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Beginners Care Package
Holy Sabbath Series
Holy Sabbath #8
Fred R. Coulter
This tape is Holy Sabbath number eight. Now we have covered an awful
lot concerning Sabbath-keeping. We’ve also seen on number six how that
the children of Israel were sent into captivity because of Baal worship,
and Ashtoreth worship, which then is Sunday-keeping and Easter. In other
words, God sent them into captivity for breaking His Sabbath and His
holy days because they were keeping Sunday. They were worshiping Baal,
they were worshiping Ashtoreth, and many, many other gods. Now let’s
look at how the Sabbath should be kept in the New Testament, and then we
will finish up by going to a place in the book of Hebrews where there is
an absolute, dogmatic command in the New Testament that we are to keep
the Sabbath.
So let’s first of all began and see how Jesus kept the Sabbath. Let’s
come to Mark 3. And we will see that Jesus, as His custom was, always
kept the Sabbath. Now let’s understand something very, very important
concerning the preaching of Jesus Christ. The Law and the Prophets were
until John. That meant that the Law and the Prophets were the highest
authority. There was no other higher authority. But when John came the
kingdom of God was preached. And with the kingdom of God being preached,
as we saw, not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the Law whatsoever.
When Jesus came preaching - since we’re going to the book of Mark, let’s
go to Mark 1, and let’s see what Jesus did. And let’s understand this,
that if Sunday-keeping were going to be for the Church of God - or as
some people call it the “Christian” church - then Jesus would have made
it absolutely clear beyond any shadow of doubt that He was in fact
changing the day from Sabbath to Sunday. And we will see there is no
such command from Jesus that way.
Let’s begin here in Mark 1:14. “Now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
God.” And we know the kingdom of God is the rule of God, the whole
millennial kingdom of God with Christ as King, and all the resurrected
saints serving as priests and kings under Him. And we know from the
prophecies in Isaiah 66 that the whole world is going to keep the
Sabbath. We know from Zachariah 14 that they are going to keep the Feast
of Tabernacles. So when He is preaching the kingdom of God, no one
understands that He is not loosing the Sabbath, or destroying the
Sabbath, or getting rid of the Sabbath. He is in fact enforcing the
Sabbath. And as we will see, bringing a higher standard to
Sabbath-keeping, just like He brought a higher standard to every one of
the commandments of God.
Now verse 15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled,...” That means,
“Now is the time of the preaching of the kingdom of God. And according
to the Scriptures, then Jesus was the one Who was to bring it after
John, who was the forerunner and the messenger to precede the Lord.
“...And the kingdom of God is at hand:...” Now the kingdom of God being
“at hand” meant that Jesus was the King, Jesus was the representative,
He was there right at hand. So the kingdom of God is at hand. “...Repent
ye, and believe the gospel.” And everywhere we go through the New
Testament, the very beginning thing is that people have to repent. And
they have to repent of their sins. They have to come to Christ and
understand that it was His sacrifice, His death, His beating, His
scourging and mocking, and the spear thrust through His side where He
gasped out His last on the cross, and He was that sacrifice. And when
you repent to God you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and
Lord and Master, and one to Whom you love, and one to Whom you give
obedience. And please understand this, no one is going to enter into the
kingdom of God, as we have seen, who is a lawless person; or that is,
against the laws of God. No one is going to enter into the kingdom of
God if they don’t keep His commandments. So you need to understand that.
You also need to realize that as we go through these Scriptures, if
you have an NIV Bible, you need to get rid of it. Because an NIV Bible
is corrupt. And there are 65,000 words removed from the King James
Version that have been taken out in the NIV version. So you have to
understand that. You have to have the right Scripture; you have to have
the right word; you have to have the right Lord, the right Jesus, the
right understanding. And please understand this, all the insipid
preaching that you hear in the Protestant churches, and the Catholic
churches, and whatever other denominations that do not uphold Jesus
Christ as Lord and Master, and that you have to obey Him, you have to
serve Him, you have to yield to Him, you have to have your life buried
in the covenant death of baptism - all that do not teach that are not
from God. They may profess, but they have another gospel. They have
another Jesus. They are not preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
and they are not preaching repentance from sin. What they are doing is
preaching, “Oh, God wants you to have all good things.”
Listen - remember the lesson of Israel in the wilderness because of
their sins. Remember the lesson of Israel in the Promised Land because
of their sins. God gave them good things, but because of sin they were
taken away. And know for sure that all the good things that people
expect today and enjoy today, unless they repent and turn to God, and
quit their sinning and quit their Sabbath-breaking, and quit the sin of
Sunday-keeping, God’s wrath is going to come and He is going to send
this nation off into captivity, just like He has in the past. So know
and understand that that is for sure. So when Jesus came preaching,
“Repent and believe the gospel,” that is the start.
Now let’s see His example. Let’s just turn the page and come over
here to Mark 3, and let’s begin in verse 1. Now this is right after He
said that He was Lord of the Sabbath. So stop and consider this again:
which day is Jesus Lord of, by His own admission - Sabbath, or Sunday?
It is Sabbath. The Lord’s day is Sabbath. It is absolutely wrong to call
Sunday the Lord’s Day. Now let’s begin here in Mark 3:1. “And He entered
again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered
hand. And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath
day; that they might accuse Him. And He saith unto the man with which
had the withered hand, Stand forth.” That is, come up and stand right
here in the middle up front with everyone. “And He saith unto them, Is
it lawful to do good on the sabbath days,...” Now here we have it
plural. That is, the weekly Sabbath, the annual sabbaths that God has.
“...Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save
life, or to kill? But they held their peace” (Mark 3:1-4).
So this tells us how Jesus kept the Sabbath. He taught on the
Sabbath, He taught them God’s Word; He taught them about the kingdom of
God; He taught them about God’s grace and mercy and power; He healed on
the Sabbath. And look what He did here. “And when He had looked around
about on them with anger,...” So there is righteous indignation. There
is a time when God has anger because of sin, and because of the
hard-heartedness of these people. And Jesus, God manifest in the flesh,
was angry. What a horrible and terrible attitude, to deny a man healing
on the Sabbath. Now think about that. How self-righteous can you be?
He was angry, “...Being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He
saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it
out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.” Now notice what
happened here. The religious leaders - and it’s always the religious
leaders. And please understand that God’s way is not a religion. It is a
way of life. And just like today, religious leaders are the ones who
have caused all the confusion concerning the Bible, to change the Bible,
to change the Word of God, to twist and turn the words to suit their own
ends. And so just as these Pharisees “...went forth, and straightway
took counsel [consulted] with the Herodians against Him, how they might
destroy Him” (vs. 5-6). And that’s what people want to do with
Sabbath-keepers today. The exact same attitude. So we see in looking at
this, number one, Jesus kept the Sabbath. Number two, He taught on the
Sabbath. Number three, He did good and He healed on the Sabbath. Those
are the things that He did. And He set us an example that we should do
as He did also.
Now let’s come over here to [Mark] 6, and let’s begin in verse 1.
Let’s see why the Sabbath day was given. The Sabbath day was given as a
teaching day, to teach the Word of God, to teach the truth of the Bible,
to listen to the voice of God. Because in the Bible you have recorded
all the words of God. And as we’re going to see a little bit later, the
Sabbath psalm is, “Today, if you will hear His voice.” So I am asking
you today, as you listen to this tape, will you hear His voice? Let’s
see what happens when people don’t hear His voice.
Mark 6:1, “And He went out from thence, and came into His own
country; and His disciples follow Him. And when the sabbath day was
come, He began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing Him
were astonished, saying, From whence hath this
man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto
Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands? Is this not
the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of
Juda, and Simon? and are not His sisters here with us? And they were
offended at Him” (Mark 6:1-3). Just stop and note: Jesus had brothers
and sisters. Mary had other children after Jesus was born. It is a lie
that Mary was a perpetual virgin. It is a lie that she was assumed
bodily into heaven. You just need to understand that. And these
religionists just need to be told it. They are lying and twisting the
Word of God and adding their own traditions and their own ideas to God’s
way.
“But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor but in his
own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And He could
do there no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick
folk, and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief”
(vs. 4-6). Right there on the Sabbath day, with them right there in
front of Him.
Here, let’s go back to Luke 4, and let’s see something else
concerning the Sabbath. And let’s see how - here, Luke 4:16 - and we’ve
already covered this before, but let’s just look at it again and let’s
understand something. Jesus kept the Sabbath as a custom. Meaning that
He did it all of His life. Let’s read this verse. “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 for to read.” Now
let’s understand something. Did Jesus ever sin? No. Did Jesus always do
the things that pleased the Father? Yes. Is keeping the Sabbath on a
weekly basis as a custom a thing that Jesus did and that we should
follow? Yes. Peter said we are to walk in His footsteps, Who did no sin.
So therefore, keeping the Sabbath is righteousness. And we are also
going to see a little bit later on, keeping the Sabbath is also
holiness.
Now come on down here to verse 31. “…And came down to Capernaum, a
city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.” So every Sabbath
Jesus was teaching. That is profound. And the teaching, then, was the
Word of God. And notice again here, verse 32, “And they were astonished
at His doctrine: for His word was with power.” Not like the scribes, as
it says there in Matthew 7. With power, with authority, as we will see.
Now since we’re in the book of Luke, let’s come to Luke 6 and let’s
begin in verse 1. Again, let’s see what Jesus was doing on the Sabbath.
Let’s see how important that it was. And please understand that Jesus
nowhere changed the Sabbath. In the Bible, in the New Testament, nowhere
is there any authority to change it and keep Sunday. Now you will learn
all of that on the series that I’m doing with this, “Refuting
Sunday-Keeping.” And I’m going to go through twenty-five reasons that
Protestants have, and Catholics have, trying to justify Sunday-keeping
from the Bible. And we will see every one of their reasons is a lying
and twisting of the Scriptures and a perversion of the truth of God and
is not true.
Now Luke 6:1, “And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the
first, that He went through the corn fields; and His disciples plucked
the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing
them in their hands. And certain of the Pharisees said unto
them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?”
(Luke 6:1-2). Because you see, the Jews were just picking at everything
that they were doing. It’s not wrong to eat on the Sabbath. It’s not
wrong to travel on the Sabbath. Jesus was walking on the Sabbath. His
disciples were walking on the Sabbath. And as we will see later on when
we get to the book of Acts, that even Paul traveled on the Sabbath, a
great distance. See, because to preach the Word of God, to fellowship
with Christ through the Holy Spirit of God, to fellowship with the
brethren is more important than just sitting in a house and doing
nothing. See, Sabbath-keeping is a positive thing, as we will see.
Sabbath-keeping takes action. Sabbath-keeping takes your input into it,
and God’s input with His Holy Spirit. It’s not a passive thing. Some
people, they’re so afraid to break the Sabbath that some of them just
stay in bed all day long. They haven’t kept the Sabbath, they haven’t
done a thing. They have avoided doing anything positive. Maybe they
didn’t break it by doing something, but they broke it by doing nothing.
Now let’s read on here. “And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not
read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungered, and
they which were with him; how he went into the house of God, and did
take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him;
which is not lawful to eat but for the priest alone?” Now I have even
read some papers why people have said that it was a lawful thing for him
to do. No. Jesus said it was unlawful, and for those that were with him
too. “And He said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the
Sabbath” (vs. 3-5). So Jesus by His example is showing how to keep it
and how to have the things loosed of the Sabbath, which make it a
burden, and make it something...and if you’ve ever read the Code of
Jewish Law, which has hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds
of picayunish laws concerning the Sabbath, then you will understand why
Jesus did what He did.
So we derive from this: one, it’s ok to travel on the Sabbath; two,
it’s just fine to eat on the Sabbath, even if you aren’t in your home,
because you are traveling; three, the teaching on the Sabbath is the
most important thing; and four, as we will see a little later on, the
fellowshipping together with the brethren. That takes precedence over
everything else concerning the Sabbath, because it is a positive day
which is to be kept.
Now verse 6, “And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that He
entered into the synagogue and taught [this is the parallel account of
what we read in Mark 3]: and there was a man whose right hand was
withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched Him [that means
scrutinized Him], whether He would heal on the Sabbath day; that they
might find an accusation against Him. But He knew their thoughts, and
said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in
the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I
will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or
to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking around
about upon them all, He said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And
he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were
filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to
Jesus” (vs. 6-11).
And so you see, even by Sabbath-keepers there was resistance by those
Sabbath-keepers about keeping the Sabbath the way that Jesus kept it.
They wanted to keep the Sabbath where you could do nothing, go nowhere,
only have just a set little formula of verses that you read every
Sabbath, and you have your perfunctory schedule - as a matter of fact,
just like the Catholics. The Jews laid out every scripture to be read
every Sabbath, and they could not deviate from it. No. God wants
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God wants truth and righteousness on the
Sabbath. God wants the liberty from sin, as we will see. Because when
you are keeping the Sabbath you are obeying and you are not sinning. And
that’s important for you to understand and realize that everything that
you do concerning keeping the Sabbath.
Now let’s come to the account in Matthew 12, the parallel account of
Luke 6. Then we’re going to see that Jesus adds another lesson
concerning the Sabbath. Now let’s pick it up here beginning in verse 1.
“At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and His
disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to
eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto Him, Behold,
Thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day”
(Matt. 12:1-2). And sure enough, that was a correct statement. Because
God says, “Ye shall not harvest on the Sabbath day. In earing time and
harvest time, in seedtime, ye shall keep the Sabbath.”
“But He said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was
an hungered, and they that were with him; how he entered into the house
of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat,
neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?” Now
here’s another thing to remember. “Or have ye not read in the law, how
that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath,
and are blameless?” (vs. 3-5). So here they were criticizing the
disciples, but at the temple the priests were what? They were offering
the sacrifices. And it was a lot of heavy work to do. So, they were
pouring the blood at the base of the altar. They were offering the
incense. And all of that was on the Sabbath. And Jesus said they
profaned the Sabbath but were blameless. Showing that what ever work is
necessary to serve and worship God, God will honor and respect that as
long as it is in obedience to Him.
Now let’s learn something else here. “But I say unto you, That in
this place is one greater than the temple.” In other words, since
He is the one Who created the Sabbath and gave it, and gave the
commandment to keep it, since He is the one Who is our Lord and Master
and High Priest in heaven right now, He is the one Who shows us what to
do on the Sabbath day. And He has greater authority than the temple, and
the work that the priests did at the temple. He has greater authority
than all of the Code of Jewish Laws concerning the Sabbath. He has
greater authority because He is the Lawgiver, and He is setting the New
Testament law concerning the Sabbath, if you rightly understand what He
is saying here.
Now let’s continue on. “But if ye had known what this
meaneth,…” Now let’s see if you know what this means. “…I will have
mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would have not have condemned the
guiltless.” They were not guilty of what they were doing. “For the Son
of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (vs. 6-8). Now let’s understand
something. This is very profound. God wants mercy and not sacrifice.
Therefore, the Sabbath is to serve man in worshiping God. It is to serve
man in learning of God. Is to serve man in doing good, doing good toward
God, because you love Him and keep His commandments; doing good to the
brethren because they assemble with you; and doing good to those who are
sick and in need, and for those who need help to provide for them. All
of that is the new definition of the Sabbath that Jesus is giving.
That’s why these accounts are here for us. And we need to understand it.
He is Lord of the Sabbath day, and He is showing how that under the New
Covenant, the Sabbath is to be kept.
Now let’s come to Luke 13. And let’s see something that’s really
important for us to understand here. Let’s come over here to verse 10.
Again, we find Jesus teaching, teaching, teaching. That’s the whole
purpose of Sabbath day. That’s the whole purpose of Sabbath services.
Those who are elders and teachers are to take the Word of God, rightly
divide it and teach the brethren, in season, out of season. Teach them
the Word of God. Teach them how they are to live their lives. Teach them
how they are to worship God. Teach them how they are to love God. Teach
them how to serve one another. Teach them how to be merciful and kind
and gracious. Teach them how to stand for truth. Teach them how to
understand, how to avoid false doctrine, how to recognize it. Teach them
how to understand who a true teacher of God is. That’s what needs to be
done on the Sabbath day. And for those Sunday-keepers who say that
Christians who keep the Sabbath are using the Sabbath to justify
themselves, is absolutely a blatant lie. No. Christ is the only one Who
justifies us - His life, His death, His crucifixion, His resurrection,
and the mercy and grace of God; because by grace we have been saved, and
no other way.
So if anyone is thinking, “Well, you’re trying to justify yourself by
Sabbath-keeping.” No. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My
commandments.” One of the commandments that He gave was the Sabbath. Do
you love Christ? Do you keep His commandments? How can you love Christ
if you keep Sunday? Because you are breaking the fourth commandment by
not keeping the Sabbath. And you are sinning by keeping Sunday. So
therefore you are not keeping His words, and you don’t love Him. Because
love in the New Testament requires action. Love is not a fuzzy feeling
in the heart. Love is not an emotional, gushy, do-gooder kind of thing.
Love is powerful, by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit of God, to
love God with all your heart and mind and soul in being, and to love
your neighbor as yourself, and to love the brethren as Christ loved
them. That all comes from the grace of God, the Spirit of God, the love
of God, and is to be also done on the Sabbath. And that’s why we keep
the Sabbath, because we love God, and we need God’s grace, and we need
God’s mercy. That’s why Jesus told the Pharisees, “I desire mercy and
not sacrifice,” which was a Sabbath lesson. And He said, “Go learn what
this means.”
Now Luke 13:10, “And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the
sabbath [day]. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of
infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together [just scrunched all
over], and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw
her, He called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art
loosed from thine infirmity. And He laid His hands on her: and
immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (Luke 13:10-13).
What a tremendous thing. Now this also shows that on the Sabbath you are
loosed from the bonds of Satan. You are loosed from his control in your
life. If you are out there in the world shopping, if you are out there
doing the things that Satan has perverted the Sabbath, and made it a
business day, a sales day, and activity day, a sports day, a day of
pleasure, a day of doing your own thing, a day of going watching sports,
or participating in sports, then you are desecrating the Sabbath. You
are serving Satan the devil because those are his activities. Here is an
example of being loosed physically from an infirmity on the Sabbath. But
also when you keep the Sabbath you are loosed from all of the bonds of
iniquity which binds you to the world in breaking the Sabbath.
Now notice the attitude of the ruler of the synagogue in verse 14.
“And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that
Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are
six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be
healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Now you see what spirit and
attitude that he was in? See, He didn’t want Jesus in his synagogue
healing. So Jesus went there and healed so He could teach everyone a
lesson, and even that hard-hearted ruler of the synagogue. “Then the
Lord then answered him, and said Thou hypocrite,...” (vs. 14-15).
Now you need to understand something. Jesus didn’t mince any words with
people. Jesus did not come to please people. Jesus did not placate the
rabbis, or the priests, or the scribes. He came to preach truth. He came
to do good. He came to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, which
involves Sabbath-keeping. He said, “You hypocrite!” In another place He
calls them a generation of vipers. Too many of the ministers of Satan
are snake-eyed and fork-tongued, who twist and pervert the Scriptures of
God, take away the power and authority, and love and mercy, and
graciousness of Christ, and His preaching and teaching to help people.
Jesus said, “...Thou
hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or
his
ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not
this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo,
these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?” And
I’ll tell you what, if you will begin keeping the Sabbath day as Jesus
gave the example and instructed, you likewise will be loosed from the
bond of Satan. But that’s going to take some repenting. We’ll see here
in just a minute. That’s going to take some action upon your part. You
can’t continue just the way you are. God is calling you to change. God
is calling you to repent. God is calling you to love Him and serve Him
and do His will and not your will. Now let’s finish this section here.
“And when He had said these things, all His adversaries were ashamed:
and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done
by Him” (vs. 15-17).
Now let’s come over here to verse 1. Let’s see what Jesus said
concerning repentance. And let’s apply this, because it comes just
before this lesson taught on the Sabbath day by the healing and losing
of the woman of her infirmities. Now He begins to teach how, then, you
are loosed from your sins. It begins with repentance. Then the
application of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and then burial in watery
baptism, the watery grave, in a covenant pledge to God; that you are
buried with Him in baptism; you are crucified with Him; that you can
rise out of that watery grave and walk in newness of life.
Luke 13:1, “There were present at that season some that told Him of
the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And
Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were
sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I
tell you, Nay; but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”
(Luke 13:1-3). Now you apply that spiritually. You apply it to the
lessons that we are learning concerning the Sabbath day. And unless you
repent of your Sabbath-breaking, and unless you start obeying God,
unless you come to God and understand that you are a sinner by nature,
that from within every evil is there within you, and only Christ can
help you, then you are going to likewise perish with all the other
Sabbath-breakers. And think about losing eternal life. And if you lose
eternal life, you have perished forever.
Now He said it again. “Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in
Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all
men that dwelt in Jerusalem?” And isn’t that the way we try and justify
things that happen to people? We say, “Well, maybe it was God’s
judgment. Maybe they deserved it.” Here Jesus is talking about some
things that happened - one a slaughter, two, an accident. And He is
telling you, don’t go around and judge them and say they deserved it
because they were breaking God’s law. No way. Jesus said, “I tell you,
Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (vs. 4-5). And
this repentance comes down to a very important thing.
Since we’re right here in the gospel of Luke, chapter 13, let’s go
over to chapter 14 and let’s see what Jesus said. Let’s begin right here
in verse 1, and we will see another incident on the Sabbath day. And we
will see here, “And it came to pass, as He went into the house of one of
the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched
Him.” Now here is a whole group of Pharisees. Jesus came in, He got the
invitation, so He went in. “And, behold, there was a certain man before
Him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and
Pharisees [all of those who were the experts in the Law] saying, Is it
lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 14:1-3). And I imagine He
looked around at each one of them in the eye just to see what their
reaction was. And of course you need to understand, Jesus also knew
their thoughts too.
“And they held their peace. And He took him, and healed him,
and let him go; and answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an
ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on
the Sabbath day? And they could not answer Him again to these things”
(vs. 4-6). Now let’s come here to verse 24. “For I say unto you, That
none of these men...” There was the parable of the supper. I want to
get…let’s come down here to verse 25. None of them. If you don’t do what
God says, you are not going to be there with the supper. You’re not
going to be in the kingdom of God. Then He begins to explain how, in
verse 25, you can be in the kingdom of God. “And there went great
multitudes with Him: and He turned, and said unto them,…”
Now can you imagine what some of these Protestant ministers would do?
Or could you imagine what the Pope would do when he went to Poland and
there were 400,000 out there to see him? He waved his hand like this and
they all fell down on their knees. And they all worshipped the Pope. God
says don’t worship any man. Worship God only. And they were so happy to
have all of those numbers. Now if there were great multitudes following
a Protestant minister, and He saw all those multitudes, what would He
say? “Oh, I’m so happy and thankful that you are here. Why don’t you all
come in and you just confess Jesus, and you just give your heart to the
Lord, and you come and join our fellowship group, and that will be just
fine. We meet here at Sunday at eleven in the morning.”
Now let’s see what Jesus said. “...And He turned, and said unto them,
If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother,...”
That means to love God more. But that love toward God is so intense,
that maybe your father or mother will take it as hatred because you
won’t do what they do. Maybe your mother and father would say to you,
“Hey, I was born a Catholic, always a Catholic, I’m going to die a
Catholic.” But you come and say, “I am repenting of all this
Catholicism, and all of these pagan laws, and all of these pagan things
that the Catholics are doing, and Sunday-keeping, and Eucharist, and
beads, and Mary worship, and idol worship, and all of these hideous
sins.” And they will say, “You hate us. You don’t love us.” That’s what
it means. You love God more in spite of what your father and mother.
Now let’s continue here. “...And wife, and children, and brethren,
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (vs.
25-26). And the Greek there is ou dunatai, the strongest sense of
impossibility of being a disciple of Christ. So that means you forsake
your ways, your thoughts, your interpretations, your stretching of the
Scriptures to suit your own religious self if you are a religious
person. Or your justification of your sins and living in sin, if you
have never even gone to church. You have to forsake your way, your
thoughts, and everything.
Notice, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross,...” So true
Christianity is not easy. True Christianity, because you are going
against the world, you’re going to have trials and difficulties. You are
going to have your own individual problems to overcome. And that is
bearing your cross. “...And come after Me,...” Christ is not going to
come after you. You come after Christ. You seek God. You are the one who
has to have the initiative. “...Cannot be My disciple” (vs. 27). So it’s
quite a bit different than what the world thinks. So this whole thing of
Sabbath-keeping is so profound. Now look what Jesus has done to redefine
Sabbath-keeping for the New Covenant, so that we can come together in
fellowship; we can love God; we can serve each other and do what is
right. And John wrote in 1 John 1:3, that our fellowship is with God the
Father and Jesus Christ.
Now let’s come to Hebrews that 3. Let’s begin right in verse 1. And
let’s understand something very profound concerning Jesus, concerning
Moses; and then we will go right through chapter 3 and on into chapter
4, so that we’re going to come to the verse which gives us a dogmatic,
absolute command to keep the seventh day Sabbath, and as we will see,
the holy days. Now I’m going to read to you from my translation so I
don’t have to say, “The Greek means this; the Greek means that.” I have
already translated it so that it will say what it should say.
“For this cause [that means everything in chapter one and two], holy
brethren, partakers of the
heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of the faith
we profess - Jesus Christ, Who was faithful to Him Who appointed Him,
even as Moses was in all His house. For He has been counted
worthy of greater glory than Moses, even as He Who built the house has
so much more honor than the house itself. For every house is
built by someone, but He Who built all things is God. Now on the
one hand, Moses was
faithful and all His house, as a ministering servant, for a testimony of
those things which were going to be spoken afterwards [by Christ].
On the other hand, Christ was faithful as a Son over His own
house;...” His faithfulness included Sabbath-keeping, did it not? Yes,
indeed. We just saw it, didn’t we? If He didn’t keep the Sabbath, He
could not have been faithful, correct? Yes. So He is faithful over His
house, “...Whose house we are, if we truly hold fast the confidence and
rejoicing of the hope firm to
the end. For this reason, even as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today,
if you will hear His voice,...’” (Heb 3:1-7 AT). Now this is
quoted from Psalm 95. Now Psalm 95…
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