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Series Code: RAD
Program Code: RAD170011A
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00:01 What does the future hold?
00:02 Where can we find certainty in a world of uncertainty? 00:05 The book of Revelation provides helpful answers for today, 00:09 tomorrow and forever. 00:11 Join Mark Finley, author and world renowned speaker, 00:14 on a journey into the future with 00:23 Every chapter in the book of Revelation speaks hope, 00:27 it speaks courage, it enables us to look 00:31 beyond today to tomorrow, beyond the things 00:34 of time to eternity. 00:35 Revelation also challenges us. 00:38 It challenges us in the depths of our being to look at what 00:43 we have known in the past, and compare that to 00:47 God's Word in the future. 00:48 There are many traditions that have slipped into 00:51 the Christian church. 00:53 And in this presentation we're going to look at one of those 00:57 traditions that has come into the church, and find out how 01:01 God, as a loving Creator, is calling us back to 01:05 faithfulness to His Word. 01:07 Let's pray and ask the Lord to open our eyes, open our ears, 01:11 but most of all open our hearts. 01:14 Father in Heaven, thank You for the opportunity of knowing You. 01:19 Thank You for the privilege of coming to Your Word. 01:23 May its truth burn its way into our hearts, 01:28 and give us the insight from Your Word, but especially give 01:33 us the courage to follow it. 01:34 In Christ's name, Amen. 01:36 Our presentation is entitled 01:45 When you look out over our world, 01:48 you have really one of two decisions. 01:50 Either our world has been designed by a loving Creator, 01:54 a God that cares for us, a God that is ever present in our 01:59 world, or this world has taken place by chance. 02:04 It just happened to evolve. 02:06 We just happened to be some speck of cosmic 02:09 dust in the universe when the genes and chromosomes came 02:13 together to form the unique biological 02:15 structure of our personality. 02:16 Well, they just happened. 02:18 You see, there are only one of two positions: 02:20 either God created us or we're here by chance. 02:24 Either we are intelligently designed, 02:26 or some kind of grand accident. 02:29 When you look though out over our world, 02:36 It's really difficult to see in this universe randomness, 02:42 chaos, and lack of design. 02:45 Everything from the rising and setting of the sun, 02:51 from the incoming to the outgoing tides, 02:54 to the delicately designed flowers, and the fantastic, 02:59 orderly migration of birds, everything in the universe 03:04 reveals order; it reveals design. 03:08 Probably that design is manifest in the heavens as much as any 03:14 place else in the universe. 03:16 Now think about the heavens for me for a moment. 03:20 Before the invention of telescopes many scientists said 03:25 there are about 5,128 stars up there in the heavens. 03:30 Some might have said a little more, some a little less, 03:32 but you could see that number of stars by the naked eye. 03:37 Once telescopes were developed, and they became much more 03:41 sophisticated, it's very difficult to calculate 03:44 the number of stars. 03:46 In fact, one astronomer said this: 03:49 There's about ten trillion... 03:52 Did you get that?... ten trillion galaxies. 03:57 How many stars in a galaxy? 03:59 We're not 100% sure, but for example, if you take the 04:03 Milky Way galaxy, there's about one hundred billion. 04:07 So if you take ten trillion galaxies, and you assume 04:12 that there's a hundred billion stars in each galaxy, 04:15 you get a 1 with 24 zeroes after it for the number of stars. 04:20 I mean it's a number far too big even to pronounce. 04:25 The heavens are vast, but yet when you look into the heavens, 04:30 you see stars, and you see planets whirling through space 04:35 as great ballerinas, and they're in some orderly fashion. 04:41 The Earth revolves with the planets around the sun. 04:46 The sun, in its orbit, in this solar system 04:49 travels in a vast orbit. 04:52 And all these galaxies, and all these planets are moving, 04:56 and there's some cosmic mind, some divine hand behind it all. 05:02 Where there is design there must be a designer, 05:06 and where there's intelligent design, there must be an 05:10 intelligent designer. 05:11 The book of Revelation leads us to this all powerful Creator. 05:22 Come up higher to the throne room of the universe. 05:29 So God invites us into the inner sanctum of the universe. 05:33 He invites us into the heavens. 05:36 He invites us to His throne room. 05:38 What do we find there in the throne room of the universe? 05:41 We find a scene of worthiness, a scene of praise, where angelic 05:47 beings, and beings from unfallen worlds are worshipping God. 06:03 Why is God worthy of our worship? 06:05 Why is God worthy of our praise? 06:08 Why is God worthy of our deepest affection, and glory, and honor? 06:15 The Bible says, 06:18 We did not evolve. We're not here by chance. 06:22 We're not some cosmic accident. 06:25 God created us. It says, 06:31 That's all things that were created. 06:33 You and I exist by the will of God. 06:36 Did you desire to be a human being? 06:38 Did you say one day, You know what, I don't think 06:40 I'd like to be a cow. 06:41 That wouldn't be too much fun. 06:43 I don't think I'd like to be a horse out in the field. 06:46 I don't think I'd like to be a lamb frolicking and 06:49 playing in the pasture. 06:50 I don't think I'd like to be a mosquito that somebody swatted. 06:54 Did you choose not to be a cow? 06:56 Did you choose not to be a horse? 06:59 Did you choose not to be a mosquito? 07:02 You know I didn't choose that. 07:04 We exist by the will of God. 07:06 You see my friend, 07:12 And God brought you forth into this life to have 07:16 purpose and meaning. 07:18 The reason we worship God, the reason we praise Him, 07:21 the reason we fall at His feet and worship Him is because 07:26 He has created us, He has fashioned us, He has made us. 07:31 And in the book of Revelation, 07:34 He reveals Himself to us as the powerful Creator, 07:39 as the Almighty Creator. 07:41 So His Creatorship makes Him worthy of worship. 07:45 That is the center of the conflict between good and evil 07:51 in the book of Revelation. 07:52 You either worship the Lamb, or you worship the dragon. 07:56 You either follow Christ, and worship the Creator, 08:00 or you worship the beast. 08:02 The issue in the controversy between good and evil in the 08:06 universe is an issue over worship. 08:13 That's obey God, reverence God, respect God. 08:21 And in the light of the judgment hour, in the light of the last 08:25 days of earth's history, all men and women everywhere 08:29 are invited to come and to worship the 08:32 Creator of the universe. Listen 08:35 That is the One that created. 08:40 So here is a call to worship the Creator for all humanity. 08:44 Has our Creator left a creative sign of His love? 08:51 Has He left a memorial of His creation? 08:55 Let's go back. How do we worship the Creator of heaven and earth? 09:00 Let's journey back over time. 09:02 Let's go back to the book of Genesis. 09:05 Revelation is the book of endings. 09:07 Genesis is the book of beginnings. 09:10 So let's go back to the book of Genesis and see if God has left 09:15 a sign of His creative authority, 09:18 a sign of His creative love. 09:21 Now ours is an amazingly intricate world. 09:25 As the world as we know it today was created in six literal 09:29 days, and God rested, according to Genesis, the seventh day. 09:33 Our Creator spoke and worlds came into existence; 09:38 the sun, moon, and stars. 09:43 As this earth came into existence He carpeted 09:47 it with living green. 09:48 He planted magnificent flowers of pinks, and reds, 09:53 and yellows, and greens. 09:54 What a marvelous earth it was when it came forth fresh from 10:00 the hands of the Creator. 10:02 Imagine living in a world this beautiful. 10:06 Imagine living in a world this magnificent. 10:09 Imagine living in a world where the air is pure, 10:14 perfumed by lovely flowers. 10:17 Imagine a world where you have clear crystal water, and fish 10:25 swimming of different sizes, and shapes, and colors. 10:29 Our God must have an amazing imagination, when you see the 10:34 created sea life that He indeed has made. 10:37 Or think of the animals. 10:39 He must have a sense of humor, too to create birds like this 10:41 with necks like that. 10:42 When you think of the animals in Eden together in harmony, 10:47 in love; the beauty of Eden, the peace of Eden, 10:52 the tranquility of Eden: no sickness, suffering, death, 10:58 sorrow, heartache, tears, or heart brokenness. 11:02 And then God creates the human race. 11:14 So the crowning act of creation is God's act of 11:18 creating the human race. And the Bible says in 11:27 What did God do when He finished His creative work? 11:34 What did God do when the earth was complete? 11:40 He stepped back. He looked at it and was refreshed, 11:44 and created the Bible Sabbath. 12:14 So God did three things on the Sabbath. 12:17 The seventh day God created an entire twenty-four hour 12:23 period for all of His creatures to have fellowship with Him. 12:35 It was to remind us constantly that we did not evolve, 12:38 to remind us perpetually that we came from the hands of a 12:42 loving God, to remind us always that we have purpose for life, 12:46 and we have meaning for our life. 12:48 Now God did three things on the seventh day. 12:51 Did you notice what they were? 12:52 1. God blessed the seventh day. 12:55 You know somebody often says, Well, Pastor Mark, we can 12:58 worship on any day, can't we? 13:00 You can worship on any day and get a blessing, 13:03 but if you really want the blessing of God, the blessing 13:08 of the Creator, the One who set aside this world, 13:11 you have to go where that blessing is. 13:13 Look, here's my Bible. 13:15 What if I have seven Bibles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7? 13:21 Can you get a blessing any Bible you read? Sure you can. 13:24 But what if I put a $10,000.00 check in this Bible? 13:29 Would it make a difference what Bible you took 13:34 whether you got the check? 13:35 Now don't worry, there's not a $10,000.00 check in my Bible. 13:38 But, you see, the point. 13:40 If you want the Sabbath blessing, where must you go? 13:44 Where God put it. And where did He put it? 13:47 He put it in the seventh day. 13:49 The Bible doesn't say God blessed the first day, 13:51 the third day, the fifth. 13:52 Now God did something else to the seventh day. 13:54 The Bible says He sanctified it. 13:56 This word sanctified means set apart for holy use. 13:59 It's like one man being married to one woman, 14:03 and she is sanctified to him, and he is sanctified to her. 14:07 So in marriage the word sanctity of marriage; one man, one woman, 14:13 set apart for holy use for that other. 14:16 It's a holy bond of union. 14:19 Let's suppose a couple just gets married, and they are so excited 14:24 about that marriage. 14:25 They are sanctified in that marriage; 14:28 set apart for one another. 14:31 God uses that term in the creation story. 14:36 He also says He rested on the seventh day. 14:40 So we rest on the seventh day because God rested 14:44 on the seventh day. 14:45 There are some people that say, Isn't every day alike? 14:48 But there is only one that God blessed, 14:50 only one that God sanctified, only one that God rested upon. 15:02 So when we come to get the blessing out of the seventh day, 15:05 when we come to worship on that day, it's not a Jewish Sabbath. 15:10 The Sabbath was set aside at creation, 15:13 over 2300 years before the Jewish nation ever existed. 15:17 The Jewish nation didn't come until the days of Abraham. 15:19 You have Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve sons of Jacob that 15:23 make up the Jewish nation. 15:25 But the Sabbath was given at creation, 15:28 2300 years before there was a Jew. 15:30 So we come to get the blessing that God gave us. 15:33 We come because He sanctified that day. 15:36 Like one woman sanctified for her husband, Jesus that day 15:41 wants to enter into a loving relationship with us, 15:44 just like a husband and wife are in a loving relationship. 15:47 By the way, what if there was a marriage that took place, 15:51 husband and wife are married at the marriage altar, 15:53 and then they're getting ready to go on their honeymoon. 15:55 Just Married; the car is all decorated. 15:58 He gets in. And let's suppose his wife had six sisters, 16:03 and one of those sisters gets in and cozies up and sits next 16:07 to him and says, Let's go! 16:09 He says, What do you mean, let's go? 16:10 I didn't marry you! I married your sister! 16:14 And she says, One in seven; what difference does it make? 16:19 Do you think it would make a difference? 16:21 It sure does! Why? Because one woman was set aside, 16:23 one woman was sanctified to that one man. 16:26 You see, in the Garden of Eden God set aside, 16:32 for all humanity everywhere... 16:34 Adam and Eve were the parents of the human race. 16:38 God set aside, for all humanity everywhere, the Sabbath. 16:43 He blessed that day, He sanctified that day, 16:48 He rested upon that day. 16:50 God didn't bless, or sanctify, or rest on the third day, 16:55 the fourth, or the first. 16:56 He rested on the seventh. 16:58 Then, as you look down the stream of time, you discover 17:03 that in every age, both in the Old and New Testament, 17:06 God's people were followers of Christ, and followers, 17:11 keepers, of the true Bible Sabbath. 17:15 We find this, too, before the giving of the Ten Commandments. 17:19 You remember the experience where Israel wandered in the 17:23 wilderness, and as they did, the manna fell from heaven. 17:27 God provided food for them. 17:29 Isn't our God wonderful? 17:30 When we have needs He provides for those needs. 17:35 And so you see in the wilderness they are wandering. 17:40 And Israel is wandering there, and God rains 17:43 manna down from heaven. 17:44 And what does He say in Exodus 16? 17:46 Now remember the Ten Commandments don't 17:48 come till Exodus 20. 17:49 But before the commandments, based on the principle of 17:53 creation in Genesis, 18:03 So even in the falling of the manna, God works a miracle. 18:08 If they were to keep manna over from one day to the 18:12 next it would spoil. 18:14 When they gathered it on Friday it didn't spoil on the Sabbath; 18:17 Miracle 1. Miracle 2. Twice as much manna fell on the Friday 18:24 so that they would be able to gather it, 18:27 and keep it over the Sabbath. 18:29 Miracle 3. None fell on the Sabbath. 18:32 It was set apart. It was a blessed day, a sanctified day, 18:37 and a day upon which the people rested and worshipped. 18:40 Some of them though went out to gather manna on the seventh day, 18:44 and what does God say? 18:49 Now wait a minute! The law of God was not written on tables 18:54 of stone until Mount Sinai. 18:58 It was not written on tables of stone until God gave it to Moses 19:02 there in Exodus 20, but yet here God says, 19:10 You see, the Sabbath commandment was written in the heart and 19:13 mind of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 19:16 The law, thou shalt not kill, was written in their heart and 19:19 mind; the law thou shalt not steal, or the law of purity. 19:22 So the law was written in their heart and mind in Genesis. 19:27 They kept the Sabbath commandment. 19:29 But when Israel was led into Egypt, and they violated God's 19:33 command there through the force of their Egyptian taskmasters, 19:38 God then wrote the law on tables of stone with His own finger. 19:42 Now when God wrote the Ten Commandments on tables of stone 19:46 with His own finger, He wrote it on stone 19:48 so it could never be erased. 19:51 He wrote it on stone so that it would never be defaced. 19:56 He wrote it on stone so that it would be a perpetual, eternal 20:01 reminder of His commands. 20:05 He wrote His commands with His own finger. 20:08 Don't you think that if the only thing in the Bible that is 20:12 written with God's own finger is the Ten Commandment law, 20:16 that it's pretty important? 20:17 Don't you think that if the Sabbath command is written with 20:21 God's own finger on tables of stone 20:23 that it must be significant? 20:24 He didn't write it in sand to be washed away by the tide. 20:27 He didn't write it on paper to be destroyed by the 20:31 flames as they came in. 20:33 Not at all. God wrote the Ten Commandments on tables of stone, 20:39 not to be burned up, not to be washed away, but He wrote them 20:45 on tables of stone as a perpetual reminder that they 20:48 would endure forever, and ever, and ever. 20:52 So the Ten Commandment law, God's commandments, 20:57 in those commandments God says, in the fourth commandment, 21:07 What's the first word in the Ten Commandment law written 21:10 with the finger of God, never to be washed away, 21:12 never to be consumed, to last forever? 21:14 What's that first word everybody? 21:16 What is that? remember. 21:18 Why does God say remember? 21:20 Because He knew that we would be tending to forget. 21:24 He knew that down through the centuries human beings, 21:28 and religious leaders in the early days of church history 21:31 in an attempt to unite church and state when the pagan tribes 21:36 were coming down from the north, that those pagan tribes... 21:41 And we'll study about this in our next presentation. 21:43 ...who were sun worshippers, many of them. 21:46 The Bible says that God knew that that would all take place 21:50 in His far seeing wisdom. 21:51 So God said, Remember; don't forget the Sabbath day. 21:56 If God says remember it must be important, right? 21:59 And if God writes it with His own finger on tables of stone, 22:02 it must be important. 22:05 Because He knew that the human race was likely to forget it. 22:10 God said, 22:20 Now notice, the Bible does not say the first day, 22:24 the fourth day, the sixth. 22:25 It says the seventh day is the Bible Sabbath. 22:30 So the Sabbath is set apart by God as the 22:34 seventh day of the week. 22:36 All of the celebrations the day before my birthday, or the day 22:41 after my birthday would not make that day my birthday. 22:45 Somebody says, Well, it doesn't make any difference 22:48 what day you worship on. 22:49 There's only one day that was blessed, one day that was 22:53 sanctified, one day that God rested on, that's the seventh. 22:57 There's only one day God commands us to keep. 23:00 He says, Remember the Sabbath day. 23:02 That's the seventh day of the week. 23:04 All of the celebrations the day before or the day after don't 23:08 make those days our birthday, and the birthday of the world 23:12 is the seventh day, the day God created, and fashioned, 23:17 and shaped as the holy Sabbath. 23:23 See, the Sabbath is a memorial to creation. 23:26 Every week we have the birthday of the world. 23:37 Every week when sun sets on a Friday night, and Sabbath is 23:42 ushered in, you and I are invited to come and get a 23:45 glimpse of eternity, you and I are invited to come into the 23:49 palace of the King. 23:50 We can forget about secular employment. 23:54 We can forget about the noise and the din, 23:57 and the confusion of this world. 23:59 Jesus wants to enfold us in His arms. 24:02 And although we work six days, and although He can be present 24:06 with us each day of the week, the Sabbath is especially made 24:11 by Jesus to fellowship with Him. 24:14 It's especially made by Jesus for us to sense His presence 24:19 in our lives, to fellowship with our families, 24:22 to enjoy the beauties of nature, to reach out in loving acts of 24:26 kindness to others. 24:34 And throughout the Old Testament God's people, the Jews, were to 24:38 reach out to their neighbors and share with them this marvelous 24:42 gift of God's love as revealed in the Sabbath. 24:45 In the book of Isaiah the Scripture puts it this way: 24:53 What does it say? everyone. 24:55 What does it say again? everyone. 25:06 So here is everyone, all humanity, keeping the Sabbath 25:11 coming to the house of prayer, coming to worship. Then it says: 25:20 So here Isaiah envisions all humanity recognizing that God 25:27 is Creator, and coming to worship Him. 25:30 If the Sabbath were kept there'd never be an 25:33 atheist in the world. 25:34 If the Sabbath were kept we would have universal peace. 25:38 Because really the Sabbath is a symbol of universal brotherhood. 25:43 There would be no war. 25:44 There'd be no conflict between nations if the Sabbath were 25:47 rightly kept, because we would recognize that all of us: 25:51 Asians and Africans, Russians and Americans, 25:55 Chinese and South Americans, North Korea, we'd recognize 26:00 that the entire human race was created by God; 26:04 would recognize that we're all part of the family of God; 26:07 that He's created of one blood all nations. 26:09 The Sabbath is a symbol of universal brotherhood. 26:14 The Sabbath is a symbol of universal peace. 26:18 It's a symbol of coming together and worshipping, praising God, 26:23 as one human family. 26:26 He has set it aside in Genesis for the entire human race. 26:31 He has given it to His people in the Ten Commandment law, 26:36 and He said, Remember the Sabbath. 26:38 Which of those Ten Commandments are exclusively for the Jews? 26:41 It's the one that says thou shalt not kill? no. 26:44 It's the one that says thou shalt not commit adultery? no. 26:46 Is it the one that says don't take the name of the Lord thy 26:49 God in vain only for the Jews? 26:50 Is it the one that says don't worship idols? no. 26:53 Is the Sabbath? certainly not. 26:54 The Sabbath given at creation is His sign that you 26:59 and I did not evolve. 27:00 It's His sign that we have worth in His sight, 27:02 and He has purpose for our lives. 27:04 It's the eternal symbol of universal 27:06 brotherhood in Jesus Christ. 27:15 That's why today He invites all of humanity, east and west, 27:20 north and south, to come and worship Him on the Sabbath. 27:22 That's why Revelation's last message is, Fear God and give 27:27 glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come, 27:29 and worship Him, who made heaven, and earth, and sea, 27:33 and the fountains of waters. 27:34 Revelation's last call is a call to worship the Creator. 27:39 In the book of Ezekiel God distinguishes His Sabbath 27:43 from all other days. 27:52 You see, the heathens were worshipping the sun god. 27:55 The Egyptians worshipped Amun-Ra. 27:58 The Babylonians worshipped Bel Marduk. 28:01 The Persians worshipped... They were Mithraiths. 28:05 And the Romans worshipped the goddess of Eternus vanity. 28:09 So they were all sun gods. 28:10 And as a contradistinction to that, in opposition to that, 28:15 Jesus said, I've given My Sabbath as a sign 28:18 that they are My people. 28:20 So the Sabbath is a sign. 28:22 It's interesting, the Hebrew word Shabbat, Shabbat, 28:26 Sha comes from an old Persian word called sier. 28:31 It means aged or eternal. 28:33 Abba, Abba is father. 28:35 Shabbat, bat is, or Beth is sign of. 28:39 So the word Shabbat means the sign of the ancient, eternal, 28:44 everlasting Father. 28:45 So the Sabbath is the sign of God down through the centuries. 28:50 Why did He give it? 28:54 See, the Sabbath is a sign that God created us. 28:58 It's a sign that Christ redeemed us. 29:00 We rest in His love and care every Sabbath. 29:03 But it's a sign also that He has the power of 29:06 creation to sanctify us. 29:07 The Sabbath is a sign that just as God created the world, 29:11 He wants to recreate our hearts. 29:12 Just like He brought light out of darkness, He wants to bring 29:15 light out of the darkness of our soul. 29:17 Just like He brought flowers to perfume the air, 29:21 so He wants to bring beauty out of our lives. 29:24 So the Sabbath is a sign that God created us. 29:28 We rest in Christ, not in our own works. 29:31 It's a sign that He redeemed us, and it's a sign that He's 29:34 the all-powerful Creator, given by God to Adam and Eve 29:39 in the Garden of Eden, written on tables of stone with God's 29:44 own very finger, never to be changed or effaced. 29:47 What about the New Testament? 29:50 What does the New Testament say about the Bible Sabbath? 29:55 Wouldn't you say that Jesus is a positive example? 30:00 Wouldn't you say that Christ is One who indeed is 30:05 worthy of following? 30:07 When you die your Will and Testament is settled, 30:12 so you look to a person's life and you say, 30:14 What legacy did they leave? 30:16 What's the Will and Testament of their life? 30:19 When you come to Jesus, the Bible says in 30:28 Now don't miss that: as what? 30:35 So Jesus had a custom. 30:37 What was Jesus' custom? every Sabbath going to worship. 30:41 Somebody says, But wait, He was a Jew. 30:42 Yes, but is there any record in Christ's life alone of Him 30:49 worshipping on any other day beside the Sabbath? 30:52 There is none. And the Bible says, 1 John 2:6-8, 30:56 Those that follow Him ought to walk in His steps. 31:00 So we walk in the very footsteps of Christ. 31:02 We follow Him to worship each Sabbath. Jesus said in 31:13 In other words the Sabbath was made for all humanity, 31:15 not made only for the Jew, not made exclusively for the Jew, 31:19 but it was made for all humanity everywhere. 31:29 The Sabbath is the sign we acknowledge Him as our Creator. 31:32 And we also trust in His salvation as our Lord, 31:36 both to share with us the grace that redeems us from the guilt 31:40 of sin, and the grace that redeems us from the grip of sin, 31:45 the grace that redeems us from the penalty of a broken law, 31:50 and the grace that redeems us from the power of a broken law. 31:53 We rest on the Sabbath in His love, His care, believing in His 31:58 power to transform our lives. 32:03 You remember He died on a Friday, went into the tomb, 32:06 and the women, his closest followers, would not even have 32:10 embalmed His body on the Sabbath. 32:11 So certainly the Sabbath couldn't have been nailed to 32:14 the cross because Jesus kept it in death, 32:16 and He kept it in life. 32:18 He says to you and me, 32:23 If you do what everybody? If you do what? 32:28 Does Jesus say, If you love Me you don't have to 32:30 keep My commandments? 32:32 Does Jesus say, If you love Me you can do away 32:34 with the commandments? not at all. Jesus says, 32:39 In other words, if you love Me, Sabbath keeping, 32:41 once you understand the significance of what I'm talking 32:44 about in this presentation, once the Holy Spirit convicts 32:47 you of it, Sabbath keeping becomes a delight and a joy, 32:51 and you can't wait for the next Sabbath to rest in His love, 32:54 and rest in His care, and be transformed by His power. 32:57 What about after the cross? 33:01 Is there any evidence that after the cross Jesus' followers would 33:06 be keeping the Bible Sabbath? 33:08 Jesus pointed His disciples down the stream of time, 33:14 and He said to His disciples, 33:21 Now He was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, looking across 33:24 the Kidron Valley, and He saw the temple there at Jerusalem. 33:27 He described that not one stone was going to be left unturned, 33:30 that that temple was going to be destroyed. 33:33 And as Jesus talked about the temple being destroyed, 33:36 He said to His disciples, in that context, Pray that your 33:40 flight be not in the winter or on the Sabbath. 33:42 The temple was not destroyed until Titus came with the Roman 33:46 armies in A.D. 70, and they destroyed that temple. 33:50 This was approximately forty years after the cross. 33:54 Now why did Jesus say, Pray that your flight be not on the 33:57 Sabbath, if they wouldn't be keeping the Sabbath forty 34:01 years after the cross? 34:02 Why would Jesus say to Peter, James, and John, His closest 34:05 apostles and followers, Pray that your flight be not on the 34:08 Sabbath, if they would not be keeping the Sabbath? 34:11 Here's why He said that. 34:13 He knew that down through the ages the church would keep 34:16 the Bible Sabbath down through the first centuries. 34:19 It was a sign of Creation. 34:21 It was a sign of His love and care. 34:23 It was a sign they didn't evolve. 34:25 It was a sign that they were resting in Him, 34:27 and being obedient to Him; that they were following the command 34:30 that says, Remember the Sabbath. 34:31 So He knew they would be keeping it. 34:33 Why did He say, Pray your flight be not in the 34:36 winter, or on the Sabbath? 34:37 The winter would be rainy season cold. 34:39 But the Sabbath; if the Roman armies attacked on Sabbath, 34:44 where would Christians be? tend to be in church. 34:47 It would be far easier for the Roman armies to invade and 34:50 kill everybody if they were in church. 34:52 But if it wasn't Sabbath, the believers would be 34:57 out working in the fields. 34:58 The Roman armies would come, and they could 35:01 much more easily flee. 35:02 History tells us, Josephus, the historian tells us, 35:07 Jewish historian, that the armies did 35:09 come, surround the city. 35:11 They were going to attack on Sabbath, but then held up, 35:15 waited, did not attack on Sabbath, and the Christians 35:18 were able to flee Jerusalem. 35:20 Jesus gave them warning. 35:23 They prayed. They did not have to flee on Sabbath, 35:26 and their prayers indeed were answered. 35:27 But again, why would Jesus say this to His closest followers 35:31 if they wouldn't be keeping the Sabbath? 35:32 Here's strong evidence that even after the cross 35:35 they'd be keeping the Sabbath. 35:38 and the disciples were still keeping the 35:40 Sabbath at that point. 35:41 Do we have any evidence of Sabbath keeping 35:44 in the New Testament? Or 35:48 Some people have this idea, they say, You know what? 35:50 time down through the centuries has been lost, 35:53 and really we can't tell which day the seventh day is. 35:57 That's actually not true. 35:59 There are three ways you can tell which day 36:01 the seventh day is: you can tell it by the Bible, 36:03 you can tell it by language, and you can tell it by astronomy. 36:07 Let's look at the three ways. 36:09 First let's try to find out from the Bible what day 36:13 the seventh day is. 36:14 You'll recall that the seventh day Sabbath started at creation. 36:19 So time certainly wasn't lost between creation 36:23 and the giving of the law. 36:25 Because God said, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 36:29 Six days shalt thou labor, but the seventh day is the Sabbath 36:32 of the Lord thy God. 36:33 How could God say remember the Sabbath if it was not possible 36:37 to remember it, because time is lost? 36:39 So certainly there was no time lost between creation and 36:43 the Ten Commandment law. 36:44 What about between the Ten Commandment law and Jesus? 36:47 Well, the Bible says clearly that as His custom was, 36:50 Christ kept the Sabbath. 36:51 So certainly no time was lost then between Moses 36:56 and the time of Christ. 36:58 So up until the New Testament time it's very clear that no 37:02 time has been lost. 37:03 Now let's go to the circumstances, the events 37:06 surrounding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. 37:17 We have three days given in succession. 37:19 Speaking about the day Christ died on the Bible says, 37:43 Christ's closest followers so reverenced and respected the 37:49 Scriptures, and they so desired to keep the commandments of God, 37:55 that they would not even embalm His body on Sabbath. 37:58 So Jesus died. It's called the Preparation Day. 38:01 The next days is called the Sabbath. The Bible says, 38:15 And what did they find when they came to the tomb? 38:18 They found the tomb was empty. 38:20 So you have three days in succession. 38:23 Let's look at them. 38:24 First you have the Preparation Day. 38:26 And what day was it that Christ died on? 38:28 We call that Good what everybody? Good what? 38:30 Good Friday, that's right. 38:32 The next day Jesus rested in the tomb; the Sabbath. 38:35 And the day after Friday is? in English, Saturday. 38:39 And what's the next day? the third day in succession? 38:43 We find it here. It's Sunday, or the first day of the week. 38:46 So there you have it: Luke 24 you have, 38:55 That's the day, of course, that Christ rose from the dead. 38:57 Crucified on a Friday, rested in the tomb on a Sabbath, 39:01 rose from the dead on a Sunday. 39:03 Now somebody says, Well, wait a minute Pastor, we worship on 39:07 Sunday because Christ rose from the dead on that day. 39:10 We respect people of every religious persuasion, 39:14 and whatever day they choose to worship on. 39:17 But here's the point, there are two issues here: 1. Jesus never 39:25 worshipped on Sunday Himself, and He never commanded His 39:30 followers to worship on Sunday. 39:32 2. He has already given to us a symbol of the resurrection. 39:39 What is that symbol of the resurrection that 39:42 Christ has given to us? 39:43 Did He give us the first day of the week as a symbol 39:47 of the resurrection? 39:48 The Bible describes what the symbol of the 39:50 resurrection actually is. 39:52 Romans 6:3, 4. Baptism is the symbol of the resurrection. 40:19 In the New Testament baptism is the symbol 40:25 of the resurrection. 40:28 We go under the water; the water covers us. 40:32 We die just as Jesus died and went into the grave. 40:35 We rest, momentarily, then we come out to this amazing new 40:40 life in Jesus Christ. 40:42 So the Sabbath is a memorial of creation. 40:46 You see, when you look at those three days, Friday, Saturday, 40:49 Sunday, how do you commemorate Christ's death? 40:52 Through the broken bread, and the spilled blood. 40:56 So you commemorate the cross through Communion. 40:59 How do you commemorate how He rested in the tomb? 41:02 Through keeping the Bible Sabbath. 41:04 Part of the Ten Commandments, written with the finger of God 41:07 on tables of stone, memorial of the creation. 41:11 And how do you celebrate Sunday? 41:13 He died once, He was resurrected once, so we go into the grave, 41:19 the watery grave, and are resurrected from death. 41:23 How do you know what day the seventh day really is? 41:26 First you know from the Bible: Friday the Preparation Day, 41:31 Sabbath the day He rested, Saturday, Sunday the day He was 41:36 resurrected from the grave. 41:38 So we know very clearly from those three days in succession, 41:41 but also we can know from language. 41:52 The many languages do not have the word Saturday. 41:57 Rather they use the word Sabbath. 42:16 In a 140 languages in the world the day that you and I call 42:22 Saturday is not called Saturday at all. 42:25 It's called the Sabbath. 42:27 The languages of the world, the cultures of the world, 42:30 have memorialized the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week. 42:37 I did some research with the 42:42 The Royal Greenwich Observatory is the leading time keeping 42:48 center in all the world. 42:50 And I wrote to the curator there, the information officer, 42:54 Robert L. Tucker, at the time and I asked him about the change 42:58 of the weekly cycle. 43:00 He wrote back and said, Pastor Finley, as far as we know down 43:04 through history, there has never been a change 43:07 of the weekly cycle. 43:09 It's always Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 43:12 Friday, Saturday, or what we would call the Sabbath. 43:16 So as you look at it, you look back to Jewish history, 43:20 you know you go back to our Jewish history. 43:22 Have the Jews lost sight of what the seventh day of the 43:25 week is? Certainly not! 43:27 There is no question that the seventh day of the week is 43:30 the day we, in English, call Saturday. 43:33 You know, Jesus kept the Sabbath, but so did His 43:35 apostles after the cross. 43:37 In Acts 17:1, 2, the Bible says, that the Apostle Paul comes to 43:50 Did Jesus have a custom? He did. 43:52 Did the Apostle Paul have a custom? he did. 43:59 The Apostle Paul, filled with God's grace, 44:02 the Apostle of grace, kept the Bible Sabbath. 44:05 Somebody says, He just did that because he was a Jew. 44:08 So he went in to the temple to preach to them then. 44:11 But notice, Acts 13:42, what the Bible says. 44:15 Who are these? they're not Jews 44:21 The Gentiles were so moved, so stirred by the power of Paul's 44:27 preaching they said, Come and preach to us, the next Sabbath. 44:30 What did Paul say? No, you come back the first day of the week. 44:33 Tomorrow is Sunday and I will preach to you? 44:41 So here in the New Testament you have Jesus 44:44 keeping the Sabbath. 44:45 Jesus telling His disciples that after the cross they 44:47 would keep the Sabbath. 44:48 You have the Apostle Paul preaching to a whole city 44:52 on the Sabbath day. 44:55 The Bible talks also about the Apostle Paul going to find a 45:00 group of the Jewish believers on the Sabbath out by 45:04 the riverside in the days of Philippi. 45:07 And on the Sabbath day it was special to the Apostle Paul. 45:19 Paul left the city; came out to a quiet place 45:23 on the Bible Sabbath. 45:30 It calls us back to worshipping the Creator. 45:33 John puts it this way in 45:40 Somebody says, Well, Pastor Mark, there it is. 45:42 There's the Lord's Day; John was keeping the Lord's Day. 45:46 Does this text tell us what day the Lord's Day is? 45:50 It simply tells us the Lord has a day. 45:53 Some people say, And it doesn't make any 45:56 difference what day you keep. 45:57 This passage tells us that John had his prophetic vision of the 46:02 book of Revelation that talks about the Creator, 46:05 and the conflict between worshipping the Creator, 46:07 and worshipping the beast on the Lord's Day. 46:11 What day is the Lord's Day? 46:13 Let's ask Jesus. Jesus, what day is Your day? 46:33 Why do you think there's something in the 46:35 Bible more than once? 46:36 Why do you think it might be there the three times? 46:38 You know, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit want to 46:43 reveal divine truth, and often God has something there more 46:46 than once, so if you miss it in one place you'll pick it 46:48 up in another place. 46:50 If you miss it in Matthew you pick it up in Mark. 46:53 If you miss it in Mark you pick it up in Luke. 46:54 And here the Bible says, The Son of man is 46:57 Lord of the Sabbath. 46:58 In other words, the Sabbath of the Creator God in Genesis, 47:02 is the Lord's Day of Revelation. 47:05 The Lord's Day indeed is the Sabbath, 47:07 and the Sabbath is the Lord's Day. 47:09 So here is a call to all humanity everywhere to get 47:14 back to keeping the true Bible Sabbath in an age of evolution. 47:19 Revelation calls us back to keeping the commandments of God, 47:24 including the Bible Sabbath. 47:36 In the last days of earth's history, Revelation calls all 47:39 humanity everywhere to keep the commandments of God. 47:42 In the last days of earth's history Revelation gives us an 47:45 earnest appeal to worship the Creator. 47:48 Worship Him on His day, the day that He has set aside, 47:52 the day that He has blessed, the day that He has sanctified, 47:56 the true Bible Sabbath. 48:02 The Sabbath was given again at Sinai when human beings, 48:07 the Jewish nation went into captivity in Egypt. 48:10 The Sabbath was kept by God's people down 48:13 through the centuries. 48:14 The Sabbath was kept by Jesus Christ. 48:18 The Sabbath was honored by the disciples 48:21 in the New Testament. 48:23 The Sabbath has always been a sign of God's creative power. 48:27 As we rest on the Sabbath, we believe in the power of the 48:31 Living God to create this world. 48:34 We believe in the power of God to sanctify us, to redeem us. 48:39 We believe in His justifying power to save us, 48:42 His sanctifying power to transform us, 48:44 and His glorifying power. 48:46 We believe that He is coming again, and we will keep the 48:49 Sabbath in a new heaven, and a new earth. 48:51 The Bible puts it this way, 49:01 But I'm looking forward to being in that new heavens 49:03 and new earth, aren't you? 49:05 Notice what He says: 49:10 He goes on... 49:14 What takes place between one New Moon to the next New Moon? 49:17 The tree of life, according to Revelation 22, 49:20 gives it's fruit every month. 49:22 So we come up to the holy city to get the fruit 49:25 from the tree of life. 49:35 If God gave the Sabbath in Genesis, if He blessed it, 49:41 sanctified it, and hallowed it, if He wrote it with His own 49:44 finger on tables of stone, if the Sabbath was the 49:48 sign between God and His people down through the ages, 49:52 if Jesus kept the Sabbath, if the disciples kept the Sabbath, 49:55 if God has a Lord's Day in the book of Revelation, 49:58 and if the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath, 50:00 and if one day we're going to keep the Sabbath in heaven 50:03 through all eternity, to come to worship and praise Jesus, 50:06 do you think He wants us to start keeping it now? 50:11 Wherever you are, my friend, Jesus is inviting you 50:15 to make that decision. 50:17 He's inviting you to enter into His palace in time. 50:22 He's inviting you to experience the rest that only He can give, 50:27 the peace that only He can give. 50:30 You can be free from anxiety. 50:32 You can be free from the worry and tension of this world. 50:36 Every Sabbath you can rest in the loving arms of your Creator. 50:40 Jesus is inviting all humanity to come as brothers and sisters. 50:47 Put down the weapons of war, put down conflict and strife, 50:52 put down the tension between nations. 50:57 He's inviting them to come on the Sabbath, as a symbol of 51:01 universal brotherhood. 51:03 He's inviting you to rest on the Sabbath; rest in His love 51:07 and care, rest from that guilt, and that shame. 51:10 He's inviting us on Sabbath to know that He can change our 51:14 hearts; that the One that created us can recreate us. 51:18 And this Christ is inviting us to look to that new heavens 51:23 and the new earth, where He will recreate the 51:26 Garden of Eden again. 51:29 It was a secret baptism in a Hindu country. 51:33 I met her. She didn't come from a Hindu background. 51:38 She came from a Buddhist background. 51:40 She was Chinese and had come to that particular country. 51:45 And there in that country this Chinese business woman 51:49 began looking for truth. 51:52 There was something missing in her life, 51:55 something that she longed for. 51:58 She began to read the Bible and she found Jesus. 52:01 She found the One that could give her peace, 52:05 the One that could give her joy, 52:06 the One who could give her meaning. 52:08 But as she studied the Bible she found there in Scripture 52:12 in Genesis that God had blessed the Sabbath, 52:16 that God had sanctified it, that God had rested upon the Sabbath. 52:21 She found in the Ten Commandment law, Remember the Sabbath 52:24 day to keep it holy. 52:25 She found that the Sabbath in Ezekiel 20 was a sign between 52:29 God and His people. 52:31 She saw Christ kept the Sabbath, and she found the Sabbath 52:34 is the sign of the Creator in the book of Revelation. 52:37 She didn't know anybody in the world that kept the Sabbath. 52:39 She didn't think anybody did. 52:40 And she said, I'm going to begin to keep the Sabbath. 52:44 I have to trust Jesus! 52:45 She said, It's so sweet to trust Jesus! 52:47 One day she was walking down the street; saw a sign 52:50 for the Adventist church, Seventh-day Adventist. 52:53 She said, These must be Sabbath keepers! 52:56 And she came in and found fellowship with God's believing 52:59 people, because she had the confidence, and the faith, 53:03 and the courage to trust in Jesus. 53:05 Why don't you make that decision to trust 53:07 Jesus as Tim sings? 53:12 Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word. 53:25 Just to rest upon His promise, just to know 53:34 thus saith the Lord. 53:39 Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I've 53:47 proved Him o'er and o'er. 53:51 Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, Oh for grace to trust Him more. 54:07 Oh how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust 54:16 His cleansing blood. 54:19 And in simple faith to plunge me neath the 54:26 healing, cleansing flood. 54:34 Yes, tis sweet to trust in Jesus, 54:40 just from sin and self to cease. 54:45 Just from Jesus simply taking life and 54:53 rest, and joy, and peace. 54:58 Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I've proved Him over, 55:08 and over, and o'er. 55:10 Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, Oh for grace to trust Him more. 55:30 Jesus is inviting you to step out from tradition, 55:36 to step out from popular convention, to trust Him. 55:43 Have you sensed God working in your life? 55:47 It's no accident that you've turned in to this telecast 55:51 tonight, this afternoon, this morning. 55:56 It's no accident that God has led you here. 56:00 The Spirit of God has brought you to this 56:05 telecast at this moment. 56:07 Maybe the Sabbath is new to you, but you see the evidence 56:12 in the Bible that God created this world in six days, 56:17 and rested the seventh; that His people down through the 56:20 ages have kept the Bible Sabbath, written with His 56:22 finger on tables of stone. 56:23 You see that Jesus kept the Sabbath, and that Revelation is 56:28 calling all humanity back to worshipping the Creator. 56:31 You see, it's more than a matter of days, 56:34 it's a matter of trusting Jesus. 56:37 It's more than a matter of when you worship, 56:40 it's really a matter of who you worship. 56:44 Will you fully, completely trust Jesus, and worship your Creator? 56:50 Let's pray together. 56:52 Father in Heaven, we sense the moving of the 56:56 Spirit of God on our hearts. 56:58 For some of us this is new. 57:00 But we thank You that we can trust You, that we can rest in 57:04 Your love and care. 57:06 We thank You that You'll give us the strength and power to 57:09 follow You now and forever. 57:11 In Jesus' name, Amen. 57:14 I look forward to having you with us in our continued series 57:21 on Revelation's Ancient Discoveries. |
Revised 2018-04-12