Opener: How much time does our world have? History is littered with man's failed attempts for utopia on earth, kingdoms crumble, and empires evaporate. What is the destiny of man? How can one find personal peace? Can we know the future? Yes, we can. Throughout the scriptures, God has sent messages of hope to help us recognize our place in time and prepare for the future. Join us now as Amazing Facts presents Millennium of Prophecy, with Doug Batchelor.
[applause]
Speaker 2: Good evening, and welcome to another exciting evening here in New York City at Millennium of Prophecy. Tonight's topic builds on last night's topic, and tomorrow night's topic will build on tonight's topic. If you didn't miss last night and you're here tonight, don't miss tomorrow evening as we continue our excursion through the holy scriptures. But now as we've done each evening, join with me as we welcome our host and our speaker for the evening, Pastor Doug Batchelor.
[applause]
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good evening friends. I’m so thankful to see each of you here tonight. We have a very important study tonight, you're going to learn some revolutionary things. Tomorrow night, our study is the glorious kingdom, one of the most cheerful and exciting presentations through the series. We're talking about, what the Bible says about the reward of the righteous heaven. You're going to learn a lot of very interesting fascinating facts regarding that subject.
Now I’d like to invite the beautiful Mrs. Batchelor out, and we're going to cover as many Bible questions as possible before we get into our lesson study for tonight.
Mrs. Batchelor: Hi.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Welcome.
Mrs. Batchelor: Welcome.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Fancy meeting you here.
Mrs. Batchelor: Yes. It's nice to meet you here.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Okay.
Mrs. Batchelor: Question number one, should Christians celebrate Halloween? Yes, we have that holiday coming next week.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Let's take a vote, not that we do things by popular consensus, but what's your feeling? Do you think that Halloween is a holiday that Christians should support?
Congregation: No.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Okay, next question.
Mrs. Batchelor: The next question is, why?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, let me let me share with you. First of all, there are those who say that if it's not dictated as a biblical holiday, Christians shouldn't have anything to do with it. That's not accurate. Thanksgiving, for instance, is not a biblical holiday. That doesn't tell us anything in the Bible about what we in America celebrate as Thanksgiving in November. But the principle is certainly there. There's nothing wrong with taking a day for thankfulness, it's very much in the Bible.
There's no biblical command that forbids celebrating a cultural day, as long as that cultural day does not conflict with the biblical principle. Halloween has its roots in a diabolical and paganistic culture. It springs from cursing people who do not give you a treat. You put a trick at their door and there was a curse and the human sacrifice the druids pronounced with these jackal lanterns, and it's very coltish, people dressing up like goblins and ghosts and devils and demons and they say that's the day when all the occultist get together and it's sort of a high day for them. That should be avoided. The Bible says, scripture, that Christians should avoid the unfruitful works of darkness.
I think that we ought to shun these things. Now, what do you do? What if the cute little trick or treaters come knocking on your door. The appropriate answer is to slam the door on their face and say, "We're Christians. We don't believe in Halloween."
[laughter]
That's what Jesus would do, right?
Congregation: No.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: No. Overcome evil with good. If someone knocks on your door, give them something good. Give them a Christian tract, or something. There are some things you can't help. Like you don't have to -
Mrs. Batchelor: A toothbrush -
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Like give them a tooth brush, yes, to take care of all the cavities that they're going to get from the candy that they're eating. That's a good idea.
[laughter]
Mrs. Batchelor: All right. Our next question.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Fluoride tablets.
Mrs. Batchelor: This question comes from Martinez, California. If the decisions we make impact our future, and God knows what our future is, then how can we completely have free choice?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All right, now, does the Lord know everything?
Congregation: Yes.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Does the Lord know whether or not everybody in this room and all those watching -- He already knows whether or not we're going to make it, is that right? Some think, well, because he already knows, then it's determined by Him. No, because God knows what's going to happen doesn't mean He's making it happen. As parents, sometimes we'll see our kids -- Well, just last night, little Nathan was jumping on the bed in the apartment. If we have said, "Don't jump" once, we've said it a thousand times in the Batchelor home. Jumping on the bed, jumping on the bed, John and Angie were there. He's jumping on the bed and I turned my back, I said, "Don't jump, don't jump", turn my back, he jumped, he bounced off and hit his head, and started crying. I knew that was going to happen, I didn't make it happen. But I knew it was going to happen.
Many of you parents have a little first aid kit, don't you? Band-aids and provisions. Because you've got that first aid kit doesn't mean that you're making your kids skin their knees and burn their fingertips, it's because you know what it's like to grow up, so you've made a provision.
Well, God is all-knowing. He made a provision because He knew what would happen was sin. He didn't want it to happen. He did not make it happen. His creatures have free choice. It's sort of like a traffic helicopter, that’s up on a hill. The helicopter is watching the traffic and there's a tunnel through the top of the mountain. There's only two lanes going through the tunnel, kind of like the Lincoln tunnel, except it's not on the top of the mountain.
The helicopter is watching and it sees a truck going this way, a great big fat semi with a wide load, and another truck going this way. And just as it's getting ready to enter the tunnel, a little red Volkswagen decides to pass. Now, that traffic helicopter is not making the Volkswagen get smushed like a bug on the front of that truck. Pardon the pun. But he knows it's going to happen.
God can foresee what's going to happen but he doesn't make it happen. You see the difference? We all have freedom of choice, but that doesn't mean God is making us be saved or lost.
Mrs. Batchelor: Okay, thank you. Betty from New York City asks, Psalms 46:10 says, 'Be still and know that I am God.' Doesn't that mean God is in each one of us?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, you've got to be careful how you answer that. Nobody here is alive except by the virtue of God giving them the breath of life. In that sense, God gives us all life. But God is not in each one of us, unless you invite Him in your mind and heart. Jesus says, "I stand at the door and knock", if you hear his voice, that means he's not only knocking, he's calling. If you hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in. The Lord does not force himself on anybody. You need to choose to open the door.
The Bible does say that God is not far from any one of us, He is near us. But we must invite Him in us. There is a difference.
Mrs. Batchelor: Okay. How does one keep the fifth commandment when they have had an abusive home?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: You all know what the fifth commandment is? Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. What do you do if your mother and father that you're supposed to honor are -- First of all, if they're abusive, you should love them and honor them anyway. But what if they're asking you to do something that is a violation to one of the commandments of God?
Ephesians 6:1 makes it clear. It says, honor your father and mother in the Lord. That means, as far as your father and mother are asking you to do something that doesn't violate some Christian principle or biblical principle, you should always obey and cooperate as far as possible. If they ever ask you to do something that is a violation -- I remember one time, my mother asked me to lie. I was living here in New York City. She always had my brother and I, when we went to the movies and lie about our age so we could get in for under 12. Well, I was short, it was easy to do, no one would have questioned us. I did it back then.
But then after I became a Christian, my mother asked me to fudge on the truth a couple of times and I said, “Mom, I can't do that anymore.” I said, “I love you, I respect you, you're my mother.” She said, “Oh, you're holier than thou, huh?” She gave me a hard time about that. But you need to take a stand for God, amen?
Congregation: Amen.
Mrs. Batchelor: Well, how can you do that? What if there's been some sexual abuse towards a child, parent and the child?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, then the question is not honoring. Sometimes it may be a question of forgiving. There's an issue. Some people really struggle with forgiving their parents if they've been verbally, physically, sexually abused, and that's something you really need to pray that God will give you the power to do because it does not come naturally. Naturally, there's a very deep bitterness. But don't underestimate what God can do for you. He can help you forgive beyond what you would ever dream or imagine.
Have you ever read that book by Corrie ten Boom called The Hiding Place? How she at one point had to forgive one of the guards while she was being brutally treated in Ravensbrück concentration camp, and her sister died there. She met, after the war, one of the guards that was responsible for mistreating her and she said that she did not feel forgiveness, she felt hatred and anger.
But she said, “God, I don't have it, but I'm choosing to forgive.” And she felt that the Holy Spirit came over her and gave her the forgiveness as a gift. God will do the same thing for you. He'll give you the ability to forgive your parents, and then respect them in the Lord.
Mrs. Batchelor: Okay. This comes from James in Yuba City, California. Please reconcile the jealous revengeful God of the Old Testament, with the loving forgiving God of the New Testament.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: How many of you have thought before that the God of the Old Testament seems hard and exacting and vengeful and wrathful, and Jesus seemed so loving and forgiving and merciful? I would respectfully submit that there is no contradiction. When you read the whole New Testament, you'll be surprised how much wrath there is there. Matter of fact, the seven last plagues are in the New Testament. The wrath of God that has poured out without mixture is in the New Testament.
You read in Paul's writings and Romans chapter one, he talks about the wrath of God against sinfulness. Read where Jesus talks about Matthew 24 and what's going to happen to the wicked, and you'll find there is a balance of judgment in the New Testament, and then you go to the Old Testament, and you can hear the gospels there.
God says, "Turn ye, turn ye, why will you die? I want to heal your backsliding. I will freely forgive." Psalms 51, one of the most beautiful passages on forgiveness. Isaiah chapter 53. There's a lot of gospel and grace in the Old Testament, and there's a healthy dose of wrath and judgment in the New Testament. I'd like to submit that I think they're both consistent. You need to read them all in context together and you'll see it's all there.
Mrs. Batchelor: I think they're referring to all the wars where they had to annihilate whole people children and animals and the Amalekites.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Part of the reasons for that is because, in the Old Testament, the Jews were a theocracy, they had an independence, and they had Gods as their king and other kings. Whereas when you read the New Testament, they were under the dominion of another power. They didn't have that kind of freedom. Also, the Old Testament is a lot more history. It covers thousands of years of battles and wars and kings and dominions. Whereas the New Testament is a relatively short period of time, about a hundred years.
Mrs. Batchelor: All right. Our last question. How many times have you read completely through the Bible? And that was from Andrew from Queens, New York.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, I don't know. I read through the Bible perpetually. Matter of fact, the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is I drink some hot water and then I turn on my computer. I read through my Bible on the computer because it's got a little program that tells me where I left off, and I can read it into several different versions. I typically like the King James and new King James, and I'm reading through it now. I'm in first kings right now. When I'm done, I start over again.
But I've read through parts of the Bible thousands of time because as Mrs. Batchelor can attest, every night we go to sleep, we listen to Bible tapes, and sometimes I'll take one tape and I'll listen to front and back of that tape over 50 times.
Mrs. Batchelor: For weeks.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes, There's portions of the Bible, several books of it, that I've listened to thousands of times. So it's hard for me to estimate how many times I've been through the Bible from cover to cover.
Would you like to hear an amazing fact? Are you aware that one hour of sleep deprivation brings up the traffic accident rate 8%? One extra hour of sleep makes the traffic accident ratio drop 8%. Know how they know this? It happens every year in North America during daylight savings time.
They did a study and they found out that when a person is deprived of about or when a person is awake, and driving after 18 hours of being awake, their attention level is about equal to a person who's had two alcoholic drinks. Some of you've been working 18 hour days and then driving home. For a person who's been awake 24 hours, it's the equivalent of having five or six alcoholic drinks when they're out on the road. They're not very safe.
A person operates at the optimum with about nine hours of rest, that's when they work at their optimum level. Well, arrest is very important for our efficiency, for clarity of mind, for productivity, and you'd be amazed how important rest is in our relationship with God. That's going to be the theme of our study tonight, dealing with bricks without straw. I'd like to go to the historical. We've got a little roll in footage we're going to share with you in a few moments. But first, let's take a look at the story that corresponds with tonight's lesson.
Bricks without straw. Perhaps you remember that Moses, when he was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, his original intention was that he might liberate the people somehow. But the problem is when he tried to do it on his own, it backfired, he ended up wandering in the wilderness of Midian for 40 years. By the time he was 80 years old, he had given up all hope that God would use him to save the Israelites. And lo and behold, the Lord appeared to him at a burning bush, sent him back into Egypt that he might be used of the Lord for the great exodus, delivering a whole nation from slavery.
Now, in this story, who does Moses represent? Who is it that saves us from slavery? Moses is a type in historical of Jesus. Who would the pharaoh represent? Who is it that wants to keep us captive as slaves? That'd be the devil. He doesn't want to let us go. He wants us to work as his slaves. Many people forget, if you read in the book of Exodus, before Moses and Aaron went and met with the pharaoh, before they approached him, they went directly to the elders and the leaders of the Israelites. They said to them -- Moses and Aaron went and gathered together the elders of the children of Israel, and they had a special meeting with them.
It goes on to say, afterwards, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh saying, “Thus, says the Lord God of Israel, let my people go.” Now, why is it that before they met with the pharaoh, they met with the children of Israel. Well, some Bible commentators speculate, and I'm inclined to agree, that they said, God is getting ready to visit you and to deliver you. You should consecrate yourself to him. They had become so saturated with the mindset and the religion and the customs of the Egyptians, and you can see that as you read the exodus experience, they kept thinking let's go back to Egypt, that they had forgotten about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
One of the customs of the Egyptians that they had begun to adopt was neglecting the Sabbath, the day of rest. When Moses returned to the people of Israel and the elders, he said you need to rest, you've been working for the pharaohs seven days a week. You need to keep God's holy day. He's getting ready to do great things for you, sanctify yourselves.
Now, you're thinking, "Pastor Doug, that's a lot of speculation. But the Bible tells us afterword, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, let my people go.” The pharaoh didn't want to let the people go. He had them engaged in building these colossal monuments for him and these beautiful cities, he wasn't about to let them go, they were free labor. Furthermore, the pharaoh was outraged and he said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.”
Pharaoh had spies who were finding out about Moses and Aaron meeting with the Israelite leaders, he knew what was going on. He knew they had a special meeting, and that word rest there is Sabbath. The pharaoh said, "You're making them keep Sabbath, you're making them rest." He wanted them to work seven days a week. He did not want them to think about going to the promised land. The devil wants people to work, work, work so that we do not think about eternity, we don't think about what the real purpose of life is, and there's more to it than that.
You're making the rest, you're making them sabbath from their burdens. The pharaoh made things even harder. He said, “Thus, says the pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go ye, get your straw where you can find it.” He now decided to intensify their workload. It goes on to say, "Go there for now and work for there shall no straw be given you." He increased the workload. He made them go out and gather straw and then he demanded that they maintain the same quota of brick. Because it says in the Bible, it says book of Exodus, 'Make them work so they do not regard vain words.' In other words, do not think about the word of God. Don't think about freedom. Don't think about the promised land, just work, work, work.
Now you know the devil uses the same tactics today to keep people so preoccupied with the cares of this life, we forget we're only here for a little while, and the main purpose for this life is to determine where we're going to spend eternity. That's a fact. But the devil keeps us so preoccupied with the constant spin of work that pretty soon we're the richest bodies in the graveyard, and we've forgotten what the purpose is.
Well, the devil, the pharaoh could not keep them as his slaves. God sent a series of 10 plagues. Finally the pharaoh was forced to release his grip, and then the people offered the Passover lamb and they began their journey from that point on. They made the great exodus out of Egypt.
They spoiled their oppressors, they came to the Red Sea, the Egyptians followed after them. The Lord swallowed up the Egyptians in the red sea, and they were then on their way to the promised in the wilderness.
After just a few days in the wilderness, they got hungry, and they cried unto the Lord and said, "You brought us out here to starve us to death?" And God began to rain something down from heaven, what was it called?
Congregation: Manna.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Manna.You know what the word man that means? What is it? They never had a name for it, never seen it before. The Bible says, six days a week, God rained Manna the down from heaven. They gather, they bake it into loaves and the bread and probably prepared at a variety of ways. It did not fall the seventh day of the week. God said, "Gather twice as much on the sixth day because there wouldn't be any on the seventh day." Moses said, "Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord, today you're not going to find it in the fields." Speaking of the seventh day or the Sabbath.
Now, some people think that God established the Sabbath for the Jews, and that it's a special law just for them, and then He gave it at Mount Sinai. Keep in mind friends that Mount Sinai and the 10 Commandments being spoken and written, that begins Exodus 20.
The Manna coming down six days a week and not the Sabbath is Exodus 16. In Exodus 16, some of the people went out to gather Manna on the seventh day and God said, “How long do you refuse to keep my laws?” The Sabbath was one of God's laws long before they got to Mt. Sinai. We learned something about the law of the Lord. I know what you're thinking right now. You're wondering, why is this issue important?
It’s interesting the different attitudes and thoughts that people have regarding this specific commandment. I'll explain to you how this ties into prophecy in just a minute. We’re going to listen to some of the reactions that people on the street had regarding, is the fourth commandment relevant today? I want you to listen for a moment to some of the reaction that we got on the streets here in Manhattan regarding this specific subject, is the fourth commandment relevant today?
Speaker 1: Well, I’m sure it's more relevant to a Jewish person than to me personally. My form of religion, I don't celebrate the Sabbath, but to a Jewish person, I think that'd be very important to him. In general, yes, I do believe the Sabbath is important as part of the Ten Commandments.
Speaker 2: The only commandment that Jesus did not speak of was the Sabbath. Whether or not we want to keep the Sabbath, to date, that's questionable. Some Christians do, some Christians do not. The fourth commandment, which is, you shall keep the Sabbath, that's not necessarily important anymore. For some people, they find that important. As far as to find ourselves righteous before God, it is not absolutely essential.
Speaker 3: We all have our Sabbath, but we should take our time, whether it be Saturday. Some people say to keep the Sabbath holy on Saturday. To me, you should always set aside for God. You should always make time for God.
Speaker 4: I do believe that the Sabbath did happen on Saturday.
Speaker 5: I don't know. Fourth commandment, fifth commandment, whatever you may be. It's just it depends on what your beliefs are and certainly what your teachings were in regard to church, God, beliefs them things.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: An interesting spectrum of responses that we get on the streets and I'm sure we could have stayed out there all day and had a large reaction from a number of different perspectives. Now let me tell you something friends that I think is very important. First of all, what I want to say now -- I'm going to talk about the Sabbath day. I just hit it straight on.
I remember when I first learned this, and I want to begin by saying that I believe that there are many millions of spirit filled heaven bound Christians that go to church on the first day of the week, which we call Sunday. What we're talking about is what does the Bible teach. There's a lot of things that people have misunderstood over time that they were very sure of.
Are you aware of the reason that a barbershop has a red and blue spiral around the old fashioned barbershops? You know where that came from? Doctors believe that when a person had a fever, it's because they had too much blood and they used to bleed them. How many of you remember reading this from history? They thought it was very scientific. They'd have them grab onto this porcelains spiral, and the barbers had the sharpest instruments that bring people to barbers with a fever and they could get cut, put the often unsterilized instruments that had been shaving people, and they'd bleed them and they thought if they got the enough blood out, then the blood pressure would drop and the fever would go away. You had a fever because you had too much blood.
There's a lot of things that people assume that are not accurate. Last night, we learned that the law of God is still intact. Most people have no problem with the Ten Commandments. I became very suspicious when I discovered that the Sabbath truth in particular unnerved people, it made them very uncomfortable.
Let me tell you how I found this out. When I was living up in the cave, some of you heard my testimony this morning, I accepted the Lord. I went to church on Sunday. I began to visit all a broad spectrum of churches. I read in the Bible that it said that the seventh day was the Sabbath and I looked at the calendar and it said the seventh day is what we call Saturday. I went to the pastor, I said, "Why don't we go to church on Sunday? Where is the scriptures for that? When did that change?"
I asked about 10 different pastors and I got 11 different answers. Sort of like what you saw in the interview. One pastor said, "Well Doug, we're not under the law anymore, we're now under grace, we don't need to keep the Sabbath commandment anymore." I said "Oh." I said, "Does that mean then we break the other nine commandments?" He said, "No, we only keep the commandments that appear in the New Testament."
I did a study and I found out that 9 of the 10 Commandments are restated in the New Testament. There's one that is not restated, you know which one it is? It's not the Sabbath. It's the commandment that says don't take the name of the Lord God in vain. Does that mean it's okay to break that one?
The Sabbath is mentioned several times in the New Testament contrary to what some people think and said. Went to another pastor. He said, "Doug, Jesus rose on the first day of the week and he then made that the new Sabbath Day." I said, "All right, great. Where's the scripture?" He said, "We don't have a scripture where he specifically changes it, but we've got a longstanding tradition." I said, "That doesn't make sense."
Another one was very creative. He said, "Doug, back in the days of Joshua when he prayed and the sun stood still, Saturday turned into Sunday."
[laughter]
They all had different references. There was no command in the Bible and so I became very suspicious. They finally convinced me. What finally cinched it for me was I was doing a meeting just like this and a minister interrupted me. He said, "Brother Doug, you're putting these people under the bondage of works."
I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "You're telling them to keep the 10 Commandments." I said, "Wait a second, do you think God wants us to keep the Ten Commandments?" The minister said, "No." Then he realized how silly that sounds and he said, "Yes." Then he said, "Nine of them." I said, "So what you're telling me is the one commandment that we're supposed to forget is the only command that begins with the word remember." I said, "That doesn't make sense." I said, "Why you are accusing me of putting people under works.? I'm telling them to rest. You're telling them not to rest. You're putting them under works."
Let's get to question number one and I'll elaborate as we go on. This is going to be a fun lesson. Keep in mind, friends, we're not here to make anybody feel guilty or force anybody to do anything. We're going to study this issue because it's going to come up in prophecy as you'll see in just a minute.
Number one, did God make the Sabbath rest only for Israelites? You say the answer is with me. Mark 2:27, 'And he said unto them, the Sabbath was made for Jews.' I missed that, didn’t I? Sabbath was made for Whom?
Congregation: Man.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: For man. Who said that? Jesus. He didn't say for Israel. Why? Because it goes back to the Garden of Eden. What else was made for man? Bible says it's not good that man should be alone. God made something else for man. What was it?
Congregation: Woman.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I help meet, and that doesn't mean help meet expenses.
[laughter]
That was woman. Do we still have women? Do we still need them? Do we still need the Sabbath too that God need for man? There is some scriptures I want you to look at. In Isaiah:56. Take a look at this, also verse six. The sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord, speaking of people from everywhere that serve them and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants. Everyone that keepeth this Sabbath from polluting it and taketh hold of my covenant, even them, I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. How does God place the Sabbath context? Is it supposed to be a burden or a blessing? It is supposed to bring peace and joy and rest, and boy, do we ever need that?
Number two, when did God establish the Sabbath? Answer. Genesis 2:1 & 3. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, and God bless the seventh day and sanctified it because in it, He had rested from all his work, which God created and made. Now, how many days did God use to create the world?
Congregation: Six.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Six days. How many days are in the week?
Congregation: Seven.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Seven days. Why? Because he made one more day. He made one more day for a relationship. Now, let me explain something that I think is very important, very, very important. Why this issue is so important to me? I'm not trying to superimpose a new law on people. The devil hates the Sabbath truth and it's very simple, because you cannot be saved without loving the Lord. You cannot be saved without knowing the Lord, haven't we been emphasizing that?
All love relationships are built in the context of time. What happens to a marriage when the husband and the wife stop experiencing quality time? It begins to erode and deteriorate. Do people fall in love just by looking at each other or do they need to spend time communicating with each other? If you're going to love God, you need quality time with God, where you lay aside your regular concerns and rest, and you bask in his presence, you commune with him. You spend sacred time with him dedicated for him. Your relationship with him will grow as a result. The devil does not want that to happen. He wants people to work and work and work, so their relationship with God evaporates. That's why the Sabbath is so important. It is a context a day that God has created, he's blessed for us to nurture our love relationship.
Do we need it in this day and age where we are ultra stressed? I’ll tell you what friends, if there was ever a culture on the face of the world that was running to and fro like a bunch of mad chickens with their heads cut off, it's this age, and it's this city in particular. Just between my apartment and this place, you've got to spin and dodge and duck and do cartwheels just not to get bowled over by taxis and human cargo roaring up and down the streets, and everybody looks so pleasant and relaxed and happy as they are going.
The medical industry, one of the number one products that's sold is anti-acid. There's so much ulcers and heartburn and stress and strain. And this is what's being borne out by the research. People are living under what we would call the age of rage. I don't know if you've got it in Manhattan. You don't have enough cars in Manhattan. In LA, everyone's got a car, and even pets have cars in LA. People are shooting each other because there's so much pent-up rage and there's so much stress. Could there be a connection between the human race for getting to rest in the Lord? I think there is.
Number three, what day of the week is the Sabbath? Some of you wonder, does it matter? We'll talk about that. What day of the week? Genesis 2, 'And on the seventh day, God ended His work which He had made, and He rested the seventh day from all His work which He had made, and God blessed and sanctified the seventh day.'
Now, did you notice that. The first time a number appears three times in scripture, it's the Sabbath, and it says the seventh day, the seventh day, the seventh day. When you get to the last book of the Bible, there's a number that is often used to identify the beast. What is that number?
Congregation: 666.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: 666. The very first book in the Bible, God says, "I’ve got a number that identifies my relationship with you and my creative power, and it's the seventh day." When God says something three times, it is eternal, the angels around the throne of God go holy, holy, holy. When God says, the seventh day, the seventh day, the seven, will you notice he didn't say, a seventh day.
What's the difference? Well, if I say, could you bring me a chair? Well, you could attempt to throw any chair in the room to me. But if I say, bring me the chair, you know I’m speaking of a specific chair. A means something, the means a definite article. When God said the seventh day, He was being very definite.
There's a lot of traditions that people have come to embrace that we later discover are not accurate. Like the moon is not made of cheese as they once said, of course, that was just a children's fable. But scientists at one point said that the world was flat, that you would sail off the end. Copernicus said no, the earth revolves around the sun, and Galileo almost got kicked out of the church for agreeing with him. They said no, no, no, the sun goes around the earth. We're the center of the universe. And the scientists said, “Yes it's true.” And the church said, “Yes it's true.” They were wrong. The evidence is very clear. I want you to keep your mind open to look faithfully at the evidence. The Bible tells us you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free. I hope you will love the truth.
Number four. How has God demonstrated the importance of the holy Sabbath? Answer, Jesus said remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. It goes on further to say, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Now, does God say that we make the Sabbath holy? One of the people on the street says, well, you've just got to pick a day, you've got to make time. Do we make a day holy or does God do that? Can you and I have less than sanctify a day? No.
If you come and you take care of my house for me, while I go to town and go to the market, and I say, look, it's cold and I’ve got a fire going in the stove, can you keep the fire going? I say, "No problem Doug, I’ll keep the fire going" and then I leave. You walk over to the stove to see if it needs any wood and there's no fire, there's not even any warm coals, it's dead cold empty. You say, "Why did Doug say, keep the fire going, when there's no fire?” When God says keep the Sabbath day holly, he's saying, "I made it holy back at creation and I am commanding you to keep it holy."
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Just because we don't accept it or don't know about it doesn't mean it is not a day that God has blessed. The Bible says when God blesses something, it's blessed forever. With this day, Gos rested, God blessed it, and He sanctified. Man was made in His image, He wanted us to follow that. Do we still need rest? Sure we do. Spiritual and physical rest. Listen to what the Lord says. Matthew 5:19, whosoever, therefore, shall break one of the least of these commandments and shall teach man's soul, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. I’d like the Lord to speak of me as great, and so I want to do it, and I want to teach it. And there's a curse pronounce on those who break it and tell other people to intentionally. That's the issue I want you to understand.
Number five. Of what two precious things, does God say the Sabbath is a sign? You can read in Exodus 31:17. It says, 'It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. For in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth.' One thing is a sign of Him being the maker, the creator, and He will recreate us. How many of us need Him to create a new heart in us? The Sabbath is a sign that He can recreate our hearts.
Furthermore, if you go to Ezekiel 20:12. It says, 'I gave them my Sabbath to be assigned between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them.' He redeems and sanctifies and He creates. Sanctify means to make holy. How many of us need to be made holy?
Now, the first part of that answer says, the Sabbath is assigned between me and the children of Israel. Some of you are saying, "There it is, Doug. It's between the children of Israel and God, it has nothing to do with Christians." Are we under the new covenant or the old covenant today? You don't sound sure, don't be bashful. We're living in the new covenant time? Let me quote the new covenant for you.
Anybody who gets saved, you're save based on the covenant of salvation that God made. The Lord has now established a new covenant. The new covenant, this is what it says, 'I will make a new covenant after those days with the house of Israel.' Are you aware that nowhere in the Bible does God make a covenant with anybody but the house of Israel? That's why Paul says, if you're a Christian, you are Abraham's seed. You are adopted spiritually as Jews into the family. We become spiritual Jews. The covenant of salvation is still made with Israel, and so is the Sabbath commandment.
You know what I think is odd, friends? I have preached in hundreds of different churches many different denominations. And again, I want to emphasize Godly good people in many different churches, I believe that. I believe they love the Lord, the Lord is working in their lives, He's answering their prayers. He's working through them. But I’ve discovered something that's suspicious. I can stand up in and I preached in many Baptist churches, and I could preach on virtually any commandment. I could preach and honor your father and mother. Don't steal, don’t lie, don't covet, don't use God's name in vain, don't worship idols, and they'd all say Amen.
But then I could say, remember the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord. They’ll say, “Don't put us under the law, we're under grace now?” I think there's something strange that people are especially uncomfortable with this one commandment. You know what it is? Sometimes it's easier for us to give God our money than to give them our time.
Benjamin Franklin said time is the stuff that life is made of. God so loved the world, He gave his son for 33 and a half years, He gave us his time. He wants us to give Him our time to show that we love him.
Question number six. What day did Jesus keep holy? Christians, follower Christ. Luke 4:16 and he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as, his custom was he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up forth to read. Now, is a custom something you do once or twice, or is it a pattern? It was a custom of Jesus.
Now friends, if ever you're in doubt about what to do, do what Jesus did. I know in the judgment day when I stand before the Lord, the Lord is not going to say to me, “Doug, I’d like to let you into the kingdom, but I can't.” “Why Lord?” Because he kept the Sabbath day. I’ll say, “But it was one of the 10 commandments, Lord, you spoke with it your voice. You wrote it with your finger and your son did it as an example.” Obviously, there must be something behind that that many are missing. And I, I can hear the wheels turning right here in Manhattan and around the country people are going, “Doug this is making sense, but why does so many Christians worship on the first day or other days?” We'll get to that. Don't worry.
Number seven. What was Paul's custom regarding the Sabbath? Did he have a pattern? You can read it in the Bible, and Paul as his custom was, he went to them and three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them out of the scripture. Acts 18:4 is the second part, he reasoned in the synagogue. What does it say? Every Sabbath. Some people say, “Well, the only reason Paul was doing that was because he was just trying to minister to the Jews that were there.”
You can read in Acts chapter 16, who wrote the book of Acts. Does anyone here know? Luke did. And Luke says -- Luke was a gentile that several years, probably 20 years after Jesus died and ascended to heaven, that they were still keeping the Sabbath the day. The Christians gathered at the riverside, a place where prayer was one to be made.
Number eight. Did the apostles also meet with the Gentiles on the Sabbath day? Acts 13: 42 it says, “And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath day.” Some of you remember when the apostle Paul was hunting down Christians before his conversion. Do you know where he went looking for the Christians? It says he entered into the synagogues. Why would he be looking for Christians in the synagogue? Because they were worshipping on the same day that the Jews had been worshiping.
Number nine. We'll explain this better as time goes on, you'll see how it plays into prophecy. Did Jesus intend for his people to keep the Sabbath after he died for their sins? The Bible tells us in Matthew 24:20, Jesus is predicting this time of trouble and the end of the world, “But pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” God was looking down in time. Jesus said, pray you wouldn't have to flee for your life on the Sabbath day.
Now, look in Revelation chapter 14, this is not in your lesson. I’m going to give you a little free scripture and you'll see why this is so relevant. Just before a group is identified as having the mark of the beast, Revelation 14, and the wrath of God that pours on those who have the mark of the beast, Revelation 14. Then after that Jesus is pictured coming in the clouds. Just before that, three angels are seen flying in the midst of heaven with these special messages they proclaim with a loud voice.
Incidentally, this prophecy is being fulfilled in your ears right now. What do those angels say? You can read Revelation 14:6-7. “I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them who dwell upon the earth to every nation, tribe, tongue and people, saying with a loud voice, “Fear God didn't give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come.”” And it goes on to say, “And to worship him who made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the springs or the fountains of water.”
This is a direct quote from Exodus 20, the fourth commandment commonly known as the Sabbath commandment. Because it says, “For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and the sea.” You know what the issue in Revelation is? You know what the issue in Genesis was? Who you worship and how you worship. Did you know that? Cain and Abel both claim to worship the same God. One did it differently. Claimed to worship the same God, Cain killed his brother because Abel was accepted, he did it the way God prescribed.
You get to Revelation and it says the beast power compels everybody to do what? To worship. You got the point friends in the last days. Everybody is going to be worshiping. There will be two great churches in the world, one is going to be following the wide way to destruction but they're very religious, they're worshipping. The other is on the narrow road and they will be persecuted. Jesus said the hour is coming when those who persecute you will think they’re serving God. And it revolves around who and how, and when you worship.
That was the issue in Daniel. They had to decide do we bow to the graven image or do we keep the commandments of God. That was the issue when Daniel was in the lion's den. Do I break the commandment that says don't have other Gods or do I pray to king Darrius? The issue is who do you obey? Paul says in Romans, “You are the servants of the one who you obey.” That's why the devil has tried to mesmerize, much of the Christian world and even some of my Jewish friends don't keep the Sabbath anymore. With the idea that it doesn't matter, it’s not relevant, and we think because we can by popular consensus, nobody's doing it that God doesn't care.
Well, I’ve got news for you, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He says, “I am the lord I changed not.” It doesn't matter if there's only one person left in the world who is obeying God, God will honor that person. Just because the whole world turns their back on God and his commandments, doesn't make it nullified. It's still intact, friends. He spoke with his voice. He wrote it with his finger, it's of an eternal enduring nature. What more could he do?
For some someone to say that that commandment in the middle of God's law that says ‘remember’ it's the longest of the commandments has been altered or nullified, or deleted from the commandment. You better be real sure of your scriptural foundation for that kind of supposition or theory. I believe that the Ten Commandments are still intact and the Sabbath has not changed.
Now, you know what's happening in the last days? God is pulling people back together to the truth. This message is not just being preached here, it's being preached all over the world. Not just because of our satellite program, but there are a lot of people, Bible scholars from many different religions that are discovering the Sabbath truth again, and you're hearing it here because God brought you here.
What question on am I on? Number 10. Does the Bible teach that God's end-time people would also be keeping the seventh day Sabbath holy? Well, let's look at Revelation 12:17, you tell me what you think. And the dragon. Who is that? And the devil was wrong. That means furious with the woman, the church. He goes to make war with the remnant or remainder of her children. What's the characteristic they have? That keep the commandments of God. Does that mean keep some of them some of the time? No. It means keep all of them all of the time.
Do you read Deuteronomy chapter 5, the Lord is speaking there. I think it's verse 29. Moses says or God says there, “Oh, that there was such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all of my commandments always that it might be well with them and their children forever.” If we're keeping some of them some of the time, everybody does that. I’ve been in and out of jail and prison, and everybody I ever met keeps some of them some of the time, God wants a people who are consistently surrendered to do his will. There needs to be a consistency there.
Furthermore, it says in Revelation 14:12, “Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God.” Revelation 22:14, just before they enter, into heaven. It says, “Blessed are they that do his commandments that they might have a right to the tree of life and that they might enter through the gates of the city.” God pronounces a blessing on those that do the commandments.
But when I talk about the Sabbath truth, people get restless. They think, “Well, what is this going to mean for me?” Friends, you just keep coming and keep listening, and trust that this is the Bible and I’m inviting me to ask any question you want, if you think you've got a scripture that tells us it doesn't matter, you give it to me. I’ll read it to everybody. I’ve been through this, I’ve asked all the questions, and you owe it to yourself to hear the whole thing out and then deal with the Lord and say, “What do you want to do about this?”
But just right now, take the information in and pray about it. Does that sound fair? Be honest with your own soul before you lie to yourself. James 2:10, “For whosoever, shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of how much?” Does one commandment matter to God? I think it does all right.
Number 11. Will all the saved in heaven keep the Sabbath? Isaiah 66, we read, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain the for me says the lord so shall your seed and your name remain. It will come to pass that from one Sabbath to another shall all Jews, all flesh.” Friends, I’m not giving the Jews a hard time, I am a Jew both spiritually and physically. But what I’m trying to emphasize is it's not the Ten Commandments aren't owned by the Jews. They are the code for God's people. All flesh shall come to worship before me on the Sabbath day in the new earth.
Now I want you to think about the pattern that we're seeing here, we saw that God had Adam and Eve keeping it. It was there in Genesis chapter two in the Garden of Eden. The patriarchs kept it. We know God's people in the Old Testament kept it. It was commanded for them. We see the apostles and Jesus, it was their custom. We see that we're going to be keeping it in heaven. Doesn't it seem peculiar to you that God would say, “What you do between the time of the apostles and the second coming, that doesn't matter, I don't care anymore?” That wouldn't be consistent and our God is very consistent. Amen.
Number 12. Can we be certain, that the present seventh day of the week or Saturday is the same Sabbath that Jesus kept holy? The Bible gives you the best answer, it says, “And that day was the preparation or the sixth day prepared where they prepared for the Sabbath, and the Sabbath drew on,” and it says, “And they were returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.”
Now, I don’t want to rush on to the rest of the answer without emphasizing something you must not miss. Jesus walked with the disciples and taught them for three and a half years, after three and a half years at His side, when He died on the cross and the sun was going down and they had not yet finished preparing His body. Rather than do something they thought would disappoint their Lord, they laid his cold body in the tomb. They said, "We do not have time before the Sabbath to finish anointing His body." They went home and they kept the Sabbath according to the commandment.
If Christ had been teaching them that it didn't matter or was insignificant, or not important, then why would they neglect His labor of love, right here at the end of His ministry? Of course, Jesus endorsed the Sabbath the day. Matter of fact Christ died before the Sabbath begin and rested from his work of saving the human race, and then rose Sunday morning to continue his work as our intercessor and high priest.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: He even kept the Sabbath in his death.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: The idea that Jesus said it was negated or abolished is ridiculous. You go on to the rest of the answer here. Now, on the first day of the week, they came to the sepulcher. What day in a week did Jesus rise? We call it Easter--
Congregation: Sunday.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Easter Sunday, okay. Now, is it important that Jesus rose Sunday? Some people say Sunday is now the Christian Sabbath because Jesus rose that day, and I admit it is important. Baptism is something God gave us to commemorate the resurrection. You’ll find no scripture that says remember the resurrection with a new Sabbath day. There was nothing wrong with the old one.
When God made the Sabbath day was there sin in the world yet? No, it was part of his perfect plan. Now, there were other ceremonial Sabbaths that were established long after yearly Sabbaths that the Jews had, but the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments was part of his perfect plan, there was no need to change it. Let's look real quick at the evidence here. The preparation day or what we would call the preparation day is what?
Congregation: Friday.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Friday and then sandwich between the resurrection, you got the Sabbath, there what we commonly call Saturday. And then that’s followed, of course, by the first day of what we have as Sunday. And if you don’t believe Pastor Doug, then maybe you should get the dictionary and in the dictionary you read seventh day what does it say? Saturday, the seventh day of the week. Get the encyclopedia out. Some people would say, "Well, hasn't there been some change in astronomy or the calendar that affects the weekly cycle?"
Someone wrote a letter to the US naval observatory asking that question and they said, "There is no change in the calendar that in any way has affected the continuity of the weekly cycle." You have something in your lesson I hope you’ll notice, it's at the very back. There was a change in the calendar in 1582, Pope Gregory the XIII made a 10-day adjustment, and the Thursday the 14th of October was followed by Friday the 15th. All that might mess up your date plan or a little bit, but Thursday was still followed by what?
Congregation: Friday.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: No change in the calendar ever affects the weekly cycle, from the day of Adam to the present, it’s been one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. The weekly cycle doesn’t need any changing. I think if you examine the evidence friends, Biblically, you’re going to find that the weight of evidence are about Saturday being the Sabbath is very substantial, whereas, the first day being a Sabbath I'd invite you to share those scriptures with me and I will read them to everybody. Maybe God has an appointment for you that you've been missing-- you've been missing a blessing, could it be.
Number 13, and I know how your wheels are turning because I remember when I first learned this. Does God allow anyone to change his holy day? Can we change? Can man change the law of God? The Bible says, “Every word of God is pure, add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” I remember a friend of mine, he may be even be watching now on Covelo California, Pastor Philips, Ken Philips. He was part of a ministerial council, he was a Sabbath keeping pastor and he met with the Sunday keeping pastors in the small community.
And the Sunday keeping pastors were saying, "We're having trouble in the summertime getting our members to church. They're out golfing, they're out of the beach, they're waters skiing, how do we get them to come to church?" And then they turned to pastor Philips who kept the seventh day Sabbath. They said, "Brother Philips, how do you do it at your church?" And before he could answer another Sunday minister said, "He doesn’t have the same problem we have, he has a thus sayeth the Lord for Saturday."
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: They know it. The evidence is so clear friends.
Number 14. When does the Sabbath begin and end? Leviticus 23:32, it’s not at midnight, they didn't keep time that way. The Bible says, “From even unto even, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.” Mark 1:32 and, “And even when the sun was set.” How many of you speak different languages here more than one language? Several of you, okay. Are you aware that in 105 languages of the world, that the world for the seventh day of the week is Sabbath day. Spanish, sábado, Russian, ???????.
Remember I was in Russia. I went back there and talked to our translators one after another they going Sabbath, Sabbath, Sabbath, and all these various languages, the seventh day of the week, what we call Saturday is Sabbath day. Why do you think that is? Because at the Tower of Babel, they weren't of far back from Adam and Eve. They all knew what God's holy Sabbath was, it was one of the Ten Commandments and there was still people back then honoring that.
Number 15. What day is the Lord's Day that we read about in Revelation 1:10? “But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” It goes on to say, “If they'll turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on-- what does He say? My holy day.” God there in Isaiah calls the Sabbath my holy day. Then you go to Mark 2:28, “Therefore, the son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath day.” All through the Bible He calls the Sabbath, his day. So, which day is the Lord's Day? The Sabbath day is the Lord’s Day.
Revelation, the vision of that prophecy was given to John as he was resting. They've been compelling him to work in the mines, tradition tells us and he would not work in the Roman mines. He was resting on the Sabbath day. They tried to kill the apostle John, tradition tells us, it’s not in the Bible. Diocletian, the Roman emperor tried to place him in boiling oil to execute him and they said that he step in as though he was stepping into a warm bath and stepped out completely unharmed.
They were afraid to do anything else to hurt the apostle John. So they exiled him to the Island of Patmos, where they worked him in the mines 90 years of age, but they did let him rest on his Sabbath. That’s why it makes sense that he says, "I was in the spirit on the Lord's day." He got the Revelation vision on the Sabbath day. You’ll find out how important it is as we go on.
Number 16. What blessing is promised by the Sabbath commandment? Jesus says in Mathew 11: 28, “Come under me all and our heavy laden and I will give you--”
Congregation: Rest.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Rest. Have you longed for rest before? Have you known what it feels like to be home? Sometimes I travel around the world. I've sat on the airplanes so long that I knew the names of everybody on the plane, going from Australia, New Zealand, India this year. And you stay in strange places and eat strange food and you long for home. And after one of these long strips, you get to your house, and you drop your bags, and you climb in the shower, and you lay down and you on own bed, you all know what I’m talking about?
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And you just say, "Oh rest." Well, that kind of rest can be found in Jesus, a spiritual rest. Will lay your burdens down, you let go of your bags and you're at home with Him. The letter of the law, remember what we learned last night about the letter of the law? The letter of the law says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you should work and do all of your labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Lord your God, in it you should not do any work, you or your son and your daughter, or manservant maidservant, or you oxen or cattle. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth and sea and all that in the midst and he rested the seventh day. Wherefore, the Lord hauled the Sabbath day and blessed it.”
Now, the Lord is telling us that He wants us to not only keep the letter of the law, but you come to Jesus and you get spiritual rest, that’s the spirit of the law. For when we keep the spirit does it negate the letter? No. Exodus 33:14, “My presence shall go with thee and I will give thee rest.” And then Hebrews 4:5, “If they enter into my rest,” and the word, therefore, rest is sabatismos, it means Sabbath rest.
Now, I have something I want to stop and I want to share with you quickly before we run out of time. When you go from this place, you're going to share the things you've learned with others and you’re going to have a couple of scriptures thrown at you. I want to know meet head-on on advance. Some people say need to keep the Sabbath Doug, because in Romans chapter 14 Paul says, “one man regards the day unto the Lord, another man does not regard the day. Let each man be persuaded in his own mind.”
Keep in mind that there are two kinds of Sabbaths that are spoken of in the New Testament. The Sabbath of the Ten Commandments is part of the moral law the Ten Commandments written by God's finger in stone placed in the Ark of the Covenant spoken by God's voice. There were several Jewish ceremonial Sabbath days, you can find in Leviticus chapter 23. “They passed the way they were nailed to the cross.” Paul is talking about this ceremonial service. He wasn't speaking of one of the Ten Commandments when he says, “If you want to keep it help yourself if you don't that's fine too. He's talking about the ceremonial service.”
Somebody else is going to quote you in Colossians 2:14-16 where it says, “Let no one judge you,” a matter of fact I want to read that for you regarding meat and drink or Sabbath days he's talking about the ceremonial service. Turn in your Bibles quickly, Colossians 2:14. It says, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.” What were the ceremonial laws written on? Parchment or paper. They were nailed to the cross. You can't nail stone to anything.
Notice it says the handwriting. What is that handwriting that it’s speaking of? It's talking about what Moses wrote against us. Deuteronomy 31:26, you write that down and look it up. “Take this Book of the laws talking about the ordinances and put it in the side of the Ark, not in with the Ten Commandments. Of the covenant, of the Lord your God that it might be a witness against us.” Paul is talking about a law that was against them, it's the ceremonial law.
2 Chronicles 33:8, “They will take heed to do all that I have commanded them according to the whole law then the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses handwriting, ordinances that were against us.” All of these words are talking about the ceremonial law. Paul is using these phrases. In Colossians 2, he's not saying the Sabbath commandment was nailed to the cross, because if he’s saying that, that would be the most inconsistent thing in the world.
For God to take the one commandment that begins with the word remember out of the middle of that stone tablet and say, “We don't need rest anymore,” or he's changed it to another day. Would that be fair for the government to suddenly change the speed limit to 10 miles an hour and not notify the people, and give everybody tickets and say, “Well, we didn't tell you but we're giving you a ticket.”
When a government changes a law, they're responsible to carefully advertise it to the constituents. If the Almighty was going to change one of the laws that right in the middle of this covenant, don't you think you'd see something very prominent in the New Testament that says, “By the way I've changed the Sabbath to the first day of the week.” It's not their friends. You're wondering what happened? We're going to tell you what happened.
Most of all I want you to know the bottom line is don't worry about these things if you've not accepted Jesus. You’re not saved by keeping any of the commandments, you're saved by virtue of faith through grace. If you love the Lord, you're going to want to please him. That's what our next slide talks about. What does Jesus say? If you love me, keep my commands. He's saying if you love me give me your time because time is the stuff that life is made of. The Lord wants to have your hearts and your minds, and your life.
I like for John to come out and sing about this piece. The Bible says, “Great peace have they that love thy law,” Psalm 119, “and nothing will offend them.” Would you like to experience that peace friends? John, please sing verse of this song.
[music]
Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight rolls a melody sweeter than psalms, in celestial like strains it unceasingly falls my soul like an infinite calm. And you find Peace, peace, wonderful peace, passing down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray. In fathomless billows of love.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I'd like to ask you tonight and you at home, to make a decision about what you heard. You owe it to yourself to understand how important and relevant this issue is in the scope of prophecy and the last days. Because the whole thing will revolve around who and how you worship. You need to know what the book says, amen. You owe it to yourself to come and I'll make you a promise, the devil’s going to do everything he can to keep you from returning.
I hope that you're determined. I promise to read from the Bible. Does that sound fair? If you've got any scriptures that you say, “Hey, this doesn't make sense,” you give them to me and I'll read ist. I want to close by praying for you here and praying for you at home. Let's power heads together.
Father in heaven, we've talked about some very crucial things in your sacred book tonight, Lord. The blessed Sabbath day, your day of rest, a commandment that's been twisted and misunderstood. I pray these things will become exceedingly clear for those who are sincerely searching. Pour out your spirit on everybody watching and help us to accept Jesus who is the truth that will set us free. We pray in his name. Amen. God bless you friends, we'll see you tomorrow evening. Talk about heaven.