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DEFENDING THE BRIDE
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EARLY
WRITERS IN THE CHURCH
This change can also be verified by looking at the testimony of the
early church.
Saint Basil : Letter
93 AD 372
“It Is Good And Beneficial To Communicate Every Day, And To Partake
Of The Holy Body And Blood Of Christ.
For He Distinctly Says, ‘He That Eateth My Flesh And Drinketh My Blood
Hath Eternal Life.’ And Who Doubts That To Share Frequently In Life, Is
The Same Thing As To Have Manifold Life. I, Indeed, Communicate Four
Times A Week, On The Lord's Day, On Wednesday,
On Friday, And On The Sabbath, And On The Other Days If There Is
A Commemoration Of Any Saint”
(To The Patrician Coesaria, Concerning Communion.)
The Didascalia AD 225
“The Apostles Further Appointed: On The First Day
Of The Week Let There Be Service, And The
Reading Of The Holy Scriptures, And The
Oblation, Because On The
First Day Of The Week Our Lord Rose From The
Place Of The Dead, And On The First Day Of The Week He Arose Upon The World, And
On The First Day Of The Week He Ascended Up To Heaven, And On The
First Day Of The Week He Will Appear At Last
With The Angels Of Heaven”
(Chapter 2)
Tertullian : An Answer To The Jews AD 206
“It Follows, Accordingly, That, In So Far As The Abolition Of Carnal
Circumcision And Of The Old Law Is Demonstrated As Having Been Consummated At
Its Specific Times, So Also The Observance Of The
Sabbath Is Demonstrated To Have Been Temporary… He
Predicts Through Isaiah: ‘And There Shall Be,’
He Says, ‘Month After Month, And Day After Day, And Sabbath After Sabbath; And
All Flesh Shall Come To Adore In Jerusalem, Saith The Lord;’ Which We
Understand To Have Been Fulfilled In The Times Of Christ, When ‘All Flesh’--That
Is, Every Nation—‘Came To Adore In Jerusalem’ God The Father, Through Jesus
Christ His Son, As Was Predicted Through The Prophet…But The Jews Are Sure To
Say, That Ever Since This Precept Was Given Through Moses, The Observance Has
Been Binding. Manifest Accordingly It Is, That The Precept Was Not Eternal Nor
Spiritual, But Temporary, Which Would One Day Cease…”
(Chap. 4. Of The Observance Of The Sabbath.)
Justin Martyr : The First Apology AD 155
“…And On The Day Called Sunday, All Who Live
In Cities Or In The Country Gather Together To One Place, And The Memoirs Of The
Apostles Or The Writings Of The Prophets Are Read, As Long As Time Permits;
Then, When The Reader Has Ceased, The President Verbally Instructs, And Exhorts
To The Imitation Of These Good Things. Then We All Rise Together And Pray, And,
As We Before Said, When Our Prayer Is Ended, Bread And Wine And Water Are
Brought, And The President In Like Manner Offers Prayers And Thanksgivings,
According To His Ability, And The People Assent, Saying Amen; And There Is A
Distribution To Each, And A Participation Of That Over Which Thanks Have Been
Given (Eucharistic Elements)... And They Who Are Well To Do, And Willing, Give
What Each Thinks Fit; And What Is Collected Is Deposited With The President, Who
Succours The Orphans And Widows And Those Who, Through Sickness Or Any Other
Cause, Are In Want, … And In A Word Takes Care Of All Who Are In Need. But
Sunday Is The Day On Which We All Hold Our Common
Assembly, Because It Is The First Day On Which God, Having Wrought A Change In
The Darkness And Matter, Made The World; And Jesus Christ Our Saviour On The
Same Day Rose From The Dead. For He Was Crucified On The Day Before That
Of Saturn (Saturday); And On The Day After That Of Saturn, Which Is The Day Of
The Sun, Having Appeared To His Apostles And Disciples, He Taught Them These
Things, Which We Have Submitted To You Also For Your Consideration.”
(Chap. 67 Weekly Worship Of The Christians)
The Epistle Of Ignatius To The Magnesians AD
107
“Be Not Deceived With Strange Doctrines, Nor With
Old Fables, Which Are Unprofitable. For If We Still Live According To The Jewish
Law, We Acknowledge That We Have Not Received Grace… If, Therefore,
Those Who Were Brought Up In The Ancient Order Of Things Have Come To The
Possession Of A New Hope, No Longer Observing The
Sabbath, But Living In The Observance Of The
Lord's Day, On Which Also Our Life Has Sprung Up Again By Him And By His
Death…”
(Chap. 8:1 - 9:2 Caution Against False
Doctrines)
The Didache (Teaching Of The Twelve
Apostles) AD 70
“But every Lord’s day gather yourselves
together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving
after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But
let no one who is at odds with his fellow come together with you, until they be
reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was
spoken by the Lord: ‘In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I
am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations.’ ”
(The Lord’s Teaching Through The Twelve Apostles To The Nations
Chapter 14:1 - 5. Christian Assembly On The Lord’s Day)
THE KEYS
We look to the Bible for the understanding of the keys and what Jesus was referring to. The keys refer to the passage from Isaiah 22.
Isaiah 22:15-25
15 "Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, "Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him:What have you to do here and whom have you here, that you have hewn here a tomb for yourself, you who hew a tomb on the height, and carve a habitation for yourself in the rock? Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you, and whirl you round and round, and throw you like a ball into a wide land; there you shall die, and there shall be your splendid chariots, you shame of your master’s house.
19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be cast down from your station. In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house. And they will hang on him the whole weight of his father’s house, the offspring and issue,
every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a sure place will give way; and it will be cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken."
Isaiah 36:1-3
"In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah... there came out
to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna
the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder."
RSV
The key of the house of David implies succession because King David
had been dead for hundreds of years at the time of King Hezekiah’s rule.
Just as the king had a successor so did the head of the household, the
master of the palace, or in today’s language the ‘prime minister" or even
better "the king’s regent", "viceroy", or "vicar" since he had absolute
authority under the king. His office was one of being a father
to the people.
END
Sabbath Article Index
1. JESUS’ AUTHORITY:
2. PURPOSE AND MEANING:
3. BETTER SEVENTH DAY PREFIGURED: and TYPES:
4. TWO ASPECTS:
5. COVENANT:
6. FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK:
7. CHRIST HONORS THE FIRST DAY:
8. NEW CREATION:
9. EARLY WRITERS of the Church
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