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Holy Sabbath Series

Holy Sabbath #8

Fred R. Coulter

This tape is Holy Sabbath number eight. Now we have covered an awful lot concerning Sabbath-keeping. We’ve also seen on number six how that the children of Israel were sent into captivity because of Baal worship, and Ashtoreth worship, which then is Sunday-keeping and Easter. In other words, God sent them into captivity for breaking His Sabbath and His holy days because they were keeping Sunday. They were worshiping Baal, they were worshiping Ashtoreth, and many, many other gods. Now let’s look at how the Sabbath should be kept in the New Testament, and then we will finish up by going to a place in the book of Hebrews where there is an absolute, dogmatic command in the New Testament that we are to keep the Sabbath.

So let’s first of all began and see how Jesus kept the Sabbath. Let’s come to Mark 3. And we will see that Jesus, as His custom was, always kept the Sabbath. Now let’s understand something very, very important concerning the preaching of Jesus Christ. The Law and the Prophets were until John. That meant that the Law and the Prophets were the highest authority. There was no other higher authority. But when John came the kingdom of God was preached. And with the kingdom of God being preached, as we saw, not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the Law whatsoever. When Jesus came preaching - since we’re going to the book of Mark, let’s go to Mark 1, and let’s see what Jesus did. And let’s understand this, that if Sunday-keeping were going to be for the Church of God - or as some people call it the “Christian” church - then Jesus would have made it absolutely clear beyond any shadow of doubt that He was in fact changing the day from Sabbath to Sunday. And we will see there is no such command from Jesus that way.

Let’s begin here in Mark 1:14. “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.” And we know the kingdom of God is the rule of God, the whole millennial kingdom of God with Christ as King, and all the resurrected saints serving as priests and kings under Him. And we know from the prophecies in Isaiah 66 that the whole world is going to keep the Sabbath. We know from Zachariah 14 that they are going to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. So when He is preaching the kingdom of God, no one understands that He is not loosing the Sabbath, or destroying the Sabbath, or getting rid of the Sabbath. He is in fact enforcing the Sabbath. And as we will see, bringing a higher standard to Sabbath-keeping, just like He brought a higher standard to every one of the commandments of God.

Now verse 15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled,...” That means, “Now is the time of the preaching of the kingdom of God. And according to the Scriptures, then Jesus was the one Who was to bring it after John, who was the forerunner and the messenger to precede the Lord. “...And the kingdom of God is at hand:...” Now the kingdom of God being “at hand” meant that Jesus was the King, Jesus was the representative, He was there right at hand. So the kingdom of God is at hand. “...Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” And everywhere we go through the New Testament, the very beginning thing is that people have to repent. And they have to repent of their sins. They have to come to Christ and understand that it was His sacrifice, His death, His beating, His scourging and mocking, and the spear thrust through His side where He gasped out His last on the cross, and He was that sacrifice. And when you repent to God you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord and Master, and one to Whom you love, and one to Whom you give obedience. And please understand this, no one is going to enter into the kingdom of God, as we have seen, who is a lawless person; or that is, against the laws of God. No one is going to enter into the kingdom of God if they don’t keep His commandments. So you need to understand that.

You also need to realize that as we go through these Scriptures, if you have an NIV Bible, you need to get rid of it. Because an NIV Bible is corrupt. And there are 65,000 words removed from the King James Version that have been taken out in the NIV version. So you have to understand that. You have to have the right Scripture; you have to have the right word; you have to have the right Lord, the right Jesus, the right understanding. And please understand this, all the insipid preaching that you hear in the Protestant churches, and the Catholic churches, and whatever other denominations that do not uphold Jesus Christ as Lord and Master, and that you have to obey Him, you have to serve Him, you have to yield to Him, you have to have your life buried in the covenant death of baptism - all that do not teach that are not from God. They may profess, but they have another gospel. They have another Jesus. They are not preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and they are not preaching repentance from sin. What they are doing is preaching, “Oh, God wants you to have all good things.”

Listen - remember the lesson of Israel in the wilderness because of their sins. Remember the lesson of Israel in the Promised Land because of their sins. God gave them good things, but because of sin they were taken away. And know for sure that all the good things that people expect today and enjoy today, unless they repent and turn to God, and quit their sinning and quit their Sabbath-breaking, and quit the sin of Sunday-keeping, God’s wrath is going to come and He is going to send this nation off into captivity, just like He has in the past. So know and understand that that is for sure. So when Jesus came preaching, “Repent and believe the gospel,” that is the start.

Now let’s see His example. Let’s just turn the page and come over here to Mark 3, and let’s begin in verse 1. Now this is right after He said that He was Lord of the Sabbath. So stop and consider this again: which day is Jesus Lord of, by His own admission - Sabbath, or Sunday? It is Sabbath. The Lord’s day is Sabbath. It is absolutely wrong to call Sunday the Lord’s Day. Now let’s begin here in Mark 3:1. “And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse Him. And He saith unto the man with which had the withered hand, Stand forth.” That is, come up and stand right here in the middle up front with everyone. “And He saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days,...” Now here we have it plural. That is, the weekly Sabbath, the annual sabbaths that God has. “...Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace” (Mark 3:1-4).

So this tells us how Jesus kept the Sabbath. He taught on the Sabbath, He taught them God’s Word; He taught them about the kingdom of God; He taught them about God’s grace and mercy and power; He healed on the Sabbath. And look what He did here. “And when He had looked around about on them with anger,...” So there is righteous indignation. There is a time when God has anger because of sin, and because of the hard-heartedness of these people. And Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, was angry. What a horrible and terrible attitude, to deny a man healing on the Sabbath. Now think about that. How self-righteous can you be?

He was angry, “...Being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.” Now notice what happened here. The religious leaders - and it’s always the religious leaders. And please understand that God’s way is not a religion. It is a way of life. And just like today, religious leaders are the ones who have caused all the confusion concerning the Bible, to change the Bible, to change the Word of God, to twist and turn the words to suit their own ends. And so just as these Pharisees “...went forth, and straightway took counsel [consulted] with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him” (vs. 5-6). And that’s what people want to do with Sabbath-keepers today. The exact same attitude. So we see in looking at this, number one, Jesus kept the Sabbath. Number two, He taught on the Sabbath. Number three, He did good and He healed on the Sabbath. Those are the things that He did. And He set us an example that we should do as He did also.

Now let’s come over here to [Mark] 6, and let’s begin in verse 1. Let’s see why the Sabbath day was given. The Sabbath day was given as a teaching day, to teach the Word of God, to teach the truth of the Bible, to listen to the voice of God. Because in the Bible you have recorded all the words of God. And as we’re going to see a little bit later, the Sabbath psalm is, “Today, if you will hear His voice.” So I am asking you today, as you listen to this tape, will you hear His voice? Let’s see what happens when people don’t hear His voice.

Mark 6:1, “And He went out from thence, and came into His own country; and His disciples follow Him. And when the sabbath day was come, He began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing Him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands? Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not His sisters here with us? And they were offended at Him” (Mark 6:1-3). Just stop and note: Jesus had brothers and sisters. Mary had other children after Jesus was born. It is a lie that Mary was a perpetual virgin. It is a lie that she was assumed bodily into heaven. You just need to understand that. And these religionists just need to be told it. They are lying and twisting the Word of God and adding their own traditions and their own ideas to God’s way.

“But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And He could do there no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief” (vs. 4-6). Right there on the Sabbath day, with them right there in front of Him.

Here, let’s go back to Luke 4, and let’s see something else concerning the Sabbath. And let’s see how - here, Luke 4:16 - and we’ve already covered this before, but let’s just look at it again and let’s understand something. Jesus kept the Sabbath as a custom. Meaning that He did it all of His life. Let’s read this verse. “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.” Now let’s understand something. Did Jesus ever sin? No. Did Jesus always do the things that pleased the Father? Yes. Is keeping the Sabbath on a weekly basis as a custom a thing that Jesus did and that we should follow? Yes. Peter said we are to walk in His footsteps, Who did no sin. So therefore, keeping the Sabbath is righteousness. And we are also going to see a little bit later on, keeping the Sabbath is also holiness.

Now come on down here to verse 31. “…And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.” So every Sabbath Jesus was teaching. That is profound. And the teaching, then, was the Word of God. And notice again here, verse 32, “And they were astonished at His doctrine: for His word was with power.” Not like the scribes, as it says there in Matthew 7. With power, with authority, as we will see.

Now since we’re in the book of Luke, let’s come to Luke 6 and let’s begin in verse 1. Again, let’s see what Jesus was doing on the Sabbath. Let’s see how important that it was. And please understand that Jesus nowhere changed the Sabbath. In the Bible, in the New Testament, nowhere is there any authority to change it and keep Sunday. Now you will learn all of that on the series that I’m doing with this, “Refuting Sunday-Keeping.” And I’m going to go through twenty-five reasons that Protestants have, and Catholics have, trying to justify Sunday-keeping from the Bible. And we will see every one of their reasons is a lying and twisting of the Scriptures and a perversion of the truth of God and is not true.

Now Luke 6:1, “And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that He went through the corn fields; and His disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?” (Luke 6:1-2). Because you see, the Jews were just picking at everything that they were doing. It’s not wrong to eat on the Sabbath. It’s not wrong to travel on the Sabbath. Jesus was walking on the Sabbath. His disciples were walking on the Sabbath. And as we will see later on when we get to the book of Acts, that even Paul traveled on the Sabbath, a great distance. See, because to preach the Word of God, to fellowship with Christ through the Holy Spirit of God, to fellowship with the brethren is more important than just sitting in a house and doing nothing. See, Sabbath-keeping is a positive thing, as we will see. Sabbath-keeping takes action. Sabbath-keeping takes your input into it, and God’s input with His Holy Spirit. It’s not a passive thing. Some people, they’re so afraid to break the Sabbath that some of them just stay in bed all day long. They haven’t kept the Sabbath, they haven’t done a thing. They have avoided doing anything positive. Maybe they didn’t break it by doing something, but they broke it by doing nothing.

Now let’s read on here. “And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungered, and they which were with him; how he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which is not lawful to eat but for the priest alone?” Now I have even read some papers why people have said that it was a lawful thing for him to do. No. Jesus said it was unlawful, and for those that were with him too. “And He said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (vs. 3-5). So Jesus by His example is showing how to keep it and how to have the things loosed of the Sabbath, which make it a burden, and make it something...and if you’ve ever read the Code of Jewish Law, which has hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of picayunish laws concerning the Sabbath, then you will understand why Jesus did what He did.

So we derive from this: one, it’s ok to travel on the Sabbath; two, it’s just fine to eat on the Sabbath, even if you aren’t in your home, because you are traveling; three, the teaching on the Sabbath is the most important thing; and four, as we will see a little later on, the fellowshipping together with the brethren. That takes precedence over everything else concerning the Sabbath, because it is a positive day which is to be kept.

Now verse 6, “And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that He entered into the synagogue and taught [this is the parallel account of what we read in Mark 3]: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched Him [that means scrutinized Him], whether He would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against Him. But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking around about upon them all, He said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus” (vs. 6-11).

And so you see, even by Sabbath-keepers there was resistance by those Sabbath-keepers about keeping the Sabbath the way that Jesus kept it. They wanted to keep the Sabbath where you could do nothing, go nowhere, only have just a set little formula of verses that you read every Sabbath, and you have your perfunctory schedule - as a matter of fact, just like the Catholics. The Jews laid out every scripture to be read every Sabbath, and they could not deviate from it. No. God wants inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God wants truth and righteousness on the Sabbath. God wants the liberty from sin, as we will see. Because when you are keeping the Sabbath you are obeying and you are not sinning. And that’s important for you to understand and realize that everything that you do concerning keeping the Sabbath.

Now let’s come to the account in Matthew 12, the parallel account of Luke 6. Then we’re going to see that Jesus adds another lesson concerning the Sabbath. Now let’s pick it up here beginning in verse 1. “At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and His disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto Him, Behold, Thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day” (Matt. 12:1-2). And sure enough, that was a correct statement. Because God says, “Ye shall not harvest on the Sabbath day. In earing time and harvest time, in seedtime, ye shall keep the Sabbath.”

“But He said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?” Now here’s another thing to remember. “Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?” (vs. 3-5). So here they were criticizing the disciples, but at the temple the priests were what? They were offering the sacrifices. And it was a lot of heavy work to do. So, they were pouring the blood at the base of the altar. They were offering the incense. And all of that was on the Sabbath. And Jesus said they profaned the Sabbath but were blameless. Showing that what ever work is necessary to serve and worship God, God will honor and respect that as long as it is in obedience to Him.

Now let’s learn something else here. “But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.” In other words, since He is the one Who created the Sabbath and gave it, and gave the commandment to keep it, since He is the one Who is our Lord and Master and High Priest in heaven right now, He is the one Who shows us what to do on the Sabbath day. And He has greater authority than the temple, and the work that the priests did at the temple. He has greater authority than all of the Code of Jewish Laws concerning the Sabbath. He has greater authority because He is the Lawgiver, and He is setting the New Testament law concerning the Sabbath, if you rightly understand what He is saying here.

Now let’s continue on. “But if ye had known what this meaneth,…” Now let’s see if you know what this means. “…I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would have not have condemned the guiltless.” They were not guilty of what they were doing. “For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (vs. 6-8). Now let’s understand something. This is very profound. God wants mercy and not sacrifice. Therefore, the Sabbath is to serve man in worshiping God. It is to serve man in learning of God. Is to serve man in doing good, doing good toward God, because you love Him and keep His commandments; doing good to the brethren because they assemble with you; and doing good to those who are sick and in need, and for those who need help to provide for them. All of that is the new definition of the Sabbath that Jesus is giving. That’s why these accounts are here for us. And we need to understand it. He is Lord of the Sabbath day, and He is showing how that under the New Covenant, the Sabbath is to be kept.

Now let’s come to Luke 13. And let’s see something that’s really important for us to understand here. Let’s come over here to verse 10. Again, we find Jesus teaching, teaching, teaching. That’s the whole purpose of Sabbath day. That’s the whole purpose of Sabbath services. Those who are elders and teachers are to take the Word of God, rightly divide it and teach the brethren, in season, out of season. Teach them the Word of God. Teach them how they are to live their lives. Teach them how they are to worship God. Teach them how they are to love God. Teach them how to serve one another. Teach them how to be merciful and kind and gracious. Teach them how to stand for truth. Teach them how to understand, how to avoid false doctrine, how to recognize it. Teach them how to understand who a true teacher of God is. That’s what needs to be done on the Sabbath day. And for those Sunday-keepers who say that Christians who keep the Sabbath are using the Sabbath to justify themselves, is absolutely a blatant lie. No. Christ is the only one Who justifies us - His life, His death, His crucifixion, His resurrection, and the mercy and grace of God; because by grace we have been saved, and no other way.

So if anyone is thinking, “Well, you’re trying to justify yourself by Sabbath-keeping.” No. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” One of the commandments that He gave was the Sabbath. Do you love Christ? Do you keep His commandments? How can you love Christ if you keep Sunday? Because you are breaking the fourth commandment by not keeping the Sabbath. And you are sinning by keeping Sunday. So therefore you are not keeping His words, and you don’t love Him. Because love in the New Testament requires action. Love is not a fuzzy feeling in the heart. Love is not an emotional, gushy, do-gooder kind of thing. Love is powerful, by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit of God, to love God with all your heart and mind and soul in being, and to love your neighbor as yourself, and to love the brethren as Christ loved them. That all comes from the grace of God, the Spirit of God, the love of God, and is to be also done on the Sabbath. And that’s why we keep the Sabbath, because we love God, and we need God’s grace, and we need God’s mercy. That’s why Jesus told the Pharisees, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” which was a Sabbath lesson. And He said, “Go learn what this means.”

Now Luke 13:10, “And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath [day]. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together [just scrunched all over], and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And He laid His hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (Luke 13:10-13). What a tremendous thing. Now this also shows that on the Sabbath you are loosed from the bonds of Satan. You are loosed from his control in your life. If you are out there in the world shopping, if you are out there doing the things that Satan has perverted the Sabbath, and made it a business day, a sales day, and activity day, a sports day, a day of pleasure, a day of doing your own thing, a day of going watching sports, or participating in sports, then you are desecrating the Sabbath. You are serving Satan the devil because those are his activities. Here is an example of being loosed physically from an infirmity on the Sabbath. But also when you keep the Sabbath you are loosed from all of the bonds of iniquity which binds you to the world in breaking the Sabbath.

Now notice the attitude of the ruler of the synagogue in verse 14. “And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Now you see what spirit and attitude that he was in? See, He didn’t want Jesus in his synagogue healing. So Jesus went there and healed so He could teach everyone a lesson, and even that hard-hearted ruler of the synagogue. “Then the Lord then answered him, and said Thou hypocrite,...” (vs. 14-15). Now you need to understand something. Jesus didn’t mince any words with people. Jesus did not come to please people. Jesus did not placate the rabbis, or the priests, or the scribes. He came to preach truth. He came to do good. He came to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, which involves Sabbath-keeping. He said, “You hypocrite!” In another place He calls them a generation of vipers. Too many of the ministers of Satan are snake-eyed and fork-tongued, who twist and pervert the Scriptures of God, take away the power and authority, and love and mercy, and graciousness of Christ, and His preaching and teaching to help people.

Jesus said, “...Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?” And I’ll tell you what, if you will begin keeping the Sabbath day as Jesus gave the example and instructed, you likewise will be loosed from the bond of Satan. But that’s going to take some repenting. We’ll see here in just a minute. That’s going to take some action upon your part. You can’t continue just the way you are. God is calling you to change. God is calling you to repent. God is calling you to love Him and serve Him and do His will and not your will. Now let’s finish this section here. “And when He had said these things, all His adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him” (vs. 15-17).

Now let’s come over here to verse 1. Let’s see what Jesus said concerning repentance. And let’s apply this, because it comes just before this lesson taught on the Sabbath day by the healing and losing of the woman of her infirmities. Now He begins to teach how, then, you are loosed from your sins. It begins with repentance. Then the application of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and then burial in watery baptism, the watery grave, in a covenant pledge to God; that you are buried with Him in baptism; you are crucified with Him; that you can rise out of that watery grave and walk in newness of life.

Luke 13:1, “There were present at that season some that told Him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay; but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-3). Now you apply that spiritually. You apply it to the lessons that we are learning concerning the Sabbath day. And unless you repent of your Sabbath-breaking, and unless you start obeying God, unless you come to God and understand that you are a sinner by nature, that from within every evil is there within you, and only Christ can help you, then you are going to likewise perish with all the other Sabbath-breakers. And think about losing eternal life. And if you lose eternal life, you have perished forever.

Now He said it again. “Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?” And isn’t that the way we try and justify things that happen to people? We say, “Well, maybe it was God’s judgment. Maybe they deserved it.” Here Jesus is talking about some things that happened - one a slaughter, two, an accident. And He is telling you, don’t go around and judge them and say they deserved it because they were breaking God’s law. No way. Jesus said, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (vs. 4-5). And this repentance comes down to a very important thing.

Since we’re right here in the gospel of Luke, chapter 13, let’s go over to chapter 14 and let’s see what Jesus said. Let’s begin right here in verse 1, and we will see another incident on the Sabbath day. And we will see here, “And it came to pass, as He went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched Him.” Now here is a whole group of Pharisees. Jesus came in, He got the invitation, so He went in. “And, behold, there was a certain man before Him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees [all of those who were the experts in the Law] saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 14:1-3). And I imagine He looked around at each one of them in the eye just to see what their reaction was. And of course you need to understand, Jesus also knew their thoughts too.

“And they held their peace. And He took him, and healed him, and let him go; and answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not answer Him again to these things” (vs. 4-6). Now let’s come here to verse 24. “For I say unto you, That none of these men...” There was the parable of the supper. I want to get…let’s come down here to verse 25. None of them. If you don’t do what God says, you are not going to be there with the supper. You’re not going to be in the kingdom of God. Then He begins to explain how, in verse 25, you can be in the kingdom of God. “And there went great multitudes with Him: and He turned, and said unto them,…”

Now can you imagine what some of these Protestant ministers would do? Or could you imagine what the Pope would do when he went to Poland and there were 400,000 out there to see him? He waved his hand like this and they all fell down on their knees. And they all worshipped the Pope. God says don’t worship any man. Worship God only. And they were so happy to have all of those numbers. Now if there were great multitudes following a Protestant minister, and He saw all those multitudes, what would He say? “Oh, I’m so happy and thankful that you are here. Why don’t you all come in and you just confess Jesus, and you just give your heart to the Lord, and you come and join our fellowship group, and that will be just fine. We meet here at Sunday at eleven in the morning.”

Now let’s see what Jesus said. “...And He turned, and said unto them, If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother,...” That means to love God more. But that love toward God is so intense, that maybe your father or mother will take it as hatred because you won’t do what they do. Maybe your mother and father would say to you, “Hey, I was born a Catholic, always a Catholic, I’m going to die a Catholic.” But you come and say, “I am repenting of all this Catholicism, and all of these pagan laws, and all of these pagan things that the Catholics are doing, and Sunday-keeping, and Eucharist, and beads, and Mary worship, and idol worship, and all of these hideous sins.” And they will say, “You hate us. You don’t love us.” That’s what it means. You love God more in spite of what your father and mother.

Now let’s continue here. “...And wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (vs. 25-26). And the Greek there is ou dunatai, the strongest sense of impossibility of being a disciple of Christ. So that means you forsake your ways, your thoughts, your interpretations, your stretching of the Scriptures to suit your own religious self if you are a religious person. Or your justification of your sins and living in sin, if you have never even gone to church. You have to forsake your way, your thoughts, and everything.

Notice, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross,...” So true Christianity is not easy. True Christianity, because you are going against the world, you’re going to have trials and difficulties. You are going to have your own individual problems to overcome. And that is bearing your cross. “...And come after Me,...” Christ is not going to come after you. You come after Christ. You seek God. You are the one who has to have the initiative. “...Cannot be My disciple” (vs. 27). So it’s quite a bit different than what the world thinks. So this whole thing of Sabbath-keeping is so profound. Now look what Jesus has done to redefine Sabbath-keeping for the New Covenant, so that we can come together in fellowship; we can love God; we can serve each other and do what is right. And John wrote in 1 John 1:3, that our fellowship is with God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Now let’s come to Hebrews that 3. Let’s begin right in verse 1. And let’s understand something very profound concerning Jesus, concerning Moses; and then we will go right through chapter 3 and on into chapter 4, so that we’re going to come to the verse which gives us a dogmatic, absolute command to keep the seventh day Sabbath, and as we will see, the holy days. Now I’m going to read to you from my translation so I don’t have to say, “The Greek means this; the Greek means that.” I have already translated it so that it will say what it should say.

“For this cause [that means everything in chapter one and two], holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of the faith we profess - Jesus Christ, Who was faithful to Him Who appointed Him, even as Moses was in all His house. For He has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, even as He Who built the house has so much more honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but He Who built all things is God. Now on the one hand, Moses was faithful and all His house, as a ministering servant, for a testimony of those things which were going to be spoken afterwards [by Christ]. On the other hand, Christ was faithful as a Son over His own house;...” His faithfulness included Sabbath-keeping, did it not? Yes, indeed. We just saw it, didn’t we? If He didn’t keep the Sabbath, He could not have been faithful, correct? Yes. So He is faithful over His house, “...Whose house we are, if we truly hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. For this reason, even as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today, if you will hear His voice,...’” (Heb 3:1-7 AT). Now this is quoted from Psalm 95. Now Psalm 95…