Participants: Pr. Kenneth Cox
Series Code: GMTB
Program Code: GMTB000020
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00:20 Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
00:23 Well... before who? 00:25 Thou shalt not make any graven images. 00:27 Well... says who? 00:28 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain. 00:31 What Lord? 00:33 Honor thy father and thy mother. 00:34 Says who? 00:36 Thou shalt not kill. 00:38 Says who? 00:39 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 00:41 Thou shalt not steal. 00:42 Thou shalt not bear false witness. 00:44 Thou shalt not covet. 00:47 Well who said that stuff? 00:50 If you take out commandment number four 00:53 we don't even know who the author 00:55 of the 10 Commandments is. 00:57 God signs His name and puts His autograph 01:01 in commandment number four. 01:03 That's one of the reasons why it's so very, very important. 01:06 Because it is commandment number four that identifies 01:09 clearly the author of all ten commandments. 01:13 One of the things that I love about Elder Cox's presentations 01:16 is that he weaves history with Biblical truth. 01:20 That the Bible is thoroughly and solidly backed up by history. 01:24 And we've learned a lot about that 01:26 these last couple of presentations, 01:28 and I'm sure we're going to hear more about that even this night. 01:31 But if you would like to do some additional study, 01:32 you can learn about the Sabbath in Russia, 01:35 the Sabbotnik Movement, the Sabbath in Africa, 01:38 the Sabbath in India, 01:39 the Sabbath even among the American Eskimo Indians. 01:42 Sabbath in Ireland; Sabbath in England with the 01:45 Seventh-day Men; Sabbath in France; 01:46 Sabbath in Spain; Sabbath in the Piedmont Valley of Europe. 01:51 The Albigenses; the Waldenses; 01:53 the Passagini; the Cacciari... 01:55 all of these Sabbath-keeping groups, and you'll be impressed 01:58 to know that God has kept a people who have kept the Sabbath 02:03 down through the ages... even though the church 02:07 and other organizations tried to stomp them out. 02:09 God has taken care of the Sabbath 02:11 and God has taken care of the people 02:14 who have taken care of the Sabbath. 02:16 My name is C.A. Murray, and it is my privilege and 02:19 please once again to welcome you 02:21 to sadly what is the last 02:23 sitting for this particular group of meetings 02:25 as we study the Sabbath... 02:27 Give Me The Bible. 02:28 I think you can agree with me that God has been very, 02:30 very dear and we have learned quite a lot from Evangelist Cox 02:34 during these last several meetings. 02:35 I am excited to hear what he has to say this night 02:38 as we talk about How to Keep the Sabbath Holy. 02:42 How we're going to keep the Sabbath. 02:43 How do you flow into that blessing 02:45 of keeping the Sabbath? 02:47 And I'm anxious to hear our evangelist, our friend, 02:50 our teacher Evangelist Kenneth Cox this night. 02:53 Now before he comes we get to hear 02:55 Dona Klein minister in music. 02:57 She's going to be playing an old spiritual 03:00 Joshua Fit the Battle. 04:28 Thank you! Thank you, Dona Klein. 04:31 Appreciate that. You enjoy that? 04:32 Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho. 04:35 Great, great song. 04:37 Well we welcome each of you. 04:38 Happy to have you back here again this evening as we 04:42 come to the last presentation 04:44 on this question of the Sabbath. 04:46 And we hope that it has helped 04:48 you as we've gone through what the scripture has to say. 04:51 What says the Bible, the blessed Bible? 04:55 This should my only question be. 04:58 God gave us the Sabbath to bless and remind us. 05:02 What says the Book of God to me? 05:05 That's what you and I need to look for... 05:08 need to find out what God's Word says to each one of us. 05:12 So we hope you will continue to follow 05:15 as we study God's Word together. 05:17 Uh, our next series in May... 05:22 in fact the series in May and the one in June 05:25 will be on prophecy. 05:27 Our first one in May is entitled Five Have Fallen. 05:34 Five Have Fallen. 05:36 And we're looking at Revelation the 17th chapter. 05:41 And in the 17th chapter, verses 10 and 11, 05:46 it says this: 05:48 "There are also seven kings. Five have fallen. 05:53 One is. The other has not yet come. 05:57 When he comes he must continue a short time. " 06:01 So those are the five it's talking about that have fallen. 06:05 Five Have Fallen. 06:06 We're going to find out what those five are 06:09 as we look at Bible prophecy. 06:11 Important because it takes you step by step 06:17 down through time bringing us down to the time 06:20 in which we live. And so it's very important 06:24 that you and I know those five that have fallen. 06:27 But the text goes on and says in verse 11: 06:30 "The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth 06:36 is of the seventh and is going to perdition. " 06:39 And so that's what we'll look at in June 06:43 with the title of Was, Is Not, and Yet Is. 06:47 And we're going to tie all that prophecy together 06:50 which deals with our present time in which we are living. 06:54 So we hope you'll be sure and follow as we go into these 06:58 two series on Bible prophecy. 07:01 We hope it will bless you in a special way 07:04 as we take a look at it. 07:05 As I mentioned, tonight we're talking about 07:09 How to Keep the Sabbath. 07:13 What are you looking for? 07:16 What? How should I approach it? 07:19 That's really what you need to understand 07:22 is how should I approach keeping the Sabbath? 07:25 Because you'll find two extremes concerning that. 07:31 You'll find some people are fanatical. 07:34 And you can... we'll talk a little bit about that. 07:37 You'll find others are totally liberal on it. 07:41 And we need to see what God's Word says 07:44 and how we are to keep the Sabbath 07:47 and what He tells us about it. 07:48 So we hope you'll be able to follow as we go through, 07:51 talk about it... it will bless you in a special way. 07:54 I hope you have enjoyed - those of you who have been 07:58 watching by television, 07:59 those of you that are listening by radio, 08:02 and of course to all of you that have been here - 08:04 I hope you have enjoyed as much as I have 08:06 having Joe Pearles here. 08:08 Joe has really been a great, great blessing. 08:11 We've enjoyed having him here so much, 08:13 and I know that each of you as you go about your activities 08:18 will be able to listen to his songs on CDs 08:22 and other ways that he puts them out. 08:24 We hope they'll bless you. 08:26 Tonight he's going to do a song entitled 08:29 In His Hands. 08:42 There are times I'm overwhelmed 08:47 by the onset of trials. 08:54 And this burden that I carry 08:58 it seems I've carried it for miles. 09:08 That's when I realize that in my faith alone 09:13 I cannot stand. 09:20 And I know the time has come 09:24 when I must put it in God's hands. 09:31 In His hands 09:35 the mountain looks much smaller. 09:43 In His hands 09:48 the valley's not 09:51 so low. 09:56 When I've carried 10:00 my burden 10:04 as far as I can, 10:10 help me remember, Lord, 10:16 to put it in Your hands. 10:24 I read where God's mighty hand 10:29 had parted the sea. 10:36 And when His children were safe across 10:41 He turned and drowned their enemies. 10:48 So when the waters are rising 10:53 and the river seems too wide to span, 11:01 then I fall down on my knees... 11:06 that's when I put it in His hands. 11:13 In His hands 11:17 the mountain looks much smaller. 11:25 In His hands 11:30 the valley's not 11:32 so low. 11:38 When I've carried 11:41 my burden 11:46 as far as I can, 11:52 help me remember, Lord, 11:58 to put it in Your hands. 12:05 When I've carried 12:10 my burden 12:14 as far as I can, 12:20 help me remember, Lord, 12:25 to put it in 12:28 Your hands. 12:52 Our Heavenly Father, 12:55 we come to You this evening 12:59 first Lord just to say thank you 13:03 for being willing to make a way for each of us. 13:10 Being willing to come here and 13:15 to pay a price that we might be saved. 13:23 Lord, bless us tonight. 13:26 We ask for Your Spirit to be present. 13:28 Pray that our hearts may be open 13:32 that we may not take what we hear lightly 13:38 but that we might take it to heart 13:42 and that we might realize 13:47 that this is Your words, 13:49 Your desire, 13:51 and that we might bring our lives 13:54 into conformity to Your will and Your desire. 13:59 For this we pray in Christ's name, Amen. 14:09 Well, how does one 14:13 keep the Sabbath 14:15 and not be legalistic? 14:20 That is one of the big issues 14:23 is how you go about keeping the Sabbath 14:27 and not be legalistic. 14:30 And Christ faced this very much in His day and in His age 14:35 because the Jewish people in Christ's day 14:39 were very, very legalistic. 14:42 I want you to listen to the words of Jesus. 14:44 This is what He had to say: 14:48 Now He's speaking to the Jews, 14:50 to the Pharisees and the scribes and so forth... 15:03 Now He said: "Unless your righteousness 15:06 exceeds their righteousness, 15:08 you're not going to make it into the kingdom of heaven. " 15:10 So there was something here, folks, 15:15 different because you find that when the Jewish people 15:19 came out of the captivity in Babylon 15:22 from that day on they didn't worship idols any more. 15:26 You find that they kept the Sabbath. 15:28 But yet He said that their righteousness was not 15:33 what it should be, and they were extremely legalistic. 15:37 Like if you go over to Jerusalem today - 15:40 I've gone there several times - 15:43 and the Sabbath comes. 15:45 You'll see signs like this saying 15:51 You know, I mean, this type of approach to the Sabbath. 15:57 In fact, you go to the hotel 16:00 and they have what they call Shabbat elevators. 16:03 And what does that mean? 16:05 It means that the elevator runs all the time 16:08 and it goes floor to floor, stops, opens the door, 16:13 and lets people on so you don't have to push a button. 16:17 That's the purpose. 16:20 To push a button you would be breaking the Sabbath. 16:23 The legalism that enters into that many many times, folks, 16:29 and the Lord said that's not the kind of righteousness 16:34 that He's looking for. 16:35 That's not what He's wanting. 16:37 And so He's asking you and I 16:39 that our righteousness must exceed that righteousness 16:44 or we won't make it into the kingdom of heaven. 16:47 The difference lies between 16:53 And until you understand the difference between principles 16:57 and rules, you can't understand how it is to be kept 17:02 or what God expects of you and me. 17:05 So what do we mean? What are we talking about 17:08 when we're talking about principles, 17:11 we're talking about rules. What makes the difference? 17:27 That's a rule. 17:30 A rule is an absolute guideline. 17:33 Has to be carried out the same way every time; 17:36 doesn't change. 17:39 That's a rule. 17:41 And don't misunderstand me... there has to be rules. 17:47 There are certain things that you have to have rules for. 17:50 But you must understand where they belong 17:55 and how they fit. 17:57 And you have to be very, very careful with them 18:01 in your own life... because if you don't, 18:05 you'll wind up being legalistic and Christ will not accept that. 18:11 Whereas we talk about principles. 18:30 You see rules allow for special privileges. 18:34 For instance, if you and I drive down the highway 18:40 at 90 miles an hour, we're going to be pulled over 18:43 and we're going to be given a ticket. 18:46 Whereas a highway patrolman can drive down the highway 18:49 at 90 miles an hour and they won't pull him over. 18:52 You see, that is the difference. 18:55 There is a privilege there. 18:58 But with principles there are no privileges. 19:01 That applies to everybody; it's universal. 19:04 But it's a more general guideline... 19:07 it is not like a rule. 19:10 This is where Jesus had all the trouble with the Pharisees 19:14 and the scribes and so forth 19:17 is because they were always, always quoting Him rules. 19:23 And they would quote Him a rule and He would turn around 19:27 and quote them a principle. 19:30 And it would make them so mad at Him 19:33 that they would try and kill Him. 19:36 They didn't like Him quoting principles to them 19:40 when they had had a rule and He was not living 19:44 according to their rule. 19:46 Let me give you an example. 19:48 Here in Matthew the 12th chapter and verse 10 19:52 it says: 20:01 Rule! 20:02 Put it down. They said: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? " 20:06 They believed it was not. 20:08 That was a rule... you could not heal on the Sabbath. 20:24 Said if you have a sheep that falls in the ditch 20:27 you'll pull it out. 20:33 Watch! Principle... principle: 20:40 That was the principle. 20:41 Christ said: "It's not wrong to do good on the Sabbath. " 20:45 They believed it was... that was their rule. 20:48 He's quoting a principle to them. 21:00 Now he not only showed them the principle... 21:03 He demonstrated it and healed the man. 21:05 Watch what they did: 21:11 He broke their rules 21:13 and they said: "we can't stand Him breaking the rules. " 21:16 So what you and I must do is make sure that we 21:22 are operating according to principle NOT BY RULE 21:26 when it comes to keeping the Sabbath. 21:29 That is the difference it makes between being legalistic 21:34 and not being legalistic: 21:36 if I govern my life by principle. 21:40 Jesus gives you another example of this. And He said here: 21:49 He... He did a... healed somebody or did something 21:53 and they all marveled. 22:05 Now He said, you know: "I healed somebody and you're marveling 22:11 and criticizing Me because I healed somebody on Sabbath, 22:14 but you will circumcise somebody on the Sabbath. " 22:34 He said: "Here you circumcise somebody 22:38 but because I have made somebody well 22:41 on the Sabbath you're unhappy with Me. " 22:43 Now watch. He comes to the point: 22:54 You see, if you conduct your life by rules, 23:01 then you're going to judge by appearance. 23:07 Think about it. 23:09 You conduct your life by rules 23:12 you will judge by appearance. 23:15 But if I run my life by principles, 23:20 then you and I will judge based on righteous 23:25 decisions, righteous judgment. 23:27 That makes a great, great difference as to how I approach 23:32 this question and what I do with it. 23:35 You see, there's two extremes. 23:38 It says that the Christian is to be in the middle of the road. 23:43 The Bible refers to that as the narrow path. 23:47 Some people misunderstand that. 23:49 You know, they want... they want the narrow path to be 23:52 fanaticism. 23:54 No. The narrow path is in the middle of the road. 23:57 That's where He wants us to be is in the middle of the road. 24:00 On each side of the road are two ditches, 24:04 and you don't belong in either one of them. 24:08 I don't belong in one ditch or the other. 24:10 One ditch is fanaticism. 24:13 If I'm fanatical about it, 24:17 that's wrong. 24:19 The other ditch is liberalism. 24:20 Those are two different ditches. 24:28 I'm sure you've know people that are fanatics 24:31 and they set up all kinds of rules. 24:35 And if you don't live by those rules, 24:38 then like the Pharisees of old they're after you. 24:42 You know, they've got their checklist 24:44 and they're going to mark it off. 24:46 And you have to do everything just this way. 24:49 And there's lots... lots of people that were raised 24:53 in Christian homes that their parents were fanatical. 24:58 And they drove them away because their parents were fanatical. 25:03 That's not what God wants us to be. 25:05 I'm not to be in that ditch; don't belong there. 25:10 Also then when it comes to liberalism... 25:20 Now let me explain something. 25:22 Christ did not go by the rules of the Pharisees 25:28 but He never, never, NEVER violated principles. 25:34 And you and I must never disregard principles. 25:39 We must live our life 25:40 by principle or else we 25:43 will be breaking the Sabbath. 25:50 A family - a farmer and his wife - came home from church 25:54 and had eaten lunch or dinner that Sabbath. 26:00 And they had just gone into the living room and sat down 26:04 and picked up a book to read. 26:07 And they were sitting there in the living room 26:09 reading a book when this truck drove up 26:13 in the front yard loaded with feed. 26:16 And the wife looked at her husband and said: 26:19 "What's that truck doing here? " 26:22 And her husband went out and to her absolute amazement 26:27 he got in the truck and they drove down to the barn 26:32 and he helped the driver unload the truckload of feed. 26:35 And when he came back in she was livid. 26:39 She said: "You know better than that. 26:41 You shouldn't be unloading a truckload of feed 26:44 on the Sabbath. " She said: "You know better than that. 26:46 That's not right; you shouldn't do that. " 26:48 Husband said: "I didn't break the Sabbath 26:54 by unloading that truck of feed. 26:57 I broke the Sabbath the other day when I ordered it 27:02 and didn't tell them not to bring it out today. " 27:05 You see, a great, great principle 27:09 that you and I need to understand. 27:12 That, you know, we... we put ourselves in positions 27:15 that we should never be in. 27:17 I don't belong in either side of the ditch... 27:20 but I need to be Christian in what I do. 27:26 I need to operate my life by principles. 27:30 OK, let's take a look... because as far as I'm concerned 27:33 this text here in Isaiah is one of the clearest there is 27:38 in God's Word about how you and I should keep the Sabbath. 27:42 Listen to it: 27:46 You understand what that means? 27:48 That means quit trodding it underfoot. 27:50 Treating it with disrespect... that's what it means. 28:25 Fantastic text, folks. 28:27 He just simply says: "If you will do these things, 28:30 I will bless you abundantly. " 28:32 That's what He's saying when He said: 28:34 "I'll cause you to ride on the high places of the earth. 28:36 Feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. 28:39 The mouth of the Lord has spoken. " 28:42 That's a marvelous promise to you and to me. 28:45 So let's look at different phases of that 28:48 and see what He's talking about. 28:56 The Sabbath is the Lord's day. 29:02 The holy day of the Lord. 29:04 It belongs to the Lord. 29:06 It's not yours; it's not mine; it's His. 29:10 It's His day. 29:15 And it says that I am to honor Him 29:19 in keeping the Sabbath. 29:22 How do I do that? 29:24 Well, the scripture tells you and I how we are to do that. 29:28 It says "If you love Me... " what? 29:36 If I'm going to honor Him, 29:38 then I need to keep His commandments. 29:40 I cannot... I cannot say 29:45 "I love You" and turn around and disregard His commandments. 29:50 That's not sensible, folks. 29:53 He says: "If you love Me, keep My commandments. " 29:56 And so when we look at the Sabbath 30:00 it's one of the commandments - the fourth one. 30:02 It says this: 30:07 Let's establish something. 30:09 The only day that you and I can keep holy 30:14 is the one He made holy. 30:16 You cannot keep a day holy He never made holy. 30:21 You and I have no ability of ourselves to make 30:26 something holy. We don't have that ability. 30:29 God is the only one that has that, 30:32 and He made the Sabbath holy. 30:34 And He just says that you and I are to keep it holy. 30:39 OK. 30:44 Clear, right? 30:50 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. " 30:52 This is one of the commandments. 30:53 He says: "If you love Me, do your work for six days. " 30:57 All right? 31:02 I remember when I first came across this. 31:05 And I can remember this fellow that was studying with me. 31:09 And he read this to me, you know? 31:11 And so the next time he saw me he said: "What are you going 31:14 to do about the Sabbath? " 31:16 And I said: "Well, " I said: "I'm going to keep 31:20 every seventh day. " 31:22 He said: "Well good. " 31:24 I said: "I'm going to keep every Sunday. " 31:27 And he looked at me and he said: 31:31 "What do you mean? " I said: "That's every seventh day. 31:34 I'm going to keep every seventh day... every Sunday. " 31:37 And he said: "Excuse me, " 31:40 he said: "that didn't say A seventh day, 31:44 it said THE seventh day. " 31:48 Great, great difference, folks. 31:51 He says clearly: "But the seventh day is the Sabbath 31:55 of the Lord your God. " 31:57 It's His Sabbath... not mine, not yours. 32:01 It's His, OK? 32:03 "In it... " Here He's telling you what you are to do 32:06 what you're not to do. 32:12 He said: "That day I have set aside. It's a day that you're 32:16 not to work. " And I'll talk more about this as we go on. 32:38 Made it holy. 32:40 Now... some people say: "Well, Brother Cox, 32:43 I can't keep the Sabbath. 32:45 If I keep the Sabbath, you know, I have to work on the Sabbath. " 32:51 I'm sorry, folks, but either He's God 32:57 or He's not God. 32:59 Either He's able of taking care of you 33:03 or He's not able to take care of you. 33:05 And if He tells you "don't work on the Sabbath, " 33:09 then that's very simple... He takes responsibility for that. 33:13 Do you understand what I'm saying? 33:15 Any time God ever asks you to do something 33:22 and it costs you, God will repay. 33:28 Let me say that again. 33:30 Any time God ever asks you to do something 33:33 and it costs you, God will repay. 33:38 Won't fail. 33:40 Let me give you an example. 33:42 Says here in Hebrews: 33:51 You remember when Jesus was speaking to this crowd? 33:54 And He was there at the Sea of Galilee 33:57 and they had backed Him up 33:59 until He was right at the water's edge. 34:02 And He couldn't go back any farther 34:05 and they were so close to Him 34:07 that He couldn't speak to them. 34:09 And so Peter was there, 34:10 and He said: "Peter, let Me use your boat. " 34:13 Stepped into the boat and had Peter pull away from shore 34:17 a little ways so He could see them, 34:19 and He spoke to the people. 34:21 When He finished, He told Peter... He said: 34:25 "Put down your net. " 34:27 Now you've got to understand something. 34:30 Peter said: "Lord, we have just fished all night. " 34:34 Now folks, the Sea of Galilee is clear. 34:39 You can stand in a boat and look down and see the bottom of it. 34:45 It's that clear. 34:47 And I can guarantee if you can stand there and see the fish 34:50 they can see you. 34:53 OK? 34:54 And here he's fished all night long... 34:57 has caught nothing. 34:59 And here he is standing in the boat 35:02 looking down and there's no fish anywhere. 35:06 And he said: "Lord, nevertheless at Your word 35:09 we'll cast in the net. " 35:12 And they tossed in the net 35:14 and they caught so many fish their nets wouldn't hold it. 35:18 Now do you know what Jesus was doing? 35:22 He was just paying Peter for the use of his boat. 35:26 See? God will repay. 35:31 If it cost you, He will repay. 35:34 Put it down. 35:35 And so God says: "Don't work on the Sabbath. " 35:38 Dear friend, take Him at what He says. 35:41 Don't work on the Sabbath. 35:43 And if you don't work on the Sabbath, 35:45 He'll take care of you. 35:47 And let me tell you something... 35:49 not very many things that I'll recommend to you about old age. 35:55 But one thing it does... 35:58 it gives you the ability to look back. 36:01 And I can tell you over the years 36:04 that I've done this and I look back 36:06 I have never seen a person to this day 36:09 who stepped out in faith 36:11 and said "I'll keep the Sabbath" 36:12 that it cost them 36:14 that God didn't repay them. 36:16 Never known of a case. 36:18 God will honor you if you do it. 36:21 Promises that. 36:22 Well, let's go on. 36:29 That just simply means that the Sabbath is not a day 36:33 in which I go out and do what I want to do. 36:37 It's not a day... I'm sorry... 36:40 It's not a day that you go shopping. 36:44 It's not a day in which you go to church 36:48 and when you get out of church you go to the mall 36:51 and go shopping. No! 36:53 That's your own ways. 36:55 God gave you six days to take care of that. 36:58 It's His day. 37:00 Very clear. And He gives you an illustration in the scripture 37:03 showing how He feels about that. 37:06 Because in Nehemiah's day they had a problem with this. 37:10 Listen: 37:27 In other words he stood there and he watched the people 37:29 as they're trading and shopping and doing all this 37:35 on the Sabbath. 37:46 Nehemiah told them: "Stop this! 37:49 Don't continue trading on the Sabbath. " 38:02 Let me tell you something. 38:04 There'll always be people around, folks, 38:07 that are willing to sell you something on the Sabbath. 38:11 That'll always be there, I can assure you. 38:16 But God said: "No, it's not a day in which you are to go 38:19 shopping. It's not a day in which you are to buy things. 38:23 Those are things that you need to take care of 38:25 some other time. " 38:41 Said: "Why... why are you doing this? 38:44 Why are you breaking the Sabbath? " 38:46 Now watch what he says to them, folks, because it's important 38:50 because people say: "Oh, it doesn't make any difference. " 38:52 Let me tell you something... it DOES make a difference. 38:57 It makes a very, very strong difference. 39:01 You see what Nehemiah says to them 39:04 as a result of their violating the Sabbath: 39:26 He said: "Your forefathers... they did this. 39:29 They didn't keep the Sabbath 39:30 and we're suffering from this today 39:33 and now you're going to turn around and do the same thing? " 39:38 Folks, all you've got to do is go back and look 39:44 and you can see clearly those who follow the Lord, 39:50 those who walk with Him, 39:52 those who keep His Sabbath, 39:55 those who obey what He says, 39:57 He blesses. 40:00 Sorry, He does. And when I'm saying keeping the Sabbath 40:03 I'm talking about not just being fanatical about it 40:07 but I'm talking about following what the scripture says. 40:17 This means it was getting dark on Friday evening... 40:21 Sabbath was beginning. 40:33 He said: "Shut the gates. " 40:35 Why did he have to do that? 40:37 Why did he have to shut the gates? 40:42 He had to shut the gates because there's some people 40:45 that will never, never, never listen. 40:50 I mean, you can tell them in clear, certain terms 40:55 and they're still going to go contrary to what scripture says. 41:08 He just didn't even shut the gates... 41:10 he put some people there guarding it. 41:22 They came there Friday evening and they found the gates shut 41:28 and so they stayed all night hoping they'd get in. 41:47 He said: "Stop it! If you don't, I'll lay hands on you. " 42:03 So it's clear the Sabbath is not a day, folks, 42:08 that I go shopping. 42:13 It's not a day that I do things that I want to do. 42:17 The Sabbath is the Lord's. 42:20 It belongs to Him. 42:22 It's not mine. 42:24 I must give it to Him; I must honor Him in that. 42:28 But it also says: 42:37 What does that mean? 42:39 That has to do with entertainment. 42:42 It's not a day in which I just have entertainment. 42:49 It's not a day that I'm going to go out and just... 42:53 you know, go somewhere. 42:57 I find people think that the Sabbath is a day 43:01 that they can just go out and, you know, 43:03 do their own pleasure on that day. 43:05 Entertainment... no! 43:07 It's not... that's not what it is. 43:09 It says: "Not finding your own pleasure. " 43:13 Now don't misunderstand me. 43:15 I don't mean by that that it's to be 43:18 a day, particularly where children are involved, 43:22 where they're told "you sit down there and you stay there. " 43:26 You know, that's not what it should be. 43:30 The Sabbath should be a time that the children enjoy. 43:34 And as parents, by the way, it is your responsibility 43:39 to see that they do! 43:41 You can't... you can't just take a child and sit them 43:44 in a chair and expect them to enjoy it. 43:48 You know? They don't. 43:50 You have to do something with them. 43:52 But, dear friends, we can do things with the children 43:55 that they love. I still... some of the fondest memories 43:59 that I have is Friday night... Sabbath evening with my children 44:04 because we... if we weren't in a meeting or something... 44:07 come home and have something to eat on Friday evening 44:12 and after we'd eaten something 44:14 sitting down on the floor 44:18 with the kids there and just 44:20 reading or singing songs with them 44:23 and just doing something as a family. 44:25 Some of the best memories I have is doing that. 44:29 It's not a day that I am to do my pleasure. 44:32 It might be Sabbath after church 44:35 it certainly wouldn't be wrong to take the children 44:38 for a walk, but it doesn't mean that I am to go play baseball. 44:43 See? And by the way, dear friend, 44:46 it also isn't a time in which I turn on the television set 44:51 and watch some movie. 44:54 That's not keeping the Sabbath, that's doing your own pleasure. 44:59 That's not what it says. It's His day, it's not my day. 45:03 It's His day, and I need to keep it 45:06 in a way that will bless me and my family 45:11 and that God would be pleased with. 45:14 It's not a time where I just go do my own thing. 45:19 Then... what's going to happen? 45:24 That's how you delight yourself in the Lord. 45:27 OK. Let's talk about resting in Christ. 45:45 In other words, what it's saying here 45:48 is the Sabbath is a time in which I am to rest physically. 45:53 They rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. 45:56 God set that day aside and said that it is a day in which 46:01 you and I should rest physically. 46:04 That is part of Sabbath keeping is to stop your work 46:09 and rest on the Sabbath. 46:12 OK. Secondly, it has something else to do. 46:17 You remember the sisters Mary and Martha? 46:20 It says: 46:52 It means to rest means that I must also learn to rest 46:57 spiritually. 46:59 I need to learn to rest spiritually. 47:03 So... how do I do that? 47:05 I'm going to read to you Hebrews the 4th chapter. 47:11 As far as I'm concerned, it gives to you a lot of counsel 47:16 about learning to rest in Christ. 47:42 OK. Didn't profit them any in faith. 47:50 In other words, it's talking about you and I 47:53 entering into the rest with Christ Jesus. 47:56 We believe... we enter into that rest. 47:59 What does that mean? 48:01 That means that I rest in confidence in Him. 48:05 That I say "here, " and I surrender my life 48:09 and say: "Yes, Lord, I rest in You. " 48:12 All right? 48:33 OK. 48:51 They didn't enter into God's rest. 48:53 They were legalistic, 48:54 but they didn't enter in because of disobedience. 49:22 Joshua could not give them rest. 49:25 He took them into the land of Canaan. 49:27 That's not the kind of rest. 49:37 Now folks, that's the way it reads in English. 49:39 If you want to read how it says it actually in Aramaic, 49:43 which is the language Jesus spoke, 49:46 it says "there remains a keeping of the Sabbath 49:49 for the people of God. " 49:51 That's what that text says in Aramaic. 49:54 "There remains a keeping of the Sabbath 49:57 to the people of God. " 50:06 OK. How do I rest? 50:09 Let me just quickly tell you how to rest. 50:12 1. Have the right attitude. 50:14 I'm sorry. I have been in situations in homes 50:19 where women have worked all day Friday 50:25 getting the house all cleaned and everything right 50:29 and everything and so that it was all done for the Sabbath 50:32 and when Friday was over and the Sabbath begun 50:36 they were so out of sorts that nobody could live with them. 50:39 That is not Sabbath keeping. 50:42 It's not what God means. My attitude needs to be right. 50:46 It's more important that my attitude is right 50:49 rather than something is clean. 50:51 Therefore, make sure as you go into the Sabbath 50:56 that your attitude is right. 50:57 If you get up Sabbath morning and you're out of sorts, 51:00 get back in bed and get out on the other side and get right. 51:04 But you don't need to be having a bad attitude. 51:07 That's not good Sabbath keeping. 51:09 Secondly, confession. 51:12 Confess your sins. 51:15 Don't go into the Sabbath carrying a great big load 51:17 of sins on your back. 51:19 God doesn't want you to do that. 51:21 You need to get rid of that. 51:23 Just confess them and get rid of them. 51:25 Says: "If we confess our sins, He is... 51:29 faithful and just to forgive us our sins 51:31 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. " 51:33 Secondly, rest from sin. 51:36 What do I mean by that? 51:38 When you get up Sabbath morning, 51:42 dedicate your life to God... give your life to Him. 51:45 Give Him that day in a special way. 51:48 Let it be His day. 51:50 Let Him have it. 51:51 Don't... you know, don't go on continuing to disobey God. 51:57 Rest from sin... stop sinning. 51:59 Stop disobeying the Lord. 52:04 Rest from making a living. 52:07 Six days you shall work and do all your work, 52:11 you don't need to work on the seventh. 52:14 That is God's day. 52:17 Stop making a living and rest in the Lord. 52:21 Understand, folks, why God gave the Sabbath. 52:25 God gave the Sabbath because you and I need to rest. 52:29 The only way I can be saved 52:33 is I must rest in what Jesus Christ did for me. 52:39 I can't do anything to be saved. 52:42 All I can do is accept what Jesus did. 52:44 So the Sabbath is to teach me that every week. 52:48 That I am to rest in Christ. 52:51 I am to rest in what He has done for me. 52:55 That is how I'm to keep the Sabbath. 52:58 So I need to rest from making a living. 53:02 I need to stop work. 53:05 Also I need to rest from the bombardment of life. 53:11 Get away... get away from all the noise, 53:16 all the bombardment. Turn that TV off and leave it off, 53:22 you know... over the Sabbath. 53:24 You don't need that going on. 53:26 I've never understood... 53:27 I wouldn't let somebody in my house, 53:29 use some languages and teach my children things 53:34 and live in my house. 53:36 You know? I wouldn't have somebody come into my house 53:39 and live in my house that would teach my kids 53:41 things that were wrong. But I'll put a TV in there 53:44 and let them listen to all that junk 53:46 and that's OK. 53:47 No, that's not OK. 53:50 Don't... get away 53:51 from the bombardment of life. 53:55 Learn to rest in Christ. 53:57 As He simply said here: 54:09 God wants you to grow in grace. 54:14 God wants you to day by day come closer to Him. 54:20 To learn of His love. 54:23 To learn of His goodness. 54:25 To learn all that He wants to do for you 54:28 and simply for you to rest. 54:30 Rest in what He has done for you. 54:34 If you will do that, God will bless you. 54:37 Every day will grow sweeter and sweeter 54:42 and sweeter as you walk with the Lord. 54:45 I hope that you will enjoy all the wonderful things 54:50 that God has for you on the Sabbath. 54:56 Jesus said in Luke chapter 8 54:58 a sower went out to sow his seed. 55:01 And as he sowed, 55:02 some fell by the wayside 55:04 and it was trampled down 55:06 and the birds of the air devoured it. 55:08 Some fell on rock 55:09 and as soon as it sprang up it withered 55:12 because it lacked moisture. 55:14 And some fell among thorns 55:16 and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 55:20 But others fell on good ground, 55:23 sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundred-fold. 55:26 Jesus Christ came to sow the seed of truth 55:29 into this world. 55:31 And just as every seed has life in it, 55:33 the Word of God is also life. 55:36 Jesus said in John 6:63 55:38 "The words that I speak to you, they are Spirit 55:42 and they are life. " 55:44 But sadly in this day and age 55:46 many professed ministers of the gospel 55:48 don't accept the Bible as God's inspired Word. 55:52 Because its plain teachings condemn their practices 55:55 they have tried to make it appear mysterious 55:58 and obscure in order to excuse their own transgressions 56:01 of God's law. 56:03 There are those who try to make everything seem 56:05 pleasant and positive. 56:07 They gloss over or ignore the warnings of God, 56:09 and thus they strip the Bible of the power to convict 56:13 sinners of their need of salvation. 56:16 But no matter how brilliant and how pleasant they sound 56:19 their message cannot satisfy the spiritual hunger 56:23 of a true seeker. 56:27 The truth is that ever since the fall of man 56:30 Satan has been busy sowing the seed of error. 56:33 But friends, when the Word of God is preached 56:36 in simplicity and sincerity, 56:38 it's powerful. 56:40 Instead of pointing out the errors of others 56:42 or seeking to combat the opponents of the gospel, 56:45 we must follow the example of Christ 56:47 and simply sow the seeds of truth. 56:50 Oh, yes, there will be seeds that will fall by the wayside, 56:55 be eaten by the birds. 56:58 Other seeds will sprout in stony soil 57:00 only to dry up for the lack of water. 57:03 Still others will fall among the thorns, 57:05 but many will spring up to bear an abundant fruit. 57:11 The sower's job is to sow seed. 57:13 And believe me, there is no greater joy 57:16 than to see the lives transformed under the influence 57:20 of the Holy Spirit. 57:21 It's an experience all of us can have, 57:24 and it's the only goal we have as a ministry team. 57:28 We have a marvelous opportunity 57:31 to sow by broadcasting these wonderful seeds of life 57:34 to the whole world. 57:36 Jesus gave all of us the gospel commission. 57:39 Won't you join us in this effort? 57:42 Please consider what you can do 57:44 for those who still don't know about Jesus. 57:47 As the Holy Spirit impresses, 57:49 you may send your tax-deductible gifts to: 58:04 Thank you for helping us to bring the Blessed Hope 58:06 to millions all around the world. |
Revised 2014-12-17