Live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:00:39.81\00:00:42.75 Welcome to the Pillars Of Our Faith event. 00:00:42.78\00:00:45.48 No one is so near, so dear as Jesus. 00:00:49.24\00:00:57.47 Cast your every care on Him. 00:00:57.50\00:01:05.97 No one understands like Jesus, 00:01:06.00\00:01:12.72 He's a Friend beyond compare. 00:01:13.84\00:01:21.30 Meet Him at the throne of mercy, 00:01:21.94\00:01:29.18 He is waiting for you there. 00:01:29.98\00:01:36.98 No one understands like Jesus 00:01:38.12\00:01:46.07 when your days are dark and grim. 00:01:46.10\00:01:53.41 No one is so dear, so near as Jesus. 00:01:54.01\00:02:02.22 Cast your every care on Him. 00:02:02.25\00:02:10.17 No one understands like Jesus 00:02:14.17\00:02:20.92 when you falter on your way. 00:02:21.89\00:02:29.76 Though we fail Him, sadly fail Him, 00:02:29.79\00:02:36.87 He is calling us today. 00:02:36.90\00:02:44.92 No one understands like Jesus 00:02:45.72\00:02:53.47 when our days are dark and dim. 00:02:53.50\00:03:00.78 And there's no one who's so dear, 00:03:00.81\00:03:05.10 so near as Jesus. 00:03:05.13\00:03:13.46 Cast your every care, 00:03:13.47\00:03:18.39 cast your every care 00:03:18.79\00:03:23.66 on Him, 00:03:23.69\00:03:33.08 on Him. 00:03:33.56\00:03:43.52 Amen. 00:03:46.77\00:03:48.67 Thank you brother John. 00:03:48.87\00:03:50.24 John Lomacang, Pastor of the Thompsonville 00:03:50.27\00:03:52.87 Seventh-day Adventist Church, 00:03:52.90\00:03:54.35 and a regular on 3ABN and a man we love. 00:03:54.38\00:03:58.48 And we love to hear him sing. 00:03:58.51\00:04:00.33 It's so good to hear him singing again, he had an injury 00:04:00.34\00:04:03.24 earlier this Spring that just about brought an end 00:04:03.27\00:04:07.00 to his singing abilities. 00:04:07.03\00:04:09.61 Because he had a blow in the throat that really injured 00:04:09.64\00:04:15.22 his vocal cords. 00:04:15.25\00:04:17.08 Our speaker this morning is absolutely no stranger, 00:04:17.11\00:04:21.12 not only to this audience, but to those of you that are 00:04:21.15\00:04:23.89 watching by television. 00:04:23.92\00:04:25.84 Doug Batchelor has been on 3ABN for many years. 00:04:25.87\00:04:29.46 He's the speaker and Director of Amazing Facts. 00:04:29.59\00:04:32.37 And last year, we joined together in another of these 00:04:32.40\00:04:37.05 evangelistic meetings. 00:04:37.08\00:04:39.48 And this particular one last year was for kids. 00:04:39.51\00:04:43.45 It was called Amazing Adventures and it was one of the most 00:04:43.48\00:04:47.64 popular series that we have ever had. 00:04:47.65\00:04:51.53 Not only with children but with adults. 00:04:51.56\00:04:54.94 In fact, I had a number of adults tell me, 00:04:55.44\00:04:57.78 "Now I can understand it. " 00:04:57.81\00:04:59.36 So we've had a lot of people that really 00:05:01.67\00:05:04.33 have watched that series. 00:05:04.36\00:05:05.37 We've run it many times on 3ABN and we plan to continue. 00:05:05.40\00:05:08.56 But so many people said to Doug, "Why don't you 00:05:08.59\00:05:11.88 do one for teenagers?" 00:05:11.91\00:05:13.85 So we've joined with him again in October 8- 16, 00:05:13.88\00:05:19.02 he will be coming to you live from Great Lakes Academy 00:05:19.05\00:05:23.96 in Michigan with a series for teenagers called 00:05:23.99\00:05:28.09 Most Important Questions. 00:05:28.12\00:05:30.34 So put that on your calendar, October 8- 16, 00:05:30.37\00:05:35.02 because that is, I believe, going to be one of the most 00:05:35.05\00:05:37.62 exciting series that Doug has had to date. 00:05:37.65\00:05:41.22 And we are looking forward to being a part of that with him 00:05:41.25\00:05:44.78 and presenting it to you, our viewing and listening audience, 00:05:44.81\00:05:49.21 on 3ABN radio as well. 00:05:49.24\00:05:51.45 So we'll look forward to that. 00:05:51.48\00:05:53.77 Before he comes to speak to us, we are going to hear 00:05:53.80\00:05:57.88 one of my newest favorite songs, Remember The Sabbath. 00:05:57.91\00:06:03.46 And it's going to be brought to us by Nathan Young, 00:06:03.49\00:06:06.27 and Reggie and Ladye Love Smith. 00:06:06.30\00:06:09.67 Glad you're here, folks. 00:06:09.70\00:06:11.47 Amen. 00:09:51.42\00:09:52.41 Morning, friends. 00:09:53.96\00:09:55.40 Good morning. 00:09:55.43\00:09:56.64 I'd like to wish you a happy Sabbath. 00:09:56.97\00:09:59.07 Happy Sabbath. 00:09:59.08\00:10:00.68 And as you probably know, my pleasant task this morning 00:10:00.71\00:10:04.34 is to open the Word of God with you and talk about 00:10:04.35\00:10:07.38 this very important pillar of our faith and of scripture. 00:10:07.41\00:10:12.25 And would you join me for just another moment as we bow 00:10:12.75\00:10:16.03 our heads together and invite the Holy Spirit's presence. 00:10:16.04\00:10:19.09 Father in heaven, right now in a very special sense 00:10:20.43\00:10:24.45 we pray that You would remove any distraction from our minds. 00:10:24.48\00:10:28.71 Help us, Lord, during this holy time and this holy place 00:10:28.74\00:10:33.02 to open your holy Word and to understand the importance 00:10:33.05\00:10:36.40 of this subject. 00:10:36.43\00:10:37.42 Please bless as You promised. 00:10:37.45\00:10:39.31 We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 00:10:39.34\00:10:42.43 Amen. 00:10:42.46\00:10:43.44 I'd like to invite you to open you Bibles to the 00:10:44.24\00:10:46.83 book of Revelation. 00:10:46.86\00:10:48.11 Revelation chapter 14. 00:10:49.35\00:10:51.92 And this is the first part of what is known as 00:10:53.96\00:10:56.98 the three angel messages. 00:10:57.01\00:10:59.38 Revelation 14 verse 6. 00:11:00.29\00:11:02.42 "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven 00:11:03.95\00:11:08.41 having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell 00:11:08.94\00:11:12.62 upon the earth; to every nation, tongue, tribe, and people, 00:11:12.65\00:11:16.92 saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him 00:11:17.52\00:11:22.35 for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him 00:11:22.38\00:11:27.46 who made the heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water. '" 00:11:27.49\00:11:33.61 As you read on through this chapter, 00:11:34.16\00:11:36.33 chapter 14 of Revelation, a little later on is pictured 00:11:36.36\00:11:39.63 Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven. 00:11:39.66\00:11:41.95 And this tells us that just before the Lord comes, 00:11:41.98\00:11:45.92 there's a message that goes to the world calling people 00:11:45.95\00:11:49.21 back to the worship of their Creator. 00:11:49.22\00:11:52.14 You know, this is a very important subject today 00:11:53.13\00:11:56.07 dealing with the Sabbath truth because it's one that 00:11:56.10\00:11:58.61 goes back to the very beginning. 00:11:58.64\00:12:00.54 It has to do with love, it has to do with our 00:12:00.57\00:12:03.48 relationship with the Lord. 00:12:03.52\00:12:04.83 And by the way, time is the stuff that life is made of. 00:12:04.86\00:12:09.69 If you look in your Bibles in the book of Genesis, 00:12:10.09\00:12:13.81 we're going to go back to the beginning, 00:12:13.84\00:12:15.51 Genesis chapter 2. 00:12:15.91\00:12:18.07 Right after these first seven days, or six days of creation, 00:12:23.10\00:12:26.90 then it adds a chapter. 00:12:26.93\00:12:28.64 Everything was made on the first six days. 00:12:28.65\00:12:31.08 But we have a seven day week. 00:12:31.11\00:12:33.02 What did God make on the seventh day? 00:12:33.66\00:12:36.88 He made another 24 hour period of time. Why? 00:12:38.29\00:12:41.73 He did not make any thing in that day, 00:12:41.76\00:12:44.41 but He made another day. 00:12:44.44\00:12:45.79 And the world over, the atheist including the believer, 00:12:45.82\00:12:50.93 celebrates a seven day week. 00:12:50.96\00:12:53.26 Now, you know, you can look in the solar system and understand 00:12:54.10\00:13:00.25 why all of these ancient civilizations of the world, 00:13:00.28\00:13:03.87 they had calendars with approximately 30 days in it. 00:13:03.90\00:13:07.95 That's because of the lunar cycle. 00:13:07.96\00:13:09.82 That's where we get the word for "month". 00:13:09.85\00:13:11.70 It's from the word "moon" because it takes that long for 00:13:11.73\00:13:14.52 the moon to go through its cycle. 00:13:14.55\00:13:15.69 So all of these ancient cultures, whatever their 00:13:15.72\00:13:18.34 religions were, had a month with about the same number of days. 00:13:18.37\00:13:22.87 And you can look at the different cultures of the world 00:13:23.68\00:13:26.20 and you can see something in the sun, moon, and stars 00:13:26.23\00:13:28.48 that gives us a year with about 360 to 365 days 00:13:28.51\00:13:33.10 because there's something in the sky, in astronomy, 00:13:33.13\00:13:35.73 it takes the earth 365 and 1/4 days, we know now, 00:13:35.76\00:13:40.52 to go completely around the sun. 00:13:40.55\00:13:42.98 And of course, we've got a day with 24 hours because it takes 00:13:43.87\00:13:46.10 24 hours for the earth to rotate one time on its axis. 00:13:46.13\00:13:50.05 But why does the whole world celebrate a 7 day week? 00:13:50.45\00:13:54.90 What in the sun, moon, and stars gives us a 7 day week? 00:13:54.93\00:13:59.84 There's really nothing. 00:13:59.87\00:14:01.39 Except you find it here in the very beginning. 00:14:01.99\00:14:04.15 "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, 00:14:04.56\00:14:06.94 and all the host of them. 00:14:06.97\00:14:08.47 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, 00:14:08.50\00:14:13.38 and He rested on the seventh day from all His work 00:14:13.39\00:14:17.10 which He had done. 00:14:17.13\00:14:18.21 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, 00:14:19.04\00:14:23.04 because He rested from all His work which 00:14:23.07\00:14:25.89 God created and made. " 00:14:25.92\00:14:28.10 Now, how blessed can something be? 00:14:28.50\00:14:32.14 Think about the most blessed holy thing you can think of. 00:14:32.64\00:14:35.44 There's only a few things that are especially 00:14:36.67\00:14:39.02 sanctified or blessed. 00:14:39.05\00:14:42.55 And I'd ask it this way. 00:14:43.34\00:14:44.75 Can anything be more sanctified than what God sanctifies? 00:14:44.78\00:14:49.82 Matter of fact, think of the most sanctified holy thing 00:14:50.60\00:14:53.79 in the world, and could anybody make anything holier 00:14:53.82\00:14:59.28 than God makes it? 00:14:59.31\00:15:00.53 So when God makes something holy, it's as holy and 00:15:01.12\00:15:04.60 sanctified as it can be. 00:15:04.63\00:15:06.54 Why were we created? 00:15:07.46\00:15:08.95 The Bibles says we were created for His glory, in Isaiah. 00:15:11.20\00:15:15.55 We are created to worship God. 00:15:15.58\00:15:18.00 Man finds his fulfillment and his greatest joy, 00:15:18.03\00:15:21.23 like those angels in Isaiah 6, flanking the Almighty God 00:15:21.26\00:15:25.90 and saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. " 00:15:25.93\00:15:30.36 And in the very beginning of time, after God made man 00:15:31.30\00:15:34.99 and He made everything for his happiness in the world, 00:15:35.02\00:15:37.81 He made one more thing to complete his blessing. 00:15:37.84\00:15:41.47 To complete his happiness, He made a period of time. 00:15:41.50\00:15:44.56 You know, you do all of your living in time. 00:15:45.32\00:15:47.70 Time is the stuff life is made of. 00:15:48.64\00:15:50.64 You waste your time, you waste your life. 00:15:50.67\00:15:52.69 And so when God made this period of time, He made it for 00:15:54.53\00:15:57.87 a relationship with Him because this was a day that was 00:15:57.90\00:16:01.57 to be blessed and sanctified by His presence. 00:16:01.60\00:16:05.71 You know, the Sabbath commandment which you find... 00:16:07.84\00:16:12.65 Matter of fact, why don't we turn there real quick. 00:16:12.68\00:16:14.25 Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Exodus. 00:16:14.28\00:16:16.88 Exodus chapter 20, and this will start with verse 8. 00:16:16.91\00:16:19.78 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 00:16:25.01\00:16:28.14 Six days you shall labor and do all of your work, 00:16:28.87\00:16:31.51 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 00:16:31.54\00:16:35.57 In it you shall not do any work; you nor your son, 00:16:35.60\00:16:38.71 nor your daughter, nor your man servant, nor your maid servant, 00:16:38.74\00:16:41.73 nor your cattle, or the stranger who is within your gates. 00:16:41.76\00:16:45.33 For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth 00:16:45.36\00:16:48.58 and the sea and all that is in them, 00:16:48.59\00:16:50.57 and He rested the seventh day. 00:16:50.60\00:16:53.01 Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. " 00:16:53.04\00:16:56.94 Now I've got to just share a little testimony with you here. 00:16:56.97\00:17:00.51 My background is kind of a quilt, a kaleidoscope of 00:17:01.66\00:17:07.71 different religious experiences. 00:17:07.74\00:17:09.98 Pretty much raised an atheist. 00:17:10.01\00:17:12.35 Jewish mother, Baptist father; became agnostics 00:17:12.38\00:17:17.23 when my brother and I came along. 00:17:17.26\00:17:18.61 Sent us to Catholic school and public school. 00:17:18.64\00:17:23.03 We went to a school that advertised atheism actually. 00:17:23.06\00:17:27.62 So I was all over the place. Had no real preference. 00:17:27.65\00:17:31.05 Seventeen years old living in a cave up in the mountains 00:17:32.50\00:17:35.17 for a year and a half by myself. 00:17:35.20\00:17:36.80 Read the Bible, accepted the Lord, and began to go to church. 00:17:36.83\00:17:42.13 Well, I'd never heard of Seventh-day Adventists. 00:17:43.51\00:17:45.95 And so I went to the local churches, went to a 00:17:46.85\00:17:49.72 number of evangelical churches and charismatic churches 00:17:49.75\00:17:52.56 and I studied with many different groups. 00:17:52.59\00:17:54.34 I just wanted to know what's the truth. 00:17:54.37\00:17:56.74 And when I ran into this subject, I mean, 00:17:57.32\00:17:59.58 it's right there in the second chapter of the Bible; 00:17:59.61\00:18:02.39 God blessed the seventh day. 00:18:02.42\00:18:04.97 And then you find it in the Ten Commandments. 00:18:05.00\00:18:07.12 I was confused because I figured I hadn't read all the Bible yet, 00:18:07.15\00:18:11.10 and thought there must be a scripture here I just haven't 00:18:11.13\00:18:13.06 run into it yet that now commands us to keep 00:18:13.09\00:18:15.16 another day or tells us it doesn't matter anymore. 00:18:15.17\00:18:17.40 And so I'd go to the different pastors where I was worshipping. 00:18:17.43\00:18:21.33 Lovely Christian people in many different churches. 00:18:21.34\00:18:24.33 And I met some just wonderful people 00:18:25.11\00:18:27.58 and I know the Lord was working in their lives. 00:18:27.61\00:18:29.71 But there was a lot of confusion out there. 00:18:29.74\00:18:32.34 And I'd ask one of the pastors, I'd say, 00:18:33.08\00:18:34.78 "Brother, I'm reading about the Sabbath, and of course it's 00:18:34.81\00:18:37.36 in the Ten Commandments. 00:18:37.39\00:18:38.62 Why don't we keep the Sabbath?" 00:18:38.65\00:18:42.75 And I got all these different answers and none of them agreed. 00:18:43.92\00:18:46.87 One pastor would say, "Well we're not under the law now, 00:18:46.88\00:18:49.21 Doug, we're under grace. " 00:18:49.24\00:18:50.58 I said, "Ok, well what does that mean? 00:18:51.31\00:18:53.25 Do we keep the 10 commandments or do we break them?" 00:18:53.28\00:18:56.42 And he said, "Well, we keep the spirit of the law. " 00:18:58.32\00:19:03.93 I said, "Alright, let me understand that. 00:19:05.03\00:19:06.87 What does that mean?" 00:19:06.90\00:19:07.90 He said, "Well, you keep it in your heart. 00:19:07.93\00:19:09.65 It's an attitude, it's not an action. " 00:19:09.68\00:19:11.77 I said, "Alright, so for instance, the commandment says, 00:19:12.64\00:19:15.78 'Don't commit adultery. ' 00:19:15.81\00:19:17.21 So as long as I've got a good attitude about it, 00:19:17.24\00:19:19.43 I can commit the act, right?" 00:19:19.46\00:19:22.07 And that didn't make any sense. 00:19:23.89\00:19:25.29 And I would never, I would never murder anybody. 00:19:25.30\00:19:28.59 You know, Jesus said, "If you're angry with your brother 00:19:28.62\00:19:32.01 without cause, you're guilty of murder. " 00:19:32.04\00:19:33.75 So if you've got the right action, is it possible 00:19:33.78\00:19:36.26 to literally murder somebody if you've got the right spirit 00:19:36.29\00:19:39.91 and you're keeping the spirit of the law? 00:19:39.94\00:19:41.54 And the Sabbath also. 00:19:42.20\00:19:43.76 If you're keeping the spirit of the Sabbath, where Jesus said, 00:19:43.79\00:19:46.21 "Come unto Me and I will give you rest," 00:19:46.24\00:19:48.30 would you be breaking the commandment so that 00:19:48.33\00:19:50.53 you could keep the spirit? 00:19:50.56\00:19:52.00 With every other commandment you might look at, 00:19:52.31\00:19:54.78 if you're going to keep the spirit of that law, you will 00:19:54.81\00:19:57.27 also be keeping the letter of the law. 00:19:57.28\00:19:59.88 The spirit is not to substitute the letter of the law. 00:20:00.96\00:20:05.14 The spirit is to fulfill the real reason for keeping 00:20:05.17\00:20:08.50 the letter of the law. 00:20:08.53\00:20:09.56 Now let me ask you another question. 00:20:10.31\00:20:12.16 What if you are reading the Ten Commandments 00:20:12.19\00:20:14.83 and you don't have the right spirit. 00:20:14.86\00:20:16.11 Should you keep them anyway? 00:20:16.14\00:20:17.53 Yes. 00:20:18.67\00:20:20.11 Well, let me switch commandments on you 00:20:20.34\00:20:22.24 and you'll get the principle. 00:20:22.27\00:20:23.52 I really feel like stealing, I've got stealing in my heart. 00:20:24.06\00:20:27.71 So not keeping it for the right reason, should I 00:20:29.69\00:20:31.67 go ahead and steal? 00:20:31.70\00:20:32.69 No, there's a lot of other good reasons not to steal. 00:20:33.53\00:20:36.23 One of them is called the penitentiary. 00:20:36.86\00:20:38.80 So maybe I'm thinking adulterous things in my heart 00:20:41.48\00:20:44.70 and I'm looking and lusting, and I shouldn't be doing that. 00:20:44.71\00:20:47.59 Since I don't have the right attitude in my heart, 00:20:47.62\00:20:49.61 I may as well just go ahead and do it. 00:20:49.64\00:20:51.17 You should always keep the commandments because 00:20:52.51\00:20:55.38 it'll always be better for you to keep the commandments. 00:20:55.41\00:20:58.58 You want to strive to keep them from the heart 00:20:58.61\00:21:01.12 for the right reason, is what Jesus was saying. 00:21:01.15\00:21:03.05 But you ought to keep them because God said to keep them. 00:21:03.08\00:21:05.66 They're not called the ten recommendations or the 00:21:06.54\00:21:09.09 ten great suggestions. 00:21:09.10\00:21:10.97 I just came back from Argentina a few weeks ago and I 00:21:12.73\00:21:16.35 found out when you're driving down there that the lines in 00:21:16.38\00:21:18.62 the road are just recommendations. 00:21:18.65\00:21:20.90 So what is the Sabbath day? 00:21:26.50\00:21:27.80 Oh wait, I was going to tell you some of the other things that 00:21:27.83\00:21:29.84 I heard as I was visiting with the different pastors. 00:21:29.87\00:21:32.50 Some of them said, "Yes, Doug, we do still keep that, 00:21:32.53\00:21:36.84 but it's now the first day of the week. " 00:21:36.85\00:21:38.77 And I said, "Well, where's the commandment to keep 00:21:39.59\00:21:41.53 the first day of the week as the Sabbath?" 00:21:41.56\00:21:43.77 They said, "Well, we don't really have a commandment 00:21:43.80\00:21:47.50 but we do have a long standing tradition. " 00:21:47.53\00:21:49.50 I said, "Ah, that's no good. " 00:21:49.53\00:21:51.17 Then one pastor told me, he said, "We do it in 00:21:51.18\00:21:54.42 honor of the resurrection. " 00:21:54.45\00:21:55.59 I said, "That's beautiful. " 00:21:55.60\00:21:56.69 I said, "Now where's the commandment to keep 00:21:56.72\00:21:58.71 a new Sabbath in honor of the resurrection?" 00:21:58.74\00:22:01.47 And he said, "Well, there's no specific commandment. " 00:22:02.36\00:22:05.33 Actually, there is something we do in honor of the resurrection. 00:22:05.36\00:22:07.60 It's called baptism. 00:22:07.61\00:22:09.13 It's a symbol of death, burial, and resurrection. 00:22:09.16\00:22:10.93 But when God made the Sabbath day, was it before or after sin? 00:22:10.96\00:22:16.26 Before sin. 00:22:16.51\00:22:17.52 So is it perfect? 00:22:17.55\00:22:18.72 All of the other ceremonial and Jewish holidays and sabbaths, 00:22:19.52\00:22:22.98 they all came after sin and they were nailed to the cross. 00:22:23.01\00:22:25.61 They're of a whole different order. 00:22:25.64\00:22:26.96 But the Sabbath of the weekly cycle is part of God's 00:22:26.99\00:22:30.11 perfect plan and it's to last forever. 00:22:30.14\00:22:33.11 And so this is a truth that's being lost sight of. 00:22:33.14\00:22:36.20 Now, I want to tell you one reason that I think this is 00:22:36.23\00:22:38.87 very important for us to remember 00:22:38.88\00:22:40.49 and it matters in our day. 00:22:40.92\00:22:42.63 The way I read my Bible, there was a time when the king 00:22:43.64\00:22:48.45 of Babylon told everybody in his kingdom to worship 00:22:48.46\00:22:52.77 this statue he had set up when he commanded. 00:22:53.61\00:22:57.12 And if they didn't, they'd be killed. 00:22:57.15\00:22:59.11 If they did not pray to his image, they would be killed. 00:22:59.14\00:23:02.75 Does that have echo's of Revelation 13? 00:23:02.78\00:23:05.31 And some who were in the crowd that day were devoted Jews 00:23:06.74\00:23:10.06 that keep the commandments; 00:23:10.09\00:23:11.28 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 00:23:11.31\00:23:13.39 And they said, "You know, they're not the ten suggestions 00:23:13.42\00:23:17.69 of God, they're the Ten Commandments. 00:23:17.72\00:23:19.96 And that includes the second one that says, 00:23:19.99\00:23:21.98 'Do not worship graven images. '" 00:23:22.01\00:23:23.53 And someone probably said, "You know if you don't bow down, 00:23:23.56\00:23:26.78 you guys are going to lose your job. 00:23:26.81\00:23:28.72 You might take a decrease in pay. 00:23:29.69\00:23:32.25 And what about, you know, you're family you might 00:23:32.89\00:23:35.49 need to support?" 00:23:35.52\00:23:36.57 And they said, "You know, we're willing to not only 00:23:37.04\00:23:39.22 lose our jobs, we're willing to lose our lives to obey God. " 00:23:39.25\00:23:42.36 And so, when the order was given and the music played and 00:23:43.57\00:23:46.26 everybody bowed down, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego 00:23:46.29\00:23:49.62 did not compromise the commandments. 00:23:49.63\00:23:52.34 Then you get to Daniel chapter 6 and the king makes a law that 00:23:52.35\00:23:56.97 everybody should worship differently. 00:23:57.00\00:23:59.34 Another one has to do with how you worship. 00:23:59.97\00:24:01.88 And Daniel has to decide, there's a commandment that says, 00:24:04.51\00:24:06.76 "You shall not have other God's before me. " 00:24:06.79\00:24:08.26 That's the first commandment. 00:24:08.29\00:24:09.56 And he decided, "You know, I'm not even going to 00:24:11.35\00:24:12.99 close my windows. 00:24:13.02\00:24:14.57 I'm going to open my windows. 00:24:14.58\00:24:15.80 I'm not going to pray to the king, I'm going to 00:24:15.83\00:24:17.06 pray to my God. 00:24:17.07\00:24:18.07 And I'm not only going to open my windows, 00:24:18.10\00:24:20.17 I'm going to kneel so they can see I'm in a posture of prayer. 00:24:20.20\00:24:24.51 And I'm going to pray towards Jerusalem just like I've 00:24:25.40\00:24:27.84 always done and I'm going to pray out loud to my God 00:24:27.87\00:24:30.82 so they can hear me from the window. 00:24:30.85\00:24:32.51 I'm not going to put my light under a bush. 00:24:32.54\00:24:34.74 I'm going to let it shine. " 00:24:34.77\00:24:36.10 He wasn't going to be popular because he was going 00:24:36.13\00:24:38.35 to be killed, thrown to the lions, if he was caught 00:24:38.38\00:24:40.94 breaking this government law. 00:24:40.97\00:24:42.98 And then it tells us in Revelation chapter 13, 00:24:44.32\00:24:46.98 in the last days the beast power is going to compel everybody 00:24:46.99\00:24:50.50 to worship a certain way or be killed. 00:24:50.53\00:24:52.75 First they can't buy or sell. 00:24:52.78\00:24:54.61 Ultimately, they'll be killed. 00:24:54.64\00:24:56.78 And it revolves around how you worship. 00:24:58.56\00:25:00.45 It's interesting, in the garden of Eden, 00:25:00.97\00:25:02.41 Adam and Eve had two sons. 00:25:02.42\00:25:04.16 God specified that in order to have their sin covered, 00:25:04.78\00:25:07.55 it required blood sacrifice. 00:25:07.58\00:25:09.76 That's why He covered them with robes of skin. 00:25:09.79\00:25:12.08 That's why Jesus is called the Lamb that was slain from 00:25:12.11\00:25:14.31 the foundation of the world. 00:25:14.34\00:25:15.57 And Cain said, "I don't want to worship exactly like God said. 00:25:16.90\00:25:19.99 It seems messy to me. It's not going to be popular. 00:25:20.02\00:25:22.88 It's going to be a lot more popular to bring 00:25:23.42\00:25:24.94 fruits and vegetables. 00:25:24.97\00:25:26.04 A lot more colorful, a lot more pleasant 00:25:26.07\00:25:27.72 than a dying lamb and blood. 00:25:27.75\00:25:30.02 That's hard to market. " 00:25:30.05\00:25:31.68 He said, "So I know God will be satisfied. 00:25:33.21\00:25:35.06 If I've work hard for my garden, 00:25:35.09\00:25:36.39 I'm going to offer what I've worked for. 00:25:36.40\00:25:38.24 I'm going to worship the same God my way. " 00:25:39.19\00:25:43.34 And Abel plead with his brother and said, "No, you need 00:25:44.64\00:25:46.53 to worship God's way. " 00:25:46.56\00:25:47.56 And he said, "Who do you think you are telling me. 00:25:47.59\00:25:49.07 You're my younger brother. " 00:25:49.10\00:25:50.15 And Abel said, "Well, I tried. " 00:25:52.42\00:25:54.25 Abel made his offering, fire came down from God and 00:25:54.28\00:25:56.42 accepted the offering of Abel. 00:25:56.45\00:25:59.08 Cain took his zucchini and bananas, whatever it was, 00:25:59.11\00:26:01.92 put it on the... 00:26:01.95\00:26:03.02 Actually, there were no bananas. You realize they're a hybrid. 00:26:04.11\00:26:06.26 They didn't come along until much later. 00:26:06.29\00:26:07.82 So, pineapples. Whatever it was. 00:26:07.85\00:26:09.95 He put it up there and he waited and waited. 00:26:09.98\00:26:12.13 And fruit flies came but no fire. 00:26:12.14\00:26:14.33 And he got so mad. 00:26:16.59\00:26:17.97 His brother said, "Look, I told you the only way that God's 00:26:18.00\00:26:20.04 going to accept your worship is if you do it the way He says. " 00:26:20.07\00:26:23.76 And it so angered Cain, he persecuted and killed his 00:26:24.41\00:26:28.41 brother over worshipping God. 00:26:28.44\00:26:30.83 Could it be history is going to repeat itself in the last days? 00:26:32.06\00:26:35.22 Does it matter how we worship? 00:26:36.21\00:26:39.22 Does it matter if we keep God's holy day? 00:26:40.64\00:26:43.45 Can we change it to another day if we want? 00:26:44.32\00:26:47.24 What is the Sabbath? 00:26:47.69\00:26:49.45 Well of course, we read the commandment to you 00:26:49.85\00:26:51.74 from Exodus 20:8-11. 00:26:51.77\00:26:53.79 It is a memorial of creation. 00:26:53.82\00:26:56.55 It says, "For in six days the Lord created 00:26:56.58\00:27:00.72 the heaven and the earth. " 00:27:00.75\00:27:02.12 Do we need a memorial of creation today? 00:27:02.15\00:27:04.37 Are people forgetting what our origins are? 00:27:04.40\00:27:07.06 We're having problems even within Christian circles 00:27:08.00\00:27:11.36 and even some Christian schools. 00:27:11.39\00:27:14.01 They have the audacity to tell young people that they have 00:27:14.48\00:27:20.19 slowly evolved over millions of years from some processes 00:27:20.20\00:27:26.05 of death and disorganization and turned into these 00:27:26.08\00:27:30.63 marvelous creatures that are wonderfully made 00:27:30.66\00:27:34.84 just by accident and biological burps, 00:27:34.87\00:27:38.93 and things that have happened. 00:27:38.96\00:27:40.35 That's really an insult to God. 00:27:41.53\00:27:43.32 It also, of course, violates the commandments. 00:27:44.16\00:27:47.45 It violates the Word of God that makes it very clear 00:27:48.05\00:27:50.50 that God created the world in six days. 00:27:50.53\00:27:53.29 You know the only reason people would come up with 00:27:53.30\00:27:56.07 these other periods of time... 00:27:56.10\00:27:58.28 And by the way, when it comes to evolution, 00:27:58.55\00:28:00.65 the Achilles heel of evolution is their dating method. 00:28:01.58\00:28:05.09 You take away their dating method and the 00:28:05.12\00:28:07.80 whole thing crumbles. 00:28:07.83\00:28:08.83 They've got to extrapolate this whole crazy notion of us slowly 00:28:08.86\00:28:12.17 evolving over millions of years where you can't prove it. 00:28:12.20\00:28:15.81 And otherwise because there's no evidence 00:28:17.21\00:28:20.05 of macro-evolution anywhere in creation 00:28:20.08\00:28:23.64 that they can demonstrate. 00:28:23.67\00:28:24.88 And yet, it's destroying the faith of young people. 00:28:26.88\00:28:28.64 Number one group that commits suicide in North America? 00:28:28.67\00:28:32.16 It's the youth. 00:28:32.19\00:28:33.68 And I can tell you from one that use to believe in evolution, 00:28:34.73\00:28:37.16 I thought all the time about killing myself because I said, 00:28:37.19\00:28:39.47 if I just evolved from sludge, and if I'm turning back 00:28:39.50\00:28:44.55 into fertilizer, and if there's no purpose in life, 00:28:44.58\00:28:48.90 then why not get it over with. 00:28:48.93\00:28:50.75 And so it's really contributing to the destruction 00:28:52.06\00:28:54.81 of these young people. 00:28:54.85\00:28:55.89 You've got to know where you come from, 00:28:55.92\00:28:57.57 you've got to know what you're doing here, 00:28:57.60\00:28:58.87 and you've got to know where you're going to be secure. 00:28:58.90\00:29:01.01 All of that is wrapped up in the Sabbath truth. 00:29:01.02\00:29:03.41 It tells you where you come from. 00:29:04.36\00:29:06.09 It says that we are here to worship a holy God. 00:29:06.10\00:29:09.33 And it says someday we're going to be with Him 00:29:09.36\00:29:11.62 face to face worshipping Him in His presence. 00:29:11.65\00:29:14.90 So it's a memorial of creation. 00:29:14.93\00:29:16.71 Furthermore, right there in the commandment it says, 00:29:17.31\00:29:19.09 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. " 00:29:19.12\00:29:21.75 You notice God doesn't say, "make it holy. " 00:29:22.90\00:29:26.05 He said, "I've made it holy. 00:29:26.08\00:29:28.12 I want you to keep it holy. " 00:29:28.82\00:29:30.63 Now if you came to watch our house for us because 00:29:31.34\00:29:33.76 we were going to be on a mission trip 00:29:33.79\00:29:35.44 and I said, "Look, can you do me a favor and 00:29:35.45\00:29:37.31 keep the plants alive?" 00:29:37.34\00:29:39.17 And you say, "No problem. " 00:29:39.57\00:29:40.90 And after we leave, then you go into the house to water the 00:29:40.91\00:29:43.26 plants and they're all dead. 00:29:43.29\00:29:44.54 They're just dried up brittle plants. 00:29:45.88\00:29:50.23 And you say, "Why did Doug and Karen say keep the plants 00:29:50.79\00:29:54.74 alive if they're dead?" 00:29:54.77\00:29:56.02 You can only keep them alive if they are alive. 00:29:56.05\00:29:58.94 And we can only keep the Sabbath holy if it already is holy. 00:29:59.43\00:30:03.60 How important is this? 00:30:04.89\00:30:06.30 You know, it occurred to me one day. 00:30:06.80\00:30:08.46 On the planet, you've got a country that sometimes 00:30:09.53\00:30:13.08 is referred to as the Holy Land. 00:30:13.11\00:30:14.57 What country is that? 00:30:14.60\00:30:16.08 That's Israel. 00:30:16.50\00:30:17.66 And in the Holy Land, you've got the Holy City. 00:30:18.47\00:30:20.93 What city is that? 00:30:21.72\00:30:22.99 That's Jerusalem. 00:30:23.31\00:30:24.36 Not Tel Aviv, it's Jerusalem. 00:30:24.39\00:30:26.22 And in the Holy City, you've got the Holy Mount. 00:30:27.16\00:30:30.16 What's that called? 00:30:30.88\00:30:32.22 Mount Moriah or Mount Zion. Basically the same mountain. 00:30:32.95\00:30:35.68 And on the Holy Mountain, you had the Holy Temple. 00:30:36.82\00:30:39.46 And in the Holy Temple, you had the Holy Place. 00:30:41.39\00:30:43.95 And then just beyond the Holy Place, you had the 00:30:45.27\00:30:47.31 Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place. 00:30:47.34\00:30:50.79 And in that, you had the Holy Ark. 00:30:51.71\00:30:54.43 That golden box. 00:30:55.13\00:30:56.69 And oh, people wish they could find that golden box. 00:30:57.81\00:31:00.52 That would be a great archaeological find. 00:31:02.63\00:31:04.81 And in the Holy Box, you've got the Holy Law. 00:31:04.84\00:31:07.83 And in the Holy Law, written by God's finger, 00:31:09.15\00:31:12.48 there's only one commandment that begins with the word Holy. 00:31:12.51\00:31:15.89 Matter of fact, the word "holy" only appears one time. 00:31:15.92\00:31:19.03 You know where it is? 00:31:19.65\00:31:20.93 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. " 00:31:20.96\00:31:24.04 So when you look at planet earth, you've got the epicenter 00:31:24.07\00:31:28.48 of holiness is found in the law of God in the 00:31:28.51\00:31:31.87 Sabbath commandment. 00:31:31.90\00:31:33.13 The longest of the Ten Commandments. 00:31:33.16\00:31:34.99 The only commandment that begins with the word "remember". 00:31:35.00\00:31:38.06 I was doing a seminar one day talking about this subject. 00:31:40.13\00:31:44.26 And there were a number of people from different 00:31:44.66\00:31:47.77 persuasions that were attending. 00:31:47.80\00:31:49.46 And one Sunday keeping pastor was there, 00:31:49.49\00:31:51.84 a little worried about some of his flock that were also there. 00:31:51.87\00:31:54.35 So he thought he better come and find out what they were hearing. 00:31:54.38\00:31:56.76 And I was doing a presentation on the Bible Sabbath. 00:31:57.37\00:32:00.50 It was a small group and I could see his face 00:32:01.10\00:32:04.69 and his face was turning red. 00:32:04.72\00:32:05.83 And his ears were red, which was a real flag. 00:32:05.86\00:32:07.86 And eventually he raised his hand. 00:32:09.51\00:32:11.74 He said, "Brother Doug, you're putting these people 00:32:11.77\00:32:14.71 under a yoke bondage. " 00:32:14.74\00:32:16.98 I said, "Why do you say that brother?" 00:32:17.90\00:32:19.22 It was a small group. 00:32:19.25\00:32:20.25 Everyone knew each other, a small town. 00:32:20.28\00:32:21.72 He said, you're teaching them salvation by works. 00:32:22.77\00:32:25.34 Telling them to keep the law. 00:32:25.96\00:32:28.15 And I said, "Brother, you tell me. 00:32:28.99\00:32:31.56 Do you believe God wants us to keep the 00:32:31.59\00:32:32.94 Ten Commandments or break them?" 00:32:32.97\00:32:34.37 He said, "Were not under the law" 00:32:35.26\00:32:36.38 I said, "Well, does He want us to keep them or break them?" 00:32:36.41\00:32:38.26 He said, "No, we don't need to keep them" 00:32:38.29\00:32:39.92 The church members looked at him like... 00:32:39.93\00:32:41.91 You know. 00:32:41.94\00:32:42.92 I mean if you really think about it, most churches have 00:32:42.93\00:32:45.60 no problem with the ten commandments until you 00:32:45.63\00:32:47.38 mention the Sabbath truth. 00:32:47.41\00:32:48.71 If I stand up in most churches around town and say, 00:32:49.51\00:32:52.78 "Honor your father and your mother and be faithful to your 00:32:52.81\00:32:56.91 spouse and don't steal from your neighbor and only worship God," 00:32:56.94\00:33:00.55 you'd hear, "Amen, hallelujah preacher, praise the Lord. " 00:33:00.58\00:33:02.80 They'd think that's great. 00:33:02.81\00:33:04.08 And then you say, "Remember the Sabbath. " 00:33:04.64\00:33:06.20 And some of them will go, "Amen, but what day 00:33:06.23\00:33:08.93 are you talking about?" 00:33:08.94\00:33:09.94 You say, "Keep the seventh day. " 00:33:12.07\00:33:13.46 "Whoa, works. Bondage. " 00:33:13.49\00:33:16.22 Why? That's inconsistent. That's what I went through. 00:33:16.25\00:33:19.18 I said, "I can't figure that out. " 00:33:19.21\00:33:20.86 I mean if I'm going to be a Bible Christian, 00:33:22.16\00:33:24.34 then be a Bible Christian. 00:33:24.37\00:33:25.67 And so this brother, he heard his church kind of groan. 00:33:26.45\00:33:30.21 And he said, "Well, we're suppose to keep nine of them. " 00:33:30.24\00:33:32.19 He said, "The others are all done away with and they're 00:33:34.69\00:33:37.77 reinstituted in the New Testament. 00:33:37.80\00:33:39.45 Nine of them are, but you don't find the Sabbath. " 00:33:39.48\00:33:41.69 Now that is a myth, that is not true. 00:33:41.72\00:33:44.36 It is true there is one of the Ten Commandments you do not 00:33:44.39\00:33:48.08 find literally restated in the New Testament. 00:33:48.11\00:33:51.80 It's the commandment that says, "Thou shalt not take the name of 00:33:51.83\00:33:54.39 the Lord thy God in vain. " 00:33:54.42\00:33:55.66 Can you tell me where that is in the New Testament? 00:33:56.90\00:33:58.70 It actually says in the New Testament, 00:34:00.79\00:34:02.53 "Hallowed be Thy name. " 00:34:02.56\00:34:03.61 The same principle. 00:34:03.64\00:34:04.90 Right? 00:34:05.50\00:34:06.54 But the Sabbath commandment is found many times 00:34:06.82\00:34:08.75 in the New Testament. 00:34:08.78\00:34:09.84 So I said to this pastor, I said, "So brother, 00:34:10.68\00:34:12.73 you're telling me the one commandment where God says 00:34:12.76\00:34:16.33 'remember' is the one that everyone is suppose to forget. " 00:34:16.36\00:34:18.89 Does that make sense? 00:34:20.21\00:34:21.30 He said, "Well, you're putting them under a bondage of works. " 00:34:22.52\00:34:25.01 I said, "No, you are. 00:34:25.04\00:34:26.25 I'm telling them to rest. You're telling them to work. " 00:34:26.28\00:34:28.29 Isn't that right? 00:34:30.53\00:34:31.56 So it's just very inconsistent. It doesn't make sense. 00:34:32.13\00:34:35.69 And so, it's a memorial of creation, among other things. 00:34:37.65\00:34:41.52 It's the time when we nurture our relationship with God 00:34:42.02\00:34:46.65 for quality time. 00:34:46.68\00:34:48.69 You know, frequently, Karen and I travel a lot. 00:34:49.46\00:34:51.45 I'm always busy and Karen says, "Doug, we need to 00:34:51.48\00:34:53.65 spend more time together. " 00:34:53.68\00:34:54.73 I said, "I was home all day yesterday. " 00:34:54.75\00:34:56.06 She said, "Well, you were in your office. " 00:34:56.09\00:34:57.86 I said, "Well, I was home. " 00:34:58.76\00:34:59.96 She said, "That's not what I'm talking about. " 00:35:00.31\00:35:03.04 I said, "Well, we ate dinner together. " 00:35:03.07\00:35:04.24 "Yea, but we weren't talking. " 00:35:04.27\00:35:06.27 She said, "We need time together. " 00:35:06.30\00:35:08.09 She's always talking about quality time. 00:35:08.12\00:35:10.50 It's a different kind of time. 00:35:10.53\00:35:12.17 And so you'll run into these people that say, 00:35:12.89\00:35:14.42 "Well, Pastor Doug, you keep the seventh day holy, but 00:35:14.45\00:35:17.22 I keep all seven days holy. 00:35:17.25\00:35:20.92 I worship God every day. " 00:35:20.95\00:35:23.41 That sounds very pious but, you know, that's not what the 00:35:23.44\00:35:25.99 commandment is talking about. 00:35:26.02\00:35:27.33 Should we worship God seven days a week? 00:35:27.36\00:35:29.28 Yea. 00:35:29.49\00:35:30.56 But if you're keeping the Sabbath seven days a week 00:35:30.59\00:35:33.14 you're not holy, you're lazy. 00:35:33.15\00:35:34.93 Because it says that you're suppose to work six days. 00:35:35.43\00:35:39.71 And if you're really working, you can get distracted 00:35:39.74\00:35:42.87 with just, you know, the concentration on the work. 00:35:42.90\00:35:45.94 But we're suppose to lay our work aside on Sabbath, 00:35:45.97\00:35:48.60 not let that holy time be encumbered with the worries 00:35:48.61\00:35:52.76 and concerns of this life. 00:35:52.79\00:35:54.56 And it's quality time with God. 00:35:54.59\00:35:56.89 That's why the devil hates it. 00:35:56.92\00:35:58.13 Because, follow this, you can't get to heaven 00:35:58.16\00:36:02.98 if you don't love God. 00:36:03.01\00:36:04.03 Does everyone here agree with that? 00:36:04.06\00:36:05.71 There will be people in heaven that went to church 00:36:07.07\00:36:09.49 on the wrong day. 00:36:09.52\00:36:10.74 We all agree? 00:36:11.31\00:36:12.31 I'm not condemning everybody that may not have this straight. 00:36:12.34\00:36:15.77 There will be people in heaven that had too many wives. 00:36:15.80\00:36:19.07 Not me, but there will be other people. 00:36:20.41\00:36:24.13 Because I'm a Batchelor. 00:36:24.16\00:36:25.54 But there will be others in heaven like that. 00:36:27.70\00:36:29.95 Because God winks at these times of ignorance, right? 00:36:29.98\00:36:33.31 Will there be anyone in heaven that doesn't love? 00:36:34.26\00:36:36.75 So how do you learn to love God? 00:36:38.20\00:36:41.26 How do you learn to love anyone? 00:36:42.45\00:36:44.04 You've got to communicate with them. 00:36:44.07\00:36:46.03 You talk to them and they talk you. 00:36:46.06\00:36:48.04 You spend time with them, you develop this love relationship. 00:36:48.07\00:36:50.91 The more you love God, the better you'll obey God. 00:36:50.94\00:36:54.57 Including His law. 00:36:54.60\00:36:55.89 He said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. " 00:36:55.92\00:36:58.93 By the way, Jesus is quoting Moses when He says that. 00:36:58.96\00:37:02.20 Moses said, "I command you to love the Lord your God 00:37:02.70\00:37:06.69 and keep His commandments. " 00:37:06.72\00:37:08.10 He says, "Love and keep His commandments. " 00:37:08.13\00:37:11.55 And by the way, the Sabbath is a great environment to 00:37:12.22\00:37:14.75 learn to love God and to keep the commandments 00:37:14.78\00:37:17.23 for the right reason. 00:37:17.26\00:37:18.53 You might even start out keeping the Sabbath 00:37:18.56\00:37:20.53 just because it's a commandment. 00:37:20.56\00:37:22.04 Just because, you know, it's God's commandment and He's God. 00:37:23.04\00:37:25.54 And in the process, you learn to do it for the right reason. 00:37:25.57\00:37:29.59 I remember my grandparents, married 72 years. 00:37:30.31\00:37:34.38 And my grandmother and my grandfather, 00:37:35.35\00:37:36.92 Jewish grandparents, they were very outspoken and frank. 00:37:36.95\00:37:41.20 And she would say right there, she'd say, "I didn't love your 00:37:42.48\00:37:44.90 grandfather when I married him. 00:37:44.93\00:37:46.58 I just wanted to get out of the house. 00:37:47.17\00:37:49.05 I was 16 years old and I couldn't stand my 00:37:49.08\00:37:51.19 parents and my sisters. 00:37:51.20\00:37:52.48 And so, 'Yea, I'll marry you. '" 00:37:52.49\00:37:53.96 But that was back in the day when marriage 00:37:54.78\00:37:56.34 meant something, you know. 00:37:56.37\00:37:57.48 And then they'd say... 00:37:58.22\00:37:59.63 And he never got upset when she said that because he knew 00:37:59.66\00:38:02.28 what was coming next. 00:38:02.31\00:38:03.38 He'd just smile. 00:38:03.41\00:38:04.49 She'd say, "We learned to love each other. " 00:38:04.52\00:38:07.80 Over time together, we develop love with each other. 00:38:08.18\00:38:13.11 And if you spend time with God... 00:38:13.96\00:38:15.84 Now I tell, if my grandmother could learn to love my 00:38:15.87\00:38:17.76 grandfather, I know we can learn to love God. 00:38:17.79\00:38:19.69 Because he was really difficult. 00:38:19.72\00:38:21.33 And God is a lot easier love than Poppy. 00:38:22.03\00:38:24.47 And so it's a time also... 00:38:27.48\00:38:29.05 Do we need physical rest? 00:38:29.08\00:38:30.65 It's also time, He says, that you might rest, 00:38:31.05\00:38:33.23 that your farm animals could rest and the stranger within 00:38:33.24\00:38:37.27 your gates could rest. 00:38:37.30\00:38:38.31 Are we living in a world that is coming apart at the seams from 00:38:38.34\00:38:41.46 stress and too much work? 00:38:41.47\00:38:43.79 Sabbath is a time you lay all those concerns aside 00:38:43.82\00:38:47.11 and you rest in the Lord. 00:38:47.14\00:38:49.45 It reminds us of that great rest that Jesus offers us. 00:38:49.48\00:38:52.43 By the way, I think six of the principle reasons 00:38:52.44\00:38:57.13 that people are hospitalized can be connected to stress. 00:38:57.16\00:39:00.81 Everything from heart disease to cancer, to you name it. 00:39:00.84\00:39:06.93 Lack of sleep and fatigue, it all can be stress related. 00:39:07.77\00:39:11.14 The Sabbath is a sign of redemption. 00:39:11.17\00:39:13.27 God tells us that it's a seal. 00:39:14.44\00:39:16.18 Exodus 31:13, "Verily My Sabbaths you shall keep 00:39:16.21\00:39:20.34 for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, 00:39:20.37\00:39:24.33 that you might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. " 00:39:24.36\00:39:27.78 If God made everything in six days and He can make a day 00:39:27.81\00:39:30.23 holy, then He can make you holy. 00:39:30.26\00:39:32.49 If God can create everything in six days, 00:39:32.52\00:39:35.01 He can recreate your heart. 00:39:35.04\00:39:36.87 Isn't that right? 00:39:36.90\00:39:37.95 Every Sabbath day, we're not only remembering that 00:39:37.98\00:39:40.77 He's the Creator and He can recreate us, but it's a memorial 00:39:40.78\00:39:44.82 that He can also make us holy and sanctify us. 00:39:44.85\00:39:47.41 "Hallow My Sabbaths," Ezekiel 20:20, 00:39:47.44\00:39:49.94 "Hallow My Sabbaths and it will be a sign between Me and you, 00:39:49.97\00:39:54.19 that you may know that I am the Lord your God. " 00:39:54.22\00:39:56.59 By the way, the mark of the beast? 00:39:56.62\00:39:58.12 That word that's used there, in Greek means 00:39:58.15\00:40:01.71 "the seal of the beast. " 00:40:01.74\00:40:04.24 And God also speaks there in Revelation about 00:40:05.43\00:40:08.70 the seal of God and those who are worshipping 00:40:08.73\00:40:11.96 God and those who are holy. 00:40:11.99\00:40:13.08 The Sabbath is a sign of that seal that they have. 00:40:13.11\00:40:16.33 In the middle of God's law, you've got the seal of God. 00:40:16.36\00:40:19.76 It tells us the title. 00:40:19.79\00:40:21.74 Every government seal has these characteristics. 00:40:21.77\00:40:24.62 It's got the title, it's got the name, it's got the territory. 00:40:24.65\00:40:28.53 Like our President's title would be; 00:40:29.33\00:40:31.22 President, Barack Obama, United States of America. 00:40:31.25\00:40:35.55 You've got those three things in the Presidential seal. 00:40:35.58\00:40:37.85 You'll find that in the seals that the ancient kings 00:40:37.88\00:40:40.60 put on their documents. 00:40:40.63\00:40:42.69 And when Jesus was put inside the tomb and Pilate sealed it, 00:40:42.72\00:40:47.14 it said, "Pontius Pilate, Governor, Judea. " 00:40:47.15\00:40:50.51 Those three things. 00:40:50.54\00:40:51.80 In the law of God, in the Sabbath commandment, 00:40:51.81\00:40:55.08 you've got the seal of God. 00:40:55.11\00:40:56.29 "The Lord," that's His name. 00:40:56.32\00:40:59.07 "Created," that's His title. 00:40:59.10\00:41:01.84 "The heaven and the earth," that's His territory. 00:41:01.87\00:41:04.97 Right there in the law of God, in that commandment that 00:41:05.00\00:41:07.64 begins with the word "holy," you've got the seal of God. 00:41:07.67\00:41:10.87 He said that we should keep it holy. 00:41:11.92\00:41:13.95 The Sabbath is not just for Jews. 00:41:13.98\00:41:16.78 Does Jesus say the Sabbath was made for Jews? 00:41:17.59\00:41:21.14 Or does He say it was made for man? 00:41:21.69\00:41:23.35 When did God make the Sabbath? 00:41:23.75\00:41:25.65 When Jacob came along, when Abraham came along, 00:41:25.68\00:41:28.60 or when Adam came along? 00:41:28.63\00:41:29.81 He made Adam and then He made the Sabbath 00:41:30.91\00:41:32.69 for man, to be a blessing for man. 00:41:32.72\00:41:35.57 You can also read in Isaiah 56 verse 6 and 7, 00:41:35.58\00:41:38.69 "Also the sons of the stranger that join 00:41:38.72\00:41:41.31 themselves to the Lord. " 00:41:41.34\00:41:42.34 It's also for the stranger. 00:41:42.41\00:41:44.15 "To serve Him, to love the name of the Lord, 00:41:44.18\00:41:46.42 to be His servants, everyone that keeps the Sabbath 00:41:46.45\00:41:50.17 from polluting it, and takes hold of My covenant. " 00:41:50.20\00:41:52.76 Notice the connection between keeping the Sabbath 00:41:52.79\00:41:55.67 and taking hold of that new covenant. 00:41:55.70\00:41:58.85 By the way, you realize the new covenant is 00:41:58.88\00:42:00.65 only made with Israel. 00:42:00.68\00:42:02.09 For those of you that are New Testament Christians 00:42:03.35\00:42:06.37 and you say, "I'm not under the old covenant, 00:42:07.21\00:42:08.97 I'm under the new covenant. " 00:42:09.00\00:42:10.30 You know what that says. 00:42:10.33\00:42:11.37 "'A new covenant I will make after those days,' 00:42:11.40\00:42:13.73 saith the Lord, 'with the house of Israel. '" 00:42:13.76\00:42:16.63 So you must, at the very least, become a spiritual Jew. 00:42:16.66\00:42:20.00 He that is Christ's is Abraham's seed, right? 00:42:20.86\00:42:23.39 Every Christian is grafted into the stalk. 00:42:23.42\00:42:26.34 The Bible we read is a Jewish book, you realize that. 00:42:26.37\00:42:29.17 And so everyone that takes hold of the covenant, 00:42:30.70\00:42:33.42 they're also going to be keeping the Sabbath day. 00:42:33.45\00:42:36.45 "Even them I will bring to My holy mountain 00:42:37.22\00:42:39.40 and make them joyful in My house of prayer. " 00:42:39.43\00:42:42.03 The Sabbath, by the way, is a time for corporate worship. 00:42:42.06\00:42:44.72 And even those among us who are Sabbath keepers need to 00:42:44.75\00:42:47.69 hear this because I run into people every now and then 00:42:47.72\00:42:49.68 and they say, "Oh yea, Pastor Doug, well it's a day of rest 00:42:49.71\00:42:52.15 and so I'm just going to go out and hang out with the 00:42:52.18\00:42:55.18 meadows and the trees today. 00:42:55.21\00:42:57.50 And that's how I'm going to rest. " 00:42:57.53\00:42:59.14 And I'm not condemning those that might do that 00:42:59.17\00:43:01.18 from time to time, but you can't keep doing that 00:43:01.21\00:43:03.07 because the Sabbath is all about our convocation. 00:43:03.10\00:43:06.08 Leviticus chapter 23, it is a holy convocation. 00:43:06.11\00:43:10.69 I mean, I can't imagine a person coming down from camping 00:43:10.72\00:43:14.26 up in the woods by themselves and you say, "Where were you?" 00:43:14.29\00:43:16.29 "I was at a convention. " 00:43:16.32\00:43:17.58 "How many came?" 00:43:19.21\00:43:20.24 "Just me. I had a convention. " 00:43:20.27\00:43:22.41 That's what the word "convocation" is. 00:43:23.09\00:43:24.75 It means, "a convening, an assembly. " 00:43:24.78\00:43:26.76 We are to corporately come together and worship God. 00:43:26.79\00:43:30.35 You stay all by yourself in your worship and you're going to be 00:43:30.36\00:43:33.15 unhealthy spiritually, you become eccentric. 00:43:33.18\00:43:35.76 The Bible tells us, "Let us not forsake the assembling 00:43:36.60\00:43:39.99 of ourselves together, and all the more as you see 00:43:40.00\00:43:42.41 the Day approaching. " 00:43:42.44\00:43:43.45 We need to come together. 00:43:44.33\00:43:45.50 "Oh, Pastor Doug, there's some people in my church, 00:43:45.53\00:43:47.60 they're kind of cantankerous. " 00:43:47.63\00:43:49.68 That's why you need to be with them, because you're 00:43:49.71\00:43:51.91 learning to love when you're in a situation like that. 00:43:51.95\00:43:54.72 Right? 00:43:54.75\00:43:55.77 We're a family, we need it. 00:43:56.20\00:43:57.92 Not to mention, it is one of the Ten Commandments. 00:43:58.98\00:44:01.41 Some say, "Well, God gave it just to the Jewish nation. " 00:44:01.44\00:44:04.45 Well you read there in the Bible, when the Lord led the 00:44:04.95\00:44:07.71 children of Israel out of Egypt, before they ever got to 00:44:07.74\00:44:10.56 Mount Sinai, where God spoke His law in Exodus 20, 00:44:10.59\00:44:14.14 He writes it in Exodus 32. 00:44:14.17\00:44:16.45 In Exodus 16, they went out to gather and look for manna 00:44:16.48\00:44:20.70 on the Sabbath day and God said, "How long are you going to keep 00:44:20.73\00:44:22.87 breaking My Commandments?" 00:44:22.90\00:44:24.33 He hasn't even spoken the Ten Commandments yet and 00:44:25.02\00:44:27.15 they knew before they ever got to Mount Sinai 00:44:27.18\00:44:29.44 it was one of His commandments. 00:44:29.47\00:44:31.19 So it wasn't just given to the Jews at Mount Sinai. 00:44:31.22\00:44:34.75 It was made for mankind. 00:44:34.78\00:44:36.67 They knew very well what it was. 00:44:36.70\00:44:38.80 Manna fell from heaven six days a week, 00:44:38.83\00:44:41.06 no manna fell on the Sabbath. 00:44:41.09\00:44:42.93 They were to gather twice as much on Friday. 00:44:42.96\00:44:45.92 Now in case any of you are wondering what day of the 00:44:45.95\00:44:48.47 week is the Sabbath. 00:44:48.50\00:44:49.89 Well, the seventh day. 00:44:50.56\00:44:51.57 Yea, but what day is the seventh day? 00:44:51.60\00:44:53.45 By the way, first time you hear a number mentioned 00:44:53.48\00:44:57.14 three times in the Bible is in Genesis chapter 2 00:44:57.17\00:45:00.05 when it talks about God's holy day in the 00:45:00.08\00:45:03.07 beginning of the Bible. 00:45:03.10\00:45:04.32 It says, "the seventh day", "the seventh day", 00:45:04.35\00:45:06.97 "the seventh day". 00:45:07.00\00:45:08.36 Then you get to the end of the Bible and it identifies 00:45:08.39\00:45:11.22 the antithesis, the beast, the counterfeit of Christ. 00:45:11.25\00:45:14.78 His number is 666. 00:45:14.81\00:45:17.61 It's the opposite. 00:45:18.33\00:45:19.34 The number to help identify God's people is seven. 00:45:19.37\00:45:23.61 Seven, seven, seven. 00:45:23.64\00:45:24.78 Saturday, this is by the way, Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 00:45:25.11\00:45:28.85 The seventh day of the week is Saturday. 00:45:28.88\00:45:31.15 Sunday? Merriam-Webster; the first day of the week. 00:45:31.84\00:45:35.15 You look at any normal calendar, it'll be very clear. 00:45:35.18\00:45:39.14 Some calendars try and do it towards the work week 00:45:39.17\00:45:41.27 and they seem to start with Saturday and they 00:45:41.30\00:45:43.85 end with Sunday but that's just some printer that does that. 00:45:43.88\00:45:47.04 Any encyclopedia will tell you that. 00:45:47.07\00:45:49.35 "Oh, but Pastor Doug, we don't really know what day 00:45:49.38\00:45:52.00 is the Bible Sabbath anymore because they've 00:45:52.03\00:45:53.88 changed the calendar. " 00:45:53.91\00:45:55.65 And it is true that the calendar has been adjusted several times 00:45:56.15\00:45:59.93 in history, but this is a common myth. 00:45:59.96\00:46:02.14 There's not an ounce of truth to it. 00:46:02.17\00:46:03.91 No matter what change is made to the calendar, 00:46:03.94\00:46:07.02 it never affects the weekly cycle. 00:46:07.05\00:46:10.35 It might affect your birthday, but it doesn't affect 00:46:11.45\00:46:15.75 the birthday of the world. 00:46:15.78\00:46:17.30 Because from the time of Adam to the present day, 00:46:17.33\00:46:20.48 every Sabbath has been 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; 00:46:20.51\00:46:23.36 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 00:46:23.39\00:46:24.73 And so whenever they've adjusted the calendar, 00:46:25.59\00:46:27.77 it never affected the days of the week. 00:46:27.80\00:46:30.22 People get confused because they see the days of the week 00:46:30.25\00:46:32.66 on a calendar and they think they're connected. 00:46:32.69\00:46:34.21 They're totally two complete and distinct separate 00:46:34.24\00:46:36.90 cycles of time. 00:46:36.93\00:46:37.95 Changing the calendar never affects the weekly cycle. 00:46:38.53\00:46:40.88 It doesn't need to. 00:46:40.91\00:46:42.15 Some of our evangelists have written to Greenwich Observatory 00:46:43.17\00:46:48.09 in Greenwich, England and the US Naval Observatory. 00:46:48.12\00:46:50.74 They've asked them, "Has there been any change in the calendar 00:46:50.77\00:46:54.37 in recorded history that affects the weekly cycle?" 00:46:54.40\00:46:58.04 And they consistently write back and say, 00:46:58.07\00:47:00.04 "Why would you ask a question like that? 00:47:00.05\00:47:02.10 They don't affect each other. 00:47:02.13\00:47:03.64 There has been no change to the calendar 00:47:03.67\00:47:05.78 that affects the continuity of the weekly cycle 00:47:05.81\00:47:08.53 as far back as we can go in recorded history. " 00:47:08.56\00:47:11.09 And if you're still in doubt about that, you can read 00:47:12.34\00:47:16.22 what it says in the Bible. 00:47:16.25\00:47:17.36 We know what day of the week Jesus was crucified. 00:47:17.90\00:47:19.97 They call it Good Friday. 00:47:20.07\00:47:22.40 "And they returned and prepared spices and ointments and they 00:47:23.00\00:47:26.02 rested the Sabbath according to the Commandment. " 00:47:26.05\00:47:28.54 By the way, Jesus must have told them it still mattered 00:47:28.57\00:47:31.07 because even when they were tending to Jesus after He died, 00:47:31.08\00:47:35.42 He had never told them anything to lead them to think the 00:47:35.45\00:47:37.80 Sabbath wasn't important. 00:47:37.83\00:47:39.04 Because they were keeping the Sabbath even after He died. 00:47:39.07\00:47:42.53 Jesus kept the Sabbath in His death. 00:47:43.43\00:47:45.36 He breathed His last Friday afternoon, He rested 00:47:46.30\00:47:48.99 from His work of saving man through the Sabbath day, 00:47:49.02\00:47:52.09 rose Sunday morning to continue His work as our High Priest. 00:47:52.12\00:47:55.48 So even in His death, Jesus kept the Sabbath. 00:47:55.88\00:47:58.60 "Then on the first day of the week, they come unto the tomb. " 00:47:59.63\00:48:02.13 We call that Easter Sunday. 00:48:02.16\00:48:04.96 So you just find out what day it is that's sandwiched there 00:48:04.99\00:48:07.38 between Friday and Sunday. 00:48:07.41\00:48:08.93 You can figure out which day is the Sabbath. 00:48:08.96\00:48:10.72 It's very clear. 00:48:11.73\00:48:12.86 Not only that, there are millions of Jews around the 00:48:12.89\00:48:16.86 world that still keep the seventh day of the week. 00:48:16.87\00:48:20.06 They have not given it up. 00:48:20.09\00:48:21.10 That's an amazing feat in itself. 00:48:21.13\00:48:22.83 The Jews have been scattered for millennium; 00:48:22.86\00:48:25.28 they still have remained a distinct people, 00:48:25.31\00:48:27.41 they still have their own language, 00:48:27.44\00:48:28.71 they still have their own writing, 00:48:28.74\00:48:30.19 as God foretold they would be distinct. 00:48:30.69\00:48:32.99 And they still know what day of the week is the seventh day. 00:48:33.02\00:48:35.67 There's no question about it. 00:48:36.59\00:48:38.17 You might be thinking, "Well, what happened?" 00:48:38.20\00:48:40.35 It was changed in history hundreds of years after Christ. 00:48:40.76\00:48:44.80 Principally, as Constantine established Sunday 00:48:44.83\00:48:48.71 as the day of worship in 321 AD, the Edict of Milan. 00:48:48.74\00:48:52.41 And it began to be adopted by the church to be more popular. 00:48:52.44\00:48:55.66 To try and reach more of the pagans, they compromised. 00:48:55.69\00:48:58.39 They said, "We'll keep both days for awhile. " 00:48:58.42\00:49:01.54 You know, the devil is very insidious. 00:49:01.57\00:49:03.10 And gradually, being Jewish was very unpopular in Rome 00:49:03.84\00:49:08.42 during that time. 00:49:08.45\00:49:09.51 To distance themselves from the Jew, they ultimately... 00:49:09.54\00:49:12.54 And it didn't happen right away, it happened over 00:49:12.55\00:49:14.06 hundreds of years. 00:49:14.09\00:49:15.14 They abandoned the seventh day Sabbath, they embraced 00:49:15.17\00:49:18.09 the Roman day of the sun, and they started making 00:49:18.12\00:49:21.75 philosophical rationalizations about why you should 00:49:23.97\00:49:27.13 do it on the first day of the week. 00:49:27.16\00:49:28.27 Now I don't want to insult anybody, but there is 00:49:28.30\00:49:31.11 more evidence for the Sabbath being on the seventh day 00:49:31.14\00:49:33.82 of the week than virtually any other Bible teaching. 00:49:33.85\00:49:37.14 I personally had no choice but be a Sabbath keeping 00:49:37.17\00:49:40.93 Christian if I wanted to be a Bible Christian. 00:49:40.96\00:49:43.06 A person has to go through the most amazing mind bending 00:49:43.93\00:49:48.33 rationalizations, you've got to absolutely torture your logic 00:49:48.36\00:49:51.46 to come up with the idea that this one commandment 00:49:51.49\00:49:54.91 that begins with the word "remember" is the one 00:49:54.92\00:49:57.08 we're suppose to forget, that God wanted us to change. 00:49:57.11\00:50:00.91 The longest of the commandments, the one commandment that 00:50:00.94\00:50:03.02 says "holy", that talks about worship. 00:50:03.05\00:50:05.27 The whole final battle revolves around worship. 00:50:05.31\00:50:08.07 And this is the one we're suppose to forget. 00:50:08.10\00:50:10.00 It sounds extremely suspicious to me. 00:50:10.90\00:50:12.92 As a matter of fact, in 108 languages of the world 00:50:14.76\00:50:17.71 the seventh day of the week; in Spanish it's Sabado, 00:50:17.74\00:50:21.13 in Russian it's Cybbota, in Micronesian it's Sabbat. 00:50:21.16\00:50:24.28 It just goes on and on and on. 00:50:24.31\00:50:25.99 And of course we know that this day begins at sundown. 00:50:26.81\00:50:30.27 Did Jesus keep the Sabbath? What is a Christian? 00:50:30.28\00:50:33.63 A Christian is a follower of Christ. 00:50:34.94\00:50:37.11 What was Jesus' habit? 00:50:37.14\00:50:38.70 Mark 6:2, "And when the Sabbath day was come, 00:50:38.73\00:50:42.41 He began to teach in the synagogue. " 00:50:42.61\00:50:45.30 Luke 4:16, "And He came to Nazareth where He 00:50:45.80\00:50:48.95 had been brought up. 00:50:48.98\00:50:50.00 And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue 00:50:50.03\00:50:52.59 on the Sabbath day and He stood up to read the scriptures. " 00:50:52.62\00:50:56.25 We know He read the scriptures and it even tells us 00:50:56.28\00:50:57.87 what scripture He read on one occasion. 00:50:57.90\00:51:00.14 Jesus went to the church every Sabbath day 00:51:00.15\00:51:03.31 and He read the Bible and He studied and He taught. 00:51:03.32\00:51:06.39 He kept it. 00:51:06.42\00:51:07.48 "Oh Pastor Doug, doesn't it say they accused Jesus of 00:51:07.51\00:51:10.17 breaking the Sabbath?" 00:51:10.20\00:51:11.23 That's right. 00:51:11.33\00:51:12.33 His enemies accosted Him of breaking the Sabbath. 00:51:12.36\00:51:14.04 His enemies also accused Him of being a drunk, a glutton, 00:51:14.07\00:51:16.49 and a demon possessed Samaritan. 00:51:16.52\00:51:18.16 So if you're going to go along with what His enemies accused 00:51:19.09\00:51:21.23 Him of doing, they accused Him of all kinds of things. 00:51:21.43\00:51:23.53 They said He deceives the people too. 00:51:23.56\00:51:25.27 And so some people have said, "Well, He broke the Sabbath. " 00:51:26.14\00:51:28.04 No He didn't. 00:51:28.05\00:51:29.05 He showed them how to keep it correctly. 00:51:29.08\00:51:30.91 Jesus, looking down at the end of time in Matthew 24 00:51:31.97\00:51:35.57 where He foretells His second coming, He says, 00:51:35.60\00:51:37.72 "Pray that your flight be not in the winter, 00:51:37.75\00:51:39.86 neither on the Sabbath day. " 00:51:39.89\00:51:41.34 Why does He say that to God's people 00:51:41.35\00:51:43.02 speaking about the end of time? 00:51:43.03\00:51:44.72 Because He knew they would still be Sabbath keeping 00:51:44.75\00:51:47.52 Christians back then. 00:51:47.55\00:51:48.90 And there may be a time when we need to flee. 00:51:48.93\00:51:51.67 "When," He says, "you see the abomination of desolation 00:51:51.70\00:51:54.25 stand in the holy place, let those that be in Judea 00:51:54.26\00:51:56.96 flee into the mountains. " 00:51:56.99\00:51:58.79 There's a day coming when those who want to keep all of 00:51:59.19\00:52:01.28 the commandments of God are going to be 00:52:01.31\00:52:02.63 persecuted for their faith. 00:52:02.66\00:52:04.15 The Bible tells us Jesus kept the Sabbath, 00:52:04.93\00:52:08.00 the early Christians kept the Sabbath. 00:52:08.03\00:52:10.28 Acts 17:1 it says, "Then they came to Thessalonica 00:52:10.31\00:52:14.72 where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 00:52:14.75\00:52:16.38 Then Paul, as his custom was, went into them 00:52:16.41\00:52:20.14 and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures. " 00:52:20.17\00:52:24.00 And in Acts 13 it says, "The Gentiles begged that these words 00:52:24.74\00:52:27.74 might be preached to them the next Sabbath. " 00:52:27.77\00:52:29.83 They're talking not just to Jews. 00:52:29.86\00:52:31.33 They're talking to the Gentiles on what day? 00:52:31.36\00:52:33.21 On the Sabbath. 00:52:33.24\00:52:34.57 On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came 00:52:35.61\00:52:37.71 together to hear the word of God. 00:52:37.74\00:52:39.06 That was Acts 13:44. 00:52:39.09\00:52:40.68 Acts 16:13, "And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city 00:52:40.71\00:52:44.65 to the riverside where prayer was customarily made, 00:52:44.68\00:52:47.25 and we sat down and spoke to the women that resorted thither. " 00:52:47.28\00:52:50.02 That's written by Luke. 00:52:50.05\00:52:51.06 Was Luke a Jew or Gentile? 00:52:51.09\00:52:52.66 Why doesn't Luke say, "And on the Jewish Sabbath 00:52:53.43\00:52:56.27 they got together?" 00:52:56.30\00:52:57.39 He states it as if it were just understood by 00:52:58.00\00:53:00.69 all the believers back then. 00:53:00.72\00:53:02.03 He's writing to Theophilus and he's saying this is what we did, 00:53:02.06\00:53:05.55 "and on the Sabbath," and he doesn't have to explain to him 00:53:05.58\00:53:07.72 what the Sabbath is. 00:53:07.75\00:53:08.84 Because every Christian knew it's one of the 00:53:08.85\00:53:10.55 Ten Commandments. 00:53:10.58\00:53:11.71 It's Christianity 101, that day of worship. 00:53:11.74\00:53:14.73 There's not even a hint here that they had changed it. 00:53:14.76\00:53:18.45 You know, the Bible does foretell, in the last days 00:53:19.60\00:53:21.45 the beast power would think to change times and laws. 00:53:21.46\00:53:25.66 And there's only one of God's commandments that is both 00:53:25.69\00:53:28.22 a time and a law. 00:53:28.25\00:53:29.87 And you know what also makes me marvel, friends, 00:53:30.91\00:53:32.86 is that in Luke 23, because the Sabbath was so important 00:53:32.87\00:53:38.43 to the disciples, they would not even finish embalming 00:53:38.44\00:53:41.68 the body of Jesus. 00:53:41.71\00:53:42.76 That starts with verse 56. 00:53:42.79\00:53:45.72 It says, "They prepared spices and fragrant oils. 00:53:45.75\00:53:49.02 And they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. " 00:53:49.05\00:53:53.18 The commandment, not the Jewish law. 00:53:53.19\00:53:55.66 You know, can you imagine? 00:53:57.97\00:53:59.78 It was so important to them. 00:54:00.18\00:54:01.70 Their hearts are broken, they've spent three and a half years 00:54:02.30\00:54:05.42 following Jesus, they loved Him. 00:54:05.45\00:54:07.33 They want to give Him an honorable treatment. 00:54:07.36\00:54:09.98 The sun is going down, they realize they're 00:54:10.01\00:54:11.55 going to run out of time. 00:54:11.58\00:54:12.76 It would have been so easy for most of us to have said, 00:54:12.79\00:54:14.47 "Well, the ox is in the ditch. 00:54:14.50\00:54:15.78 Let's at least finish embalming His body. " 00:54:15.81\00:54:18.14 But they said, "No, Jesus would not be pleased if we did this. " 00:54:19.07\00:54:22.90 And rather than disappoint Him, they said, 00:54:24.12\00:54:27.50 "We'll come back and finish later. 00:54:27.53\00:54:29.07 The Sabbath is coming. " 00:54:29.10\00:54:30.28 So did they ever get the slightest notion from Jesus 00:54:30.31\00:54:32.87 that it didn't matter to Him? 00:54:32.90\00:54:34.38 Even this labor of love was postponed because the 00:54:34.41\00:54:38.00 early church recognized how Jesus felt about this. 00:54:38.03\00:54:41.03 Is it still valid today, friends? 00:54:41.95\00:54:43.97 Does the Lord care? 00:54:44.37\00:54:45.47 It's easier for heaven and earth to pass away 00:54:45.50\00:54:48.54 than for one tittle of the law to fail. 00:54:48.57\00:54:51.24 God tells us that His word is not going to change. 00:54:52.06\00:54:56.00 The Bible begins telling us, "the seventh day, 00:54:56.03\00:55:00.05 remember that day. " 00:55:01.77\00:55:02.93 A whole day to be kept as holy. 00:55:02.94\00:55:05.20 Then you get to the end of the Bible. 00:55:05.23\00:55:06.72 In Revelation chapter 22 verse 14, it says, 00:55:06.75\00:55:09.63 "Blessed... " 00:55:09.66\00:55:10.72 Is there a blessing in the Sabbath? 00:55:10.75\00:55:12.05 Revelation 22:14, "Blessed are those who do His commandments. " 00:55:13.20\00:55:17.06 One commandment especially pronounces a blessing upon it. 00:55:17.07\00:55:20.45 "That they might have the right to the tree of life 00:55:20.48\00:55:22.94 and enter through the gates of the city. " 00:55:22.97\00:55:24.67 So from cover to cover in the Bible, God is very 00:55:24.70\00:55:27.69 clear that He wants us to be blessed, 00:55:27.72\00:55:29.34 He wants us to be happy. 00:55:29.37\00:55:30.63 You're only going to find that happiness in a 00:55:30.66\00:55:33.07 relationship with Him. 00:55:33.10\00:55:34.46 You know, I did a lot of traveling yesterday to get here. 00:55:36.43\00:55:38.69 I landed yesterday. 00:55:39.72\00:55:40.90 It was a little late for me to meet with you people then. 00:55:40.91\00:55:44.05 But I was in Sacramento, a big city, and Seattle, 00:55:44.08\00:55:48.27 St. Louis, stopped at a couple of places on the road. 00:55:48.30\00:55:51.55 And I looked at a lot of people. 00:55:51.58\00:55:53.31 I was by myself, so I look at people. 00:55:53.34\00:55:54.90 And in case you didn't know it, people aren't happy. 00:55:55.87\00:55:58.90 People are not satisfied. 00:56:00.09\00:56:02.07 Everywhere I looked. 00:56:02.57\00:56:04.38 I remember, I was on the plane and I got up and I walked 00:56:04.93\00:56:07.82 the length of the plane to use the facilities 00:56:07.83\00:56:09.68 and on my way back, I kind of looked over everyone's shoulder. 00:56:09.71\00:56:12.82 It was a daytime flight, people are awake. 00:56:12.85\00:56:15.41 And everybody seemed so restless. 00:56:15.44\00:56:18.14 And they're, you know, they're working and they're 00:56:18.17\00:56:22.03 trying to read these love novels and find some answer 00:56:22.06\00:56:25.35 or they're watching a variety of movies. 00:56:25.38\00:56:27.84 I'd be embarrassed if I were a lot of these people 00:56:27.87\00:56:29.72 to have people on the right and left of me, watching the movies 00:56:29.75\00:56:32.31 that they were watching on their laptops and stuff. 00:56:32.34\00:56:35.06 And they're just looking for something. 00:56:36.07\00:56:38.51 People are empty, they're unhappy. 00:56:38.54\00:56:40.60 I stopped, got a Subway sandwich, saw this man in there. 00:56:42.34\00:56:47.43 He looked so unhappy. 00:56:50.78\00:56:52.49 He was binging on sweets and reading some romance novel. 00:56:53.51\00:56:59.44 And I just thought, "He's looking for rest, 00:56:59.47\00:57:01.16 he's looking for peace, he's looking for purpose. " 00:57:01.19\00:57:03.31 Jesus tells us where that comes from. 00:57:03.78\00:57:05.83 The great invitation, Matthew chapter 11. 00:57:07.90\00:57:11.16 Christ said, "Come unto Me, all you who are weary 00:57:11.19\00:57:15.25 and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. " 00:57:15.28\00:57:19.30 Every Sabbath day, we're remembering the rest 00:57:19.33\00:57:23.07 that we find by coming to Jesus. 00:57:23.08\00:57:25.54 Have you found your rest in Him? 00:57:26.78\00:57:28.72 He wants you to enjoy that day of blessed rest. 00:57:29.22\00:57:33.02 How many of you would like to say, "Lord, by You grace, 00:57:33.05\00:57:35.08 I want that experience also. " 00:57:35.11\00:57:37.12 Can we ask Him now to give it to us? 00:57:37.90\00:57:39.93 Dear Father in heaven, thank You for this truth. 00:57:41.63\00:57:45.14