Program 47: Honoring the Lord of the Sabbath

Honoring the Lord of the Sabbath

Lord of the Sabbath
Program #47
Honoring the Lord of the Sabbath
Kenny Kitzke
LawstSheep Ministries

Welcome, brethren, to a very special Lord of the Sabbath broadcast!  I was once asked how someone could best honor our Lord?  Well, one good way is to hear and obey Him.  So, by keeping the day holy that He said was made for us, I feel certain that would honor the Lord of the Sabbath.  Wouldn’t you agree?

Last week, I interviewed two men from North Carolina who have turned to honoring Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath.  They are now keeping the days holy which He said were made for them.  Praise God for the Truth that has been revealed to them, for their honorable worship and for their respectful obedience to the LORD!

Both these men, as well as myself, were for much of our lives keepers of holidays, or festival days, established under the authority of what is now called the Roman Catholic Church.  This includes Sunday, Easter and Christmas each year.  These holidays have also been adopted by most Protestant Churches as proper and honorable for worship before the LORD.

This radio series delves into both scripture and history in search of the Truth concerning the holy days established by God Himself for worship.  When are the Feasts that He proclaimed to be holy and set apart appointments for the assembly of the people of God for worship before Him?  What were these Feasts of the LORD supposed to teach us about His Plan of Salvation and Judgment for Israelites, for Christians and for Gentiles?

Through this 52-week program, from the weekly radio broadcasts and the Internet text distribution, I have met new “Sabbatarians” around the world who also honor the Lord of the Sabbath with both their words and their deeds.  This program is dedicated to them. 

A good number of old and new friends in Christ have even made donations to LawstSheep Ministries to allow for a wider dissemination of this series on additional radio stations or by CD’S, DVD’s, MP3 audio files on the Internet or even by podcasts.

I can mention only a few of these dear people.  By expressing my thanks to them publicly as an example I hope that all who have been edified by the series and have offered suggestions, support and encouragement to me know that I am just as grateful to them.

I will start with Brother Joe, one of the earliest responders to the first year broadcast of the Lord of the Sabbath series in Pittsburgh.  As a long-time Sabbath-keeper he was excited to hear a radio program each Saturday dedicated to acknowledging Jesus as its Lord.  Joe called the radio station and they gave him my contact information.  It turns out that Joe lives in my neighborhood though we never knew one another.  We have become friends in Christ.  We have kept His Sabbaths together in worship.  We visit each others homes to share meals and brotherly fellowship.

Joe is very adept in doing good for others on the Sabbath.  While he ceases from his normal vocation on that day, he is often found working to help the lost, and the least of Christ’s brothers.  May God bless Joe for his heart of love for God; and for his neighbor.

Another early responder to the Pittsburgh broadcast was Sister Charlene.  Charlene and her husband are practicing Roman Catholics.  Through Bible study, they came to an understanding that the seventh-day of the week, and not the first day, is the Lord’s day.

If I were to give a “My Favorite Program Fan” award, I would have to give it to Charlene.  She is full of the Holy Spirit of God and is always uplifting to others.  She knows the scriptures better than I do.  We have spent countless hours on the phone.  One Sabbath when the station missed keying up the program, Charlene was over them like a plague.

The most impressive aspect to me about Charlene is how this Sunday-keeper has put her new knowledge into worship action both on the weekly and the annual Sabbaths of the LORD.  She and her husband are assembling with a Messianic Jewish congregation on the Sabbath.  She does not celebrate Christmas as a holy day. 

For the Day of Atonement, Charlene invited me and my wife to her home.  It was on the LORD’S appointed day determined by sighting the crescent moon which was two days later than on the calculated Jewish calendar.  After our study and prayer, we ended our fast at a favorite restaurant.  We had such a wonderful time breaking bread and drinking wine, that we were the last customers to leave the restaurant.  I thank God for the pleasure of meeting Charlene and how she shares her love for the Lord of the Sabbath with me.  May our Father bless her richly for trusting the Passover Lamb of God and I hope to keep the Passover Feast with her in the future.

Another person I must mention is a long-time business friend and former CEO-client of a world-class Pittsburgh company.  After his retirement, Brother Tom moved to South Carolina.  When he found out I was on Christian radio in Pittsburgh, he asked me to send him tapes.  I didn’t want to turn him down, but I also didn’t want to make or sell tapes.

It was because of Brother Tom that I first realized that I could easily send via the Internet the script text that I use in recording the program teaching.  I am not talented enough to preach without notes.  Here is what Tom said after reading the first script, “Ken, thanks for sending this.  I enjoyed reading it and gained from doing so. You had your audience engaged and thinking, and looking forward to future weeks' lessons. Keep them coming!”

That simple idea from Tom has blossomed to where friends all over the world who cannot hear the radio broadcasts can at least read the teachings.  I thank God for not only a ten-year successful consulting effort with Brother Tom, but for his interest in the Lord of the Sabbath series.  He is the only person I know that says he has read the text of every program!.  May God bless Brother Tom.

Now, brethren half-way around the world, whom I have never met, receive the Lord of the Sabbath program via the Internet.  One is Brother David in Kampala, Uganda, East Africa.  David leads an orphanage for children who have lost their parents, mostly to AIDS.  He is an amazing man of God filled with love and compassion for these lovely kids who were lost and alone but now have been found in the hearts of men like David.  He wrote this to me, “Thank you very much for the incredible work of God you carry forward as testimony for our Lord.” 

Another far-away new friend is Sister Rosemary in New Zealand.  She and her husband have no one to fellowship with on the Sabbath.  She has told me about her son with two young daughters who has contracted muscular sclerosis becoming an invalid.  Despite these trials, her faith in the Lord of the Sabbath pulls her through.  She and her husband have their own web-site for sharing the good news of our Good Shepherd.  May God continue to strengthen this Sister in the Lord in the southern hemisphere.

Let me return to some new local friends that I have met through the radio series.  They are Brother George and Sister Suzanne.  I mention them together because of their link and devotion to Jews and to Messianic believers.

Brother George has attended our fellowship from time to time for worship on the weekly Sabbath and on Feast days.  He had led his own small fellowship but also attends Messianic services closer to his home.  He wears the tzi-tzi in worship and is studying Hebrew.  He plays an inspired guitar while singing and shouting praises to HaShem.  He would often E-mail me for clarification of my teaching or provide his own view based upon more traditional Jewish understandings.

He wrote the following to me, “Very good Ken, I see Y'shua as Lord of the Shabbat in a new way and have no doubt that the Pharisees understood what He meant when He said that. YHWH bless your work and understanding.”  Brother George has emphysema.  I pray to our Father in the Name of His Son that healing, breath and strength will be upon this Sabbath-keeper.

It is amazing sometimes how people learn about the Lord of the Sabbath program.  Listen to how Sister Suzanne found it as described in her E-mail, “Loved your program today!  I was outside doing my 3 mile walk and heard you on the radio!”

It turns out that Sister Suzanne has one of the most unique ministries I have encountered.  She is involved in missions work in her Sunday-keeping Church.  To whom is her mission?

Suzanne witnesses to orthodox Jews!  And, she has had success in them accepting Jesus as the Messiah and Lord of the Sabbath.  She came to my house for fellowship on the Sabbath to describe her ministerial approach.

Naturally, it is an asset to Suzanne to understand the weekly and annual Sabbaths as fulfilled in Christ when speaking to orthodox rabbis.  She often informs me of areas in my program where the orthodox celebrate the Sabbath, and especially the Feasts of the LORD, quite differently.  Of course they do.  They would keep the Feasts for historic reasons as given in the Law of Moses for physical Israelites.  As Christians, we keep the Feasts of the LORD in a futuristic and spiritual sense to understand how they are fulfilled or applicable to Christ in His first and second coming.  This witness intrigues the rabbis.

Occasionally, I will get an encouraging reply from a long-time Christian Feast keeper.  One such reply was from Brother Danny and his wife Aggie in the Southeastern part of the United States.  They not only have a terrific ministry and web-site of their own, Danny is web-master for a major Sabbatarian ministry.  They have a deep understanding of the Feasts of the LORD.  For these reasons, what they wrote was especially edifying:

“This is one of the best explanations of the Passover and the reasons that we keep it that I have ever read.  I do thank you for it and I hope you don't mind that I have forwarded it to our children (who do not keep the Passover).  I appreciate so much the messages you email every Sabbath.  May God bless your endeavors and your obedience to Him.  You are one of the best writers we have read.  It is your subject matter and your sincerity which impresses us, especially your ability to teach people without turning them off.”

This wonderful couple asked if I would allow them to play my programs each week on their web site.  What a glorious compliment!  Unfortunately, I did not have any digital audio files of the programs at that time.  Since then there were health tragedies in their families and I pray to the LORD that He will provide healing and peace for them.

As is evident even in this brief anthology, seventh-day Sabbath-keepers come in many assorted flavors.  But, all of them know that the Lord’s day of the Bible is the seventh day of the week, not the first day.  It was this day, from creation itself, that the LORD God blessed and sanctified as holy unto Him which Jesus said was made for man.  Jesus Himself said He was Lord of the Sabbath.  He was not Lord of the first day. 

I am grateful for these brethren who honor the Lord of the Sabbath and the day He proclaimed was made for us.  They set the Sabbath apart from their other six days by obedient rest and worship.  Heavenly Father, I pray that you will bless all those who hear your Word and obey your commands. 

Bless those who follow the example of your Son, our Savior, and rest and worship as He did on the proclaimed weekly and annual Sabbaths of the LORD.  Help us to know and observe the specific days of the year that you appointed for your people to worship before you.  Help us to love you, and one another, as we worship and fellowship together in a holy convocation assembly as you commanded. 

Help us to proclaim your Truth in a spirit of love before men and brethren.  Help us to hear the voice of our Good Shepherd, the Lord of the Sabbath, and follow Him as we worship you as sheep in your pasture.  This I pray in the name of your Son and our Savior, Yahshua, also called Jesus and Emmanuel.

If you are one of the few Christians who keep the Sabbaths of the LORD holy, I want to speak directly and sincerely to you.  I ask you to consider a crucial point which I came to realize this year.  Consider each of the Ten Commandments.  Go through them one by one and ask this question, “If you never read a Bible, but believed in some kind of “supreme god-being,” do you think you would agree that each commandment makes sense?”  I would, all except for one: the Fourth Commandment.

How would anyone possibly know except by exposure to the word of God that there were special days each year that the God of the Bible commanded be remembered and kept holy by His people forever?  Do you see the challenge?  Do you feel the challenge?  Will you take the challenge today?  Will you proclaim the truth about the Lord of the Sabbath and the day He said was made for man to the Jew, to the Gentile and to the church of God?

Will you be a witness to a Jew who knows the Sabbath, but not Jesus?  Sister Suzanne is doing just that.  Will you be a witness to a lost Gentile who does not believe in Jesus and thinks that every day is the same?  Brother Danny makes it clear on his web site that Christ is “Our only hope!”  Will you be a witness to believers in Christ who have been deceived about the LORD’S days of rest and worship which Christ kept perfectly? 

Most of us know a family member, a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker or brother-in-Christ who by our personal witness AND by our providing scripture and testimony can be exhorted to find the worship times and ways that God commanded for His people; whether Jew or Gentile.

It breaks my heart when I find sabbatarians who cannot find anyone with whom to hold a holy convocation.  Surely, a rest from labor at home is refreshing.  But, it pales in comparison to the edification that comes from brethren of like mind.  How lonely I feel when there is no one with whom to fellowship on a holy day of the LORD. 

We must seek the Lord of the Sabbath to find Him.  And, we must seek one another to keep the day holy before the LORD.  When there are elderly, ill or handicapped Sabbatarian brethren who cannot gather at a public assembly, can we reach out with a card, a telephone call, an email or an Internet web site to brighten their Sabbath day?

I was thrilled to find a Sister Mary and her family a thousand miles away in Texas happy to fellowship with me by phone on the Day of Atonement.  What a joy it has been to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks called Pentecost with Brother Leo as we took turns to travel 500 miles to one another’s homes.  What a joy it is to hear the excitement in the voices of Sisters Esther and Judy when I telephone them who, even though in the area, are not able to leave home for fellowship.  And, what a blessing to talk with Sister Collette in West Virginia who is blind and widowed.  She was thrilled to be able to drive to Michigan with me to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  

Brethren, such caring for other Sabbath keepers is more than a kind idea.  It is a scriptural command.  In Hebrews 10: 25 we find the concept clearly stated for those who once had the Sabbath but now had found the Lord of the Sabbath.  Were they then excused from keeping the Sabbaths of the LORD?  Were God’s holy days no longer of importance?  Consider these wonderful words for those who have Jesus as their High Priest over the house of God:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  And, let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.

In earlier programs I expounded on what the “assembling together” refers to in the Greek language.  It means the formally proclaimed and called assemblies before the LORD at His appointed holy day Sabbaths whether in a home or in a synagogue.

Are you considering one another and stirring up love and good works among your brethren each Sabbath day?  Are you exhorting one another to proclaim the Sabbaths of the LORD and so much more as you see the Day approaching?  The “day” with a capital “D” refers to the Day of the Lord.  This Day starts when Jesus will return with His bride, the church, as King of kings and Lord of lords and reign for a 1,000 years from Jerusalem, the City of God.  We Sabbath keepers do need one another as that Day approaches.

Allow me to speak frankly.  The events in the world, especially concerning Jerusalem, suggest to me that the end of the age is at hand.  That Day is soon approaching.  We must strive so much more for that assembly with one another.  It is the will of God for us.

While there are many different prophetic scenarios, including among Sabbatarians, this is one that I dread.  I fear that the revived Holy Roman Empire, dominant both politically and religiously, will once again turn against Jerusalem, Israel and all Sabbath-keepers.  I believe that the beasts of Revelation will rule and demand that Sunday, not the Sabbath, be kept holy by the whole world or be unable to buy or sell.  Those who will not follow them will suffer the persecution and even imprisonment and death that the civil and military rulers will carry out on “heretics” in the name of their man-made Church decrees.

Why do I even think that?  Consider the signs of the times.  Look at what the leader of the Church of Rome, the largest Christian Church, is doing right before our eyes.  Recall that the late, immensely popular, Pope John-Paul published in May 1998 his pastoral letter, Dies Domini, meaning the “Day of the Lord.”  Is there any doubt that this letter is equating Sunday with the Biblical Sabbath?

Are you aware of the late Pope’s call to Catholics to use their influence in legalizing Sunday observance as was the case for many years in America with its Blue Laws fostering prohibitions and penalties for work on Sunday?  In the year 2000, the late Pope addressed some 15,000 public officials from around the world insisting that political leaders must conform civil laws to God’s objective moral law.  In Catholic Canon Law, attendance at Sunday mass is a grave obligation.  Non-attendance is sinful and immoral.

Have you noticed Pope Benedict visiting with the Church of the East in Istanbul, Turkey to repair the age-old breech and bring unity in the Church of Christ?  Are you aware of the ecumenical efforts with the Protestant Churches?  Have you even seen Pope Benedict courting Islam and Judaism to bring about a shared religious commitment to peace in the world in the name of a universal god?

Can there be any doubt that the Pope is aware of the decline in not only Sunday mass attendance but in the rejection of its authority within the Roman Catholic Church itself in such facets of religious life as celibacy, birth control, sainthood and its various sacraments.

If, as a Sabbath keeper, you feel isolated or ridiculed now in Christianity, I suspect it will continue to get worse until the Lord of the Sabbath returns to rule with a rod of iron and return the people of the world to God and His true holy days.

What can you do to help those who have been deceived by religious men about Sunday, Easter, Christmas, Halloween, etc.?  How can you help them learn the Truth about the worship that the Father seeks?  In a loving way, you must show by example and by scripture what the Bible proclaims.  Some say, well Brother Kenny, I agree with your understandings but I don’t have the knowledge or the gift of teaching to do that myself.

I understand and can accept that.  But, there are things that you can do that will help spread the Truth of the Lord and allow those with ears to hear to find Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath.  For example, those of you who are able to hear the radio broadcast of the Lord of the Sabbath, can simply recommend it to other Sabbath or Sunday Christians as a program that you enjoy listening to each week.  Ask them to listen and tell you what they think.  I have seen one small seed sprout a hunger for finding the Truth.

Thank God for Pastor John and Elder Ed in Albuquerque who promote the program and welcome listeners to their fellowship and worship.  And, how can you say enough about Pastor Bill in Omaha whose congregation will actually support the broadcast for the year financially.  Praise the Lord of the Sabbath for these Sabbatarians!

And, for those of you who get the email scripts each week, especially one that personally edifies you, you can simply forward it to a friend who you think might also learn from it.  Anyone who wants to be on the weekly distribution list can be easily added.  Please stir up interest and share the Truth.

Soon, the Lord of the Sabbath scripts will be on a CD and those with Internet access will be able to get the script and hear the audio file of the radio broadcast from anywhere in the world.  Any help you can provide in distributing this Program devoted to confessing Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath will bring glory to the Father as we read in Phil. 2: 11:

…every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.

Jesus only said He was the Lord of one thing: the Sabbath.  Make Him your Lord by keeping the day He made for you to the glory of the Father.  Don’t just call Him Lord but do the will of the Father in your worship.  Thank you all.  Amen.