I am praying that God will show us the way to everlasting life and the truth as to a new meaningful life. Let’s read a Bible verse.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” Matthew 7:13
Many students wish to get into Seoul National University, so they study very hard. The gate is narrow, but too many people want to get in. The way to Heaven is wide, but not too many people seem interested and seeking for it.
Jesus will come back soon and we all want to be saved. But, the number of saved ones might not be as many as we think. There is an oriental proverb that says, “The dragon came out of the stream.” This means someone has come a long way. Can mudfish be dragons? We were born into this world, and we eat what is produced in this world, and eventually we will die in this world. That is what is a sinner’s fate. And that is the way we have lived our lives. It is unthinkable that we will go to Heaven from where we are and become a God race, and we will be treated like royalty, for an eternity.
Is there a dream that is bigger than this? There can’t be any dream bigger than this. Salvation is a magnificent gift and the biggest dream ever the Bible has mentioned. Sadly not many will go to Heaven. That’s what the Bible says. Let’s read from Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter in the kingdom of Heaven.” Are there lots of people who say, Lord, Lord these days?
When you ride on a train from Young-Deung-Po to Kwang-Chun, you may see a lot of crosses all over the place. There are so many who call ‘Lord, Lord.’ How wonderful will that be if all of them will enter Heaven like that? But it says, “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father.”
That is clearly stated. Then what does that mean by doing God’s will? Does that mean doing as I see it right based on my judgment?
Do we have to belong to a mega church or somewhere only the President, or high ranking officials and highly educated people are attending?
No! Then what is this thing that we do that God wants us to do? Shall we read more?
“On that day.” What does the “On that day” mean? That day is the second coming of Jesus Christ.
“Many will say.”
It does not say a few or some, but many people. And it doesn’t point to the non believers, but to many believers. If I interpret this correctly, “Many people among the believers of God….”
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name’?”
What else have they done on top of this? They prophesized in the name of the Lord, and in His name they have driven out demons and performed many miracles by prayer. When they performed such things, people must think that they are God’s workers. They did not have to introduce the New Start program to them. All they had to do was to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. By their prayer, insane or invalid people would get well. Then aren’t these people God’s workers?
But the Bible says, “Didn’t we drive out demons in your name and perform many miracles?”
Then it says, “I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
That is how it is written. Then what does that mean that we are not doing His will? Here in verse 24 it says:
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24
That means you need to do whatever the Bible tells you to do. There are many Churches, such as the Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist and the Seventh day Adventist. All of them are reading the same Bible. But the important thing is, are they following what is written? To tell us the importance he illustrated in verse 24:
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice.” Matthew 7:24
The wise man was the one who dug the foundation deep and built his house on the rock.
“The rain came down, the water rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Matthew 7:25
This house won’t fall. But we can see there are other kinds of people out there.
“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the water rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:26-27
In our lifetime how many houses could you build? Three? That many times? I have not built one yet. When you build your own house would you carelessly build it like a rabbit cage or doghouse?
No, you wouldn’t. You would put your money and effort into it. If it is that precious why would you build it on sandy land? You would make all your effort to make it sturdy and long lasting. The foundation of our faith should be more concrete than our own house, because it is going to have an impact on our eternal life. It is good to have faith, but we should check ourselves to see if our faith is harmonious with God’s word. That is why it is called a narrow gate.
Today let us check and see whether our faith is founded on God’s Word. When I study the Bible with people, many have asked me,
“Why do you go to church on Saturday instead of Sunday?”
I have had to answer this Sabbath topic many times. The 2nd question was, “Why are people around treating us as though we are a cult?” So, today I will defend us on these issues from the Biblical standpoint. Let’s see. What is the time unit that we are using?
There is a year time unit, but where did it originate? This is based on the fact that the earth revolves around the sun in a year and that’s exactly 365 days.
Then what about a month? The moon revolves around the earth and it takes a month.
What about day? That is the time the earth rotates once on its axis. What about the hour? What is it based on? That is 1/24 of a day. A minute is 1/60 of an hour. All the time we spend has something to do with the movement of the sun, earth and moon. This means it is related to the movement of the solar system. I am sure you would agree.
Then where did the weekly cycle come from, which we use most frequently? What about Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday? What are these days based on? These days have nothing to do with the movement of the solar system.
People go to work and rest by the weekly cycle, yet no one seems to know where it came from. Was it written in a certain country’s history book? No one knows. Without the book of Genesis we won’t find the answer. The weekly cycle is based on the days of creation of the earth. God created earth in six days and He rested on the seventh day. That is where the 7-day weekly cycle started.
Most people know about the calendar, but do not know the how we got the calendar system. They talk about year AD 2000 or certain days of the week, and so on, not knowing the source. People keep the Bible traditions even though they do not know anything about the Bible.
The first one is the counting of years. For example, the year 2008 means that 2008 years have passed since the birth of Jesus. The other one is the seven days of the weekly cycle, which God set when he finished creating this earth.
Then what did God make on the first day? Let’s read Genesis 1:3-5.
“And God said let us make light, and God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.” Genesis 1:3-5
As we read verse 5, what did He create on the first day? “Let there be light,” and there was light. He created light. Let’s see the 2nd day.
“And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.”
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse ‘sky.’ And there was evening, and there was morning–the
second day.” Genesis 1:6-8
In verse 6 it says He made the sky. The sky that God has made is the atmospheric space, which means the sky draping the earth. Let’s see the 3rd day.
“And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the gathered waters he called ‘seas.’ And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning–the third day.”
On the 3rd day He made plants and vegetation. Let’s see what He has made on the 4th day.
“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.’ And it was so. God made two great lights–the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning–the fourth day.” Genesis 1:14-19
On the 4th day He made the sun. Is that right? The great light is the sun and the lesser light is the moon and the stars.
Why did He make the sun? It is to lighten the darkness and also to provide an energy source for the eco-system. We need the sun in order to survive. The sun makes water circulate. Because of the sun, rain comes down, and it flows down to the sea and it evaporates again to be the rain. The sun also regulates the temperature so the earth needs it absolutely.
Why did He make the moon? Was it because the night sky would look empty without it? Or will the moon make us sentimental and draw us into a romantic mood? If there wasn’t a moon we may not have had the chance to hear the sentimental Korean romance folk songs like, “Mr. Kap-Dol and Miss. Kap-Soon” who lost their chance to get married because they couldn’t say “I love you.” So they cried looking at the moon, reminiscing the secret romance they once
had under the moonlight.
That could be one of the reasons, but there are more important reasons why it should be there. The moon generates the high tide and low tide. The constant movement of the tide prevents the decay of the ocean water. If water doesn’t move but stands still, it will cause decay and it will threaten the environment’s survival.
Do you think that the stars that He made on the 4th day are myriads of stars that shine above our heads? If so, would earth be the oldest star in space? No, the book of Job says we are the youngest among all the other stars. These stars are not those myriads of celestial bodies of stars that we see above our heads. Rather it is talking about satellite stars of the solar system, namely the nine planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and
Pluto. These revolve around the sun in order of proximity. Why do you think God made all these many different kinds of planet? It is all needed to keep the gravity conditions and the gravity balance. Space needs exquisite balance. In order for us to live in this space we need many different conditions, not only the room or roof, but we also need the walls, water faucets, bathrooms, electricity, etc. Just as we need all these eco balances in harmony, for the living creatures to survive.
Some people say, “There are no creatures up on the moon, Mars and Jupiter.” They don’t know the real thing. The roof is to protect us, but not for us to live in. The solar system is the accessory system for us to be comfortable.
The numerous stars in the sky are the suns in different solar systems. As you studied at school in the past, there are four different kinds of stars.
The star that shines all the time, like the sun, is a fixed star. Just as the earth, the star that circles around the fixed star is a planet. The moon is a star that circles around the planet like a satellite.
And the star that circles around the sun in an elliptical path and has a long tail is a comet. Most of the visible stars in the night sky are fixed stars.
Would you believe that the stars up in the night sky have solar systems? Yes, they do. If I have a water faucet in my house would you say my neighbor’s house has one also? If I have a dresser in my house I suppose my neighbors might have one as well.
Therefore we can believe that if our solar system has certain components, the other solar systems also might have something similar to ours. Then why are these things invisible? One of the fixed stars that is closest to our solar system is Alpha Centauri, and it takes 4.2 light years to get to this star from earth. Even though we were to ride on an ultra high speed plane, it would take 2 million years to fly there, and we still wouldn’t get there. It is too far of a distance. That is the reason why we can only see the fixed stars, and planets like earth are not visible.
But the other solar systems might have a similar structure to ours and there must be bunch of planet stars within the system where people can live. When we go to Heaven we will pass through these stars. This will be fantastic scenery. So the stars that God created on the 4th day are not the stars that shine in the night sky, but they are the planets around the solar system.
Let’s study the 5th day.
“And God said; Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of Heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.” Genesis 1:20-23
At last the 6th day:
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creatures after his kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth after his kind and cattle after their kind, and everything that crept upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said; Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that crept upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that crept upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat:’ and it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Genesis 1:22-31
On the 6th day He created the man and animals, and the week of the creation has ended. Perhaps He made a man around 4o’clock in the afternoon.
On the 7th day. What is this day? Let’s go to the book of Genesis and read chapter 2.
“Thus the Heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3
Finally the Sabbath day has come. This is, “The memorial day of the creation of earth.” Is this right? Yes, the Sabbath is the birthday of the earth. That is why we can say, “Knowing the Sabbath is the same as knowing the creator God.” When we know the meaning of the Sabbath this means we know who we are.
Through the Sabbath we can tell we are the children of God. Whose children are we? Yes, we are the children of God! By remembering the Sabbath day we are reminded that we belong to God. But if we forget about this we are to be confused and puzzled as to whose children we are, and come up with wild ideas that we may be the descendants of cows, monkeys or whatever. That happened because we forgot the Sabbath.
What did He give us on this day? He blessed us. What kind of blessing did He give us? Let’s read from Psalm 133:
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” Psalms 133:
It is surely good and pleasant to see the brothers dwell together in harmony! And the Lord commanded the blessing that is “Everlasting life.”
Through the Sabbath we know that we are not the descendants of monkeys. But we are descendants of God.
Why did God install this blessing in the day and hour? Why not in the garment of Jesus or up on the cross? Wouldn’t that be more tangible and realistic? Well, if that is so, then the blessing of everlasting life may be taken by the powerful and wealthy people. The weak and poor may not even get near it. But He considered us deeply and made it obtainable for everyone. Instead of setting it to a certain place or thing, He placed it in the realm of time, where everyone can have access to it and be blessed. In that sense the Sabbath was designed to tell us our identity.
Kim, Doo-Whan was the son of a general, but he was a gangster. His fists were big and strong so no one dared to fight with him. He did not know that he was the son of general Kim, Joa-Jin. General Kim was the supreme commander of the independence movement of Korea against Japanese rule. While he was chased by the Japanese army, he hid in a certain house where he had fallen in love with the daughter of that house owner. They got married, however he had to escape to Manchuria. Japanese police captured and tortured her.
“Where is your husband?”
“I don’t know.”
She was put into a jail after she gave birth to Kim, Du Whan, but she passed away in jail. His grandmother raised him, and in time she also passed away. This poor boy grew up alone as an orphan, and became a beggar. Yes, a beggar.
When he was involved in violence, one of the passersby told him, “Don’t you know who you are? You are the son of General Kim, Jwa-Jin and your grandfather is Kim, Ok-Kyun.” He felt like a hammer had pounded on his head. “My father was the Supreme Commander General Kim, Joa-Jin, who fought for the independence of Korea?”
After he learned who his father was he couldn’t continue as a gangster. He cleaned up his beggar’s life and he joined in an anti-Japanese movement. And he fought against the Japanese. Later on he became a congressman in Korea.
As you know, this Mr. Kim, Du-Whan was the very same person, who showered human excrement over the congressmen who wrangled with issues and were politicizing for their own gain. “You son of bitch, worse than dung!” and he poured it over them in the middle of the parliamentary meeting.
If Mr. Kim did not know whose son he was, he may have been murdered by someone’s knife. Knowing who we are is that important.
Ladies and gentlemen, because of the Sabbath we clearly know that we belong to God. And it tells us our identity that we are the children of the everlasting God who created this earth. We are His children, and He made us after His own image and we are His masterpiece. The Sabbath is the day that lets us know who we are.
Some people don’t know whose descendants they are. These people are called orphans.
I visited Chung-Song jail about ten years ago. It was a place for long term prisoners. You have to pass seven gates to get in there. Most of the prisoners are sentenced for over fifteen years. At that time I was a school teacher, so I could get their addresses and I told my students to write letters to them constantly. I asked them to select a few names and write at least once a month. In those days if prisoners couldn’t get a good score, even though they completed the fifteen year sentence, they wouldn’t let them out of jail. Instead they were sent to a labor camp. Who would get a bad score? The prisoners who received no visitors or letters would get a bad score. They were kept in jail longer because it was suspected that the prisoner would repeat his crime because he did not have any place to go.
Since we had that information we kept on writing letters to them and that helped them to get released. After they were released from jail we opened our homes and accepted them. They lived with us as a family. We never asked them what crime they had committed.
These people are good natured in general. Can you understand what am I trying to say to you? They told me this. “When we walk out the jail door, we don’t have any place to go wherever we look around. If we had friends or relatives we could go there. If we do not have relatives or friends, then we just roam around wherever our feet take us.”
As far as I am concerned, they are good people. If they see a needy person, they will share their own money to buy what is needed. The difference, however, between them and us is when they get upset they cannot hold it in, and react violently. When most ordinary people face the same kind of upsetting situations, they will take time to think about it. They weigh the pros and cons, and ponder the consequences of their actions to their relationships. But these orphans don’t have any relationships to worry about.
If we do not know God we are orphans. Would you agree to this? If we think we are orphans, we may live an aimless life. So every Sabbath we are reminded that we are not orphans, we were created by God, after His image and as His children.
In a calendar year we see many holidays, but the Sabbath is the oldest holiday in our history. It started at the same time as the creation of the earth. The Sabbath holiday was there before Thanksgiving or the New Year. But it is a miracle that some of us remember the Sabbath when everyone in this world has forgotten it.
In China everyone takes a break or holiday on the 1st day of October. That is the foundation day of the government of the Republic of China. The laborers and the farmers believe that they eliminated the Chiang Kai-Shek government, feudalism of that dynasty and they established their government. So on October 1, everyone gets a holiday off. September 9 is the North Korean’s Labor party foundation day. We (Koreans) celebrate August 15th, the day of Independence. South Korea’s holiday is August 15th, the Chinese holiday is October 1st, and North Korea’s biggest holiday is September 9th. Is there any one particular holiday that we must keep in common?
That is the seventh day Sabbath, the memorial day of creation. That’s the first reason why we are keeping the Sabbath. Then why does the birthday of creation come in a weekly cycle? If your birthday comes every week would you like it? No? I may like it, but the one who prepares the party may think it is a nuisance.
The birthday of this earth comes in a weekly cycle because God doesn’t want us to forget it. We are so forgetful in our busy life, and God wants us to remember that special day.
The second reason for us to keep the Sabbath is because of what it says in Exodus chapter 20.
Does God’s kingdom have laws? Just like Korea and China have their own law of the land, God’s kingdom has laws as well. The law is the Ten Commandments. Let’s read Exodus 20:
The first commandment is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3
He does not want us to worship other Gods. For instance, since we are Christians, we should not go to the temple on Buddha’s birthday and worship or bow to their images.
The second commandment is, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” Exodus 20:4
God does not want us to make any kind of image. Whether it is an animal or human image, we should not make it and bow down to worship it. He is telling us that He is the only God. How could we compare God our creator with these graven images? There are several things that God does not like, and one of them is idol worship. Let’s look at the structure of the Ten Commandments. The first commandment says no other gods are allowed. When we just look at the first commandment we can’t tell who God really is. Buddhism, and Mao-Tze-Tung, all say no other gods. Kim, Il-sung in North Korea also says he is the only one.
So, by looking at the first commandment we are not sure who He is. But when we read the second commandment we are given a little more light of who God is. Oh, He does not like the carved images, and God who instituted the Sabbath and Ten Commandments prohibits us from making statues. Let me say this again, it is safe to conclude that any religion which incorporate statues and images in their worship practice are not Biblically based . What about Buddhism?
No, it isn’t. What about an image of Jesus? Not that either. As you travel through North Korea you will see statues of Kim, Il Sung throughout the villages. His Man-Soo Dae statue is tens of meters high. Every town competes to make a statue that is bigger and better, in order to gain favor from him. They would make a memorial statue sometimes at the place where he sat down even for a few minutes. If they break down and sell the entire statue of Kim, Il-Sung, the money they make will be enough to feed the entire nation for a few years.
If God did not place the second commandment, people may want to make more and fancy looking statues of Jesus. Some churches may show off, “We have gold plate on our church” or “We decorated our statue with many gems.” But He says if you have money to spare, buy some pieces of bread to feed beggars. Even these days, we see some people are trying to decorate the statue of Jesus.
There is a doctrine of immortality of the soul and Korean people believe that the souls of their ancestors are not dead. So they try to make fancier tombs, as they make more money. Those tomb stones are very expensive. If our ancestors are really alive, why decorate only the tomb site? Aren’t we supposed to build them an apartment? But they are gone. Why would you spend so much money for the dead? Many tourists visit emperor Qin’s tomb, but I purposely refuse to visit that place.
I lived in China for over seven years, counting my trip in and out of the country, it will add up to 10 years total. Why do I refuse to visit Emperor Qin’s tomb? In building that tomb site for a dead person, many wives and children had to sacrifice their husbands and fathers. People suffered a great deal for that. I wish he would have bought some bread for the poor instead. If we believe in dualism, in which you believe a dead person survives after the death, it can be a cause of awful crimes. A lot of people will suffer needlessly.
The building of the pyramids in Egypt is the same thing. Many people visit those places as a famous tour site, and Egyptians are so proud of them. God’s people had to help build the pyramids when they were slaves in Egypt. In the vast desolate desert, where there was not a single stone, the Israelites suffered to carry heavy stones from a few hundred miles away. Many people must have died because of the heavy load. The weight of a single stone was about 2.5 tons, and to build one pyramid it took about 2,300,000 stones. It is so sad to say that so many people were sacrificed for one dead body who knows nothing. So the wrong religion can bring much misery to people. Why would I want to visit such places?
Believing in the true God is more important than how fervently you believe some god.
The third commandment is written in Exodus 20:7.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7
The third commandment teaches us to respect God’s name. For the first time, His name was mentioned and it is found in the third commandment. His name is Jehovah. It gets clearer and clearer.
When we read the fourth commandment it makes it even more clear. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made Heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is
in them, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11
Now His identity is very clear to us. It says that the one who gave us the Ten Commandments is the Creator. As we read here we can tell that He rules the Heaven and the earth. He sanctified and blessed the Sabbath. He talked about creation. He instructed that not even our servant should work.
The fifth commandment is to honor our parents, and the sixth is, you shalt not kill. The seventh says that you shalt not commit adultery, and the eighth is thou shalt not steal. The ninth is thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, and the tenth is thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbor’s. These are the Ten Commandments.
Often people think that the Ten Commandments were divided into two sections. Four are for God, and the remaining six are for people. But is it really? It is not exactly right. Look at this carefully. The Ten Commandments were given to man about 4000 years ago. This means they were given when the practice of slavery had already been prevalent.
If you were a slave, which commandment would you like best among the Ten? Of course it should be the fourth commandment, regarding the Sabbath.
Did it guarantee to have a complete rest from sundown on Friday until sundown the next day, the Sabbath? Yes, it did. It says thou shalt not do any work, thy manservant, or thy maidservant. The master can take a rest any time he wants to, but for the slaves it was not possible to rest at any time as they wished. To the servants the fourth commandment says take a rest. How wonderful! It must been their favorite commandment.
When the Sabbath begins, even the servants can take a good shower and change to clean clothes to go home. That evening, the whole family can sit around together and have a nice dinner. Next day, the Sabbath, they could go for a picnic. They can continue working again on Sunday.
Sounds like a pretty good deal for a servant. He gave us this law to guarantee the basic human right. You can tell that these commandments were given for us, and also to protect servants and slaves. God was even mindful of servants and the poor to have their basic right and enjoyment of rest. The fourth commandment regarding the Sabbath is made for God and also for man. In fact three commandments are for God, one commandment is for God and man, and six commandments are for man.
Let’s think about the sixth commandment. Thou shalt not kill.
In the olden days the servants could be killed at any time because there was no law to protect them. If the master does not like his servant, he can kill him. Or if the servant’s wife is beautiful and his master eyes her he can take her away from him.
You’ve read the book titled, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”? That book tells us about the life of a Negro slave in America. But if the Sabbath commandment were kept then, the servant’s wife could’ve lived safely. How could this commandment be abolished? It shouldn’t be. The Ten Commandments are the safety valve from God to us to keep us basically happy as we live in this world.
Some Christians are telling us that one of the Ten Commandments (specifically the fourth) is not needed and has been abolished. Is it all right to kill people? Is it all right to erect statues in the church? No, it isn’t. Why are all the other commandments in practice and not the Sabbath commandment? This doesn’t sound right. The second reason to keep the Sabbath is because it is God’s law. The law is made for us to obey and to keep.
The third reason to keep the Sabbath is because of Exodus 31:13.
“Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, verily my Sabbath ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.” Exodus 31:13
The Sabbath is our identity. It is “A sign between God and us.” “I am the Lord and you are my children.”
The symbol of God’s people is the Sabbath and this contract was made between God and the Israelites.
What is the meaning of Israel? “Isra” means “looking or trusting” and “el” means God. “Bethel” means “house of God”. Daniel means “God is my judge” “el” means God. So Israel means “The people who trust God”, or “The people who are looking at Him.”
Are we the Israel of these days? So the Sabbath becomes the identifying mark between God and us.
No matter how much I enjoy Chinese food or speak the Chinese language well, unless I have a Chinese identity card they won’t treat me as Chinese. The sign between God and us is the Sabbath.
And it says, “I am your creator and you are my people.” The fourth reason why we must keep the Sabbath is written in the book of Luke 4:16. Someone asked me if the word ‘Sabbath’ is only mentioned in the Old Testament. He also thought that it was not valid in the New Testament, but he misunderstood what the Bible teaches. It was Jesus’ custom to keep the Sabbath. Let’s read Luke 4:16.
“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.” Luke 4:16
The custom means routinely and the synagogue means the church in this verse. It is telling us that Jesus went to church regularly.
“Why did Jesus go to church on the Sabbath?”
He is the creator who gave us the Sabbath as a memorial of creation. And He is the one who set this day in the law. He is the one who told us this day would be the sign between Him and
us. And He kept this custom.
The fifth reason why we need to keep the Sabbath is written in Luke 6:5.
“And he said unto them, that the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Luke 6:5
We keep the Sabbath because it is the Lord’s Day. The Son of man in this verse is Jesus. He is pointing at the Sabbath and is telling us, “It is my day.” Many churches believe that Sunday is the Lord’s Day, because He was resurrected on Sunday. But there is no place in the Bible that says the Lord’s Day is Sunday. Here it clearly mentioned, “I am the Lord of the Sabbath.” How can He says
He is the Lord of Sabbath? It’s because He created the earth and He set this 7th day or the Memorial Day apart, and set it as a sign of identity. That is why He can say “ I am the Lord of the Sabbath.” If we read the Bible with an open mind, we can find the real Lord’s Day is the Sabbath and that is the reason why we are keeping this day as a Lord’s Day.
The sixth reason to keep the Sabbath is written in the book of Acts chapter 13.
“But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.” Acts 13:14
“They” in this verse are the people who were traveling with the apostle Paul. Let’s read 13:42
“And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.” Act 13:42
Let’s read 16:13.
“And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.” Acts 16:13
The apostle Paul and his coworker went to the place where there were no churches. So they were looking for a quiet place on the Sabbath day to pray and worship. They met some women who were doing their laundry and they preached the gospel to them. There was a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple cloth, of the city of Thyatira. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Acts 17:2
It says Paul, as his manner, which means it was his custom.
The sixth reason why we are keeping the Sabbath is because the apostles also gathered on the Sabbath and read the Bible and prayed.
But people say the Sabbath was abolished since Jesus died on the cross. And on the resurrection day Christ rose so this is considered a more important day to remember, but if this were so then the apostles must have kept Sunday instead of the Sabbath. But even after Jesus was resurrected and went back to Heaven, the apostles still worshiped on the Sabbath day for many decades. Let’s read Isaiah 66:23.
“For as the new Heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 66:22-23
The seventh reason why we keep the Sabbath is because we will keep the Sabbath in the new earth and the new Heaven. The new earth and the new Heaven mean the kingdom of Heaven. We will keep the Sabbath in the presence of God, it says. If we read the Bible honestly, we cannot ignore the Sabbath.
If we are conscientious Christians who believe God’s word, we should not ignore the day that God clearly commanded us to keep. It is shame for us to ignore it. Because we keep the Sabbath we may not find a job easily. But we keep the Sabbath because it was a command given to us by God and was written in the Ten Commandments.
I have made these explanations because people have misunderstood us as a cult.
However, honestly who really is a cult? As we know, the body of believers called Jesus a ringleader of the sector of the Nazarenes about 2000 years ago. (Acts 24:5) And he was crucified on the cross for this reason. That was not heard from the Pagans, Buddhists or from the Romans.
These days, perhaps the Christian churches may crucify the word of God in the name of the “majority.” They should hear the words, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven.” Matthew 7:21
Many will say, Lord, Lord, I was really faithful. I was born a Christian. To these people Jesus will say, “I do not know you. You and I have no connection.” Wouldn’t it be sad to hear? Jesus told us these words for a purpose. He looked at the Christian churches and He knew many so called Christians would not read the Bible in the last days. In the pulpit a pastor reads one Bible verse and then he tells his own success story or interesting political talks and so on. It is so easy to deceive the believers who do not know or do not read the Bible. It is very simple and easy for Satan to mock the church members who do not know the Bible truth.
Two thousand years ago the Jews were not fools. They were the smartest people on earth, weren’t they? But then Satan came and deceived the whole nation. He deceived Adam and Eve in the beginning, and then God’s chosen people, who were delivered from Egypt. And he manipulated them to reject Jesus, the Son of God.
Can Satan repeat the same deceiving method on Christians today? Yes, of course! When we do not spend time reading the Bible, the devil will get the upper hand on us. Someone may ask us, if it is so important, how do we know which day is Sunday or Saturday? Let’s study on that. Luke 23:44-52
“And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,’ and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, ‘Certainly this was a righteous man!’ And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned. And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things. And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counselor; and he was a good man, and a just: (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the tomb, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:44-52
The Bible doesn’t mention Friday, Saturday or Sunday. But when did He die? The Bible says He died on the day of the preparation.
What were they preparing? They were preparing for the Sabbath. Our calendar shows, “Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.” But in the Bible, it says, “The first day, second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, preparation day and the Sabbath.” In the Bible only two days are named and the other days were given by numbers. Those two days are the preparation day and the Sabbath day. Jesus died on the preparation day. Let’s read from Luke chapter 24.
“Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.” Luke 24:1
“The first day of the week” means the day that comes after the preparation day and the Sabbath. Here it shows us there are three days in that order. Jesus died on the preparation day and He was resurrected on the first day. Let’s see, everyone knows the first day of the week is Sunday, right? The Easter day is on Sunday, the first day of the week. Then the Sabbath is logically called the seventh day, isn’t it? That is not too difficult to understand.
Ladies and gentlemen, the idea of the fruit of good and evil looked very ordinary. But the result of eating that prohibited fruit made a whole lot of difference to our destiny. Actually Sunday, Saturday or Friday doesn’t seem much different to us. The sun comes up from the east and sets in the west, these all happened in a 24 hour cycle. But it could be the touchstone to know the fact that whether we belong to God or not. As we study the Bible it seems very clear. Let me finish my lecture after we read Isaiah 8:20.
“According to the law, and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” Isaiah 8:20
The light of dawn means the morning of the resurrection. What it says here is that they should speak according to His word. Actually I have not accused the Catholics or the Sunday keepers at any time, but if they accuse us of being a sect then I will have to argue with them as to what I am telling you now.
I would like to ask them, what evidence do they have that the Sabbath was abolished? We all read the same Bible and we never accused them of heresy. However when the Catholics or the Sunday keepers accuse us as, “The New Start Program is held by the heresy”, or “Those things are habits of the heresy”, then I will have to say, “It is written in the Bible” and to defend ourselves as Jesus has said, “It is written.” The elderly people among us may say, “I kept my faith with all my heart,” but I have spoken to you according to what, “It is written.”
Ladies and gentlemen, the glorious kingdom is waiting for us. The small number of people on earth who were to perish will receive everlasting life. As “the dragon comes out of the stream, a mudfish becomes a dragon and the roses bloom in the trash can.” He opened up the way of everlasting life.
Today I did not want you to think you are sitting at the weird place or the program that is held by heresy. So I had to tell you a long story to make a point. You are sitting at a place where sincere believers are trying to be as near as we can be with the Bible and what it says, especially the health messages on food that were written in the Bible. It is given to us not to be deceived by Satan. I want to tell you that the word of God is the leading light and a lamp in your path, physically and spiritually.
