What does the future hold? 00:00:01.36\00:00:02.70 Where can we find certainty in a world of uncertainty? 00:00:02.73\00:00:05.67 The book of Revelation provides helpful answers for today, 00:00:05.70\00:00:09.47 tomorrow and forever. 00:00:09.50\00:00:11.37 Join Mark Finley, author and world renowned speaker, 00:00:11.41\00:00:14.91 on a journey into the future with 00:00:14.94\00:00:17.15 Every chapter in the book of Revelation speaks hope, 00:00:23.62\00:00:27.22 it speaks courage, it enables us to look 00:00:27.26\00:00:31.13 beyond today to tomorrow, beyond the things 00:00:31.16\00:00:33.96 of time to eternity. 00:00:34.00\00:00:35.80 Revelation also challenges us. 00:00:35.83\00:00:38.90 It challenges us in the depths of our being to look at what 00:00:38.93\00:00:43.71 we have known in the past, and compare that to 00:00:43.74\00:00:47.24 God's Word in the future. 00:00:47.28\00:00:48.94 There are many traditions that have slipped into 00:00:48.98\00:00:51.81 the Christian church. 00:00:51.85\00:00:53.18 And in this presentation we're going to look at one of those 00:00:53.21\00:00:57.39 traditions that has come into the church, and find out how 00:00:57.42\00:01:01.42 God, as a loving Creator, is calling us back to 00:01:01.46\00:01:05.59 faithfulness to His Word. 00:01:05.63\00:01:07.70 Let's pray and ask the Lord to open our eyes, open our ears, 00:01:07.73\00:01:11.77 but most of all open our hearts. 00:01:11.80\00:01:14.14 Father in Heaven, thank You for the opportunity of knowing You. 00:01:14.17\00:01:19.77 Thank You for the privilege of coming to Your Word. 00:01:19.81\00:01:23.95 May its truth burn its way into our hearts, 00:01:23.98\00:01:28.38 and give us the insight from Your Word, but especially give 00:01:28.42\00:01:32.99 us the courage to follow it. 00:01:33.02\00:01:34.36 In Christ's name, Amen. 00:01:34.39\00:01:36.36 Our presentation is entitled 00:01:36.39\00:01:39.66 When you look out over our world, 00:01:45.43\00:01:48.04 you have really one of two decisions. 00:01:48.07\00:01:50.41 Either our world has been designed by a loving Creator, 00:01:50.44\00:01:54.84 a God that cares for us, a God that is ever present in our 00:01:54.88\00:01:59.81 world, or this world has taken place by chance. 00:01:59.85\00:02:04.32 It just happened to evolve. 00:02:04.35\00:02:06.65 We just happened to be some speck of cosmic 00:02:06.69\00:02:09.39 dust in the universe when the genes and chromosomes came 00:02:09.42\00:02:13.16 together to form the unique biological 00:02:13.19\00:02:15.06 structure of our personality. 00:02:15.10\00:02:16.77 Well, they just happened. 00:02:16.80\00:02:18.70 You see, there are only one of two positions: 00:02:18.73\00:02:20.54 either God created us or we're here by chance. 00:02:20.57\00:02:24.07 Either we are intelligently designed, 00:02:24.11\00:02:26.74 or some kind of grand accident. 00:02:26.78\00:02:29.64 When you look though out over our world, 00:02:29.68\00:02:32.51 It's really difficult to see in this universe randomness, 00:02:36.85\00:02:42.66 chaos, and lack of design. 00:02:42.69\00:02:45.56 Everything from the rising and setting of the sun, 00:02:45.59\00:02:51.17 from the incoming to the outgoing tides, 00:02:51.20\00:02:54.44 to the delicately designed flowers, and the fantastic, 00:02:54.47\00:02:59.54 orderly migration of birds, everything in the universe 00:02:59.57\00:03:04.45 reveals order; it reveals design. 00:03:04.48\00:03:08.35 Probably that design is manifest in the heavens as much as any 00:03:08.38\00:03:14.82 place else in the universe. 00:03:14.86\00:03:16.52 Now think about the heavens for me for a moment. 00:03:16.56\00:03:19.96 Before the invention of telescopes many scientists said 00:03:20.00\00:03:25.63 there are about 5,128 stars up there in the heavens. 00:03:25.67\00:03:30.34 Some might have said a little more, some a little less, 00:03:30.37\00:03:32.87 but you could see that number of stars by the naked eye. 00:03:32.91\00:03:37.18 Once telescopes were developed, and they became much more 00:03:37.21\00:03:41.18 sophisticated, it's very difficult to calculate 00:03:41.22\00:03:44.55 the number of stars. 00:03:44.59\00:03:46.05 In fact, one astronomer said this: 00:03:46.09\00:03:49.69 There's about ten trillion... 00:03:49.72\00:03:52.23 Did you get that?... ten trillion galaxies. 00:03:52.26\00:03:57.23 How many stars in a galaxy? 00:03:57.27\00:03:59.47 We're not 100% sure, but for example, if you take the 00:03:59.50\00:04:03.04 Milky Way galaxy, there's about one hundred billion. 00:04:03.07\00:04:07.04 So if you take ten trillion galaxies, and you assume 00:04:07.08\00:04:12.21 that there's a hundred billion stars in each galaxy, 00:04:12.25\00:04:15.42 you get a 1 with 24 zeroes after it for the number of stars. 00:04:15.45\00:04:20.69 I mean it's a number far too big even to pronounce. 00:04:20.72\00:04:24.99 The heavens are vast, but yet when you look into the heavens, 00:04:25.03\00:04:30.27 you see stars, and you see planets whirling through space 00:04:30.30\00:04:35.80 as great ballerinas, and they're in some orderly fashion. 00:04:35.84\00:04:41.34 The Earth revolves with the planets around the sun. 00:04:41.38\00:04:46.25 The sun, in its orbit, in this solar system 00:04:46.28\00:04:49.62 travels in a vast orbit. 00:04:49.65\00:04:52.55 And all these galaxies, and all these planets are moving, 00:04:52.59\00:04:56.22 and there's some cosmic mind, some divine hand behind it all. 00:04:56.26\00:05:02.53 Where there is design there must be a designer, 00:05:02.56\00:05:06.13 and where there's intelligent design, there must be an 00:05:06.17\00:05:10.11 intelligent designer. 00:05:10.14\00:05:11.57 The book of Revelation leads us to this all powerful Creator. 00:05:11.61\00:05:18.98 Come up higher to the throne room of the universe. 00:05:22.48\00:05:25.55 So God invites us into the inner sanctum of the universe. 00:05:29.16\00:05:33.70 He invites us into the heavens. 00:05:33.73\00:05:35.96 He invites us to His throne room. 00:05:36.00\00:05:38.17 What do we find there in the throne room of the universe? 00:05:38.20\00:05:41.90 We find a scene of worthiness, a scene of praise, where angelic 00:05:41.94\00:05:47.11 beings, and beings from unfallen worlds are worshipping God. 00:05:47.14\00:05:51.21 Why is God worthy of our worship? 00:06:03.12\00:06:05.89 Why is God worthy of our praise? 00:06:05.93\00:06:08.63 Why is God worthy of our deepest affection, and glory, and honor? 00:06:08.66\00:06:15.20 The Bible says, 00:06:15.24\00:06:16.57 We did not evolve. We're not here by chance. 00:06:18.64\00:06:22.04 We're not some cosmic accident. 00:06:22.08\00:06:25.18 God created us. It says, 00:06:25.21\00:06:28.58 That's all things that were created. 00:06:31.22\00:06:33.59 You and I exist by the will of God. 00:06:33.62\00:06:36.06 Did you desire to be a human being? 00:06:36.09\00:06:38.39 Did you say one day, You know what, I don't think 00:06:38.43\00:06:40.26 I'd like to be a cow. 00:06:40.30\00:06:41.63 That wouldn't be too much fun. 00:06:41.66\00:06:43.00 I don't think I'd like to be a horse out in the field. 00:06:43.03\00:06:46.13 I don't think I'd like to be a lamb frolicking and 00:06:46.17\00:06:49.27 playing in the pasture. 00:06:49.30\00:06:50.91 I don't think I'd like to be a mosquito that somebody swatted. 00:06:50.94\00:06:54.18 Did you choose not to be a cow? 00:06:54.24\00:06:56.95 Did you choose not to be a horse? 00:06:56.98\00:06:59.58 Did you choose not to be a mosquito? 00:06:59.61\00:07:02.18 You know I didn't choose that. 00:07:02.22\00:07:04.15 We exist by the will of God. 00:07:04.19\00:07:06.12 You see my friend, 00:07:06.15\00:07:07.49 And God brought you forth into this life to have 00:07:12.69\00:07:16.73 purpose and meaning. 00:07:16.77\00:07:18.10 The reason we worship God, the reason we praise Him, 00:07:18.13\00:07:21.90 the reason we fall at His feet and worship Him is because 00:07:21.97\00:07:26.64 He has created us, He has fashioned us, He has made us. 00:07:26.68\00:07:31.31 And in the book of Revelation, 00:07:31.35\00:07:33.18 He reveals Himself to us as the powerful Creator, 00:07:34.98\00:07:39.65 as the Almighty Creator. 00:07:39.69\00:07:41.52 So His Creatorship makes Him worthy of worship. 00:07:41.56\00:07:45.73 That is the center of the conflict between good and evil 00:07:45.76\00:07:51.07 in the book of Revelation. 00:07:51.10\00:07:52.50 You either worship the Lamb, or you worship the dragon. 00:07:52.53\00:07:56.40 You either follow Christ, and worship the Creator, 00:07:56.44\00:08:00.24 or you worship the beast. 00:08:00.28\00:08:02.08 The issue in the controversy between good and evil in the 00:08:02.14\00:08:06.35 universe is an issue over worship. 00:08:06.41\00:08:10.22 That's obey God, reverence God, respect God. 00:08:13.59\00:08:15.92 And in the light of the judgment hour, in the light of the last 00:08:21.43\00:08:25.67 days of earth's history, all men and women everywhere 00:08:25.73\00:08:29.27 are invited to come and to worship the 00:08:29.30\00:08:32.17 Creator of the universe. Listen 00:08:32.21\00:08:33.64 That is the One that created. 00:08:35.58\00:08:37.48 So here is a call to worship the Creator for all humanity. 00:08:40.55\00:08:44.89 Has our Creator left a creative sign of His love? 00:08:44.92\00:08:51.53 Has He left a memorial of His creation? 00:08:51.56\00:08:55.13 Let's go back. How do we worship the Creator of heaven and earth? 00:08:55.16\00:09:00.00 Let's journey back over time. 00:09:00.04\00:09:02.24 Let's go back to the book of Genesis. 00:09:02.27\00:09:05.17 Revelation is the book of endings. 00:09:05.21\00:09:07.94 Genesis is the book of beginnings. 00:09:07.98\00:09:10.65 So let's go back to the book of Genesis and see if God has left 00:09:10.71\00:09:15.38 a sign of His creative authority, 00:09:15.42\00:09:18.52 a sign of His creative love. 00:09:18.55\00:09:21.26 Now ours is an amazingly intricate world. 00:09:21.29\00:09:24.99 As the world as we know it today was created in six literal 00:09:25.03\00:09:29.16 days, and God rested, according to Genesis, the seventh day. 00:09:29.20\00:09:33.80 Our Creator spoke and worlds came into existence; 00:09:33.84\00:09:38.21 the sun, moon, and stars. 00:09:38.24\00:09:39.74 As this earth came into existence He carpeted 00:09:43.95\00:09:46.98 it with living green. 00:09:47.02\00:09:48.35 He planted magnificent flowers of pinks, and reds, 00:09:48.38\00:09:52.99 and yellows, and greens. 00:09:53.02\00:09:54.69 What a marvelous earth it was when it came forth fresh from 00:09:54.72\00:10:00.40 the hands of the Creator. 00:10:00.43\00:10:02.56 Imagine living in a world this beautiful. 00:10:02.63\00:10:06.03 Imagine living in a world this magnificent. 00:10:06.07\00:10:09.44 Imagine living in a world where the air is pure, 00:10:09.47\00:10:14.78 perfumed by lovely flowers. 00:10:14.81\00:10:17.55 Imagine a world where you have clear crystal water, and fish 00:10:17.61\00:10:25.35 swimming of different sizes, and shapes, and colors. 00:10:25.39\00:10:28.99 Our God must have an amazing imagination, when you see the 00:10:29.02\00:10:34.60 created sea life that He indeed has made. 00:10:34.63\00:10:37.77 Or think of the animals. 00:10:37.80\00:10:39.13 He must have a sense of humor, too to create birds like this 00:10:39.17\00:10:41.37 with necks like that. 00:10:41.40\00:10:42.74 When you think of the animals in Eden together in harmony, 00:10:42.77\00:10:47.44 in love; the beauty of Eden, the peace of Eden, 00:10:47.48\00:10:52.05 the tranquility of Eden: no sickness, suffering, death, 00:10:52.08\00:10:58.19 sorrow, heartache, tears, or heart brokenness. 00:10:58.22\00:11:02.82 And then God creates the human race. 00:11:02.86\00:11:04.69 So the crowning act of creation is God's act of 00:11:14.74\00:11:18.27 creating the human race. And the Bible says in 00:11:18.31\00:11:21.81 What did God do when He finished His creative work? 00:11:27.88\00:11:34.12 What did God do when the earth was complete? 00:11:34.16\00:11:40.20 He stepped back. He looked at it and was refreshed, 00:11:40.23\00:11:44.43 and created the Bible Sabbath. 00:11:44.47\00:11:47.47 So God did three things on the Sabbath. 00:12:14.70\00:12:17.67 The seventh day God created an entire twenty-four hour 00:12:17.73\00:12:23.27 period for all of His creatures to have fellowship with Him. 00:12:23.30\00:12:27.58 It was to remind us constantly that we did not evolve, 00:12:35.12\00:12:38.85 to remind us perpetually that we came from the hands of a 00:12:38.92\00:12:42.59 loving God, to remind us always that we have purpose for life, 00:12:42.62\00:12:46.39 and we have meaning for our life. 00:12:46.43\00:12:48.73 Now God did three things on the seventh day. 00:12:48.76\00:12:51.57 Did you notice what they were? 00:12:51.60\00:12:52.93 1. God blessed the seventh day. 00:12:52.97\00:12:55.54 You know somebody often says, Well, Pastor Mark, we can 00:12:55.60\00:12:58.27 worship on any day, can't we? 00:12:58.31\00:13:00.34 You can worship on any day and get a blessing, 00:13:00.38\00:13:03.14 but if you really want the blessing of God, the blessing 00:13:03.18\00:13:08.22 of the Creator, the One who set aside this world, 00:13:08.28\00:13:11.59 you have to go where that blessing is. 00:13:11.65\00:13:13.39 Look, here's my Bible. 00:13:13.42\00:13:15.29 What if I have seven Bibles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7? 00:13:15.32\00:13:21.33 Can you get a blessing any Bible you read? Sure you can. 00:13:21.36\00:13:24.50 But what if I put a $10,000.00 check in this Bible? 00:13:24.53\00:13:29.30 Would it make a difference what Bible you took 00:13:29.37\00:13:34.11 whether you got the check? 00:13:34.14\00:13:35.71 Now don't worry, there's not a $10,000.00 check in my Bible. 00:13:35.74\00:13:38.28 But, you see, the point. 00:13:38.31\00:13:40.05 If you want the Sabbath blessing, where must you go? 00:13:40.08\00:13:44.35 Where God put it. And where did He put it? 00:13:44.42\00:13:47.22 He put it in the seventh day. 00:13:47.26\00:13:49.26 The Bible doesn't say God blessed the first day, 00:13:49.29\00:13:51.39 the third day, the fifth. 00:13:51.43\00:13:52.76 Now God did something else to the seventh day. 00:13:52.79\00:13:54.56 The Bible says He sanctified it. 00:13:54.60\00:13:55.96 This word sanctified means set apart for holy use. 00:13:56.00\00:13:59.53 It's like one man being married to one woman, 00:13:59.57\00:14:03.00 and she is sanctified to him, and he is sanctified to her. 00:14:03.04\00:14:07.31 So in marriage the word sanctity of marriage; one man, one woman, 00:14:07.34\00:14:13.31 set apart for holy use for that other. 00:14:13.35\00:14:16.45 It's a holy bond of union. 00:14:16.48\00:14:19.05 Let's suppose a couple just gets married, and they are so excited 00:14:19.09\00:14:23.99 about that marriage. 00:14:24.03\00:14:25.49 They are sanctified in that marriage; 00:14:25.53\00:14:28.26 set apart for one another. 00:14:28.30\00:14:31.70 God uses that term in the creation story. 00:14:31.73\00:14:36.74 He also says He rested on the seventh day. 00:14:36.77\00:14:39.97 So we rest on the seventh day because God rested 00:14:40.01\00:14:44.08 on the seventh day. 00:14:44.11\00:14:45.45 There are some people that say, Isn't every day alike? 00:14:45.48\00:14:48.38 But there is only one that God blessed, 00:14:48.42\00:14:50.95 only one that God sanctified, only one that God rested upon. 00:14:50.99\00:14:55.29 So when we come to get the blessing out of the seventh day, 00:15:02.36\00:15:05.93 when we come to worship on that day, it's not a Jewish Sabbath. 00:15:05.97\00:15:10.87 The Sabbath was set aside at creation, 00:15:10.91\00:15:13.17 over 2300 years before the Jewish nation ever existed. 00:15:13.21\00:15:17.05 The Jewish nation didn't come until the days of Abraham. 00:15:17.08\00:15:19.88 You have Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve sons of Jacob that 00:15:19.91\00:15:23.62 make up the Jewish nation. 00:15:23.65\00:15:25.09 But the Sabbath was given at creation, 00:15:25.15\00:15:28.02 2300 years before there was a Jew. 00:15:28.06\00:15:30.23 So we come to get the blessing that God gave us. 00:15:30.26\00:15:33.36 We come because He sanctified that day. 00:15:33.40\00:15:36.40 Like one woman sanctified for her husband, Jesus that day 00:15:36.43\00:15:41.20 wants to enter into a loving relationship with us, 00:15:41.24\00:15:44.34 just like a husband and wife are in a loving relationship. 00:15:44.37\00:15:47.71 By the way, what if there was a marriage that took place, 00:15:47.74\00:15:51.05 husband and wife are married at the marriage altar, 00:15:51.08\00:15:53.15 and then they're getting ready to go on their honeymoon. 00:15:53.18\00:15:55.92 Just Married; the car is all decorated. 00:15:55.95\00:15:58.02 He gets in. And let's suppose his wife had six sisters, 00:15:58.05\00:16:03.83 and one of those sisters gets in and cozies up and sits next 00:16:03.89\00:16:07.60 to him and says, Let's go! 00:16:07.63\00:16:08.96 He says, What do you mean, let's go? 00:16:09.00\00:16:10.87 I didn't marry you! I married your sister! 00:16:10.90\00:16:14.84 And she says, One in seven; what difference does it make? 00:16:14.87\00:16:19.31 Do you think it would make a difference? 00:16:19.34\00:16:21.11 It sure does! Why? Because one woman was set aside, 00:16:21.14\00:16:23.78 one woman was sanctified to that one man. 00:16:23.81\00:16:26.82 You see, in the Garden of Eden God set aside, 00:16:26.85\00:16:32.35 for all humanity everywhere... 00:16:32.39\00:16:34.86 Adam and Eve were the parents of the human race. 00:16:34.92\00:16:38.69 God set aside, for all humanity everywhere, the Sabbath. 00:16:38.73\00:16:43.87 He blessed that day, He sanctified that day, 00:16:43.90\00:16:48.17 He rested upon that day. 00:16:48.20\00:16:50.21 God didn't bless, or sanctify, or rest on the third day, 00:16:50.24\00:16:55.28 the fourth, or the first. 00:16:55.34\00:16:56.68 He rested on the seventh. 00:16:56.71\00:16:58.05 Then, as you look down the stream of time, you discover 00:16:58.08\00:17:03.32 that in every age, both in the Old and New Testament, 00:17:03.35\00:17:06.82 God's people were followers of Christ, and followers, 00:17:06.86\00:17:11.63 keepers, of the true Bible Sabbath. 00:17:11.69\00:17:15.06 We find this, too, before the giving of the Ten Commandments. 00:17:15.10\00:17:19.20 You remember the experience where Israel wandered in the 00:17:19.23\00:17:23.20 wilderness, and as they did, the manna fell from heaven. 00:17:23.24\00:17:27.71 God provided food for them. 00:17:27.74\00:17:29.28 Isn't our God wonderful? 00:17:29.31\00:17:30.78 When we have needs He provides for those needs. 00:17:30.85\00:17:35.68 And so you see in the wilderness they are wandering. 00:17:35.72\00:17:40.06 And Israel is wandering there, and God rains 00:17:40.09\00:17:43.22 manna down from heaven. 00:17:43.26\00:17:44.59 And what does He say in Exodus 16? 00:17:44.63\00:17:46.59 Now remember the Ten Commandments don't 00:17:46.63\00:17:48.03 come till Exodus 20. 00:17:48.06\00:17:49.40 But before the commandments, based on the principle of 00:17:49.43\00:17:52.97 creation in Genesis, 00:17:53.03\00:17:54.40 So even in the falling of the manna, God works a miracle. 00:18:03.65\00:18:08.82 If they were to keep manna over from one day to the 00:18:08.85\00:18:12.62 next it would spoil. 00:18:12.65\00:18:13.99 When they gathered it on Friday it didn't spoil on the Sabbath; 00:18:14.02\00:18:17.19 Miracle 1. Miracle 2. Twice as much manna fell on the Friday 00:18:17.23\00:18:24.93 so that they would be able to gather it, 00:18:24.97\00:18:27.17 and keep it over the Sabbath. 00:18:27.20\00:18:29.10 Miracle 3. None fell on the Sabbath. 00:18:29.14\00:18:32.91 It was set apart. It was a blessed day, a sanctified day, 00:18:32.97\00:18:37.35 and a day upon which the people rested and worshipped. 00:18:37.38\00:18:40.02 Some of them though went out to gather manna on the seventh day, 00:18:40.05\00:18:44.65 and what does God say? 00:18:44.69\00:18:46.02 Now wait a minute! The law of God was not written on tables 00:18:49.92\00:18:54.83 of stone until Mount Sinai. 00:18:54.86\00:18:58.27 It was not written on tables of stone until God gave it to Moses 00:18:58.30\00:19:02.94 there in Exodus 20, but yet here God says, 00:19:02.97\00:19:07.78 You see, the Sabbath commandment was written in the heart and 00:19:10.41\00:19:13.72 mind of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 00:19:13.75\00:19:16.22 The law, thou shalt not kill, was written in their heart and 00:19:16.25\00:19:19.49 mind; the law thou shalt not steal, or the law of purity. 00:19:19.55\00:19:22.82 So the law was written in their heart and mind in Genesis. 00:19:22.86\00:19:27.33 They kept the Sabbath commandment. 00:19:27.36\00:19:29.50 But when Israel was led into Egypt, and they violated God's 00:19:29.53\00:19:33.90 command there through the force of their Egyptian taskmasters, 00:19:33.94\00:19:38.41 God then wrote the law on tables of stone with His own finger. 00:19:38.44\00:19:42.21 Now when God wrote the Ten Commandments on tables of stone 00:19:42.24\00:19:45.98 with His own finger, He wrote it on stone 00:19:46.01\00:19:48.82 so it could never be erased. 00:19:48.85\00:19:51.39 He wrote it on stone so that it would never be defaced. 00:19:51.42\00:19:56.62 He wrote it on stone so that it would be a perpetual, eternal 00:19:56.66\00:20:01.90 reminder of His commands. 00:20:01.93\00:20:05.77 He wrote His commands with His own finger. 00:20:05.80\00:20:08.34 Don't you think that if the only thing in the Bible that is 00:20:08.37\00:20:12.31 written with God's own finger is the Ten Commandment law, 00:20:12.34\00:20:16.24 that it's pretty important? 00:20:16.28\00:20:17.61 Don't you think that if the Sabbath command is written with 00:20:17.65\00:20:21.28 God's own finger on tables of stone 00:20:21.32\00:20:23.05 that it must be significant? 00:20:23.08\00:20:24.75 He didn't write it in sand to be washed away by the tide. 00:20:24.79\00:20:27.79 He didn't write it on paper to be destroyed by the 00:20:27.82\00:20:31.59 flames as they came in. 00:20:31.63\00:20:33.60 Not at all. God wrote the Ten Commandments on tables of stone, 00:20:33.63\00:20:39.50 not to be burned up, not to be washed away, but He wrote them 00:20:39.53\00:20:45.34 on tables of stone as a perpetual reminder that they 00:20:45.37\00:20:48.88 would endure forever, and ever, and ever. 00:20:48.94\00:20:52.81 So the Ten Commandment law, God's commandments, 00:20:52.85\00:20:57.09 in those commandments God says, in the fourth commandment, 00:20:57.15\00:21:01.16 What's the first word in the Ten Commandment law written 00:21:07.03\00:21:10.10 with the finger of God, never to be washed away, 00:21:10.17\00:21:12.87 never to be consumed, to last forever? 00:21:12.90\00:21:14.80 What's that first word everybody? 00:21:14.84\00:21:16.37 What is that? remember. 00:21:16.40\00:21:18.37 Why does God say remember? 00:21:18.41\00:21:20.28 Because He knew that we would be tending to forget. 00:21:20.31\00:21:24.05 He knew that down through the centuries human beings, 00:21:24.08\00:21:27.98 and religious leaders in the early days of church history 00:21:28.02\00:21:31.85 in an attempt to unite church and state when the pagan tribes 00:21:31.89\00:21:36.96 were coming down from the north, that those pagan tribes... 00:21:36.99\00:21:41.43 And we'll study about this in our next presentation. 00:21:41.46\00:21:43.77 ...who were sun worshippers, many of them. 00:21:43.80\00:21:46.37 The Bible says that God knew that that would all take place 00:21:46.40\00:21:50.57 in His far seeing wisdom. 00:21:50.61\00:21:51.94 So God said, Remember; don't forget the Sabbath day. 00:21:51.97\00:21:56.71 If God says remember it must be important, right? 00:21:56.75\00:21:59.28 And if God writes it with His own finger on tables of stone, 00:21:59.31\00:22:02.58 it must be important. 00:22:02.65\00:22:03.99 Because He knew that the human race was likely to forget it. 00:22:05.45\00:22:10.16 God said, 00:22:10.23\00:22:11.56 Now notice, the Bible does not say the first day, 00:22:20.47\00:22:24.51 the fourth day, the sixth. 00:22:24.54\00:22:25.87 It says the seventh day is the Bible Sabbath. 00:22:25.91\00:22:30.25 So the Sabbath is set apart by God as the 00:22:30.28\00:22:34.62 seventh day of the week. 00:22:34.65\00:22:36.35 All of the celebrations the day before my birthday, or the day 00:22:36.38\00:22:41.42 after my birthday would not make that day my birthday. 00:22:41.46\00:22:45.93 Somebody says, Well, it doesn't make any difference 00:22:45.96\00:22:48.50 what day you worship on. 00:22:48.53\00:22:49.86 There's only one day that was blessed, one day that was 00:22:49.90\00:22:53.34 sanctified, one day that God rested on, that's the seventh. 00:22:53.37\00:22:57.24 There's only one day God commands us to keep. 00:22:57.31\00:23:00.71 He says, Remember the Sabbath day. 00:23:00.74\00:23:02.71 That's the seventh day of the week. 00:23:02.74\00:23:04.65 All of the celebrations the day before or the day after don't 00:23:04.68\00:23:08.02 make those days our birthday, and the birthday of the world 00:23:08.05\00:23:12.85 is the seventh day, the day God created, and fashioned, 00:23:12.89\00:23:16.99 and shaped as the holy Sabbath. 00:23:17.03\00:23:19.19 See, the Sabbath is a memorial to creation. 00:23:23.50\00:23:26.33 Every week we have the birthday of the world. 00:23:26.37\00:23:31.64 Every week when sun sets on a Friday night, and Sabbath is 00:23:37.68\00:23:42.88 ushered in, you and I are invited to come and get a 00:23:42.95\00:23:45.82 glimpse of eternity, you and I are invited to come into the 00:23:45.85\00:23:49.19 palace of the King. 00:23:49.22\00:23:50.59 We can forget about secular employment. 00:23:50.63\00:23:54.06 We can forget about the noise and the din, 00:23:54.10\00:23:57.33 and the confusion of this world. 00:23:57.37\00:23:59.43 Jesus wants to enfold us in His arms. 00:23:59.47\00:24:02.00 And although we work six days, and although He can be present 00:24:02.04\00:24:06.51 with us each day of the week, the Sabbath is especially made 00:24:06.57\00:24:10.98 by Jesus to fellowship with Him. 00:24:11.01\00:24:14.52 It's especially made by Jesus for us to sense His presence 00:24:14.55\00:24:19.42 in our lives, to fellowship with our families, 00:24:19.45\00:24:22.32 to enjoy the beauties of nature, to reach out in loving acts of 00:24:22.36\00:24:26.29 kindness to others. 00:24:26.36\00:24:28.10 And throughout the Old Testament God's people, the Jews, were to 00:24:34.64\00:24:38.31 reach out to their neighbors and share with them this marvelous 00:24:38.37\00:24:42.01 gift of God's love as revealed in the Sabbath. 00:24:42.04\00:24:45.38 In the book of Isaiah the Scripture puts it this way: 00:24:45.41\00:24:49.55 What does it say? everyone. 00:24:53.66\00:24:55.76 What does it say again? everyone. 00:24:55.79\00:24:57.83 So here is everyone, all humanity, keeping the Sabbath 00:25:06.97\00:25:11.64 coming to the house of prayer, coming to worship. Then it says: 00:25:11.67\00:25:15.84 So here Isaiah envisions all humanity recognizing that God 00:25:20.38\00:25:27.16 is Creator, and coming to worship Him. 00:25:27.19\00:25:30.09 If the Sabbath were kept there'd never be an 00:25:30.13\00:25:33.26 atheist in the world. 00:25:33.29\00:25:34.63 If the Sabbath were kept we would have universal peace. 00:25:34.66\00:25:38.20 Because really the Sabbath is a symbol of universal brotherhood. 00:25:38.23\00:25:43.14 There would be no war. 00:25:43.17\00:25:44.54 There'd be no conflict between nations if the Sabbath were 00:25:44.57\00:25:47.28 rightly kept, because we would recognize that all of us: 00:25:47.31\00:25:51.38 Asians and Africans, Russians and Americans, 00:25:51.41\00:25:55.38 Chinese and South Americans, North Korea, we'd recognize 00:25:55.42\00:26:00.36 that the entire human race was created by God; 00:26:00.39\00:26:04.03 would recognize that we're all part of the family of God; 00:26:04.06\00:26:07.16 that He's created of one blood all nations. 00:26:07.20\00:26:09.73 The Sabbath is a symbol of universal brotherhood. 00:26:09.76\00:26:14.40 The Sabbath is a symbol of universal peace. 00:26:14.44\00:26:18.07 It's a symbol of coming together and worshipping, praising God, 00:26:18.11\00:26:23.91 as one human family. 00:26:23.95\00:26:26.82 He has set it aside in Genesis for the entire human race. 00:26:26.88\00:26:31.59 He has given it to His people in the Ten Commandment law, 00:26:31.62\00:26:36.32 and He said, Remember the Sabbath. 00:26:36.36\00:26:38.23 Which of those Ten Commandments are exclusively for the Jews? 00:26:38.26\00:26:41.70 It's the one that says thou shalt not kill? no. 00:26:41.73\00:26:44.33 It's the one that says thou shalt not commit adultery? no. 00:26:44.40\00:26:46.74 Is it the one that says don't take the name of the Lord thy 00:26:46.77\00:26:49.07 God in vain only for the Jews? 00:26:49.10\00:26:50.44 Is it the one that says don't worship idols? no. 00:26:50.47\00:26:53.04 Is the Sabbath? certainly not. 00:26:53.07\00:26:54.54 The Sabbath given at creation is His sign that you 00:26:54.58\00:26:59.28 and I did not evolve. 00:26:59.31\00:27:00.65 It's His sign that we have worth in His sight, 00:27:00.68\00:27:02.85 and He has purpose for our lives. 00:27:02.88\00:27:04.72 It's the eternal symbol of universal 00:27:04.75\00:27:06.55 brotherhood in Jesus Christ. 00:27:06.59\00:27:08.49 That's why today He invites all of humanity, east and west, 00:27:15.56\00:27:19.97 north and south, to come and worship Him on the Sabbath. 00:27:20.00\00:27:22.47 That's why Revelation's last message is, Fear God and give 00:27:22.50\00:27:27.11 glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come, 00:27:27.14\00:27:29.74 and worship Him, who made heaven, and earth, and sea, 00:27:29.78\00:27:33.28 and the fountains of waters. 00:27:33.31\00:27:34.65 Revelation's last call is a call to worship the Creator. 00:27:34.68\00:27:39.05 In the book of Ezekiel God distinguishes His Sabbath 00:27:39.09\00:27:43.73 from all other days. 00:27:43.76\00:27:45.09 You see, the heathens were worshipping the sun god. 00:27:52.23\00:27:55.94 The Egyptians worshipped Amun-Ra. 00:27:55.97\00:27:58.37 The Babylonians worshipped Bel Marduk. 00:27:58.41\00:28:01.41 The Persians worshipped... They were Mithraiths. 00:28:01.44\00:28:05.28 And the Romans worshipped the goddess of Eternus vanity. 00:28:05.31\00:28:09.02 So they were all sun gods. 00:28:09.05\00:28:10.82 And as a contradistinction to that, in opposition to that, 00:28:10.85\00:28:15.82 Jesus said, I've given My Sabbath as a sign 00:28:15.86\00:28:18.16 that they are My people. 00:28:18.19\00:28:20.20 So the Sabbath is a sign. 00:28:20.23\00:28:22.16 It's interesting, the Hebrew word Shabbat, Shabbat, 00:28:22.23\00:28:26.67 Sha comes from an old Persian word called sier. 00:28:26.70\00:28:31.14 It means aged or eternal. 00:28:31.17\00:28:33.41 Abba, Abba is father. 00:28:33.44\00:28:35.58 Shabbat, bat is, or Beth is sign of. 00:28:35.61\00:28:39.91 So the word Shabbat means the sign of the ancient, eternal, 00:28:39.98\00:28:44.52 everlasting Father. 00:28:44.55\00:28:45.89 So the Sabbath is the sign of God down through the centuries. 00:28:45.92\00:28:50.53 Why did He give it? 00:28:50.56\00:28:51.89 See, the Sabbath is a sign that God created us. 00:28:54.96\00:28:58.23 It's a sign that Christ redeemed us. 00:28:58.27\00:29:00.64 We rest in His love and care every Sabbath. 00:29:00.67\00:29:03.41 But it's a sign also that He has the power of 00:29:03.44\00:29:06.11 creation to sanctify us. 00:29:06.17\00:29:07.91 The Sabbath is a sign that just as God created the world, 00:29:07.94\00:29:11.08 He wants to recreate our hearts. 00:29:11.11\00:29:12.81 Just like He brought light out of darkness, He wants to bring 00:29:12.85\00:29:15.92 light out of the darkness of our soul. 00:29:15.95\00:29:17.69 Just like He brought flowers to perfume the air, 00:29:17.72\00:29:21.22 so He wants to bring beauty out of our lives. 00:29:21.26\00:29:24.96 So the Sabbath is a sign that God created us. 00:29:24.99\00:29:28.66 We rest in Christ, not in our own works. 00:29:28.73\00:29:31.43 It's a sign that He redeemed us, and it's a sign that He's 00:29:31.47\00:29:34.84 the all-powerful Creator, given by God to Adam and Eve 00:29:34.87\00:29:39.87 in the Garden of Eden, written on tables of stone with God's 00:29:39.94\00:29:44.31 own very finger, never to be changed or effaced. 00:29:44.35\00:29:47.78 What about the New Testament? 00:29:47.85\00:29:50.39 What does the New Testament say about the Bible Sabbath? 00:29:50.45\00:29:55.22 Wouldn't you say that Jesus is a positive example? 00:29:55.29\00:30:00.56 Wouldn't you say that Christ is One who indeed is 00:30:00.60\00:30:05.87 worthy of following? 00:30:05.90\00:30:07.34 When you die your Will and Testament is settled, 00:30:07.37\00:30:12.07 so you look to a person's life and you say, 00:30:12.14\00:30:14.68 What legacy did they leave? 00:30:14.71\00:30:16.85 What's the Will and Testament of their life? 00:30:16.88\00:30:19.31 When you come to Jesus, the Bible says in 00:30:19.35\00:30:21.72 Now don't miss that: as what? 00:30:28.89\00:30:30.56 So Jesus had a custom. 00:30:35.63\00:30:37.10 What was Jesus' custom? every Sabbath going to worship. 00:30:37.13\00:30:41.14 Somebody says, But wait, He was a Jew. 00:30:41.20\00:30:42.90 Yes, but is there any record in Christ's life alone of Him 00:30:42.94\00:30:49.74 worshipping on any other day beside the Sabbath? 00:30:49.78\00:30:52.51 There is none. And the Bible says, 1 John 2:6-8, 00:30:52.55\00:30:56.72 Those that follow Him ought to walk in His steps. 00:30:56.75\00:30:59.99 So we walk in the very footsteps of Christ. 00:31:00.02\00:31:02.39 We follow Him to worship each Sabbath. Jesus said in 00:31:02.42\00:31:07.00 In other words the Sabbath was made for all humanity, 00:31:13.50\00:31:15.47 not made only for the Jew, not made exclusively for the Jew, 00:31:15.50\00:31:19.47 but it was made for all humanity everywhere. 00:31:19.51\00:31:22.74 The Sabbath is the sign we acknowledge Him as our Creator. 00:31:29.55\00:31:32.62 And we also trust in His salvation as our Lord, 00:31:32.65\00:31:36.26 both to share with us the grace that redeems us from the guilt 00:31:36.29\00:31:40.93 of sin, and the grace that redeems us from the grip of sin, 00:31:40.96\00:31:45.57 the grace that redeems us from the penalty of a broken law, 00:31:45.60\00:31:50.14 and the grace that redeems us from the power of a broken law. 00:31:50.17\00:31:53.88 We rest on the Sabbath in His love, His care, believing in His 00:31:53.94\00:31:58.05 power to transform our lives. 00:31:58.08\00:32:00.75 You remember He died on a Friday, went into the tomb, 00:32:03.35\00:32:06.72 and the women, his closest followers, would not even have 00:32:06.76\00:32:10.09 embalmed His body on the Sabbath. 00:32:10.13\00:32:11.76 So certainly the Sabbath couldn't have been nailed to 00:32:11.79\00:32:14.10 the cross because Jesus kept it in death, 00:32:14.13\00:32:16.56 and He kept it in life. 00:32:16.60\00:32:18.37 He says to you and me, 00:32:18.40\00:32:20.17 If you do what everybody? If you do what? 00:32:23.41\00:32:25.47 Does Jesus say, If you love Me you don't have to 00:32:28.74\00:32:30.91 keep My commandments? 00:32:30.95\00:32:32.28 Does Jesus say, If you love Me you can do away 00:32:32.31\00:32:34.25 with the commandments? not at all. Jesus says, 00:32:34.28\00:32:36.58 In other words, if you love Me, Sabbath keeping, 00:32:39.12\00:32:41.82 once you understand the significance of what I'm talking 00:32:41.86\00:32:44.73 about in this presentation, once the Holy Spirit convicts 00:32:44.76\00:32:47.53 you of it, Sabbath keeping becomes a delight and a joy, 00:32:47.56\00:32:51.23 and you can't wait for the next Sabbath to rest in His love, 00:32:51.27\00:32:54.67 and rest in His care, and be transformed by His power. 00:32:54.70\00:32:57.77 What about after the cross? 00:32:57.81\00:33:01.21 Is there any evidence that after the cross Jesus' followers would 00:33:01.24\00:33:06.95 be keeping the Bible Sabbath? 00:33:06.98\00:33:08.85 Jesus pointed His disciples down the stream of time, 00:33:08.88\00:33:14.12 and He said to His disciples, 00:33:14.16\00:33:15.89 Now He was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, looking across 00:33:21.20\00:33:24.37 the Kidron Valley, and He saw the temple there at Jerusalem. 00:33:24.40\00:33:27.60 He described that not one stone was going to be left unturned, 00:33:27.64\00:33:30.81 that that temple was going to be destroyed. 00:33:30.87\00:33:33.27 And as Jesus talked about the temple being destroyed, 00:33:33.31\00:33:36.71 He said to His disciples, in that context, Pray that your 00:33:36.75\00:33:40.12 flight be not in the winter or on the Sabbath. 00:33:40.15\00:33:42.38 The temple was not destroyed until Titus came with the Roman 00:33:42.42\00:33:46.25 armies in A.D. 70, and they destroyed that temple. 00:33:46.29\00:33:50.63 This was approximately forty years after the cross. 00:33:50.66\00:33:54.66 Now why did Jesus say, Pray that your flight be not on the 00:33:54.70\00:33:57.93 Sabbath, if they wouldn't be keeping the Sabbath forty 00:33:57.97\00:34:01.20 years after the cross? 00:34:01.24\00:34:02.57 Why would Jesus say to Peter, James, and John, His closest 00:34:02.60\00:34:05.37 apostles and followers, Pray that your flight be not on the 00:34:05.41\00:34:08.34 Sabbath, if they would not be keeping the Sabbath? 00:34:08.38\00:34:11.05 Here's why He said that. 00:34:11.11\00:34:13.52 He knew that down through the ages the church would keep 00:34:13.58\00:34:16.45 the Bible Sabbath down through the first centuries. 00:34:16.48\00:34:19.49 It was a sign of Creation. 00:34:19.52\00:34:21.42 It was a sign of His love and care. 00:34:21.46\00:34:23.49 It was a sign they didn't evolve. 00:34:23.53\00:34:25.49 It was a sign that they were resting in Him, 00:34:25.53\00:34:27.93 and being obedient to Him; that they were following the command 00:34:27.96\00:34:30.47 that says, Remember the Sabbath. 00:34:30.50\00:34:31.83 So He knew they would be keeping it. 00:34:31.87\00:34:33.60 Why did He say, Pray your flight be not in the 00:34:33.64\00:34:36.04 winter, or on the Sabbath? 00:34:36.07\00:34:37.41 The winter would be rainy season cold. 00:34:37.44\00:34:39.01 But the Sabbath; if the Roman armies attacked on Sabbath, 00:34:39.04\00:34:44.21 where would Christians be? tend to be in church. 00:34:44.25\00:34:47.02 It would be far easier for the Roman armies to invade and 00:34:47.05\00:34:50.82 kill everybody if they were in church. 00:34:50.85\00:34:52.55 But if it wasn't Sabbath, the believers would be 00:34:52.59\00:34:57.03 out working in the fields. 00:34:57.06\00:34:58.39 The Roman armies would come, and they could 00:34:58.43\00:35:00.96 much more easily flee. 00:35:01.00\00:35:02.83 History tells us, Josephus, the historian tells us, 00:35:02.86\00:35:07.24 Jewish historian, that the armies did 00:35:07.27\00:35:09.70 come, surround the city. 00:35:09.74\00:35:11.81 They were going to attack on Sabbath, but then held up, 00:35:11.84\00:35:15.08 waited, did not attack on Sabbath, and the Christians 00:35:15.11\00:35:18.31 were able to flee Jerusalem. 00:35:18.35\00:35:20.88 Jesus gave them warning. 00:35:20.92\00:35:23.39 They prayed. They did not have to flee on Sabbath, 00:35:23.42\00:35:26.32 and their prayers indeed were answered. 00:35:26.35\00:35:27.96 But again, why would Jesus say this to His closest followers 00:35:27.99\00:35:31.56 if they wouldn't be keeping the Sabbath? 00:35:31.59\00:35:32.93 Here's strong evidence that even after the cross 00:35:32.96\00:35:35.33 they'd be keeping the Sabbath. 00:35:35.36\00:35:36.77 and the disciples were still keeping the 00:35:38.87\00:35:40.44 Sabbath at that point. 00:35:40.47\00:35:41.80 Do we have any evidence of Sabbath keeping 00:35:41.84\00:35:44.31 in the New Testament? Or 00:35:44.34\00:35:45.81 Some people have this idea, they say, You know what? 00:35:48.38\00:35:50.91 time down through the centuries has been lost, 00:35:50.95\00:35:53.75 and really we can't tell which day the seventh day is. 00:35:53.78\00:35:57.42 That's actually not true. 00:35:57.45\00:35:59.09 There are three ways you can tell which day 00:35:59.12\00:36:01.32 the seventh day is: you can tell it by the Bible, 00:36:01.36\00:36:03.86 you can tell it by language, and you can tell it by astronomy. 00:36:03.89\00:36:07.86 Let's look at the three ways. 00:36:07.90\00:36:09.23 First let's try to find out from the Bible what day 00:36:09.26\00:36:13.27 the seventh day is. 00:36:13.30\00:36:14.64 You'll recall that the seventh day Sabbath started at creation. 00:36:14.67\00:36:19.24 So time certainly wasn't lost between creation 00:36:19.27\00:36:23.78 and the giving of the law. 00:36:23.85\00:36:25.78 Because God said, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 00:36:25.81\00:36:28.98 Six days shalt thou labor, but the seventh day is the Sabbath 00:36:29.02\00:36:32.15 of the Lord thy God. 00:36:32.19\00:36:33.52 How could God say remember the Sabbath if it was not possible 00:36:33.56\00:36:37.43 to remember it, because time is lost? 00:36:37.46\00:36:39.46 So certainly there was no time lost between creation and 00:36:39.49\00:36:42.96 the Ten Commandment law. 00:36:43.00\00:36:44.43 What about between the Ten Commandment law and Jesus? 00:36:44.47\00:36:47.47 Well, the Bible says clearly that as His custom was, 00:36:47.50\00:36:50.51 Christ kept the Sabbath. 00:36:50.54\00:36:51.87 So certainly no time was lost then between Moses 00:36:51.91\00:36:56.75 and the time of Christ. 00:36:56.78\00:36:58.58 So up until the New Testament time it's very clear that no 00:36:58.61\00:37:01.98 time has been lost. 00:37:02.02\00:37:03.35 Now let's go to the circumstances, the events 00:37:03.39\00:37:06.45 surrounding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. 00:37:06.49\00:37:11.66 We have three days given in succession. 00:37:17.33\00:37:19.30 Speaking about the day Christ died on the Bible says, 00:37:19.33\00:37:23.84 Christ's closest followers so reverenced and respected the 00:37:43.49\00:37:49.66 Scriptures, and they so desired to keep the commandments of God, 00:37:49.70\00:37:55.44 that they would not even embalm His body on Sabbath. 00:37:55.47\00:37:58.94 So Jesus died. It's called the Preparation Day. 00:37:58.97\00:38:01.78 The next days is called the Sabbath. The Bible says, 00:38:01.81\00:38:04.58 And what did they find when they came to the tomb? 00:38:15.92\00:38:18.69 They found the tomb was empty. 00:38:18.73\00:38:20.40 So you have three days in succession. 00:38:20.43\00:38:22.96 Let's look at them. 00:38:23.00\00:38:24.33 First you have the Preparation Day. 00:38:24.37\00:38:26.27 And what day was it that Christ died on? 00:38:26.30\00:38:28.60 We call that Good what everybody? Good what? 00:38:28.64\00:38:30.91 Good Friday, that's right. 00:38:30.94\00:38:32.34 The next day Jesus rested in the tomb; the Sabbath. 00:38:32.37\00:38:35.94 And the day after Friday is? in English, Saturday. 00:38:35.98\00:38:39.55 And what's the next day? the third day in succession? 00:38:39.61\00:38:43.12 We find it here. It's Sunday, or the first day of the week. 00:38:43.15\00:38:46.45 So there you have it: Luke 24 you have, 00:38:46.52\00:38:49.09 That's the day, of course, that Christ rose from the dead. 00:38:55.20\00:38:57.47 Crucified on a Friday, rested in the tomb on a Sabbath, 00:38:57.50\00:39:01.00 rose from the dead on a Sunday. 00:39:01.04\00:39:03.00 Now somebody says, Well, wait a minute Pastor, we worship on 00:39:03.04\00:39:07.14 Sunday because Christ rose from the dead on that day. 00:39:07.18\00:39:10.08 We respect people of every religious persuasion, 00:39:10.11\00:39:14.65 and whatever day they choose to worship on. 00:39:14.68\00:39:17.75 But here's the point, there are two issues here: 1. Jesus never 00:39:17.79\00:39:25.09 worshipped on Sunday Himself, and He never commanded His 00:39:25.13\00:39:30.17 followers to worship on Sunday. 00:39:30.20\00:39:32.13 2. He has already given to us a symbol of the resurrection. 00:39:32.17\00:39:39.17 What is that symbol of the resurrection that 00:39:39.21\00:39:42.51 Christ has given to us? 00:39:42.54\00:39:43.88 Did He give us the first day of the week as a symbol 00:39:43.91\00:39:47.28 of the resurrection? 00:39:47.32\00:39:48.65 The Bible describes what the symbol of the 00:39:48.68\00:39:50.62 resurrection actually is. 00:39:50.65\00:39:52.29 Romans 6:3, 4. Baptism is the symbol of the resurrection. 00:39:52.32\00:39:57.26 In the New Testament baptism is the symbol 00:40:19.28\00:40:25.69 of the resurrection. 00:40:25.72\00:40:27.99 We go under the water; the water covers us. 00:40:28.02\00:40:32.23 We die just as Jesus died and went into the grave. 00:40:32.26\00:40:34.96 We rest, momentarily, then we come out to this amazing new 00:40:35.00\00:40:40.00 life in Jesus Christ. 00:40:40.04\00:40:42.34 So the Sabbath is a memorial of creation. 00:40:42.37\00:40:46.37 You see, when you look at those three days, Friday, Saturday, 00:40:46.41\00:40:49.48 Sunday, how do you commemorate Christ's death? 00:40:49.54\00:40:52.88 Through the broken bread, and the spilled blood. 00:40:52.91\00:40:56.05 So you commemorate the cross through Communion. 00:40:56.08\00:40:59.42 How do you commemorate how He rested in the tomb? 00:40:59.45\00:41:02.79 Through keeping the Bible Sabbath. 00:41:02.82\00:41:04.63 Part of the Ten Commandments, written with the finger of God 00:41:04.66\00:41:07.10 on tables of stone, memorial of the creation. 00:41:07.13\00:41:11.80 And how do you celebrate Sunday? 00:41:11.83\00:41:13.84 He died once, He was resurrected once, so we go into the grave, 00:41:13.87\00:41:19.17 the watery grave, and are resurrected from death. 00:41:19.21\00:41:23.01 How do you know what day the seventh day really is? 00:41:23.04\00:41:26.78 First you know from the Bible: Friday the Preparation Day, 00:41:26.82\00:41:31.62 Sabbath the day He rested, Saturday, Sunday the day He was 00:41:31.65\00:41:36.42 resurrected from the grave. 00:41:36.46\00:41:38.26 So we know very clearly from those three days in succession, 00:41:38.29\00:41:41.36 but also we can know from language. 00:41:41.40\00:41:44.17 The many languages do not have the word Saturday. 00:41:52.21\00:41:57.15 Rather they use the word Sabbath. 00:41:57.18\00:41:59.31 In a 140 languages in the world the day that you and I call 00:42:16.26\00:42:22.94 Saturday is not called Saturday at all. 00:42:22.97\00:42:25.87 It's called the Sabbath. 00:42:25.91\00:42:27.24 The languages of the world, the cultures of the world, 00:42:27.28\00:42:30.95 have memorialized the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week. 00:42:30.98\00:42:37.29 I did some research with the 00:42:37.32\00:42:39.79 The Royal Greenwich Observatory is the leading time keeping 00:42:42.89\00:42:48.10 center in all the world. 00:42:48.13\00:42:50.27 And I wrote to the curator there, the information officer, 00:42:50.30\00:42:54.20 Robert L. Tucker, at the time and I asked him about the change 00:42:54.24\00:42:58.07 of the weekly cycle. 00:42:58.11\00:43:00.24 He wrote back and said, Pastor Finley, as far as we know down 00:43:00.28\00:43:04.85 through history, there has never been a change 00:43:04.88\00:43:07.62 of the weekly cycle. 00:43:07.65\00:43:08.98 It's always Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 00:43:09.02\00:43:12.05 Friday, Saturday, or what we would call the Sabbath. 00:43:12.09\00:43:16.12 So as you look at it, you look back to Jewish history, 00:43:16.16\00:43:20.13 you know you go back to our Jewish history. 00:43:20.20\00:43:22.46 Have the Jews lost sight of what the seventh day of the 00:43:22.50\00:43:25.47 week is? Certainly not! 00:43:25.50\00:43:27.74 There is no question that the seventh day of the week is 00:43:27.80\00:43:30.31 the day we, in English, call Saturday. 00:43:30.34\00:43:33.34 You know, Jesus kept the Sabbath, but so did His 00:43:33.38\00:43:35.48 apostles after the cross. 00:43:35.51\00:43:37.58 In Acts 17:1, 2, the Bible says, that the Apostle Paul comes to 00:43:37.61\00:43:45.02 Did Jesus have a custom? He did. 00:43:50.49\00:43:52.53 Did the Apostle Paul have a custom? he did. 00:43:52.59\00:43:55.36 The Apostle Paul, filled with God's grace, 00:43:59.93\00:44:02.84 the Apostle of grace, kept the Bible Sabbath. 00:44:02.87\00:44:05.74 Somebody says, He just did that because he was a Jew. 00:44:05.77\00:44:08.64 So he went in to the temple to preach to them then. 00:44:08.71\00:44:11.55 But notice, Acts 13:42, what the Bible says. 00:44:11.58\00:44:14.65 Who are these? they're not Jews 00:44:15.65\00:44:17.59 The Gentiles were so moved, so stirred by the power of Paul's 00:44:21.32\00:44:27.23 preaching they said, Come and preach to us, the next Sabbath. 00:44:27.26\00:44:30.37 What did Paul say? No, you come back the first day of the week. 00:44:30.40\00:44:33.17 Tomorrow is Sunday and I will preach to you? 00:44:33.20\00:44:34.84 So here in the New Testament you have Jesus 00:44:41.08\00:44:44.01 keeping the Sabbath. 00:44:44.05\00:44:45.38 Jesus telling His disciples that after the cross they 00:44:45.41\00:44:47.52 would keep the Sabbath. 00:44:47.55\00:44:48.88 You have the Apostle Paul preaching to a whole city 00:44:48.92\00:44:52.95 on the Sabbath day. 00:44:52.99\00:44:55.79 The Bible talks also about the Apostle Paul going to find a 00:44:55.82\00:45:00.16 group of the Jewish believers on the Sabbath out by 00:45:00.20\00:45:04.87 the riverside in the days of Philippi. 00:45:04.93\00:45:07.17 And on the Sabbath day it was special to the Apostle Paul. 00:45:07.24\00:45:11.21 Paul left the city; came out to a quiet place 00:45:19.11\00:45:23.42 on the Bible Sabbath. 00:45:23.45\00:45:25.62 It calls us back to worshipping the Creator. 00:45:30.13\00:45:33.53 John puts it this way in 00:45:33.56\00:45:36.16 Somebody says, Well, Pastor Mark, there it is. 00:45:40.54\00:45:42.77 There's the Lord's Day; John was keeping the Lord's Day. 00:45:42.80\00:45:46.24 Does this text tell us what day the Lord's Day is? 00:45:46.27\00:45:50.68 It simply tells us the Lord has a day. 00:45:50.71\00:45:53.45 Some people say, And it doesn't make any 00:45:53.52\00:45:56.22 difference what day you keep. 00:45:56.25\00:45:57.59 This passage tells us that John had his prophetic vision of the 00:45:57.62\00:46:02.29 book of Revelation that talks about the Creator, 00:46:02.32\00:46:05.13 and the conflict between worshipping the Creator, 00:46:05.16\00:46:07.93 and worshipping the beast on the Lord's Day. 00:46:07.96\00:46:11.63 What day is the Lord's Day? 00:46:11.67\00:46:13.00 Let's ask Jesus. Jesus, what day is Your day? 00:46:13.03\00:46:15.57 Why do you think there's something in the 00:46:33.72\00:46:35.29 Bible more than once? 00:46:35.32\00:46:36.69 Why do you think it might be there the three times? 00:46:36.73\00:46:38.93 You know, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit want to 00:46:38.96\00:46:43.57 reveal divine truth, and often God has something there more 00:46:43.60\00:46:46.94 than once, so if you miss it in one place you'll pick it 00:46:46.97\00:46:48.90 up in another place. 00:46:48.94\00:46:50.27 If you miss it in Matthew you pick it up in Mark. 00:46:50.31\00:46:53.07 If you miss it in Mark you pick it up in Luke. 00:46:53.11\00:46:54.94 And here the Bible says, The Son of man is 00:46:54.98\00:46:57.35 Lord of the Sabbath. 00:46:57.38\00:46:58.71 In other words, the Sabbath of the Creator God in Genesis, 00:46:58.75\00:47:01.98 is the Lord's Day of Revelation. 00:47:02.02\00:47:04.99 The Lord's Day indeed is the Sabbath, 00:47:05.02\00:47:07.42 and the Sabbath is the Lord's Day. 00:47:07.46\00:47:09.79 So here is a call to all humanity everywhere to get 00:47:09.82\00:47:14.76 back to keeping the true Bible Sabbath in an age of evolution. 00:47:14.80\00:47:19.73 Revelation calls us back to keeping the commandments of God, 00:47:19.77\00:47:24.71 including the Bible Sabbath. 00:47:24.74\00:47:26.34 In the last days of earth's history, Revelation calls all 00:47:36.12\00:47:39.29 humanity everywhere to keep the commandments of God. 00:47:39.32\00:47:42.72 In the last days of earth's history Revelation gives us an 00:47:42.76\00:47:45.89 earnest appeal to worship the Creator. 00:47:45.93\00:47:48.83 Worship Him on His day, the day that He has set aside, 00:47:48.86\00:47:52.60 the day that He has blessed, the day that He has sanctified, 00:47:52.63\00:47:56.40 the true Bible Sabbath. 00:47:56.44\00:47:59.17 The Sabbath was given again at Sinai when human beings, 00:48:02.61\00:48:07.18 the Jewish nation went into captivity in Egypt. 00:48:07.22\00:48:10.59 The Sabbath was kept by God's people down 00:48:10.62\00:48:13.22 through the centuries. 00:48:13.25\00:48:14.79 The Sabbath was kept by Jesus Christ. 00:48:14.82\00:48:18.19 The Sabbath was honored by the disciples 00:48:18.26\00:48:21.60 in the New Testament. 00:48:21.63\00:48:22.96 The Sabbath has always been a sign of God's creative power. 00:48:23.00\00:48:27.07 As we rest on the Sabbath, we believe in the power of the 00:48:27.10\00:48:31.44 Living God to create this world. 00:48:31.47\00:48:33.98 We believe in the power of God to sanctify us, to redeem us. 00:48:34.04\00:48:39.61 We believe in His justifying power to save us, 00:48:39.65\00:48:42.55 His sanctifying power to transform us, 00:48:42.58\00:48:44.69 and His glorifying power. 00:48:44.75\00:48:46.25 We believe that He is coming again, and we will keep the 00:48:46.32\00:48:49.02 Sabbath in a new heaven, and a new earth. 00:48:49.06\00:48:51.09 The Bible puts it this way, 00:48:51.13\00:48:52.73 But I'm looking forward to being in that new heavens 00:49:01.44\00:49:03.84 and new earth, aren't you? 00:49:03.87\00:49:05.21 Notice what He says: 00:49:05.24\00:49:06.57 He goes on... 00:49:10.45\00:49:11.91 What takes place between one New Moon to the next New Moon? 00:49:14.48\00:49:17.72 The tree of life, according to Revelation 22, 00:49:17.75\00:49:20.96 gives it's fruit every month. 00:49:20.99\00:49:22.39 So we come up to the holy city to get the fruit 00:49:22.42\00:49:25.06 from the tree of life. 00:49:25.09\00:49:26.43 If God gave the Sabbath in Genesis, if He blessed it, 00:49:35.54\00:49:41.34 sanctified it, and hallowed it, if He wrote it with His own 00:49:41.38\00:49:44.71 finger on tables of stone, if the Sabbath was the 00:49:44.75\00:49:48.48 sign between God and His people down through the ages, 00:49:48.52\00:49:52.75 if Jesus kept the Sabbath, if the disciples kept the Sabbath, 00:49:52.79\00:49:55.86 if God has a Lord's Day in the book of Revelation, 00:49:55.89\00:49:58.66 and if the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath, 00:49:58.69\00:50:00.40 and if one day we're going to keep the Sabbath in heaven 00:50:00.43\00:50:03.23 through all eternity, to come to worship and praise Jesus, 00:50:03.26\00:50:06.90 do you think He wants us to start keeping it now? 00:50:06.94\00:50:11.24 Wherever you are, my friend, Jesus is inviting you 00:50:11.27\00:50:15.58 to make that decision. 00:50:15.61\00:50:17.51 He's inviting you to enter into His palace in time. 00:50:17.55\00:50:22.75 He's inviting you to experience the rest that only He can give, 00:50:22.78\00:50:27.72 the peace that only He can give. 00:50:27.79\00:50:30.06 You can be free from anxiety. 00:50:30.09\00:50:32.29 You can be free from the worry and tension of this world. 00:50:32.33\00:50:36.53 Every Sabbath you can rest in the loving arms of your Creator. 00:50:36.56\00:50:40.77 Jesus is inviting all humanity to come as brothers and sisters. 00:50:40.80\00:50:47.01 Put down the weapons of war, put down conflict and strife, 00:50:47.08\00:50:52.08 put down the tension between nations. 00:50:52.11\00:50:57.92 He's inviting them to come on the Sabbath, as a symbol of 00:50:57.95\00:51:01.79 universal brotherhood. 00:51:01.82\00:51:03.26 He's inviting you to rest on the Sabbath; rest in His love 00:51:03.29\00:51:07.16 and care, rest from that guilt, and that shame. 00:51:07.20\00:51:10.93 He's inviting us on Sabbath to know that He can change our 00:51:10.97\00:51:14.70 hearts; that the One that created us can recreate us. 00:51:14.74\00:51:18.91 And this Christ is inviting us to look to that new heavens 00:51:18.94\00:51:23.41 and the new earth, where He will recreate the 00:51:23.45\00:51:26.08 Garden of Eden again. 00:51:26.11\00:51:27.85 It was a secret baptism in a Hindu country. 00:51:29.08\00:51:33.49 I met her. She didn't come from a Hindu background. 00:51:33.52\00:51:38.16 She came from a Buddhist background. 00:51:38.19\00:51:40.56 She was Chinese and had come to that particular country. 00:51:40.60\00:51:45.20 And there in that country this Chinese business woman 00:51:45.23\00:51:49.80 began looking for truth. 00:51:49.87\00:51:52.21 There was something missing in her life, 00:51:52.24\00:51:55.28 something that she longed for. 00:51:55.31\00:51:58.15 She began to read the Bible and she found Jesus. 00:51:58.18\00:52:01.62 She found the One that could give her peace, 00:52:01.65\00:52:05.05 the One that could give her joy, 00:52:05.09\00:52:06.59 the One who could give her meaning. 00:52:06.62\00:52:08.06 But as she studied the Bible she found there in Scripture 00:52:08.09\00:52:12.56 in Genesis that God had blessed the Sabbath, 00:52:12.59\00:52:16.63 that God had sanctified it, that God had rested upon the Sabbath. 00:52:16.67\00:52:21.04 She found in the Ten Commandment law, Remember the Sabbath 00:52:21.10\00:52:24.57 day to keep it holy. 00:52:24.61\00:52:25.94 She found that the Sabbath in Ezekiel 20 was a sign between 00:52:25.97\00:52:29.94 God and His people. 00:52:29.98\00:52:31.31 She saw Christ kept the Sabbath, and she found the Sabbath 00:52:31.35\00:52:34.18 is the sign of the Creator in the book of Revelation. 00:52:34.22\00:52:37.02 She didn't know anybody in the world that kept the Sabbath. 00:52:37.05\00:52:39.39 She didn't think anybody did. 00:52:39.42\00:52:40.82 And she said, I'm going to begin to keep the Sabbath. 00:52:40.86\00:52:44.46 I have to trust Jesus! 00:52:44.49\00:52:45.83 She said, It's so sweet to trust Jesus! 00:52:45.86\00:52:47.80 One day she was walking down the street; saw a sign 00:52:47.83\00:52:50.57 for the Adventist church, Seventh-day Adventist. 00:52:50.60\00:52:53.27 She said, These must be Sabbath keepers! 00:52:53.30\00:52:54.90 And she came in and found fellowship with God's believing 00:52:56.57\00:52:59.51 people, because she had the confidence, and the faith, 00:52:59.54\00:53:03.55 and the courage to trust in Jesus. 00:53:03.58\00:53:05.35 Why don't you make that decision to trust 00:53:05.38\00:53:07.92 Jesus as Tim sings? 00:53:07.95\00:53:10.52 Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word. 00:53:12.25\00:53:25.07 Just to rest upon His promise, just to know 00:53:25.10\00:53:34.84 thus saith the Lord. 00:53:34.88\00:53:39.45 Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I've 00:53:39.48\00:53:47.92 proved Him o'er and o'er. 00:53:47.96\00:53:51.96 Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, Oh for grace to trust Him more. 00:53:51.99\00:54:07.74 Oh how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust 00:54:07.78\00:54:15.98 His cleansing blood. 00:54:16.02\00:54:19.42 And in simple faith to plunge me neath the 00:54:19.45\00:54:26.56 healing, cleansing flood. 00:54:26.59\00:54:32.70 Yes, tis sweet to trust in Jesus, 00:54:34.67\00:54:40.24 just from sin and self to cease. 00:54:40.28\00:54:45.78 Just from Jesus simply taking life and 00:54:45.81\00:54:53.79 rest, and joy, and peace. 00:54:53.82\00:54:58.59 Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I've proved Him over, 00:54:58.63\00:55:08.84 and over, and o'er. 00:55:08.87\00:55:10.91 Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, Oh for grace to trust Him more. 00:55:10.94\00:55:28.82 Jesus is inviting you to step out from tradition, 00:55:30.69\00:55:36.56 to step out from popular convention, to trust Him. 00:55:36.60\00:55:42.40 Have you sensed God working in your life? 00:55:43.41\00:55:47.31 It's no accident that you've turned in to this telecast 00:55:47.34\00:55:51.51 tonight, this afternoon, this morning. 00:55:51.55\00:55:56.18 It's no accident that God has led you here. 00:55:56.22\00:56:00.79 The Spirit of God has brought you to this 00:56:00.82\00:56:05.33 telecast at this moment. 00:56:05.39\00:56:07.56 Maybe the Sabbath is new to you, but you see the evidence 00:56:07.60\00:56:12.40 in the Bible that God created this world in six days, 00:56:12.43\00:56:17.17 and rested the seventh; that His people down through the 00:56:17.21\00:56:20.21 ages have kept the Bible Sabbath, written with His 00:56:20.24\00:56:22.51 finger on tables of stone. 00:56:22.54\00:56:23.88 You see that Jesus kept the Sabbath, and that Revelation is 00:56:23.91\00:56:28.32 calling all humanity back to worshipping the Creator. 00:56:28.35\00:56:31.59 You see, it's more than a matter of days, 00:56:31.62\00:56:34.06 it's a matter of trusting Jesus. 00:56:34.12\00:56:37.06 It's more than a matter of when you worship, 00:56:37.09\00:56:40.66 it's really a matter of who you worship. 00:56:40.70\00:56:44.20 Will you fully, completely trust Jesus, and worship your Creator? 00:56:44.27\00:56:50.11 Let's pray together. 00:56:50.14\00:56:52.21 Father in Heaven, we sense the moving of the 00:56:52.24\00:56:56.21 Spirit of God on our hearts. 00:56:56.24\00:56:58.11 For some of us this is new. 00:56:58.15\00:56:59.98 But we thank You that we can trust You, that we can rest in 00:57:00.02\00:57:04.75 Your love and care. 00:57:04.79\00:57:06.25 We thank You that You'll give us the strength and power to 00:57:06.29\00:57:09.29 follow You now and forever. 00:57:09.32\00:57:11.96 In Jesus' name, Amen. 00:57:11.99\00:57:14.46 I look forward to having you with us in our continued series 00:57:14.50\00:57:21.14 on Revelation's Ancient Discoveries. 00:57:21.17\00:57:24.87