Participants: Lemuel Vega
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000407
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00:31 Hello, my friends at home today.
00:33 I wanna welcome you to 3ABN in Faith Chapel. 00:36 Today it's a, it's a very awesome privilege for 00:40 me to come here today and share with you a little 00:42 bit about a special situation in my life. 00:46 And the topic today is remember the Sabbath day. 00:51 And there is a controversy going on in our 00:53 world today. Well, we got the Lord's Day, 00:55 we got the old Jewish Sabbath day, and we, 00:57 we got all kinds of issues and we actually got confuse 01:00 people out there. And my dear friend, 01:03 I'm one of those people that were terribly confused. 01:06 I had heard about the Sabbath and all through 01:08 the Bible speaks about remember the Sabbath day. 01:12 And then some people wanna say, 01:13 Oh! No the Ten Commandments 01:14 they were nailed to the cross and we; 01:16 we don't have to keep that anymore, 01:17 that's the old law. Well, I'll tell you what 01:20 God's law? The Ten Commandments thou shalt 01:24 not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, 01:26 thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear, 01:28 thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not covet, 01:31 all these things are very principles in our societies, 01:35 in our kingdoms, in our lands, wherever you come from 01:38 that these are things that you want honest labors, 01:40 you don't want someone coveting your wife 01:43 or your husband. So, the Bible says, 01:45 in the middle of it. It says, remember the Sabbath day. 01:47 Let us bow and have prayer and has God's blessings 01:51 upon our, our opportunity to be here together. 01:55 Oh, dear heavenly Father, I want to say thank you 01:58 for what you have done in our lives, 01:59 we thank you for what you have done in our 02:01 world to calm the storm of the turmoil in 02:03 which we live. And yes, you have set a special day 02:07 aside. It's not just any day that we can pick 02:10 any day out of week and say, well we are gonna 02:12 keep that one holy. Because my Bible 02:15 and the walk through life that you've led me, 02:17 I now have an understanding that the special day 02:20 that you set aside from the beginning of time. 02:23 And at the end of time when earth is no more, 02:26 there will be a special time in heaven from one 02:29 Sabbath to another that we will come before thee 02:31 and worship you. So, may we know Lord, 02:35 help us to follow what is right your will in our 02:38 lives in Jesus name we pray, Amen. 02:44 I would like to turn to the very first book of 02:46 the Bible. And the very first chapter and the 02:49 very first, the very first verse in Genesis chapter 1. 02:54 Please grab your Bible; it's easy to find out. 02:57 I didn't use to grab my Bible because I couldn't 02:58 follow along with the, with the person that 03:00 was sharing. He went so fast, in the beginning. 03:05 "God created the heaven and the earth." 03:08 God created in the beginning. 03:11 Let's go just a little further to Genesis 1, 03:14 verse 31. "And God saw that everything that 03:21 he had made, and behold, it was very good. 03:31 And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." 03:34 So, God had created all this in the weekly cycle 03:38 and the first six days God created. 03:41 The evening by the way, pay attention to this. 03:44 The evening and the morning were the first 03:46 day in the beginning of creation. 03:49 In our world, we want to say 12 o' clock midnight. 03:51 Now, starts the next day in God's time it says 03:54 the evening and the morning were the first day. 03:59 Chapter 2, "Thus the heavens and the earth 04:05 were finished and all the host of them. 04:08 And on the seventh day God ended his work 04:15 which he had made; and he rested on the 04:18 Seventh-day from all his work which he had made." 04:21 And here it is my friend, you won't find it 04:24 anywhere else in the Bible on Monday, Tuesday, 04:26 Wednesday or Sunday. And God blessed the 04:29 Seventh-day, and sanctified it. 04:32 He did something special at the end of creation 04:35 and sanctified it. Because that in it, 04:39 he had rested from all his work which God created 04:43 and made. God was tired from creating this universe. 04:48 God was tired from creating the elephants 04:51 and the animals and a little baby lambs, 04:53 and the chickens, and the puppy dogs. 04:55 And then he created man in his own image. 04:59 God was not physically drained, where he needed 05:02 a day of rest. He wanted to be with you my friend 05:06 and to be with me on a special day that he set 05:10 aside. And on the Seventh-day God 05:12 ended his work, which he had made 05:14 and he rested on the Seventh-day from 05:16 all his work which he had made. 05:17 And God blessed, I'm gonna tell you word is in 05:20 Genesis chapter 2 verse 3. 05:24 Genesis chapter 2 verse 3, "And God blessed the 05:28 Seventh Day and sanctified it, 05:30 because in it He rested from all His work which 05:36 God created and made." So, I want to tell you 05:40 my friend that this is, if he had nothing more 05:43 to go on, but let's continue all in our, 05:45 in our journey here. Let's look and see, 05:48 this year was before the. Let's go to Exodus, 05:54 Exodus chapter 16. This was before the 05:57 Ten Commandments on Sinai. This was not a 05:59 Jewish Sabbath day. This is from the beginning 06:02 the creation for all of humanity, 06:04 he started with Adam and Eve. 06:06 So, I don't care what nationality you are, 06:07 what country you come from, what color you are? 06:09 It's for all of humanity because we all trace our 06:13 heritage back to Adam and Eve ultimately to God, 06:17 our creator of the universe. So, this Sabbath day is 06:19 for you and for I. Let's go to Exodus 16, 06:25 verse 4 and 5. Then said the LORD unto Moses, 06:31 the children of Israel when bondage in Egypt, 06:36 they have been taken slaves, they have been made slaves 06:40 to work for these people, and they had idolatry 06:43 all around, idol worship and all kinds of things 06:46 and so they were enslaved into this country, 06:48 where they didn't have the, the freedom to serve God 06:51 and carry down the heritage. And they were taken out by 06:56 God through Moses and they were taken out, 06:59 and the king said to let them go. 07:02 And they cross the red sea on dry land. 07:04 Then now they are in the, in the wilderness God had 07:08 taken them out to free them from bondage from 07:10 physical slavery and bring them into a relationship 07:14 to re-establish a relationship to have been from the 07:16 beginning of time. "Then said the LORD unto Moses, 07:20 Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; 07:22 and for the people, and the people shall go out 07:26 and gather a certain rate every day." 07:28 That I He says, may prove them, 07:32 prove the people of that time. 07:35 Prove the people of this 21st century. 07:40 That I may prove them whether they will walk 07:42 in my law or no, God's law the Ten Commandments, 07:48 where do you stay in my friend? 07:50 Does it really matter? You just believe in God, 07:53 and that's gonna take us through, 07:55 believe in God and his Ten Commandment is not enough. 08:00 The Ten Commandments keeping the law all perfect 08:04 is not enough to get us to heaven. 08:06 It is a hard rendering; it is a transformation of the 08:09 character. And then these things are applicable to 08:15 our lives. They are in enjoyment not to steal 08:18 from my neighbor, it's a blessing to help them 08:20 instead just steal from him. It's a blessing to be 08:23 a truth to him instead of a lie to him, 08:25 it's a blessing and God makes our lives blessings. 08:29 And these Ten Commandments are not grievous. 08:32 And it shall come to pass it on the six day, 08:35 they shall prepare that which they bring in, 08:37 and it shall be twice as much as they gather. 08:41 So, here we read about, about the Manna, 08:45 God rained Manna down bread from heaven, 08:48 and he wanted to prove his people. 08:51 So, he said everyday you are gonna get your bread, 08:54 go out and gather it everyday and then at 08:57 that time on the six day, there is gonna be twice 09:01 as much on the six day. And so, that's a nice deal. 09:05 We work six days and on the seventh day 09:07 you get the rest, you don't even have to go out 09:09 and gather your bread for the day 09:10 because it's already been laid up from the day before. 09:13 Let's go to Exodus 16, Exodus 16:22 through 30. 09:20 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they 09:22 gathered twice as much bread, 09:24 two omers for one man: and all the rulers of 09:28 the congregation came and told Moses. 09:30 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD 09:34 hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy 09:37 Sabbath unto the LORD: and bake that which 09:41 you will bake today, and see they are boiled 09:43 or cooked that which you will cook, 09:45 see they are boil and that which remain it over lay 09:48 it up for you to be kept until the morning." 09:50 And so God provided that they could have extra 09:54 and they lay it up till the morning, as Moses bade: 09:57 and it did not stink, neither was there 09:58 any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat it today; 10:02 for today is a Sabbath unto the LORD: 10:04 today ye shall not find it in the field. 10:07 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, 10:10 which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none." 10:12 Verse 27, this is our humanity trust God. 10:22 And it came to pass, that there went out some of 10:25 the people on the seventh day for to gather, 10:28 and they found none. And the LORD said unto Moses, 10:32 How long refuse ye to keep my commandments 10:36 and my laws?" This was God's chosen people; 10:40 this weary are God's chosen people. 10:43 Humanity came to the cross of Calvary to die for you 10:46 and I that we could be reinstated into the 10:49 rightful hands, into the position that we have 10:52 for us in the kingdom of heaven. 10:54 It's not for the Jews, it's not an old law, 10:56 was it for just the Israelites. 10:58 This is for you and for me. Exodus 20 verse 8 to 11. 11:09 Let's read that together, "Remember the Sabbath 11:11 day to keep it holy. Six days shall labor 11:14 and do all thy work. But the seventh day is a 11:17 Sabbath to the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt 11:20 not do any work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, 11:25 thy man servant, nor thy male servant, 11:28 nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is with him 11:31 thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven 11:36 and earth, we already read about that in the very 11:38 beginning of the Bible and the sea, 11:40 and all then that is and rested on the seventh day; 11:42 where for the Lord blessed the Sabbath day an holiday." 11:49 So, now how is that the man's tradition has crept 11:52 in to our society through secularism and we say, 11:57 we can pick any day. My friend I don't know, 12:00 what day you were born, what year you were born, 12:02 but the day July 18th, 1842. Whatever day you have born 12:07 1942, it doesn't matter, that is the day you were born, 12:11 that's the day that, that is your day that's the 12:14 beginning of time for you and in God's time in the 12:17 very beginning, He set aside the Seventh-day. 12:21 We say, well we should live everyday holy is unto 12:23 the Lord, Amen. We should live our heart everyday 12:28 for Jesus Christ, but we cannot breathe 12:31 and sanctify a day and make it holy. 12:34 He is already done that for us, 12:36 he is already showed us, which day it is. 12:37 And it's the Sabbath day. You call it the Jewish 12:40 Sabbath, if you want too. I choose to call it the 12:42 Sabbath or the living God, and it says in the Bible 12:45 that from one new moon to another, 12:47 and from one Sabbath to another. 12:49 All fresh shall come and worship before the 12:52 Lord God, Amen. Let's go to Isaiah 58, 12:55 Isaiah 58 and I would like to look at verse 13. 13:03 Isaiah 58 verse 13, still the old, still the 13:07 Old Testament now. Lot of people say the 13:09 Old Testament is not relevant, but I say the 13:11 Bible from the beginning to the end is all one. 13:13 And God is coming back and we are going to be judged 13:17 according to how we've lived our life. 13:19 And I pray that by His will, we are willing to 13:21 surrender everything unto him, 13:23 whether it would be the Sabbath, whether it would 13:25 be drugs, whether it would be alcohol, 13:26 we have to have a starting point. 13:28 The Sabbath itself is not going to save anybody 13:31 because the rich young ruler come to Jesus, 13:33 and he said for my youth up, I have kept all of 13:35 these things, all of the laws to honor God. 13:39 He said, sell all that you have and give it to 13:41 the poor. So, the, the commandment themselves 13:43 are not enough, it's a shed blood of Jesus Christ 13:46 been applied to our lives in a daily relationship 13:49 with him. Verse 13 of Isaiah 58, 13:52 "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, 13:55 from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; God says, 13:59 and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of 14:02 the LORD honorable, and shall honor him, 14:06 not doing thy own ways, nor finding thy own pleasures, 14:10 nor speaking thine own words. Then shalt thou 14:13 delight thyself in the Lord I will cause thee you 14:16 and I friend to ride upon the high places 14:20 of the earth." I tell you my dear friend perhaps 14:24 you are a, perhaps you are a good Sabbath keeper. 14:28 Every morning you get up on the Sabbath 14:30 and you go to church, how is your heart on 14:33 the way to church, what are you thinking about 14:35 on the way to church? Do you go like lots of people, 14:39 get your big old cup of coffee and your donut, 14:42 and then you go and your fellowship and you yip yap, 14:44 and then you go in and you praise the Lord little bit, 14:46 you clap your hands, and you have a fellowship 14:49 that's not the fellowship the Jesus Christ is 14:52 looking for. As Moses came to the burning bush, 14:56 God asked him to take his shoes off 14:59 because it's holy ground. And as we come into 15:02 our sanctuary, even if you got a home, 15:04 church or a home dwelling, you have a room set aside 15:08 special, we need to come as if it's holy ground. 15:13 Because it is, and the presence of God would 15:17 literally destroy us, we come into a sanctuary 15:22 in humility. Cell phones ringing in the back 15:27 of the church, what's up with that? 15:30 You shouldn't even have to, you are not that 15:32 important. The creator of the universe, 15:34 He knows your number and he could come 15:36 and talk to your heart without having the ring, 15:38 ring, ring, ding. God wants to spend time with you 15:43 and with I. May we set aside and prepare on 15:49 Friday to come and be with him on the Sabbath. 15:53 I share that for my own heart that I wanted 15:56 to be a quite time in holy ground. 15:59 And God's working on that in my life, I'm not, 16:02 I'm not speaking to condemn, I'm speaking 16:04 to say, people of the world we go out water 16:08 ski before church and then after church we go 16:10 out to eat, and then we do this, and we do that. 16:12 The Bible says that thy man servant, thy son, 16:15 nor the daughter, or thy stranger that is within 16:17 your gates, but it's okay to go down to the 16:19 ponderosa or it's okay to go down to the big club 16:22 after church and have fellowship. 16:24 You are making somebody else work, 16:26 what's up with that, tell me. I would like to 16:33 look at Mark 15. Let's go to Mark, we are going to 16:36 the New Testament now. New Testament, 16:39 let's go to Mark and see what Mark has to say, 16:41 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Matthew, Mark, 16:45 Mark 15 verse 42. "And now when the even 16:55 was come, because it was the preparation, 16:58 here it is, what's the preparation, that is, 17:03 the day before the Sabbath. It says and writes here, 17:07 that now even was come, remember the creation 17:11 the evening and the morning were the first day. 17:13 And now God's timeframe, the evening and the morning 17:16 was still in the context, here now in the 17:19 New Testament. Praise God, Joseph of Arimathea, 17:23 an honorable counselor, who also waited for the 17:25 kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly into Pilate, 17:28 and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marveled 17:32 if it were already dead: and calling unto him the 17:34 centurion, he asked whether he had been 17:36 any while dead. And when he knew of other centurion, 17:40 he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen, 17:44 and took him down, from the cross of Calvary." 17:47 The plan of redemption was completed at that moment, 17:51 when he died and shed his blood for you and for I. 18:01 And he bought fine linen, and took him down, 18:04 from the cross of Calvary and wrapped him in the 18:06 linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was 18:09 hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the 18:11 door of the sepulchre." So, here was somebody 18:15 to take God's body off the cross. 18:18 And put it in a new hewn out tomb. Chapter 16 18:24 of Mark verse 1. "And when the Sabbath was passed, 18:29 when the Sabbath was passed listen to this on Friday 18:33 however this took place, Jesus Christ was crucified, 18:36 hang upon the cross and died preparation the day 18:41 before the Sabbath. And now God rested in the tomb 18:46 as his custom was he went into the synagogue on 18:49 the Sabbath day. He created the heaven 18:51 and the earth in six days, and He rested on the 18:53 Sabbath day, the seventh day. 18:56 "And when the Sabbath was passed Mary Magdalene, 18:58 and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, 19:00 had bought sweet spices that they might come 19:04 anoint him." And very early in the morning, 19:08 the first day of the week. They came unto the 19:12 sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 19:18 And they said among themselves, 19:20 Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the 19:23 sepulchre? And when they looked they saw that 19:25 the stone was rolled away for it was very great 19:28 and entering into the sepulchre, they saw a 19:31 young man sitting on the right side, 19:32 clothed in a long white garment; 19:34 and they were affrighted. And he Saith unto them, 19:37 Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, 19:42 which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: 19:46 behold look and see the place where they laid him." 19:51 My friend, Jesus Christ rested on the Sabbath day; 19:56 he arose on the first day of the week. 19:58 What day is the Sabbath day, I appeal to you? 20:02 We know Easter Sunday in our world, 20:06 worldwide is the Sunday, the first day of the week. 20:10 Now, that tells us specifically which day 20:13 is the Sabbath. Friday is the end of the week, 20:17 six days at on the Sabbath, the Saturday, 20:20 the seventh day he also rested. 20:23 In the New Testament my friend, Amen. 20:28 God rested even after the plan of creation, 20:32 God rested even after the plan of redeeming you 20:37 and I unto himself through his shed blood upon 20:40 the cross of Calvary. Finish the work for that moment 20:43 and lay down to rest. You may say, well let's keep 20:47 Sunday, the resurrection that is so powerful, 20:50 let's worship him today on the Sunday instead 20:53 of the Saturday, I say to you my friend, 20:56 I challenge you, the resurrection would have 20:59 never happen, if the crucifixion wouldn't happen, 21:01 so why don't you choose Friday to worship God. 21:05 Because he was willing to die for you and for me 21:08 on the Friday. So, why don't we pick Friday? 21:11 I say that there is peace and hope and love and joy 21:16 and beauty in the Sabbath day. 21:18 We can't pick a day, we can't bless a day, 21:21 we can't sanctify or make a day holy. 21:23 God has already done that for us at the very 21:27 beginning of creation. I would like to go to 21:30 Revelations 14, this is still the New Testament 21:34 my friend. Revelations 14, I'm not sharing this 21:38 to condemn, I'm sharing this because I have had 21:40 some major issues regarding this in my life. 21:43 Revelations 14:12, "Here is the patience of 21:48 the saints: here are they that keep the 21:51 commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." 21:54 The commandments in the last book of the Bible 21:56 are still relevant. They haven't been done away with; 22:00 they haven't been nail to the cross. 22:07 Let's go to Revelations 22, before I go there 22:13 I want to read Revelations 14:6. 22:16 "And I saw another angel flying in the midst 22:21 of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, 22:24 to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, 22:27 and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, 22:30 and people, saying with a loud voice, 22:33 Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour 22:36 of his judgment is come: and worship Him who made 22:41 heaven and the earth and the sea, 22:43 and the fountains of waters. He is looking 22:46 for our worship, and so the day that we worship 22:50 I would say is absolutely to the utmost importance 22:53 because we can't pick a day, sanctified it, 22:56 bless it, or make it holy." Revelations 22:12, 23:05 in red letters in my Bible. It says, "And Behold, 23:10 I come quickly, and my reward is with me, 23:13 to give every man according as his work shall be. 23:16 I am the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end, 23:19 the first and the last. In verse 14 of chapter 22, 23:24 "Blessed are they that do his commandments 23:27 that they may have the right to the tree of life, 23:31 and may enter in through the gates into that city." 23:34 You my friend and I want to hear, well done thou good 23:38 in faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord, 23:41 if still speaking about the commandments in the 23:43 beginning of the Bible, the middle of the Bible in the 23:46 last book of the Bible, in the last chapter of the 23:49 Bible, and I tell you that there is no way. 23:53 There is no way that the special Sabbath day 23:57 has been done away with. Revelations 22 verse 21, 24:03 "And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 24:07 with you all, Amen. Until the end of the world 24:12 Jesus Christ is looking for those who are willing 24:15 to stand up, true and faithful be to follow him. 24:20 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the three 24:23 young Hebrews, they choose not to follow the, 24:27 the, the wide way, the way of the world at 24:29 the time in their life. And do you know, they were 24:32 thrown into the fiery furnace, and you know, 24:34 the God was with them in the fiery furnace? 24:36 And do you know, when they were called out to 24:38 the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar made a 24:40 decree that everybody would worship the true 24:43 and the living God, so because three were 24:45 willing to stand up for a righteousness and truth, 24:48 the whole kingdom, a decree was made in honor 24:51 of the true, in the living God. I wanna share with 24:54 you something in closing. My mother was very sick 24:57 with cancer and she was soon going to die. 24:59 I had all these issues, I have been down to the 25:02 big churches of the land, and asked them about 25:04 the Sabbath. They said, don't worry about it, 25:06 just keep a day holy, it doesn't matter. 25:08 And I struggled with all these issues, 25:11 it drove me into deeper, and deeper drug addiction 25:13 because I was searching, but I put it out of my mind. 25:16 My mother was sick with cancer for years 25:19 and she was ready to die. A year I prayed perhaps, 25:23 I said Lord, if the Sabbath day is Saturday 25:27 and it's really special to you, I said please let my 25:31 mother die on the Sabbath day. 25:35 And I prayed this prayer, and I meant it with all 25:38 my heart because it didn't really matter, 25:40 what day I went to church and was really no big deal. 25:42 And for me, I was seeking in all truth and sincerity, 25:46 and that's what you need to do for you, 25:48 don't worry about your preacher, 25:49 don't worry about your bishop, seek God's will for 25:52 your life and you will be blessed. 25:56 It was the Sunday afternoon. Because when we go to 25:58 church then we can go out do other things too 26:00 you know, because it really doesn't matters, 26:01 not really at special of the day. And I had borrowed a 26:03 pick up truck and I was, I was getting some stones 26:06 out of my grandmother's property because they 26:07 had sold and they said I could have these stones, 26:09 and my aunty came looking for me. 26:12 She said I have been looking all over for you. 26:15 She said your mother died. My first question was 26:19 when did she die? She said, yesterday. 26:23 I said, what time did she die? I believe that was 26:27 in the early afternoon. And I broke down and I wept 26:31 because I was taken into context of the evening 26:34 and the morning were the first day, 26:35 the Sabbath begins on Friday evening, 26:37 it in Saturday evening, a sun down and I believe, 26:40 if it would have been after the sun down, 26:43 I would have believed that really didn't matter. 26:45 And I cried, and I cried, I racked with tears, 26:49 I sobbed, and my wife come over to comfort me 26:52 and she said, it will be okay. I said, honey you don't 26:55 understand. And God had answered my prayer 26:59 to let me know, where I stood? And I tell you, 27:03 it's been almost twelve years now that have 27:05 been going to church on the Sabbath. 27:07 It's been a blessing, he has pulled me from 27:09 drug addiction, from the spare, from the ways 27:12 of the world, and it is a blessing to serve Jesus, 27:15 wholeheartedly not just a day with the heart, 27:20 with the love and then it becomes a joy, 27:23 a joy to hear. Here is the patience of the saints 27:28 here are they; they keep the commandments of God 27:30 and the faith of Jesus Christ. So, my friend that 27:35 I hope that in, in a mighty way this will encourage 27:38 you as you are willing to surrender all 27:40 and say that I too, and willing to follow Jesus. 27:44 Give him an opportunity with your life in all 27:47 sincerity and I look forward on that great day 27:50 to seeing you in the kingdom of heaven. 27:52 God bless you, and we love you 27:54 until we meet again, God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17