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Lyall Johnston—March 30, 2024
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Here we are meeting on the seventh day of the week, not the first day, not Sunday, but Saturday. It is the Sabbath Day, the day which—at the re-creation of the earth—the Creator of the heavens and the earth, none other than Jesus Christ, as Paul tells us in Eph. 3.
Yes, God created all things through Jesus Christ, even the seventh day of the week, beginning at sunset, at the end of the sixth day, the beginning of the seventh day.
Jesus Christ was the Word of God, and He blessed the Sabbath day, sanctified it, and it was made Holy. We have that in the fourth commandment.
But many today are discarding the Sabbath day. Many reject it. They say that 'it was all changed by Jesus Christ.'
- Really?
- Is that what Jesus said?
- That He came to do away with the Law?
In fact He said, 'Even if the heavens and the earth passed and no longer exist, if they were to suddenly disintegrate, only then would the Sabbath perhaps come to an end. But the heavens haven't come to an end, so the Sabbath is here.
Let's have a look at this, and let's start in Matt. 16. Jesus was interested in mind from His disciples what people were saying about Him.
Matthew 16:13: "Now, after coming into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus questioned His disciples, saying, 'Whom do men declare Me, the Son of man, to be?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist; and others Elijah; and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets'" (vs 13-14),
They didn't have any idea that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that Jesus Christ was the One responsible under the authority of His Father for the entire creation.
Verse 15: "He said to them [the disciples], 'But you, whom do you declare Me to be?'"
Question to His disciples who were later to become Christ's apostles?
Verse 16: "Then Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'"
At last, it was somebody who knew and declared through Jesus of Nazareth flesh and blood human man, Who He was.
Verse 17: And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father, Who is in heaven.'"
Isn't that interesting? It was God the Father Who revealed, made it known to Peter who Jesus was!
Verse 18: "And I say also to you that you are Peter; but upon this Rock…"—He's referring to Himself when He talks about the Rock, not Peter,
"…upon this Rock…[Myself, Jesus] …I will build My Church, and the gates of the grave shall not prevail against it" (v 18). Since that day:
- Has the Church that Jesus said He would build, continued? It hasn't ceased to exist!
- What was the name of that Church? The Church of God!
The Bible tells us and only gives us one name! It's mentioned about 12 times in the New Testament!
Now the Church of God in the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, there's the full house of Israel; they were the Church of God in the wilderness, and they had the instruction, the command to keep the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy as the Scriptures tell us.
So then, very important, "…upon this Rock I will build My Church…" called the Church of God. Collectively they call the Churches of Jesus Christ because the Father, by whom the Church is named, was using Jesus to administer the Church and to shepherd the Church and all the people. Now, IF a church calls itself:
We are the Church of God, we're the Church of Christ, and we do not keep the Sabbath Day, we have changed it to the first day of the week because that's fitting…
This is the theological thinking. You know, these 'great minds,' these 'wise' theologians who go on the basis What is theology? Theology is faith, seeking understanding! Nothing could be further from the Truth!
What they miss entirely—all the main stream Christianity that keep the first day of the week, which today is called Sunday—is about as far away from the Sabbath Day, the seventh day of the week, which commonly called Saturday today. It's at the beginning of the week, the Sabbath is at the end of the week.
If they are not keeping the Sabbaths can they be a part of the Church of God? The Bible gives the answer to that, and it says categorically, NO, they can't be.
They are in fact in disobedience to the Laws and Commandments of God, which will never pass away. As Jesus said, 'Until heaven and earth pass, not one drop, one tittle, will be passing from the Law' that He, in fact, delivered it to ancient Israel!
Now, we know that the Law was magnified, and we know that there were some fulfillments where we have the physical type of the Old Testament. But now we are raised to a spiritual level. For example: The sacrifices: There were sacrifices in the Old Testament regarding the sin offerings, the trespass offerings, and so forth, which were he representations of Christ—the High Priest was Christ Himself—and who made the offering of the lamb or the animal or bird to be sacrificed represented Jesus Christ. The sacrifice that was offered to be killed and have the blood drained from it represented Jesus Christ.
So that whole sacrificial now, the reality of it was made plain when Jesus came and fulfilled all that in the flesh. He became the living sacrifice, which was determined from the beginning or the foundation of the earth (Rev.13:8)
Matthew 12—Let's see what has to be said regarding the Sabbath Day. Very important indeed. We need to understand this because mainstream Christianity has rejected this and thrown it into the dust-bin.
The very Sabbath Day of God that Jesus Christ, the Creator, on that day
- blessed it
- sanctified it
- made it Holy
for the benefit of mankind!
Matthew 12:1: "At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath Days… [so the Sabbath Day is still in force, being mentioned here in the New Testament] …and His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck the heads of grain and to eat them." Probably quite young and soft and easy to be eaten!
But after seeing this, the Pharisees, the religious people of the day, and we can liken many of the people claiming to be Christian and Christian leaders today, they are the Pharisees of today, particularly when they have replaced and changed the day that Jesus Christ gave us.
Verse 2: "But after seeing this, the Pharisees said to Him, 'Behold, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.'"
- Who said that?
- Does the Old Testament say that? No!
Again, lawful was one of their physical burdens that they placed on the Sabbath Day.
The Sabbath Day was a day for rejoicing, for resting, for worshipping God. But here they are nitpicking, just trying to get any way they could at Jesus and his disciples.
Verse 3: "But He said to them, 'Have you not read what David did when he himself and those with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God and he ate the loaves of showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but for the priests only? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbaths the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?'" (vs 3-5).
Verse 6: "But I say to you, there is one here Who is greater than the temple"—referring to Himself! I'm sure they missed this point.
Verse 7: "Now, if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless…. [referring at this point to His disciples] …For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath Day'" (vs 7-8).
Christ is Lord of the Sabbath Day! He is the One Who created it, in that sense, on the seventh day of the first week of the re-creation. He rested, blessed it, sanctified it, and it became Holy!
It was Holy time, which reminds us of Moses when he approached the burning bush and wondered what's going on here. He approached the burning bush and then he looked at it and God spoke to him. God here was the Lord Jesus Christ, but He was the LORD of the Old Testament that they knew and understand the Father had not been revealed at this point in time.
In fact, only just a few indications. But when you go right back in the early chapters of Gen., it talks about Elohim Jehovah. What that means is that Jehovah of Elohim possesses, meaning God is more than one.
That's why it says in the first chapter of Genesis, 'Let US make man.' We understand that, but most people don't. The 'US' referred to the One Who we know today as God the Father, Who Jesus said that men did not know until He came to reveal Him!
The other was Jesus Christ, the One Who created or re-created the heavens and the earth for the presence of man. After He had created those things on the earth and so that everything he created was exceedingly good.
So, by resting and blessing the Sabbath Day, the Sabbath was also exceedingly good. It gives man time to rest from the labor of the six days of the week. It gives him time to reflect on the creation, on the Creator, and on His Word.
For Adam and Eve, who were created on the sixth day, they were there with Christ as He taught them as the God of the Old Testament, giving them His Laws and Commandments. They are pictured in that first, second, and third chapters of Genesis, amazing chapters.
Genesis is the book of beginnings. Whenever we go to establish a doctrine, we go back to the book of Genesis to see what the foundations are. What are the founding principles that God the Father and Christ have built on since then? Let's go back there and see that in:
Genesis 2:1: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And by the beginning of the seventh day… [this is coming down to sunset] …God finished His work… [finished His work by the end of the sixth day,] … God finished His work, God finished His work" (vs 1-2).
As it says at the end of Gen. 2, everything He made was exceedingly good, and no difference for the Sabbath Day. So the Sabbath Day is exceedingly good!
What happens if we don't keep it? Well, a lot of things! We know that the Sabbath Day in Exo. 20:8-11 where the command for keeping the Sabbath day is there, and the command begins with the word 'remember'—don't forget!
Exodus 20:8: "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy."
As we were about to say with Moses, when he came to the burning bush, the voice of the Lord said to him, 'Moses, take off your sandals. You're standing on Holy ground.' So, God's presence is in the Sabbath Day! The questions remain:
- Are we going to observe the Sabbath of God?
or
- Are we going to pollute it as Israel did, whom God gave it to them?
Verse 9: "Six days you shall labor and do all your work…. [this is a command] …But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God…." (vs 9-10).
I guess if the Lord is not your God, then you're not going to remember the Sabbath Day! Interesting.
"…In it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter; your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your livestock, nor the stranger within your gates; for in six days the LORD made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath Day and sanctified it" (vs 10-11).
Any action that shows that we should not be involved in on the Sabbath Day, like work, is not keeping the Sabbath. It is actually polluting the Sabbath Day, which is Holy, especially made Holy for you and for me, and for the rest of mankind.
Let's take it a little further. Let's see a very important point, which the churches of this world are this way, the mainstream Christian religions, have rejected! And because they have rejected this, they have rejected the God of the Bible. They have rejected the Creator, Who was the One Who became Jesus Christ by changing the Sabbath Day—which has been blessed, sanctified and hallowed—to the first day of the week, the day of the sun, where the sun-god is worshiped!
The sun-god is not the Son of man, it is not the Son of God. It's the day of devil worship. It's the day of worshipping Satan!
Exo. 31 is a very powerful text, very powerful Scripture, and it's all to do with the Sabbath Day:
Exodus 31:12: "And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 'Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, "Truly you shall keep… [What? Sunday? No!] …My Sabbaths…" (vs 12-13)—plural!
We know there's more than just the weekly Sabbath, according to Lev. 23, there are also the annual Sabbaths! These are not the holidays, or the feast days kept by mainstream Christianity today!
Therefore, because they're not keeping the Sabbath Day and God's Holy Days. They do not know who God is!
The 'god' they're worshiping is not God the Father, it is not Jesus Christ, but another Jesus, who represents a totally different faith, which will end up in the result of death to all those who do not turn from it and who repent!
It doesn't matter who those people are. They may be kings, presidents, prime ministers the rich and powerful, the wealthy. Unless they turn and understand about the Sabbath day, their days are limited! They will have a chance to repent, and their eternal life depends on the choices they make!
Verse 13: 'Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, "Truly you shall keep My Sabbaths…'"
The keeping of the Sabbath, not just saying 'yeah, the seventh day was the Sabbath day.' No! Not good enough!
It is in the keeping, the observance of the seventh day, the Sabbath Day, which has been blessed and hallowed.
"…for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations to know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies you… [the next statement is critical] …to know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies you" (v 13).
Can Sunday do that when God said it's the Sabbath? Well, the argument: the theologians—those preachers, ministers, hierarchy in the churches—their argument is with the Scriptures.
Therefore, their argument is with Jesus Christ and God the Father, not the Churches that observe and keep the Sabbath Day! I want to press on that.
"…for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations to know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies you" (v 13).
In other words, IF you want to know the true God, it begins through his Sabbath Day! You will never find out who the true God is by keeping the first day or any other day of the week, which does not reveal the Creator, it does not reveal Who Jesus Christ is!
The Sabbath Day does, because remember what Christ said, 'He is the Lord of the Sabbath from creation,' and that has never changed, and never will!
You can go online {truthofGod.org} and you can see in our own literature and publications how the Catholic Church shows that they claim to be the ones who changed Saturday/Sabbath, the seventh day, to the first day. {Rome's Challenge to the Protestants}
IF you want to follow the Bible, THEN the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath in the Bible. But:
- The church has the authority to change what God has said, doesn't it?
- What do you think?
- Is that not an abomination?
- Is that not putting your finger in the nose or telling God, 'Get out of our business'?
Sorry, God is not going to get out of our business!
God is going to bring retribution on all those who reject his Sabbath Day! Perhaps we can look at that again another time, about what happened to the nation of ancient Israel when their leadership—their queens, prophets and priests—violated the Sabbaths. You know, as goes the king, president, prime ministers, priests go with them, so goes with the people!
Whenever the loyalty, whenever the kings of Israel, whenever the priests violated God's Laws it affected the whole nation and brought the punishment of God upon them for breaking His Laws!
What God wanted for them was to bless them! God wanted to show them His Way! But when you put your 'nose up' against God, you're exulting yourself above God. And God has a lot to say about that in the keeping of the Sabbath Day!
Now, let's expand that to Lev. 23, when we'll take all of God's Sabbaths, all His Holy Days, but particularly the Sabbath Day and the Passover. Absolute, minimal requirement for knowing:
- Who God is
- Who Christ is
- the path to eternal life
That's the beginning, but there's much more to the story. So again, that whole Scripture; let's not forget:
Verse 14: "…for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations…"
Throughout your whole lifetime, and the lifetime of your children, and into the future!
"…to know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies you." (v 14).
So, the Sabbath Day and the keeping of it identifies Who God is, that 'you may know that I am the Lord.'
- What does God see in you and in me in keeping the Sabbath?
- Does not God see those who are His people?
- Are they not the sign that identifies us, IF we are keeping His Sabbath, to Him, so that He knows who we are?
There's much more to the story, and we'll pick that up another time. But the blessing that God has given to us on the seventh day of the week:
- where we can come together as His people
- where we can worship Him
- where we can rejoice before Him
- where we can have fellowship with one another
- where we can talk about His Word
- where we can sing praises to Him
- where we can honor Him
- where we can glorify Him
- where we can show our love toward Him and to the brethren
That, indeed, is a privilege. It's a privilege that God has given to those who know Him, and the fact that He knows us. God wants us to rejoice in the Sabbath as we keep it with our families, friends, and our brothers and sisters who are part of the fellowship!
Scriptural References:
- Matthew 16:13-18
- Matthew 12:1-8
- Genesis 2:1-4
- Exodus 20:8-11
- Exodus 31:12-14
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Ephesians 3
- Revelation 13:8
- Genesis 1
- Leviticus 23
Also referenced:
Rome's Challenge to the Protestants {truthofGod.org}
LJ:bo/po
Transcribed: 4/3/24
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