Appreciate the Sabbath Day

Brethren, we live in a lawless society, don't we? That's no news flash to anybody. You know, typically, of a morning, I'll get up and I'll grab my computer or my iPad and I'll take a look at Fox News and look at the headlines and see what looks interesting to me. And there was something I saw here, I don't know, a couple weeks ago. A shoplifter. Shoplifting from a store. And I don't know where the place was or what the store was, but they showed the shoplifter just walking casually out of the store.

He wasn't trying to sneak out of the store. He wasn't trying to run out of the store. He was just leisurely walking out of the store. Now, on his back, he had a backpack. Now, we're not talking about a backpack like you've got for your kids where they maybe put three or four books in there. This backpack started at his shoulders, went down past his buckle, past his backside to the top of his legs, was wider than his torso, and brethren, that thing had to balloon out this far. You could have put a couple small children in that backpack. And he's walking out of the store and the employees and the patrons are watching him walk out, and nobody's doing anything.

We live in a lawless world. But thankfully, you and I have been blessed by tremendous knowledge that God has given to us. God's law. For millennia, God's faithful people have recognized that the quality of our Sabbath observance is directly linked with the quality of our relationship with our Creator. That the foundation of a rich, fulfilling Sabbath experience is based upon our proper understanding and application of the Scriptures. We understand that.

This being the case, today I want to give a refresher about a part of the law of God that we hold so dear, our Sabbath observance. My theme today is very simple. We're going to cover the beauty and meaning of God's Sabbath day. The beauty and meaning of God's Sabbath day. Now, in a lawless society—and why are we such a lawless society?

Because people have not wanted to keep the Sabbath day Sabbath. They want to do their own thing. Because they're not keeping the Sabbath, they're not understanding who their Creator is. And since they're not understanding who the Creator is, they don't understand the laws that govern the creation that God gave to us. But again, and we have to also appreciate, people have not been called. For the majority of people in our society, they simply don't know any better spiritually. Although, maybe I put an asterisk by that and say, I don't think if I wasn't called, I would still try to walk out of a store with backpack like that.

So why do we observe the Sabbath day? Number one. We observe the Sabbath day because God commands that we do so. Because God commands that we do so. Let's take a look at Exodus 20. Exodus 20. Start here in verse 8. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Again, we are to remember something. How do we remember something that we never had before? Well, obviously we are going to see, going back to the book of Genesis, where God's Sabbath goes right back to Genesis 2. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

You know, when we were coming out of our former association, people were trying to teach us that there is no such thing as holy time. Just doesn't exist. Well, God clearly here says in verse 8 that the Sabbath is to be kept holy. And we'll talk more about this. That will be a theme we'll have several times throughout the course of our sermon today.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all of your work. Now, the world will tell you, no, that first day is a day we're going to take off and not do anything. That first day of the week is Sunday. But that's not what God says.

God says, six days you shall labor and do all of your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. It doesn't say the first day of the week.

It says the seventh day of the week. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant nor your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day. God sets the perfect example. He rests. He rested and he rests and he wants us to do the same thing. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

I'll talk more about that section here a little bit later. Brethren, the fourth commandment to remember the Sabbath concludes these first four commandments that specifically help define a proper relationship with our God. We want that proper relationship with our God. The Sabbath explains why and when we need to take special time to draw closer to our Creator. The why and the when. The Sabbath was set apart by God as a time of rest, a time of spiritual rejuvenation. It is a special opportunity to draw closer to our Creator, time He designated to enhance our relationship with Him.

Yet why is the world in a situation of sin? Because it doesn't have an enhanced relationship with our Creator. The Sabbath affords. The Sabbath is to remind us regularly who God is. He's our Creator and who we are.

We're the created. And as such, we need to appreciate the fact that there's a being who does tell us how we should be living our lives. Now again, back in the day, years ago, with our Forum Association, they say, well, you know, we're in the New Covenant age. And in the New Covenant age, after the death of Jesus Christ, all we've got to do under New Covenant laws is whatever comes after the death of Christ. And since there is no discussion about the keeping of a Sabbath after the death of Christ, that's one commandment we don't need to worry about. Now that was the logic. That was the reasoning.

Of course, that's false logic, false reasoning. It's not true. The New Covenant doesn't say any such thing. That's another sermon from what I want to give you today. But I would like you to turn over to the book of Hebrews and you know where I'm going to go with this. Again, this is a refresher today. But we need this because people are starting to see the world is falling apart.

And people are more and more going to come to you and ask for the reason of the hope that is within you. And certainly we want to make sure that we fully appreciate and can explain to the nth degree why it is that we are Sabbath keepers. Hebrews 4, verse 9. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. In chapter 3 of Hebrews, in chapter 4 of Hebrews, there is a word used for rest, and it's kataposas. It's Strong's number 2663. Every reference to the word rest or resting place in those two chapters is kataposas.

With one exception. And that exception is in here, verse 9. There remains therefore a sabatismos, a sabatismos, to the people of God. I want to quote from the Anchor Bible dictionary. The word Sabbath rest, translated the Greek noun sabatismos, is a unique word in the New Testament. The term appears only once, here in the New Testament. So how is the word used in secular times when this was written?

What was the meaning of the word sabatismos back in those days? The term appears in Plutarch for Sabbath observance and in four post-canonical Christian writings for the Seventh-day Sabbath celebration.

So in the society of its time, this word rest in verse 9 meant the keeping of a Seventh-day Sabbath. So people come to you and say it's not anywhere discussed in the New Testament after the death of Christ? Well, they're wrong. They're wrong. The experience of the Sabbath rest points to a present rest. We see that in verse 3, Hebrews 4.3. For we who have believed to enter that rest, the word here is catapossos, but it talks about the rest we have in Jesus Christ. We have entered into a rest. Christ talked about the rest He would give us. We've entered into that rest. It points to a future rest. Look at verse 11. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest. Let us let Him in fall according to the same example of disobedience. So we're looking toward a future rest in the kingdom of God, aren't we? And certainly we look at verse 10. For he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his.

So this Sabbath-tismos is a time we see in verse 9, there is a Sabbath-keeping rest for the people of God. And we see in verse 10 that we are to cease from our works, just as God did there in Genesis 2. So in summary, the Anchor Bible Dictionary decisively and correctly concludes that Sabbath-tismos means the keeping of a seventh-day Sabbath. Now let's go just a little bit further regarding the book of Hebrews here. The book of Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians to explain a transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. The Sabbath and circumcision were two cardinal tenets of Judaism. The Jews as the people of God, by the time of Jesus Christ, made the Sabbath this tremendous burden with all their dos and don'ts in Phariseeism.

The Sabbath became a heavy burden. So here, the writer of Hebrews wants to make sure that the book of Hebrews elevates the Sabbath to its full meaning. There is a rest for the people of God. And we are to maintain that rest and look forward to that rest. And just as it says there in verse 10, we are to cease from our labors.

Now, by way of contrast, brethren, in the Ten Commandments, God instructed mankind to work on their first day of the week. In your notes, you might want to put down Exodus 20 and verse 9. Exodus 20 and chapter 5 and verse 13. First day of the week is not a blue law that we need to be keeping.

God says that's a work day. Again, I'm not going to turn here, but in Ezekiel 46.1, God Himself calls the first day of the week a work day. A work day. None of the patriarchs ever kept the first day of the week. None of the prophets ever kept the first day of the week. You don't see any Scripture showing the apostles resting on Sunday as a day of worship. And something else, in terms of just logic. There is absolutely no biblical law given to enforce the keeping of Sunday.

None. Now, Romans chapter 4 and verse 15 says, where there is no law, there is no transgression. So there is no law about Sunday keeping anywhere in the New Testament. Regardless of what some people may tell you, it's not there. And where there is no law, Romans 4, 15, there is no transgression. So why do we keep the Sabbath? Because, number one, God commands it. Why do we observe the Sabbath? Number two. The Sabbath reveals the true God as Creator and mankind as creation.

The Sabbath is a memorial of creation, a sign of God's creative power. No other God can do what He does. Because they are false gods and they don't exist, only in people's minds. Let's go to Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. Genesis chapter 2 verse 1, Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished, and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had done.

So again, he's setting the example. And he rested on the seventh day from all of his work which he had done. And of course, the book of Hebrews tells us that we are to do the same thing. Verse 3, Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all of his work which he had created and made. Brethren, God did not bless and sanctify the first day of the week. You don't see that anywhere in the Scriptures. Later on, at the very end of the sermon today, I've got some quotations from the Catholic Church.

They admit the only reason people keep Sunday is because the Catholic Church set it up that way. Not that there's any evidence in Scripture that it should be kept. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 10. Jeremiah chapter 10. Jeremiah chapter 10 verse 10. But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. And as wrath the earth will tremble, and nations will not be able to endure his indignation. Thus, you shall say to them that gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.

Notice how that is written, that gods that have not made the heavens and the earth. God is inspiring a very important point here. Verse 12. He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom and has stretched out the heavens at his discretion. So again, the Sabbath is a great memorial, the creative powers of our great God, of the true and living God.

God designed us to keep the Sabbath day, to keep us in mind of who he is, what he does, how we are to relate to this tremendous being. Brethren, think on this. Billions of the world's inhabitants today don't worship the true God. They don't worship the true God. Again, they have not been called to worship the true God. We're not trying to slam the people who have not been called. We're just simply talking about the facts.

Because they're not honoring the Sabbath and honoring the Creator, they just don't know their right hand from their left hand. And again, as I've said so many times in the recent past, I get tired of watching TV newscasts where people are talking about how life should be and they're so far out of it in terms of what is reality, in terms of morality, in terms of what really works, but they can't know because they don't worship the true God. They don't under the weekly Sabbath. Let's go to John 17. John 17, verse 3. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

This is eternal life. We talked about how the first four commandments talk about our relationship with the great God. If we are to have eternal life, we are to have this relationship with the great God. And we have that relationship, and that relationship is enhanced because we keep the Sabbath day. We honor the Sabbath day. Lessons are taught to us on the Sabbath day. By way of contrast, God did create the other six days of the week. However, the Sabbath is special to God. He set it aside for a special purpose.

He didn't set any other day aside for that same special purpose. The very first thing recorded in the Scriptures is Genesis 1, verses 1 through 5. First thing God does, He creates the first day of the week. That's the first thing He does. It's a work day. He doesn't hallow it. He doesn't sanctify it.

He doesn't bless it. Not in the same way He does the Sabbath day. Sunday is never called a day of rest in the Scripture. God didn't rest on Sunday. He doesn't expect us to rest on Sunday. So number two, why do we observe the Sabbath? The Sabbath reveals the true God as Creator and us as the Creation. Number three, why do we observe the Sabbath? God hallowed the Sabbath, which means He made it holy.

He reserved it for His purposes and His service. Let's go back to Exodus 20. Exodus 20. Verse 11. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. And rested the Sabbath day, therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. He hallowed it. Brown driver and Briggs defining the word, hallow, which is Strongs number 6942. It says that God consecrated the day.

He sanctified the day. He dedicated the day. He made the day holy. To be sanctified. To be separate. All of those are choice words for this day and this day only. By way of contrast, God never blessed Sunday the same way. Christ never blessed Sunday the same way. Sunday has never been sanctified in the Bible. Neither God nor Christ nor any inspired individual ever said one word in favor of Sunday as a holy day. You just don't find it. The New Testament is totally silent with regard to any change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day.

Now again, people will say, well, there's this New Covenant discussion. Again, that's a sermon for another time. People are just simply wrong in their idea of what the New Covenant embodies. Number four. Why do we observe the Sabbath? Number four. Just as God hallowed the Sabbath, we see here in the same verse, verse 11, God blessed the Sabbath day. Don't you want a blessing? You know, we go through enough life with cursings, but we want blessings from God, right? When we keep the Sabbath, we can be a blessed people if we're keeping the Sabbath properly with the right frame of mind as God intended.

The Sabbath provides these various blessings, physical blessing. We get a day off, a day to rest. Mankind of them by himself would describe themselves, and people who don't know about the Sabbath, they do just that. So many people will work seven days. Maybe they work five days at their office, and they do two days at the home, and they just go, go, go, work, work, work.

They just drive themselves into exhaustion for some people. The Sabbath provides a physical blessing. The Sabbath provides an emotional blessing. What was it like for the months we could not get together as a congregation? Yes, we had Zoom. Yes, we can see your little tile on the Zoom page, but it just isn't the same as being together as a family. It's not the same as being able to walk up to somebody and do whatever we do to say hello.

Shake hands, fist bump, hug, whatever people feel they can do. We are family. We want to be with one another. There is a physical and emotional blessing for us being together. We put up with a lot of things in the workplace, people talking about various things, and people's ideas, and people's goals. But we come here to this assemblage, and we have people that we relate to, people we can talk to, people we can let...

If we've got hair, we can let it down. And we can talk to people. That is such a blessing, such a blessing as a family. Of course, there's blessings to look at it from another direction because we understand what God has in mind since God has revealed things because we are Sabbath keepers. We don't have the same anxieties that people do. You know, I get... The home office and I get emails from time to time, people saying, what's going to happen to this world? What's going to happen to my kids? And there's anxiety, there's worry.

People are saying, where's this nation going? We're on the wrong track. How are we going to get back on the right track? The powers that be, the politicians, the media, the various platforms on Internet, they're all going a certain direction and they're going the wrong direction. And people are worried, and yet we understand the truth of God. We come here to Sabbath services, and week after week we've got messages, sermonettes, sermons, Bible studies, where we talk about the plan of God. In the end, we win. In the end, there's the kingdom of God. In the end, there's the last great day. In the end, there's the New Jerusalem. In the end, we have eternal life.

The Sabbath provides blessings of a renewed and enhanced relationship with God. I don't know about you, but have you ever found yourself in a place I know I have where I thought, you know, tell us, Andrew, my relationship with God is not what it should be. You know, I should be further down the spiritual road than I am. Maybe I'm the only person in this room that's ever thought that.

But there have been times I've thought that. And I think, well, how do I right the ship here? Well, one of the things I do, I'm sure you've done, is I say I need to make better use of God's Sabbath day. I need to make sure I do spend extra time in prayer and extra time in study and extra time in meditation. And yes, even though the Sabbath is a feast day, there's a time we can fast on the Sabbath day to draw close to God. God has never disappointed us if we're fasting to draw close to Him, even if it's on a weekly Sabbath day.

And take that opportunity of the weekly Sabbath to renew and enhance our relationship with the Great God. All of those very spiritual disciplines I've talked about. To be able to come. And so many of you talked to me about the messages you hear during the week. Maybe it's not the Sabbath day, but you are renewed and refreshed by hearing very spiritual messages. So much more when you're here on the Sabbath day to listen to the messages given here in Chicago. Number five. Why we observe the Sabbath? Number five. Let me take a little drink here. Number five. The Sabbath was made for man.

The Sabbath was made for man. I'm not going to go back there, but we read in Genesis 2, verses 1, 2, and 3, God creating the Sabbath. Let me ask a question. At one point in human history, did the first Jew appear? How many years after Genesis 2 did the first Jew appear? A couple thousand years?

So when people talk about the Sabbath is Jewish, no, God made it back in Genesis 2. It's for all people at all times as God calls them to understand it. It's not just for the Jewish people. Jews weren't around for generations until after, you know, by the time the Sabbath was made, generations had passed before there was a Jew on the face of the earth. Let's look at Mark 2. Mark 2. Mark 2, starting here in verse 27. And he said that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.

Therefore the Son of man is the Lord of the Sabbath. Two dynamic principles we see here. Two dynamic spiritual principles the Sabbath was made for man. In what way? Let's take a look at the second giving of the law. Deuteronomy chapter 5. For the Israelites went into the Promised Land. Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 15. The discussion of the Sabbath here in this chapter. Deuteronomy 5.15. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. And the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm.

Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Our people were slaves. They were in bondage. The Sabbath was made for man by freeing us from the bondage of Satan. We were freed from bondage by understanding that God is our Creator. That the Sabbath was hallowed. The Sabbath was blessed. It was made for our blessing.

We go back to Matthew now, chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 and 29. Matthew chapter 11, verse 28. Come to me all you who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. We talked about a rest. Now this is not either one of the words that were used in Hebrews chapter 4, but we understand the concept of rest, the rest we have in Jesus Christ. Christ says, Come to me, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So one of the great laws here, we see, is the Sabbath was made for man, liberating man from bondage.

But also we see in this section back talking about Mark chapter 2, where Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Let's take a look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians 2. Verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 2.13, For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word from men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. He has given us His word. He has given us understanding of His word through the use of His Holy Spirit. He tells us how we are to worship, which day we are to worship, why we are to worship. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He's not the Lord of Sunday. Number 6. Number 6. We only have seven of these, so we're almost coming to the ending here. Number 6. Why do we observe the Sabbath? The Sabbath is a sign of God's people. The Sabbath is a sign of God's people. Let's go to Exodus 31. Again, this is nothing new. You know these things. But it's good to refresh them from time to time. The Sabbath is a sign of God's people. Exodus 31, verse 13. Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, Surely, my Sabbath, you shall keep. For it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

So it is a sign of God, number one, a sign of God's people, number two, showing that God sanctifies these people as a sign. Verse 14. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore. For it is holy to you. Yes, there is such a thing as holy time. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death. For whoever does work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Severe penalties for not obeying the Sabbath. Work shall be done six days, including Sunday. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall be surely put to death. Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath, throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. Pause there for a moment. Remember back when Mr. Armstrong was talking about this section of Scripture?

It said, now, wait a minute, does God have two different types of Christians? Do you have the Jewish people who, by what we see here, they are to keep the Sabbath as a perpetual covenant forever? Well, they are to keep the Sabbath, but the rest of Christianity keeps Sunday? Does that make any sense? No. There's one kind of Christian, Jew and Gentile alike. The Sabbath is a sign for both Jew and Gentile. And this explicitly is talking to Israel, obviously, but the same is true as we see in the New Testament and Galatians and so forth, where there's no difference between Jew and Gentile.

Verse 17, It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. So notice in this section of Scripture, the duration of the Sabbath is a sign forever. We see that in verses 13 and 16 and 17. How could God state the Sabbath to be kept forever if He's planning to abolish it? Notice also the purpose of the Sabbath, the purpose God gave for keeping the Sabbath, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

There in verse 13. And we see where the Sabbath is a two-way sign to those keeping the Sabbath that identifies the true God, and it also identifies those who are worshiping the true God. The Sabbath is a sign of God's people. Lastly, number seven. Number seven. Why do we observe the Sabbath day? The Sabbath reveals the true liberator God to mankind. The Sabbath reveals the true liberator God to mankind. Let's go to Romans 6. The baptismal covenant chapter.

Romans 6. Romans 6, verses 6 and 7. Romans 6, verses 6 and 7. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin, for He who has died has freed us from sin. We have been freed. We have been liberated by the great God, by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We drop down to verse 16.

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey? You are that one slave whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. Obedience, keeping the seventh day Sabbath. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

That form of doctrine includes the keeping of the seventh day Sabbath. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness, leading to moral lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have in that and the things which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your full fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life. The Sabbath reveals a true liberator God to mankind. A few scriptures here in the book of James. James chapter 1. James chapter 1 and verse 25. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful here but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

God's law is a law of liberty. The Sabbath is a part of that law of liberty. Chapter 2 of James, verse 8. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You do well. So it is a perfect law. It is a royal law. And also here in verse 12, so speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. So twice. We're talking about the law of liberty.

But I want to end the sermon today. We'll be ending early today. You've heard enough of me today. But I'm going to go to our booklet, Sunset the Sunset. And there's a few quotes here. I've got to think four or five. I want to give to you that are in that booklet. You don't need to write them down. It's in the booklet. You can take a look afterwards. But again, since all of Christendom, who doesn't keep the Sabbath, their teachings, their belief hinge on what the Catholic Church says, well, let's see what the Catholic Church officially says.

This first one is now from the Catholic Church. The first one, though, is from the Encyclopedia Britannica 9th Edition article on Sunday. And I quote, The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday is a legal duty as a constitution of Constantine in 321 A.D. So that's when the Sunday observance officially was enacted. Now from the Catholic Press, Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles.

From beginning to end of Scripture, there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first. That's from the Catholic Press. From James Cardinal Gibbons, Faith of Your Fathers, Quote, You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will now find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Sunday, the Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify. A day which we, the Catholic Church, never sanctify.

In the conference, the converts, catechism of the Catholic doctrine, question, Which is a Sabbath day? Answer. Saturday is a Sabbath day. Question. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Answer. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church and the Council of Laodicea transferred to Salinity from Saturday to Sunday. Let's not leave out the Protestants. Dwight Moody, my grandfather, my maternal grandfather, graduated from Moody Bible Institute right here in Chicago.

From Dwight Moody, quote, The Sabbath was binding and eaten, and it's been enforced ever since. This fourth commandment begins with the word remember, so that the Sabbath already existed when God wrote the law on the tables of stone at Sinai. How can men claim that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding? And lastly, last passage I want to quote from a Baptist here, Dr. Edward Hisucks. And this is kind of a juicy quote.

It's a little long. There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day. But that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will however be readily said that with some show of triumph that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week. Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament. Absolutely not. There is no scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week.

To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during the three years discussion with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question, never alluded to any transference of the day. Also that during the forty days of His resurrected life, no such thing was intimated. Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in the early Christian church. But notice this last part of the quote. But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of paganism, christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed upon a sacred legacy to Protestantism.

Now those are tremendous quotes from some of the world's top theologians. One final scripture. Let's turn to Mark 7. Mark 7. Starting here in Mark 7. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washings of pitchers and cups and many other such things as you do.

And he said to them, All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own traditions. How enlightening for what we just read. So brethren, today we've taken a look, we've given ourselves a refresher about the beauty and meaning of God's Sabbath day. Let us fully appreciate what God has given us. Let us be able to discuss with anyone who asks the reason of the hope that's within us why we keep this beautiful day.