The following is based on the sermon titled “The Oil Crisis Part 3: God’s Fire Drill” and with the permission of the author, Ivor Myers. Please click here to listen to the original audio sermon. You can also click here to purchase the book "The War in Heaven" from Remnant Publications.
Where did Sabbath originate from? Did God establish the seventh day Sabbath independent of any heavenly connection? Whose arguments is the world following by rejecting the very Sabbath commandment? What is the real significance of the Sabbath of God?
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest.
The word rest in Hebrew 4 is the Greek word sabbathismos. It simply means “Sabbath keeping”. But this sabbthismos spoken here is not necessarily a 7th day Sabbath keeping. It is using the story of the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt and were on their way to Canaan. The Promised Land pointed to the land of rest. Hebrew chapter 3 and 4 concludes by saying that there still is a rest for the people of God to enter into, thus, that term rest actually points us to the kingdom of heaven; the heavenly Promised Land. Did you know that God calls heaven his sabbthismos?
Why does God call heaven his sabbathismos?
We find our answer when we go to the Old Testament and look up what it meant for a land to have rest.
In Leviticus 26:33, 35, God is speaking to the children of Israel and he is telling them, when I bring you to the promise land, if you rebel against me, here is what is going to happen:
Leviticus 26:33, 35 “And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. 34Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
What God was saying was, if you sin against me, you bring a sate of unrest in the land. If you do this, I will put you out of the land so that the land will have rest. Rest represents a place where there is no rebellion against God , where there is no war against God, where there is no sinning against God. Why did God call his heaven his sabbathismos? Because it is a place where everything is at rest in Him.
Heaven was God’s sabbathismos in the past
Not only is heaven God’s sabbathismos in the future; heaven was God’s sabbathismos in the past. It was a place of pure and perfect peace. There was no rebellion. There was no war. There was no sin until something happened in heaven.
Revelation 12:7 “And there was war in heaven”
What did Lucifer do to God’s sabbathismos?
Lucifer broke God’s sabbathismos in heaven! What is the opposite of rest? We would say unrest. And when we think of unrest, what do we think of? Social unrest, religious unrest. Therefore, Lucifer by his rebellion in heaven broke God’s sabbathismos by bringing about a state of unrest.
Notice Ezekiel 28 which speaks about Lucifer’s fall:
Ezekiel 28:13,15 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God…; Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Lucifer was in Eden. What was Eden? The word Eden means pleasure. In the NT when Jesus said “Verily I say unto thee Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.” In Luke 23:43, the Greek word paradise denotes the word Eden. Eden was paradise. Eden was another name for heaven. Lucifer was in Eden, the heaven of God. He was perfect in heaven until iniquity was found in him.
Now what is iniquity? It is the transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4).
Thus, Lucifer began to rebel against the law of God or the government of God!
God’s sabbthismos represents his government. His government is a government of rest. God says A and we do A. That’s what it means to rest. When Lucifer began to rebel against the sabbathismos of God, what he was rebelling was the system or the government of resting in God.
Lucifer began to rebel against His law. Here is what he said - We don’t need a law!
How did Lucifer deceive 1/3 of the holy intelligent angels?
Have you ever wondered, how Lucifer was able to deceive 1/3 of the holy intelligent angels?Where did Sabbath originate from? Did God establish the seventh day Sabbath independent of any heavenly connection? Whose arguments is the world following by rejecting the very Sabbath commandment? What is the real significance of the Sabbath of God?
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest.
The word rest in Hebrew 4 is the Greek word sabbathismos. It simply means “Sabbath keeping”. But this sabbthismos spoken here is not necessarily a 7th day Sabbath keeping. It is using the story of the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt and were on their way to Canaan. The Promised Land pointed to the land of rest. Hebrew chapter 3 and 4 concludes by saying that there still is a rest for the people of God to enter into, thus, that term rest actually points us to the kingdom of heaven; the heavenly Promised Land. Did you know that God calls heaven his sabbthismos?
Why does God call heaven his sabbathismos?
We find our answer when we go to the Old Testament and look up what it meant for a land to have rest.
In Leviticus 26:33, 35, God is speaking to the children of Israel and he is telling them, when I bring you to the promise land, if you rebel against me, here is what is going to happen:
Leviticus 26:33, 35 “And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. 34Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
What God was saying was, if you sin against me, you bring a sate of unrest in the land. If you do this, I will put you out of the land so that the land will have rest. Rest represents a place where there is no rebellion against God , where there is no war against God, where there is no sinning against God. Why did God call his heaven his sabbathismos? Because it is a place where everything is at rest in Him.
Heaven was God’s sabbathismos in the past
Not only is heaven God’s sabbathismos in the future; heaven was God’s sabbathismos in the past. It was a place of pure and perfect peace. There was no rebellion. There was no war. There was no sin until something happened in heaven.
Revelation 12:7 “And there was war in heaven”
What did Lucifer do to God’s sabbathismos?
Lucifer broke God’s sabbathismos in heaven! What is the opposite of rest? We would say unrest. And when we think of unrest, what do we think of? Social unrest, religious unrest. Therefore, Lucifer by his rebellion in heaven broke God’s sabbathismos by bringing about a state of unrest.
Notice Ezekiel 28 which speaks about Lucifer’s fall:
Ezekiel 28:13,15 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God…; Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Lucifer was in Eden. What was Eden? The word Eden means pleasure. In the NT when Jesus said “Verily I say unto thee Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.” In Luke 23:43, the Greek word paradise denotes the word Eden. Eden was paradise. Eden was another name for heaven. Lucifer was in Eden, the heaven of God. He was perfect in heaven until iniquity was found in him.
Now what is iniquity? It is the transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4).
Thus, Lucifer began to rebel against the law of God or the government of God!
God’s sabbthismos represents his government. His government is a government of rest. God says A and we do A. That’s what it means to rest. When Lucifer began to rebel against the sabbathismos of God, what he was rebelling was the system or the government of resting in God.
Lucifer began to rebel against His law. Here is what he said - We don’t need a law!
How did Lucifer deceive 1/3 of the holy intelligent angels?
If Lucifer had said to the angels, “Hey guys, I am having thoughts. I think I want to be evil. Who wants to come with me?", the angels would not have listened. But here is Lucifer argument:
Notice:
Isaiah 14:14 “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High”
Lucifer said, “I will be like the most high” and at the same time, the Bible says he sinned (Ezekiel 28:13,15), which means he went against the Law of God.
In Isaiah 14, Lucifer said, "I will be like the Most High". What is the Most High like? The Most High is loving. The Most High is kind. The Most High is merciful. The Most High is righteous. Lucifer’s argument was, “I can be loving, merciful, kind and righteous" and at the same time, Ezekiel 28 tells us that Lucifer "sinned" and "inquity was found in him". What is iniquity or sin? It is the transgression of the Law of God (1 John 3:4). So lets put those things togther. Lucifer began to rebel against the Law of God while at the same time saying "I can be like God". In other words, Lucifer's arguement was, i can be holy, righteous, long suffering, gentle without some law telling me how to do it. [I don’t need God to tell me how to be good. I can be good all by myself. I don't need to rest in whatever God tells me, to be like God.
Psalms 119:172 “for all thy commandments are righteousness”
Guess what the Christian world is arguing today?
The Christian world is repeating the very same argument of Lucifer
We don’t need a law in order to be like Jesus. We can be just like Jesus without him telling us His law. This very same argument of self sanctification is the very argument that the world is now repeating. We can do our own thing our own way. Who are you God to tell us when and how to do it? That is how 1/3 of the holy angels were deceived; Lucifer gave them an alternative way to be good (righteous), apart from God.
Lucifer refused to keep the Sabbath
When rebellion came to haven, devil and his angels had to be cast out of heaven for they disturbed God’s sabbthismos. Just like God told the children of Israel, “you have disturbed the sabbthismos, you have to go so that the land will enjoy her sabbaths", Lucifer had to go out of the heavenly land so that the heavenly land can once again enjoy her Sabbath. The devil had to go because he refused to keep the Sabbath!
Heaven comes to earth
Heaven had now returned to a state of rest. But now God was about to create planet earth. So he creates the earth.
Gen 2:15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
Where was Eden? Eden was paradise in heaven. Why do we have eden on earth? Because God was giving earth a piece of heaven!!! Eden had been the garden of God. God says I have created planet earth, I am looking at it. It is all good. It is all in submission to me. So, I am going to put my headquarters here. I am going to put a replica of my government in the Garden of Eden. I am going to put heaven on earth and I am going to put man in the garden. Then the bible say in Genesis 2:2 that God rested.
Why did God rest? Yes, God created the world in six days and he rested on the 7th day because ...there is something greater here.
God rested because He saw all earth was in line with his sabbthismos; in that Sabbath, He had given man all the principles of the government of God!!!! The Sabbath was a snapshot. It was the sum total of the government of God; it is the principles of God summed up in one day and that day simply said rest. Rest, don’t rebel!!!
Who is the ONE that sanctifies us?
Ezekiel 20:12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
What was Lucifer’s argument? I can sanctify myself by doing my own thing. That was Lucifer’s principle. God says, “I am giving you the Sabbath so that you know that there is nothing that you can do to sanctify yourself". The only way that sanctification comes is by resting in what ever I tell you.
It is also interesting, when the bible says that God placed man in the Garden of Eden, the Good News Bible puts it this way:
Gen 2:15 Then the Lord God placed the man in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it.
Did you know that Adam was put in the garden to guard it? Guard what? Adam guard the sabbathismos, because the devil hates the sabbthismos. He wants you to break your rest with me. Guard it Adam!
So the devil knew if he can get Adam to break that rest, he would be setting up against God. Indeed we know the story. Adam and Eve sinned and they fell in rebellion against the government of God.
That’s why Jesus Christ was sent to this earth with one reason in particular.
“Come unto me all who that labor and I will give you rest” (Mathew 11:28)
The purpose of the gospel is to return us to God’s sabbthismos. Because the “carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.. (Romans 8:7). God says obey me and we say no. We refuse to rest in the will of God. God says keep the Sabbath. We say no. God says don’t kill? We say no. Gospel is sent to reverse that so that God says now, obey me, and we just rest. Keep the Sabbath. Sure. Don’t kill. Ok. Don’t lie. We rest in the commandments of God.
The bible tells us in Hebrew 4:10 "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his"
What are our works? Our works are the works of the flesh (Rom. 7:18). So note that God has come to give us rest from the works of lawlessness.
Sabbath is the sign that we cannot work our way to heaven
Do you know that people say that Adventists are all into works? Sabbath is the sign that we cannot work our way to heaven, but we must rest our way to heaven!!!! So don’t let somebody accuse you of being a legalist. The Sabbath is the sign that we are resting in the will of God.
We need to understand that if we have “entered into his rest” then we have ceased from our own works (Rom. 7:18). So, the moment we cease to rest in God, we break the law!!! Did you catch it?
Gen 2:15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
Where was Eden? Eden was paradise in heaven. Why do we have eden on earth? Because God was giving earth a piece of heaven!!! Eden had been the garden of God. God says I have created planet earth, I am looking at it. It is all good. It is all in submission to me. So, I am going to put my headquarters here. I am going to put a replica of my government in the Garden of Eden. I am going to put heaven on earth and I am going to put man in the garden. Then the bible say in Genesis 2:2 that God rested.
Why did God rest? Yes, God created the world in six days and he rested on the 7th day because ...there is something greater here.
God rested because He saw all earth was in line with his sabbthismos; in that Sabbath, He had given man all the principles of the government of God!!!! The Sabbath was a snapshot. It was the sum total of the government of God; it is the principles of God summed up in one day and that day simply said rest. Rest, don’t rebel!!!
Who is the ONE that sanctifies us?
Ezekiel 20:12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
What was Lucifer’s argument? I can sanctify myself by doing my own thing. That was Lucifer’s principle. God says, “I am giving you the Sabbath so that you know that there is nothing that you can do to sanctify yourself". The only way that sanctification comes is by resting in what ever I tell you.
It is also interesting, when the bible says that God placed man in the Garden of Eden, the Good News Bible puts it this way:
Gen 2:15 Then the Lord God placed the man in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it.
Did you know that Adam was put in the garden to guard it? Guard what? Adam guard the sabbathismos, because the devil hates the sabbthismos. He wants you to break your rest with me. Guard it Adam!
So the devil knew if he can get Adam to break that rest, he would be setting up against God. Indeed we know the story. Adam and Eve sinned and they fell in rebellion against the government of God.
That’s why Jesus Christ was sent to this earth with one reason in particular.
“Come unto me all who that labor and I will give you rest” (Mathew 11:28)
The purpose of the gospel is to return us to God’s sabbthismos. Because the “carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.. (Romans 8:7). God says obey me and we say no. We refuse to rest in the will of God. God says keep the Sabbath. We say no. God says don’t kill? We say no. Gospel is sent to reverse that so that God says now, obey me, and we just rest. Keep the Sabbath. Sure. Don’t kill. Ok. Don’t lie. We rest in the commandments of God.
The bible tells us in Hebrew 4:10 "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his"
What are our works? Our works are the works of the flesh (Rom. 7:18). So note that God has come to give us rest from the works of lawlessness.
Sabbath is the sign that we cannot work our way to heaven
Do you know that people say that Adventists are all into works? Sabbath is the sign that we cannot work our way to heaven, but we must rest our way to heaven!!!! So don’t let somebody accuse you of being a legalist. The Sabbath is the sign that we are resting in the will of God.
We need to understand that if we have “entered into his rest” then we have ceased from our own works (Rom. 7:18). So, the moment we cease to rest in God, we break the law!!! Did you catch it?
We cannot keep the sabbath by rebelling against God during the rest of the week
See, you may think that you could do whatever you want during the week.
You thought that breaking the Sabbath simply meant, they told me I have to be at this time to church on the 7th day. You thought the Sabbath could only be broken on the seventh day. Now note that the Sabbath can only be kept on the 7th day. Sabbath can only be kept on the 7th day, but its principle extends through out the whole week. We miss this point. Notice how did God give us the Sabbath day? The first day had to be good! The second day had to be good. The third day too!!! God sabbathed on the 7th day because every day before it was good. What are we doing during the week?
Sabbath is God's fire drill
Did you know that the Sabbath is heavens fire drill? What is a fire drill? It is what you would do as if it was real. Therefore every week, every Sabbath day we spend, it is a miniature prophetic scenario!!!
Sabbath shows whether we are ready enter into his rest
Every seventh day that God has created, allows us to see what it is like to prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Are we ready always when Sabbath hours are nearing? Why are we not ready for the Sabbath? Because we save for one day what we could have done in 6 days.
When is the best time to prepare for the Sabbath? It’s Sunday!!!! The first day of the week, we are to be preparing for the Sabbath because when the Sabbath is near we can ease into that rest. And also remember that what we do during the week is reflective of our spiritual lives. Many of us are waiting until we see the sun set before we say it is time to get ready. Just like we do it for Sabbath, we will find that we are not ready when Jesus comes.
And praise God. If we have failed this week, he says next time. Week after week, year after year God is giving us an opportunity. And are we still unprepared???
Sabbath shows our disposition or character
Not only Sabbath shows whether we are ready to enter into his rest, it shows what our disposition would be in his rest.
There is a parable in Mathew 22:11 that talks about this man that was invited into a wedding feast of God. But when he came in, he was not properly dressed. In order to enter the sabbthimos of God, we must be properly dressed. We and our character must represent a character fit for heaven.
What do we really do and think during the very Sabbath hours? What we are thinking on the Sabbath hours is what we would be thinking in heaven!!! If we were in heaven and if were to think those thoughts, the instant we thought them, we would be disintegrated.
May this message change your concept of Sabbath forever!!!
God has called us to be holy this day
Isaiah 56:2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
We are not do any evil! So God says it is possible on the Sabbath day to do no evil.
Now do you think God is really saying that we can do all these things in all the other days, but not on the Sabbath? No, what He is trying to show us is that, if it is possible for us not to do these things on the Sabbath, it is possible not do it on any day of the week.
The bible tells us that our thoughts should not be our thoughts, but His thoughts. Not thinking our own ways. In heaven, we are going to be heavenly minded. God says on this day I want you to pretend that you are in heaven right now. In other words, this is a snapshot of the kingdom of heaven every Sabbath.
How many of you can’t wait to get out of church on the sabbath?
When we say I can’t wait for Sabbath to be over, when we are watching the Sabbath clock and waiting for the sun to set, so we can go back to our business, we are showing that we are failing to understand the significance of the Sabbath.
Sabbath is a sign of ministry
Isaiah 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy House.
Where is your home on the Sabbath? It’s the church. Were we out looking for the poor? The blind, naked to bring them into our home? Were you out during the week looking for people to bring to our Father’s house on the Sabbath? You see, no one can enter heaven without a guest. Spirit of Prophesy says there will be no starless crowns in heaven.
“There will be no one saved in heaven with a starless crown. If you enter, there will be some soul in the courts of glory that has found an entrance there through your instrumentality. – ST June 6, 1892.
If we are coming to church week after week and if we have never brought a person and don’t intend to bring anyone into God’s house. Are we living unto ourselves? Are we really seventh day Adventists?
True observance of the Sabbath is what brings the latter rain
After talking about the Sabbath and how it should be rightly observed, Isaiah 58:8,11 says:
“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.v11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones”
God says when his people rightly observe the Sabbath, that means when they learn how to rest in Him, that’s when their light is going to shine forth. That’s when the glory of God is to be seen upon the earth. That’s when we go forth and preach the Sabbath more fully. That’s when the world is going to realize that Sabbath is not just about a day, it’s about the government of God. The entire gospel is summed up in that one commandment which says rest in me.
Those who disregard the Sabbath will not enter through the gates
Nehemiah 13: 18,19 “yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut”
It says that there were people who came to the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day and they shut the gates of Jerusalem becasue no one who disregarded the Sabbath would enter in. That is a foreshadow of the kingdom of heaven.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Those who refuse to Sabbath now will not be able to Sabbath then!
Finally, the third angel message says this :
Revelation 14:11 and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Why don’t they have rest? Because they have refused to rest in Christ. They refused to rest in his commandment and now they will never have rest.