The Rest of Our Work, Pt. 2

Jesus expected His people would still know about the Sabbath in the last days. The church has largely forgotten the one commandment that He said 'Remember'.

We're so glad to see each of you here tonight. We want to welcome you to the Landmarks of Prophecy Bible study series. I always want to welcome those who we remember are watching online or you're watching via satellite television and we're just glad that you could be part of this epic Bible study adventure.

Now tonight we have a very important lesson that is dealing with a subject that is of great interest among Christians these days and it does have a very important bearing on the issues of prophecy. The title of the lesson is called “The Rest of Our Work” - the rest of our work. Now we're going to begin with a story in your Bible that's drawn from the book of Exodus. In Exodus, we know that the Children of Israel miraculously crossed over the Red Sea and now, as they're going through the wilderness, they had a few trying days between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai. Their provisions ran low and they started to complain. God said, Look, I’m going to work a miracle for you. Here's what I’m going to do. I'm going to rain down bread from Heaven for you.' - what do they call that bread?

>>Manna.

>>Manna. 'And I’m going to do it six days a week. Go out early in the morning. You gather it up and there will not be any on the seventh day.' Why?

>>Sabbath.

>>It was the Sabbath - ever since the Garden of Eden - and He said, 'Gather twice as much on Friday so you don't have to gather it.' And then you can read there, then Moses said, 'Eat that today for today is a Sabbath to the Lord.' - today you're not going to find it in the field.' Interesting miracle for forty years. Forty years there was manna that rained down six days a week, but none on the seventh.

Now some people say the Sabbath command appeared at Mount Sinai and it was given to the Jews only. You notice it's Exodus 16, where God tells them about the manna coming six days a week? They haven't gotten to Mount Sinai yet. The Sabbath goes all the way back to the beginning.

Now, please hear me very carefully. We're going to study the subject of the Sabbath tonight and I’m going to show you how it is an important factor in prophecy. First remember, in the last days, the mark of the beast compels everybody to receive a mark in the right hand or the forehead and whoever doesn't do what? Worship the image of the beast should be killed.' Whoever doesn't worship. Is worship going to be an issue in the last days?

>>Yes.

>>In the very first conflict between Cain and Abel, Cain claimed to worship God, Abel claimed to worship God. They both built altars. One worshiped God the way God said - that's Abel - Cain said, 'I’m going to do it my own way.' God said, 'I’m not accepting your sacrifice, but I’m accepting the sacrifice of Abel.' Cain got mad. He persecuted and killed his brother and it was all over worship. From the beginning to the end - what did the devil want from Jesus? 'You fall down and worship me, I’ll give it all to you.' If we don't understand this subject and we don't think that's connected with last-day prophecy, friends, you're kidding yourself. It is all very integrated - from cover to cover in the Bible. This is an important issue that I think we need to understand.

Well, that's my introduction and now we're going to go into the lesson and I want to be gentle as I share these things with you, because what I’m sharing with you, I remember the first time I heard it and it really shook me. I think it shook me because it was so compelling, but I felt like I should have known these things. Alright, let's go to question #1 in your study. What day of the week is the Sabbath - the biblical Sabbath? Before I give you the answer, I want to make something very clear. I believe there are loving, spirit-filled Christian people in all kinds of different denominations. Is that clear? I could start naming religious leaders that you see on TV - I’ve met many of them that are friends. I respect them. They respect me and we respectfully maybe disagree on some things, but I don't question that. I know there are going to be millions of people in Heaven that maybe went to church on the wrong day. But the truth is still the truth.

Here's what the Bible says in Genesis 2, verses 2 and 3, "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day..." - this is genesis 2. This is about as far back as you can go in the beginning of your Bible. So does God say that He made the Sabbath for Jews? How many people were in the world when God did this?

>>Two.

>>Two. What were their names?

>>Adam and Eve.

>>Adam and Eve. You know, the Bible says that the Sabbath was made for man. What else did God make for man in the Garden of Eden? Woman. It says, 'It's not good that a man should be alone.' Now here's a question: do we still need women? (Laughter) Do we also still need that day of rest?

>>Yes.

>>They're equally important. Alright, now you notice something else here - it doesn't say 'and on a seventh day' - it says, 'on the seventh day.' Is there a difference between saying 'A' and 'The'? If I were to just call out to the audience now and say, 'Could you please bring me 'the' pen?' you'd look at each other and say, 'I wonder who has 'the' pen?' right? 'The special pen.' But if I say 'Bring me 'a' pen, half of you might jump out of your seats and give me a pen because it doesn't matter what pen, it's any pen. So God doesn't say 'Remember 'a' seventh day' He says, 'Remember 'the' seventh day.' It's a definite article. It's very specific.

How has God demonstrated the importance of His holy Sabbath. Exodus chapter 20, verse 8 - made it one of the Ten Commandments. It says, "Remember". Why do you think God begins that commandment with the word 'Remember'? He knew we might forget. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy...the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" - the Bible tells us.

Now you notice that God didn't say, 'I want you to make it holy' or 'Pick a day and make it holy,' God says, 'I have picked the day and I made it holy and I sanctified it and I blessed it. I want you to enjoy those blessings that I put into that day.' Does He say 'Everybody just kind of pick your day'? Or does He say there is a day where we worship corporately. It says in Leviticus 23, 'The Sabbath is a holy convocation.' You know what the word 'convocation' means? A convening. They were to come together and worship God. He had blessed a time for them. So that's important.

Now I know there are a lot of people out there that will say, 'Pastor Doug, you're focusing on one little thing and this is not a big issue and it doesn't matter.' Or, you know, 'The law was nailed to the cross' and - how many of you have heard some of these arguments before? When I first read these things I said, 'How can this be right? How can everybody be wrong? How could the majority be wrong about this? And then I remember it was the majority, when Jesus came the first time, that did not accept Him. Moses said, 'Follow not a multitude to do evil.' I said, 'Well, I’m going to go ask some pastors.' I was a baby Christian so when I first learned these things I went to church Sunday like everybody else, and I should have known better because my mother's Jewish, and I thought, 'Well, there must - I haven't read the whole Bible, it's a big book - somewhere in there it says that God changed it and I just haven't found it yet.'

So I went to the pastors and I said, 'Why do we go to church on Sunday if Saturday is the Sabbath? And one of them said, 'Well, that's because Jesus rose on the first day of the week and that made it the new Sabbath.' And I said, 'Alright, well where's the verse that says that?' 'Well, there's not really a specific verse, but we have a long-standing tradition.' Hmm...I said, 'Oh, I’d like more than that.' I went to another pastor and I said, 'Why are we going to church on Sunday?' And we're not even keeping Sunday very holy.

Let's face it. A lot of people, they put in an hour and a half at church and then they go to the movies, they go to the mall, they go mow their lawn, right? Even among people that don't keep the seventh day, not very many people are keeping it holy. And I remember one pastor said, 'Well, Pastor Doug, we don't need to keep it, it's part of the law and it's all nailed to the cross.' I said, 'Do we keep the Ten Commandments or not?'

I was doing a meeting like this one time and a pastor came and he interrupted me. He said, 'Pastor Doug, you're putting these people under bondage by teaching the law.' and I said, 'Do you believe we're supposed to keep the Ten Commandments?' He said, 'No.' Well, some of his members were there and they looked at him like - because, you know, obviously, you know, you don't kill, don't lie, don't steal, and so he had no problem with the others. And then he said, 'Well, yes.' But then, you know, it's part of a complete package - it's right in the middle - and then he said, 'Nine of them.' And I said, 'So brother, you're saying that the one commandment that God begins with the word 'Remember' is the only one we're supposed to forget?' I said. That didn't make sense, but, I mean, that's what convinced me is I asked ten pastors, I got twelve different answers - they were all different. I said, 'Something's wrong here. We don't have a good biblical reason.' God did something special on this day. It says three, in particular, things. It says God rested that day, God blessed that day, God sanctified the seventh day. He's God. You know, I think that He gets to make the rules.

Which day did Jesus keep holy? Alright, you read here in Luke chapter 4, verse 16 - this is in the New Testament - "So He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as his custom was," - what's a custom? Something you do once or something that's a pattern?

>>Pattern.

>>It was customary - something he always did. "As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read." Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and He read the scriptures. It was a custom of His life - a habit - a practice. Not only was it the practice of Jesus, and He's our example, it was a practice of the apostles as well. What was Paul's custom regarding the Sabbath day? Paul, one of the great - about half of the New Testament you're holding was written by Paul. What was his pattern? Acts 17, verse 2, "Then Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures," - you can jump to Acts 18, verse 4 and it says, "He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." - Jews and Gentiles - some people say, 'Well Paul went there because he was just trying to reach the Jews.' but it says even when the Jews didn't come, he'd go and he'd speak to the Gentiles.

In fact, before Paul was Paul he had another name. You know what it was?

>>Saul.

>>Saul - before he was converted he went by the name Saul and he was out gathering and persecuting, arresting, killing Christians, right? You know where the Bible says he went to look for them? It says he went to the synagogues to find the Christians. Why? Because they were meeting the same days that the Jews were meeting. The early Christian church all were keeping the Sabbath. How important do you think one of the Ten Commandments was to the Jewish nation? When the Christians accepted Jesus - Gentile and Jew - they argued over circumcision; they argued over the feast days and a number of things. You don't find any argument over the subject of whether or not we're going to keep the Sabbath. Every time Jesus had a dispute over the Sabbath, it wasn't whether or not to keep it, it was how to keep it.

Doug: Don't go anywhere, friends. We'll be back in just a moment with the rest of today's presentation. Are you weary of the never-ending 24/7 schedule in today's hectic world? Is this stressful grind really the way that life was meant to be lived? Or is there something better out there waiting for you? Well, what if I told you that God had originally designed mankind to take a regular refreshing weekly break, and that in doing this, your life, and even your health, would improve. It's a blessing called the Sabbath, and it can change your life forever.

That's why Amazing Facts wants to send you a special, free magazine, and it's called "The Rest of Your Life." It's filled with vivid color graphics and fascinating facts that reveal the lost Bible truth and commandment known as the Sabbath. You'll discover the incredible physical and spiritual blessings of embracing the Sabbath, as you explore the history from ancient times to the present, even to the future. To get your free copy, call the phone number on the screen and ask for offer number 813 or visit the web address. And after you read this incredible resource, be sure and share it with a friend. Let's return now to today's presentation and learn some more amazing facts from the Word of God.

>> He said, 'The Sabbath is for doing good, not for doing evil.' He healed somebody, right? He never said, 'Don't keep the Sabbath anymore.' Jesus, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue. The Bible is so clear - think about it - when God gave the law, how clearly did He advertise it? He gathers the whole nation, from this divine megaphone on the top of Mount Sinai He, with His own voice, announces the Ten Commandments to the people. He then says, 'Everyone got that?' 'We got it! All the Lord has said we will do.' He says, 'Now I’m going to write it down.' He writes it. Moses gets mad, he breaks those. God says, 'Moses, I cut out the first stones, you cut out the next stones, but I’m writing it back down again.' Moses brings up some more stones, God writes it down again. Why? 'Heaven and earth will pass away. My word will not pass away.' He wrote it in stone.

If God was going to change one of the Ten Commandments, don't you think that would have been a really hot topic in the New Testament?

>>Amen.

>>Oh, there would have been incredible debate and discussion. It would have been very clear. All of the apostles would have addressed it. But they don't because it was an understood truth. It's like our founding fathers said - certain things are self-evident. And for all of the early Christians, it was self-evident that they kept the Sabbath day.

Why would God change it? What was wrong with the seventh day? Do Gentile Christians not need worship and rest? 'Pastor Doug, doesn't it say in Colossians chapter 2, 'Let no man judge you concerning meat or drink or new moons or Sabbath days, which are shadows'? Look at that, my Bible just turned to it - Colossians chapter 2 - you read in verse 13, "And you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive" - notice Paul uses the word 'circumcision' there so it tells you what the topic is. "He has made alive together with Him having forgiven all your trespasses; having wiped out the handwriting" - Ten Commandments, were they written, like the law of Moses, on paper by hand or by the finger of God in stone? There was - the ceremonial law was written by Moses - "having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us".

When Moses wrote the ceremonial law he put it in the outside of the ark in a pocket and he said, 'This will be a witness against you.' He didn't say that about the Ten Commandments. "The handwriting of ordinance that was against us, taking it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." And then I’ll jump down. He says in verse 16, "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding of a festival, or a new moon, or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come."

People say, 'See, don't let anyone judge you regarding the Sabbath.' They're not reading it honestly. There's two different kinds of Sabbaths in the Bible. There was the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments and there were the annual feast day Sabbaths - one came weekly, the others were written on paper - the Ten Commandments was written on stone. One was part of worship for everybody, the others originated after the exodus and they ended at the cross. They were shadows to help us recognize Jesus. And so people will point to that and they'll say, 'See, we don't have to - don't let anyone judge you about the Sabbath. You don't have to keep a Sabbath.' That's a very poor exegesis of the Bible, when they use it that way. But someone's going to bring that to you.

Someone else is going to point out Romans 14, where it says, 'One man regards one day above another; another man regards every day alike. Let every man be persuaded in his own mind.' The word 'Sabbath' never even appears in the chapter. Paul is talking about these annual feasts that they were being told they had to keep. Paul says, 'Look, if you want to keep the day, keep it to the Lord.' People come to me and they say, 'Are Christians required to observe Christmas?' I say, 'No, there's no command. If you're going to remember it, keep Jesus in it' - do it unto the Lord - 'If you're not, then you're not.' But no, there's no command - 'Thou shalt remember Christmas.' You all know it's probably not the 25th when Jesus was born, but that's as good a time as any to remember His birthday. Ask me a question about that.

So you're going to hear these arguments, but I pray that you'll hear it out. Ask any question you want, we'll be willing to answer them. Alright, back to our study. Did Jesus intend for His people to keep the Sabbath after He died for their sins? Listen to the prophecy now that Jesus gives in Matthew 24. Speaking of the Second Coming He said - and the time of trouble at the end - He said, 'Pray that your flight be not in the winter" - and He's not talking about catching a plane out of Denver - He says, 'Pray that your flight be not in the winter' - He's talking about fleeing for your lives because it says 'Those that be in Judea flee into the mountains.' In the last days, when there's this great tribulation, God's people will again have to flee. Those - He said, 'Pray your flight is not in the winter or on the Sabbath day.' Why would Jesus say that except Jesus expected His people would still know about the Sabbath in the last days. Even though they may have forgotten for a while, before He comes back there's going to be a great revival and God's people are going to come back together on the Bible - before Jesus comes back.

>>Amen.

>>This truth that I’m sharing with you, I’m not the only one. It's going all over the world and I am meeting Baptists, Pentecostal, Methodist - Christians from all different faiths that are talking to their people - matter of fact, right up the street from our office in California, a large church with several thousand people, they learned the truth on this and they're meeting two days a week now. You probably know some other evangelical churches that are now having Saturday and Sunday meetings because they're learning these things. We need to get back to what the Bible says, friends. And it's not just going to church, we need to learn about keeping a day holy. What it means to rest.

Does the Bible teach that God's end-time people would also keep His seventh-day Sabbath holy? Let's see what it says here in Revelation - another prophecy scripture - and the dragon - we've talked about this before, who's the dragon?

>>The devil.

>>'The devil was wroth' - we're using King James. That's old English. That means 'infuriated' with the woman. Which woman is the dragon wroth with?

>>The church.

>>Church, good church or bad church?

>>Good church.

>>The fact that the devil's mad at her means she's the good church, right? 'And he went to make war with the remainder - or the remnant - of her seed that' - do what? - 'keep the commandments of God and they have the testimony of Jesus.' Now does that mean keep some of the commandments? Everybody - you'll hear my testimony tomorrow morning. I've been in jail several times and everybody I ever met in jail keeps some of the commandments some of the time. (Laughter) Is that what God's looking for? I mean, at least when we sleep. The Bible says, 'Whosoever shall break one of the least of these commandments has broken them all' - that's James - and so you can't stand before the judge and say, 'Well, you know, I pay my taxes on time and I don't speed. I realize I murdered somebody - that's only - but I’m giving you 90 percent obedience, judge.' He's not going to care about that.

Revelation 14 - another verse, similar - 'Here is the patience of the saints; here are those that keep the commandments of God.' Now that's contrasted with those who worship the beast and his image - same chapter - people like Daniel. Revelation 22 - last chapter in your Bible - 'blessed' - is that good or bad? Blessed?

>>That's good.

>>Blessed are those that do His commandments that they might have a right to the tree of life and enter through the gates of the city. You're going to tell me this isn't important to Jesus? It is. The church has largely forgotten the one commandment that He said 'Remember.' The devil wants us to forget our time with God, so we become so preoccupied. Jesus said before He comes back, 'Beware, beware, lest your hearts be overcharged with the cares of this life.' Next thing you know, you're on social security, your life is over, and you didn't serve God. Now is the time.

Does God allow anyone to change His holy day? Does man say, 'I’m going to make a day holy'? Can - do we have the power to do that? Proverbs 30, verses 5 and 6, "Every word of God is pure...add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." What is one of the characteristics of the beast power that you find in Daniel chapter 7, verse 25? 'He will think to changes times and laws.' Do you remember reading that? Speaking of the beast power - it's very clear in that chapter.

Can you name one of the Ten Commandments that is not only a law but a time? There's only one. It is the longest of the Ten Commandments. It is in the middle of the law. It's the only commandment that begins with the word 'Remember.' Hebrews chapter 4, verse 9, "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." Do you know what that word is? This is New Testament - that word 'rest' is there remains therefore a Sabbath - sabatismos - for the people of God even in the New Testament.

What day is the Lord's day of Revelation 1, verse 10? People say, 'Well that's the Sabbath, but we remember the Lord's day.' Well, what is the Lord's day? You can read in Exodus 20, it says, "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God"' you can also read in Isaiah 58, verse 13, "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day." God says the Sabbath is His holy day.

And then, again, Mark chapter 2, we've read this already, "Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." When John wrote the vision of Revelation - it says - he said, 'Ii was in the spirit on the Lord's day.' A lot of pastors have just kind of taken liberty and said, 'That was on Sunday. He was worshiping God on Sunday.' Nothing in the text or in history says it was Sunday. The Bible says what day is the Lord's day. If anything, you know, they worked them in the mines on the Isle of Patmos where he was a prisoner. They gave him that day off and God gave him the vision.

From cover to cover in the Bible we can see that the devil is trying to do all he can to keep us so preoccupied with work and worry and stress and cares that we don't know what it means to really rest in Jesus. And right in the middle of His law God said, 'I want to preserve a time for us to develop a relationship.' After He makes the world in six days, God says, 'I’m not done. I'm making one more day for quality time with you because I love you. I want to walk with you and talk with you. I want to have a relationship with you.' What should we love more, the creation or the creator?

>>Creator.

>>He wants to have a relationship with you but we get too busy with the horizontal - the worries - and we forget about our time with God. What profit is it if you gain the whole world and lose your soul? If you don't have God, you don't have anything. If you've got God, you've got everything.

>>Amen.

>>If you've got Jesus, you've got the whole world, friends. And Christ said what? He said, 'If you love me, keep My commandments.'

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>> I’d like to live my life over knowing what I know now. I don't want to start over and just make all the same mistakes. I want to have my memories, so I don't make the same mistakes. But you do get a new beginning, you become a new creature. That feeling the moment your sins being washed away because God promises it. Isn't that a wonderful concept guys?

>> I was thirsty and you gave me drink.

>> In as much as you did it for one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me.

>> Let's face it, it's not always easy to understand everything you read in the Bible. With over 700,000 words contained in 66 books the Bible can generate a lot of questions. To get biblical straight forward answers, call into Bible Answers Live a live nationwide call-in radio program where you can talk to Pastor Doug Batchelor and ask him your most difficult Bible questions. For times and stations in your area or to listen to answers online visit bal.amazingfacts.org.

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