So we read Genesis chapter 2, we are continuing our 10 Commandments series,
where it's commandment number? Number four, yeah, commandment number four.
And the reason we read through Genesis chapter two is because this is the beginning
of this commandment. So let's have a look at it again there, Genesis chapter two,
and verse number one, it says, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
and all the host of them. So we know when we read Genesis chapter one, it's talking about the first
six days of creation. You know, God set into work his plan to create this world and to create all
things. And then we come to the seventh day. And, you know, even today, we have a seven-day week.
Isn't that amazing that we still, in this time period, where people try to deny God,
where they try to deny God's word, we still have a seven-day week. Why is that? Why do we have a
seven-day week? Because that's how God created things. That's why, you know, there's been
civilizations, societies in the past that have tried to change a week to five days or six days.
You can read about this through your history books, and they never succeed. It always makes
a mess of the seasons, of the times, of the calendars. It makes a huge mess. The only
system that works is seven days. It's amazing because, yes, God is the creator, you know,
every little aspect of our life testifies of God's creation. But anyway, verse number two,
it says, And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the
seventh day, from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it,
because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. And so,
we are looking at the fourth commandment, which speaks about the Sabbath day. And of course,
the Sabbath day is the seventh day. You know, we recognize it today in our English language as
Saturday. Okay, Saturday. Now, the issue with our English language though, when we think about the
word Saturday, it actually has its root etymology from the planet Saturn. Okay. And so, in English,
we've lost that terminology of Sabbath. Now, in Spanish, for example, Saturday is Sabado,
which is Sabbath. Okay. It has its root word in the word Sabbath. And so, the Sabbath is the
seventh day. The word Sabbath actually means rest, because that's what God did. He rested there on
the seventh day. Let's look at verse number three again. And God blessed the seventh day. Is the
seventh day important? Yeah, absolutely. God's blessed it. Now, every day is important, because
every day God created and did some work. But there's something special about the seventh day
here and sanctified it. To sanctify it basically means he's setting it apart from all of the six
days of the week. Why is he setting it apart? Because that in it he had rested from all his work
which God created and made. Now, Genesis chapter two, that's the beginning of the thought of the
seventh day. The seventh day being a day of rest, being set apart, being sanctified, and being
blessed. Now, please go to where we find the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter
20. And you guys know the story of Exodus. You know that Israel came out of Egypt by the leading
of Moses. Moses was given the Ten Commandments. And, you know, Moses wrote the first five books
of the Bible for the Old Testament saints in that day. And when we get to Exodus chapter 20,
verse number eight, we now have the very first commandment that God gives to man about the
seventh day. About the seventh day. Now, does anyone know from the time that God created all
things, you know, the first week, he rested on the seventh, to the time that Moses is given
the commandments, the Ten Commandments to give to Israel, how long approximately, I don't know,
can you tell from there, how long approximately, you know, is that time period? Does anyone,
can you work it out from there? Is it covered? Is it 2,700? Yeah, I was gonna say it's over 2,500
years, you know, from the time that God blesses the seventh day to the time Moses is now telling
the Jews, or the Israelites I should say, to keep the Sabbath. It's 2,700, let's say roundabout
there, approximately, thousand years that man has not kept the Sabbath. Now, this is quite
interesting, okay? Because keeping the Sabbath was a major component of the Old Testament saints
lives, okay? But I also want you to realize the first 2000, over 2,500, 600, even 700 years,
no one was keeping the Sabbath, okay? Then God gives us the Ten Commandments and what we see here
in verse number eight, Exodus chapter 20 and verse number eight, the Lord says to Israel,
remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Now the word holy, as we saw before in Genesis
chapter two is like sanctified, the same kind of idea, to keep something holy is to set it apart,
to make it different to the other days. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
There's another part of this commandment, commonly when people think about the Fourth Commandment,
they think it's about the Sabbath day, and yes it is, that's the primary purpose of that commandment,
but there's a secondary application as well, which is verse number nine,
six days, shout thou labor and do all thy work. You know, man, you should be willing to work up to
six days a week to provide for your family, to provide what you need to, to labor hard and to
do all your work. There are good principles here that we can still apply today. You know,
I truly believe that, yeah, man, if you have to go and work, you know, I know we've been spoiled
in our Western culture, where we tend to work five days and two days off, a two-day weekend,
we're used to that, aren't we? Okay. You know, when I was in high school, I was used to our,
you know, our school holidays, right? I got used to, you know, after, what is it,
three months or roughly of school work, you have your school holidays and then you go back to
school. I remember when I came out of school and I went into work, I'm like, when am I going to get
my school holidays? Yeah, man, because you get spoiled, so you get spoiled in a certain way,
you know, we're spoiled, you know, and this is probably why, I'm putting on weight, this is
probably why, you know, so many Australians just aren't healthy because men are supposed to work
six days a week. So that's what the Lord says and to rest on the seventh day. Let's keep going there,
verse number 10. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. So notice the
seventh day Sabbath interchangeable, right? Of the Lord thy God. Now it says, in it,
thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed
the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Hallowed comes from the word holy, sanctified, they're all kind
of similar words. Set it apart, okay? God, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day. Now I like verse
number 10 because, you know, it's like the Lord has to sometimes deal with rebellious people,
all right? It's like, okay, I can't work on the Sabbath, then I'll send my kids to work.
God said, no, neither your kids. It's like, all right, then I'll send my servants to work. No,
not your servants either. God said, I'll send my animals to work. Not your animals either.
Oh, I've got someone coming over. I've got a stranger coming to visit me. Hey,
he's not an Israelite, okay? Oh, get him to work. No, neither the stranger that's within thy gates,
okay? God wanted to make sure that in the Old Testament days that this Saturday, the Sabbath
was set apart and there was no work to be done. It was a day of rest, okay? It was a special day
for the Lord. Definitely, I'm not trying to undermine the importance or how special this
day is, okay? I mean, you read your Bibles, you know how important the Sabbath day is. Now,
when we think of the word Sabbath, it does mean rest. We tend to, the most common Sabbath day that
we read about in the Bible, of course, is the Saturday, but there are other Sabbaths in the
Bible as well, okay? I won't go through it all right now, but just roughly, you guys remember,
probably in the book of Jeremiah, where the reason they went to captivity for the 70 years
is because they hadn't given the land rest. You know, the Israelites were supposed to work the
land, you know, be farmers for six years and in the seventh year, they were meant to let the
land rest. That was the Sabbath year for the land. We also saw that if you were to take a servant,
okay, you had to, you know, you're only allowed to make him work for six years and the seventh year
for him to be let go free, okay? And so, that's a Sabbath for the servants as well. They were to
be let go free, okay? There are many Sabbaths, you know, even the feasts, the holidays,
many times these days, you know, the days of the unleavened bread, et cetera,
these are all called the Sabbath as well because it's a holiday. It's meant to be a time of rest,
okay? So Sabbath means rest. There are many Sabbaths in your Bible, but the core one,
the main one that we tend to read about, of course, is the Saturday. Now, please turn to
Numbers 15. Go to Numbers chapter 15. It's important that we read Numbers 15 because I
just want to show you once again how serious this day is to God, okay, for the Israelites,
all right, of the old covenant. Now, remember, before the old covenant, no one kept the Sabbath.
Moses comes into the picture, the Lord gives Moses the law, the Ten Commandments,
and now they're to keep the Sabbath. They're to remember the Sabbath, okay?
Now, Numbers 15, please, in verse number 32. Numbers 15 and verse number 32.
Numbers chapter 15 and verse number 32 reads,
Now, the Bible doesn't tell us why he's gathering sticks. I guess it's to make fire or something,
okay? I mean, I guess that's the main reason you would gather sticks, probably to make a fire.
You know, is this man necessarily a wicked man? We don't know much about this man,
okay? We know he's gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. A day where God commanded Israel to rest,
okay, not to work. Look at verse number 33.
Hey, this guy's working on the Sabbath. He's picking up some sticks. I mean, look,
brethren, for us, picking up sticks is not a big deal, right? I mean, we think about it like that,
right? My kids are always picking up sticks. You know, we go to the local park, they're picking
up sticks, okay? You know, this is something that's not necessarily such a major issue alone,
picking up sticks. What's the big deal? But he did it on the Sabbath, and so they basically arrest
him, and they're not sure what to do to him, so they bring him before Moses and Aaron, all right?
Verse number 35.
So is this going, what we're about to read, is this Moses's decision? No, it's the Lord's
decision. The Lord is the one that's telling this to Moses.
What? For picking up sticks on the Sabbath? How would you feel, brethren? You know what? You know,
someone in your family picks up sticks, you think it shouldn't be such a big deal, and God says he
deserves to die. Pick up stones, take him outside the camp, and let's stone him to death. These are
the words of God, okay? So you notice that not keeping the Sabbath is not just a sin,
it was a crime, okay? A crime that was punishable by the death sentence, okay? I don't know if you've
heard much preaching about the Sabbath, but this is the reality of the Bible. This is what God
demands. Verse number 36.
Is this a major issue for the Lord? Absolutely. How can we ignore these teachings about the Sabbath?
We cannot ignore it, okay? God did not want any man, nor his children, nor his animals,
nor his visitors to go and work the land, okay? Do any work, it's a day of rest,
okay? Why was it a day of rest? Because this was a day to be set apart, to signify the rest that
God had from his creative work. It was a special day, it was a holiday, it was an important day.
God, when we read about God's creation, you know, for the men that were doing the men's study on
the Fridays, we're looking at how important, we're looking for creation, we're seeing how
important it was for God to separate, to make clear distinctions, you know?
Clear distinctions between light and darkness, okay? Clear distinctions between man and woman.
Clear distinctions between mankind and animal kind, okay? God made clear distinctions between
the seas and the dry land. God made clear distinctions between the earth and heaven,
okay? God made these clear distinctions. When it comes to the Sabbath day, he's also making a very
clear distinction. The Sabbath is a day of rest, not a day of works. And this is important for us
to remember, okay? It's still, even though we don't keep the Sabbath as it were, as they were
commanded to do in the Old Testament, it's still a very important concept, okay? In fact, it is so
important, okay, to our gospel, to our presentation of the gospel, that it will come, it will make
sense to you as we get toward the end of this one and why it was so important for the Lord God,
all right? Now, please go to John chapter 5. Go to John chapter 5 in the New Testament.
I've given you some thoughts there around the Old Testament teaching of the Sabbath.
The first 2,700 roughly years, no one kept it. Moses brings in the Old Covenant by the hand of
the Lord. They're commanded to keep that Sabbath day, okay? And if you didn't, you were to be put
to death, okay? Now, John chapter 5 and verse number 8, please. We're going to look at Jesus
and the Sabbath, okay? Now, there's many references of Christ and the Sabbath,
but I just want you to consider because if you remember the stories of Christ many times,
Jesus Christ would do his great miracles on the Sabbath day and the Jews were trying to pin this
upon Jesus. They were trying to show that he was not someone that kept the law, okay? And that if
he did works, he deserved to die, okay? Just like the man who picked up sticks. Look at John chapter
5 and verse number 8. Jesus saith unto him, rise, take up thy bed, and walk. So Christ here is
healing a man who can't walk, the lame man. Verse number 9. And immediately the man was made whole
and took up his bed and walked. Look at this. And on the same day was the Sabbath, okay? So did
Christ heal on the Sabbath? Absolutely. I'm sure he healed on a Monday. I'm sure he healed on
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. You know, if Christ had to heal,
he would do it, okay? Isn't it healing someone more work though than picking up sticks?
It's more work, okay? So let's keep going. Verse number 10. The Jews therefore said unto him that
was cured, it is the Sabbath day. It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. This guy could not walk.
Now he can. He picks up his bed because Jesus Christ says, pick up your bed. He starts picking
up his bed. Yeah, going home, whatever it is, Reverend. And the Jews are angry at him. Look
at you working. You're picking up your bed. But I can kind of understand where they're coming from
because they're like, don't you remember the story of the guy that picked up sticks
and you're carrying your bed? I can kind of understand where they're coming from, okay?
Remember, these guys are non-believers, these Jews, okay? They're non-believers. They haven't
got the Spirit of God. They don't believe in Jesus Christ. And if they didn't believe in Jesus,
the Bible says they didn't actually believe in Moses either, okay? So they don't understand
the big picture here. Verse number 11. He answered them, he that made me whole, the same said unto me,
take up thy bed and walk. Jesus told me to do it, okay? Verse number 12. Then asked they him,
what man is that which said unto thee, take up thy bed and walk? And he that was healed
whisked not who it was. For Jesus had conveyed himself away a multitude being in that place.
Afterward, Jesus flined of him in the temple and said unto him, behold, thou art made whole. Sin no
more, lest the worst thing come unto thee. The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus,
which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, look, and sought to slay him
because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. So do you see how they're trying to take
the teachings of the Bible of Moses there? And you know, this is a crime. This deserves a death
penalty. And so they're trying to kill Jesus Christ, trying to find a reason to slay Jesus
Christ because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. Now, I love Jesus in this example
here, because it's not like Jesus doesn't try to defend himself. You know, he doesn't try to say,
oh guys, you know, I wasn't really working though. You know, he doesn't try, look,
what does he say? He kind of just goes straight into it. Verse number 17,
but Jesus answered them, my father worketh hereto and I work. He says, the father works
and I work. I will work in the Sabbath day, says Jesus. Say, what in the world? Okay,
isn't that, hold on, didn't God sanctify the Sabbath day? Yes, he did. Okay, to keep it holy,
to keep it separate from days of work, absolutely. But notice how Jesus doesn't defend himself. He
says, yeah, I worked. Okay, now look at verse number 18. Now, verse number 18 is important,
okay, because we know the narrator of the Bible is the Holy Spirit. Okay, these are not the words
of the Jews. These are not the words of someone that hates Jesus. This is the words of the
narrator. The narrator says in verse number 18, therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him,
look at this, because he had not only broken the Sabbath, but also said also that God was his
father, making himself equal with God. Now, if you say, no, no, Jesus didn't really break the Sabbath,
then you also have to say, well, it's not really God, the Father's not really his father.
Both of these things are true, or both of these things are not true. Okay, yes, of course,
God the Father is the Father of Jesus. And yes, of course, Jesus broke the Sabbath.
And some, you know, Christians, they don't really get this. They think, man,
no, it can't be. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law. And if he broke this commandment,
if he broke this law, he cannot be the Savior. But what if I told you, it's possible to break
the Sabbath and be sinless. It's possible to break the Sabbath and be guiltless. Okay, yes,
it is. So let's have a look at this. Go to Matthew chapter 12, please. Go to Matthew
chapter 12 and verse number one. Matthew chapter 12 and verse number one.
Matthew chapter 12 and verse number one.
At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn. So he's going through,
you know, harvest, and his disciples were hungered and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, behold, thy disciples do that which is
not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. So yeah, they're walking about, they're getting the wheat,
the corn, okay. They freshen it in their hands and they're eating of the wheat because they're
hungry, okay. They're doing the works of God. They became hungry. They started to eat. The
Pharisees, look, you're working on the Sabbath day again. Your disciples are working. They're
doing things that are unlawful. So are they breaking the Sabbath? Well, technically, yes.
Okay, let's keep going. Verse number three.
I won't worry about that right now. Let's keep going there in verse number five.
Or have you not read the law, look at this, how that on the Sabbath days,
the priests in the temple, look at this, profane the Sabbath, or they break the Sabbath
and are blameless. You see, the priests were serving in the house of God, in the tabernacle,
in the temple. They were doing the works of God. They were offering sacrifices, okay. They were
working, the priests were. They were even working on the Sabbath, but because they were doing the
works of God, they are blameless. Did they profane the Sabbath? They did profane the Sabbath. They
didn't keep it as a day of rest. That's because they were required to work. They were required
to serve the people of God on the Sabbath day. There were sacrifices in the Old Testament
happening every single day of the week, brethren. Okay. Yes, the priests, they could profane the
Sabbath. They could break the Sabbath, but they were blameless. They were sinless. Okay. So now
you start to understand the picture here a little bit, right? Verse number six.
Verse number seven.
He says the reason I can break the Sabbath is because I'm the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath
is not the Lord of God, okay. The Lord is the Lord of the Sabbath, okay. And he's in charge.
He's got the higher authority. He's greater than the temple, Jesus Christ is.
Now, what we're about to read, of course, let me just see if I've got the right place. Yeah,
we're about to read is that even the Israelites of old would profane or break the Sabbath, okay,
but they would be blameless or guiltless as well. Okay, we're about to read that as well here.
Let's keep going. Verse number nine.
That they might accuse him. Now, what I love about this is they're asking Jesus a question, you know,
is it lawful? Is it wrong? Is it right to heal on the Sabbath days? Not only does Jesus Christ
answer the question, he actually just goes and heals the guy, right? Let's have a look. Verse
number 11.
Verse 11.
Okay. So, of course, these things happened. Sometimes there are emergency cases. Yes,
even the life of an animal where a man would have to do some level of work on Sabbath day,
but he would be guiltless. And then Jesus Christ says, how much more important is this man with a
withered hand than an animal? If it was acceptable for you to go and do a little bit of work on
Sabbath day to pull out your animal out of pit, then how much more important is it that I go
about healing people on the Sabbath? Okay. So, what we're seeing here is Christ explaining,
yes, the Sabbath is important. Yes, it's to be hallowed. Yes, it's a day where you don't do work,
but if you're doing well, if you're doing, if there's an emergency, if there's a situation,
if there's a human being that needs help, even if there's an animal that needs help, it's fine for
you to go and do such things. You're not to be restricted and bound, oh, it's a Sabbath, I can't
do anything. But listen, that man going to pick up sticks, that wasn't an emergency situation.
He should have picked up his sticks on the Friday and had them ready for the Saturday.
The Saturday, you don't know, you can't prepare for a Saturday if your animal falls into a pit.
Okay. You can't prepare for a Saturday if your fellow human being is in some type of emergency
situation and you can go and help the guy. Okay. Let's keep going there, verse number 13.
Then saith he to the man, stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched forth and it was restored whole,
like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might
destroy him. Alright, so I just want to show you some examples and there are many examples of Jesus
Christ doing miracles and works on the Sabbath day and the Jews, the Pharisees, they just, they hate
it. They hate the fact that Christ is doing any kind of work, even though he's helping his fellow
man, even though he's doing the works of God, even though he's doing the work that the Father has asked
him to do, they still hate Jesus Christ because they didn't believe him. They weren't saved. These
people were not saved. Okay. They had not understood the Sabbath day. Now, before I keep
going, there is a misconception that I want to talk about and you'll often find this
within Protestant circles because when we read the New Testament, we know that Christ in his
practice, he would go into the synagogue on the Sabbath. Okay. Now, one thing I just want to make
very clear, God never instructed the Jews to create synagogues. Okay. That was never, now it's not
not wrong. The synagogue itself is not wrong. Okay. It's just the place because, you know, back in those
days, people, the general person did not have a Bible. In order to hear the Bible read, they
would have to go to a public place and so they built these synagogues, which for us, you know, we
would commonly think of, like, if we lived in the day of Jesus Christ, for example, a synagogue would
just be like a community center, you know, where anyone in the community, anyone in the public
can use that place for different meetings, different organizations, right, if you book it in, etc. you
could do that. That's what synagogue basically was, a community center where people can come together
and hear the reading of God's word because they didn't have Bibles and some teaching as well. Okay.
A place to know more about God's word. And this was a practice of Jesus Christ. Now, because Jesus
Christ did that, people then think, well, why do we come to church? Because they think of that
basically like church. They think, why do we have church on Sunday? And one thing I've heard over and
over again, and I've often heard this from Baptist churches, but I heard this from a lot of Protestant
churches, is, well, God changed the Sabbath to a Sunday. Has anyone heard that before? Yeah.
Okay, brother Tim. Yeah, you know, God has changed the Sabbath to a Sunday. That's rubbish.
I actually believed that for a period of time because I heard that a few times, right,
and I just thought, okay, well, God must have changed it. But then when I went looking for my
Bible, you know, when did God change this? It's not there in your Bible, okay, because the Sabbath is
the seventh day. Sunday is the first day of the week, okay. God did not change Sunday to be the Sabbath,
all right. That's not why we have church on Sundays. The reason we have church on
Sundays, just very quickly, good enough to do the sermon, is because, number one,
it's a day where generally people, people have day off, so it's a day to come to church.
Number two, it's out of tradition, okay, because it is a day that people can generally come together
and do it. Number three, we do have some principles, of course, of Christ being risen from the dead
on the first day of the week. We have some examples of the disciples coming together on the first day
of the week, and so we continue that tradition, okay. But you don't have anywhere in the Bible
that God says, go to church on a Sunday, and that's the day you got to go. You can go to church
any day of the week. You know, every day is a day that God has created. Every day is a day
that we can worship and serve God, all right. But anyway, Sundays are good. I like Sundays,
you know. They're good. We've got Thursday here. We've got Wednesday nights going on at New Life
Baptist Church as well. Whatever day is available and best for our church, that's when we'll meet
and have church. But that's a misconception. That's not true. God never changed the Sunday
to be the new Sabbath or something like that, okay. I think that's just a crazy teaching,
and it can really mislead a lot of people, all right. Now, please go to Colossians chapter 2.
Colossians, let's read about the change. Let's read about the change from the Old Testament
to the New Testament. Colossians chapter 2, verse number 13. Colossians 2, verse number 13.
Oh, the other thing I wanted to say, some people think it's wrong to work on a Sunday as well,
okay. They think it's like God is angry with you if you work on a Sunday.
You know why they believe that? Because they believe Sunday is the new Sabbath,
and they think Sabbath is a day of rest. Sunday is the new Sabbath. Why are you working on Sunday?
There's nothing wrong with working on Sunday. There's something wrong with missing out on
church. If you've got work on a Sunday and you're able to fit, you know, work around church,
praise God for you, okay. We should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, all right.
We should not, you know, create a lifestyle that's going to cause us to miss out church
on a significant basis, all right. There's nothing wrong with working on a Sunday, okay. It's not the
new Sabbath. There's nothing wrong with that, okay. But let's go to Colossians chapter 2,
verse number 13. Colossians chapter 2, verse number 13. In fact, I work on Sundays. I preach
two sermons. You know how much work that is? It's a lot of work, Brevin. I'm exhausted on Sunday.
My wife knows I need to get a nap in the afternoon, okay, because I feel like I worked
pretty hard on Sunday. I do a lot of work, okay, and trust me, I'm still right with God.
I did some work on a Sunday. But Colossians chapter 2, verse number 13.
Colossians chapter 2, verse number 13. Let's look at the change.
And it's, have you ever heard that basically all the 10 commandments are repeated, well,
not all the 10 commandments, but generally speaking, the 10 commandments, the teaching
of the 10 commandments are repeated for us in the New Testament except for the keeping of the
Sabbath. That's true, okay. Never in the New Testament writings are you going to find that
God's commanding, you know, the church to keep the Sabbath. But when it comes to all the other
9 commandments, they are repeated for us in the New Testament. But I don't build my doctrines on
whether something is repeated or not repeated. You know, when we look at the changes between
the Old Testament to the New Testament, we want to see what does God say, how does He
quote the changes, you know, what is God's direction about the changes, and that's where
we build our doctrine. Not just, it could be just a coincidence that it's not mentioned in the New
Testament, okay. Now, I believe that's a good reason to not still hold the Sabbath today,
but actually the main reason is because of what we find here in Colossians chapter 2.
Colossians 2, 13, please. Colossians chapter 2, verse number 13. It says,
And you, so this is about our church, this is about believers, and you being dead in your sins,
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, have you quickened together with him,
having forgiven you all trespasses. Verse number 14. 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 the cross.
Interesting. When Christ was nailed to the cross, there was something else that was nailed to the
cross, okay. What is it? The handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary
to us, and took it out of the way. There are certain ordinances, there are certain practices
that have been taken out of the way, and they've been crucified, they've been nailed to the cross
with Christ, all right. Let's keep going. Verse number 15. And having spoiled principalities and
powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Now verse number 16.
Let no man therefore judge you, in meat or in drink, or in respect of in holiday,
or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days. Verse number 17. Which are a shadow of things to come,
but the body is of Christ. So this is teaching us about the differences, okay. When we look at all
these things in verse number 16, the meats, the drinks, the holidays, these are the things that
Moses brought into law in the old covenant, okay. How they could only eat certain meats,
how they had to celebrate certain festivals, the holidays. This is of the new moon, the new moon
obviously, the start of a new month, and at the start of the new month they had to bring certain
sacrifices, you can read about in the Old Testament, and the sabbath days. All these things,
sacrifices, the sabbath days, what she ate, the restrictions, okay. These, verse number 17,
are a shadow of things to come, but the bodies of Christ. All of these things were to
foretell us, was to picture, was to be a shadow of the body of Christ that was crucified on the
cross. So all of these things, when you go back to verse number 14, which has blotted out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, it's all those things that we just read. The new
moon, the sabbath days, the meats and the drinks, you know, these things which was contrary to us
and took it out of the way, nailed it to his cross. And so as Christ died on the cross,
so did these ordinances die because they're a shadow of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Now that we have the sacrifice of Christ, we don't need all those other things, brethren.
They were good for the time of the old covenant, they were good for the time of the Old Testament
saints, because it was a shadow of the body of Christ. But now that Christ has come, now that
Christ has been nailed to the cross, those things are not required anymore. Our focus, our attention
is on the body of Christ, not on the things that came before Christ to point us to Christ.
So that's the change that took place there. Now go to Hebrews chapter 9, please. Go to Hebrews
chapter 9, verse number 8. Hebrews chapter 9 kind of just reinforces this. It doesn't mention the
Sabbath days, but it does reinforce this teaching, how the Old Testament practices, many of them,
were just a picture, a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ in Hebrews chapter 9, verse number 8.
Hebrews chapter 9 and verse number 8. Hebrews chapter 9, verse number 8 says,
the Holy Ghost, this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest,
while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. So that first tabernacle is a picture of the
Old Testament. Verse number 9, which was a figure, or as we're reading Colossians, a shadow,
a figure or a shadow, the terminology used within Bible colleges is type. It was a type,
it was a figure, it was a shadow, for the time then present. So it was good for that time present,
brethren. There's nothing wrong with the Sabbath day in of itself, but in the right time, which
was in the Old Testament days. We're figuring the time then present in which we're offered both
gifts and sacrifices, we saw the sacrifices in the Colossians, that could not make him,
that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience, which stood only in meats and drinks,
we saw that again in Colossians chapter, well we just read that in Colossians, which stood only
meats and drinks and diverse washings and carnal ordinances, we saw the word ordinances before,
again in the book of Colossians, imposed on them until the time of reformation. So it's no longer
imposed on the saints. It was imposed on them on that time past, before Christ, but not now,
verse 11, but Christ being common high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building, neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us. So Hebrews 9, I forgot the reference was it, Colossians chapter
2, yeah, Hebrews 9 is confirming basically the same thing that we read there in Colossians chapter 2,
okay, certain practices that were good for the times past, there were shadows, there were images,
figures, types of what Christ would ultimately fulfill, but once Christ has come, that has been
done away with, okay. Just like the Old Testament has been done away with, these ordinances of the
Old Testament have also been done away with, they've been nailed to the cross of Christ.
Our focus now is on the body of Christ, not on the shadows of Christ, okay. Now moving on from there,
I hope that makes sense, okay, and I'll, we'll put it all together toward the end of the sermon,
I'm almost done here, okay. Now can you please go to Matthew 24, go to Matthew chapter 24.
There are some people that still believe, even amongst some Baptist churches,
I'll explain to you why some Baptist churches believe this, there are some people that still believe
that you've got to keep the Sabbath day, that God requires us to keep the Sabbath day, and they'll
turn to Matthew 24. Now Matthew 24 of course is known for the future events to come, okay, so this
is of course in a time, when we read about Matthew 24, we're talking about a time when the New Testament
is already in effect, all right, when Christ has already risen from the dead, it's about the
future times, about the Antichrist, and the coming of Christ of course, and let's say if you read
verse number 20, and this is about those that lived in Judea at this point in time in the future,
it says in Matthew 24 20, these are the words of Christ, but pray ye that your flight be not in the
winter, neither on the Sabbath day, ah, see, they're still required, even in the future, see, we're meant
to keep the Sabbath day, they'll say, either Christians are meant to keep it, they'll say, or
some Baptist would say, well God expects, even though the Jews do not believe in Christ,
they say, some Baptist would say, God still expects the Jews to keep the Sabbath,
or can you prove that to me, or Matthew 24 20, that's the future, you know, the Sabbath day is
mentioned here, I mean, I don't know, what do you make of that, what's the answer to that,
is God telling the Jews or Christians or whoever to keep the Sabbath day in Matthew 24 20?
Not to keep it, but are there Sabbath days in the future? Yeah, because it's Saturday, every Saturday
is the Sabbath day, okay, just because Saturday in some languages, of course in Hebrew, is called the
Sabbath, doesn't mean you're required to keep the Sabbath, it's just Saturday, okay, and I think we
lose this in the English language, because we don't think of Saturday as Sabbath, okay, but you know,
there are over 30 languages where Saturday basically means the Sabbath day, as I already told you,
Saturday, Sabado in Spanish, Sabbath, Sabbath, Sabbath, okay, let me just say some other languages,
Brother Rams, do you know Arabic, like in Arabic?
That doesn't work, I got Sabbath here, what about Armenian, it says here Shabbat,
Bosnian, if you guys know these languages, let me know, Subota, Bulgarian, Subota,
I don't know what it is, Sabato, Croatian, Subota, Czech, Subota, Georgian,
Sabati, Greek, Sabato, is that right brother? Sabato, Indonesian, Subto, Italian, Sabato, Maltese,
are you Maltese sister, what is it Maltese, you don't know, it says here Ist Sibt, I don't know,
Polish, Subota, Portuguese, Sabato, Romanian, Sabata, Russian, Subota, Serbian, Subota,
Slovak, Subota, I don't know, Slovene, Subota, Somali, Sabti, Spanish, Sabato, Sudanese,
Subto, Ukrainian, Subota, now look, okay, let's take, let's use an example here,
all right, so you reckon if we go to Poland, in Polish it's Subota, you reckon if we go to Poland,
and we go all right guys, let's talk about the seventh day of the week, what is it,
oh Subota, Sabbath, so you must be keeping the Sabbath then, all right, is that right,
you got no one works in Poland, okay, you go to Spanish speaking country, no one works in any
Spanish speaking country, because they're keeping the Sabbath, that's not what it's saying brethren,
when you read Matthew 24, you know, it says pray that your flight not be in winter, neither on the
seventh day, that the flight, the escape out of Judea, would not take place on a Saturday,
that's what it's saying, it's not saying that God expects Christians or Jews to keep the Sabbath,
okay, it's just the day of the week, that's the name of the day of the week, so it is in over 30
languages in the world today, okay, so that teaching is just, it's so silly, it's so ridiculous,
because God is not even asking them to keep the Sabbath, so just pray that it doesn't take place
on the Sabbath day, now turn to Hebrews chapter 4 please, turn to Hebrews chapter 4 and verse number
1, Hebrews chapter 4 verse number 1, Hebrews 4 is the one, is the passage that basically wraps
it all up together, everything that I've talked about, maybe you feel like there's a whole bunch
of loose ends here, well this Hebrew chapter 4 ties it all up together, okay, and let me just say to
you, I'm not trying to say the Sabbath is inferior or not important, it is absolutely the most
important thing, okay, I would not be going to heaven if it was not for the Sabbath day, okay,
I would not be saved for my sins, reverend, if it not be for the Sabbath day, say pastor Kevin,
he's saying we've got to keep the Sabbath day to be saved, what kind of, oh okay, Hebrews chapter 4
verse number 1 please, Hebrews chapter 4 verse number 1, let's read it, it says, let us therefore
fear lest a promise being left of us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short
of it, you know Paul, I believe Paul is the writer of the book of Hebrews, all right, he's
telling the Hebrew people, I don't want any of you to come short of the rest of God, now look,
these people might very well be keeping the Sabbath because that was their practice,
okay, so this is not about keeping the Saturday as a day of rest, there is something that Paul
is afraid they're going to come short of, what is that verse number 2, for unto us was the gospel
preached as well as unto them but the word preached did not profit them not being mixed
with faith in them that hurt it, Paul is saying the gospel has been preached to the Old Testament
saints, to the New Testament saints, we've all been here in the gospel, okay, but it does not
profit you to know the gospel if you don't mix faith in them, okay, so when you hear the gospel
you know what's required for you to have faith in the gospel, you've got to take faith, you've
got to mix it, I heard the gospel, all right, I'm going to place my faith on the gospel, now it
profits you, now you can enter the rest, but if you've heard the gospel and you don't mix faith
with it brethren, you do not enter the rest, okay, you do not enter the rest, you've come short of it
and that's what Paul was concerned about for some of the Hebrews of his time, all right,
verse number three, for we which have believed, we that have believed the gospel do enter into rest
as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest although the works
were finished from the foundation of the world, what works were finished from the foundation of
the world? God's creation, the six days, they're starting to come together, okay, what does God's
creation have to do with salvation, all right, well let's keep going, verse number four, for he
spoke in a certain place of the seventh day, that's the seventh day, the seventh day on this wise
as and God did rest on the seventh day from all his works and so God using six days of labor and
works to create all things, it was so important that he took the day number seven as a day of rest,
he held it, he made it special, it was to be sanctified, it was to be kept by the Old Testament
saints, why? Because it pictured our rest, it pictured our salvation without works, okay,
you cannot be saved by works, you need to enter into the Sabbath rest which you take and you mix
it with faith, the gospel mixed with faith is your Sabbath rest, it's your Sabbath, it's your
seventh day, okay, so do you keep the Sabbath past the Kevin? Every single day, the moment that I
believed on Jesus, the moment that I mixed faith with the gospel brethren, I almost said works,
the moment I mixed faith with the gospel is the day I entered into the Sabbath rest and every
single day now I keep the Sabbath day, okay, because the Sabbath day is a picture once again
the shadow of the body of Christ, how Christ took his body, sacrificed himself on the cross,
nailed to the cross, rose again from the dead, that's the gospel message, that's where I've
mixed my faith with, alright, and now I've entered into his rest and so salvation has never been
by works, you know, your works do not prove that you're saved, God rested from his works, okay,
and set this day apart as different as light is from the day, as different as male is from female,
as different as works is from rest, salvation is rest, praise God that salvation is not by works,
this is why when a man picked up sticks on the Sabbath day, what is he doing? He's breaking
this day, he's mixing, he probably doesn't even realize what he's doing, okay, but the picture,
the shadow of Christ's sacrifice, the shadow of the gospel is being tainted by works, you know,
it's meant to be a day of rest, this man goes well I'll pick up sticks anyway, well now you're
mixing works with the gospel, and if you mix works with the gospel you do deserve to die,
for the wages of sin is death, and so by mixing works this guarantees that you do not enter into
this, now this man could have been saved, I'm not saying the man was not saved, I'm saying the
picture, okay, that the Sabbath day was meant to represent, he had broken that picture and he
deserved to die, and let me just say this, false prophets that preach a false gospel, they deserve
to die, okay, because they're mixing works with faith, okay, they're mixing works and saying
that's how you enter into rest, by working hard, no, that's not how you do it, right, you rest,
you rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and so yes, you know, we do, we do keep
the Sabbath every day of the week, I've learned as I go door to door soloing to be a little bit
more careful with how I speak about the Sabbath, because sometimes you do come across people,
maybe seventh-day Adventists, who else keeps Sabbath?
Are there anyone else? There are seventh-day Baptists, but I've never met one, I think it's
maybe of an American thing, I don't know, but there are some people, and look, you know,
sometimes they're just, they're just, you know, sincere, they're sincerely wrong, but they're
sincere, okay, they just want to do that, which is right, and they are the very first questions
that come into their mouth is, do you keep the Sabbath? That's why I know they're Sabbath,
do you keep the Sabbath? I've learned to answer, yes I do, yes I do, let me show you how I keep
the Sabbath, and I turn them to Hebrews chapter four, and I tell them that the Sabbath rest is
believing on the gospel without works, that my Sabbath rest is Jesus Christ and his body,
and then I tell them, look, you can decide, you can keep the Saturday if you want, or you can
believe on Jesus Christ, okay, and you know, believing on Jesus Christ, entering into his rest,
you know, is what saves you, it's the gospel message, and so yes, the Sabbath is absolutely
important, but now you understand why we're not required in the New Testament to follow that
practice as far as keeping a Saturday and keeping that as a day of rest, now I think it's a good
principle brethren, you know, my day of rest is Friday, generally speaking, I do work a bit on
Friday, but generally speaking, if you're trying to reach me on the phone on Friday, you're not
going to really get to me very, very easily, okay, I usually set my phone aside and I spend time in
the family, you know, just, just a day of, a lot of pastors have Monday as a day of rest because
they've worked hard on the Sunday and they're tired, and like, yeah, Monday didn't work for
my family, okay, Friday works better for my family, the kids get most of the school done
during the week, and today we just enjoy each other's company and have fun, so I guess Friday
is my day of rest, it's a good principle, it's a good principle to have a day to recharge your
batteries so you can be more productive for the coming week, you know, I do believe in that
principle, okay, but as far as something that the Lord requires from you, you know, it is simply
believe in the gospel, that is keeping the Sabbath day, okay, let's pray.