Participants:
Series Code: PTL
Program Code: PTL000007A
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00:49 Good evening and welcome to, Pathways To Life,
00:54 from Phoenix, Arizona. 00:56 The Paradise Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:58 in Phoenix, Arizona in particular. 01:00 My name is Jim Hakes. 01:02 I have the privilege of welcoming you to 01:04 this series of meetings that have been going on. 01:08 We're in, I believe, night seven or event seven of fifteen 01:13 in our continuing series to change our lives. 01:19 And whether you are coming to us from 3ABN, 01:23 or from YouTube, or from our sister station, Good News TV, 01:29 or streaming live with Facebook, I hope and pray that each one 01:36 receive a blessing from being here this next hour. 01:40 I encourage you to stay by and to participate completely. 01:46 Tonight Tim Parton will be leading us in our music. 01:49 He's going to be sharing with us the song, 01:52 He Will Carry You. 01:53 And then Pastor Lomacang will be speaking to us 01:58 about the message, God's Blessed Day. 02:03 Before we invite Tim to start the music, 02:08 it just seems like the thing that we should do 02:10 would be to begin with a word of prayer. 02:12 Would you pray with me, please. 02:15 Gracious heavenly Father, we've come together 02:18 to open Your Word. 02:19 And it is our prayer that as we open the Word of God 02:22 that You will bless us through the presentation 02:26 of Pastor Lomacang. 02:27 It is our prayer that we will be drawn to Jesus 02:31 and that our hearts will be strangely warmed by Him. 02:35 And we thank You. 02:37 For we have indeed asked it in Jesus' name. 02:40 Amen. 02:59 There is no problem too big that God cannot solve it. 03:07 There is no mountain too tall God cannot move it. 03:15 And there is no storm too dark God cannot calm it. 03:23 There is no sorrow too deep God cannot soothe it. 03:30 If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulder, 03:39 I know, my brother, that He will carry you. 03:46 If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulder, 03:54 I know, my sister, He will carry you. 04:06 There is no problem too big God cannot solve it. 04:14 There is no mountain too tall God cannot move it. 04:21 And there is no storm too dark that God cannot calm it. 04:29 There is no sorrow too deep He cannot soothe it. 04:36 For if He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulder, 04:45 I know, my brother, He will carry you. 04:51 And if He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulder, 04:59 I know, my sister, He will carry you. 05:06 He said, "Come onto Me all ye who are weary 05:15 and I will give you rest." 05:24 If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulder, 05:34 I know, my brother, He will carry you. 05:40 If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulder, 05:50 I know, my sister, He will carry you. 05:58 I know, my brother and sister, He'll carry you. 06:17 Amen. Thank you, Tim. 06:19 - Amen again. ~ Amen. 06:21 I always love it when Tim plays. 06:24 He doesn't just play. He ministers. 06:27 And that song is so vitally important for all of us 06:30 to know that if God can carry the weight of 06:33 the world on His shoulders, tonight He can carry 06:37 your challenges, your problems, and your trials. 06:40 Tonight we are going to turn to that same God 06:43 by going to Him in prayer and asking for His 06:46 guidance from above. 06:48 Loving Father in heaven, we thank You for the message 06:50 that will go forth tonight. 06:52 But even more than the message, I pray that You'll anoint 06:56 the ears of those who hear, those who are watching, 06:59 those who are listening. 07:02 Lord, in this day and age of compromise, 07:05 we need clarity from above. 07:08 Send Your Holy Spirit to do a work that is humanly impossible. 07:13 In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 07:18 Tonight's subject, say the title with me. 07:21 God's what? 07:23 God's Blessed Day. 07:25 Tonight I want to begin with a scripture 07:27 that to me is one of the most important components 07:30 of sanctification. 07:33 The Bible says to us in John 17:17... 07:36 Since this is our first scripture, 07:37 let's read this together. 07:39 What does the Bible say? 07:45 It is not possible... 07:48 We've talked about this from night to night. 07:50 It is not possible to be in a sanctifying relationship 07:54 with God when the Word of God or the truth of God 07:57 is excluded or ignored. 08:00 It's not possible. 08:01 It's not possible to say, "I'm following God, 08:05 but I don't want to follow His Word." 08:08 And tonight's topic is one of those topics 08:10 that for whatever reason has been attacked 08:14 by the enemy of God, and our enemy, for thousands of years. 08:21 And the last component of what God blessed 08:23 in the Garden of Eden has recently come under attack 08:27 by the enemy. 08:28 In the Garden of Eden God blessed two institutions. 08:31 He blessed the family and the Sabbath. 08:33 He blessed what? 08:35 The family and the Sabbath. 08:36 Each of those pillars were created 08:39 in a perfect environment. 08:41 Which means, if the world never fell into sin 08:46 there would never be a discussion about 08:48 replacing either one of those. 08:52 But because the world has fallen into sin, 08:55 the devil's aim is to attack the very foundation 08:59 of the things that God blessed in the Garden of Eden. 09:03 God blessed the marriage, 09:05 which is a horizontal sanctification 09:08 between my wife and me. 09:11 Horizontal, side to side. 09:14 Then also God blessed the Sabbath. 09:16 A vertical relationship. 09:19 The devil has attacked both of those institutions. 09:22 But when you look at the Bible, you'll discover 09:24 that one of the most important things that God did 09:26 before He blessed the Sabbath is He blessed the family. 09:29 He performed the first wedding. 09:31 Tomorrow morning we're going to talk about that. 09:32 And I'd like to invite you to come and hear about the family. 09:35 I believe that the church can only be as strong as the family. 09:40 Can you say amen? 09:41 Because the church is made of families. 09:45 But from the very beginning 09:47 Satan attacked both of those institutions. 09:49 And it may appear as though he is successful, 09:52 but I want to say this: 09:53 God always wins in the end. 09:57 Look at what God did after He blessed the family. 10:00 We find in Genesis 2:1-3... 10:38 Notice the components that have God's seal. 10:42 That's why when we look at the Bible, 10:44 we find that when we talk about sanctification, 10:48 whenever the commandment of the Sabbath is mentioned, 10:51 it includes the components of creation. 10:54 I want you to notice that. 10:56 When the Sabbath is mentioned, 10:57 it includes the components of creation. 11:00 Now very quickly. 11:01 When the Sabbath was made... 11:03 I'll go back to my former slide. 11:04 When the Sabbath was made, there was only Adam and Eve. 11:09 There were no Jews for almost 1500 years. 11:15 So the Lord didn't make the Sabbath for the Jew, 11:18 He made the Sabbath for humanity. 11:20 He blessed it at the end of creation week. 11:22 And amazing about that is, when the Sabbath command 11:26 is mentioned, the component of the Sabbath 11:30 links us right back to what God did at the end of creation week. 11:34 Notice this tonight. 11:36 Notice what's the first word. What is it? 11:38 Remember. Exodus 20:8-11 11:44 "Six days you shall labor..." Like God did. 11:49 "...and do all your work..." Like God did. 12:09 Why? Notice the creation component. 12:11 Right squarely in the center of the Ten Commandments. 12:35 Notice this very well. 12:36 And when you get to the book of Mark, 12:38 when you get to the New Testament, 12:39 that was the Old Testament, 12:41 but when you get to the New Testament, 12:42 notice very carefully. 12:44 It doesn't change. 12:45 It goes once again back to what God did in the very beginning. 12:49 Mark 2:27-28 12:51 This is Jesus now speaking. 13:09 So who is Lord? 13:11 God is. 13:14 If the Lord of the Sabbath is our Lord, 13:18 then we don't have to try to pick a day. 13:20 He's already done that. 13:22 My wife and I were married May 22nd. 13:24 Now May 22nd may not mean anything to any of you, 13:27 but when May 22nd comes around, it is the day of sanctification 13:32 between my wife and me. 13:34 It may mean nothing to you. 13:36 And the reason it may not mean anything to you 13:38 is because you are not in our relationship, 13:41 but because that day is based on our relationship. 13:45 The greatest component and the greatest reason for 13:47 honoring the Bible Sabbath is, one, it is a sign 13:51 of our relationship. 13:53 The day is special to us because God sanctified us. 13:59 Our relationship is holy, therefore when May 22nd 14:02 comes around, I say, "Happy anniversary," to my wife, 14:05 and she says, "Happy anniversary," to me. 14:08 But it may mean nothing to you. 14:09 Any time you're not in a relationship, 14:11 the day probably has no significance to you. 14:14 When God blessed something, He never changes it. 14:17 Notice what the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:14. 14:42 But the bewildering question is, 14:48 why would there need to be a change of the Sabbath 14:53 when it's really the last day of the week? 14:58 Why would there even need to be a change 15:01 from something that was done when there was no 15:04 sin in the world? 15:06 Now maybe about a few years ago the Christian church 15:09 started getting upset about what happened 15:11 when same-sex marriage was introduced 15:14 and made a law in America. 15:17 I would suggest to you that if the Sabbath was changed 15:20 a couple of years ago, the Christian church would have been 15:23 up in arms about it. 15:25 They would have said, "How dare man do to God's Word 15:29 when they have no authority to change God's Word." 15:32 Now right now, the Christian church for the most part 15:35 is upset about the laws that are passed in America 15:38 for man to marry man and woman to marry woman. 15:41 And they say, now get this, they say, 15:44 "That is not according to God's Word." 15:47 When did God bless the marriage? 15:49 In the very beginning. 15:51 Thousands of years ago. 15:53 So no one can tell me that the reason why 15:56 we should accept same-sex marriage is because the Bible 15:59 is thousands of years too old. 16:02 We know that whatever God blesses is blessed for how long? 16:06 Forever. 16:07 In the very same way the Sabbath is blessed for how long? 16:09 Forever. 16:11 Blessed before there was any change 16:15 in anything that God had done. 16:17 There was no sin in the world. 16:19 But we know one of the reasons why the Sabbath is attacked. 16:21 It's the same reason why the marriage is attacked. 16:24 And in these last days Satan has become very, very subtle 16:29 in his attempt to change anything that God has blessed. 16:32 Notice how the Bible talks about this. 16:34 The very serpent that was in the very beginning 16:36 is still working today, and he's doing it in a very cunning way. 16:40 He's doing it in a way, he's giving all the reasons 16:43 he possibly can to substitute the Sabbath 16:46 as he recently did to substitute the marriage. 16:49 Notice what the Bible says. 16:51 This is the same serpent. 16:53 Genesis 3:1 17:09 Now let me break this down. 17:12 The devil attacked Eve on the basis of what God had said. 17:15 In other words, he was saying, "I know what God said, 17:20 but did He really say that?" 17:24 And the only way that deception can come in 17:27 is if you are not clear on what God has said. 17:30 But when you read that God says, "Remember," 17:33 when the Lord says, "Remember," another way of saying, remember, 17:36 is, "Don't forget." 17:38 Right? 17:40 But the devil said, "I know..." 17:42 In other words he's saying to the Christian world... 17:45 And by the way, when you read the passage, 17:46 in prophecy a woman represents the church. 17:49 So the devil is in essence saying to the church today, 17:51 the woman who represents the church, he says, 17:53 "I know what God said, but did He really say, 17:57 did He really say that?" 17:59 And the sad reality is, clergy all over the world 18:04 has fallen prey to that question, "Did God really say 18:08 the Sabbath was necessary?" 18:10 And you find a thousand reasons today. 18:12 A very quick story. 18:13 Because I have so much to cover tonight. 18:15 When I was a teenager and still involved in gambling, 18:17 and pool hustling, and partying in New York 18:19 I tried to find a church where I could 18:20 still party and go to heaven. 18:23 You figure that out. 18:25 And I went to a number of churches to try 18:27 to figure this out, and I went to a Nazarene church. 18:30 I shouldn't mention the denomination, 18:32 but I went to a Nazarene church as a 17 year old 18:34 on a Sunday morning. 18:36 I went to a youth group and the youth pastor said 18:39 ask whatever question you'd like. 18:41 Well I had heard about the Sabbath, 18:42 but I wasn't crazy about the Sabbath 18:44 because that's when I partied. 18:46 So I said, "Do we have to keep the Bible Sabbath?" 18:49 That was a very honest question of a teenager. 18:51 And he said, "Come with me young man." 18:52 And he invited me to come with him and follow him. 18:55 And he walked me across the hallway, 18:57 down the steps of the church, and to the outside, 18:59 and he said to me these words, "Don't you ever come back." 19:04 I thought... 19:06 So I went to a Pentecostal church next. 19:10 Now really, I'm telling you my journey. 19:11 I went to a Pentecostal church next. 19:13 And I asked the bishop, I said, "Could you tell me 19:17 about the Sabbath, do we have to keep it or not?" 19:20 And to my amazement, he rattled off the history of how 19:25 the Sabbath was changed. 19:27 And I'm going to share that with you tonight briefly. 19:29 But he knew exactly about the change of the Sabbath. 19:32 And he said to me, "I'll be right back." 19:34 Well after 48 minutes and he didn't come back, I left. 19:39 And I tried one more church. 19:41 I went to the local Catholic church 19:43 which was not too far away from me. 19:44 I asked one of the priests, they called him, father John, 19:48 but I call no man, father, except my heavenly Father, 19:51 and I said, "Could you tell me about the Sabbath?" 19:53 He was the only one that was open and honest to me. 19:57 He said, "Well, of course. 19:59 About 2000 years ago, a little less than that, 20:03 the church, our church was instrumental in changing 20:06 from Sabbath to the first day of the week. 20:09 But we're too far gone to change now." 20:12 He was the only one that was clear and open to me. 20:16 But when you think about that, it's all based on the fact that 20:18 Satan is able to get us to question what God has said. 20:22 Notice the question that the Lord asked 20:25 when He came to Adam and Eve. 20:30 In other words, "Who told you the Sabbath was changed? 20:34 Who told you that? 20:35 If I told you I blessed it, who told you other?" 20:39 And then the other question, "Have you eaten..." 20:41 "Have you swallowed what they said over what I said? 20:43 Have you eaten that?" 20:46 The reason why the church is in so much darkness today 20:49 is because preachers are telling you what God's Word 20:52 does not sanctify. 20:55 Preachers are telling you what's not found in God's Word at all. 20:59 And people are eating it without checking it out themselves. 21:03 "Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you 21:07 that you should not eat?" 21:09 What was the tree? The knowledge of good and evil. 21:13 And unfortunately in pulpits around the world today, 21:16 good and evil are coming from that very same fountain. 21:20 And rather than checking it out on God's Word, 21:22 people often base what they say or what they believe 21:26 based on, "The guy looks honest." 21:28 Let me tell you something. 21:30 Don't base what I say on how I look. 21:32 Hopefully I do look honest, but check it out by God's Word. 21:36 Because in the end, your salvation is based on 21:39 your understanding of God's Word. 21:41 Not just your understanding of it, but your willingness 21:44 to follow a "Thus saith the Lord." 21:46 No other reason. 21:47 Nobody can say, you can't say, "Well Lord, 21:49 the pastor told me that." 21:51 What happens if the blind leads the blind? 21:53 What happens to both of them? 21:55 They both fall into the pit. 21:56 Think about the, "remembers," in the Bible. 21:59 When we talk to the young people... 22:00 I mentioned this a few nights ago. 22:03 I'm talking like a New Yorker, so listen like a New Yorker. 22:06 A few nights ago I mentioned there are three very important, 22:09 "remembers," in the Bible. 22:10 One, Solomon says, "Remember the Creator 22:13 in the days of your youth." 22:14 I don't know of any pastor that would say to young people today, 22:17 "You don't need to remember Jesus while you're young." 22:20 One of the problems in our world today 22:21 is young people have no connection to Christ. 22:24 They are more connected to their phones than to Jesus. 22:28 So there's no pastor that would disagree with me. 22:31 And then that's one. 22:33 Then the other one, you know Lot's wife. 22:34 She looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. 22:38 There are no pastors today that you would to you, 22:40 "When God is calling you, don't look back." 22:42 They'll say, "Don't look back. God is calling you. Go forward." 22:45 Like He told Israel, "Go forward. 22:47 If you put your hand to the plow and look back, 22:48 you're not worthy of Me. 22:50 Don't look back." 22:51 There's nobody that would disagree with what Solomon said 22:54 and what Dr. Luke said. 22:56 But to show you how diabolical Satan is, 22:58 he'll say, "Well that's okay, you can listen to Solomon. 23:00 Oh, you can listen to Dr. Luke. 23:01 But don't listen to God." 23:04 Because God said, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy," 23:06 and Satan says, "You don't have to keep that." 23:10 And he gives a thousand and one illegitimate reasons 23:14 why we should ignore a plain, "Thus saith the Lord." 23:18 Well, why is his desire to replace what God 23:23 has said so determined? 23:26 Here's what the Bible says. 23:27 Lucifer said this in Isaiah 14:14... 23:40 Now we've got President's Day, we've got all these days 23:43 dedicated throughout the year for different people, 23:46 different identifying marks, different holidays. 23:50 And the devil knew that there was nothing of higher value 23:53 than dedicating a day that reminds us every week 23:58 that our relationship is with the God of 24:00 creation and redemption. 24:02 So to be like God, he had to find his own day. 24:06 But instead of giving you his own day, he decided 24:09 to attack and substitute God's day. 24:11 He said, "I will be like the Most High." 24:14 And unfortunately, that's not a surprise to God. 24:17 In the book of Daniel 7:25, 24:20 the Lord knew that this would take place. 24:23 The Lord knew it, and He told it to Daniel, His prophet. 24:26 Speaking of the fourth beast of Daniel 7... 24:29 And by the way, there were four major kingdoms in antiquity. 24:33 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. 24:36 I don't have time to cover them all. 24:37 We only have about fifteen meetings. 24:40 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. 24:41 Together: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. 24:46 Of the fourth kingdom Daniel said, "This fourth kingdom 24:50 has a power behind it that is going to tamper with 24:53 what God has established. 24:55 Speaking of the fourth beast, the Bible says... 25:00 Didn't the devil say he would be like the Most High? 25:03 So he speaks against Him. 25:07 Persecute them. 25:11 You know why the Bible says, "think"? 25:13 Because he may do it in man's eye, but you can never 25:16 change what God establishes. 25:20 "...and they..." That is the saints. 25:26 Simply put, the church was persecuted for 1260 years 25:31 and Bibles were practically obliterated. 25:34 The only place you could find a Bible during the Dark Ages, 25:37 that's why it's called, the Dark Ages, 25:38 were the altars and the cathedrals of Rome. 25:41 That's the only place you could find them. 25:42 So the people only believed what they were told. 25:45 So they were living and worshiping God in ignorance. 25:48 And the Bible says, times of ignorance, God winks at. 25:51 In other words, when you don't know anything, 25:52 God would not hold you accountable. 25:54 But this is not an age of ignorance. 25:56 Amen, somebody. 25:58 You've got to find out for yourself. 26:00 Times of ignorance God winked at, 26:02 but we're not in ignorant times any longer. 26:04 The Lord said there would be somebody that would come and 26:07 try to change times and laws. 26:09 Well let's look at this for example. 26:11 We've got a seven day week. 26:12 It begins with what day? 26:13 Sunday. 26:15 Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 26:16 Thursday, Friday, Saturday. 26:18 We had a couple walk into our church one Wednesday night 26:20 in southern Illinois. 26:22 Older couple in their mid-70's or upper 70's. 26:25 I didn't know who he was. 26:27 And after prayer meeting I said, "Are you an elder?" 26:29 He looked like he could be an elder. 26:31 He had a southern accent, he said, "Naw." 26:34 I said, "Are you a deacon?" He said, "Naw." 26:37 I said, "Are you an Adventist?" He said, "Naw." 26:41 I said, "Are you visiting 3ABN?" Once again, "Naw." 26:46 I said, "Why are you here?" 26:48 He said, "You challenged me on one of your television programs. 26:51 You said, look up these days: Sabbath, Sunday, 26:54 first day, seventh day, and Sabbath. 26:56 Sabbath, Sunday, first day, seventh day, and Sabbath." 26:58 I had said, "Look those up. 27:01 Whatever you find, take it to your pastor 27:03 and have him explain to you why he is not 27:07 teaching about the Bible Sabbath." 27:09 Well he did that. 27:10 He said, "That's why I'm here." 27:11 In a nut shell, he went to his pastor, 27:13 showed him what he had found. 27:15 His pastor said, in a nut shell, he took him out of his 27:18 elder's position where he was in for 40 years, 27:21 he took his wife out of the treasury position, 27:23 he took him out of teaching Sunday school. 27:25 And the pastor, in a nut shell, said, "You've got the problem, 27:28 you solve it." 27:30 He said, "I am, I'm going to the Adventist church." 27:32 And he came, in his upper 70's, and he said, 27:35 "How old is too old to get baptized?" 27:37 I said, "As long as you're breathing you can get baptized." 27:40 Amen? 27:42 So when you look today, what he did was 27:44 exactly what I'm going to show you right now. 27:45 He first began in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. 27:48 Look it up yourself. 27:50 Saturday, the definition: The seventh day of the week. 27:53 Then the Encyclopedia Britannica. 27:56 These are two of the oldest resources you have available. 27:59 In the Encyclopedia Britannica... 28:06 There is no doubt as to which day is 28:09 the seventh day of the week. 28:11 But because I introduced you to Rome, 28:15 when the Christian church began to grow 28:17 not long after the disciples passed away... 28:20 John around maybe before 100 AD, John the apostle, 28:25 on the island of Patmos, he was the last disciple 28:28 to die out of the twelve. 28:31 And the Christian church began to grow in leaps and bounds, 28:34 and Rome as a pagan power had no control over the 28:38 Christian church, none whatsoever. 28:41 So they sought ways of introducing what pagans had 28:44 already begun to observe. 28:46 They were already sun worshipers. 28:48 They worshiped the s-u-n. 28:51 And in 168 AD they introduced a festival. 28:55 A family day. 28:57 But by the year 321 AD, they introduced the first Sunday law 29:01 by pagan Rome. 29:03 Here's just a summary of it. 29:04 You find Roman Emperor Constantine. 29:06 Obviously an artist's conception. 29:07 But here's what that law said. 29:10 AD 321... 29:14 "Magistrates," that's like the local congressman. 29:23 Now it says, "in the cities." 29:25 The ones that were omitted from honoring it 29:28 were those in the countryside. 29:30 They dealt with agriculture. 29:31 In other words, if they didn't harvest 29:33 their lands, you didn't eat. 29:34 If they didn't take care of their cows, and goats, 29:36 and lambs, you didn't eat. 29:37 They were excluded. 29:39 But by the year 538 AD, even they were obligated 29:43 to honor the first day of the week. 29:46 And by the way, this is not even... 29:48 What I'm sharing with you tonight... 29:50 I'm finishing a book now. 29:51 Pray for me to have it done by June. 29:54 And I'm kind of dating the program by saying that. 29:58 But as I finish the book, it chronicles the entire 30:01 trek of the modern movement to bring Sunday 30:07 in the place of Sabbath. 30:08 But notice some of the things that the 30:10 Roman church admits openly. 30:11 This was an article, a book written, but on page... 30:15 As Rome became the baptized religion, 30:18 Rome adopted religion and brought paganism into it. 30:22 The pagan government of Rome brought religion into it. 30:26 They didn't change anything that the pagans observed. 30:28 They just rubber stamped it to replace Christianity. 30:32 Here's an article in, The Christian World, magazine, 30:35 an article from March 1994, page 809. 30:40 A pretty quite thick book. 30:42 They chronicle how this transition took place. 31:00 The countries that Rome resided over. 31:18 Then in the Council of Laodicea in 325 AD, 31:23 four years after Roman Emperor Constantine 31:25 made the first Sunday law, notice, the Council of Laodicea. 31:28 This is where they introduced the phrase, "the Lord's Day." 31:33 When you follow the Bible about the Lord's Day, 31:35 it points directly to the Sabbath. 31:37 But in the Council of Laodicea they introduced the phrase, 31:40 "the Lord's Day." 31:46 They tried to add a stigma to the Sabbath. 31:49 They tried to make it believe... 31:51 Because many of the converts were Jews. 31:52 Read the New Testament. 31:54 Many of the converts were Jews. 31:56 But being a Jew is not a bad thing. 31:59 Being any nationality is not a bad thing. 32:02 But Rome sought, because the Jewish population was growing 32:04 so rapidly, they sought to give a stigma to the Sabbath 32:08 by calling it, Judaizing. 32:16 They tried to force them to violate the Sabbath. 32:18 And many of them lost their life because they wouldn't do it. 32:38 This is when it was still pagan Rome. 32:40 This was not yet papal Rome. 32:43 It was not until the transition in 538 from 32:46 pagan to papal Rome that the popes began to take 32:49 the place of the Caesars. 32:51 But this is just pagan Rome. 32:53 And they were already calling the Sabbath a Judaizing thing. 32:56 That's why many pastors today, they say, when you talk about 32:59 the Sabbath, "Oh, you're still under that old Jewish law." 33:02 There were no Jews in the Garden of Eden. 33:04 Can I get an amen somewhere? 33:06 No Jews in Eden at all. 33:10 And in the New Testament, there are sixty references to 33:14 the Sabbath, and only twelve to the first day of the week. 33:18 Eight of those first day of the week references 33:19 have to do with the resurrection. 33:21 You only have four possibilities in the Bible 33:24 to find a new day of worship. 33:26 And not any of them connect you to a new day of worship. 33:29 One was collecting an offering, 33:31 which was not an offering, but the apostles went 33:34 from house to house. 33:36 They were not taking offerings to the church 33:37 in 1 Corinthians 16. 33:39 They were doing like the Salvation Army, 33:41 going from house to house to pick up goods and needs 33:43 for the Christians in Jerusalem that were 33:45 going through a difficult famine. 33:48 Secondly, they broke bread on the first day of the week. 33:51 But they broke bread every day, Acts 20:7. 33:55 And the third example was when the disciples were hiding on the 33:59 first day of the week for fear of the Jews. 34:01 They were hiding behind a door, securely shut up. 34:04 They were not having a worship service. 34:06 They were fearing for their lives because 34:08 Jesus had just been crucified. 34:10 Those are the only three chances you get to find 34:13 a new day of worship in the New Testament. 34:15 And neither of those support it. 34:16 And the last first day reference simply says, 34:19 "I'll meet you on the first day of the week." 34:21 Not a single line in the New Testament 34:24 sanctions any other day but the Sabbath. 34:26 Amen. 34:27 Let's go even deeper. 34:29 Reverend Stephen Keenan, Doctrinal Catechism, page 174. 35:04 And by the way, just so you don't think that I'm coming up 35:07 with unusual things, this is the church that 35:09 was instrumental in sanctifying a different day of worship. 35:13 And by the way, let me make the point very clear. 35:15 You can't sanctify what God never sanctified. 35:18 Amen? 35:20 I don't want to be unkind, but you can't sanctify 35:23 marriage between a man and a man when God says 35:25 a man and a woman. 35:27 No amens necessary. 35:29 Don't need any on that point. 35:32 The point I'm making is, what God blesses 35:34 man cannot reverse. 35:36 And man cannot bless what God never blessed. 35:39 That's a fact. 35:42 But there's some great attempts. 35:44 My wife and I were in England in 2016 when we did our 35:47 last evangelistic series with 3ABN. 35:50 And I was stunned when I saw the calendar. 35:54 They had Monday as the first day of the week. 35:58 And I'd only seen that in the maritime calendars 36:01 when I use to work for shipping and receiving 36:03 at the old World Trade Center in New York City. 36:06 So what I did was I called the front desk. 36:09 And I asked the lady, I said, "Uh, can you tell me 36:14 what day is the last day of the week?" 36:17 She said to me, "It's Sunday." 36:22 I said, "It's what?" She said, "It's Sunday." 36:26 I said, "Let me ask..." 36:27 I said, "Can you tell me what the last day of the week is?" 36:30 She said, "It's Sunday in our country." 36:33 And I thought, "Is Sunday in your country 36:34 not the same everywhere?" 36:37 And here's a calendar. 36:38 This is a calendar, 2017 English calendar. 36:42 Monday is the first day of the week. 36:44 Now you might wonder why in England. 36:47 Tony Blair, who used to be the former Prime Minister 36:51 in England, converted to Catholicism from the 36:53 Church of England because England is now predominately 36:57 a Catholic country. 36:58 And almost all of Europe is dominated by the Roman church. 37:02 I was invited to Washington D.C. about three years ago 37:06 when the pope came to talk to Congress. 37:07 And a Baptist senator invited me to be there 37:10 when the pope spoke to Congress. 37:12 And he sat me in his office on Capitol Hill and said to me, 37:14 "What do you think is happening here?" 37:16 And by the way, I'm being candid with you tonight. 37:19 He said, "What do you think is happening here?" 37:20 I said, "Well, America is the only place where 37:23 religious freedom is still offered to its citizens." 37:27 Meaning, right now we can worship however we want to. 37:29 But Rome knows that. 37:31 And when you read Daniel 2 and Daniel 7, you'll discover 37:35 that the Bible, speaking about Rome, it says of this 37:37 great power that the Bible identifies as an iron toothed 37:41 beast that has no earthly description. 37:44 Revelation 13 says the dragon, who is Satan, 37:47 gave Rome its power and seat and great authority. 37:51 Now let me pause and say something right here. 37:54 I am not talking about Roman Catholic people. 37:56 Can somebody say amen? 37:58 You know why? Because my family is 99.9% Catholic. 38:04 I'm not talking about people. 38:06 But I've got to make it clear, I'm not talking about people 38:09 any more than I'm talking about passengers on a plane. 38:11 When I say, "That plane is in bad shape. 38:14 Don't go on it. 38:15 And you may go down with the plane if it goes up without 38:19 being mechanically sound." 38:21 I'm not talking about bad passengers. 38:23 The plane is mechanically unsound. 38:26 The Roman church is scripturally unsound. 38:30 But people love the Lord that are there. 38:33 That's why I'm preaching so straight. 38:36 Because in these last days it's not about like or dislike. 38:40 It's about worshiping the Lord in spirit and in truth. 38:46 And if you really believe we're in the end, 38:48 you've got to make it clear. 38:50 You cannot meander in the maze of mediocrity. 38:53 You can't do that. 38:54 That's why the Bible says the Sabbath is an indication of 38:57 our relationship with God. 38:58 Notice Ezekiel 20:12. 39:00 The Lord makes it clear. 39:14 I told you in the beginning, you cannot be in a sanctifying 39:18 relationship when truth is ignored or omitted. 39:23 But if you want to be in a sanctified relationship... 39:25 Can you imagine me getting a job at a company 39:28 and when they hire me, I say to the boss, 39:31 "Now I'm going to tell you what I'll do for your company." 39:35 "You mean, we hired you, now you're going to 39:37 tell us how you're going to work for us?" 39:38 No. When we follow the Lord, He establishes the parameters 39:42 of our relationship. 39:43 Am I right? 39:45 He says, "This is how I need to be worshiped. 39:47 This is how I will be worshiped." 39:48 And He says in John 4:23-24, 39:52 the Lord will be worshiped in spirit and in truth. 39:56 Cannot leave out truth. 39:58 Look at verse 20, Ezekiel 20:20. 40:01 "Hallow My Sabbath..." 40:03 That means, "Keep it the way I made it." 40:17 Let me make a very powerful point here. 40:21 If the God of creation is your God, 40:26 He's already picked the day. 40:30 But if the God of creation is not your God, 40:32 you can pick any day you want. 40:34 It doesn't matter. 40:37 But if the God of creation and redemption, 40:39 if Jesus is the Lord of your life, 40:43 and He says, "The Sabbath is made for... 40:45 I am the Lord of the Sabbath; the Sabbath was made for man, 40:48 not man for the Sabbath." 40:50 The same God says, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy." 40:52 I find it strange that in saying those words 40:57 people can actually get angry that Jesus says, 41:03 "If you love Me, keep My commandments," 41:05 and then they say, "I love Him, but there's no way 41:07 I'm keeping Your commandments." 41:10 Is there something wrong? 41:12 And Christian churches are taught that way. 41:15 And I can understand what the Bible means when it says 41:17 the wine of Babylon. 41:18 So many people have been so indoctrinated by lies. 41:22 The one thing you cannot expect a drunk person to do 41:27 is walk a straight line. 41:30 I'm being really serious tonight. 41:32 They have to be detoxed. 41:37 Some people have to hear this message 41:38 over and over and over and over and over until it clicks. 41:43 But let me tell you something. 41:44 Like we have many people that go to our church in Thompsonville, 41:46 we had a lady that was arguing with the Sabbath 41:48 for like 30 years. 41:52 She lives in the community where 3ABN was built. 41:54 Every time she'd hear about the Sabbath on the radio, click. 41:59 One day almost 30 years later, her church gave her a copy of 42:04 the Ten Commandments to plant on her lawn 42:06 to have a local community Bible study group. 42:09 And when she put that on the lawn, she said to her husband, 42:11 "Honey, look, the Sabbath." 42:13 She said, "Let's look into that. 42:14 There must be something about it." 42:16 The Lord knew she loved Him. 42:17 He would not let her get away from the truth. 42:19 Amen? 42:20 See, when the Lord knows you love Him, 42:22 He's going to come after you because He loves you 42:23 too much to allow you to walk away in darkness. 42:26 She accepted the Sabbath truth. 42:28 And she was in our Sabbath school class, 42:30 and in our Sabbath school class I see her going like this... 42:33 And I'm not saying anything, she's going... 42:35 I said, "What are you doing?" 42:38 She says, "I'm erasing what I wrote in my Bible 42:40 when I was in the last church. 42:43 Because it ain't correct." 42:46 And you know what she said to me? 42:48 She said, "When I accepted the Sabbath, 42:50 everything else started becoming clear." 42:53 You know why? 42:54 Because the Bible says in Psalms, 42:55 "The law of the Lord is perfect; converting the soul. 43:00 The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." 43:05 When you accept something that's perfect, 43:07 it converts you. 43:09 And the law of the Lord is a... 43:11 The Word of God is a lamp to our feet, 43:13 a light to our path. 43:14 When you accept God's Word, the light comes on. 43:16 Amen. 43:18 The light comes on, and then people say... 43:20 I could tell the rest of the night with testimonies. 43:22 People have said, "Why is it that for 43 years 43:26 I never saw that?" 43:27 Because you accepted the light. 43:30 And when you accept the truth, the light comes on. 43:33 Isn't that wonderful? 43:34 "Hallow My Sabbaths." 43:35 But then again, let's look at another reason why 43:37 we should keep the Sabbath. 43:38 The whole weekend of the resurrection: 43:40 the death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus. 43:42 I'll go very quickly. 43:44 Speaking of this entire event, Luke 23:52-54. 44:20 This is at the death of Jesus. This is at the death of Jesus. 44:24 Let's keep going. 44:27 Luke 24:1-2 44:45 And it goes on. Look at the weekend. 44:48 Crucifixion weekend: let's look at this very carefully. 44:50 Preparation day, that's the day that Jesus 44:53 was placed in the tomb. 44:54 The Sabbath day between that and the first day. 44:58 Those are the three words you find. 45:00 Preparation day, Sabbath, and first day. 45:03 Let's add some definition to that. 45:05 Since the first day is the first day, let's go back. 45:08 If there are only seven days in the week, 45:10 when you start from the first and you go back, 45:11 you get to the what? Seventh. 45:13 Which is the Sabbath, identified as Saturday today. 45:17 And then you have the sixth day is the preparation day. 45:20 The Jews used it as the final preparation day 45:22 before the Sabbath came in. 45:24 Let's make it even more contemporary today. 45:26 Today during Easter Weekend, you have Good Friday, 45:31 Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. 45:35 Now follow this. 45:37 It's not possible that the Sabbath and the first day of 45:42 the week could be the same day. 45:44 Come on, help me out. 45:46 The Sabbath can't be the first day because 45:48 the first day is the resurrection. 45:49 The only time of the year that the Sabbath is called, "holy," 45:54 is during Easter weekend. 45:56 Isn't that strange? 45:58 I met somebody once, matter of fact we had a lady that said, 46:01 a young man said, "Well Sunday is the Sabbath." 46:03 She said, "No, no, the Sabbath is the day 46:04 before the resurrection. 46:06 That's scriptural support." 46:08 So you cannot find that those two days ever merged. 46:11 Friday, the day Jesus was placed in the tomb. 46:13 Sabbath, He rested according to the commandment. 46:15 And the women did also. 46:17 And He rose on the first day of the week. 46:21 Scripture. It's all there. 46:23 Very clear. 46:25 But let's see what Rome says in reference to this. 46:28 James Cardinal Gibbons. 46:29 This is one of the quotations that will be 46:31 in the book that I'm writing. 47:04 First day, Jesus separated light from darkness. 47:08 Second day, He created the firmament, the heavens above. 47:11 Third day: the grass, the plants, the fruit trees. 47:13 Fourth day: the sun, the moon, the stars for the seasons. 47:16 Fifth day: all creatures, all birds. 47:19 Sixth day: all land animals, invertebrates, and humans. 47:23 And the seventh day, the Lord blessed the Sabbath. 47:28 And the church that today exists, 47:31 without any shame whatsoever... 47:33 What's strange about this is, other Christian churches 47:36 are trying their best to find scriptural support 47:40 for what's not in the Bible, and the church that supports it 47:43 and sanctified it and gave it its definition is saying, 47:47 "Don't look for it. It's not there." 47:51 This is a serious problem. 47:53 Because loving Christians are looking in God's Word 47:57 for what God never put there. 47:59 But if they'd look in God's Word for what He put there, 48:03 and they say, "Lord, I just want to do what You want me to do. 48:07 I don't want to do what anybody wants me to do 48:09 other than what Your Word has said." 48:11 And I will tell you, just like a GPS, 48:13 if you argue with your GPS... 48:15 Now they're more refined nowadays, 48:17 and sometimes they take you the long way around, 48:19 but they will take you to your destination. 48:21 The Bible is not like a man-made GPS. 48:23 It will always lead you to the truth. 48:25 Am I right? 48:27 That's why we have these words in the Bible. 48:29 If you have no other reason for honoring the Sabbath, 48:33 do what Jesus did. 48:36 Luke 4:16 48:54 He went into the synagogue, not only because He was born 48:58 as a Jew, but He was honoring what He established Himself 49:03 from the very beginning. 49:05 And when you look at the disciples... 49:07 There are a number of other scriptures. 49:09 I'll just point out a few just very quickly 49:10 for your understanding. 49:11 In Matthew 24:20 Jesus said, "Pray that your flight..." 49:15 And by this He was talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. 49:18 Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70. 49:22 In AD 31 Jesus said these words, 49:27 "Pray that your flight be not in the winter, 49:31 neither on the Sabbath day." 49:35 Now watch this. That's before He was crucified. 49:38 Thirty-nine years later when Jerusalem was destroyed, 49:42 Jesus forecasted the fact that when Jerusalem is destroyed 49:46 the Sabbath would still be kept. 49:48 Because He said, "Pray when this destruction comes 49:51 it will not be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath day." 49:57 But now let's go full circle here. 50:01 Let's look at Isaiah 58:12-14. 50:11 Those who belong to the Lord. 50:30 I want you to notice something just in this passage. 50:33 "...build up the old waste places..." 50:36 The Lord calls His people to be builders of those things 50:39 that had been around for a long time. 50:43 He calls us to raise up the foundations 50:45 of many, many generations that have been broken down. 50:49 He calls us to repair the breach that has been 50:53 made in His law. 50:54 The fourth commandment. 50:56 It's amazing to me that the only commandment that says, 50:59 "Remember," we are told, and Christians with impunity, 51:05 almost without a conscious, says, "I love the Lord, 51:08 but there's no way that I'm going to remember that day. 51:12 That's for your church." 51:13 Oh no, let me correct that. 51:15 It's not for my church. It's for our Lord. 51:18 Amen? 51:21 The maker of heaven and earth, He said, "If I came to earth..." 51:30 If Jesus came to Phoenix to keep the Sabbath, 51:34 most of the churches in Phoenix will be closed. 51:40 They'll have signs, "See you tomorrow." 51:45 I say this with a serious heart tonight. 51:48 And a sad one at that. 51:51 That's the reason why we came to Phoenix. 51:52 To tell the truth as it is in Jesus. 51:56 We are called to build up, raise up, repair, 52:01 and restore the paths to dwell in. 52:02 What paths? 52:11 You know what that means, "turn away your foot"? 52:13 You ever drop something on the ground and you can't find it? 52:17 Because your foot is on top of it. 52:19 That's what that... I studied that. 52:20 If your foot is on top of it, you can't find it. 52:23 But if you turn your foot away from it, you'll see it. 52:25 They've been trampling on the Sabbath. 52:27 "If you turn away your foot from doing thy pleasure 52:30 on My holy day..." 52:34 Not a burden. 52:50 This is the blessing now. 53:13 How many of us need to be blessed? 53:15 Amen? 53:16 You can be. 53:18 If you allow the blessing to be the way that God 53:21 intends for the blessing to be. 53:26 Somebody once said one of the best ways to remember 53:29 your wife's anniversary, or your anniversary, 53:31 is to forget it once. 53:37 Can I say to my wife, I love her, and I keep 53:39 forgetting her anniversary? 53:41 Can I say, "Honey, it's the 26th of May. Happy anniversary." 53:44 She'd say, "It was four days ago." 53:47 "My mistake. I won't do that next year." 53:50 Year after year, after year, after year I keep forgetting it, 53:53 she'd say, "You can't love me." 53:56 Or even more than that. 53:59 Are you ready? 54:01 It's unfortunate, but a man marries, 54:03 and his first wife passes away. 54:05 And their anniversary was November 6th. 54:07 He marries another woman. 54:10 And he'd been keeping that first anniversary for 35 years. 54:13 He marries another woman and says, 54:14 "You know, I've been keeping May 6th for so many years. 54:17 Can our wedding, which is on June 4th, 54:19 can we honor May 6th in honor of my first wife?" 54:24 Come on, ladies, would that work? 54:26 ~ No. 54:28 We honor what identifies with the right relationship. 54:31 Am I correct? 54:32 The right relationship. 54:33 And the question is not what day is it, but what the question is, 54:37 who is your God? 54:40 If you trust Him and obey Him, the words of the Lord will make 54:46 a very great impact in your life. 54:56 Tonight, as Tim plays this song, Trust and Obey, 54:59 it is simple. 55:01 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 55:03 Tim. 55:07 When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, 55:14 what a glory He sheds on our way. 55:21 While we do His good will He abides with us still, 55:29 and with all who will trust and obey. 55:37 Trust and obey, for there's no other way 55:45 to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. 55:58 As Tim plays softly tonight, if somebody watching 56:01 this program, even somebody here tonight, 56:05 the only thing that matters to me is that when Jesus comes, 56:08 He recognizes me. 56:10 Anybody here tonight? 56:12 When Jesus comes, I want Him to recognize me. 56:16 He'll say, "Open wide the gate, that the nation that keepeth 56:21 the truth may enter in." 56:23 Tonight, there's somebody watching that may say, 56:27 "I have not known this before." 56:29 There may even be somebody here tonight that says, 56:31 "You know, it's clear to me now. 56:34 And I want to honor the Lord, I want to trust Him, 56:36 and I want to obey Him." 56:39 The Sabbath was kept in creation, 56:42 it was kept in the Old Testament, 56:44 it was kept by the prophets, 56:47 it was kept by the disciples, 56:50 it was kept by the apostles, 56:53 it was kept by the Christians even during the Dark Ages. 56:56 And friends, it's going to be kept in heaven. 57:01 Do you want to be in that number? 57:04 For those of you who are watching the program, 57:06 those of you who have tuned in tonight, 57:08 when Jesus comes, I pray that there will be no 57:13 obstacles between you and the Lord, 57:16 and that you have made your decision, 57:18 regardless of anyone else, that you have made your decision 57:22 to follow the Lord and His word. 57:24 I pray that's your desire. |
Revised 2018-09-06