The Ten Purposes of the Sabbath

All right, now we're ready for the main message for today. And there are so many interesting things in the Bible to share with you. This year, at the General Conference of Elders in Cincinnati, we had a presentation that was quite profitable. It got my attention.

It was given by John Lebissonier, our marketing director. It was called The Sabbath Uphold, and they're passing out a handout. Hopefully everybody can get one. Let's see if we can at least have one for one per family so we can share it. I thought it was quite interesting, this handout revealing quotes to ponder and to share. And it goes through the Catholic quotes on why they don't keep the Sabbath. I'll go ahead and just read the first one, which mentions here a newsletter from a Catholic diocese. It says, perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened when the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday.

The Day of the Lord was chosen not from any direction noted in the scriptures, but from the Church's sense of its own power. People who think that the scriptures should be the sole authority should logically become Seventh-day Adventists and keep Saturday holy. So again, Catholics say, if you're keeping Sunday, it's because of the authority of the Catholic Church that you're doing, not from anything that you can read in the scriptures. I thought the sixth quote is interesting from John O'Brien, Roman Catholic theologian, the faith of millions.

It says, but since Saturday, not Sunday, is specified in the Bible, isn't it curious that non-Catholics who profess to take their religion directly from the Bible and not from the Church observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Yes, of course. It is inconsistent, but the change was made about fifteen centuries before Protestantism was born. They have continued to observe the custom even though it rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon an explicit text in the Bible. That observance remains the reminder of the Mother Church from which non-Catholic sex broke away.

It is like a boy running away from his mother but still carrying in his pocket a picture of her or a lock of her hair. So that influence carries over to these different denominations. So this is a good and valuable resource to have because it quotes the Catholic Church and then afterwards it quotes different churches like the Anglican Church, going to quote number 24, the Episcopalian Baptists, and all the different Protestant groups. So like I said, it's a good resource to have around.

Now I have been studying this subject a bit deeper, and as I studied in the scriptures, I saw that at least there are 10 biblical purposes for the Sabbath, and I wanted to share with you that information. The Sabbath is a vital element of living in God's territory and not the false values of the world. Within the Sabbath, it encompasses a biblical way of life that God started not at Mount Sinai but actually at the creation itself.

It is very interesting that in Genesis chapter 2, which is a continuation of chapter 1 because as God brought back the earth to its beauty and started populating it, that He rested on the seventh day, and right then and there we have the three first reasons or purposes for the Sabbath.

So let's go to Genesis chapter 2, verses 2 and 3. I'll go ahead and read it. It says, 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. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. So here we can see three purposes for the Sabbath being established.

The first purpose is that the Sabbath day is a day blessed by God. It says God blessed the seventh day. So the first purpose is a blessing from God. It's not a curse. It's not something to oppress people, something to throw away like a yoke.

A blessing is a gift that God provides you. It's something positive. Now in the Bible when God talks about giving a blessing, he's not just hoping for good wishes for you. No, it means physical and spiritual blessings. They are God's gifts. It says every good and perfect gift comes down from heaven. The Sabbath is one of those gifts that he provides for us.

It means he's going to do miracles in your life to make your life better. He says anybody who keeps the Sabbath, I'm going to bless. So this is the first purpose God gave to human beings. It's not a curse. It's not something that goes against his will.

It's something positive. So right from the start in the scriptures, it tells us that this is a blessing from God. Notice to fill in a bit what these blessings are all about. I'm going to read to you Isaiah 56 verses 3 through 7. And of all the different versions, I thought the Message Bible version put it in the best way.

It says, a foreigner who has joined the Lord's people should not say, The Lord will not let me worship with his people. Maybe of course people that are not of Jewish descent or Israelite descent, when they come, they might think, well, I'm not as good as them. I'm not from Abraham's genealogy. God says, a foreigner who has joined the Lord's people should not say, The Lord will not let me worship with his people. A man who has been castrated, called a eunuch, should never think that because he cannot have children, he can never be part of God's people.

So there were strangers, and eunuchs were created, especially in the king's palaces, who could take care of the harem, because they wouldn't have any sexual desires after they'd been castrated. And they didn't have family and children, so they could dedicate themselves full time to the king's business. And so if a person comes in this way that can't have children, it says, they should never think that because he cannot have children, he can never be part of God's people.

The Lord says to such a man, If you honor me by observing the Sabbath, And if you do what pleases me, and faithfully keep my covenant, then your name will be remembered in my temple and among my people longer than if you had sons and daughters. So it's nice to have children, but God is saying, look, if you follow my way of life and my Sabbath, you might never have children, but your name will be glorified in the future more than a family that has multiple children and has all of these genealogies.

He says, I will make your name, your person, more important. You will never be forgotten. And the Lord says to those foreigners who become part of His people who love Him and serve Him, who observe the Sabbath and faithfully keep His covenant, I will bring you to Zion, my sacred hill, give you joy in my house of prayer. So part of the blessing is giving you that spiritual joy, and you will have me close to you.

You will see me in action, in your life, in multiple ways. And God will accept the sacrifices you offer on my altar. Well, nowadays we don't have sacrifices because crises are sacrificed, but we do have offerings that we give Him, tithes and offerings. He says He's going to bless us for that. He's going to have miracles happen in our lives. He says, my temple will be called the house of prayer for the people of all nations, not just for Jewish people. God wants all of us to worship Him in this way.

Another scripture in this regard is Isaiah 58, verses 13 and 14. It says, if you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable, if you honor it, not going your own ways or seeking your own pleasure or talking idly, then you shall take delight in the Lord.

And here's the blessing, and I will make you right on the heights of the earth. I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your Father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. He's promised. He will bless, and in His kingdom it will be multiplied many times over what a person has done. So again, the first purpose we find in the Bible is that God blessed this day. Now, blessing a day doesn't mean that somehow this 24-hour period is blessed in an abstract way.

No, He says at this time, those that are keeping it are going to be blessed. In other words, a day doesn't need to be blessed. It's not a person. But He's talking about a certain period of time that He will bless those that keep it during that time. Talking about human beings being blessed. So that's important to understand these concepts.

That's why we come to Sabbath services to learn about what these words mean in the Bible. That's our purpose, to make it clear to you what the Bible is actually saying. Now the second purpose is also found in the same scripture in Genesis 2. Notice what it says here. Then God blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it. Sanctified means that God made the Sabbath holy. It is sanctified set apart for holy use. That's what the word sanctified, separated for holy use. And so again, this period of time is not only a blessing, but He says it is a special time for Him.

He separates it for special use. That's why it's not the same to go on Sunday or go on Friday and worship God during that time in some type of meetings that you can have because this is the day that God has set apart for His people. Now He has holy days as well, and certainly we don't just worship God during those days. We worship Him every day in our prayers. But again, God is making here an exception that these days are special to Him. Notice in Leviticus chapter 19 verse 3, God says it is His day.

Leviticus 19 verse 3, it says, every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. So God's days, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, are actually days that He created, but they are not holy. They're specifically made for His purposes.

The rest of the days, we can do many things in it. He doesn't limit what we can do, as long as it's something decent. But the Sabbath is a day which He limits to His honor and glory.

Notice in Exodus 20 verses 8 through 11. I'll go ahead and read it. It says, remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, because it's easy to forget. 99.8 percent of all Christians don't remember that the Sabbath is holy. They've been tricked, duped into keeping the first day of the week, which no place in the Bible God says He made that holy, or He transferred the holiness of the Sabbath to the first day of the week. That's just a man's construct. It's a man's invention.

I always marvel how people can be duped into following such inane and illogical reasons.

Human beings can just be so easily deceived, and we've seen that through history. Look at the poor German people, how Hitler deceived them. During that whole time, they thought he was so great, and yet he was one of the most evil men in history. And Stalin did the same thing with the Russians.

And then churches have done the same thing with people, deceived them in this way.

Notice it continues on here. It says, six days you shall labor and do all your work.

See, they are your days. God leaves that to your own discretion, what you do.

He says, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. In it you shall do no work, you and your household. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Again, the first purpose is a blessing to those who keep it. And secondly, it's something that is holy. A person considers that God's day. We respect God. We put him first in our lives by keeping the Sabbath. It's part of the first commandment. You shall not have any other gods before you. You shall not put anything above God. Well, if you take the Sabbath and you put it in your ledger as something that is yours, you're breaking the first commandment as well, because now you've got an idol that you're worshiping your own time on the Sabbath day and not having it holy. So that's the way things work.

Let's go to the third purpose.

It's also found in Genesis chapter 2 that I read because it says at the end here in verse 3, it says, then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. So the third purpose for the Sabbath is that it is a day of rest. The word Sabbath is used in the first time there in Genesis chapter 2, 3. The word when it says God rested is the word Shabbat, where we get the word Sabbath. It's a day of rest, a day of rest and refreshment. So you see how one point adds to the next. We go progressively from a day that's blessed, a day that is separated for holy use, and now we see that it's a day that God wants us to physically rest from our labors and also spiritually refresh ourselves from it. Notice in Exodus chapter 31 and verse 7, talking about the Sabbath day, it says, 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. The word here is the same used for a cool breeze, something that's very refreshing.

And so the Sabbath should be a day like a cool breeze, something enjoyable, something that you don't have to be worrying about paying the bills, you don't have to be worried about all the different stresses, you relax, you refresh yourself. It's a day to just let go of all the worries and preoccupations and be able to enjoy being with your family, reading your Bible, having a good relaxing day.

The term here again is that he rested, he shabbaths, because he rested on that day and was refreshed. So it's a day of rest, of refreshing, of enjoyable time together. We shouldn't be stressed out, we shouldn't be fitful and worried about things. It's a day to relax. That takes us to the fourth purpose.

It is a covenant sign. So God gave it. The purpose is it would be a sign between him and his people of a covenant that he set up with them. It's the only commandment that is expressed in this way, of being a sign. Notice in Exodus 31 verse 16, it says, therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. And then it says, it is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever.

So the term here, a perpetual covenant, when we focus on the word covenant, it's the Hebrew word bereth, which means a cutting, a covenant. It's of going between cut pieces of meat, just like Abraham. When God cut a covenant with him, he told them to cut different pieces of meat. The animals put them there, and God made a covenant. He walked and Abraham saw the cloud of glory of God going through those pieces, and Abraham went through. And basically, that covenant was an honor code. It meant, if I don't fulfill my part of the bargain here, may I be cut to pieces, just like these dead animals are. And God actually committed himself to fulfilling his part of the covenant, and then Abraham did his part. So here is a sign of cutting a covenant with God.

It's a lifelong relationship that we establish. It's a sign that God wants us to always have.

And us, that he can look at that person and say, that person has the Sabbath sign. That is a covenant that I have made with them, and they have made with me. So it's a very intimate, that's what we do when we go through the baptismal ceremony. We cut a covenant with God.

Now we're going to be tested throughout our lives, different temptations, to quit walking through those pieces. Turn your back on that covenant. Cut with God. And God created the earth to have temptations and to test us. Because what good is it if you're not going to be tested at all? When a person signs a covenant to buy a house, well, you've got a usually a big mortgage, sometimes 30 years. And during those 30 years, you're going to go through things that you're going to have a hard time meeting that mortgage. That mortgage is something automatic, and you're going to get into trouble if you don't do it. And so you cut a covenant in that way, and you're going to be tested. Are you going to be a prudent person? Are you going to have enough for emergencies and to make sure you can make that mortgage? People have lost their houses because they haven't been able to fulfill that covenant. And so God created this earth as a testing ground to see if what we commit ourselves to do, we are going to do it, as it says here, perpetually. That means as long as we live, we are going to continue. Nobody's going to change our mind about things because we cut a covenant with God Himself, not with a human being.

And He cut a covenant with us.

So again, this is the fourth purpose of the Sabbath. It's a sign. It's a test. None of the other Ten Commandments are called signs. Why? Because it's hard to determine. If you're going to do it, there's no outward sign when you have the first commandment about putting God first in your life. That's a personal commitment. When I walk down the streets and do whatever activities, when I meet with others, they have no idea what I do. I have no sign because I put God first.

That they can just be obvious what I do. Now, not having idols, not making images of God, that's something, again, most people are not going to be aware of and not take the name of God in vain. The third commandment, how about let's skip over to the fifth commandment, honoring father and mother. If that was a sign, there are a lot of people that honor God. That would not separate you. That would not distinguish you. That would not be a sign that separates you from other people or about killing or stealing or lying or committing adultery or lusting after your neighbor's goods. Those things are pretty indefinite, but the fourth commandment, if you keep the fourth commandment, that is going to be a sign. Oh, you're a Sabbath keeper. That's going to separate you. People are going to know that when you work. Pretty soon they know, oh, this person doesn't work on the Sabbath on Saturdays, and many times you're going to be tested in that way. That's why this covenant is with God that we have done. It is a sign. So let's continue. The fifth purpose for the Sabbath is a reminder of God as our creator. Again, it's a way of relating to Him. It tells us Exodus 31, 17. It says, For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. It is a sign that again reminds us that God is the creator of the whole universe. There's no other being that can equal Him that is greater. He's the creator of all things.

And on the Sabbath, we recognize it is the God of the Bible that we worship. He's our creator.

And that creation that He made is there for us one day to share with Him and with Jesus Christ.

So the Sabbath looks back on that creation and reminds us. It's a memorial every seven days of what God did. So we can never become atheists and deny God because by keeping the Sabbath, we are honoring Him as the creator of all things. Just like when you honor your father, and mother, they were the ones that created you. And now, on the Sabbath day, we recognize God as our creator, the one who made all the things. It keeps us grounded on the earth. This isn't some abstract type of entity or deity that's all just cerebral. No, everything, every atom in this room was created by God. And the Sabbath is a reminder of that to appreciate the beauty around us, these beautiful flowers that God created for our delight and enjoyment. Not just look at them as, well, they're nice, but I don't know who made them. I don't know why they made them. Well, He made it because He wanted to give us as a gift something we can appreciate and say, look at the beauty of every one of these flowers. He didn't do that for the ants or for the birds. He made it for us, for us to enjoy. We go now to the sixth purpose, which the Sabbath is a reminder of the future restoration of the earth. So it not only looks back to creation because the creation now presently is marred. It is damaged. It needs to be restored. And just like the original creation was beautiful, so God is going to restore the earth back to its original beauty. Notice in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 8, Hebrews chapter 4 verse 8 through 11. I'm going to read it in the English standard version, which has a pretty clear translation of it. It says, for if Joshua had given them rest, if just entering the promised land was the only thing they were going to receive, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered God's rest, in other words, keeping the Sabbath day, has also rested from His works. That's what you do when you keep the Sabbath day, as God did from His. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, talking about the future, the millennial rest, the seventh Sabbath, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

So Sabbath keeping also points to the future, that thousand-year rule. And it's brought out that just like one day for God is a thousand years or a thousand years is for a day, there is this representation of the seventh day as being the thousand-year period that is coming to the earth. Now we go to the seventh purpose, which is redemption. This is a fancy word, but it actually just means paying a price for a slave to be freed, to be redeemed from his slavery. It means a pardon, a payment to liberate a person that was in slavery.

So it means being bought with a price out of slavery by God. This purpose for the Sabbath is found in Deuteronomy chapter 5 verses 12 through 15. Notice it says, "'Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work.' And then it talks about your household.

It says, "'You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.'" So God added this point that the Sabbath day is a reminder of a person being forgiven of sin. This was brought out very well by the sermonette today, which I'm very happy he gave. You have nothing to complain about that I was going to say.

That was very well done, but it talks about how we have been redeemed. So the Sabbath day is also a sign of our liberation from man, from man's power, because we've been bought with a price.

And our Master gives us the Sabbath day to remember what he did. He took Israel out of Egypt, and he paid a price for it. He says that the firstborn were going to always honor him, that you will redeem the firstborn. And there's this motif or this theme throughout the Bible that God rescues his people. And he has done so with every one of us from sin, from slavery.

It is so refreshing that even at this stage in man's history, when so much is corrupting human beings, so much is out there that is distorting. We have hundreds of more temptations and distortions than we did 40, 50 years ago. Now it's just at a click of a button. It's out there, what you watch, you're being bombarded all the time. But God wants us to remember he redeemed us, he paid us with a price. Notice in 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5. First.

21, talk about Christ's sacrifice, he says, for he made him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become righteousness of God in him, a right way of life, something that is valuable to God. And so again, we're not being cursed, we're not being enslaved, we're being freed by keeping the Sabbath day when neither man nor man's laws can obligate us to work on that day. We have been freed to honor him on this day.

Let's go on to the eighth purpose.

And that is that the Sabbath is an appointed time for gathering. The Sabbath is an appointed time for gathering. So it's not just to rest, it's not just to cease from working, but there is an appointment that we should keep with God. He set up an appointment. Notice in Leviticus 23 verses 2 and 3, to speak to the people of Israel and say to them, these are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations. They are my appointed feasts. The word they're appointed means that I set the dates for these things, just like an appointment that that person has with a doctor or a lawyer. You have an appointment, you better get there on time.

Well, God says these are the Sabbath. One of the purposes is for an appointed time of meeting.

He says that they are my appointed feasts. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. So God now adds this corollary. He adds this statute, which is that you are to have a holy assembly. These services are a fulfillment of that holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places, no matter where you live. That's not an excuse not to keep the Sabbath, no matter how far away a person lives. So, again, God sets it up. The Sabbath is not only a time for receiving blessings, for being set apart, but it is a time to meet together. That is an important purpose.

The ninth purpose is to fellowship with the brethren. That comes from the word convocation, to bring people together. So it doesn't say, well, the Sabbath is a day when you can just stay at home, do things on your own, read your Bible. There are times, of course, when a person can't make it. That's understandable. But when we can, God says we are to assemble together. We are not on our own. In Matthew 18 and verse 20, Jesus said, For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. This brings the thought of that term, koinonia, which means sharing together. We share the same truths. We share the same spirit. We share the same goals and aims, spiritually speaking.

We need to be encouraging one to another. And we do that on the Sabbath day.

Another scripture we can go to in Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10.

Notice what it says here.

It says verse 24, And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some.

And they didn't even have all the distractions we had. They still wanted to stay at home.

He says, But exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. We need encouragement. We need to be fellowshiping together. So that is one of the purposes God created, the Sabbath, and also the different feast days.

And that takes us to the final, the tenth purpose, which is to receive instruction on the Word of God. Receive instruction on the Word of God. So it's not just fellowship.

Sometimes you hear, Oh, I want to be in a church where people are just using music and dancing, and doing all kinds of things. And let's get that going. Yeah, that's what really gets me going.

Well, it's supposed to be a day when we come in to fill our spiritual tanks, get our knowledge, the understanding, that we can leave and say, You know, I learned there are things that I need to work on here. And this is something that is going to be very helpful to me. Now I have a more clear purpose behind what I do. I understand things better. Now, yes, let's have the hymns and joy, all of the fellowship as well, but a church that is not feeding God's people with the spiritual food. To look at that spiritual mirror, to check ourselves up and see, how are we doing? Are we strengthening ourselves with it or not? The Sabbath day was not to entertain people. It was to instruct God's people. Notice a couple of examples. Nehemiah chapter 8. Nehemiah chapter 8. I remember, and many of you probably remember back in the time when Mr. Armstrong said, that one thing that a church always has to be careful of is not to become a social club, where people come and it's just like a social gathering. And it's just this horizontal level. Let's all talk. Let's enjoy each other. Talk about the family. How's everybody doing? Talk about our interests and things like that. He warned about that because the church waters down.

God's teaching very quickly when we're not being reminded of what God's word says. Nehemiah chapter 8, starting in verse 2.

It says, So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men and women, and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. This was an annual Sabbath. But here we have a glimpse of services going on. What did they do? Were they out there, you know, going at it with their drums and all the things and just having a good old time?

No, it was a serious time. Notice. And then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the water gate from morning until midday before the men and women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law, God's law. So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose. So they had this kind of a pulpit where he could lay down the scrolls of God's word and read it to them. Verse 5, And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people, and when he opened it all the people stood up, and Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

And then this was kind of a prayer. Then all the people answered, Amen, Amen, while lifting up their hands and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

It talks about all these Levites that were with him, and they helped the people to understand the law, and the people stood in their place. So they read distinctly from the book in the law of God, and they gave the sense and helped them to understand the reading.

So again, the main purpose is to have people that can instruct in a healthy and nutritious way God's word, and it's so easy to stray from that principle.

Notice in Luke chapter 4, Jesus Christ on the Sabbath attending services.

What did he do? And again, I realize society is becoming much more. Things are watered down, not everything is negative. I enjoy having more flexibility. We have different types of services with split sermons sometimes, other types. We sometimes have the cantata, which is so enjoyable, where we have about over half an hour of beautiful chorale music. But again, is that something that you just want to be every day you go on the Sabbath to just hear all that has to do with music?

That can't be the case. Luke chapter 4 verse 16. It says, So he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.

So again, what was Christ keeping? Sunday? No, he was keeping the Sabbath day as his custom, which means that was his normal routine on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. So they would have different people read the scriptures. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written.

They had, when you were of age and you were a person versed in God's Word, they knew, they considered him kind of an unofficial rabbi. And so they offered him, just like we have sermonettes that different people give. He was handed the Bible and the book of Isaiah to expound on.

And he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has appointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Then he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all were in the synagogue were fixed on him.

And he began to say to them, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

Of course, he was saying that God the Father had sent him to do all of these things. He was reading from God's word. And I don't know about you, but I like to leave Sabbath services wherever I go when I'm listening to messages, and I want to be filled spiritually. Everything else is short-term.

My boy, if I said, you know, I understood something better. This is going to help me in my spiritual life. That's just like going to the doctor and getting the right remedy and that you're going to feel so much better. So again, these are spiritual principles.

We have these 10 biblical purposes for the Sabbath in the scriptures, and we should be thankful. Go over them from time to time.

They are a precious gift from God. Every one of these. Is there any one of these that was negative? No. They're all blessings. They're all used for good spiritual profit.

And they are. The Sabbath is a great gift from God. So let's appreciate it, because in God's coming kingdom, we are going to be meeting from Sabbath to Sabbath. Let's go to a final scripture.

Isaiah 66. Isaiah 66, the last chapter of Isaiah, as it is describing the coming kingdom of God that will be established at that time.

Notice, we'll just take it. Verse 22, it says, For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name remain, and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord. And so when Christ establishes His kingdom, it's the Sabbath that people will learn all the beneficial parts, all the beneficial blessings that come from keeping this wonderful Sabbath day. Remember, God's Sabbath is like part of God's territory, and it's an entrance that after six days we enter this wonderful territory to be able to rest, to meditate on God's ways, to fellowship, and to deepen our relationship with our Creator God, with Jesus Christ, our Intercessor before God as it was brought out in the first message, and also that we also have this fellowship, spiritual fellowship, with everyone. Let's go to another real quick scripture here. I have enough time. Matthew 12, what Jesus Christ said in one occasion, verse 46 of Matthew 12, it says, While he was still talking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and brother stood outside, seeking to speak with him. Then one said to him, Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with you. But he answered and said to the one who told him, Who is my mother and who are my brothers? And he stretched out his hand toward his disciples, those that were listening and applying what he was teaching, and said, Here are my mother and my brothers, for whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. So we have a spiritual fellowship here as God's spiritual family to enjoy, to love, and so, brethren, these are 10 biblical purposes for why God created the Sabbath and gave it to us.