Participants: Alexander Biscette
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000252
|
00:30 Welcome to Faith Chapel
00:33 The program designed to increase your faith 00:36 by the preaching of God's word. 00:38 My name is Alexander Biscette. 00:40 My message for today is captioned 00:43 the Sabbath thrice restored. 00:46 The Sabbath thrice restored. 00:49 I invite you to join with us as we begin this program 00:52 with a word of prayer. 00:55 Our loving heavenly Father. 00:57 in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, 01:00 we approach Your throne of grace. 01:03 We pray that You may forgive us for our sins. 01:06 Give us the Holy Spirit to guide us 01:09 as we study your Holy Word. 01:12 Help us to understand your Word more clearly, 01:16 Convict us of truth by the prompting of the Holy Spirit 01:20 and help us Lord to accept it we pray in Jesus' name 01:25 Amen. 01:27 The Sabbath thrice restored. 01:30 There are three critical times in the history of salvation 01:35 when God has emphatically called for the restoration of 01:41 the Sabbath in the life of his people. 01:44 In today's message we will take a look at those three 01:50 critical times in salvation history. 01:55 When God has had to restore the Sabbath. 01:58 Our topic, the Sabbath thrice restored 02:02 Let us begin by going to the Book of Genesis 02:07 Where the Sabbath was instituted at creation 02:10 Genesis chapter two, verse one through three 02:15 The Bible tells us: 02:48 This is at the end of Creation week. 02:51 This was when God instituted the Sabbath. 02:54 So the Sabbath was established 02:58 at Creation. 03:01 When God rested from all His works. 03:04 Then the Bible tells us God blessed the Sabbath 03:08 He stored His special blessings upon it 03:11 and God sanctified the Sabbath 03:15 meaning that He set it apart, He set it aside, 03:20 as the day of rest and worship for his people. 03:25 Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day 03:30 and my friends, what a joy it must have been 03:34 for Adam and Eve to enter into this experience, wonderful 03:41 experiences of worshiping God, being in the presence of God, 03:48 to worship Him on this very first Sabbath at the end of 03:54 Creation Week. 03:55 So, the Sabbath was instituted at Creation 04:00 Now there are three times when the Sabbath has been suppressed 04:07 or lost, 04:10 and three times God has restored it. 04:16 The first time was when the people of God were enslaved 04:22 in Egypt. 04:24 When they were slaves in Egypt they lost their freedom 04:30 to worship God. 04:33 They didn't have the freedom to worship God, as they know. 04:38 Now, obviously, many of them remained faithful to God, 04:44 but by and large they did not have the freedom to worship God 04:49 as a nation as they know. 04:52 As a matter of fact, Moses many times called on the Pharaoh 04:57 and said "Let my people go" 05:01 God has said "Let My people go 05:04 that they may worship me in the wilderness. " 05:07 So worshiping God was one of the issues. 05:11 And Pharaoh as you know hardened his heart, did not harken 05:16 into the voice of God, continued to oppress the people of God 05:22 until finally, God had to deliver his people, then we know 05:29 of course how God inflicted Egypt with ten plagues. 05:36 The last one of course being the one that did it. 05:41 When Pharaoh lost his first-born when it struck very 05:46 close home to Pharaoh, when he lost his first-born, when all 05:51 the first-borns of Egypt died. 05:54 Finally Pharaoh allowed the people of God to go. 05:58 And then after they left, 06:01 Pharaoh said "but wait a minute, why did I let them go? 06:05 Perhaps we can go and catch up with them and bring them back 06:10 into slavery, why should I let them go?" 06:13 That was the time, my friends, when Pharaoh caught up with them 06:16 at the Red Sea. 06:17 That God performed a marvelous miracle. 06:22 When he opened the waters of the Red Sea 06:26 and allowed his people, Israel, to walk on dry land to safety. 06:34 On the other side of the Red Sea the people begun the journey 06:40 towards the wilderness of Shur. 06:44 My friends, it is one of the most fascinating stories 06:50 in the entire Bible. 06:52 How God brought them out of slavery, opening the waters 06:55 of the Red Sea. 06:56 And they begun their journey across the wilderness 07:02 and we are told my friends, they went through the wilderness 07:05 of Shur. 07:07 This is the desert region, according to Bible commentators 07:12 reaching from the Eastern border of Egypt, to the Southern border 07:18 of Palestine and touching in the South the mountains of the 07:24 Sinai peninsula. 07:26 In Numbers chapter 33 and verse 8 this desert region is called 07:32 the wilderness of Etham. 07:35 It was through the Southern part of this desert that Israel 07:42 marched in the South-Westerly direction along the shores of 07:47 the Red Sea. 07:48 They journeyed three days and found no water, 07:52 interestingly they begun to murmur. 07:56 Now, the Israelites must have carried a supply of water with 08:01 them, coming out of Egypt, for they knew that they were going 08:06 into the wilderness. 08:08 But understandably they've been going for three days. 08:11 And by now their supplies are either run out and they are 08:19 thirsty, and they begin to complain. 08:22 Now it's interesting that just three days ago God performed 08:26 a marvelous miracle, to open the Red Sea so that they could walk 08:30 to safety. 08:32 But, yet they are complaining for water because they have not 08:35 seen water in three days. 08:37 How short, my friends, our memory can be when it comes to 08:42 the goodness of God. 08:43 'Cause Israel the people of God, they were like that in 08:46 the wilderness. 08:48 But then they came to a place called Mara 08:51 and they discovered that there was water at Mara 08:54 But to their dismay, the water was bitter, and they could not 09:00 drink the water at Mara. 09:04 After they murmured and complained, God told Moses "cut 09:09 down a tree and cast it in the water which when Moses did, the 09:14 water became sweet. 09:17 Now it is very interesting because there is no evidence, 09:23 my friends, 09:24 that this tree that had the ability to turn water sweet 09:29 exists anyway in the region. 09:32 On the discussion, the bitter waters of Mara have been 09:36 identified as the El Huraro, the first oasis South of 09:41 the Sins. 09:42 It lies on the ancient road to Sineai, the ancient road to the 09:47 Sinai copper mines about 47 miles from the town of Sin. 09:54 When the Israel have got there so the water was bitter 09:56 they murmured and complained as I have just said and God made 10:01 the water sweet, but, my friends what is interesting is that 10:06 the people who lived in the area the people who live in that 10:13 neighborhood known as the Bedouins or bedowins, they know 10:21 of no means of making these waters in that area drinkable. 10:29 But yet we were told that it happened. 10:33 Now how is that possible? What can we think of? 10:36 Well it is either God caused Moses or directed Moses to use 10:44 a tree that no longer exists in the area, or perhaps it was 10:52 a direct intervention of God, a miracle of God to turn 10:58 the bitter water into sweet, drinkable water. 11:04 I personally believe that it was the latter. 11:07 I believe God performed yet another miracle in turning 11:11 the bitter waters of the El Huara and making it drinkable. 11:19 Once again God proved that He is able, He has a capability. 11:25 He is able to provide for His people, to supply their needs 11:31 even when they lacked their faith to thrust Him implicitly. 11:37 Even when we lack the faith to thrust God implicitly, God can 11:41 still supply our needs. 11:44 When Israel left Mara, they journeyed towards the wilderness 11:50 of Sin, 11:52 Situated between Elam and Sineai. 11:56 Once they got there they begun to murmur about food. 12:00 They murmured, my friends, because they remembered sitting 12:05 by the flesh ports of Egypt, and eating bread to the full. 12:10 And they begun to accuse Moses and Aaron, of bringing 12:15 them out of Egypt into the wilderness to kill the whole 12:20 assembly. 12:22 It was then, that the Lord promised to give them food, to 12:26 give them flesh in the evening and bread in the morning. 12:32 In Exodus 16: 13 and 15 12:36 It came to pass, that at evening quails came up and covered 12:43 the camp, and in the morning, the dew laid round about 12:47 the home. 12:48 And when the dew that laid was gone up, behold upon the face 12:55 of the wilderness, there laid a small round thing as small as 13:01 the hoarfrost on the ground. 13:04 And when the children of Israel saw it they said to one another 13:09 it is manna. 13:10 For they did not know what it was and Moses said unto them: 13:16 "This is the bread that the Lord had given you to eat" 13:23 Now what is this manna? Moses compares this manna to coriander 13:28 seed, an herb, Coreandrum Sativum which grows wild in the 13:34 near east. 13:35 It produces a round aromatic fruit that is white or 13:40 yellow-grey used for seasoning and medical purposes. 13:45 In Exodus 16: 31, Moses refers to the manna as coriander seeds. 13:57 That is white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with 14:02 honey. 14:03 And so God provided them this manna - they were to gather this 14:08 manna dearly, every manna caught in to eating ability an omer 14:12 for each member of his household. 14:15 The omer is the equivalent of 2 dry quarts. 14:20 And they gathered enough for the day that every person 14:24 enjoyed an ample supply. 14:27 God gave Moses specific directives that none of it was 14:31 to be left over, for the next day. 14:34 Some people disregarded God's directive and kept some of the 14:40 left-overs for the next day. 14:42 But it bred worms and stank. 14:45 And Moses was wroth with them. 14:48 Then, my friends, the Bible says they gathered mana every morning 14:54 and every morning God provided a fresh supply and it came 14:59 to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much 15:04 bread, two omers for a man and all the rulers of the 15:10 congregation came and told Moses. 15:12 And Moses said unto them: "This is that what the Lord have 15:17 said: Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. 15:23 Bake that which you will bake today and sift what you'll sift 15:28 today. 15:29 And that which remaineth overly up for you to be kept until 15:34 the morning. 15:36 And they laid it up until the morning as Moses said and it 15:40 did not stink, neither was there any worm there in. 15:44 Why? Because God now told them to do it. 15:50 On the sixth day collecting up for two days and God would 15:54 preserve it and He did. 15:56 And so we come to Exodus chapter 16 verse 26 to verse 30. 16:04 God was doing something very special. 16:57 Yes, my friends, so God was doing something special as he 17:02 provided food for them in the wilderness, He took the 17:08 opportunity to restore the Sabbath that had been suppressed 17:16 in Egypt. 17:18 So this is a point, or the first point in the history 17:23 of salvation, 17:25 when God emphatically restored the Sabbath. 17:31 He taught them all over how to observe the Sabbath even as He 17:36 fed them miraculously in the wilderness. 17:40 You see there were many people born in Egypt, generation of 17:47 Jews born in Egypt in oppression who never had the freedom to 17:54 worship God in the holy Sabbath day the way they are to. 17:59 And so God restored the Sabbath. 18:01 In Exodus chapter 20 verse 8 to 11, when God gave Moses 18:06 the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath was included there 18:10 embedded right in the heart of the Commandments. 18:51 So God restored the Sabbath, right there after Israel came 18:59 out of Egyptian slavery. 19:02 But then again, my friends, that would not be the last time, 19:05 God would again restore the Sabbath after the Babylonian 19:09 captivity. 19:10 The people of Israel went into Babylonian captivity, and God, 19:16 when he brought them out, had to restore the Sabbath again 19:21 and that would be the second time that God had to restore 19:25 the Sabbath. 19:27 And we will find this one in Isaiah chapter 58 and verse 13. 19:36 The Bible says: 20:01 This is at the end of the Babylonian captivity. 20:06 God told them, when you come out of the Babylonian captivity 20:09 and you come to rebuild the temple and reestablish yourself 20:13 as my people you have to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. 20:17 As a matter of fact they went into captivity because of 20:20 disregarding the Sabbath. 20:21 And all the various things that they did on the Sabbath like 20:25 bringing in their heavy burdens and so on, animals and 20:29 provisions for trade when they came to worship at the temple. 20:33 And now they were coming out of Babylonian captivity, God, 20:39 reinstituted the Sabbath because in Babylon, my friends, they 20:44 did not have the freedom again to worship God. 20:49 You would recall of course they were faithful ones, like Daniel 20:53 and the three Hebrew boys as well faithful to God, but they 20:56 didn't have the freedom. 20:57 So the Sabbath was suppressed in Babylon, and at the end of 21:03 Babylonian captivity God brought it back. 21:06 And when He brought it back, He brought it back with a great 21:08 promise in Isaiah 58: 14. 21:11 There's a promise even to Israel here, still given to us today. 21:34 My friends this is God's promise at the end of the Babylonian 21:38 captivity, for those who would keep His Sabbath be holy. 21:43 But still this is not all, there is still a third time when God 21:48 has had to restore the Sabbath in the life of His people. 21:55 My friends, he restored it after slavery in Egypt, he restored 22:01 it after Babylonian captivity and now, in the end of time, God 22:07 is restoring the Sabbath in the global proclamation of the 22:13 Gospel, God is restoring the Sabbath. 22:17 In Egypt, Sabbath was suppressed because of slavery, in Babylon 22:22 God's people went into captivity and lost the freedom to worship 22:27 God and enjoy the Sabbath, when they came out of Egypt, God 22:30 restored it, when they came out of Babylon, God restored it, 22:34 Right now God is restoring it again at the end of time. 22:37 Why? 22:39 Because, my friends, there was a time when the Sabbath was again 22:46 lost, or suppressed, or God's people would be prived of the 22:51 Sabbath. 22:53 That is, doing the time that is known as the Dark Ages. 22:59 The Medieval period there when Christians were persecuted, and 23:04 murdered for their faith and oppressed and the worship of the 23:09 true God was suppressed, the Sabbath was then lost, because 23:14 even in the reformation that came after, the great reformers 23:19 did a great work, fantastic work but, my friends, they did not go 23:24 all the way. 23:25 But God has a people who have discovered God's mandate 23:30 to restore the Sabbath in the global proclamation of 23:34 the Gospel. 23:35 Revelation chapter 14 verse 6. 23:38 And the Bible says and John says: 23:56 So the everlasting Gospel is being preached but look 23:59 at verse 7. 24:18 My friends, this verse there in Revelation 14:7 reverts right 24:23 back to the Sabbath commandment 24:26 My friends, it was told you are listening to a quote of the 24:30 Sabbath commandment. 24:32 Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment 24:36 is come and worship Him who made heaven and the earth the sea and 24:41 and the fountains of waters. 24:43 The Sabbath, my friends, reminds us that God is the Creator 24:49 And when we worship God on the Sabbath we honor him as Creator, 24:55 and the Devil, my friends, would like to do away with the 24:58 Sabbath. 24:59 So during the medieval period, during that ages, the Sabbath 25:02 was taken away. 25:04 But now, in the end of time, in the global proclamation of the 25:09 Everlasting Gospel, the Sabbath is being restored, my friends. 25:14 And we know that, because it is evident in Revelation 14:7 25:25 But also, in Revelation 14:12, Jesus is coming for those who 25:34 have the faith of Jesus and keep the commandments. 25:36 This is how it reads: 25:46 So, my friends, Jesus is coming for the people, 25:50 not the people who are trying to be saved by works, 25:54 there's no salvation by works, there's no salvation by Law, 25:57 but the people who are saved by grace and a faith that works 26:03 they have the faith of Jesus and they keep the commandments 26:07 of God. 26:08 And God wants you, my friends, to be among his last day people 26:14 who by God's grace are restoring the Sabbath, in the end of time. 26:19 We are going to meet the Sabbath in heaven, but we must learn 26:22 to enjoy it here. 26:24 Isaiah 66 verse 22, the Bible tells us that we will find the 26:29 Sabbath in heaven. 26:50 So the Sabbath will be in Heaven my friends, that goes to show 26:54 that when God instituted the Sabbath at Creation, it was His 26:58 intention that the Sabbath, my friends, would last for time 27:03 and for eternity. 27:05 And so, my friends, I invite you in giving your life to Jesus 27:10 Christ, to embrace all of his truth, and allow Him to restore 27:14 his holy Sabbath, in your experience. 27:18 Be one of those who is thunder for Jesus Christ, in the end of 27:22 time as the Sabbath is being restored, in the global 27:26 proclamation of the Everlasting Gospel. 27:31 I pray, that you will come to know Jesus in such a way, 27:35 that the joy of Sabbath worship and fellowship will become 27:39 special to you, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ 27:44 May God richly Bless you as you continue to live your life 27:48 for Him, and to do as He says in His Word. |
Revised 2014-12-17