Making the Sabbath Special

Happy Sabbath! And I'm not afraid anymore. Thank you, Mr. Dawson. Really beautiful. I always say that I could do that in a million years. It'd take a long time to get to the point where I could be able to move my fingers that way. Some have talents in that way and in that manner. But good to see everybody. Hope that you've had a good week as usual. It is a beautiful day today, isn't it? What a wonderful Sabbath that we have to enjoy today. Well, wives, I want to ask you, what if you were to receive a very special invitation? You didn't expect it. You came in the mail and it was a very beautiful envelope. Had your name on the front in Boston gold, baby. And you opened it up and the letter inside you, it's one of those letters. It's gold. Everything you see is gold. And you pull the invitation out and you find out it's from your husband. And this is what he says in the note. I request the honor of having you join me for a special evening out. Please wear your very best evening dress and be prepared for the most enjoyable occasion you have ever had. And suppose, by the way, afterwards, when you received that invitation, there was a knock at the door and it was a man in a tuxedo who was there to pick you up. Once you got all dressed, he was in a stretch limousine. And he escorted you out to the limousine and there was your husband inside this limousine dressed in a tuxedo, dressed in the nines, as they say. And then he took you to one of the most fabulous five-star restaurants that you have ever been to. And you had such a tremendous dinner that you will never, ever forget it. And afterwards, your husband took you somewhere and you slow danced all night long, together. Now, what would be the burning question in your mind, ladies?

If you got such an invitation, what would be the burning question in your mind? Wasn't your anniversary? Wasn't anything like that? What would be on your mind? All night long, maybe he didn't say anything to you as to why he did it. Surely, in your mind, what are you thinking? What's the special occasion? What is the special occasion? Because this isn't our normal conduct. Why do we have that question, though? Because of what, of course, he's doing that is out of the normal, out of the ordinary. You know, because you don't live, hopefully, I mean, I don't know of anybody in the church here that lives with stretch limousines, champagne, tuxes. You know, you go down to breakfast and there your husband is in a tux, you know, eating breakfast in the kitchen, and wife wearing evening dresses. That just doesn't happen. Well, you know, of course, sometimes this kind of thinking can happen. A man wants to show love toward his wife, and that's how he does it. He gives her a special occasion. But what do we do to make something special? What do we do, brethren, to make something special? Well, you know, to make something special, it doesn't happen on its own, does it? But things just don't happen out of the blue. Well, that's really special, you know, if it's basically what you ordinarily do. But what we, to make something special, you have to go above and beyond, you might say, the call of duty and do what you normally do not do. I'm talking about on the physical realm, if a man is wanting to really show his wife that he deeply loves her, or vice versa, for that matter. But on the other side of it, brethren, of course, we know there's the physical, and then there's the spiritual. So let's apply this on the spiritual level as God's people. I want to ask you a question, brethren, here today. How can you make the Sabbath special?

Don't you have to do something that's out of the ordinary that you don't do normally during the rest of the week? Because we are told in the Bible that the Sabbath from sunset to sunset, Friday's sunset to Saturday's sunset, is holy time. It's considered to be holy time. And, you know, we're told in the Bible, we've had, of course, sermons about this, how we needed this discern between the holy and the profane. In other words, how to keep something holy, and to make sure that we're observing it in a holy manner. And, of course, the Sabbath, again, is a holy time. But, you know, I think that it is so important for us to learn how to make the day which God has created the Sabbath day. And, in fact, the Sabbath is the Lord's day. A lot of times people try to claim that Sunday is the Lord's day, but it is the Sabbath that is the Lord's day. In fact, that's what it says in Mark 2, 28. That the Sabbath is the Lord's day. And we know Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. Now, this past week, my wife and I journeyed down to see, you know, Karen Johnson. Now, many of you have never had the opportunity to meet Karen. But Karen is a very special lady, and you really cannot help but see that when you visit with her and spend time with her. And, by the way, she has appreciated the visits of those who have come in and seen her. And, you know, I know she mentioned several of the names of the people who have visited with her and spent time with her. But we talked to Karen, and she, of course, is bedridden, basically, 24 hours a day. She basically cannot move, you know, any part of her body, but maybe I think she has a little bit of agility in her hands so that she can push a button. She can talk, of course, and she's able to do some things that way. But, you know, she was in bed when we arrived, as she always has been when we visited with her. But she's a very special lady. And let me tell you what. If she could be here today, she would be here. She would be in the services, and she would be observing the Sabbath just like you are today, without fail. That's just in her attitude. You can see that in the way that she conducts her life. But we were talking to Karen, my wife and I, and Karen said, you know, I'd like to look at the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day when you have a date with God. It's like having a date with God.

And she described what her date is. And, of course, these things are things that happen in her mind. She can't do anything in the sense of going out and doing things special on the Sabbath. She cannot come and fellowship with us. She's not able to, I would imagine, not able to enjoy a meal the way you and I might be able to enjoy a meal. But she says, I look upon the Sabbath as like having a date with God, a date with Jesus Christ. And, you know, a date, I think, is a perfect way to describe what the Sabbath is. The Sabbath is a day, brethren, when we can have a date, as it were, with Jesus Christ. And I told her, I said, I'm going to steal that. And don't be surprised if you don't hear it this Sabbath. So I don't know whether she's listening or not, but she said, go ahead. And so I have. I've taken off with it here. And, you know, in order to make the Sabbath special, brethren, the Sabbath day is like having a date with God. I'm going to describe a little bit more about that. But with Karen's approach, we will, if we have that attitude, brethren, we will treat the Sabbath differently. We will treat it differently than we treat other days during the week. Because other days during the week, we're doing other things, obviously. We're doing the normal things. We're going to work. We're taking care of the chores and the things that we have to do. But on the Sabbath, we have a date with God. From sunset Friday to sunset, you know, on Saturday, we have a special day when we spend time with God. Now, some, of course, here, perhaps, are not married, but, you know, when someone finds somebody that they want to spend the rest of their life with, it's like time doesn't have a lot of meaning when you're with them. You know, you can spend so much time, and pretty soon, you're looking at the clock, and it's, you know, such that maybe if you had other things to do, it just sort of went by. You forgot about it. Because you were focused on that person. You know, you couldn't wait to spend the time with them. And you did it all the time. You spent time together. I remember when my wife and I were dating, we were called the two-headed monster.

Because, you know, whenever you would ride along, you know, in a car, we were sitting together. We were called the two-headed monster. Of course, these were friends. Or at least, I think they were my friends. But anyway. But it's that way, isn't it? When you have a love for each other, spending time with each other is something you really do want to do. And so, brethren, in order to make a day again special, it doesn't happen magically. We need to have a certain perspective. Let's go over to Isaiah 58. Isaiah 58 and verse 13. Isaiah 58 and verse 13.

Here, notice it says, if you turn your foot from the Sabbath. Interesting expression, isn't it? Take your foot off the Sabbath. Remember the example we see in the Bible about how when Moses saw the burning bush, what was he told? Loose your sandals off your feet. You're standing on holy ground. Take your foot off the Sabbath. Your dirty old foot off the Sabbath. And it says, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, doing your pleasure, your business, the things that you do, that you normally do on my holy day, my holy time. You know, Isaiah says here, and God, of course, is inspiring him to reveal this. And, of course, the one thing about Israel is, Israel was not doing this. Israel was not obeying God, was not keeping the Sabbath. This is why, in fact, in the first verse, it says, And so God wants us, brethren, to be warned about sin. And here he's saying, you know, take your foot off the Sabbath from doing your pleasure. And call the Sabbath of the light. Call it the delight.

The holy day of the eternal honorable, and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. Then you shall delight yourself in the eternal. And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the eternal has spoken. And so this is what we, as God's people, need to have this perspective, brethren, about the Sabbath, and how important the Sabbath day is. You know, God invites you and me, brethren, to take part in the Sabbath, and he promises us that he will bless us if we keep it correctly, if we observe it correctly. Because Sabbath is special to God, because he began mankind, in fact, when he created the Sabbath. Let's go back to Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2, in verse 1 through 3.

Notice it says, Notice it says, And the earth, and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had done. You imagine, again, all that God had done in those previous six days, capped off by the creation of Adam and Eve. You know, what a week that must have been. Talk about the feeling of accomplishment, how spectacular it must have been. But then, notice in verse 7, And so, after he had done all that work in the previous six days, he rested on the seventh day. And what happened here is, God set an example for mankind, of what mankind was supposed to do himself.

In fact, we look over in Mark 2, verse 28, and you know it says that God created the Sabbath for man, and not man for the Sabbath. And so, the Sabbath God actually brought into existence for mankind. He gave it for us, for our enrichment.

Now, the question is, how did God on this Sabbath enjoy the Sabbath? How did he enjoy the Sabbath? Well, I think it's very clear that they enjoyed resting. Now, God doesn't need to rest, you know, from anything. His energy is not diminished. You know, God didn't... You don't have to worry about, you know, that, you know, as a spirit being.

But there was a certain amount of pleasure that God must have had, just by stepping back. Have you ever seen, of course, somebody does a painting, and they kind of sit back, and they put their thumb up there. I don't know what the thumb has to do with anything, but... But he enjoyed looking at the creation that he had made. And he did certainly reflect on the work that he had done, and he rested in the way that God does. Now, we can't fully understand that, but he reflected on the work that he had done, and he rested. Now, mankind in this world today is 24-7, isn't it? It's all the time. People, it seems, never stop. And people never seem to take the day to take stock of what in the world they've done. And what they're doing. And it really shows, doesn't it? In the world, it really shows. You know, one of the things, I've been reading a book about Harry Truman, and Harry Truman, by the way, grew up sort of on a farm, and he learned to plow. And his father would not tolerate a row that was plowed crooked.

And so Harry Truman, as a young boy, learned how to plow a straight row. And what he had to do is, when he would turn, and at that time, of course, they had to plow with the mules.

Because Harry Truman, by the way, grew up in the early 1900s.

Born in the 1800s, but what he would have to do, he learned this. He said he learned that when he would come to the end of a row, he'd look back and fix a point, and he would plow toward that point to make sure he was plowing a straight row.

You know, and what you have to do, when you turn a team around and you look to that point, you've got to pause, don't you? And I thought of that in terms of what we as God's people have to do. The Sabbath is a time where you turn the mules around, and you look for that point, which is, of course, the Kingdom of God, and you keep your eye on that, or else your row is going to be pretty crooked. And the Bible actually talks about how man's paths are crooked. The whole world's paths are crooked, for that matter. But, you know, just in the side here, brethren, the importance of the Sabbath. And God set the example Himself for mankind to look at the work that He had done, to consider the work that He had done. And not only that, but to rest from His labors. You know, so, very interesting, of how God, we see in the Bible here, just in this couple of verses here, about how God enjoyed the Sabbath. Now, what did He do on the Sabbath, by the way, with Adam and Eve? What did He do? Well, let's go over to chapter 3. We won't spend a lot of time on this, but in chapter 3, I won't go through the whole account with this. You know, the story about how their eyes were opened. You know, they ate the forbidden fruit, as we understand. But in verse 8, it says, and it says, And it says, And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden. So on the Sabbath, God enjoyed walking in the garden. Again, probably enjoying the creation that He had made. But notice, in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the eternal God among the trees of the garden. And so they ran away and hid from God. You know, that account. But God enjoyed, on the Sabbath, walking in the garden, and really, He was looking for Adam and Eve. You know why He was looking for Adam and Eve? So He could see them, so He could communicate with them. So He could spend time with them, on the Sabbath day. So that's what God enjoys doing, brethren, on the Sabbath day. He enjoys spending time with us. It's like we're all called in together, on the Sabbath day, to spend time with God, and to get to know God.

And so He was in the garden to spend that time with Adam and Eve. And, brethren, on the Sabbath, God's primary goal for you and me is to spend time with us and to build a greater bond of love with us as His people. And to help us also grow in His holy, righteous character. God instructed Adam and Eve. And we know that God instructed Adam and Eve because we see the instruction. He said, you can eat of all the trees in the garden except that one. Stay away from that one. Because when you do, you're going to die. Of course, they didn't listen to that, which is what oftentimes children, it seems like those things you tell them not to do, that's exactly what they're going to do. But, you know, we are special to God. And the reason why we are special to God, I imagine when God saw Adam and Eve, He saw the future. He saw the future. You know, He saw His future bride when He saw Adam and Eve. Because the one who created them, remember, was the one who became Jesus Christ. We see that in the Bible very clearly. That Jesus Christ, the only one, in fact, that has ever communicated with mankind. Of course, then He was the Word, as we know, but He was God, as John 1 says to us. But He looked at His future bride. And, brethren, that's what Jesus Christ does on the Sabbath. He looks at His future bride. Now, gentlemen, what if you had a fiancé and you said, meet me at such and such time, at such and such place, and your fiancé did not show up?

Would raise your eyebrows, wouldn't it? Where is she? I'm sure you'd be very concerned that something happened to her. Maybe there was an accident or whatever it might have been that prevented her from coming. But what if your fiancé decided that she had better things to do than to spend time with you? Well, I think your marriage is, potential marriage, is in trouble. Wouldn't you agree? How many of you would marry somebody that said, well, I've got other things to do, you know, more important things than spending time with you? Would you marry such an individual? Don't think you would, would you? I'm, of course, saying that tongue-in-cheek. I don't believe you would marry such an individual. Let's go to 1 John 1. But, brethren, on the Sabbath, you know, we are spending time with God. Now, you may not be aware that when you're sitting next to John Smith, or Mary Smith, or Mary Jones, or whoever it is, that you're sitting next to God. You didn't know that, did you?

You know, and, by the way, don't think I always knew I was special.

None of us, of course, are God, but please understand what I'm saying. Let's look at the Scriptures, what the Bible says. Here in 1 John chapter 1, notice it says, Of course, you hear John talking about the fact that they had spent time with Jesus Christ. And this is the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us through, of course, Jesus Christ. That which we've seen and heard, we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us. But notice this last part of this verse right here, because to me it's earth-shaking.

And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. So when we come together, brethren, we fellowship with each other, in reality, we are fellowshiping with God. We really are. Do you look upon it that way, brethren?

You're not just fellowshiping with Mary Smith or Joe Jones or Mortimer Schnerd, whoever it might be. Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son. And so God wants us to get that picture, that perspective, brethren. And so enjoy. Certainly we don't have candlelit dinners and five-star restaurants with each other. But we can enjoy a candlelit hotluck, I guess. We can enjoy spending time with one another, and fellowshiping with one another. Iron sharpening iron, as the Bible says we are to do. But in doing so, we spend time with God. We spend time with Jesus Christ and the Father in Heaven.

We ought to learn on the Sabbath also to do a special meal on the Sabbath. To make it special. Invite in the brethren to your home. You may not feel like, well, my home is not really that presentable. It doesn't matter. People don't come to look at your home and to judge you based upon your home. They're looking at you as one of the brethren. And it's a matter of your desire to spend time with them. Wine and dine them. Like being on a date, spending time with people. And get to know them. And in doing so, believe it or not, we get to know God. Become to know God. Now, by that, I don't mean that, rather than any of us, are perfect by any stretch of the imagination. God doesn't have the problems that you and I have. He really doesn't. But, you know, every human being that is a part of God's church has redeeming qualities that make them very special in the eyes of God. Otherwise, God wouldn't be marrying us, would He? We've got something. And so, brethren, it's important for us to learn from each other. And, you know, when you look at other people, you know what? You're staring in a mirror.

All the foibles they have, you've got, some way or another.

And I'm sure, though, they have some accomplishments that you need, that you and I need to learn from and develop and to grow with. So, brethren, let's learn to make the Sabbath day like a date, like Karen Johnson said. She goes on a date on the Sabbath in her mind, every Sabbath.

You know, you and I can do a little more than that, can't we? To show our love and to show our appreciation for our future husband, Jesus Christ, on the Sabbath. You know, when you come to church, don't look at the people. Look past the people, brethren, to God, the Father and Jesus Christ, who is orchestrating all things.

Remember, Christ is the head of the church. Now, brethren, how else can you and I make the Sabbath day special, every single week? I think that what is important in order to make the Sabbath special, brethren, is we need to learn to anticipate the Sabbath. Don't let the Sabbath just happen to you, like you're driving along, you know, and somebody comes out of the blue and hits you in the side. You have an accident, okay? That just happened to you, didn't it? Now, nobody in his right mind is going to drive so they get hit by something like that, you know, unless you're working to get an insurance policy or something like that.

And there are people like that in the world, but, you know, what I'm saying, brethren, is that keeping the Sabbath correctly is no accident. We must learn to anticipate the Sabbath. Let's go over here to Luke 2. There's a poignant story over here about a very old man who spent his entire life looking for the arrival of the Messiah. It sounds sort of familiar to me, in fact, of what we're doing right now. Aren't we, in a lot of ways, waiting for the Messiah to come on the scene?

To begin the millennium? We know what we call the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Some, of course, these days don't even think Christ came the first time, but we believe He came the first time, and He's going to come the second time. But in Luke 2, let's notice here, in verse 25, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.

And this man was a just and devout man waiting for the consolation of Israel and for the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ, before he saw the Messiah, the Anointed One, come along.

And so he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in His arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace. According to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared before the face of all people, alike to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. And so Simon, or Simeon here, yearned to see Israel's deliverance through the Savior, through the Messiah that was going to come along. And God allowed him the gift of seeing the Christ child in the same way.

He allowed him to live until that happened. It looks like, brethren, aren't we to anticipate the Kingdom of God as God's people? Why did Christ say that we should make a part of our daily prayer, Reguline, to pray, Your Kingdom come? Your Kingdom come. You know, God wants us to learn to anticipate the Kingdom. And brethren, oftentimes we talk about the Feast of Tabernacles picturing the Kingdom of God, the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

But do we know, brethren, the Sabbath, every single week, pictures the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ, a thousand years, when Christ is going to rule the earth? You know, we know there are six days given to a man.

The seventh is the day of rest. And we know the day is a thousand years to God. And so we've talked about in the Church the seven thousand year plan. But after the six thousand years, then you have the Millennium that comes, the Sabbath depicts that, brethren, every single week.

And let me propose to you, brethren, to the degree that we look forward to the Sabbath, that we anticipate the Sabbath. Every week is the degree to which we pray with conviction, thy Kingdom come.

I think if you really deeply think about it, you'll agree with me. That you begin to look forward to the Sabbath. You know, it's your desire. It's your hope that you have. Because each Sabbath you can look forward to the Kingdom of God and the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we put too much stock in this physical life that we have, and we will fight to keep it no matter what. Let's go to Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. You know, what if death was at your door?

Would you want to go on? If somebody told you all hope is lost for you to survive? Or would you rather just go ahead and die and get it over with? I mean, maybe you'd surmise, well, you know, nobody needs me anyway.

Some people can have that mentality. But let's go over here. Paul, remember himself, was at death's door many times. And finally did remember he was beheaded at about 68 AD around there. But notice, it says, For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supplication of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. According to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed. But with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. Now, so his focus was not on himself, but it was what good it would do, his life or his death. And he came to the conclusion that in whatever way that God was going to be magnified, if he died or if he lived. For to me, to live as Christ and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. He says, being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith. I think Paul came to the conclusion it looks like I'm going to be around a little longer, because I see it would be of greater benefit for you, for me to stay, than to just go ahead and die, to face death. But do you see in Paul, brethren, this desire in his part to be, you might say, in a safe place, in the grave, in the next split-second he knew he would be with Jesus Christ, in the resurrection?

That he yearned for that to be with Christ, to be in the kingdom. He anticipated it. He looked forward to it. He spent his life doing it. Whether he lived or died, everything was devoted to God.

He didn't have anything, you might say, that was his. He devoted everything to God. And, brethren, have we done that? Have we given everything and come and followed Christ, or are we looking to the kingdom? Or have we hung on to some things? Do we have an idol somewhere hidden, like in the case of Rachel, when Laban came looking for the idol? Have we hung on to some idols, just in case?

Just in case following God, following Jesus Christ, and the things that I know, have I hung on to the idols? We don't have any idols today, do we? In this world, in this modern time of computer gadgetry, and high-speed internet, and high-speed cars, high-speed jets, many mansions that people live in, and all the other things that they participate in today, we don't have any idols today. We don't have any movie stars, or people that people idolize. Oh, wait a minute, that word idolize seems to be familiar. Yes, we do have many idols, brethren, and sometimes we can hang on to those idols. Give up your idols, and devote everything to God, and anticipate, brethren, the kingdom of God. That's the only thing, frankly, that is meaningful for the future. Ancient Israel went into captivity because, by the way, they neglected the Sabbath. They didn't treat it as holy. No, over in Ezekiel 20, let's notice over here, Ezekiel 20, not spend a lot of time over here, but it might be good to touch a little bit on this over in Ezekiel 20. But down in verse 18, you know the story about how God allowed the children of Israel to wander in the wilderness, and He spared them. The reason why they had to wander in the wilderness is because they basically rejected God and turned away to idols. Moses away, and as the saying goes, the mice began to play. They came down from the mountain, remember, and they had already enticed or had Aaron build an idol.

That calf that was built made of gold that the people donated heavily to their gold to do. And, you know, we know the story and the account of how God, you know, when they came back from the, you know, searching out the land, the twelve spies, only two came back with a good report. And so God sentenced them to 40 years to wander in the wilderness. But He spared them. He spared them. But the reason why He spared them is because of the promises. Remember Moses, you know, implored God not to destroy them. God was ready to, He said, Moses, get back, stand back. I'm going to destroy these people, and I'll just start over with you.

But Moses reminded, you know, God of what, in fact, that would mean, what the nations would say. But let's go on down through here, because we find downstream a little bit with Israel. God's making the same statements to them that He made to them, you know, when He allowed them all to die in the wilderness because they didn't believe Him. But here in verse 18, He says, But I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am the Lord your God. Walk in my statutes, keep my judgments, and do them. Howl, my Sabbaths. Howl, the weekly Sabbath and the Holy Days. And they will be a sign between me and you that you may know that I am the Lord your God, notwithstanding the children who have bowed against me. And they did not walk in my statutes, and were not careful to observe my judgments, which if man does, he shall live by them. But they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my fury on them, and fulfill my anger against them in the wilderness. Nevertheless, I withdrew my hand and acted for my name's sake. That it should not be profaned in the sight of the Gentiles or the other nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Also, I raised my hand and an oath to those in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries. Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statute, profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their Father's idols. Therefore, I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live. And so that's what happened to ancient Israel. That's why today, by the way, that when you mention the word Sabbath, people instantly think Jews. Because the only tribe that adhered to the Sabbath was, in fact, Judah, that had been taken into captivity after Israel was. Israel ended up being taken into captivity, as you know, the story of the history of it. Israel lost their identity. You have the ten lost tribes of Israel. The lost tribes of Israel, as we understand. And, of course, that mystery has been unlocked for us, and we can see it, understand it today, where those peoples are. But one thing that happened with the people of Judah, when they were taken into captivity after 70 years, they came back, and they were determined. They would never neglect the Sabbath again. And, of course, now they developed the Talmud of all the dos and don'ts, many of which were not what God had commanded with regard to how to keep the Sabbath to begin with. But, you know, they at least have adhered to the Sabbath. That's one thing that will have to be taught in the future, which will have to be taught to flesh and blood Israelites in the world, for that matter. So, brethren, we need to anticipate the Sabbath. Never forget it. It is important. Very important. Learn, brethren, to anticipate the Sabbath by wrapping your week around the Sabbath. Wrap your week around it. Look forward to the Sabbath.

Use your preparation day, brethren. Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset is the preparation day. I'm sorry, Thursday sunset to Friday sunset. If you start Wednesday, you start a little early. But Friday, essentially, is that day you prepare. But start the evening before. That's the way to do it. To get yourself set up for holy time.

If you're waiting until the very last moment before you're about ready to the Sabbath is to begin, brethren, you are not going to enter in to the Sabbath in peace.

You're going to be frantic. Oh, what did I do? What did I forget? So do all your chores. Get your car ready. Gas up your car. Ladies and men, as well, do any kind of heavy cooking that you might want to do in preparation for the Sabbath. Get your clothing ready. Do your prep so that when the Sabbath comes, you can enter into the Sabbath with peace. Not wondering, what did I not do?

When you do that, brethren, you're ready to spend time with God.

If you went on a date with somebody, ladies, if you went on a date with somebody, and you hear that maybe the person was sitting at the table, the gentleman that you were on a date with, and he started looking forward to sitting down and just talking with you.

But the whole meal, you're up and around. You're out and about.

Maybe you've set the food before him, and he eats it, goes through the food, and you're in the kitchen the whole time.

Now, chances are, you're not going to do that if you're going to invite somebody over. You're going to do the preparation, aren't you? So you can, why? Spend time with him.

And, you know, vice versa. You know, men doing that as well. You know, there's some men that enjoy cooking. You know, you don't want to, in fact, come to my house if I'm the cook. By the way, I don't eat very well when I am by myself, actually. I know how to make an egg. You know, and the way I make eggs, by the way, is always fast. Everything I do is fast. You know, I'm a fast cooker. My wife says, you don't have to have the stove turned up to a thousand degrees, you know.

But, you know, that's just the way I have been, I guess.

You know, I probably have never learned the lessons about that. Maybe there's a great lesson I'm supposed to learn. But I think it's important I remain married, you know.

And I think it would be, in fact, probably a bad move for me to make dinner for the family, you know, isn't it? I could probably boil some hot dogs. I could do that.

But unfortunately, I probably boil the snot out of them, you know.

I use that phrase because I remember there was a guy at Ambassador College that, you know, was a cowboy from Texas. And he said how they made coffee around the campfire when they were out with the cows. What you do is you put the coffee into the pot and he says you boil the snot out of it. So anyway, well, you don't want to drink coffee with snot in it, you know. Have I said that word enough? You know, but...

Well, I don't want to get too fancy on you up here. So rather anticipate the Sabbath. You know, first of all, make the Sabbath a date with God. Second of all, anticipate the Sabbath. Next, brethren, put God first on the Sabbath. Get your business out of the way and get on to God's business. The spiritual aspects are the most important. Christ said, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. How much more, brethren, would we want to do that than on the Sabbath? The Sabbath is the very... and of course, the Holy Days as well. I think that certainly goes without saying. But how do you seek first something? How do you seek first something? Well, you do that by not doing your own pleasure, as Isaiah says, not doing your own business and devoting yourself on the Sabbath, since it's holy time, to spiritual things like prayer. You spend time praying, studying, meditating, fellowshiping, reading the Bible. In other words, you don't just pass the day. Now, by the way, even though the Sabbath is a rest day, it is not a day to kick back and do nothing. I think some have misunderstood what God means by rest.

No, Sabbath is not a day to lay in bed all day long. The Sabbath is a day, yes, to change a pace. It's a day to rest, but it's not a day to just do nothing but lay around all day. It's a day to slow down, but to devote ourselves to spiritual things. And over in the Bible, we find out why. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians 4 over here.

2 Corinthians 4.

Notice it says in verse 16 down here, Paul says, Therefore we do not lose heart. We keep barreling ahead as God's people. Even though our outward man is perishing, we're all getting older. I look out in the audience, and there's more gray hair than when I first came to the church.

Now, I mean by that back in the 60s, not 12 years ago, or not 45 minutes ago, but, you know, they do say, by the way, that one of the worst ways to die is being preached to death. So, if your hair starts growing gray before my very eyes, I think I'll sit down. But anyway, the outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. Every day you've got to redo that inward man. And so, brethren, on the Sabbath, it would, I think, naturally follow that today we get more regeneration than we could get the rest of the week. We devote the whole day to regenerating spiritually through the services. Hopefully we'll get encouraged to do things. At least I hope that this sermon is encouraging you to do something. I hope you're not just saying, boy, he's just making a theological argument. I don't know if I agree with that. No, I hope this is encouraging you to do that, to do something to make today special, to make it honorable, delight in the Sabbath day. And so, brethren, on the Sabbath, let's regenerate.

It's important, after services, to take time to meditate about what has been said. Friday night's a good time to meditate. If you don't have a dinner, a special dinner or something set up where you're going to spend time with the people that way, go out somewhere. Take a walk and meditate about the week. Think about what you did this week. Maybe you should have done better, asking God to help you as you walk along. To me, those are the most enjoyable walks. To be able to think about the things of God, to clear your mind. One of the times I enjoy praying the most, by the way, is at night, in the still of the night. It's not a sound in the house. I think that that's a special time. You don't even hear cars in the neighborhood. So make it special that way. Enjoy God's creation. Take a walk, meditate, think about God's creation. Catch up on the Sabbath for your Bible reading program. Get ahead on your Bible reading program. But set your mind, brethren, to spend time studying God's Word. It didn't have to be a heavy study, by the way. A good Bible study is to review notes of messages that maybe you've heard on the Sabbath, or in the past, that to reinforce what God is helping us to learn in our own personal lives. And every sermon strikes us differently, because we're all at different rates of growth. Some, perhaps, are growing in one area, while somebody else may not need growth in that area. Maybe that is an area where you might say it's like they've filled up, at least for the time being. And God is going to have to reveal things a little bit later on to them. But God, inspired by His Spirit, those things that are set on the Sabbath, I hope you just don't think that, well, let's go listen to a speech. But maybe you have the attitude when you come to church, let's go up to where God's Word is spoken. Let's go and hear what God's inspiring today, and what He wants me to know today. I always notice, brethren, that whenever I had my mind on something, I'd go to church and I'd hear it. God's Spirit works that way. It really does. It works that way. If you think about something, God is putting that in your mind, and don't be surprised you come and you hear it. The minister doesn't have a microphone set up in your room, so he can find out what you're saying. You know, at home, God's Spirit inspires what is said. And I would hope that every message touches you in some way. Let's go over to Colossians 3. Colossians 3 over here. In verse 1, it says, So, brethren, let's lift up our eyes, brethren, from the physical and the mundane of this world, and let's look to the heavens. Let's look to God. Let's elevate our thinking. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

And so here is what God tells us to do. Set our minds on things above. Brethren, we live in a world that is increasingly slouchy. You know, not long ago, I think it was out of Seattle. Was it Kurt Corbaine, I probably am saying his name wrong, who sort of made popular what is called the grunge dress. No grungy, kind of disheveled hair. You know, clothing that looked like, you know, you slept in it all night, kind of thing. And it seems like we go through these fads in society. And we see that. Back in the 90s, Robert Bork, who was going to be placed on the Supreme Court, but as you may remember, he got Borked, you know, as some of the newspapers said. And since that time, you know, if you go before Congress, and at that time he apparently was not accepted to be on the Supreme Court, even though he's a highly respected judge, very conservative in his thinking. But he wrote a book called Slouching Toward Gomorrah. What an incredible title! I've thought about that many, many times. That's what the world is doing, isn't it? We're all slouching. Toward Gomorrah.

You know, this world, brethren, is becoming more and more sleazy. How do we expect our kids to hold it together? You know, adults are not even holding it together. Adults are not even setting a halfway decent example. And I find it very incredible that recently, I don't know if you saw the Golden Globe Awards. I don't watch it, but I do read the paper. You know, I do keep up with the news. And I saw an article of how our senators were upset that on the Golden Globe Awards, that some of the actors and actresses were using electric cigarettes. I don't know if you've seen these electric cigarettes. Apparently, you could smoke, but it doesn't have the same impact. But these senators were very upset that this group of senators, that they were portraying this because young people see these people as role models and encourages them to smoke. Now, by the way, I'm against smoking. I'm against electric cigarettes or any kind of cigarette. I'm even against candy cigarettes. But, you know, I'm against it. You can believe that. But I saw that, and I was astounded by it. The reason is, didn't it just happen in the state of California? They just voted in recreational use of pot of marijuana. Talk about the ironies of this world and society.

In the state of California, you can practically be arrested if you smoke a cigarette, but people want to legalize pot. Now, for quite a while, my brother, what do you do with a marijuana cigarette? What do you do? You smoke it, don't you?

I don't get it. I just don't... My mind goes tilt.

To me, that's just the way... The idiotic nature of our society. This world is sleazy. We live in a world, brethren, where you can get pornography on your telephone. And it's getting worse and worse. But, brethren, I think I understand a lot more why we look in the Bible. You know what it tells us to do? Pursue those things that are good. Pursue those things that are excellent. You know, things are going to be good now and good forever. And young people, don't pay attention to what you're seeing in this world. Because they are going down a primrose path to destruction. They're slouching toward tomorrow. And the fire is going to storm down in the future. And by that I mean it's going to come... Such a terrible scourge is going to come on this nation. That a drought will be the least of our worries in California.

But, brethren, we must, as God's people, set our minds to put God first on the Sabbath. Set our sights on high. Set our sights on things that are of excellent value. Of good value. Young people, I hope you'll do that. Parents, I hope that we will encourage our young people to do that. Our children to do that. In this topsy-turvy world that we live in that's upside down and backwards. I'm not going to go to Deuteronomy 6 in verse 5 through 6, but over there it talks about how we are to diligently teach the laws of God to our children. When we go to bed at night, when we rise up in the morning, we talk to them about it all the time. Not may very well be that your children, when they get older, they may decide they're not going to obey God. But let it not be said that you didn't teach them. But that never be said. Maybe when they've learned their lessons, they'll turn around when the time is right for them. And God will intervene for them. I think it's important when our children come to church that we teach them how to respect the services of the church.

Teach them when they're old enough to listen and to behave in a right manner. When they're small, give them toys that they can play with that are quiet toys to respect the holiness of where we are. There are many things that we can do, brethren, to show that we're putting God first. Not only are we putting God first, but our children are putting God first. So, brethren, again, make the Sabbath like a date with God. Let me rehearse what we've said so far. Like Karen Johnson said, the Sabbath is a day like having a date with God. Number one. Number two, anticipate the Sabbath. Look forward to the Sabbath. Again, wrap your week around the Sabbath. Do your preparation for the Sabbath.

And next, brethren, number four, put God first on the Sabbath.

So, put God first on the Sabbath. Or number three, I should say. So, put God first on the Sabbath. Now, God has called upon us, brethren, to come and enjoy His company on this holy day, this Sabbath. Let's make it special as God has sanctified and made it holy and special to us. And set your heart to do that. If so, brethren, we make it not only special for ourselves, because we'll begin to delight in God a lot more than we would ordinarily. But we'll make it special for each other, and we will make it special also for our future husband, Jesus Christ, and our future Father. You know, as it were, Father-in-law, you know, in how we count things from a physical standpoint, you know, we're going to please God the Father, and we're going to please Jesus Christ, our future husband.