Dear Friends,
Greetings in Christ!
This week we will examine a couple of specific verses from the lecture that Jesus gave to the religious leaders who challenged his authority concerning the sabbath. Father, give us understanding as we unpack your word. Give us discernment, that we might rightly divide the word of truth. Give us pure hearts that retain your word. Give us sharp minds that apply your word judiciously in all matters of faith and practice, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
……But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
John 5:17
A certain scribe was copying a scroll. He came to a passage that said, ‘Any man who has a beard longer than 12 inches is a fool’. So, he measured his beard and found it to be 12.5” long. On his desk next to his inkhorn, a candle was burning. He thought to himself, I’ll singe an inch off of my beard, just to be safe, but when he held the candle to his beard, the entire beard quickly went up in flames. After he cleaned himself up and went back to his task of transcribing, he made a notation next to the passage that said, ‘Tested and found to be true’. I tell this story because it reminds me of those to whom Jesus is speaking in our text above. Although they professed themselves to be wise, they were, in fact, fools. (Matt 23:17, 19)
The Bible says that in the last days, evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. This verse could be applied to many in the secular world, as well as those in the realm of religion. In both cases, in order for their schemes to work, they need a complex code that only they understand. That way, they can easily manipulate their followers. This is manifesting in spades with the new world order’s COVID hoax and the ‘vaccines’. The false positives from the PCR test are too complicated for most people to understand, not to mention the other aspects of the plandemic. Therefore people are easily manipulated by new world order acolytes like Fauci and Gates. If you are in any way considering taking a COVID ‘vaccine’, and especially if you have friends or relatives that are older, watch this (language warning) and this:
These videos are far more imortant than anything else I will say in this week’s notes, except for the invitation at the end. For the remainder of this week’s notes, we will talk about the religious aspects of this principle. For example, the scribes and the Pharisees, along with the Sadducees, used their Talmudic code in this respect. The common people did not understand it so they put their trust in the religious aristocracy to tell them how God’s word should be interpreted. If they said anyone who follows the Rabbi from Galilee needs to be disenfranchised from the commonwealth of Israel, the people believed it. At one time, the Catholic Church used Latin in the same way. Since the Bible was written in Latin and only the priests understood Latin, the common people likewise put their trust in the religious aristocracy to tell them what God’s word said. If they said good Catholics could reduce their time in purgatory by bringing wood to help burn heretics at the stake, the people believed it. If you follow the trends in contemporary Christianity, you may have noticed that things are moving back in that direction, ie towards the old priestcraft where the common people need a cleric to tell them what God’s word says. For generations now, in Protestant pulpits across America, pastors have repeated the phrase ‘in the original Greek…’ to correct the Bible, the implication being that the common people can’t understand the Bible because they don’t understand Greek. In most cases, the pastors who use this phrase don’t understand Greek either. They simply read definitions for Greek words in English out of a Greek dictionary like Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. If the ‘original Greek’ was the key to understanding the Bible, the Greek Orthodox Church (which uses Textus Receptus) would be the most Spirit-filled church on earth. However, it is, in fact, one of the deadest. The key to understanding the Bible, whatever version or whatever language you are reading it in, is the Holy Spirit. (John 16:13; 1 John 2:27) As Christians we are to let the Bible correct us, not vice versa.
With respect to our text above, John 5:17, even today, people who are not well versed in God’s word can fall prey to religious deceivers who use the sabbath to bully them into subjection. Genesis 2:3 says 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. Therefore, on the sixth day, the work of creation was complete. Everything that has followed since the seventh day has been part of the natural processes that God set in motion, or the result of divine intervention using the existing materials that were created during the first six days. For example, after Adam sinned, God cursed the ground, and thorns and thistles grew. (Gen 3:17f) According to Warren Wiersbe, God would have never had to work again on the sabbath if Adam had not sinned. Now, however, He has lots of sheep that get stuck in ditches on the sabbath and He needs to work to pull them out. If that is the case, then I am one of those sheep. I believe the point Jesus is making is that there are times when it would be a greater burden not to work on the sabbath than to work; we are allowed to use our own discretion. (Rom 14:5; Col 2:16)
Those who use the sabbath day to bully people do this in two different ways. First, by saying we cannot work on the sabbath. However, those who think they keep the sabbath are only fooling themselves. According to the Law, it is forbidden to kindle a fire on the sabbath. (Ex 35:3) Yet those who profess to keep the sabbath have no problem using their oven, their heater, or riding in a car or bus. Every time a piston in their vehicle fires they are kindling a fire. The second way they use the sabbath to bully people is by saying it is a sin to meet on Sunday instead of on the sabbath. In the early church, they met on the first day of the week (Sunday), not the sabbath (Saturday). (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2) They claim it was the Catholic Church that changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. Apparently, they never read Acts 20:7 or 1 Corinthians 16:2. They claim that if you worship on Sunday you are worshiping the sun because that day of the week was named after the sun, sun-day. What they don’t tell you, however, is that Saturday was named after Saturn, satur[n]-day. Christians started worshiping on Sunday simply because that is the day Jesus rose from the dead. On Saturday He was still in the grave. The bottom line is that these people are trying to earn their salvation by keeping the Law. That is not Christianity. That is religion and it’s an insult to God. Imagine if someone gave you a mansion and a yacht as tax-free gifts. They told you these gifts were all yours, simply because they love you. How do you think they would feel if you gave them a penny and said, ‘Now I’ve earned your gift’. When we attempt to add our dead works to what Jesus has done for us on Calvary that is exactly what we are doing. Everything God gives us is good, including the sabbath. I have always tried to take a day off every week and to keep it holy, but not in order to keep a legal code. I do it simply because God said to (and also because I like a day off). I understand that it does not count in any way toward ‘earning’ my salvation. I understand that I am under the new covenant of grace. If it’s too much of a burden for some reason, I work on the sabbath. I understand that under grace, we can do that. Thankfully, doctors, firefighters, and the police understand this too.
In closing, religion is man’s attempt to reach God. Christianity is God’s plan to reach man. In religion, man does the work. In Christianity, Jesus does the work. In fact, it’s already done. (John 19:30) All Jesus asks is that we believe it and receive salvation as a free gift. (Rom 5:15-18)
……Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John 5:24
To receive the free gift, pray the following prayer:
Father in heaven, I realize I am a sinner. Thank You for sending your Son to die for me. Lord Jesus, thank You for the precious blood you shed for me on Calvary. Please come into my heart, I receive You as my personal Saviour. Lord, I repent of my sins and ask you to take control of every area of my life. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prophecy Update: Dr Vernon Coleman gives his opinion on what is coming next.
