’s day very much like us, in commemoration of his resurrection.  Whence, in consequence of such a course, they have also received their epithet, the name of Ebionites, exhibiting the poverty of their intellect.  For it is thus that the Hebrews call a poor man (27; 113).

            It is clear that the claims of the sabbatarians for continued Sabbath-keeping are indefensible.  All of the evidence indicates that those who were members of the body of Christ met regularly upon the first day of the week and not on the Sabbath day.  This was the practice taught by the apostles and embraced by faithful children of God long before there was such a thing as the Roman Catholic Church.  Let us all continue to embrace the first day of the week as the time for coming together in true worship.

                                                            Greg Litmer

SET FOR THE DEFENSE

            Last weekend I held a meeting at the St. Leon congregation that I had committed to quite some time ago.  The subject of the meeting was Roman Catholicism, and the congregation did quite a bit of advertising in three different local newspapers.  The brethren received several phone calls of the “how dare you” nature, and three Catholic visitors.  Each lesson was followed by an opportunity for any one present to ask questions.

            On Sunday morning a woman and her daughter attended.  They were Roman Catholics and the woman came “set for the defense” of her beliefs.  It took a great deal of courage for her to come to the services and to take advantage of the opportunity to question me about the things that I had said.  She was well read, articulate, and passionate in her beliefs.  She did not hesitate to express her disagreement, and frankly, I appreciate someone who has conviction enough to stand up and be heard.

            As I spoke to that woman, I could not help but to think about Peter’s statement in 1 Peter 3:15.  He wrote, “But sanctify   the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in your with meekness and fear.”  This woman did not have the truth, but she was willing to stand and give an answer for why she believed what she believed.  Ultimately, as it always seems to, it came down to her testifying to how she “felt” and absolutely no scripture, but I admired her anyway.

            I am reminded of Paul’s words in Philippians chapter 1.  In verse 7, he wrote, “Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel,  ye all are partakers of my grace.”  Down in verses 15-17, we find, “Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: the one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel.”

            I wonder if we would all be willing to stand up in defense of the simple truth of the gospel.  If we would all be willing to “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2).   Oftentimes it seems that it is those who are in error who are the most willing to defend what they believe.  It is my fervent prayer that any and all of us, given the opportunity, would stand up for the truth with as much courage as was displayed by the woman who came to St. Leon and was so steeped in the man-made doctrines of Roman Catholicism. 

                                                            Greg Litmer