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In Hebrews chapter four, and I'm actually going to be continuing our series on the Ten Commandments, and there's a reason why we read this chapter because this has a lot to do with the Sabbath. Okay, so we're going to be dealing with the fourth commandment. The fourth commandment, and so what was the first three? We had, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. The second one was, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, and thou shalt not bow down thyself unto it. And then the third was, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. So those are the first three, and now go to Exodus chapter 20, and we will be getting back to Hebrews four actually because there's a lot of good information in there about the Sabbath and what it represents and all that, but I first want to talk about, oh, good night. Thank you. Sennheiser mics for that one. So hopefully I just need to not move my hand right there. So just bear with me with these technical difficulties and all that stuff through this, but anyway, so I'm going to be first of all talking about this commandment, this fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath, to honor it, and what that meant, but then also getting into the actual picture of what the Sabbath represents, but in Exodus chapter 20 there in verse 8 we see this fourth commandment told here, in verse 8 it says, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, 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 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. So we see that why, what's the purpose of this commandment on resting on the Sabbath day or the seventh day, it's picturing what God did. So God created everything in six days, and this also shows you that it's literally six days. There's day age theory, there's gap theory, none of this stuff makes sense because we don't just work and still haven't seen the Sabbath, meaning that it's six literal days then you have the seventh day, which would be the Sabbath. Now that's a great proof there to show the six day creation, so that's how he made it the work week, the seven day work week. We still have seven days, right? Seven days a week. I know other cultures have done different things, but typically around the world what do you have? Seven days, okay? And it's that seventh day. Now that may change depending on what country you're in. Now this is where you get into, oh you need to have church on the Sabbath day. Well some cultures, the first day of the week is actually Monday, and so Sunday would be actually the seventh day. But I'm gonna be getting into that aspect of obviously why we don't have to keep the Sabbath today in the New Testament. This is an Old Testament commandment, and when I say Old Testament I'm talking Moses till when Jesus died. Not before, and not after, okay? Because this was not a commandment before this, okay? This was not something they had to keep before this. You don't see anybody, you don't see Abraham keeping the Sabbath, you don't see Noah keeping the Sabbath, you don't see Adam keeping the Sabbath. But obviously it's calling back to the creation saying, hey, this is why, you know, this is a, you know, why it's the seventh day of the week, okay? So in Exodus chapter 20, it's telling you why the Sabbath is on the seventh day, okay? So get that. Why is the Sabbath or the day of rest that they're gonna have to keep, why is it on the seventh day? Well, it's modeling it after how God created the universe, created everything and rested on the seventh day, okay? Deuteronomy 5 actually tells us why he's commanding, you know, them to keep it, okay? And I'm gonna, this, Deuteronomy 5, go to Deuteronomy 5, this is gonna show you that this commandment right here was specifically to the children of Israel and that covenant that he made with them, which is what we would refer to as the Old Covenant, okay? Because when you look at the Ten Commandments, you're like, well, all the rest of them seem to be moral law, you know, why, you know, if we're keeping all these other commandments, why don't we keep the Sabbath? And essentially, you do keep the Sabbath spiritually, okay? I'm getting into that a little bit, but this is specifically said to be a commandment to them for this covenant and, you know, it's not something that was before this and it's not something that happens in the New Testament. So in Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 12 here, notice what it says, and a lot of this is very much the same as what is in Exodus 20 because it's retelling it, but we do see some added information. It says, keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it. Now in the other passage, it says to keep it holy and just shows you that to sanctify something is the same as keeping it holy, okay? Or so if you don't know what it means to be holy, you should know what it means to sanctify something, okay? As the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, six days thou shalt 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 nor thy manservant nor thy maidservant nor thine ox nor thine ass nor any of thy cattle nor thy stranger that is within thy gates that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. So at that point, you're kind of seeing the same thing that was mentioned in Exodus chapter 20, but we don't see anything about the six day creation, right? We don't see that God created everything in six days, seventh day rested. Now it's going to tell us in verse 15, this is where it gives you a little more information. So why did they have it on the seventh day? Why were they resting on the seventh day? Because it patterns what God did at creation. Why is he commanding them to do it, you know, or who is he commanding to keep the Sabbath day? Notice in verse 15, it says, and remember that thou was the servant in the land of Egypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm, therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day. So it wouldn't make any sense that Abraham was commanded to keep the Sabbath day because he wasn't brought out of Egypt by a strong hand. By the way, those in the New Testament were not brought out of the land of Egypt by a strong hand, but guess who was? The nation of Israel, which is who God made that covenant with, okay? Go to Exodus chapter 19, Exodus chapter 19. So what I'm trying to prove here is that this commandment of keeping the Sabbath was made specifically to the children of Israel and those that keep that covenant. Now, if we lived back then, okay, and let's say you weren't of the tribe of Israel, right? You weren't of any of those tribes. You can become one of those tribes and at that point you need to keep the Sabbath day to be a holy people and to be the people of God. That doesn't mean that you can't be saved, you know, it's just like, do you have to join a church to be saved? No, you can be saved and never go to church, never do any of that, but if you want to serve God in the Old Testament, then you need to become a part of that nation and do the things that they're doing, be circumcised, keep the Sabbath day, do all these things, right? That's the way it was in the Old Testament and it was not like that before that, okay? Abraham wasn't keeping the Sabbath day, you know, show me anywhere in the Old, before Moses where they were doing that and specifically when it's talking about that commandment, it says this is why you are commanded to keep it is because I brought you out of the land of Egypt as servants, okay? Which I'm going to get into when you get into Hebrews 4, it's going to explain that a little more, meaning that he brought them out of Egypt and brought them into rest, okay? So there's another picture there, God worked seven days, rest of the, or worked six days, rest of the seventh, but also the picture of, you know, he brought them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into rest, okay? And so that's why it's something that it pictures. Now in Exodus chapter 19, this is talking about the Old Testament, this is what you call the first covenant. So when you're in the book of Hebrews, it'll say the first covenant, the first testament, and then it'll say that, you know, it's become old, okay? So we call it old, but to them it was just the covenant, right? It wasn't even the first back then, it was just that's the covenant God made with them, okay? And then obviously when he has a new covenant, then obviously that means that's the second one and that makes the first one old. He taketh away the first, they may establish the second, okay? Which means that that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away, you know, and that's the way you get into New Testament. But in Exodus chapter 19, verse 5 here, this is before he gives the Ten Commandments, he's telling them that, hey, there's a condition to be in this covenant, okay? So notice what it says here in verse 5, it says, Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, there's a condition, okay? If you want to be in this covenant with God, you have to obey his voice and keep his covenant. Then, so if then statement, I don't know if we have any electrical guys in here, computer guys, I think brother Dan, you know, deals with computers, so he probably knows a lot about if then statements, but even if you do excel, right, you've probably used if then statements, they're conditional statements, okay? Even salvation is conditional based off believing. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Now, once you believe, salvation is forever, okay? But there is a condition, you know, it's not unconditional like the Calvinists believe, it's based off a condition of believing. But to enter this covenant, you have to agree that you're going to obey that covenant and keep his, you know, obey his voice. Then it says, Then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, okay? So when he's stating this in chapter 19, he's basically saying, hey, I'm going to make a covenant with you, but it's conditional on you keeping this covenant. And then he gives them Ten Commandments and says, this is what you need to keep if you want to be a part of this covenant, okay? And then there's all these judgments and all these customary things that they're doing, but it's really hinging on these Ten Commandments that they need to keep these, and if they don't keep these, then the covenant's null and void, right? Who here has, like, entered a contract with something, right? And in the contract, it basically, there's two parties there, okay? And God's not going to break his part of the deal, right? But if you break your part, do you understand that God is no longer obligated to keep his part of the bargain, right? It's kind of like if you enter into a rent, right? Let's say we have rent at this building, right? We pay rent, and I sign an agreement that, you know, we're going to pay rent for three years, and this is the amount we're going to pay. As long as I'm paying that rent, the landlord cannot break his agreement that this is our building. Does that make sense? But if I don't pay rent, he is not obligated to give us the building anymore for three years, okay? So that's how the old covenant worked. That's how that first covenant worked, okay? And the Ten Commandments was the, I guess, the all-encompassing this is what you need to keep, okay? You say, what's so important about the Ten Commandments? That was, like, this is what you need to keep, and if you're not keeping this, then it's not going to work out, okay? And notice I go to Deuteronomy chapter 4, Deuteronomy chapter 4, because people, and I'm really addressing this because people, there's this Hebrew root stuff out there where they're like, you need to keep the Sabbath day. It's not been done away with. You need to keep it, and it's just not true. In the New Testament, we don't have to keep the Sabbath. Now if you want to have a day of rest, more power to you, but that's a Romans 14 application where if one person regarded a day unto the Lord and another one doesn't regard a day unto the Lord, whoever wants to do whatever they want to do, right? You need to be fully persuaded in your own mind, and so if you want to have a holiday for this and this person doesn't, then that's the way it works, okay? And so the same thing. If you want to have a day of rest and say Saturday, I'm not doing anything, more power to you, okay? And I would say, well, there's nothing wrong with that, right? God worked six days, right? And then he rested on the seventh day, so it's not like you're going against the model of how God works, okay? I personally like that model, you know? Saturday is usually my day where I'm trying to just take it a little more easy, okay? Because Sundays obviously work, okay? And then Monday through Friday, I'm working, and Saturday, I'll end up doing other things, but ultimately, it's my day to where I can just kind of relax for a little bit. I don't have to be anywhere. That's why I don't do soul winning on Saturday anymore, okay? Because as a pastor, I need one day. I need one day where I'm just not obligated to do something for once, you know? And I think that's a good principle to live by, okay? But I'm not going to command that and be like, if you don't have a day where you're not doing anything and you're just basically resting that whole day, then you're not right with God, that's adding to the word of God. That's not what the Bible teaches, okay? You're not under the first covenant, okay? You're not under that Old Testament law, and so you're not obligated to do that. Now, in Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 12 here, notice what it says, and it just got done talking about, basically, it's going to be talking about the 10 commandments here in verse, so verse 12, it says, and the Lord spake unto you, out of the midst of the fire, you heard the voice of the words, but Saul no similitude, only you heard a voice, and he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform. Notice that. What was the condition? That you obey his voice, right, and keep my covenant. Then it says that he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even 10 commandments. So you know what that means? That what he commanded you to perform equals the 10 commandments, okay? And it says, and he wrote them upon two tables of stone, and the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments that you might do them in the land whether you go over to possess it. So there's all kinds of commandments that are made later on, right, but really that covenant hinged on the 10 commandments, okay, meaning that if they don't keep that, then all that other stuff doesn't, you know, doesn't matter at that point, okay? They need to keep these 10 commandments, okay, if they want to be regarded in this covenant, and obviously we know that they couldn't keep it, okay, right? In the New Testament it says that they broke that commandment, and God regarded them not, okay? So ultimately they couldn't do that. They couldn't keep those 10 commandments, and nor do we, okay? But it really is showing you that, hey, we can't make it that way. The Old Testament really shows you the law, right, and shows you that, hey, you can't make it by the law, right? By the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in the sight, for we have to include it all under sin, you know, whether Jew or Gentile. So it really just shows you that. So when you look at Israel and them trying to keep that covenant, you just see failure, right? Failure after failure after failure after failure, generation after generation failing at it, and then you come to the New Testament, and what do you see? You see it's by grace and all that. Now it's always been by grace that we're saved, but in the big picture, Old Testament shows you failure, that you can't keep the law. New Testament shows you that grace, not at works, salvation, and that's the only way it can be, okay, in the big picture of everything that you see there, okay? And so it just shows you that, hey, you know, we can't make it that way, okay? By the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in the sight, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law, and, you know, it's just a really overwhelming way to show you that. Now go to Exodus chapter 31, Exodus chapter 31, because it's going to tell you in the Old Testament here, talking about the Sabbath, and keeping the Sabbath, that this was for a sign, okay? So it's not like I'm just going to go to the New, which I am going to go to the New Testament and show you that it's not something we need to keep anymore, okay, and that it was for a sign, and it was something that just pictured something, but it actually says it in the book of Exodus, okay? So notice in Exodus chapter 31, verse 12, it says, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily, My Sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. So what does this keeping the Sabbath do? It's a sign. It's a sign that he sanctified you. Circumcision is also another sign of the covenant as well, but circumcision was actually before the Old Testament, okay? Go to Genesis chapter 17, and circumcision is also a sign or a token of a covenant, okay? And even with circumcision, we see in Romans chapter 4 that circumcision was a seal of the righteousness which Abraham had yet being uncircumcised, you know, and the fact that he already had righteousness imputed unto him because he believed God in chapter 15, right? Now obviously I believe he was a believer even in chapter 12, it's just stating a fact, right? Abraham believed God, believed in the Lord, and he counted unto him for righteousness. That's how he had righteousness, but the circumcision was a seal of it, okay? It was a sign or a token, and in chapter 17 in Genesis is where we see circumcision come into play, which obviously, by the way, didn't happen before that, okay? So Noah wasn't circumcised, Adam wasn't circumcised, and everybody before Abraham wasn't circumcised, okay? So this came to be in Abraham, and it, I don't know if it bled over or, this is the way I want to phrase that, but it basically waterfalled into the old covenant, right? Where you had to be circumcised to keep the Passover and stuff like that, okay? But circumcision was already in place, okay, with Abraham. Verse 11, I shouldn't say bled over, that's too much on point, right? Children don't know what I'm talking about, right? So in Genesis chapter 17 verse 11 it says, and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt me and you, okay? So notice how circumcision to Abraham and all his children after that was a token, and another way to say that is a sign. It's a sign that show, hey, there's a difference between Abraham and all his children and the rest of the world, okay? And the Sabbath was a sign to show the difference between the children of Israel and the rest of the world, okay? Does that make sense? So just as much though, and I could do a tour de force on how circumcision is not needed in the New Testament, right? I mean, it literally says in the 1st Corinthians, if you're not circumcised, don't be circumcised, right? It's basically just straight up tells you, you know, circumcision, avail of nothing, and I believe the same applies with the Sabbath day, okay? Now go to Hebrew chapter 4, that's the chapter we read, Hebrew chapter 4, because Hebrew chapter 4 actually gives us a lot about the Sabbath, okay? Now it doesn't mention the name Sabbath, but Sabbath is just literally rest, okay? It just means a rest. Now a Sabbath doesn't have to be the seventh day of the week, okay? And even in the Old Testament, if you went into Leviticus, they had different Sabbath days throughout the year depending on different feasts that they had, okay? So when you had the Passover, the next day after the 14th day was the 15th day of the month and that was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and that was a Sabbath day, okay? You're not to do any work in there, and the way it worked out with our Lord and how He was crucified is that, I believe He died on a Thursday evening, the next day was what was called a high Sabbath day, okay, that's what it says in John, and then the next day was the actual Sabbath of the week, okay? And you'll see that a lot of these feasts, they'll be the Sabbath that starts it off and the Sabbath that ends it, okay? And you know, if it's the day of the week, right, let's say in it, you know, like the 15th day of the week, or I mean, I'm sorry, not the day of the week, it's the 15th day of the month, okay, you know that's not falling on the same day every year, right? It's like if you said, well, what day of the week does Christmas come on, you're like, what year are you talking about, right? It changes every year, okay? Now if you're talking about Thanksgiving, that's a different story, right, because Thanksgiving is like every third Thursday or last Thursday, I don't know, is it last Thursday of the month or whatever? Anyway, all I have to say is that if it's just the day of the month, then it could fall on any day, and some days, and sometimes, guess what, it'll fall on the seventh day Sabbath, okay? But a lot of times, it'd be just throughout the week, so you'll have a time where you have a couple of Sabbaths in the same week, okay? Now in Hebrew chapter four, there's actually three Sabbaths that are mentioned in Hebrew chapter four, okay? You'll have the seventh day Sabbath day, you'll have the promised land or Canaan where they went into Canaan, and that's referred to as a rest or a Sabbath, and then you have heaven, okay? So Hebrew chapter four actually talks about three different Sabbaths that are represented. Now verse four, let's see the first one that's mentioned, okay? So Hebrew chapter four and verse four, it says, 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. So what Sabbath day are we talking about? The seventh day Sabbath, right? God worked six days to create everything that's in heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested. So there's your seventh day Sabbath, notice in verse five, and in this place again if they shall enter into my rest. Now if you're just reading this by itself, you'd be like, what are you talking about, okay? But you gotta understand that chapter three was just talked about where he's talking about how they didn't go into the land promised to them because of unbelief, and their carcasses fell in the wilderness, and the chapter even starts off, it says, let us therefore fear lest the promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should seem to come short of it. For the word priest did not profit them not being mixed with faith, right? Or the gospel was preached unto them as well as unto us, but the word priest did not profit them not being mixed with faith of them that heard it. And I'm gonna misquote the rest of it, so, for we which have believed do enter into rest, as he had said, as I swore in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, all of the works were finished from the foundation of the world. So it's leading up basically talking about children of Israel going through the wilderness, hardening their hearts, and they would not enter in because of unbelief, okay? So you're kind of, you're starting off talking about this rest of the promised land, okay? Does that make sense? So when he's kind of stepping back saying, hey, well, you know, he spoke of this certain place of the seventh day, and then in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, what's he referring to? He's referring to the promised land, okay? And then in verse 6 it says, seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached enter not in because of unbelief, again he limited a certain day. So now he's saying, hey, there's another day we're talking about here, okay? You had the seventh day that God rested from all his works, you had the day when they went into the promised land, and they went into their rest, right, Israel going into the promised land, but then he says, but there's another day, okay? It says he limited a certain day saying, and David, today after so long a time as it is said, today if you will hear his voice, harden out your hearts, David is way after the promised land. So he's basically saying, David is talking about hardening not your hearts, and he's talking about a certain day coming, okay? Does that make sense? So you're obviously talking about something after the promised land, and notice what it says in verse 8 here, it says, for Jesus had given them rest. Now, I believe this is personally talking about Joshua, okay? You'll see this in Acts chapter 7 as well when Stephen is preaching, and he mentions Jesus bringing them into the promised land, okay? And Jesus is a derivative of Joshua, and I've kind of went through this before, so there's two mentions in the Bible of Joshua, I believe, and one is in Acts chapter 7, and one is in Hebrew chapter 4, okay? Now is it true that Jesus brought them in? Of course, right? You know, we have the captains of the host, right, you remember in the story in Joshua chapter 5? So there's definitely a dual application here, okay? So I'm not discounting that, because God's word is magnificent, right, meaning that obviously Joshua is the man that brought them in, but Joshua also pictured Jesus, and also it was the captain of the host that Joshua had to take off his shoes because he was on holy ground. Remember he came up to him and says, are you on our side or on our adversaries, and he says, nay, right? And he's like, no. It's like, that wasn't a yes or no question, right? But he's basically saying, both things you said aren't true, because what it comes down to is that Joshua was on his side, right, because he says, I'm the captain of the Lord's host, meaning that he's the king, right? So the king came down, which is Jesus, and so both are true, okay? But what it's stating here is that this is talking about them entering into the promised land, so it says, for if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken another day? So he's basically saying, if that rest of the promised land was the ultimate rest, then David wouldn't be talking about another time. Does that make sense? Like, he's basically saying limiting another day. So he's saying, after that, David's just talking about something in the future, and he's saying, you know, that pictured heaven, you can think of the promised land picturing heaven, but that's not the ultimate rest, okay? And so they're basically saying, you know, Jesus, you know, or Joshua, ultimately didn't give them, you know, all-encompassing rest, right? It says in verse 9, there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God, okay? So that means that there's another rest coming, and that's heaven, okay? That is eternity after we've lived our life on this earth, there's no more work to be done, okay? What it gets into is that we're going to rest from our labors, okay? When we die in Christ, or when Jesus comes back, there's no more work to be done, okay? As far as on this earth, right? We're entering into our rest, okay? So we have what? The seventh-day Sabbath, the promised land, which is really kind of what this whole thing's talking about, right? It's just kind of showing you, hey, there was the seventh-day Sabbath, and there's one to come, okay? But he's specifically talking about the children of Israel not entering in because of unbelief. And how do you get into heaven? By belief, right? Right. Why couldn't they enter in? Because, well, no, they were sinners, right? And they didn't repent of all their sins. No, it says they could not enter in because of unbelief. And then it gets into the gospel. It says that the gospel, which was for the word preached, I'm sorry, I'm going to mess that up. I always get that backwards. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them. You know what that means? Same gospel. Makes sense, right? Because Abraham believed God and it was imputed on them for righteousness. And you know what? In Moses' day, same gospel. So same gospel that we're talking about, same gospel they had, but it doesn't profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it, right? You can hear the gospel. And this is where calling upon the name of the Lord comes in, okay? And people are so against calling upon the name of the Lord and praying and all that stuff. But listen, you can hear the gospel and you can understand it and you can believe that's how you get to heaven. But until you mix that with your faith, it doesn't profit you. And that's where calling on the name of the Lord is just stating the fact that you are putting your trust in it. It's not just the fact that you understand that's how you get saved or that you believe that's how someone gets saved. That's when you are believing on Jesus for salvation and it needs to be mixed with faith. By going on from that, you were in Exodus chapter 20, there's no work to be done, okay? So the idea of the Sabbath is that no work is being done, okay? So you can see how that applies when it's talking about heaven, right? But how much more when you're dealing with salvation and all that. And so that's the big key, the Sabbath is the time of rest, okay? And we already covered that with Exodus chapter 20. Go to Numbers chapter 28, Numbers chapter 28. And you know what? The Jews would take this just so far, okay, to the point where remember Jesus healed somebody and it says he's breaking the Sabbath, you know, and just taking it to an extreme where you can't even help somebody on the Sabbath. The thing that it keeps mentioning is doing no servile work, okay? And so, you know, that's where the Pharisees took it way too far and said you can't even heal somebody, okay? And I've heard, you know, and I'm not Jewish or anything like that, but I've heard them saying, you know, like just taking it so far to where you can't even turn off the light, you can't do anything, you can't even like make yourself a meal, right? Everything has to be prepared. Like I don't even know, like how do you chew, you know what I mean? Like are you, do you just not eat? Like do you not, I mean it takes effort to do certain things, right? And they take it to an extreme, okay, when it comes to that. What I believe it's meaning is like work, like working outside, doing a job, right? And that's why it's bringing up oxen and men's servants. It's like stuff that you would do for profit or for to make money, right? It's not talking about like you can't make a meal, right? You can't fix yourself breakfast, be like it's Sabbath day, I'm not supposed to work, and so, but what I want to get out here is that this Hebrew roots stuff teaches that, you know, and this kind of goes into a lot of different, it's not just one church or anything like that. I'm not just talking about like the black Hebrew Israelites or the Hebrew roots movement, but this gets into Baptist churches and stuff like that where they're kind of going back and saying we need to keep some of these customary laws, and they'll say, well, we need to keep the Sabbath day. Or you'll have the seventh day Baptist, have you heard of that? Because you have the seventh day Adventist, right, and that's a cult. But then there's like seventh day Baptist and they're like, no, we need to have church service on Saturday, okay? Although the Bible, it doesn't ever talk about them meeting on the Sabbath day, it talks about them meeting on the first day of the week, and it even talks about John being in spirit on the Lord's day, which is Sunday, by the way. And so, which obviously wasn't called Sunday back then, right? The first day of the week was not called Sunday. But all I have to say is that, go to Numbers chapter 28, I'm going to show you that none of them are keeping the Sabbath. Guess what? The Jews aren't keeping the Sabbath. You know why they're not keeping the Sabbath? Because God doesn't regard that testament anymore. He doesn't regard it. Hebrews clearly states that they broke his covenant and he doth not regard it. He taketh away the first and he may establish the second. If you're going to say that they have to keep the Sabbath, then you have to say that the new testament is not established yet, to one or the other. But I'm going to show you that in order for them to truly keep the Sabbath day, they need priests offering burnt offerings, okay? So if you really want this to be kept, here's what you got to do. Numbers chapter 28, verse 9, it says, on the Sabbath day, two lambs of the first year without spot and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof, this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath beside the continual burnt offering and his drink offering. Every Sabbath. Two lambs and it talks about the, you know, the meat offering with the flour and all that, right? The drink offering. Every Sabbath day. Where's that happening at? You know, and besides the fact that God says he doesn't regard that covenant anymore, but we see what is the Sabbath day for? It is for those that God brought out of the land of Egypt and it's for a sign unto them and in order to keep the Sabbath day, you need priests that are offering that sacrifice. You say, well, what if we got some priests to do that? Then you're blaspheming the fact that Jesus is the high priest after you order a Melchizedek forever. If you think that the Levitical priesthood, which was not perfect, which had infirmity, needs to still be in place, that Jesus is not enough now as the high priest, we still need these priests to do that, okay? So you know, that's one proof. How about Colossians chapter two? Now this is the nail in the coffin, okay, meaning that this really, if you want to just show somebody that the Sabbath day is not a thing anymore or that you do not need to keep the Sabbath, this is your John 3.16, if you will, okay? So this will just annihilate that theory and if they still don't want to see that, then you know what? They can go pound salt or go keep their Sabbath pounding salt, I don't know. But like I said, if you want to keep a Sabbath day, that's more power to you, but don't be teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, okay? You say, well, it's from the foundation. Well, no it's not. The Sabbath day started with Moses and it ended with Jesus, okay? Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath day, okay? And you know, that's the thing where it's, and that's what I think with the Ten Commandments is people think, well, you know, nothing will ever do away, well, the Sabbath day wasn't done away with, it was fulfilled, okay? It was fulfilled by Jesus, okay? Jesus said, I come not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill, okay? And the Sabbath day was fulfilled. Now I'm going to prove that to you, but in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 13, it says, in you, being dead in your sins and uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made an open show of them, I'm sorry, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Now here we go, verse 16, let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or holiday or of the new moon or of the Sabbath days. Sabbath days, that means the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that means the Feast of Tabernacles, that means the Feast of Weeks, that means all the Sabbath days, whether it's the seventh day Sabbath, it says, let no man judge you in that. It says, and it gives you why, verse 17, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ, meaning that was nailed to the cross, and it was fulfilled in Christ, why? Because when Jesus was dead, it was Sabbath days that were going on, meaning that there was no work to be done, and salvation is by grace through faith, not of works. So when Jesus was dead, no one was to be working, he was working. And it pictures salvation, but, so it was fulfilled in Christ, it was a shadow of things to come. Now another place that shows us, it doesn't say the Sabbath, but it talks about meats and drinks, right? So meats, drinks were brought up there, and it talks about holidays and Sabbaths, right? New moons, and you say, well what's the new moons talking about? Their calendar was based off the new moon, it was a lunar calendar, so that's why Easter is kind of a, you try to figure out where Easter's at, you're like, why is it so sporadic? Because it's based off a different calendar. We have a solar calendar, they had a lunar calendar, and it's a little different because of that. So that's why the new moons are mentioned, because it was based off like when the new moon happened, that's when the phases reset of the moon, and that's when they would start a new month, they'd have a month that would start from that, okay? But the phases of the moon aren't exactly, you know, 365 days a year, meaning that it'd be like 30 day phases, okay? But as you know, not every month has 30 days in it, okay? And so you're going to be off by almost the whole month at the end of the year, or no, after six years. It's five days, right? Because if you did 30 days for every month, you'd have 360 days, and you'd be off by five days. If you kept doing that, you're going to have winter and summer, okay? It's going to be off. So they would reset it, and they'd have, you know, what you would call a leap month, right? We have a leap year, which is an extra day in February, because that 365 days is actually 365.25 something something, okay? So it's like a quarter of a day, but you're not going to have a quarter of a day, right? So every four years, what do you have? You have a leap day, or a leap month, right? A leap year is what they call it. You have 29 days in February instead of 28. All right, enough of that. You understand that, right? So but in Hebrew chapter nine and verse eight here, notice what it says. It says, the Holy Ghost is signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing, which was a figure for the time then present. What was the tabernacle and all that stuff that was done in it? It was a figure for a time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifice that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. And it's basically saying that none of that stuff saved you, okay? It would purify the flesh, meaning that it gets you right with God on a physical level, but it never made anybody perfect like the blood of Jesus does, okay? It says in verse 10 here, which stood only, notice that, only, which stood only in meats and drinks and divers, washings and cardinal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation, but Christ being common high priest. So notice, when's the time of reformation? When Jesus Christ rose from the dead and he became the high priest at the order of Melchizedek. It says, but Christ being common high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, okay? And so all that stuff was done away and it was for a time then present, and listen, by the way, if you want to keep that Sabbath day, that stuff still needs to be there, right? The drink offerings, the meat offerings, the burnt sacrifices, you can't do the Sabbath day appropriately like it's stated in the Ten Commandments if you don't have that, okay? And it's not there. Notice in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 9, I know I quoted this, but let's just look at it real quick, just so you know that there's no overlap. It's not like back then we're like, well, you know, there was this overlap and actually the Old Testament's still going on. If you want to be a part of the Old Testament, you can do that route, you know, you can go that route of being a part of that Old Testament and being a part of that covenant, no. When Jesus died on the cross, you know what happened? The veil of the temple rent from the top to the bottom, and what was that just talking about? The veil, and it talked about the Holy Ghost is signifying. That means that the New Testament, now we have the Holy Ghost, we don't need a high priest to go in through the veil and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. We have the Lord Jesus Christ and we have the Holy Ghost living inside of us, which is what they didn't have back then. Verse 9 there of chapter 10, it says, then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God, he taketh away the first that he may establish the second. You can't look at this any other way, meaning that you can't establish the second if you don't take away the first. There's no overlap. So it's either the second hasn't started yet, or the old's gone, or the first is gone. And what I'm trying to get across is that the Sabbath day was a part of that first covenant. And even circumcision was thrown out after that. Even though the circumcision was pre-Old Testament, if you will, even though it wasn't pre-everything, it wasn't like Adam or Noah, but even circumcision was thrown out because it's not about the children of Abraham anymore, it's about all believers. And it says if you are of faith, then are you children of Abraham, and if you're in Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. And in the New Testament and in Christ, there's neither Jew nor Greek. And the middle wall partition of Israel and the Gentiles has been broken down by Christ, and there's no more of this making a difference between us and the rest of the world when it comes to a nation. Now it's just us against the world, believers in the rest of the world. So go back to Hebrews chapter 3, and I kind of already hit on this, but the Sabbath really does represent the fact that in order to go to heaven, it's not by works, it's by faith. And you know what's great about this commandment, you say, well why was it in the Ten Commandments, right? Because he commanded everywhere, all men, to repent, meaning that he commands us to believe on him for salvation. And salvation is by faith alone, not of works. And this one commandment of them keeping the Sabbath is a commandment that represents salvation essentially. It represents not working at all in order to get rest. And I'm going to show you how extreme that was, okay, of not working at all, okay. But in Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 18 it says, and to whom swear he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that didn't keep his commandments. Is that what it says? But to them that didn't sin. But to them that didn't repent of their sins. No, it says, but to them that believe not. And you could put, I mean, does anybody deny that they sinned in that wilderness? Because it says their carcasses fell because of their sin, right? But why didn't they enter in to the promised land? Because they did not believe. And it says, so we see then, or so we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief, okay. Notice that keeping the commandments, keeping the law had nothing to do with them entering in to the promised land. It had to do with them not believing. And we, I was talking about this, but in Hebrew chapter 1, as you go into the next chapter, what is it talking about? The gospel. Do you see how them entering into rest, right, is coupled with us believing the gospel and being saved. We which have believed do enter into rest, right? And so it says, for unto us, in verse 2 there, for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them. But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. So they heard the gospel. The same gospel we hear today, the same gospel we believe right now, they heard it back then, but they did not mix it with faith, therefore they did not enter in because of unbelief. But it pictures them going into the promised land, pictures us being saved, that it's not by works, it's by faith, and that faith is what saves us, and it says, and we which have believed do enter into rest, okay. And Hebrews 4 is basically stating, hey, this doesn't just apply to Israel, right, meaning that David spake of another time, you know, if they shall enter into my rest. And so he's basically saying, hey, this, there's a bigger picture here, okay. The seventh day was a picture, them going into the promised land was a picture, but ultimately what is this talking about? This is talking about heaven. This is talking about eternal rest, eternal life, and, you know, it's not by works. And just to give you how extreme that is, go to Numbers chapter 15, because you may have read this passage and be like, man, that's harsh. Numbers chapter 15, Numbers chapter 15, we probably use this phrase, if you ever use this example out there, be like, you know, it's got to be by faith, not by works, and if you believe that, you know, it's by Jesus, but you have to help the old lady across the street, you know, I use this one personally, then you're not saved. Even though that's like a small little thing, right, everybody should help the old lady across the street, you know, but if that's a part of it, then you're not saved, okay. Numbers chapter 15 and verse 32, notice this, it says, and while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day, just picking up sticks in his yard, you know, I don't know where he was at, but just gathering sticks, 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, and the Lord said unto Moses, the man shall be surely put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp, and all the congregation brought him without the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died as the Lord commanded Moses. You say, man, that's harsh, yeah, because even picking up sticks to go to heaven will cause you to go to hell, that's why. I don't care what little work you put in there, it's going to send you to hell if you mix anything with that. Listen, the only thing you need to mix with the gospel is faith, and so it's showing you the severity of salvation by faith and not by works, and the Sabbath day shows you that severity that you do not work at all for that rest, okay? And how about some verses on this, Romans chapter 11 verse 6, and if by grace then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace, but if it be of works then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. You can't mix one thing in there, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Now the hymn that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt, but the hymn that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Get the point? No works, not even picking up sticks. You pick up sticks in order to get to heaven, you say, well, yeah, it's just Jesus, but I'm going to add this one little thing, I'm going to pick up some sticks over here in my neighbor's yard, hell, death, because what is hell, it's death. What is the lake of fire but the second death? So the death penalty was given to this guy for picking up sticks on the Sabbath day, why? Because what it represented. It wasn't that it was just so sinful to pick up sticks, you know, to pick up sticks, right? It's because the Sabbath represents salvation, it represents heaven, it represents eternal life and that you do not work for that, not one iota, not even picking up sticks, okay? So the Sabbath day has a great representation, it has a great sign, it has a great shadow of things to come, if you will, and it shows you that, hey, you know, from the foundation of the world, there's an idea of resting and not working and salvation is what? Not working. Salvation is God working for it. So when they were not to be working, when Jesus was dead in the grave and his soul was in hell, they were not to be working at all and when he rose again, it was paid for. And that's salvation, my friends, it's faith, it's not by works at all. And I can go through some more verses on that, but I won't for sake of time. But go back to Hebrews chapter four, Hebrews chapter four, and I'll end with this. I mean, this is the call to action because here's the thing, in the Old Testament, they had the Sabbath day, it represented obviously heaven, it represented the fact that, you know, it's not by works and all that. But today, we don't have that physical Sabbath day that we're keeping and showing that shadow of good things to come. We are literally waiting for the true Sabbath, okay? The actual Sabbath that every believer is waiting for, which is rest, okay? Notice what it says in Hebrews chapter four. So we read, you know, the fact that there remains a rest to the people of God, okay? So it's basically stating that, hey, that promised land, the seventh-day Sabbath, those were all pictures, right? They were all showing us something to come, but there remaineth another day, there remaineth a rest in the future that we're waiting for. And notice in verse 10, it says, for he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works as God did from his, okay? So you can look at it in the fact of, well, God worked six days and rested the seventh day, we're working our life, and then we're gonna rest eventually, okay? And that's where the New Testament we're at, is that we're working for the night cometh when no man can work, okay? We're working while it's day, and our life is the day, okay? The night is death, okay? And you can look at it as far as, if you wanna look at it as a week, you know, we have a six-day work week in our life, and we're gonna work until we die, and then we're gonna rest. And notice what it says in verse 11 there, let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Now this is not saying let us labor so that we'll be able to enter into rest. It's saying let us labor to enter into that rest, lest, it didn't just stop there, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief, basically saying, we wanna labor so that people enter into rest with us, right? So that, at the very beginning of the chapter, it says, let us fear lest any of you, you know, I'm gonna misquote that, good night, I'm messing up that verse every single time. Let us therefore fear lest the promise being left to us of entering into this rest, any of you should seem to come short of it, okay? So he's saying, listen, you need to sure this up, you need to make sure you're not one of them that don't believe. And he's saying let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. So what are we doing? We're laboring so people will believe to enter into that rest. That's what our job is. That's what our work is. And does that end on a Saturday? Do you just like Saturday, you're like, I know I said that I took away the soul winning time on Saturday, but it doesn't mean that you can't soul win on Saturday. So it's not like on Saturday, you're like, well, we can't win anybody to Christ because, you know, supposed to be resting on that day. No, this is till we die, okay? That we're to be laboring lest some other man or any man fall after the same example of unbelief. You know, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, you can go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, because I believe Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 11 is talking about soul winning. It's talking about laboring to the end, laboring until you die, being faithful unto death, if you will, holding that confidence unto the end, right? And that's what it talks about in Hebrew chapter 3, right? Holding faster confidence, steadfast unto the end, you'll be partakers with Christ and you know, all that. And it says that a couple of ways in Hebrew chapter 3, but it's talking about casting off not your confidence for you shall receive reward because of that confidence, it says later on in Hebrews. But in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9, it says, wherefore we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every man, every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he had done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. So why are we laboring to persuade men? You said, well, the judgment seat of Christ, well, yeah, I mean, there's obviously that reason too, you know, you want to labor for eternal value, okay? But ultimately we're laboring to enter into that rest lest any man fall at the same example of unbelief, right? He's not talking about himself. He's not like saying, hey, let us labor so we don't fall at the same example of unbelief. He's saying, let us labor lest any man fall at the same example of unbelief. He's basically saying, let us labor so that no one else falls like this and doesn't believe. You know, like those people that heard the gospel but didn't mix it with faith, okay? That's what we're laboring for and we're laboring so that we can persuade men to believe the gospel and knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. What terror? Hell, death, the second death, the lake of fire, eternal punishment. That's the terror of the Lord, right? You know, some have compassion making a difference and others say with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. What are you doing? You're saving with fear. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. And that's why we work. And Matthew chapter 11, I'll just end with this, Matthew chapter 11. And this is what I believe Hebrews 4 is talking about, Hebrews 4 and 11 anyway, because people will twist that. You know they will, right? I've heard people twist this and be like, well, see, it needs the laborer to go into rest. Yeah, but it didn't just say laborer to enter into rest, it says laborer to enter into rest lest any man fall into the same example of unbelief. So why are you laboring to go into that rest? So that other people don't miss it, okay? But Matthew chapter 11, I believe that's what it's talking about, is laboring so that we can win people to Christ. And notice what it says in verse 28. It says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Make my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. See, laboring the Lord, we're gonna have rest, but that rest doesn't come until later, okay? David's bake of another day. There's a day coming. Oh, what a day that'll be, you know, when we're in heaven and, you know, all the songs you can think about that talk about that, being in the presence of the Lord, and we've ceased from our works, and we're entering into our rest, but that is something that's at the end of our life, okay? Now, obviously, the Sabbath day pictures that every week, right? It's kind of like every week you're reminded, like, I'm working, rest, working, rest. But ultimately, that represents the fact that, hey, we're working our lives to rest ultimately with God, okay? We're taking his yoke upon us, and we're working, we're laboring with him, and ultimately, we're gonna rest with him for all eternity, and that's the Sabbath day. So I hope that makes sense, you know, as far as why it's in the Ten Commandments, right? You know, as far as people say, well, you only hold the nine of them now. No, I hold to the Sabbath day, meaning that it's fulfilled in Christ and what it represents, but I am not an Israelite under the first covenant. It is not given to me as a sign unto my generations to keep this and do sacrifices on that day, every single day, until Levitical priesthood, okay? So no, I'm not bound to that particular law of that, but I do recognize what it represented. I do recognize, you know, just as much as the Passover, Christ our Passover, he fulfilled the Passover, he became the Passover, we no longer should have to keep that feast. Days of Unleavened Bread, so on and so forth, okay? And so I hope that makes sense, the keeping of the Sabbath, what it represents is awesome, you know, it just really shows you how the Bible is the same from the end to the beginning, or from the beginning to the end, I guess, right? So it's always gonna be that way. Anything that's in the Old Testament is being pictured and being fulfilled. So let's end with the Word of the Father, we thank you for today, and just thank you for the souls that were saved this week and pray that you be with us throughout the rest of this week, I pray that you'd help us to provide for our families, and help us with our incomes, and then also, Lord, just pray that you'd be with those in our church that aren't feeling well, either sick or just dealing with just chronic illnesses, and Lord, just pray that you'd be with them and heal them of that, and Lord, just pray that you'd be with the families that are moving in, I pray for the Jones family, as they're in that process, and then also for the Spina family, just thank you for bringing them in safe, and Lord, just pray that you'd be with our church, Lord, we love you, for it all is in Jesus Christ's name, Amen.