Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000066
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00:20 Hello, friends, and welcome
00:21 to another Wednesday Night Bible Study 00:23 here at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:25 And our people are here to welcome you 00:27 with the hearty amen, can we do that tonight? 00:29 Amen. 00:31 And we always come with our Bibles, 00:32 with our hearts open, asking for the Lord 00:35 to lead us and guide us 00:36 as we study His Word. 00:37 And tonight, we're beginning a new subject. 00:41 It's lesson number 21. 00:43 I'll tell you how to get that in just a moment. 00:45 But it's a how to know the truth 00:47 about the truth is the overall series. 00:50 But I'll tell you 00:51 what the topic is in just a moment, 00:53 and how to download that lesson and follow along. 00:56 But get your Bibles, 00:57 invite your family and friends to sit down with us 00:59 for thoughtful hour, 01:00 through the Word of God together. 01:02 Let's pray before we do anything, 01:04 before we even have our theme song, 01:06 which many of you enjoy. 01:08 Let's pray. 01:09 Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word, 01:11 which in fact continues 01:13 to shine bright in a dark world. 01:16 The word that never loses its battle 01:20 to all the anvils of time 01:22 that have sought to stamp it out. 01:25 And we pray tonight, Lord, 01:26 that once again Your Holy Spirit will be sent 01:29 to speak to our hearts, to help us understand 01:32 what is being communicated, 01:33 and to receive it as taught by Your Holy Spirit. 01:37 We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 01:41 Now you all know our theme song. 01:43 What is our theme song called? Victory in Jesus. 01:46 Join us if you want to sing along 01:48 our theme song tonight, "Victory in Jesus." 02:00 I heard an old, old story 02:04 How the Savior came from glory 02:08 How He gave His life on Calvary 02:12 To save a wretch like me 02:15 I heard about His groaning 02:19 Of His precious blood's atoning 02:23 Then I repented of my sin 02:27 And won the victory 02:31 O victory in Jesus 02:34 My Savior, forever 02:38 He sought me and bought me 02:42 With His redeeming blood 02:46 He loved me ere I knew Him 02:49 And all my love is due Him 02:53 He plunged me to victory 02:57 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:01 I heard about a mansion 03:04 He has built for me in glory 03:08 And I heard about the streets of gold 03:12 Beyond the crystal sea 03:16 About the angels singing 03:20 And the old redemption story 03:23 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 03:27 The song of victory 03:29 Key change 03:31 O victory in Jesus 03:35 My Savior, forever 03:39 He sought me and bought me 03:42 With His redeeming blood 03:46 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:50 And all my love is due Him 03:54 He plunged me to victory 03:57 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:01 He plunged me to victory 04:05 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:11 And we said? 04:13 Amen. Amen. 04:14 That's our theme song, Victory in Jesus. 04:18 You know every topic we cover is about Jesus. 04:21 Now the reason why this topic is so vitally important, Chris, 04:26 is that anytime you teach anything 04:28 that is not the truth, 04:30 you're not telling the truth about the truth. 04:34 Now the reason why this series is called 04:36 how to know the truth about the Truth 04:39 is the truth is small t, 04:43 and the Truth is the large T. 04:46 The small t is the doctrine, the large T is Jesus. 04:51 Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." 04:55 And so anytime you tell something 04:57 that doesn't match up to the Bible, 04:59 it's not a matter of preference, 05:02 it's a matter of misrepresenting Jesus. 05:05 Now if you want to like a copy of the lesson, 05:07 here's the website to go 05:08 to the download a copy of the lesson tonight 05:10 is number 21, 05:12 "The Truth about the Sabbath." 05:14 The website is asf.3abn.org, 05:19 asf.3abn.org. 05:24 How to know the truth about the truth, 05:26 or particularly, the truth about the Sabbath. 05:29 Now tonight we just have about nine questions, 05:31 actually 10 if you really count number three 05:34 as being two questions. 05:36 But the reason why this topic is important to me 05:39 is because Jesus and what He has done 05:43 has been so misrepresented. 05:45 Have you noticed that? 05:47 People in today's society, in modern Christianity, 05:51 it's about preference rather than truth anymore. 05:54 It's about what my denomination teaches 05:57 rather than what the Word of God teaches. 06:00 It's about, well, that works for you, 06:02 Brother Hutchinson, this works for me. 06:04 That works for you, this works for me, 06:07 that works for you. 06:08 This is what your church teaches, 06:10 this is what my church teach. 06:11 We all have our doctrinal beliefs. 06:13 And so just leave us alone as long as we love Jesus. 06:18 But, you know, I've discovered that that's not all 06:20 because the Lord says one of the things that, 06:23 "One of the signs of the last days is deception." 06:26 Go with me to the Book of Matthew Chapter 24. 06:29 I'm not going to dive into question number one first, 06:32 but I want to go to Matthew Chapter 24. 06:34 Now we always talk about the signs of the end. 06:37 We always talk about the signs of the coming of the Lord. 06:40 But there's one small thing that Jesus said 06:43 that's kind of... 06:44 People usually race by it because it's not an earthquake, 06:49 it's not a famine, it's not a disaster. 06:52 People often run right by it like, 06:54 you know, like people say, like Thompsonville, 06:56 if you blink, you can miss it. 06:58 People often say, if you blink, you can miss this text. 07:00 It's so small, but it is so powerful 07:04 because of what it says. 07:05 Look at Matthew Chapter 24, 07:07 and I think you know where I'm going, 07:09 down to verse number 4. 07:11 But let's lead into verse number 4 07:13 by reading verse number 3 of Matthew Chapter 24. 07:16 The Bible, Jesus talked 07:18 about the signs then in verse 3, 07:19 "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, 07:21 the disciples came to Him," how? 07:24 "Privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be? 07:29 And what will be the sign of Your coming, 07:32 and of the end of the age?'" 07:33 In other words, how are we going to know 07:35 that You're coming? 07:36 Notice the next word from Jesus, 07:39 He... "And Jesus said to them, Take heed that no one," 07:43 together, "deceives you." 07:47 Now if deception didn't matter, 07:49 then we can teach what we want to. 07:51 But deception is an art of the devil. 07:53 Matter of fact, one of the reasons 07:55 why Eve fell into temptation is because the Bible says, 07:58 Paul says, the devil deceived her. 08:01 She was deceived. 08:03 God had told her one thing, 08:04 the devil came and told her something else. 08:06 She accepted what the devil said. 08:08 That's deception. 08:09 So here's my point, before we go 08:11 into the lesson about the Sabbath. 08:13 If what you believe about the Sabbath 08:15 cannot be supported by the Bible, 08:18 you got to pray and ask the Lord 08:19 to give you the truth about His Word. 08:21 Am I telling the truth? 08:23 You got to pray that God will open your eyes 08:26 and not just say, "Well, it works for me 08:29 because not everything that's convenient is true." 08:34 And this is a world of convenience. 08:36 Don't have a lot of time, 08:38 can't give an entire day to the Lord, 08:40 let me give Him a few hours. 08:42 And, you know, something that also cautions me 08:44 is sometimes even as those 08:46 who know and understand the Bible truth, 08:48 we want to rush into church, rush out of church. 08:50 to go back into our secular mindset 08:53 because we can't handle a whole day of holy activity. 08:56 It's a sad reality. 08:58 But the churches today, 08:59 even Seventh-day Adventist churches 09:01 that honor the Sabbath, 09:02 many of them are suffering from lethargy 09:05 because they can't give the whole day 09:07 to spiritual activity. 09:09 And this is the day of powerful. 09:11 And I'm going to share a few stories in the Bible 09:13 as to what Jesus did when it came to the Sabbath. 09:15 He didn't just go to the synagogue, 09:17 He didn't just stand up to read. 09:19 He didn't just worship His Father, 09:20 there are a number of other things that He did, 09:22 which in fact, we could do also when the Sabbath comes to us. 09:25 Now let's go to the first question for tonight. 09:27 Question number one. 09:28 To whom does the Bible teach us the Sabbath is for? 09:31 Or for whom does the Bible teaches the Sabbath is for? 09:34 The Sabbath is for someone. 09:36 Go to Mark 2:27 and 28. 09:42 Mark Chapter what? 09:44 Two. Mark Chapter 2. 09:46 I've said this a number of times, 09:47 but I don't know if I've said this 09:49 to the audience listening to the program. 09:52 Mark is that underdog preacher. 09:55 He looks at those who are disadvantaged, 09:57 and always give them a platform 09:58 on which they can find their footing. 10:00 He opens their eyes and lets them know 10:02 how special they are to the Lord. 10:03 And this is one of those texts. 10:05 See, the reason why Mark 10:07 is communicating this particular truth 10:10 is there was some controversy over what to do on the Sabbath. 10:15 There was a controversy over what to do on the Sabbath. 10:19 And notice how Mark responded to that. 10:22 And Matter of fact, let me give you the story, 10:25 so you can understand the reason for the answer. 10:27 Look at verse 23. 10:29 "Now what happened that 10:31 he went through the grain field on the Sabbath, 10:34 He being," who? 10:36 "Jesus, and as they went, 10:39 His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 10:43 If we were to put that together today, 10:45 you know, we have cornfields out here in Thompsonville, 10:47 you know, you don't want to walk 10:48 through a cornfield because you get lost 10:51 because they're a lot taller than we are. 10:53 But if you walk through a grain field 10:57 or if you walk through an apple orchard, 10:59 you won't necessarily get lost in an apple orchard, 11:01 I mean you can, 11:02 you may walk through an orange grove, 11:06 but what is being said here 11:08 is as they were strolling together on the Sabbath, 11:11 Jesus and His disciples walk through a grain field 11:14 and His disciples. 11:16 If you've seen grain before, you kind of pluck it, 11:18 and the wheat are inside the kernels. 11:21 So they pop the kernels, 11:23 kind of like you open a pistachio, 11:24 and they threw the grains in their mouths. 11:27 And that got the religious leaders upset 11:31 because by the time Jesus said come, 11:33 they had built up so many legalistic, 11:39 non scriptural, non godly traditions 11:44 that they had anchored on the shoulder of the Sabbath, 11:46 they made it such a burden 11:48 that Jesus had to undo that and show them 11:51 what the real Sabbath is all about. 11:53 And there's a reason I'm talking 11:54 about this right now. 11:56 Let's go on. 11:57 "And the Pharisees," verse 24, "said to Him, 'Look," 12:01 I can hear them now say, "Look, 12:03 why do they do 12:05 what is not lawful on the Sabbath?'" 12:09 The Pharisees, by this point, 12:11 had made this act an agricultural act. 12:15 In other words, if you're hungry, 12:16 and you pick an apple, 12:17 they say, "Ah, you're harvesting." 12:20 And that's ridiculous. They made this. 12:22 "Ah, that's an act of harvest, don't do that." 12:25 You know, it got so bad, if they spat on the ground, 12:28 they said they were actually irrigating the soil. 12:31 And there are some places today, 12:32 I mean, I'm from New York City, 12:34 you can go to some hospitals in New York, 12:36 and they have the Jewish, they have the Sabbath elevator, 12:39 where it stops at every floor 12:41 because still today, some legalistic Jews believe 12:44 that if you press a button, you violate the Sabbath. 12:48 That is one of the reasons, 12:49 the reason why this topic is so vitally important 12:51 because as I've been doing research 12:53 to finish my book called "The Sunday Mask," 12:56 I am running across a plethora 12:59 of stomach curdling reasons 13:03 why Christians don't keep the Sabbath. 13:06 And this story is cited in a couple of others. 13:08 I'm going to share with you. 13:10 This story is cited as one of the reasons 13:12 why they say "Well, you know, 13:14 the Jews had made it such a burden, 13:15 we shouldn't honor it 13:17 because of what they did to it." 13:20 It's like saying, "People speed, 13:21 so we shouldn't drive because of what they do 13:23 when they drive." 13:25 Or people ignore the stop signs, 13:27 so we shouldn't drive 13:28 because they ignore the stop signs. 13:29 Or people overeat, so we shouldn't eat. 13:32 I don't care whether you overeat or undereat, 13:34 it's not going to stop me from eating. 13:35 Anybody else? 13:36 But they cite the things 13:38 that people did wrong to the Sabbath 13:39 as a reason why we shouldn't honor it. 13:42 Well, let me ask another question. 13:44 This fits right now. 13:45 Because of the distortion of marriage, 13:48 should we stop getting married? 13:49 Come on somebody? 13:51 No, man with man, woman with woman, 13:54 it's just as distorted as people distort the Sabbath, 13:56 doesn't mean we should stop what God has blessed. 14:00 So look at the response of Jesus, 14:02 verse 25, "But He said to them, 'Have you never read 14:07 what David did when he was in need and hungry, 14:12 he and those with him, 14:13 how he went into the house of God 14:16 in the days of Abiathar the high priest, 14:19 and ate the showbread, 14:21 which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, 14:25 and also gave some to those who were with him?'" 14:27 Haven't you even read that? 14:31 You know what Jesus is in essence saying here. 14:32 Man, if you're hungry, eat. 14:35 If somebody has a need, 14:36 and that need happens to occur on the Sabbath, feed him. 14:40 Amen. 14:42 You know, there's some people that are starving. 14:45 And one of the... 14:47 And I'll illustrate the point as I read the next verses here, 14:48 but notice what Jesus said. 14:50 He said in verse 27, and verse 28, 14:52 "And He said to them, 14:54 'The Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 14:59 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the," what? 15:02 "Of the Sabbath.'" 15:04 He was, in essence, saying, "Wait a minute, 15:05 I'm Lord of the Sabbath, 15:07 and you're telling Me what I can't do on My day." 15:12 It's like, wait a minute, I created this thing. 15:15 Let me give you some instructions 15:16 of what you shouldn't do with what I created. 15:19 This is the distortion. 15:21 He made it, 15:22 it's like a mother making something careful 15:25 for their son or daughter, giving it to him, 15:27 and then he does with it what she never intended, 15:30 and then now he tells her what she couldn't do with it. 15:32 Wait a minute, I made it. 15:35 But this is even deeper than that. 15:36 The Divine Creator, 15:37 the one who created heaven and earth 15:40 has said, "It is not a burden, 15:42 nor a violation of the Sabbath for one's need to be provided." 15:48 Now let me go ahead and just stop briefly 15:49 what I mean by need. 15:50 The answer to question number one, 15:52 to whom does the Bible teaches the Sabbath is for? 15:54 The Sabbath was made for who, somebody? 15:57 Man. You know what that means? 15:58 The Sabbath is made for the good of man. 16:02 The Sabbath is made for the good of man. 16:04 Now, does the day know that we exist 16:07 or do we know that the day exists? 16:09 Which one is it? 16:10 Right, when May 22nd comes, 16:12 May 22nd doesn't know 16:13 that it's my wife and I anniversary, 16:15 but we know that that day marks our anniversary. 16:18 Who benefits from the day, 16:20 the day benefits from us or we benefit from the day? 16:23 Come on, talk. We do, right? That's how it is. 16:26 When you go on vacation, 16:27 there are other people that are still working. 16:29 So who benefits from the vacation days? 16:31 You do. 16:32 In the very same way, the Sabbath is a benefit. 16:35 Say that word. It is also a blessing. 16:40 The Lord said, Man, if somebody has a need... 16:42 I was going to church once, 16:44 and I remember this in New York City 16:45 going to Bethel Church, 16:46 and we'll see you in a few days as the matter of fact. 16:49 I was going to Bethel Church, 16:50 and I had my suit on 16:52 as is the case in New York City, 16:54 and I was crossing over Grand Avenue 16:57 and Fulton Street, 16:58 many of you who are here don't know where that is, 16:59 but if you're watching, 17:01 and you're from Brooklyn, you know where that is. 17:03 And there was a guy that broke down in the intersection, 17:05 he was making a turn, 17:07 and the car stopped 17:08 right in the middle of the intersection. 17:11 And he got out. It was a big old Cadillac. 17:14 He got out, and you know, 17:15 how hard it is to push a Cadillac 17:16 even if you have four people. 17:18 Well, he had his shoulders best as he could. 17:19 He put his shoulder into the door 17:21 and try to move that thing, and he couldn't move it. 17:22 You know what I did? 17:24 I took off my jacket, and I got to the other door. 17:26 And, you know, by me doing that going to the passenger side, 17:29 other people jumped in and got to the back doors, 17:31 and together we pushed that car out of the intersection, 17:35 so that that person's "burden" could be lifted on the Sabbath, 17:39 amen. 17:40 Now the difference between helping a person do that, 17:42 in deciding I'm going to cut their lawn today, 17:45 that's different. 17:47 That I want to put a new roof on your house today, 17:49 that's different. 17:50 Now if it's about the rain, 17:52 and they're in crisis, and a storm is coming, 17:54 you got to get that roof on 17:56 like when we had a tornado go through here, 17:57 kind of like a straight line winds, 17:59 do you remember that? 18:00 All our current was knocked out, 18:02 trees were everywhere, 18:03 we didn't have any power in our church, 18:05 we had a sermon in the foyer, remember that? 18:08 What do you think we have to do on the Sabbath? 18:10 Get those chainsaws, and clear the road, 18:12 and try to help our brothers and sisters. 18:15 Those are things are lawful 18:16 when you're lifting somebody's burden. 18:18 But you don't volunteer 18:20 to paint somebody's house today. 18:22 That's not an emergency issue. 18:23 You'll notice everything 18:24 that Jesus did pertaining to the Sabbath 18:26 was because He thought about this, 18:27 the Sabbath was made for the good of man. 18:31 It's a blessing 18:32 when we honor the Sabbath the way that Jesus did. 18:34 So that's question number one. 18:36 Man, we got a lot of that one. 18:37 The Sabbath, therefore the Son of Man 18:39 is Lord also of the Sabbath. 18:42 Question number two. 18:44 When does the Bible reveal that the Sabbath was made? 18:46 Since the Sabbath was made for man, 18:50 the question is, when was it made? 18:53 That's a good question. 18:54 Let's go to the Book of Genesis, 18:57 Genesis. 18:59 And I want to also iterate rather than reiterate, 19:03 I want to iterate, make the statement clear 19:05 that we're going to see in just a moment, 19:07 what day the Sabbath is, and what day the Sabbath isn't. 19:12 We're going to look at a story in the Book of Luke 23:54-56, 19:15 and Luke 24:1, 19:17 just to clarify which day the Sabbath isn't, 19:20 and which day it is. 19:21 It's amazing to me 19:22 how much confusion surrounds this, 19:24 but let's try to get to it. 19:25 So the question is, 19:27 when does the Bible reveal that the Sabbath was made? 19:29 Here's the answer. 19:30 Genesis Chapter 2, beginning with verse 1. 19:32 And the Bible says, this is, by the way, 19:34 the end of creation week. 19:35 If you're in Genesis, 19:37 you notice in Genesis Chapter 1, 19:39 everything is there. 19:40 Genesis Chapter 1, the whole chapter is, 19:43 "And God said, 19:44 'Let there be, let there be, let there be.'" 19:46 Let the earth, let the trees, let the waters, 19:49 let the heavens, all those let their be's. 19:52 And as you look at the entire context 19:56 of what God had done, 19:58 you start with Genesis 2:1-3. 20:01 Here it is on the screen. 20:02 "Thus the heavens and the earth were, 20:05 and all the host of them, were" what? 20:07 "Finished. 20:09 And on the seventh day God ended His work 20:12 which He had done, and He," did what friends? 20:15 "Rested on the," what day? 20:18 "The seventh day from all His work which He had done. 20:22 Then God blessed the seventh day 20:25 and," what else? 20:26 "Sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work 20:31 which God had created and made." 20:34 Let's look at a couple of things 20:35 that that text brings out. 20:37 First of all, by the time the seventh day came, 20:40 how much of creation was done? 20:43 Somebody answer me? All. 20:45 all of it was done when the seventh day arrived. 20:49 So this is powerful. You got to focus on this. 20:51 If all of the creation was done at the end of the sixth day, 20:57 then what was the purpose of seventh? 21:01 I know, you know the answer. 21:04 He already knew the answer. 21:05 The purpose of seven was... 21:07 And I'll show you just in a moment. 21:08 That's not the only purpose, 21:10 but why give me seven if you only need six. 21:14 Why make a seven day week if we only need six? 21:18 And this is huge. 21:19 This also goes into the context of answering the question 21:22 of atheism. 21:24 Do you know that you can, 21:26 look at the rotation of the earth. 21:28 Sunrise, sunset to sunset, 21:30 and you get 23 hours and 56 minutes 21:33 roughly or 24 hour day. 21:34 You can look in the heavens and see that. 21:37 Sunset, sunset, sunrise, sunrise, 21:40 then you can also look at the four phases of the moon, 21:43 the full, the half, the full to quarter to half, 21:46 to three quarter back to full. 21:48 And you have the lunar cycle, right? 21:51 Then you also have the seasonal cycle, 21:54 winter, spring, summer, fall, what's next? 21:58 Winter. 21:59 It rotates from season to season, 22:03 those things can be traced in the cycle of the earth. 22:07 But you know what? 22:08 You can't find any cycle in the heavens 22:10 that gives you a seven day week. 22:13 So the only place we get a seven day week 22:15 is from the Word of God. 22:18 Amen, somebody? 22:19 You can't find it anywhere else. 22:21 There is no seven day star that circles around, 22:25 there's no seven day moon that circles around. 22:28 Is every 24 hour cycle leads you into another one, 22:32 and another one, and another one. 22:33 And so how many hours do we have in a week? 22:35 A hundred and sixty eight hours. 22:37 Every 168 hours completes the week. 22:41 So if you want to find a week, somewhere, 22:44 the only place you can find that is in the act of God, 22:47 amen. 22:48 So there is no such thing. 22:50 If an atheist says, 22:51 "Well, I'll meet you on Monday." 22:53 Well, hey, where did you get that Monday from? 22:54 I'll meet you on Saturday. 22:55 Where'd you get that Saturday from? 22:57 The whole week, the very indication 22:59 that we are in the year 2013, 23:02 Anno Domini means we know that Jesus exist, 23:05 that we know that this world was created. 23:07 Amen. Amen. 23:09 So when the heavens and the earth were finished, 23:10 look at what the Lord did. 23:12 On the seventh day, 23:13 God ended His work, which He had done, 23:16 and then He rested on that day. 23:18 And then He did what else? 23:20 I'm going to bring it back, He rested on the day, 23:21 He blessed it, He sanctified it. 23:24 Now, was God tired? 23:26 Somebody tell me. 23:27 Because the Bible says, "He that keepeth Israel, 23:30 neither sleeps nor slumbers." 23:32 So did God say, "Oh, man, what a hard work week?" 23:37 No, He didn't. 23:38 The divine one never stops creating. 23:40 As a matter of fact, 23:41 this is one of the millions of galaxies, 23:43 astronomers now say, 23:45 they even estimate maybe there may be billions of galaxies, 23:48 they don't know. 23:49 So this one when this, when this solar system, 23:52 this galaxy was created, 23:54 God said, "Man, it's very good." 23:57 And then He did something that's not physical. 23:59 Follow me carefully, 24:01 because everything that was physical 24:03 got affected by sin. 24:04 What happened to the trees? 24:06 They began to die. 24:08 What happens to animals? 24:09 They began to die. 24:10 What happened to those leaves during fall? 24:13 They die. 24:14 When winter comes, 24:16 the trees look like they're dead. 24:17 Roses that are so beautiful in scent when you pick them, 24:20 they have a short lifespan. 24:22 Even butterflies, as beautiful as they are, 24:25 they flutter, and they eventually die. 24:28 Sin has marred everything, but there was one thing, 24:32 and I'm going to just say this slowly, 24:33 there's one thing that sin could not affect, 24:37 and that was the Sabbath. 24:39 Come on, somebody say amen. 24:41 So if sin could not affect it, 24:44 who do you think tried to affect it? 24:47 Okay, come on, somebody tell me his name. 24:49 Satan, says, "Okay, okay, I got Adam and Eve, 24:53 I got all of creation messed up, 24:56 and from now on, 24:57 until my time runs out, people are going to be dying, 25:00 there's going to be disease, and sickness, 25:01 and illness, and death, 25:02 and hatred, and violence and wars, 25:04 and stop me somewhere. 25:07 But there's something else that reminds people about God 25:10 that I am not happy about. 25:12 And it's this Sabbath thing. 25:14 And God said it was very good. 25:16 So the reason why it's important 25:17 to understand this 25:19 is because the Lord left the Sabbath as an example. 25:21 If God rested, 25:24 let's look at question number three. 25:26 If God rested, 25:28 God blessed it, 25:29 God sanctified it, 25:31 and He finished His work on that day, 25:35 this leads me right into question number three. 25:39 So number three, what does the Bible reveal? 25:43 When does the Bible reveal that the Sabbath was made? 25:45 The seventh day. 25:47 The what day? 25:48 Seventh day, 25:51 which is, we'll get that in a moment here. 25:53 We're going to lock that down. 25:55 All right? 25:59 By the way, just for extra credit, 26:01 I'm going to say this slowly. 26:02 For those of you who are watching this program 26:03 or tuning in whatever medium, 26:05 computer or whatever the case may be, 26:07 I want you to look up five words. 26:08 These five words 26:10 have revolutionized the lives of many people 26:12 that have eventually become Seventh-day Adventist. 26:14 Now, I'm not telling you have to join this church, 26:16 but if you look up these five words, 26:18 you will revolutionize 26:20 your understanding of the Bible. 26:22 You will also have enough information 26:24 to go back to your pastor. 26:25 I've done this exercise for many of years, 26:28 I've said this to people of all different persuasions, 26:30 and they have all taken this information 26:32 to their pastors. 26:33 And as a result, 26:35 they have come over to the truth. 26:36 Now, follow this. 26:38 Look up Saturday, Sunday, 26:40 seventh day, first day, and Sabbath. 26:44 I'll say that again. 26:45 Saturday, Sunday, seventh day, first day, and Sabbath. 26:51 Look that up in your dictionary, 26:53 in the Encyclopedia, the Britannica, Wikipedia, 26:57 and find out what you get. 26:59 And by the way, when you do this, 27:00 do it from official sources. 27:02 Don't go to some denominational website 27:04 to get this information, 27:05 go to the dictionary, the Encyclopedia, 27:08 the Britannica, history, 27:10 and you'll find clearly 27:12 Saturday, Sunday, seventh day, first day, and Sabbath, 27:15 whatever you get, take it to your clergy, 27:17 and ask him to explain it to you. 27:20 All right, here's the question. 27:23 What purpose does the Sabbath serve other than rest? 27:27 We're going to look at two texts. 27:28 What purpose does the Sabbath serve other than rest? 27:31 Now reason why this is important 27:32 because a lot of people say, "Well, I can rest any day." 27:35 So some people say, "Well, I rest on Saturday, 27:36 I go to church on Sunday." 27:38 I've heard that one before. 27:39 Well, the Sabbath serves another purpose 27:41 other than rest. 27:42 Matter of fact, some of us need to go to bed early. 27:44 Amen? 27:46 So the Sabbath is not, 27:47 and then also I must say this 27:48 to those who are Sabbath keepers. 27:50 Saturday is the Sabbath. 27:53 I don't want to say Saturday Sabbath keepers 27:56 because there's only one day that is the Sabbath. 27:58 We will find it out in just a moment. 27:59 I'll walk you through the story. 28:01 But there's some who honor the Sabbath 28:03 and know about the Sabbath. 28:04 And you know what happens when Sabbath morning comes? 28:06 They say, you know, 28:08 I've been working so hard a week, 28:09 I'm just going to stay home today. 28:11 To those who do that, you know what I say to them? 28:13 Tell your employer on Monday morning, 28:17 I'm not coming in. 28:18 I'm tired. 28:20 Don't put God on hold. 28:21 Amen? 28:22 Don't put the only day of worship 28:24 that you can get together 28:25 with your brothers and sisters, 28:27 and say to God, "You know what, God? 28:28 I know you want me to come to church 28:29 and fellowship with my brothers and sisters, 28:32 but I ain't going to do that. 28:33 I'm staying home today and rest. 28:35 See, I'm just going to forget about this worship stuff, 28:39 and I'm going to work 28:40 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday." 28:43 Say to your boss on Monday, "I'm not coming in. 28:47 I need an extra day of rest," and see how far you get, okay? 28:51 He say, "Is this a vacation day?" 28:52 No, I'm just taking the day off because I'm tired. 28:56 We say that to God. 28:58 Like God is some guy that just, you know, hold on God, 29:00 I know what You want me to do, but hey, 29:02 this is what I want to do." 29:03 The problem with us is we look at the Sabbath 29:06 as a suggestion and not as a commandment. 29:10 It's not one of the seven, 29:12 it's not one of the ten suggestions. 29:13 So here's the answer. 29:15 What are the reason other than rest 29:16 does the Sabbath serve? 29:18 Let's begin with Ezekiel 20:12, here it is. 29:21 Ezekiel 20:12. 29:22 You see, the Lord has got many reasons for this day. 29:25 It's a powerful day, he has many reasons. 29:27 He says here in Ezekiel 24:12, 29:29 "Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a," what? 29:33 "Sign between me and them, 29:36 that they might know that I am the Lord 29:39 who does," what? 29:41 "Sanctifies them." 29:42 You know what the word sanctifies mean? 29:44 That word sanctify means to set apart, 29:46 mean makes holy. 29:48 In other words, when you're married, 29:50 May 22nd for us, 29:51 that day is sanctified 29:55 because it marks a sanctifying act, 29:58 husband marrying wife, 30:00 we are sanctified together on that particular day. 30:03 Now to somebody else, 30:04 it may be the day that their baby was born, 30:06 or somebody else the day that they lost a family member. 30:08 But when we hear the May 22, 30:11 oh, we remember the sanctifying act of God, 30:13 putting us together. 30:15 The Sabbath is a sign 30:17 that we might know that God sanctifies us, 30:22 that God makes us holy. 30:23 So not only is the day holy, 30:25 but those who honor the day are also made holy by the Lord. 30:30 What do you say? 30:31 So when the Bible says you are a holy nation, 30:34 a royal priesthood, a holy nation 30:37 should honor God's holy day. 30:40 How do you become a holy nation 30:42 when you don't honor God's holy day? 30:44 How can you become sanctified 30:46 when you honor the very sign of sanctification? 30:51 Okay, so here's the first answer. 30:53 What purpose does the Sabbath serve other than rest? 30:55 Put sanctification, sanctification. 30:59 We did a whole series on sanctification. 31:02 But this is the day 31:03 that God says, by honoring this, 31:05 you are saying, 31:07 you know, I am the reason that you are sanctified, 31:09 you know that I'm the one that sanctifies you. 31:12 Nobody else could sanctify us but God, ain't that right? 31:14 That's the first reason for it. 31:16 Now let's look at the second one. 31:18 Now let's look at the second one. 31:19 Ezekiel 20:20 31:23 is the second part to question number three. 31:25 Let's look at what the screen says, 31:27 "Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a," what? 31:32 "Sign between Me and you, 31:35 that you may know that I am the Lord your God." 31:40 This is huge. 31:44 Because in this world of multiple gods, 31:49 we were over in India. 31:51 Thousands of gods. 31:54 Don't want to emphasize that too much, 31:56 but this world is filled with gods. 31:59 From money gods, all the way to idols, 32:01 all the way to anything 32:03 that takes the place of God in our lives. 32:05 But the Lord is in essence saying, wait a minute, 32:07 when you hallow, you know what the word hallow there? 32:09 It means holy. 32:11 When you honor this holy day. 32:16 This now between you and me, there's a sign. 32:19 My wife and I have certain signs. 32:20 And lot of people don't know that, 32:22 but some of you who know us know well. 32:23 Sometimes if my wife is in one part of the church 32:26 or down the hallway 32:27 or and I don't know where she is, 32:28 and she doesn't know where I am, she goes like this. 32:32 Have you all heard that before? 32:34 Now for those who are Filipino, 32:35 that's kind of like, we'll confuse each other. 32:37 Because everybody does that, and a lot of Filipinos do that. 32:41 But we learned that 32:42 when we were in Heritage Singers, 32:43 so we'd be in a mall, 32:45 and we hear that phrase or that sound, 32:48 and we said, our ears are tuned to it. 32:52 No matter how loud the mall is, 32:54 obviously except for explosion somewhere 32:58 or loud, loud music, but for the most part, 33:00 we walk from one store to the next, we go, 33:03 and I go like this. 33:05 And people look at my wife said, "He heard that?" 33:07 He sure did. 33:09 She sometimes does it just to show people 33:10 how locked in we are. 33:12 He heard that. 33:13 He sure did. 33:15 Now get this. 33:16 When the Sabbath comes around, 33:18 God says, "You heard that?" 33:22 I heard it, Lord. 33:23 It's a sign between You and me. 33:27 I know where You stand in my life, 33:29 and You know where I stand in your life. 33:30 Amen? 33:32 That's what the Sabbath is. 33:33 It's saying, we are together in this thing. 33:35 I'm not in this religion by myself 33:37 by what my church has said. 33:39 The Lord is saying this. 33:40 "Hallow My Sabbaths," whenever they come around, 33:43 keep them holy, keep them holy. 33:45 And people say nowhere in the Bible 33:47 does the Lord say to go to church on Sabbath. 33:50 Well, now let me ask you a very important question. 33:53 What did Jesus establish the church for? 33:56 And the Lord added to the church daily 33:58 such as should be saved. 34:00 What we're going to do in the next section 34:01 of studying the Sabbath 34:03 is we're going to examine what the apostles did. 34:07 We're going to examine how the Sabbath was kept 34:09 in the New Testament 34:10 because there's a denomination I was just... 34:12 I'm moving ahead, my book is almost done, 34:14 to God be the glory, 34:16 it's going to be hotter than pancakes 34:19 on 100 degree day. 34:21 It's going to be. 34:23 It is not designed, by the way, 34:24 and I put a caution in the very beginning. 34:26 And in the very beginning of the book 34:27 as soon as you open, it says, 34:29 "Warning, if you do not want to know the truth, 34:30 do not read this book." 34:33 'Cause it's not about... It's not for the faint hearted, 34:36 it's for people that want to be stirred up, 34:38 people that are serious about their salvation, 34:40 soon gonna come out, it's called Sunday Mask. 34:42 Check us for when that comes out. 34:44 But here's the point. 34:46 I was reading there, 34:47 and one denomination pointed out the fact 34:50 that they said, 34:51 "Well, even though we are not commanded 34:54 to honor the Sabbath in the New Testament, 34:58 the Sabbath is not reiterated in the New Testament." 35:03 And I thought to myself, 35:04 "Did somebody delete your whole New Testament?" 35:07 Because the Sabbath is mentioned 60 times. 35:09 How many times did I say? 35:11 Sixty, when the first day is only mentioned 12. 35:14 And eight of those references to the first day 35:16 is eight references 35:17 having to do with the resurrection of Jesus. 35:19 So you only have four references 35:21 in the New Testament to try to establish a new day. 35:24 And one of those 35:26 has nothing to do with the Sabbath 35:28 or the resurrection. 35:30 Three of those others, 35:31 one has to do with picking up an offering 35:32 for the Jewish Christians in Corinthian, 35:35 for the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. 35:37 They were picking up an offering in Jerusalem, 35:38 they were collecting it like Red Cross would do 35:43 where they'd come to your house 35:44 on the first day of the week to collect it. 35:46 They were not going to church picking up collections, 35:48 they were going from house to house. 35:50 Second one, they broke bread on the first day of the week, 35:54 just before Paul left for his multiple Asian tour. 35:57 But they didn't break bread just the first day, 35:59 they broke bread every day. 36:02 It's amazing. 36:03 And then they gathered on the first day of the week, 36:06 and Christians like to use this one, 36:07 "Oh, the disciples gathered on the first day of the week, 36:10 right after the resurrection of Christ." 36:12 Well, they did gathered on the first day of the week. 36:14 You know why they gathered? 36:15 For fear of the Jews. 36:18 They were hiding for their lives. 36:20 They were hiding behind closed doors, 36:22 and it was the first day of the week. 36:24 You know why they were gathering then? 36:25 Because Jesus hadn't rose yet. 36:27 They were still hiding, we might be next. 36:29 It was not a worship service. 36:31 We're going to talk about that in specifics. 36:33 But let's go ahead and do this very quickly. 36:34 So here's the answer to number three, second part. 36:36 First of all, the Sabbath is a sign of sanctification. 36:40 Secondly, the Sabbath is a sign of connection. 36:45 The Sabbath is a sign of connection 36:48 or more specifically, 36:49 let me give it a more grand phrase, 36:51 the Sabbath is a sign of lordship. 36:53 Who is the Lord of your life 36:56 that you might know that I am the Lord, your God. 36:59 It does come down to this very simple fact. 37:02 Who is your God? 37:03 Rather than argue over what day it is, 37:05 I can make this very simple. 37:07 I could say to the room, "Okay, my brothers and my sisters, 37:11 who's my wife in this room?" 37:13 Now we have one, two, three, one, two, three, four, five, 37:17 six, seven, women, and eight, okay, seven of them, 37:21 I could say, okay, let's look at the commonalities. 37:24 They're all women, so my wife is a woman. 37:27 My wife is a woman. 37:28 Praise the Lord. Let's start there. 37:30 Okay, that's important. 37:32 My wife is a female. 37:34 You got to say that in today's society. 37:36 Don't want to offend anybody, but I'm telling the truth. 37:39 Secondly, you got to say my wife and I were married 37:42 in one of the months, 37:43 one of the days of this year. 37:45 So do I pick a woman that was married any day and say, 37:47 this is my wife? 37:49 No, okay, I can't even do that. 37:52 Can I say, well, my wife was married on May 22. 37:55 What if somebody else in here 37:57 happens to be married on the very same day? 37:59 Do I pick one of those two women 38:00 and say that's my wife? 38:02 Yes or no? 38:05 I better not. 38:06 You didn't hear that, my wife said, I better not. 38:11 I like that program that came on years ago 38:13 where the real stand up... 38:17 My wife is right over here, the same name, the same date, 38:22 and we made a pledge to each other, that's how. 38:25 Now there's a reason I mentioned that. 38:27 When God makes a covenant with us, 38:30 did you hear what I said? 38:32 We've got to make a covenant with God. 38:34 The Sabbath is a covenant sign that you might know that 38:38 I am the Lord, your God. 38:41 I'm your God, you're My son. 38:43 I'm your God, you're My daughter. 38:46 Now here's my point. 38:47 I can go to the court now and say, "You know what? 38:50 I'd like to change my wedding day to..." 38:54 Let me use an example. 38:55 I know a story of a man whose wife passed away. 38:59 And he eventually got remarried, 39:01 but because he had been honoring, 39:03 let's say January 5th for 30 years, 39:07 when his new wife married him, he said, "Honey, I love you, 39:11 I really do, but I just have one request of you." 39:15 Can... 39:16 I know we got married in July, 39:18 but can we celebrate January 5 39:21 since I've been doing that for 30 years? 39:24 His wife says, "What reason?" 39:26 Because that was the day that my wife, 39:28 who passed away, 39:29 that was our anniversary. 39:32 She says, "Well, that's nice. 39:34 But she's not around. 39:36 I'm your wife," right? 39:39 Anybody get my point? 39:41 Would any wife say, 39:42 "Sure, let's honor the day of your former wife?" 39:47 I doubt it, my brothers. I doubt it. 39:50 So to say that God is your God, 39:53 and you pick a day 39:54 that does not connect you to Him 39:56 is to say, He's not your God. 39:58 Because the wife would say, 39:59 "Hey, that day connects you to a different woman, 40:01 not to me." 40:03 The Sabbath connects us to the God of creation. 40:05 Amen? 40:06 This is a deeper subject than just what day it is, 40:08 it's about relationship. 40:10 And so many people don't see that facet of the Sabbath, 40:12 they see it as, "Well, that's your day, 40:14 this is my day." 40:15 Uh-uh, who is your God? 40:17 And He has already selected the day. 40:19 Can you say amen? Amen. 40:20 Number four, we're going right along, 40:22 we'll make it. 40:23 I think we will. 40:25 Number four. 40:26 How do we know that the Sabbath connects us to God? 40:30 How do we know that? 40:32 You got to know that. 40:34 Exodus 20:10, Exodus 20:10. 40:40 You know, when people start sending us. 40:42 I got to just tell it. 40:44 Once somebody sent us 40:45 a Happy Anniversary card like in, 40:47 you know, October, 40:48 and I thought, 40:51 "Thank you for that card, 40:52 but you missed it by many months." 40:55 You see, it's like... 40:56 And I said that for reason. 40:57 If Jesus were alive today on earth, 41:01 and He did what He did when He was on earth, 41:05 there'd be so many churches you cannot attend 41:07 because He'd look for the doors to be open when Saturday came, 41:11 and He go and say, 41:12 "Why are their doors closed? 41:14 And this is My holy day." 41:16 Then all of a sudden 41:18 He'd get up on Sunday morning and say, 41:19 "What's going on? 41:20 Why is everybody open today? 41:22 Why is everybody saying, 41:23 "This is the day the Lord has made, 41:24 let us rejoice and be glad in it." 41:26 Why did, why did... 41:27 Why, where is this all coming? 41:28 I didn't do that. 41:31 I did not do that. 41:32 But because the Lord is not here to defend Himself, 41:36 He has set up a people to honor Him. 41:40 What do you say? 41:41 Now, let's go... I'll show you that text 41:43 in just a moment. 41:44 I'm ignited right now. 41:46 Okay, here we go. 41:47 The answer is in Exodus 20:10. 41:49 How do we know that the Sabbath connects us to God? 41:52 Here's the answer. 41:53 "But," Jesus said, 41:54 "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord," 41:59 together, "your God." 42:01 That's the one, the seventh day is a Sabbath of Lord, your God. 42:05 "In it you shall do no work, you, nor your son, 42:09 nor your daughter, nor your male servant, 42:11 nor your female servant, nor your cattle, 42:14 nor your stranger who is within your gates." 42:18 Here's my point. 42:20 When our anniversary comes, 42:22 we say to the rest of the world, 42:24 "See ya, wouldn't want to be ya." 42:27 That's our day, we put everybody else on hold. 42:30 We say, people say to me, 42:32 "What are you doing on that particular...?" 42:34 "Ah, it's our anniversary, pick another day." 42:37 That's once a year. 42:39 Jesus waits every week for His people 42:42 to show up on His day, 42:43 and He's kind of like say, "Ah, no, guys, 42:46 it was yesterday." 42:48 And you know what I found out? 42:50 I found out that this question 42:53 has been unaddressed in so many churches 42:56 that people who really love the Lord 42:59 did never know... 43:00 Did not even know it. 43:02 I remember asking a Christian who finally came to me 43:04 and asked, "Could you tell me about the Sabbath?" 43:07 And I said, "Well, how long have you been in this church?" 43:09 And he said, "I was in this particular church 43:10 for 37 years." 43:12 And, you know what they said to me, 43:13 to my surprise, he said, 43:14 "It just never came up." 43:17 It was never a topic. 43:19 It was never preached on. 43:21 There was never any teaching on the Sabbath. 43:24 I had a meeting with the pastor once in California. 43:27 His father was a very busy, very well-known man. 43:30 He travelled with Benny Hinn, and this young man 43:33 had done a sermon on The Ten Commandments. 43:36 And when he got to the Sabbath, he said to his congregation, 43:38 I honestly don't know 43:40 what the Bible teaches on the Sabbath, 43:41 a pastor, and he invited me, 43:44 and I invited Pastor Doug Batchelor, 43:46 and Alan Reinach 43:48 on to this TV program in California years ago. 43:51 It was called Coast to Coast. 43:53 And they set up, and I was there to sing. 43:55 This is long before... 43:56 This is after Heritage Singers before 3ABN. 43:58 I was there to sing. 44:00 And I stood that day, 44:01 I felt the Lord had me there for another reason. 44:03 And I went to the corner of the studio 44:06 and I prayed, and I said, "Lord," 44:07 'cause I had heard so many things 44:09 taught on the couches of that program, 44:10 I was supposed to sing, 44:12 and I heard so many topics where Jesus was misrepresented, 44:15 and I said that day, 44:17 "Lord, I want to be on that couch." 44:21 Not to be on television, 44:23 but I want to represent you in the right way. 44:25 And that day, I tell you, God is an amazing God. 44:29 I went to the corner of that studio in the dark, 44:31 and I faced the corner, and I said, "Lord Jesus, 44:35 I know You have me here 44:37 for something other than just singing, 44:42 use me." 44:44 As I was waiting to do my second set, 44:47 it was February of that year, and I never forget it 44:50 because they had me singing 44:51 all these Christian songs about love like, 44:52 Yes, Jesus Loves Me, 44:54 and The Language of Jesus is Love. 44:55 You know, Celestine probably know those songs, 44:57 all those nice songs 44:58 that have the word love heavily emphasized. 45:01 And as I was sitting getting ready 45:03 for my second set of songs, 45:05 this... The program director, 45:07 who is also the owner came out to the foyer 45:10 where I was sitting on a high chair, 45:11 and he said to his staff, 45:13 "We're starting a new series called Roundtable Discussion." 45:18 And they said, "Oh, great, when are you planning?" 45:19 It's couple of months from now? 45:21 And he said, "My first topic will be Sabbath versus Sunday." 45:26 Now I want to get the context right here. 45:28 They were all honoring 45:29 the first day of the week, Sunday. 45:32 And they said, "Are you serious?" 45:35 He said, "I am serious," and he told them the story 45:36 that I just communicated 45:38 how he preached on The Ten Commandments, 45:39 and didn't honestly know about the Sabbath. 45:41 And they said, "Well, 45:42 where are you going to find a panel 45:44 to discuss the Sabbath." 45:46 As God sits on the throne, I'm behind him. 45:50 And he turned around, he said, 45:52 "Lomacang, he's a pastor, 45:55 ask him. 45:56 I'm sure he can get somebody." 45:58 And I'd tell you, my brothers, I got that video, 46:00 I'm going to look for it. 46:01 I told people about it before. 46:03 It's a one hour program, had a break at the half hour. 46:05 And when he began that program that night... 46:07 It's worthy to tell the story. 46:09 When he began that program, he said to his audience, 46:12 "Welcome to Roundtable Discussion. 46:15 First topic is Sabbath versus Sunday." 46:17 And then he said, 46:19 "I know you might think that's a strange topic, 46:21 but I," and he told the story, he says, 46:22 "So here's the point. 46:24 We don't want to do it because grandma did it, 46:26 we don't want to do it because the seminary said, 46:28 we don't want to do because our church said, 46:30 we want to do what God's Word says." 46:35 And he had his panel of three, and Doug Batchelor, 46:38 Alan Reinach, and I were on the other panel. 46:40 And at the halfway mark, 46:41 he came around the table 46:44 during the commercial and he leaned over 46:46 and he said to his panel, 46:48 "Guys, they're killing us. 46:49 Give me something." 46:52 Well, we weren't killing them, 46:54 God's Word is what was opening their eyes, 46:58 and they invited us back, 47:00 they invited Pastor Doug back, they invited Alan Reinach back, 47:03 they invited me back a few more times 47:04 to talk about a number of other topics 47:06 that we had in common. 47:07 But the point of the matter is, 47:08 there are those of you watching this program 47:10 that love the Lord with all your heart, 47:14 but you just never heard the truth 47:16 about the Bible Sabbath. 47:17 That's what the purpose of this program is tonight. 47:20 So the answer to this question of number four, 47:24 how do we know that the Sabbath connects us to God? 47:26 The seventh day 47:28 is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. 47:31 You got to simply ask the question, 47:32 who is your God? 47:34 If the answer is the God of creation, 47:36 then the Sabbath has already been chosen by God 47:39 more than almost 6,000 years ago, right? 47:44 And He hasn't changed it. 47:46 He hasn't changed it. He hasn't changed. 47:48 I'm the Lord, I do not change. 47:51 I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. 47:55 And by the way, I want to add this point. 47:57 The Sabbath, along with marriage, 47:59 was given before sin entered the world. 48:03 So was a Sabbath perfect? 48:05 Come on say, was the Sabbath perfect? 48:07 Was marriage perfect? 48:09 But what two things has Satan vehemently attacked? 48:13 The marriage and the Sabbath. 48:16 And nowadays in our world, people say, they, 48:19 you know, and this is the other thing 48:21 I want to point out because right now my head, 48:23 my head is like a trailer truck, you can't see it, 48:25 but there's about 18 wheel cab connected to back of my head 48:28 because I'm writing this book. 48:30 The same argument used to disavow 48:32 the same argument used to ignore the Sabbath 48:36 is the same argument used by the world 48:38 to ignore the marriage institution 48:40 between man and woman. 48:42 You know what they say? 48:43 As long as we love each other, 48:45 we have the right to marry who we want. 48:48 And the same argument is used to violate the Sabbath. 48:50 As long as we love God, that's all that counts. 48:54 It's sad. 48:56 They say it's not... 48:58 Preference is the most important thing, 49:00 not command. 49:04 And I'm saying, you can't love the Lord, 49:07 and not love His commandments. 49:10 "If you love Me," what? 49:11 "Keep My Commandments," John 14:15. 49:14 So I'm coming down the pipe, I'm being straight tonight. 49:16 I'm going to be straight every night. 49:18 That's one thing you will get from this program. 49:19 Praise God for that. 49:21 Question number five, here it is. 49:23 Question number five. 49:25 What special act does God command as it pertains 49:29 to the Sabbath? 49:31 Exodus Chapter 20, 49:33 and a very short verse, verse 8. 49:36 Exodus 20:8, what special act 49:39 does God command as it pertains to the Sabbath? 49:43 This is huge, this is powerful, isn't it, Yannick? 49:46 They even do this in... 49:47 Where are you from? Where is it? Romania? 49:50 Poland, they even honor this in Poland. 49:52 See, but watch this. 49:54 Here it is. 49:55 There is the answer, Exodus 20:8, 49:57 let's say that together. 49:58 "Remember the Sabbath day to," what? 50:01 "Keep it holy." 50:03 Boom, stop as they say. 50:05 Keep it holy. 50:07 Is that what the Bible says? 50:08 Did the Bible say, "Make it holy?" 50:10 The Bible says what? 50:12 Keep it holy. 50:13 Point that needs to be made, 50:14 you can't make anything holy 50:17 that God hasn't made holy. 50:23 Right? 50:24 The Bible says, "The marriage bed," 50:27 and this speaks about between husband and wife, 50:28 "is undefiled." 50:30 Anybody else in it is what? 50:32 Defile. 50:33 You can't pick another day and make it holy, 50:36 if God hasn't made it holy. 50:41 Right? 50:42 That's why more teaching and less preaching is needed, 50:45 teach the Word. 50:46 But also at times preach the Word. 50:48 So notice what He said. 50:50 "Remember the Sabbath day to," do what? 50:53 Now He didn't say, 50:54 "Thou shalt not keep the first day of the week," 50:57 what He said? 50:58 "Remember, 51:00 remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 51:04 Now there's some translations that were off course 51:07 by saying remember a Sabbath day to keep it holy. 51:13 You got to put tray those translations in 51:16 for a stick of bubblegum 51:18 because they ain't worth that. 51:21 People have cleverly tried to presuppose 51:23 or pre-impose their views on a specific article. 51:28 This is written in the context of a specific article, 51:33 not in the context of a generality, 51:35 you see the ceremonial Sabbaths were referred to as a Sabbath, 51:38 a Sabbath, a Sabbath, 51:40 but at the end of creation week, 51:41 there was only one day that was left to be sanctified. 51:44 That's the one that the Lord made holy, 51:46 and He said, "Keep it the way I made it." 51:48 He made it that way at the end of creation week. 51:50 And by the way, there were the others. 51:51 Let's go to the very next question 51:53 to see the answer. 51:54 So here's the answer to number five. 51:56 What special act? 51:58 Keep it holy. 51:59 And by the way, remember. 52:01 And by the way, 52:02 there's a couple of other passages in the Bible. 52:04 I'm going to just tell you very quickly. 52:05 In the Book of Luke 17, there's a short passage, 52:08 it says, "Remember Lot's wife," three words. 52:12 Now what's the big message about Lot's wife? 52:15 What did she do? 52:16 She looked back, and she should not have. 52:20 Now, what is the message to that? 52:22 When God calls you out, don't what? 52:24 Don't look back. 52:26 Then there's another one, remember, 52:28 in Ecclesiastes 12:1, 52:30 "Remember now the Creator in the days of your youth." 52:34 Now let me ask you a question, 52:35 "Do our young people need to know the Lord?" 52:39 Does this society need young people 52:41 that remember the Lord? 52:43 Of course. 52:44 Now, the Lord says, 52:47 "Remember the Creator in the days of your youth," 52:49 and we say to the young people, 52:51 "Don't forget Jesus, remember the Lord." 52:54 We say to other Christians, "Remember Lot's wife, 52:56 don't look back." 52:58 But at the same time, God says, 53:00 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 53:03 And many ministers mock it, make light of it and say, 53:07 forget it, I got another day instead. 53:11 That is, to me the highest level of blasphemy. 53:15 You think that somehow you've got a position, 53:18 a salary, a mega church, a giga church, 53:20 whatever the case may be or even a small congregation, 53:22 and you feel that your authority has elevated you 53:25 to the level to say I know what God says, 53:26 but forget what He says, I got another day. 53:30 That's an offense to God. 53:31 It's offensive to God. 53:33 It's a sad thing. 53:35 Matter of fact, go with me... 53:37 Oh, I got to get this in, 53:39 go with me to the Book of Ezekiel. 53:41 Okay, what book did I say? Ezekiel. 53:45 I'm going to look at it real quickly. 53:46 I tell you, 53:49 it just really bothers me when I look at this. 53:53 Here in the Book of Ezekiel, it is Ezekiel Chapter... 54:00 Okay, 54:04 look at the word here. 54:05 Ezekiel... 54:07 I typed the word here again. 54:08 It's very important. 54:12 Okay, here it is. Okay, I got it. 54:14 It is Ezekiel 54:19 22:26. 54:21 This, the Lord just brought to my mind. 54:23 Matter of fact I was writing this down today. 54:26 I was writing this down today, 54:28 and the devil has been fighting me 54:30 like an angry pit bull. 54:33 But it's okay, 54:35 he's going to lose, he's lost already. 54:37 Amen? 54:38 It's just a matter of time before he gets his vacation. 54:42 Look at what God... 54:44 Look at the very thing, 54:46 and we're not going to finish this night, 54:47 I know that, 54:49 but we're going to come back to it, 54:50 it's going to be a lot more, 54:51 but I want to make this point very clear tonight 54:53 as God has impressed me to do so by His Word. 54:54 Look at Ezekiel Chapter 22, and look at what happened. 54:57 This text identifies 55:00 what's happening in the world today. 55:02 Look what it says. 55:04 "Her priests have violated My," what? 55:07 "Law, and profaned My," what? 55:10 "Holy things. 55:11 They have not distinguished 55:14 between the holy and the," what? 55:17 "Unholy, nor have they made known the difference 55:20 between the unclean, and the," what? 55:23 "Clean, and they had hidden their eyes from," what? 55:27 "My Sabbath, so that I am," what? 55:31 "Profaned among them." 55:33 Do you think God's upset? 55:35 You don't read... 55:36 You don't get those texts on television quite often. 55:39 That's not a televangelist text. 55:43 That's not a money making text, 55:44 that's to tell it like it is text. 55:46 The Lord is saying, "When you violate My Sabbath, 55:48 I'm profaned among you." 55:50 We think that God has to accept whatever we do. 55:52 That's not how it is. 55:53 Very quickly, Exodus Chapter 56, 55:56 Exodus Chapter 58, 55:57 I might not get to it. 55:58 I'm going to get to it. 56:00 Go there very quickly. 56:01 Exodus, did I say Exodus? 56:03 I don't mean Exodus, Isaiah. 56:05 Isaiah, 56:07 Isaiah 58, this is very quick, 56:10 and I'm going to wind down the program with this today. 56:12 Isaiah 58:12. 56:15 And it says in verse 12, "They that shall be of thee," 56:18 I'm quoting from the King James Version. 56:20 "They that shall be of thee 56:22 shall build up the old waste places. 56:25 Thou shalt raise up the foundations 56:27 of many generations, thou 56:29 shalt be called, the repairers of the breach, 56:31 the restorers of paths to dwell in." 56:34 The people of God will repair the breach 56:36 and restore the path. 56:37 Say what, friends? 56:39 Repair the breach, restore the path. 56:41 How? 56:42 Verse 13, "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, 56:45 from doing your pleasure on My holy day, 56:48 and call the Sabbath a delight. 56:51 The holy of the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor him, 56:54 not doing your own ways, 56:56 nor finding your own pleasures, 56:57 nor speaking your own words, 56:59 then you shall delight yourself in the Lord, 57:02 and I will cause you to ride 57:03 on the high places of the earth, 57:05 and feed you with the heritage of Jacob, 57:08 your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." 57:10 Can you say amen? Amen. Amen. 57:12 God is saying, "There's a people 57:13 in these last days that will repair the breach, 57:16 they'll build up the old waste places, 57:19 they will raise up the foundations 57:20 of many generations, 57:22 and they shall be called the repairers of the breach, 57:25 the restorers of paths to dwell in. 57:27 If you love the Lord, He's got the Sabbath, 57:29 that's a sign of your sanctifying connection 57:32 with Him. 57:33 Don't choose another day 57:34 because a church says this is a better choice. 57:37 Only choose what will honor the Lord. 57:40 If Jesus kept the Sabbath, 57:42 and you'll find out His disciples kept it. 57:44 After Jesus ascended, 57:46 the Sabbath was still being kept, 57:48 it was kept at His death, and at His resurrection. 57:50 Friends, God has a blessing for you. 57:53 And you know what? It's a deep topic. 57:54 It may not make sense, but keep on studying, 57:58 and the Spirit of God 57:59 will bring it into A Sharper Focus. 58:01 God bless you. Let's pray. |
Revised 2019-01-28