Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL120021
|
00:01 Hello, friends, grab your Bible and a friend, and sit back
00:03 as we explore God's word together 00:05 on this edition of "House Calls." 00:22 Welcome again, friends, 00:23 to a special edition of "House Calls." 00:25 We're continuing on the era number one 00:28 or era number one talking about the Bible Sabbath. 00:33 And to my right is my good friend Pastor John Stanton. 00:35 Good to have you here, John. Good to be here again. 00:38 You know, I tell you, this program, 00:39 we have taken the time to specifically focus 00:42 on an issue that has been, to a great degree-- 00:45 I think that's an understatement, 00:47 it has been grossly misrepresented 00:50 in the Christian world. 00:52 This is not so much a concern 00:53 about what's being said in the world. 00:54 If you're not a follower of Christ, 00:56 well, just honoring the Sabbath is not gonna make 00:59 a difference one way or the other. 01:00 You know, there are people that are great vegetarians 01:04 and they are vegans, 01:05 but they don't even accept Jesus at all. 01:07 You know, they just got a good diet. 01:09 So this is not about a message to those who don't know, 01:13 but to those who do know and are being taught arbitrarily 01:16 or being taught intentionally I should say, 01:19 from pulpits all around the world 01:21 that the Sabbath doesn't matter. 01:22 We've talked about and made some indent 01:25 on this topics thus far, John, 01:27 and so we're gonna go ahead 01:28 and transition now into what the Bible says 01:30 in the New Testament establishing the factors 01:33 of the last days and the significance of it 01:37 in the exercise of our worship in these last days. 01:41 Yeah, and I think the best place to start will be the cross 01:45 and Luke portrays very clearly in his transition 01:48 of the preparation day to the Sabbath, 01:53 to the Resurrection Day and then we go 01:56 right from there into the period of the church. 01:58 Very good. And we do that. 02:00 But let's start with prayer as we always do. 02:01 So bow your heads with us 02:03 as we seek the Lord in prayer. That's right. 02:05 Gracious Father in heaven, You are so good to us. 02:08 We don't deserve it. 02:09 But again, we come before You 02:11 because we are in such great need of Your blessing. 02:14 And today, Lord, it's nothing new. 02:17 We're asking for Your Holy Spirit. 02:18 We're asking for Your presence here during this program. 02:22 Reach our heart, touch our heart 02:23 with what You want us to know and teach us-- 02:27 guide us through the helper, 02:29 the Holy Spirit who will come to guide us 02:31 into that truth that we desire for our lives. 02:34 Lord, we give You our lives, we give You our hearts 02:36 and we wanna honor and glorify You in Jesus name. 02:39 Amen. Amen. 02:41 John, I'm so glad you've chosen to catapult into that-- 02:46 Now friends, as we go to Luke 23:54-56 02:51 and Luke 24:1 may be verse 2. 02:54 What are we gonna be looking at is, in fact, a yearly event 02:59 that occurs in every Christian faith, 03:03 the honoring of the resurrection of Christ. 03:06 Now, the big argument today, John, 03:07 I'm smiling now because this is a praise to the Lord text. 03:10 This is a hallelujah, thank you, Jesus, text. 03:14 When Christians get to the place where they say, Easter-- 03:19 Well, we know, I'm not gonna talk about 03:21 the pagan aspects of it, 03:22 that's not the purpose of my statement here. 03:24 When Christians get to the place 03:25 where they honor the resurrection of Christ 03:29 in many faiths, in the Christian world, 03:33 they look to--it's called holy week in the Catholic Church 03:37 and the majority of my family is Catholic. 03:40 They look to holy week and then they come to Ash Wednesday, 03:46 Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. 03:52 Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, 03:57 which in some-- it's also called Palm Sunday. 04:01 Sometimes, Easter Sunday is called Palm Sunday. 04:04 You know, your Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, 04:06 Good Friday, Easter Sunday, sorry. 04:08 And so you have clearly these observances 04:11 that mark out the clear explanations 04:15 that these verses, we're going to read, 04:18 have brought to the forefront. 04:20 So we're gonna read this verses and 04:21 we're gonna stop along the way and explain clearly 04:24 where we are in the exercise of Good Friday, 04:28 Easter Sunday, all right? 04:30 It also answers the question, how do we know 04:33 the seventh day is Saturday. Right. 04:36 Still today. Right. 04:37 How do we know that it's Saturday? 04:40 Maybe it's all shifted because you know 04:41 the calendars have changed. Right. 04:43 The calendars have changed with the adjustment 04:47 or the adopting of a different system. Right. 04:50 But the weekly cycle itself has not changed. 04:54 It is never changed the cycle of Sunday, 04:56 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. 04:59 Right. They even named the days. 05:01 It used to be day one, day two, day three, 05:03 but now it's Sunday, Monday, Tuesday 05:06 and that part has never changed. 05:07 Just the date, the number of the date 05:10 has changed and shifted. 05:12 And so since this time, since the crucifixion of Christ 05:16 and His resurrection, nothing has changed. 05:19 It is still in the order as presented here 05:23 in the scriptures, from Luke 23. 05:26 And I'm gonna start with verse 53, or 52. 05:33 And this is Joseph and it said, 05:35 "This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus." 05:39 Jesus had been crucified. 05:40 He had died and they're asking for His body. 05:43 "Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen 05:46 and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of a rock, 05:50 where no one had ever lain before." 05:52 That day was, John? The preparation. That's right. 05:57 And the Sabbath drew near. 06:00 So it is not the Sabbath yet, it's the preparation day, 06:03 that preparation day is commonly 06:05 also known as Friday. That's right. 06:09 And that's when Jesus was crucified. 06:11 Now there is some confusion, 06:13 we don't have time to talk about this. 06:14 Some say, well may be he wasn't crucified on Friday, 06:16 maybe it was earlier in the week. 06:18 The crucifixion clearly here established 06:20 was on the preparation day, the day has always been Friday. 06:23 History will tell you that. 06:25 Verse 55, "And the women who had come 06:28 with him from Galilee followed after, 06:30 and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid. 06:33 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrance oil." 06:36 And they did, what, John? 06:38 And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. 06:42 There you go. According to the, what? 06:45 Commandment. Commandment. 06:47 So the disciples are commandment keepers? Right. 06:50 They're also Sabbath keepers 06:52 because they did what Jesus asked them to do, 06:54 that is from Sabbath to Sabbath to observe God's-- 06:57 to remember and observe God's Holy Day. 07:00 Now notice this, verse 1 of Chapter 25 or 24. 07:07 "Now on the first day of the week, 07:09 very early in the morning, they, 07:11 and certain other women with them, 07:12 came to the tomb bringing the spices 07:14 which they had prepared, 07:16 but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 07:20 then they went in and did not find 07:22 the body of the Lord Jesus." 07:23 John, what had happened? He rose. He rose. 07:26 He rose from the grave. From His--His tomb. 07:31 And today He is still risen. 07:34 And clearly, John, we see established here 07:36 a sequence of days on where these events happened, 07:42 preparation day, crucifixion, the Sabbath, 07:45 Christ resting in the grave, 07:47 His--He in being dead following the crucifixion. 07:51 Sunday, the first day of the week very early 07:53 in the morning being resurrected from the tomb. That's right. 07:58 And that has not changed. 08:00 In fact, I would suggest to you they-- 08:04 well, maybe we're too early to talk about this, 08:06 but the very church that claims the authority 08:08 to have changed that Sabbath to Resurrection Day, 08:12 which we now mostly Christian world observes as the Sabbath. 08:16 They believe it is the Sabbath, as Resurrection Day, 08:18 claims do it on the authority of the resurrection. 08:22 And by virtue of the fact that, 08:24 that resurrection happened on the first day of the week 08:27 which is why we observe or most Christians observe 08:29 the first day of the week in church worship 08:32 and other things that we've now been doing 08:35 as a matter of tradition in the Christian church for now, 08:38 how many centuries? Since early 300 or 4th century. Right. 08:43 Really, 4th century A.D. 08:45 So that's--anyway that's kind of an ushering 08:48 into now what we're seeing as the, 08:51 or what the Bible is gonna describe now 08:53 through the book of Acts as the church era, 08:56 the era of the church under the new covenant. 08:59 And we want to see, John, here whether or not 09:01 the Sabbath was changed at this time or not. Okay. 09:06 Because this is the allegation. This is what is being taught. 09:11 That as the resurrection happened, 09:14 that is when the Sabbath was changed to Sunday 09:16 and that's why we see the disciples 09:19 and others observing the Sabbath 09:21 on this first day of the week in the book of Acts. 09:23 We've got to find out if that's true. 09:25 Okay, well, now--let me begin with the words of Jesus 09:27 because this is a very wonderful place to start. 09:29 I would take the word of Jesus probably, sorry-- 09:33 I would take the word of Jesus 09:34 unequivocally over anyone else's word. 09:37 I mean, that's what we have to get to the place and do. 09:40 We have to say, okay, I know what the pastor said, 09:42 but Jesus says, I know what my church says, 09:46 but Jesus says, that's what we have to do 09:48 and that is missing in Christianity nowadays. 09:52 We are honoring people with mega degrees and giga, 09:55 mega churches like as though there are some, 09:58 they are the new God. That is not God's intent. 10:03 God is to be worshipped. 10:05 When John was about to bow before the angel 10:07 in Revelation 19, the angel says 10:09 "Don't do this, I am of your fellow servant 10:11 and your brethren, worship God" and what's missing today, 10:14 is God's word has been so minimized with the word 10:17 "but" and then they go on to explain something 10:20 that's not supported by God's word. 10:22 But when you read the words of Jesus in reference 10:24 to destruction that was going to come to Jerusalem 10:29 39 years after He made this statement. That's right. 10:32 You'll find that Jesus by His own words acknowledged 10:38 that the Sabbath would still be in place after His death, 10:42 after His resurrection, and after His ascension. 10:46 And as the Christians of the early church 10:50 were coming together for worship. 10:51 Right, the reason why they continued worshipping 10:53 on the Sabbath is because it wasn't an issue. 10:56 But before we're done in the program, 10:58 we hope to try to get to it. 10:59 If not maybe we might think of stretching this. 11:01 But here's my point, 11:03 Jesus by His own words made it very clear 11:06 that long after I'm gone, 11:07 I'm back in heaven preparing a place for you, 11:10 be careful that when destruction comes to you in Jerusalem, 11:14 it doesn't happen on the Sabbath. 11:15 Here's His words, Matthew 24 and let's start with verse 17. 11:23 We're gonna talk about the abomination of desolation 11:26 in verse 15, but let's go ahead and read, 11:29 when destruction comes. 11:30 Verse 16. Matthew 24:16 down to verse 20. 11:35 "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, 11:39 let him who is on the housetop not come down 11:43 to take anything out of his house." 11:44 In other words, just get. 11:46 Get out of there. Get out of there. 11:48 "And let him who is in the field" 11:50 verse 18 "not go back to get his clothes. 11:54 But woe to those who are pregnant 11:56 and those who are nursing babies in those days." 11:58 This is gonna be tough. 12:00 And then He says in verse 20, 12:01 the words that admit by Jesus' own words, 12:04 He confirmed the continued existence of the Sabbath 12:08 long after His death, and resurrection, and ascension. 12:11 "And pray that your flight 12:13 may not be in winter or on the Sabbath." 12:19 Capitalize Sabbath there. Jesus is saying 12:23 when destruction comes to Jerusalem, 12:26 I pray that it doesn't happened on the Sabbath. 12:29 And, John, tell me, why? 12:30 What would the Christians be doing on the Sabbath? 12:34 They'll be worshipping in the synagogue or in a church. 12:37 And they all know exactly where to find them, 12:40 to destroy them, to take their lives. 12:43 And when you read about the destruction of Jerusalem, 12:46 Josephus, the historian in A.D.-- 12:48 talks about the destruction in A.D.70. 12:50 This statement was made in A.D. 31. 12:54 So 39 years after Jesus ascended to heaven, 12:57 He, Jesus, is saying, there'll still be-- 12:59 the Sabbath will still be in place. Right. 13:01 And He was not talking about a new Sabbath. 13:05 This is the transition now we have to make. 13:07 We have to confirm here that there was no transition 13:10 between what Jesus said, and what the disciples did. 13:14 We talked about that, we touched on that briefly, 13:16 but now we're gonna go 13:17 to some of the passages in the New Testament. 13:19 After John makes his point, 13:21 'cause I know you want to reiterate something. 13:22 We're gonna go to some passages in the New Testament, 13:25 specifically in the book of Acts, 13:26 to show that these disciples 13:28 knew clearly what Jesus meant. 13:30 And by the way, we began the program 13:32 with that very text in Luke 23:54-56 13:35 and Luke 24:1 showing that when Jesus was in the tomb, 13:40 the women that were gonna anoint His body, 13:42 they didn't do so, on the Sabbath 13:44 because they rested, according to the commandment. 13:46 They rested according to the commandment, 13:48 the fourth commandment. Jesus even rested at His death. 13:54 He was in the tomb on the Sabbath day. 13:58 So now, let's go to a couple of passages 13:59 in the New Testament. What do you wanna say before we...? 14:02 No, let's just go to several of them. All right. 14:04 We're gonna read from Acts 13, Acts 17, Acts 18. Acts 6-- 14:10 Several things, that are clearly indicators, 14:14 the day that both Jews and Gentiles 14:18 came together for worship. 14:20 That's right. Okay, which one? 14:21 Spend time observing God Sabbath day. 14:23 Let's start with the first one, go for it. 14:25 So the first one, I want to kind of give you 14:27 every instance. Right. 14:28 Let's look at most of these here. 14:30 Acts 13:42 and 44. All right. 14:34 Verse 42 says, "So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, 14:37 the Gentiles begged that these words 14:39 might be preached to them the next Sabbath." 14:43 And then verse 44 says, "On the next Sabbath 14:45 almost the whole city came together 14:47 to hear the word of God." This is now the Sabbath. 14:50 That's right. All right? 14:52 Now, why do we know this isn't Sunday? 14:54 Because the Sabbath is a different word 14:57 than the first day of the week. That's right. 15:00 These are two different days 15:01 as we're just seeing Luke describe. 15:03 Dr. Luke, who wrote the book of Luke 15:05 which we just read from also, wrote the book of Acts. 15:08 He didn't just mess up in his language. 15:10 He was consistent. 15:12 He says this is the Sabbath, another day, 15:15 the first day of the week, is a different day. 15:18 And the Sabbath was the day that Jews and Gentiles 15:20 came together to worship the Lord and to praise His name. 15:25 And so we see the first instance of that here in Acts 13, John. 15:30 So there you go, Acts 13:42 and 44. 15:34 So right away we find the Jews and the Gentiles, Sabbath. 15:38 Paul and Barnabas preaching on the Sabbath, clearly. 15:42 Now, let's look at the next reference. 15:43 Here we go to the Acts 17, Acts 17 Verse 2. 15:49 And look at verse 2. 15:51 And this one is significant because this is where 15:53 Thessalonica where they began to turn the world upside down. 15:57 And when you look at this, it is very significant. 16:00 Then we're gonna go to the passages 16:01 that are commonly referred to as the text that holds the change. 16:07 But we'll see that it's completely contrary, 16:10 there is no change. 16:12 Okay, Acts 17:1 and 2, 16:15 "Now when they had passed through 16:18 Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, 16:26 where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 16:29 Then Paul, as his custom was went into them, 16:35 and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures. 16:42 Now explaining and demonstrating 16:46 that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead 16:50 and saying, 'this Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.' 16:56 And some of them were persuaded 16:59 and a great multitude of the devout Greeks 17:04 and not a Jew of the leading woman joined Paul and Silas." 17:10 Not a few, yeah. 17:12 Not a few, that means who accepted the fact? 17:15 The Greeks so for the-- Lots of them. Lots of them. 17:17 Not few, but many. 17:18 So the Greeks accepted Christ, 17:20 but where did the Greeks hear this message? 17:23 On the Sabbath day. 17:24 And that's-- that of course parallels Acts 13 17:27 which we just read where he was-- 17:30 Paul was persuading both Jews and Greeks, Jews and Gentiles. 17:34 That's right. On the Sabbath. 17:36 And this clearly here is repeating that 17:38 it was Paul's custom as well as it was Jesus' custom 17:40 when He was on this earth. 17:42 Now let's go to Acts 18. 17:45 We actually didn't go to one 17:47 but we'll go back to that in a moment. 17:49 Acts 18:4, read that one for us, John. 17:51 "And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, 17:54 and persuaded both Jews and Greeks." Okay. 17:58 So we have a connection with both-- 18:00 worship of both of them going on. 18:02 There's no separate day. 18:03 And when He says, he persuaded, 18:06 he reasoned with them every Sabbath 18:07 and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. 18:09 In this particular instance, Paul was reasoning, 18:13 and when he says every Sabbath, 18:14 he was there for a year and a half. 18:18 How many days? That's verse 11. 18:19 We know that from verse 11. 18:21 A year and a half he was there. 18:23 A year and six months. 18:25 Now, how many-- how many months is that? 18:27 That's 18 months, isn't it? Yeah. 18:28 Okay. How many Sabbaths is that? 18? 18:31 How many Sabbaths is that? 18:32 I think its 72 or 78 Sabbath. 18:36 78 Sabbaths in a row. 18:39 Now, if I had changed something, 18:43 I would have been really upset with Paul, 18:45 that he would have been sending the wrong message. 18:48 If God intended to change, 18:49 if Jesus had nailed the Sabbath to the cross. 18:52 I would have said this guy is not representing me. 18:54 I would not have his works recorded. 18:56 Matter of fact, I would refer to him 18:58 not as an apostle to the Gentiles, 19:00 but an apostate apostle. 19:02 Yet by his very actions, a year and six months, 19:05 78 weeks in a row, 78 Sabbaths in a row, 19:09 he preached to Jews and Greeks. 19:13 You know, John, I see no evidence of a change there. 19:15 So that's clearly not any place you can go to to suggest 19:20 that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday. That's right. 19:22 'Cause there is a consistency here of meeting every Sabbath. 19:24 That's right, and you know what's amazing 19:26 about this book it's called the Acts of the Apostles. 19:29 There are shortened-- shortened to Acts. 19:32 This is what they did? 19:34 This is what they did? So if I'm an apostle, 19:36 if I'm carrying a message as a preacher, 19:39 I should be following what the apostles did. 19:42 So this idea of the Apostles' Creed, 19:43 it's all in the life of the apostles. 19:45 This is what they did. 19:47 They're not doing anything out of harmony 19:48 with what Jesus established from the very beginning, 19:51 Old Testament, the life of Christ, 19:53 He did the same thing. 19:54 He said it was gonna exist 19:56 long after He had ascended to heaven. 19:57 So that's why they're continuing to honor the Sabbath. 20:00 Now let's go to another reference Acts 16:13. 20:03 I'd like you to read that one for me. 20:05 It says, "On the Sabbath day we went out of the city 20:08 to the river side, where prayer was customarily made; 20:11 and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there." 20:15 Okay, the reason why they did it by the river side is 20:17 because they were not enough men to begin 20:19 a physical church building, but they continued worshipping, 20:22 so they went down by the river side. 20:25 But, once again, no evidence there 20:27 that there was any change in the Sabbath. 20:29 We're seeing consistently, over and over 20:32 the New Testament Church. 20:34 Get this, friends, the New Testament Church. 20:38 We are the New Testament Church. 20:39 The New Testament Christian did not change the day 20:45 from the seventh day Sabbath to the first day. 20:49 Any change yet, John? No, no change. 20:51 Okay, so now what I wanna do, is now I'm gonna dive 20:54 into the fray and bring up the favorite text 20:58 in the book of Acts that is often sided 21:02 as the change coming into play. Okay. 21:04 All right? Let's go Acts 20:7. 21:06 We're gonna look at all these texts. 21:08 Acts 20:7 and I'd like you to read that one for us, John. 21:11 I'm gonna look up something else here 21:12 while you're reading Acts 20:7. 21:14 And this is particularly very significant, read Acts 20:7. 21:19 Okay, it says, verse 7, 21:20 "Now on the first day of the week, 21:22 when the disciples came together to break bread, 21:25 Paul, ready to depart the next day, 21:27 spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. 21:31 There were many lamps in the upper room 21:34 where they were gathered together." 21:36 So one of the interesting things about this text, 21:38 is that it shows that the disciples 21:40 and those that were worshipping together, 21:43 gathered during an evening. Right. 21:46 This is where many lamps were burning. 21:49 This is where the message continued until midnight 21:51 that Paul was preaching 21:53 and they were gathered together in the evening. 21:55 Now, here's the one of the interesting things 21:56 about this is that we-- here it commonly taught 21:59 that on the first day of the week, 22:01 look there's a gathering of the people together. 22:02 And they're breaking bread. 22:04 And they're breaking bread. So clearly there's a change. 22:06 Well, number one, the first problem is, 22:08 this is the first day of the week 22:09 and it's in opposition to the Sabbath 22:11 that they met inconsistently or consistently 22:14 throughout, up to this point. That's right. 22:18 But keep in mind here, 22:19 there's one thing that often people forget, 22:22 to this day-- during this day 22:25 the custom of the Jews as a nation, 22:28 and as a people, and had been for many years, 22:31 was that the day began at evening. That's right. 22:36 So where the sunset that was 22:39 the beginning of the next day. Correct. 22:41 So the beginning of the first day of the week 22:44 was actually in our day, Saturday night. Okay. 22:48 So the Sabbath, which is why the Jews to this day, 22:52 we, as well, observe the seventh day of the week 22:56 from Friday sun down 'cause that's the beginning 22:58 of the seventh day to Saturday sun down. That's right. 23:00 Then on Saturday sun down is the first day 23:02 of the week till Sunday sun down. That's right. 23:04 So this here is a meeting that's taking place 23:07 in vernacular today on Saturday night. Right. 23:11 What were they doing on Saturday night? 23:13 Well, if you do some research, John, I was looking online. 23:15 There was a custom that the Jews 23:19 had where they would get together 23:20 and we call it vespers, having a vesper program. 23:23 But they had vespers as well. 23:25 They got together regularly to close out the Sabbath. 23:28 They'd been observing the Sabbath all day, 23:30 they'd spent time together, the evening now 23:32 had come and they were having Sabbath vespers. 23:34 This was simply saying that as they spent 23:36 the whole day together on the seventh day, 23:38 as the evening came about, they had this vesper program 23:42 and Paul preached during this vesper program 23:44 until midnight. All right. 23:46 That is what's happening here. 23:48 There is no endorsement of a Sunday worship service 23:52 or a first day of the week, except that it's at evening, 23:55 on Saturday night worship service here. 23:57 So we easily can dismiss this text from being-- 24:00 providing any kind of support for a change 24:03 of the observance of Sabbath to Sunday. 24:05 And the other thing that is amazing here 24:06 that we cannot afford to not mention is, 24:10 there's almost the suggestion that by doing something 24:12 you change what God has done. 24:15 There's a suggestion here by-- 24:17 let's just say, now we met on Sunday. 24:20 And matter of fact, we give--we have 24:22 a Bible study training class on Sunday morning, 24:25 and we met three Sundays in a row, 24:27 would that action say to the community, 24:30 now the Seventh-day Adventist Church 24:33 is honoring the first day of the week? 24:35 Absolutely, not. That's the same instance here. 24:38 Paul was gathering together-- 24:39 He was about to take a 16 to 20 city tour all throughout Asia. 24:46 He was gonna go from one location 24:48 to the other, eventually, ending up in Rome, 24:50 where in the duration, in the process of this journey, 24:54 he was arrested and eventually ended up to Rome 24:56 and appealed to Caesar. 24:57 You find that in Acts 27. 24:58 But he was simply giving his farewell sermon 25:03 to the Christians at Troas 25:06 and when Eutychus fell from the window 25:10 because he preached so long and so late in the evening. 25:12 I don't feel bad, I preach sometimes up to an hour 25:15 and may be a little bit after that. 25:16 But Paul preached and even after Eutychus was 25:19 brought back to life he continued preaching. 25:21 He was biding them farewell as he was gonna begin a long tour. 25:25 But here's what the-here's what the inference, 25:27 here's what the suggestions are when people read this text. 25:30 They said see, they were breaking bread 25:32 on the first day of the week. 25:35 That's what this text is used to say. 25:37 But, friends, what they don't tell you 25:39 is what Acts 2:46 says. Go there with me. 25:43 Showing you once again 25:44 that the actions of man cannot remove, 25:47 nor abricate, nor alter the command of God. 25:51 Here it is, Acts 2:46. Notice what it says. 25:56 "So continuing" what is the next word, John? Daily. 25:59 "Daily with one accord in the temple, 26:03 and breaking bread from house to house, 26:07 they ate their food 26:08 with gladness and simplicity of heart." 26:12 Verse 47 "Praising God 26:14 and having favor with all the people. 26:16 And the Lord added to the church." 26:18 How frequently, John? Daily. 26:21 Those who were being saved, this was evangelism. 26:25 This what, this is exactly what this was-- 26:27 house to house temple evangelism. 26:30 Everyday people were being saved. 26:32 Well, how're they gonna be saved everyday? 26:34 By breaking bread in the temple and from house to house. 26:37 These people are serious about 26:39 getting the message out. That's right. 26:40 That's what this is saying. 26:42 The breaking of bread was not an action to abricate, 26:44 nullify or void the fourth commandment. 26:49 So we have no evidences thus far. 26:50 But let's go to another text now. 26:52 This is text number 1. 26:54 Acts 20:7. When you read-- when you listen 26:56 to a sermon by very popular preacher, 26:59 take note, all those popular preachers 27:03 deceive their congregation with this text. 27:05 And they use this text and say, 27:07 in this verse to Christians transfer the legalistic Sabbath 27:12 from the Jews to the first day of the week 27:15 after the resurrection of Christ. 27:19 Lie. Not true. And here's what-- 27:21 This is not a transference of the Sabbath. 27:23 We want to say this. 27:25 We want to be respectful, 27:26 but we want to be defensive of the truth. Exactly. 27:29 This is where we're being defensive 27:30 of the truth not to be disrespectful. 27:33 We say this because it is my belief that many of them 27:37 actually do understand that there was a-- 27:40 there was no change. How'd they know that? 27:42 And the Sabbath is Sunday. 27:44 The real issue is that if they were to change, 27:47 they would lose most of their congregation 27:49 and they would lose the financial benefits 27:51 that come from pastoring the church. 27:53 It's a sad reality, but it's true. It is true. 27:55 We've had preachers that told us that. 27:56 And I'm respectfully stating the truth, 27:59 because most of the time, on this subject, 28:02 it is a rationalization of the practice, 28:04 not an actual search to put the church 28:07 in harmony with God's word. Right. 28:09 And this is where we're standing up and saying, 28:11 you know, we're living in the last days 28:12 and this is becoming-- it's going to become the issue. 28:16 The bifurcating, separating issue between 28:19 God's faithful people and those who are observing 28:23 a man made setup, a tradition. That's right. 28:25 If that's the case, we must get this message out 28:28 which is why we're doing this special series, 28:31 a sharing series here on the Sabbath. 28:33 And of course the second great era 28:35 which is coming up on the immortality of the soul. 28:40 So anyway, I just wanted to say that because--I'm glad you did. 28:43 We keep harping on this, 28:44 but we're trying not to do this disrespectfully. 28:46 We're trying to do this with respect, 28:48 but there's also sometimes the truth does have 28:50 that two edge sword, it does cut. 28:52 And, you know what, we want to agitate, 28:54 and the word I'm using there agitate is intentional. 28:57 We want to agitate the mind because, you know what, 29:00 so many Christians don't think, 29:02 they just do what the pastor says. 29:04 They don't read their Bibles. 29:05 They sit in church like this 29:07 and they listen to these classically, 29:09 wonderfully put together oratorial displays. 29:13 They don't do anything. Itching--Itching ears, 29:14 what's that verse. 29:15 Yeah, they gather to themselves 29:17 teachers, having itching ears. 29:18 Paul talked about that in the last days, 29:20 there'll be teachers that will gather to themselves. 29:22 They will gather teachers that have itching years. 29:24 They'll turn away from the truth and be turned to fables. 29:26 And the itching ears, there is they want to have their ways, 29:30 their ears scratched. 29:31 So they feel good about what they practice already, 29:34 not to learn the truth, 29:35 but that someone would endorse and support their lifestyle. 29:38 And that's unfortunate that the truth 29:39 offends sometime because if you are Christians-- 29:42 I heard a preacher just recently say, 29:44 the truth is so important to the people of God. 29:46 We've got to honor the truth and in the very same sermon 29:48 he's teaching the Sabbath was changed 29:49 to the first day of the week. 29:51 And I am thinking, apply that principle to yourself. 29:54 But now, let's go to the next passage and, John, 29:57 I want you to read here in the book of 1 Corinthians 16. 30:03 First Corinthians 16, I want you to look together 30:05 with me at verse 1 and read that for us. 30:10 "Now concerning the collection for the saints as I have 30:14 given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. 30:19 On the first of the week that each one of you 30:21 lay something aside storing up as He may prosper. 30:27 That there may be no collection when I come." 30:29 Okay, now, this passage in fact 30:33 is speaking about the famine 30:38 that had gripped the church. 30:41 And in order for the relief to come to those 30:46 who were effected by famine. 30:49 This was what I may refer to as a Red Cross, 30:53 or Salvation Army attempt. 30:55 Special call to give. 30:56 A special call to give. 30:58 But what I want you to notice 30:59 is this collection did not take place in a church. 31:03 There's no church gathering here. 31:05 The gathering was what the people 31:07 did at their own homes, 31:09 that there be no gathering when I come. 31:11 Otherwise you'll be pulling things together 31:13 while I am standing at the doorway. 31:15 Get this again. 31:16 On the first day of the week Acts 16, verse 2. 31:20 Let each one of you lay something aside. 31:24 Lay it aside, clothing, food, 31:27 canned food whatever. Store it up. 31:29 Storing up as He may prosper 31:34 that there be no collections when I come. 31:40 Now, when you come to church, but when I come to your house. 31:44 But this text has been twisted. 31:46 When Christians gathered together in the church, 31:48 they had a collection on the first day of the week. 31:50 That's not what this says. 31:51 And if you go on further, 31:53 you will notice that as they continue this collection. 31:57 And look at verse 3. 31:58 "And when I come whomever you appoint by your letters 32:03 I will sent to bear you a gift to," where? 32:06 "Jerusalem." The Christians in Jerusalem were 32:09 experiencing a famine and they were getting all they could, 32:13 all the goods they could 32:14 to relieve the suffering of those in Jerusalem. 32:17 So you go on further and you see the story. 32:19 "But if it is fitting" verse 4 "that I go also, 32:22 they will go with me." And then conclusions down here. 32:25 "Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia 32:28 for I am passing through Macedonia." 32:30 And so He is continuing going from city to city 32:32 to gather food, to gather provision 32:35 for those who are under famine 32:38 and in under dourest in Jerusalem. 32:40 Now, we need to answer though 32:41 why this was to begin on the first day of the week, 32:44 because there is a principle here. 32:46 They had been gathering together on the seventh day of the week. 32:50 And this is the very next day-- the first day of the week. 32:52 This is when the collection or the gathering should begin. 32:55 That's right Start thinking-- 32:57 here's the principle, start thinking about your offerings 32:59 and your gifts before you get to church. 33:01 Start thinking about your offerings and gifts 33:03 for the next Sabbath when you come together to worship 33:06 on the very day after you've spent 33:09 the last Sabbath at your church. 33:11 Sometimes I think, John, as pastors we wonder 33:13 with our giving in congregations 33:15 that it's just like whatever is in your pocket. 33:19 Oh, what do I have? Right. 33:21 And they pull out and throw it in the envelope. 33:22 Paul is saying here, I want you to think about it 33:24 as early as possible which should be the first day, 33:26 the day after you've gathered together 33:28 for your next offering. That's right. 33:31 So the principle here it clearly follows 33:33 that they've all ready come together to observe. 33:36 Now, individually they are setting something aside, 33:38 storing it up beginning the first day of the week on. 33:41 Right. So these two passages the most popular ones Acts 20: 7 33:47 and First Corinthians 16:1 down to verse 4 33:52 You could read the rest of the story 33:54 because the collection continued. 33:55 They were relieving the suffering, 33:57 point--bread was broken, 34:00 bread was broken by the Christians everyday. 34:03 Acts 2:46 is a supplement to Acts 21:7 showing, 34:07 you that breaking of bread 34:09 was not a first day, new Sabbath, 34:11 new day of worship activity. 34:14 Not at all supported by scripture. 34:16 First Corinthians 16 was a collection 34:18 for the saints that were in hardship in Jerusalem. 34:22 They were going from house to house collecting. 34:24 This was not a collection taken up in church 34:27 on the first day of the week. 34:28 This first day of the week collecting 34:30 was taken up from house to house. 34:32 They were collecting from house to house. 34:35 Read the story that, they'll be no collecting 34:37 when I come to your house, not when you come to church. 34:41 So these are out of window. Yeah. 34:43 Now let's-- look in third--third one 34:45 you want to transition by saying something. 34:46 No, go ahead, we see we have a lot to cover. 34:48 We've lot to cover. Twenty minutes left. 34:49 So going fast. So We need to move on 34:52 because we got to cover Colossians 2. 34:54 We got to cover Ephesians 2. Okay. 34:57 Romans 14. And by the way-- 34:59 by the way I want to point this out. 35:00 We did that in a former program 35:02 when we talked about the two laws contrasted. 35:05 So but, we all just include a little portion of that 35:08 in this program because it fits here. 35:09 Revelation 1:10. It's the third text that's often referred to. 35:13 And by the way some of your chain references-- 35:15 reference Bibles do the job on you 35:17 because the chain references are not inspired references. 35:20 These are chained references 35:21 often put in by the commentators, 35:23 by the people who put these Bibles together. 35:26 You'll notice in your Bible at Revelation 1:10 35:29 the chain reference points you to Acts 20:7 35:32 when you read the phrase the Lord's Day. 35:34 That's the classic way that Satan has used people 35:38 to drive your mind opposite 35:39 to what God's word actually says. 35:41 I'm being frank about it. Read out Revelation 1:10. 35:45 "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, 35:47 and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet." 35:50 Now, I head the preacher say again. 35:54 Revelation 1:10, they gathered on the Lord's day 35:57 the first day of the week. 35:59 You will find no scriptural support 36:00 for that at all, none whatsoever. 36:03 And once again, I reiterate, 36:05 man cannot change in the course of human history 36:09 what God never changed, what Jesus never changed, 36:12 and what the disciples had no authority to change. 36:15 So who changed it? God didn't, 36:17 Jesus wouldn't, the apostles couldn't. 36:21 So the question is, who did. All right. That's true. 36:24 In fact I did some looking up here real quick 36:26 while we were talking about some other things. 36:28 You find the change happened in the 4th century, 36:31 atleast the beginning of the change. Right. 36:33 Ah, history will tell you 36:34 and you don't have to go too far 36:35 to actually look into this. Right. 36:37 But history will tell you that there was a time 36:39 where the Jews really fell out of favor in Rome. 36:41 Rome wanted to really separate 36:44 from any appearance whatsoever of the Jews. 36:47 They call it Judaizing. Yes. 36:48 And Constantine, who's in power now 36:51 starts to see that the Christians-- 36:54 you know what, there is something maybe 36:56 that I can agree with within Christianity, 36:58 but it was more from a sense of establishing his own power 37:02 and his ability throughout the kingdom the empire 37:05 that he was overseeing as emperor of Rome. 37:09 But what we have here is to separate now 37:12 from an appearance of Judaism which they also believed 37:16 was ritualistic, 37:19 very legalistic, burdensome. 37:26 They felt that if we could just change the day 37:29 and in fact what they did was they changed the day to the day 37:32 that we aleady as pagans worship. That is right. 37:36 Which is Sunday, look up the official 37:39 that the major day of the worship for pagans. 37:41 Pagans worship the ultimate God, 37:43 their supreme God is the Sun God. 37:45 It is Sunday in honor of him. 37:48 That is the day they were used to worshipping. 37:50 So they want to transition what was a very Jewish thing 37:53 they perceived to a pagan thing that they already observed. 37:56 And in doing so, it brought favor with the people 38:01 who then, when Constantine proclaimed himself Christian. 38:03 They assigned to Christianity itself. 38:05 That's how paganism began to merge in with Christianity. 38:09 In fact, and I have the very edict issued--Okay. 38:12 By Constantine himself in 321 A.D. Here's what it says. 38:17 "On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people 38:21 residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. 38:26 In the country however persons engaged in agriculture 38:29 may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often 38:32 happens that another day is not suitable for grain-sowing 38:35 or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment 38:38 for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. 38:41 So here on the venerable day of the Sun that the magistrates 38:44 and the people reside in the cities rest." 38:47 You have here the first sign of legislated day of worship. 38:53 That's right, and it's called, 38:54 and I wanna say what John just said. 38:56 The venerable day of the Sun, 38:59 you wanna catch that "sun-day" worship. 39:03 Now we know the names of the days 39:05 were not assigned in the Bible. 39:06 But if you look throughout various cultures, 39:09 various language groups around the world, 39:11 you'll find the word for Sabbath is closely associated 39:15 with the original word in the Bible 39:17 and the Hebrew, Shabbat. That's right. 39:20 And you'll find clearly that it's, you know, Sabbatismos, 39:26 Sabbath you will find in the Syriac language. 39:29 They when the first of the week is called Sunday 39:32 in our language, but they call it one day into the Sabbath, 39:36 two day into the Sabbath, three days into the Sabbath, 39:39 four days into the Sabbath, five days into the Sabbath. 39:41 When they got to Friday they called it eve of the Sabbath. 39:45 And then when the Sabbath came they called it Shabbat-- 39:49 Sabath, the day of the Sabbath. 39:53 That was in the Syriac language, in the Persian language. 39:56 So when the Sabbath ended, right after the Sabbath 39:59 they called it one day, two day, three day, four day, five day 40:02 when they got to the sixth day 40:03 they called it eve of the Sabbath. 40:06 And when you go throughout all human history 40:07 you will be hard pressed to find any of the day 40:11 established as a day of worship other than that. 40:13 I wanna also read another quotation 40:15 because what we're pointing out here and, John, 40:17 very, very good point you made here. 40:19 The change was not done by God, by Jesus, 40:22 by the disciples or the apostles. 40:24 It wasn't done by the New Testament Christian Church, 40:26 it was done by Rome. 40:27 Pagan Rome, now Papal Rome partnered into bringing 40:32 into the Christian fellowship by persecution 40:36 and by the from 303 to 313 A.D. 40:41 Roman emperor Diocletian did all he could 40:43 to wipe out the Christian church. 40:45 But 321 A.D. Roman Emperor Constantine established 40:50 under his Christianity a new day of worship. 40:53 The venerable day of the Sun now being given to the Christians 40:58 and they began by feasting 40:59 and merry-making making of a light day. 41:02 And they made the Sabbath look like a burden 41:03 they called the Judaizing to make it look like 41:06 the Jews were the ones that were doing everything 41:09 that was burdensome and evil. 41:10 And that was the next counsel in 364 saying that Christians 41:14 must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath 41:16 but must not work on that day or must to work, 41:19 excuse me, on that day. That's right. 41:21 So encouraging them to work. That's right. 41:23 On the Sabbath, but honoring the Lord's Day 41:26 which they said was now Sunday. 41:28 You know, John, I wish we had time to do this 41:29 and maybe you could check back with us on this, 41:31 but I have an entire presentation of the movement 41:34 of the first day, Sunday worship being pushed. 41:37 As in Croatia, and Germany, and England, 41:40 and various parts of the world, 41:41 the first day is it being established in a law setting. 41:46 What's the word legislatively being established as a day being 41:49 honored and recognized as a holy day. 41:52 And the Pope, this present Pope is saying, we must honor Sunday, 41:55 it is a matter of our salvation. 41:57 We must give our soul at Sunday give Sunday its soul. 42:00 Its amazing quotations, I don't have time to put it here, 42:02 but I do have all the information. 42:04 But here's another question, 42:06 speaking about the change of the day. 42:08 And by the way, as I read this I recognize that my family. 42:12 I once again, I say this ton of times, 42:14 but some of you may miss it. 42:15 My family is predominantly Catholic, 42:18 so I am not beating anybody up. 42:19 I love my family to the nth degree every single one of them. 42:23 But I cannot stand by and watch their hearts and their lives 42:27 be intentionally deceived by what their church admit 42:32 has no scriptural authority, 42:34 but rest solely on the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. 42:37 Yeah. That's what happened during the Dark Ages. 42:39 Let me go ahead and read this. 42:41 Notice the following section from a Catholic catechism. 42:44 And I will give you the reference 42:46 right here as we are done. 42:48 Matter of fact what we're going to do at this program is take 42:49 this and put in just this as the DVD 42:50 and add these quotation and scriptures to it and make it 42:53 available to the public, that's yet to come. 42:55 Have you any other way of proving that the church has 42:59 power to institute festivals of precept? 43:03 Answer, from the Catholic Church. 43:06 Had she not such power she could not have done that 43:10 in which all modern religionists agree with her. 43:16 That's churches, modern churches. 43:18 She could not have substituted the observance 43:21 of Sunday the first day of the week. 43:25 For the observance of Saturday the seventh day and get this. 43:30 A change for which there is no scriptural authority 43:36 and I am gonna just say this because 43:37 I am planning to do that--to do this. 43:40 You will see on the screen as we put the slides in later on. 43:43 You will see this reference actually show up 43:45 so you can trace it yourself. 43:46 You know, John, what I want to say to those listening 43:48 and watching the program. 43:50 We're not making this up. 43:52 No, this is factual. This is history. 43:55 I mean this is just as real as the nose on your face. 43:58 If you got the face, you got a nose. 44:01 You know, if you got a head, you got ears and eyes. 44:03 Now, this is just real 44:05 as the anatomical structure that we all possess. 44:08 If we were making this up we could be trouble makers, 44:10 but what we are trying to do is undo all the lies 44:12 and deception that Satan has taken 44:14 thousands of years to classically put together. 44:18 And, John, I want to say at this particular point. 44:20 I want to show how God knew. You wanna bring anything out 44:23 before we go to the next reference. 44:24 No, I just, you know, there's so many things 44:26 that references and quotes we could bring 44:28 you from Rome herself. Right. 44:31 In regard to the change and she is unabashedly 44:35 very clear, the change was not scriptural, 44:38 the change was a response what was a result of our authority. 44:43 In fact she says, Sunday is the mark of our authority. 44:46 Right. The church is above the Bible and this transference 44:50 of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact. 44:53 That comes from the Catholic record Lenin Ontario, 44:56 September 01, 1923. Right. 44:58 So even you're talking about 20th centuries they're saying 45:01 Sunday is the mark of our authority. 45:02 It's by virtue of the change shows that 45:05 we the church have authority of the Bible. 45:08 And elsewhere she actually says this. 45:12 And this is Rome. 45:13 "If Protestants would follow the Bible, 45:15 they should worship on--worship God on the Sabbath day. 45:19 In keeping Sunday 45:20 they're following a law of the Catholic Church." 45:24 You know, if our language here at all 45:28 sounds a little bit in protest. It is. 45:31 Because we are Protestants. Right. 45:33 We are still protesting the authority 45:37 that Rome claims. Right. 45:39 And that authority and its mark is Sabbath to Sunday, 45:44 The transference they claim to have made. That's right. 45:47 And so if that's their authority, of course we're going 45:50 to go after that in protest. That's right. 45:53 We are protesting that this is wrong 45:56 and Protestants there are many Protestant churches 45:58 that still call themselves Protestants, 45:59 but they are not anymore. No. 46:01 They're no longer protesting. The word is, yeah. 46:03 We want to say as Seventh-day Adventist ministries 46:05 we continue to protest. 46:06 We're continuing to remain Protestants 46:08 and true to our faith that when we see error we will reveal it. 46:12 That's right, the Protestant reformation was for that 46:14 very purpose when Martin Luther stood up there 46:17 and defended his faith 46:19 he, being a former monk of the Catholic Church, 46:24 found his hope in the Bible, that just shall live by faith 46:28 and he defended in his 95 thesis. 46:30 The 95 reasons why he reject the dogma 46:33 and the authority of the Roman Church. 46:36 And he stood up firmly to establish the foundation 46:39 on a thus saith the Lord, but today the Christian Church 46:41 has departed from what the word of God has said. 46:44 And tradition, and convenience, and financial motivation, 46:49 and modern conformity has watered down what God's word 46:54 has not removed as our obligation to serving 46:58 and worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ. 47:00 Matter of fact we talk about this and its amazing John that 47:03 end prophecy and we want to point this out. 47:06 This is kind of where we wanted to connect. 47:07 We gonna wind up around this and then bring a text out 47:10 a very powerful text at the very end. 47:12 But in prophecy the Lord knew. See God is sovereign, He knows. 47:16 Remember, the commandment was 47:18 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 47:21 Right, so He knew somebody is gonna try to change it. 47:24 He as a matter of fact even pointed out 47:25 that it would be Rome. 47:27 There are only four kingdoms in human--in biblical prophecy. 47:31 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. 47:35 Rome was the fourth kingdom. 47:37 And in the book of Daniel the Lord said clearly. 47:39 Daniel 7:23, he says the fourth beast this is the fourth kingdom 47:47 because it makes it very clear. 47:48 This four beast or four kingdoms 47:50 that will arise out of the earth. 47:51 "The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on the earth 47:55 which shall be different from all other kingdoms, 47:58 shall devour the whole earth, 48:00 trample it and break it in pieces." 48:02 And the Roman power has done that today. 48:04 When you look at the Roman power when you look at 48:06 Roman Catholicism round the world. 48:08 The roman leader the Pontiff, the Pope is seen 48:10 as a political and religious leader. 48:13 He is different from all the others. 48:14 He is not just political like Babylon, Medo-Persia 48:17 and Greece was but he is religious. That's right. 48:20 But what did he do? Verse 25, 48:23 "He shall speak pompous words against the most high." 48:26 Don't have time to talk about all that right now-- 48:28 shall persecute the saints of the most high. 48:30 That was the Dark Ages for 1260 years. 48:32 More than 50 million Christians that 48:34 did not fall in line with Rome's dictates. 48:37 But this is something that God predicted he would do. 48:41 Verse 25, "He shall intend or think 48:44 to change times and laws." 48:47 And Rome has made that attempt, they changed laws. 48:50 The commandment that forbids image worship is removed 48:55 because they worship images and the commandment 48:57 that points at the Sabbath has moved it up 48:59 to the third and not the fourth commandments. 49:03 And the tenth commandment is split into two. 49:06 And all that the fourth commandment 49:08 says is remember to keep the Sabbath holy. 49:11 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 49:13 It removes what day it is. 49:15 It takes out if you look at that. 49:17 Go get a copy of the Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, 49:20 you'll see this is what it simply says, 49:21 remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 49:24 It doesn't tell you what day it is because 49:25 they by their own authority admit the change. 49:29 And, John, what amazed to me. 49:30 I will turn this back over to you before we wind up. 49:34 Comments from churches of other authorities and denominations. 49:37 You have the Pentecostals, Presbyterians, 49:40 a Moody Bible institute, the Methodists, the Lutherans, 49:42 the Episcopals, the Congregationalists, 49:44 the church of Christ, the Catholic Church 49:45 and the Baptist church in their manuals 49:48 all admit that they know. 49:50 Their leadership, their manuals all admit that we recognize that 49:53 there is no scriptural authority 49:54 for the honor of the first day of the week. 49:57 So whose authority are we honoring? 50:00 When we refused to honor God's authority and choose tradition 50:05 and convenience over what God says. 50:09 Whose authority are we honoring? 50:10 Well, there's only two authorities. 50:12 So I don't--I would not want to be politically correct. 50:17 But if you are not into God's authority 50:18 you're under an another authority-- 50:20 That's right. And that's the enemies. 50:21 And now, we're not saying because 50:23 we have referred to this before too. Exactly 50:25 The last messages the Three Angels messages 50:27 from Revelation 14. 50:28 We've read from that is going to grow 50:30 to a point where Revelation 18. 50:32 You see another angel joining them who says 50:35 come out of her my people. That's right. 50:39 So we're talking about systems here, 50:41 we're not talking about people. Very important. 50:43 We're not talking about Catholics. 50:45 We're talking about the system of Rome. That's right. 50:47 And there are many Catholics, and Protestants, 50:50 and Presbyterians, and Baptists 50:51 and all these that are God's people today. 50:54 We're talking to you and part of the message 50:56 is from God's work come out of her my people. That's right. 51:01 You know, someone would say while you would just 51:02 want to me join my-- join your church. 51:04 Yeah, we want you to come into the truth. 51:07 That's right. And follow God with all your heart. 51:09 I mean, our honest plea to you we're not sharing this 51:12 information just to say that we're right and you're wrong. 51:14 That's not the case we are trying to share 51:16 what the Bible says, so that you can hear 51:17 and respond to God's call 51:19 to come out of the false system Babylon, 51:22 in fact we did a whole recent two programs 51:27 on spiritual Babylon. That's right. 51:29 And that is the system that the message 51:31 is going to all God's people in that system 51:33 that is still there to come out 51:35 just as it was during Babylon where the Israelites, 51:39 the southern kingdom, the nation of Judah were taken in captive 51:44 by Nebuchadnezzar and his army, 51:46 and were held captive for seventy years plus. 51:50 And then God called them out and back to Jerusalem to rebuild 51:54 what was set at waste. 51:56 Now, spiritually that's happening. 51:58 The waste places are going to be rebuilt as God's people 52:01 are coming out of Babylon and then before Christ return 52:04 God will restore that remnant, that people that come together 52:08 to worship Him. That's right. 52:09 And it will be on the foundation that last test is going 52:12 to be on whether or not you will honor God's commandments 52:17 and you will see that in Revelation throughout. 52:19 That the saints are the ones that keep the commandments 52:22 of God that the devil wars against those who keep 52:25 the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus. 52:29 Over and over again it's against that people, 52:31 the commandment keeping of God. 52:33 You know, I want to make this before I wind these points, 52:35 so we have to condense them but I want you to do the research. 52:37 Do your homework--do your homework. 52:41 There the ceremonial Sabbaths were nailed to the cross. 52:45 Colossians 2:15, Colossians 2:16, Ephesians 2:15, 52:50 the ceremonial Sabbaths and you will find the reference 52:53 to the ceremonial Sabbath 52:54 in Leviticus 23 from verse 4 on down. 52:58 Which was the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, 53:01 the Feast of First Fruits, the Feast of Pentecost, 53:03 the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, 53:05 the Feast of Tabernacles. 53:06 These were all the appointed the table -- 53:09 all these were appointed feast pointing to Christ. 53:12 And when He came He nailed those Sabbaths to the cross, 53:17 small ceremonial Sabbaths. 53:19 But religious leaders bunched them together and nailed 53:23 the whole thing to the cross. Yeah. 53:24 That's not what the Bible does, because remember 53:26 the Bible Sabbath, the weekly Sabbath 53:28 was established before sin entered the world. 53:31 There was no need to get rid of something 53:32 that was perfect anymore than 53:34 there is a need to get rid of marriage. 53:35 Not only that, God refers 53:37 to the seventh day Sabbath as His day. That's right. 53:40 And He refers to the Sabbaths that are these 53:42 ceremonial Sabbaths as belonging to the people. 53:44 That's right. They're the ones that Sabbaths 53:46 that belonged to the people his day, 53:49 the only day he has is the seventh day. 53:52 So you can't bunch those together because 53:54 one belongs to him, one belongs to the people, 53:57 and we find that consistently throughout 53:59 the Old Testament as well. 54:00 And here is the condemnation to leaders today. 54:02 Ezekiel 20:26, "Her priests have violated my law, 54:08 and have profaned mine holy things, 54:10 they have put no difference between the holy 54:13 and the profane, neither have they showed difference 54:16 between the unclean and the clean, 54:18 and they have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, 54:21 and I am profaned among them. 54:23 Among the leaders, the people God wants to rescue them. 54:26 But any leader that teaches 54:28 that God's Sabbath is nailed to the cross. 54:29 Ezekiel 22:26 says, "God has profaned among them." 54:33 He is not speaking through those who say that he did away 54:36 with something that he did not do away with. 54:39 In Exodus, in Isaiah 66:23, 22 and 23 it says 54:44 "For as the new heavens and the new earth which 54:46 I will make shall remain before me it says the Lord. 54:49 So shall your dissidence and your name remain 54:52 and it shall come to past that from one new moon to another 54:55 and from one Sabbath to another all flesh shall come 54:59 and worship before me it says the Lord." 55:01 John, the Sabbath will be kept in heaven. 55:03 Now get this creation, it was kept. 55:06 Old Testament, it was kept. It was kept by Jesus. 55:08 It was kept by the disciples. It was kept by the apostles. 55:11 It was kept by the New Testament Church. 55:12 It was kept by Christians who were persecuted by Rome. 55:15 It's been kept by God's true people today on the earth. 55:18 It will be kept in the new heavens. 55:20 Why is that the Christians are being taught 55:22 that it doesn't matter today. 55:24 And I want you to read this last text, Acts 5:29. 55:27 This is the deciding issue right here. 55:30 When man says one thing and God says another. 55:34 I want to have, John, read this text. 55:36 Very powerful passage. 55:37 Its not legalistic, it does matter. 55:40 It's not for the Jews alone. 55:41 It's a sing of God's love for us and our love for Him. 55:45 The Sabbath is the Lord's Day. 55:46 It was not changed by any earthly power 55:48 nor by any heavenly power. 55:50 What must we do, John, when we are lapped between 55:52 what our pastors say and what God's word says. 55:56 It's says, "Then Peter and the other apostles answered 55:58 and said, we ought to obey God rather than men." 56:04 So now let's go back to the haulage. 56:05 We have to obey God rather than man. 56:07 So what did the Lord say what did God the Creator, 56:11 our Redeemer, our soon coming King, 56:14 the one who shredded His blood to save us, 56:16 the one whose body was broken. 56:17 What did he say in reference to the Sabbath? 56:20 Remember, the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 56:25 Brothers and sisters does it matter? 56:28 If truth matters, if the Lord you love matters. 56:32 If the word of God matters, if your salvation matters, 56:36 let us not make any exception on the fourth. 56:40 When we chose not to make any exception on the other nine, 56:43 they're all one. All one in Christ. 56:45 We ought to obey God rather than man. 56:50 When the world says forget. When the church says forget. 56:54 Remember, God says remember. 56:56 You know, and God ultimately says that keeping of the Sabbath 57:01 and the keeping of His law comes from a love within our heart. 57:05 If you love Me. 57:06 That's why the law is written on our heart, 57:08 that's why He says, if you love Me keep My commandments. 57:11 Everything is motivated by love. 57:12 Not just I know the truth you don't know the truth 57:14 and so I am gonna do this. That's right. 57:16 It is a motivation it comes from love. 57:18 And that's what we want to have God do in your life. 57:21 And so friends we hope that we've agitated you to some 57:23 degree to look for truth and make your allegiance to God 57:26 and not to men because here at House Calls, 57:28 we believe that the word of God 57:30 is upper most in our walk with Christ. 57:32 God bless you as you continue walking with Him. |
Revised 2014-12-17