Participants: Calvin Rock
Series Code: 11POFCM
Program Code: 11POFCM000018
|
00:47 And we do welcome each and every one of you.
00:51 We were just doing a poll of the audience 00:52 to see who came the furthest. 00:55 And we have a couple here from Australia... 00:57 so they won hands down. 00:59 But we also want to welcome all of you who are watching 01:02 by television or by Internet. 01:04 This is the 2011 Pillars of Our Faith Camp Meeting 01:07 at 3ABN, and it's been a good one, hasn't it? 01:11 Amen. We're getting rich spiritual food. 01:14 Well, you won't be disappointed this hour either 01:17 because we have a special guest with us. 01:20 His name is Dr. Calvin Rock. 01:22 And Dr. Rock can preach the wallpaper off the wall. 01:26 You know, he has been in the service of the Lord 01:31 for over 50 years as a pastor, evangelist, 01:34 world-wide administrator. 01:37 He was for 14 years the president of Oakwood University. 01:41 For 16 years he was the vice president 01:44 of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. 01:48 And he's recently retired. He is now the pastor 01:51 of the Abundant Life church - Seventh-day Adventist church - 01:55 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 01:57 And he is going to be speaking to us on the change 02:01 of the Sabbath. But before he comes 02:04 we're going to have a musical number by our pastor 02:08 John Lomacang, who... I always tell John 02:11 he is a true minister of music. Amen? 02:16 And accompanying him on the piano is Tim Parton. 02:20 Going to be singing Pass Me Not. Thank you, John. 02:59 Pass me not, O gentle 03:03 Savior... 03:06 Hear my humble cry! 03:14 While on others 03:17 Thou art calling, 03:21 Do not pass me by. 03:28 Savior, 03:32 Savior, 03:35 Hear my humble cry! 03:42 While on others 03:46 Thou art calling, 03:50 Do not pass me by. 04:01 Let me at Thy throne of mercy 04:08 Find a sweet 04:11 release 04:16 Kneeling there in deep 04:19 contrition... 04:22 Lord, help my unbelief. 04:29 But trusting only in 04:34 Thy merit, 04:37 Would I seek 04:40 Thy face; 04:45 Heal my wounded, broken 04:48 spirit 04:51 and then save me by 04:54 Thy grace. 04:57 For I'm crying Savior, 05:02 oh my Savior, 05:06 Hear my humble cry! 05:13 Lord, while on others 05:16 Thou art calling, 05:20 Just do not... 05:23 Do not pass me by. 05:32 You're the spring of all 05:35 my comfort; 05:38 And you are more than life 05:42 to me! 05:47 Whom have I on earth 05:50 beside Thee? 05:53 And whom in heav'n but Thee? 05:59 So I'm crying Savior, 06:04 oh my Savior, 06:07 Just hear my humble cry! 06:14 Lord, while on others 06:18 You are calling, 06:22 Just do not... 06:25 Do not pass me by. 06:28 Yes, I'm crying Savior, 06:33 my Savior, 06:37 Hear my humble cry! 06:43 Lord, while on others 06:48 Thou art calling, 06:52 Do not pass me 06:56 by. 07:03 Oh, oh, oh oh... 07:10 Do not pass 07:14 me 07:17 by. 07:37 Thank you again. 07:40 We are blessed with not only powerful sermons here 07:45 at this Camp Meeting but the music has been grand. 07:48 Amen! Are you glad you're here? 07:51 Amen! I'm glad I'm here and I bring you greetings 07:54 from Las Vegas, Nevada, 07:57 where I happen to live. 07:59 Some of my friends ask me: "What is an ex-vice president 08:03 of the General Conference doing retiring in Las Vegas? " 08:09 Then they catch me behind a building and say: 08:11 "May I come and visit you? " 08:15 But you know what the Word says: "Where sin doth abound 08:18 grace that much more aboundeth. " 08:22 And I bring you greetings from the church that I pastor. 08:24 A wonderful group of people there in Las Vegas: 08:27 the Abundant Life Seventh-day Adventist Church... 08:30 which is just one of thirteen congregations that meet 08:34 every Sabbath in that city. Amen. 08:38 I've been asked to deal with the topic 08:41 The Change of the Sabbath. 08:43 And we shall do that now, but first of all let us pray. 08:47 Our Father in heaven, 08:50 thank you for these moments of study, 08:53 this time of inspiration and growth. 08:58 And as we open Thy Word once again 09:02 and deal with the topic before us 09:05 please, Lord, may Your Holy Spirit 09:07 give utterance, understanding, and a will to obey. 09:11 In Jesus' name, Amen. 09:19 Given that the creation account 09:23 of Genesis 1 and 2 09:26 plainly teaches that it was on the seventh day 09:31 that God completed His work and rested 09:35 and that He blessed and sanctified that day 09:40 and... 09:42 having carefully explained its origins 09:46 placed its command right there in the middle 09:52 of the holy law. 09:55 The question then is: "What happened? " 10:00 How did Sunday come to take its place in the minds of so many? 10:06 Obviously, somebody somewhere 10:12 at some time succeeded in influencing 10:16 the vast majority of Christians to regard Sunday, 10:20 the first day of the week, as the right day to worship. 10:26 The question we shall pursue is: 10:29 "Who did it? " 10:31 One thing we know as we begin our search for answers 10:36 is that Jesus didn't do it. 10:38 We know that because of a number of scriptures 10:43 that tell us so. 10:44 Among them Luke 4:16 that states 10:48 that when He was here on earth it was His custom or habit 10:52 to worship on the Sabbath Day. 10:55 Matthew 5:17-18 11:00 where He Himself informs us 11:03 that He came not to destroy the law 11:06 or to change the dotting of an "i" or the crossing of a "t" 11:11 but rather to fulfill or live up to all of its obligations. 11:18 Mark 15:42 to Mark 16:1 11:22 that states He was crucified on the Preparation Day, 11:26 the sixth day of the week - which is Friday, 11:29 and rose on Sunday, the first day of the week, 11:31 but rested in the grave all during the intervening hours 11:36 of the Sabbath. 11:37 So that He not only rested when He made the world 11:41 but also when He came to redeem it. 11:45 Then, of course, there is Matthew 24:20 11:50 where He admonishes His followers to pray 11:54 that their flight at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem: 11:58 an event that would occur in 70 AD... some 40 years beyond 12:04 His resurrection and ascension 12:06 be not in the winter - 12:08 in the difficult time of the winter - 12:10 or on a Sabbath Day. 12:13 "But wait... " I hear someone saying. 12:17 "What about John 20:19 which states that 12:19 after the resurrection Jesus met with His disciples 12:23 on the first day of the week 12:25 where they were assembled behind closed doors? 12:28 Doesn't this verse indicate they were together 12:31 observing Sunday? " 12:34 That is indeed the interpretation of some 12:38 but the text reads that they were gathered behind closed 12:42 doors for fear of the Jews. 12:47 And that in no way recognizes a new Sabbath day. 12:52 Well, if Jesus didn't do it, what about the Father Himself? 12:57 Did He somehow during or after Christ's ministry 13:01 here speak to someone or in some way override 13:04 His Son's position regarding the seventh-day Sabbath? 13:07 Again, the answer is "no. " 13:11 Logic tells us that the ethical Father 13:14 who was well pleased with His Son - Matthew 3:17- 13:18 could not be guilty. 13:21 More significantly, Jesus Himself made it clear 13:25 that the work that He was doing on earth 13:28 was actually the will of the Father who sent Him - 13:32 John 12:49- 13:34 and that He and His Father always functioned as One: 13:39 John 10:30. 13:42 So obviously, the Father didn't do it. 13:47 Well, if neither the Father nor the Son made the change, 13:51 what about the Holy Spirit? 13:53 Did He, the Comforter, sent to replace the crucified and risen 13:57 Lord change the day? 13:59 Again, the answer is emphatically "no. " 14:05 As promised by Jesus in John 16:13-16 14:10 the Holy Spirit's role was and is that of glorifying Christ. 14:15 Of reflecting and extending the mission and message 14:19 that Jesus left behind and not starting something new. 14:24 And that, as the record shows, 14:27 He has faithfully done - the Holy Spirit - and is doing. 14:31 Clearly, it isn't the Holy Spirit 14:35 who made the change. 14:37 If then Jesus didn't do it 14:40 and the Father didn't do it 14:43 and the Holy Spirit didn't do it 14:45 who did it? 14:47 Well, perhaps it was one of the apostles who did it. 14:53 They were all mighty men of God 14:56 with a mission to go into all the world and teach all things, 14:59 meaning the full gospel 15:02 which necessarily includes the Sabbath: 15:04 Matthew 28:18-20. 15:07 Perhaps one of them changed the day? 15:10 Let's examine first the writings of the apostle Paul. 15:14 After all, he had more to say about Christian doctrine 15:17 than any other Bible author having written more 15:20 of the New Testament books than anybody else. 15:22 He should know. Did Paul do it? 15:26 The answer to that question is summarized simply 15:29 in Hebrews 4:4 which states: 15:31 "For he spake in a certain place on this wise: 15:34 'And God did rest the seventh day from all His works. ' " 15:38 And again in verse 8: 15:41 "For if Jesus had given them rest, then would He not 15:45 have spoken of another day? " 15:48 And Paul demonstrated his understanding of Sabbath 15:52 validity all during his long and productive ministry. 15:56 It is seen in his Sabbath worship at Antioch - Acts 13:14, 16:01 and verses 42-44. 16:04 At Philippi - Acts 16:13. 16:07 At Thessalonica - Acts 17:1-4. 16:10 At Corinth - Acts 18:1-4. 16:13 And in his rhetorical inquiry 16:17 in Romans 3:31 where he asks 16:20 "Do we then make void the law by faith? 16:23 God forbid! Yea, we establish the law. " 16:29 There are those who point to Acts 27 16:33 where Paul actually preached to a group of believers 16:35 gathered to break bread on the first day of the week 16:38 as evidence of Sunday observance. 16:40 But that reasoning is nullified by the fact that 16:45 according to Acts 2:46 16:47 the New Testament believers gathered to break bread 16:50 or study the Word of God daily in the temple 16:53 and from house to house with gladness and singleness 16:57 of heart. Having a prayer meeting or Bible study 17:01 on a weekday doesn't make it a holy day. 17:06 "All right, " some say. 17:08 "But what about I Corinthians 16:2 17:11 where he told the church members to have their offerings ready 17:14 on the first day of the week? 17:16 Isn't that a sign of Sunday emphasis? " 17:18 The answer again is "no. " 17:23 Paul saying to the Corinthian believers "I'm coming your way 17:26 soon. In fact, I don't exactly know when I'll... but the ship 17:30 will dock there sometime on Sunday 17:32 so please have whatever offerings you plan to give 17:35 to assist the believers in Palestine ready 17:38 when I arrive so that we won't have to waste time 17:41 collecting it" 17:44 in no way suggests Sunday sanctity. 17:50 "I understand, " I hear someone say, 17:52 "but what about Colossians 2:14-17 17:56 where Paul states that when Jesus died 17:59 He nailed the law with all its ordinances of meats 18:02 and drinks and Sabbath days to the cross? 18:04 What about that one? " 18:06 Answer: that was not the moral law, the 10 Commandment 18:12 document, that God wrote with His own fingers - 18:15 Exodus 31:18- 18:17 and gave to Moses and the people for them to give 18:20 to the world that Jesus nailed to the cross. 18:23 It was, as the language of the scripture indicates, 18:27 the vast system of laws that Moses wrote 18:31 for the governance of the social - and in this case - 18:34 the religious activities of the Israelite nation. 18:39 Those laws included numerous feast days... 18:43 all of which were known as Sabbaths or rest days. 18:46 These fell on dates of the year not on a particular, hallowed 18:51 day of the week. 18:52 Paul is simply saying here 18:55 that since the true Lamb of God had died 18:59 those feasts and their ceremonial Sabbaths 19:03 and lamb sacrifices and all that were now invalid... 19:08 no longer meaningful or necessary... 19:11 nailed to the cross. 19:14 Now, Paul did all this in other places such as 19:19 Romans 5 and Philippians 2 19:22 remind us that it is not law keeping that saves us 19:26 but rather the righteousness of Christ. 19:30 But in no place did he question the 10 Commandment law 19:34 as God's standard 19:35 for the Christian's relationship to God is outlined in 19:39 the first four... one of which has to do with the Sabbath... 19:42 or to one another as in the last six. 19:46 It was baptism that he recognized as the memorial 19:51 of Christ's resurrection, not a new Sabbath day - 19:54 Roman 6:3-12. 19:56 Meaning that just as Jesus died and went into the ground 20:01 and came up, so we are to die to sin 20:06 and come from... rise from the waters 20:10 to walk in newness of life. 20:15 And the apostle James who as seen evident in Acts 15 20:20 was recognized as the leader of the apostolic church 20:23 also speaks glowingly with respect to the enduring nature 20:28 of the entire moral law including the Sabbath. 20:32 His highly-confirming observation in James 2:8-12 20:36 is that the 10 Commandment law is royal 20:40 and that anyone who breaks one... 20:42 and to James that would include the fourth... 20:45 breaks them all. 20:49 And then there are the two books that Peter wrote, 20:51 examining the apostles, neither of which mentions 20:55 Sabbath change. Peter talked about our change of direction 21:00 from a corruptible life or vain conversation 21:02 to one of holiness as the result of being born again 21:06 by the Word of God - I Peter 1:18-23. 21:11 He also talked about our change of residence 21:14 as a result of the world being purified by fire 21:18 and our being introduced one day to new heavens 21:22 above our heads and a new earth beneath our feet... 21:26 but he never speaks of a change of God's holy day. 21:33 And what about John the Revelator, 21:36 the seer of Patmos, 21:38 who our latter day prophet was shown opened his heart 21:42 widest to the beams of Christ's love? 21:44 Does he, the beloved disciple, the youngest, 21:48 the last of the twelve to die, 21:51 the last of those used by God to instruct us by His Word, 21:55 provide any evidence of a change? 21:58 "Yes! " some say... quoting Revelation 1:10 22:03 where he speaks of being "in the spirit on the Lord's day. " 22:07 But they do so not realizing 22:11 that in both Isaiah 58:13 and Mark 12:8 22:15 the seventh day is identified as the Lord's day 22:19 and not the first day as tradition later named it. 22:26 And speaking of Isaiah's Sabbath reflections 22:29 his statement in Isaiah 66:22-23 22:32 promising that from one new moon to another 22:35 and from one Sabbath to another 22:37 all flesh shall come to worship before the Lord 22:40 is irrefutable evidence that not only did God 22:44 not order Sabbath change here on earth 22:47 but that He plans no change even in the world to come. Amen. 22:53 So it is from Genesis to Revelation, 22:56 from father Adam to brother John... 22:59 From it was "good, " "good, " "good, " "good, " "good" 23:05 and then it was "very good" 23:07 to "come ye blessed, inherit the kingdom. " 23:10 In other words, from beginning to end, 23:12 from the Garden of Eden to the earth made new, 23:15 from grace to glory, 23:18 from creation to eternity, 23:20 the Sabbath remains unchanged by its Maker. 23:23 Amen. 23:25 And yet most people either ignore it 23:29 or deny it or dispute it 23:33 or disparage it and for other various reasons 23:37 do not keep it. 23:38 And the question remains: "How did it come to this? 23:42 Who altered the day of worship? " 23:48 The answer is that the change came about slowly - 23:54 very slowly - 23:56 during the first 3 centuries after the Bible was completed 24:01 and was popularized in the minds of most Christians - 24:06 not all - by two dramatic proclamations: 24:10 one by state authority and the other by the church. 24:15 The state law was issued by the Roman ruler Constantine 24:20 in 321 AD 24:22 requiring that all except farmers rest on Sunday, 24:28 the first day of the week. 24:30 The church law issued shortly afterward by the 24:34 Council of Laodicea in 364 AD 24:37 went further... requiring that Christians not only 24:41 rest on the first day of the week 24:44 but no longer rest on the Sabbath. 24:49 There were four factors that led to rather wide-spread 24:54 acceptance of these rulings among the Christian population. 24:59 The first was the desire of Gentile Christians 25:03 to distance themselves from the Jewish practices 25:08 and protocols. 25:09 Because of frequent rioting of militant Jews against the 25:14 Roman government, they suffered severe persecution 25:18 and Christians who associated with them suffered with them. 25:24 For this reason, many early Christians developed 25:27 an anti-Judaic posture 25:31 that made it easy for them to reject such unpopular 25:36 rituals as circumcision and even celebrated activities 25:41 as the Passover and 25:43 the day on which the Jews worshiped as well. 25:51 A second factor in the gradual departure of 25:54 early Christians from the seventh-day Sabbath 25:57 was the brutality of the more numerous Jews 26:01 toward the small though growing Christian community. 26:05 The distancing of early believers 26:09 from their Jewish counterparts with whom they had originally 26:12 held close communication angered the larger Jewish 26:16 community who accused them of being traitors and consorting 26:20 with their Roman enemies 26:23 and they attacked the early Christians bitterly. 26:28 Third factor that history outlines as critical 26:33 to the drifting from Sabbath observance by the early 26:38 Christian community was the influence of sun worship 26:43 practiced in the early Roman society. 26:46 The first day of the week - the day of the sun... SUN - 26:51 was commonly regarded in Rome as a holiday 26:54 or as much a holiday as a day of worship. 26:59 As the early Christians surrounded by sun worshipers 27:04 withdrew from the society of the Jews 27:07 and longed for favor with the Romans, 27:10 they more and more rationalized that there was no harm 27:14 in celebrating the day of the sun with their fellow 27:17 Roman citizens. At first they vehemently denied 27:21 that by worshiping on Sunday 27:23 they were - as their pagan counterparts - 27:25 actually worshiping the sun. Rather, they reasoned 27:30 they were honoring Jesus... the light of the world... 27:33 on the day that He made the light. 27:38 They were in fact, they said, by fellowshipping on the day 27:42 of the sun, commemorating creation's beginning, 27:46 not just its ending, as they were told 27:51 by their detractors their seventh-day worship implied. 27:58 A fourth factor in this insidious move 28:05 in the early Christian years... 28:08 A fourth but very sure factor in this development 28:14 is what one writer - Samuele Bacchiocchi - 28:18 in his book From Sabbath to Sunday 28:20 calls resurrection theology 28:25 that was used by early church fathers to guide 28:31 Christians into first-day worship 28:36 and which helped lead them to abandon the seventh 28:41 and endorse the first as the day of worship. 28:45 In the early stages of this process, 28:48 the leaders encouraged the people to keep both days: 28:52 the Sabbath on account of creation 28:55 and Sunday in honor of the resurrection. 29:00 But since Sabbath worship included fasting 29:04 and Sunday worship feasting, 29:07 and since Sabbath observance was sorrowful 29:11 or made so by many 29:14 with the emphasis on Christ's death and silence in the grave 29:18 and Sunday made joyful with emphasis on the gladness 29:22 of His exit from death, and since the seventh day was 29:26 thought of as the end of the first or material 29:31 creation and Sunday the beginning of the so-called 29:35 second or spiritual creation 29:37 it is easy to see how over time 29:40 preference for the new day of worship grew 29:43 and regard for the true Sabbath waned. 29:48 So it was that by the time of Constantine's rule in 321 AD 29:53 and that of the Council of Laodicea in 326 AD 29:57 the social and theological groundwork 30:02 that Satan on one hand had used to drive Christians away from 30:07 seventh-day worship and on the other to pull them over 30:12 toward first-day worship was having tremendous success. 30:19 There are two other important developments that should be 30:22 noted. First is that while the change was for all practical 30:26 purposes completed during the time of pagan Rome - 30:33 the military empire of Rome before it was Christianized 30:38 by Constantine - it was papal Rome, 30:42 the religious power that grew out of pagan Rome, 30:46 that popularized and promoted it. 30:50 It should be further noted that it is papal Rome 30:55 identified in Daniel 7:25 as the force that would "think 31:00 to change times and laws. " 31:03 And in Revelation 13:5-7 31:06 as the power "speaking great things" 31:11 that now occupies the Vatican. 31:20 And its current occupants, 31:24 as did their predecessors, 31:27 do not deny in the least bit 31:33 that the change was produced in their camp. 31:40 In fact, they very proudly own up 31:45 to the change. 31:48 Let me read you a quote or two 31:52 from the Douay Catechism page 59. 31:54 Question: How prove you that the church - 31:58 the church of Rome... the Catholic church - 32:02 How prove you that the church has power to command 32:06 feasts and holy days? 32:08 Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath 32:12 into Sunday... which Protestants allow us 32:15 and therefore they fondly contradict themselves 32:19 by keeping Sunday strictly and breaking most other feasts 32:23 commanded by the same church. 32:26 Question: How prove you that? 32:30 Answer: Because by keeping Sunday they - Protestants - 32:35 acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts 32:39 and command them on the same. 32:43 Second quotation taken from the Catholic Doctrinal Catechism 32:48 page 174. 32:50 Question: Have you any other way of proving that the 32:54 church has power to institute festivals and precepts? 32:59 Answer: Had she not such power 33:03 she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday 33:07 the first day of the week for Saturday the seventh day... 33:11 a change for which there is no scriptural authority. 33:19 And a final statement. 33:21 These are the words of H. F. Thomas, 33:24 Chancellor of the late Father Gibbons. 33:29 "Of course the Catholic church claims that the change 33:33 was her act. And the act is a mark 33:37 of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things. " 33:44 "But, does it really matter? " some ask. 33:48 "Does it really make a difference with God 33:51 which day we keep or who changed it? " 33:55 "Why be concerned about a special day 33:58 if in fact it is the principle of Sabbath rest that counts? " 34:04 "Is God really that particular about a day? " 34:09 Yes, God is that particular. 34:14 As demonstrated in scripture, He means exactly what He says. 34:18 He is so particular that the well-meaning but non-priestly 34:24 Uzzah was stricken for touching the stumbling ark. 34:30 He is so particular that He denied Moses entrance 34:34 into Canaan because he struck the rock 34:37 instead of speaking to it as instructed. 34:41 He is so particular that He did not fell Jericho's walls 34:45 until His wondering army had marched around it seven times 34:50 seven days and seven times on the seventh day. 34:54 He is so particular that He banished Adam and Eve 34:59 from the garden because of one act of disobedience. 35:02 One act. So particular that He could not wink at sin. 35:07 And because He could not ignore or excuse sin's 35:11 consequences, sent His only begotten Son 35:14 to accept its penalty. 35:16 To take our blows... to absorb our punishment. 35:20 He is so particular that somebody had to pay the debt. 35:25 And because we couldn't Jesus did. 35:29 He paid a debt He did not owe 35:34 because we owed a debt we could not pay. 35:39 Satan... when He had been dragged from the cross... 35:42 thought and sought and fought 35:46 to keep Him in the grave. 35:48 He wanted to invalidate the payment. 35:51 If he could just keep Him down 35:54 the check would return to glory marked "insufficient funds. " 35:59 But he could not hold Him there. 36:02 Flesh that had not sinned would not sour. 36:06 The body that had been perfect would not putrefy. 36:10 The humanity that had resisted would not rot. 36:15 He rose, and what Satan thought would be his summary violence 36:20 became Christ's signal victory. 36:23 By abiding death in accepting our penalty 36:28 He abolished death. 36:30 By bowing to death He banished death. 36:35 By courting death He captured death. 36:37 By daring death He devastated death. 36:41 By entering death He embarrassed death. 36:45 By falling in death He fatalized death. 36:49 By granting death He grounded death. 36:52 By harboring death He haunted death. 36:55 By inviting death He invalidated death. 36:58 His death on the cross paid the penalty 37:02 that the particular Father had to collect 37:05 and now in the bank of glory 37:08 our account is marked "PAID IN FULL! " 37:12 Amen. Paid in full. 37:14 Thus, while the cross is the highest evidence of God's mercy, 37:19 it is also the ultimate expression of His particularity, 37:25 proof of His strict accountability, 37:28 and that we are wise to heed the counsel of His trusting 37:32 mother who at the Cana wedding crisis counseled the servants: 37:37 "Whatsoever He says, do it. " John 2:5. 37:43 It is encouraging in this vein to note 37:47 that against all odds there have always been those 37:52 who have done as God commanded. 37:56 They have remembered. 37:58 Against early Jewish animosities, 38:02 against centuries of persecution 38:05 from first pagan and then papal Rome, 38:09 against the stifling pressures imposed by popes and prelates 38:14 all during the Dark Ages, 38:16 against cruelties of opinions and attitudes 38:21 and often the accusation of there being cultious 38:26 or cultish suffered by those who are present-day 38:30 Sabbath keepers by many first-day Protestants 38:34 there has through time remained a remnant 38:39 that has rightly preserved and proclaimed 38:42 the Sabbath truth. 38:44 I am happy to be one of them. How about you? Amen. 38:48 The greater question for us today, however, 38:51 those of us who claim that posture, 38:53 is not "who changed the Sabbath? " 38:57 Or given the inability of any individual 39:02 or institution to truly alter 39:06 what the great God of the universe has decreed 39:09 "who attempted to change the day? " 39:13 The greater question for us is: 39:15 "how well are we who claim its remembrance 39:20 living up to its standards 39:22 and enjoying its promised benefits? " 39:25 The Lord of the Sabbath would be pleased 39:29 if we left this encampment not just further 39:33 instructed and inspired regarding its history 39:37 and validity but with renewed determination to be faithful 39:42 to its tenets and to tell as many others about it 39:45 as we can. 39:46 And then in the light of a coming better day 39:50 hold concourse with Him and one another 39:54 where Sabbath shall never end. 39:58 Do you join me in that dedication? 40:01 If so, may I see your hands? 40:04 Let us pray. 40:06 Our Father in heaven, 40:09 we are awed 40:14 by the facts of creation and redemption. 40:20 And we are made more thankful than tongue can tell 40:27 for the gift of the holy Sabbath 40:31 and for the Lord of the Sabbath 40:33 by whose sacrifices our sins have been forgiven 40:39 and by whose strength we receive power 40:45 to keep holy the day that He has instituted. 40:51 We pray that as a result of this day's emphasis 40:57 on the Sabbath heard already earlier today 41:02 and now by the review of facts that tell us how things 41:07 have gotten where they are and how we 41:10 can improve in our own performance 41:16 and how we must by Your grace be faithful. 41:19 We pray Lord for acceptance, 41:23 for forgiveness, for strength, 41:26 and for power to hold on, to be true, 41:31 to be faithful, and then someday soon 41:35 to see Him in whose person and visage 41:41 there will be the marks of the sacrifice 41:46 whereby our penalty was paid and our redemption assured. 41:50 It is in His name that we give thanks and pray this blessing. 41:56 Let all the people join me in saying 41:59 Amen. 42:05 Thank you so much. 42:07 You know, I just wanted to take a moment to share something 42:10 with you. I don't know how many of you have 42:13 heard my testimony, 42:15 but I was in a Sunday-keeping church. 42:19 Grew up in a Sunday-keeping church. 42:21 And when the Lord called me to full-time ministry 42:24 one of the things... My husband had been brought up as an 42:27 Adventist. One of the things that he asked me 42:31 was what are you going to say to my Seventh-day Adventist 42:35 friends about the Sabbath? 42:37 And I said: "Oh, that's easy! " 42:39 I thought I had the answers on the Sabbath. 42:42 So what happened was God led me 42:46 in a study of the sanctuary. 42:48 And next hour I'm going to be speaking on grace. 42:52 What He proved to me was the sanctuary in the wilderness 42:56 was a sanctuary of grace. 42:59 And as I studied about the sanctuary 43:03 what I saw was that the book of Moses - 43:07 which is also called the book of the covenant, 43:09 that special covenant that He made with the Israelites 43:13 where He had the civil and ceremonial and religious laws 43:17 in there - God told Moses to put that where? 43:21 On a side pocket. 43:24 But what was inside the ark? 43:26 The Ten Commandments. The only words that we have 43:32 recorded by the very finger of God. 43:36 I knew that that was something incredibly important. 43:40 And so as I studied out the sanctuary 43:45 and then the Sabbath... Here's a scripture. 43:48 And I want to give this to you. 43:50 Exodus 31:13. 43:52 And in this scripture I think it's one of the most beautiful 43:56 promises. First of all, did you know that the Ten Commandments 44:00 if you look at this in the Hebrew 44:03 these are actually ten promises of God. 44:07 He is saying: "I am the Lord your God who brought you out 44:12 of bondage. If you recognize My love for you, 44:16 then I promise you, you'll have no other gods before Me. 44:21 You won't take My name in vain. 44:23 You will enjoy My Sabbath. " 44:28 Now, here's what He says in Exodus 31:13. 44:32 He says: "Speak also to the children of Israel saying: 44:37 "Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep 44:41 for it is a sign between Me and you 44:45 throughout your generations 44:47 that you may know I am the Lord who sanctifies you. " 44:53 God set up the Sabbath so that every week 44:59 we would remember. 45:01 Who is in the sanctifying business? 45:04 Who is in the business of salvation? 45:06 It's God! 45:08 God is the One who is going to do this work of sanctification 45:13 in us as we surrender to Him. 45:16 And it's just... I remember the first Sabbath 45:19 that I ever celebrated. May I use that word celebrated? 45:23 The first Sabbath that I ever celebrated 45:26 was such a special day because 45:29 I grew up trying to save myself. 45:34 I thought that... I mean, I did... 45:37 I just constantly had a guilty conscience 45:39 before the Lord which kept me at arm's length from the Lord. 45:43 Then I stepped off a little bit too far on the other side 45:46 of grace. And it wasn't satisfying when I had a bad 45:51 teaching on grace. So what happened was 45:53 when got it all right, oh, I was so excited. 45:56 And J.D. was out of town. 45:57 And I spent that day with the Lord: four hours in prayer. 46:01 I didn't know about... really much about Adventists 46:03 but I spent four hours in prayer. 46:05 Spent the rest of the time in the Word. 46:07 And I even remember after I'd had my breakfast 46:09 I looked over and I thought: "Hmm, I don't even have to 46:12 do the dishes today. " 46:13 You know? All right! 46:15 But the point is this: 46:17 I called J.D. to let him know. 46:20 Think he had mixed emotions at first because here I 46:23 convinced him the first day was the right day. 46:25 And then I called one of his friends 46:28 who had been an Adventist pastor. 46:31 And I told him: "Guess what I did yesterday? 46:34 I celebrated my first Sabbath. " 46:37 And you know what he said to me? 46:38 He said: "Do you remember that seven-page letter 46:42 that you wrote me why you don't have to keep the Sabbath 46:45 on Saturday? " 46:46 And I said: "I forgot all about that. " 46:49 But you know what happened? 46:51 I asked him: "You knew I was a seeker of the truth. 46:55 Why didn't you show me? 46:57 Why didn't you tell me about the joy of the Sabbath? 47:02 That from week to week God set up this memorial in time 47:08 that I might remember that I am resting in Christ 47:14 and that it's God whose work is salvation. " 47:17 And you know what he said to me? 47:19 He said: "Well, Shelley, the reason I didn't 47:23 share this with you is because you almost convinced me, 47:27 I was almost persuaded by your letter. " 47:31 And I said: "Then you don't understand grace. " 47:35 Amen. Grace - and we're going to talk about this in the next 47:40 hour... Grace is more than just justification... 47:46 it's sanctification. 47:48 And God set aside this special day 47:51 so that... He knew our tendency as human beings. 47:56 He knew how we would get our priorities misplaced 48:01 and how sometimes we'd either begin to 48:05 drift away from Him or else maybe we would begin to think 48:09 "I've got to work harder for the Lord so I can be saved. " 48:12 And He knew that we needed this special time 48:15 to come apart and be with Him 48:18 and have that time for our family. 48:21 Have that time to share the Lord's joy in the Sabbath. 48:27 And I hope for each one of you 48:29 that the Sabbath will become what Exodus 31:13 says. 48:35 That the Sabbath will be this memorial - this time 48:41 that God... temple in time that God has set aside - 48:44 that each Sabbath as it begins to roll in 48:48 on Friday evening that you can just go 48:52 Aah... thank you, Lord. 48:53 Let me just inhale You and exhale all of the stresses 48:58 of the world. All of the things that I begin to 49:02 get a little crazy, and let me draw near to You 49:07 that You may draw nearer to me. 49:09 Because, indeed, the Sabbath is one of the greatest blessings 49:14 that God has ever given to mankind. 49:17 And He established it where? 49:20 In the Garden of Eden before there was an Israelite. 49:24 He established it for all mankind. 49:28 And I hope and I pray 49:29 that yours won't be a stop-and-go Sabbath... 49:32 one where you rush right up to the Sabbath hour 49:35 and then stop 49:37 and then sit and drum your fingers and think "how long? " 49:41 Teach your children, teach your grandchildren 49:45 about the beauty of the day and make it a day of joy. 49:51 Amen? Well, we're going to have Pastor C.A. Murray 49:55 who's going to come and sing a special number for us now. 49:59 And C.A., which direction are you? There you are! 50:02 I forgot to ask you: what is it that you're singing? 50:05 Go Free. Go Free. Go free in the Sabbath. 50:24 Troubled soul 50:28 why are you sad and un-hearted? 50:33 Don't you know 50:37 He doesn't care where you started? 50:43 Yesterday can't change tomorrow 50:49 so leave behind 50:52 all your sorrow. 50:54 Go free; go free. 50:59 In the name of Jesus, go free. 51:05 Child of God; 51:08 child of joy... 51:12 come to the Lord and go free. 51:25 Trembling soul 51:29 I know you're so tired of aching. 51:34 Don't you know? 51:38 Jesus has cures for the taking. 51:44 His hand of mercy and healing 51:49 can untie the hurt that you're feeling. 51:55 Go free; go free. 52:00 In the name of Jesus go free. 52:06 Child of God, 52:09 child of joy... 52:12 come to the Lord and go free. 52:26 Tempted soul 52:30 I know you're so tired of fighting. 52:35 Don't you know? 52:39 He sees the wound you've been hiding. 52:45 The battle that's raging is so strong 52:50 but you've been a captive for too long. 52:57 Go free; oh, ya gotta' go free. 53:03 In the name of Jesus go free. 53:09 Child of God, 53:11 child of joy... 53:15 come to the Lord 53:20 and go free. 53:23 In the name of Jesus 53:26 go free. Child of God, 53:32 child of joy... 53:36 come to the Lord 53:40 and go free. 53:43 Go free... 53:46 go free. 53:50 Now go free. 54:01 When I was a child 54:06 we lived next door to some very strange people. 54:09 Their children would play with us 54:12 one, two, three, four, five, six days of the week. 54:16 And then on Saturday morning they would get dressed, 54:21 get in their car, and disappear. 54:26 And they'd be gone all day. 54:28 And it was strange behavior. They never said too much to us. 54:32 Sometimes they would come home in the afternoon 54:33 and they had a gate around the house, and the children 54:36 had on nice clothes. They couldn't come outside 54:38 of the gate and we couldn't go inside. 54:40 They never explained that strange behavior, 54:44 but we thought it was very, very weird. 54:47 Then we moved to another part of the city. 54:50 And wouldn't you know, we moved right across the street 54:54 from some people with that strange behavior. 54:59 That same oddball behavior. On Saturday morning 55:04 they would get dressed, pile in the station wagon, 55:07 and disappear. 55:10 And so after about a year of this we became friends 55:13 with them, of course. And I asked them: "Next week 55:17 when you disappear 55:19 I want to disappear with you. " 55:24 And so at age 9 I stepped foot into the Seventh-day Adventist 55:28 church for the first time 55:30 and immediately fell in love because we had a Sabbath School 55:34 teacher named Mildred Gill. 55:37 And she was young and pretty 55:39 and when you answered your question right she would 55:41 touch you on the cheek and call you "dear. " 55:48 And all of the young guys wanted to answer the question 55:51 because she would say: "that is so sweet; 55:53 that's the right answer, dear. " 55:54 And she would just brush your cheek so nicely. 55:56 And we would study our Sabbath School lessons, 55:58 I mean, into the night just so we could get touched 56:00 and be called "dear. " 56:02 And I said: "This Sabbath thing is great! " 56:08 And so I went every Sabbath. Made sure I got my... 56:10 You remember the Little Friend? 56:12 Got my Little Friend and studied it and got called "dear. " 56:17 And then you know a fellow by the name of Conrad Gill 56:20 married Mildred and took her away, and we hated him. 56:27 Took our Sabbath School teacher away. 56:29 And I saw him years later when he was at Andrews University 56:31 on faculty. He's a pastor. 56:33 And I said: "We used to hate you 56:36 because you took our Sabbath School teacher away. " 56:39 But I envied Adventists so very much as a child 56:41 because my parents were sports fans. 56:44 And I would come home in the fall and my dad watching 56:46 football in the living room and my mother watching football 56:49 in the dining room. My sister watching football 56:51 in the bedroom, and I'm trying to keep the Sabbath. 56:53 And I'd have to go to my room basically and hibernate 56:55 for the rest of the Sabbath. I envied those families 56:58 that could watch... that could come home and have nice 57:02 Sabbath dinners and you know that kind of thing. 57:04 I thought it was just the most wonderful thing in the world. 57:06 And I joined the church at age 10. 57:10 Got baptized at age 10. I told you this morning 57:12 I had my little wilderness time, 57:14 but God kept me through those times. |
Revised 2014-12-17