Participants: Pastor Charles Byrd
Series Code: IST
Program Code: IST000012
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00:01 Welcome back to In Search of the Truth.
00:04 I'm Karen Byrd. 00:06 In our last program we learned that the God of creation 00:09 wrote His character - His law - in stone. 00:12 We also learned that this law is still our guide, 00:15 our moral compass today. 00:18 How comforting to discover that it is His plan 00:21 to write that law on our hearts. 00:24 Today Charles is back at Mt. Sinai to take a closer look 00:28 at the one commandment that is nearly universally ignored. 00:32 Join us as we go in search of the REST of the story. 01:15 If you jump on the World Wide Web 01:17 and go to a web site called optillusions.com 01:21 you will find some very interesting optical illusions. 01:24 You can even purchase some posters of them. 01:26 Here are two of them. What do you see here? 01:30 Most of us quickly see the face of an Indian. 01:33 Or is it an Indian? 01:35 If you look closer you can see 01:37 that it is the back of an Eskimo stepping into a cave. 01:41 OK, here is another optical illusion. 01:44 How many colors are on this picture? 01:46 Look carefully. 01:48 Some of us might think that there are four, 01:51 but actually there are only three. 01:53 White, Green, and Pink. 01:56 You see, things are not always what they appear to be. 01:59 Sometimes we're so sure of what we first see 02:01 that we don't consider what we might have missed. 02:04 Let's look at another illusion together. 02:07 Here is a top hat. 02:08 Which length is longer, the brim of the hat or the height? 02:14 Your eyes are probably telling you 02:15 that the hat is taller than the brim is wide 02:18 but since I've set you up, 02:19 showing you two other optical illusions, 02:21 you are probably willing to consider 02:23 that the brim may be wider. 02:25 To prove to ourselves which length is longer 02:28 we must use a ruler. 02:30 When we do, 02:31 we find that the brim of the hat is 13 inches wide 02:34 while the height is only 12 and a half. 02:37 See this check for $1,000? 02:40 This is not an illusion. 02:42 It is my guarantee 02:43 that my search for truth is an honest one. 02:46 I'm going to offer this money to the first person 02:49 who can give me the missing text. 02:51 It's a text that I've looked for 02:53 but have been unable to find. 02:55 I'll tell you more about it later in the broadcast. 02:58 In our last broadcast we talked about the Ten Commandments 03:02 that were written by the very finger of God 03:04 and given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. 03:07 Satan, the enemy of God, 03:09 has encouraged men to set this moral compass aside 03:12 and disregard His plans for happiness. 03:15 Satan has even gone so far now 03:17 that he has pastoral imposters in God's church 03:21 telling people that the law has been done away with. 03:25 Jesus disagrees with these false prophets. 03:29 He said in Luke 16:17, 03:32 "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, 03:35 than one tittle of the law to fail." 03:38 Here is the same verse in the New International Version. 03:42 "It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear 03:46 than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law." 03:50 Heaven and earth are still here 03:52 and according to Jesus so is His law. 03:54 God tells us the same thing in Psalm 89. 03:58 "My covenant I will not break, 04:01 Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips." 04:04 God tells us that He will not change or break His covenant. 04:08 Notice here that the Ten Commandments came from His lips. 04:12 "And God spoke all these words..." 04:15 These commandments were a part of a covenant relationship. 04:18 Now folks, it is utterly impossible 04:21 for any of God's moral law to ever change. 04:24 It would appear that all Ten Commandments are binding today. 04:29 But right in the middle of that law 04:31 is a command that is virtually ignored 04:33 by every religion on planet earth. 04:36 This is what it says. 04:38 In the deserts of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula is a mountain 04:45 that tradition has told us 04:47 is the mountain that God met Moses at. 04:50 It was at this mountain that He wrote with His own finger, 04:53 the Ten Commandments including the Sabbath commandment 04:55 which says, 04:57 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." 05:00 Some people have falsely assumed 05:02 that the Sabbath was given to the Jewish people. 05:06 But the Sabbath has always been there. 05:07 The Sabbath was there in Eden. 05:09 Adam and Eve kept the Sabbath before there ever was any sin. 05:13 And the children of God 05:15 have always kept the Sabbath day holy. 05:17 It was for that purpose that when Moses went into Egypt 05:20 he commanded the people that they should keep the Sabbath. 05:23 You're about to be delivered by the God of creation, 05:25 he told them. 05:27 You need to keep the Sabbath day holy. 05:28 And so he encouraged them to do that. 05:31 The Bible records that that was the complaint of Pharaoh. 05:33 He says, 'You cause the people to Sabot', or to rest. 05:38 So it was that the people began to keep the Sabbath 05:41 even before they came to this mountain 05:43 and had that day written in stone. 05:46 It made Pharaoh angry, 05:48 'Well, if you've got time to rest 05:49 you can make your bricks without straw being supplied.' 05:53 So, he commanded 05:54 that his task masters make them make as many bricks as before 05:57 yet without straw. 05:59 Of course this caused a lot of trouble. 06:01 And finally the people arrived here 06:03 after a magnificent deliverance by God 06:06 and here He wrote with His finger, 06:08 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 06:11 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 06:15 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: 06:18 in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, 06:23 nor thy daughter, thy manservant, 06:25 nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, 06:28 nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 06:30 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, 06:33 the sea, and all that in them is, 06:35 and rested the seventh day: 06:38 wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." 06:43 Who made this law? 06:44 According to Exodus 20 it was the God of creation. 06:49 Now you may find it amazing 06:50 that God puts forth His creative power 06:53 as the reason for why we should remember the Sabbath day. 06:57 Not only is creation and the Sabbath linked in Exodus 20 07:01 but if we go back to the first book of the Bible, 07:04 the book of Genesis, 07:05 We discover that here also the Sabbath and creation 07:09 are linked together. 07:11 In Genesis 2 it tells us about the last thing God created. 07:16 Was it man? No it was the Sabbath! 07:20 "And on the seventh day 07:22 God ended his work which he had made; 07:24 and he rested on the seventh day from all his work... 07:27 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: 07:30 because that in it he had rested from all his work 07:34 which God created and made." 07:37 Which day of the week is the Sabbath? 07:39 The commandment tells us that plainly. 07:42 "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: 07:46 in it thou shalt not do any work." 07:49 Pick up your calendar. 07:51 The weekly cycle has seven days. 07:53 Count them. 07:54 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. 08:01 The seventh day is the Sabbath. 08:03 This is not Sunday. The Sabbath is not Sunday. 08:08 It is the seventh day of the week. 08:10 How can we know? 08:11 We know because God performed 2080 miracles to say, 08:17 'This is the Sabbath.' 08:18 Something special happened in the valley below. 08:20 If you look down there you can see that it's desert, 08:23 nothing is growing, how are the people going to eat? 08:26 God began to rain down a food called manna. 08:29 When that manna came the people would go out 08:33 on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 08:36 and gather manna. 08:38 They were to gather only enough for that day except on Friday. 08:44 On Friday they were supposed to gather twice as much 08:47 and God would perform a miracle. 08:49 On Monday if they collected any extra 08:51 it would spoil by the next day 08:53 and smell pretty bad from what I read in scriptures. 08:56 But if they collected enough on Friday 08:59 God kept it so that it was preserved over Sabbath 09:02 so they could eat it and no manna fell on Saturday. 09:07 2080 times God said, 'This is the Sabbath.' 09:10 Here it is again, here it is again, 09:13 watch out here it comes again. 09:15 The same Jews who had that miracle performed for them 09:18 have a calendar they have used continuously 09:21 without interruption to this very day. 09:24 Go to any Jewish calendar 09:26 and you'll find that their Saturday Sabbath 09:28 is the same as our Saturday Sabbath. 09:32 Doesn't the creator of all mankind 09:34 have the right to declare what day is His Sabbath? 09:37 Would man tell God His way is wrong? 09:41 Let me ask you an honest question. 09:43 Why do we have a seven-day week? 09:47 Look with me in the book of beginnings. 09:49 "Then God said, 09:51 "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens 09:53 to divide the day from the night; 09:55 and let them be for signs and seasons, 09:58 and for days and years; 10:00 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens 10:03 to give light on the earth"; 10:05 and it was so." 10:07 What makes a year a year? 10:09 One earth orbit around the sun. 10:11 This is just how God created it. 10:14 He said the lights in the firmament would be for years. 10:17 What makes a day a day? 10:20 One rotation of the earth on its axis. 10:22 This is just how God made it. 10:24 He said the lights in the firmament of the sky 10:27 would be for days. 10:29 What makes a month and month? 10:31 One cycle of the moon waxing and waning. 10:34 What makes the four seasons, 10:35 what makes the day and what makes the night? 10:38 Nobody argues the answers to these questions. 10:40 Nobody even questions. 10:42 It is all dictated by the planets and the stars 10:45 just as God created it to be. 10:48 Why do we have a seven-day week? 10:51 It does not fit neatly into the yearly calendar. 10:54 Why not a ten day week? Why not a 5 day week? 10:58 Why is it that for the last 6,000 years 11:00 cultures have been following a seven-day week? 11:03 There is only one reason. Only one. 11:06 Because God made the earth in six days 11:10 and rested on the seventh day 11:12 and blessed the seventh day and made it holy. 11:14 From that day to the present 11:16 there have always been some people who believed 11:19 and obeyed and worshiped and rested on the seventh day. 11:24 It started that way in Eden. 11:27 Adam and Eve were perfect. There was no sin. 11:30 And from that day to this 11:32 we have only two tastes of paradise. 11:34 Only two glimpses of the perfect world 11:36 fresh from the creator's hand. 11:38 One is marriage. 11:41 And when we obey all His laws about marriage from this book, 11:44 when we die to self and live for others, 11:47 our marriages are a little taste of heaven on earth. 11:50 The other institution that comes to us from the perfect world 11:54 is the Sabbath. 11:58 drops what He is busy doing, 11:59 and there is a lot to be busy with... 12:01 and He spends intimate time with His children. 12:05 Did you know that Jesus was the creator? 12:08 That's what the man who wrote the book of Revelation says. 12:11 "All things were made by Him; 12:13 and without him was not any thing made that was made." 12:16 This God, who created the world in six days and nights 12:20 stepped down off His eternal throne 12:22 and took upon himself the form of a servant. 12:25 He didn't just become a man like Adam 12:33 And what do we find the creator God doing on the Sabbath 12:37 as a man here on Earth? 12:39 He was doing just what He did in Eden with Adam and Eve 12:43 when He was fully God. 12:45 He was having fellowship with man. 12:47 "So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. 12:50 And as His custom was, 12:52 He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, 12:55 and stood up to read." 12:57 Some might falsely argue, 12:59 "Well of course He would do that He was a Jew." 13:02 But careful investigation shows Jesus never did anything 13:06 without having a deliberate reason. 13:08 He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath 13:10 because He created the Sabbath. 13:12 As a burden? As a chore? As a duty? No, no, and no. 13:18 In His own words, 13:19 "The Sabbath was made for man." REMEMBER! 13:24 That's how the 4th commandment starts. 13:26 Remember! 13:28 The Sabbath has been there since the dawn of creation. 13:31 It was the crowning act of His creative week. 13:34 Then God rested. 13:36 Because He was tired? NO. 13:38 He stopped to enjoy what He had made, 13:41 to fellowship with His newest creation. 13:44 But He made the Sabbath for man. 13:47 Adam and Eve, our first parents, 13:50 were created on the 6th day of the week, 13:51 our Friday. 13:53 And within a few hours they were being invited to rest. 13:57 REST! Rest from what? 14:00 They weren't even tired! 14:02 No, not rest from what. Wrong question. 14:06 They were invited to rest IN. 14:08 They rested in God's creative power, 14:11 they rested in God's creative genius, 14:13 they rested in His finished work, 14:15 and they rested and reveled in God's personal presence. 14:21 Now, about the $1,000 for the missing text. 14:24 If God gave us His Decalogue as a moral guide, 14:27 a written view of His character, 14:29 then there must be a place where He changed it. 14:32 There must be a place 14:33 because most of the people who claim that Jesus is their Savior 14:37 don't keep the Sabbath holy according to the commandment. 14:40 Most of them, if they keep any day as a holy day, keep Sunday. 14:45 And even when they keep Sunday 14:46 they don't obey the direct command 14:48 "In it you shall do no work." 14:52 I've read my Bible through multiple times 14:55 but I have not been able to find the text 14:57 where He made that change. 14:59 I found the one where He said 15:01 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." 15:03 I found the one that said, 15:05 "The LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." 15:08 If He changed His mind surely He would have told us. 15:11 Find me the missing text, 15:13 the one that changed God's day from Sabbath to Sunday 15:16 and the $1,000 is yours. 15:19 But lest you spend a great deal of time looking, 15:22 let me help your search. 15:23 The word Sunday is not in the Bible. 15:26 That is a pagan name in honor of the Sun. 15:29 Look in your Strong's Exhaustive Concordance under "first." 15:33 You will find that there are 47 scripture references 15:36 with the phrase "first day." 15:39 Of those 47 passages only 8 are talking about the "first day" 15:44 as referring to Sunday, the first day of the week. 15:47 Seven of them are in the New Testament. 15:49 Here on the screen I've listed the first four references. 15:53 Each of them refers to Jesus being raised from the dead 15:56 on the first day of the week. 15:57 I'm so thankful that He rose from the dead 16:00 and I duly note 16:02 that each of the texts states the historical truth 16:05 that Jesus rose on the first day of the week. 16:08 This is, of course, 16:09 the number one reason given by those who keep Sunday 16:12 as their day of worship. 16:14 But as I look carefully over all these passages 16:17 not one gives any indication that God has changed His mind 16:21 about the Sabbath being His holy day, set apart for mankind. 16:26 The Bible does give us a memorial of the death, 16:29 burial and resurrection of the Christ and that is Baptism. 16:33 You can read it for yourself in Romans chapter 6 verses 3-6. 16:38 God never gave people authority to institute another memorial 16:42 which would destroy the Sabbath memorial 16:44 that He Himself instituted at creation. 16:48 Let's look at the next first day text. 16:50 It's found in John 20 verse 19. 16:54 "Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, 16:58 when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, 17:00 for fear of the Jews, 17:02 Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, 17:05 "Peace be with you." 17:07 Notice here that the disciples 17:09 were not holding a meeting to honor the resurrection. 17:12 They did not even believe in the resurrection at this point. 17:15 They were meeting behind locked doors "for fear of the Jews". 17:20 They were afraid 17:22 that they might soon meet the same fate as Jesus. 17:24 OK, we've looked at 5 of the 7 first day texts. 17:28 Let's look at the 6th. 17:30 1Corinthians chapter 16 verse 2, 17:33 "On the first day of the week 17:35 let each one of you lay something aside, 17:38 storing up as he may prosper, 17:40 that there be no collections when I come." 17:42 This text does not say anything about keeping this day 17:46 as a holy day of worship in honor of the resurrection. 17:49 Paul was requesting money for the Jerusalem Christians 17:52 who were suffering from famine 17:53 according to Acts 11 and Romans 15. 17:56 He was instructing the Corinthian Christians 17:59 to prepare for this offering 18:00 laying aside at home a certain amount of money each week 18:04 for this special offering. 18:06 Please note that this was an individual laying aside, 18:10 and not a collective laying aside at a church meeting. 18:13 They were putting money aside for this offering 18:16 that would be collected later, when Paul arrived. 18:18 There certainly is no evidence in this passage 18:21 for Sunday keeping. 18:23 OK, The last of the first day texts from Acts chapter 20. 18:28 "Now on the first day of the week, 18:30 when the disciples came together to break bread, 18:33 Paul, ready to depart the next day, 18:35 spoke to them and continued his message until midnight." 18:39 There were many lamps in the upper room 18:41 where they were gathered together. 18:42 And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, 18:46 who was sinking into a deep sleep. 18:49 He was overcome by sleep; 18:50 and as Paul continued speaking, 18:52 he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 18:56 But Paul went down, fell on him, 18:58 and embracing him said, 19:00 "Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him." 19:04 "Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, 19:07 and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed." 19:11 By the way, 19:12 this is the best anecdotal text for worshiping on Sunday, 19:16 but those who use it that way 19:17 are ignoring some important points. 19:19 Notice when this meeting actually took place: 19:22 the evening of the first day of the week. 19:25 In Biblical times the day was reckoned from sunset to sunset, 19:28 "from even to even" were told in Genesis 1:5. 19:32 Thus the dark part of the first day of the week 19:34 in Biblical times would be what we would today call 19:37 Saturday night. 19:38 The New English Bible translates this verse: 19:41 "On the Saturday night, 19:43 in our assembly for the breaking of bread." 19:45 This breaking of bread was a term for eating a meal together. 19:49 What was actually taking place 19:51 was a Saturday night fellowship meal held in Paul's honor 19:54 because he was about to leave in the morning 19:56 and he might never see them again. 19:59 He was anxious to impart all the counsel of God that he could, 20:02 so the scripture says he spent the entire night, 20:05 from sundown to sunup, preaching to them. 20:08 According to verse 11, 20:10 on Sunday morning the apostle Paul and his company 20:13 departed on their journey. 20:15 Why didn't they stay for Sunday morning worship 20:17 if they were keeping Sunday? 20:19 Sunday was not set aside as a 24 hour Sabbath day of rest, 20:23 but a travel day. 20:25 Now, here we've looked at every first day of the week text 20:28 in the New Testament, all 7 of them, 20:30 and we have not found the slightest indication 20:33 of any change in the day of worship. 20:35 In fact the New Testament reveals just the opposite. 20:39 Would you like me to show you the 84 times 20:42 the Sabbath was kept in the New Testament? 20:44 This short program will not permit me to give them 20:47 the same amount of time I've given the first day texts 20:51 so you may want to jot these down. 20:53 Also at the end of this program 20:55 we'll offer you a study guide entitled "Don't be Fooled" 20:58 that will give you many other passages of scripture 21:01 to consider. 21:02 In Acts chapter 13 verse 14 Paul and his company 21:06 went to the synagogue at Antioch on the Sabbath. (ONE) 21:09 Acts 13 verses 42-43 says when the Jews left the synagogue, 21:15 the Gentiles asked Paul to come preach 21:17 those same words of Jesus to them the following Sabbath 21:21 and the next Sabbath the whole city came together 21:23 to hear the Word of God. 21:25 That's TWO times. 21:27 In Acts chapter 16 verse 13 21:29 apparently no synagogue was available at Philippi. 21:32 So, instead he met with the believers by the riverside. 21:36 Even though there was no Jewish place of worship, 21:38 Paul still met on Sabbath for Christian worship. 21:42 That's THREE times. 21:44 In Acts 17 verses 1-4 21:46 Paul preached three Sabbath days in a row 21:48 to the folks in Thessalonica. 21:50 Now we're at SIX. 21:52 And when Paul was in Corinth Acts 18:4 says 21:55 he met with the believers "every Sabbath". 21:58 How long was Paul at Corinth? 22:00 Acts 18:11 says he was there for a year and a half 22:04 or 78 Sabbaths in a row. 22:07 This brings us to a running total of 84 Sabbaths 22:11 Paul kept as a Christian! 22:14 Careful study reveals 22:16 that there is not one text in the New Testament 22:18 that abolishes the Ten Commandments. 22:20 There is one that appears to. 22:22 It is found in Colossians chapter 2. 22:25 It says, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances 22:28 that was against us, 22:29 which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, 22:32 nailing it to his cross." 22:34 Once again we have to let scripture interpret scripture. 22:37 In the Bible it uses the word LAW to mean different things. 22:41 It will say LAW when it is talking about civil commands 22:44 and rules of government. 22:46 It will say LAW when it is talking about health rules 22:49 and stipulations like clean and unclean meat. 22:52 It will say LAW when it is talking about ceremonial rules, 22:56 like bringing a sheep to the tabernacle 22:58 and having its blood taken into the sanctuary. 23:01 And it will say LAW 23:03 when it's talking about the Ten Commandments. 23:06 I have been to Israel, I have met with Jews, 23:09 both Orthodox and Messianic 23:11 and they are absolutely clear 23:12 about these different distinctions. 23:14 So which law was blotted out? Which law is gone? 23:20 To understand Colossians 2:14 23:22 you must compare it with what Moses said 23:25 in Deuteronomy 31:24-26. 23:27 Let's put them on the screen side by side. 23:30 Something was blotted out it but it wasn't the Ten Commandments. 23:34 What was blotted out 23:36 was the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. 23:41 Lets compare these three descriptions with Deuteronomy. 23:45 First notice Moses had done the "handwriting". 23:48 According to Exodus 31:18 23:51 the Ten Commandments were not handwritten 23:53 but placed on stone with the finger of God. 23:56 The laws of Moses were handwritten 23:58 and placed in a book, or a scroll. 24:01 These were not placed inside the ark 24:03 with the Ten Commandments 24:05 but "beside the ark." 24:07 And these handwritings of Moses 24:09 were to be a witness against the people. 24:12 Paul's message to the believers in Colosse 24:14 was the same message to the believers in Ephesus. 24:18 "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, 24:22 even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; 24:25 for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." 24:30 Notice again what was done away with. 24:32 "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, 24:36 even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;" 24:40 What we now know and understand 24:42 is that the Laws contained in ordinances 24:45 or the ceremonial laws were done away with. 24:48 Why? 24:50 Because Jesus was the ceremonial lamb. 24:53 No longer must we offer a burnt offering 24:55 in faith of a coming savior. 24:57 Our Savior came and died for our sins. 25:00 He fulfilled the law containing types of what was to come. 25:05 But Jesus never gave the weekly Sabbath as a type, 25:08 a ceremony of something to come. 25:11 The Sabbath was a weekly reality, 25:13 a weekly time of personal communion with God. 25:17 And did you know 25:19 that we will be keeping the same Sabbath in heaven? 25:21 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, 25:24 which I will make, 25:25 shall remain before me, saith the LORD, 25:27 so shall your seed and your name remain. 25:29 And it shall come to pass, 25:31 that from one new moon to another, 25:33 and from one Sabbath to another, 25:35 shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD." 25:39 You know, I'm looking forward to being in heaven with Jesus 25:42 so I'm starting now to let Jesus be the Lord of my life. 25:46 And if He is asking me to spend the Sabbath with Him there, 25:49 then I certainly don't mind spending the Sabbath 25:53 with Him here. 25:54 The Ten Commandments, 25:55 including the Sabbath are the basis for a loving, 25:58 intimate relationship with the God of creation. 26:02 At the foundation of all quality relationships is time. 26:07 The Sabbath is that weekly time that God has set aside 26:10 for you to spend with Him. 26:13 Don't throw away that precious gift 26:15 and don't be fooled into thinking it doesn't matter. 26:18 To help you learn more about God's true Sabbath 26:21 call or email right now for your free study guide. 26:26 What you learn here will open your eyes. 26:29 Here's the contact information you'll need. 27:12 Fulfilled prophecy 27:14 is really the ultimate foundation for rational faith. 27:17 Did you know 27:19 that the United States of America is prominently portrayed 27:22 in Bible prophecy? 27:23 In our next program Charles is going in search of the truth 27:26 about the US in Bible prophecy. 27:29 You won't want to miss these startling predictions. 27:32 We'll see you next time 27:34 as we again go in Search of the Truth. |
Revised 2014-12-17