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Pagan
Easter
[“Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing?”
Job 14:4]
By EVANGELIST Lawrence B. Brunk
1968
My prayer— Dear Lord, I come to you in the name of our Saviour, Jesus. It is with a deep sense of responsibility that I put into print some facts that may not be kindly received. Aware of my limited ability to present these things in the most effective way, I ask for Your guidance that the truth may pass clearly from my heart to my readers. I also ask that the minds and hearts of all who read these words will receive them with careful and prayerful consideration And Lord, please forgive us for the years that we permitted these pagan intrusions into our own lives. May the name of Jesus be glorified. Amen.
- L. B. Brunk
Pagan Easter
It was not until the years of my adult ministry that I became aware of some of our Christian observances that were spotted with paganism. But that was about 60 years ago. (Mama and I are both past 81 now.) Searching into these matters over the years, we discovered that we were more pagan than we knew! The subject of our concern at that time was about “Christmans” (the mass of Christ). During, and after the years of our large tent meetings in the early 1950’s, I wrote a booklet on the subject and called it “Baalmas.” We have made the third printing, which is now available. In the sixteen years since my first printing of the “Baalmas” booklet I have not had one sincere person to challenge me with reasonable objection to it. NOW TO THE SUBJECT OF EASTER It is not my intention to attempt to prove the resurrection of Christ, because that is so well covered in the Scriptures. No one will ever enter heaven without believing and experiencing the resurrection power of Christ in the heart! The resurrection of Jesus is a fact not a myth. The burden of this message is to speak out against the common belief and practice of associating pagan Easter with the sacred event of the resurrection! Especially is this true when so many Christian professing people think they are honoring the Lord by so doing. EASTER IS A PAGAN WORD Ask the next fifty people that you meet about the resurrection of Jesus and they will without question engage pagan Easter. Ask them if they realize that Easter is a pagan festival day and most will admit that they never heard of such a thing. Here is an example of some experiences that I have had over the years to open a conversation on the subject. I have waited and searched now for many years to hear a sermon or talk to a minister in our circle of preachers, but it seems to be a “no no” thing to talk about! Here is an example. Some years ago, I spoke to a preacher friend of mine while working with him in a revival. I expressed my concern about this Easter thing. He was jolted! He spoke quite rashly to me as though he thought I had lost my moorings! He said, “Why brother, don’t you know that Easter is in the Bible?” I said, “Sure I know that Easter is in the Bible, and so are sin and devil and hell and they all belong in the same class.” This was too much of a shock for him. He had graduated from his church Bible college and had served on the mission field for a number of years, and felt that he was a well-established soul in the affairs of the Kingdom. So, dear soul, don’t be shaken when you receive that kind of welcome! There are “big time preachers with degrees on the wall” that will tell you that the resurrection of Jesus was “The First Easter.” If they do know better, they are wrong when they say it! So, do like the Bible says. “Prove all things and hold fast to that which is good.” I Thessalonians 5:21. Amen. Don’t be discouraged when some try to turn off the conversation. Years ago, when I wrote my “Baalmas” booklet, many of my friends and relatives gave me the SILENT treatment! But then there have been many others who have given me thanks and congratulations for the truth and the courage to have it printed. I trust that this booklet will be appreciated as well! ORIGIN OF EASTER Somewhere back in the early centuries people began to associate pagan names, gods, festivals and heavenly bodies like the sun, moon, and stars and even mix them up with Bible events. That’s what they did with the pagan festival of December 25th when the Roman Church declared it the birthday of Jesus. Now the same thing is done by declaring old pagan Easter as the resurrection of Christ! Easter has no relation to God or the Bible; it is only a heathen pagan name! Because the word appears in the Bible does not make it a good name. Easter, in our language, is the word for “ISHTOR”, the name of a Babylonian goddess centuries before the time of Christ. It is a pagan festival time! The history of Easter maybe found in various books and encyclopedias. Some of the references that I use are from the book “The Two Babylons” by Hislop. He well states the case of how the Roman Catholic Church plotted the idea of mixing the old pagan festivals and idol doings by giving them Christian terms. “To consolidate the pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian events and pagan festivals amalgamated, and by a complicated but skillful adjustment of the calendar it was found no difficult matter. To get paganism and Christianity, now far sunk in idolatry in this as in many other things, to shake hands was no difficult matter.” Pagan things like Xmas and Easter got mixed up in the Gospel story. FACTS ABOUT EASTER
What nonsense is all this foolishness! [The following article titled “Easter or Ishtar?” did not appear in Mr. Brunk’s original booklet. Because it provides additional detailed information, the publisher felt it appropriate to include it in this work. “The word Easter appears once in the King James version of the Bible. Herod has put Peter in prison, "intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people" (Acts 12:4). Yet in the original Greek text the word is not Easter, but Pesach, that is Passover. So why was the name changed? Please read on, and remember Exodus 34:14; For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. "Asherah" the Greek form of this word from the Septuagint is "Astarte", who is the Babylonian goddess of the sea, sea being symbolic of people, and consort of the god El. She was the mother of several gods, including Ba'al, the Babylonian god of the sun. These deities were soon adopted by the Canaanites when they named these female deities the Asherah or Asherim. These deities were made of wood carved from a type of evergreen tree, or often they were set up in Canaanite homes as full trees cut down from a forest. The Asherim normally were highly acknowledged during two specific occasions. First and foremost, they were the fertility gods of the spring equinox, when the days and nights were approximately the same in length, signifying the beginning of living things growing for the summer season. A very common practice in the Canaanite religion was performed on the first Sunday of the equinox. The families would face east to await the rising of the sun, which was the chief symbol of the sun god, Ba'al. Later on during the day, the children of the Canaanite parents would often go and hunt for eggs, which were symbolic of sex, fertility and new life. It was believed that these eggs came from rabbits, which in the pagan world were symbolic of lust, sexual prowess and reproduction. The Canaanites, however, were not the only ones who worshiped rabbits as deities. The Egyptians and the Persians (Babylon) also held rabbits in high esteem because they believed that rabbits first came from the divine Phoenix birds, who once ruled the ancient skies until they were attacked by other gods in a power struggle. When they were struck down, they reincarnated into rabbits, but kept the ability to produce eggs like the ancient birds to show their origins. Other stories concerning the egg rose later in the Middle Ages by the Anglo-Saxons, where they believed the origin of the Universe had the earth being hatched out of an enormous egg. Decorating eggs came about to honor their pagan gods and were often presented as gifts to other families to bring them fertility and sexual success during the coming year. And secondly, they were highly worshiped and celebrated during the winter solstice. As according to Jer. 10:1-5; Is. 40:19-20; 41:7 and 44:9-20, the pagans would go out into the forest and do one of two things. Either they chopped down a tree and carved a female deity out of it, or they would simply bring the tree into the house and decorate it with gold and silver ornaments symbolizing the sun and the moon while nailing a stand on the bottom so it would not totter or tip over. Out of this practice came many other variations of these pagan festivals until the Roman Catholic Church adopted the Asherah worship and named it EASTER around 155 A.D. According to the CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, Easter was named after a pagan goddess of the Anglo-Saxons named Eostre, the goddess of the dawn. A great controversy arose between the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church in 325 A.D. on whether to celebrate Easter on Sundays or on whatever day the Jewish Passover fell upon. Unfortunately, the Greeks lost a lot of followers and the Catholics contended that keeping Easter on Sundays would stimulate the practices of both the Christian world and the pagan worshipers. Note that the word CATHOLIC means "universal" or "one world" in thought, concept and practice. Hence, since the original practice of Asherah worship we now have in our time the celebration of Easter, a counterfeit holiday to the true Christian festival of the Passover which was instituted in the Bible and completed in the New Testament when Christ died on the cross as our Passover Lamb."...For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us." I Corinthians 5:7”. ] [From an article titled “Easter or Ishtar” by Al Perez.] THE BIG LIE
Honor and truth and manhood, This pagan stuff is continually changing as different people and nations change their different whims about things. Recently I saw where there is a move to go to the snow top mountains for their sunrise service instead of the seashore. Preachers’ voices, like Billy Graham and James Kennedy, that go around the world telling the people that the resurrection was the first Easter, are a serious disservice to the honor and sacredness of the Gospel! Most teachers and preachers prefer to evade controversial subjects; especially is this true where finances or popularity are concerned. The Xmas and Easter subject is so universally accepted that few preachers will dare to touch the “Sacred Cow”! We Protestants cry about the crimes of the Catholic Church over the past centuries, and the pagan systems that were welcomed into a mystical cruel religion. This pagan nonsense was brought into the Christian Church by the Roman Catholic System. By attaching Bible incidents to pagan nonsense, the pagans brought their ages-old festivals with them, and that is exactly how we got Easter and Xmas! Thank God there are a few preachers and writers who will be true to the Lord and His word! I want to be one of them! But listen to me now. Since we regret that so much evil has come to the Christian church from the pagans through the Roman system, I believe that we are just as guilty as they, if we participate in their practices! I am looking at a picture on my desk of the pope standing by a giant chocolate Easter egg weighing 110lbs and over six feet long! The picture doesn’t show the rabbit, nor the strong drink. If all of that would be shown in comparable size and amount, I would estimate that there would be a rabbit weighing around 1200 lbs. (the size of a big steer) and about 110 feet long, plus about 120 bottles of wine or liquor! That would be a sure nuff Easter to go along with that big egg and the pope’s blessing! About fifty years ago I was preaching a revival in a big city where the one side of the building almost joined the back of a Roman Catholic building. While we were having service, they were having a high time drinking EASTER party and all that goes with it! Here is where I began to open my eyes on the subject. MARDI GRAS example of EASTER The annual Marti Gras (fat Tuesday) in New Orleans is a popular place of lust and entertainment. It has the blessing of the Roman Catholic system! Upon passing through this area a few years ago, I had occasion to visit some of the people who were there. What a mob it was! With all of the sin and drunkenness and ungodliness there was the religious slant to make it ok for Christians (?). Observe Lent and confess sins to the priest until next time! One man observing Lent was fasting. That meant to do without two things that were liked the most, for one day. In his case, he was doing without ice cream and tobacco for that day! Bare breasted (and worse) women publicly exposing themselves to attract whoever was interested. We did not see this mess, but they told us about it. Even now, professing Christians attend this place for entertainment and lust! All under the blessing of the Roman Catholic Church! Now what do you think about naming your Church group the Mardi Gras Fellowship Church? But that is what we do when we refer to Easter as the resurrection of Jesus Christ! It would not surprise me if someday they declared Mardi Gras as a time of an old-fashioned revival, and many professing Christian people would attend! THINGS CHANGE FAST Less than two hundred years ago it was a Federal offense in the USA to participate in any way with the Xmas thing. Anyone violating that law was subject to a fine or a prison sentence! Look what a mess we have now. Recently I spoke to a Bible college President about my “Baalmas” booklet. He had read it and didn’t like it. Showing his ignorance, he said that Christmas was started by the Church and he was not going to abandon it to the world, and then left in a hurry. Remember THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD HIM GUILTLESS THAT TAKES HIS NAME IN VAIN. There is no real MASS of Christ. The Catholic system has been the most responsible for this violation. ROMAN CATHOLIC ERRORS
I hear someone say, “Well, I still believe in the Easter resurrection unless you can show me in the Bible where it is wrong.” TO THE BIBLE WE GO We find this Scripture in Acts 12:1-4 in the King James Bible. Most of us grew up with this version, and I still like it the best. This is the only place in the Bible where Easter is used. This was the time for the annual feast of the Jewish Passover. It was also the time for the pagan Easter festival that we have been discussing. Herod had killed James, and seeing that it had pleased the Jews, he decided then to kill Peter also (vv. 2, 3). Herod apparently wanted to make political hay about all of this, so he held Peter in prison until both the Passover and the Easter festival were over (v.4). In the meantime, God sent the Angel to deliver Peter. What glorious account! We all know that the Passover was the remembrance of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. Now, here is where the problem begins. Many people do not know that the Easter festival is a pagan word from pagan nonsense thousands of years before Christ was born! The festival of Easter was never observed by Christians; that was only for heathen pagans! Most of my writing was to make this clear. Also, an important fact to remember is that the New King James version does not use the word Easter, but uses Passover instead. I have about a dozen versions and all of them use Passover instead of Easter. Even the Catholic Bible now uses Passover. The word Easter has no place in the talk, preaching, or writing, about the resurrection of Christ! In fact there is no reference at all in this chapter of Acts 12 of either the crucifixion or the resurrection of Christ. The Passover was, of course, the annual Jewish celebration of their deliverance from Egypt. And Easter was only a pagan festival that had nothing to do with Christian affairs. This was the trick that the Roman Church pulled on us when they offered the pagans to accept their Easter as the resurrection if they would come into their Church! Thus, the word Easter became the household word for the resurrection of Christ, and the pagan observances were brought into our Christian homes as a part of our intended honor of the resurrection! We teach these pagan things to our children, and they to their children, until we have a full-fledged pagan system in the home and Church! In visiting an older friend of mine who spent most of his religious life teaching Bible classes and preaching, I asked him if he knew that Easter was a pagan word. His answer was, “I don’t know about that, but I do believe in the resurrection.” Nothing was said before or after on the subject, but again, this shows how these pagan powers have permanently molded our lives. It will take nothing less than the Lord’s help to wash this pagan nonsense from our minds. This can only be done by a sincere, dedicated and willing person to follow the Lord, and to face the fun making of the “don’t care” crowd. Some of these may be your close friends and relatives! Otherwise, the only choice is to follow along with the world system, and help to hasten along the crazy pagan program and ensnare the generation to follow. Mama and I have shaken off completely the pagan Easter and Xmas bondage, and would never give a thought to going back to that pagan bondage again!!! Much of the activity around the Xmas and Easter doings is designed to attract the children also. Unless this fact is realized and properly taken care of while the children are young, we may as well consider them another contribution to the pagan cause! It amounts to what Israel did to their babies when they threw them in the fire as an offering to Baal. Whatever we do, should be done now. For many parents, it is already too late! God forgive those who were sleeping while the gods of paganism, with the help of an apostate Church, flooded our minds and homes with their nonsense! THE END IS NOT YET The worst is yet to come! This pagan machine, operating through an apostate Church, has not gone out of business. From the first centuries, when the Christians were destroyed by the tens of thousands by the pagan rulers and continued through the dark ages until this present time, paganism will ever be the same. The prophets and the apostles, and the faithful men of God today, have the same battle with paganism. The Christians who suffered, were tortured and murdered by the Roman Catholic Church, are only a short memory in the book of records! The smoke of Christians burning at the stake, and the smoke from the fires of burning Bibles linger on the horizon, not so easy to forget! Xmas, and Easter, and Halloween, are just a few more steps of the pagan machine. Below is a brief mention of a few of those steps in the past centuries. ROMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINES A.D.
When I visited the great Cathedral in Rome, I was deeply impressed as I observed the statue of St. Peter, and lines of people kissing the foot of pagan systemthe statue until it was [had] worn smooth. While Peter is one of my favorite Bible characters, I had no urge to kiss the foot of that pagan rock statue! Around the year 1200 A.D. marks the beginning of the persecution of the Christians by the Roman Catholic Church. The history of these terrible years is told in Foxe’s Christian Martyrs of the World. Everyone should read it! Centuries of the most cruel killings and torture known to man, that destroyed many thousands of Christians over those few hundreds of years, were the worst that Christians ever had to face! The cruelty of the Roman Catholic Church, during the recent centuries of the Inquisition, against the Christians, even exceeded the wildest ideas of the pagans. Thousands were burned at the stake, buried alive, beheaded, tortured, starved, burned with hot irons, arms and legs pulled apart on the torture racks, hanged, and any way imaginable to bring suffering and death! Bibles were burned, and the men who translated and printed them were killed. John Wycliffe was dead for thirty one years, but his body was removed and burned only to have the ashes thrown into the river. Their terrible crime was the translation and preaching of the bible! This is the crowd that brought us Santa Claus and pagan Easter, and the egg-laying rabbits! Think of that when you go shopping or mail that card or put up that tree! And how can a pagan church with such a record as the above, ever show itself to the world?? NOW BACK TO ACTS 12 We are talking about associating the resurrection of Jesus with godless, pagan festival Easter. Paul mentions in Eph. 1:20 that the greatest thing that God ever did was when He raised up Christ from the dead! Now just think; here is an event of most importance to the whole world, and we have decided to accept a pagan name to represent it! Without the resurrection, there would be no Jesus today—no deliverance from sin—no change of heart—there would be no life in this world nor heaven above—no hope forever! This is unbelievable! Oh, Lord, please forgive us! How could we ever be so blind as to fall into this trap? Then what is more regrettable yet, is that most of these professing Christians that know better will continue in this pagan program. Years ago, a young Christian couple in our fellowship named their baby girl Delilah. They wanted to choose a bible name and they thought that was a pretty one. They did not know that Delilah was the evil wife of Samson. I took it on myself to urge them to change her name. To the relief and joy of everyone, they did. Surely, no person would knowingly want to name their baby girl Delilah or Jezebel, nor name their baby boy after a bandit or criminal like Malcom X or Charles Manson or John Dillinger. But see what this pagan system has done for the birthday and resurrection of our Lord! NO SUNDAY SUNRISE RESURRECTION When the women went to the tomb while it was yet dark, Jesus was gone (Jn. 20:1). Again, we apparently have the pagan system to reckon with. If anyone is able to extract paganism from our lives, things would be somewhat less confusing. But it is common knowledge that the pagans were sun worshippers. More about this later. On my desk is a tract about the resurrection that gives us something to consider—like what relation do rabbits have with the resurrection—and why celebrate the resurrection when it is a daily way of life—and why is it that the world makes so much ado about the resurrection when they have no interest in the things of God, and a lot of other things which are hard to figure out. It seems to me that we must be listening to the wrong crowd on these things. It is frightening to see and read about the excesses at Xmas and Easter. In recent years, it is quite common to see all of the colored Easter eggs hanging from the shrubbery and trees. It sounds like the heathen who hung their eggs in the temples of their gods! We will soon have the eggs in the Churches; we have Santa Claus and Xmas trees and holly in them now. In my 81 years, I have seen the change. We are more pagan than we realize. THE WEDDING RING Writing these words reminds me of an old time preacher’s story. There was the older lady sitting in the front of the Church supporting him with her loud Amens as he went down the line of sins, like gambling, cursing, lying, card playing, etc. Finally he mentioned chewing tobacco and dippin’ snuff and she got quiet. Somebody heard her whisper, “now he has done quit preachen and gone to meddlen.” Permit me just a few words about the rings. Few people realize that the wedding bands are of pagan origin. But that is a fact. The old time preachers used to preach against those things, but we don’t have that kind of preaching much anymore. Anyway, the pagans believed that there is a special blood vein in that particular finger on the left hand that goes directly to the heart! I have asked many folk, over the years, why they wear the rings, and the only answer I get is that “everybody does it.” But they don’t! It is a pagan practice. We were always told that the best proof of marriage was the ring around the table! So be it! IS THE RESURRECTION JUST ANOTHER MYTH? On the desk is a large colored invitation flyer inviting all people to “Sarasota’s largest Easter egg hunt.” There will be a five-acre hunt area –three different sections—three age groups—ten thousand eggs—large stuffed bunnies—Easter eggs—tee shirts—dozens of gifts, and super prizes. See a large picture of a rabbit sitting on a nest of eggs, and hear the story of “THE 12 EGGS OF EASTER.” Well, there you have it! I assume that most, if not all of the people that sponsor this thing, and most of those who come, are professing Christians. Yes, this is Easter! When we choose to use the pagan festival of December 25 as the birthday of Jesus, and then do the same with pagan Easter as the resurrection of Christ, it is too much for the tender minds of the young to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. There are good and enjoyable things to do, so that mixing the good with the bad is not wise nor necessary. This includes the older folk, as well. Think it over! If the young folk are raised to accept the pagan system, they will likely remain that way for life. All we have to do is look at our own lives, or talk to a few others and see the facts. To follow the modern way, we will simply raise another generation to support the heathen gods of paganism! They, in turn will raise another, then another, then another! GOD’S DAYS God’s way of keeping time for the days, is from sundown to sundown. This is clearly stated in the first chapter of Genesis, and has never been questioned or changed. [**Concerning this, no change is found in the Bible. Sometime in history past, we abandoned God’s instruction and embraced the pagan system of marking a day from midnight to midnight. This comes from the occult, witchcraft, astrology, etc. The world now uses the Gregorian calendar, (courtesy of Pope Gregory) in service since 1582. What we do find in the Bible is this: “And he [the Papacy] shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:25. The Papacy (the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church) claim that they can, and think they have changed times and law. “The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.” Catholic Mirror, Sept. 23, 1893. “Sunday is our mark of authority…The Church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance [Sunday] is proof of that fact.” Catholic Record Sept. 1, 1923. “The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay in spite of themselves to the authority of the [Catholic] Church. Mgr. Louis Segur, Plain talk about Protestantism of today, Boston 1868, Page 225. “You may read the Bible from Genesis to revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday.” Faith of our fathers, -James cardinal Gibbons, Catholic scholar and author.]
I am not capable of teaching anything about this subject except what the Scriptures say. God also gives us the names of the days from one to seven; I can understand that! Now the pagans have come along again and not only changed God’s timing from midnight to midnight, but they also changed the names of the days and gave them pagan names. I remember, as a little fellow in the classroom, wondering why we had to spell Wednesday like this. Well, it took me some years before I found out! The pagans changed God’s days:
The changing of days to pagan midnight instead of sundown, God’s time, will change the timing on some events that many may never have thought about. The Sun-day Sunrise service was not given by any order of the Scripture. John’s gospel (20:1) says that when the women came to the tomb of Jesus in the morning while it was yet dark, He was gone! So whatever else may be said, He rose from the grave before daylight. Remember also, that it gets light in the morning some time before sunrise. The important thing is that Christ arose!! The idea of concern is that the Easter sunrise idea comes from the pagan sun worshippers! Ezekiel chapter 8 and 9 will tell you more about them. Just the fact that women came in the morning does not prove exactly when He arose. There are different opinions about this; we will have to leave that for the scholars. From
the early Bible times God had to deal with the pagan system. Aaron
and the golden calf, Gideon, at night, destroying the groves,
Jeremiah and the [Xmas] trees, and all through the Scriptures; it’s
a fight to the end.
THE UNCLEAN THING
Our Scripture is II Cor. 6:15-18. Two things are mentioned in these
verses: Belial and idols. I have used this Scripture, and have heard
others use it many times, but I think more than ever that this refers
to—paganism and idolatry. I do believe that the Christian
should, and will live separately from the fashions of this world.
However, this Scripture goes a bit further. There are a few preachers
and groups that are trying to hold back the pressure of this world
system, but have little or nothing to say about the pagan things that
we are dealing with in these two booklets. I believe exactly what
these verses say about coming out from the world and living in
obedience to His word. My father wrote in his Bible what he felt is
the modern position of many today. Here it is:
“Go in among them and be good mixers, saith the Devil,
HERE IS A LITTLE EASTER TEST
Does
your Church conduct special Easter services?
Does
your pastor speak on the Easter resurrection?
Do
you purchase or send out special cards or letters at Easter?
Do
you choose to hear or sing songs about the Easter resurrection?
Do
you participate or approve of colored Easter eggs?
Do
you generally greet folk with a “Happy Easter” on that
day?
How
often do you extend “Christian greeting” to folk during
the year?
Do
you purchase or give special clothes at Easter?
Does
your Sunday school discuss the Easter resurrection?
Do
you plan special trips, vacations, dinners, picnics, etc. at Easter
time?
Do
you purchase, give, or receive eggs, rabbits, or special favors at
Easter?
Does
your church group plan special activities at Easter time?
Do
you participate in or attend “Easter Sunrise” services?
Do
you approve of egg hunting only on Easter—how about other
days?
Do
you believe that a true lover of Christ and the truth will mix these
pagan practices with the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus?
I do not believe that we should!!
MORE ABOUT SUNDAY
The word “Sunday” is not in the Bible. Most of us have been
taught that the Sabbath of the law was changed to the first day of
the week, which the pagans named Sunday. People today, whether
Christian or not, have accepted Sunday as the official name for the
first day of the week. Some have suggested that “the Lord’s
day,” of Rev. ch.1, is a reference to the first day, but I
think not. For a number of reasons, this view cannot be proven. There
are a few Scriptures that refer to the early Church activities
regarding the first day of the week. It would not be the word
Sun-day, and certainly not the words Easter Sun-day! Many, no doubt,
who observe the Easter sunrise service, do it in sincerity. Maybe
after reading this booklet, they may have some other thoughts about
it. Answers from most of those Christians as to why they observe
Easter Sundays, or even the Sunday Sabbath itself, have been
strikingly pitiful. Most answers are, “well, that’s the
way I was raised,” or something similar. Occasionally, some
might mention something about the Church meeting on the first day of
the week, but are unaware of the location of the Scripture or what
the occasion was. Let’s take a close look at that Scripture.
ACTS, CHAPTER 20:7-13
Paul is returning from Corinth
and Macedonia to Jerusalem, ending his third missionary journey. He
and his party stopped over at Troas for the night. This place was not
new to Paul; he had been there before. Some commentators infer that
this was a planned formal observance in a temple or synagogue, which
it was not. The text will prove that. Paul chose to fellowship and
visit with the brethren for the night, and continue on his way to
Jerusalem the next morning, which he did. All night and all the next
day until sundown, God’s time, was the first day! My study of
the subject of Easter led me to a more careful study of other
Scriptures such as this one. I requested a booklet offered by the
“Family Radio” president, Mr. Camping, about how the
change from the Seventh Day Sabbath of the Old Testament, to the New
Testament First Day Sabbath (Sunday) was accomplished. Mr. Camping
needs to go back to the drawing board again!
Remember,
God’s way of keeping time for the days of the week is from
sundown to sundown.
The pagan way of
keeping the days is from midnight
to midnight. Also
God’s names for the days are from one {1} to seven {7}.
God’s timing and names are clearly stated in the first chapter
of Genesis, and have never been changed! The exegesis of this
Scripture is not so profound as it is simple, yet so many have
stumbled over it. When Paul’s party met the brethren on the
first day of the week (v. 7), that was after the Sabbath sundown and
in the first evening hours of the first day! That is simple and
plain! For pagans, that was Saturday evening. For those who use pagan
time, and use this Scripture to prove a Sun-day Sabbath, or grounds
for special Sun-day service, they have the wrong day! It is
inconsistent to follow the pagan way or God’s way as it suits.
For those who use the pagan system, a Sun-day Sabbath is the wrong
day. For those who believe that the services on pagan Sun-day evening
are on the Sun-day Sabbath, they are wrong again! God’s time is
sundown to sundown.
Anything done by
anyone after sundown, belongs to the next day! Paul broke
bread with the brethren and preached until midnight, when the young
man fell out of the window. The service this far was on pagan
Saturday night, God’s first day. Paul healed the young man, but
instead of going to bed, he kept on visiting until daylight. Since
midnight, it has been pagan Sun-day. One would think that Paul and
his party would hurry and get ready for the pagan Sun-day morning and
evening services. No, it is daylight now, the service is over and
Paul and his party rush off to take ship toward Jerusalem [Paul
actually walks the 19.5 miles to Assos, where he later unites with
his colleagues and continues the journey by ship.] Paul told them
when he came (v. 7) that he was going to do that. Notice, for all of
those who observe the pagan, midnight to midnight time schedule,
there was no service or preaching by Paul and his party on that
Sun-day! Also, notice that this was not a church building, it was a
huge multi-story, public structure with lots of lights. And, keep in
mind, this event was almost thirty years after Pentecost! So, we can
see how different things were before the pagans got into the church
business! Apparently, Brother Paul, even at the close of his third
missionary journey, did not even think about the Sunrise Easter
Service, or the special all day services with the popular speaker,
and singers, plus the coffee and donuts at the biggest First Church.
One thing is for sure, we do not need the pagans who can preach, nor
where, nor what! Oh, Lord, keep us true!
When the women
came to the sepulcher, it was dark, and Jesus had risen. That is not
debatable. This fact proves that the resurrection was not a
sunrise event! We also know that daylight comes quite some time
before sunrise. All of this tells us that we don’t need a pagan
specialist to tell us exactly when the resurrection took place, or
when we should have our services. And incidentally, God does not have
any “daylight saving time confusion program!”
CHRISTIAN CHURCH BUILDINGS
Secular history tells us that the Christians did not begin to build worship
houses until a couple of hundred years after Christ. I searched the
book of Acts, and made a long list of the places where the Christians
met for any and all of their activities. They met and preached in
homes, at sea shores, in market places, in public buildings, in
jails, in court houses, on boats, in prisons, in pagan centers, on
ships, and in synagogues when they could. Even the Apostle Paul, in
the last chapter of his life, while at Rome, preached to those who
came to his own rented house! That was about thirty years after
Christ was crucified!
I walked through the seemingly endless, narrow tunnels of the catacombs
in the mountains of Rome, where Christians lived, preached, died, and
were buried. They had fled from the torture and suffering of the
pagan, Roman rulers.
The fact of the birth, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, is the
message that we have to give to the world. Many ministers, of equal
sincerity, do not agree on some of these details. This is true
concerning prophecy and some other matters, but that is no excuse to
give any place for the godless pagan system in the affairs of the
Christian!
I welcome anyone who wishes to visit or write, regarding the contents
of this booklet. In the love of Jesus and truth,
—L. B. Brunk
Additional
materials Available:
The
New Covenant & the Law
The
Spirit of God
The
Name Of God
The
Importance of Understanding and Keeping God’s Commandments
(According to the
scriptures) *
Enter
His Rest
Sunday
(the first day) in the New Testament *
A
treatise on God’s Sabbath
Christ,
The Sanctuary, And Its Service
The
Law before Sinai
The
True Israel of God**
The
Rusty Woomer Story – by Bill Stringfellow *
What
Must I Do To Be Saved…?
What
Denomination Should I Join?— by Lynnford Beachy
The
Dangers of the Cares of Life
Living
for Christ and Keeping His Work
An
Investigation of the Scriptures on Truth and Why it is Important
Anathema
Maranatha
By
Beholding We Become Changed
Hidden
Truth
Take
Your Stand and Fight
Christ
In You – By Lynnford Beachy
The
Truth About the Lie
Changed
by the Spirit
7
Reasons For Sunday Keeping Refuted – by J.N. Andrews
(These
studies are available in *Polish and **Spanish)
Our
efforts are to encourage individuals to develop a close, intimate
relationship with our heavenly Father and His only begotten Son, by
the power of God’s Holy Spirit. The law cannot save, it only
condemns those who are transgressing it (Rom. 7:7) Salvation is only
through faith in Christ. Christian reform means to repent, abandon
error and embrace Biblical truth. We provide all of our materials
free of charge to anyone, simply for the asking. We deeply appreciate
your prayers. If you should desire to help support this work, please
contact us. May our God richly bless you along paths of righteousness
and truth. I John 3:22.
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