Music
There aren't many of us this afternoon, so that means we've got to sing even louder.
Amen.
Alright, so let's turn to hymn number 161.
Hymn number 161, you can stay seated.
Let's begin by singing Our Great Saviour, 161, Our Great Saviour.
Friends they fail me, cause the Savior be.
He my Savior makes me whole.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Safe in hope, in peace, in love, in peace, with me to the end.
Jesus, God of strength, in weakness, let me hide myself in Him.
Tender, dry, and sometimes failing me.
My victory wins.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Safe in hope, in peace, in love, in peace, with me to the end.
Jesus, God of hope, in sorrow, God will give us truth.
He won't, even when one heart is breaking.
He my comfort helps my soul.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Safe in hope, in peace, in love, in peace, with me to the end.
Jesus, God of God, and keeper, while the tempest still is high.
About me lies, God takes me.
He my pilot, He is my guide.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Safe in hope, in peace, in love, in peace, with me to the end.
Jesus, I do now receive Him.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Safe in hope, in peace, in love, in peace, with me to the end.
Excellent singing. Let's go somewhere to pray.
Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for the opportunity to come to your house once again this afternoon.
Lord, I pray you'd refresh us. Lord, we get tired as we approach this time.
So, Lord, I just pray you'd give us the mental clarity to think upon you, to meditate, and to continue to worship and praise you.
Lord, we thank you for being our great Savior.
Lord, thank you for being our friend, for never forsaking us.
And, Lord, we always have you to run to when we need help and comfort.
And the wisdom, Lord, that you've given us, Lord, to live in a life that is pleasing to you and that gives us great joy.
And, Lord, I just dedicate this service to you.
May our hearts be touched by your Word and by the working of your Spirit.
We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Alright, our next hymn is hymn number 137.
One, three, seven.
In times like these.
One, three, seven.
In times like these.
You need a Savior.
In times like these.
You need an uncle.
Be very sure.
You'll rank the halls.
And brings the solid flood.
This rock is Jesus.
Yes, he's the one.
This rock is Jesus.
The only one.
Be very sure.
You'll rank the halls.
And brings the solid rock.
In times like these.
You need a Bible.
In times like these.
You need an idol.
Be very sure.
You'll rank the halls.
And brings the solid rock.
This rock is Jesus.
Yes, he's the one.
This rock is Jesus.
The only one.
Be very sure.
You'll rank the halls.
And brings the solid rock.
In times like these.
I have a Savior.
In times like these.
I have an uncle.
I'm very sure.
My uncle holds.
And brings the solid rock.
This rock is Jesus.
Yes, he's the one.
This rock is Jesus.
The only one.
I'm very sure.
My uncle holds.
And brings the solid rock.
Amen.
The singing sounds wonderful.
One more song before the reading.
Let's go to 150.
150.
My faith has found a resting place.
150.
My faith has found a resting place.
It is in Him that Jesus died and that He died for me.
All right, please take your Bibles now and turn to Genesis chapter 2.
Genesis chapter number 2.
Nicholas is coming up for the reading.
Genesis chapter two, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God entered His work, which He had made.
And He had rested on the seventh day from all His work, which He had made.
And God blessed the day and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from all His work, which God created and made.
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created.
And it was on the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew.
For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food.
The tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and a tree of knowledge of good and evil.
And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from then till it parted, and became into four heads.
The name of the first is Pisan, that is it which compasses the whole land of Havalia, where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good.
There is Bedilim and the onyx stone, and the name of the second river is Gihon, the same is it that compasses the whole land of Ethiopia.
And the name of the third river is Hiddikel, that is which goeth toward the east of Assyria, and the fourth river is Euphrates.
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress and to keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying,
Of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it.
For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make an help meet for him.
And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air.
And brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call them.
And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was named thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field.
But for Adam thou was not found, and helped meet for him.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep, to fall upon Adam.
And he slept, and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.
And the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought it unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.
She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.
And there shall be one flesh.
And there were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, please help us to all learn something, and to be attentive, to fill my debt with the Holy Ghost.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
So Genesis chapter 2 verse 1 says, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Look at verse number 2, 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.
The total for the sermon this afternoon Brevin is, The Lord blessed the Sabbath day.
It says that at the beginning of verse number 3, And God blessed the Sabbath day.
Okay, so we can see that when it comes to the creation events,
we obviously have Genesis chapter 1 which takes the first six days of creation there,
where God did the work. He did go to work, right?
I mean, I know God spoke things into existence, but it still required work.
Some effort from the Lord God, we learn there in chapter number 2,
that he then appoints that seventh day as a day of rest.
Very different to the rest of the days, right?
You've got six days of work and one day of rest.
And he blesses the seventh day, he sanctifies it.
So sanctify means to base this again, the idea of being separated, set apart.
It's a different day, and it's to signify the fact that God rested from his works.
You know, what's amazing is that even to this day, we still have a seven day week.
You know, every week that we live, you know, the fact that we have Sunday to Saturday,
seven days, it ought to spur into our minds that God created things to be this way.
You know, I've read in the past, I can't remember exactly which civilizations they were,
but I've read in the past that there have been times that some civilizations
have tried to move away from the seven day week.
They're trying to go to a five day week of a six day week
and create a new calendar system based on that, but it always collapses.
It always fails.
It doesn't work out because it gets just too messed up.
You know, as far as the seasons and, yeah, obviously the seasons are the key thing.
When you think about farmers that want to plant at a certain time,
when you start messing with the days, the number of days,
it really messes up your calendar system and you can't really forecast that well.
The only thing that truly works is a seven day week.
And I think, you know, every time we think about a seven day week,
it should just spur to our mind the fact that God created everything in six days
and rested on the seventh.
Now, obviously the seventh day, we see the seventh day is known as the Sabbath in the Bible.
You know, look, there are a few Sabbaths in the Bible,
but the most common Sabbath in the Bible is the seventh day.
It's a day of rest. The word Sabbath means rest.
It's a day of rest.
And again, it's just picturing, it's just reminding us the fact that God rested from his works on the seventh day.
Now, we are going through our series on the Ten Commandments.
We're up to commandment number four.
And I'll just quickly read to you from Exodus chapter 20, verse number eight,
where we have the Ten Commandments.
It says in verse number eight, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Remember the Sabbath day. Remember the seventh day. Keep it holy.
Okay? Separate it from the other days. The other days are days of work.
This is the day of rest.
Now, one thing that I have found over the years of going to church,
the Baptist churches, they're right on this doctrine, but they just don't teach it well enough.
And the idea sometimes is, well, we just don't have a Sabbath.
You know, that was something for the Old Testament Israelites and, you know, that's been done away with.
And it's true that it's been done away with. It's true, but it's not, it hasn't disappeared.
We have a Sabbath rest. Okay? I mean, very clearly in the Bible, we have a Sabbath rest.
But it's not what you think it is.
You know, there are some churches known as the seventh day Adventists.
Or there are even seventh day Baptists out there.
And they will say, well, the right day to come to church, the right day to worship God is on the Saturday.
That's the seventh day, by the way. Saturday.
So they organize church services around the Saturday instead of the Sunday.
And they think it's important, even when you truly understand what the seventh day Adventists teach,
they truly believe in order for you to be saved, you have to worship on the Sabbath.
You know what I mean? They have this strange doctrine that if you worship on a Sunday,
that you've taken the mark of the beast.
I mean, it's so ridiculous to us, right? But the fact that they're saying this just proves that they're not even saved.
I mean, how can a saved person even make that kind of conclusion that worshiping on Sunday is the mark of the beast?
But there is something special about the seventh day. It's found throughout your whole Bible.
You can't read the Bible and ignore how important the seventh day is to the Lord God.
There is a Sabbath, and we are to remember this day, and we are to keep it holy.
Okay? But in what sense? Let's keep going to Exodus chapter 20, verse number 9. I'll read it to you.
And this is something that we often sometimes miss in our society.
In verse number 9 it says, six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. Isn't that interesting?
That God has created man to be able to work for six days in a week.
Okay? Now again, we live in a society where we often just work Monday to Friday, 9 to 5.
That's what is considered full time, and we often get two days off.
But really, God has made it so we are able to function and work hard for six days,
and at least, in principle, have a day of rest.
That we can recharge our bodies, get the rest, get the sleep we need, so then we can function for the rest of the week.
You know, what I would say about that, men, is even though you may have a job that only makes you work Monday to Friday,
I would say that you should still, on the sixth day, whatever that day is for you,
still be busy, still be productive, still try to move around and get some work out of you,
even if it's just around the house.
You know, whether it's just cutting the grass or fixing things up that have broken down,
just get busy doing that work because God has actually made you function for six days.
Now let me just keep going there. It says in verse number 10,
But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt 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, once again, that idea of holy, that's the same terminology there, okay?
So that's why God wants us to work for six days and rest for one, at least there, as it was written in the law of Moses,
is because this pictured the fact that God worked for six days and rested on the seventh.
Now what I really love about verse number 10, and I know you're not there in the Bible,
you can turn there if you really want to, but you know, I get this idea with the Jews, with the Israelites,
they'll be like, well we're not allowed to work on the Sabbath day.
And we know that as you read through your Bible, how many times they actually disobeyed this commandment.
In fact, the reason, the main reason why the southern kingdom of Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians,
God says it's because he did not keep the Sabbath.
Now that wasn't necessarily the Saturday, but they did not leave their land, because there are many Sabbaths in the Bible,
they would not give the seventh year of their land rest.
You know, the seventh year, the Sabbath of the land, they did not keep that, and so then God took them out of the land,
so the land could get the rest, and they were taken into captivity for 70 years.
Alright, so there are many Sabbaths in the Bible, not just the Saturday.
You know, even the feast days, the celebrations, these were known as Sabbaths as well.
Okay, so these days, they could fall on any other day on the calendar, but they would still be called the Sabbath.
But again, the main Sabbath that we think about in the Bible is the seventh day.
So it is a day that is special to the Lord.
It is something that is recorded for us in the Ten Commandments,
and we often think about the Ten Commandments as a summary of all the laws that we find in the Old Testament.
So, you know, even though we as Christians, we as New Testament Christians, we as Baptists,
we don't have this sanctified Sabbath day, you know, the teaching, the doctrine of the Sabbath is vitally important.
It is so important. It is important to God, and you'll soon see why it is so important to us.
Alright, now, keeping the Sabbath day was serious business.
Please go to Numbers, chapter 15. Please go to Numbers, chapter 15.
Oh, and by the way, I kind of missed my point.
What I was saying was, because the Israelites were so disobedient with keeping the Sabbath.
That's why I love verse number 10 in Exodus, chapter 20, verse 10.
It says, in it, thou shalt not do any work.
So you might say, well, then I'll send my children.
Then it says, nor thy son, nor thy daughter.
So then the Israelite might say, well, I'll send my servants.
You know, they can go to work. I'll rest, but I can send my servants to work.
Then the Lord says, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor your servants.
And you might say, well, my animals can go to work.
So God says, nor thy cattle.
He goes, well, I've got a visitor, a non-Israelite.
You know, he doesn't keep the Sabbath. He's not under the Old Covenant.
I'll get my visitor. You know, I'll get one of the Edomites.
I'll get one of the Egyptians that have come to visit us.
I'll get him to work for me.
Then he says, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.
God wanted no one, not even an animal, to work on the Sabbath day.
It was to be a day of rest. Very clear rest.
Not just ways to work around resting.
It had to be very clear that it was a day of rest.
Now, let's see how serious the Sabbath day is to the Lord God.
Here in Numbers chapter 15, Numbers chapter 15 verse number 32.
Numbers chapter 15 and verse number 32.
It says, and while the children of Israel were in the wilderness,
they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day.
You think, well, gathering sticks.
Why would he have to gather sticks?
I don't know. Maybe it was a bit cold that night.
Maybe he needed it for the fire.
I don't know exactly, okay. But the man goes out and gathers sticks.
Now, would you turn around and say, well, what a wicked man.
How horrible is this man to go and pick up a few sticks on the Sabbath day?
You know, what he's done is not wicked in of itself, obviously, picking up sticks.
And I remember when I would read this story as a child, I'd go, I don't get this.
What is going on?
I mean, what is this man's punishment, do you think?
You know, look what it says, verse number 33.
And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron,
and unto all the congregation.
And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
Look at this, and the Lord said unto Moses.
This is not just the opinion of a man.
This is what God says to Moses.
The man shall be surely put to death.
All the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp or outside of the camp.
For picking up sticks.
I mean, you think, man, does it really deserve the death penalty?
And this isn't just a bullet at the back of the head.
This is stoning.
I mean, what a way to go.
What a way to lose your life by stoning.
You know, being plummeted bit by bit, you know, stone after stone.
You know, the pain and the anguish, eventually death.
But it's a drawn out process, isn't it?
You know, this is God's remedy for certain crimes.
God is saying, look, it's not just a sin to work on the Sabbath day.
It's a crime punishable by death.
That's how serious the Sabbath day is.
You know, so sometimes I can understand, I'm not saying that they're right.
Again, the seventh-day Adventist, seventh-day Baptist, I can just understand their concern when they read a story like this.
And they think, well, we better keep the Sabbath.
You know, better make sure it all happens on the Sabbath day or whatever it is.
I can understand where they're coming from, but obviously the conclusion is way off.
And obviously one of the main reasons for that is, especially for the seventh-day Adventist, they're not even saved.
Okay.
But I just want to show you just how serious this was to God.
He wanted to make sure, no, the Sabbath is a day of rest.
Not even picking up sticks.
Not even the smallest amount of work can be done on the Sabbath.
It must be a day of rest.
Verse number 36.
And all the congregation brought him without the camp and stoned him with stones.
And he died as the Lord commanded Moses.
So, working on the Sabbath.
Again, picking up sticks is not the sin.
The sin was that he did it on the Sabbath.
Okay.
And it's not just a sin, it's a crime punishable by death.
Okay.
There's something serious about the Sabbath day that we have to absorb.
And again, I just think there's a lot of churches, a lot of Christian churches that are right on the doctrine,
but they just don't teach it well enough for people to understand.
I didn't really fully understand as well, growing up in a Baptist church,
why it was so important the Sabbath day and why we're not keeping the Sabbath in the New Testament.
I didn't really wrap my head around those things.
I couldn't understand.
There wasn't really great teaching on this topic.
But as I go through this sermon, it's going to make a lot of sense to you if you don't already know.
You probably already know where I'm going with this.
But when you understand why it's so serious, it all just kind of makes sense.
Especially when we understand the New Testament.
Okay.
Now, let's go to John chapter 5.
Let's go to John chapter number 5.
Because obviously, there came a time when Christ would walk the earth,
and he did certain things, and he was accused for not keeping the Sabbath.
Now, were those accusations correct, that Jesus did not keep the Sabbath?
Well, we'll find out in a moment, okay?
Now, another thing that I want to say, even though the Sabbath is so important,
keeping the Sabbath was given by God to Moses,
as a part of the law to the Israelites, to this new nation that would come out of Egypt.
From the time that God first created all things, to the time that Moses was given the law,
you easily go 2,500 years in that period.
What I'm trying to say is, there were obviously people that were saved before Moses.
Abraham, for example.
Noah, for example.
These people did not keep the Sabbath.
For 2,500 plus years.
Until Moses came on the scene, and God revealed this to Moses, gave him the law,
then they decided to keep the Sabbath.
Okay?
I guess what I'm trying to say is, obviously, it's not a way to be saved.
As in, just taking a day of rest.
And say, I'm going to rest today, on the seventh day.
Okay?
There were God's people even before the old covenant,
and God did not instruct them to keep it until the old covenant was given by Moses.
Alright.
Then we have Jesus who comes on the scene.
And of course, it's Jesus who would ultimately usher in the New Testament.
Let's have a look at this story here in John chapter 5, verse number 8.
John chapter 5, we know that obviously Christ performed a lot of miracles,
performed a lot of healing.
It says here in verse number 8,
Jesus saith unto him,
Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
This is the story of the lame man who was healed.
Alright?
Now, look at verse number 9.
And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked,
and on the same day was the Sabbath.
So Jesus Christ heals this lame man on the Sabbath.
On the Sabbath, Jesus Christ says to this lame man,
Pick up your bed and walk.
That's a little bit, you know, that's, I guess, similar to picking up sticks.
In the Old Testament, the guy picked up sticks, where have you got death?
This man, I don't know, maybe it's even harder.
Picking up his bed and walking, Christ says, hey, pick up your bed and walk.
It's a Sabbath.
Okay?
And of course, Christ heals this man.
So what's going on?
You know?
Is Jesus breaking the Sabbath?
Oh, 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.
So they're saying, what Jesus told you to do is not lawful.
Okay?
Verse number 11, he answered them,
He that made me whole, the same said unto me, take up thy bed and walk.
What I love about that is, well, I know you're saying I shouldn't carry my bed,
but the guy that made me whole said I should carry my bed, so I'm carrying it.
I love that.
I love that, right?
Whatever God says, that's what I'm going to do.
I don't care what other religious leaders are saying to me.
If it's contrary to what the one that saved me said to do,
then I'm just going to do what the one that saved me said I'm going to do.
That's right.
That's the right approach.
You know what, Brevin, if I ever ask you to do something
and it's contrary to Scripture,
you say to me, well, I don't know who you are, pastor, exactly,
but the one that saved me said I'm going to do X, Y, and Z.
I'm going to do that.
And I'll respect that.
Obviously, I'm not going to ask you to do things contrary to God's word, of course,
but by mistake, if something like that were to happen,
you go with what the Lord says, okay?
That's what the man's doing.
What else?
It says there in 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 findeth him in the temple and said unto him,
Behold, thou art made whole.
Sin no more, lest a worse 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 and sought to slay him
because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.
Now, why is it that the Pharisees here want to slay Jesus?
Now, obviously, we know they hated Jesus.
We know many of them will reprobate.
You know, they rejected the Lord Jesus.
So, of course, they wanted to slay this man that was teaching things contrary to what they were teaching.
But, obviously, if they're trying to follow the commandments of Moses,
they would know where the guy that picked up sticks was put to death,
and you're getting someone to pick up their bed and walk,
then, you know, I can see where they're coming from to some extent.
They want to slay Jesus Christ as well.
Look at verse number 7.
Now, this is what I love about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse number 17.
Now, again, according to the Old Testament, according to the laws of Moses,
should they have worked on the Sabbath day? No.
Clearly, rest. Rest. Okay?
Now, what I love about Jesus, he doesn't try to defend himself.
He doesn't.
He just comes out and says, yeah, I broke it.
Look at verse number 17.
My father worketh hitherto, and I work.
What?
It's the Sabbath of Jesus?
He doesn't say, well, I wasn't really working.
Right?
He goes, no, I work.
My father's got work to do.
I'm going to do the work my father said to do.
I work on the Sabbath.
Look at verse number 18.
Now, we need to understand verse number 18 as well.
I know that when the Pharisees speak, many times you can say,
well, of course, they're lying or, you know, they're false accusations.
But verse number 18 is the narrator of the Bible speaking to us.
The narrator of the Bible is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible, okay?
Moved men, okay, to write these words.
It's not, these aren't the words of the Pharisees.
This is the Holy Spirit telling us what's taking place in verse number 18.
Look at this.
So why do they want to kill him?
Is Jesus equal with God?
Of course he is because he is God.
Okay?
What else is true?
That Jesus had broken the Sabbath.
You see that?
This is, again, not the Pharisees saying you broke the Sabbath.
The Holy Spirit is telling us that Jesus had broken the Sabbath.
This is why they sought to kill him.
Jesus Christ himself says I broke the Sabbath.
I work.
Isn't that interesting?
Okay?
We learned a few things.
I want you to turn to another passage.
Turn to Matthew chapter 12.
Turn to Matthew chapter 12 and as we look at Matthew chapter 12,
it's all going to start to make a lot of sense.
Okay?
Matthew chapter 12 and verse number 1.
Now, obviously, we've got to take the whole Bible into consideration.
We know that the Lord Jesus Christ never committed sin.
He's sinless.
He's perfect.
So even though Jesus had broken the Sabbath,
he was still sinless.
He had not committed sin.
He did not transgress the law in that regard.
Okay?
Even though the Pharisees are saying you have,
he hasn't.
He hasn't.
Look at Matthew chapter 12, verse number 1.
Matthew chapter 12.
We have another story here.
This is when Jesus Christ is with his disciples
and they decide they get hungry on the Sabbath
and they start to pluck the corn off the wheat and they eat.
Okay?
Matthew chapter 12, verse number 1.
At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn
and his disciples weren't hungered and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him,
Thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day.
So they're not even meant to harvest and to fresh out the wheat and eat of it.
Right?
Verse number 3.
But he said unto them,
Have ye not read what David did when he was unhungred,
and they that were with him?
How he entered into the house of God and did eat the shewbread,
which was not lawful for him to eat,
neither for them which were with him,
but only for the priests?
Now, I won't explain all that right now, but look at verse number 5.
Or have ye not read in the law how that on the Sabbath days,
the priests in the temple profaned the Sabbath,
look at this,
and are blameless?
Jesus Christ is saying, even in the Old Testament,
that the priests profaned the Sabbath,
or they broke the Sabbath.
Why?
Because the priests are working.
You know, every single day there were sacrifices being offered.
Yeah?
On certain Sabbaths, on the feasts and the celebrations,
the congregations, the people of Israel would come into Jerusalem.
They would pitch themselves toward the temple.
And there would be temple service.
There would be temple worship.
There would be sacrifices every day, even on the Sabbath.
The ones that were doing the sacrifices were the priests.
So Jesus Christ says, look, the priests were working on the Sabbath.
They profaned the Sabbath.
They were breaking the Sabbath in that sense,
but they're blameless.
They're not to blame.
They haven't sinned, even though they've broken the Sabbath,
even though they've profaned the Sabbath.
So we learn something there,
that if you were serving in the house of God on the Sabbath,
even though you were working, you were blameless.
Does that make sense?
There are just some exceptions to that rule.
Serving in the house of God, serving in the temple,
if you had to work, you're blameless.
Okay?
Let's keep going there.
Verse number six.
But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple.
Greater than the temple, greater than the priests,
is of course the high priest Jesus Christ.
He's serving the Lord God.
All right?
Now let's keep going.
Verse number seven.
But if ye had known what this meaneth,
I will have mercy and not sacrifice,
ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Okay?
So they're condemning Jesus and his disciples.
He says we're guiltless.
We haven't sinned.
Okay?
Even though we've done this on the Sabbath.
Verse number eight.
For the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath day.
Christ says, I'm above the Sabbath day.
All right?
He's the one that's brought in the Sabbath day for the day of rest.
He's the one that has set the rule.
Our Jesus Christ is the Lord God, the creator of all things.
The Bible says that it's Jesus that created all things.
It's Jesus that rested on the Sabbath.
He is the one that said it's a holy day.
Jesus is not accountable to the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is accountable to him.
Okay?
I'm just trying to show you that Jesus Christ definitely broke the Sabbath.
And he doesn't hide the fact that he did.
Okay?
But he was still guiltless.
He was still blameless.
Christ had not sinned.
Now as we keep going, we're going to find another exception to working on the Sabbath.
And this exception is not just for the priests.
This exception was for all Israelites.
Okay?
Because then it says in verse number nine.
And when he had departed thence, he went into their synagogue.
And remember, they would go to the synagogue on the Sabbath.
Okay?
Verse number 10.
And behold, there was a man which had his hand withered,
and they asked him, saying,
Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days that they might accuse him?
Look at verse number 11.
And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you
that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day,
will he not lay hold on it and lift it out?
How much then is a man better than a sheep?
Wherefore, it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.
Jesus Christ says, Look, even you, if your sheep, if your animal, if your pet,
if your livestock falls into a pit, it's at the risk of losing its life.
It needs emergency help.
Which of you would, even on the Sabbath, go and help that animal out?
And then Christ says, But man is more important than an animal.
What is Christ saying?
It's okay to profane or break the Sabbath if you're going to save a life.
Even the life of an animal.
That's another exception.
If an Israelite, you know, we're not talking about picking up sticks.
We're talking about a life.
A life is in danger.
An emergency situation.
You need to get out there on the Sabbath day and help that individual,
then you're not breaking the law.
You're guiltless. You're blameless.
Yes, you broke the Sabbath, but you haven't sinned.
This is what Christ is teaching.
There are these exceptions, you know.
Whether you were serving the house of God on the Sabbath,
or whether there was an emergency situation.
You know what, if I'm halfway preaching a sermon,
and I find out, you know, something happened to one of my kids.
They need to be taken to the hospital.
I would be like, Sorry, brethren, I need to go. I need to be taken to the hospital.
Oh, pastor, you're forsaking the assembly of ourselves together.
No.
You know, I mean, there's another passage that says that the Sabbath is not for man.
Sorry, that man is not for the Sabbath, but Sabbath is for the man.
The Pharisees, they just mix things up.
They're just confused. Look, the Sabbath was for the man.
God created the Sabbath so man can rest.
So man can learn a lesson about a rest from works.
Not that they would be restricted and held captive by a day.
Okay, life is more important than the Sabbath day.
Okay.
Now, here's the thing that you need to understand.
I'll teach all this soon.
The Sabbath day was just a shadow.
It was important.
A lot of the things in the Bible are important.
The animal sacrifices were important.
But we know it never took away sin.
We know that the priests, the service of the priests in the Old Testament temple,
that was important.
But those priests could never take away your sins.
They themselves are sinners.
There are so many things that God instructs of the Israelites in the Old Testament that are important.
But what they were for is to point us to Jesus Christ.
That's what's important. Christ.
Okay. It's all about Christ.
The symbolism is not that important really.
Okay. It's only if you profane the symbolism.
Then what you're doing is then you're profaning what Christ would ultimately do.
Now, I'm going a little bit ahead of my notes here but let's keep going there.
You're in Matthew chapter 12.
Verse number, someone help me out.
Matthew chapter 12.
Oh yeah, verse number 13.
So Christ says, which of you will not help a sheep?
But a man's more important. Okay.
How much then is a man better than a sheep?
He says in verse number 12.
Verse number 13.
Then saith he to the man, stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched it 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.
Okay. So is it lawful to work or to break on the Sabbath day?
Yes.
Under two conditions.
Number one, that they were serving in the house of God.
Number two, to save or preserve life.
Okay.
So Christ healing a man who's got a problem like that? Absolutely.
It's a lawful thing to do.
It's a lawful thing to do that which is good.
You can't turn around and then say, well, hold on, you've broken the Sabbath and so you're a sinner.
Or, you know, you're guilty. No, they're blameless.
You're blameless if you broke the Sabbath based on these two conditions.
Alright. Just keep all this stuff in mind.
I do want to put all these loose ideas all together soon, okay, for you.
The other misconception that's out there, something that I believed for many years as a child.
And I think this comes more with Protestant churches and even the Catholic church.
But these churches teach that the Sabbath was changed.
It was Saturday, which it definitely was, and they'll say, well, the Sabbath has been changed to Sunday.
And so instead of coming and worshipping God on the Sabbath, you know, on the Saturday, we come to worship God on the Sunday.
And I remember believing this as a child. Okay, I guess that makes sense.
That's why we come to church on Sunday.
But then I would look for it in my Bible and I could not find it anywhere.
Nowhere. Where does God say the Sabbath has been changed?
No, the Sabbath is the seventh day, okay.
You can't make 7-1. Sunday is the first day of the week and Saturday is the seventh day of the week.
Okay, God did not change. The Sabbath is Saturday. It's the seventh day of the week.
Alright, that's a silly teaching. That's a silly teaching that's out there.
And I say, well, why do we meet on Sunday?
Well, there's a few reasons. Number one, we see the pattern in the New Testament,
that there were times that the people of God got together on the Sunday instead.
So fine. It's the first day of the week. It's known as the Lord's day. It's the day of the Lord's resurrection.
You know, that's what Christianity is all about. Not just the death of the cross of Jesus Christ,
but really it's about the resurrection of Christ.
Hey, resurrected on the Sunday morning, so hey, yeah, coming to church on Sunday,
I understand that idea, I understand that concept. We see the patterns in the Bible, okay.
But you know what the main reason why we meet on Sundays for church is tradition.
There are some traditions that are wrong or sinful, you know, but there are other traditions that are just fine,
just good, perfect. There's nothing wrong with meeting on Sunday.
There's nothing wrong with meeting for church any day of the week.
If we decided to have church on Monday, that's fine. Or Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday or Friday or Saturday,
it's all fine. It's all fine. It's just that by tradition, by culture, people tend to think still,
thankfully, I know times are changing, but people tend still to think that coming to church on Sunday,
that's the easiest time, it's the weekend, we've got time off work.
People generally give themselves to the house of God to some extent for the Sunday.
It's a good tradition to have, okay. It's fine. We can meet how often we want, what day we want.
Every day is a day that the Lord has created, okay. There's nothing wrong with meeting on any day,
but I love meeting on Sunday. It makes perfect sense.
Alright, now I want you to turn to Hebrews. Turn to Hebrews chapter 9.
Please turn to Hebrews chapter 9 and verse number 8. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse number 8.
Now I had mentioned earlier that many of the Old Testament practices were a picture,
a shadow, okay, of what Christ would ultimately do. Now let me teach this to you about the New Testament.
So there has been a change. The change is not Sabbath was changed to Sunday.
That's not the change, but there was a change. There's been a change with the New Testament.
Look at Hebrews chapter 9 verse number 8. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse number 8.
Give me a moment to turn there. Hebrews 9, 8. The Bible 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.
The first tabernacle is of course the instructions that God gave to Moses.
They had the Ark of the Covenant in that tabernacle. That was known as the house of God.
Ultimately became the temple, Solomon's temple, etc. Okay.
Verse number 9, look at this. Which was a figure for the time then present.
A figure. A picture is what it's saying there. Okay. Of the time then present.
In which were offered both gifts and sacrifices. Look at this.
That could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience.
Old Testament worship and practices could make nobody perfect.
It's just a figure. A figure of that which will make us perfect or can make us perfect.
Okay. So look. Those practices of the Old Testament, they were great. They were fantastic.
As long as your heart was there to worship God. You know you came to serve the Lord God
and you did these things God commanded of you. God was pleased. God will bless the nation.
It had purpose. It had meaning. It was a figure of things to come.
Look at verse number 10. Which stood only in meats and drinks.
So we know they had dietary restrictions. You know they could only eat of clean animals, not of unclean.
These figures also includes the meats and the drinks. And diverse washings.
If you were to serve in the house of God they had to wash themselves, go for this ceremony.
Okay. All of these things are just figures.
And carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation.
So yeah God did impose upon them this figure they were to maintain until the time of reformation.
Say what was that time? Well verse number 11 tells us that time.
But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come.
But look at this. 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.
Sorry. But by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place.
Having obtained eternal redemption for us.
What did we learn there?
That under the Old Testament the things that they did was just a figure of what Christ would do.
The sacrifices was just a picture of the sacrifice of Christ.
The blood of the animals was just a figure of the blood of Jesus.
The tabernacle was just a figure of heaven.
Of a place not made by the hands of man.
The washings of the priests was just a figure that Christ is perfect.
That he had no sin. That is our perfect sacrifice.
Completely clean was Jesus Christ.
It's all just a figure of what was to come.
Now please turn to Colossians. I need you to turn here.
Please go to Colossians chapter 2.
Colossians chapter 2 verse number 13.
Now Hebrews does not mention the Sabbath days.
But Colossians 2 teaches us the same thing that we read there in Hebrews 9.
But I want you to see how it adds the Sabbath day into the mix here.
Colossians chapter 2 verse number 13.
Colossians chapter 2 and verse number 13.
The Bible reads.
And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh
have he quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses.
What does the word quicken them?
To be made alive.
To be given life. Amen.
What was one of the reasons someone could profane or break the Sabbath?
To save life.
You've been quickened.
You've been given life.
Your life has been saved if you've trusted Christ for salvation.
Let's keep going there. Verse number 14.
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us.
Now that was also mentioned in Hebrews chapter 9. The ordinances.
This is the law. The law of Moses.
That taught the Israelites how to practice these figures.
It says, Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us
which was contrary to us.
Why does it say that it's against us and contrary to us?
It's because no man, and we already know this,
no man could keep the laws of God perfectly.
So it's against us in the sense that it reveals to us that we're sinners.
That we're not perfect.
We can't live up to the standards of the laws of God.
Okay.
Now look at this.
And took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.
All of those ordinances, brethren, because they're against us,
because we can't live up to that standard,
they were all taken and nailed to the cross of Christ.
In other words, it was put to death.
Okay.
Verse number 15.
And having spoiled principalities and powers,
he made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them in it.
Look at verse number 16.
Let no man therefore.
Okay.
So because all these ordinances were nailed to the cross,
Christ showing you his power over all things,
let no man therefore judge you in meat.
Don't let anyone judge you on what you eat.
They had restrictions in the Old Testament.
Okay.
You know what?
In the New Testament, you can eat of any animal.
As long as you sanctify it with thanksgiving,
those restrictions have been taken away.
They were against us.
They were nailed to the cross.
So don't let anyone judge you and say,
well, you've got to go back to the Old Testament diet,
dietary restrictions.
No.
They've been nailed to the cross.
Okay.
Or in drink.
Look at this.
Or in respect of a holy day.
You know, all those holidays,
the feast that we read about,
the Feast of Tabernacles,
all those things that they used to do.
Don't let someone come to you and say,
man, you've got to keep the Passover, brethren.
You've got to keep the Feast of the Tabernacles.
It's all been nailed to the cross.
Okay.
Look at this.
Or of the new moon.
So the new moon,
they would have to go and offer a sacrifice every new moon.
Hey, someone says to you,
you've got to bring a sacrifice.
You've got to bring an animal sacrifice.
Say, no, it's been nailed to the cross.
Then what it says.
It says, or of the Sabbath days.
There you go.
Or the Sabbath days.
Look at verse number 17.
Which are a shadow of things to come,
but the body is of Christ.
So Hebrews chapter nine says,
all of these things, the washings,
the sacrifices, it's a figure.
Colossians chapter two says,
it is a shadow of things to come.
A shadow of what?
A shadow of Christ.
It's the pointers to Christ.
What else?
The Sabbath days.
Why don't we keep the Sabbath in that traditional sense?
Because it was a shadow of Christ.
Because it's been nailed to his cross.
God's not going to hold us accountable
if we go and work on Saturday.
Because it's been done away with.
If you eat of an unclean animal,
some of my kids ate bacon between services.
Guess what?
God's not mad at you, it's fine.
You're not held by those same dietary restrictions
of the Old Testament.
The unclean and the clean, if you want to know,
they were shadows of the fact,
you might remember the story of Peter,
where God told Peter to go and preach to the Gentiles.
He goes, well they're unclean, the Lord.
No, God's made it all clean.
Gentiles, Jews, all of us in Christ were all made clean.
That's what the shadow, that's what the pictures were.
It's all about Christ.
His salvation, his work, his way to heaven.
So look, all those Old Testament things are great.
If we were Israelites living in the Old Testament times,
doing these things, these ordinances, they're great.
They're shadows, they're figures.
Even the Sabbath day is a figure of rest.
Well, a figure of what?
Of rest.
This is why God was so particular
about keeping these things properly.
With the right heart, of course,
because it was teaching them something.
It's like a storyboard of future events.
A story of Christ contained in these object lessons.
And if you defile the figure,
if you defile the shadow,
you're defiling the story of Christ.
None of those things saved anybody.
It's only Christ that saved people.
But God wanted to make sure the story,
the shadow, the figure was clear and accurate
about what Christ would do.
Then Christ comes along.
The bodies of Christ.
Everything to do with the old covenant practices,
those ordinances, all nailed to the cross.
Christ resurrected from the dead.
Now our eyes are on Jesus.
We don't need all those other things.
It's all been done away with.
Now our eyes are on Jesus Christ.
Now look, let me just quickly read to you
So what I'm trying to say is the Sabbath is over
as far as keeping one day of the week.
You know, where you can't pick up sticks.
You can't do any work.
That part of it, that's all over
because we're in Christ Jesus.
Alright?
Now there are some Christians that will say,
Oh Pastor Kevin, you don't understand.
God still in the future
wants people to keep the Sabbath day.
And they'll turn to Matthew 24
because we know Matthew 24 is about future events.
And they'll say, well God still wants
at least the Jews to keep the Sabbath.
I think what God wants is for the Jews to get saved.
Anyway, that's what they say.
Look, I'm not lying.
They've been told this.
God still wants the Jews to keep the Sabbath
and they will keep the Sabbath in the future events
because in Matthew 24 verse 20 it says,
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter
neither on the Sabbath day.
See?
Even in the future they're keeping the Sabbath days.
It just says,
Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter
neither on the Sabbath day.
You know what the Sabbath day is?
Saturday.
The seventh day.
That's what they call Saturday.
Okay?
That's what the Jews call Saturday.
The Sabbath day.
That's what the name that the Lord gave.
What I'm trying to say to you is,
God is not saying that because it's the Sabbath
and you can't work, you can't run away
in those end times.
He's saying that it's Saturday.
Don't run on Saturday.
Okay?
Like for example,
and the reason this is a bit confusing
is because in English,
the seventh day is Saturday.
Like what we call the seventh day
has nothing to do with the word Sabbath.
Okay?
So in our minds we kind of separate
the idea of a Saturday and the Sabbath.
And we think of Sabbath, the word Sabbath,
as a sort of religious holy word.
Okay?
But most other languages out there,
they call Saturday by Sabbath.
Okay?
So for example, in Spanish,
Saturday is Sabbatho.
What does that sound like?
Sabbatho.
Sounds like Sabbath.
Because it is Sabbath.
So when a Spanish speaker reads this,
all right?
Matthew 24, 20.
But pray ye not that your flight be not in the winter,
neither on Sabbatho.
Neither on Saturday.
They're not left thinking,
oh God still wants the Jews in the future
to have Saturday as a day of rest.
Right?
But we lose that kind of in the English.
See what I'm saying?
Okay?
In fact, there is over 30 languages
where Saturday is still called the Sabbath.
Okay?
I'll give you some of these.
In Arabic, it's Sabbath.
Armenian, Shabbat.
Bosnian, Subotah.
These are all coming from the root word of Sabbath.
Bulgarian, Subotah.
Croatian, Subotah.
In Czech,
brother Michael's not here,
but I can check with him.
In Czech, it says here Subotah.
In Georgian, Sabati.
In Greek, Sabato.
Indonesian, Sabto.
Italian, Sabato.
Polish, Subota.
Portuguese, Sabato.
Romanian, Sambata.
Russian, Subota.
Serbian, Subota.
Slovak,
Subota.
Slovene,
Subota.
Somali,
Sabti.
Sudanese,
Sabto.
Ukrainian,
Subota.
I mean, I could keep going.
What I'm trying to say is all these languages,
they just,
what we call Saturday,
they just call the Sabbath in their language.
This passage in Matthew 24 is not saying God is telling the Jews,
keep the Sabbath day,
but rather don't flee on the Sabbath.
Okay?
I guess there are dangers of fleeing on the Sabbath,
whatever that is,
don't flee on the Saturday.
God's not bringing back the old covenant.
God's not bringing back that you've got to keep the Sabbath day.
It's done in Christ.
You know, when we talk about Christ being nailed to the cross,
we're not saying, well, there's coming a time when Christ is going to get crucified all over again.
If I said something like that, Brevin, you know, man,
this is a false prophet.
No, Christ died once for all.
So if not just Christ,
but all the Old Testament practices,
those ordinances that we've read about,
the karmas, the washings,
the sacrifices,
the Sabbath day,
if all of that was nailed to the cross,
don't tell me Christ is going to resurrect those things
and have to nail them all over again.
No, Christ died once for all.
There were figures that were shadows of Christ.
Christ is here now.
He came to this earth.
He's coming again.
He's second coming.
We don't need these pictures and these shadows anymore.
Now, again, please don't misunderstand.
They were great for the time then present.
They were great.
But you try to take that and apply it today,
you're basically trying to say Christ is not enough.
Let's go back to the shadows of Christ.
Let's go back to the figures of Christ.
Why?
When Christ is here.
Christ is literally here at New Life Baptist Church this afternoon
where two or three are gathered in my name, Christ said.
Why go back to the shadows?
Okay?
So this is the same for the Sabbath day.
What am I trying to say?
Instead of the Old Testament priests,
we have the high priest Jesus Christ.
Instead of the Old Testament sacrifices,
we have the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Okay?
Instead of the diverse washings,
we've got a perfect, clean, sinless Jesus Christ.
Instead of the Sabbath day, we've got the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is our rest.
He gives us salvation.
What was one reason you could break the Sabbath?
To save life.
Christ has given us salvation.
He has given us everlasting life.
He has saved us, brethren.
He is our Sabbath rest.
The gospel message, salvation, is our Sabbath rest
because salvation is not by works.
Six days shall thou labour,
but the seventh day is the day of rest.
Salvation is rest.
Salvation is not works.
That's what the Sabbath was all about.
It was picturing the fact that Christ's salvation
would be without works.
In fact, let's turn there.
Let's go to Hebrews, chapter 4, please.
Hebrews, chapter 4, and verse number 1.
Hebrews, chapter 4, verse number 1.
Now, how important is the gospel message?
It is the most important doctrine of the Bible, isn't it?
I mean, if you said, what is the most important thing
for me to learn in the Bible?
How to get saved, okay?
I mean, if you just have 20 minutes left of life,
the only doctrine worth learning and knowing
and understanding and believing is the gospel message.
It's how to have rest, okay?
That's the most important doctrine.
You know, there are other doctrines
that you and I would just not come and agree on.
We're gonna have some difference of opinions,
some secondary, some tertiary doctrines,
which aren't going to affect your salvation, okay?
And we can disagree.
That's fine, you know?
We're fallen human beings.
We're sinners.
We don't have perfect wisdom in all things,
and I've learned to just get along with people.
As long as the main things are covered,
salvation, you know, preaching from the perfect translation
in the English language, the King James Bible,
you know, as long as someone understands
that it's important for us as Christians
to go soul winning, even if they themselves
aren't soul winning, to me,
you got those key things in place,
we can have fellowship, we can get along,
we can share a lot of things in common,
but sometimes we're just gonna have some differences
on other issues, okay?
But the gospel is the most important thing.
We cannot corrupt God's word.
We cannot corrupt the gospel, okay?
And I'm saying this because it looks like
the man going to pick up the sticks was no big deal.
He's picking up sticks.
Yeah, but what has he done?
He's corrupted the shadow.
He's corrupted the figure of salvation.
Instead of resting, which is what salvation is,
resting what God has done, resting in Christ Jesus,
the man went to pick up sticks.
In other words, he's profaning the picture
by basically saying that salvation,
in a figure form, requires work as well.
Even if it's just a little bit of work,
we're just gonna pick up one stick.
One stick, you already corrupted the gospel.
One little work that a man has to do,
you've corrupted the gospel.
Look at Matthew chapter four, sorry,
Hebrew chapter four.
Hebrew chapter four, verse number one.
Hebrew chapter four and verse number one.
Let us therefore fear, lest a promise be left us,
look at this, of entering into his rest.
Any of you should seem to come short of it.
I believe it's the apostle Paul
writing to the Hebrews here.
Paul is concerned that some of his fellow Hebrews
would come short of entering into the rest.
He wants his fellow Hebrews to be saved.
He's concerned.
I don't want you to come short of the rest.
What's it say?
Look at verse number two.
For unto us, that's unto the Hebrews,
was the gospel preached as well as unto them.
But the word preached did not profit them.
Look at this, why did it not profit them?
Why did the gospel not profit some people,
some Hebrews?
Not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Reverend, we can go and we can knock doors
and we can give the whole plan of salvation, can't we?
But if they don't add faith,
if they don't mix their faith to the gospel,
if they do not believe it, it profits them nothing.
What do we have to do?
Okay, God's given us the gospel.
God wants us to enter into his rest.
All we have to do is mix faith.
Yes, I believe it.
That's salvation.
That's rest.
We don't mix works.
Pick up the sticks.
Pick up one stick.
No, no, no.
Okay, you've corrupted the message.
Okay, as much as that man who corrupted the message
by accident, I'm sure by accident,
by picking up sticks and he was put to death,
so should false prophets that pervert
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
They deserve to be put to death
because they are leading people to death.
The Sabbath is about life.
You can break the Sabbath if you've given someone life.
Christ has given us life through his Sabbath,
through his rest by mixing faith
into that gospel message.
Look at verse number three.
For we which have believed,
so we that have mixed faith into the gospel,
we that have believed 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.
You see how God comes back to creation.
The works are finished.
He rested on the seventh day.
That's what salvation was all about.
When you read Genesis chapter two
and God rested from his works,
he's already teaching us the gospel from that moment.
The gospel is already being taught to the readers.
As you mature and you grow in understanding the Bible,
once you get to Genesis chapter two,
thank God you're already teaching me how to get saved.
It's resting from my works.
That's why you sanctified it.
You blessed it.
You made it holy.
Even before man sinned.
Adam and Eve hadn't sinned yet
and God already knew ahead of time,
of course he knows the end from the beginning,
he already knew the gospel needs to be preached.
He started by blessing and sanctifying
the seventh day and saying no work,
it's all about rest.
Look at verse number four.
For he spake in a certain place
of the seventh day on this wise.
What's the seventh day?
The Sabbath.
And God did rest on the seventh day
from all his works.
Now you understand why God rested on the seventh day
if you didn't already.
Because salvation is resting from works.
Okay, anyone teaching you salvation's by works,
they're a false prophet.
Pick up the sticks.
Yeah, you gotta believe,
but you gotta pick up the sticks.
They're a false prophet.
It's a crime.
You're profaning.
The picture of Christ's salvation.
All you have to do to be saved, brethren,
is mix your faith.
What's the gospel?
The death of Jesus Christ.
That he died for your sins.
That he rose again from the dead.
Yeah, you got that message?
Now mix your faith.
Believe it.
Receive it for yourself.
And then you've entered into the rest of the Lord.
Resting from works.
Works can never save you.
Brethren, the Old Testament,
the laws of Moses could not save you.
They were nailed to the cross.
He could never save you.
It was just a picture of what Christ would do.
He would show us the standard
that you would have to meet
to even be considered blameless.
And you can't do it.
You've really failed.
But Christ did it perfectly.
Even when he broke the Sabbath,
he was still blameless.
Even when Christ profaned the Sabbath,
he was guiltless.
He's the Lord of the Sabbath.
And Christ, he had no problem saving life on the Sabbath.
Because that's what it's all about.
It's about salvation.
Okay?
So, brethren, do I keep the Sabbath?
Do you keep the Sabbath?
We do.
Every single day,
from the moment you've trusted Christ,
you've entered into his rest.
Every single day.
Now, I've changed a way
when I knock on someone's door
and they're a seventh-day Adventist or something.
Because immediately,
the first thing out of their mouth,
do you keep the Sabbath?
What do you think about the Sabbath?
I used to say,
no, we don't keep it.
That's an Old Testament practice.
Now I say,
I keep it every day.
Every day,
Jesus is my Sabbath.
Jesus is my rest.
He's given me salvation.
And then I throw it back to them.
What's your Sabbath?
Jesus?
Or the seventh day?
What's going to save you?
Which of those two is going to save you?
Which of those two died for your sins?
Did Saturday die for your sins
or was it all about Jesus?
So I've learned how to respond to
the seventh-day Adventists now.
Because they want to take you down this arm
and show you all the passages,
how God made it holy,
and He did,
and how important it was to God.
It was important to God.
They want to take you down that road.
So you can keep the ordinances
and get saved by works.
No, you take it back.
Hey, use that opportunity.
Take it back to Christ.
Tell them that the Sabbath
was all about Jesus Christ.
Take Him to Hebrews chapter 4,
showing them that the rest
is by mixing faith alone
in the gospel message.
All right, brethren.
So, in conclusion,
Exodus chapter 20, verse 9.
Six days, shout out, labour,
and do all thy work.
Salvation.
Six days, fine, done.
Salvation is the seventh day.
It's a day of rest.
And you know what?
It's a good principle
to have a day of rest.
I would say that as well.
I'd just throw that in there.
You know?
Get in some rest.
Get in some sleep.
Recharge in your batteries.
You know,
I'm busy on Saturday.
In fact, most of my work is on Sunday.
I do most of my work on,
I work on Sundays.
That's where most of my work is done.
You know, one sermon is okay,
but after you've done two sermons,
it's exhausting.
It takes a lot out of you.
You know, back to back preaching like that.
That's where I do most of my work.
You know?
But even though that's the case,
I try to find one day in the week
where I can rest.
And it's usually,
we haven't really been doing it
since we came back from Sydney
because we've got a lot going on,
but it's usually the Friday.
Friday for me personally
is usually the day of rest.
It's a day where my kids aren't doing homeschooling.
They usually try to get everything done by Thursday.
It's a day that we can just enjoy ourselves,
our family,
you know,
do activities together.
That's usually our goal.
Just have one day.
Have a day where I recharge my batteries
and then I'm ready to go
for the rest of the week.
All right, brethren.
Anyway, I hope that's taught you something.
Let's go to a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you
for your word.
Lord, thank you for the Sabbath day.
Lord, thank you for the picture
that he gave us salvation,
resting in Jesus Christ,
and that salvation is not by works.
And, Lord, it all makes sense now.
I love how the Bible is so consistent,
Lord, so compatible from Old Testament to New Testament,
how it's Christ-centric
and how it's Gospel-centric, Lord.
I thank you that you're a God of salvation,
a God that saves lives.
And I thank you so much for your Son
that died in my place.
We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
All right, let's turn to hymn number 201.
Let's end with hymn number 201.
201.
Jesus, I am resting.
201.
Jesus, I am resting, resting.
Jesus, I am resting, resting
in the joy of God my watch.
I am crying out the greatness
of thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me
gaze upon me,
and thy beauty fills my soul.
Oh, by thy transforming power,
thou hast made me whole.
On to the chorus.
Jesus, I am resting, resting
in the joy of God my watch.
I am crying out the greatness
of thy loving heart.
See me, trust me,
Lord Jesus,
I behold thee
as thou art.
Land I love so cruel,
so changeless,
satisfies my heart.
Satisfies its deepest
luggage in surprise,
it's every knee.
Come, has I been
bound with questions?
Thine is all in me.
Jesus, I am resting, resting
in the joy of God my watch.
I am crying out the greatness
of thy loving heart.
Never let thy grace
upon me as I could
and pray for thee.
Rest in me,
thy smile, Lord Jesus,
curves thy shadows clean.
Brightness of thy father's glory,
the sunshine of my father's ways,
in the ever-crusted west wind
he'll be with thy grace.
Jesus, I am resting, resting
in the joy of God my watch.
I am crying out the greatness
of thy loving heart.