Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP200051S
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00:01 It's that time again,
00:02 time to open your Bibles 00:04 and join us on 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:06 We are on the 12th lesson of the series 00:10 called "Education." 00:11 Today, our lesson is, "Sabbath: 00:15 Experiencing and Living the Character of God." 00:19 So get your quarterlies, 00:20 get your Bible and a pen and paper and join us. 00:23 Now if you don't already have a quarterly, 00:25 you can still go online and get one. 00:28 Just go to ABSG.Adventist.org 00:34 and download it for free. 00:36 Come join us. 01:08 Hi, I am so glad that you're joining us 01:10 for this wonderful study. 01:12 Let me introduce the family 01:14 that's sitting around the table. 01:15 We call them a panel but they are family. 01:17 My pastor, John Lomacang. 01:20 Good to be here with you, Shelley. 01:21 We are talking about a vitally important topic. 01:24 I'll let you introduce it 01:25 but it's good to be on the panel with you. 01:27 Amen. 01:28 And Ryan Day, Pastor Ryan Day. 01:31 Well, evangelist, 01:34 pastor some people call me but he's the pastor, 01:36 I'm the evangelist. 01:38 Okay, evangelist. 01:40 And Jill Morikone, Sis. 01:42 Thank you, Sis. 01:43 So glad to be here and study God's Word together. 01:45 And Pastor John Dinzey. 01:48 We're so glad you're with us. 01:49 It's a pleasure to be here. 01:51 I know God has a blessing for everyone 01:52 that watches this program and hears this program. 01:54 Amen and amen. 01:56 Pastor John, do you want to have 01:58 a prayer please, 02:00 I started to say a sermon. 02:03 I'll start with prayer first. 02:05 Loving Lord, what a blessing it is 02:07 to be able to rightly divide the word of truth. 02:10 And this topic, Father, we know 02:11 and every topic we've covered is vitally important. 02:14 We ask You to send Your Spirit to speak to us, through us, 02:17 and reach the hearts and lives 02:19 of those watching this program we pray. 02:21 In Jesus name, amen. 02:24 Amen. Amen and amen. 02:25 All right, this is lesson 12, "Sabbath: 02:28 Experiencing and Living the Character of God." 02:32 So let's look at our memory text, 02:34 it's Mark 2:27 and 28. 02:37 And this is Jesus speaking. 02:40 And he said, "The Sabbath was made for man, 02:45 and not man for the Sabbath. 02:47 Therefore the Son of Man 02:49 is also the Lord of the Sabbath." 02:52 When God instituted the Sabbath, 02:55 He intended that it would be a blessing to mankind, 03:01 not a burden, but by the time of Jesus, 03:04 the Jewish religious leaders had the observance of Sabbath 03:10 had become so weighed down 03:13 with mandated legalistic requirements, 03:17 that it's sucked the joy right out of the Sabbath. 03:22 Sabbath was created to be a benefit to mankind. 03:27 It was a time to be astonished at our Father's love, 03:31 a time for rediscovering for learning priorities, 03:36 finding balance, a time for community. 03:40 And the benefit was to us 03:43 that we had a day off from our labors 03:46 and we had to focus on God's blessing. 03:50 The Sabbath School quarterly started off 03:53 with an interesting story about two ladies Jody and Gail. 03:57 And Jody was the only one in her graduate program, 04:02 who was a Seventh-day Adventist. 04:04 Well, everybody knew 04:05 she operated a little differently. 04:07 Well, her friend Gail, 04:09 her husband was going out of town for six weeks. 04:11 So she calls Jody and says, 04:13 "Hey, I know you don't do anything 04:14 on Friday nights anyway. 04:16 So why don't you come spend, 04:17 hang out with me 04:18 for the next six Friday nights?" 04:20 Well, they do. 04:21 And they listen to Christian music 04:23 and they talk about the Lord and they eat together. 04:27 Well, what happened after four Sabbaths had passed, 04:30 Gail, non-Adventist was downtown shopping. 04:35 And it was on a Friday, 04:36 and all of a sudden she looks at her 04:38 watch and thinks, 04:40 "Wonderful. 04:41 The Sabbath is about to begin." 04:45 And she's getting ready to rush home 04:46 and she realizes how much she had grown 04:50 in her relationship with the Lord 04:52 as she had celebrated God's Sabbath. 04:55 So let's look at Sunday, time to be astonished. 05:01 The first two chapters of Genesis 05:03 gives us two different creation accounts 05:07 on the same event, 05:09 but two different accounts of creation. 05:11 Because there's no way you could cover 05:13 creation one account. 05:14 Let me read what 05:16 the Sabbath School quarterly says. 05:18 Genesis 1 recounts the creation week 05:21 and the growing wonder of the earth 05:22 as it is given form and then life, 05:25 culminating in the creation of man 05:27 and woman on the sixth day. 05:29 So first, we learn 05:31 of the powerful artistic creator, 05:35 who has an eye for perfect beauty. 05:38 But then Genesis 2 it says, looks at the same account, 05:41 but from a different perspective, 05:43 with a special focus on the sixth day. 05:47 Adam is at the center of the picture. 05:48 Now, everything is described as being there for him 05:53 and the woman, the garden, 05:55 the rivers, the animals, and of course, woman. 05:58 So this second account is showing us 06:03 that we're going to meet the God of relationships, 06:07 and that He wants humanity 06:09 to love and care for each other, 06:11 and for the rest of creation. 06:13 But I want to add this point. 06:16 There is a dramatic punctuation 06:19 between the first account and the second account. 06:22 Let's look at it. 06:23 Genesis 2:1-3, 06:26 we've just finished the first account creation. 06:29 And Genesis 2 begins this way. 06:31 "Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them 06:34 were finished. 06:36 And on the seventh day, 06:37 God ended His work which He had done, 06:40 He rested on the seventh day from all of His work 06:42 which He had done, 06:44 then God blessed the seventh day 06:47 and sanctified it, 06:48 because in it, He rested from all His work 06:51 which God had created and made." 06:53 Now Hebrew for rested is Shabbat, 06:56 and it means basically to cease and desist from work. 07:00 And, you know, God didn't rest because He was exhausted. 07:05 Isaiah 40:28 says, 07:07 "The Lord, the creators of the end of the earth, 07:10 neither faints nor grow weary." 07:12 So why did God rest? 07:14 He ceased from the work of creation, 07:18 because the work was completed. 07:22 You know, that's how I feel on the Sabbath 07:23 when I keep the Sabbath, I am resting. 07:27 To me, Sabbath is never a work. 07:29 Sabbath is a rest 07:31 because I remember 07:32 that God's work of salvation is completed, 07:36 that in Christ Jesus, 07:38 He is going to not only justify me 07:42 by grace through faith, 07:44 but He's working in me 07:46 to sanctify me by grace through faith. 07:49 But Jesus said, 07:50 "My father has been working until now, 07:52 and I have been working." 07:54 So when we look at this account of creation, 07:57 it says in Chapter 1, 07:59 and the evening and the morning were the first day, 08:02 and the evening and the morning were the second day, 08:05 and it goes all the way through, 08:07 till on the sixth day, which was Friday, 08:10 He creates Adam and Eve, 08:12 the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 08:15 So on that evening, 08:18 Saturday evening is when the Sabbath began, 08:22 and God rested 08:26 to basically establish a pattern 08:29 for man's work cycle when you think about it. 08:32 We have a yearly cycle, that is a solar cycle, right? 08:38 We have a monthly cycle, that is a lunar cycle. 08:42 But the only reason 08:45 that we have a seven-day work cycle 08:48 is because this is God's perfect pattern. 08:52 We work six, six on, the seventh day is off. 08:56 So God blessed the seventh day. 08:59 And you know, this is the only unit of time 09:01 in the creation account that God blesses. 09:04 And then He sanctified that day. 09:06 That means He set it aside. 09:08 And He made it holy, 09:11 just meaning that He's set aside 09:12 for His purposes. 09:14 So I want to add, oh, my God can sanctify a day. 09:19 And there's no other day. 09:21 Sunday is never sanctified in the Bible. 09:24 Here's the bottom line. 09:26 God is a relational being. 09:28 He longs for you to open your heart 09:32 and to let Him pour His love into your heart. 09:35 He longs to be part of your life experiences. 09:39 God, the ideal would be that we are like Enoch 09:44 that we walk with God in uninterrupted fellowship. 09:48 But you know what? 09:49 God knows the end from the beginning. 09:51 And He knew that man would get busy 09:54 and in his busyness interrupt that fellowship. 09:58 So God set aside the seventh day 10:01 that we can come to Him, 10:03 forget about all of our troubles, 10:06 build our trust in Him, 10:08 our faith in Him as our Creator, 10:11 and the one who recreates us 10:13 in the image of Jesus as our Redeemer, 10:16 and our Deliverer and the one who sanctifies us. 10:19 And the intimacy of our relationship 10:22 is magnified when we spend time 10:24 in God's presence. 10:26 I love this day. 10:27 God is the one who teaches us how to follow His path of life. 10:32 But now, just think about this. 10:35 Sabbath is a time of uninterrupted fellowship. 10:39 When we can look up from our work, 10:42 we can look at the skies and marvel at the stars 10:46 and how God created everything with such beauty. 10:49 We can smell the flowers, 10:51 walk through the forest or the trees. 10:54 And then we also learn how to accept responsibility 10:59 for the interdependence of relationship 11:02 with family and church. 11:04 But now let's just think about Adam and Eve for a moment. 11:08 Here they're created on the sixth day, 11:11 and they are getting ready to have their first full day 11:15 from Friday evening, till Saturday evening, 11:19 that seventh-day, 11:21 their first full day with their Creator, 11:23 their first full day with their spouse, 11:25 can you imagine. 11:27 It was a day that touched all of their senses. 11:33 Their eyes marveled 11:35 at all the beautiful colors of the Lord. 11:38 They're looking at the beautiful colors 11:40 of the different birds, 11:41 the beautiful colors of the flowers. 11:45 And you know, for me, because I like, 11:47 I like to dabble in painting. 11:50 When I look out on the green, if I'm looking at the trees, 11:55 I see maybe 50 different shades of green in the trees. 11:58 I love it. 12:00 So here, their eyes are marveling 12:02 at the unique shapes and sizes of everything. 12:05 They see the huge elephant, 12:07 and they see the duck billed platypus. 12:10 And they knew God had a sense of humor 12:12 if He created the platypus, 12:14 and the little tiny hummingbirds, 12:16 and their noses are crinkling with the light 12:19 as they smell the aroma of the flowers and the fruits. 12:24 And when you think about it, 12:26 even smelling the lion's breath. 12:28 I'm sure the lion's breath was like puppy's breath 12:31 at that time. 12:33 The lush grass, 12:34 just think about how their senses, 12:36 the sense of touch as they laid in the lush grass 12:41 and it was like, ooh, it feels like velvet. 12:44 And then they feel the coolness of the cascading waterfalls on, 12:49 the heat of the sun 12:50 as they're warming up from that. 12:52 And then when you think about it, 12:54 they heard the bleeding of the sheep, 12:58 they hear the braying of the donkeys, 13:00 they hear the beautiful sounds 13:02 of all the birds. 13:03 And it was just a symphony of sounds. 13:06 How marvelous it must have been. 13:09 Then their sense of taste, mangoes, grapes, 13:12 all the goodies that God had for them. 13:15 They were enraptured by the Creator, 13:19 and the creation, their first full day. 13:23 Let me just share with you very briefly my first day. 13:27 When God called me to full time ministry, he said, 13:31 "Forget what you think, you know, come sit at my feet, 13:33 and I will teach you." 13:35 He started me on a study of the sanctuary. 13:38 And I found out the Ten Commandments 13:41 were inside the ark, 13:42 and that book of the law was on the outside. 13:45 I realized, wow. 13:48 Sabbath is the only one that I am ignoring. 13:52 And you know, the first Sabbath, 13:54 I'll never forget, as the Sabbath rolled in, 13:57 it was like, all of my stress sweat out 14:02 because all of my life 14:04 I had been trying to speak good enough for God 14:07 and save myself. 14:09 And finally I realized, 14:11 Exodus 31:13 14:13 God said the Sabbath is a sign 14:16 that I'm the one who sanctifies you. 14:18 Amen. Well, thank you, Shelley. 14:20 Well, what an astonishing picture 14:22 that you drew. 14:23 I was there on the carpet, 14:26 smelling the lion's baby breath. 14:29 It was an amazing picture. 14:31 We don't think about it often that way. 14:33 But what a picture it must have been 14:34 that perfect day of creation. 14:36 They could lay on the grass and there were no ants 14:38 crawling on them to bite them. 14:40 What a setting. 14:41 You know, if we're faithful, we'll get that chance. 14:43 Again, I'm looking forward to that. 14:45 What a garden it was. 14:46 But now we go to Monday, "Time for Rediscovery." 14:51 Now as Shelley laid the foundation for the Sabbath 14:53 as it was in the beginning, the first and second stage. 14:57 We now look at the Sabbath in a different light. 15:01 You know, sin really took its course in the earth. 15:03 And as the progression of the generations continued, 15:07 finally, the Lord called a man by the name of Abraham, 15:11 and Genesis 26:5 says, Abraham, 15:14 because Abraham kept my commandments, 15:17 my statutes and my laws. 15:19 Abraham was not an Israelite, 15:21 they were not in existence then, 15:22 there was no such thing as a Jew. 15:24 He was from Chaldea or Chaldea, whichever way you say it, 15:27 a province in Babylon, 15:29 but he saw God and God made him faithful. 15:32 From him came generations, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 15:35 from Jacob came 12 sons, the children of Israel, 15:39 after Jacob overcame in his night of wrestling 15:41 with the Lord. 15:43 And then the nations began to grow, 15:45 they fell into bondage because of disobedience. 15:49 And a famine arose, 15:50 and they ended up Joseph went to Egypt. 15:53 And when the famine arose, 15:54 the family went to Egypt for provision, 15:56 and they were there a total of 400 years, 15:59 the generations 430 if you count 16:02 when Joseph was there, 16:04 but can now imagine 400 years, generation after generation, 16:08 being born and dying, being born and dying, 16:11 and something got lost in the slavery, 16:13 in the bondage of Egypt. 16:15 They went from the free people to the people in bondage 16:17 when a Pharaoh rose that did not know Joseph. 16:21 The bondage time came, and somewhere in the mix, 16:24 the Sabbath got lost. 16:26 Because now as we go to Exodus 16, 16:29 you'll find on the post Exodus, 16:32 one of the very first test 16:33 that God brings to the Israelites 16:35 is on the Sabbath. 16:37 Let's dive into Exodus 16. 16:39 And by the way, for those of you that think 16:41 the Sabbath did not exist until Sinai, 16:43 this is an indelible example, 16:45 a story of history 16:46 that shows that before was written 16:48 on tables of stone, 16:49 the Lord brought the test back. 16:52 Exodus 16:14, and the Lord gave them he said, 16:55 I'm going to provide you food, and look at what he says. 16:59 "And they saw something every morning 17:00 on the desert floor called manna," 17:02 but it says, 17:03 "And when the layer of dew lifted, there, 17:05 on the surface of the wilderness, 17:06 was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 17:10 So when the children of Israel saw it, 17:12 they said to one another, 'What is it?'" 17:14 And by the way, manna means exactly that, 17:16 what is it? 17:17 Like what do you having, nut n honey, exactly. 17:20 What are you having? Nut n honey. 17:21 There was a cereal called nut n honey. 17:24 You get to say nut n honey. 17:25 She said exactly. What are you having? 17:27 Nut n honey. Exactly. 17:28 Well, they had manna, what is it? 17:30 "For they did not know what it was. 17:33 And Moses said to them, 17:34 'This is the bread 17:35 which the Lord has given you to eat. 17:37 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: 17:39 'Every man gather it according to each one's need, 17:41 one omer for each person, 17:43 according to the number of persons, 17:45 let every man take for those who are in his tent.' 17:48 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, 17:50 some more, some less. 17:51 So when they measured it by omers, 17:54 he who gathered much had nothing left over, 17:56 and he who gathered little had no lack. 17:59 Every man had gathered according to each one's need. 18:01 And Moses said, 18:04 'Let no one leave any of it till morning.' 18:06 Not withstanding they did not heed Moses. 18:10 But some of them," the guys had snacked at night, 18:14 "some of them left part of it until morning, 18:16 and it bred worms and stink. 18:18 And Moses was angry with them. 18:20 So they gathered it every morning, 18:22 every man according to his need. 18:24 And when the sun became hot, it melted. 18:26 And so it was, on the sixth day, 18:28 they gathered twice as much bread, 18:30 two omers for each one. 18:31 And all the rulers of the congregation 18:33 came and told Moses. 18:35 Then he said to them, 18:37 'This is what the Lord has said: 18:39 'Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. 18:44 Bake what you will bake today, boil what you will boil, 18:48 and lay up for yourselves all that remains, 18:51 to be kept until morning.' 18:52 God blesses the work of the sixth day. 18:55 So they laid it up into the morning, 18:57 as Moses commanded, and it did not stink, 18:59 nor were there any worms in it. 19:01 Then Moses said, 'Eat that today, 19:03 for today is a Sabbath to the Lord, 19:05 today you will find none in the field. 19:08 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, 19:10 the Sabbath, there will be none.'" 19:12 Now it happened 19:13 that some of the people went out 19:14 on the seventh day to gather, 19:16 but they found none. 19:17 And the Lord said to Moses, listen to this, 19:20 "How long do you refuse 19:22 to keep My commandments and My laws? 19:25 See! 19:26 For the Lord has given you the Sabbath, 19:28 therefore He gives you 19:30 on the sixth day bread for two days. 19:34 Let every man remain in his place, 19:36 let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." 19:38 And then verse 30, 19:40 "So the people rested on the seventh day." 19:43 The Bible calls the seventh day the Sabbath before Sinai. 19:47 So you see, when He said how long, 19:49 that meant, this wasn't the first test. 19:51 They had lost track of the Sabbath in Egypt. 19:53 And one of the things, 19:55 one of the things that got Pharaoh angry, 19:56 I think, is Exodus 5:5 19:58 because Aaron and Moses restored a day of labor, 20:02 a day of rest for them while they were in Egypt. 20:05 And it got Pharaoh angry. 20:07 And that's when he commanded 20:08 that they make brick without straw. 20:10 But there are six points 20:12 I want to bring out very quickly, 20:13 seven points. 20:15 And if I'm as good as Jill, 20:16 I could get it done in four minutes. 20:18 The first purpose of the Sabbath, 20:21 Matthew 6:11, 20:23 the daily provision to show 20:25 was to show God's care for their daily needs. 20:28 That's why Matthew years later said in Matthew 6:11, 20:32 "Give us this day, our daily bread." 20:35 All the way back from the Exodus. 20:38 The second reason for the Sabbath test 20:41 was to show that God is our provider. 20:44 He gave them food every day. 20:45 And Paul many centuries later said, 20:48 "And my God shall supply all your need 20:50 according to His riches and glory." 20:52 Philippians 4:19, 20:54 going all the way back 20:55 to the account in the wilderness. 20:58 The third one was to remind the manna 21:01 that they receive was a reminder 21:03 of the coming Messiah. 21:04 Oh, that's good. 21:06 John 6:32, 21:07 "Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, 21:11 Moses did not give you the bread from heaven. 21:14 But my father gives you the true bread from heaven." 21:18 And Jesus was talking about Himself, 21:20 He is the bread of life. 21:22 So that was a reminder 21:23 all the way back to the post Exodus. 21:27 The fourth reason or the fourth lesson, 21:29 the early morning provision 21:30 revealed the mercy and the faithfulness of God. 21:34 Lamentation 3:21-24, 21:37 "This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. 21:41 Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, 21:43 because His compassions fail not." 21:45 He could have easily consumed the disobedient 21:48 who went out on the Sabbath, 21:49 or kept more food during the night 21:51 but He was merciful. 21:52 And it says in verse 23, 21:54 "They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. 21:59 The Lord is my portion," 22:00 he said take a certain portion every day, 22:03 says my soul, "therefore I hope in Him!" 22:06 All pointing back to the portion, 22:08 God's compassion, God's mercy in the wilderness. 22:12 Lesson number five, 22:13 the Sabbath was a test of loyalty 22:15 to the specificity of God's requirements. 22:18 Exodus 16:16. 22:20 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded. 22:23 He said, "Take a certain measure." 22:25 God was specific. 22:26 And, friends, if God is specific, 22:28 we should also be specific. 22:30 That's where tithing and offering comes in. 22:32 Don't just give God what you want, 22:34 give God what He requires. 22:37 Number six, 22:39 the Sabbath was a test of obedience 22:41 to the God of the Sabbath. 22:43 Exodus 16:27-28, 22:45 "Now what happened 22:47 that some of the people went out 22:48 on the seventh day to gather, 22:50 but they found none. 22:51 And the Lord said to Moses, 22:52 'How long do you refuse 22:54 to keep My commandments and My laws?'" 22:56 To those of you not keeping the commandments, 22:58 because you may not have heard about it, 22:59 I challenge you, 23:01 study the Sabbath and the Bible. 23:03 And as Ryan on my left, and Shelley on my right, 23:06 they both discovered in God's leading 23:09 the perpetuity of the law, 23:12 and they honored the Lord of the Sabbath 23:15 by accepting and embracing the Sabbath, 23:18 thus as Shelley said, the memory text, 23:21 the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. 23:25 Mark 2:27, "Therefore, 23:27 the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." 23:30 Is He Lord of your life is the question. 23:32 And lastly, the Sabbath was an outward test 23:36 of an inward commitment. 23:38 Ezekiel 20:12, "Moreover, 23:40 I also gave them my Sabbath to be a sign 23:43 between me and them, 23:45 that they might know that I'm the Lord 23:47 who sanctifies them." 23:48 We are only made holy 23:50 by honoring the Lord of the day, 23:52 the day doesn't sanctify us, 23:53 but by honoring His day that He blessed, 23:56 we are sanctified in our relationship. 23:58 And then verse 20, "Hallow My Sabbath, 24:01 and there will be a sign." 24:03 Is the sign missing, 24:05 a sign between Me and you, 24:07 that you may know that I am the Lord your God. 24:09 The Lord your God already picked the day, 24:12 you pick the Lord, 24:13 He'll give you the day 24:14 and you will enter into a sanctifying relationship 24:17 that will never change. 24:18 Amen. 24:19 You know, I actually celebrated the Sabbath 24:21 for two and a half years 24:23 before I discovered 3ABN 24:25 because I thought Adventist were a cult 24:30 and I wouldn't watch, 24:31 you know, at first I wouldn't watch, 24:32 then I found everything God was teaching me 24:35 is what they were teaching. 24:36 And now I am one, we'll be right back. 24:44 Ever wish you could watch 24:46 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 24:48 or share it on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter? 24:51 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 24:56 A clean design makes it easy 24:58 to find the program you're looking for. 25:01 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:04 so you can follow along. 25:06 Sharing is easy. 25:07 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 25:10 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:14 We hope that you are enjoying this study as much as we are. 25:18 Now it is Pastor Ryan Day's. 25:21 Amen. Praise the Lord. 25:22 Tuesday's lesson is entitled, "Time for Learning Priorities." 25:26 And, of course, we're on the theme 25:28 or the subject of the Sabbath. 25:29 And you know I've to say up front, 25:30 the Sabbath is definitely a time 25:32 in which we can learn priorities. 25:34 But it's also a time 25:36 in which your priorities can be examined or tested. 25:39 And that's essentially 25:40 what Tuesday's lesson deals with. 25:41 It kind of goes back into the history of Israel 25:44 and it uses Israel as an example, 25:46 the ups and the downs that Israel had 25:48 in the relationship with the Lord. 25:51 You know, what we seek, 25:52 essentially through the history of Israel, 25:54 and the history of the Old Testament 25:55 is this constant in and out of the children of Israel, 25:59 breaking up with God, coming back to God, 26:00 breaking up with God, coming back to God. 26:02 And essentially, it always was dealing 26:04 with the commandments of the Lord. 26:06 And the Sabbath was in the mix. 26:08 Many times, a couple of times in Scripture we have record, 26:11 where we see 26:12 that God specifically calls them out. 26:14 And He's addressing the fact that, 26:16 you know, He's seen their unwillingness 26:18 to respect the Sabbath, 26:20 essentially, as a sign of His irrelevance 26:22 in their own lives. 26:23 And unfortunately, there's many Christians 26:25 still today that have that issue, 26:27 the Lord is, the Sabbath is a test. 26:29 And we've been told that it's going to return 26:31 as the ultimate test. 26:32 How can God know that you are on His side 26:35 that you are His chosen, 26:36 He's going to send the Sabbath test. 26:38 And if you are willing to obey God 26:39 and receive that blessing, 26:41 then He knows that 26:42 that is a sign of His authority, 26:43 and that you are His special people. 26:45 But unfortunately, on the flip side of that, 26:47 we got people that will not receive 26:49 the Sabbath as a sign. 26:50 And we're going to talk about two extremes through this, 26:52 but I want to start in Jeremiah. 26:54 Let's go to Jeremiah 17:19-27. 26:58 There's a chance I may not read the entire passages 27:00 due to time. 27:01 But I want to highlight 27:03 a couple of passages in Scripture 27:04 before we get to the main one, 27:06 just to set the foundation 27:07 because you're going to see a couple of common themes 27:10 in these two passages. 27:11 We're going to read first from Jeremiah 17 here, 27:14 and then we're going to jump over to Nehemiah 27:16 and you're going to see a couple of, 27:18 you're going to see a pattern. 27:19 And then when we get to our passage in Isaiah, 27:21 we're really going to pick it up 27:22 and go home with it. 27:24 So Jeremiah 17, beginning with verse 19. 27:26 Notice what it says, "Thus the Lord said to me: 27:28 'Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, 27:31 by which the kings of Judah come in 27:33 and by which they go out, 27:35 and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 27:36 and say to them, 27:38 'Hear the word of the Lord, 27:39 you kings of Judah, and all Judah, 27:41 and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 27:43 who enter by these gates. 27:45 Thus says the Lord: 'Take heed to yourselves, 27:48 and bear no burden on the Sabbath day.'" 27:51 Okay, so I just want to pause there 27:52 and highlight the fact that the, 27:54 that's the whole purpose of the fourth commandment 27:57 is that God is granting us rest in Him 28:00 and He is commanding us that not only should we rest, 28:04 but anyone within our influence and control, 28:06 we should allow them to rest, 28:07 even all the way down to our cattle. 28:08 That's right. 28:10 The Lord says it's a holy day, 28:11 we should remember we should observe, 28:12 we should honor this day as a day of communion, 28:15 a day of rest. 28:16 And so that's what He means by this burden. 28:19 The children of Israel were bringing in a burden 28:21 on the Sabbath, 28:22 because they were bringing in all of their labors, 28:24 all of their business transactions, 28:26 and they were defiling the Sabbath. 28:27 So that's why He says here, 28:29 "And bear no burden on the Sabbath day, 28:30 nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem, 28:33 nor carry a burden out of your house 28:35 on the Sabbath day, 28:37 nor do any work but hallowed the Sabbath day, 28:39 as I commanded your fathers." 28:42 And, of course, it goes on to say, 28:44 "But they did not obey or incline their ear 28:47 but made their neck stiff 28:49 that they might not hear nor receive instruction." 28:52 We're talking about education, right? 28:54 In order for you to be educated, 28:56 you got to be able to receive instruction, right? 28:59 But notice God's response in verse 27. 29:01 Let's go ahead and jump down to verse 27. 29:03 Here it says, "But if you will not heed Me 29:05 to hallow the Sabbath day, 29:08 such as not carrying a burden 29:10 when entering the gates of Jerusalem 29:12 on the Sabbath day, 29:13 then I will kindle a fire in its gates, 29:15 and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, 29:18 and it shall not be quenched." 29:21 And so, other words, 29:22 this is leading up to their great apostasy 29:25 in which they're going to fall. 29:26 And they're going to end up 29:28 in the hands of the Babylonians, 29:29 and under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. 29:30 But ultimately, it began and we see the essential issue 29:33 was they were not only disobeying 29:35 all of God's commandments, 29:37 but they had come to the point 29:38 where they were completely dishonoring 29:40 God's Sabbath. 29:41 It showed their priority. God was not their priority. 29:43 The Sabbath was the test. 29:45 And you'll notice that the theme in here 29:47 was that God says don't bring in your burden. 29:49 What was the burden? I'll reiterate that. 29:51 They were bringing in their business, 29:53 they were defiling the Sabbath with their labors 29:55 and their daily ongoing business 29:57 that they would have done on days one through six. 29:59 Remember God says, "You shall work for six days, 30:01 you shall labor for six days. 30:03 But the seventh day 30:04 is the Sabbath of the Lord your God." 30:06 They were taking what would be done 30:07 on the six days of laboring working 30:09 and basically carrying out business transactions. 30:12 They were bringing that in on the Sabbath day 30:14 and God said, "I'm not going to have that. 30:16 You're going to be My people, 30:17 I need you to show Me your commitment." 30:19 And, of course, they would... 30:20 We just read there in verse 27, 30:22 that God had to kindle a fire 30:23 in the gates to get their attention. 30:25 We see this same theme over Nehemiah. 30:27 Okay. 30:28 Let's go to Nehemiah Chapter 13. 30:29 And then we're going to jump over 30:31 to Isaiah 58 afterwards. 30:34 So Nehemiah Chapter 13. 30:35 Notice the same common theme. 30:37 Nehemiah had the same issue. 30:40 I'm going to start reading in verse 19. 30:41 There it says, "So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, 30:44 as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, 30:46 that I commanded the gates to be shut, 30:48 and charged that they must not be opened 30:51 till after the Sabbath." 30:52 I want to pause here and set the setting here. 30:54 This is now after the Babylonian captivity. 30:57 So before when we just read in Jeremiah, 30:59 that's before they went into captivity, 31:01 and because of their disobedience 31:02 to the Sabbath, 31:03 and the other commandments of the Lord. 31:05 Now they end up in 70 years of Babylonian captivity, 31:07 but now, Nehemiah is their leader. 31:10 He's helping them build the wall. 31:12 He's helping them reestablish Jerusalem 31:15 as an independent statehood, 31:16 and they are now, they're back to it again. 31:18 They're starting to defile the Sabbath. 31:20 So notice Nehemiah he, he lifts the bar, 31:23 notice what he says here. 31:24 He says, "Then I posted 31:25 some of my servants at the gate, 31:27 so that no burdens would be brought 31:29 on the Sabbath day." 31:30 So notice verse 20. 31:32 Now the merchants and sellers, 31:33 notice, here's the business aspect. 31:35 "Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares 31:37 lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 31:40 Then I warned them, and said to them, 31:42 'Why do you spend the night around the wall? 31:44 If you do so again," watch it he says, 31:47 "I will lay hands on you!'" 31:48 This brother meant business. 31:50 He said, "If I catch you defiling the Sabbath, 31:51 and bringing your business in and camping out here, 31:54 so that you can go ahead and conduct your business 31:56 to defile the Sabbath 31:57 and bring it within the gates of Jerusalem, 31:59 I will put hands on you. 32:00 Now, obviously, he didn't have enough hands 32:01 to put on all those people. 32:03 I'm sure he had other men that would back him up 32:06 and to carry out this action. 32:07 But what we're seeing here in these two passages 32:09 that we read in Jeremiah and Nehemiah 32:11 is we see that the business transactions, 32:13 the daily ongoing business that should have been done 32:16 on days one through six, 32:17 God is saying your priorities are wrong. 32:19 You're bringing them in on My holy day. 32:21 This is a day that I've given to you 32:22 to bless you, 32:23 to give you rest so that I can commune with you 32:25 and you can commune with your brothers 32:27 without all the labors 32:28 and the ongoing businesses of the day. 32:30 So now that leads us to Isaiah 58. 32:32 This is God's ultimate response. 32:34 Even though this was written many years 32:36 even before Jeremiah and Nehemiah, 32:38 God gave His ultimate response 32:40 to how the Sabbath should be conducted 32:42 and how it should be an ultimate test to us 32:45 and help us to prioritize the Sabbath business. 32:48 I have little time to do this. 32:49 So let's read through this really quickly. 32:51 Notice verse 13, 32:52 we're going to start Isaiah 58:13-14. 32:55 Notice what he says there, 32:56 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath," 32:59 Now I just want to say it upfront, 33:01 again, you can do research on this and find this. 33:03 The English translations here really don't do this justice. 33:06 In fact, much of this if you dig a little deeper 33:08 into the original Hebrew, 33:10 you'll find that the message 33:11 is not entirely communicated as well 33:13 as it should be in the English. 33:15 When it says here, if you turn away your foot 33:17 from the Sabbath, in the original Hebrew, 33:19 it actually says, 33:20 if you turn away your foot from what you have it on, 33:24 and turn back to the Sabbath. 33:25 That's what God is ultimately saying, 33:27 Come back to the Sabbath. 33:28 And notice what He says, 33:30 from doing your pleasure on My holy day, 33:33 and call the Sabbath a delight, 33:35 the holy day of the Lord honorable 33:36 and you shall honor Him nor not doing your own ways, 33:40 nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, 33:44 then you show the light yourself in the Lord. 33:47 And that will cause you to ride up 33:48 on the high heels of the earth. 33:50 And God says 33:51 He's going to declare a blessing. 33:52 Look, in these little closing moments I have, 33:54 I want to make something clear here. 33:55 There's a lot of people who find themselves 33:57 in one of two extremes 33:59 when it comes to Sabbath keeping 34:00 and finding their priority in the Lord. 34:02 You have on one hand these people that are ultra, 34:05 I mean, it's legalistic approach 34:06 to say, you can't do this, 34:08 you can't do this, you can do this. 34:09 And when they read these words, finding, 34:10 you know doing your own pleasure, 34:12 finding your own pleasure, they look at that, 34:13 and they say there's nothing that can be done 34:15 on the Sabbath day, 34:17 and they do exactly the opposite of what God says, 34:18 they don't make it a delight. 34:20 They make it a horrible displeasure. 34:23 And a lot of people grow, 34:24 a lot of our young folks are growing up, 34:25 they're despising Sabbath keeping, 34:27 because of the oppression 34:28 and the legalistic approach 34:30 that we have toward the Sabbath. 34:31 And then on the flip side, 34:32 you got those people just like anything goes. 34:34 I can do anything I want on the Sabbath, 34:35 and they're doing exactly 34:37 what the Israelites done there in Jeremiah 17 34:40 and also in Nehemiah. 34:41 My friends, we got to find the happy medium. 34:43 Let me show you something here really quickly, 34:45 because I'm running out of time here. 34:47 In the original Hebrew here, 34:48 the common theme 34:50 that you see through this passage 34:51 in verses 13 and 14 34:53 is God saying do not do 34:54 your business pleasure on My day. 34:56 Do not do your business pleasure 34:58 on My house. 34:59 When it says do not find your own pleasure. 35:01 That doesn't mean, Ryan, 35:02 you know what if I strive by your home 35:03 and I see you throwing frisbee 35:05 with your wife out in the yard on Sabbath 35:07 oh, you're having a pleasurable moment, 35:09 you are sinning. 35:10 That is not what God is saying. 35:11 Sometimes we can, again pick things apart, 35:13 we need to make it a delight, 35:15 but make sure that we're not dishonoring 35:16 the Sabbath, 35:18 put our priorities in order 35:19 so that when we keep the Sabbath a delight 35:21 in honoring it, not doing work, 35:23 not doing our own pleasure. 35:24 At the same time, 35:26 we also are not going through just the motions 35:28 or honoring the Lord on His day, 35:30 as He has told us to do. 35:31 Amen. 35:33 Thank you so much, Ryan, 35:34 you perfectly set up what my day is, 35:36 "Time for Finding Balance." 35:38 Now, when I first read this title, 35:40 I hadn't really studied the lesson at all. 35:41 And when I got the assignment from Shelley there, 35:44 you have Wednesday time for finding balance. 35:46 I thought, oh, Lord Jesus, you know, I need this lesson, 35:49 just because balance can be a hard thing 35:52 to find in life. 35:53 And then I thought, 35:55 oh, the lesson has nothing to do with that. 35:56 And then I thought, 35:57 well maybe the lesson's about the Sabbath 35:59 and how that helps us achieve balance, 36:02 you know, come apart and rest a while. 36:05 But that's not what the lesson is about either. 36:07 It's about the balance between legalism 36:10 and keeping the Sabbath, 36:12 or relationship with the Lord of the Sabbath. 36:17 Just what Ryan ended with. 36:18 It's about how Jesus kept the Sabbath 36:22 versus how the Pharisees and Scribes 36:26 tried to enforce legalistic behavior 36:29 on the Sabbath. 36:31 That's what this lesson is about. 36:33 So I see five lessons as we talk about time 36:36 for finding balance. 36:38 Five lessons stood out to me as we read the scriptures. 36:40 Lesson number one, 36:42 spiritual legalism often comes in 36:45 through spiritual leadership. 36:49 Jesus made the Sabbath. 36:50 It was created in Eden. 36:51 Shelley talked about that, I'm in Genesis 2. 36:54 We were reminded of it on Mount Sinai 36:57 with the Ten Commandments. 36:58 Jesus demonstrated its beauty and relationship 37:01 when He walked this earth, 37:02 that was our memory text in Mark 2. 37:04 The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. 37:07 The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. 37:10 However, the Jewish leaders, 37:12 they were the spiritual leaders of the people. 37:15 They brought in legalism 37:18 to something that God had created 37:20 and God had beautified. 37:22 Spiritual legalism often comes in 37:25 through spiritual leadership. 37:28 They created laws 37:30 if you read in the Jewish Mishnah, 37:32 they created 39 categories for work 37:35 that was prohibited on the Sabbath. 37:37 And there's an entire list such things as carrying, 37:42 nothing can be removed from the house, 37:44 only things that were carried 37:46 were things that you put on or things that you wear, 37:49 such as burning, no burning, 37:52 no striking a match, 37:53 no turning on a stove, no driving a car, 37:56 no electric lights, no telephone, 37:58 because those things work by electricity. 38:01 Reaping, no plucking a flower or picking fruit from a tree, 38:06 no smelling of a flower on the Sabbath, 38:10 harvesting grain. 38:11 The lesson brought out, 38:12 some Rabbis discouraged walking through a grain field 38:16 if the grain was at ankle height, 38:18 because your ankle might accidentally knock off 38:21 the grain by stepping on it and that is threshing. 38:24 No threshing, no shearing, 38:26 and that includes combing the hair 38:28 because if you comb your hair, you might pull out a few hairs. 38:31 And that would be shearing. 38:33 So, but a soft brush was allowed. 38:36 The point is that legalism came in 38:39 and crept and took over the beauty of the Sabbath. 38:44 Lesson number two, the law is not the problem, 38:47 the interpretation of the law, that's the problem. 38:51 Psalm 19:7, David says, "The law of the Lord is" what? 38:55 "Perfect, converting the soul, 38:58 the testimony of the Lord is sure 38:59 making wise the simple." 39:02 Matthew 5, Jesus said, 39:04 the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:17-18. 39:08 The Pharisees thought He's destroying the law. 39:10 They thought He's doing away with the law. 39:12 They were upset 39:13 because all they knew was legalism. 39:15 And then when He came 39:17 with this beautiful practice of how He kept the Sabbath, 39:20 they got scared 39:22 and so He says in Matthew 5:17-18, 39:24 "Do not think that I came to destroy 39:26 the law or the prophets. 39:28 He didn't come, the law, of course, 39:29 being the first five books of the Old Testament, 39:31 the prophets referring 39:33 to the rest of the Old Testament. 39:34 I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 39:38 "For assuredly, I say to you, 39:39 till heaven and earth pass away one jar 39:41 or one tittle will by no means, 39:43 pass from the law till all is fulfilled." 39:46 So Christ showed the permanence of Scripture. 39:51 And in the New Testament, the law was not done away with. 39:54 In fact, it was elevated and ennobled. 39:58 And He fulfilled that. 40:00 We see lesson number three, 40:02 spiritual things are to be looked at 40:04 through the lens of Jesus, not the law. 40:08 That's right. 40:10 Let's turn to Matthew 12. 40:11 Matthew Chapter 12, 40:13 this is the time where Jesus had an encounter 40:15 with the Pharisees and Scribes 40:17 over the keeping of the Sabbath. 40:20 Matthew 12, 40:21 we're going to jump through verses 1-8 quickly. 40:24 "At that time, Jesus went through the grainfields 40:26 on the Sabbath, 40:28 and his disciples were hungry, 40:29 and began to pluck heads of grain and eat. 40:32 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, 40:34 'Look, your disciples are doing 40:36 what is not lawful on the Sabbath.'" 40:39 Have you ever noticed that when you're legalistic, 40:41 you tend to judge other people? 40:44 "But he said to them, 40:46 'Have you not read but David did 40:47 when he was hungry, 40:48 he and those who were with Him. 40:50 How we entered the house of God and ate the showbread, 40:52 which was not lawful for him to eat, 40:54 nor for those who were with him, 40:55 but only for the priests, 40:57 or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath, 40:59 the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath 41:01 and are blameless, 41:02 yet I say to you, in this place, 41:04 there is one greater than the temple. 41:07 But if you had known what this means, 41:08 I desire mercy and not sacrifice, 41:11 you would not have condemned the guiltless. 41:13 For the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath." 41:17 Jesus was there in person, in the flesh, 41:20 much greater than anything they had known or studied. 41:23 And they're setting these laws and these rules, 41:26 they're looking at things through the filter of the law, 41:29 or their legalistic interpretation 41:31 of the law, 41:32 versus the lens or filter of Jesus. 41:35 The debater issue in this passage 41:37 is not whether the Sabbath 41:38 should be observed or abolished. 41:40 The issue is how it should be kept, 41:43 and who has the authority to make that determination. 41:47 The Pharisees followed the traditions 41:49 commanded by the Rabbis. 41:51 Jesus claimed the ultimate authority 41:53 because He was Lord of the Sabbath, 41:56 He had made it. 41:58 The Sabbath is a day of mercy, 42:00 of relieving pain and suffering, 42:02 of restoring and redeeming, of fulfilling basic needs. 42:05 There's a quote from Desire of Ages, 42:07 I like in page 284. 42:09 It says, "In the days of Christ, 42:11 the Sabbath had become so perverted, 42:14 that its observance 42:15 reflected the character of selfish and arbitrary men, 42:19 rather than the character of a loving Heavenly Father. 42:24 That's what Jesus came to, 42:26 to eradicate that the way 42:29 that they were interpreting the Sabbath 42:31 and to bring about a new way to look at 42:34 and Shelley always says, 42:35 celebrate the Sabbath. 42:38 Lesson number four, 42:39 relationships are more important than rules. 42:43 Restoration and redemption are more important 42:47 than criticism and judgment. 42:50 Matthew 12, we're in the same chapter 42:53 just verses 9-13. 42:55 So Jesus just has this encounter 42:57 with the Pharisees 42:58 all over the keeping of the Sabbath 43:00 with the disciples, 43:01 and now He went to the synagogue, 43:02 and there's a man with a withered hand, 43:05 and they said, 43:06 "Is it okay to heal on the Sabbath?" 43:08 Verse 11, "He said to them, 43:10 'What man is there among you who has one sheep, 43:12 if it falls into the pit on the Sabbath 43:14 will not lay hold of it and lift it up? 43:17 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep? 43:21 Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, 43:24 and then he went and healed the man 43:26 with the withered hand." 43:28 People are vastly more important than animals, 43:31 and yet they were elevating animals, 43:33 and trying to do good to animals 43:35 while ignoring the people. 43:38 Lesson number five, 43:39 the Sabbath is the day for healing. 43:41 It's a day for deliverance. 43:43 It's a day for freedom. 43:45 We won't reference it, but in Luke Chapter 13, 43:49 we won't read it. 43:50 But in Luke 13:10-17, 43:53 you see the story of the woman 43:55 with a spirit of infirmity for 18 years, 43:57 and she was bent over and could not even raise up. 44:01 And Jesus said, 44:02 woman you are loosed from your infirmity, 44:04 but the ruler of the synagogue got mad, 44:07 and said, there's six days to be to work 44:09 and she could have been healed 44:10 on one of those six. 44:12 Why is this happening now? 44:13 And the Lord was pretty strong. 44:14 He said, hypocrite, 44:16 does not each of you on the Sabbath 44:17 lose his donkey. 44:19 Here we come to the animals again 44:20 and how they treated them. 44:22 And how much more this woman 44:23 who has been bound for 18 years by Satan, 44:26 should she not be set free on the Sabbath? 44:30 One more quote from Desire of Ages. 44:32 I really liked this one. 44:34 It's on page 287. 44:36 When Jesus turned upon the Pharisees, 44:38 with the question whether it was lawful 44:40 on the Sabbath to do good or evil, 44:42 to save life or kill, 44:43 He confronted them with their own wicked purposes. 44:47 They were hunting His life with bitter hatred 44:49 while He was saving life 44:51 and bringing happiness to multitudes. 44:54 Was it better to slay on the Sabbath 44:56 as they were planning to do 44:58 than to heal the afflicted as He had done. 45:01 Was it more righteous to have murder in the heart 45:03 on God's holy day than love to all men 45:08 which finds expression in deeds of mercy? 45:11 You know what that gets back to is the motive. 45:14 What is the motive of our heart when we keep 45:18 and celebrate the Sabbath? 45:20 Is it because we love God? 45:22 And we love Jesus 45:24 and we want to spend time with Him 45:26 and be made into His image, 45:29 or is it because we're all about those rules 45:31 and do's and don'ts. 45:33 I pray that each one of us experience 45:35 the joy of the Sabbath. 45:37 Amen. Amen. 45:38 Praise the Lord. 45:40 You know, some people may be listening 45:41 and maybe saying, 45:43 don't those people know 45:44 that the Sabbath is for the Jews, 45:46 that the Sabbath has been done away with. 45:49 But, you know, I want to read to you 45:51 the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:17, 18, and 19, 45:56 "Do not think that I came to destroy 45:59 the law or the prophets. 46:00 I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 46:04 For assuredly, I say to you, 46:05 till heaven and earth pass away, 46:07 one jot or one tittle will by no means 46:10 pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 46:13 Whoever therefore breaks 46:15 one of the least of these commandments, 46:17 and teaches men so, 46:19 shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, 46:21 but whoever does and teaches them, 46:24 he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 46:27 So as we look at this, we ask ourselves, 46:30 did Jesus do away with the Sabbath? 46:32 No, according to what Jesus said, No. 46:35 I pointed to Matthew 24:20, 46:37 if someone would do me a favor reading Matthew 24:20, 46:41 because there Jesus is talking 46:44 and the context of that is Jesus talking 46:46 about the destruction of Jerusalem, 46:48 which took place in 70 AD. 46:50 Pastor John Lomacang will read Matthew 24:20. 46:54 Jesus said, "And pray that your flight 46:56 may not be in winter or on the Sabbath." 47:00 Thank you so much. 47:01 I know you could preach a whole sermon on that. 47:03 But thank you for reading that. 47:05 Here we see Jesus talking about pray 47:09 that your flight or your escape from Jerusalem 47:13 from escaping Jerusalem 47:16 because Jerusalem was going to be destroyed, 47:18 pray that it's not in the winter, 47:19 because of the harshness of the winter, 47:22 nor on the Sabbath day. 47:24 Jesus expected His followers to be keeping the Sabbath 47:27 even in 70 AD, and even today. 47:31 That's right. Amen. 47:32 So now I pointed to Mark Chapter 11 47:34 because the title of this lesson 47:37 is "Time for Community." 47:38 Jesus wants His community 47:40 of believers to be united 47:42 in the understanding that they should keep 47:44 the commandments of God. 47:45 That's why Jesus said, "If you love Me, 47:48 keep My commandments." 47:49 John 14:15. 47:51 Mark 11:15-17. 47:53 Notice this, "So they came to Jerusalem, 47:56 Then Jesus went into the temple, 47:58 and began to drive out those who bought 48:00 and sold in the temple 48:02 and overturned the tables of the money changers 48:05 and the seats of those who sold doves. 48:08 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares 48:11 through the temple. 48:12 Then He taught, saying to them, 48:15 "Is it not written, 48:17 My house shall be called a house of prayer 48:21 for all nations, 48:23 but you have made it a den of thieves." 48:26 Now, why did I read this scripture? 48:28 This scripture, particularly verse 17, 48:32 is taken from the context of keeping the Sabbath, 48:35 keeping God's laws, 48:37 and I'm going to point you to that in a moment. 48:38 But notice that Jesus says, 48:40 "My house shall be called the 48:41 house of prayer for all nations." 48:43 It is, was God's purpose from the beginning, 48:46 that all of His creatures 48:48 should be keeping the Sabbath day. 48:50 This is why you heard Shelley Quinn saying 48:52 that the Sabbath was sanctify when? 48:55 During on the seventh day. That's right. 48:58 At creation God sanctified the Sabbath day 49:01 when there was no distinction of nations. 49:04 They were, we were all one, one big family. 49:08 That's what and had not sin entered into the world, 49:11 God's people would have been keeping 49:13 the Sabbath day uninterrupted. 49:16 Isn't that marvelous? 49:18 Now, why did I read this scripture? 49:19 Jesus said, "My house shall be called 49:21 the house of prayer for all nations." 49:22 Let's go to where this is taken from. 49:24 Isaiah 56. 49:26 Isaiah 56:4-7, 49:30 I have to give a little bit of context there. 49:32 Notice, "For thus, says the Lord, 49:35 'To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbath 49:38 and choose what pleases Me 49:40 and hold fast my covenant, 49:43 even to them, 49:44 I will give in My house and within My walls a place 49:48 and a name better than that of the sons 49:50 and daughters. 49:52 I will give them an everlasting name 49:54 that shall not be cut off. 49:55 Also the sons of the foreigner 49:59 who joined themselves to the Lord 50:01 to serve Him 50:02 and to love the name of the Lord to be His servants, 50:05 everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, 50:09 and hold fast to My covenant.'" 50:12 So God is including all nations here. 50:14 Notice, "Even then I will bring to My holy mountain, 50:19 and make them joyful in My house of prayer. 50:22 Their burnt offerings 50:24 and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, 50:27 for My house shall be called 50:29 a house of prayer for all nations." 50:31 So it was God's intended purpose 50:34 that the Jews were to teach all the other nations 50:38 the wonderful things the Lord had taught them. 50:40 And notice, of course, it says here, 50:43 the Lord will accept their sacrifices. 50:45 Well, this was in the context before Jesus died on the cross. 50:49 We know that Jesus fulfilled all the sacrifices, 50:52 because He is the Lamb of God 50:53 that takes away the sin of the world. 50:55 While the sacrificial system was done away with, 50:58 the Sabbath 50:59 which was instituted at creation 51:01 was not done away with 51:02 because it is not a symbol or a shadow of anything. 51:05 It identifies God as our Creator. 51:09 Our Creator. 51:11 And so all nations were supposed to have 51:14 God's house as a house of prayer. 51:16 This is a marvelous understanding. 51:18 So the Lord hallowed, 51:19 sanctified the seventh day before any nation existed. 51:23 And you heard was said here, 51:25 that the Sabbath was made for man 51:27 and not man for the Sabbath. 51:29 Man in general, everyone. 51:31 Now let's look at some scriptures 51:33 that highlight that God's people 51:36 continue to keep the Sabbath even after crucifixion 51:39 and the resurrection of Christ. 51:41 Let's move to Acts Chapter 16. 51:44 And I'm going to ask someone to read Acts 17:1-5, 51:49 1-4 in a moment, 51:51 but I'm going to read Acts 16:13-14, 51:54 "And on the Sabbath day, 51:56 we went out of the city to the riverside," 51:58 it's okay to go out of the city, 52:00 to go to the riverside on the Sabbath, 52:02 "where prayer was customarily made 52:04 and we sat down 52:06 and spoke to the women who met there. 52:08 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. 52:10 She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, 52:13 who worshiped God. 52:15 The Lord opened her heart 52:16 to heed the things spoken by Paul." 52:19 So we see here, 52:20 these are people that were keeping the Sabbath, 52:23 and even another lady that was not part of the Jews. 52:27 Now, let's go to Acts 17:1-4 who will read that for us? 52:32 Let me read. Okay. 52:34 You said Acts 17? 52:35 Acts 17:1-4. Okay. 52:36 Acts 17:1-4, 52:38 "Now when they had passed through Amphipolis, " 52:42 there we go, 52:43 "and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, 52:47 where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 52:49 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, 52:51 and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them 52:54 from the Scriptures, 52:55 explaining and demonstrating that Christ had to suffer 52:58 and rise again from the dead, 52:59 and saying, 53:01 'This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.' 53:04 And some of them were persuaded, 53:05 and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, 53:08 and not a few of the leading women, 53:13 joined Paul and Silas." 53:14 Thank you so much. 53:15 So we see here 53:17 that the Greeks also studied on the Sabbath 53:21 and Paul reasoned with them from the scriptures. 53:24 Let's go ahead and move to Acts Chapter 13. 53:27 Paul is talking to the Jews. 53:29 And He's spending a moment. 53:32 Actually, I need to skip that one 53:33 because of the time. 53:35 Let's go to Acts 18. 53:36 Acts 18:1-4, notice, 53:41 "After these things Paul departed from Athens 53:43 and went to Corinth. 53:45 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, 53:48 who had recently come from Italy 53:50 with his wife Priscilla 53:52 because Claudius had commanded all the Jews 53:54 to depart from Rome, and he came to them. 53:56 So, because he was of the same trade, 53:58 he stayed with them and worked, 54:00 for by occupation they were tent makers. 54:02 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, 54:05 and persuaded both Jews and Greeks." 54:09 And so, we have many instances like, 54:13 we don't have time to read Acts Chapter 13, 54:16 where it says there in verse 42, 54:17 that the Gentiles begged 54:20 that the gospel would be preached to them 54:23 on the next Sabbath, interesting. 54:25 You had other days of the week, 54:26 but they asked for the Sabbath day. 54:27 Isn't that interesting? 54:29 Now, let's go to Genesis 26:4-5. 54:35 God is talking to Abraham and the Lord says, 54:37 "I will make your descendants multiply 54:39 as the stars of heaven, 54:41 I will give to you and descendants, 54:42 all these lands and in your seed 54:44 all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. 54:47 Because Abraham obeyed My voice, kept My charge, 54:51 My commandments, My statutes and My laws." 54:53 Why? 54:54 This is in Genesis before Mount Sinai 54:58 before it was written on stone. 55:00 We already have the evidence of God's servant Abraham 55:02 keeping God's commandments, keeping the Sabbath, 55:05 which is one of the commandments. 55:07 And so, Exodus 20:8-11, do I have time? 55:10 Let's try. 55:12 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 55:13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 55:16 but the seventh day is the Sabbath 55:18 of the Lord your God. 55:19 In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, 55:21 nor your daughter, nor your male servant, 55:23 nor your female servant, nor your cattle, 55:25 nor your stranger who is within your gates. 55:27 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, 55:30 the sea, and all that is in them, 55:32 and rested the seventh day. 55:34 Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day 55:36 and hallowed it. 55:37 He expects you and I to do the same. 55:39 Amen and amen. 55:40 Thank you so much. What a beautiful study. 55:43 Appreciate each and every one of you. 55:45 Why don't you each take a moment 55:47 to just give a final thought? 55:49 Well, mine was talking about the Sabbath and rediscovery. 55:52 The Sabbath is a time for you 55:54 to rediscover your roots as sons and daughters of God. 55:58 Only when you connect with your roots in Christ, 56:01 and the Sabbath is that connecting link 56:04 will you be able to appreciate not only how creation began, 56:08 but how it will continue 56:09 and how eternity is going to be rediscover your roots. 56:13 Christ is waiting for you. Amen. 56:16 I would just say that the Sabbath is, 56:18 should be pleasurable, it should be a delight. 56:20 The Bible says that we should delight in it. 56:23 So in keeping the Sabbath, 56:24 we're showing God that He is our God, 56:27 and we are His people. 56:28 So make the Lord your God and obey Him in every aspect. 56:31 Amen. 56:33 I had time for finding balance. 56:34 And I love that 56:35 because the Sabbath is about relationship, 56:37 relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, 56:39 and relationship with others, with family and in community, 56:43 as a body in Christ. 56:44 So make a decision 56:46 to make that relationship central in your life. 56:49 Amen. Amen. 56:50 And I want to say time for community, 56:52 God expects His children to rejoice in the Lord. 56:56 And to understand 56:58 that the law of the Lord is perfect, 57:00 cannot change because it's already perfect. 57:02 You can't make it better because God made it perfect. 57:05 Amen and amen. 57:06 I just want to go back once more to think 57:08 about that first Sabbath of Adam and Eve. 57:11 It certainly wasn't a passive experience. 57:15 I guarantee you, they were celebrating, 57:18 they were celebrating the Creator. 57:20 They were celebrating creation, 57:22 and they were celebrating each other, 57:24 and I believe 57:25 that's what God would have us to do. 57:27 The Sabbath is a benefit to man. 57:30 It is a time to be astonished at our Father's love. 57:34 It is a time for rediscovery for learning priorities, 57:39 for finding balance and enjoying community. 57:44 The Sabbath is a blessing to be celebrated. 57:47 Well, we hope 57:49 that you will join us next week. 57:50 We're going to have our final lesson, 57:52 lesson 13 57:53 and it is "Heaven, Education and Eternal Learning." 57:59 We'll see you next time. Bye-bye. |
Revised 2021-01-22