Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP210022S
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00:01 If you've been following us
00:02 here on 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 00:04 that you know, we were making our way 00:05 through a study on God's everlasting covenant 00:08 and that's exactly what it's called The Promise, 00:11 God's everlasting covenant. 00:12 And we've been talking a lot 00:13 about this wonderful, beautiful covenant 00:15 that we find in Jesus Christ. 00:17 We're going to continue this week, 00:19 lesson number nine we are on 00:21 and it's entitled Covenant Sign. 00:22 We're going to be talking about 00:24 the blessing of God's fourth commandment, 00:26 His Sabbath blessing, 00:28 and how it is tied to the covenant altogether. 00:30 If you don't have a copy of this lesson, 00:32 we can give you a couple of ways 00:33 of how you can get that right now. 00:34 We encourage you to find 00:36 a local Seventh-day Adventist Church if you can, 00:38 during these times we recognize that might be tough, 00:40 but if you can, 00:41 it's always a blessing to study with likeminded brethren. 00:44 I'm sure they would love 00:45 to give you a copy of the study for free. 00:47 Or you can simply go to 00:48 www.absg.Adventist.org 00:54 and you can access 00:56 a digital copy of the study for free. 00:58 So again, as we always like to remind you, 01:00 get your notes stuff ready 01:02 because take some notes 01:03 because we're going to be going through the Word of the Lord 01:05 and having a wonderful time 01:06 as we study God's everlasting covenant. 01:40 Hello, friends, and welcome back 01:41 to another edition of 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 01:44 We are making our way along 01:45 in our study on God's everlasting covenant. 01:49 And we're on lesson number nine 01:51 and it's, of course, this week 01:53 we're talking about the covenant sign. 01:54 We're gonna be talking about the Sabbath 01:56 and its significance within the covenant. 01:58 But before we get right into that, 02:00 I want to go ahead and introduce our panel 02:01 with this at this time. 02:03 To my left is Pastor John Lomacang. 02:05 Always a blessing to have you. 02:06 Good to be here. 02:08 I'm looking forward to the Sabbath before Sinai. 02:09 Amen. 02:11 Praise the Lord 02:12 and to your left is Miss Jill Morikone. 02:13 Always a blessing and I know you got a list for us. 02:16 There might be a list there. Amen. 02:17 Excited about the study. 02:19 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 02:20 And to your left is Miss Shelley Quinn. 02:23 How are you? I'm very well. 02:25 Thank you, and excited to be here. 02:27 Praise the Lord. 02:28 And down on the far end we have the president of 3ABN 02:31 and always a blessing to have Brother Jill... 02:33 Oh, not Brother Jill, 02:35 Brother Greg Morikone, married to Sister Jill, 02:38 let's get that right. 02:39 Yes. All right. 02:41 How are you, brother? 02:43 I'm doing well, Pastor Ryan. 02:44 It's always a blessing to open the Word of God 02:46 and you know what a blessing to be family 02:47 and to be joining with you 02:48 because you know it's encouraging 02:50 to open the Word of God 02:51 and what a blessing and privilege we have. 02:52 Amen. Praise the Lord. 02:54 And that's a lesson learned. 02:55 Try to remember your boss's name 02:57 correctly the first time. 02:58 That's not an issue, Pastor Ryan. 03:00 Amen. 03:02 Well, before we go any further, 03:03 let's go ahead and have a prayer 03:05 and, Brother Greg, why don't you pray for us? 03:06 Yeah, absolutely. Let's pray. 03:08 Father in heaven, 03:09 we just pray right now for Your Holy Spirit 03:11 to join us as we are opening Your Word. 03:14 Lord, what a privilege it is to study the Word of God, 03:18 and Father as we study today on the sign of the covenant, 03:21 Lord, we just pray that 03:23 You would open our minds and hearts 03:25 to the word that you have for us today. 03:26 And in Jesus' name we pray. 03:28 Amen. Amen. 03:30 Praise the Lord. 03:31 Our memory verse kind of says it all. 03:34 Exodus 31:16, beautiful text. 03:38 Again, that's Exodus 31:16. 03:41 And the Bible says, 03:42 "Wherefore the children of Israel 03:44 shall keep the Sabbath, 03:46 to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations 03:49 for a perpetual covenant." 03:52 I love that perpetual covenant continually. 03:55 God says, I want to bestow 03:57 the blessing of the Sabbath upon you. 03:59 And indeed, if we are a covenant people 04:01 in covenant relationship with the Lord, 04:03 then we shall want to keep all of God's commandments, 04:06 including the Sabbath commandment. 04:08 I like how Sabbath afternoon is set up. 04:10 I'm going to read what's there 04:12 because I thought it had a nice little introduction 04:14 to what we're talking about this week. 04:15 It says, 04:17 "The seventh day Sabbath is like a nail that whack 04:21 with unbroken regularity returns us each week 04:24 to the foundation of all that we are or could be. 04:29 We are so busy running to and fro, 04:31 spending money, making money, 04:33 going here, going there, going everywhere, 04:36 and then whack 04:38 Sabbath comes 04:39 and reattaches us to our foundation, 04:41 the starting point of everything that follows 04:44 because everything that is anything to us 04:47 becomes that only 04:48 because God created it, and us to begin with. 04:53 With unceasing regularity and with no exceptions, 04:56 the Sabbath silently hurls over the horizon 04:59 and into every crack and cranny of our lives. 05:02 It reminds us that every crack and cranny belong to our maker, 05:07 the one who puts us here, 05:09 the one who in the beginning 05:11 created the heavens and the earth, 05:14 an act that remains the irrefutable foundation 05:18 of all Christian belief 05:19 and of which the seventh day Sabbath. 05:22 Whack is the unrefutable, 05:25 unobtrusive and unyielding sign." 05:28 I thought that was a nice 05:29 and I liked the little whacks in there. 05:30 Yeah. 05:32 It's really, really nice to know 05:33 that the Sabbath is something that's foundational. 05:35 It's something that God created in the very beginning. 05:38 In fact, that's what we're going to start 05:39 with this week, 05:41 as we dive into Sunday's lesson entitled, Origins. 05:44 Because when you go back to the origins, 05:46 that's exactly what Genesis means. 05:47 It means origins or beginning. 05:49 And when you go back 05:50 and you read the beginning story 05:52 of what is happening there in the Garden of Eden, 05:54 as God has created, He has created the world, 05:56 He's created everything. 05:58 Now He's in the Garden of Eden. 05:59 On the sixth day, He creates man, 06:01 and He looks back at everything that He's created. 06:03 And He says, "It's very good," right? 06:06 But then we go on to Genesis 2:1-3. 06:10 And notice what the Bible says. 06:12 It says, 06:13 "Thus the heavens and the earth, 06:15 and all the host of them were finished. 06:17 And on the seventh day, God ended His work 06:20 which He had done, 06:22 and He rested on the seventh day 06:23 from all His work which He had done. 06:26 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it 06:30 because in it, He rested from all His work 06:34 which God had created and made." 06:38 So we see there very clearly 06:40 that the Sabbath was established 06:43 in the Garden of Eden. 06:45 Now, there's somebody right now 06:46 that's probably watching are going to, 06:48 you know, hear what I'm saying, 06:49 you know, and I don't know Ryan, doesn't say that, 06:51 doesn't actually say Sabbath, right? 06:53 It says He just rested. 06:54 But there's no doubt about it 06:56 that as you do an important, 06:58 responsible study of God's Word, 07:00 you find that right there, 07:01 even in the original language 07:03 when it says He rested. 07:04 It says that He Shabbat, He rested, 07:07 He ceased from all of His work, 07:09 which is where we get our word Shabbat 07:11 is from Sabbath, right? 07:12 So we know that God did indeed Sabbath, 07:14 He created this Sabbath, 07:16 He rested on the Sabbath from all that He made. 07:18 And the point that I just made 07:20 even people from outside 07:22 the Seventh-day Adventist faith, 07:23 they get this point. 07:25 For instance, Zondervan, 07:26 the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, 07:29 of course, which you know Zondervan. 07:31 Zondervan is a religious publishing company, 07:34 and they write this in the volume five, 07:36 page 183 of the Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. 07:39 They say, 07:41 "The word Sabbath is not employed in, 07:44 of course, Genesis 2:2-3, 07:46 it says, but in it, it is certain 07:48 that the author meant to assert 07:51 that God blessed and hallowed the seventh day as the Sabbath. 07:55 So even Zondervan, 07:56 which is a non Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Group, 07:58 they get it, 07:59 they've published this statement 08:01 saying that it's very clear 08:03 that right there in Genesis 2:2-3 08:06 where God rested, He blessed, 08:07 and He made holy this seventh day. 08:09 It is no doubt talking about the Sabbath of the Lord. 08:13 And, of course, there's many people that say, 08:14 well, the Sabbath didn't come along until you know, 08:17 Mount Sinai there when God gave the Ten Commandment law. 08:20 And that was really the origin of the Sabbath. 08:22 Before that no one really ever kept the Sabbath holy. 08:25 Well, we know that there are several texts 08:27 that indicate pre Mount Sinai that God had faithful servants 08:31 who kept all of His commandments. 08:33 I think of Abraham. 08:34 We've read several texts already, 08:35 where it said that he kept God's commandments. 08:37 I don't think he just kept nine of them, right? 08:39 I believe he kept the entire law. 08:41 We've even learned that 08:42 the law of God 08:43 is God's governing law in heaven. 08:46 Lucifer rebelled from that law. 08:48 And it says that iniquity was found in him, 08:51 which means he had to, as the Bible says, 08:53 sin is transgression of the law. 08:54 What law did he violate? 08:56 He violated the law of God, 08:57 the Ten Commandment law of God which is in heaven. 08:59 So there's clear evidence 09:00 that the law of God 09:02 all 10 of God's commandments existed in heaven. 09:05 And right here in Exodus Chapter 16, 09:07 we see very clearly 09:09 that God is reintroducing to the children of Israel, 09:12 this concept of Sabbath and why is that? 09:15 Not because they would have never heard of it, 09:17 not because it's something 09:18 that would have been new to them 09:19 that they've never been experienced 09:21 or never have been maybe told about 09:22 or informed about. 09:24 But they've been in 400 years of Egyptian captivity, 09:27 where the Egyptians have these brothers and sisters 09:30 working day and night, 24/7, or at least seven days a week 09:33 and they weren't really getting a Sabbath rest. 09:36 And so by the time they get out in the wilderness, 09:38 God's brought them out of Egypt. 09:40 Right there in Exodus Chapter 16, 09:42 beginning with verse 4. 09:43 Notice what the Bible says. 09:44 It says, "And the Lord said to Moses, 09:46 'Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. 09:49 And the people shall go out 09:50 and gather a certain quota every day 09:53 that I may test them, 09:55 notice this, 09:56 whether they will walk in My law or not." 09:59 And then he says there in verse 26, notice, 10:01 "Six days you shall gather it, 10:04 but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, 10:06 there will be none, 10:08 or there will be no gathering on the Sabbath." 10:11 So it's interesting how God brings us about. 10:13 He doesn't say the Sabbath pause button. 10:15 Oh, you don't know about that. 10:17 Let me tell you about it. 10:18 Let me explain to you what the Sabbath is. 10:20 He's very much giving it to them 10:21 as they've heard of it. 10:22 They know what this Sabbath rest is. 10:24 They've just, 10:25 they're generations and generations 10:27 away from people who used to keep it, 10:28 but they haven't been able to keep the Sabbath in Egypt. 10:30 God says, 10:31 "Look, I'm gonna reintroduce the Sabbath to you 10:33 and tell you what it's all about." 10:35 Keep in mind, 10:36 they've been out in the wilderness 10:37 whining and complaining, 10:39 and we're hungry, and we're thirsty. 10:41 And God's brought us out here to die in the wilderness. 10:43 And so the Lord says, 10:44 "Look, I'm going to take care of you. 10:45 But I'm also going to test you 10:47 to see if you will honor and keep My law or not. 10:50 And so, if you go into verse 27, 10:52 again, we're in Exodus 16, still, 10:54 verse 27, it says, 10:55 "Now it happened that 10:56 some of the people went out on the seventh day 10:58 to gather but they found none. 11:01 And the Lord said to Moses, 11:03 'How long do you refuse to keep My," what? 11:06 "My commandments and my laws?" 11:08 Wait a second, do we have Ten commandments 11:09 at this point yet? 11:11 All right, so the Ten Commandments 11:12 have not been formally given to the children of Israel 11:15 in document form, or verbally said aloud, 11:18 but would they have been aware of these commandments 11:21 from perhaps Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, 11:24 and the stories that had been told to them 11:25 of their traditional religious experience with God, 11:28 the God of their fathers? 11:30 Absolutely. 11:31 And so God says, 11:33 "Look, you're not keeping My commandments, and My laws." 11:34 And then verse 29, 11:35 "See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath, 11:38 therefore He gives you on the sixth day 11:41 bread for two days. 11:42 Let every man remain in his place, 11:44 let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." 11:46 So the people, there it is, rested. 11:49 They Shabbat 11:50 just like the Lord did in the beginning, 11:52 just like he did in Genesis 2, 11:54 they Shabbat, they rested, 11:55 they ceased from their labors on the seventh day. 11:58 And you know what? 12:00 There's no doubt, 12:01 there's no doubt as to where this Sabbath finds its origin. 12:05 Because there's no other place clear 12:07 then when you get one, few chapters over, 12:09 we're in Exodus 16 now, 12:11 but if you go to Exodus 20, 12:12 where God verbally tells them and gives them 12:15 for the first time as a nation, 12:17 this Ten Commandment law 12:18 right there and beginning in verse 8, 12:20 He introduces 12:22 this Sabbath commandment to them 12:23 in a formal way. 12:24 And it says here and verse, 12:26 verse, starting with verse 8 of Exodus Chapter 20, 12:28 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 12:31 There's the commandment. 12:32 You ought to remember it, you are to keep it holy. 12:34 And then verses 9 through 10. 12:36 He tells you how you keep the Sabbath. 12:38 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 12:40 but the seventh day 12:42 is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 12:43 In it, you shall not do any work, 12:45 nor your son, nor your daughter, 12:47 nor your male servant, nor your female servant, 12:48 nor your cattle, nor your stranger 12:50 that is within your gates." 12:51 And then you get to verse 11. 12:53 Are you wondering where the Sabbath is? 12:55 Are you wondering where it comes from, 12:56 where its origin is? 12:58 Well, God doesn't leave anything out. 12:59 Right there in verse 11, 13:00 He points us back to the origin of the Sabbath. 13:02 Why are we to keep the Sabbath? 13:04 Why are we to remember it and keep it holy? 13:07 God Himself says, 13:08 "For in six days, 13:09 the Lord made the heavens 13:12 and the earth, the sea, and all that in them 13:14 is and He rested the seventh day, 13:17 therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day 13:19 and hallowed it." 13:20 You know, God created the Sabbath for all humanity, 13:23 not just for the Jews, 13:24 and there's no scripture in all the Bible that says 13:27 that the Sabbath is just for the Jews 13:29 or that it's a Jewish Sabbath. 13:30 That's a myth. 13:32 The Bible clearly says, 13:33 as we find there in Mark 2: 27-28, 13:36 Jesus Himself, the one who created the Sabbath, 13:38 the one who spoke the worlds into existence, 13:41 our very wonderful Creator Himself said, 13:43 the Sabbath was made for man 13:45 and not man for the Sabbath. 13:47 That word there in the Greek is anthropos 13:49 which means for all mankind, He created the Sabbath. 13:53 And I love this beautifully, because Jesus didn't actually, 13:57 you know, He kept the Sabbath first before Adam and Eve, 14:00 their very first full day with Him 14:02 was to spend in communion with Him on the Sabbath, 14:05 but they wouldn't actually keep their first Sabbath 14:06 until a week later. 14:08 Because remember what the prerequisite is, 14:10 for keeping Sabbath? 14:11 You have to work for six days. 14:13 Had Adam and Eve labored for six days yet? 14:15 No, they hadn't. 14:17 But we know that 14:18 they kept that first Sabbath with Christ observing, 14:20 and then later they would keep their very first Sabbath 14:23 with the Lord. 14:24 We see its origin in Genesis, 14:25 and we can be sure today 14:27 that the Lord Sabbath 14:28 is still intact for all generations 14:30 as a part of the covenant. 14:32 Oh, well, thank you, Ryan. 14:34 You covered my Sabbath School lesson for me, 14:38 is our Sabbath before Sinai. 14:41 So I'm going to go on a little different direction 14:43 as we go to Monday, Sabbath before Sinai. 14:46 Let's go to Exodus 16, 14:48 because that's the foundation that primarily was laid. 14:52 And the writer wanted us to bring that out 14:55 that the Sabbath was in existence before Sinai. 14:59 Now according to what Ryan just read, 15:01 the test of the Sabbath was, in fact, God's provision. 15:06 And one of the things I want to point out is, 15:08 if we would stop trying to provide for ourselves, 15:12 we would see that God can provide for us. 15:15 The Sabbath has been boiled down to a day 15:18 where many stores open 15:19 and provide their major sales on those days. 15:22 I remember a Macy's white flower day sales 15:25 was always on the Sabbath. 15:27 A lot of sales began sunset Friday 15:29 and ended like 2 o'clock on Saturday afternoon, 15:32 and I remember being pushed 15:34 in the category where items were sold, 15:36 and they said, well, it doesn't go on sale 15:38 till Friday night 15:39 and the sale ends at 2 o'clock on Saturday. 15:41 And I actually got into a very respectful debate 15:47 with the salesperson and I said, 15:50 "Well, I go to church on the Sabbath." 15:52 They said, "No, it's on Saturday." 15:53 I said, "But that's the Sabbath and I won't be able to be here. 15:57 So are you saying to Seventh-day Adventists 15:58 and to the entire Jewish world 16:00 that they don't have right to partake in this sales." 16:03 And they said, 16:04 "Well, I never thought about it that way." 16:06 And they went and spoke to their manager 16:07 and came by they said, 16:08 "Hey, manager said you can have the sales price." 16:10 We need to stand up and recognize 16:11 the Sabbath as a fact of God, not as a just a day itself. 16:16 And so when we talk about the Sabbath, 16:18 many people boil it down to the day. 16:21 But it's not about the day, it is about the Lord. 16:26 Anymore than May 22 is about the day, 16:29 it's about my wife and me, that's our anniversary. 16:32 So it may be nothing to you. 16:34 But when it becomes a sign, 16:37 where two people are united together 16:39 in a blessed relationship, 16:41 which is in fact, what the Sabbath is, 16:43 God uniting with His people 16:45 in a blessed and sanctified relationship, 16:49 then the day means something different. 16:51 Now, let me go a step further on that. 16:53 Can I change the day my wife and I were married on? 16:56 No. 16:58 Let me go a step farther. 17:01 Now I am never, and my wife and I made this decree, 17:04 if anything happened to her or me, 17:06 I'm not getting remarried. 17:07 I want one wife in heaven. That's the bottom line. 17:09 I got the best one now. 17:11 And if anything happened to her, 17:12 I'm waiting to heaven 17:13 so we can continue our relationship. 17:15 But here's the point. 17:16 People that got married a second time, 17:18 let's use the example, 17:19 say a guy just get married a second time, 17:20 which is not an unusual thing in our world. 17:23 And he's been honoring January 5, for 35 years. 17:27 Now he gets remarried and says to his second wife, 17:30 you know, Honey, I'm so used to January 5, 17:32 because my wife and I, who's now deceased. 17:36 We honor January 5 for 35 years 17:40 and I know you and I got married on July 4. 17:43 But would it be okay if we on a January 5 17:45 since I'm used to that day. 17:48 What would his wife say? 17:49 No, that day has nothing to do with me and you. 17:53 It identifies you and her. 17:55 Sunday, I'm gonna say this clearly 17:57 has nothing to do with God's blessing. 17:59 It's a work day. 18:01 It's the first day of the week, 18:03 and as sincere as we are, we can be sincerely wrong. 18:07 Not in a judgmental way, but when you look at the Bible, 18:11 nothing happened on the first day of the week 18:13 that God blessed. 18:15 He saw that everything He made was very good, 18:17 but He only blessed one day of the week. 18:19 So let's go down the questions 18:21 to see how clearly the Bible identifies 18:23 and establish this cadence. 18:25 The first question, let's go to Mark 15:42, 18:30 which day is the preparation day? 18:31 Which day is the preparation day 18:33 for the Sabbath? 18:34 We're going to start with Mark 15:42. 18:38 And remember, friends, 18:39 I said this, and I'll reiterate it, 18:41 if it was just about the day, you can pick any day you want. 18:44 But it's not about the day. 18:46 It's about the God. 18:48 Mark 15:42, 18:50 "Now when evening had come, 18:53 because it was the preparation day 18:55 that is the day before the Sabbath. 18:58 So today, 19:00 an entire nation of Jews, 19:03 even though predominantly they rejected Christ, 19:06 they still honor the Sabbath. 19:08 The Sabbath day did not change. 19:10 It's the nation's attitude toward the God of the Sabbath 19:13 is what changed. 19:14 But we look clearly 19:16 that the seventh day 19:17 is the only day that God blessed. 19:19 And Exodus 20:8-11 connects the seventh day to the Sabbath. 19:24 The day before the Sabbath is called the Preparation Day. 19:27 Today, the entire Christian world 19:29 when Easter comes, 19:30 they call it Good Friday, 19:32 and they call the first day of the week, 19:34 Easter Sunday. 19:35 And that's the only time in the year 19:36 that they call Saturday, Holy Saturday. 19:39 It's amazing. 19:40 Once a year, it's called Holy Saturday, 19:42 between the Preparation Day and the Resurrection Day 19:45 is the seventh day. 19:46 The Resurrection Day is clearly the first day of the week. 19:50 The day before the Sabbath is a preparation. 19:52 So you have the preparation, the Sabbath and the first day. 19:55 Luke 23:50รข | Luke 23:53-54. 20:00 The Bible identifies this clearly once again, 20:03 Luke 23:53-54. 20:05 "Then he took it down", that is the body of Christ, 20:08 "wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb 20:11 that was hewn out of the rock 20:13 where no one had ever lain before. 20:15 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near." 20:19 And we know the story very well. 20:21 After the Sabbath, 20:22 the women went to the tomb to anoint Christ 20:24 and found that the tomb had been empty. 20:26 The stone had been rolled away. 20:28 And that was the first day of the week. 20:31 And different gospel writers, some say while it was yet dark, 20:34 some say early in the morning, but the fact of the matter is, 20:38 they went on the first day. 20:40 And why was the Lord not there? 20:42 Because from the very beginning, 20:43 He established the first day as the day of work. 20:46 He got up to continue the work of redemption, 20:49 the work of salvation. 20:52 Let's go to Exodus 20:8-10. 20:55 The next question is, 20:56 which day of the week is the Sabbath? 20:58 Now I don't think we have anything 21:00 that we've missed so far, 21:01 but let us allow the Bible to speak. 21:04 Verse 8, 21:06 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 21:09 Verse 9, 21:10 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work." 21:13 And the beginning of verse 10. 21:14 "But the seventh day 21:16 is the Sabbath of the Lord your God." 21:18 Now, I'm gonna say this twice, 21:21 first here, and at the end of another time. 21:24 The seventh day 21:26 is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 21:28 Have you ever thought about this? 21:30 Don't ask yourself the question which day is the Sabbath? 21:32 Ask yourself the question, who is the Lord your God? 21:36 Who is your God? 21:38 If the God of creation is your God, 21:41 He's saying the seventh day is My Sabbath. 21:44 But if you want to just pick a day, 21:46 then you're disconnecting yourself from your obligation 21:48 to the God of creation. 21:50 You can pick any day, 21:52 but that's not the day God blessed. 21:53 We must ask ourselves the question, 21:55 am I willing to identify with my Lord, 21:59 the God of creation. 22:00 If that, in fact is the case, 22:02 He says, 22:03 the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. 22:07 Now, why can't we choose today? 22:10 Because we can't bless anything. 22:12 So what's the issue? 22:13 Ezekiel 22:26, 22:15 this is a major part of the issue. 22:18 This happened among the Jews when they went into rebellion. 22:21 This is happening again today in the Christian world. 22:24 The Bible says in Exodus, in Ezekiel 22: 26. 22:28 "Her priests have violated My law," 22:31 it's clear, 22:32 "and profaned My holy things, 22:34 they have not distinguished 22:36 between the holy and the unholy," 22:38 Sunday has never been a holy day, 22:40 it's an unholy day, 22:42 "nor have they made known the difference 22:44 between the unclean and the clean." 22:46 Today, pastors teach you can eat anything. 22:49 The Bible doesn't teach that. 22:50 And what is the issue? 22:52 "And they have hidden their eyes 22:53 from My Sabbaths, 22:56 so that I am profaned among them." 22:58 That's a powerful statement that the Lord made, 23:00 when we hide our eyes from His Sabbath. 23:03 The Sabbath hasn't been hidden. 23:05 The Sabbath is not invisible. 23:07 We have just ignored it. 23:09 We cannot hide our eyes from the Sabbath. 23:11 And people say, 23:12 "Well, you know, you really got, 23:14 you guys are making a big deal out of the Sabbath." 23:16 I've often asked the question, 23:17 "What is there about the Sabbath 23:19 that makes us want to ignore it?" 23:21 Some people say, 23:22 "Well, because it's a salvation by works." 23:25 When you read the Sabbath command, 23:27 you will find the word work, but not to be saved. 23:31 It'll simply say, "Thou shall not do any works." 23:36 The work has been done by the Lord. 23:38 We are simply called to honor what God has already done. 23:43 My last text, 23:44 that what kind of day should the Sabbath be? 23:47 Isaiah 58:13, 23:49 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, 23:51 from doing your pleasure on My holy day, 23:54 and call the Sabbath, a delight, 23:56 the holy day of the Lord honorable 23:58 and shall honor Him, 24:00 not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasures, 24:03 nor speaking your own words." 24:05 Verse 14, 24:07 "Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord, 24:09 and I will cause you to ride on the high heels of the earth, 24:12 and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, 24:15 for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." 24:17 God wants to bless you. 24:20 The question is, do you want to be blessed by the Lord. 24:22 If, in fact, that's the case, remember Mark 2:27, 24:26 "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. 24:31 Honor the Lord of the Sabbath 24:32 and you'll be a blessed man and woman." 24:35 Praise the Lord. 24:37 Thank you so much, pastor, for that. 24:38 I appreciate that. 24:40 We're going to take a quick break 24:41 and we'll be right back in a moment. 24:48 Ever wish you could watch 24:49 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 24:52 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 24:55 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com 25:00 A clean design makes it easy 25:02 to find the program you're looking for. 25:04 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:08 so you can follow along. 25:10 Sharing is easy. 25:11 Just click share 25:12 and choose your favorite social media. 25:14 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:19 Hello, friends, welcome back to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 25:21 where we're going to go on to Tuesday's lesson, 25:24 Miss Jill Morikone. 25:25 Thank you so much, Pastor Ryan and Pastor John, 25:27 amazing lesson so far. 25:29 I love the gift of the Sabbath. 25:31 What a privilege to have 24 hours 25:35 to spend with our Creator God and our Redeemer, 25:40 the Lord Jesus Christ, 25:41 what a gift. 25:43 I have Tuesday, which is Covenant Sign, 25:45 the Sabbath as a covenant sign of grace. 25:49 You know, if you look at the covenants, 25:50 we have the rainbow 25:52 is the sign of the Noahic covenant. 25:54 We have circumcision 25:55 as a sign of the Abrahamic covenant. 25:58 We have the Sabbath 26:00 as the sign of the Sinaitic covenant, 26:03 or the covenant given at Sinai. 26:05 Exodus 31:13, 26:07 "Speak also to the children of Israel saying, 26:10 'Surely my Sabbaths you shall keep, 26:13 for it is a sign between me and you 26:16 throughout your generations, 26:19 that you may know that 26:20 I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 26:23 It is a sign or pledge of the covenant. 26:26 Now the focus of this particular lesson 26:29 is the Sabbath being a sign, a covenant sign of grace. 26:33 But before we get there, 26:34 I just want to touch on a couple things to me 26:37 that the Sabbath is a sign of. 26:39 First, the Sabbath is a sign of God's covenant 26:42 with His people throughout the ages. 26:46 We see this in Exodus 31:16. 26:50 Exodus 31:16, 26:53 "Therefore the children of Israel 26:54 shall keep the Sabbath, 26:56 to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations," 26:59 Why? 27:00 "As their perpetual covenant." 27:02 The Sabbath is to be a sign of our relationship, 27:07 our covenantal relationship with God as our Father. 27:11 The Sabbath is also a sign that God is our Creator, 27:15 as Pastor Ryan and Pastor John talked about. 27:18 We see that in Exodus 31 in the next verse, verse 17, 27:22 "It is a sign, the Sabbath that is, 27:25 is a sign between me 27:26 and the children of Israel forever, 27:28 for in six days 27:30 the Lord made heavens and earth, 27:32 and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed." 27:35 So the Sabbath is a sign 27:37 every week that God is our Creator. 27:41 The Sabbath is also a sign of the relationship 27:44 between God and His people. 27:45 And it serves as a test of our loyalty to Him. 27:51 Exodus, Ezekiel, not Exodus, Ezekiel 20:20. 27:56 It says, 27:57 "Hallow My Sabbaths, 27:59 and they will be a sign between Me and you, 28:01 that you may know that I am the Lord your God." 28:05 It shows ownership. 28:07 Every time when we keep the Sabbath, 28:09 we are saying, 28:10 "Yes, God, I will follow You. 28:12 Yes, God, I will walk in Your ways. 28:15 Yes, God, I want You to be my father. 28:18 And I want to be in covenant relationship 28:21 with You as Your child." 28:23 The Sabbath is also a sign that God is our sanctifier, 28:27 which we won't touch on, 28:29 because Shelley is going to cover that. 28:30 So let's look at the focus of this lesson, 28:32 the Sabbath being a covenant sign of grace. 28:36 How is the Sabbath a covenant sign of grace? 28:38 I would submit to you 28:39 there's four ways and four reasons, 28:42 Pastor John, so every Sabbath, it reminds you of this. 28:46 Number one, the Sabbath reminds us 28:47 where we came from. 28:49 Number two, 28:50 it reminds us who our deliverer is. 28:53 Number three, it reminds us that we've been redeemed. 28:56 And number four, 28:57 it reminds us of the rest and freedom 29:00 that we have in Him. 29:02 So let's look at number one. 29:03 The Sabbath is a covenant sign of grace 29:04 because it reminds us where we came from. 29:06 We're going to Deuteronomy. 29:08 Deuteronomy Chapter 5, 29:09 we're going to spend several verses in here. 29:12 Of course, this is the giving of the Ten Commandments 29:15 or the ten words of God. 29:18 Same thing from Exodus 20, 29:20 but we, there's a different twist 29:22 here in Deuteronomy 5 29:23 when the Sabbath commandment is brought forth. 29:25 We see in Exodus 20 29:27 the reminder that 29:28 in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, 29:30 and the reminder that we keep the Sabbath 29:32 because He's our Creator. 29:33 But in Deuteronomy 5, 29:35 we specifically see that we observe, 29:37 we keep the Sabbath day, 29:39 because it reminds us of where we came from. 29:42 Deuteronomy 5:12, 29:43 "Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, 29:45 as the Lord your God commanded you. 29:48 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 29:50 but the seventh day 29:52 is the Sabbath of the Lord your God." 29:54 Jump down to verse 15. 29:56 "And remember that 29:58 you were a slave in the land of Egypt." 30:02 Every Sabbath, when those precious hours, 30:05 those sanctified hours, 30:06 those set apart hours roll around 30:08 on Friday night at sundown. 30:11 Remind, sit down and take time, 30:14 and remember where you came from. 30:16 We were slaves. We were stuck in sin. 30:18 We were unredeemable and unreachable. 30:21 We remember where God brought us from? 30:24 Out of darkness into His marvelous light. 30:26 I think in my own life, 30:28 I do not sit and remember 30:31 where God brought me from enough. 30:35 I need to do that more in my own life. 30:37 The Sabbath doesn't just remind us 30:39 where we came from. 30:40 It reminds us who our deliverer is. 30:41 Deuteronomy 5:2, 30:44 "The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 30:46 The Lord did not make this covenant 30:48 with our fathers, 30:49 but with us, those who are here today, 30:52 all of us who are alive." 30:53 Jump down to verse 8, 30:55 "I am the Lord your God 30:57 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 30:59 out of the house of bondage." 31:02 He's reminding them that 31:03 He is the one who delivered them from Egypt. 31:05 He's the one who brought them through the Red Sea. 31:07 He's the one who set them free. 31:10 Every Sabbath 31:12 don't just remember where you were 31:13 and stuck in sin, 31:15 but who your God is, how big your God is, 31:18 the omnipotent, all powerful, all knowing omniscient God, 31:22 that is your God, 31:24 and He can deliver you. 31:25 Number three, Remember, 31:27 the Sabbath reminds us that we have been redeemed. 31:31 Verse 15, Deuteronomy 5:15. 31:37 Remember, you are a slave in the land of Egypt." 31:39 That's where we remember where we came from. 31:42 "And the Lord your God 31:43 brought you out there by a mighty hand," 31:45 that's remembering that He is our deliverer, 31:48 "and by an outstretched arm, 31:50 therefore the Lord your God commanded you 31:52 to keep the Sabbath day." 31:55 Only those who are redeemed by Christ 31:58 can recognize and understand what creation means. 32:02 I think the Sabbath is a sign of redemption, 32:05 almost has precedence over the Sabbath 32:09 as a memorial of creation, 32:10 because we have to recognize who we are, 32:12 and where we have been redeemed from 32:15 to even understand that creative process. 32:19 The Sabbath is a constant reminder, 32:21 it's a weekly reminder 32:22 that we're included in His covenant of grace 32:24 that you and I, we came from sin, 32:27 but that our deliverer is mighty, 32:30 and that He has redeemed us. 32:32 The Sabbath is also a reminder, this is number four. 32:35 It reminds us of the rest and freedom 32:39 we have in Him. 32:40 Exodus 35. 32:42 Jump over to Exodus 35:2. 32:45 The Bible says, 32:46 "Work shall be done for six days," 32:48 there's that word work for six days, 32:50 "but the seventh day should be a holy day for you, 32:53 a Sabbath Shabbat of rest to the Lord." 32:59 Now the word rest is Shabbaton. 33:01 It means special rest on the Sabbath. 33:06 The seventh day should be a holy day for you, 33:07 a Sabbath of rest. 33:08 So it's not just the Sabbath, but it's the Sabbath rest. 33:11 Isn't that amazing? 33:13 We work six days of the week, 33:14 but the Sabbath, 33:15 the Sabbath is the Sabbath rest. 33:17 I love that. 33:19 So as we look at God's rest, 33:21 God's rest symbolizes 33:23 the completion of His creation work 33:25 as Ryan already brought out in Genesis 2, 33:28 when the heavens and earth were finished, 33:30 God rested 33:31 at the end of the sixth day creation week. 33:34 And it is a reminder of His creative work. 33:39 God's rest is attained by faith. 33:42 Let's go to Hebrews. 33:43 Hebrews 4:1-2, 33:46 God's rest doesn't just symbolize 33:49 the completion of His creative work 33:50 as we see in Genesis, 33:52 but it also is attained by faith. 33:55 "Therefore, since a promise remains 33:57 of entering His rest, 33:59 let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 34:02 For indeed the gospel was preached to us 34:05 as well as to them, 34:06 but the word which they heard did not profit them. 34:10 Why didn't it profit them? 34:11 "Because it was not being mixed with faith 34:14 in those who heard it." 34:17 In the previous chapter, we see that 34:18 God's people they failed to enter His rest 34:21 because of unbelief, 34:22 because of a hardened heart, because of disobedience. 34:27 But here we see that 34:29 God's rest is attained by faith. 34:33 We also see that His rest is based on His works, 34:35 not our own works. 34:38 Jump down to verse 9. 34:39 Hebrews 4:9-10, 34:42 "There remains therefore a rest, 34:43 a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 34:48 For he who has entered His rest 34:50 has himself also ceased from his works 34:53 as God did from His." 34:55 The Sabbath every week is reminder 34:57 that God is the one who sanctifies us, 35:00 that we can rest in Him. 35:03 When we worship on His holy Sabbath day, 35:05 we recognize that we can't change our hearts, 35:07 our past, our sin, our addiction. 35:10 We recognize that 35:11 Jesus is our redeemer, 35:12 our deliverer 35:14 and He delivers us from bondage. 35:16 We recognize that we can reach out by faith 35:19 and accept His work in our life. 35:21 And we also recognize that you and I, 35:23 we can rest in Him 35:25 and His creative redemptive work in our lives. 35:28 Oh, amen. 35:29 Thank you, Jill. 35:31 I just have to say, 35:32 you know, you may, 35:34 sometimes I get so animated 35:35 that I don't even realize I'm doing it. 35:37 The reason I'm so excited about this, 35:40 this particular quarterly 35:42 is because when the Lord called me 35:44 to full time ministry, 35:45 He told me this was in 2000. 35:46 He said, 35:48 "Forget what you think, 35:49 you know, come sit at my feet, I will teach you." 35:51 He led me on a study of the sanctuary 35:53 and a study of the covenants back in 2000. 35:57 And I'll tell you what? 35:58 When I realized 35:59 the commandments weren't nailed to the cross, 36:02 I was a Sabbath keeper for a couple of years 36:05 before I became a Seventh-day Adventist, 36:08 but I'll never forget 36:10 hitting this particular... 36:14 When I came to this particular scripture, 36:16 as the Lord took me 36:17 on a special study of the Sabbath. 36:21 Exodus 31:13, 36:23 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 36:26 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, 36:28 for it is a sign between Me and you 36:31 throughout your generations, that," 36:34 and anytime you see that or so that, 36:37 it's a purpose statement. 36:38 It's a sign for this purpose that 36:42 "you may know 36:43 that I am the Lord who sanctifies you." 36:46 To be sanctified is to be set apart from sin, 36:51 to be sanctified. 36:53 Sanctification and holiness are synonymous. 36:56 But here's my point. 36:58 All my life, oh, I was in a perform... 37:02 I grew up in a Sunday keeping church, 37:04 but boy, it was performance oriented. 37:07 I just kept thinking, 37:08 "Oh, if I could just read my Bible more, 37:11 if I pray more, if I would..." 37:12 I had the do mores. 37:14 And I never felt good enough. 37:17 And all of a sudden, I realized, 37:21 God's the one who's going to sanctify me. 37:23 Now, yes, it takes permission from me. 37:26 And we're going to get into that. 37:28 But there's two ideas joined in this text. 37:33 There's the idea that the Sabbath 37:35 is a sign of knowledge, 37:40 that you may know me, 37:42 but then that it's a sign of sanctification, 37:45 and I'll tell you it was an external sign. 37:47 I mean, you don't and I don't find 37:49 in any other ancient Israel. 37:52 I mean, ancient civilization, 37:56 you don't find a parallel for the Sabbath. 37:58 This was a unique sign 38:00 that showed, hey, they are the people of God. 38:03 So we're going to look at sanctification, 38:05 because I'm not going to have time to get both. 38:08 If we can get to the knowledge part, we will. 38:11 Let me ask you. 38:13 Is grace an act of God 38:17 or a work of God? 38:20 It's both. 38:21 The act of God is justification. 38:26 This is when He as judge is declaring us not guilty. 38:31 He's declaring us pardoned. 38:34 And this is the... When you have, 38:37 you know, to condemn someone, 38:39 I mean, if somebody is guilty, 38:41 you say, okay, they're condemned. 38:44 But when you're justified, you're acquitted. 38:47 And I mean, that is to me so exciting 38:50 that Christ's righteousness has been credited to me, 38:54 and I am justified by grace through faith. 38:59 That means the penalty of sin 39:02 is no longer hanging over my head. 39:05 But now the second part, that's the act of God. 39:10 The second part is the work of God 39:14 and to be sanctification 39:20 is to be separated to God 39:24 and away from evil. 39:27 It requires our cooperation with God, if you will. 39:33 Justification, instantaneous act. 39:37 Sanctification, the work of a lifetime. 39:39 But what sanctification does? 39:41 Christ came to deliver us from the power of sin, 39:45 to set us apart from sin. 39:48 And this is the beautiful thing that the Sabbath points to. 39:54 I want to share three scriptures with you. 39:57 Because in justification, it's imputed righteousness. 40:02 Imputed just simply means credited to our account. 40:06 He reconciles us to God, 40:08 our bank accounts totally overdrawn. 40:11 He credits His righteousness into our account. 40:14 And all of us said we're reconciled. 40:17 But with sanctification, 40:22 this is imparted righteousness. 40:25 This is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 40:29 This is when the Holy Spirit fills you 40:33 and leads you into... 40:37 Philippians 2:13, 40:38 "He works in you 40:39 too will and to do His good pleasure." 40:42 Philippians 1:6, 40:43 "That He will continue 40:46 the good work He's begun in you." 40:48 But let me show you something. 40:50 Three scriptures, 1 Thessalonians 5-23. 40:54 1 Thessalonians 5:23. 40:57 The entire Godhead 40:59 is identified in connection 41:03 with the process of sanctification. 41:07 1 Thessalonians 5:23, says, 41:11 "Now may the God of peace," 41:13 this is Jehovah Shalom, 41:14 Jehovah, that is that covenant name of God. 41:19 "May the God of peace himself 41:21 sanctify you completely." 41:25 It's God the Father doing the work in you. 41:28 "May your whole spirit, soul and body 41:31 be preserved blameless 41:32 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 41:35 He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it." 41:39 God will bring it to pass 41:43 when you say, Lord, I give you permission. 41:47 Take my heart for I can't give it, 41:49 but, oh Lord, let my will line up with Your will. 41:52 I want Your will done in my life. 41:55 1 Corinthians 1:30 shows 41:57 how the Lord Jesus Christ is part of our sanctification. 42:03 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, 42:05 "But of him, you are in Christ Jesus 42:08 who became for us, wisdom from God, 42:12 righteousness, sanctification, 42:17 and redemption." 42:19 Through Christ we become wise, 42:22 we become righteous. 42:25 He is our sanctification, 42:27 will we accept Him as our Savior. 42:30 He's who sets us apart. 42:33 2 Thessalonians 2:13. 42:36 2 Thessalonians 2:13, says, 42:42 "We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, 42:45 brethren, beloved by the Lord 42:47 because God from the beginning 42:50 chose you for salvation 42:52 through sanctification 42:54 by the Spirit and belief in the truth." 43:00 You can remember this one, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 43:03 Philippians 2:30. 43:04 It's the Spirit working in 43:06 is still willing to do His good pleasure. 43:08 And all of this is signified. 43:13 You remember it as you keep the Sabbath. 43:16 I remember the first Sabbath that I kept. 43:18 It was just like... 43:22 For the first time I exhaled, I understood grace. 43:26 Oh, it makes me so mad 43:27 when people say Sabbath keeping is legalistic. 43:30 I never understood grace, 43:34 until I understood 43:37 that God's commandments and keeping His Sabbath, 43:41 on that word Sabbath was so exciting. 43:44 Just, I'm a workaholic. 43:46 I know some other people on this panel 43:48 that are workaholics. 43:49 If it weren't for the Sabbath, we'd work ourselves to death. 43:53 But it's also a sign of knowledge. 43:57 And I just want to quickly give you some scriptures. 43:59 The Hebrew understanding of knowledge 44:01 includes intellectual and emotional 44:06 and relational aspects, 44:10 it's to walk in relationship with one. 44:13 So just jot these scripture references down. 44:16 Isaiah 11:2 says that we, 44:21 "The spirit of the knowledge, 44:22 and the fear of the Lord will be on us." 44:24 So that's, that's what Sabbath helps us to do. 44:28 Isaiah 43:10, 44:30 "We know the Lord and believe Him." 44:34 It's the knowledge that we will learn 44:36 during the Sabbath. 44:38 Psalm 9:10, 44:39 "To know the Lord means to trust and seek Him," 44:43 it says, 44:44 "Those who know Your name, put their trust on You, 44:46 and because they seek You." 44:50 Jeremiah 10:25, 44:52 "To know the Lord is to call on His name." 44:55 And you know, I love Sabbath 44:58 because you've got all day 45:00 to call on the name of the Lord. 45:01 1 Chronicles 28:9, 45:03 "To know the Lord is to serve Him 45:06 with a loyal heart and a willing mind." 45:10 Sabbath is a sign 45:14 of the covenant of grace. 45:16 It is a sign of the redemptive deep love. 45:20 Sabbath, to me, 45:22 is the most beautiful day of the week. 45:24 And it's why we have a weekly cycle. 45:27 Amen. Wow. 45:30 Thank you, Shelley. 45:31 I know that, 45:33 for us, the Sabbath is a really special day. 45:35 I mean what a great lesson. 45:36 I mean, the whole quarterly has been fantastic, 45:38 but especially lesson nine here on the Sabbath. 45:40 I know Jill and I talked about Friday night 45:42 is one of our most favorite times of the week. 45:45 We even have usually a little special meal, 45:47 and just special things that we do on the Sabbath day. 45:50 And we just look forward to the Sabbath. 45:52 And what a great time to spend with God. 45:54 And I appreciate pastor and others 45:55 that mentioned about the relationship aspect, 45:57 because that's what it is. 45:58 And I have Thursday, 46:00 and it's called, 46:02 Remember the Sabbath day. 46:04 So the key word that we're focusing on here 46:05 is remember 46:08 and that's our focus. 46:10 I just want to say that I'm so thankful for the person, 46:13 the staff that remembered to hit the record button 46:15 for the Sabbath School Panel. 46:17 Right, aren't you? 46:19 Because otherwise you wouldn't be watching 46:20 if they didn't hit the record button. 46:21 And I want to say I'm so thankful 46:23 that you remembered, 46:24 we're thinking about remembered 46:25 to tune into 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 46:27 Somewhere on your schedule, you remembered to tune in. 46:30 I remember several years ago, I was in an office here at 3ABN 46:33 and we were having a meeting that was quiet, 46:35 you know we're having a discussion, 46:36 all of a sudden the entire office just erupted, 46:38 bells and whistles, it sound like an orchestra. 46:40 There was like alarms going off. 46:43 And what this person had done, their cell phone had an alarm, 46:45 their computer had an alarm, their iPad had an alarm, 46:48 and it was reminding them to drink water. 46:51 That was a reminder. 46:52 So I think about this, 46:56 there was a study that was done by... 46:58 Her name, let me look here is Karen Boler 47:01 from John Hopkins University. 47:02 She did a little study on remembering. 47:05 It seems like just our whole lives 47:06 are bombarded, we're trying to remember stuff. 47:08 We got these little cell phones. 47:09 I've got calendars, reminders, and all this stuff 47:11 that keeps popping up, to remember, right? 47:13 So we're talking about remembering the Sabbath. 47:15 So Karen did a research and finding out about things 47:20 you know how we did is remembering stuff as a society. 47:22 Well, we're not doing that well. 47:25 She says that 83% of people forget names. 47:29 Hopefully they don't forget their own name, right? 47:31 But they forget names. 47:33 Sixty percent forget where something is. 47:37 I can relate. 47:39 Fifty seven percent also telephone numbers. 47:42 Fifty three percent forget words. 47:45 Forty nine percent forget what was said. 47:49 Forty two percent forget faces, 47:51 and 38% forget 47:54 whether I've just done something, 47:56 I've been there too. 47:57 So I think I can relate to a number of these areas. 48:00 But then you go to the other extreme, okay? 48:02 So then you have some people who seem to never forget. 48:05 This lady's name Miss Price 48:07 was the first person ever to be diagnosed 48:09 with what is known as, hopefully I can say this 48:12 highly superior autobiographical memory. 48:16 In other words, HSM. 48:18 It's a condition she shares 48:20 with only about 60 people in the world. 48:23 Miss Price remembers the day of the week 48:26 for every day since 1980, 48:28 for her it's 1980. 48:29 She remembers what she was doing, 48:31 who she was with, 48:33 where she was on each of these days. 48:35 She can even actively recall a memory of 20 years ago, 48:39 as easily as a memory of just two days ago. 48:42 That's incredible. 48:43 There's a young man, his name is Vasai. 48:46 He also has the same condition of HSM. 48:49 And he thinks his condition has made him a kinder, 48:51 more tolerant person. 48:54 He says, some say forgive and forget. 48:57 But since forgetting is a luxury I don't have, 49:00 I need to learn to genuinely forgive. 49:03 He says not just others but myself. 49:06 You know, so today we're looking at Exodus 20:8-11. 49:11 It says, starts out with what, pastor? 49:13 Remember, 49:15 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 49:17 You know, it's not a drudgery. 49:19 The Sabbath is not a drudgery, 49:20 and God wants us to remember the Sabbath day. 49:23 And I just want to look briefly today at why it's important. 49:27 The Sabbath is a sign 49:29 or a covenant between God and His people. 49:31 You may just have time to jot some of these down, 49:33 but Ezekiel 20:12, says, 49:36 "Moreover, also I gave them my," what? 49:39 "My Sabbath to be a sign or a covenant 49:42 between Me and them, 49:43 that they might know that I am the Lord 49:45 that sanctifies them." 49:46 We've talked about a number of different signs 49:48 and covenants, 49:49 you know, we had in Genesis 17, we had this circumcision sign, 49:54 but here you've got the Sabbath as a sign between us and God. 49:59 The Sabbath was a sign 50:01 and Jill mentioned this, the Sinaitic, the Sinaic... 50:04 Sinaitic. Sinaitic. Thank you. 50:06 All these people, they're just such theologians, 50:08 you know, I'm just here trying to keep up 50:10 with the Sinaitic covenant. 50:12 And here are just some reasons. 50:13 I have about five of them, but you can make your own list 50:15 and maybe that'd be a really fun Sabbath project for you 50:17 just to, to make a whole list of why we should remember. 50:20 So I have about five here today. 50:22 Some of them have been touched on briefly already. 50:24 But number one, 50:25 we remember God as our Creator, 50:28 by keeping the Sabbath. 50:30 Exodus 20:8-11. 50:32 And Jill and I, this is one of our, 50:33 if I can say tradition 50:35 is to actually recite the fourth commandment 50:36 usually Friday or on Sabbath. 50:38 And let's look at it together, 50:40 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 50:42 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 50:45 But the seventh day 50:46 is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: 50:49 in it thou shalt not do any work, 50:51 thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, 50:53 thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, 50:55 nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger 50:57 that is within thy gates." 50:58 Verse 11, 51:00 "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, 51:04 and all that in them is, 51:05 and rested on the seventh day: 51:07 wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, 51:09 and hallowed it." 51:11 So number one, we remember God is our creator 51:12 by keeping the Sabbath. 51:14 Number two, we remember God is our redeemer. 51:16 Jill was touching on that by keeping the Sabbath. 51:19 Deuteronomy 5:15. 51:21 And it says, 51:22 "And remembers that you were a slave 51:23 in the land of Egypt, 51:25 and the Lord your God brought you out from there 51:27 by a mighty hand, 51:28 and by an outstretched arm, 51:30 therefore the Lord God commanded you 51:33 to keep the Sabbath." 51:34 So the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. 51:36 The Sabbath is reminder to them on a weekly basis 51:38 that God brought them out. 51:40 But I like for those of us 51:41 we can remember that God is our redeemer 51:43 on a weekly basis. 51:45 Number three, 51:47 we remember God is our sanctifier 51:49 by keeping the Sabbath. 51:51 You can look up Exodus 31:13. 51:54 And it says, 51:55 "Speak also to the children of visual saying, 51:57 'Surely my Sabbath shall keep, you shall keep, 52:00 for it is a sign between Me and you 52:04 throughout your generations," 52:05 and that's powerful, 52:06 "that you may know that I am the Lord, 52:09 who sanctifies you." 52:11 So we remember God is our sanctifier 52:13 by keeping the Sabbath. 52:15 Number four, remember God is our sustainer. 52:17 Psalm 55:22, 52:18 "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you, 52:23 he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." 52:26 Number five, we remember God 52:28 as our restorer of relationships. 52:30 Romans 5:10. 52:33 Roman 5, Romans 5:10 says, 52:34 "For if, when we were enemies, 52:37 we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, 52:40 much more, having been reconciled, 52:43 we shall be saved by his life." 52:45 So we can remember God 52:47 as our restorer of our relationships. 52:48 You know, as we're working on this study, 52:49 you know, Jill and I were just trying, 52:51 kind of comparing notes and you can make a, 52:52 an incredible list of, 52:54 you know, who God is and what the Sabbath is to you. 52:59 And just so many fun things you can do on the Sabbath day. 53:01 Anyway, God restored our relationship to Him 53:03 by the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. 53:07 And if you're studying along in the quarterly, 53:08 you can look at this quote, which I really liked, it's in, 53:11 comes from the lesson, and it says, 53:13 "Again, when we understand the covenant 53:16 to be a relationship, 53:17 Pastor John talked about that earlier, 53:20 "between God and humankind, 53:22 the Sabbath which can greatly help 53:24 strengthen that relationship 53:26 comes in to specific prominence or importance." 53:31 You know, as we think about the word 53:33 remember in our just day to day relationships. 53:36 I'm going to bring up the marriage example as well. 53:39 You know, if you're a married couple, 53:40 usually you should be, 53:42 your anniversary 53:43 is a significant date to remember, right? 53:45 Husbands, sometimes we're talked about 53:47 is not remembering the anniversaries, 53:49 and think about for Jill and myself 53:51 September 22, 53:52 the year we were married, it was 2002. 53:55 But if I came to her and said, 53:57 "Sweetie, oh, when is our anniversary? 53:59 Was it last month or is it coming up?" 54:02 That would not make her feel very good. 54:04 Like is this relationship even mean anything to you? 54:07 Okay, I know she likes flowers. 54:09 But instead of getting her flowers, 54:10 what if I continue to buy her vacuum cleaners 54:12 or I don't know something else. 54:15 Folks, you know what I'm saying, 54:16 that would not be very good to build a relationship. 54:19 God is asking us 54:21 to remember Him on the Sabbath day. 54:24 You know, I'm thinking about also relationship. 54:28 When you see someone a couple together, 54:29 and you know that they're in tune with each other, 54:31 you can usually see that, 54:33 point that out like, oh, wow, boy, yeah, there are a couple, 54:35 they are together. 54:37 Well, how is that possible? 54:38 Because they've spent time together, 54:39 they've built that relationship. 54:41 So with God, let's think about that 54:42 with our relationship with Him. 54:43 He has asked us to remember. 54:46 And He's asked us to remember, 54:48 not because it's a drudgery when it comes around Friday, 54:50 like, oh, boy, gotta remember this. 54:52 I gotta remember, Friday night start Sabbath. 54:55 No, to me, remember, it's a great thing. 54:57 Remember, remember me as your creator, 54:59 remember me as your redeemer. 55:01 But then I also think was beautiful with this whole, 55:03 remembering who God is, is that He never forgets us. 55:07 He's asking us to remember Him in this special day, 55:11 but we also can gain a promise in the Bible. 55:14 It's in Isaiah 49:15 that we talks about, 55:18 "As the mother may forget her sucking child," 55:21 usually they don't. 55:22 God says, "I will never forget you." 55:25 I want to just enclose in here. 55:27 This comes from the SDA Bible commentary. 55:28 It says, 55:29 "Every act of God on our behalf 55:33 constitutes a reason why we should remember." 55:35 Every act of God, 55:37 isn't that powerful of why we should remember? 55:39 That is to reflect upon, 55:40 acknowledge and appreciate this love 55:43 and beneficent care. 55:45 Yeah. 55:46 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 55:48 I'm glad you don't get her vacuum cleaners. 55:49 I don't. 55:51 Yay! 55:53 You know, in lesson seven, 55:54 she also mentioned about the toast. 55:55 I'm so thankful she remembers to keep my toast 55:57 in lesson seven, 55:58 a couple quarterly lessons back, 55:59 you know, she remembers I like my toast crunchy, but... 56:01 Nice. All right. 56:03 Well, we have just a little while. 56:04 Let's go back and get some final thoughts. 56:05 Yes, very quickly. 56:07 The Sabbath is not something to forget 56:10 unless Jesus is someone to forget. 56:13 If you love Me, keep My commandments. 56:15 The Sabbath is a constant perpetual indicator 56:18 that we love our Lord 56:20 and we do not want to forget Him. 56:21 Amen. 56:23 The Sabbath is a covenant sign of grace. 56:24 I think of Mark 2, 56:26 "The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath." 56:29 What a privilege is ours 56:31 to walk in covenant relationship with Jesus. 56:35 And the Sabbath is a sign 56:38 of God's continuing grace 56:41 of His continuing process of salvation. 56:45 As pastor said, and one other, 56:48 we have been saved, we are being saved, 56:51 there was justification, sanctification, 56:54 and we will be saved regardless of tithe. 56:57 Amen. 56:59 You know, Pastor Ryan, again, I think just for me, 57:01 the Sabbath, 57:02 what a time to build the relationship 57:04 has been talked about with our Lord and creator, 57:06 our redeemer and our friend. 57:09 Amen. Praise the Lord. 57:10 You know, like you, Shelley, 57:12 I wasn't raised Seventh-day Adventists. 57:14 So, you know, for many, many years, 57:15 I did not keep the Sabbath holy, 57:18 just because I was unaware, 57:19 wasn't knowledgeable about it. 57:21 But praise the Lord, 57:22 the moment the Lord showed me the beauty 57:24 and the power of the message of the Sabbath. 57:27 I didn't go into it with this, 57:28 oh, you know, I can't mow my grass anymore on Sabbath. 57:32 Oh, I can't go shopping anymore. 57:34 It was a blessing. And it has been a blessing. 57:36 And I know it'll be a blessing for you, 57:37 if you allow it to be. 57:39 We want to thank you so much for joining us this week 57:41 for Sabbath School Panel. 57:42 We want you to join us again next week 57:44 when we come back for lesson number 10 57:46 entitled, The New Covenant. 57:49 So God bless you until next time, 57:51 see you back here on Sabbath School Panel. 57:53 Amen. |
Revised 2021-05-27