Carlos Muñoz: Maranatha and happy Sabbath, everyone. Welcome to the Granite Bay Hilltop Seventh-day Adventist Church. Welcome for joining us to our Sabbath School Study Hour. For those that don't know me, I am Carlos Muñoz, I am the Director of the Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism, we're known as AFCOE. And so, I'm here to greet you, and for those that are here in person, those that are watching online or on television too, if you're ever in the Sacramento area, please come and join us at Granite Bay for our worship services.
Before we get started, I want to tell you about a free gift that we're giving out today, it's called, "How to Keep the Sabbath Holy." This is written by Pastor Doug, "How to Keep the Sabbath Holy," if you are interested in this, you can call us at 1-866-788-3966, or 866-Study-More and ask for offer number 878. If you are in the United States of America and you would like a digital copy of this, you can text the code SH148 to number 40544, and you will receive a digital copy. If you're outside of North America, go to our website that's stated right there on the bottom of that screen.
Now, before we get started with our Sabbath School lesson today, we're going to have some special music to get the environment ready for the study of the Word of God. So, I hope you enjoy it.
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Carlos: Who says amen to that? Praise the Lord. So, our lesson study for today is lesson number ten, the Sabbath, right? Sabbath rest, Shabbat. Let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this opportunity, we thank You for the blessing and the privilege that You have given us of having another day of life, of being Your children, of being part of this remnant movement, and the blessing, Father, to come together and honor and worship You on Your Sabbath day. And this is the topic that we're going to be talking about, Father, so we thank You again. May this be rejoiceful, may we have a deeper understanding and a blessing and understand the blessings that come from Your Fourth Commandment. We thank You, Father, for this opportunity. We ask this in Jesus's name, everybody says amen. Amen.
So, Revelation chapter 12, verse 17 tells us that there is a war that is being carried out, right? It says that the dragon is enraged, who is he enraged with? He's enraged with the woman, and the woman represents, what? The church, right? And it says he's enraged with the church, and he's making war on the woman, he's making war with the church, on God's people, and the question is why? Why is the devil enraged with the woman? Why is he enraged with the church? Why is he making war on her based on Revelation chapter 12, verse 17? And it says, because she does what? She keeps the commandments of God and has the what? The testimony of Jesus Christ, right?
And so the devil is not happy with those that want to uphold and honor God's Ten Commandments, that want to uphold and honor Jesus Christ and uphold the testimony of Jesus Christ, everybody with me, everybody say amen. Amen, now, do we see this playing out not just in the Bible, but in daily life? Do we see a war against the Ten Commandments, but especially do we see a war against the Sabbath day? What do you think?
Oh, I'm going to share with you just a couple of things that cross my mind in regards to this. You probably can't read this, this is in Spanish, but this is called, this is Septimo Dia, this is seventh day in Spanish. And this is Cirque du Soleil, I'm sure you've probably heard of Cirque du Soleil, it's a famous circus, it's a circus without animals, it goes around the world. Before I was a Christian I actually went to a few because it's pretty impressive, but it's very sensual, right? Now I'm understanding as a Christian it's too sensual and, you know, you should just stay away from it, but here's the point.
I remember I was in Guatemala, and I saw this on a billboard, and it said the seventh day, and notice what it says here, "No descansare." In other words, on the seventh day I shall not rest. Now, this is a song from a famous rock band in Spanish called Soda Stereo, very, very famous, very well known, and they made this song. And so Cirque du Soleil adopted this song and incorporated it into this program, into this one part that they did. But notice how subtle it is, right? I shall not rest, on what? On the seventh day. Notice how the enemy is starting to condition us, condition humanity to reject the seventh day Sabbath.
Here's something else I'll share with you. This is a movie that came out recently, now, I have not watched the movie, and I do not advocate that you watch it either. It is called "The Tomorrow War," right? And a friend of mine, the reason I know about this is because a friend of mine sent me a small clip from this movie, and he said, "Look at this! Look at how interesting this is." And in the movie, what's happening is it's tied into climate change, right, and so as the icebergs are melting and the earth is warming up, what happens is that there are these creatures that have been frozen in time and they, as the water freeze--as the water melts away, these creatures now come forth, and they're these flesh eating monsters. They're really ugly, I was going to put a picture of it, but that would, you would probably not sleep tonight because it's really ugly. I mean, please don't even go watch it in that sense.
But the interesting thing is, is that these beasts are now at war with humanity, and humanity is battling against these beasts that they call white-something, I forgot, interesting. But you know what's interesting about these beasts, what pops up in the clip that my friend sent me is that they keep the Sabbath day. So, they're like, "Oh, they keep, they're six days they're feasting, but on the seventh day they rest, and these are our enemies!" Again, conditioning the mind to be like, these things that keep the Sabbath are our, what? They're our enemies.
You're seeing how interesting this is, right? And so, again, please don't watch it, it's a very violent movie, you would not want to watch anything violent, you would not want anything sensual with--you know how movies are today, and not even movies, TV shows, even cartoons today, right? But I'm just showing this as an example of how the world is conditioning us in this sense. And so, that's why I find it very interesting, today's lesson.
Now, you probably say, oh, we've talked about the Sabbath before in Sabbath school, and yes, of course we have, but it's always good to refresh, to look at different angles and different perspectives. And I like how this lesson did it specifically, why? Because despite this, there are people that are searching for truth.
This very week I had somebody call "Amazing Facts," and they passed them over to me, they wanted to speak to a pastor, and he wanted to ask questions about the Sabbath. This was a Pentecostal brother who was studying his Bible, and he came across the Sabbath truth, and he said, "Brother, I want you to talk to me about the Sabbath," amen. People are searching, people are reading their Bibles, people are wanting to know God, and the truth is very evident throughout Scripture, and so I was able to share with this brother the beautiful Sabbath truth. I strengthened him in his belief on the Sabbath day, and then he said, "I'm going to go ahead and start those "Amazing Facts" online Bible studies," amen.
So, praise the Lord, so people are searching, and this is what the purpose of this lesson is about. Despite all the intentions of the enemy of trying to attack the Ten Commandments, especially the Sabbath day, despite everything that the enemy is trying to do, you cannot hide truth, amen. No matter how hard you attack it, no matter how hard you try to hide it, the truth will always come forth, amen. It will always come forth, because it is part of the yearning of the human heart to understand and know our surroundings.
So, our memory text for this week was Leviticus chapter 23, verse 3. "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, the holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord," where? In all, "in all your dwellings." That is our memory text. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to share with you the Sabbath Rest lesson outline. I just make an outline, and I'm going to share with you, and we're going to go through this lesson and see the blessing that it gave us.
So, first we're going to start with number one, the Sabbath and what? The Sabbath and creation. Is the Sabbath and creation linked in, what do you think, yes or no? I have a question. What is the purpose of the Sabbath? The purpose of the Sabbath is to give honor and praise and glory to God, amen. That's the purpose of the Sabbath, that's the reason for the Sabbath, it's to honor God, it's to celebrate God, it's to commemorate that God is our God and that we are his children, amen.
Look at this, look at the early church. Acts chapter 4, verse 24, "They lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, 'Lord, thou art God, who has," what? "Made," or created, "heaven, earth, the sea, and all that is in them."
I have a question, did the early church honor and worship God as the creator of the earth, yes or no? Yes, it did, very clearly. Does heaven, does the universe celebrate and honor and commemorate God as the creator, yes or no, what do you think? Okay, I'll say that for you, Revelation chapter 4, verse 11, and this is in heaven, "Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power," why? Why is God worthy to receive all the glory, all the honor, and all the power? For You, what? "For You created all things, and by Your will they existed," and what? "And were created." So, the early church worshipped and honored God as the Creator.
In Heaven the whole universe praises God because God is the Creator, but something has happened here in earth. It seems that we have forgotten to honor God as our Creator, why do I say that? Look at what it says in Revelation chapter 14, verse 7. "Fear God and give Him glory, for the hour of His judgment has come," and do what? "Worship Him," who what? "Who made," who created, "the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water." Notice that there is, in the three angels's message, a part in the first angel that says, "Worship Him who made," who created, "the earth, the sea, the springs of the water."
If the angels are telling humans to worship and honor Him as the creator of the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water, what does that mean? That we have forgotten how to do it, right? The very end, the last message, the last warning of God to the earth before He puts an end to this earth, the angels are saying, listen, humans. Remember, remember who is your creator, remember to honor and to worship Him as the Creator as the universe does, as the early church did, as God's people throughout history, remember this. So, if He's asking us to--if the angels are telling us to remember this, it's because we have forgotten, right?
Now, the question is, because Revelations 14:7 does not tell us how to worship God as the Creator, it just gives us the declaration to do it, the question then is how do we worship God as our Creator? Well, it's not implicit, it's not explicit, I'm sorry, but it is implicit that we should go where? To creation, right? We should go to creation. And so, when we go to creation, we go to Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, what does it say? In the beginning God created what? The heavens, the earth, and everything around them. Who says amen to that?
Notice, the Bible does not begin with a question, does not begin with--it begins with a declaration. God is the Creator, amen. And so, in creation we see then, God then in Exodus chapter when we see this beautiful scenario of God saying, "Now I am going to create," amen? I am going to start creating, and what does God do on the first day, what does God do on the first day? He does what? He creates what? He says, "Let there be light," amen, who says praise the Lord for light? Amen, let there be light, right? The glory of God shining over creation, right? The knowledge of God shining over creation, and it says, "And this is good."
But then He leaves, comes back the second day, what does He do? He creates what, He creates the skies, the heavens, right? And He separates, what? He separates the water, how? Vertically, right, to create what? This atmosphere, this--where we can breathe, right? The ozone layer, this first sky or heavens as it's known about in the Bible. Who wants to thank God for that ozone layer, for that first--yes, amen, because that's how we can breathe. I don't know about you, but I love breathing. I hope you do too, right? It's a little difficult nowadays with some of the fires, but that's okay. And He said, "This is good."
He left on the third day, and on the third day comes back and says, oh, I'm getting excited now, right? There's that--this--the heavens, right, the atmosphere, and what does He do? He now separates the waters, how? Horizontally, right? And what happens, what comes forth? Dry land, right? Not only dry land, but also, what? Trees, flowers, amen, God starts to adorn his creation. He's making it, He's making it look pretty, because God loves beauty, amen. And He makes it look pretty and gorgeous and not only that, but also, what, the fruits. Put the mango there, because that is the greatest of all fruits. I believe this is the fruit that Eve ate of, because how can you resist it, right? The fruit--who wants to say, God, thank You for creating dry land, thank You for creating these beautiful flowers, and who loves fruits? Oh, I love the fruits, right? And the mango and the grapes and the kiwis and all, such, just this delicious environment.
Then God says, "This is good," and He comes back on the fourth day, and what does He do on the fourth day, He creates what? The sun, the moon, He starts to adorn our galaxy, right? He starts to adorn our galaxy with the stars and the moons and the sun, amen, and He says, "This is good."
Comes back on the fifth day, what does He do on the fifth day? Just refreshing your creation week, what does He do, He makes what? He makes first, no, not that one, I'm sorry, this one first. The animals of the sea, the dolphin, right, the beautiful whales, all of these fascinating animals and fishes of all variety. He also makes, what, the animals that are flying. The parrot, the eagle, these majestic animals, God is adorning his earth. Who says amen, who wants to thank God for all these beautiful animals that we have, right?
Praise the Lord, and then He says, "It is good," and then He comes back on the sixth day, and what does He do on the sixth day? He creates the land animals, right? He creates the land animals, the elephant, the giraffe, all these wonderful, majestic beings, but then comes the crown of creation, and who is the crown of creation? You and me, amen, you and me.
The purpose of everything that was created was for, what? For you and me. It was God's gift to humanity. God creates Adam and Eve, our first parents, and He creates them with, what? He creates them to be a blessing to that which He has created, and He tells--He marries them, right? That sixth day, He marries them on that day, and He says, I want you to know something, I have a wedding gift for you. And they're like, really, what is the wedding gift? He says, all the earth that I have created is your wedding gift, amen. And so, what does He do?
After the end of that sixth day, after that marriage ceremony, look at what it says. Let's go to Exodus--Genesis chapter 2, Genesis chapter 2, look at what it says here. Well, let's go to chapter 1, verse 31, "After that," look at what it says here. "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was," what? "Very good."
Remember, the previous days it was good, it was good, it was good, it was good, it was good, and now it is very good, right, why? Because the whole reason for creation was, what? Was for the blessing of humanity, amen? For Adam and Eve to have that intimate relationship with God, with themselves, and with everything that God had created. And notice what it says on chapter 2, verse 1. "Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished," on what day? It said on the sixth day, but then it says, "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 He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all his work which God had created and made."
Notice it said first that on the sixth day He finished creating everything, and then it said on the seventh day He finished creating everything. That is an apparent contradiction, but we know the Bible does not contradict itself.
So, what is, how can we understand this? Well, one of the ways I learned to understand this is through the eyes of a painter, amen? A painter, right, if you're a painter, how many of you paint, how many of you, a painter, any painters around here? Woo, lost art, there's my sister, she is, we have one painter, right. Lost art, I remember in--when I was in--when I was a kid that's all we used to do, I used to paint all the time, I loved it. Didn't pick it up, but--so what happens? What is the first thing a painter needs, besides paint and brushes, what do they need? A canvas, right?
So, let's look at the earth as this canvas, this empty canvas that God has placed there, and then what does He do? He starts to, what, He starts to paint on it, amen? He starts to do the light and the skies and the animals and the dry land and the flowers and the fruits and the trees and He just--animals all galore, and He just adorns this beautiful canvas, and then He puts Adam and Eve in this canvas, amen. Is everything that Adam and Eve need to live on that canvas, yes, or no? Yes, was everything that Adam and Eve needed to survive and be a--have a blessing, to be a blessing to God, to themselves, and to the world, is it created? Yes, but there's one thing missing.
What was missing on that beautiful canvas? The signature, the signature that identifies who is the Creator of the earth, the heaven, the seas, and the springs of water, amen. Every portrait has a signature, for example, we see this beautiful picture here of the Ark of the Covenant even though it's opposite, the poles, but we'll let that one slide. And here in the little corner it has a name. So, you're looking at this, and you're saying, wow, this is so amazing, this is so beautiful, who created this work of art? Well, here in the corner it says, I'm thinking it says Paul McK, right? Wow, so Paul McK is, what? He is the creator.
So, my loved ones, did God on the creation day. For six days He created everything, it was good, good, good, good, good, until it was very good, and then what did He do? He put his stamp, his seal, his signature identifying that He is, what? He is the Creator, and that's why He says, keep it, right, as holy, as blessed, as sanctified, set apart, for what? To identify that God is our Creator and that we are his creation, amen.
Now, you might say this little slick guy from New York City thinks he knows what he's talking about, am I making this stuff up? Well, let's go to Exodus, let's go to Exodus chapter 20, Exodus chapter 20, we want to make sure that we're not making anything up, that the Bible says this very clearly. Let's go to Exodus chapter 20.
Notice, my loved ones, when was the Sabbath established? Was it established at Mount Sinai? No, was it established in the desert? No, where was it established, in creation. How many Jews were around in creation? Nobody, right, the Jews don't show up until the end of Genesis when you have the tribe of Judah.
Notice what it says in Exodus chapter 20, verse number 8. "Remember," let's stop right there. What's the words, how does the Fourth Commandment begin? "Remember," so if He says remember, it implies that, what? Two things are implied, what's implied? One, that they might forget about it, and two, remember means that they already knew about it.
When was the Sabbath established? In creation, amen. It was in creation, it wasn't on Mount Sinai. God just took that code, and He wrote it in, He put it in written form because of things that we have talked about, but they had it, there was already knowledge about this from the forefront. Now, look at what it says. "Remember the Sabbath day," let's stop there. Remember, you think, oh, let me remember it, oh, today is the Sabbath day. That's not--that's what it says in English, right, but the word in Hebrew is zakar, and the word zakar does mean remember the Sabbath day, but it also means celebrate, that's what the word zakar means, commemorate, right?
I have a question: were the angels celebrating and commemorating that God was the Creator, yes, or no? Was the early church celebrating and commemorating the God was the Creator, yes, or no? Yes, and what does He tell us? Celebrate the Sabbath day, rejoice in the Sabbath day, it is a day of celebration, it is a feast day, amen, it is a day to rejoice that God is our creator, and that we are his children, amen. To remember that He is our Creator, to put aside our daily occupations and to dedicate it to Him and to others, amen. Exodus 20:8, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it," what? "Holy," separate, apart, different from the other six days. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath" of Carlos Muñoz. Sorry, I'm getting old. The seventh day belongs to who? The Sabbath of the Lord, your God, amen.
I'm sorry my loved ones, but the Sabbath does not belong to you, it's God's day. He gave us six days, but the seventh day He gave it, as what? So we can put aside our daily occupations, our daily responsibilities, our daily works, and do what? And celebrate and commemorate with God and with our church family that, what, that God is our God, amen, that He is our Creator, that He is the one that deserves all the honor and all the glory and all the praise as the early church established, who says amen?
Now, can we prove it, that that's the case? Yes, look at what it says in verse number 11. Why does God say to keep the Sabbath holy? For in six days the Lord did, what? "Made," or created, "the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and He rested the seventh day, therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and He hallowed," or sanctified it. Who says amen to that?
Here it's very clear, why does God tell us to keep the Sabbath day? Because it is, what, it is a memorial of his creative power, it is a memorial that He is God and that we are his creation. It is a memorial to celebrate and honor that God, thank You for creating us. Who wants to celebrate and say, God, thank You for creating me? Despite the difficulties and trials and tribulations, I'm happy to be alive, amen, and so should you be, because we know that we have a blessed hope coming forth, who says amen?
And so, that's the purpose, my loved ones, of celebrating the Sabbath day, is creating and celebrating that God is our Creator, but did you know that that's not the only reason that we celebrate the Sabbath day? Because point number two is that we're celebrating, what? Freedom, and you're like, what? What do you mean celebrating freedom?
How is the Sabbath a sign of freedom? It's very simple, when you remember back in the story of Exodus, God's people were enslaved, right? How long were they enslaved there, hundreds of years, how many days a week were they working, seven days a week, right? Now, this slavery that God's people were suffering in Egypt is a symbol or a representation of some other type of slavery.
There's a bigger picture here, you have the literal, local application, but you have the spiritual, worldwide application in regards to these principles, and what was this slavery representative of? John chapter 8, verse 34 says, "Most assuredly," Jesus said, "I say to you that whoever commits sin," is what? "A slave to sin." So, the representation of slavery in the Scriptures is a representation of our slavery to, what, to sin, right? To the burden of sin in that sense, and so when you ask yourselves, well, what is sin, 1 John chapter 3, verse 4, Romans 3:20, Romans 7:7 all point and say, what?
What is sin, the transgression of what? Of the law, the transgression of the nine commandments. No, how many commandments are there? Ten commandments, and the fourth one is right smack in the middle, are you catching this? So, if we choose to dishonor God and not celebrate Him as the Creator on his holy day, then what is that called? Sin, and Jesus says to those that sin, it is, what? You are a slave to sin. Woo, tough word, look at what it says in Romans chapter 6, verse 16. "Did you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slave whom you obey. Whether of sin leading to death," or of what, "obedience leading to righteousness."
Carlos, you're preaching legalism. Legalist, that's what you are, preaching about the Sabbath. Really, so let's just go out and have everybody, let's just be adulterous, let's just murder each other, let's just lie, let's just have idols in our house, let's just all do the other nine, right? Of course not, that has nothing to do, legalism is when you try to keep God's law on your own strength, on your own power, on your own accord, and Roman's chapter 8 says that it is impossible for the flesh to obey the law of God.
So, when you see the word obedience, I think I mentioned this before, when you see obedience leading to righteousness, the word obedience is implicit in the Hebrew and the Greek surrender, amen. Surrender, God says, and I, when you surrender to Me, I will give you the power so you can keep My commandments, amen.
The commandments really are not a list of dos and don'ts even though that's how they appear in English and in Spanish too, but they're really in Hebrew ten promises. God is promising, I am going to make you, I am going to give you the power, the desire and the power to live according to My ten principles of righteousness that are detailed and explained in the ten commandments, who says amen?
Now, going back to the story, this is the representation, we were born in sin, right? We were born with a sinful body, and so sin remembers not a nature, sin is a choice, who says amen to that? And so, because of this sinful nature that we have, we have this inclination towards sin, we are predisposed, we have this predisposition to be surrendered into temptation and to sin, but God promises us victory, who says amen?
Go with me to Deuteronomy chapter 5, watch this, Deuteronomy chapter 5, Deuteronomy chapter 5, and here God gives the Ten Commandments the second time. Remember, they've been in the desert for 50 years, I'm sorry, 40 years, and they're about to go in after 40 years, the unfaithful, the stubborn should have died away, and now God gives them the 10 Commandments again, but when He does this, He gives a second reason. Deuteronomy chapter 5, who's there, amen?
Look at what it says in verse number 12, what does it say? Observe, right, that word observe in Hebrew is the word shamar, it means to protect, to guard, to have in high esteem, to honor, that's what it means. "Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of," Carlos Muñoz, sorry, I'm getting old. No, it's not, who does the Sabbath belong to? It belongs to God.
Now, notice the reason He gives in Deuteronomy for keeping the Sabbath, go please with me to verse number 15, why? "And remember that you are," what, "a slave in the land of Egypt, a slave to sin in this earth and Babylon, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by," what, "by mighty hand and by" what, "by outstretched arms." This is pointing to the Cross of Calvary, amen, this is pointing to God's power to, what, to save us from sin, both the penalty of the sin and the power of sin and the presence of sin, and how did Jesus Christ do that?
With outstretched arms on the Cross of Calvary He condemned sin in the flesh, amen? Woo, so, see, creation, it's, we do not celebrate Sabbath only because of creation, but we also celebrate it because of redemption, and look at what it says in Galatians chapter 4, verse 23 and 31. "He who was born of the slave was born according to the flesh, and he who was a freeman," through the what? "Through the promise," talking about Isaac and Ishmael. "So then, brethren, we are not children of the slave," but of what? "Of the free," why? Because Jesus Christ has defeated the enemy, and his victory is our victory, amen.
That's what it says in Revelations chapter 3, verse 21. He says that "To those that overcome as I overcame," He's telling us My victory over the enemy, My victory over sin is your victory too. You can be free, you can have freedom, not just from the penalty of sin, but from the power of sin, and eventually the presence of sin, who says amen?
And look at what it says in Galatians chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore "Stand fast," be firm, persevere, my loved ones. "Therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with" the what? "With the yoke of bondage," amen.
So, not only has our Lamb, has Jesus Christ given us freedom, that stage of atonement, but also through His, what, through His high priest ministry. He is doing, what, He is ministering this power, He is ministering this victory to his church, to His people, amen. You should get excited about this, this is fascinating stuff, the power, the gospel is now being manifested and ministered to those who, what, who accept it, those that enter into the new everlasting covenant, amen.
And can I prove it to you? Of course I can, Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15 and 16, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses," who says amen to that? He knows your struggles, He knows your battles, He knows what you're going through, amen, and here's the interesting thing. He knows every single thing, even every bad thing about you and me, and yet He still loves us, amen? That's wonderful, no condition, the love of God, amen.
Mercy is conditional, the love of God is not, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are," yet, how? "Without sin," who says amen to that? And why is that important? Because our High Priest, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace and help in time of need," amen. Time of need of what? When temptation comes, when the enemy is harassing us, when we're being tempted, right, sometimes from within. And we can go to God and say, God, I do not want to sin, I do not want to give in to temptation, give me the power, Christ dwelling in me, Father, is the promise of God, of Your victory. Help me, Father, to live a righteous life like Jesus Christ.
Does the Father listen to that prayer? That is the biggest, quickest prayer that is answered, amen. Jesus Christ as our High Priest, who says amen? And that's what it says in Exodus 31:13, "Above all you shall keep My Sabbath, for this is a" what? "A sign," that word in Greek, both in Hebrew and in Greek, a sign, a seal, a mark "between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord that," does what? "Sanctifies you".
In other words, the Sabbath is not just a commemoration of creation, it's not just a commemoration of redemption, it's also a celebration of what? Of sanctification, that we have the Holy Spirit, He is cleansing and transforming and making us new creatures, who says amen to that, right? That's the power, that's the guarantee of our inheritance, it says, people, that we are seeing the Spirit work in our hearts, and He's changing and transforming us into, what, into the image of His Son Jesus Christ.
Ooh, amazing stuff, my loved ones, and that's what it means to have the law written in our hearts and our minds, right? The mind of Christ, the character of Christ, the faith of Christ that will be--we will need if we are to be able to stand in the End Times, who says amen to that?
But do you know that's not the only reason why we celebrate the Sabbath day, there's another reason. Really, another one? Oh, we could do this all day. Look at what it says in Isaiah chapter 66, verse 22 and 23, "'As the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,' says the Lord 'So shall your descendants and your name remain.'"
I have a question, are we in the new heavens and the new earth yet? We're not there yet, right, we're not there yet, but look at what it says in Isaiah chapter 66:22-23. "And it shall come to pass that," in the new heavens and the new earth, "From month to month and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all Jews shall come to worship before Me." No, who? "All flesh," amen.
That means that for the rest of eternity in the new heavens and the new earth we're going to be, what, we're going to be celebrating, commemorating the Sabbath day, who says amen to that? You're not going to come late, you're not going to fall asleep, because every Sabbath day we're going to come to praise and honor the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He's going to be preaching every Sabbath day, amen? So, you're not going to have to be, like, who's preaching today? I'm not going to go to church today.
That's not going to happen, so start getting those minds ready for this eternity where we will be celebrating the Sabbath day, who says, amen, praise the Lord for that? And that's, my loved ones, the Sabbath is what, a celebration of what, of creation, of redemption, of sanctification, and of glorification, who says praise the Lord?
But it also says in the lesson outline that the Sabbath rest is for who? For the strangers, where? In your gates. And so, when Sabbath was created, my loved ones, what was the purpose of the Sabbath? What was only for God's people? What was only for those that chose to follow God? No, of course not, it says in Mark 2:27 and 28, "And Jesus said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for,'" who? "'For mankind,'" the Greek word anthropos, where we get mankind, human beings, or anthropology, right?
The Sabbath was made for humanity, wasn't that the case in Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 2? Yes, it was created for everybody, it was to be a delight, a rejoicing, a celebration, that was God's ideal, but what happened? People have forgotten about the Sabbath day, the enemy has made war on the Sabbath day, and so we see very clearly in Exodus chapter 20, verse 10 that "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: nor you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger," no whoever is what? "Within your gates," my loved ones, the Sabbath was for everyone. The Sabbath, my loved ones, it says in Isaiah also that the Sabbath was for the foreigners too, for the Enochs, it was everybody that wanted to accept the Lord, right? He said, come, receive this blessing and you will be blessed in My holy mountains, amen.
Now, sometimes it's not only for those that are in our doors and among our homes, but it's also towards other people, what do I mean? I used to, when I began to keep the Sabbath, I was a little loose with the Sabbath, right? And so, sometimes when I was living in New York City, one time I remember I was coming out of this youth service, we had youth services on Friday when Sabbath began, and so one day I'm coming home, and I did not prepare, and so I'm hungry, right?
Mmm, God is not going to want me not to eat, so across from my apartment building there was a little Chinese spot, so I go there and I ask for a nice order of fried rice. And as I'm standing there waiting for my order of fried rice, thinking, you know, it's the Sabbath day, it's okay, I'm hungry, God understands, right there it clicked. I saw this Asian dude sweating like a madman getting my food ready. And he's, [sizzling noises], and it clicked. God said, "Hypocrite!' Why? Because I don't work on the Sabbath day, but I put other people to work for me, are you catching this?
That's when it clicked, it's, and I know this because in New York City the Jews are all over the place, they won't even touch an elevator button, but they'll have other people do things for them on the Sabbath day. Not all of them, not all of them, but this is how it works, everybody in New York City knows how it works around them. This is hypocrisy, because I'm resting, but I'm making somebody else work for me. Oh, well, you know, it's their job that--we're supposed to be showing them something different, amen. We're not--we're supposed to be revealing something new to them, something different.
And some people say, well--I had recently a couple come up to me, says, listen, my kid is grown up now, and, you know, they don't want to keep the Sabbath, they don't want to honor the Sabbath in our homes, what do we do, do we compromise? I'm like, no, you don't compromise. It's like, no matter how old they are, if they are living under your roof, they're your responsibility and they're your rules. Oh, but if we put the rules too tight, they'll leave.
I'm going to say something that might hurt, but if they choose not to respect and honor the rules in your house what are based on the Word of God, then let them leave, let them leave. Now, you might say that's a little rough, and I'll tell you, I'll give you an example. What did they do, I said, if you compromise with your beliefs and let them, and break what is said here in Exodus chapter 20 and let them do what they want to do under your roof--and I'm talking about once they're 18 and over, because if it's 18 and under this should not even be in discussion. Then, if you compromise with them, what you're telling them is that the principles of God can be compromised with, that's what you're telling them. Mommy and daddy compromised with truth, and the example you're setting for the other ones, also, that are watching, you can't do that.
And I had a couple that they did that, they stayed firm with their daughter, and the little ones were watching, she wanted to do whatever she wanted on the Sabbath, and they said, we're sorry, we cannot let you, you're going to live under this roof, you're going to honor the principles of the Kingdom that are established in this home, and she left. She left when she was 18, and she living la vida loca, right? But guess what? When you go living la vida loca, the living la vida loca beats you up, and she came running back.
But you know what, she, not only to her, but to the little ones, the other children, they were, she was showing their parents, we don't compromise with truth, we don't compromise with God principles, amen. There are places to compromise, but not in the principles of God, who says amen to that? And so, I know it's not easy, I know it's difficult, but we have to stay firm and trust in the Word of God, because had they compromised, then the little ones would have all thought, oh, truth can be compromised, there are limits to the principles of God. No, my loved ones, God is very clear.
And then we have point number four, serving others honors, what? Honors God's Sabbath, who says amen? Do we see Jesus Christ healing on the Sabbath day? Do we see Jesus healing on the Sabbath day? That was one of the main issues that was happening during his time, it was the healing, and they were always the first, these were always trying to point at Him. Jesus was trying to bless these people that were sick, these people that had these burdens, and they were wanting to keep them under that burden.
Look at what I wrote here, many times we, as the Pharisees did, place holy things over human needs, thus losing sight that the purpose of the holy things are for the human need, amen. So, sometimes we put, oh, this just belong to God, and we push aside when known understanding that the purpose of everything that God has done is to be a blessing to humanity, amen. It's to be a blessing for you and me, and so we see this, and this is one thing that really came out in the lesson.
Go with me please to Matthew chapter 12, I want to share something with you, Matthew chapter 12, Matthew chapter 12. There's one very interesting healing on the Sabbath day, Matthew chapter 12, verse number 9. In verse number 1 through 8 you have the issue with the bread, right, eating on the Sabbath day. And, of course, that has to do with the human needs. Again, they're placing the holiness of the Sabbath over the human need, which in that moment was about the need of the physical need, but also the spiritual need.
Look at what it says in Matthew chapter 12, verse number 9, "Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue and behold there was a man who had a withered hand, and they asked Him, saying, 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath,' that they might accuse Him. Jesus said, 'What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath will not lay hold of it and lift it out. Of how much more value then, is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.' Then He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand,' and he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the others, and then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him how they might destroy Him."
This story is very interesting, why do I say that? This man had two hands, one hand, the right hand, was withered, the left hand was normal. I believe, and I'm just going to share this with you, from what I have understood in the study about the Sabbath day, that there are two main components to the Sabbath day. It is the things that we do and the things that we don't do, right?
Now, the part that we have and works good and we know are the things that we don't do. You don't do this, you don't do this, you don't do this, you don't do this, you don't do this, we're experts at that. But the withered hand of this young, of this man representing the Sabbath day is what we have forgotten to do, and it is, what? It is what needs healing, and what Jesus healed here is about, what? The things that we should be doing, not just what we should not be doing and make it a do not, do not, do not, do not, do not, do not, do not, but what should we be doing? Because when you focus on the do nots, like focusing on sin, then that's what you're going to fall into.
But when you focus on righteousness, when you focus on the do things that we should be doing, that's when you should be focusing, then, on the goodness of God, amen. And so, what does this represent? I believe that this story represents how we have the list of do nots on the Sabbath, but we have to restore the dos. What do you do on the Sabbath, what is the purpose of the Sabbath? Jesus says, it's for healing, it's for ministering to others, it's for going to do good to others. If you're tired, yes, you need some physical rest, go rest. Do you want to go take a nature walk? Go ahead and take your nature walk, amen for that, right, spend time in nature.
But there is also needs to be a time on the Sabbath where you are ministering, why? Well, I do it during the week, amen for that, we all have our personal ministries, but the Sabbath is different because on the Sabbath day, nobody's working. We all have our time, and so it is our opportunity as a congregation, as a church, to go out and, what? To go out and show our community, our neighbors that we're here. Together as a family to go minister to them, amen.
That's the purpose of the Sabbath day, to heal, to be a blessing, to pray, to do these things with other people. That's why I love what it said on the lesson on this day, it says, human agendas are not part of God's Sabbath ideal. Rather, we are invited to look out for those who struggle, who are captives, who are hungry and naked and walk in darkness, and whose names no one seems to remember.
More than any other day of the week, the Sabbath should take us out of ourselves and our own selfishness and cause us to think more about others and other's needs than about ourselves and our needs. You thought I was making this up. You want to spend time, do what you need to do, but take every Sabbath, take a period of time and serve somebody. Go serve others, and especially serve somebody that maybe they cannot serve themself, amen.
Look at what it says in the book "Living by Faith" about the healing power on the Sabbath. "God gave to Jesus 'power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life' to all who come to Him. By the power which He had to deliver the bodies of men from disease, He showed power to release their souls from sin. 'For whether is easier, to say, thy sins be forgiven thee,'" or that, what? "Or say, Arise, and walk."
What was easier, what was easier? To say your sins are forgiven as He says, to show that I am the Lord of the Sabbath, stand up and rise up, amen. Showing that the power behind the power of redemption is the same power of creation, to restore humanity back again into his presence. "In performing these miracles on the Sabbath day, Jesus was showing that the Sabbath is to free man from bondage, and not to be a bondage to them. It commemorates creative power, by which all who believe are made new creatures in Christ," amen. "'For we which have believed do enter into rest,' even God's rest," and look at how this quote finishes. "By these miracles Christ teaches us that the Sabbath is the crowning glory of the Gospel. Kept as God has given it to us, it enables us to see Christ as both Redeemer and Creator."
And look at this sentence. "His Redeeming power is," what, "is His creative power," amen. "The Sabbath of the Lord, the memorial of creation, reminds us of the power of God to salvation to everyone that believes." Who says hallelujah, amen to that.
That, my loved ones, is the goal of what Jesus was trying to show when He was healing on the Sabbath, that in the same way He had power to heal from infirmities and leper and all these other sicknesses is the same power He has to heal us from the bondage of sin and the consequences of sin and to restore his righteousness in us, who says amen?
And we finish with the last point, the sign that we belong to God. Did you know that? That was the thing that identified, one of the main things that identified God's people. Ezequiel 20:19 and 20, "I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes, and be careful to obey My rules, and keep My Sabbath holy that they might be a," what, "a sign," a seal, "between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God." Who wants to say, God, I want You to be my God, I want You to be my Lord? Then He says, what? "Then honor My Sabbath day," amen. Hold My Sabbath day up, and notice that the Sabbath as this seal or sign, it says in Romans 4:11, "He Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised that righteousness by Me," what, "imputed to them also."
What does it mean? Circumcision was the external sign, of what, of the faith that they had, right? The faith that was inside, the circumcision of the heart, the new heart that was the evidence, when they would circumcise themselves what they were supposed to be reflecting off of the heart.
And in the same way, my loved ones, today the sign or the seal of righteousness of God is, what? When we surrender, and when we say, God, I want to honor You in all ways, upholding Your righteous law, upholding Your principles, and that's how the Sabbath becomes this seal of righteousness too, not because in it is righteousness, but because God through Christ dwelling in us is restoring and giving us, manifesting the righteousness of Christ.
And so, we don't keep the Sabbath, we don't honor the Sabbath to be saved, to be justified. It is because we have been justified, it is because we have been forgiven, it is because we have been redeemed, my loved ones, that we say, Lord, I want to honor and uphold Your Sabbath day, which is a commemoration and a celebration that You are our God and we are Your children, who says amen to that?
Woo, my loved ones, my time is over. It was--there's so much, we could do this all day, keep on studying, keep on rejoicing, and know that God wants to give us that rest. Not just rest, physical rest, but rest from the ways of the world, rest from the burdens of the world, and rest from our own works trying to live up in harmony with God's law. He is the one that promises to do the work in us, we just have to let Him do what He promised to do, and we will see his power and his glory manifested in our lives, amen. Who wants to say this morning, I want the rest that comes with Jesus Christ, amen.
Let's pray, Father, we thank You for this opportunity, we thank You for the blessing of studying Your lesson today and just touching and dabbling, Father, in some of these principles in regard to the Sabbath. Father, hopefully there is somebody that is watching that has never heard this truth before, that is starting to learn about this. We ask that Your Spirit continue to work in that heart, that they can go by the Word and the Word only, not custom, not tradition, not popularity. What does the Word say, live by the Word.
And that we who have accepted this wonderful truth may be ready and prepared to share and to expound and to deepen the understanding in regards to this wonderful truth of Your Sabbath, of Your law, of Your righteousness, of Your own heart. We thank You, Father, for this blessing, and we ask this in Jesus's name, amen. Happy Sabbath, everyone.
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Female: Well, my conversion story is, when I was in the Philippines I just graduated as a nurse, and afterwards I did not have any religion. And one time I found myself inside a small church, Catholic church in Manilla, and before a big cross. And I was kneeling before, and I could hear Jesus telling me to enter the convent, save myself and also my family. And I said, Lord, I would like to follow You all the way.
At that point I seemed to be happy externally, but because inside the convent we don't read the Bible, we don't study about the Word of God. We prayed the rosaries, we also at the same time studied the lives of the Saints and also our founders, and the encyclicals of the Pope, and the Virgin Mary. And so, I do not know the truth, and I had this torture of conscience, the guilty feelings that cannot be resolved.
So, I would confess to the priest in the confessional box, saying, "Father, forgive me, since my last confession was last week, since then I have committed the following sin, including the root cause, why am I falling and falling in that same sin over and over again?"
And still, for 21 long years I struggle and I struggle and I struggle. I realized that I was totally empty, I was totally helpless and hopeless, and so depressed, and so desperate that I would like already to end my life. I was working for five years as dean of the University of St. Augustine College of Nursing in Iloilo City, one of the islands in the Philippines.
After five years I received my commission from my parents to help my sister, who is being a battered woman. This is one of the reasons why I came over to United States, it is because my sister needs my help. As I was working in the hospital in New York, my boss, Seraphin, he was so gracious enough to give me an invitation to the Millennium Prophecy.
As I was listening to Pastor Doug Batchelor's presentation my heart, really, was beating so fast, and my mind, I'm able to grasp the truth that this is the truth that I have been longing to hear all my life, that I have been seeking for so long. My personal relationship with Jesus, I can see Jesus as my personal Savior. He is not only the Savior of the whole world, but He is my personal Savior. He was the one who delivered me mightily from the depths of sin from the mighty clay.
Pastor Doug Batchelor has been used by the Lord in my conversion, the "Amazing Facts," I owe to them. The Lord really blessed this ministry, and I'm so proud I was able to attend this Millennium Prophecy. My life has never been the same, it has given me that peace, that joy that never--I have never tasted in my life, and now I am set free to be able to work for Him and to follow Him. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪