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Amen. All right, we're there in Luke, chapter number six. And of course, we are coming back to a series that we've taken a break from called Journey with Jesus. And we're doing a verse by verse study through the Gospel of Luke. And it's been several weeks since we were in the Book of Luke. And if you remember, last time we were in the Book of Luke, we ended chapter number five. So we're going to pick up right where we left off in chapter number six. And I want you to notice that in this passage of scripture before us tonight, there is an emphasis on the Sabbath day. If you look down at verse number one, it says, it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields and his disciples plucked the ears of corn and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. And what we have in this passage is a story of the Pharisees accusing Jesus of breaking the Sabbath day. But there's actually a theme about the Sabbath day, because if you notice, skip down just real quickly to verse number six. In verse number six, we have another story. And it came to pass. Notice it says, also on another Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught. And there was a man whose right hand was withered. So we have these two stories that have to do with Jesus and the Sabbath day. And we're going to get into those stories. I'm going to explain it to you and make application. But before we do that, I'd like to just quickly give you a brief biblical overview on the subject of the Sabbath or what the Bible teaches about the Sabbath. Keep your place there in Luke chapter 6. That's our text for tonight. But go with me just real quickly to Genesis chapter 2. We were in Genesis chapter 2 this morning for the marriage series, but we're going to look at something completely different. Genesis chapter 2, first book in the Bible should be fairly easy to find. I want to just quickly give you an overview on the Sabbath day because for a couple of reasons. First of all, the Sabbath day and Sabbath teaching is not something that we necessarily talk a lot about or preach a lot about. So when it comes up, I like to teach it in its context. I also want you to have a foundation of what the Bible teaches about the Sabbath day so that you can understand what Jesus is doing and what Jesus is talking about. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you three teachings or thoughts in regards to the biblical teaching on the Sabbath day. Then I'm going to break down for you the story that's before us. And I'll give you a couple of points in regards to that. And then in our conclusion, I'm going to give you some final thoughts in regards to people who keep the Sabbath day. Like the seventh day at Venice, there's even Sabbath day Baptists that believe that you need to have church on the Sabbath day or Saturday and not have church on a Sunday. And I'm going to give you some thoughts in regards to that and just some inconsistencies that they have. Now if you're there in Genesis chapter 2, just by way of introduction, let me give you three thoughts in regards to the biblical teaching on the Sabbath so you can kind of understand what the Sabbath day teaching is and what you need to know about it. First of all, let me give you the reason for the Sabbath. What was this whole idea of the Sabbath day or what's this whole thing about? Well, in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 1, the Bible says this. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them. Now of course, in Genesis chapter 1, we just had the creation week where God created the heaven and the earth and all that in them is over a period of six days. And then on the seventh day, the Bible tells us, notice in verse 2, and on the seventh day, and by the way, that's what the word Sabbath means. The word Sabbath means seven. So when you see the Sabbath day, it is referring to the seventh day of the week. And for us, that's generally known as Saturday. Of course, the week begins with Monday. Monday is the first day of the week and the seventh day of the week is Saturday. Notice there in verse 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. So I want you to notice that on the week of creation, God created the heaven and the earth over a period of six days. And then He rested on the Sabbath day and He rested on the seventh day. Go to Exodus, if you would. You're there in Genesis. Just flip over to Exodus chapter 20. So we get this idea of the Sabbath day teaching from God who created the heavens and the earth in six days and then He rested on the seventh day. By the way, this is why I believe and I realize our culture is different and I'm not saying you need to follow this, but I believe this and we have this at our church in regards to our staff. We have a six day work day week at Verity Baptist Church. And the staff guys, they get one day off a week because God worked six days and rested one day. And so we can learn from that. And again, if your job gives you two days off, take the two days off. I'm just saying I don't give them two days off. And that's another reason we have a weekly meeting. I recently heard somebody say this, the creation deadline. God created all of heaven and earth in one week. And sometimes I give these guys tasks to do and I expect it to be done in one week. Because if God created heaven and earth in one week, they could surely get done whatever I'm asking them to do. In one week. But we see this is where the Sabbath comes from. The seventh day concept that God worked for six days and he rested on the seventh day. Then later on, that's what happened on the week of creation. Later on, this was institutionalized for the children of Israel. Exodus chapter 20, look at verse eight. Notice what the Bible says. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. This is part of the great, the 10 commandments. Notice the command is to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. This was given to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. Notice verse nine. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. 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 manservants, nor thy maidservants, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. Notice verse 11, four. The word four means because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day. Wherefore God, excuse me, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. So we see that in creation week, God rested on the seventh day. And then later, with Moses and the giving of the law, the Sabbath day was instituted for the nation of Israel as a part of their commandments, as a part of their laws, that they were to labor for six days and then rest on the seventh day. So that's the reason for the Sabbath day. In the Old Testament, the seventh day of the week was a week when people were not to work, not to labor. They were to rest on that day. Now, let's fast forward to the New Testament. Go with me, if you would, to the book of Hebrews, starting towards the end of the New Testament. In fact, if you start at the book of Revelation and go backwards, you're gonna go past the book of Jude, past the books of 3rd, 2nd, and 1st John, past 2nd and 1st Peter, past the book of James, into the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter number four, Revelation, Jude, 3rd, 2nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter, James, Hebrews. Hebrews chapter number four, I gave you the reason for the Sabbath day. What's the reason? God rested on the seventh day. God instituted that for the nation of Israel to work on the labor six days, rest on the seventh day or the Sabbath day, and they were to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. That was the reason. But now let me give you the representation of the Sabbath. What was the point or the purpose? Because the book of Hebrews was, obviously it's part of the word of God, it's written for all of us, but it was specifically written to, you could guess by the title, Hebrew people, or descendants, physical descendants, of the nation of Israel or of Abraham. And in the book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews does a very good job at explaining and kind of bridging the Old and the New Testament. And what you need to understand about the Old Testament is that when it comes to the Old Covenant or the old law, you can divide the law into two sections. You have what we would call moral laws or even criminal laws, which are laws that God gave that were there to help people with morality. That's of course where we have things like, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal. But then there's also what are called ordinances. These are ceremonial laws. These are things that have nothing to do with morality. They were things that God did, and they were, the book of Hebrews tells us, a foreshadow or a foreshadowing of things to come. So of course, when you have all of the sacrifices, the sacrifices, there's nothing moral about doing sacrifices or not sacrificing. The sacrifices were all a picture of the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the Sabbath falls under that scope of ordinances or pictures, a foreshadow of things to come. There was something that the Sabbath day represented. And in Hebrews chapter four, it is explained to us the representation of the Sabbath. I want you to notice it. Look there in verse one, Hebrews chapter four, verse one. The writer says this, let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest. Now remember, what was the purpose of the Sabbath day? It was that you were to six days, shalt thou labor and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord in it. Thou shall not do any work. And that was a day that you were supposed to rest. The whole point of the Sabbath day is that you work for six days, you rest on the seventh day. Notice Hebrews four, verse one. Let us therefore fear lest a promise being taken us of entering into his rest. Any of you should seem to come short of it. So he says, look, I don't want you to come short of the rest that God has for you. Notice there verse two, for unto us, I want you to understand the context here. For unto us was the gospel preached. So he's talking about rest, and it's in the context of the gospel. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them. He's talking about the fact that the writer of Hebrews, who I believe is the apostle Paul, but we don't know that for sure, and there's some debate about that. The writer of Hebrews is saying, look, the gospel was preached unto us, and it was also preached unto them. Talking about the Old Testament nation of Israel, but he says, for many of them, the word preached did not profit them. Why did it not profit them? Look at verse two, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. So because they did not have faith in the word that was preached, it did not profit them. Listen, salvation, no matter what testament you're in, no matter what quote unquote dispensation you're in, salvation has always been by faith is how we please God. And he says, look, these people, the gospel was preached to them. Talking about Old Testament saints, but it did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith. Notice verse three, for we which have believed, notice the context of talking about the gospel, talking about the fact that they heard the gospel and did not receive it, for we which have believed, notice, do enter into rest. As he said, I have sworn in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Notice verse four, for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wife. So I want you to notice, the writer of Hebrews is saying, look, the gospel was preached unto us like it was unto them, but the gospel did not profit them, not being mixed with faith. And then he says, look, we which have believed do enter into rest. And then the writer of Hebrews says in verse four, this is what the Sabbath day was a picture or a representation or an illustration of, verse four, for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works, and in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest. Look at verse 10, for he that is entered into his rest, he also hath seized from his own works as God did from his. You say, what is the picture or the representation of the Sabbath day? Well, the Sabbath day was pictured as God laboring for six days, and then resting on the seventh day, it was instituted to the nation of Israel that the children of Israel would labor for six days and then rest on the seventh day. And then in the New Testament we're told, all of that was a picture of salvation. You say, how does that picture salvation? Here's how many of you, before you got saved, maybe you were a Catholic, maybe you were in a false religion, maybe you were in some sort of a belief system that told you that you had to live a good life, that you had to repent of your sins, that you had to get baptized, that you had to go to the communion, that you had to stop drinking or stop smoking, and there's many people all over the world that are trying to get their way, get themselves into heaven by living a good life, by doing the works, by earning the ability to go to heaven, and when the gospel is actually preached, and by faith they receive it, they are able to cease from their own works and enter into his rest. Because that's what salvation is. You say, what is salvation? Salvation is that I am resting on the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not working my way to heaven right now. I'm not doing anything to try to get, to try to earn salvation or pay for salvation or keep my salvation. My salvation is resting on Jesus Christ. And those that are in false religions, they might have been working and working and working and failing, and when they finally get saved, they are able to go from that labor and that work, and they're able to enter into rest. And the writer of Hebrews tells us, this is the representation, this was the picture, this was the foreshadowing of the Old Testament. So we see the reason for the Sabbath day, that you labor six days and you rest on the seventh day. We see the representation of the Sabbath day, that we cease from our own labor and enter into his rest. But then let me show you the repealing of the Sabbath. Go to Colossians if you would, Colossians chapter two. If you're there in Hebrews and you go backwards, you're gonna go back past the book of Philemon, past all those T books, Titus, 2nd and 1st Timothy, 2nd and 1st Thessalonians, into the book of Colossians. So go past Philemon, past the T books, into the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter two. You say, do we as New Testament believers keep the Sabbath day? And the answer is no, we do not. The Sabbath day has been repealed. The Sabbath day has been done away with. The Sabbath day is still something we can learn from or learn about and learn principles from, but it's not something that we keep as New Testament believers. Now, I could preach a whole sermon, I could preach a whole series of sermons on the subject of the things that have been repealed from the Old Testament. I'm not gonna do that, because I've got other stuff I wanna deal with, but let me just give you one example, Colossians chapter two, look at verse 14. Notice what the Bible says, blotting out the handwriting of the, I want you to notice this word, ordinances, that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way. Notice, notice the context. The Bible says that the ordinances were taken out of the way when nailing it to his cross. Now, what is the word ordinances referring to? And people have all sorts of definitions for this word, but let me tell you something, we are Bible believing Baptists, and we allow the Bible to define itself. Amen. So when you look up the word ordinance or ordinances throughout the Bible, you will find that the word ordinance is consistently used in the Old Testament, always referring of the symbolic, ceremonial laws and ordinances. You'll never find the word ordinance being used for a criminal law. You never find a law against adultery, or a law against kidnapping, or a law against murder being referred to as an ordinance. The ordinances is always a reference to the washings, to the sacrifices, to the rituals, the religious ordinances, the things that were symbolic, that's what's always referred to in the Old Testament as an ordinance. By the way, in the New Testament, you have the word ordinance come up, and it comes up in the same context in which Paul teaches about the Lord's Supper. You say, is the Lord's Supper an ordinance? The Lord's Supper is an ordinance because the Lord's Supper is something that we do to picture and represent, and as a shadow of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The bread represents, as we break the bread, represents the breaking of his body. As we pour the juice, it represents the pouring of his blood. It's an ordinance because it pictures the death of Christ. Here's another ordinance for you, baptism. Baptism doesn't save you, it doesn't do anything to get you to heaven, but it is a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the word ordinance is always used in reference to that which is a shadow, or a picture, a representation. And here the Bible tells us that the Old Testament ordinances were taken out of the way, nailing it to his cross. So look, the ordinances of the Old Testament were in effect until when? Until the death of Christ. On the cross, they were done away. By the way, that's why on the cross, the veil and the temple was rent. Why? Because that whole system, the temple system, was done away with at that time. Look at verse 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Notice verse 16. Let no man therefore, you see the word therefore? The word therefore means for this reason, or because of this reason. Now he's saying, because of this reason, because of what reason? Because of the fact that the ordinances that were against us, that were contrary to us, have now been taken out of the way, nailing them to the cross by Jesus Christ. He says because the ordinances have been removed, He says, let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drinks, or in respect of an holy day, or of a new moon, or of the Sabbath days. So should someone judge you in regards to the ordinances of the Old Testament today? The answer is no, because they were removed at the cross. Say why were they removed at the cross? Here's why. Because everything that they pictured was fulfilled at the cross. We no longer needed a picture of resting from our words when Jesus died on the cross. That's what it was picturing. We no longer need a lamb being sacrificed. Jesus dying on the cross is what was being pictured by that lamb. The ordinances were done and gone away at the cross. So the Bible says don't let anybody judge you on meat. The word meat means food. Why? Because in the Old Testament, there was restrictions on food. If you were an Old Testament Israelite, there were some things you weren't allowed to eat. There were some things that you weren't allowed to partake of. But in the New Testament, you can have pork. You can have shellfish. You can have all of that food. Hey, go for it. Don't let any man judge you based on meat, or drinks, or in respect of an holy day, the fact that you're not keeping a certain holy day, or you are keeping a certain holy. Romans tells us, hey, you keep whatever day you want, or you don't keep whatever day you want. In the New Testament, it doesn't matter. Or the keeping of the new moons, or the Sabbath days. Notice verse 17. Which are a shadow? You see the word shadow? These ordinances were all a shadow. What's a shadow? A shadow is an image of something. A shadow itself is not anything. It is simply the representation of something else. See, if I've got the light on me, and there is a shadow, my, I'm the it, the shadow is casting what I am. And the Bible says that these drinks, and these meats, and these sacrifices, and these Sabbath days, they were all a shadow, notice it, of things to come. But the body is of Christ. And once Christ came, it was all done away. And again, we just went all night looking at passages that prove this. I'm not gonna do that. But I want you to understand something. There was a repealing of the Sabbath day. Here's what's interesting. Go back to Luke chapter six, if you would. God says, let no man therefore judge you in these things. And the funny thing is that there are people today who keep the Sabbath day, and all they do is judge people about the Sabbath day. If you ever met someone who keeps the Sabbath day, or Seventh Day Adventist, you know, they're just constantly, like, you know, you knock on the door of one of these Sabbath day keepers, and it's like, hey, do you know for sure you died today, or you're on your way to heaven? And they're like, yeah, but do you keep the Sabbath day? And it's like, everything's about the Sabbath day. If you don't keep the Sabbath day, you're worshiping the antichrist. I mean, they're just consumed with judging people about whether or not you keep the Sabbath day, when the Sabbath day has been repealed. It's been removed. We no longer keep it. All of these ordinances have been done away with. Now in Luke chapter six, I want you to understand the context. In Luke chapter six, we are before the death of Christ. So during the time of Christ, up until his death, all the ordinances were still in effect. Jesus himself kept the law perfectly, the Bible tells us. So here we have a context where the Sabbath day is still in effect, but these Pharisees, they want to find a reason to be able to condemn the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're using the Sabbath to be able to do that. Now that you understand what the Bible teaches about the Sabbath, let's go to Luke chapter six and look at the story. Luke chapter six, look at verse number one. If you're taking notes, then I would encourage you to write down some notes on the back of your course of the week, there's a place for you to write things down. The first thing we're gonna look at in this first story is this, that the Pharisees were inconsistent. The Pharisees were inconsistent in their regulating of the Sabbath day. In verses one and two, we see the accusation of the Pharisees. Notice, it says there in verse one, and it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he, the he there is Jesus, went through the corn fields, all right? Now Jesus is out, he's not in the city, he's out in the field. He's out in the fields, he's out in agricultural society. He's out in the field, walking through the fields, and he's in the corn fields. I want you to notice, because I just think this is a really interesting story, and it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields, and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. Notice verse two. And certain of the Pharisees said unto them. Now normally, we jump right into the accusation. Why do ye, why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days? But don't miss this context. I mean, this is hilarious. The Bible just tells us that Jesus' disciples are out in the corn fields. They plucked the corn, they're rubbing it with their hands, and they're eating it, and then in the next verse, we're told, and certain of the Pharisees said unto them. I just think that's comical, because you gotta ask the question, why were the Pharisees there? They're just out in the middle of the field. You know, I just, I don't know, maybe I'm reading into it, but I just kinda imagine Jesus is with his 12 disciples, they're walking through the field, they're talking, they're conversating, he's maybe teaching them things, they grab a piece of corn, they grab a piece of corn, they rub it together, they start eating it, and then all of a sudden, the Pharisees just pop open. Why are you eating that? And it's kinda like, are you following me? And I just want you to know that, you know, people today, they will criticize us. Why do so many people hate you, Pastor Jimenez? It seems like these people are just following you around, they're just trolling you on YouTube, and they're always bringing up all these things about you. Well, it seems like they were trolling Jesus, too. I mean, he's out in the middle of a corn field, they're like, why are you eating the corn? And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, why do ye do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day? They're saying, you're doing something that's not lawful, that's not legal, that's not right to do on the Sabbath day. Now, let me just say this, and just for you to have context. Go to Deuteronomy, keep your place there in Luke, go to Deuteronomy chapter number 23. In the Old Testament, you have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 23. First, let me say this. There is nothing lawfully or morally wrong with what Jesus and his disciples were doing here. As far as plucking corn from this field, they're doing nothing wrong. I'm gonna prove that to you in a minute. In fact, the Pharisees themselves are not accusing them of doing anything wrong, they're accusing them of doing it on the Sabbath day. There's nothing wrong with what they're doing. What's wrong, according to the Pharisees, is that they're doing it on the Sabbath day. Now, you say, what are they doing? Are they just in somebody's random field stealing corn from them? Well, I want you to understand the context and what the Bible teaches about this. In Deuteronomy 23 and verse 24, the Bible says this. When thou comest into thy neighbor's vineyard, so this is not your vineyard, this is someone else's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes, it says thou mayest eat grapes thy fill. You say, what does that mean? It means you can eat as many grapes until you're full, at thy known pleasure. So according to the Bible, if you were traveling and you found yourself walking through somebody else's field or through somebody else's vineyard, thy neighbor's vineyard, and you got hungry, you were allowed to take grapes, take corn, and you were allowed to eat till you were full. But, here's the exception, look at verse, Deuteronomy 23, 24. When thou comest into thy neighbor's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thy known pleasure. But, here's the rule, Thou shalt not put any in thy vessel. So you weren't allowed, you're walking through a field, you can grab a piece of corn, you can grab grapes, you can eat, but you're not allowed to grab grapes and put them in your backpack, you understand? You're not allowed to bring a vessel to carry the grapes out. Look at verse 25. When thou comest into the standing corn, this is exactly what Jesus' disciples are doing. When thou comest into the standing corn, be careful, because you might trip on a Pharisee, and that's not what it says, but Jesus had to be careful. When thou comest into thy standing corn of thy neighbor, notice, not your standing corn, your neighbor's standing corn, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand. This is exactly what Jesus' disciples are doing. But thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbor's standing corn. What's a sickle? A sickle is a tool used to reap. So here's what the Bible says. You're allowed to go into somebody else's field and eat, and to thy fill, eat whatever you want, but you're not allowed to bring in a vessel. You're not allowed to bring in a tool to reap or to remove. You're not allowed to bring in equipment to take something out of that field. You say, why did God do this? And what is the point of this? This is God's welfare system. This is how God provided for the poor of the land. In another passage, I won't take the time to show it to you. You go back to Luke chapter six, if you would. We are told that when you had a field, when you had a vineyard, you weren't allowed to go through. You were allowed to harvest it, but anything you missed, anything that fell when you were reaping, you had to leave it there. And the reason for that was so that the poor of the land, and look, Jesus was poor. Sorry, Kenneth Copeland, Jesus was poor on this earth. The poor of the land were allowed to go into those fields and whatever food was there, they were allowed to eat it. This is how God took care of the poor. But they weren't allowed to go in and reap somebody else's harvest with all this equipment, you know, go into their neighbor's field and get all their grapes and all their corn and take it. They could feed themselves at that time, at that moment. This is how God instituted to take care of the poor. Now just, let's think about that in comparison to our welfare system. There's some major differences. Notice, there wasn't a government program to have somebody go around taking corn from hardworking businessmen and then distributing it to poor people. I mean, do you understand what I'm saying? There wasn't a program set up where government officials went into other people's fields, grabbed grapes and grabbed corn, and then brought them to poor people. See, in God's welfare system, these people were still expected to get up, to get dressed, to go out. If you were hungry, you're expected to go out in a field and look for food. This is why the Bible says that whosoever will not work should not eat. Now of course, we're not talking about people that are disabled. We're not talking about the elderly. We're not talking about people, God had systems for that, and that was done through the family where people were taken care of in those ways. But when you were a poor person, and maybe you were working hard and just things weren't going well for you, Jesus wasn't a lazy man, but they were going through the corn, they were hungry, they plucked the corn. What they were doing was not morally wrong. In fact, I believe that God's system is better than man's system every day of the week. And twice on Sunday, Luke chapter six. So we see the accusation of the Pharisees. What is the accusation of the Pharisees? What you're doing is unlawful. What were they doing? They were plucking corn and eating it, which the Bible says they were allowed to do. The Pharisees have a problem with it because they're doing it on the Sabbath day. Now the Pharisees are referring to what Jesus is doing as work. And they're saying, you're not allowed to do that because you can't work on the Sabbath day. Jesus is going to make the argument that they're not working, they're just eating. They're feeding themselves. Feeding yourself is not something that was prohibited during the Sabbath day. Notice the response of the Lord Jesus Christ, Luke chapter six, verse three. And Jesus answering them said, I'm assuming this is after he said, why are you here? He said to them, have you not read? And by the way, that's always the answer. Whenever you have religious people who don't know what they're talking about, this is the reason, they have not read. They have not read the Bible, they've not read the word of God. If people would just build their lives on the Bible, we'd all be better off. And Jesus answering them said, have you not read so much as this? Because remember, they're accusing Jesus of eating, which is not wrong, but eating on a day that was separated, that was holy, where according to them, they weren't allowed to eat. And his response to them is, have you not read so much as this, what David did? Now Jesus brings up David, this is King David from the Old Testament. Remember David who killed Goliath. The reason he brings up David is because David is their hero. David, I mean, every Jewish man at this time would look at David as a hero, as a great leader of the nation of Israel. And Jesus says, have you not read so much as this, what David did when himself was an hungered, and they which were with him? How he went into the house of God and did take and eat the showbread, and gave also to them that were with him, which is not lawful to eat, but for the priest alone. Now you say, what is he referring to? Jesus is referring to an Old Testament story, and I want you to look at it. Go to 1 Samuel 21, 1 Samuel chapter 21. I know we're looking at a lot of passages tonight, but it's Sunday night, and I thought that's why you came to church. 1 Samuel 21, if you find the one and two books, they're all clustered together, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 1 Samuel 21, look at verse four. Here's a story that Jesus is referring to. I'll tell you the story, and then I'll give you the point. 1 Samuel 21, four. And the priest answered David and said, David, if you remember, just to get the context, he's running from Saul. Saul is trying to kill him. He's running from Saul. He's got a small group of people with him. He shows up at the tabernacle, where the tabernacle is, and he's asking for bread. He's asking for food. Verse four, and the priest answered David and said, there is no common bread under mine hand. So the word common there is referring to bread that can be used by anyone that is for common use. He says, I don't have any common bread. I don't have bread that I can just give to anyone under mine hand. He says, but there is hollowed bread. The word hollowed means separated or set apart. You say, what is this hollowed bread thing about? And again, I don't have time to develop all of this. You have to study this out on your own if you'd like. But in the tabernacle, God had set aside that they were to break bread, make bread, 12 loaves every day, and it was to be set out on a table. It was called showbread, because it was there simply for a show. Why? Because a lot of the things that they did in the Old Testament were a picture or a foreshadow of things to come. This bread was a picture of the bread that was to come from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven. They had this showbread. It was set apart, it was holy, it was put on this table, and it was changed or swapped out every day. When it was swapped out, it was allowed to be eaten, but only by the priests. Only the priests were allowed to eat the showbread. It was set apart for them. David shows up and says, do you have any bread? And the priest said, I don't have any common bread, meaning I don't have any just normal, regular bread that I can give to people, but I do have this hollowed bread, this separated bread. Notice again, verse four. And the priest answered David and said, there is no common bread under my hand, but there is hollowed bread if the young men have kept themselves, at least from women. And David answered the priest and said unto him, of a truth woman have been kept from us about these three days since I came out, and the vessels of young men are holy, and the bread is in manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. And what he's referring to is saying, that bread has already served its purpose. It's already been on the showbread table for 24 hours. Now it's ready to be eaten. Verse six, so the priest gave him hollowed bread for there was no bread there, but the showbread that was taken from before the Lord to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. Now Jesus is referring back to this story because this is a very well known famous story. And Jesus is pointing out the hypocrisy and the inconsistency of the Pharisees, because Jesus on the Sabbath day is walking through a corn field with his disciples, plucking out corn, rubbing it together and eating it, and the disciples pop out of who knows where and say, you're doing something that's unlawful by feeding yourself on the Sabbath day. And Jesus says, oh really? Because your hero, David, who you give a pass to, who you say is awesome and amazing, he ate showbread that was not lawful for him to eat, and you don't have a problem with that. Jesus responds to them in regards to their hypocrisy. And you say, well, what is the lesson? What is the point that's being made? Go to Mark chapter two, if you would, in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark. We're in Luke, but I want you to see the same story from Mark. Mark chapter number two. Here's the point that the story is making and that Jesus is making and pointing out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and it is this. Human needs trump religious creeds. Human needs are more important than religious creeds or rituals. See, the bread was supposed to be a ritual, a foreshadow, but when David and his men are starving, you're not gonna let them starve while keeping the showbread holy. Human need trumps religious creeds. See, these Pharisees were willing to let people literally die to keep their Sabbath day, and it wasn't even the Sabbath day. It was all the man-made laws that they added to the Sabbath day. And Jesus says, you're a hypocrite. When David did it, and there was no problem there, Mark chapter two, look at verse 25. This is the same story. The Bible says, and he said unto them, this is Jesus' response to them in Mark two. Have ye not read what David did when he had need and was unhungred? He and they that were with him, how he went into the house of God in the days of Vilethar the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, but for the priests, and gave also to them that were with him, and he said unto them, here's what he said, notice the point, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. He said, what does Jesus mean by that? Here's what he means. When God instituted the Sabbath day, he instituted the Sabbath as a benefit to man. He instituted the Sabbath and said, look, work for six days, but take a day every week and rest. That's good for you. That's good for people to rest. Jesus says, the Sabbath was made as a benefit for man. The Sabbath was not made to use as a burden or as a tool against man, because human need trumps religious creeds. You don't have to turn there, I'll just read this for you. Hosea chapter six and verse six, you can jot that down if you'd like. Here's how Hosea says it. He says, this is God speaking through Hosea, for I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Here's a secular illustration for you. Let's say you were walking down the street and you saw a house that was on fire, smokes coming out of the windows, you see flames coming through the windows. What would you do? Well, hopefully, if you're able to, if you can do this safely, you'll walk up to the door and knock on the door and try to make sure that nobody's in there, right? What if you look through the window and you see somebody lying there in the living room, unconscious, laying there? What do you do? Well, hopefully, if you're able to, if you're physically able to, you'll break that door open, you'll break that window open, you'll go in there, grab the person and bring them out. Now, wait a minute, wait a minute. Breaking that door down or breaking that window down and entering into a house is actually illegal. It's called breaking and entering. You're not allowed to just break into somebody's house. That's against the law. But when a house is burning down and you're saving somebody's life, it's okay. And what Jesus is saying, yes, the showbread is not allowed to be eaten, but if David is gonna die, give him the bread. And Jesus is saying, look, we're not even breaking the laws of God, but even if we were, even if we were. He said the Sabbath day was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath day was created as a benefit to mankind, not as a tool or a weapon to be used by religious people to try to hurt people in times of need. Go back to Luke chapter six. So we see the first story. What did we learn? The Pharisees were inconsistent. They let David pass with something that they weren't willing to let Jesus pass with. And Jesus points out their inconsistency. Now in verse number five, Jesus says, and he said unto them that the Son of Man is Lord, also of the Sabbath. We're gonna come back to that verse here in a minute, but I want you to look at verse number six. Here we have our second story. Luke chapter six and verse six, our second story for the night. And it came to pass also on another Sabbath. So this is a different event on another Sabbath day. That he entered into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man whose right hand was withered. Now in the first lesson, we learned that the Pharisees were inconsistent. In the second lesson, we're going to learn that the Pharisees are inconsiderate. Because here Jesus walks into the synagogue on another Sabbath day, he walks into the synagogue, and there is a man whose right hand is withered. It was withered to the place where he could not use it. It was unusable. Verse seven, and the scribes and Pharisees watched him whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him. They wanted to see is Jesus gonna heal this man? Is there a problem with healing someone? According to them, nothing wrong with healing, but you better not do it on the Sabbath day. Because the Sabbath day, you're not supposed to work. Notice verse seven, and the scribes and Pharisees watched him whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts and said to the man which had the withered hand, rise up and stand forth in the midst, and he arose and stood forth. Now we saw the Pharisees, what they deem unacceptable. What do they deem unacceptable? Verses six through eight. They think it's unacceptable to heal a man on the Sabbath day. But notice what Jesus deems acceptable. Verse nine, then said Jesus unto them. I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good? Or to do evil? To save life? Or to destroy it? They're just thinking in their minds, is he gonna heal on the Sabbath day? Is he gonna break the Sabbath day? They haven't said anything out loud, but Jesus is God and he knows their thoughts and he says, let me ask you a question. Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath day or to do evil? To save life or to destroy it? Now Jesus is gonna make a point here. The previous point was that they were inconsistent. They allowed David to get away with something that they weren't allowing Jesus to get away with. In this story, he's making the point that they're inconsiderate. That they don't actually care about people. Now in Matthew chapter 12, go back to Matthew chapter 12. You're there in Luke. You're gonna go past Mark into the book of Matthew. In Matthew chapter 12, we have the exact same story from a different gospel. And I want you to see what Matthew emphasizes. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 11, notice what he says. Because in these gospels, you have the same stories, but often you get different details in different gospels. So notice what Matthew says. Matthew 12 and verse 11, and he said unto them, what man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep? Because remember, he asked them this question in Luke. Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good? Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to save life? Well, in Matthew 12, we see that he expounds upon that. He says, okay, let me ask you this question. What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit, a pit is a hole in the ground. If you have a sheep, Jesus says, and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? He says, look, if you have a sheep that fell into a pit, and it happens to be on the Sabbath day, are you just gonna leave it there? Aren't you gonna take hold of it and pull it out? And they would say, well, yeah, of course. I mean, that's money to us, that's currency. That's how we measure wealth through our flock and through the things that we own. Notice verse 12, Jesus says, how much then is a man better than a sheep? By the way, Jesus was not an animal rights guy. Wherefore, is it lawful to do well on the, he says, wherefore, it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days. Then saith he to the man, stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole, like as the other. Go to Luke chapter six, go back to Luke chapter six, look at verse 10, and looking right about upon them all, he said unto them, I love this. Here you have a man with a withered hand. He looks at these people, they haven't said anything, they're just thinking in their head. Is he gonna heal on the Sabbath day? And he says, let me ask you a question. If you had a sheep and it fell into a hole, wouldn't you pull it out? Well, if you would do that for a sheep, then why would you judge me for healing a man on the Sabbath day? Jesus is saying, not only are you inconsistent, you are inconsiderate of human life. He said, you are hypocrites. And then he looks at the man, I love how it says in verse 10, and looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, stretch forth thy hand. I find that so rude. I mean, here you have a guy with a withered hand and he looks at him and says, stretch forth your hand. I mean, imagine if you said that to somebody with a withered hand. Stretch forth your hand. Wouldn't that be rude? Uh, I can't. That's why it's like this. But Jesus is God. Stretch forth thy hand, notice, and he did so. By the way, Jesus will never command you to do something that he doesn't empower you to do. And his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were, notice their response. They're inconsistent, they're inconsiderate. I mean, what would you do if you just saw Jesus heal somebody? Wouldn't you praise God? Wouldn't you say, amen, hallelujah, wow, that's amazing? No, notice their response, verse 11. And they were filled with madness and communed one another what they might do to Jesus. I want you to notice, there's a couple of things that are highlighted in this passage. The main thing that's highlighted is the teaching on the Sabbath. We've talked about that. But I want you to notice that there's another thing that's highlighted here, and it is the deity of Christ. Because in verse eight, the Bible says, but he knew their thoughts. Look, no human being knows what you're thinking. By the way, the devil himself doesn't know what you're thinking. Only one person knows your thoughts, and it's God. And here we're told that Jesus, remember, they didn't say a word out loud. Jesus walks into the synagogue. There's a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees, pop out, you know? And they're like, I wonder if he's gonna heal. They're thinking in their mind, I wonder if he's gonna heal, that they might accuse him. And Jesus says, let me ask you a question, because he knew their thoughts. And then he heals the man, stretched forth thigh and hand. Only God can do that. But I want you to notice, look at verse five. We skipped this, but I want you to see it now. In regards to the Sabbath day, right, because they're judging him on the Sabbath day, that's the theme of this passage. He's proving that they are inconsistent and inconsiderate. They are hypocrites, and by the way, not only are they inconsistent, and not only are they inconsiderate, they are also incorrect. They're wrong about the Sabbath day. They don't understand the Sabbath day. And Jesus says to them in verse five, and he said unto them, notice what he says, that the Son of Man is Lord, also of the Sabbath. You say, what does that mean? Well, if you remember when we started the sermon, we talked about why the Sabbath day was instituted to begin with. Who was it who at the very beginning established the Sabbath day? Because Jesus said that the Son of Man, in reference to himself, he said the Son of Man, he said in the Pharisees, you're judging me about the Sabbath day? He said, let me tell you something. The Son of Man is Lord, also of the Sabbath. The word Lord means to be boss, to be in charge, to be over, to have dominion over, to have control over. When someone is a Lord over something, they are the boss, they are in control of that thing. And Jesus says, the Son of Man, the person you're looking at, is Lord. He said, and I'm not only Lord, I'm Lord also of the Sabbath. You say, what is this? This is a claim to deity. Say, how can you tell? Well, here's why. Who instituted the Sabbath to begin with? God did. Genesis 2, one, we saw it. You don't have to turn there. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them. 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. It is God that instituted the Sabbath. It is God that said, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. It is God that hollowed out the Sabbath day. And then Jesus, they would know that it is God who gave the children of Israel the Sabbath day. And then Jesus says, hey, by the way, I'm Lord of the Sabbath. It's a claim to his deity. He said, you want to judge me on the Sabbath day? He said, I created the Sabbath day. He said, I instituted the Sabbath day. He said, the Sabbath day was my idea. He said that the Son of Man is Lord, also on the Sabbath. Go back to Luke chapter number six. Actually, you know what? Go to Acts, if you would, Acts chapter 20. If you're there in Luke, you have John, Acts. Let me just give you by way of conclusion a couple of thoughts. Because let me tell you something. May I confess my faults one to another? If there is one, I mean, you know, I hate all false teaching, obviously. I hate people that preach the word of God falsely, that don't read the Bible, don't know what the Bible says. I hate false teachers that teach the word of God corruptly. But if there's any group of people that kind of just irritates me, it's the seventh day in Venice. Because they are so stinking judgmental. It upsets me because it's like God says, don't judge based on the keeping of the Sabbath. And they're like, we're gonna judge people, all people, only about the Sabbath. And it's so wrong because it's like, have you not read? Look, the Sabbath day has been repealed. It has a representation. That representation has been fulfilled. It's been repealed. But here's what really irritates me about the people who keep the Sabbath. Because like the people who were keeping the Sabbath in Jesus' day, they are inconsistent and inconsiderate. You say, what do you mean they're inconsistent? Well, here's something that really upsets me about the Sabbath day keepers. And you can jot this down for your own records, or if you ever talk to somebody that keeps the Sabbath, or they're trying to talk to you about it, you can bring this up to them. One of the problems that I have with people that keep the Sabbath is that they keep only the well-known Sabbath that the Bible talks about, but they do not keep all the Sabbaths. They're inconsistent in their keeping of the Sabbath. You say, what do you mean? I'm not gonna take the time to run verses because it's already, it's gonna take too long. But if you're interested, you can just jot this down. Leviticus chapter 23. Leviticus chapter 23 is a chapter in which God actually established, it's another chapter where God established the Sabbath day. In fact, in Leviticus chapter 23 and verse two, God institutes again the keeping of the Sabbath day as the seventh day of the week. Leviticus 23 and verse two is a verse that is a command from God to the Old Testament nation of Israel, commanding them to keep the seventh day of the week as a Sabbath day in which they are not to work. But if you continue to read Leviticus 23, you'll find that there are more Sabbath days that God institutes. In fact, there are two types of Sabbath days that are instituted. There is one Sabbath day, which is the most famous Sabbath that people know of, and it was instituted on a day. It falls on a certain day of the week, the seventh day of the week, the last day of the week is the Sabbath day. But then there are all these other Sabbaths that were given to the nation of Israel that were not placed on a day, but they were placed on a date. You say, what do you mean? They were placed on a specific date on the calendar. Let me give some to you. Leviticus 23, verses four and five. In Leviticus 23, four and five, God institutes the Passover, which the Bible refers to as a Sabbath day. In fact, in John 19 and verse 31, the Passover is referred to as the Sabbath, and as in high day. The Passover was established as a Sabbath day to be partaken on the 14th day of the first month. Now this is important, because it falls on a date, not a day. You say, why does that matter? Here's why it matters. When something falls on a day, it's gonna fall on that same day every time. You've got the Sabbath day falls on the seventh day. Well, the seventh day, every seventh day is a Sabbath day. It's like Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving falls on, what is it? The third Thursday of every November, is that right? Anybody know? Fourth Thursday of every November. So Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of every November. So guess what? Thanksgiving will always be on a Thursday. We're never gonna have Thanksgiving on a Monday. We're never gonna have Thanksgiving on a Friday. It's always gonna be on a Thursday, because it's given a specific day. The fourth Thursday of every November is Thanksgiving. However, Christmas is given a date. Christmas falls on December 25th. Now that date is fixed, but because the way our calendar works, that day changes. Sometimes Christmas is on a Monday. Sometimes it's on a Tuesday. Sometimes it's on a Wednesday. It's always the 25th day of the 12th month, but because it's a set date, it falls on a different day every week. In Leviticus 23 and verse two, we're told that the Sabbath was established on the seventh day, but then the Passover, which is also a Sabbath, was established on the 14th day of the first month. So that means that that Sabbath of the Passover doesn't always fall on the seventh day of the week. It falls every year on a different day. But whatever day it falls on, God says, that's a Sabbath. The Passover is a Sabbath day, and it's the 14th day of the first month. That's not the only one. Leviticus 23, verses six and eight, God gives them the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is established as a Sabbath. The passage, if you read it, says, that on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, ye shall do no servile work therein. Why? Because it's a Sabbath day. When was it established? On the 15th day of the first month. That's not all. On Leviticus 23, verses nine through 14, is the Feast of First Fruits. It's established as a Sabbath after the bringing in of the harvest. In Leviticus 23, verses 15 to 23, we have the Feast of Weeks. It's established as a Sabbath. We're told ye shall do no servile work therein. When does it happen? 50 days after the Feast of the First Fruits. In Leviticus 23, verses 24 and 25, you have the Feast of Trumpets. It's established as a Sabbath day. The Bible says ye shall do no servile work therein, and it takes place on the first day of the seventh month. In Leviticus 23, verses 27 and 32, you have the Day of Atonement. It's established as a Sabbath day. It says in the passage, ye shall do no work in the same day, and it is established on the 10th day of the seventh month. In Leviticus 23, verses 34 and 39, you have the Feast of Boots. It's established as a Sabbath day. It says ye shall do no work in the same day. It is established on the 15th day of the seventh month. So these seventh day Adventists, they're like, do you go to church on Sunday? Do you keep the Sabbath? And I want to ask them, well, what do you do on the 15th day of the seventh month? What do you do on the first day of the seventh month? Oh, I thought you kept the Sabbath, because those are Sabbaths too. See, they're inconsistent. And you know what I've learned about these people that keep the Sabbath? They don't really care about keeping the Sabbath. They're just against people going to church on Sunday. Because these people will literally, we used to have people that would come to our church every once in a while, and they were these Sabbaths. They liked our church, but they're, we believe in keeping the Sabbath. And they had this thing like, they would never come, they would come to the Red Hot Preaching Conference, and they're like, yeah, we got no problem going to church on Thursday. We got no problem going to church on Friday. We got no problem going to church on Saturday. We got no problem, they used to come on Wednesday night. We have no problem going to church on Wednesday. I mean, they had no problem going to church any day, but they refused to go to church on Sunday. It's like, you're not a Sabbath day keeper. You're just a Sunday avoider. You'll go to church any day of the week, just not the Sabbath day, just not on Sunday. You'll go any other day, but not on Sunday. They're a bunch of hypocrites. Because if you're going to keep the Sabbath, then you know what, why don't you keep them all? How about the Passover? The Feast of Unleavened Bread? The Feast of First Fruits? The Feast of Weeks? The Feast of Trumpets? As David told me, the Feast of Booths. These are all Sabbath days. And by the way, during these Sabbath days, you're supposed to do certain things like sacrifice animals and do certain rituals. Do you do that? So one of my problems that I have with these Sabbath keepers is that they keep the well-known Sabbath, the one that's in the Ten Commandments, but they forsake all the rest. They're inconsistent. But you know what, they're also inconsiderate. Because here's a problem that I have with these people that want to keep the Sabbath, is that they ignore the New Testament teaching of going to church on the first day of the week. You know the Bible actually says that we as New Testament believers are to go to church on the first day of the week? Let me give you just a couple examples. Go to Acts chapter 20, look at verse seven. Acts chapter 20, verse seven. Acts 20, verse seven, the Bible says, and upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight. Here we have a Sunday night service where the disciples come together, just like we're coming together on a Sunday night, because they came together upon the first day of the week. Well, today's the first day of the week, it's Sunday. They came together and Paul preached unto them and continued his speech until midnight. Aren't you thankful I'm not the Apostle Paul? But in the New Testament, the New Testament believers met on the first day of the week. You say, why did they meet on the first day of the week? Here's why, because Jesus resurrected on the first day of the week. That's why we meet on the first day of the week. Let me give you another example. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 16. You're there in Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 16, look at verse number two. 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse two. The Bible says, upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. This is talking about seeking an offering. And Paul says, do it on the first day of the week. Why does he tell them to take an offering on the first day of the week? Here's why, because that's when they met. They met the first day of the week. They worshiped God together on the first day of the week. See, here's the truth. These Sabbath day keepers, they're all like, you don't keep the Sabbath day. We only go to church on the Sabbath day. And we don't go to church on Sunday. And if you go to church on Sunday, you're an anti-Christ. And by the way, these seventh day Adventists, they also don't eat pork. They also keep all those restrictions of the law. That's why they're so uptight and always upset and so restricted in their eating. But here's the funny thing. This is what I, if I'm going to spend my time arguing with a seventh day Adventist, which I don't recommend, I just say, show me in this Bible a verse that says you're not supposed to go to church on the Sabbath day. Because every verse they want to point to says, don't work on the Sabbath day. Don't reap your harvest on the Sabbath day. Don't labor on the Sabbath day. Okay, then don't work on the Sabbath day. Then don't labor on the Sabbath day. But where does it say go to church on the Sabbath? Because it doesn't. It doesn't say to go to church on the Sabbath. In fact, if you get into the New Testament, you know what they did on the first day of the week? They went to church. You know what they did on the Sabbath day? You know what you consistently see the apostles doing in the book of Acts on the Sabbath day? They're going into the synagogue and preaching the gospel. You know what they did on Saturday? They preached the gospel. You know what we do on Saturday? We go soul winning. So show me a verse where it says, you're not allowed to go to church on Sunday. You can't find it. It's not there. These people are hypocrites. They're inconsiderate. They're inconsistent. You know what the problem is? They have not read. They haven't read the word of God. And this all underlines an idea that all of your problems in life and all of my problems in life and all of our issues would be resolved if we would simply read, study, and apply the Bible. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for these clear teachings on scripture, Lord, that if people just take the time to read and study the Bible and they're saved and they got the Holy Spirit of God, this shouldn't be difficult. They can understand why the Sabbath day was instituted. They can understand what it represents. They can understand that it's been repealed. They can understand that nowhere does the Bible teach that we need to go to church on the Sabbath day or that we shouldn't go to church on the first day of the week. And in fact, the Bible teaches the exact opposite. Lord, I pray that you'd help us understand these things and grasp these things. And I pray that you'd help us to just be Baptists who believe the word of God, read it, study it, and learn it, and just we filter everything through the Bible. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen.