Participants: Ed Reid
Series Code: 17SCM
Program Code: 17SCM000014A
|
00:14 Welcome to 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting 2017,
00:18 Exposing the Counterfeit. 00:25 Well, I want to welcome all of you 00:27 from around the world. 00:28 Do you know that we have people 00:30 watching this service, this afternoon 00:34 3ABN Camp Meeting all over the world? 00:37 And I understand that we've even got some 00:40 new viewers in the United Kingdom, 00:42 and I want to welcome all of you. 00:44 This is 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting 00:48 right here from in. 00:49 I can say beautiful Southern Illinois, can't I? 00:52 Have we ordered the weather for this Camp Meeting? 00:57 We couldn't have done any better 01:00 than what God has provided for us. 01:03 So we welcome all of you from around the world, 01:05 from across these United States 01:07 and also, are you all enjoying in Camp Meeting? 01:11 Yeah! Live right here. 01:13 And so I just appreciate all of you 01:17 for being a part and want you to continue. 01:20 We have services tonight and then all day tomorrow. 01:23 So we've got a lot more coming ahead of us. 01:27 But right now I want to introduce, 01:30 I am honored to be able to introduce, 01:33 Pastor Edward Reid. 01:34 You know, Pastor Edward Reid has been coming to 3ABN. 01:37 He and I were talking about it, it's 24 or 25 years 01:42 that he has been a part of the ministry here at 3ABN. 01:46 He had two series on 3ABN. 01:49 The first one was By My Spirit, 01:52 the second one is It's Your Money. 01:54 And I said, "It's my money." 01:56 And he said, "No, it's your money." 01:58 He knew the name of the program that he had. 02:00 And do you know those programs are still airing on 3ABN radio. 02:05 So programming, that something that we have found around here. 02:10 It's people can be blessed 02:12 and even come to the knowledge 02:14 of the Lord Jesus Christ on a reverend. 02:16 Isn't that encouraging? 02:18 Yeah! 02:20 Not only is Pastor Reid, an ordained minister, 02:23 he's an attorney, he's an author, 02:26 a teacher, an evangelist 02:28 and currently, he serves as the assistant 02:32 to the president of Adventist World 02:34 for Planned Giving. 02:36 The topic he is going to address this afternoon is, 02:40 "Is Sunday the Lord's Day?" 02:42 It's gonna be an interesting topic 02:44 for him to unfold. 02:45 But before Pastor Reid comes, my pastor, 02:49 Pastor John Lomacang is going to come 02:52 and minister to us 02:54 as only Pastor Lomacang can. 02:56 I love the way this minister, ministers. 02:59 The song that he's going to sing 03:01 is one of my favorite songs as well, 03:04 it's "I Give You Jesus." 03:05 Amen. 03:31 If the ship of your life 03:35 Is tossing on the sea of strife 03:40 You need someone 03:46 If you feel so all alone 03:50 And your house is not a home 03:55 You need someone 04:02 If you feel life isn't fair 04:06 And there's no one left to share 04:10 All those lonely days and nights 04:15 When things just won't turn out right 04:19 And you want someone to share 04:23 And someone to just be there 04:28 You need someone 04:35 So I give you Jesus 04:40 He's the peace 04:42 That passes all understanding 04:50 I give you Jesus 04:55 He's the perfect love 04:57 That casteth out 04:59 All fear 05:05 I give you Jesus 05:10 He's the water that we'll drink 05:14 And never thirst again 05:20 I give you Jesus 05:25 My friend 05:29 I give you Jesus 05:38 If the pressures all around 05:41 Keep your spirits to the ground 05:45 You need someone 05:52 And if your body is in pain 05:56 And your health you can't regain 06:00 You need someone 06:07 If the times that you have tried 06:10 With all the strength you have inside 06:14 And it seems that you have failed 06:18 Remember on the cross He's nailed 06:21 All the bitterness and grief 06:25 To give you peace and sweet relief 06:30 He is that someone that we need 06:35 So I give you Jesus 06:41 He's the peace that passes 06:44 All understanding 06:51 I give you Jesus 06:56 He's the perfect love 06:58 that casteth out all 07:03 Fear 07:06 I give you Jesus 07:11 He's the water that you'll drink 07:14 And never thirst again 07:22 I give you Jesus, my friend 07:28 I give you Jesus 07:32 He's everything, He's the one you need 07:36 I give you Jesus 07:42 My friend 07:44 Yes, I give you 07:50 Jesus. 08:03 Amen. 08:04 Thank you, John. 08:08 Good afternoon, everyone. 08:09 Good afternoon. 08:11 Well, I've been attending 08:12 all of the other presentations as well. 08:14 The God is blessing, isn't he? 08:15 Yes! 08:17 It's good to know the God's word 08:18 is true, isn't it? 08:19 Yes! 08:21 Well, I'm gonna ask you to open your Bibles to Revelation. 08:22 We're gonna have a prayer before we get into it, 08:23 but that's a good place to begin, isn't it? 08:25 Yes! 08:27 It just happens to that my references 08:28 from this particular passage. 08:30 So I'm gonna ask you to have your Bible ready 08:33 and we'll go ahead and have a prayer to begin. 08:36 Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love 08:38 for each of us. 08:39 We thank you of the way you've guided us in our lives 08:41 and we know that 08:42 you've promised to guide us into all truth, 08:44 so we want to claim that promise this afternoon. 08:46 We also know that you're the light of the world, 08:48 so we ask that you light our hearts 08:49 and light those who are watching. 08:52 I know that many people have tuned in today 08:54 that have a question about this topic 08:56 and I pray that I'll be able to present it 08:57 in a humble and straightforward manner, 08:59 so that people can understand clearly 09:01 what your word teaches on this important subject, 09:03 in Jesus' name, amen. 09:05 Amen. 09:06 I've noticed recently, 09:08 we just began a revelation series 09:09 in our church 09:11 that some of the King James' Versions of the Bible 09:13 talk about the Book of Revelation 09:15 as the book, The Revelation of the St. John the Divine. 09:17 Yes. 09:19 Why don't you peek into yours and see what it says 09:20 right at the beginning of the book. 09:22 Some of you have that in there. 09:23 But if you actually read the Bible verse, 09:25 it's the Revelation of Jesus Christ, 09:28 and this is important. 09:29 So the text that goes along with 09:32 what I'm gonna share with you today 09:34 is Revelation 1:10. 09:39 Revelation 1:10. 09:42 I might also tell you that John identifies himself as the one 09:46 who's writing it in the first chapter verse one, 09:49 verse four and verse nine. 09:50 Your brother, he's on the Isle of Patmos. 09:53 By the way, do you like to learn things in the Bible? 09:55 Yes! 09:57 Several months ago, 09:58 when I was asked to present this topic, 10:00 I began studying and I actually learned a lot of things myself. 10:04 For example, I initially thought early in my life 10:06 that John was a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos 10:08 till he died. 10:10 He did not die there, are you aware of that? 10:11 Yeah. Very interesting. 10:13 We'll share that with you in just a moment. 10:14 But here is the verse now, Revelation 1:10. 10:17 John is speaking, 10:19 "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, 10:21 and I heard behind me a loud voice, 10:23 as of a trumpet." 10:25 Now this is interesting because the question 10:27 that we're dealing with today is, 10:29 "Is Sunday the Lord Day?" 10:31 Well, it doesn't say in this verse of course, 10:33 but we're gonna look at it. 10:35 And I'm gonna lay my Bible aside here 10:37 because I have actually 10:38 typed all of my texts in my notes, 10:41 but I'll tell you, 10:43 some of them will be up on the screen, 10:44 but many of them will not be, but I want you to understand 10:48 that the phrase of the Lord's Day 10:50 only occurs there's one place in the whole Bible. 10:54 Now the Bible is a great big book, of course, 10:56 and you think there would be many places, 10:57 but it's only this one place. 10:59 And it's interesting. 11:00 Also, we learn from the text if the Lord has the day, 11:02 but it doesn't say which day of the week it is. 11:04 Whether it's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 11:07 or Saturday, or Sunday. 11:08 And it just says that he has the day. 11:10 Now there's at least four different interpretations 11:12 of this verse 11:13 and we're gonna getting some really interesting things, 11:15 so I would suggest you have a pen 11:17 because you won't be able to look up 11:18 all the verses fast enough, 11:20 but unless you're really, really fast. 11:22 Some of the people in our church 11:23 have their Bibles tab 11:25 where they can just pull open to Revelation 11:26 or Matthew or whatever if you can do that 11:27 you can go quickly. 11:29 There's four different interpretations 11:30 that have been given over the years 11:32 for what the Lord's Day means in this way. 11:35 By the way, it's interesting when early Adventist pioneers 11:39 and when the reformers were studying the Bible, 11:41 they did not have the computer systems 11:43 that we have today, 11:44 but we can say clearly 11:46 these are the only place in the whole Bible 11:48 where the words the Lord's Day appeared together in that order 11:51 because the computers help us to understand that. 11:54 So here's the interpretations. 11:55 There's four different interpretations. 11:57 The one is, the Lord's Day covers the whole gospel age 12:00 or dispensation, that's what some people believe. 12:02 It's a minority of you as well see in a minute. 12:04 The second one is the Lord's Day 12:06 is the Day of Judgment that's frequently 12:08 spoken of in scripture as the Day of the Lord. 12:11 The third view is the Lord's Day, 12:13 is the first day of the week, Sunday. 12:15 It's interesting that James Rafferty 12:17 mentioned earlier today that 12:19 some of the new paraphrases put Sunday in there. 12:22 Are you guys aware of that? 12:24 No real translation of the Bible does 12:26 because I personally in my earlier life 12:29 had three years of Greek study 12:30 from Dr. Gerhard Hasel, the late Gerhard Hasel, 12:33 who is the father of Michael Hasel 12:34 which many of you know. 12:36 At any rate, I don't usually bring Greek 12:39 into my presentations 12:40 because I think even a child should understand 12:41 what we have to say, 12:43 but the whole point I'm trying to tell you is 12:45 it's not in the Bible, the word Sunday does not occur 12:49 in English translations of the Bible at all. 12:52 The fourth one is the Lord's Day, 12:53 the Seventh-day of the week 12:55 or the Seventh-day Sabbath of the Lord. 12:56 So we're gonna address these. 12:57 And the first one is the Lord's Day 12:59 covers the whole gospel dispensation. 13:02 This is a minority view. 13:03 Only a few people believe that 13:04 because it doesn't have a lot of support. 13:06 Since the place that is the Isle of Patmos, 13:09 the day, the Lord's Day 13:11 and the person John have real existence. 13:14 It couldn't be some long period of time 13:16 has got to be a special place 13:18 and that's what, that one covers 13:19 and that didn't take too long, did it? 13:23 Number two, Lord's Day is the Day of Judgment 13:26 frequently spoken of in scriptures 13:27 as the day of the Lord. 13:29 Now this is another minority position 13:31 that lacks somewhat credibility because John had a vision, 13:35 he didn't say about our concerning the Lord's Day, 13:37 but on the Lord's Day 13:40 and that's very easy to see from the Greek as well. 13:42 He did not have any other thing in mind, 13:45 so it never means the Greek word 13:47 about or concerning, it always relates to when. 13:50 So accordingly those who refer to the Day of Judgment 13:52 as the Lord's Day 13:54 contradict the language of the scriptures itself. 13:57 Now we're gonna get into one that's very interesting 13:59 and this is the third one. 14:00 We're already into it because it's a big deal. 14:02 The Lord's Day is the first day of the week, Sunday. 14:05 Now listen carefully what I'm gonna tell you next, 14:07 99% of all Christians believe that's true. 14:12 That's over 1 billion, almost 2 billion people 14:15 believe it's true, 14:16 1% of people believe it's not Sunday. 14:19 So I'm gonna understand and tell you 14:21 something interesting as the majority opinion 14:23 in both Catholics and Protestants, 14:25 why do so many people believe that it's Sunday? 14:27 Well, I think we have a graphing up, 14:29 we'll show you what that looks like. 14:31 The reason so many people believe it is 14:33 because that's the majority opinion 14:34 most folks accept it as true. 14:36 Isn't that interesting? Yes. 14:38 The second one is, the people have been told 14:40 that Sunday is the Lord's Day by their pastor or priest, 14:43 who the people they've respected 14:45 and trusted over the years. 14:46 That's the second reason. 14:48 A third one is that many of the people 14:50 who accept this view have never actually 14:51 taken their Bible and I concordance 14:53 or computer instead of the text for themselves. 14:56 So you just carry it on as a tradition. 14:59 And then the last one, number D or fourth point. 15:02 Some folks have looked for support 15:04 for Sunday worship in the Bible. 15:06 Listen carefully now. 15:07 And finding none, latch on Revelation 1:10, 15:11 and since it does not tell us which day of the week it is 15:14 and it could be Sunday 15:16 they reason then that's the day. 15:18 But there are several reasons 15:20 I'm gonna give you a bunch of reasons. 15:22 By the way, as an attorney, 15:24 I can tell you the more evidence 15:25 you need to prove a point, the weaker your argument. 15:27 Yes, it is. Is it true? 15:29 You understand. 15:30 I don't need to say days and days and days. 15:32 So I'm just gonna give you seven reasons. 15:34 Is that a good Bible number? 15:35 Yes. Okay. 15:36 Seven reasons, why Sunday is not the Lord's Day. 15:40 The first one is the text itself. 15:42 The first Revelation 1:10 says, "Nothing about the seventh-day 15:45 or the first day of the week, 15:47 it simply says the Lord has the day of worship." 15:49 Is this true? Yes. 15:50 Okay. 15:52 The second one and there is no written Biblical 15:54 or extra Biblical record. 15:56 Extra Biblical means historical documents 15:58 from the same period of time. 16:00 The state that John was worshipping on any other day 16:03 than the Seventh-day Sabbath, 16:04 the day which he had always worshiped on. 16:07 The third one, and this is interesting. 16:10 The Sunday, the first day of the week 16:11 is never referred to as the Lord's Day in the Bible. 16:16 And this is kind of interesting because I wanted to know, 16:20 I guess I should actually write... 16:21 You guys want to know what the Bible teaches 16:23 about this, don't you? 16:24 Yes. That's the important thing. 16:26 Okay. 16:27 So it's generally understood that John was in prison 16:28 on the Isle of Patmos 16:30 by the order of the Roman Emperor Domitian 16:31 who ruled in Rome from AD 81 to 96. 16:35 It was during his banishment imprison on Patmos 16:37 that John had this vision 16:39 and wrote the Book of Revelation, 16:41 which was originally written as a letter 16:43 to the seven churches of Asia Minor. 16:45 While writing the Revelation, John never mentions 16:47 anything about the first day of the week 16:48 being the Lord's Day. 16:51 Now the next thing I'm gonna tell you is amazing 16:53 and something that I learned 16:55 and I think some of you may know it, 16:56 but most of you probably don't. 16:58 John was released from Patmos by the next Emperor of Rome, 17:01 Emperor Nerva and he returned to. 17:03 John returned Ephesus, John returned to Ephesus 17:05 where he completed his work on the Fourth Gospel. 17:07 Now this is interesting because, 17:10 accordingly many Bible scholars believe that 17:12 the Gospel of John was written after the Book of Revelation. 17:15 Here are some references. 17:16 J.N. Anders believed that 17:18 in his History of the Sabbath 17:19 and The First Day of the Week, page 163. 17:21 Uriah Smith believed it and taught it 17:23 and Daniel Revelation, page 355 17:25 and Ranko Stefanovic who's had a series here at 3ABN, 17:29 in his book, Revelation of Christ in page 4 17:31 also cites that the Book of... 17:34 The Gospel of John was written after the Book of Revelation. 17:37 And they all quote these sources, 17:40 historical scholars. 17:41 That is Augustine, Jerome, and Eusebius, 17:44 early church leaders. 17:45 Now why is this significant? Here's the reason. 17:48 It's significant to realize of the Gospel of John 17:50 was written after the Book of Revelation 17:52 because if John had been shown a vision 17:54 while incarcerated on the Island of Patmos 17:57 that Sunday was the Lord's Day 17:59 then when he mentioned 18:01 the first day of the week in the Gospel, 18:02 he would've referred to it as the Lord's Day 18:04 and not the first day of the week. 18:06 Do you understand what we're saying there? 18:07 Yes. Now this is interesting stuff. 18:10 In John's Gospel that he twice mentions 18:13 the first day of the week 18:14 and yet, in each instance word of certainly 18:17 is talking about the first day of the week. 18:19 He does not designated as the Lord's Day, 18:21 but always only the first day of the week. 18:23 This is important. 18:25 And you'll be able to see that as we go along. 18:27 All right, number six, the first day of the week 18:31 being the Lord's Day is further disproved 18:33 by the fact that neither God the Father, 18:35 nor God the Son has ever claimed 18:36 the first day of the week as his own 18:38 and any higher sense than any other day of the week. 18:41 Now do you understand what we mean? 18:42 There's no claim that God says it's any special day. 18:45 In fact, Ezekiel 46:1, you want to jot this down 18:49 because it's the only place in the Bible 18:50 where this is mentioned, but it's kind of interesting. 18:52 Ezekiel 46:1, "Thus saith the Lord God." 18:57 Now who do you think is speaking? 18:59 The Lord. Lord himself, okay? 19:01 The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east 19:04 shall be shut the six working days, 19:06 but on the Sabbath, it shall be opened. 19:08 So what is Sunday? One of the working days. 19:12 One of the working days. Very interesting to see. 19:14 Number seven point, 19:16 if Sunday were to be called the Lord's Day in honor 19:19 of Christ's resurrection on that day, 19:20 surely God would've informed us about it. 19:23 True? Yes. 19:25 He does not, though. 19:27 God also chose not to memorialize 19:29 or sanctify the crucifixion day or the day of his ascension, 19:32 so now it's time for us to consider the fourth option 19:35 and we're gonna consider that fourth option 19:37 and then spend a good deal of time on the reason 19:41 why people keep Sunday in honor, 19:43 that is the Lord's Day. 19:45 So the fourth option is the Lord's Day 19:47 is the Seventh-day Sabbath of the Lord 19:49 and I found a number of facts. 19:51 How many you think I'll tell you? 19:53 Seven. Seven. 19:54 Okay, let's look at it. 19:56 Remember, it's a whole lot more than that, 19:58 but the more evidence you need, the weaker your point, right? 20:00 Yeah. Okay. 20:01 Number one is the same one is number one 20:03 and the other one 20:04 and that is Revelation 1:10 says, 20:06 "Nothing about the seventh-day or the first day of the week. 20:08 It simply says that God has a day, 20:10 presumably a day of worship." 20:12 Though this verse does not state 20:14 which day of the Lord's Day is, 20:15 we do learn something amazing from it 20:17 and that is the Lord does have a day, 20:20 that's important to understand. 20:21 So I think that's something 20:25 we'll look at even more detail in just a moment. 20:27 The second reason that we're talking about 20:29 is the Sabbath. 20:30 The Lord himself said he is Lord of the Sabbath. 20:33 Amen. 20:34 Now I'm gonna give you something interesting. 20:37 Do you guys understand 20:38 what we meant by the Three Synoptic Gospels? 20:40 Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 20:42 Why do we say that? 20:44 All of them present a similar story. 20:46 Now one of the reasons why John is probably not considered 20:48 a synoptic gospels. 20:49 Remember, it was written after Revelation. 20:51 It wasn't written at the same time. 20:52 And so he had this additional knowledge, 20:54 pretty interesting. 20:56 But during the three and a half years 20:57 of Jesus public ministry 20:58 he was dogged almost constantly by those 21:00 who tried to trick him. 21:02 You guys remember that, 21:03 there are always who somebody asking the lawyers 21:05 and other people asking him questions 21:06 and they were trying to get him to say something 21:09 almost like the reporters do today 21:11 that they could criticize him over. 21:14 Everybody understand what we're saying there? 21:15 Okay, so these paparazzi like 21:17 people seem to always be present to criticize Jesus. 21:20 Some of them, experts describe them 21:23 as stalkers on one such occasion 21:26 and listen that's recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 21:28 all three synoptic gospels. 21:30 It's Matthew 12:1-8 and Mark 2:23-28 21:34 and Luke 6:1-5. 21:36 The event happened on the Sabbath day. 21:39 Now I'm gonna tell you something interesting. 21:41 Jesus performed seven of his major miracles 21:45 on the Sabbath. 21:46 Healing people like the man at the Pool of Bethesda, 21:49 the man with the withered hand and so on, 21:50 and the reason he did that was to show people 21:52 that it is lawful to do what. 21:53 Good. 21:54 Good on the Sabbath, 21:56 because the people had put these all of these laws 21:57 around the Sabbath making it very difficult 21:59 to have the Sabbath as a delight 22:00 or the worship in reference to it in anyway. 22:03 So in this particular occasion, 22:04 it also happened on the Sabbath. 22:06 These references record that Jesus 22:08 and his disciples were walking through some grain fields. 22:11 Now I've actually done this myself, 22:12 some of you here probably have done that 22:14 and you can take your hand and your thumb and your fingers 22:16 and strip off the grain seeds 22:18 and then you rub them in your hand 22:19 and blow off the chaff and you can chew those up 22:21 and it kind of gets gluten in like, 22:23 gum almost that sweet. 22:25 The disciples were doing that, 22:27 but the religious paparazzi criticized Jesus 22:30 and His disciples for "harvesting" 22:32 on the Sabbath. 22:34 So Jesus response to the critics 22:36 was profound and enlightening. 22:39 And I want you to understand this is very, very important 22:41 that I'm telling you now. 22:42 So open your Bibles to Mark 2 22:45 and we're gonna look at verses 27 and 28. 22:47 This is the setting now when the disciples 22:49 are stripped off the wheat and eaten that. 22:51 Mark 2:27-28. And there's a word there. 22:55 There are two words that you should probably note 22:57 and maybe underline, Mark 2:27-28. 23:00 It's in the setting of being criticized of harvesting 23:03 on the Sabbath that Jesus says. 23:05 Now it's really amazing what they're saying 23:07 because they don't realize what they're doing, of course. 23:10 But I have it written in my notes here, 23:11 so I'll just read it from the notes. 23:13 And he said to them "The Sabbath," 23:14 what's the next two words? 23:16 Was made. 23:17 "...was made for a man and not man for the Sabbath. 23:21 Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." 23:25 Now this, to me, is very significant. 23:27 What did Jesus mean by the fact that he said, 23:29 "The Sabbath was made for man." 23:33 Was made for man. 23:35 Well, how could he say that he was Lord of the Sabbath? 23:37 Well, here's the real interesting statement. 23:39 The true God is revealed in scriptures 23:41 the one who made the heavens and the earth. 23:43 Amen. 23:45 So Kathy and I few years ago 23:47 were able to go on a mission trip 23:49 over evangelistic meeting to India 23:52 and we knew that many of the people 23:53 where we were speaking would be from Hindu backgrounds, 23:55 so we decided to study a little bit about Hinduism 23:57 and we found that they had, somebody said 300 million, 24:00 but I believe it's closer to 300,000 gods, 24:02 still the big number. 24:04 Right. So I tell him about Jesus. 24:05 and say thanks, we got 300,001 now. 24:07 What's next? 24:10 But when you tell him, he made everything. 24:12 That makes a big difference. Yes. 24:14 He's the king of kings, and lord of lords. 24:15 He created everything, he made everything. 24:17 So I'm gonna tell you about three verses in the Bible 24:21 that tell us in the New Testament 24:23 that Jesus Christ, the incarnate savior 24:25 of the world was the creator of everything. 24:29 So we're gonna look at one in the Bible. 24:31 You can open your Bibles to the Gospel of John, 24:33 which John, the Revelator of course, wrote that also. 24:36 John 1:1, most of you can find that very interesting 24:39 and very easily. 24:42 So while you're turning there, 24:43 I must tell you that it's John 1, 24:46 Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1, 24:49 that all say that Jesus Christ, the Son of God 24:51 was the creator of... 24:52 What's the next word? 24:54 Everything. 24:55 Okay, so let's go to John 1:1-3. 24:58 In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God 25:01 and the word was God. 25:02 He was in the beginning with God. 25:04 All things, what's the nest two words? 25:07 Were made by him or through him 25:10 and without him nothing was made that was made. 25:13 So if everything that was made was made by him. 25:16 Who created the Sabbath? Jesus Christ did. 25:19 And this is interesting. Now how do we know it's Jesus? 25:22 Because we're talking about the word primarily 25:24 because it says in verse 14, 25:26 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 25:28 would be all his glory, the glory is the only begotten 25:30 of the Father full of grace and truth." 25:33 So we're gonna look at something very interesting. 25:36 Go back to Genesis now, Chapter 2, 25:40 it's quite interesting. 25:42 We have the clear testimony of the New Testament writers 25:46 from John and Colossians 25:48 and Paul's writings to the Colossians and Hebrews, 25:51 that's the writers... 25:52 The Son of God, the Savior from sin, 25:54 the Creator of Heaven was also the Creator of Heaven 25:56 and Earth, and its sustainer. 25:59 So I'm just gonna tell you how could Jesus say 26:02 that he was the Sabbath was made for man 26:05 and that he was Lord of the Sabbath. 26:07 Listen carefully because he created man 26:09 on the sixth-day of creation 26:11 and the Sabbath on the seventh-day 26:12 and he also blessed it there. 26:14 He made it. 26:15 So let's take a look again at the Bible. 26:17 The Bible begins with perhaps the most famous line 26:19 in the history of literature. 26:21 In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, 26:26 but the rest of creation story follows. 26:28 God created light, the atmosphere, the dry land, 26:31 the vegetation, the seas, the sun, the moon, the stars, 26:34 creatures of the water in the air 26:35 and on the sixth-day, God created 26:37 land dwelling animals and finally, on the sixth-day, 26:41 God created human being, man and woman in his own image. 26:44 And we of course, know them as Adam and Eve. 26:47 Many people mistakenly believe 26:50 the creation occurred over six days. 26:54 Now we're gonna look at Genesis 2 26:56 and we're gonna see something very amazing. 26:59 He wasn't finished yet at the end of six days 27:02 because it says in Chapter 2:2, what does it say there? 27:07 And on the seventh-day, 27:09 God ended his work, not the sixth-day. 27:12 Isn't that interesting? 27:14 Which he had made and he rested on the Sabbath Day, 27:16 seventh-day from all his work which he had made. 27:18 You get the "had made" in there again, had made everything 27:21 that was made was made. 27:22 He made the Sabbath for man. 27:24 The Bible tells us that on the seventh-day 27:26 of creation week God created and made the Sabbath day 27:29 as the capstone of all creation. 27:32 It is the day for humanity to rest from work 27:34 and commune with God as on no other day of the week. 27:36 The Sabbath was blessed and made holy for that purpose. 27:40 Jesus could say that the Sabbath was made for a man 27:43 that he was Lord of the Sabbath because 27:44 he created both of them. 27:46 Who could argue with that? 27:49 Is this incredible or not? You understand? 27:52 Now the third one of why the Lord's Day 27:55 is the Sabbath is the Fourth Commandment itself. 27:59 Now this is very, very interesting. 28:02 Most of you here are computer literate, 28:04 at least as much as me. 28:07 I need help from young people a lot, but, you know, 28:09 I've written my books and so on 28:10 using the word program and so on. 28:12 But anyway, I can just tell you that. 28:14 If you were to go on the Vatican website, 28:16 which is vatican.ca and look for Ten Commandments, 28:20 you're gonna find something very amazing. 28:24 When the Ten Commandments come up, 28:25 they're gonna have from Exodus 20, 28:28 the first commandment, 28:30 the second commandment verses 4, 5, and 6 is deleted. 28:35 You'll be okay with that part? 28:37 No. No. 28:38 The Bible says in Revelation 22:18-19, 28:41 "If you add anything to it or take anything away, 28:44 you're gonna get the Plagues and the Mark of the Beast." 28:46 Yes. 28:48 That's some we don't want, isn't it? 28:49 Okay. 28:50 Well, at any rate, I'm gonna tell you 28:52 something interesting. 28:53 Since the Second Commandment is totally removed, 28:56 everything has to move up a little bit 28:58 so the Third Commandment is the one 29:00 that's about the Sabbath. 29:02 And it does not say, 29:03 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 29:04 Six days shall you labor and do all your work, et cetera." 29:06 It says, "Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day." 29:09 One little sentence. 29:10 "Remember to keep only the Lord's Day," 29:12 which is not Biblical at all. 29:14 He is thinking to change times and laws. 29:18 Do you understand? 29:19 Now this is interesting because I'll just read to it. 29:22 The sanctity of the Sabbath was so important to God 29:24 that he placed it in shrine in the Ten Commandments, 29:27 written on stone with the finger of God. 29:31 So it says, remember the Sabbath day, 29:32 this is Exodus 20:8-11 to keep it holy. 29:37 Now listen carefully, 29:38 none of us could make anything holy 29:40 no matter how great we are, isn't it true? 29:42 Only God can make something holy. 29:44 We can keep it holy, 29:46 but we can't make anything holy. 29:48 So it's interesting, six days you shall labor. 29:50 Remember what we just read in Ezekiel 46:1? 29:52 Yes. Yes. 29:54 The six working days and then the Sabbath, 29:57 six days you shall labor and do all thy word. 29:59 If you ever wondered what it means to do all your work? 30:02 Well, most of us have that jobs through our lives 30:04 and some of us work five days a week, 30:06 some work six days, 30:07 but in addition to what you do for your income 30:09 you've got stuff, you've got to do around the house, 30:11 that's your labor. 30:12 Who's gonna mow the yard if you don't do it? 30:14 You understand those kind of things. 30:15 Who's gonna wash your car if you don't do it? 30:17 Who's gonna change the oil? You understand. 30:19 That's your work, 30:20 but some of you don't get paid for, 30:22 but it's part of your life, all the housework 30:23 and all those kind of things. 30:24 So you have six days to do that, 30:26 even things that we typically think 30:28 of our ladies work or whatever, 30:30 should they rest on Sabbath, too? 30:31 Yes. You get the point. Okay. 30:34 So but the seventh-day 30:35 is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. 30:37 So he claims the Sabbath. 30:38 I say, "It's the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, 30:40 in it thou shalt not do any work and so on." 30:42 Now here's something amazing. 30:44 Most of the references in the Bible 30:47 including the First Angels' Message 30:49 refer back to creation, isn't this true? 30:53 Yes. So notice this one. 30:54 It's very interesting. 30:55 This is the reason... 30:57 This is verse 11. 31:00 Excuse me, Exodus 20:11. 31:02 Four or because in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, 31:05 the sea, and all lives in them, rested the seventh-day, 31:07 wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day 31:09 and hallowed it. 31:11 By the way, it's also interesting to understand 31:13 that the Ten Commandments are actually given twice 31:15 in the Bible, most of you know that. 31:17 Exodus 20, the second place is Deuteronomy 5:4-5 in that area. 31:23 The most interesting part about it 31:25 is that they're almost always the same, 31:28 but in the Deuteronomy account, 31:30 it says something interesting, not because the Lord created, 31:33 but the Lord brought you out of the Land of Egypt. 31:37 Are you glad that God has found you in your life 31:39 and brought you out of darkness and the bondage? 31:42 I know I am, you can just think about it. 31:44 Okay, now let's go to our fourth point. 31:48 God speaking through the Prophet Isaiah 31:50 calls the Sabbath, "My Holy Day." 31:54 He never ever says that about Sunday. 31:56 Is this true? Yes. 31:58 You understand. 32:00 So if you want to look at Isaiah 58:13-14, 32:01 I'm gonna read it from my notes, 32:03 but you can jot it down. 32:04 Isaiah 58:13-14, 32:06 if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, 32:07 from doing your pleasure on my holy day, 32:11 and call the Sabbath a delight, the Holy of the Lord, 32:13 honorable and shall honor him, not doing thine own ways, 32:15 you're finding thine own pleasure, 32:17 speaking your own words. 32:18 Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord, 32:20 and I will cause thee to ride 32:21 on the high places of the earth, 32:22 and feed you with the heritage of Jacob thy father, 32:24 for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." 32:26 Now I want to tell you one other interesting thing. 32:28 Did anybody remember the three verses 32:30 I just told you were dropped out 32:31 by the Catholic Church out of the Ten Commandments? 32:33 Exodus 20:4, 5, 6. 32:38 Now listen to what I want to tell you. 32:41 Verse six says, that God shows mercy to those who love him 32:45 and keep his commandments. 32:46 Is that amazing or not? 32:48 It also says the same thing in Deuteronomy 32:51 when you look at it in Deuteronomy. 32:53 It's amazing. 32:56 Which brings us to something that's a very favorite verse 32:59 of Seventh-day Adventist, John 14:15, Jesus said, 33:02 "If you love me, keep my commandments." 33:05 He is quoting the Second Commandment. 33:08 Is this incredible or not? Yes. 33:10 If you love me, keep my commandments. 33:12 And that's the one people dropped 33:13 out of the commandments, very amazing. 33:15 So he calls it my holy day. 33:18 This passage is a direct quote from God 33:20 in which he calls the Sabbath My Holy Day. 33:22 Throughout the Old Testament and New Testament, 33:23 lot of faithful people have been Sunday-keeper. 33:26 Unfortunately, 33:28 once written with the finger of God on stone 33:30 the Biblical Sabbath is gone the way of the dodo bird. 33:33 It's almost extinct. 33:35 Is this true? Yes. 33:37 Now it's not here at 3ABN, you understand. 33:39 But if you're in a group of a hundred people 33:41 that are calling themselves Christian, 33:42 you're gonna be the only one that keeps the Sabbath. 33:44 Amen. 33:45 So how in a world could you ever be right? 33:47 I'm gonna show you how in just a few minutes. 33:50 Number five, God in His word 33:52 frequently refers to the Sabbath 33:54 in a possessive way calling it My Sabbath. 33:57 He never refers to Sunday the first day of the week 33:59 as my Sunday or my first day. 34:02 I know this is true 34:04 because we researched it in computers and so on. 34:07 There are 15 references in the Bible 34:09 in which God claims the Sabbath. 34:11 He says the Sabbath is his day. 34:13 These three texts are represented in 34:15 and the ones I'll tell you is Exodus 31:12-13. 34:19 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34:21 "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, 34:22 Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep, 34:25 for it is a sign between me an you 34:27 throughout your generations, that ye may know 34:28 that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. 34:31 Now listen carefully, 34:32 if somebody drives by your local church on Sabbath 34:34 and sees a bunch of cars there, what could they think? 34:39 There are those goofy people 34:41 that trying to work their way to heaven, right? 34:43 Yeah. Yeah. 34:44 But the Bible says 34:46 they are the ones that trust God to sanctify them. 34:48 Amen. 34:50 Does it say that, what I just read to you? 34:51 Exodus 31:12-13, 34:54 "That you may know that I am the Lord 34:55 that sanctify you." 34:57 So what they should really say they are the people 34:58 that are trusting God to take care of them. 34:59 By the grace of Almighty God, they're honoring him. 35:02 Do you understand? That's the point. 35:04 And then there's another one Leviticus... 35:08 There are 15 of them, I was just gonna mention three, 35:10 Leviticus 26:2, "You shall keep my Sabbaths, 35:13 and reverence my sanctuary, I am the Lord." 35:16 And Ezekiel 12 says something interesting. 35:18 "Moreover I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign." 35:21 What's the sign? What's that mean? 35:23 Some indication to people. 35:25 They may know that I am the Lord that sanctified them. 35:27 So we're gonna point number six 35:29 and then when we're gonna get into this big conclusion. 35:33 "John the Revelator, 35:35 the author of Revelation was a Jewish writer 35:38 who had been nourished by the Hebrew Scriptures 35:40 and steeped in the good habit 35:41 of honoring the Lord on his day." 35:45 So I think in addition to the history 35:48 it does not refer to the Lord's Day, Sunday 35:49 until the second century AD near the end. 35:52 It's 190 AD until 35:54 anybody ever writes anything about Sunday 35:56 being the Lord's Day. 35:57 This is interesting. 35:59 By the way, some early scholars 36:00 like, J. N. Anders studied the Ante-Nicene fathers, 36:03 you know, the writings of the people 36:04 after the disciples that passed away 36:07 up until the Council of Nicaea. 36:09 So what we're gonna look at is this, 36:12 as God spent the first Sabbath 36:13 with Adam and Eve in the beginning, 36:15 Genesis 2:1-3, 36:17 "So God comes close to the aging Apostle John 36:19 on the lonely Island of Patmos." 36:21 You understand, my friends, 36:22 that John was not there on holiday. 36:26 He was working in the rock quarries through the week. 36:29 Apparently took Sabbath of whether they liked it or not 36:31 and he was in the spirit on the Lord's Day, 36:34 which I say is Sabbath. 36:36 He had a vision concerning the conclusion 36:38 of the plan of salvation and the great controversy. 36:41 The Sabbath of the Lord was bless to made holy 36:43 on the seventh-day of creation and set in motion, 36:45 a weekly cycle that does not depend 36:48 on any celestial body at all. 36:52 Most of your likely were that tonight is the full moon. 36:55 The reason that I mention that is because 36:57 it's not based on the lunar cycle, 36:59 on the sun cycle 37:01 or on the rotation of the Earth. 37:02 Is this true? 37:04 It's based on the creation week and that's the end of it. 37:07 Okay, we're gonna look at another one 37:11 and that is from our brief and yet, 37:13 thorough study it's quite clear from the Bible record 37:16 that the Lord's Day is not Sunday, 37:18 the first day of the week, it is equally clear 37:19 that the Lord's Day is the Sabbath 37:21 of the seventh-day of the week. 37:23 Now the big question is, if this is true, 37:26 why this is the majority question, 37:28 what a majority of Christians think that 37:29 Sunday as the Lord's Day? 37:31 Why do many sincere believers come to this conclusion? 37:35 So that's what we're gonna look at right now. 37:38 The answer to these questions is found in the Bible 37:41 and in history, study of history. 37:43 There's a strange pattern of apostasy in the Bible, 37:46 well, turning away from God and Bible truth 37:48 and both the old in the New Testament records. 37:51 It is so amazing how many people 37:53 when they were talking to the Israelites 37:55 God's leader's talk of them when you fall away, 37:57 you can look back toward Jerusalem and pray 37:59 and God will try to rescue you. 38:00 You remember that? 38:01 Solomon, we dedicate the temple, said that. 38:03 So here's a strange truth. 38:05 The Bible records even predicts that 38:07 God's people will fall away from his will. 38:09 Judges 21:25 says, 38:11 "In those days there was no king in Israel 38:14 and every man did what was right in his own eyes." 38:17 They were doing their own thing. 38:18 This is like extreme tolerance. 38:20 I'm okay, you're okay, that kind of thing. 38:22 So listen to this and see if you agree with it. 38:24 You don't agree with it, but you know it's true. 38:27 When Moses and Joshua passed away 38:30 and just a few short years, 38:31 God's people who had been led across the Red Sea 38:36 and the Jordan River on dry ground, 38:39 the ones that had been fed manna from heaven 38:40 six days a week for 40 years. 38:43 Yes, that group began to worship idols 38:46 and even came to the point of sacrificing 38:48 their own children to the false gods. 38:50 This is incredible. 38:52 Is there a falling away you understand 38:53 that we're talking about? 38:55 Okay. 38:56 It's interesting that in 605 BC, 38:58 the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, 39:00 the King of Babylon beseech Jerusalem. 39:02 Well, I would just tell you something interesting. 39:04 First, I'll mention this one. 39:06 It's hard to imagine this, 39:07 but happening as you can recall from your Bible reading 39:10 that things got so bad in Israel. 39:12 Remember, they were divided kingdom of ten tribes 39:14 and the two tribes due to Benjamin. 39:16 The two tribes down in Jerusalem, 39:19 but the ten tribes were overthrown by the Assyrians 39:22 and they were taken captive 39:23 assimilated into the pagan society 39:26 and listened carefully, were never heard from again. 39:31 We called the ten lost tribes of Israel 39:33 religion never came back, 39:35 never ever heard from again. 39:36 So in 605 BC, about 100 years later 39:39 Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon beseech Jerusalem, 39:41 conquered the Kingdom of Judah 39:43 and took many captives back to Babylon 39:45 and among the captives were Daniel 39:46 and his three friends. 39:48 Now this is interesting. 39:49 You could think about 39:51 what happened to your relatives up in the northern kingdom. 39:52 Is this gonna happen to us? 39:54 And they had only one hope 39:56 and that was that Jeremiah said in 70 years, 39:58 you're gonna come back. 40:01 You understand Bible prophecy? Yes. 40:03 This is pretty amazing stuff. Yes. 40:05 Now why did the Lord allow this to happen? 40:07 Kathy and I read the Bible 40:08 throughout loud together every year. 40:10 We've done that for probably 20 years. 40:12 And we remember reading in the Old Testament 40:14 where one time army came to beseech Israel 40:18 and there were more than a million men. 40:20 Most people would be afraid 40:21 because you're way outnumbered, 40:22 but were they able to conquer Israel? 40:25 No way. God thought for them. 40:27 This is interesting. 40:28 And when Sennacherib came and said to Hezekiah 40:31 and the people inside Jerusalem, 40:33 none of the other gods around you 40:34 have been able to protect their people. 40:36 How you think you're gonna do it? 40:37 Don't listen to Hezekiah. 40:38 At anyway, they prayed to the Lord 40:40 and God sent one angel 40:41 of the enemy soldiers 40:43 in one night. 40:45 So this is incredible when you think about it. 40:48 At anyway, 40:50 what I want to tell you is 40:51 they're on their way to Babylon, 40:52 but God gave two reasons 40:54 why they were taken to Babylon. 40:57 And I want you to see what they are. 40:58 It's really interesting. 41:00 One is, they were worshipping other gods like Dale 41:02 and Ashtoreth 41:04 and the other one is they were failing to honor the Sabbath 41:06 and to keep it holy. 41:07 So if you want that Biblical record for that, 41:10 it's Ezekiel 20:16. 41:12 God allowed them to be taken captive. 41:15 Could God have protected them? Yes. 41:17 Of course. But why did he allow it? 41:19 For two reasons, because this is Ezekiel 20:16, 41:22 because they despised my judgments, 41:25 did not walk in my statutes, but profaned my Sabbaths, 41:28 for their heart went after their idols. 41:30 So it's very significant 41:31 also to see that the early Christian era, 41:33 the same two points were involved 41:35 in the apostasy of the Christian Church. 41:38 In fact, just like the following way 41:39 from God's will happened after the death of Moses 41:41 and Joshua in the years 41:43 following the death of the Apostles, 41:44 the Bible writers, 41:46 Satan again brought into the church 41:48 a falling away from Bible truth, 41:50 just like he did in the Old Testament. 41:52 So interesting of the Book of Acts, 41:56 Paul records the warning 41:57 to the elders of the church of emphasis 41:59 and I'm just gonna tell you where this has found. 42:01 You can jot it down, look at it. 42:02 Acts 20:29-30, 42:06 "Know this after my departure 42:08 grievous wolves shall enter and among you, 42:10 not sparing the flock. 42:12 Also of your own selves men shall arise, 42:14 speaking perverse things, 42:15 to draw away disciples after them." 42:17 And this is interesting. 42:18 We must understand from Paul's warning 42:20 that we're not authorized 42:21 to receive a teaching of any person simply 42:23 because they lived immediately close to the apostles 42:26 because they have to agree with the Bible, 42:28 as you know. 42:29 So how are the true servants of God 42:32 to be distinguished? 42:34 They follow the Word of God alone 42:36 and not deviations of men. 42:37 This is important. 42:39 Paul who sent a warning to the Thessalonians 42:40 and 2 Thessalonians 2 and following, 42:43 where he says in verse 7, 42:45 "The mystery of iniquity death already work, 42:47 the wicked shall be revealed and so on." 42:49 This is amazing stuff. 42:51 And then he says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2. 42:56 Kathy and I just two weeks ago were in Rome, 42:58 we saw the Mamertine Prison where Paul was kept 43:01 in solitary confinement till he was beheaded. 43:03 He wrote this from there. 43:06 Very interesting. 43:07 His last book 2 Timothy 4:2, to young Timothy. 43:11 "Preach the word, be instant in season, 43:13 out of season, reprove, 43:14 rebuke, exhort with all long suffering. 43:16 For the time will come, 43:18 will they will not endure sound doctrine, 43:20 but after their own lest I should keep themselves 43:22 teachers having itching ears. 43:24 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth 43:26 and should be turned to fables." 43:28 Well, it's really interesting. 43:29 I want to tell you something interesting. 43:31 The falsehood is not rendered and true, 43:33 simply because we introduced near the time of the Apostles. 43:36 Everything had its beginning 43:37 either it was right or wrong at the time. 43:39 Two of the most glaring errors 43:41 that came into the Christian Church 43:43 are the same two things 43:44 that involve the Ten Commandments earlier. 43:46 God's great moral law 43:48 and the changes came about with pagans. 43:50 The pagans worship the idols in their churches 43:53 simply drop the Second Commandment, 43:54 now the Decalogue and begin to worship idols. 43:57 Now this is interesting. 43:58 I mention to you if you look at the Fourth Commandment... 44:00 The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:4, 5, 6 44:03 are just dropped out. 44:04 And then in order to keep a total of 10, 44:06 how do they do that? 44:07 Divide... 44:09 Divide the tenth one, the coveting one 44:10 and to make two covering Commandments, 44:11 so you still have 10, 44:13 but everything's got to move forward. 44:14 Now this is interesting. 44:16 And by the way, we were just on a great controversy tour 44:19 and I can just tell you we visited 44:21 probably two dozen Roman Catholic cathedrals. 44:23 Every one of them had images and idols in them. 44:26 Is this true? Yeah. 44:28 You've been there. You've seen. 44:29 When you go to the Protestant cathedrals, 44:30 you don't see images and idols. 44:32 It's very interesting. 44:34 Another interesting thing is that 44:35 the centerpiece for the catholic cathedrals 44:38 is the altar where the mass is produced. 44:41 And when you go into a Protestant Church, 44:44 the centerpiece is the pulpit 44:45 and the Bible is open before the pulpit. 44:47 This is amazing to me. 44:49 As a very visible, something you can see, 44:50 but the second... 44:52 And remember the... 44:53 In order to make a compromise with the pagans, 44:56 they let images into the church, 44:58 but the second error involve the Ten Commandments 45:00 was the change by the church of the Sabbath. 45:03 From the Sabbath to the first day of the week. 45:05 So the current commandment, number three, 45:07 simply states in theirs. 45:08 Remember, this to keep holy the Lord's Day. 45:10 There's no mention of the Lord being a greater heaven on earth 45:13 or out Sunday was ever made. 45:15 This is interesting, never made holy by God. 45:18 The pagans had a special holiday 45:20 which was called The Day of the Sun 45:22 and partly... 45:25 In my book, Sunday is coming. 45:26 I've a whole chapter on the change of the Sabbath 45:28 and we're not gonna taking out 45:29 and present, but I'll just tell you. 45:30 There's two things, two reasons 45:32 why Sunday came into the church. 45:33 The first one, here's that pagans at a holiday 45:35 called The Day of the Sun or Sunday 45:37 and partly as a compromise with Pagans 45:40 and also in an effort to distance themselves 45:42 from the Jews 45:43 who were despised by the Romans and they were Sabbath keepers, 45:46 they began to worship gradually began to worship on Sunday, 45:50 the first day of the week. 45:52 You guys understand what gradually means? 45:54 Yep. 45:55 We just recently saw some kids we hadn't seen in a long time. 45:57 The last time we saw there are little guys, 45:59 now they're tall as me. 46:01 So their parents would hardly even notice their growth 46:02 because they were with him this whole time, but to us, 46:04 it's a big difference. 46:06 You understand? 46:07 So that's what happened. 46:08 There's much historical evidence 46:10 for what I've presented here, 46:11 but the constraints of our time, 46:13 of course, one allow us to go... 46:14 Just this overview. 46:15 These two errors crept into the Christian Church, 46:17 the worship idol, to perforating of the Sabbath 46:20 are the exact two problems 46:21 that led to the Babylonian captivity of Judah 46:23 and this gives us a clear idea 46:25 of what God thinks about these two changes. 46:27 Those Christians who like me govern their lives 46:30 by the inspired Word of God, 46:31 do not recognize any point of scripture, 46:34 that's changed, omitted or modified by men. 46:37 Now I have a little statement from Great Congress 595 46:41 that I want to read because 46:42 I think it's important that we know it. 46:44 "But God will have a people on the earth 46:46 to maintain the Bible in the Bible only 46:48 as the standard of all doctrines 46:49 and the basis of all reforms. 46:51 The opinions of learned man, the deductions of science, 46:54 the creeds are decision to release 46:55 the ecclesiastical councils as numerous 46:58 or discordant as the church is what they represent. 47:01 The voice of the majority, 47:02 not one or all of these should be regarded as evidence 47:04 for or against any point of religious faith. 47:06 Before accepting any doctrine or precept, 47:08 we should demand a plane, thus saith the Lord. 47:11 Amen. So that's important to know. 47:14 And I mentioned this earlier, 47:15 but I'll go ahead and mention it again, 47:16 Revelation 22:18-19, 47:18 "Testify unto every man that heareth 47:20 the words of this prophecy of this book, 47:22 this revelation. 47:23 If anyone shall add to these things..." 47:25 That can be add Sunday 47:26 or Sunday is not supposed to be there. 47:28 "God shall add to him the plagues 47:30 that are written in this book." 47:31 By the way, tomorrow afternoon 47:33 I'm gonna talk you about the plagues 47:34 and it's very very interesting 47:35 that the plagues are poured out 47:37 on those who have the Mark of the Beast. 47:38 In the side of those who don't. 47:39 Very interesting. Okay. 47:42 "Then if any man takes away from the book prophecy 47:45 and God will take his part out of the book of life 47:49 and out of the holy city and so on. 47:51 So very interesting. 47:54 I'm gonna give you a little bit of a review here 47:58 to give you a little idea on what we're talking about. 48:01 From the time of the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, 48:03 from the Babylonian captivity... 48:04 Remember, they were gone 70 years. 48:06 Until the time that Jews has came some 500 years later, 48:09 they never again worshiped idols like, Baal. 48:13 They had learned their lesson. 48:15 Unfortunately, in order to rectify 48:16 the other problem with not keeping the Sabbath, 48:18 they overreacted and set up very stringent 48:20 and manmade laws to keep from breaking the Sabbath. 48:23 Then instead of resting on the Sabbath 48:25 as God intended this set of these legalistic rules 48:27 about how to keep the Sabbath holy? 48:28 How far you could walk? 48:30 You know, whether you could start a fire 48:31 and there are all these different things. 48:33 And then comes Jesus, he was a Sabbath-keeper, 48:35 but he said, 48:36 "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, 48:37 teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, 48:40 not in the Bible. 48:41 For laying aside the commandments of God, 48:43 you hold the tradition of men 48:44 as the washing of pots, the cups, 48:45 and many other things like that." 48:48 Now I'm gonna mention two other things 48:49 then I'll give you a couple of illustrations. 48:52 Revelation 14:6-12 and Revelation 18:1-3, 48:57 are God's last warning messages 48:59 to all of the inhabitants of the earth. 49:01 Not just for Seventh-day Adventist, 49:02 for every creature on earth. 49:04 Isn't that right? 49:05 Every language, tongue, people and so on. 49:06 So here's all this revelation begins. 49:08 Revelation 14:6-7, 49:11 then I saw another angel flying in mid to heaven, 49:14 having the everlasting gospel to preach to those 49:16 who dwell on the earth to every nation tribe, 49:18 tongue and people, 49:19 saying with a loud voice fear God and give glory to him 49:22 for the hour of his judgment is come 49:23 and worship him who made the heaven and the earth, 49:28 the sea and the springs of water." 49:29 So it harks back to creation again, 49:31 just like the Fourth Commandment does. 49:32 Very, very interesting. 49:36 I remember talking with people over the course of my life 49:39 and I've never had anybody tell me. 49:42 Well, now that I'm getting older 49:43 and one of those senior guys, 49:45 I wish I'd spent more time with the office. 49:48 Guess what they always say. 49:50 I wish I'd spent more time with my kids or my spouse. 49:52 Amen. 49:53 When you really think what's important. 49:55 Amen. 49:56 But thank God, he's made provision for a life 49:57 without regrets. 49:59 He has given us a full 24 hours each week of our lives 50:01 to lay aside our earthly cares, 50:03 concentrate on what really matters, 50:04 God and family and friends of those 50:06 who could use your encouragement. 50:07 And that day is the Sabbath. 50:09 The day of which he has Lord, 50:11 the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, 50:12 my holy day, the Sabbath. 50:14 Now it's interesting also 50:15 the Sabbath is an oasis in time. 50:18 I remember in Law School, 50:22 I study labor law, just one question, 50:24 but there are things what when you go to a job, 50:27 I'll just give you a little illustration, 50:28 just pretend like you're going to a job interview 50:31 and you've never worked out like that before. 50:33 So the HR person is interviewing you 50:35 and they say to you that, 50:37 "If you've got to work for us, you get paid vacations." 50:40 Really what's that like? 50:42 Well, that means like, 50:43 you could be at the beach, you know, 50:45 or you could be at the mountains, 50:46 you know, with your family on vacation or something 50:47 and we're gonna pay you just like you were at work." 50:50 That sounds good? Yeah. 50:51 You know, we call these fringe benefits. 50:53 It's not just good wage, just good working conditions, 50:54 but also fringe benefits. 50:56 And then there's another one called paid holidays. 50:58 There's four or five times maybe six times a year 51:00 when there's a holiday in the calendar, 51:02 you don't have to come into work that day, 51:03 we're gonna pay just like you were here. 51:05 Yep. 51:06 Then there's the sick days, whether you're sick or not, 51:08 you can accumulate six days and you can get time off, 51:10 you get paid. 51:12 By the way, we'll cover you with health insurance 51:13 for you and your family, 51:14 life insurance, profit sharing. 51:16 You'll be a rare person indeed 51:18 who would tell his employer the HR person, "No, thanks. 51:20 I don't need the benefits. 51:22 I'd like to opt out of the benefits package." 51:24 That's not gonna happen, is it? 51:26 But God has given us as his workers, his Sabbath, 51:29 sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, 51:30 a day of rest and reflection of worship and fellowship 51:33 and that's the great benefit plan. 51:35 The real interesting thing about it is, 51:36 God has given us real tangible benefits 51:39 for keeping the Sabbath. 51:40 I know that I have been greatly blessed 51:42 by keeping the Sabbath, our family has. 51:44 Well, Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man." 51:47 He was telling us all that 51:48 the Sabbath was made to help us and be a blessing to us 51:51 and the Sabbath is a benefit program to everyone. 51:54 And I hope that we will all opt in. 51:56 He set an example. 51:58 And this is important. Do we understand that? 52:00 Every week to avoid, I like this part especially. 52:04 In addition to having to avoid work 52:06 and get out of household chores 52:08 and not worrying about to-do lists 52:10 and tell your spouse it's Sabbath. 52:15 Of all this without any guilt, 52:17 picture a day that you can spend 52:18 with family and friends, a day in nature, 52:20 a day with doing something with God's family as well, 52:24 something nice for someone else. 52:25 It's not a dream, it's a reality, 52:27 it's all because God designed the Sabbath as his day, 52:30 made it for us. 52:33 God gave us the Sabbath, a way to push the reset button. 52:37 If you like me, 52:38 you really like to get distracted sometimes 52:40 or you do get distracted from the things 52:42 and people that really matter the most to you. 52:45 So we can stop chasing our material goals 52:47 in our usual work for one day every week 52:49 and effectively say, "God, you're in control." 52:52 I'm honoring you, 52:53 I'm focusing on you on your day, 52:55 even though I'm only working six days, 52:56 I trust for you to provide for me all seven. 52:59 It doesn't matter how much money 53:00 I could be making. 53:02 Now this is interesting. 53:03 I told you I just saw the Mamertine Prison in Rome. 53:06 Paul died there alone. 53:10 Did you hear that what I just said? 53:11 Yes. Alone. 53:13 And he wrote back, and says, Demas 53:14 who had been sent to be with him 53:16 has forsaken me having love in this present world, 53:18 isn't that incredible? 53:20 Demas was thinking, "You know, I'm sitting around, 53:21 watching this all old guy, he's gonna head chopped off 53:23 and I could be out making a little money." 53:25 Demas has forsaken me 53:26 having loving this present world. 53:28 Well, that's just very interesting. 53:29 So I'll would just tell you. 53:30 The Sabbath is the day 53:32 when we opt into God's time. 53:33 We want to enjoy his rest, 53:35 reset our thinking and reset our body, 53:37 and worship and honor God. 53:39 Now I want to make a little conclusion 53:41 and I think it's important 53:43 that we think of these things together. 53:44 We have looked at several tax, many tax that predicted 53:47 a great apostasy would grow in the Christian Church. 53:49 Even starting the apostasy at the time of the Apostles 53:52 that had already begun. 53:54 It is true that 53:56 sincere Christians have believed 53:57 that the Lord's Day was Sunday for over a thousand years. 54:02 But as we have seen, 54:04 this is not taught in the Bible. 54:06 Is the Bible our guide? Yes. 54:07 You understand. 54:09 So the passage of time, no matter, 54:10 how long does not change error into truth. 54:13 So I would suggest if you've not already done, 54:15 so I appeal to you to lay aside the traditions of men 54:18 except the teachings of Jesus 54:19 as taught by the Holy Scriptures. 54:22 Make the Word of God your guide 54:23 and the only rule of faith and practice 54:25 and there's really no reason for us to read the Bible 54:27 if we're not gonna follow its teachings. 54:28 Amen. Isn't that true? 54:30 Yes. 54:31 Kathy and I give quite a bit of Bible studies 54:33 and we've got to tell people, we go through, 54:34 we got to check them out, 54:35 once you've understood this, do you understand it clearly, 54:37 do you plan to practice it. 54:38 If not, we might just stop the Bible studies, right? 54:41 This is important. 54:42 So the decision to follow Christ 54:44 and his teachings will give you 54:45 a greater desire to grow spiritually, 54:47 bring peace to your heart and so on. 54:50 There's a lot we can talk about in this, 54:51 but I will just tell you that God is great 54:54 and I would just give you another little indication. 54:58 That from sundown, Friday to sundown, Saturday 55:00 is the Biblical Sabbath. 55:02 During that time period, God's faith 55:03 people come together to worship him 55:05 collectively as his people. 55:06 And I know for sure 55:08 and the reason this is in this program here 55:09 is there's people watching today 55:11 that have tuned in to find out the answer to this question. 55:13 Amen. 55:15 We have people coming into our church 55:16 almost on a regular basis, 55:17 we just have a little small church plan 55:19 and people are coming in and saying, 55:20 I've been reading in my Bible, I've been watching 3ABN, 55:22 I've been watching Hope channel or something. 55:24 And I've become convicted of the Sabbath. 55:26 Could I worship with you? 55:28 Could you worship? Yes, of course. 55:30 The bottom line is 55:31 there's convicting power of the Holy Spirit 55:33 in God's word 55:34 and we want to have that word in our lives 55:35 and in our hearts. 55:37 The Sabbath is not a burden, it's a blessing, 55:39 God made it for us. 55:41 So we're looking forward to Sabbath. 55:43 Tomorrow would be a great day 55:44 for all of us to fellowship together, 55:45 but it's not a burden, it's a blessing. 55:47 And let's help our children and our other family members 55:50 to understand that as well. 55:52 "So thus saith the Lord, God, 55:54 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, 55:56 neither let the mighty man glory in his might, 55:58 but let the rich man, 56:00 nor let the rich man glory in his riches, 56:01 but let him glory who glory in this 56:03 that he understands and knows me 56:04 that I am the Lord who exercising, 56:06 loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. 56:09 For those things, in these things I delight," 56:11 says the Lord, this is Jeremiah 9:23-24. 56:15 So I want to make a short appeal 56:17 to those who are watching. 56:18 My presumption is that 56:20 many of you here in the audience 56:21 have already made that commitment, 56:22 but if God's Holy Spirit is working on your heart 56:25 to understand and clearly see that 56:26 the Seventh-day Sabbath 56:27 is the day of the Lord, the Lord's Day, 56:29 then why not honor it 56:31 and begin to change your life in a way 56:33 that can honor God. 56:34 I encourage you to do that because God is great, 56:36 God is good and he created it, he made the Sabbath for us 56:39 and he made us in the beginning as well. 56:41 So we thank God for the wisdom of his word 56:43 and we thank you each one of you 56:45 for your kind attention and we want to pray 56:48 and ask God to bless the reading of his word 56:50 that we've had today. 56:52 Our Heavenly Father, I want to thank you 56:54 for the privilege we've had in worshipping you today. 56:56 We thank you for your word is the guide to us. 56:59 We thank you that there's really no question about 57:01 what day the Lord's day is 57:02 because we know it's not Sunday, 57:04 we know it is the Sabbath, 57:05 so we pray that you will guide those 57:07 who have been watching and viewing, 57:08 have them to come to a conclusion 57:10 as we have that this is your day. 57:12 That your word is true 57:13 and you're the true guide for us. 57:15 We don't want to be among those 57:17 who take away or add to the commandments, 57:19 we pray that you will guide each of us in our lives, 57:20 help us to be faithful to you 57:22 and to be ready when you come again. 57:24 In Jesus' name, amen. 57:25 Amen. |
Revised 2023-05-02