Participants: Pr. Jac Colon
Series Code: RN
Program Code: RN000008
|
01:04 We're in a Revelation Now meeting in Washington DC.
01:08 Our boys were still with us at the time, they were little and 01:12 we always tried to do something fun on our day off. 01:15 This particular Thursday we were going to take them down 01:17 to the Smithsonian Museum at the Smithsonian Institute, the 01:21 flight museum. They were all excited about that and on our 01:25 way downtown I just, I said to my wife, look I have never 01:30 been to see the wall. Let's just stop by there on the way 01:42 and so we did you know what I'm talking about, the big stark 01:49 granite wall and we walked down there and I began to 01:58 look. Looking through the hundreds, thousands of names 02:03 inscribed on the wall and finally I saw it. 02:17 Captain Thomas T. Norman, one of my best friends he had 02:27 been shot down in Vietnam and I just put my hand out and 02:35 touched it. And you know instantly it brought back all of 02:42 the feelings, all of the experiences, all of the good 02:46 times that we had together. Instantly I could remember the 02:52 work, the hard work, flight planning, mission planning. 02:55 I could remember the fun, playing football, nobody could 03:00 throw a tighter spiral than Tommy and it would just 03:02 settle into hands like catching an egg. I remember when he 03:06 and Janet were married and when little Tara was born. 03:11 It seems as though that monument just brought back 03:14 all of those experiences and made him so real you could 03:17 just relive it over-and-over again you see that's what a 03:20 monument is supposed to do, it's suppose to bring us back to 03:25 the original experience, so that we can relive it over-and-over 03:30 again. We've learned in the Book of Revelation that the 03:39 world is going to be divided into two groups. Those who 03:41 worship God the creator and those who worship the beast, 03:46 the dragon craves worship. The Bible tells us that the 03:51 whole earth, all the inhabitants of the earth will 03:53 worship the beast except for those whose names have been 03:57 written in the book of life belonging to the lamb that was 03:59 slain from the creation of the world so they worship either 04:03 the lamb or the creator, the lamb who is the creator or 04:07 the beast who is the creature. In Revelation chapter 14 04:11 Verse 1, I looked and there before me was a lamb standing 04:14 on Mount Zion and with him 144,000 who had his name 04:19 and his Father's name written on their forehead. Everybody 04:22 wonders about the number 144,000 we are not going to 04:25 talk about that tonight. That's coming up in another 04:27 lesson for tonight, it's enough for us to recognize 04:30 this that those were the ones in Verse 4, who follow the 04:34 lamb where ever he goes. The only safe course, the only 04:38 safe path that Revelation points out for us is one and 04:43 that is to follow the lamb and those who follow the lamb, 04:47 worship the lamb. The creator of the Heavens and the Earth. 04:50 Those who don't follow the lamb worship the creature 04:53 who is the beast. We learned last night that the dragon knew 04:57 if anyone would ever worship him some how he would have 05:00 to obscure and remove the reminder of the significance 05:03 that God is the creator. As long as we acknowledge 05:07 God as our creator no one would ever worship the beast 05:11 or the creature. And we learned last night that in the 05:15 mid 1800's he managed to seduce the church into joining 05:18 forces with modern science and infiltrate the ranks of 05:20 God's people with the theory of evolution, but at the very 05:23 same time God began his last thrust, his counter movement 05:27 and the first angel's message said worship God the creator 05:31 of the Heavens and the Earth. You see God knew that in the 05:34 last days his authority as the creator would come under 05:38 attack. God knew in the last days that the devil would try 05:42 to change men from worshiping him as the creator 05:46 to believing and accepting the theory of evolution. 05:49 So in order to try to prevent that, in order to give us 05:52 every opportunity to remind us that he is the creator God 05:57 said, I'm going to give you a monument, a memorial so that 06:01 you can never forget. He knew that it's he carved it out of 06:04 stone that the devil could remove it, he could erase it, 06:07 he could eradicate it or worse yet even get us to worship it 06:11 instead of the creator. He knew that if he made a 06:14 pyramid that could be destroyed. But God did 06:17 something better than this instead of carving it out of 06:20 stone he carved it out of time and took it out of the reach 06:25 the devil forever. Genesis Chapter II, Verse 6, by the 06:33 seventh day God had finished the work that he had been 06:37 doing. So on the seventh day he rested from all of his work 06:42 and God blessed the seventh day and he made it holy 06:47 because on it he rested from the work of creating that he 06:50 had done. Exodus, Chapter 20, in the heart of 06:53 10 commandments number 4, remember the Sabbath day, 06:58 God says to his people by keeping it holy, six days you 07:03 will labor and do all of your work, but the seventh day is 07:08 the Sabbath to the Lord your God on it you will not do any 07:13 work because in Verse 11, in six days the Lord made the 07:17 Heavens, the Earth and the sea and all that is in them, 07:21 but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord 07:25 blessed the Sabbath day and he made it holy. In other 07:28 words instead of carving a monument out of stone that 07:32 the devil could destroy or remove he carved it out of 07:36 time. He gave us a week, he worked six days and rested 07:40 on the seventh day and he said I want you to work six days 07:44 and rest on the seventh day as a reminder to remember that 07:49 I am the creator of the Heavens and the Earth. Amen. 07:56 And I want to suggest to you this evening that if men and 07:59 women would have continued to observe the Sabbath as a 08:04 reminder that God is the creator, there would be no 08:07 theory of evolution today. The Sabbath, Jesus said was 08:15 made for men it was made for us, God didn't create this 08:23 world in six days, rest on the seventh day to say I have 08:27 got a sabbath here what I'm going to do. Oh! I'm going to 08:29 create a man to keep it. No, God created man on the sixth 08:36 day and then the very first day in the life of the man and 08:40 the women was the day that God rested and they rested 08:44 with God, they were with God and they were forever to 08:48 remember that God was their creator. He made it 08:52 for them. You see there was something in the heart of God 08:56 that caused him to decide to work six days in creating 09:02 the Earth and then to rest on the seventh day and God made 09:08 man in his own image and he wants us to follow the same 09:13 pattern, the same rhythm of working six days like he did 09:18 and resting on the seventh day. The creator we learned 09:23 last night was the Lamb, the Son of God and it was 09:26 Jesus who worked and made this world in six days and it is 09:30 Jesus who rested on the seventh day and it is Jesus 09:34 who said remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy, 09:38 because I'm the creator of the Heavens and the Earth. 09:41 It's a gift that God has given us because he wants to 09:45 spend time with us. Well some say, well if it's so good to 09:51 keep the Sabbath and to rest and to make it Holy then I'm 09:54 going to do that everyday. Wow, you can't do it everyday. 10:01 The Bible says God worked six days, I want you to work 10:06 six days and rest on the seventh day. Working six days 10:10 is just as much a part of the commandment as resting on the 10:14 seventh day, no such thing as lazy Christians. Then there 10:21 are others that say well then, I start my work week on 10:26 Wednesday, so I'll do Tuesday as my Sabbath, or I start my 10:32 work week on Monday so I will keep Sunday as my seventh 10:35 day, but I would ask you where in the Bible does it 10:41 ever say to pick a day to be your Sabbath day. The Bible 10:47 says God worked on the first day, second day, third 10:51 day, fourth day, fifth day, sixth day and then he rested 10:55 on the seventh day and he blessed it and he made it Holy 10:59 and he did not bless any other day, you can't make 11:03 a day holy. All you can do is keep holy a day that God 11:06 makes holy. Only the creator can make something holy, 11:11 but we don't need a Sabbath in the New Testament because 11:14 we can rest in Jesus. And that's true that there is 11:20 a sense in which we rest in Jesus, but did you notice that 11:24 the Bible says God rested on the seventh day. God rested, 11:31 if God rested on the seventh day how can we say we 11:36 don't need to rest. Now what does it mean, does it mean 11:41 that God worked so hard six days, making this world 11:45 and putting everything in place and then by the 11:47 seventh day, whew! Man am I pooped, I'm going to take 11:51 a siesta. Is that what it means, no that's not what it 11:57 means when it says God rested. I want to share with you 12:04 a paper that I found and I think that he has caught, 12:08 he has captured the essence of what it meant. In the Bible 12:11 when it says God rested on the Sabbath this is a paper 12:15 called Dies Domini, the apostolic letter of the 12:18 holy father John Paul II to the bishops and clergy and 12:21 faithful of the Catholic Church on keeping the Lord's 12:24 day holy. And I think he hit the bull's eye. Watch this, 12:29 the Sabbath rest speaks as it were of God lingering before 12:36 the very good work which his hand had wrought. In order 12:43 to cast upon it a gaze full of joyous delight. This is 12:50 a contemplative gaze in which God enjoys the beauty of 12:56 what he had already created, don't you like that. That's 13:02 the essence of God's rest and that's what he wants us to 13:06 enter into with him each week resting and enjoying the 13:10 beauty of what he had already made. Can't you see God 13:16 enjoying his creation, you know when we were in 13:19 school, in the seminary after we got married. One of the 13:24 things you need to know is seminary students don't have 13:26 very much money. It goes all to their school bill and so 13:31 Christmas came around and we didn't have a lot of money 13:34 to buy gifts for our family and friends, then my wife 13:37 got a good idea she said why don't you buy me some 13:40 canvases and I can paint oil paintings and that way we can 13:44 give them as gifts and they will appreciate it and it won't 13:47 cost us very much. Well if it didn't cost much sounded 13:50 like a great idea to me. So we went shopping and bought 13:53 some paints and some canvases and she set it up 13:56 there in our little apartment and began to paint. Now, 14:01 I thought she was finished. Long before she thought she 14:06 was finished, I'd look at that picture, oh! That's pretty, 14:10 now go do the next one, time is running out, we don't 14:12 want to have to go shopping for Christmas presents. 14:16 Oh! No, no it's not done yet. I said well, why not? 14:20 She said look, put a little dab of blue paint on her brush 14:24 and she did that I couldn't even see the difference, 14:28 said you see and then she says no a little more here 14:32 and always more and more to do, but finally she put 14:40 down the brush and stepped back and rested enjoying the 14:50 painting that she had just made. That's what God did 14:55 on the seventh day he put down the brush, he rested 15:01 and he enjoyed the work he had just done and the crowning 15:09 act of that work was when he made the man and the woman. 15:14 Imagine the first day Adam and Eve spent on this Earth 15:18 was entering into that Sabbath rest with God 15:22 enjoying the beautiful creation that came from 15:27 his hands. Can't you look forward to that kind of an 15:32 experience with God? That's what the Sabbath is 15:36 all about. Well then, how can I have it, how can I know 15:42 creation was so long ago, how can I know which day 15:45 God blessed good news, God doesn't bless something 15:49 and make it holy and then let it get so confused and 15:52 mixed up we can't figure out how to get it. Now God 15:55 isn't that way. In fact Jesus made sure in his death that 16:01 we would know when to receive that special blessing that he 16:08 wanted to give us. Look at Luke the 23rd Chapter, the 16:13 gospel of Luke, Chapter 23. Time, where Luke describes 16:23 the crucifixion of Jesus and after he had died, they took 16:29 his body down he said and they laid it in the tomb and 16:32 then in Verse 54 it was preparation day and the 16:41 Sabbath was about to begin. So when did Jesus die 16:47 according to the Bible. The Bible says he died on 16:52 the preparation day. When is the preparation day? It's the 16:57 day before the Sabbath. He died on the preparation day, 17:02 the Sabbath was about to begin and Verse 56 says 17:07 they went home and prepared spices and perfume but they 17:11 rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment, 17:15 so he died on the preparation day and they rested on the 17:20 Sabbath which was the next day after the preparation day. 17:24 Then in chapter 24 verse one on the first day of the week 17:29 early in the morning the women took the spices they 17:32 prepared and they went to the tomb and they found the 17:36 stone rolled away but when they entered the tomb they 17:40 did not find the body of the Lord Jesus there. Why not 17:47 because he had risen when on the first day of the week, 17:52 so line him up with me. He died on the preparation day. 17:56 They rested on the next day, the Sabbath day and on the 18:01 first day of the week he was resurrected. Now practically 18:07 the whole Christian world observes Easter Sunday in 18:15 honor of the resurrection and no one except a very few 18:20 people no one will challenge Sunday is not the resurrection 18:26 day, everybody observes Sunday and honor the resurrection. 18:30 They know that Sunday is the resurrection day, no one 18:33 questions it, they don't doubt it. We know Sunday 18:36 is the resurrection day in fact most folks observe 18:39 Sunday every week in honor of the resurrection, but the 18:44 Bible says that the resurrection occurred on the 18:47 first day of the week. Now if the resurrection day is 18:54 Sunday and Sunday is a resurrection day then it has 18:58 to be the first day of the week then it doesn't take 19:01 a computer to figure out that the seventh day has to be the 19:06 day before Sunday and that's Saturday, the seventh day of 19:11 the week it has always been on Saturday. The Jews have 19:15 kept the seventh day on Saturday since way back in 19:19 the beginning, Jesus died on the day before Good Friday 19:23 the day before Saturday which the Bible says is 19:25 preparation day, they observe the Sabbath on Saturday and 19:29 Sunday morning, the resurrection day, they went 19:32 to the tomb and it was empty. We can know which day 19:37 is the Sabbath, it's the seventh day Saturday. 19:42 According to the scripture, now here is the point that 19:45 I promised you. In Greek, every time you read the word 19:51 the first day of the week it actually in Greek says 19:56 "mia ton sabbaton", which means the first day after 20:04 the Sabbath. That's the way they numbered the days of 20:08 the week, they didn't call them Saturday, Sunday, Monday, 20:11 Tuesday in Bible times, the Pagan Romans did that 20:14 after the Bible was written, that's why it doesn't say 20:17 Friday he died, Saturday in the tomb and Sunday 20:20 resurrection, because they weren't named by then. 20:22 They were first day after the Sabbath, second day 20:26 after the Sabbath, third day after the Sabbath, fourth day 20:29 after, fifth day after, preparation day. That's the day 20:31 before the Sabbath and then the Sabbath. So you see it's 20:36 impossible for the first day of the week to be the Sabbath 20:42 because the first day is the first day after the Sabbath. 20:48 It can't be the Sabbath and that means it's impossible to 20:52 pick a day to observe as the Sabbath because the days are 20:56 numbered in the Bible by the day after the Sabbath. And it 21:02 become so simple, the seventh day is the Sabbath, it's 21:06 Saturday, the day that has been kept all the way back 21:09 from ancient times. We have calendars that go back to the 21:12 time of Abraham, 2500 some years before Christ and it 21:19 shows the weekly cycle has never been changed. God is not 21:25 going to let it get so confusing and messed up that 21:29 you can't take that blessing from the Sabbath that he wants 21:32 to give you even now in the 21 century. Praise God, Amen. 21:36 Amen. Well, what did Jesus do? What did Jesus do on the 21:46 Sabbath, in Luke, in Luke Chapter 4, look with me in 21:50 Luke the 4th Chapter Verse 16, he went to Nazareth where 21:55 he had been brought up and on the Sabbath day he went 22:01 into the synagogue as was his custom, when did Jesus 22:08 go to church he went on the Sabbath day and it was his 22:12 custom to do. Isn't Jesus our example, isn't he, nod your 22:23 head, raise your hand say amen to something, so I'll 22:25 know you're out there. He is our example, don't we follow 22:29 the lamb. Amen. I got a hunch, I got a hunch, if God would 22:35 ask me Colon, why did you keep the seventh day instead 22:39 of the first day like everybody else, I would say 22:41 because Jesus did, I think he'd say that's good enough. 22:44 You're safe when you follow the Lamb. Now I want to make 22:49 something very, very clear here when we talk about 22:51 the Sabbath. Jesus didn't worship on the Sabbath, 22:55 the Bible does say the Sabbath is the day of holy 22:57 congregation, Leviticus 23, it's a day of worship. But one 23:01 thing I want to make crystal clear we should worship 23:06 God everyday. It is never a sin to worship God. 23:17 The question about the Sabbath is not so much when 23:21 you go to Church, the question is working six days and 23:27 setting aside the seventh day fully and completely for God. 23:33 We can go to Church everyday any day folks, it's never 23:38 wrong to go to Church, Amen. Amen. Did everybody understand 23:43 that. Is it ever wrong to go to Church? So, don't leave 23:48 here saying that preacher said that it's a sin to worship 23:51 on Sunday or Monday or any other day, that's not what 23:54 I'm saying, you're bearing false witness against me. 24:00 It's never a sin to worship, we can worship God any day, 24:04 we should worship God everyday, but there is only 24:06 one day that God blessed and set aside and made Holy and 24:10 that's the seventh-day Sabbath, which is on Saturday, 24:15 that's what we're talking about here tonight. And then 24:19 what did Jesus teach about the Sabbath. In Matthew the 24:22 12th Chapter, in Verse 9, he went to the Synagogue, 24:25 in Verse 10, there was a man there with a shriveled hand, 24:28 he was crippled. Now, the Jews were looking for 24:30 a reason to accuse Jesus, so they asked him is it lawful 24:33 to heal on the Sabbath because they thought that if 24:37 he healed on the Sabbath that's work. Oh! And he would 24:40 be breaking the Sabbath, not true because Jesus 24:44 immediately, you know, I love the way Jesus works, I mean 24:47 they would ask him questions and they would just really 24:50 look like they had him nailed to the wall and he could just 24:53 defuse and disarm it with one little question. That's 24:57 what he does here. They're trying to pin him to the wall, 25:00 they're trying to show he was breaking the Sabbath, 25:02 watch what he does, he said, if any of you has a sheep and 25:05 it falls into a pit on the Sabbath won't you take hold 25:09 of it and lift it out, of course they would because 25:12 that's money for them. Oh! Yeah, that's okay for us to do 25:18 they would say because of the poor sheep. Well, Jesus said, 25:21 how much more valuable is a man than a sheep, he knew 25:26 how to deal with their questions didn't he, therefore 25:29 it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. You see they had 25:36 a list of hundreds of traditions saying what you 25:40 can do and what you can't do on the Sabbath and it was so 25:43 confusing that they were scared to get out of bed on 25:46 Sabbath morning because they might break one of those rules 25:49 or traditions, not scripture, but traditions of man 25:54 and Jesus was stripping away the traditions and showing 26:01 them that it is lawful to do good, in fact to think 26:05 about it, he is teaching them how to observe the Sabbath 26:09 properly. Now, you may think that Matthew was written as 26:14 the First Book in the New Testament, you might think 26:17 it was written first, but Matthew wasn't. Matthew is one 26:20 of the latest books, the last books written in the Old 26:23 Testament. Some think it was his latest 60-65 or 70 A.D., 26:27 which would be 40 years after the Cross when Matthew was 26:31 written. So, here is Jesus, 40 years after the Cross and 26:34 he is teaching them how to observe the Sabbath. By doing 26:41 good for other people, watch what they, how they responded 26:45 to this, when the Pharisees went out and they went out, 26:48 they plotted how they might kill Jesus. The Devil hates 26:55 the Sabbath folks, he hates it because it's the memorial, 27:00 the reminder of something he can't do, he can't create. 27:05 He hates the Sabbath and you're going to discover, 27:09 you find precious truth here in the Bible and you get all 27:12 excited about it and you go run and tell somebody, but they 27:15 might not be as excited as you are, because the Devil 27:19 hates the Sabbath. Every once in a while somebody comes 27:24 not often, but once in a while, you're here I think 27:27 'cause you wanna know the truth, am I right? Yeah. 27:30 But every once in a while somebody comes and they say 27:33 pastor, I've been enjoying Revelation Now, but I didn't 27:37 like what you said tonight. The question is not whether 27:43 or not you liked it, wrong question. The question is, 27:50 is it true, whether we like it or not isn't important, 27:58 is it true. Jesus said, you'll know the truth and 28:03 the truth will set you free, we do not have to be afraid 28:08 of truth. Amen. Amen. We had better be afraid of not 28:12 knowing the truth, so the question isn't. As you see 28:15 here tonight. Do I like what I'm hearing? We're not here 28:19 to tickle the itching ear. We're here to learn the truth 28:25 and the truth will set you free. By the way, I wanna 28:33 show you what I think is the clearest evidence that God 28:37 still intended for New Testament believers, 28:39 Christians, to be receiving a Sabbath blessing, long after 28:46 Jesus died on the Cross. Don't let anybody tell you 28:49 that ended at the Cross, does that make sense, that God 28:53 gives us a blessing, he says this is a blessing for you, 28:56 I want to meet with you, I want to spend time with you, 28:59 I wanna enter into a relationship with you that only 29:01 friends can have, this is special day for you and then, 29:04 whoa, I can't give that to you anymore, your 29:06 New Testament. That doesn't make sense to me, don't let 29:10 anybody tell you that. Here is the clearest evidence 29:13 that extends way beyond the Cross in Matthew, Chapter 24, 29:17 Jesus left the temple and he was walking away in Verse 1 29:20 with his disciples, they came up to him, they call his 29:23 attention to the building you know, it seems like we're 29:25 always looking at material things. Now look how the 29:28 beautiful buildings here, Jesus said, yeah I see that, 29:33 but I tell you the truth not one stone here will be left 29:36 on another everyone will be thrown down. Wow! When will 29:40 this be they asked tell us, when will this happen and 29:43 what will be a sign of your coming and the end of the age. 29:46 So, Jesus gave him some signs, they would know when that 29:50 was about to happen that the temple was going to be 29:52 destroyed and then he said, when you see these signs 29:56 unfolding you need to flee from the City, 29:58 don't hang around Jerusalem, get out of there. 30:02 Watch this, Verse 20 and when that time comes 30:05 when you flee from the City, when that time comes pray that 30:10 your flight will not take place in the winter or on 30:14 the Sabbath. You know that's dynamite to me, why? 30:19 Because Jerusalem was destroyed in the year 70 A.D. 30:25 we learned that on the fourth night, in the year 70 A.D. 30:27 Titus the Roman general marched into Jerusalem, 30:30 destroyed the temple, not one stone was left standing on 30:32 another, exactly the way Jesus said it would be, when was 30:35 that 70 A.D. Well, here's Jesus in the year 30, 30:40 before 31 A.D. because that's when he died on the cross 30:44 in 31 A.D. So, sometime before he died, sometime 30:47 before 31 A.D. Jesus is looking ahead, he is looking 30:51 into the future to 70 A.D. 40 years ahead and he is saying 30:56 when that time comes you pray you'll not have to flee on 30:59 the Sabbath day, Jesus it proves without a shadow of 31:03 a doubt expected New Testament Christians to still be 31:07 observing the Sabbath 40 years after he died on the Cross, 31:11 don't let anybody tell you that the Sabbath isn't for you. 31:15 Bible says, God withholds no good thing from those 31:18 who walk uprightly and the Sabbath is a good thing, 31:22 because God made it, Jesus made it. 31:25 Somebody gave our little boys one time when they were little 31:27 gave them new T-shirts and it said, I know I'm somebody 31:31 because God don't make no junk. The Sabbath is not junk 31:37 folks. God made it good. Everything he made was good 31:42 and he is not gonna hold it back from you, he is not 31:44 gonna let you not have anything good. He said, 31:49 I've come that you can have life and have it abundantly. 31:53 By the way, who wrote that commandment, remember 31:59 the Sabbath day you should already know, but let's 32:01 just make it crystal clear to make sure there's not 32:04 a shadow of a doubt in our minds, to texts. 32:06 In the book of Acts, Chapter 4, Verse 12 32:09 and James 4:12, isn't that interesting Acts 4:12, 32:14 James 4:12, maybe God did it that way so we can remember 32:16 it easier. Only have a few numbers to remember instead of 32:19 a bunch. In Act 4:12, it says there is no other name under 32:25 Heaven whereby you can be saved. What name is that? 32:31 That's Jesus, that's the Lamb, Amen. Is there any other 32:34 name besides Jesus whereby you can be saved? No other 32:38 name, only Jesus, but then when you go to James 4:12, 32:41 it says there is only one judge, there is only one 32:44 lawgiver and that's he, who is able to save, who is 32:48 able to save? Only Jesus, there is only one lawgiver, 32:52 who is the lawgiver? The one that's able to save. 32:55 Who is able to save? Jesus, there is only one lawgiver, 32:58 the one able to save, the lawgiver has to be, 33:00 say it, Jesus, what does it mean? It means that when 33:08 Moses went up on that mountain ascended into the dark cloud, 33:15 carrying the two tables of stone in his arms and then 33:20 he raised those tablets of stone up into the dark cloud, 33:25 he felt the hand of God reach down, take them out 33:31 of his hand. And, God wrote on those tables of stone 33:37 the Ten Commandments and the fourth one, remember 33:41 the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The lawgiver that wrote 33:45 that law was the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Notice it says, 33:53 remember the Sabbath to keep it holy, 33:58 six days you'll labor and do all of your work, 34:00 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God, 34:06 is it any wonder Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 12, 34:09 Verse 8, the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath, 34:13 because he made the Sabbath, he created the Sabbath, 34:16 he rested on the Sabbath, he blessed the Sabbath, 34:19 he made the Sabbath holy and he wrapped it in paper 34:22 and gives it to you as a gift. Remember the Sabbath of 34:27 the Lord your God, the son of man is Lord 34:30 even of the Sabbath. But almost everybody observes 34:39 the first day of the week today, so surely there must be 34:43 some place in the Bible that changes the Sabbath from 34:46 the seventh day to the first day. We're told there 34:50 are only eight texts in the Bible that mention the 34:53 first day of the week, just eight places. Six of them 34:58 six of them are just like that one that we already 35:01 read early in the morning on the first day of the week, 35:04 they went to the tomb and found that it was empty, 35:06 six of them, six of the eight. No hint there of changing 35:11 the Sabbath, in fact when it says first day of the week 35:13 it is first day after the Sabbath, so it could not 35:16 have been the Sabbath. No hint the Sabbath has 35:19 changed there. They just went to the tomb. Jesus was 35:22 raised up on the first day of the week that's all it says 35:25 no hint that the old seventh day is finished, new seventh 35:28 day is now the first of the week, new Sabbath day. 35:30 Not a hint in those 6, but there are two. There are 35:35 often pointed to two texts that mention the first day of 35:37 the week. They're often pointed to prove that Saturday 35:39 is not the Sabbath anymore. It's changed to the first day 35:43 of the week. The first one is in First Corinthians, 35:47 First Corinthians Chapter 16, Verse 1. Now about the 35:50 collection for God's people, do what I told the Galatians 35:54 churches to do. On the first day of every week, 36:02 each of one you should set aside a sum of money 36:06 in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when 36:09 I come no collection will have to be made. 36:14 Now many will be quick to point out that see they 36:19 had a religious Church service they were worshiping on the 36:22 first day of the week because they pass the offering plate. 36:25 I'll confess that when we have Church services we often 36:29 pass the offering plate, we do, but nothing in this 36:35 text says anything about passing the offering plate 36:39 in Church. It doesn't even say anything about going 36:43 to the Church? All it says is on the first day of every 36:47 week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money 36:50 in keeping with this income, saving enough, so that when 36:54 I come no collection have to made, in fact if you 36:56 can understand this, in original Greek it means set 36:59 aside by himself on the first day of the week and Dr. Carson 37:04 who wrote the book from the Sabbath to the Lord's day 37:06 trying to prove that the Lord's day is now Sunday and 37:10 not Saturday anymore, he said to putting aside of fund for 37:13 the collection for Jerusalem Church with probably required 37:16 on the first day of the week is not directly connected with 37:19 public worship. This was to be done privately, so he's 37:23 saying don't use that first to try to show that the 37:26 Sabbath is changed from the seventh day to the first day 37:29 of the week. Don't use that one. All he is saying is on 37:35 the first day of the week before you do anything else 37:38 you set aside your funds for God. Don't wait till 37:42 the end of week and give him what's left over, 37:44 but you set it aside for God first. That's all he's 37:48 saying, nothing here about changing the Sabbath, 37:50 in fact it says on the first day after the Sabbath of every 37:54 week because remember ''mia ton sabbaton'' 37:56 means first day after the Sabbath, so how can he 37:59 be saying now, the first day of the week is the 38:01 Sabbath because here it says on the first day after the 38:03 Sabbath set aside a certain sum. That's one text. 38:11 Suppose there was a meeting there on the first day of 38:13 the week would that prove that Saturday is now changed, 38:16 the Sabbath now changed from Saturday to Sunday. 38:19 We can have Church meetings everyday. We do here almost 38:22 every night of the week, five nights a week. 38:24 That doesn't mean that every night is now the Sabbath, 38:27 in fact they worshiped everyday in the New Testament. 38:30 They gathered together everyday studying the word 38:33 of God, but there is a place. There is a place in 38:37 the book of Acts the 20th Chapter, Verse 7, where 38:40 there was a Church service and may be it would be better 38:43 to say a worship service on the first day of the week 38:45 and there it was in Chapter 20, Verse 7 in the book 38:49 of Acts, on the first day of the week, we came together 38:52 to break bread. Now when was this? First day of 38:57 the week is ''mia ton sabbaton,'' first day after 39:00 the Sabbath, so were they celebrating the Sabbath on 39:02 that day, absolutely not. Sabbath was already done. 39:05 It was the first day after the Sabbath. Now when was 39:08 this meeting? Paul spoke to, by the way the book of Acts 39:13 Chapter 2 says they met in their homes daily and broke 39:16 bread together daily. So we can't say just because they 39:20 broke bread together it means that it's now the Lord's 39:22 day the holy day. Paul spoke to the people and because he 39:25 intent to believe the next day he kept talking until 39:28 midnight. Oh! Man, you know, I have often thought why did 39:33 I have to born now? I like to have been born back then. 39:36 They get to preach till midnight and I got stop at 39:38 quarter to nine. It doesn't seem fair to me. 39:41 Paul preached until midnight but when was this meeting? 39:49 It's on the first day of the week, first day after 39:53 the Sabbath. And it was at midnight, at night time. 39:58 Now follow me closely, 'cause it's going to take 40:01 some thinking, because see the Bible was written not 40:04 in modern times but in ancient times. 40:07 And incidentally in case you did know it Adam and Eve 40:10 did not have clocks or wrist watches on their arms. 40:14 They didn't have clocks back then, the sun was 40:17 their clock and so when the sun set the day came to 40:21 an end, that's kind of neat, you get to see the day end 40:24 that way. At midnight, the middle of the night you 40:26 don't see anything. When the sun sets the day came to 40:29 an end. Evening and morning were the first day. The dark 40:33 part of the day comes first, so when the sun sets, 40:38 a day comes to an end and it gets dark and now we are 40:43 in the next day. And so if it was the first day of 40:48 the week in the evening time they were together on Sabbath 40:54 and then the sun set and now it's what we would think 40:58 of as Saturday night, but actually it's the first day 41:02 after the Sabbath. So in actuality they were not having 41:08 a Sunday morning worship service on the first day of 41:11 the week. There were meeting on Saturday night. 41:14 The day after the Sabbath because he had been together 41:17 with him all day Sabbath and he was about to leave 41:19 the next day, so that's why he preached and preached 41:23 until midnight. There was nothing here about changing 41:28 the Sabbath, because the first day of the week is 41:30 after the Sabbath. He had been with them all Sabbath 41:33 and now he preaches until midnight. Watch what happens 41:36 there? In verse 8, there were many lamps in the 41:39 upstairs room where we were meeting and seated in a window 41:41 was a young man named Eutychus who was sinking into 41:47 a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on till midnight. 41:56 I don't feel so bad now when I see some of you heads nod, 42:02 sometimes people come and apologize, I am so sorry, 42:05 I was just tired today I couldn't keep my eyes open. 42:07 Don't apologize, they felt asleep when Paul was 42:10 preaching. And when he was sound asleep, Eutychus, when 42:18 he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third 42:22 storey and was picked up dead. Now let that be 42:27 a warning for anyone who falls asleep in Church. 42:32 Paul went down, he threw himself on the young man, 42:35 he put his hands around him and said don't be alarmed, 42:36 he's alive and then he went upstairs broke bread again 42:39 and ate and this time after talking until daylight 42:43 oh my Lord, I bet nobody felt asleep after that, 42:47 what do you think? After talking until daylight he left 42:50 and the people took the young man home alive greatly 42:53 comforted. Verse 13, the next verse we went 42:56 on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos where we are 42:59 going to take Paul abroad. Paul hiked fourteen miles 43:03 on Sunday morning to go catch a ship. Hardly to be 43:08 understood as keeping the Sabbath. No the 43:12 seventh day, Saturday is the Sabbath, that's the day 43:15 that Paul kept, well did the disciples ever change it 43:21 to Sunday, the first day of the week. Let's take a look 43:24 in the book of Acts starting with the 13th chapter 43:27 I am just going to go quickly a little survey 43:30 of what the disciples did in Acts the 13th Chapter. 43:34 Okay, look at it with me, in verse. In verse 14, they 43:38 went on to Antioch, and on the Sabbath they enter 43:42 the synagogue and sat down and reading from the, after 43:44 reading from the Laws and the Prophets, so synagogue 43:46 rulers send word to them saying brothers if you have 43:48 a message of encouragement for the people please speak, 43:51 so there was Paul sitting in the synagogue worshiping 43:56 on the Sabbath day and this was after Jesus had been 44:02 crucified on the cross and it says on the Sabbath that 44:05 can't be Sunday, because Sunday is the first day of 44:07 the week, is the first day after the Sabbath. 44:10 So there he was celebrating the Sabbath worshiping on 44:15 the Sabbath day in the synagogue, now some 44:18 people say well, yeah, that was only because the 44:20 synagogue was there, well hang on for just a minute. 44:23 In verse 44, it says on the next Sabbath, actually 43, 42 44:27 and they were leaving the synagogue. Paul and Barnabas 44:30 were leaving, the people invited him to speak further 44:32 about these things on the next Sabbath, he preached 44:34 a gospel sermon, he said oh man, we want to hear 44:37 more about that, tell us more. In verse 44, 44:40 on the next Sabbath, almost the whole city 44:42 gathered to hear. Now he didn't say Oh! You don't 44:44 worry about that because we do it on Sunday, you can 44:46 come tomorrow morning and hear it now, no, on the next 44:50 Sabbath, they met together again to hear the word 44:53 of God. Fourteen years after the cross and there they are 45:01 observing two Sabbaths. Was it only because there was 45:05 a synagogue there and it was handy? No, because 45:08 we can read in another place in Chapter 16 Verse 12, 45:15 we went on to a Roman colony the Philippi, the leading city 45:20 in the district of Macedonia There was no synagogue 45:23 there, a pagan place. Verse 13, on the Sabbath 45:28 we went outside the city gate to the river where we 45:31 would find the place for prayer. Twenty two years 45:35 after the cross, couldn't find a synagogue they worship 45:38 in, couldn't find a Church, but they knew a place out 45:41 there in nature that's where they went to worship God 45:43 on the Sabbath day, not a bad idea once in the while to 45:47 enjoy nature on the Sabbath day because it points us 45:49 to God as a creator. Chapter 17 in Verse 2, 45:53 as his custom was Paul went into the synagogue and on 45:56 three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from 45:59 scripture. Now here is three more times that's six times 46:02 that Paul is shown as observing the Sabbath. 46:04 Chapter 18, Verse 1, then he left Athens. He went to 46:08 Corinth, he met Aquila and Priscilla, he stayed with 46:11 them and he worked with them every Sabbath. Verse 4 46:15 he reasoned in the synagogue trying to persuade Jews 46:18 and Greeks every Sabbath, well how long was he there. 46:22 Paul stayed there a year and a half, teaching them 46:25 the word of God, let's see a year and half every Sabbath 46:28 year and half, that 78 times that Paul observed the Sabbath 46:32 six other times we have already seen, that's 84 46:36 examples of Paul and the disciples observing 46:40 the Sabbath in the New Testament and zero 46:42 example of anyone ever observing the first day 46:45 of the week, not a one. No, Jesus didn't change it, 46:52 the disciples didn't change it, who did. The answer's 46:56 found in the Old Testament and the prophecy we have 47:01 already looked at in Daniel, prophecy of Daniel 47:04 the 7th Chapter, the little horn came up among the ten, 47:07 we've identified the little horn as the beast 47:09 of Revelation Chapter 13, the Antichrist and one of 47:12 the identifying marks of the little horn in the 25th 47:15 verse of the same chapter is that he would try to change 47:19 the set times and the laws. And it has to be God's laws 47:26 because man's laws change all the time, so the little 47:29 horn, the Antichrist, the false system of worship 47:32 developed in the medieval Church at Rome between 47:35 538 and 1798. The little horn, the Antichrist, 47:40 the counterfeit system of worship would somehow 47:42 try to change the set times and the laws. There is only 47:49 one law in God's commandments in the Ten Commandments 47:52 that deals with time and that's the fourth commandment 47:55 remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy and he would 47:59 try to change it. Notice try he can't change it. 48:02 No man can change what God says, Amen. 48:05 So in Rome especially there where the early Church 48:10 Christians were converts not from the Jewish religion, 48:13 but from the Pagan Roman cults where they worshiped 48:16 the Sun. There they decided hey, we're being persecuted 48:20 because we keep the Sabbath, so let's keep the Sabbath 48:24 privately at home and worship together on Sunday. 48:28 There were accustomed to that and besides that there 48:31 was incredible peer pressure from their friends, you know 48:34 why do you want to go against the trend. 48:36 Everybody observes Sunday, so why don't you just make 48:39 it easier on yourself and you won't get persecuted. 48:42 So they began to observe Sabbath at home and Sunday, 48:47 not in honor of the Sun, but in honor of the Son of God 48:51 because they were Christians even though the Bible didn't 48:53 say to do it. Then in the fourth century Constantine, 48:58 the emperor of Rome remember became a nominal Christian 49:00 and he passed a law forbidding anyone from 49:04 the observing the Sabbath and forcing everyone to 49:08 observe Sunday and then by the year 364 AD at 49:13 the Council of Laodicea I have been reading this 49:15 for 30 years and just I am sure while I go I found it on 49:18 the Internet. In the Vatican archives I found it. 49:21 The Council of Laodicea at 364 A.D. I reproduced 49:24 it right here and we will give you a copy of that. 49:27 I will tell you more later. Canon 29 Christians must 49:30 not Judaiz by resting on the Sabbath, but must work 49:34 on that day rather honoring the Lord's day, Sunday and 49:38 if they can resting then as Christians, but if any 49:41 of found to be Judaizers, let them be a curse from 49:45 Christ and the Church at the Council of Laodicea 49:50 officially decreed that Saturday is not the Sabbath 49:54 anymore. It is Sunday the first day of the week. 49:57 The question is does the Church has the authority 50:01 to change one of God's commandments. Can the church 50:05 change the set times and the laws. "No." 50:11 John Paul II said, even though he got it right folks, 50:15 he got it right on the meaning of God's rest. 50:17 He goes on to say, God blessed the seventh day and 50:21 he made it holy, he is quoting the Bible Genesis 2:3 50:24 and then in the next paragraph, Sunday is the day 50:28 of rest because it's the day blessed by God and made 50:32 holy by him. Now how can he say this? How can he say 50:36 that God blessed the seventh day and then say Sunday is 50:40 the day that God blessed and made holy. 50:41 Well, maybe he thinks Sunday is the seventh day, 50:44 no, because in his Catechism right here, the Catechism of 50:48 the Catholic Church endorsed by John Paul II, Sunday is 50:51 expressly distinguished from the Sabbath, which it follows 50:55 chronologically every week, for Christians its ceremony 50:58 observers replaces that of the Sabbath well, how can 51:01 they do that? Sunday worship fulfills the moral command of 51:04 the Old Testament. Well, how can he say that? 51:07 Because in the foot note it says, the conference of 51:10 bishops can abolish certain holy days and transfer them 51:15 to Sunday. In other words, the church has the authority 51:20 to do that, well who gives the church that authority, 51:22 I read it to you before, let me read it again, 51:24 section 82, the church does not derive her certainty 51:29 about all revealed truth from the scripture alone, both 51:32 scripture and tradition must be accepted and honored with 51:35 equal sentiments of devotion and reverence and there 51:40 you have it, we changed the Sabbath from Saturday 51:44 to seventh day to the first day of the week. We have 51:45 power to do that, because tradition is equal 51:49 to the scripture. She would think to change the set times 51:55 and the laws. But God's laws God's word can never change, 52:01 so what do the Protestants have to say about that, 52:03 just a few quickly, there is a lot more in your printed 52:05 copy. This is Dr. Alexander Campbell, 52:08 founder of the Christian church, there is no testimony 52:11 in all of the oracles of heaven that the Sabbath 52:13 is changed or the Sunday came in its place, none he says. 52:17 This one Dr. Binney, a Methodist of the Methodist 52:19 church, he was a Methodist scholar who wrote 52:21 the Methodist Theological, the Methodist Episcopal 52:24 Theological Compendium, text book in the seminar yet to be 52:27 able to say that to graduate from the seminar. He says 52:32 that his book, he says it is true there is no positive 52:34 command in the Bible for keeping holy the first day 52:36 of the week, Methodist scholar not a command. 52:39 Dr. E.T. Hiscox, a Baptist scholar who wrote there was 52:43 and is a commandment to keep Holy the Sabbath day, 52:45 but that Sabbath was not Sunday. There is no scriptural 52:49 evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from 52:52 the seventh day to the first day of the week, none, 52:54 Baptist scholar. In fact, I'll show how you to get rich, 53:00 I found this on the Internet world net daily by Joe Kovacs 53:05 he said, there is a pastor in Illinois who is taunting 53:08 with 50000 dollars of his own money if anyone can 53:12 produce a verse from the Holy Bible showing that 53:14 God commands us to keep holy the first day of the week 53:17 Sunday, instead of the seventh day is Saturday, 53:20 you want 50000 just find a text, but don't waste your 53:23 time it's not there, then you get even more, because he 53:27 says he is going to increase it in 25000 dollar increments 53:30 each week for 40 consecutive weeks, if no one sends him 53:34 a text and cap it at a million dollars, now 53:36 you can become a millionaire just find that one text, 53:42 don't waste your time. In fact, Dr. James Efird, 53:47 professor of Biblical interpretation at 53:48 Duke University the Divinity School in North Carolina said, 53:50 I'm afraid you're not going to find an exact Bible verse 53:53 to counter the good pastor's challenge and collect, as far 53:56 as I know there is no verse which specifies Sunday is 53:59 a day for Christians to observe, isn't that 54:01 interesting. Ever heard of Jerry Falwell, 54:05 Dr. Jerry Falwell said Saturday is clearly the 54:09 Sabbath as recorded many times in the old testament, 54:11 in Christian church tradition Sunday became the Lord's day 54:16 when Jesus rose from the grave, but what about 54:22 my grandma and grandpa, because they were such good 54:24 Christians and they always said that Sunday was the Lord's 54:27 day does that mean they're lost, Bible says, he who knows 54:33 what is right and does it not for him it is sin. 54:39 God doesn't hold you accountable for things that 54:42 you don't know. God isn't like that, he doesn't say well 54:46 I'm gonna punish you and you're like oh! God I didn't 54:50 know about that, too bad you should have known, 54:53 it's not the way God is. He said look, I want you 54:55 to have this blessing, if we rejected that's 54:59 something else. But once we know the truth then I think 55:08 God expects us to follow the lamb, Amen. 55:13 Now, don't even think it, I know some of you out 55:16 there are saying, you mean to say that if I didn't come 55:19 tonight, I would have known about it and then I wouldn't 55:21 have to worry about all this. Jesus said you will know 55:25 the truth and the truth will set you free. You do not 55:29 have to be afraid of the truth folks, we need to be 55:33 afraid of not knowing the truth, Amen. 55:35 "Amen." Well, if what you're saying 55:37 is true, why doesn't everybody else see it. 55:39 How do you judge truth by Gallup polls, now they change 55:44 everyday. Jesus said broad is the way that enters to 55:48 the destruction and many are going to go there, straight 55:50 and narrow the way that goes to life and only a few 55:52 are going to find it. Everybody believes one thing 55:55 and that not tells me, watch out, because the truth 56:00 only a few are going to find. You can't judge truth by 56:03 popularity, ask Noah about that, preached for a 120 years 56:09 and only got seven and they were his own family members. 56:16 We judge truth by the word of God, not by the size of 56:20 the crowd. In the Old Testament, 56:26 they were giants and the Lord who kept the Sabbath, 56:29 Adam his first Sabbath, Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, 56:36 giants in Lord, Daniel, faithful to God's commands. 56:39 In New Testament Paul, Peter, Mark the giants in the Lord 56:48 were all faithful to Jesus oh! There were others 56:51 around saying hey, don't pay attention, do what everybody 56:55 else does, don't make it any harder on yourself, 56:57 do what everybody does. But look at that group 57:01 again, it's not as big as those who follow traditions, 57:08 it's a small group, it's always been small. But there 57:12 is one standing head and shoulders above all the others 57:18 and that's Jesus and Jesus said, if you love me you 57:27 you will keep my commandments. |
Revised 2014-12-17