Participants:
Series Code: FGW
Program Code: FGW000040A
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00:26 I'd like to welcome you all here again today
00:29 to this third presentation in this series End-Time, 00:33 Loyalty and Love. 00:36 And also welcome those who are watching 00:37 from wherever you may be watching 00:39 around the world or listening, 00:41 a very warm welcome to you and I pray 00:43 that you too will be blessed as we journey 00:46 through the six part series together. 00:48 We're halfway through part three. 00:50 If you've missed the couple, you can catch up on that. 00:52 And we'll look forward to 00:54 the next three episodes after this. 00:57 Today's message I've entitled, "History's Holy Hoax." 01:02 Now when you take a look at the definition, 01:04 the definition of hoax 01:07 is this according to the Dictionary.com. 01:11 "A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood 01:14 made to masquerade as truth. 01:16 Something intended to deceive or defraud." 01:21 Now from a very early age, 01:24 I wasn't even into my teens, 01:26 I discovered the reality 01:28 of what it's like to be taken in by a hoax to be defrauded. 01:33 I don't know if anyone here has been defrauded 01:34 or ripped off. 01:36 Anyone here had been ripped off in the past? 01:38 Okay, a couple of you have. 01:40 Let me share with you a story. 01:42 True story. 01:43 This is a picture here of me 01:47 on the left and with my sister. 01:51 That's Rachel. 01:52 And on the other side is a picture with my mother, 01:55 and myself, Rachel, and my littlest sister Lydia. 01:59 She's holding the ball. 02:01 They hanging on to that ball 02:03 and we are there 02:04 next to our beloved blue Kingswood 02:07 with no power steering. 02:09 I'm telling you, it was a good work here 02:11 driving that car.` 02:13 Not that I drive it much because I'm here today, 02:15 otherwise I wouldn't be here 02:17 if I did much driving back then. 02:18 Anyway, I remember the day 02:22 when this lady 02:24 that we couldn't wait for her to visit our home turned up. 02:29 The lady's name I cannot remember, 02:31 I just remember what she brought. 02:33 She brought with her chocolates. 02:36 Chocolates. 02:38 She worked in a chocolate and lolly factory. 02:40 Now that was just something that 02:41 we started look forward to as kids 02:43 because my parents were into healthy eating. 02:46 And they didn't buy us any chocolates, any lollies, 02:49 no ice cream, no chips. 02:51 It was just healthy food 02:52 while all the kids had chips in their lunch box 02:55 and Snickers bars and Mars bars, 02:57 guess what I had? 02:58 I had boxes of Sultanas. 02:59 Yay! Very exciting. 03:02 And so anyway, and I remember this one day, 03:05 this lady she brought us a box of roses chocolates. 03:09 And I was just so excited. 03:11 My sisters were excited. 03:12 We all got a box each. 03:14 And we were just thrilled. 03:15 I mean, this lady was the best thing ever. 03:17 She was our favorite friend, we look forward to her 03:20 coming more than anything else in the world. 03:22 Anyway, here we are 03:24 with our box of roses chocolates, 03:26 and my sisters guess what they did? 03:28 They hide through them immediately. 03:30 Even before you could blink, those chocolates were gone. 03:35 And I told them, I warned them. 03:36 I said, "Look, who knows 03:38 when the Good Samaritan is gonna come back again. 03:40 We got no idea 03:41 when this lady is coming back again,` 03:43 save some for tomorrow and the next day 03:45 and so on and so forth." 03:46 But no, they didn't wanna listen to me. 03:48 And so they ate all their chocolates. 03:50 Well, me, what did I do? 03:52 I ate a few. Absolutely. 03:54 However, I decided that I needed to keep the rest 03:56 for another day and sparingly enjoy them 03:59 over a longer period of time. 04:02 But I knew that 04:03 if my sisters found my chocolates, 04:04 it would be all over. 04:06 So I had to hide my chocolates, and I hid my chocolates. 04:10 I hid my chocolates in my bedroom so 04:13 so well that I forgot where I hid them. 04:15 I couldn't remember where I hid them. 04:19 Anyway I forgot about the chocolates 04:20 and one day, 04:22 one day as I'm just rummaging through my bedroom, 04:25 all of a sudden guess what I come across. 04:28 I come across my chocolates, my beloved roses chocolates. 04:33 And I sit down on the bed and I'm just ready to, 04:36 ready to rip into these chocolates. 04:38 I mean, there's just saliva just pouring everywhere. 04:42 Not that you wanted to hear that. 04:43 But I'm just sitting there and I'm just ready 04:46 and I opened up the box and they're all there. 04:49 My sisters haven't found the chocolates. 04:51 Praise the Lord. I'm just so excited. 04:54 And I'm about to hove into them and I'm just so excited. 04:57 Shut the door. 04:58 Make sure my sisters are no way in case 05:00 I don't want the special moment ruined by them. 05:03 Anyway, so away I go, 05:05 I unwrapped the first chocolate. 05:07 I'm so excited. I'm ready. 05:10 Horror. 05:12 Absolute horror. 05:14 It's not a chocolate. 05:15 It's a rock. 05:17 I'm like have mercy. 05:19 Wait until I catch up with Cadbury's. 05:22 I'm like, "They're gonna give me 05:23 a year supply of chocolate 05:25 for this terrible, terrible mistake 05:28 that they've made." 05:29 So anyway, I opened up the second one. 05:31 Guess what? 05:32 Another rock. 05:34 I was starting to get a bit suspicious. 05:36 But I thought, let's give it one more go, 05:38 one more go. 05:40 True story. 05:41 I opened up the third wrapping. 05:45 You guessed it. 05:46 Another rock. 05:48 Someone had found my chocolates. 05:51 And it wasn't my mom or my dad or the cat. 05:55 It was my sisters. 05:56 They had found the chocolates, 05:59 they had polish them all off 06:02 and put rocks in every single wrapper. 06:05 Every single one to the last one. 06:08 Hoax, taken in by a hoax, deceived. 06:11 My life has never been the same. 06:14 I've been to many counselors, 06:16 and they can't help me they say. 06:18 They've never dealt with anything like this before. 06:20 Now that's not part of a true story. 06:26 You know, we've all been taken in by a fraud, 06:31 by a hoax, we'd been deceived. 06:33 But today we wanna talk about something 06:35 far more important, 06:36 far more critical than a box of roses chocolates. 06:41 Today, we wanna take a look at the blessings 06:44 that God has given to the human race 06:46 at the very beginning of time in the Garden of Eden, 06:49 and how the enemy has done his utmost to try 06:52 and take away their blessing from us. 06:54 We've discovered thus far that in the beginning of time, 06:58 God created two blessed institutions 07:01 to remain with the human race for all of time. 07:05 One of them being marriage, and we thank God for marriage 07:07 and the family. 07:09 Amen. Absolutely. 07:10 We looked at that in our previous presentation. 07:12 And the second one is the seventh-day Sabbath 07:15 that God gave to Adam and Eve 07:17 and to their children for the rest of human history. 07:22 Now when it comes to these two beautiful gifts, 07:26 we've discovered that God placed these two gifts 07:29 from the Garden of Eden 07:30 in the heart of His Ten Commandment law. 07:32 You remember that from that last presentation? 07:35 The fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day," 07:38 the fifth commandment, 07:39 "Honor thy mother and thy father." 07:41 The two commandments, they are very different 07:43 in how they begin to all the other commandments, 07:47 specifically, so that God could get through the message 07:50 of these two wonderful blessings 07:52 that the enemy has tried to destroy it. 07:53 We discovered also that all the way in the Bible 07:58 from Genesis to Revelation, 08:01 the Sabbath, from when God gave it 08:04 at creation remains all the way through 08:06 to the very end of time 08:08 that we unpack this in our previous presentation. 08:10 We don't have time to do that on this occasion. 08:13 But we discovered in the beginning, 08:14 God created this Sabbath when he gave it to Adam and Eve 08:17 at Mount Sinai. 08:18 God commanded it through The Ten Commandments 08:20 that He wrote with His own finger, 08:23 with His own hand. 08:24 In His life, Jesus worshiped on it, 08:26 in His death, Jesus continued to observe it, 08:28 the New Testament Church continued to observe it, 08:31 God's last-day people will keep it 08:33 according to the Book of Revelation. 08:34 And we discovered that from one Sabbath to another, 08:37 according to Isaiah 66:22-23, 08:41 "All flesh will come and worship God 08:44 on the earth made new." 08:46 So from creation to recreation, 08:49 God's blessed Sabbath 08:51 will remain for all of eternity. 08:54 That is what the Bible teaches. 08:57 So today, we wanna take a look at from the Bible, 09:01 and from the pages of history, 09:03 how this has all changed because there is an enemy 09:08 who wants to defraud the human race of the blessings 09:13 that God has for humanity. 09:16 Those two blessings from the garden 09:19 being marriage in the family, and the Sabbath, 09:22 that work hand in hand to create happiness, 09:26 joy, peace, and prosperity for all. 09:31 Does the enemy want us to enjoy all that? 09:33 Absolutely not. 09:35 Absolutely not. 09:36 So we need to find the truth. 09:38 I've come here to find out the truth. 09:40 What about you? 09:41 Have you come to find the truth? 09:43 You wanna know the truth? 09:44 Well, today by God's grace, 09:46 we will see the words of Jesus fulfilled where He said, 09:49 "If you abide in My Word, you will know the truth, 09:52 and the truth will set you free." 09:53 So let's pause and pray 09:55 before we indeed abide in God's Word 09:57 to seek for His truth. 09:59 Father in heaven, we thank You 10:01 that we have Your Word. 10:03 We thank You, Father, 10:04 that Your Word is a lamp unto our feet 10:06 and a light unto our path. 10:07 And we thank You that in Your Word, 10:11 we have clarity of what Your will is for us 10:15 and for the entire human race, that we may indeed 10:18 enjoy the blessings of peace, happiness, 10:22 and joy that You have for us. 10:25 So bless us we pray in Jesus' name. 10:27 Amen. Amen. 10:29 I wanna begin by going to John 10:10, 10:32 where Jesus here outlines His plan for us 10:36 as well as the enemy's plan for us. 10:39 In John 10:10, Jesus said, 10:41 "The thief does not come except to steal, 10:44 kill and destroy." 10:45 And who do you think the thief might be? 10:47 That's the Devil, of course. 10:48 That's the Devil whose name is evil with a D. 10:51 That's why it's called the Devil. 10:52 That's all he's interested in. 10:54 Evil for you and I, and Jesus goes on, 10:57 "But I have come that they may have life, 10:59 and that they may have it more," what? 11:01 "More abundantly." 11:03 So God's plan for you and I is that we may have life 11:06 and have it more abundantly whereas the enemy, 11:08 he wants to take away that abundant life. 11:11 He wants to steal, kill, and destroy the plans 11:15 that God has to bless each and every one of us. 11:18 When it comes to worship, we discover that 11:22 the central issue in the entire Bible, 11:24 in fact, is worship. 11:27 Worship is not about a day, but it's about allegiance 11:31 and loyalty to our Creator, to our Savior, 11:36 and to the one that sustains us, 11:38 and that is Jesus Christ. 11:42 The very first murder in the Bible was over worship, 11:46 when Cain killed his brother Abel. 11:49 Satan has always wanted worship 11:53 because worship belongs to God alone. 11:56 You say the word worship. 11:58 It means worth ship. 12:00 Who is worthy to be worshiped? 12:02 Who is worthy to receive our loyalty, 12:05 our honor? 12:06 And the only one who is worthy is the one who created us. 12:10 And that is who? 12:11 That is God. 12:13 He alone is worthy to be worshiped. 12:15 But the enemy wants to take away 12:16 from the worship that belongs to God for himself. 12:20 And so the very first murder in the Bible was over worship, 12:23 true and false worship. 12:26 The central issue, in the Book of Revelation, 12:29 at the end of time is over worship. 12:31 That word worship appears over and over and over again. 12:35 It's about who will you give your end-time 12:39 loyalty and allegiance to. 12:40 Will it be God? 12:42 Or will it be the enemy? 12:44 They are one of two choices 12:46 that each person will need to make. 12:49 Jesus alone deserves to be worshiped, 12:52 for He alone is our Creator, and He alone is our Redeemer. 12:57 He alone deserves to be worshiped. 13:00 So the question is, if the Sabbath 13:03 from Genesis to Revelation, 13:06 where on earth did Sunday worship come from? 13:10 If it's all the way through the Bible, 13:12 where on earth did Sunday worship come from? 13:15 Well, the truth is, 13:16 as we'll discover in this presentation, 13:18 and in all other subjects, 13:20 especially relating to those 13:22 significant fundamental truths in God's Word. 13:25 For every truth that God has, the enemy has a counterfeit. 13:29 That's just how it works. 13:30 For every truth that God has, 13:31 the enemy has a counterfeit to take away the blessings 13:35 that God has for each and every one of us. 13:38 So we're gonna find out from the Bible, 13:40 we're gonna find out what God's plan is. 13:42 And we're gonna find out from history 13:46 where the changes took place. 13:49 I wanna begin by sharing with you 13:51 just an overall description 13:54 of the significance of the sun 13:57 and sun worship 13:58 when it comes to the cultures of the past. 14:02 "Throughout history, 14:04 many ancient cultures worship the sun. 14:07 Light and heat were essential elements 14:09 to cultures dependant on agriculture. 14:12 Therefore, the great force of the sun 14:14 became the object of their worship. 14:16 Sadly, on many occasions, 14:18 the Old Testament records that the chosen people of God, 14:22 the nation of Israel chose to worship the sun god 14:26 rather than the Son of God. 14:28 Often the religious leaders were responsible 14:30 for leading the people 14:32 in the pagan practice of sun worship." 14:35 And we have an example of that in Ezekiel 8:16, 14:40 where the religious leaders 14:42 are leading out in the worship of the sun god, 14:45 which was the predominant god of then known world 14:49 when Israel lived at that time. 14:53 "So He brought me into the inner courts 14:55 of the Lord's house." 14:57 We read in Ezekiel 8:16. 15:00 "And there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, 15:03 between the porch and the altar, 15:04 were about twenty-five men 15:06 with their backs toward the temple of the Lord 15:08 and their faces toward the east, 15:10 and they were worshiping the sun toward the east." 15:15 So even though God had warned His people 15:17 over and over again, 15:19 do not follow the worship practices 15:23 of the nations that surround you, 15:26 and the nations that surrounded Israel 15:29 worshiped the sun god, 15:30 that was their predominant God based on what I've just shared 15:33 regarding the whole necessary force of the sun 15:39 for their agriculture and so on and so forth. 15:42 God says, "Don't worship the sun god." 15:45 But we find here in Ezekiel that God's people, 15:49 in fact, God's leaders, 15:51 God's very leaders in the temple, 15:53 in the church, 15:55 they have their backs towards the temple 15:58 and their faces towards the east 16:00 and they're worshiping the sun god 16:01 as the other pagan nation. 16:04 So sadly, sun worship crept into God's people 16:08 and amongst God's people right there 16:11 at the very beginning of time, 16:13 way back in Old Testament times. 16:17 Notice what we read in The Faith of Our Fathers. 16:21 This is written a history of the Christian church 16:26 by James Cardinal Gibbons, who's passed away. 16:31 He wrote this epic on church history. 16:35 And notice what he had to say 16:38 regarding the day of worship, 16:42 and what the Bible has to say 16:45 regarding the true day of the worship. 16:47 I'm reading his words, 16:48 from Faith of Our Fathers, page 561, 16:51 Cardinal James Gibbons, 16:53 a prominent Catholic theologian, 16:56 this is what he wrote. 16:58 "You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, 17:01 and you will not find a single line authorizing 17:04 the sanctification of Sunday." 17:06 He goes on, "The scriptures enforce 17:09 the religious observance of Saturday." 17:11 So as far as 17:13 James Cardinal Gibbons is concerned, 17:14 he's a well-known, 17:16 well respected Church of Rome historian. 17:20 He states what the facts are, and the facts are 17:23 that you can read through the entire Bible 17:26 from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find 17:29 one single scripture 17:31 there authorizing the change of the day of worship 17:35 from Saturday to Sunday. 17:38 In the Old Testament, 17:40 the first day is mentioned on one occasion 17:43 and that's in Genesis 1 17:44 when God on the very first day created light. 17:49 And in the New Testament, there are eight references 17:51 to the first day of the week, 17:53 five directly in relation to the resurrection of Jesus 17:57 He was raised on the first day of the week. 18:00 And three others they're in the New Testament, 18:03 one in John, another one in Acts 18:05 and another one in Corinthians. 18:07 Don't have time to look at those passages, 18:09 you can do that in your own time. 18:10 But neither one of those eight passages 18:13 speak of any change taking place, 18:16 either in the time of Christ 18:18 or in the time of His disciples. 18:22 So what we need to ask is what was going on 18:28 during the time of Christ, 18:29 what was going on 18:30 during the time of the early church? 18:32 What does the Bible say? 18:33 And so this is a little bit of recap 18:35 from what we have already looked at 18:36 in our previous presentation. 18:38 Notice what we read in Luke 4:16. 18:42 "So He came to Nazareth," speaking of Jesus, 18:44 "where He had been brought up. 18:46 And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue 18:49 on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read." 18:52 That's speaking of Christ. 18:53 Now notice what we read next, 18:57 we read regarding the Apostle Paul. 19:00 "Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, 19:04 and for three Sabbath reasoned with them 19:07 from the Scriptures." 19:09 We go on. 19:11 "So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, 19:13 the Gentiles begged that these words might be 19:16 preached to them the next Sabbath. 19:18 On the next Sabbath 19:19 almost the whole city came together 19:21 to hear the Word of God." 19:23 That's in Acts 13:42-44. 19:27 So here we have testimony and the evidence 19:31 from the New Testament that the Apostle Paul, 19:34 he not only went into the synagogue on the Sabbath, 19:37 and ministered to the Jews, and preached to the Jews, 19:39 and shared with them, 19:41 but he also shared with the Gentiles. 19:43 Now the Gentiles were not Jews, but He shared with them also 19:47 on the seventh-day Sabbath as the scriptures share. 19:51 When it comes to Jesus, Jesus made it very clear that 19:56 40 years after He would go to heaven, 20:01 the Sabbath would remain. 20:02 Notice what Jesus said in Matthew 24:20, 20:08 what He shared with His disciples, 20:09 "And pray that your flight may not be in winter 20:13 or on the Sabbath." 20:15 Now this is in relation 20:17 to the destruction of Jerusalem. 20:19 Jesus warned that Jerusalem would be destroyed, 20:23 the temple would be destroyed, 20:24 not one stone would be left upon another 20:27 in the words of Jesus. 20:28 And Jesus said that when it comes time to flee, 20:32 and Jesus had given warnings, 20:35 and He had given an escape plan 20:37 for those who were interested in following His instructions, 20:41 you can read about that in Matthew Chapter 24. 20:43 And He said, when the time comes to flee, 20:47 when the doors are open, and there's a reprieve 20:51 and there's an opportunity, the door is opened, 20:54 make sure you don't flee during winter 20:57 for obvious reasons or on the Sabbath day. 21:00 This is 70 AD well and truly 21:04 down the track 21:06 from when Jesus was here, 21:09 and well and truly into the New Testament period. 21:11 In Hebrews 4:4, 9, we discover, 21:16 the Apostle Paul writes, 21:18 "For He has spoken in a certain place 21:21 of the seventh-day in this way, 21:23 'And God rested on the seventh day 21:25 from all His works.' 21:26 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.' 21:30 " So the New Testament is very clear. 21:32 "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." 21:37 The Sabbath remains for all of God's people, 21:40 all the way down through time, 21:42 all the way from the time of Christ 21:44 to the second coming and as we have discovered 21:47 and beyond. 21:48 I find it fascinating that the word for Saturday 21:52 in many languages of the Bible 21:55 literally is translated as Sabbath. 21:57 Here we go. 21:59 I have just a few here a few examples of how, 22:03 "In over 100 modern 22:05 and ancient languages of the world, 22:07 the root word for Saturday is Sabbath." 22:09 Notice these, in German, 22:12 the word for Saturday is Samstag, 22:15 which means Sabbath day. 22:16 In French, Samedi or Sabbath day also. 22:19 In Spanish, Sabado, which means Sabbath. 22:22 Italian, Sabbato, Sabbath. 22:24 Macedonian, the language that I grew up with, 22:27 Sabota or Sabbath. 22:29 Serbo-Croatian Subota, which also means Sabbath. 22:34 Arabic Sabet, Sabbath, Sudanese, Saptu, Maltese, 22:39 is-Sibt, Latin, Sabbatum, Czech, Sobota, Gregorian, 22:45 Sabati, Greek, Savvato, Armenian Shabat, 22:49 and Russian Subbota. 22:51 So can you see the word for Saturday comes to us 22:56 in all these different languages 22:58 from that very word Sabbath? 23:01 It's continued on. 23:03 Now in English, the word for Saturday 23:06 is not Sabbath that we generally use. 23:10 It's Saturday, of course. 23:12 And that comes to us from the Roman god systems 23:16 that worship different gods on different days of the week. 23:20 And so Saturday comes from Saturn, 23:23 Saturn's day and Sunday 23:25 is, of course, the day of the sun, 23:28 Monday is the day of the moon, and so on and so forth. 23:31 And you can go through all the days of the week 23:33 that are based on the planetary gods 23:36 that the Romans had that we have inherited 23:40 for our English names of the days of the week. 23:44 Now, the day of worship 23:50 from Saturday to Sunday 23:52 has been changed. 23:54 That is obvious and most Christians today 23:57 worship on the first day of the week, on Sunday. 24:01 So the question that begs to be asked, 24:03 and we need to answer is how 24:05 and when did the change take place? 24:09 How and when did the change take place? 24:11 Now that's a very important question. 24:13 Now why is this question very important? 24:15 Because this question has everything to do with worship. 24:20 What is the key issue in the entire Bible? 24:23 Worship, allegiance, loyalty, 24:26 there is nothing more important than worship. 24:30 God created Adam and Eve in His image 24:33 for them to have fellowship with Him, 24:35 for them to be in union with Him, 24:37 for them ultimately to worship Him as their Lord, 24:41 and as their God, and as their Creator. 24:45 This is so significant and so important, 24:48 in that we know from the very beginning of time 24:53 as we read through Revelation, as we read through the Bible, 24:57 as we read through the Book of Isaiah, 24:59 as we read through the Book of Ezekiel 25:01 we discover that the enemy, Satan, 25:05 who was once called Lucifer, 25:08 who was God's leading angel, 25:10 he rebelled and formed 25:12 a rebellion around him 25:14 of one third of the angels 25:16 because he wanted to be worshiped. 25:20 In Isaiah Chapter 14, we don't have time to go there. 25:22 But in Isaiah Chapter 14, he cries out, 25:26 I will be like the Most High, 25:28 I will be worshiped like the Most High, 25:31 and God alone deserves to be worshiped. 25:33 No one else, God alone. 25:36 And so this is a significant issue. 25:38 And so I wanted to know the answer to this question, 25:41 how and when did the change take place? 25:44 I wasn't interested in hearing from others. 25:46 So I decided to do my own research. 25:48 About 20 years ago or so I spent three months 25:53 researching this very subject. 25:55 I wanted to find out the truth. 25:57 And so I came across this book here 26:01 that I have up there on the screen for you. 26:05 Book written by Samuele Bacchiocchi, 26:07 in fact, it's his doctoral dissertation 26:10 and it's entitled, 26:12 "From Sabbath to Sunday." 26:15 Subtitle, 26:16 "A historical investigation of the rise 26:19 of Sunday observance in early Christianity." 26:22 Now this book by Samuele Bacchiocchi, 26:25 as I pointed out, it's his doctoral dissertation. 26:28 It was printed there, as you can see, 26:31 at the Pontifical Gregorian University Press back in 1977. 26:37 That's in the City of Rome. 26:40 Dr. Bacchiocchi has passed away a few years ago. 26:44 However, this would have to be 26:46 the leading historical document 26:49 that we have on this subject 26:50 in order to answer this question. 26:53 This is such a significant piece of work 26:56 that it received the highest award and honor 27:01 by the Church of Rome for the historical accuracy. 27:06 You see, Dr. Bacchiocchi, he was one of the first 27:08 if not the very first, not quite sure about that. 27:11 But he was one of the first Protestants 27:13 to study and get his doctorate 27:17 from the Pontifical Gregorian University 27:20 there in Rome itself. 27:22 And so we studied these original sources 27:25 in order to discover the truth of how the change took place 27:29 from Saturday or from the Sabbath to Sunday. 27:33 Notice these words 27:35 written by Vincenzo Monachino, 27:40 I probably hashed that name. 27:42 But anyway, he is the Chairman 27:44 of the Church History Department, 27:46 Pontifical Gregorian University. 27:48 Notice what he had to say regarding this work 27:51 of Dr. Bacchiocchi. 27:53 "It is a work that recommends itself 27:55 because of its rich content, the rigorous scientific method, 27:58 and the vast horizon with which it has been conceived 28:01 and executed." 28:04 Notice this introduction to the book, 28:09 "The investigation shows," 28:11 and I'm reading from the book, from the introduction, 28:13 "the adoption of Sunday in place of the Sabbath 28:16 did not occur 28:17 in the primitive Church of Jerusalem 28:19 by virtue of apostolic authority, 28:21 but approximately a century later 28:23 in the Church of Rome. 28:25 An interplay of Jewish, pagan, and Christian factors 28:28 contributed to the abandonment of the Sabbath 28:31 and adoption of Sunday observance instead." 28:34 So that is what took place. 28:36 It was a gradual change, the change of the Sabbath 28:40 took place gradually, and that's what 28:41 you can read in this document, and other documents. 28:44 So as I read through this book, 28:47 and as I read through many other books, 28:49 I discovered that they were probably 28:51 three significant reasons 28:53 why and how the change took place. 28:55 And I wanna share with you a summary from Dr. Bacchiocchi, 28:58 he probably has summarized that better 29:01 than most have come across. 29:02 And here they are, here are the three key points. 29:06 There was Anti-Judaism, 29:10 "During the 2nd century, Christians developed 29:12 a theology of separation from and contempt towards the Jews." 29:17 Now why is that? 29:18 What you see what is going on 29:20 is that the Jews were getting themselves 29:23 into a lot of trouble from the Romans. 29:26 You can read about that in your history books, 29:29 there were all sorts of uprisings. 29:31 And so the Romans were giving the Jews 29:35 a good old pounding. 29:36 And guess who got caught up in the crossfire? 29:39 The Christians because they both worshiped 29:42 on the same day of the week, both the Christians 29:44 and the Jews worshiped on the seventh-day Sabbath. 29:47 So they wanted to distinguish themselves 29:49 from their Jewish friends and neighbors 29:52 and so they began to keep Sunday 29:56 as well not as a holy day, H-O-L-Y, 30:00 but as a holiday, H-O-L-I-D-A-Y. 30:04 And so it was day of festivity, but it distinguished them 30:07 from their Jewish neighbors. 30:09 Number two, Sun Worship, 30:11 "The pagan Romans worshiped the sun as their chief god. 30:15 The Christians, in order to be friend the pagans, 30:17 began to adopt the symbol of the sun 30:19 and Sunday as a replacement day of worship 30:22 by reasoning that God created light 30:24 and Jesus was raised on the first day." 30:26 So that was their reasoning. 30:28 And so they began to slowly 30:30 but surely changed their day of worship 30:32 in order to try and win and attract the Romans. 30:35 And the Romans they worshiped the sun god, 30:39 and the one who especially made sun worship 30:43 or Sunday worship. 30:46 Very popular was the first Roman Emperor 30:48 to become a Christian 30:50 and that was Constantine in the year 321 AD, 30:53 Constantine he proclaimed the first national Sunday law 30:59 where he mandated 31:02 that all within his empire 31:04 would worship on the day of the sun 31:07 in order to bring about a union 31:09 between the pagans and the Christians. 31:11 That was a political move on his part, 31:14 but that was the second reason. 31:15 Now the third reason is this. 31:18 The Church at Rome, 31:20 "The most powerful church in the Roman Empire 31:22 encouraged Sunday worship rather than Saturday worship. 31:25 The Sabbath became a day of fasting 31:28 and Sunday became a day of feasting." 31:31 That's according to Dr. Bacchiocchi 31:33 and his research. 31:35 So how excited would you be 31:37 as a little boy or a little girl 31:39 during the time when this all took place 31:42 regarding the Sabbath? 31:44 It was a day of fasting. 31:46 And Sunday was the day of feasting. 31:49 So slowly but surely over time, things changed 31:53 and from the seventh-day Sabbath 31:56 to the first day of the week, 31:58 but as you go through history 32:00 and you read through the history books, 32:02 especially there in Africa, you discover that 32:05 Sabbath keeping remained 32:07 all the way from the time of Christ, 32:09 all the way through to today. 32:11 There have been Sabbath keepers, 32:12 seventh-day Sabbath keepers, 32:14 not many of them at different times, 32:17 but they have been scattered here and there 32:19 that have remained true to God 32:20 and to His Word. 32:22 When it comes to this question, 32:24 I also decided that I needed to get hold of 32:27 Convert's Catechism, which why I did. 32:29 So I got hold of this Convert's Catechism 32:32 and in this Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, 32:37 its question and answer and notice what we find here. 32:40 Here we have these words. 32:43 The question, "Which is the Sabbath day?" 32:47 The answer, "Saturday is the Sabbath day." 32:51 Another question, 32:53 "Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?" 32:56 And the answer, 32:57 "We observe Sunday instead of Saturday 32:59 because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity 33:03 from Saturday to Sunday." 33:05 So that is what the church itself says that 33:09 it is responsible 33:11 for changing the day of worship, 33:14 as far as Christians are concerned 33:16 from Saturday to Sunday. 33:17 Yes, they were these other factors involved, 33:19 as I've already put up there on the screen for you. 33:23 However, the key reason today 33:27 why not only Roman Catholic Christians, 33:31 but Christians of all various persuasions 33:34 keep holy or worship on the first day of the week 33:38 is due to this change that was made 33:41 by the Church of Rome 33:43 who openly admits that is what took place. 33:47 Now did this catch God by surprise? 33:49 Was God caught by surprise when this took place, 33:53 when this incredible change took place? 33:56 No. 33:57 Notice what we read in the Book of Daniel. 33:59 In Daniel 7:25, 2,500 years ago, 34:05 almost 1,000 years before the change took place, 34:09 God predicted through His servant Daniel 34:11 that a power would arise 34:13 that would intend to change God's times 34:17 and His law. 34:19 Daniel 7:25. 34:22 We have played out in history 34:25 what God said would take place. 34:27 This power that would attempt to change God's holy time 34:31 and God's holy law. 34:35 The Apostle Paul speaks on this in his day 34:38 and this is what he writes. 34:40 In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, he writes, 34:44 "Let no one deceive you by any means for that Day," 34:46 speaking of the Second Coming, 34:48 "will not come unless the falling away comes first," 34:52 the word there falling away in the original 34:54 is the word apostasia. 34:56 It's where we get our English word apostasy from 34:59 or people who apostatize 35:01 they fall away from Bible truth. 35:03 That's what it means to apostatize. 35:04 We keep reading. 35:06 "And the man of sin is revealed," 35:08 speaking of this power 35:10 that would seek to change God's times and laws, 35:12 "the son of perdition," 35:13 here is another reference to this power, 35:15 "who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God 35:19 or that is worshiped." 35:20 There is that word, that keyword, 35:22 "so that he sits as God in the temple of God, 35:25 showing himself that he is God." 35:27 So the enemy would use a power 35:31 and that is how the enemy has always operated. 35:35 Satan has never come out in the open and done his dirty, 35:39 deceiving work in the open. 35:42 He didn't do that with Adam and Eve. 35:45 He deceived Eve through what means 35:47 and through what avenue? 35:49 Through the serpent. Isn't that right? 35:51 He used the serpent as a medium. 35:54 The angels were deceived, one-third of the angels 35:56 were deceived through his lies, 36:00 through his deception. 36:02 And he deceives you and I today. 36:05 He seeks to deceive you and I today I should say, 36:08 I pray that we will not be deceived. 36:10 If we remain in God's Word we will never be deceived. 36:13 But he seeks to deceive us in the same way 36:16 through his counterfeit. 36:18 Now the enemy is seeking that which belongs to God 36:22 and God alone and that is worship. 36:25 There is a power that the enemy uses as his front man 36:29 in order to receive worship. 36:32 And that is any and every institution, 36:35 not just the Church of Rome, 36:37 but any and every institution 36:40 that seeks to substitute 36:42 the clear Word of God that seeks to change 36:45 the clear commandments of God 36:49 and instead place the traditions 36:52 or the suppositions or the inventions of man. 36:56 Now on this point, 36:58 I have this historical document 37:03 or have these quotes from a number of the churches, 37:07 authoritative quotations on the Sabbath and Sunday, 37:10 so it's not just the Church of Rome 37:12 that is admitting to this change 37:16 and to what day is the true Sabbath day 37:19 and the significance of that, but many other churches. 37:21 I'll just put up a couple up there 37:23 where leaders of the various 37:26 Christian churches share. 37:28 Here is one from the Anglican Manual 37:31 of Christian Doctrine, page 127. 37:33 The question, "Is there any command 37:35 in the New Testament 37:37 to change the day of weekly rest 37:38 from Saturday to Sunday?" 37:40 And the answer is none. 37:42 Here is another one, this time, Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, 37:47 he is the author of The Baptist Manual 37:49 and this is what he writes on the subject. 37:52 "There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, 37:55 but the Sabbath day was not Sunday. 37:57 It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, 38:01 that the Sabbath was transferred 38:03 from the seventh to the first day of the week." 38:05 He goes on. 38:07 "Where can the record of such a transaction be found? 38:11 Not in the New Testament- absolutely not. 38:14 There is no Scriptural evidence of the change 38:17 of the Sabbath institution 38:18 from the seventh to the first day of the week." 38:22 So here we have 38:24 these leading church authorities 38:29 who know their Bibles 38:30 better than you, better than me, 38:32 probably better than most people. 38:34 And they have read the Bible. 38:36 They have read the Bible from cover to cover, 38:39 and they have discovered the truth 38:41 that there has been no change 38:43 and that the Sabbath day 38:45 remains as the seventh day of the week. 38:52 This is a very interesting, 38:55 I guess document 38:56 that was put out probably more than 38:58 a century ago now. 39:00 Rome's Challenge, Why Do Protestants Keep Sunday? 39:05 And in these four articles that were written 39:09 by the Church of Rome, addressing the question 39:13 of Why Do Protestants Keep Sunday? 39:15 They ask the million dollar question, 39:19 and this is it. 39:22 If Protestants believe and teach 39:26 that they stand on the Bible and the Bible alone, 39:30 on Sola Scriptura, and if they believe 39:33 in God's Ten Commandments, 39:35 then why do Protestants keep Sunday 39:39 as their day of worship 39:41 rather than Saturday as their day of worship 39:44 according to what the Scriptures teach? 39:47 Isn't that a good question? 39:48 That's a very good question. 39:50 The Church of Rome rightly says, 39:54 "We changed the day of worship, 39:55 therefore we are allowed to worship on this day 39:58 and we don't claim to go by Sola Scriptura, 40:02 the Bible and the Bible alone, 40:03 but you Protestants do, you Protestants claim 40:07 that you live by every word that proceeds 40:10 from the mouth of God, 40:11 yet in this all important matter 40:13 that deals with one of the very commandments of God 40:16 with a commandment that begins 40:18 with the word Remember, you choose to willfully 40:21 and conveniently forget." 40:24 And so that is the challenge. 40:25 And it's a very, very good challenge. 40:28 And I take my hat off, 40:29 and I respect the Church of Rome 40:32 for being honest and upfront. 40:36 But I don't have respect for those that try 40:39 and come up with all sorts of weird and wonderful reasons 40:42 that are not in Scripture, of why they can neglect 40:47 the Word of God in such an important matter 40:49 as worship 40:51 and the keeping of God's fourth commandment, 40:56 I just don't understand, and there's just no excuse 40:59 for others to follow in that way. 41:03 Martin Luther, Martin Luther 41:07 challenged the Church of Rome 41:09 in 1517, October 31, 1517, 41:14 Martin Luther, 41:17 a Church of Rome theologian 41:20 and highly respected monk, 41:24 one who was absolutely loyal 41:27 to his church finally realized 41:31 that his church in many important areas 41:35 had strayed away from God's truth from His word. 41:39 And he wanted to follow the Bible and the Bible alone. 41:42 And so Martin Luther nailed his "95 Theses 41:46 or 95 Reasons, 95 Disputes" 41:51 with the church regarding indulgences, 41:54 regarding how you and I are saved. 41:57 And he nailed that on the Wittenberg Church door. 42:01 Martin Luther called his beloved Church of Rome 42:06 back to the Scriptures, 42:08 back to the Word of God, 42:13 back to the commandments of God. 42:15 And so we have Martin Luther, 42:20 who challenged the Church of Rome, 42:22 his church, his beloved church, 42:25 to stand on Sola Scriptura. 42:31 And so the church almost, 42:34 yeah, just over three, 42:36 just over 20 years from that point in time, 42:42 almost three decades, I should say from 1517, 42:46 almost three decades on the church of Rome 42:50 conducted what is known as the Council of Trent 42:55 from 1545 to 1563, 42:59 18 years, 25 sessions, 43:02 probably one of the 43:03 if not the most important Council 43:06 of the Church of Rome. 43:07 And at this council, the church had 43:10 two major items that are discussed 43:13 during that 18-year period. 43:16 The two main objectives of the church council 43:18 were number one, "To condemn the principles 43:21 and doctrines of the Protestant Reformation or Protestantism." 43:25 And secondly, 43:26 "To clarify the doctrines of the Catholic Church 43:29 on all disputed points." 43:31 Martin Luther had raised a significant issue 43:35 and it created absolute turmoil within the church. 43:40 One of the key issues that was discussed 43:43 and debated as these two significant points 43:46 were addressed during this 18-year period 43:49 was whether the church would go with tradition, 43:54 or whether the church would go with the Bible? 43:58 Was that possible for the church 44:01 to have both the tradition in one hand 44:04 and God's truth in the other, 44:06 was that even possible? 44:08 There was a lot of toing and froing. 44:11 And finally the church decided 44:15 that of the two tradition 44:19 and truth, of the two the safest, 44:23 the more safe course of action was to follow tradition. 44:27 And why is that? 44:29 Because there is no way 44:30 the church could remain the way it was, 44:34 would remain to teach and practice the way 44:37 it had been up until this point. 44:40 If it wanted to continue, 44:42 if it wanted to follow God's truth, 44:44 it could not remain in that same way. 44:47 The images and the idols in the churches 44:49 that were worshiped and revered, 44:52 they had to go, as well the day of worship 44:57 needed to be changed 44:59 back to the biblical day of worship. 45:01 And so, sadly, the Church of Rome, 45:04 during the Council of Trent made a decision 45:07 that it would remain with the status quo 45:10 and would no longer abide by the Bible 45:13 and the Bible alone as that it claimed, 45:15 but it would be the Bible and tradition. 45:19 What did Jesus have to say about tradition? 45:22 Notice these words. 45:24 What did Jesus have to say 45:26 about placing tradition above God's truth? 45:30 What did Jesus have to say? 45:32 Let's go to His words. 45:33 In Mark 7:7-8, 45:37 Jesus addresses this very topic and He says, 45:40 "And in vain they worship Me, 45:43 teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." 45:45 He's speaking here to the religious leaders. 45:49 "For laying aside the commandment of God, 45:53 you hold to the tradition of men." 45:57 Nothing new under the sun as Solomon said. 46:01 Sadly, in the days of Christ, traditions were followed 46:04 more than God's truth. 46:07 If you take a look at the context of these words 46:10 that we read there in Mark Chapter 7, 46:12 you will discover that Jesus here 46:14 is addressing amongst a number of other points, 46:17 the issue of honoring your mother and your father. 46:21 You see, the religious leaders had come up with a tradition 46:25 whereby you could dishonor your mother and your father, 46:29 live a selfish life and still be seen 46:33 and classed as honorable 46:35 amongst your religious community. 46:38 All you needed to do 46:39 was pledge all of your belongings, 46:42 all of your treasures 46:45 to the church after you died, 46:49 and you did not need to take care of your parents 46:52 while they were still alive. 46:55 Yet the Bible says, 46:58 honor your mother and your father. 47:01 But they had taken that commandment, 47:04 thrown it out the window, 47:05 come up with their own commandment 47:07 to encourage and invite selfishness 47:11 and self-centeredness, 47:13 and dishonoring mother and father 47:15 and not taking care of them in a day 47:17 and age where there was no Centrelink, 47:19 and there were no pensions where parents, 47:23 aged parents relied on their children 47:26 to support them. 47:28 And the church of the day, 47:29 the religious leaders of the day 47:31 had thrown out the fifth commandment, 47:34 and instead had come up with their own tradition. 47:36 And Jesus shares these words, 47:39 "In vain they worship Me, 47:43 teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. 47:45 For laying aside the commandment of God, 47:48 you hold the tradition of men." 47:52 So today you and I are faced with that same decision 47:55 that Martin Luther was faced with 47:57 that Jesus challenged His religious leaders of His day 48:03 and the people of His day will it be truth or tradition. 48:09 We must make a choice, 48:10 will it be following what God says 48:13 and keeping His commandments including the one 48:17 that begins with the word Remember, 48:19 following God's Word? 48:21 Or will it be keeping the commandments of men, 48:25 and following the traditions of men, Jesus said, 48:28 "He who is not with Me is against Me." 48:31 We cannot have it both ways. 48:33 We cannot have a foot in each camp. 48:37 Jesus says that you are with Me 48:39 or you're against Me. 48:40 You're either serving Me or you're not serving Me, 48:42 you're either worshiping Me in spirit, 48:45 and in truth, or you're not. 48:47 We cannot have it both ways. 48:50 And so Jesus today is inviting you and I 48:52 wherever you might be, 48:54 Jesus is inviting you to worship Him 48:56 in spirit and in truth, 48:58 not to ask for 10% discount, as many Christians have. 49:03 Every commandment is okay, except for the one that begins 49:06 with the word Remember, I find that hard to understand. 49:10 Why would God ask us today to forget the commandment 49:13 that He said to remember? 49:16 Try that on your wife or on your husband. 49:20 Tell him that remember means to forget. 49:24 And to forget means to remember and see how well you do. 49:29 So the question is, what will it be for you? 49:34 What will it be for me? 49:36 What will be your foundation? 49:37 What will be my foundation, for my faith, for your faith? 49:42 Will it be what man says? 49:44 Or will it be what God says? 49:46 For me I want to have the attitude 49:51 and the testimony of the Apostle Peter 49:55 and the disciples. 49:56 Notice these words from Acts 5:29. 49:59 "But Peter and the other apostles 50:01 answered and said, 50:02 'We ought to obey," who? 50:04 "God rather than, who? 50:06 "Man." 50:08 I respect all people. 50:12 I respect all people, no matter what their differences may be, 50:17 to me and how I understand, 50:19 but when it comes to my loyalty 50:20 and allegiance, 50:22 when it comes to who I obey, 50:24 when it comes to who I follow. 50:29 I make it very clear, my loyalty today 50:33 and every day while God gives me breath 50:36 or until the Second Coming will be to the Bible 50:39 and the Bible alone. 50:40 Amen? 50:42 To Sola Scriptura, the Bible and the Bible alone. 50:44 And I pray that 50:46 that is where your loyalty will be. 50:47 Not with what man says, 50:49 but with what God says in His Word. 50:52 God's final end time message of love. 50:55 The Three Angels' Messages, we've looked at them 50:57 in the previous two presentations. 50:59 Thy herald this cry, 51:02 this call to the entire world 51:05 at the end of time 51:06 that we find in Revelation 14:7, 51:08 "Saying with a loud voice, 51:09 'Fear God and give glory to Him, 51:11 for the hour of His judgment has come, 51:12 and worship Him who made heaven and earth, 51:15 the sea and the springs of water.' 51:16 " Words as we have discovered, 51:18 directly out of God's Ten Commandments, 51:22 out of the fourth commandment, 51:23 directly from the creation account. 51:25 Will God have a people at the end of time 51:27 who worship Him who made heaven and earth? 51:29 Those who are loyal, those who obey, 51:32 those who love Him with all of their hearts. 51:34 Notice what we read in Revelation 14:12. 51:37 "Here is the patience of the saints, 51:39 here are those who keep the commandments of God 51:42 and the faith of Jesus." 51:44 Will God have a people who are loyal and love Him 51:46 with all their hearts at the end of time? 51:48 Indeed He will. 51:50 Indeed He will. 51:51 Will that be the majority? 51:53 Sadly, the answer is no. 51:55 I wish I could stand up here today 51:57 and say the answer is yes. 51:59 The majority will follow God and will be loyal to Him, 52:02 they will be loyal to His truth 52:04 rather than the traditions of man. 52:06 But sadly, the Book of Revelation tells us 52:09 that the majority at the end of time 52:13 will follow the traditions of man, 52:15 the lies of the enemy rather than the truths of God 52:19 and show their love towards God. 52:23 What do we find in Revelation 22:14? 52:25 Here is the reward of those who are loyal. 52:29 Those who love God, 52:30 those who are showing their allegiance to Him 52:33 in doing what He has called them to do. 52:35 Revelation 22:14, 52:36 "Blessed are those who do His commandments, 52:40 that they may have the right to the tree of life, 52:42 and may enter through the gates into the city." 52:46 That's God's plan for you. 52:48 That's God's plan for me. 52:49 That's God's plan for the entire human race. 52:51 God so much wants us to enter into that city, 52:56 the New Jerusalem, but all those who enter there 53:01 will be those that have chosen 53:05 because of their love for God to show their loyalty to Him, 53:10 and there is no greater show of loyalty than obedience. 53:14 There just isn't. 53:16 There just isn't. 53:18 I wanna finish off by going back to Martin Luther. 53:22 Martin Luther in 1521, 53:25 some four years after he nailed those 95 Theses 53:29 on the Wittenberg Church door, 53:32 found himself on April 18, 1521. 53:37 Before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V 53:40 and the Church of Rome 53:42 at the Diet of Worms there in Germany, 53:45 not worms but Worms, 53:46 the City of Worms. 53:50 This speech that he made not on that first day 53:56 when he was asked to recant his writings firstly 54:01 to answer whether that were from him 54:04 and the second question was, do you recant? 54:08 He made a powerful speech. 54:11 I had the opportunity back in 2010 54:13 to go to the City of Worms there in Germany. 54:16 And I stood there at the very place. 54:20 There is a memorial there at the very place 54:22 where Martin Luther made his stand 54:24 and we'll take a look at those words 54:26 in just a moment. 54:28 Here I stand. 54:30 This is the place in 1521 when Martin Luther 54:34 made his stand where he sent shock waves 54:38 around the world through these words 54:40 that he added. 54:41 Notice the words from Martin Luther 54:44 as he was asked, "Will you recant? 54:47 Will you turn back?" 54:49 And these were his words, 54:51 "Unless I am convinced 54:53 by the testimony of the Scriptures 54:54 or by clear reason, 54:56 for I do not trust either in the pope 54:58 or in councils alone, 55:00 since it is well known that they have often erred 55:03 and contradicted themselves, I am bound by the Scriptures 55:06 I have quoted and my conscience 55:08 is captive to the Word of God. 55:10 I cannot and will not recant anything, 55:13 since it is neither safe nor right to go 55:16 against conscience." 55:17 And here are these famous words 55:19 that have echoed down through history 55:21 for the past half a millennia. 55:23 "Here I stand. 55:25 I can do no other. 55:27 May God help me. 55:28 Amen." 55:30 Powerful words from Martin Luther. 55:33 "Here I stand on God's Word and God's Word alone. 55:38 I can do no other." 55:41 God is calling you and I today. 55:44 Jesus is calling you and I today. 55:47 He's calling us to make a stand, 55:48 He's saying, "My dear friend, 55:51 wherever you may be on this planet, 55:53 I'm inviting you to make a stand. 55:56 Follow me. 55:57 Follow my ways. 55:59 Follow the plans that I have for you." 56:03 You may be thinking, 56:05 I've never heard this message before. 56:07 I had no idea. 56:09 What am I supposed to do? 56:12 Notice what Peter, sorry the Apostle Paul 56:16 shared with his audience in Acts 17:30, 56:20 "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, 56:23 but now commands all men everywhere to repent." 56:26 God is inviting all everywhere to repent. 56:30 Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 56:34 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 56:36 Jesus is inviting us to make a new start. 56:40 He's inviting us to make a change. 56:41 To follow Him as the Lord of the Sabbath. 56:43 You know what it means to repent? 56:45 To repent means to do a U-turn. 56:47 Have you ever had to do a U-turn? 56:48 You're heading in one direction and you realize, oops, 56:51 I'm going the wrong way. 56:52 You do a U-turn, you repent, 56:54 and you head back the right way. 56:57 That's God's plan for each and every one of you 56:59 and I wanna pray that each and every one of us 57:01 make that decision to follow Jesus 57:03 as Lord and Savior. 57:05 Let's pray. 57:06 Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Word. 57:08 We thank You for Your message of love. 57:10 And we ask and pray 57:11 that because of our love for Jesus, 57:13 we will seek to follow Him in spirit and in truth, 57:16 and we thank You for that in Jesus' name. 57:19 Amen. |
Revised 2019-10-14