Hello friends. I want to welcome you to this special new series of studies we're doing called 'doctrines that divide.' As you can see from the sign up there, we're going to be exploring what seventh day adventist Christians believe and we'll be contrasting it to some of the other doctrines of mainline or evangelical Christians. And I want to say right at the outset that we believe there are Godly, spirit-filled Christian people in both groups but, obviously, there are some doctrinal differences that have divided these denominations. So we're going to be looking at these things head on and basing our study from the Bible. Let's begin with a word of prayer.
Father in Heaven, we want to thank you for the opportunity to study your word. Be with us now as we explore some of these delicate issues and help us to better understand what is the truth that sets us free. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Now, I probably should explain a little bit, one more time, what's happening here with this set and with this suit. I am a seventh day adventist Christian and I've not always been a seventh day adventist Christian.
I started out as a Christian of a number of evangelical groups - I don't even know if they were organized denominations - and as I began to study the Bible I just found there were so many differences in Christian teachings that it really grieved me, because I said, 'there's one Bible, there's one Jesus Christ and yet today, there are about ,000 different branches of Christians in the world.' And so, at the time, I was living in the mountains. I went back up to my cave where I was living and I prayed and I said something to the effect, 'lord, it doesn't matter to me exactly what denomination or church I belong to, but I want to follow the Bible.' And I said, 'lord, show me where to go.' And after praying, the Lord began to reveal to me the things that turned out being the teachings of the seventh day adventist church. And I had no family connection. I had no reason to join the church other than as I studied in the Bible it made more sense to me that it was biblical. And I want to go to heaven.
And I want to please the Lord. And I believe when I read the Bible that Jesus tells us that he's coming back for a united people. And right now his church is so fragmented - that's the devil's plan. And so, the reason I'm doing this series is over the course of my time as a seventh day adventist Christian, I've heard a number of different arguments for different doctrines. And so, what's going to happen is in our presentation tonight we're going to be talking about the Sabbath.
When you think about seventh day adventists, probably the most outstanding doctrine that people think of is the Sabbath because, let's face it, even a seventh day adventist could worship in a baptist church - we believe in baptism by immersion - and we could worship in a methodist church - we believe in sanctification. And we could worship in a lot of different churches and sort of melt in except, obviously, we worship a different day. And so that creates a whole divisive issue all by itself. And so, when I stand over here I'll be defending biblical truth from a seventh day adventist perspective. And then I've created this imaginary figure we're calling pastor barney and he is sort of a conglomerate of all the different arguments that I've heard over the course of my life.
Now, someone's probably thinking, 'why Pastor Doug, is this ever narcissistic. You have to debate yourself.' But really, I thought in order for me to cover all the different points and objections that I've heard, this is for me, I thought, a creative way to present it. Now, I've never done anything like this before, so I appreciate your prayers. But tonight's subject is dealing with the Sabbath truth. And I thought it would be appropriate for us to begin by going to that commandment that you're going to find in your Bibles.
It's in Exodus chapter 20. It's the fourth of the Ten Commandments. If you're protestant you number it as the fourth, and that begins with verse 8. Exodus 20, verse 8. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all of your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work. You or your son or your daughter, or your male servant or your female servant, or your cattle or the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them and he rested the seventh day, therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." - Made it holy. Now there's the commandment.
And the reason that seventh day adventist Christians keep the Sabbath day is because it's one of the Ten Commandments. Now, if there is a doctrine that we should allow to become divisive, I would think it would be a doctrine that God spoke with his voice and wrote with his finger. There are probably a lot of things that are not essentials in Christianity that we might debate and talk about that really aren't going to make a difference in the long run. But if sin is the transgression of God's law, and if God's perfect will is revealed in his law - psalm 40, verse 8 says, 'yea I love to do thy will. Thy law is within my heart.
' So the law of God is the will of God. Then it does make a difference if Christians are neglecting or violating or seeking to do away with one of the commandments. And so, we're going to take some time and talk about this tonight and I'm going to be sharing with you - when I assume my alter ego here - what some of the most common arguments are that I've heard. And so, we're going to go through these - I've sort of summarized in about ten points - and the first one is, was the Sabbath just for the jews? And we're going to let pastor barney start off here. Okay Pastor Doug, I want to hear an explanation for this.
Exodus 31:16 and 17. We heard you read the ten commandments from Exodus 20. This is Exodus 31 - he clarifies the Sabbath and he says, "wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. It's a sign between me and the children of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth and on the seventh day he rested." And then one more. Deuteronomy 5 - now the Lord gives the Ten Commandments not only in Exodus 20, but he also repeats the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy chapter 5 - and listen to the little additional verse that he gives in Deuteronomy that you don't find in Exodus.
Verse 12, Deuteronomy 5:12. "And remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out hence through a mighty hand and stretched out arm, therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day. And so, brother doug, you shouldn't be making people feel guilty about keeping this commandment that - this particular commandment was for the Jewish people and I've just read you two verses. It was distinct and different from the others. Okay pastor barney, first thing that comes to mind when I hear someone say that is do you believe that any of the other Ten Commandments are just for the jews? I mean, you think about it, are only jews supposed to not worship images? A lot in the new testament about us not being involved in idolatry - the whole Mark of the beast issue is talking about do not worship the image of the beast, so idolatry is still there.
Honoring God's name is one of the - it's in the Lord's prayer. You talk about not having other Gods, obviously Christians and jews should keep that - so why would this one commandment only be for the Jewish people? the Lord didn't give the jews the Sabbath right there on Mount Sinai. The Sabbath predates Mount Sinai. You go all the way back to Genesis chapter 2 is when you first find the Sabbath. It tells us in Genesis 2, verse and verse 3, that the Sabbath was made in the very beginning for man.
Matter of fact, let's read that, Mark chapter 2, verse 27. "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, The Son of man is lord also of the Sabbath." Wouldn't that have been a good place for Jesus to say, 'the Sabbath is made for the jews'? But he didn't, he used a word there that describes mankind. And isn't it true that everybody needs to rest? Would you think perhaps that the lord wants Christians to keep a different day for the Sabbath than he does for the jews? Isaiah 56, verse 6 and 7. "Also The Sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord to be his servants, everyone that keeps the Sabbath from polluting it.
" 'The Sons of the stranger' - non-jews - join themselves to the Lord, they become children of God, and he specifically mentions keeping the Sabbath. One of the signs that we become God's is in keeping the Sabbath - 'from polluting it and takes hold of my covenant.' It's one of the laws God writes on your heart, even in the new covenant. 'Even them I'll bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer.' Matter of fact, if you go to Isaiah chapter 66, it tells us that even in heaven, 'from month to month or from one new moon to another and from Sabbath to Sabbath shall all flesh come together and worship before the Lord.' So pastor barney, do you think when we get to heaven there's going to be one Sabbath that the jews worship the Lord and one Sabbath that the gentiles worship the Lord? That wouldn't make any sense to me. Sabbath was made for everybody. All right.
Second point. Now, when I stand here I'm sort of the moderator, okay? Not that this is a fair fight, I told you that in our last presentation. Did the resurrection change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? Again, pastor barney, what do you have to say about that? If you read in Matthew chapter , verse 1 it says, "now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, mary magdalene and the other mary came to the tomb and that was the day of the resurrection." So Pastor Doug, do you agree that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday? Yes. All right. If you agree with that, Matthew :1 it says, 'now after the Sabbath' - that verse there actually has a deeper spiritual meaning - after the Sabbath means after the ages of the Jewish Sabbath, Jesus rose on the first day of the week to begin a new dispensation and the fact that he rose on Sunday - it says 'they gathered that evening' - that was the first Sunday gathering to inaugurate the new Sabbath.
Pastor barney, it actually says that they gathered 'for fear of the jews.' Can you please show me where the verse says they gathered to inaugurate a new commandment or to move that date? Let's go to another verse here. Luke 24, verse 1. "Now on the first day of the week very early in the morning, they and certain other women came with them to the tomb bringing the spices that they had prepared, but they found the stone rolled away." Jesus rose Sunday to inaugurate the new Sabbath for the Christians. Again pastor barney, I have no problem saying that Jesus rose on the first day of the week and that was very important, but where does it say in this verse that that now became the new Sabbath commandment? It doesn't say that does it? In fact, everywhere I look in the Bible, it tells us that the Sabbath is still intact. If you read the verse just before Luke 23:56, notice what that says.
Just before that resurrection Sunday - and we agree it was Sunday - it says, 'they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils and they rested on the Sabbath according to" - the Jewish tradition? The ceremonial Sabbath? No. It says, "the commandment." And, by the way, was Luke a gentile or was Luke a jew? Luke was a gentile Paul met probably when he went to macedonia. Okay, so here you've got the only gentile writer in the Bible who is referring to the Sabbath in a matter-of-fact way and it says that the disciples would not break the Sabbath day even to finish embalming his body. That means that after three and a half years of watching Jesus and hearing Jesus teach, that when he died and they were heartbroken and they had not yet finished wrapping and preparing his body, when they saw the sun going down, they stopped because they said 'this is a commandment of God and Jesus. God The Son would not want us breaking this commandment.
' Pastor Doug, the reason for that is that they were jews and they were following the Jewish law - that is not an obligation on gentile Christians and until Jesus actually rose, they were still under the old dispensation. Once Jesus rose, they're now under the new dispensation. I've got a problem with that pastor barney, the ways that laws work with a will and a covenant, a testament, is once a person makes out their will and they explain the terms of their will and they seal their will and they die, you cannot add anything else to their will and their testament. They add what they want to add. the Lord, when he gave the new testament to the disciples during the last supper, he told them during those previous three and a half years what the terms of his kingdom were.
He never said anything about coming to introduce a new Sabbath day. When he dies it is sealed in blood. The idea that you're creating a new commandment after Jesus died and sealed the new testament with his blood - you're manufacturing a new law. Well, but we've got examples where they continue to keep it after that time. All right, well that will be probably a good segue into point #3 in our study.
Did the early Christians meet on Sunday or what we would call the first day of the week? Pastor barney? Yes they did. There are several examples: the morning of the resurrection - well, of course, they came to the tomb together Sunday morning. That evening they gathered together in the upper room. Then we find there's an example in acts chapter 20, verse 7 - so if you've got your Bibles, note this. And this is pretty deep into the Acts of the Apostles.
This is after the church is well established. And it says here, "and on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached to them ready to depart on the morrow and he continued his speech until midnight." They came together on the first day of the week to break bread. Break bread - that's a communion service. Here they were, gathering together to read the Bible, to listen to a sermon, to have a communion service, obviously this was the custom of the disciples. Sunday was the new Sabbath.
First I've got to challenge you on a couple of points there. You said that because they broke bread that that meant now it's a new Sabbath day. According to my Bible, if you look in acts chapter 2, verse 26 - and by the way, I think we're using the same Bible - acts chapter 2, verse 46 "so continuing daily" - how often? Daily - "with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house and they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart." Here there were breaking bread on a daily basis. The middle eastern bread as it is today, it was back then, it came baked in round loaves and whenever you ate with somebody, you broke the bread and you handed it to them. Not every time it talks about breaking bread in the Bible does it mean that they had a special ceremonial communion service.
Furthermore, according to the Bible, when do days begin and end? :00 Midnight. No pastor barney, that didn't start until we had modern timepieces. According to the Bible, days began and ended at sundown. 'From even unto even you will celebrate your Sabbaths' and the jews still practice that today - it's at sundown. Now, if it says they gathered together for a meeting at night on the first day of the week - I'm still looking at acts chapter 20, verse 7 - meeting at night on the first day of the week.
When would the first day of the week begin biblically? What we would call Saturday night. Here they had been together all day Sabbath. The sun goes down, they have a vespers, Paul preaches to them his farewell sermon, because the next day - what we would call Sunday morning - it says, 'ready to depart on the morrow he begins a long journey making his way to Jerusalem.' - Something no jew would ever do on the Sabbath day - actually, this verse endorses that they were still keeping the seventh day Sabbath. It doesn't say they instituted a new day or that they were having a communion service. I just need to tell you, if we're biblically honest, that's a stretch.
All right Pastor Doug, I've got another verse here, that's not the only one. Corinthians chapter 16, verses 1 and 2. "Now concerning the collection for the saints" - they're having an offering - "as I have given order to the churches of galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week." All right, so I've showed you a communion service on the first day of the week, now there's an offering on the first day of the week. First day was the new Sabbath for the disciples.
But I'll finish the verse though. "Upon the first day of the week let everyone of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come." Pastor barney, you notice that it said there in that verse he was collecting a special offering - that they were to lay by them in store. The first of the week - the word day, actually, is not even in the original - if you've got a Bible version that has the added words italicized, you'll notice it simply says, 'the first of the week' or 'at the beginning of the week let every one of you lay by him' - by him means at your home - 'in store' - you don't store your stuff at church - 'store an offering, set something aside so that when I come, as I visit you, I can collect it so there is no special collection during the service, for Jerusalem' - that would be for their local needs - 'when I come through.' He's actually saying the first of the week after you've gathered for Sabbath and you've paid your tithe and your offering and you get your accounts in order, if you can set aside something special for the famine in Jerusalem that - just set it aside at your home - has nothing to do with them meeting in a church. Nothing in this verse says that this was a church meeting. It's actually saying the opposite.
Matter of fact, I'd like to ask you, where in the Bible do we have a command to keep the first day holy as a Sabbath? Well, we've got a long-standing tradition of what the church has been doing, but I've been studying the Bible and I think I've found one for you. Nehemiah chapter 8, verse 18. It says, "they kept the feast seven days and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly. Now, you believe the seventh day is the Sabbath, right? Seventh day of the week, yes. Well, here it says the eighth day they had a sacred assembly.
That would be the eighth day sequentially from when this feast began, there is no eighth day of the week. Well, but you said that the seventh day is the Sabbath, so what's the day after the seventh day? Well, that's the first day, it's not the eighth day. Now, I've heard this before. Nice try. That was an annual feast.
It fell on different days of the week every year. It wasn't telling us that it was the new Sabbath. By the way, that's in the book of Nehemiah - that's pretty deep in the old testament. They still continued to keep the Sabbath and if you read later in the book of Nehemiah, he gets real upset when they start breaking the Sabbath. He tells them to lock the gates because they were going out buying and selling.
Well Pastor Doug, actually, there was another story in the Bible. Do you know about the battle where Joshua prayed and the sun stood still? Yes, I'm acquainted with that. The sun stood still for almost hours. That's right, just probably shy of that extra 15 minutes from the book of hezekiah. I agree precisely.
If you add that 23 and three-quarters hours of Joshua with the 15 minutes of hezekiah, you get a 24-hour period - Saturday turned into Sunday during those two miracles. Now friends, this is one of the reasons I became a seventh-day adventist - is because when I had questions and I went to different pastors that pastor barney represents. No two pastors gave me exactly the same reason why we are not supposed to keep that commandment. Pastor barney do you believe that we're supposed to keep the Ten Commandments? No, we're not under the law. Do you think it's okay for us to break the Ten Commandments? Well, no, we're supposed to keep nine of them.
So, there's one commandment that begins with the word remember and you're telling me that's the one commandment we're supposed to forget. Yes. That's exactly what you're going to hear when you go out there. Friends, I am not kidding. I have done meetings where I've preached the gospel on this subject in towns and pastors have come from the local Sunday congregations - good people - and after they heard the Sabbath truth - I know one pastor in particular, he went back to his church, they had the ten commandments up on the wall in their Sunday school classes, he took them all down.
Because they realize that if they're going to keep the ten commandments in there, they've got to deal with the one that says remember. It's in the middle of God's law, it begins with the word holy - the only commandment - the only time you find the word holy in the law of God is in the Sabbath commandment. It's the longest of the ten commandments, and it's the one the devil especially hates because life is made of time and God wants our hearts and the way that you show your love is by giving time. And God wants holy time with us every week. And I might ask you that pastor barney.
Do you think that it's important that we gather together to worship the Lord on a regular basis? Yes Pastor Doug, I think that we should worship the Lord every week and you worship the Lord one day a week, I worship the lord seven days a week. Pastor barney, I worship God seven days a week too. I have prayer and I worship him all through the day just like you. But we're not talking about worshiping the Lord, we're really talking about a formal collective worship service that we keep as a holy day. If you are keeping seven days a week as a Sabbath, you're not holy, you're really lazy because it means your not working, because the rest of that commandment says, 'six days shalt thou labor' and if you go through your whole week saying, 'I'm not working today, I'm worshiping', that's not holy, that's lazy.
All right. Let's carry on here. All right. Assume my position here. #4 - Is Sunday the Lord's day? How many of us have heard Sunday referred to as the Lord's day? All right.
I'm glad you're giving me a little bit of time here. I've been very fair so far. Revelation 1:10. "I was in the Spirit on the lord's day." Here you've got the last book of the Bible. You've got the oldest and longest living of the apostles, and he is recognizing that he was worshiping God here on the lord's day that everybody knows is Sunday.
Everywhere you go churches everywhere refer to Sunday as the Lord's day, and John the apostle says he was in the spirit - he had the vision of Revelation on the Lord's day. Now, I recognize that what you said, pastor barney, is true, John does say that, and churches everywhere say that the first day of the week is the Lord's day, but what I need is Scripture. And I'm not even going to go over there, because you know and I know that there isn't any Scripture on that. What does the Bible say is the Lord's day? If you look in Isaiah chapter :13 - and these are only two of many - "if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day" - pastor barney, he didn't call it the jews' holy day, he said, 'my holy day.' And again, Exodus 20, in the commandment itself, it says, "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, six day you should labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the jews" - no it doesn't say that - it says, "the Sabbath of the Lord." "The Sabbath of the Lord thy God." So in John - I'm sorry - in Revelation 1, verse 10, where John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day", it may mean one of two things - and I'll be fine with either one. John obviously was still keeping the Sabbath.
He wasn't going to be working in the mines of patmos, he was probably worshiping the Lord that day. He may have had the vision of Revelation on the Sabbath day. And another interpretation I've heard is when he said 'I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day' he means the day that Jesus appeared to him and showed the second coming. That is sometimes called the day of the Lord, the second coming. And so, either way, but it is not saying it was a new Sabbath day.
You know, I think most of us recognize that when God gave the Ten Commandments, he did something he's never done before. God spoke audibly from a mountain, he used a megaphone to talk to a nation - don't you always wonder what his voice must have sounded like? Can you imagine hearing that? The creator of the cosmos speaking where people can hear his voice. And then he wrote it with his finger. And then, from that time all the way through the Bible, we see God's people keeping the Sabbath commandment. When you get to the new testament with all the arguments and discussion they had about certain ceremonial laws, if God was going to change one of his commandments that he spoke with his voice, wouldn't you see a lot of evidence for that in the new testament.
I mean, can you imagine friends? I mean, here we're in California, we've got our own traffic issues. If I were to tell you that the government has voted next week that they're changing the speed limit to 90 miles an hour, would any of you believe me? No. Especially with the energy problems right now. And then if I added to that that they're not only going to be going 90 miles an hour but we've decided that because we're so close an ally with england we're going to switch sides of the road, like they do in hong kong and india and all the british commonwealths and australia - we're going to actually start driving on the other side of the road. Would you believe that the government would slip something like that through without your knowing it? So what is the likelihood in the culture of the new testament for God to change the commandment regarding his blessed day of worship and there to be a deafening silence all through the new testament - I mean, there's great debate about all kinds of things like circumcision and sacrifices and Jewish feast days, and all kinds of stuff they argued and debated.
Whether or not you should or shouldn't eat things sacrificed to idols and all kinds of issues, but you never hear Paul, Peter, James, John, anybody say, 'now the first day is the new Sabbath day.' Shouldn't it have some kind of credibility, like when he gave it to begin with? If you're going to change the one commandment that he says remember? All right. You can tell which side of the issue I'm on. I don't believe that the Lord's day is on - let me see where I'm at here. All right. #5 - The Sabbath is not repeated in the new testament.
I'm glad you shared that point because I was going to say that myself. One reason that we still believe in the other nine commandments and we don't believe in the Sabbath commandment, pastor doug, is because you don't find anywhere in the new testament where the Sabbath is repeated, but you do find all the other nine commandments repeated. Pastor barney, you know better. And I might even ask our audience here have you ever heard that before? Did someone say that? It's the command - I see some hands out there. You've heard of urban myths? That is a biblical myth.
Sometimes we learn that when you say a myth often enough people believe it's true without ever investigating. Years ago, I think aristotle said, 'the spider is an insect with six legs' and they wrote that and repeated it through history until someone finally got down and looked and said, 'no, he's got eight legs.' People just have a tendency to repeat things that are not true. Actually, there is one of the Ten Commandments that you do not find repeated in the new testament. Pastor barney, can you tell us what that commandment is? It's the Sabbath commandment. Actually, I can show you several places in the new testament where you still find the Sabbath repeated.
First of all, you can look in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 4. It says, "for he has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way and God rested the seventh day from all his works." You can look at Hebrews chapter 4, verse 9. "There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God." That word rest there is sabatismos and that means a keeping of the Sabbath. It remains. That's written by Paul in the new testament.
Not to mention you can go through a number of places in acts where it talks about them keeping the Sabbath. Acts 16, verse 13, written, again, by a gentile. And it says, "and on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to a riverside where prayer was customarily made and we sat down and spoke to the women who resorted there." - Showing that they kept it. But there is one commandment of the ten you don't find explicitly repeated in the new testament. And that's the commandment that says you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
" Pastor barney, can you show me where in the new testament you're going to find that commandment? How much time do we have? The Bible does say, 'hallowed be thy name.' I will agree with you that that is the same principle, but you have to admit that's really as close as you get. Nowhere in the new testament do you find the third commandment. Who here believes that it's okay then to break the third commandment because you don't find it explicitly repeated as a carbon copy the way that you find it in the old testament? The principles were all there and Jesus made it very clear - the last thing in the world they wanted to do was to abolish the commandments of God. All right, well, Pastor Doug, there's more. #6 - Do not judge others regarding the Sabbath.
All right pastor barney. Romans chapter 14, verses 5 and "one person esteems one day above another, another one esteems every day alike." So, some people esteem the Sabbath day, others don't esteem the Sabbath day, he says, let everybody just kind of do their own thing. "He who observes the day observes it to the Lord. He who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats to the Lord, he eats and gives God thanks and he who doesn't eat to the Lord, he doesn't eat and give God thanks.
" Pastor Doug, in other words, don't be judging other people regarding what day they keep as the Sabbath day. Let everybody decide. You know, the problem I've got with this pastor barney, I've heard a lot of pastors say that to me, but then when I ask them, 'are you willing to tell your congregation 'you decide to come to church whatever day you feel like.'' Have you ever used that verse in your congregation that way? No. Fact is, if truth be known, you have a hard enough time getting them to keep Sunday as the Sabbath. Pastor barney, do you keep Sunday as the Sabbath? Do you keep it as a holy day? Well, I do go to church.
And if the lawn needs mowing I mow the lawn and the wife might need to do some shopping and we might need a little entertainment with the family, we'll go to the movies. But we do keep it holy while we're in church on Sunday morning. Well, according to the Bible the Sabbath is a day, it's not a -hour period, and yet not too many people are keeping that whole day holy on the first day of the week. By the way, in Romans chapter , the word Sabbath never appears. He's talking about keeping the Jewish feast days.
There was a great debate on which feast days were kept. Keep in mind, the Sabbath commandment goes all the way back to Genesis. The annual feasts of the jews, you find them during the time of the Exodus. One happened before there was even sin in the universe. Part of God's perfect law - the seventh day Sabbath.
The other Jewish annual Sabbath days, and this is what Paul is talking about in Romans 14, they came after sin, they were nailed to the cross. All right Pastor Doug, that brings me up to another verse that I'd like to read. Talking about nailed to the cross, Colossians 2 - don't be judging people - verses 14 to 16. When Jesus came and he died on the cross, he blotted out these Sabbath days. Notice - "blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us.
And took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them, openly triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of a holiday, or the new moon, or the Sabbath days." Let no one judge you regarding the Sabbath days. Case closed. I mean that's it.
How can you be more clear than that? So if anyone tries to judge you - one man regards one day above another - don't let anyone judge you regarding the Sabbath days. Have we all heard that before? We need to rightly divine the word of truth if we're going to get truth regarding biblical doctrines. It is true. It says that there were some laws that were nailed to the cross. We need to find out what they're talking about.
Now notice, specifically, what Paul said here 'blotting out the' - I'm in Colossians 2:14 - "blotting out the handwriting" - the what? - "Handwriting of ordinances" - and then notice - "that was against us." He's identifying what it is that's being blotted out. What is the handwriting and the ordinances? Look in Deuteronomy chapter 31:26. Paul is referring back to this and he said, "take this book of the law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it might be there as a witness against you." Now, let me see how many Bible scholars we have here in our live audience. The Ten Commandments, were they outside the ark or were they in the ark of the covenant - the golden box? They're in the golden box. The ordinances and the laws of Moses - they were in a book written on paper.
That was put outside the ark. Never does it say that is inside the ark. Ten Commandments inside the ark, ordinances in a pocket outside the ark. Why? 'That it might be a witness against you.' Paul is referring to the book of ordinances that was a witness against them. Notice there's a distinction between the laws.
Chronicles chapter 33, verse 8. "And I will again not remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed to your fathers--only that they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and" - you got the law - the Ten Commandments - "and the statutes and ordinances by the hand of Moses." Handwriting that is against you - those are the ordinances. This is what is nailed to the cross. And, of course, Exodus 32:16. "Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
" So, it's telling us in Colossians chapter 2 that 'don't let anyone judge you regarding the ordinances' - that included the Jewish annual Sabbath days - things like passover, day of atonement, the feast days, yom kippur. Those things, they came after sin. When Jesus died on the cross the veil and the curtain was ripped, the ceremonial system was abolished. Those things were all nailed to the cross. The Ten Commandments are for mankind through all ages.
This is the moral code of man. The first four commandments talk about our love for God and our relationship with him and our worshiping him. The last six commandments are dealing more with the horizontal social relationships of man. But now, the ten - the Sabbath day was not nailed to the cross. And don't we still need a day to worship God? Is the Jewish anatomy different from the anatomy of other people, where they just needed more rest on a more regular basis? #7 - It doesn't matter what day we keep as long as it's one in seven.
So, sequentially, Pastor Doug, I don't have a problem - and I've heard a lot of my fellow pastors say this - we don't have a problem with our seventh day adventist friends deciding that they want to worship God on Saturday. As a matter of fact, we've got a lot of our Sunday churches - to accommodate people's work schedules - we're beginning to meet on Saturday and Sunday to try and help everybody out. Just don't judge anybody. It doesn't matter as long as it's one in seven. But pastor barney - I just enjoy saying that, pastor barney - when God gives the Sabbath day in the very beginning there in Genesis chapter 2:2 and 3, it says three times, 'the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.
" It is the most definite article. He doesn't say 'a Sabbath day' as though we can all pick our own. And what would happen to the church if every individual decides what is going to be the day for their corporate worship? God wants us to have a day where we let him pick. He tells us. We don't call the appointment, he calls the appointment because he is God.
Not only that, he did something to the seventh day that we can't do. He says, 'I have blessed the seventh day. I have sanctified that day. I have made that day holy.' So, does every person have the power to bless a 24-hour period and make it holy? Only God can make something holy and the Bible tells us what God does he does forever. #8 - Can we know today - it's been so long since Bible times - which day is the seventh day? Pastor Doug, I'm surprised that our seventh day adventist brothers and sisters are so legalistic about this day when none of us actually really knows about what day is the seventh day.
The calendar has been changed and how would you possibly keep the Sabbath if you were on the international space station where the days are all mixed up and you're just circling out there in space? Well, I'd love to be on the international space station, I really hope that happens someday, and I'll probably keep the Sabbath then according to Sacramento time, if that should ever happen. But when God gave adam and eve the Sabbath, they weren't on the space station. And if we've got problems keeping the Sabbath day, because you think there's a calendar problem, how do you know what day Sunday is? You say you keep Sunday in honor of the resurrection. If we've got a problem with which day is the seventh day, you've got a problem with which day is the first day. That was a low blow.
But we do know from the Bible which day is which. You can look here in Luke chapter 23, verse 54. Speaking of the day that Jesus died it says, "that was the preparation and the Sabbath drew near." So what day is before the seventh day? The sixth day, right? That's what we call Friday - that's what they called the preparation day. Then you read in Luke 23, verse , "then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils and they rested on the Sabbath." - Luke doesn't say 'the old Jewish Sabbath', he says, "the Sabbath according to the commandment." And then it tells us in Luke 24, verse 1 "now on the first day of the week very early in the morning they and certain other women with them came to the tomb" - it's what you call easter Sunday - and so, sandwiched between what we would call good Friday - or people call it good Friday - the day that Jesus died and the day that Jesus rose, you've got the Sabbath day. And you know what I think is very interesting is Christ validated the seventh day of the week with his death.
He didn't validate Sunday. He dies on the cross, he says, 'it is finished.' His testament is sealed and what does he do? He rests in the tomb through the entire Sabbath. He rises Sunday to continue his work for us as our high priest and our intercessor who ever lives to make intercession for us. Even in the timing of Jesus' death he endorses the Sabbath day, he doesn't establish another day. So, I think that's pretty clear.
All right. I'm pacing myself looking at the clock here. Pastor Doug, do you believe that all of the Christians who do not observe the seventh day are lost? I go first this time. No. There are a lot of people - millions - that will be in heaven that worship God on the first day of the week.
There will be people in heaven that maybe didn't know what some of the commandments were - or understand them. God Judges people based on the light that they're given. John 9, verse 41. Jesus said to them, "if you were blind you would have no sin, but now you say 'we see' therefore your sin remains. To whom much is given, much is required.
" And so, God - there are going to be people who broke the Sabbath that will be lost because of that commandment. There will be people who are lost because of all of the commandments. The idea of sin is when you know to do good and you do not do it. The Bible says, 'sin is knowing to do good and not doing it.' When we know God's will - and if someone understands the Sabbath truth and they reject it in favor of being popular or fitting in, well that's a serious issue pastor. But no, we know that - and I said this in our opening presentation - seventh day adventists believe the greatest part of Christ's true followers are still in the fellowship of other communions.
But I believe we're getting very close to the end and I don't think we have time to just slap each other on the back and act like doctrine doesn't matter. I think God's people need to stand up and say, 'this is what the Bible says.' We love you. We want to be friends, but we are given a message - even in the face of persecution. Jesus said the Word of God is like a sword - it's truth and it may divide, but we've got to proclaim what the truth is. And when it's a truth regarding one of God's commandments, Jesus said, 'whosoever, therefore, shall break one of the least of these commandments and teach men so, he will be spoken of as least in the Kingdom.
' So I'm just doing what Jesus said to do. 'Whoever shall do and teach them', he said, our lord said, 'will be great in the Kingdom of heaven.' I believe the Lord wants us to preach this message and I hope, pastor barney, that you're coming around. My reasoning - you know it says we're to reason together daily whether these things are so. Amen? Study the Word of God together. All right, #10 - does the Bible say that Jesus broke the Sabbath? All right Pastor Doug, you know I want to follow Jesus, but you read in John 5:18 "therefore the jews sought all the more to kill him because he'd not only broken the Sabbath but he also said that God was his father, making himself equal to God.
So if Jesus breaks the Sabbath then why are you giving us a hard time about that? Pastor, I think you know better. You're talking about what his enemies said about him. If you're going to go by that, you've got to think about everything they say. Luke 4:16 - he came to nazareth where he was brought up - oh, I don't want to read that one yet, I want to go to John - John 8:48. "Then the jews answered and said to him 'do we not say rightly you are a samaritan and you have a demon?'" And Jesus said, 'I don't have a demon' Matthew 11:18 - Jesus said, "John the baptist came neither eating nor drinking and yet they said he has a demon.
The Son of man came eating and dreaming - drinking and they say 'look he is a glutton and a winebibber - a friend of tax collectors and sinners." These were the accusations of his enemies. It is true they accused Jesus of breaking their traditions regarding the Sabbath and he said, 'you're adding man-made traditions to the commandments of God.' Yes he did break their man-made traditions, but they weren't part of the Sabbath commandment. Jesus said, 'I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love.' If you're suggesting that Jesus sinned we're all in big trouble. And then, of course, finally, a Christian is a follower of Jesus, isn't that right? What was Jesus' example? Luke 4:16 - and it says, "he came to nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read." Now, is a custom something you do once or twice, or is a custom a pattern of life? It's a behavior that goes on. Jesus' pattern was on a regular basis.
They were used to seeing him there. They would gather together in the synagogue - same word as church - it means a gathering place - he read the Scriptures with them, that was his custom. That was the custom of the apostles. Paul reasoned with both jews and Greeks every week on the Sabbath. And so, this is what you find back in the Garden of Eden.
God first makes the Sabbath for man - meaning mankind - in the very beginning adam and eve worshiped God on this holy day that God blessed. It's the pattern of God's people all through the Exodus experience. It tells us it's the example of Jesus. And whenever you're in doubt about what to do, you follow Jesus and you're not going to have any problems with that. It's the example of the apostles.
We know that in the new heaven and the new earth it says that 'from one Sabbath to another all flesh' - that doesn't mean all Jewish flesh, it's not all kosher flesh. All flesh means jew and gentile will come together to worship before the Lord and if we're all going to be one people when Jesus comes back then I think he wants us to start getting together now. God's church is too divided. We're all polarized and this is exactly what the devil wants. Jesus said, 'all men will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another.
' And I think that love needs to be based on loving the word of God because Jesus is the word. The word became flesh. And so we need to base that love on what is truth. It's the truth that sets people free. I think Christians need to stop being so apologetic and afraid - in the name of unity we say 'let's put aside all doctrinal differences.
' I believe that this is a very important truth. Do you have any final words for us pastor barney? Brother doug, I just can't help but want to ask you - seventh day adventists are a minority compared to the vast millions in the Christian church. How can you guys think you're right and all of these other Christian pastors and scholars could be wrong? I know, pastor barney, that is troubling but, you know, that's been the pattern of the Bible. You can read in John chapter 7, verse 46 they said the same thing about Jesus. "The officers answered and said, 'no man ever spoke like this man.
'" They sent them to arrest Jesus and they come back and they said, 'we've never heard anyone speak like this.' "And the pharisees sneered and said to them, 'are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers of the pharisees believed in him?" - Let's find out what the majority thinks and let's follow the majority - you know, that's what's going to get the world in trouble in the last days. That beast power is going to command all small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to worship. And those who have the seal of God - that are following the commandments of the Lord - one of the last things it says in the Bible - 'blessed are those who keep his commandments that they might have a right to enter through the gates of the city and eat from the Tree of Life.' Friends, I would think the one commandment with the word holy, the one commandment with the word remember - that deals with our time and our love relationship with God - that would be an important commandment. You know, I've run out of time, but I want you to keep studying. We've got a website - english and spanish - it's called Sabbathtruth.
com. Please, study the information for yourself. It's even in spanish. Sabadobiblico.com-o - I guess - and we hope you'll look at it. We're not done with our presentations friends.
We hope you'll join us again. God bless you.