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Weimar University

The Sabbath

Don Mackintosh

The Sabbath & the Mark in the Right Hand

Well, good morning everyone and welcome to worship here on location or those of you that are online.

We're in a small series on the Sabbath and a number of people from the first hour asked me to actually repeat the sermon from 08:00, so I'm going to do that.

So if you're here actually for that sermon, it'll probably be new because I can't really repeat anything.

Even this morning when we sang our song of worship, I sang a different song.

So it's going to be hard for me to repeat anything, actually.

So let's just ask the Lord to bless us, however, as we open God's Word and as we study something I hope is very relevant for our time together.

Father in heaven, we're thankful today that you've promised to attend the preaching of your Word with your spirit, and you have said that by the foolishness of preaching you actually can do something in our life that maybe you couldn't have otherwise have done.

And I ask for that to happen as I listen to the sermon as each of us do today, that you would speak directly to us and then through us to others in a world that needs your clarion call.

So we've been in a series here on Matthew 24.

In Matthew 24 we have seen that the various elements of Matthew 24 seem to be just kind of occurring in the world around us.

Ethnos against ethnos or ethnic group against ethnic group, racial tension.

How many have ever heard about racial tension recently?

How many of you have heard of false prophets and false prophecy recently?

People setting dates and times and that seems to also be occurring.

And then men's hearts failing them for fear, betraying 1 another, we see that happening as well.

Lawlessness abounding, it says in Matthew 24.

And actually decisions, legislation, and interpretation of the laws of the land indicate that in our nation 6 of the 10 Commandments explicitly have been, or implicitly, have been denied.

And actually that seems to be accelerating and we know from Bible prophecy that ultimately even more of that will happen.

And explicitly we're told that Just like in every single 1 of the things we've looked at in our series on the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet the Sabbath would be a Part of that How many remember the series on the Abomination of Desolation, where we looked at how Daniel was taken captive because ultimately of Sabbath desecration, and then Jesus ultimately was killed because they indicated or they thought that he was desecrating the Sabbath.

And then during the time of the Antichrist power, of course, he attacked the Sabbatarians as he set up that system in 508 to 538 with Clovis the Frank, all the way through the Dark Ages, all the Crusades would kill Sabbatarians on their way to the Holy Land and back.

And then at the end of the 1260 in the French Revolution, there was an attempt to actually change the weekly cycle from a seven-day cycle to a ten-day cycle.

So there was an abomination of desolation, a church-state union that worked to actually kill Sabbatarians during that time.

And then ultimately we saw in that series as we looked at each of the texts from Daniel chapter 11, the last chapter we looked at, that the papal power listed in Daniel chapter 11, verse 30 through 36, would again express itself in chapter 11, verse 40 through 45.

It would push against the king of the south against the king of the north there would be an attack but God's people would stand firm and again the issue was the Sabbath as we study in our midweek service.

So if you want to review that sermon you can just go back and listen to it.

So today what is the burden of the message?

Well after it says in Matthew chapter 24 verse 15 when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand.

And then it talks about how people need to flee, they need to get out of the cities, they need to go to Judea.

And of course, in the type that happened, no Christian life was lost because they followed the directives of leaving the cities at the right time.

That's not gonna be the burden of the message today, but we will cover that coming up.

It says, pray that your flight not be in winter or the Sabbath day.

Abomination of desolation series showed us that in every single application of that spoken of by Daniel the prophet, the ultimate abomination was Sabbath desecration that led to desolation.

And in this passage as well we see alluded to after the fact Jesus had died, after he died he was talking to his disciples that, again, there would be hazards concerning the Sabbath.

Of course, Matthew was writing after Jesus had passed away, And he's assuming that the Sabbath will be kept in this passage.

Hebrews chapter 4 verse 9, there remains therefore a sabbatismos for the people of God.

There remains therefore a Sabbath keeping literally for the people of God.

And so we want to look at this a little bit more fully now in the book of Revelation.

But before we do that just remember that Jesus himself said that he was, Matthew chapter 12 verse 7 or I think it might be verse 8, that he's Lord of the Sabbath.

Mark 2 verse 28, he says he's the Lord of the Sabbath.

Luke 6 and verse 6, He says he's the Lord of the Sabbath.

Luke 6, and verse 6, he says he's the Lord of the Sabbath.

And I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.

He's the Lord of the Sabbath, here it is, the Lord's Day.

And I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet.

So each of the Gospels indicate that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.

Each of those abominations that cause desolation, the big issue at hand is the Sabbath.

So when Ellen White of the book Great Controversy says this, it actually is biblically correct all the way from the time of Daniel, the time of Christ, the time of the Antichrist, to the end of time, that the Sabbath is always the main point of contention.

The Sabbath, Great Controversy, page 605, will be the great test of loyalty for it is the point of truth especially controverted.

When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not.

It was true in the time of the Antichrist, and it is true at end time.

The Sabbath will be the main point of contention.

So how important is the Sabbath in your life?

Do you turn your foot away from the Sabbath from doing your own pleasure on God's holy day and do you call the Sabbath of the light honorable and do you honor him not doing your own ways?

If you do, then you shall delight thyself in the Lord and you will ride on the high hills of the earth and God will feed you with the heritage of Jacob." What does that mean?

He was a surplanter and a cheater and those that survive at end time will have a character change.

They will in fact not be characters but their character will change and they will be so into God and so into the Sabbath they would be willing to die rather than break the Sabbath day.

Okay so now with that little introduction, I want to look at something that troubles me.

And that is, the Bible says that we'll be taken before magistrates and judges and we'll have to answer questions.

And we're not going to be able to prepare the then.

The Bible says that God will bring things to our remembrance, but if you didn't ever know them, how will they come to your remembrance?

That's why we have sermons and we study, and that's why we memorize Bible texts, so we don't even have to have our Bible particularly with us to be able to answer the questions, but how is it that you would defend this idea of the Sabbath?

And how would you even say that the Bible's talking about the Sabbath if you were questioned about it?

And it talks about where this showdown comes down in the area of the Sabbath.

And in Revelation chapter 13 there's 2 beasts.

The first beast is in chapter 13, verse 1 through 10.

All the Protestant Reformers and Historicists, as well as the Advent movement, which is a Historicist movement, which means it believes that Bible history, the history of the Bible fits with the events in history, believe that these verses, verse 1 through 10, have to do with the papacy.

That would arise, would cause all the world to wonder after the beast, and this is exactly what happened in the Dark Age period, in the 42 month period that's mentioned here, 42 months times 30 is 1260.

During the 1260 day time period, this is exactly what happened.

And they caused all the world to worship, but then their deadly wound, they would receive a deadly wound.

And what happened in the French Revolution and in 1798 was that the Pope was actually taken captive.

And when we go on our Reformation tours, which we're unable to do this year, we actually go to 1 of the places that that Pope, when he was taken captive, was staying as he was taken into captivity.

We didn't even know it, but we went to this place and we were looking in the rooms and there was this papal insignia, I think it was on a French border there, I can't remember exactly where it was.

And I'm looking there and I look at that and then I read, actually I had Deutschen, Mr.

And Deutschen translated it for me and actually the Pope had stayed there when he was heading off and he ultimately would die in captivity and this was the deadly wound.

But it says in Revelation 13, what is it, verse 4?

The Sabbath & the Mark in the Forehead

Okay, so, yes, tonight we're going to study about the mark and the seal.

So, open in your Bibles with me to Revelation chapter 13.

And you may remember that we're in this series looking at some of the aspects of end time events that we've seen in Matthew chapter 24.

And we started studying about the Sabbath as a result of our series on the abomination of desolation, where we saw that there's an abomination that causes desolation 4 times spoken of by Daniel the prophet, and each time there's an abomination, That abomination causes desolation when the Sabbath is desecrated.

And we're living in that last abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet and so we're studying the Sabbath more fully.

Now in Revelation chapter 13, there's a battle for the right hand of believers as well as the heads and hearts of humanity.

And the devil and the beast powers are attempting to, well, well they're actually colluding, working together and seeking to either force or manipulate people to blaspheme and worship the first beast rather than Christ.

To worship the Antichrist rather than Christ.

And We already studied how the right hand in scripture is what he used to create, what he used to redeem, what he used to write the 10 Commandments law with.

And so the right hand, actually, the study of the right hand shows us for sure that when the Antichrist's power is attempting to mark God's people on their right hand is specifically an attack on the Sabbath and the God of the Sabbath, which reminds us of his act of what?

So, the key issue at the end of time will be a battle over who will be acknowledged on our day of worship.

Will it be our Creator and Redeemer through worship on the Sabbath day, or will we succumb to a counterfeit day of worship.

So Today, instead of focusing on the right hand, I'd like to focus on the forehead.

Now look at the forehead here in Revelation chapter 13, verse 16.

Causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead.

So then, this is what the Beast Power is attempting to do, and then Revelation chapter 14, verse 1.

Standing on Mount Zion and with him 144, 000 having their father's name written on their forehead.

So this receiving of the mark in the forehead, the seal in the forehead, is the place where the name of God is, or the name of the beast.

And in our study of the name of God, we're reminded that that word name is onoma.

And the root of that word for name, Onama, the underlying word is Ginosko, which means to learn or to come to know or to get a knowledge or to become known.

So when a person learns or comes to know about God or the Beast, they're in a position to receive the name of whichever they choose in their forehead.

Because as they come to know the character of either God or the beast, then they're in a position where they can receive the information.

Now the word receive in Revelation 13, dinemai, means to be given, which means you would receive it.

It was given to you, but you receive it, and to commit to.

Or, in Revelation 20 verse 4, look over there for a minute.

In Revelation chapter 20 in verse 4, I saw thrones and they sat on them and judgment was committed to them.

And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus, for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.

And that word there that says, had not received the mark, is not dhinami, but it's lambano, which literally means to take upon oneself, to claim for oneself.

So when you receive the mark of the beast it's something you're deciding to do.

You're committing yourself to it and you are actually taking upon yourself and claiming for oneself.

So receiving the mark of the beast is to know the character of the person that's giving that and to actually accept it and receive it.

And this is what we do with our foreheads.

We can evaluate and we can look at things.

So the person's forehead or your forehead is the place where a person learns about the character of God or the character of the beast.

Then the person gives their mind over or commits themselves to 1 of these 2 powers and then the character of the entity that's chosen is literally written on their foreheads.

So, where do we get the idea of written on their foreheads?

Well, in Revelation chapter 17 and verse 5, speaking of the harlot woman, And then in Revelation chapter 14, we just saw, but in 14 it says they had the name of who written in their foreheads?

They have 144, 000 have the Father's name written in their forehead.

And then Revelation 17, those that are following the beast power, picture here is a harlot.

On her forehead was the name written, Mystery, Babel the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and the Abominations of the Earth.

And you don't just quickly receive the seal of God, and you don't just quickly receive the seal of God and you don't just quickly receive the mark of the beast.

It's not something that's just done quickly.

Oh, I went to Walmart and I received the mark of the bee.

No, it's something that you kind of settle into and understand.

Let me show this to you by looking back at the 10 Commandments themselves.

And in Exodus chapter 20, we have the process described.

And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, out of slavery.

So thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Now the commandment is associated with God's name, His character, and His character is being demonstrated as that of a deliverer, someone who delivered.

So the character of God is he gets people out of slavery, he gets them out of bondage.

I brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

In other words, I rescued you from all the gods of Egypt.

Now you might think that's a small thing.

You know how many gods they had in Egypt?

They had, depending on what you read in terms of historians and looking at the gods of Egypt, they had somewhere between 1, 500 and 2, 000 deities.

It's kind of like a pandemic of false gods.

But God delivered his people from all of these and the 10 plagues gave the highlights of the complete deliverance.

10 is the number of completeness of the Bible.

10 commandments, 10 kingdoms, 10 toes, 10.

It is not necessarily what the number is, but it's meant to give a complete overview.

They worshiped the Nile, the god Hopi, caused the river to overflow, and Canoom fashioned the human beings into clay and held them up so the light of Amon Re could give them life.

So God said, if you're worshiping the river, I'm going to humiliate the river by turning it into blood.

And suddenly, they were not interested in worshipping the river.

You're saved by the river that comes out of me and my sanctuary.

Matter of fact, the sanctuary in Ezekiel 47 has a river that flows out of it.

And so he humiliated the god of the river.

They worshiped the god Heket, the frogs, the goddess of fertility and childbirth.

So when they saw a frog, they would worship the frog.

He said, OK, if you believe that the frogs are God, I will have the frogs go everywhere in your life.

I'll have the frogs go, not just outside, but inside your house, inside your bedroom, inside your kitchen, inside the place where you make bread, inside the place that you store fruit food.

And suddenly they realized they did not want God in all of their lives if God was a frog.

And this had never happened in Egypt before, killing the frogs.

And so God was showing that he had power over the frog god.

The Sabbath, Promises and Prerequisites, Part 1

Father in Heaven, Lord, thank you today for this palace in time.

It's not dependent on a building, but just time.

Because you probably knew that there might be a time when buildings would be shut down.

And they have been shut down many times in the past but the Sabbath still continues because it's a palace in time, not necessarily in space.

But we're thankful today that we can come together and worship here in the great outdoors, your first book and as we study your second book, we ask your Holy Spirit to be with us.

Isaiah 58 is like 1 of my favorite chapters in the Bible.

It starts with a picture of the Day of Atonement in verse 1.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, tell my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

So verse 3, why have we fasted they say, and you have not seen?

Why have we afflicted our souls and you take no notice?

So it starts out with this picture of the Day of Atonement and this affliction of souls.

And this is exactly what happened on the Day of Atonement.

People would confess their sins throughout the year, They would be transferred to the sanctuary and then they would be taken care of, a record of them until the Day of Atonement.

And on the Day of Atonement, as everyone was afflicting their souls, to make sure everything had been passed on to the sanctuary.

The high priest would come in and have a sacrifice for himself and his family, and then come back representing the entire nation, and the entire sanctuary would be cleansed on that day, the Day of Atonement.

But, at the end of the chapter is another day, and that's the day we're going to study about today.

If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.

The mouth of the Lord has spoken." Isn't that a great text?

So, you know, we've been in the series on the Sabbath a few weeks ago.

We talked about how at the end of time the beast power would attempt to mark God's people in their right hand.

We studied the right hand throughout all scripture and we saw that the right hand was the hand that God used to create, was also the hand that he used to bring people out of Egypt and redeem.

It's memorialized in the first giving of the law in Exodus 20 with creation being pointed to and in Deuteronomy 5, I brought you out with my powerful arm, the right arm in redemption in Deuteronomy 5, the second giving of the law.

And then we studied about how at the end of time the beast power would attempt to mark God's people in their foreheads.

And we looked at how that also represented the name of God.

The name of God is going to be put in the foreheads, either by the beast power or by God.

And Today, in Isaiah 58, we see that this chapter focuses on those 2 days.

And God's end time people will be known for the Day of Atonement in Revelation 14, verse 6.

It says they're going to fear God and give Him glory for the hour of His judgment is coming.

So they're going to fear God, which means what?

It means they're going to worship Him, the fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction.

He will not be visited with evil, Proverbs 19, 23.

So they're going to fear God, that means to keep His law, Deuteronomy tells us that, but it's a satisfaction, They're going to enter into satisfaction because they know the hour of his judgment is come.

That was another phrase that explained the Day of Atonement.

And they'll worship Him, Revelation 14, 6, who made heaven and earth, sea, and the fountains of living water.

So let's look now at 2 things about Isaiah 58.

First of all, it ends with some promises.

I'm going to feed you with the heritage of Jacob, cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and then you'll be able to delight yourself in the Lord.

Prerequisites verse 13, promises verse 14.

If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, because the holy day of the Lord is honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then, if, then, a conditional statement.

So, if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, now that phrase, the Sabbath is all 1 word, Mishabbat.

It means on account of or because of, you turn away your foot from the Sabbath.

Let's talk about turning away because observing the Sabbath requires a turning away from something else.

How many of you turned away from something else to come here this morning.

And it's not trampling on the Sabbath, but rather stopping and returning to where you came from.

So the phrase to turn away your foot literally means to turn back or to return to something else.

The Hebrew word for turn away is from the same root word in the Old Testament for repentance.

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