Sabbath

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It's reasoned relevant content apologetics, worldview, and answers to the questions that you need to know. From Alex McFarland Ministries, this is Truth for a New Generation Radio. And now the man who preached in 50 states in 50 days, speaker, writer, and advocate for Christian apologetics, Dr. Alex McFarland.

Has anyone ever asked you if Christians still believe the Ten Commandments, why do we not have to keep a Saturday Sabbath? Hi, Alex McFarland here. Welcome to Truth for a New Generation Radio. We're going to discuss two questions from the brand new book, 100 Bible Questions and Answers.

It was written by myself and Bert Harper. 100 Bible Questions and Answers from the first 10 years of our other radio show, Exploring the Word. Now Christians worship on Sunday, and I definitely believe in keeping a day of rest, but we don't do that to fulfill any kind of Mosaic law. And we're going to look at several scriptures and talk about this. And I want to bring out a scripture that you probably don't think about when you think about fulfilling the righteousness of God. But let's talk about what what salvation is, and then we're going to get to a second question as well. Salvation, we know that's the forgiveness of sin, so we know that Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins. But what Jesus did when he was nailed to the cross of Calvary, and this was at Passover, and the wrath of God for our sin was poured onto Jesus. I mean, think about the love that led God to give his only son for we guilty sinners, but also think about the pain he endured, because the appropriate measure of God's wrath that you and I deserved was poured onto Jesus.

One of the biblical words describing it is fury, fury, fury. Now, the Mosaic law, among other things, said to keep a Saturday Sabbath. And in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, it says, Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. Now, what's interesting is, and I want to read a few verses from Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews was written to believing Jews, but who were also observant Jews. And the whole import of the New Testament book of Hebrews. Warren Wiersbe, the great commentator, he once remarked that if the book of Romans had been written by someone with the equivalent of a college degree, and the book of Acts and Luke clearly the equivalent of somebody with a master's degree.

Well, he said, whoever wrote the book of Hebrews had the equivalent of a PhD. And the whole import is that Jesus is better than the Mosaic covenant. Jesus is better than all of the temple rituals. Jesus is better than any works that we might try to do.

Jesus is a better high priest than any of the high priests, a better priest than Melchizedek or even Abraham or Moses. In fact, two Jewish people of the first centuries, the book of Hebrews is saying, come to Christ because he is the fulfillment of it all. Now in Hebrews chapter four, fascinating. And I want to pull out two words and explain that because Jesus fulfilled the whole of God's law, the entirety of God's law was fulfilled in Jesus and there's nothing we can do.

We don't have to keep any of the law. And understand when Christians go to church, it's not to fulfill a mosaic Sabbath. The history and the New Testament and even enemies of the early church recorded that Christians worshiped on Sunday, that was Resurrection Day, and they sang hymns to Christ as to God. But Hebrews 4 says, Let us therefore enter into his rest. Now, the Greek word for that is actually word katapousin.

It's interesting. And it's really an equivalent. It means repose or rest or really Sabbath. Now, in verse nine of Hebrews 4 says, There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. And that is the word Sabbath, literally.

But Hebrews 4 says this, that if we are in Christ, we have entered into God's Sabbath. Verse two of Hebrews 4, For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them. But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Okay, when you hear the word of God, Jesus died for you. Believe. Trust in Christ. Be born again. Be born again. You have to put your faith in Christ or the word of God preached did not profit you.

How sad that would be. All right. Verse three. For we which have believed do enter into rest. As he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise. And God did rest the seventh day from all of his works. Okay, you know, God created in six days rested on the seventh. And remember, Jesus said this was an amazing statement. Amazing that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

Oh, my goodness. The the Sabbath, the once a week Saturday rest that pious Jews had observed for centuries. Jesus, in one of his strongest declarations of his deity, he said that he, the Son of Man, and that was a term used 82 times from the Book of Daniel. It was one sent from the Father, co-equal with the Father of the same nature as the Father God incarnate. This Son of Man fully human, fully God, but not fallen human. The most unique person in history, the Son of Man.

That's Jesus. And Christ once said that he, the Son of Man, was Lord of the Sabbath. Can you imagine, you know, that Sabbath you've observed for centuries?

Well, it's about me. I'm Lord over the Sabbath. But you see, when you come to Christ, all of those Levitical laws that we couldn't obey and couldn't fulfill, including the mandate to like God who rested, we rest and we observe a Sabbath. But Hebrews four, and I would encourage you to read three through nine. And there's the Greek word for Sabbath, the Hebrew word for Sabbath, for we which have believed do enter into that Sabbath. How do you observe the mandate for keeping a Sabbath? Hebrews 4-3, believe on Jesus. Now, when we come back, I'm going to talk about Christ fulfilling the law, and I'm going to use a couple of verses that I'm pretty sure you probably have not associated with Christ's fulfillment of the law.

So stay tuned. Truth for a New Generation will be right back after this. After this, are you tired of liberal agendas ruining our country, but you don't know what to do about it? That's why Truth and Liberty Coalition was founded. We want to equip you to take back our country and impact the world. Here's how we do it. We educate through broadcasts, conferences and our website with resources that inform, equip and motivate. We unify by collaborating with like-minded organizations like the Family Research Council, the Family Policy Alliance and My Faith Votes. We mobilize by providing practical tools you can use to impact your local community.

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Well, here's your chance. Hi, Alex McFarland here from the nationally syndicated radio program Exploring the Word. For more than 10 years, my co-host Bert Harper and I have taught scripture and answered hundreds of Bible questions. We've compiled a brand new book of the top 100 Bible questions from listeners of all ages, from questions about supposed Bible contradictions to apologetics facts that prove the truths of scripture. This new book features practical content that will make the Bible come alive for you.

Can we really be sure that God exists? Are there contradictions in the Bible? I need a book that will help me understand the Bible better. There is so much good content in this book.

100 Bible questions and answers published by Broad Street Publishers and available at your local bookstores and also through resources.afa.net. Timeless truths in a soundbite culture. Truth for a new generation radio. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. It's Truth for a New Generation. We're talking about the Sabbath, how if we are a believer in Jesus, the entirety of God's law has been fulfilled. Somebody asked Charles Spurgeon one time, the great British preacher, you know, what if you die and you stand before God and it turns out that there was some part of the law that was supposed to be fulfilled and you're guilty of an infraction because the Bible says if a man offend in one point he is guilty of all.

What are you going to do? And Spurgeon who knew the Bible intimately, in fact one of the greatest preachers that ever lived, he said no in John 1930 when Christ cried out, it is finished, paid in full, the sins were washed away. And you know what when you get to John 19, it's very interesting and only John records this, that as the day was ebbing away, one of the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first criminal and broke the legs of the other which was crucified. Verse 33 of John 19, but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side and out came blood and water. By the way, we've talked about this many times, but the piercing of Jesus' side, the spear went into the sac of fluid, the plural fluid that surrounds the heart called the pericardium. And if Jesus had somehow managed to survive the crucifixion, which was impossible, the spear in the side would have meant instant death. But verse 35 says that Jesus, no bones were broken, 35 and 36, John says, I saw it, I bear record, for these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken.

Now let's talk about this for a moment and talk about how Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and I want to talk about the fact that none of his bones were broken. But for just a moment before I bring up some scriptures, think about this, how there is salvation and then there's also Christian growth. I hope you're part of a church and later on we're going to get to a question about church. Remember Christ achieved our atonement on Calvary and then 50 days later after his resurrection, sent the Holy Spirit and Pentecost happened and the church was birthed. And if you're a born-again believer, you know what this is like, you know what a joy it is to fellowship with Christian friends.

And in fact, when you have Jesus in your life and you meet some Christian, I mean it's like a dear old friend because you have Christ in common. I want to submit to you that the fact that none of Jesus's bones were broken, which is a fulfillment of Psalm 34-20, this is in a way indicative of the fact that every dictate of the law has been fulfilled. If you've put your faith in Jesus, you need not worry that you're going to somehow be cast into hell in some state of double jeopardy. You can have peace because yes, all of the laws Jesus fulfilled and when you, as Hebrews 4 says, when you've put your faith in Jesus, you have entered into the Sabbath, the perpetual rest and repose of God. Now here's the thing, Psalm 34-20 said that he keeps all his bones, not a one of them is broken. Interestingly, he could tell all his bones or count all his bones is what it means. And let me say Jesus fulfilled all the law and not one law was left unfulfilled or not one law was broken.

I'm going to come back to that. But in John 19-36, we talked about this how it was a fulfillment of Psalm 34-20. But back in Exodus 12, when they were to have the sacrificial animals and you know some they were to burn the ashes and burn on a fire two ashes and some they were to they were to kill and sprinkle the blood on the altar. There were some Levitical rituals whereby they were to cook animals and eat them in a single house.

The animal is to be eaten. You are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house says Exodus 12-46 and you are not to break any bone of it. Numbers 9 verse 12 has a similar verse about a sacrificial animal and none of the bones shall be broken according to all the statute of the Passover they shall observe it.

Okay now the fact that Jesus died on the cross no bones were broken believe it or not there it's a tie to Numbers 9-12 that because none of his bones were broken you have fulfilled the Sabbath. But let me take it a little farther and let's talk about the core beliefs of Christianity. I write about this in my book STAND, S-T-A-N-D, STAND, Core Truths for an Unshakable Faith. 100 years ago, actually 104 years ago, there was a set of books called The Fundamentals. Now I realize that if you call somebody a fundamentalist now that's like an insult because fundamental and fundamentalist is one of the words that liberal people have really kind of emptied it of its meaning. But a century ago if you were a Christian and you were called a fundamentalist that was actually a high compliment. Why?

I'll tell you why. Because after Charles Darwin published Origin of the Species in 1859 by the latter half of the 19th century the world was getting really liberal and people quickly understood well if there is no creator there are no morals and if if there are no morals that have been broken then I haven't sinned and if there's no God there's no judgment. So about 60-65 years after Charles Darwin a group of writers led by somebody that D.L. Moody had led to the Lord they put out a set of books and they said look these are the fundamentals these are the basics you've got to believe in God Father Son Holy Spirit you've got to believe that the Bible is the Word of God Jesus is deity God incarnate he shed his blood he rose from the dead he's coming back in other words if you believe core Christianity you've believed these basic non-negotiable fundamental foundational truths and so in other words if you were a Bible believing Christian you were a fundamentalist now I realize that word nowadays has just been demonized but when we come back we've got a brief break I want to talk about why Jesus having no broken bones on the cross is part of our assurance that the law is completely fulfilled stay tuned TNG radio is back after this You know Alex has been writing for many years and one of his classic books is still great today as a basic introduction to the Christian faith it's called Stand Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakeable Faith this book will help you help your teens get off the roller coaster of doubt and onto solid ground you'll read about the six pillars of biblical Christianity they are one inspiration of the Bible two the virgin birth three the deity of Christ four atonement five Christ's resurrection and six Christ's return you know Alex mixes it up with humor and stories he gleaned from decades of working with youth and encourages teens to build a foundation of faith that will stabilize their lives and help them take a stand for Christ simple and straightforward Stand Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakeable Faith available wherever Christian books are sold Have you ever wanted to raise your hand during a sermon well here's your chance hi Alex McFarland here from the nationally syndicated radio program Exploring the Word for more than 10 years my co-host Bird Harper and I have taught scripture and answered hundreds of Bible questions we've compiled a brand new book of the top 100 Bible questions from listeners of all ages from questions about supposed Bible contradictions to apologetics facts that prove the truths of scripture this new book features practical content that will make the Bible come alive for you can we really be sure that God exists are there contradictions in the Bible I need a book that will help me understand the Bible better there's so much good content in this book 100 Bible questions and answers published by Broad Street publishers and available at your local bookstores and also through resources.afa.net in the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism Alex McFarland is a voice you can trust to speak the timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way you're listening to truth for a new generation radio welcome back to the program welcome back to the program Alex McFarland here hey let me share a couple of exciting things with you I appreciate so much all the people listening all the people who come to our events the people from 17 US states who recently came to our truth for a new generation conference in Myrtle Beach South Carolina it was wonderful you know we have a summer camp coming up and the camp is truth for a new generation unashamed building your biblical world view I want all of the middle school and high school young people that you can speak to or maybe if you're a teenager listening right now you don't want to miss this camp it's July 17 through 22nd and we're so excited to partner with this wonderful camp just a little bit east of Raleigh North Carolina by the way if you're flying in from across the country you can fly to Raleigh and it's a short drive after that but it's called the refuge and the website is nc as in North Carolina ncrefuge.org and you can sign up now the registration page will be up December 1st but you can get complete information the other thing I want to tell you is next summer I'm going to be at the cove the Billy Graham training center at the cove I'm going to be teaching one of the greatest books in the new testament first Peter now I'll be doing first Peter this upcoming summer and then second Peter in 2023 but I would love for you to be at the cove I would love to meet you Angie will be there we'll have a great time and we'll look at the new testament book of first Peter it would make a great Christmas gift to to give to somebody or share with your pastor and his wife the cove as I'm sure you know is just world-class it's amazing and finally let me say this if you don't get our e-newsletters and our printed newsletters go to my website alexmcfarland.com sign up listen let's pray together let's get equipped let's proclaim the gospel we must we must win people to Jesus and our theme is this equip a generation to save a nation that's what we're all about equipping a generation to save a nation now back to this question about keeping the sabbath and remember the fundamentals the basics God the bible Jesus the son of God the atonement his blood was shed the basics in my book stand I talk about it if you take away any one of these really the entirety of our gospel message is gone for instance if you deny the inerrancy of scripture then who's qualified to pick and choose well this is from God this isn't just like we believe the son of God we are to accept the word of God and what about Jesus is he a good man or was he as he said the God man so if you say well many people say this they'll say well I accept that Jesus was a wise teacher but not really the son of God well if he weren't the son of God then how could he have been qualified to pay for our sin debt on the cross so all of the basic doctrines hang together he died he rose he's coming again now here's the thing if you deny one of the fundamentals you've got something less than Christianity people have asked me they'll say can I uh you know I I don't why I don't really accept what the bible says about creation can I still be a Christian uh but believe in evolution in Charles Darwin and you know I guess I would ask the question why would you want to if you don't believe what God says about our past why would you believe what God says about our future if you don't think that God was our creator why do you think that God is our judge one day and why would you in talking about evolution oh my goodness why would you want to claim to be a Christian but at the same time embrace perhaps the single greatest enemy the gospel message ever had maybe the single most destructive philosophy and we're feeling and we're feeling the ripple effects of it all around the world look people like Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler and so many of the philosophers and and the atheists that shaped the 20th century and now their ideas are helping destroy the world in the 21st century it all began with Darwin causing them to lose their belief in God the greatest enemy of theism that's ever come down the pike theism being the belief that God is a creator and God can be known so here's my point if you're going to be a Christian be a Christian yeah I remember as a college student I was going to UNC Greensboro and this girl I liked Angie invited me to a Monday night bible study and I went and I got under conviction and I realized I needed the Lord Jesus in my life but for a short while I thought about it and I knew what I was learning at college was not the same as what I was reading in the word of God and I knew I had all these friends they partied and I played in some bands and for a while you know had that college lifestyle but I remember one day I was thinking about Jesus and I read the New Testament books and I thought you know this is true this has the ring of truth and I give God the glory because it was clearly the Holy Spirit that put this in my mind but I thought if I'm going to do it I'm going to do it if I'm going to follow Jesus I'm going all the way and you know folks I've never regretted it I never dreamed that I would write 19 books travel the world go to libraries visit 72 sites in the Holy Land I'm telling you folks this is real this is true and the fact that no bones were broken no doctrines were left unfulfilled every bone of Jesus's body was intact just like every line of the mosaic law was fulfilled if you've believed in Jesus you need not worry that there's some infraction against you now if you haven't come to Christ the entirety of God's judgment is over your head right now that's why we would say turn to Jesus he's as close by as a prayer we're going to continue more on this but I want to encourage you to check out the book 100 Bible questions and answers thank you for listening if we can help you in your walk and your witness please reach out to us your prayers and financial support are much needed faithfully used thank you for listening may God bless you and do your best to tell somebody about Jesus TNG radio is made possible by the friends of Alex McFarland Ministries P.O. Box 10231 Greensboro North Carolina 27404 that's P.O. Box 10231 Greensboro North Carolina 27404 call us at 877-YES-GOD-1 that's 877-YES-GOD and the number 1 or give online at AlexMcFarland.com while you're there listen to program archives read Alex's blog invite Alex to speak at your event or contact Alex with a question or comment AlexMcFarland.com thanks for listening today and join us again next time as we bring you more truth for a new generation on TNG radio