Dd-28. ARE THE SABBATH KEEPER RIGHT? Part 1
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I was wrong to not TRULY listen to my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, who are Saturday, the seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians. For you see, every Christian has the RIGHT to hear both sides of a controversy over church doctrine. So, Sabbath keeping Christians are right, in that, they have the RIGHT to have ALL of their questions answered with God's INTENDED answers.
Most all of my readers and seekers of the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of God know that I always teach you to search the word of God out for YOURSELF letting the Holy Spirit lead and guide you into all truth. And I also teach you, my readers, who are truly seeking the truth, that at times we must lay aside what we have been previously taught in order to TRULY listen to what the other side is saying. So, I apologize to my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, who are the seventh day Sabbath-keeping Christians for not truly listening to HEAR what you were saying.
Let us begin again to see if what I am hearing from you is accurate in the way that YOU yourself as a Seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christian understands the Bible. First of ALL, we all agree that the Holy Bible is the word of TRUTH. And we all agree that the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, is our teacher, and that we do NOT NEED to have ANY man teach us. And we agree that the Holy Spirit will NOT teach us anything that CONTRADICTS the word of Almighty God. Therefore, one of us is teaching doctrines of devils, because we are teaching the exact opposite. And I know that no Christian wants to be deceived to teach doctrines of devils.
So then, I teach my readers to listen to the Holy Spirit as you read and study the Bible. Now, this does NOT mean that men of God cannot teach us SOUND BIBLICAL doctrine based upon the WHOLE word of Almighty God. But rather, it means that when we disagree on a church doctrine that we can ALWAYS depend on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all truth WHEN we are TRULY seeking to only know HIS truth.
So just because a MAN is teaching you does NOT always mean that he or she is teaching you false doctrine. And this works BOTH ways. In other words, do not fully trust and follow everything a person teaches you without searching the Scriptures for yourself, because all of what they teach you may not be sound Biblical teaching. To say this another way, not all of what Sunday worshiping Christians teach is false teaching and not all of what Saturday, the seventh day of the week, Sabbath keeping Christians teach is false teaching. But rather, there is a little truth and a little error on BOTH sides. So, let us all learn what these errors of interpretation are so that we can throw them out so only the TRUTH remains and we all speak the SAME thing, AMEN!
Please read 1 John 2:27.
“But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you NEED not that ANY man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of ALL things, and is TRUTH, and is no lie, and even as it (Or even as He, speaking of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us) has taught you, you shall abide in him.”
Or you shall REMAIN in what the Holy Spirit teaches you. But HOW do we know for SURE that what we believe is what the Holy Spirit Himself teaches? What the Holy Spirit teaches will NEVER contradict ANY Scriptures when they are correctly interpreted in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And thus, it is YOUR responsibility to search the Scriptures to see if you are being taught the truth of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
Also, most of my readers know that I implore you to always consider the WHOLE matter BEFORE you judge any matter lest you be found to be a fool and have shame.
Please read Proverbs 18:12,13.
“Before destruction the heart of man is HAUGHTY, (Or before man falls flat on his face so to speak his heart is full of pride, arrogance, and is boastful, saying I am right and you are wrong and either one or both sides are NOT willing to TRULY listen to the OTHER side of the controversy) and before honor is HUMILITY. (Part of being humble is to TRULY listen to do your best to understand WHY other Christians believe what they believe. AND then, humble ourselves even more to TRUTHFULLY examine our own beliefs in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of God)
13. He that answers a matter BEFORE he HEARS it, it is folly and shame unto him.”
And this was me when a dear brother in the Lord wrote to me asking a question, which I answered before or without TRULY understanding WHY he was asking that question. In other words, some Christians ask what I call “bait and switch questions” in order to try and prove that they are right and you are wrong. Had I listened to the Holy Spirit, I would have taken the TIME to answer him differently.
Anyway, he wrote back accusing me of being a false teacher. And then he proceeded to try and straighten me out, so to speak.
I wrote back and said that I have heard all this before and that I have already searched these matters in-depth looking up all the verses he gave to me to read. I did read them in their context thinking to myself that I really do not have the time right now to re-explain what I have already written in-depth in the studies I have written on this subject. So after I sent the reply email I felt bad for thinking those things and I waited for his reply.
He wrote back again with even more Scripture. So this time I answered each point he made knowing that I have already covered all those same points in the studies I have written on this subject. Then my eyes were opened to see the stumbling block that was hindering this brother's view from seeing the truth of the whole word of God. He was getting angry or frustrated at me as to why I could not see what HE was saying and I was getting a little frustrated at him for not believing the SIMPLICITY of God's word.
So this study is an apology for MY not truly listening to some of my readers, who write to me trying to straighten me out on what I teach calling me a false teacher.
Now Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews that all he was trying to do was to teach his brothers and sisters or fellow Jews the TRUTH and they wanted to KILL him just for teaching them the TRUTH.
So Jesus needed to find some COMMON ground upon which the Jews would AGREE was the TRUTH.
Before we get started by establishing what we AGREE upon, let me make it perfectly clear to all my readers that I am NOT yelling when I emphasize words in the Bible studies I write. We all emphasize words when we speak words out of our mouth. We use hand gestures. We use facial expressions. We use body language. We use all these things WITHOUT yelling. I emphasize words when I study the Bible and this has become my style of writing, because I want YOU to see what God has shown me reading and studying His word of truth.
So again, before we actually begin this study in God's word let us find that COMMON ground upon which we ALL can agree 100% without any disagreement.
So to do this I am going to ask several very simple questions that require only a yes or no answer and I am pretty sure that all the answers will be a YES by 100% of my Saturday seventh day of the week Sabbath keeping brothers and sisters in the Lord!
Let us begin by AGREEING on what we ALL know to be the TRUTH.
Question #1.
Do you believe that the Holy Bible is the word of TRUTH?
Please read 2 Peter 1:21 and 2 Timothy 3:16.
YES_______
NO________
Question #2.
Do you believe and understand that the Bible is divided into TWO parts having an Old Testament AND New Testament?
Please open any Bible and see for yourself.
YES_______
NO________
Question #3.
Do you believe and understand that God made TWO covenants with the children of Israel and that God Himself NEVER breaks ANY of His COVENANTS?
Please read Exodus 31:16 and Jeremiah 31:31.
YES_______
NO________
Questions #4.
Do you believe and understand that the WORDS of the FIRST covenant that God made with the children of Israel were the TEN commandments?
Please read Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 4:13.
YES_______
NO________
Question #5.
Do you believe that and understand that the TEN commandments were placed INSIDE the ark of the COVENANT and the handwriting of the ORDINANCES was placed on the OUTSIDE of the ark in the SIDE of the ark and NOT INSIDE the ark WITH the TEN commandments?
Please read Deuteronomy 10:5 and Deuteronomy 31:26.
YES_______
NO________
So then, do we ALL AGREE that YES is the only true SOUND Biblical answer to these first five questions?
YES_______
NO________
Good! I am pleased to see that we all AGREE on these first five sound Biblical truths.
Now let us CONSIDER the WHOLE matter!
Please read Ecclesiastes 12:13.
“Let us hear the CONCLUSION of the WHOLE matter: Fear God, and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS: for this is the WHOLE DUTY of man.”
So then, the WHOLE DUTY of man is to KEEP the COMMANDMENTS of Almighty God. But the HEART of the issue that is causing the CONTROVERSY between the seventh DAY of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians and the Sunday worshiping Christians is “WHICH COMMANDMENTS must Christians keep in order to receive eternal life in the world to come?” Must Christians keep the Law of Moses under the Old Covenant lest they sin? Or must Christians keep the commandment that Yahweh put in the mouth of Jesus to give to the church under the New Covenant written in the New Testament? Let us continue to find the sound Biblical answer to this controversy as to which covenant is the WHOLE DUTY of man by asking some more questions.
Question #6.
Now is God a MAN that he should LIE?
Please read Numbers 23:19 and Hebrews 6:18.
YES_______
NO________
Again, we ALL agree thus far on all six of the above points in the questions that I asked. But yet, there is STILL a BIG disagreement or huge controversy between Saturday seventh day of the week Sabbath keeping Christians and Sunday keeping Christians, or more precisely all other Christians, who do NOT keep the SEVENTH DAY WEEKLY Sabbath day to REST from all physical work and labor on the SEVENTH day. So then, HOW do we all come into UNITY of faith where we all speak the SAME thing?
After all, is not this Almighty God's WILL for us to dwell together in UNITY? Is it not God’s perfect will that we all believe and teach the SAME sound Biblical truths? None of us want to disobey God's WILL. And for us NOT believing His truth to walk in unity to believe and teach the SAME things, then we are not truly submitting to His WILL for us.
Please read Ephesians 4:1-16.
“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called,
2. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3. Endeavoring to KEEP the UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (ALL of God's word points to His ONE COMMANDMENT for us to KEEP. And it is our DUTY to keep this ONE commandment of ALMIGHTY God our Creator, which is to believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. God’s WHOLE word points to Jesus. God's WILL is His ONE commandment for us to KEEP as our DUTY or our OBLIGATION. In other words, if we want to receive eternal life in the world to come, then we must OBEY the commandments of Jesus written in the New Testament. For you see, if the Old Covenant was meant to save us, then there would have been no need for God to give us His NEW Covenant.
However, there is a difference of OPINION among Christians as to WHAT the WILL of God is. Stay with me and it will be shown to you DIRECTLY from God's word exactly what God's WILL is for us)
4. There is ONE body, (Or ONE church and many members of the ONE body of Jesus Christ. So again, one of the things, that is God's WILL or one of His COMMANDMENTS is for us to be ONE in agreement to dwell together in UNITY and that we all believe and teach the SAME things) and ONE Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling;
5. One Lord, ONE FAITH, one baptism, (We all serve the same one true God. And thus, there should be only ONE FAITH that is common to us all where there are no divisions among us. So let us LEARN from God's Holy Spirit and God's word of TRUTH what this ONE FAITH is on this particular teaching on keeping the FOURTH commandment)
6. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7. But unto EVERY ONE of us one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8. Wherefore, he says, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things)
11. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; (WHY? Why did Jesus give GIFTS to Christian MEN and WOMEN to edify his church? Why did Jesus give Christians different GIFTS where some are pastors, some are teachers, others are prophets, and some go out into the world to evangelize in order to start new fellowships or churches in other places to spread the gospel?)
12. FOR the PERFECTING of the saints, for the work of the ministry, FOR the EDIFYING of the BODY of Christ:
13. TIL we ALL come in the UNITY of the FAITH, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
14. THAT (Or SO THAT) we henceforth be NO MORE children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to DECEIVE;
15. But (Or but rather that we, who ALL are obeying our call to be in UNITY or in agreement) speaking the TRUTH in LOVE, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16. From whom the WHOLE body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the EDIFYING of itself in LOVE.”
Now, I do not believe that any true born-again Spirit filled Christian sets out to deliberately DECEIVE other Christians. But rather, they themselves first become deceived unknowingly to believe a doctrine of devils which they sincerely believe is the “truth”. And if we are honest with God and with ourselves, then we will admit that we all have been deceived by at least one false doctrine of devils at some point in our life.
But God does not want us to be deceived by ANY false teaching so that we all believe and teach the SAME things in every doctrine we teach.
Please read 1 Corinthians 1:10.
“Now I BESEECH you (Or I beg of you or I implore you), brethren, by the NAME of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you ALL speak the SAME THING, and that there be NO divisions among you; but that you be PERFECTLY joined together in the SAME MIND and in the SAME JUDGMENT.”
In truth, there should only be ONE church denomination.
Please read Psalm 133:1.
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in UNITY!”
So then, if we ALL AGREE to endeavor to come into the UNITY of the faith where we all speak the SAME thing, then we must lay ASIDE for a moment ALL of what we have been taught on the SUBJECT or doctrine upon which we DISAGREE. We all must accept the possibility that we that we COULD be WRONG. Why should we all be open to possibly being wrong? So that we can read and study God's word of truth with fresh eyes to TRULY understand what the other side in teaching. We all need to allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all truth, His truth, and NOT what we INTERPRET the word of God to mean in our own understanding. For you see, when we are haughty, always thinking that we are right and everyone else is wrong, then we will read into the Scripture our own personal interpretation in order to try and support what our own church denomination has taught us.
Jesus not only warned us to take heed to what we hear but also to take heed HOW we hear. So if you hear or read the Bible teachings of others with the ATTITUDE of, “Oh I have heard all that before”, or with the attitude that you only are right and you are going to straighten everyone else out, then you are NOT truly listening to a word your fellow brothers and sisters are ENDEAVORING to teach you.
Now, it may be that you are the one who has the truth, but you are NOT listening to WHY they teach what they teach to understand HOW they are blinded to the truth. Or, it might be that THEY have the truth and you are not TRULY listening to their arguments of why you are in error in your interpretation of the Scriptures.
And again, I have been guilty of doing this myself, but when I did indeed truly LISTEN to what my seventh DAY of the week Sabbath keeping brothers and sisters in the Lord were saying, then the Holy Spirit revealed things to me that were hindering them from seeing the truth of the whole word of God.
Now again, WHAT they are endeavoring to teach you MAY or may NOT be sound Biblical teaching. BUT there may be something that YOU yourself may not be seeing that will help you to come into more UNITY of faith with them. Let me say this another way, at those times when we TRULY listen to what others have to say, those are the times when we hear from God's Holy Spirit saying to us, “There it is! Did you hear what they just said? There is the problem hindering you from seeing the truth!” And then, that is when we understand WHY they are not seeing the SAME thing which the Holy Spirit has shown you to be the truth!
Let me say this one more time so you understand what I am saying to you. When we TRULY lay aside what we have previously come to believe in order to TRULY LISTEN to the other side of the controversy, then that is when we can hear what the Holy Spirit is teaching. We LISTEN so that we can truly HEAR from God as to WHY or WHAT that stumbling block is, which is causing blindness from the truth to either them OR blindness from the truth to us. Or perhaps it is a little blindness to BOTH sides. But it is at those times of truly listening to UNDERSTAND, which is when the Holy Spirit will open our eyes of our understanding.
So then, if you trust the Holy Spirit over what you have PREVIOUSLY been taught by your church denomination KNOWING that God is NOT a man that He should lie, then you have no worries or fear. For you see, if what you have been taught in the past by your church denomination is indeed the 100% SOUND Biblical TRUTH of the WHOLE word of God, then by merely TRUSTING God's WORD of truth and His Holy Spirit will NOT change a thing in what you have been taught to believe by your church denomination by man.
In other words, you have NOTHING to lose and EVERYTHING to gain by searching the word of truth for YOURSELF to see if what you have been taught in the past is the truth of the WHOLE word of God. For you see, if so be that what you have been taught in the past by your church denomination is indeed false teaching and NOT sound Biblical teaching, then you will see for yourself the correction from God's word of truth. It is the Holy Spirit Himself who is correcting the errors of interpretation made by your church denomination in what they have taught you to believe when a Christian has been deceived by false teaching.
So then, here is question #7.
Are you willing to take the next step to dig into the word of Almighty God to have the Holy Spirit reveal His TRUTH to you directly from the Scriptures?
YES_______
NO________
If the answer is yes, then please click on part 2 of this series of studies called Dd-29 WHICH COVENANT SHOULD WE OBEY?
Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to read ALL the studies that I gave links to throughout this study concerning this subject on Sabbath TRUTH.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
To learn more TRUTH, then please return to
AMatterOfTruth.com
If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me.
My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail .com.
Some Sabbath-keeping Christians CLAIM that the early church kept the Sabbath as the Jews, but I assure you that the early first-century church was accustomed to gathering together BEFORE the light of daybreak on the FIRST day of the week that THEY called the Lord's day.
Please read all the studies linked within this study and all the studies linked below. This study was just the TIP of the iceberg of exposing the ERRORS of interpretation made by the Saturday seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping churches, and the Sunday first day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians. All of the studies listed under the subject heading >>>Dd-0. What is the TRUE Sabbath?<<< And also read Dd-20. Did The Early Church KEEP the Sabbath day to learn the truth of what the early church believed.
Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.
Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
RETURN to HOMEPAGE at
AMatterOfTruth.com
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Always be faithful to share, to preach, and to teach the whole gospel of Jesus Christ!
