The New Testament Church & the Sabbath Question
Source URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e4CneczRGQ
Video ID: 1e4CneczRGQ
YouTube upload date: 2023-12-09
Video duration: 01:53:43
Transcription: Faster-Whisper small.en (automatic; timestamped)
Note: Automatic transcription; review against the audio before quotation or publication.

[00:00:00] Now, why am I going to address this again?
[00:00:03] Because it seems there's a lot of people out there that have heaped to themselves many teachers.
[00:00:11] But there's little understanding, it seems, about true New Testament order, New Testament leadership,
[00:00:18] and even how the church itself should function as a New Testament church.
[00:00:25] So this morning we're going to look at that, and we're going to start this morning.
[00:00:28] And then we're going to go to 2 Timothy chapter 4, is where we're going to start first.
[00:00:33] Now, I have very few slides this morning for PowerPoint, so Kevin's just going to put the scriptures up.
[00:00:39] But if you have your Bibles, please turn to the passages, because today is a teaching,
[00:00:45] and we're going to cover a lot of scripture.
[00:00:49] So 2 Timothy, I guess I ought to get there, huh?
[00:00:59] 2 Timothy chapter 4.
[00:01:01] Now, this ought to be familiar to many people, but again, I feel it's important to read it.
[00:01:06] So starting at verse 1, now let's remember the Apostle Paul, who stood in all fivefold ministry offices.
[00:01:16] He was an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor, and a teacher,
[00:01:22] was addressing this to the young man that he was training and had laid hands upon
[00:01:29] and ordained to the fivefold ministry to be a pastor, okay?
[00:01:34] So this is leader to leaders here, and we're going to address the subject of, does the church have leadership?
[00:01:42] We've got a bunch of people out there that thinks if two or three people meet together in the home, that that's the church.
[00:01:46] No, that's fellowship.
[00:01:51] A church has God called leadership.
[00:01:54] Now, I know a lot of people think that's a dirty word today.
[00:01:58] But as you're going to see, God has established an order of how the church of Jesus Christ, the New Testament church, is supposed to operate.
[00:02:07] There's a fivefold ministry, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers,
[00:02:13] that are assisted by elders and deacons, and I'm going to address all that.
[00:02:21] And this morning, I think we're going to make it clear how a New Testament church is supposed to operate,
[00:02:25] and we're going to answer the question, should a church meet on Sunday or Saturday?
[00:02:29] Because I'm sick and tired of this nonsense that I keep hearing.
[00:02:33] In fact, there was a brother, one of the things I saw even this past couple of days,
[00:02:39] a brother I don't even know, took an excerpt of one of my sermons about scientism
[00:02:44] and exposing the whole heliocentric lie and all that stuff, and he took a little excerpt out,
[00:02:54] and he posted it, and of course, he's getting a bunch of views,
[00:02:58] and I'm finding people taking excerpts of the sermons from our church here
[00:03:02] and getting thousands and thousands of views on just little clips.
[00:03:06] But he had a clip he pulled out, and I just happened to scroll down to the comments,
[00:03:11] and the comment said, well, this guy, this pastor, this preacher,
[00:03:15] he's a hypocrite because he doesn't keep the Sabbath.
[00:03:18] I thought, okay, y'all wouldn't believe how many comments, questions,
[00:03:24] and how much mean negativity I get over this subject,
[00:03:27] but I'm going to deal with it thoroughly from the Scriptures this morning
[00:03:33] about how a New Testament church should operate.
[00:03:36] I'm going to read these passages, and you can accept them or reject them, but it's Bible.
[00:03:42] And right now, there's a lot of people out there, there's tens of thousands of teachers.
[00:03:48] Well, you can go on the Internet, you can go on the radio, and you can find them.
[00:03:53] You can go on TV and radio, you can find thousands and thousands and thousands of teachers,
[00:03:57] but that does not mean that they are true leaders of the church.
[00:04:01] Some of them, some of the well-known ones in the Internet land,
[00:04:05] admit that they are not called to church leadership.
[00:04:08] They admit that they are not called to be pastors or teachers
[00:04:13] or evangelists or prophets or apostles,
[00:04:15] and so the popular term is they're watchmen now.
[00:04:20] But folks, let me tell you something.
[00:04:22] If you follow all these teachers out there, you're going to be deceived
[00:04:25] if you don't stick to the Word of God
[00:04:27] and if you don't stick to what the Bible says about New Testament church,
[00:04:32] New Testament leadership, and how the New Testament church is supposed to function.
[00:04:37] I mean, we've got all this confusion out there and false teaching,
[00:04:42] but this is what Jesus said through, you know, Paul said to Timothy
[00:04:46] about the last days, because chapter 3 says in the last days,
[00:04:49] perilous times will come, and then he gives you this long list,
[00:04:53] and then he gets into chapter 4.
[00:04:54] So let's read chapter 4, verse 1.
[00:04:58] Paul to Timothy here, the young pastor, he says,
[00:05:00] I charge thee therefore before God,
[00:05:03] and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead
[00:05:06] at his appearing in his kingdom.
[00:05:08] Preach the Word, be instant in season and out of season,
[00:05:12] reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine,
[00:05:16] for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,
[00:05:20] but after their own lust or their own desires,
[00:05:23] shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears,
[00:05:27] and they shall turn away their ears from the truth,
[00:05:30] and shall be turned to fables.
[00:05:32] Now before we leave this passage,
[00:05:36] I want you to see that he talks about there will be a time coming,
[00:05:40] and he was referring to the end time in particular.
[00:05:43] But he said there would be a time coming when the people of God,
[00:05:46] the church, the Christians, the believers,
[00:05:48] would not endure sound doctrine.
[00:05:51] That means they wouldn't like it.
[00:05:52] They wouldn't want to hear it.
[00:05:53] They wouldn't want to bear with it.
[00:05:55] They wouldn't want to take it.
[00:05:56] But they would heap to themselves teachers.
[00:05:59] You know why he uses the phrase heap to themselves teachers?
[00:06:03] He said they want to heap to themselves teachers.
[00:06:07] That means to heap something.
[00:06:10] What does it mean when you heap something?
[00:06:12] You pile it up, right?
[00:06:14] There's a lot of it.
[00:06:16] So they heap to themselves teachers
[00:06:18] because they have their own desires.
[00:06:20] They don't want to follow sound doctrine
[00:06:25] or God called leadership.
[00:06:27] They want to do things their own way.
[00:06:30] And I'm just going to tell you,
[00:06:31] if you want to do things your own way,
[00:06:33] you will be able to find a teacher
[00:06:36] who will tell you what you want to hear.
[00:06:38] You will be, because they're out there.
[00:06:43] But he warns they will not endure sound doctrine.
[00:06:48] Now what is sound doctrine?
[00:06:50] Sound doctrine is when we don't take any one passage
[00:06:56] or two passages out of their context
[00:06:59] and don't compare them with all the others
[00:07:02] that address that subject.
[00:07:04] This happens so often.
[00:07:06] This is why we've got the confusion
[00:07:09] about should the church worship on Sunday or Saturday,
[00:07:13] the New Testament church.
[00:07:15] This is why there's all this confusion
[00:07:17] because simply, I'm going to say this,
[00:07:19] the Sabbath pushers that we must keep
[00:07:22] the Sabbath on Saturday are where heathens.
[00:07:26] Those pushers reject.
[00:07:28] They ignore what Paul said in Colossians, Galatians,
[00:07:33] and what the apostles decreed for the church
[00:07:37] in Acts chapter 15.
[00:07:39] Just ignore it.
[00:07:40] Or they say, we don't understand what they meant.
[00:07:46] It is mind-blowing.
[00:07:48] But there is these, and I'm going to call them,
[00:07:51] these Judaizers that are compelling
[00:07:55] the New Testament church to live as Jews,
[00:07:58] which Paul rebuked Peter for.
[00:08:01] These Judaizers are causing division in the church
[00:08:05] and they're heaping upon people burdens
[00:08:08] that God does not intend New Testament believers to bear.
[00:08:12] Now I know there are well-intentioned,
[00:08:16] when I did the radio show on this,
[00:08:19] I know there are well-intentioned Christians
[00:08:24] who just feel that that's their conscience
[00:08:27] and that's their conviction,
[00:08:29] and they don't believe it's a requirement
[00:08:31] on the rest of us.
[00:08:33] It's just something they want to do,
[00:08:35] and that's fine.
[00:08:38] That's fine.
[00:08:40] Listen, I don't care if you want to worship God
[00:08:43] on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
[00:08:46] The early church in the beginning,
[00:08:49] when revival was going on,
[00:08:51] as the Holy Spirit was poured out,
[00:08:53] it says they met daily.
[00:08:55] Obviously, God didn't have a problem with them meeting
[00:08:58] on Saturday, Sunday, Friday, Wednesday, Thursday.
[00:09:01] It didn't matter anymore.
[00:09:05] But I'm going to deal with this.
[00:09:08] But first, I want you to see where he talks about
[00:09:12] they won't endure a sound doctrine.
[00:09:14] Now let's back up and look at church leadership real quick.
[00:09:18] Let's go to Ephesians 4.
[00:09:27] Like I said, we're going to be all over the Bible this morning.
[00:09:37] Ephesians 4.
[00:09:39] Now again, so Pastor Dean,
[00:09:41] there's a lot of churches out here,
[00:09:43] organized churches, organized religion,
[00:09:47] that they've abused their power, abused their authority,
[00:09:50] abused their positions, abused money,
[00:09:54] taught false things.
[00:09:56] Okay, all that's true.
[00:09:59] You know, practiced pagan, you know,
[00:10:01] compromised with paganism at times,
[00:10:03] just like churches celebrate in Halloween.
[00:10:05] I'm sorry, that's compromising with paganism
[00:10:09] and demonic worship, okay?
[00:10:14] But Ephesians 4,
[00:10:24] we're going to start at verse 11.
[00:10:28] Now the Bible says here, after Jesus died on the cross
[00:10:33] and he descended into the lower parts of the earth
[00:10:37] as he was dead for three days,
[00:10:40] and then on the third day he rose from the dead,
[00:10:44] and says after this he gave gifts to men.
[00:10:47] Now look at this, I want everybody to look at this.
[00:10:53] Verse 11, and he gave some apostles,
[00:10:56] some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
[00:11:00] for the perfecting or the maturing of the saints,
[00:11:03] for the work of the ministry,
[00:11:05] and for the edifying of the body of Christ,
[00:11:08] till we all come in the unity of the faith
[00:11:11] and of the knowledge of the Son of God
[00:11:13] as a perfect man unto the measure of the stature
[00:11:16] of the fullness of Christ,
[00:11:18] that we henceforth be no more children,
[00:11:20] tossed to and fro and carried about
[00:11:22] with every wind of doctrine
[00:11:23] by the slight of men and cunning craftiness,
[00:11:26] whereby they lie in wait to deceive,
[00:11:28] but speaking the truth and love,
[00:11:30] may grow up into him in all things,
[00:11:33] which is the head, even Christ.
[00:11:36] Now, let me back up,
[00:11:38] and I want you to look at this and get this clearly.
[00:11:41] We are, God says in the church,
[00:11:45] he gave gifts to men,
[00:11:47] and he calls a ministry to lead his church,
[00:11:50] so that the church won't be led astray
[00:11:53] by every wind of doctrine that blows around.
[00:11:57] Now, he gave five ministries,
[00:11:59] the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist,
[00:12:01] the pastor and the teacher.
[00:12:03] Now I believe, I know there's churches out there
[00:12:05] that believe the apostle and prophet ministry
[00:12:07] were done away with after the twelve apostles.
[00:12:10] That's a lie. That's not true.
[00:12:13] Why do I know that?
[00:12:14] Because it says here that he gave apostles, prophets,
[00:12:17] evangelists, pastors and teachers
[00:12:19] for the work of the ministry,
[00:12:21] for the edifying of the body of Christ,
[00:12:23] to equip the saints
[00:12:24] until we come into the unity of the faith.
[00:12:26] Now, one thing I can tell you that's for sure
[00:12:28] is the church of Jesus Christ in the world
[00:12:30] is not in unity.
[00:12:31] So he said that he would have
[00:12:34] apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers
[00:12:36] until that happened.
[00:12:38] Well, it hasn't happened yet.
[00:12:40] Not going to happen until Jesus returns.
[00:12:42] So these ministries are for today.
[00:12:44] Now, if the early church thought
[00:12:46] that the ministry of the apostle
[00:12:48] was going to cease after the apostles,
[00:12:50] why did Jesus tell the church of Ephesus
[00:12:53] in Revelation chapter 2,
[00:12:55] he said that you try those which are apostles
[00:12:57] and are not and has found them liars.
[00:12:59] Well, why would there be any test
[00:13:01] to see if one was a true apostle or not
[00:13:03] if the ministry of apostle was done away with?
[00:13:07] Okay?
[00:13:08] Now, let me explain these ministry offices.
[00:13:10] First of all, anyone called to church and leadership
[00:13:14] and I'm talking about to one of these fivefold offices,
[00:13:17] apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher.
[00:13:21] These are not called by men.
[00:13:25] You don't just decide,
[00:13:28] well, I'm going to be a pastor and go to school,
[00:13:30] go to seminary and become a pastor.
[00:13:32] Now, a lot of do that.
[00:13:33] You don't just get up one day and say,
[00:13:36] I'm going to be a prophet.
[00:13:37] You don't get up one day and say,
[00:13:39] well, you know what, I'm going to be a fivefold teacher.
[00:13:41] And guess what?
[00:13:42] Just because you teach Sunday school
[00:13:43] doesn't mean you're a fivefold teacher
[00:13:45] in the body of Christ.
[00:13:49] Or because you teach school,
[00:13:50] oh, I have a gift to teach.
[00:13:51] That doesn't mean you're a church leader teacher.
[00:13:55] And this is what the concept
[00:13:59] and the understanding of these things
[00:14:01] have just gotten out of whack here.
[00:14:03] But let's look at them.
[00:14:05] The first thing you need to know about these things
[00:14:07] is these are supernatural divine calls upon a person
[00:14:12] that will be accompanied by fruit and signs of that calling.
[00:14:20] And after God calls those ministers
[00:14:23] and there is evidence and fruit of that calling
[00:14:27] and ministry on that person's life,
[00:14:29] other men and women of God who are mature and older
[00:14:34] and understand and walk in these offices themselves
[00:14:37] will confirm that calling upon a person.
[00:14:42] For instance, I remember when Jesus revealed Himself to me,
[00:14:45] let me give you an example of this,
[00:14:47] because you know what, I'm not ashamed to say,
[00:14:51] I know I'm called to the fivefold ministry,
[00:14:53] not ashamed of it at all.
[00:14:55] In fact, most people called to the fivefold ministry
[00:14:57] hold more than one of the five offices.
[00:15:00] But when God called me in 1987,
[00:15:02] He appeared to me,
[00:15:03] Jesus appeared to me in an open vision,
[00:15:05] I saw into heaven, I saw Jesus,
[00:15:08] and the Lord spoke to me and He called me to the ministry
[00:15:11] and He told me that I was to be a prophet to the nations.
[00:15:16] Now you can say, well, Pastor Dean,
[00:15:17] I don't believe that that happened.
[00:15:19] I don't care what you believe.
[00:15:23] It happened.
[00:15:24] And that was 30 years ago,
[00:15:26] and the fruit of that office as a prophet
[00:15:30] to speak things inspired by God,
[00:15:32] to speak some things before they come to pass,
[00:15:35] those things have happened in my life so many times
[00:15:38] that I cannot even tell you.
[00:15:39] How many of you know Judge Moore?
[00:15:41] Judge Moore just became the senator from Alabama.
[00:15:44] Let me tell you, God has had me at times as a prophet.
[00:15:49] What?
[00:15:50] Well, yes right, He will be though.
[00:15:54] He had no Democrats winning that seat.
[00:15:56] So anyway, He will be, I'm sorry.
[00:15:58] He won the Republican nomination,
[00:16:00] but He'll be the senator, I know that.
[00:16:02] But years ago, in probably 99, 2000,
[00:16:06] right before Judge Moore ran the first time
[00:16:11] to become the Supreme Court Justice of Alabama,
[00:16:15] I used to know people.
[00:16:16] I lived in Montgomery and I knew people
[00:16:18] because I grew up with the governor,
[00:16:19] one of the governor's sons.
[00:16:21] In fact, before I get into the Judge Moore prophecy,
[00:16:24] in 1993, because I had prayed for a woman
[00:16:29] who was crippled for two years
[00:16:31] and God healed her and she got up and walked,
[00:16:34] another evidence of a five-fold calling
[00:16:37] will have supernatural, notable miracles that will happen.
[00:16:41] That spread around Montgomery
[00:16:44] and so this family came to my Bible study
[00:16:47] at my home in 1993
[00:16:50] after they heard about this woman, Mary Elizabeth,
[00:16:53] that I prayed for, who was in a wheelchair for two years,
[00:16:56] who got up and walked in the name of Jesus.
[00:16:58] Not because of me, but because of the power of Jesus
[00:17:01] and because the Lord spoke to me
[00:17:02] and told her to tell her to rise up and walk
[00:17:04] and she got up and walked.
[00:17:06] So it was a notable miracle that spread around Montgomery.
[00:17:10] So this family began to come to my Bible study
[00:17:14] and I didn't know, I mean, their last name was Parker.
[00:17:18] I didn't know who they were,
[00:17:20] but I got to know them when we got to be friends
[00:17:22] and I remember it was Tom and Dottie Parker
[00:17:25] and her father, Louis James and the mother
[00:17:29] and another older child of theirs.
[00:17:33] And I'm sitting there and all of a sudden,
[00:17:35] you know, as they're coming to the Bible study
[00:17:37] for several months, the older man, Louis, dies
[00:17:41] because he was in his 80s.
[00:17:43] And so they tell me and I'm like,
[00:17:44] oh, you know, I'm sorry, I hate to hear that
[00:17:46] and they say, well, the funeral is going to be,
[00:17:48] he's from Auburn and said the funeral is going to be
[00:17:50] at First Baptist Church in Auburn.
[00:17:52] This is in 1993, so I get in, you know,
[00:17:55] we get dressed and we get ready
[00:17:57] and we drive from Montgomery to Auburn
[00:17:59] and go to the funeral and I'm in the balcony
[00:18:02] because the place is packed for Louis James' funeral.
[00:18:06] And I'm standing in the balcony
[00:18:08] and before that, though, driving into the parking lot,
[00:18:10] I ran into a friend of mine.
[00:18:12] I'm like, I ran into a friend of mine,
[00:18:15] Cal James, what are you doing here?
[00:18:17] And then I ran into, then I saw Pat James.
[00:18:21] I was like, what are you doing here?
[00:18:23] And it didn't really hit me until
[00:18:26] I'm sitting in the balcony
[00:18:28] and you know how in a funeral, everybody's in there
[00:18:30] and then they bring the family in last.
[00:18:32] And as the family walks in,
[00:18:34] in walks the James family, our former governor,
[00:18:40] Bob James, I'm like, and I knew them,
[00:18:43] I knew Pat, his son, well, we grew up together.
[00:18:46] Used to spend the night at each other's house,
[00:18:48] play pool and all that, play football together, everything.
[00:18:51] And as I'm sitting there in the balcony,
[00:18:56] you know, he had been our governor for one term in the 70s,
[00:19:00] the Lord spoke to me and he said,
[00:19:04] Bob James will run for governor again
[00:19:06] and it is my will for him to be governor of Alabama, okay?
[00:19:12] So after, I mean, that was the Holy Spirit spoke to me,
[00:19:15] that is the gift of prophecy.
[00:19:18] God's speaking this word to me.
[00:19:20] So after the funeral,
[00:19:22] and I found out that Louie was his uncle
[00:19:25] who had been the mayor of Auburn back in the 50s.
[00:19:28] So after this, all of this goes on,
[00:19:30] I tell Tom and Dottie who I find out is his niece,
[00:19:34] the governor's niece, I said the Lord spoke to me
[00:19:38] and said, Bob's gonna run for governor again
[00:19:42] and it is God's will for him to be governor of Alabama again.
[00:19:45] And they laughed.
[00:19:48] They said, oh, no, he's not.
[00:19:50] They said he said he would never do that again
[00:19:53] and that he's enjoying too much,
[00:19:55] he's enjoying his retirement fishing.
[00:19:58] That's all he does.
[00:20:01] And I said, well, I'm telling you what the Lord said.
[00:20:03] Three months later, he announces to his family
[00:20:08] that he is gonna run for governor again.
[00:20:11] And in 1994, he ran for governor of Alabama and he won.
[00:20:17] And there was a purpose for him to be governor again.
[00:20:20] God had a purpose because his wife loved Jesus.
[00:20:24] I'm not saying Bob didn't,
[00:20:25] but his wife was really a true Christian.
[00:20:27] And she, through everything,
[00:20:30] that was during the time the Brownsville revival hit.
[00:20:33] And Judge Moore did the whole keep the commandments thing.
[00:20:38] Well, let me back up to Judge Moore.
[00:20:42] So Judge Moore, I'm in Montgomery.
[00:20:44] So Tom Parker, who is now a Supreme Court Justice,
[00:20:49] one of my old friends,
[00:20:51] now Tom is like, I've really got his attention.
[00:20:55] So he invites me to every political meeting there is.
[00:20:58] I don't go to all of them because I don't care all the time.
[00:21:01] But he invited me to this meeting,
[00:21:03] said you need to come to this meeting.
[00:21:04] Judge Moore is gonna announce he's running for the Supreme Court Justice.
[00:21:07] This is 99, 2000 time period.
[00:21:10] And so I go into this, you know, huge house in Montgomery.
[00:21:17] Somebody had money, big house.
[00:21:20] And there's about 60 or 70 people there.
[00:21:22] And you know, it's the whole political hobnob
[00:21:25] and Christians and people I know and some I don't.
[00:21:31] The next thing I know,
[00:21:32] I'm sitting by the kitchen on the piano stool
[00:21:36] and Judge Moore comes and stands right beside me
[00:21:38] and gives his little speech.
[00:21:40] So when he finishes giving his little speech,
[00:21:44] his announcement and what he's gonna stand for
[00:21:46] and all this stuff,
[00:21:47] and he's gonna run for the Supreme Court Justice of Alabama,
[00:21:50] Tom points at me and says,
[00:21:52] Pastor Dean, would you pray for Judge Moore?
[00:21:54] Certainly, I will.
[00:21:56] Laid hands upon him and started praying for him
[00:21:58] and the Lord gave me a word for him.
[00:22:00] The Lord said to tell him that he would be like Daniel,
[00:22:04] that he would win this election,
[00:22:06] he would be removed from office,
[00:22:08] and yet he would be put back in it again.
[00:22:10] That was in front of everybody.
[00:22:14] And sure enough, it came to pass.
[00:22:16] And then in 2006, I ran into him again, Judge Moore.
[00:22:21] And I told him then that I knew he would either be
[00:22:25] the governor of our state or a senator or a congressman
[00:22:27] or something like that again.
[00:22:29] So I'm beginning to watch it.
[00:22:30] So I share all that to say,
[00:22:31] I can tell you like this story after story after story
[00:22:35] of standing in the office of a prophet,
[00:22:38] God giving prophetic words even over politicians
[00:22:43] and watching them come to pass.
[00:22:45] God spoke to me in January of 2016
[00:22:49] before the primaries ever started and told me
[00:22:51] that Trump would become president of the United States
[00:22:53] and that it was his will for Trump to become president
[00:22:55] of the United States.
[00:22:59] And everybody's got a problem with that.
[00:23:02] Guess what? I don't care.
[00:23:03] You can have your issues with Trump.
[00:23:05] I'm just telling you what God said.
[00:23:08] And it comes to pass.
[00:23:10] Well, you know what?
[00:23:12] I've had men of God who had been in the ministry
[00:23:14] 30, 40 years longer than me when I was younger.
[00:23:18] When God would tell me these things,
[00:23:19] they would come and start to pray for me
[00:23:21] and God would give them a word.
[00:23:22] You're called to be a prophet.
[00:23:23] You're called to be a teacher.
[00:23:24] You're called to be an evangelist.
[00:23:26] You're called to be this.
[00:23:28] And the fruit of those things would be in my life.
[00:23:30] So this is something I'm speaking about
[00:23:32] that I know a little something about
[00:23:33] after 30 years of doing it all, okay?
[00:23:36] And folks, let me tell you, it's a rare thing now.
[00:23:41] But God commands His church, and you listen to me,
[00:23:46] He commands His people to find true churches,
[00:23:52] true men and women of God that are called to fivefold ministry,
[00:23:57] that are true elders, true shepherds in the kingdom.
[00:24:00] He calls you to find that and to submit yourself to it.
[00:24:04] And there's such a problem now.
[00:24:08] Now, I know.
[00:24:09] People write me emails all the time
[00:24:13] and they come and say,
[00:24:14] oh, Pastor Dean, I want to find a church, but I can't.
[00:24:17] Let me just say this first and foremost.
[00:24:20] As long as a church is not in some gross error,
[00:24:24] you're not going to find a perfect church
[00:24:28] that you agree with on every detail.
[00:24:31] But what you need to determine first and foremost,
[00:24:35] do they stand on the sound doctrine of the Bible?
[00:24:38] Do they stand on sound doctrine of Scripture,
[00:24:41] the foundational doctrines of Christianity,
[00:24:46] and is the people rather who are there
[00:24:50] truly, supernaturally, divinely called and appointed
[00:24:55] to those leadership offices?
[00:24:58] If you can't determine that, then it's time to pack up and go
[00:25:01] until you do.
[00:25:05] You say, well, Pastor Dean, where do you get this from?
[00:25:08] All right, well, let me give you this.
[00:25:10] Let's go to the book of Hebrews.
[00:25:19] See, these verses, I'm going to tell you what.
[00:25:21] You get hate mail like you won't believe,
[00:25:24] just for talking about church leadership.
[00:25:30] Folks don't like it.
[00:25:37] Oh, well, there's been so many abused their authority.
[00:25:40] Well, guess what?
[00:25:41] Churches have abused money, too.
[00:25:43] I don't see you throwing it out of your wallet.
[00:25:45] Just because somebody did something wrong
[00:25:51] doesn't mean we throw the truth out, right?
[00:25:56] People say, well, the gifts have been,
[00:25:59] the charismatics and Pentecostals have misused the gifts,
[00:26:01] so I ain't having nothing to do with it.
[00:26:06] Well, give me your money, too.
[00:26:07] Just go ahead and give me all your money,
[00:26:11] because Pentecostals, charismatics, Baptists, Methodists,
[00:26:14] everybody, they've all abused money.
[00:26:16] So, you know, are you through with your money?
[00:26:18] If so, please, please hand it to me.
[00:26:22] I'll take it for you.
[00:26:23] We'll do something good with it.
[00:26:26] No, no, they're not going to throw their money out.
[00:26:28] Well, then why would you throw the gifts out
[00:26:30] because somebody abused the gifts?
[00:26:31] Why would you throw out submitting to church leadership
[00:26:34] and finding a good church home?
[00:26:35] Why would you throw those principles out
[00:26:37] because somebody did it wrong before?
[00:26:39] We don't think logically most of the time,
[00:26:43] and we don't act logically.
[00:26:44] We act emotionally and demonically.
[00:26:48] That's how we react.
[00:26:51] Hebrews chapter 13 verse 7
[00:26:59] is where we're going to start there, verse 7.
[00:27:01] He says here in this passage,
[00:27:15] he says, Remember them which have the rule over you
[00:27:19] who have spoken unto you the word of God,
[00:27:22] whose faith follow considering the end
[00:27:25] of their conversation or behavior,
[00:27:28] Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.
[00:27:33] And then he goes on,
[00:27:34] Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines,
[00:27:37] for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace
[00:27:40] and not with meats which have not profited them
[00:27:43] that have been occupied therein.
[00:27:45] But let's go back to the first part of this verse.
[00:27:47] He says here in verse 7,
[00:27:53] Remember those that have the rule over you.
[00:27:56] What?
[00:27:59] You mean we're supposed, as church people,
[00:28:03] we're supposed, there's someone
[00:28:04] that's supposed to have the rule or authority,
[00:28:07] spiritual authority in our lives?
[00:28:10] Yes.
[00:28:11] Yes.
[00:28:12] Now, again, it's not by force.
[00:28:16] I tell people all that.
[00:28:17] You either choose to accept it
[00:28:19] or you vote with your feet,
[00:28:21] and that's how you choose.
[00:28:23] That is going to make you do anything.
[00:28:25] But if you're going to be
[00:28:27] a functioning, Biblical member of the church,
[00:28:34] God's called you to find people
[00:28:36] who believe Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
[00:28:40] He hasn't changed.
[00:28:41] He still heals the sick.
[00:28:44] He still casts out demons.
[00:28:47] He still baptizes people in the Holy Ghost
[00:28:49] and they speak with new time.
[00:28:51] He says considering the end of their conversation,
[00:28:53] I mean, yeah, you should look at their fruit of their lives.
[00:28:55] They should have the fruit and evidence of these things, right?
[00:29:00] Now, let's look at verse 17.
[00:29:03] Same chapter, verse 17.
[00:29:06] This gets even stronger.
[00:29:08] This is what it says about church leadership.
[00:29:11] It says,
[00:29:12] Obey them that have the rule over you
[00:29:15] and submit yourselves,
[00:29:16] for they watch for your souls
[00:29:18] as they that must give account
[00:29:20] that they may do it with joy and not with grief,
[00:29:23] for that is unprofitable for you.
[00:29:26] Obey those that have the ruler.
[00:29:31] Wait a minute, Pastor Dean.
[00:29:32] I'm an American.
[00:29:33] Nobody has a rule over me.
[00:29:35] I get to vote.
[00:29:36] I get to protest.
[00:29:41] Let me just go on and tell you.
[00:29:43] The church of Jesus Christ is not a democracy,
[00:29:51] but neither is it a prison.
[00:29:57] You choose.
[00:29:58] But just this verse by itself implies,
[00:30:03] clearly shows,
[00:30:06] that there will be in the church
[00:30:08] leadership that should be respected,
[00:30:11] submitted to, obeyed,
[00:30:14] in biblical, scriptural matters.
[00:30:18] So that shows.
[00:30:19] Guess what?
[00:30:20] You say this stuff like,
[00:30:21] oh, oh, well, I don't have a pastor.
[00:30:24] I don't have a church.
[00:30:25] There's just three of us.
[00:30:26] We meet in the home.
[00:30:27] Okay, I understand.
[00:30:28] Maybe you've looked and you can't find that.
[00:30:33] But ultimately, I'm going to ask the question,
[00:30:35] who's your pastor?
[00:30:37] Who's your elders?
[00:30:39] Who do you submit to?
[00:30:40] Who do you get counsel from?
[00:30:42] Who do you listen to
[00:30:44] when you don't want to hear
[00:30:45] what they're telling you?
[00:30:50] If you don't have that in your life,
[00:30:52] you are not in order.
[00:30:54] You are a rebel.
[00:31:05] In the multitude of counselors,
[00:31:06] there is safety.
[00:31:08] With good advice, make work.
[00:31:09] Proverbs tells us again and again.
[00:31:11] So many people don't understand.
[00:31:16] See, if I come to you and say,
[00:31:22] who's your pastor?
[00:31:23] You should immediately.
[00:31:26] This man's a pastor.
[00:31:27] Or who's an elder in your life?
[00:31:28] Who's someone you'll listen to
[00:31:30] that's older, wiser,
[00:31:32] that's called to a five-fold office?
[00:31:35] Who do you listen to?
[00:31:39] If you don't know the answer to that question,
[00:31:41] or your heart immediately begins to get resistant to it,
[00:31:45] then what you need to deal with
[00:31:48] is what's inside of you.
[00:31:50] Amen.
[00:31:53] See, I'm still dealing with,
[00:31:56] I love this, you know, Ezekiel 33.
[00:31:59] I shared this with somebody the other day.
[00:32:00] I shared it with my wife too.
[00:32:02] I mean, there's still people in our church.
[00:32:05] In our church.
[00:32:07] Well, some now that are out of our church as well.
[00:32:10] But they love Pastor Dean's preaching.
[00:32:19] Oh, they love the stuff I talk about.
[00:32:21] They love my passion and enthusiasm
[00:32:24] and straightforwardness and the topics that I cover.
[00:32:27] Oh, I love his preaching.
[00:32:29] He's a great preacher.
[00:32:30] But they won't do what I say.
[00:32:32] And Ezekiel, God told Ezekiel in Ezekiel 33,
[00:32:38] he said, you know what?
[00:32:39] They come to you.
[00:32:40] They said, let's go hear the word of the Lord
[00:32:43] from Prophet Ezekiel.
[00:32:47] He said, oh, they just love to hear what you say.
[00:32:49] You're like one that plays well in an instrument
[00:32:51] or has a beautiful voice.
[00:32:53] They love to hear what you have to say.
[00:32:55] He said, but they won't do what you say.
[00:33:00] I tell people to get out of drunkenness,
[00:33:06] fornication, rebellion,
[00:33:09] and they'll sit in their seat
[00:33:15] and just keep on keeping on.
[00:33:20] Let's go to 1 Peter chapter 5.
[00:33:22] I keep wanting to go somewhere else.
[00:33:37] 1 Peter 5.
[00:33:42] Everybody there?
[00:33:52] Let's just read this verses 1 through 5 here at least.
[00:34:00] And can I say that an elder is not just someone that's older?
[00:34:05] It can be someone that's been saved a whole lot longer.
[00:34:09] You know?
[00:34:13] But look at 1 Peter 5 verse 1.
[00:34:15] The elders which are among you I exhort,
[00:34:18] who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ
[00:34:21] and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
[00:34:25] Feed the flock of God which is among you,
[00:34:28] taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint but willingly,
[00:34:31] not for filthy lucre or just for money's sake.
[00:34:34] But of a ready mind,
[00:34:36] neither is being lords over God's heritage,
[00:34:39] but being examples to the flock,
[00:34:41] and when the chief shepherd shall appear,
[00:34:43] you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
[00:34:46] Likewise ye younger, submit yourselves into the elder.
[00:34:49] Yea, all of you be subject one to another
[00:34:51] and be clothed with humility,
[00:34:53] for God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.
[00:34:56] Humble yourselves therefore to the mighty hand of God
[00:34:58] that he may exalt you in due season.
[00:35:01] But notice the context of this.
[00:35:03] The context of humbling yourself before God.
[00:35:06] The context even if you keep reading
[00:35:08] of being able to fight the devil and win.
[00:35:12] The context of this is,
[00:35:14] are you younger, maybe younger in age,
[00:35:17] but maybe younger in your walk with the Lord,
[00:35:19] are you submitted to true,
[00:35:21] God called, anointed elders.
[00:35:25] Do you have a church family?
[00:35:30] Do you have a pastor?
[00:35:32] Do you have an elder?
[00:35:34] A true God called elder?
[00:35:39] Look, the Mormon church has people they call elders
[00:35:42] and they're not God called elders.
[00:35:44] Why? Because they're in a false religion.
[00:35:46] They're in a cult.
[00:35:49] Anybody can say I'm a pastor.
[00:35:50] Anybody can say I'm a prophet.
[00:35:52] Anybody can say I'm an elder.
[00:35:53] You got to figure it out.
[00:35:55] You got to figure out,
[00:35:56] are they truly what they say they are?
[00:35:58] Are they truly sticking to the word of God,
[00:36:00] to the Bible, to the doctrines of Scripture?
[00:36:02] Are they truly living the life?
[00:36:04] Do they confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all,
[00:36:07] God in the flesh, the only way to heaven?
[00:36:10] Do they talk about a heaven and a hell?
[00:36:12] That's the way.
[00:36:13] I mean, you can look at Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Islam.
[00:36:16] You know all these are false religions
[00:36:18] because all you have to look at,
[00:36:19] what do they say about Jesus?
[00:36:21] Do they confess He is God in the flesh?
[00:36:24] Do they confess He is the only way
[00:36:26] that sin can be forgiven?
[00:36:27] Do they talk about a heaven and a hell?
[00:36:30] It's not hard.
[00:36:35] Do they live it?
[00:36:36] Do they live what they're preaching?
[00:36:42] Go to Titus.
[00:36:50] I got quite a few.
[00:36:55] I guess I got to hurry up.
[00:36:59] Oh, goodness, Titus.
[00:37:08] Here's Titus to another young preacher.
[00:37:10] If the church didn't have order
[00:37:12] and didn't have leadership
[00:37:13] and wasn't supposed to have elders,
[00:37:15] why did Paul keep telling these pastors
[00:37:19] who were not just pastors over one church,
[00:37:21] who were pastor over multiple churches,
[00:37:23] why did he tell them to go and ordain elders?
[00:37:27] I'm making a point.
[00:37:31] The New Testament church
[00:37:33] is built upon the foundation,
[00:37:36] according to Ephesians 2,
[00:37:37] is built upon the foundation
[00:37:39] of the apostles and their prophets.
[00:37:43] But the New Testament church
[00:37:45] also has ordained leadership in it.
[00:37:48] Five-fold offices, two-fold offices,
[00:37:51] elders and deacons,
[00:37:55] and a five-fold minister is always considered an elder.
[00:37:58] There is order, and God always wanted order.
[00:38:04] That's why here in Titus he tells him,
[00:38:06] look at this, Paul, look at verse 1,
[00:38:09] Paul, a servant of God
[00:38:11] and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
[00:38:14] according to the faith of God's elect
[00:38:16] and the acknowledging of the truth,
[00:38:17] which is after godliness,
[00:38:19] in hope of eternal life,
[00:38:20] which God that cannot lie,
[00:38:21] promised before the world began,
[00:38:23] but hath in due times
[00:38:25] manifested his word through preaching,
[00:38:27] which is committed unto me,
[00:38:28] according to the commandment
[00:38:30] of God our Savior.
[00:38:34] To Titus, my own son after the common faith,
[00:38:37] grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
[00:38:39] and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior,
[00:38:41] for this cause left I the in Crete,
[00:38:46] that thou shouldest set in order
[00:38:48] the things that are wanting or lacking
[00:38:50] and ordain elders in every city
[00:38:53] as I appointed thee.
[00:38:55] So Paul was saying,
[00:38:56] I left you on the island of Crete
[00:38:59] so that you could go through Crete
[00:39:01] as I ordered you to go through Crete
[00:39:07] and find faithful men
[00:39:10] to be elders, leaders in God's church.
[00:39:14] Supposed to be ordered.
[00:39:15] So these people, listen,
[00:39:19] these people out here,
[00:39:20] oh, I'm done with organized church.
[00:39:23] What does that mean?
[00:39:26] Exactly.
[00:39:27] Well, they didn't do this right
[00:39:32] and they didn't do this right,
[00:39:33] so I'm done.
[00:39:37] You're headed in a bad direction.
[00:39:40] Bad direction.
[00:39:44] Now, I could spend all day on this.
[00:39:45] Paul did the same thing to Timothy.
[00:39:46] He said, go ordain elders.
[00:39:48] Go charge some.
[00:39:49] He said that they teach no other doctrine.
[00:39:51] What was the purpose of this?
[00:39:52] Why was there to be pastors, evangelists,
[00:39:56] elders, apostles, and prophets?
[00:40:00] Their main function, listen,
[00:40:01] our main function is not just to preach
[00:40:05] the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
[00:40:06] not just to teach the Word of God,
[00:40:08] not just to disciple you,
[00:40:10] but one of our main jobs is to protect you
[00:40:14] from deception, from doctrinal error.
[00:40:18] If you find a pastor that never confronts
[00:40:22] a doctrinal error in the church,
[00:40:24] he is not looking out for you.
[00:40:30] There's a lot of them that won't touch these,
[00:40:32] won't take a position on these doctrinal questions
[00:40:36] because they're afraid they're going to lose people.
[00:40:38] Guess what?
[00:40:39] I don't care.
[00:40:45] My job is to tell you the truth
[00:40:47] whether you like it or not.
[00:40:49] My job is to rebuke heretics
[00:40:53] false teachers, false prophets, false apostles,
[00:40:57] false evangelists.
[00:40:59] My job is if I'm a true man of God,
[00:41:01] if I'm a true pastor,
[00:41:02] if I'm a true fivefold minister,
[00:41:04] if I'm a true leader,
[00:41:05] I'm supposed to rebuke and show you
[00:41:08] why these people are wrong
[00:41:10] and where they're leading you.
[00:41:13] I'm supposed to fight the wolves.
[00:41:15] That's what God called me to do,
[00:41:19] is fight the wolves.
[00:41:21] And they are abundant.
[00:41:26] They are all over the place.
[00:41:30] It's hard to keep up with them.
[00:41:32] There's packs of wolves.
[00:41:33] There's long wolves.
[00:41:35] There's wolves in sheep's clothing.
[00:41:44] But let's answer this question.
[00:41:45] I'm going to deal with one particular strain of deception
[00:41:52] that's just finally gotten under my skin
[00:41:55] to the point I about can't stand it anymore.
[00:41:59] And that's the Judaizers.
[00:42:10] That's the Hebraic roots, Hebrew roots,
[00:42:13] Torah observers that are Torah terrorists.
[00:42:18] Again, I'm not talking about people
[00:42:20] who have a private conviction.
[00:42:22] They don't put that requirement on anybody else.
[00:42:25] That's fine.
[00:42:26] But when these people start calling
[00:42:30] New Testament believers who are walking with Jesus,
[00:42:35] who go to church on Sunday,
[00:42:37] hypocrites, lawless, antinominants,
[00:42:42] all of these names that they call,
[00:42:45] even start implying that we're not saved, really saved,
[00:42:49] if we don't keep the Sabbath on Saturday,
[00:42:54] say Yeshua and Yahuwah.
[00:42:56] I'm at the end of it.
[00:43:01] Now, I want to look at this.
[00:43:04] We're going to look at this thoroughly.
[00:43:06] And I'm going to show you.
[00:43:07] See, one of the big issues about Sunday worship
[00:43:12] is that they say that the Catholic Church changed that.
[00:43:18] And it was the Catholic Church
[00:43:20] that made the edict that we would change,
[00:43:24] that the Church always worshiped on Sunday,
[00:43:26] and that it was the Catholic Church
[00:43:28] that came in and changed that.
[00:43:29] That is not even true.
[00:43:33] Not even true.
[00:43:34] The Catholic Church did not even come into being, folks,
[00:43:37] until around 313 AD.
[00:43:39] You understand that? 313 AD.
[00:43:41] That means 300 years, almost, of Church history
[00:43:45] before the Roman Catholics came in
[00:43:48] and began their corruption of things.
[00:43:51] And you can go back in Church history
[00:43:55] all the way back to the 1st century
[00:43:58] and the 2nd century before the Roman Catholic Church,
[00:44:01] and you can find the early Church leaders,
[00:44:03] disciples of the Apostle John,
[00:44:05] talking about the Christians, met on Sunday.
[00:44:08] I'm going to show you that in a minute.
[00:44:15] But let's go to our Bibles here.
[00:44:17] Let's go to the Bible.
[00:44:19] Are Christians required to keep the Sabbath on Saturday?
[00:44:27] New Testament believers, are we required to do that?
[00:44:31] Are we required to keep the laws of Moses?
[00:44:34] And I'm not talking about the moral law,
[00:44:37] I'm talking about everything else.
[00:44:39] Dietary laws, Sabbath, feast.
[00:44:44] Are we required to do those things?
[00:44:46] Under the New Covenant.
[00:44:48] The Bible, it was clear,
[00:44:50] the Apostles were clear this question came up
[00:44:52] because guess what?
[00:44:53] There were Jews, there were Pharisees
[00:44:55] that believed Jesus was the Messiah,
[00:44:56] but then they came along and said,
[00:44:57] guess what?
[00:44:58] Unless you're circumcised, you cannot be saved.
[00:45:00] Unless you keep the Sabbath, you cannot be saved.
[00:45:02] Unless you keep the feast, you cannot be saved.
[00:45:05] So this question came up in the early Church
[00:45:09] while the Apostles got together
[00:45:13] to determine what the New Testament Church
[00:45:16] was required to do.
[00:45:19] This was settled.
[00:45:20] It was settled not by the Apostle Paul alone or Peter,
[00:45:24] it was settled by the entire council
[00:45:28] of the Apostles and elders at Jerusalem
[00:45:30] in the first century.
[00:45:32] Settled.
[00:45:33] The question answered.
[00:45:37] Now let's look at it.
[00:45:38] Acts chapter 15.
[00:45:41] And let me just say,
[00:45:49] anybody who says any different,
[00:45:51] either they're deceived and deceiving you
[00:45:54] or they're purposefully deceiving you.
[00:45:56] Boy, could I name some names at this moment.
[00:46:06] It's funny, one of the biggest promoters of this
[00:46:20] and pushers of this,
[00:46:21] I guess he missed the Leviticus
[00:46:25] where he's not supposed to mar the corners of his beard,
[00:46:28] but we don't keep that law.
[00:46:32] I guess.
[00:46:33] I guess he's picking and choosing
[00:46:35] which laws of Moses to keep.
[00:46:38] Haven't seen him start stoning adulterers yet.
[00:46:46] I'm waiting on that too.
[00:46:48] Can't pick and choose.
[00:46:55] You either keep the whole law
[00:46:57] or you be a New Testament Christian.
[00:47:00] That's really what it comes down to.
[00:47:02] But let's look at Acts chapter 15.
[00:47:04] Everybody with me?
[00:47:15] Verse 1.
[00:47:16] And certain men,
[00:47:21] which came down from Judea,
[00:47:23] which is where you get the terms of Jews,
[00:47:25] taught the brother and said,
[00:47:28] except you be circumcised
[00:47:30] after the manner of Moses,
[00:47:32] you cannot be saved.
[00:47:33] And when therefore Paul and Barnabas
[00:47:36] had no small dissension
[00:47:38] and disputation with them,
[00:47:40] that means they got in a big,
[00:47:42] hated argument.
[00:47:44] Right?
[00:47:47] Now remember,
[00:47:48] under the Old Covenant,
[00:47:50] if a man was not circumcised,
[00:47:52] he was outcast.
[00:47:55] Under the Old Covenant,
[00:47:57] it was so serious that Moses,
[00:47:59] when he didn't circumcise his sons,
[00:48:01] an angel appeared to kill him.
[00:48:07] So Moses' wife, Zipporah,
[00:48:09] took and circumcised her son,
[00:48:11] and she wasn't happy about it.
[00:48:14] But see, under the Old Covenant,
[00:48:16] circumcision was that serious
[00:48:18] because it was a token of that covenant.
[00:48:22] So you got these guys from Judea
[00:48:24] coming down to the New Testament church
[00:48:26] to the Christian saying,
[00:48:27] look, we know that you've been born again
[00:48:30] by the blood of Jesus by faith.
[00:48:32] We know that you believe in Jesus.
[00:48:33] We know that you've been baptized in the Holy Spirit
[00:48:35] speaking in other tongues.
[00:48:36] But guess what?
[00:48:37] You Gentiles, you're still heathens
[00:48:39] because you hadn't been circumcised.
[00:48:41] So now you've got to keep the law of Moses.
[00:48:45] Is that clear?
[00:48:48] And in fact, they said,
[00:48:51] if you don't, if you're not circumcised,
[00:48:54] you cannot be saved.
[00:48:56] Boy, this is serious business
[00:48:58] for the Gentiles right here, right?
[00:49:00] So when therefore Paul and Barnabas,
[00:49:04] who were apostles,
[00:49:05] had no small dissension
[00:49:07] and disputation with them,
[00:49:10] they determined that Paul and Barnabas
[00:49:12] and certain other men
[00:49:12] should go up to Jerusalem
[00:49:14] unto the apostles and elders about this question.
[00:49:16] So what did they do?
[00:49:18] They handled things the way we should.
[00:49:20] Guess what?
[00:49:20] Okay, we've got this huge disagreement.
[00:49:24] So guess what are we going to do?
[00:49:26] We're going to go to our church leadership.
[00:49:29] We're going to go to the apostles
[00:49:31] and the prophets and the elders in Jerusalem.
[00:49:35] And we're going to sit down
[00:49:37] with all the leadership of the church
[00:49:40] and we're going to discuss this matter
[00:49:42] and settle it.
[00:49:44] That's what this was.
[00:49:45] In verse 3,
[00:49:52] And being brought on their way by the church,
[00:49:54] they passed through Phineas and Samaria
[00:49:57] declaring the conversion of the Gentiles,
[00:49:59] and they caused great joy
[00:50:01] unto all the brethren,
[00:50:02] and when they were come to Jerusalem,
[00:50:04] they were received of the church
[00:50:05] and of the apostles and elders,
[00:50:07] and they declared all things
[00:50:08] that God had done with them.
[00:50:10] But there rose up certain of the sect
[00:50:13] of the Pharisees which believed,
[00:50:15] saying that it was needful to circumcise them
[00:50:18] and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
[00:50:21] Now let's stop right there.
[00:50:23] So they get to Jerusalem
[00:50:25] and they're talking about
[00:50:26] how God is moving among the Gentiles
[00:50:28] and the Gentiles are getting saved left and right
[00:50:31] accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior,
[00:50:33] faith in the blood of Jesus Christ,
[00:50:35] the justification by faith,
[00:50:40] and they get there and they share with them
[00:50:42] about the miracles God's doing,
[00:50:44] the lame are walking,
[00:50:45] the blind are seeing,
[00:50:46] the deaf are hearing.
[00:50:47] They tell them about the apostolic miracle,
[00:50:49] signs and wonders,
[00:50:51] and then you've got these Pharisees,
[00:50:54] these Christian Pharisees,
[00:50:57] who rise up and say,
[00:50:59] Guess what, guys?
[00:51:01] These Gentiles have got to be circumcised
[00:51:04] and then they added this,
[00:51:05] and keep the law of Moses to be saved.
[00:51:13] Everybody see that?
[00:51:14] There rose up a certain of the sect of the Pharisees
[00:51:20] which believed, saying that it was needful
[00:51:23] to circumcise them and to command them
[00:51:25] to keep the law of Moses.
[00:51:26] So here's the question for the early church.
[00:51:29] Do the Gentiles, do the New Testament Christians,
[00:51:33] do we have to be circumcised as men?
[00:51:36] The men have to be circumcised,
[00:51:37] and do we have to keep the law of Moses?
[00:51:40] That kind of comes over to the Sabbath,
[00:51:41] the New Moons, the feast,
[00:51:44] the dietary laws, everything.
[00:51:45] Do we have to do all that?
[00:51:52] Verse 6,
[00:51:53] And the apostles and elders came together,
[00:51:55] for to consider this matter.
[00:51:57] And when there had been much disputing,
[00:52:01] Peter rose up and said unto them,
[00:52:02] Men and brethren,
[00:52:04] you know how that a good while ago
[00:52:06] God made choice among us
[00:52:07] that the Gentiles by my mouth
[00:52:09] should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
[00:52:12] And God which knoweth the hearts,
[00:52:13] bear them witness,
[00:52:14] giving them the Holy Ghost,
[00:52:15] even as he did unto us,
[00:52:17] and put no difference between us
[00:52:20] and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
[00:52:24] How were the Gentiles,
[00:52:25] when Peter went and preached to Cornelius' household,
[00:52:28] how were they made clean of their sins?
[00:52:30] How were they born again?
[00:52:32] How did they get saved?
[00:52:33] How did they get filled with the Holy Spirit?
[00:52:36] Peter is saying here,
[00:52:37] these Gentiles simply believed
[00:52:40] the gospel message of Jesus Christ
[00:52:43] to repent and believe.
[00:52:45] They believed Peter's preaching
[00:52:47] that Jesus died for their sins,
[00:52:49] rose from the dead,
[00:52:50] and as he's preaching this,
[00:52:52] the Holy Spirit falls upon them
[00:52:55] and they are baptized and the Holy Ghost
[00:52:56] begin to speak with other tongues
[00:52:58] and Peter said,
[00:52:59] God purified their hearts by faith
[00:53:03] without the deeds of the law of Moses.
[00:53:06] That's the point Peter is making here.
[00:53:11] And then he says this,
[00:53:14] he says verse 10,
[00:53:15] so then he says,
[00:53:16] well let's read verse 9,
[00:53:17] and God put no difference between us,
[00:53:20] the Jews and them, the Gentiles,
[00:53:22] purifying their hearts by faith.
[00:53:25] Now therefore,
[00:53:26] why tempt ye God
[00:53:28] to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples
[00:53:31] which neither our fathers were able to bear
[00:53:35] nor we were able to bear?
[00:53:36] But we believe that through grace,
[00:53:38] the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
[00:53:40] we shall be saved even as they.
[00:53:42] Now let me stop right here.
[00:53:43] He's saying here,
[00:53:46] if you take these Gentile Christians
[00:53:49] who were born again by grace through faith,
[00:53:54] not having to keep the law of Moses,
[00:53:56] the Sabbaths, the circumcision, all these things,
[00:53:58] if you do this,
[00:54:00] you are putting a yoke of bondage on them.
[00:54:04] This is not Pastor Dean's words,
[00:54:06] this is not my opinion,
[00:54:08] this is what Peter the Apostle said about.
[00:54:11] He said you're tempting God
[00:54:13] and you're putting a yoke of bondage
[00:54:15] on these believers.
[00:54:18] Is that what it says?
[00:54:22] Okay, let's keep reading.
[00:54:26] Verse 12,
[00:54:27] then all the multitude kept silence
[00:54:29] and gave audience to Barnabas
[00:54:31] and Paul declaring what miracles and wonders
[00:54:34] God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.
[00:54:37] And after they had held their peace,
[00:54:39] James answered saying,
[00:54:41] men and brethren,
[00:54:42] hearken unto me.
[00:54:44] Simon hath declared how God at the first
[00:54:46] did visit the Gentiles
[00:54:48] to take out them people for his name.
[00:54:51] And to this agree the words of the prophets
[00:54:53] as it is written,
[00:54:54] after this I will return
[00:54:56] and build again the tabernacle of David
[00:54:58] which has fallen down
[00:54:59] and I will build again the ruins thereof
[00:55:01] and I will set it up
[00:55:02] that the residue of men
[00:55:03] might seek after the Lord
[00:55:04] all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called,
[00:55:07] saith the Lord who doeth all these things.
[00:55:09] Known unto God are all his works
[00:55:11] from the beginning of the world.
[00:55:13] Wherefore my sentence is that we trouble not them
[00:55:17] which from among the Gentiles are turned to God.
[00:55:20] But that we write unto them
[00:55:22] that they abstain from pollutions of idols,
[00:55:24] from fornication,
[00:55:26] from things strangled and from blood,
[00:55:28] for Moses of old time hath in every city
[00:55:31] them that preach him
[00:55:32] being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.
[00:55:35] Then it pleased the apostles and elders
[00:55:37] with the whole church
[00:55:38] to send chosen men of their own company
[00:55:40] to Antioch with Paul and Barnum,
[00:55:42] Judas surnamed Barcivus and Silas,
[00:55:45] chief men among them,
[00:55:46] and they wrote letters by them after this manner.
[00:55:49] The apostles and elders and brethren
[00:55:51] sing greeting unto the brethren
[00:55:52] which are of the Gentiles
[00:55:54] in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.
[00:55:57] For as much as we have heard
[00:55:59] that certain went out from us
[00:56:01] have troubled you with words,
[00:56:03] subverting your souls,
[00:56:05] saying you must be circumcised
[00:56:07] and keep the law
[00:56:09] to whom we gave no such commandments.
[00:56:13] My God, can anybody see this except me?
[00:56:23] He's saying there the apostles said
[00:56:28] we didn't tell anybody from us
[00:56:32] to go tell any new believer in the church
[00:56:35] that they must be circumcised
[00:56:37] and keep the law of Moses.
[00:56:38] That was not the message
[00:56:41] of the New Testament church,
[00:56:43] the apostles, prophets and elders.
[00:56:45] It was not the message.
[00:56:47] So if that's become the message today
[00:56:50] it does not match what they did in here.
[00:56:57] So frankly, I'm going to tell you
[00:57:02] just about the entire Hebraic roots movement
[00:57:07] is not a movement moving with the Holy Ghost.
[00:57:12] It is an emotional need to try
[00:57:17] to somehow think that if you do these things
[00:57:21] if you go back to the law of Moses
[00:57:22] you're going to somehow please God better
[00:57:24] or be more righteous.
[00:57:25] That is a lie.
[00:57:27] It's a lie.
[00:57:30] And let me tell you why.
[00:57:33] It diminishes the sufficiency
[00:57:37] of the blood of Jesus Christ as our sacrifice.
[00:57:43] I either say that my faith
[00:57:46] in his blood is enough
[00:57:49] or I say I need his blood and
[00:57:53] I need to be sure and I need to keep the faith
[00:57:56] and I need to keep the self and.
[00:57:59] So let's read verse 24 again.
[00:58:15] He said for as much as we have heard
[00:58:18] that certain went out from us
[00:58:20] have troubled you with words
[00:58:22] subverting your souls saying
[00:58:24] you must be circumcised and keep the law
[00:58:26] to whom we gave no such commandment.
[00:58:29] It seemed good to us being assembled
[00:58:32] with one accord to send chosen men unto you
[00:58:34] with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
[00:58:36] men that have hazarded their lives
[00:58:38] for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:58:40] We have sent therefore Judas and Silas
[00:58:42] who shall also tell you
[00:58:44] of the same things by mouth
[00:58:46] for it seemed good to the Holy Ghost
[00:58:48] and to us to lay upon you
[00:58:50] no greater burden than these necessary things
[00:58:53] that you abstain from meats offered to idols,
[00:58:56] from blood, from things strangled,
[00:58:58] from fornication,
[00:59:00] from which if you keep yourselves
[00:59:02] you shall do well, fair you will.
[00:59:05] So when they were dismissed they came to Antioch
[00:59:07] and when they had gathered the multitude together
[00:59:09] they delivered the epistle
[00:59:11] and when they had read they were rejoiced
[00:59:13] for the consolation and Judas and Silas
[00:59:15] being prophets also exhorted the brethren
[00:59:17] with many words and confirmed them.
[00:59:20] Now, it could not here be more clear.
[00:59:23] This was the council of the apostles.
[00:59:27] Do the Gentiles have to do these things?
[00:59:30] No. Now let me show you something else
[00:59:33] and you can go ahead and
[00:59:35] we'll put this verse up first
[00:59:37] and then you can put the power points up
[00:59:42] and I'm going to have you jumping around here a little bit.
[00:59:45] But let's go to Colossians chapter 1.
[00:59:48] As you turn into Colossians
[01:00:02] did you notice that when they wrote that letter
[01:00:04] the apostles and elders wrote that letter
[01:00:06] when they wrote that letter to the Gentiles
[01:00:10] what did they say?
[01:00:13] They said we're not going to put any greater burden on you.
[01:00:16] Meaning, when someone comes along and tells you
[01:00:19] you've got to keep the Sabbath,
[01:00:21] you've got to keep the feast,
[01:00:22] you've got to keep the dietary law,
[01:00:24] you've got to do this,
[01:00:25] they're putting a burden upon you.
[01:00:27] Or let me just say this,
[01:00:29] if you do it to yourself
[01:00:30] you're putting a burden on yourself
[01:00:33] that God never intended you to carry.
[01:00:35] Listen, Jesus carried that burden.
[01:00:44] Jesus came to fulfill the law
[01:00:47] and He fulfilled it.
[01:00:49] Look at verse Romans 10.4, I love this verse.
[01:00:51] Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
[01:00:57] He fulfilled it when He said on the cross
[01:01:02] it is finished.
[01:01:04] What was He talking about?
[01:01:06] The book of Ephesians, the book of Colossians says
[01:01:11] He was not only dying for sin
[01:01:13] but He was nailing to that cross
[01:01:16] the ordinances and laws that were against us.
[01:01:19] Colossians chapter 2.
[01:01:30] Colossians chapter 2, let's go down to,
[01:01:49] oh, let's just read from verse 6.
[01:01:58] He's speaking to Christians here.
[01:02:00] Colossians 2 verse 6, He says,
[01:02:02] As you have received,
[01:02:06] as you have therefore received Christ Jesus,
[01:02:08] the Lord so walk ye in Him,
[01:02:10] rooted and built up in Him,
[01:02:11] and established in the faith,
[01:02:13] as ye have been taught,
[01:02:14] abounding therein with thanksgiving.
[01:02:16] Beware, lest any man spoil you
[01:02:19] through philosophy and vain deceit
[01:02:21] after the traditions of men,
[01:02:22] after the rudiments of the world,
[01:02:23] and not after Christ.
[01:02:24] For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
[01:02:26] of the Godhead bodily,
[01:02:28] and ye are complete in Him,
[01:02:30] which is the head of all principality and power,
[01:02:32] in whom also ye are circumcised
[01:02:34] with the circumcision made without hands
[01:02:37] and the putting off of the body of sins
[01:02:39] of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.
[01:02:41] So He's saying, you know what,
[01:02:43] you don't have to be physically circumcised
[01:02:44] as a circumcision and spiritual that takes place.
[01:02:46] So He's dealing with this issue.
[01:02:48] Again, do you keep the law of Moses,
[01:02:52] or is Jesus sufficient?
[01:02:54] Verse 12, He says,
[01:02:55] buried with Him in baptism,
[01:02:58] wherein also you are risen with Him
[01:03:00] through faith of the operation of God
[01:03:02] who hath raised Him from the dead.
[01:03:04] And you being dead in your trespasses,
[01:03:06] and the uncircumcision of your flesh
[01:03:08] hath He quickened together with Him,
[01:03:10] having forgiven you all trespasses,
[01:03:12] blotting out the handwriting of ordinances,
[01:03:15] that is the law of Moses.
[01:03:16] That was against us,
[01:03:18] which was contrary to us,
[01:03:19] and took it out of the way,
[01:03:20] nailing it to His cross.
[01:03:22] And having spoiled principalities and powers,
[01:03:24] He made a show of them openly,
[01:03:26] triumphing over them in it.
[01:03:27] Let no man,
[01:03:28] now everybody, you better mark this verse,
[01:03:30] highlight this verse.
[01:03:32] Let no man therefore judge you
[01:03:35] in meat or in drink
[01:03:37] or in respect of a holy day
[01:03:39] or of the new moon or of Sabbath days,
[01:03:42] which are a shadow of things to come,
[01:03:44] but the body is Christ.
[01:03:47] And then He goes on,
[01:03:49] and we'll come back to that verse and say,
[01:03:51] let's just keep reading.
[01:03:52] Let no man beguile you of your reward
[01:03:54] in a voluntary humility,
[01:03:56] worshipping of angels,
[01:03:57] and treating you of those things
[01:03:58] which he hath not seen,
[01:03:59] vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
[01:04:01] and not holding the head from which
[01:04:03] all the body, by joints and bands,
[01:04:05] having nourishment, ministruth,
[01:04:06] and knit together,
[01:04:07] increased with the increase of God.
[01:04:09] Wherefore, if you be dead with Christ
[01:04:11] from the rudiments of the world,
[01:04:13] why as though living in the world
[01:04:15] are you subject to ordinances?
[01:04:16] Touch not, taste not, handle not,
[01:04:18] which all are to perish with the using
[01:04:20] for after the commandments and doctrines of men.
[01:04:22] Now let's back up and look what He says
[01:04:24] in verse 16.
[01:04:26] Let no man therefore judge you
[01:04:28] in meat or in drink
[01:04:29] or in respect of a holy day
[01:04:31] or of the new moon of Sabbath days.
[01:04:33] Now what is the word judge?
[01:04:34] You got that first slide?
[01:04:37] I want to look up the Greek word judge
[01:04:40] in this verse.
[01:04:41] Here it is.
[01:04:42] I don't know if you can see it or not,
[01:04:44] but I'm going to read it for you.
[01:04:46] It is the Greek word krino, krino.
[01:04:51] And here is the outline.
[01:04:53] This is Blue Letter Bible.
[01:04:54] So this brings together several lexicons
[01:04:57] and their definitions together,
[01:04:59] both the Strongs, the Thayers, and others.
[01:05:01] But this gives you the outline of Biblical usage.
[01:05:04] So the word judge means here
[01:05:06] to separate, put asunder, to pick out,
[01:05:09] to approve, esteem, prefer, be of opinion,
[01:05:11] to determine, to resolve, decree,
[01:05:14] to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong.
[01:05:17] You've got to underline that.
[01:05:18] You've got to write that down.
[01:05:19] The word judge here means to pronounce an opinion
[01:05:22] concerning right or wrong,
[01:05:23] meaning when he says,
[01:05:24] let no man judge you
[01:05:26] about a holy day or a Sabbath or a new moon.
[01:05:29] What's he saying?
[01:05:30] No one can hold an opinion over you,
[01:05:32] judge you right or wrong
[01:05:34] with how you look at these days.
[01:05:37] See, if I decide,
[01:05:42] I believe the Bible says
[01:05:45] I don't have to keep the law of Moses.
[01:05:47] You can't judge me as wrong,
[01:05:48] and if you do, you're wrong.
[01:05:50] You have become a judge.
[01:05:54] You have become false.
[01:05:55] I watch these people on the Internet.
[01:06:01] The word credo, he goes on,
[01:06:08] the Strongs' definition,
[01:06:10] to distinguish, decide mentally or judiciously,
[01:06:13] to condemn, punish, avenge, conclude,
[01:06:16] condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge.
[01:06:20] He says, let no one judge you
[01:06:24] in respect to these things.
[01:06:25] Is crystal clear?
[01:06:31] Crystal clear.
[01:06:35] Now, let me show you something.
[01:06:40] I promised you I'd show you this.
[01:06:44] Now, Ignatius of Antioch.
[01:06:46] We'll go back now.
[01:06:47] We've looked at some Scriptures,
[01:06:48] and I could give you plenty more,
[01:06:50] but let's just look at the Church of Antioch,
[01:06:52] I mean the Ignatius of Antioch,
[01:06:54] who lived from 35 AD to 108.
[01:06:58] I mean, he was born in the time of the Apostles,
[01:07:04] and he was probably, they said,
[01:07:05] may have even been born
[01:07:06] in the time of our Lord's ministry.
[01:07:08] And along with Polycarp,
[01:07:09] he was a disciple of the Apostle John,
[01:07:11] and he said this about the Sabbath
[01:07:13] and Sunday worship.
[01:07:15] He said, if therefore those who were brought up
[01:07:19] in the ancient order of things
[01:07:21] have come to the possession of a new hope,
[01:07:23] no longer observing the Sabbath,
[01:07:25] but living in the observance of the Lord's day,
[01:07:28] on which also our life has sprung up again
[01:07:32] by him and by his death,
[01:07:35] whom some deny by which mystery
[01:07:38] we have obtained faith.
[01:07:40] And this is the Epistle to the Maganesians,
[01:07:43] Chapter 9.
[01:07:44] So one of the early, this is,
[01:07:46] remember, the Roman Catholic Church
[01:07:47] didn't come around to 313 AD.
[01:07:49] So this is one of the church leaders in Antioch
[01:07:52] where Paul had been, where Paul and Silas
[01:07:55] and Barnabas attended church.
[01:07:58] So this is like a kid that grew up,
[01:08:01] being like a kid that grew up in this church.
[01:08:04] And he says here that even back then,
[01:08:13] they were no longer observing the Sabbath,
[01:08:19] but they were living in observance of the Lord's day,
[01:08:22] referring to the day of his resurrection,
[01:08:24] which would be the first day of the week, Sunday.
[01:08:27] All right.
[01:08:29] I'm going to show you some scriptures after these two.
[01:08:31] Here's another one,
[01:08:32] and I came across this one by accident the other day
[01:08:35] in writing my book,
[01:08:36] going through Josh McDowell's books,
[01:08:38] Evidence at Demands of Verdict.
[01:08:40] I came upon this quote from Justin Martyr,
[01:08:43] who was also one of the disciples of Polycarp,
[01:08:48] and he lived from 100 to 165.
[01:08:54] Anyway, he was like the next generation,
[01:08:56] would carry the torch,
[01:08:58] still 200 years before the Roman Catholic Church came into being.
[01:09:03] And he said,
[01:09:04] And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things,
[01:09:08] and the wealthy among us help the needy,
[01:09:10] and we always keep together,
[01:09:12] and for all things we're with, we are supplied.
[01:09:15] We bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ
[01:09:18] and through the Holy Ghost.
[01:09:19] And on the day called Sunday,
[01:09:21] all who live in cities or in the country
[01:09:24] gather together to one place
[01:09:26] and the memoirs of the apostles,
[01:09:28] and he says the memoir,
[01:09:29] it means the Gospels, the writings of the apostles.
[01:09:31] He says,
[01:09:32] And the memoirs of the apostles,
[01:09:33] or the writings of the prophets are read
[01:09:35] as long as time permits.
[01:09:38] So here, and I can keep reading,
[01:09:40] there are numerous references,
[01:09:43] numerous references in church history,
[01:09:47] long before the Roman Catholic Church,
[01:09:50] that New Testament Christians
[01:09:54] knew that they were not required
[01:09:57] to keep the Sabbath on Saturday
[01:09:59] and met on Sunday.
[01:10:03] So this is not an invention of the Roman Catholic Church,
[01:10:05] so you've been lied to.
[01:10:06] If that's what you heard,
[01:10:07] let me ask you,
[01:10:08] has anybody ever heard that,
[01:10:09] or is it just me?
[01:10:10] Anybody ever heard that that was an invention
[01:10:12] of the Roman Catholic Church?
[01:10:13] That's not true.
[01:10:17] Not true at all.
[01:10:18] In fact, let's look at a couple of Bible verses
[01:10:23] that talk about the early church.
[01:10:28] Acts 20, verse 7.
[01:10:34] Am I there?
[01:10:47] Acts 20, verse 7.
[01:10:50] Don't shout me down.
[01:10:52] Now look at verse 7.
[01:10:57] Here we go.
[01:10:58] Acts 20.
[01:10:59] Now this is well into the establishment of churches
[01:11:04] across the Middle East and Europe and Asia.
[01:11:08] We're on into the time
[01:11:13] when years have passed.
[01:11:16] And look at Acts 20, verse 7.
[01:11:18] And upon the first day of the week,
[01:11:21] when the disciples came together to break bread.
[01:11:25] Let me just stop right there.
[01:11:29] When the disciples came together.
[01:11:31] Why is he bringing up the first day of the week,
[01:11:33] the disciples coming together to break bread?
[01:11:35] Was that just a day of fellowship,
[01:11:38] or was the breaking bread,
[01:11:39] he's talking about communion?
[01:11:40] I believe more than likely communion.
[01:11:43] But he says here that on the first day of the week,
[01:11:47] he said, let's read it.
[01:11:48] And upon the first day of the week,
[01:11:50] when the disciples came together to break bread,
[01:11:52] Paul preached unto them,
[01:11:53] ready to depart on the morrow
[01:11:55] and continue his speech until midnight.
[01:11:57] See, I don't preach that long.
[01:12:04] But do you see here?
[01:12:05] People say, oh, it's not in the New Testament
[01:12:07] that the church met on Sunday,
[01:12:09] the first day of the week.
[01:12:10] Yes, it is.
[01:12:11] It's right here.
[01:12:18] Y'all see that, or is it just Pastor Dean?
[01:12:19] Got one more for you.
[01:12:35] 1 Corinthians 16.
[01:12:36] 1 Corinthians 16.
[01:12:53] Oh, they're going to tell me,
[01:12:56] oh, you just don't understand the writings of Paul.
[01:12:58] Why not?
[01:13:02] I guess this just doesn't make sense.
[01:13:08] In verse 1 and 2,
[01:13:09] Now, concerning the collection for the saints,
[01:13:11] as I have given order to the churches of Galatia,
[01:13:14] even so do ye,
[01:13:16] what's the order?
[01:13:19] Upon the first day of the week,
[01:13:21] let every one of you lay by him in store,
[01:13:23] as God hath prospered him,
[01:13:25] that there be no gatherings when I come.
[01:13:30] Why the first day of the week?
[01:13:31] Why the first day of the week?
[01:13:32] He gave an order that upon the first day of the week,
[01:13:36] that they would take up offerings.
[01:13:40] Well, I guess the church was coming together,
[01:13:42] so they could take up offerings.
[01:13:46] Look at me, everybody.
[01:13:47] Is that in your Bible?
[01:13:54] So we have it from the Scriptures.
[01:13:56] We have it from church history
[01:13:58] that followed the apostles.
[01:14:00] And we have it from the apostles
[01:14:02] decreeing that it was not a requirement upon the Gentiles.
[01:14:05] And we have it in the teachings of Paul.
[01:14:09] Is that not enough?
[01:14:10] And the book of Galatians,
[01:14:15] which I don't have time to get into today,
[01:14:17] is an absolute destruction
[01:14:20] of the idea that you have to keep.
[01:14:26] He even said it there in Galatians.
[01:14:28] He said, you observe days and months and years and times.
[01:14:32] He's talking about you observe Sabbaths.
[01:14:35] Listen, I see these folks trying to figure out
[01:14:37] when to celebrate these feasts.
[01:14:39] They don't even know what calendar to use
[01:14:41] because the calendars and everything's been so screwed up.
[01:14:46] They can't even figure out how to do it.
[01:14:50] They can't figure out a new moon.
[01:14:54] They can't figure it out.
[01:14:55] So there's a chance that even some of these feasts,
[01:14:59] they're not even celebrating them on the right day
[01:15:01] because the calendars have been so screwed up.
[01:15:05] And they debate among themselves,
[01:15:06] which calendars should we follow?
[01:15:10] And I'm sitting here going,
[01:15:11] really, y'all are debating what calendar to follow
[01:15:13] to figure out what day that you can keep the law of Moses on.
[01:15:17] I'm just smacking my head.
[01:15:26] But let me just tell you,
[01:15:27] if you go through the book of Galatians,
[01:15:29] he says, he said, I'm afraid of you.
[01:15:31] You observe days and times and months and years.
[01:15:36] He's like, what are you doing?
[01:15:37] Let me explain some things that you do.
[01:15:41] And I'm going to explain this to people out there.
[01:15:43] These are some words in the book of Galatians
[01:15:46] that ought to scare people that are into this whole thing.
[01:15:53] Listen to me.
[01:15:54] And again, what I'm talking about is people
[01:15:57] who are trying to be righteous or right with God
[01:16:01] through trying to keep the law of Moses.
[01:16:04] And he says, in Galatians,
[01:16:07] that if you're trying to be justified by the law,
[01:16:11] listen to me, those who seek, Galatians 5.1,
[01:16:15] if you seek to be justified by the law,
[01:16:19] Galatians chapter 5.
[01:16:20] Well, you know what?
[01:16:21] Let's just turn there.
[01:16:22] We're not going to get hurt.
[01:16:23] Go to Galatians.
[01:16:24] This is important.
[01:16:32] Galatians 5.
[01:16:33] Actually, we'll just read from verse 1 on through.
[01:16:38] These are some pretty serious verses here.
[01:16:46] And you know, I guess what troubles me about this
[01:16:48] is that there's so many well-meaning Christians
[01:16:50] getting trapped in this.
[01:16:57] They're all out of the mean ones.
[01:16:58] You're a hypocrite.
[01:17:01] You're not even saved.
[01:17:02] You're this.
[01:17:03] You're that.
[01:17:12] Galatians 5 verse 1,
[01:17:13] Stand fast, therefore in the liberty,
[01:17:15] wherewith Christ hath made us free,
[01:17:18] and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
[01:17:20] So what's he talking about?
[01:17:21] Getting entangled with what yoke of bondage?
[01:17:22] Then he tells you.
[01:17:23] It's the law of Moses.
[01:17:25] He says, Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
[01:17:27] that if ye be circumcised,
[01:17:28] Christ shall profit you nothing.
[01:17:30] For I testify again to every man
[01:17:33] that is circumcised,
[01:17:34] that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
[01:17:37] Christ is become of no effect unto you.
[01:17:40] Whosoever of you are justified by the law,
[01:17:44] you are fallen from grace.
[01:17:47] Now, understand what that means.
[01:17:49] He's not talking about you can go live in sin.
[01:17:51] See, in Galatians 5 he continues and tells you,
[01:17:53] Yes, you can't be a fornicator and adulterer,
[01:17:55] which he tells you,
[01:17:56] there is a moral New Testament law
[01:17:58] that you must, that you're required to keep.
[01:18:00] Morality.
[01:18:01] But those things are primarily things you don't do.
[01:18:04] Not things you are to practice.
[01:18:05] Things you don't do.
[01:18:07] Like adultery or fornication or witchcraft.
[01:18:09] Or drunkenness.
[01:18:12] We tell people all the time,
[01:18:13] not doing something is not a work.
[01:18:16] Right?
[01:18:18] I mean, if I'm laying in my bed taking a nap,
[01:18:22] am I working?
[01:18:24] No.
[01:18:25] So if I'm not committing adultery,
[01:18:30] if I'm not committing fornication,
[01:18:32] if I'm not taking drugs,
[01:18:34] if I'm not getting drunk,
[01:18:35] I'm not doing anything.
[01:18:37] But he says here,
[01:18:43] if you seek to be justified,
[01:18:47] this word means to be made right with God,
[01:18:50] to be made righteous,
[01:18:51] to be acceptable to God,
[01:18:53] by the law.
[01:18:58] If that's where you seek your righteousness,
[01:19:00] if I keep the Sabbath, then I'm righteous.
[01:19:04] If I keep the feast, then I'm righteous.
[01:19:06] If I keep the dietary laws, then I'm righteous.
[01:19:10] If I don't cut my beard, then I'm righteous.
[01:19:15] If that's where you're seeking your righteousness,
[01:19:19] then you have fallen from grace.
[01:19:24] And what is grace?
[01:19:26] A lot of people have even the word grace mixed up.
[01:19:30] The word grace means God's supernatural touch
[01:19:35] and help on your life.
[01:19:38] Grace means the Holy Spirit moves
[01:19:43] and helps you do what you can't do.
[01:19:49] I admit, I cannot keep the Lord.
[01:19:53] I can try.
[01:19:54] I can't do it.
[01:19:56] And you can't do it.
[01:19:57] But the law of Christ, the law of faith,
[01:20:02] what's written in the new covenant,
[01:20:04] if I submit to the blood of Jesus,
[01:20:06] and I submit to the grace of God,
[01:20:08] guess what He will do?
[01:20:10] If I find my righteous in Him alone,
[01:20:13] guess what?
[01:20:14] He will help me do what I can do.
[01:20:18] But if I seek that I'm going to be made justified,
[01:20:22] righteous by being circumcised,
[01:20:24] by keeping the Sabbath,
[01:20:25] by keeping the feast,
[01:20:26] by keeping the law,
[01:20:27] then I do not have grace
[01:20:30] because I'm trying to do it in my own strength.
[01:20:35] And grace departs from me.
[01:20:39] See, these people in the Torah observance movement
[01:20:43] and the Hebrew observance movement,
[01:20:45] they hate this book.
[01:20:47] I'm not talking about all of them.
[01:20:50] I'm just talking about the ones that are the zealots.
[01:20:53] They hate this
[01:20:57] because it exposes the whole mindset.
[01:20:59] It exposes the whole thing.
[01:21:03] I want grace, y'all.
[01:21:05] I don't want to have to strive in my own strength
[01:21:08] to think I've got to please God in every little detail
[01:21:11] to get any little bit of help from God.
[01:21:13] But they actually believe,
[01:21:16] going back to trying to observe the law, the Torah,
[01:21:18] they actually believe that that's going to give them grace,
[01:21:21] and it's the exact opposite according to this,
[01:21:23] according to what the Scripture says.
[01:21:28] Now then it gets even worse.
[01:21:30] I mean, it gets even worse
[01:21:39] when he talks about
[01:21:44] that Christ has become of no effect.
[01:21:46] Look at that.
[01:21:48] Do you want this?
[01:21:53] Who wants it to be said over them
[01:21:56] as a Christian
[01:21:57] that Christ has become of no effect to you?
[01:22:07] I want Jesus to have some effect in my life, right?
[01:22:13] This is serious, y'all.
[01:22:16] So it says Christ has become of no effect
[01:22:20] if we seek justification by the law.
[01:22:22] It says that we fall from grace,
[01:22:25] and the Bible says if we go back under the law,
[01:22:29] we go back under the curse of the law.
[01:22:31] Why would any Christian, why?
[01:22:37] And again, I have friends
[01:22:41] that have been in this thing for decades.
[01:22:45] Why would you seek to put yourself in that place?
[01:22:52] And you know, I don't even have time
[01:23:04] to get on the name of Jesus.
[01:23:08] I'm just going to say this.
[01:23:15] Since the Reformation, and even I'm sure before,
[01:23:18] the Holy Spirit of God
[01:23:24] in nearly every single revival and move of God
[01:23:29] that's ever hit the church in church history,
[01:23:33] the First Great Awakening under Jonathan Edwards in the 1700s,
[01:23:37] the Second Great Awakening in America
[01:23:39] spearheaded by Charles G. Finney in the 1800s,
[01:23:43] where we're talking about millions of people,
[01:23:46] hundreds of thousands,
[01:23:48] millions into the millions of people
[01:23:50] were truly converted and came to the Savior
[01:23:53] in great revivals.
[01:23:55] John Wesley, the great Methodist revival
[01:23:58] of the Circuit Riders.
[01:24:00] I look at the great Azusa Street revival.
[01:24:04] I look at the great Welsh revival.
[01:24:06] I look at the great Hebrides revival.
[01:24:08] I look at the great revivals of history.
[01:24:10] And what do I see?
[01:24:13] I see churches used, ministers used,
[01:24:19] who met on Sunday, God forbid,
[01:24:22] who preached the name Jesus Christ in English.
[01:24:27] Jesus Christ of Dadsburg.
[01:24:29] I have seen thousands weep and repent
[01:24:35] and fall on their knees and accept Jesus Christ
[01:24:37] as Lord and Savior when the Gospel of Jesus Christ
[01:24:40] has been preached in His name Jesus.
[01:24:43] Not Yeshua, not Yahuwah,
[01:24:45] not any of these names they want to come up with.
[01:24:48] I'm telling you, it's fine.
[01:24:49] You want to say those things?
[01:24:50] That's fine.
[01:24:51] But I'm telling you,
[01:24:52] the name of Jesus Christ of Dadsburg,
[01:24:54] I have seen the death here,
[01:24:55] the cripple walk,
[01:24:56] I have seen cancer disappear,
[01:24:58] and I have cast out thousands of demons.
[01:25:01] So tell me that name is demonic
[01:25:06] or from Zeus or whatever kind of crazy.
[01:25:09] Let me tell you something.
[01:25:10] That, a lot of the Hebraic Roots movement
[01:25:12] is flat out blasphemy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[01:25:16] And I'm sorry I'm getting a little fired up about it,
[01:25:23] but I've seen some of these people mock the name of Jesus
[01:25:26] that I have been saved by, delivered by, healed by,
[01:25:30] and seen God work through for 30 years,
[01:25:33] and all of a sudden they got it figured out?
[01:25:36] No.
[01:25:45] It is another deception in the body of Christ.
[01:25:52] I'm sorry.
[01:25:56] So, if anyone asks you why Fire and Grace Church meets on Sunday,
[01:26:04] why Pastor Dean says Jesus instead of Yeshua,
[01:26:07] point him to this message,
[01:26:15] because I will not back down from this.
[01:26:22] I cannot believe, as my wife said,
[01:26:24] I cannot believe in 2017,
[01:26:30] from what we know,
[01:26:33] what we can look at in the New Testament,
[01:26:38] that I even have to address this.
[01:26:39] I cannot even believe it.
[01:26:42] But I've had to address it multiple times.
[01:26:47] And you know the folks out there, listen,
[01:26:49] once I just, oh, I mean, I'm going to have to disable comments on YouTube,
[01:26:54] because the venom that's going to come from these Pharisees,
[01:27:00] oh, I don't know, it stirs up.
[01:27:08] I guess it's the same spirit that was in the Pharisees
[01:27:12] that decided to crucify Jesus,
[01:27:14] because they couldn't stand the fact
[01:27:20] that he wouldn't keep the Sabbath like they wanted him to keep.
[01:27:22] They couldn't stand the fact, couldn't stand it,
[01:27:27] that he would heal people on the Sabbath.
[01:27:29] That was working.
[01:27:30] And you know what, Jesus called it work, too.
[01:27:33] I do the works of my Father.
[01:27:35] And he was healing on the Sabbath day.
[01:27:38] And I love it.
[01:27:39] A lot of times he'd do it just right in front of him,
[01:27:41] just to aggravate him.
[01:27:42] He let his disciples run through the corn,
[01:27:49] gather the corn on the Sabbath day.
[01:27:50] They weren't supposed to do that either.
[01:27:52] The Pharisees start complaining about,
[01:27:53] oh, why do you let them do what's not lawful on the Sabbath day?
[01:27:56] And then Jesus will walk over and heal a blind man.
[01:27:59] Boy, you want to talk about confusing their religious brain.
[01:28:03] He doesn't do what we think he should do,
[01:28:09] but yet, I love the one where Jesus tells the woman
[01:28:18] caught in adultery in John 8.
[01:28:20] She's caught in adultery.
[01:28:22] The Pharisees come up.
[01:28:23] The law says she should be stoned.
[01:28:26] But what do you say?
[01:28:28] If Jesus didn't change the law,
[01:28:32] if the new covenant is not changed,
[01:28:35] what should have Jesus should have said
[01:28:36] if we're still supposed to keep the law?
[01:28:38] He should have said, all right, gentlemen, stoner.
[01:28:40] You know what the law says?
[01:28:44] You know what the law of Moses says?
[01:28:47] Doesn't it say she should be stoned?
[01:28:49] The adulterer should be stoned?
[01:28:50] Yes, it does.
[01:28:51] He said she was caught in the act.
[01:28:56] Where does that information come from?
[01:29:05] They brought her to Jesus a multitude of Pharisees
[01:29:08] and said she was caught in the act.
[01:29:10] So they were claiming multiple witnesses.
[01:29:12] I'm sorry. You've been taught wrong about that.
[01:29:17] See, that's Hebraic roots right there.
[01:29:19] They add stuff.
[01:29:20] That's not in the book.
[01:29:21] It's not in here.
[01:29:23] Show it to me.
[01:29:24] I'm not being mean.
[01:29:26] I know.
[01:29:33] And I'm not even talking about salvation.
[01:29:36] I'm talking about seeking righteousness that way.
[01:29:38] Yeah.
[01:29:40] But what I'm saying is you don't get to add to what's here.
[01:29:46] We don't add to it.
[01:29:47] We don't take from it.
[01:29:50] So again, you started this with me here on this in publicly.
[01:29:55] So I'm going to say, Scripture says in John 8,
[01:29:58] who's brought by a multitude of Pharisees
[01:30:02] who said she was caught in the act.
[01:30:05] Now, whether they were lying or not, we don't know.
[01:30:09] But we know that's what they said.
[01:30:11] And there were multiple witnesses.
[01:30:13] So that I don't know where you got that from.
[01:30:16] But it's not in here.
[01:30:17] And this is the problem.
[01:30:20] It's not in here.
[01:30:24] If it's not in here, we don't get to say that.
[01:30:26] Am I right?
[01:30:29] I love you. I love you.
[01:30:33] And I know you are.
[01:30:34] I know you have good intentions.
[01:30:35] But these people out there teach a lot of stuff.
[01:30:39] That's not in here.
[01:30:41] And what I'm getting at, Jesus clearly.
[01:30:50] And see, OK, let's just take let's take it a step further.
[01:30:53] Because what they say is the holy braised roots movement says this.
[01:31:00] The law did not change.
[01:31:03] The law was not done away with it.
[01:31:05] The law was not abolished.
[01:31:06] Isn't that what they say?
[01:31:08] That's what they say, right?
[01:31:09] Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 3.
[01:31:13] Let's see what the Bible says.
[01:31:15] 2 Corinthians chapter 3.
[01:31:28] I'm sorry, but this is a hill I'm willing to die on.
[01:31:37] Let's read.
[01:31:43] 2 Corinthians 3.
[01:31:44] Has the law been done away with it?
[01:31:47] Because the Hebraic roots movement, the Torah observers, they say,
[01:31:52] no, the law had been done away.
[01:31:53] We're supposed to still keep the law.
[01:31:54] Circumcision, Sabbath.
[01:31:55] We got to keep all that.
[01:31:57] And they say, Jesus, the Bible doesn't say.
[01:32:00] The New Testament doesn't say.
[01:32:01] The law has been done away with it.
[01:32:03] Guess what?
[01:32:04] Yes, it does.
[01:32:05] Over and over and over again.
[01:32:09] 2 Corinthians 3.
[01:32:10] Do we begin again to commend ourselves?
[01:32:13] Or need we as some others,
[01:32:15] epistles of commendation to you
[01:32:17] or letters of commendation from you?
[01:32:19] You are our epistle, written in our hearts,
[01:32:22] known and read of all men.
[01:32:23] For as much as you are manifestly declared
[01:32:26] to be the epistle of Christ,
[01:32:28] ministered by us, written not with ink,
[01:32:31] but with the spirit of the living God,
[01:32:33] not in tables of stone,
[01:32:34] but in fleshly tables of the heart,
[01:32:37] and such trust have we through Christ to Godward,
[01:32:41] not that we are sufficient of ourselves
[01:32:43] to think anything as of ourselves,
[01:32:45] but our sufficiency is of God,
[01:32:47] who hath made us able ministers
[01:32:49] of the New Testament,
[01:32:51] not of the letter, but of the Spirit,
[01:32:54] for the letter killeth,
[01:32:55] but the Spirit gives life.
[01:32:57] But if the ministration of death,
[01:33:00] now listen to what he calls the Law of Moses,
[01:33:03] the Law of Moses,
[01:33:05] even on the tablets he calls this,
[01:33:08] the ministration of death.
[01:33:11] But if the ministration of death,
[01:33:13] written and engraven in stones,
[01:33:16] was glorious,
[01:33:17] so that the children of Israel
[01:33:19] could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses
[01:33:21] for the glory of his countenance,
[01:33:22] which glory was to be done away,
[01:33:25] how shall not the ministration of the Spirit
[01:33:27] be rather glorious?
[01:33:29] For if the ministration of condemnation be glory,
[01:33:32] much more doth the ministration of righteousness
[01:33:34] exceed in glory.
[01:33:36] For even that which was made glorious
[01:33:38] had no glory in this regard
[01:33:40] by reason of the glory that exceleth.
[01:33:42] For if that which is done away was glorious,
[01:33:45] much more that which remains.
[01:33:47] So what is he talking about?
[01:33:48] What is he talking about that's being done away with here?
[01:33:51] He's talking about the glory of the Law of Moses.
[01:33:54] He's talking about when Moses went up on the mountain
[01:33:55] and he got the law,
[01:33:58] and his face was shining.
[01:34:00] And he said that was a ministration of death.
[01:34:02] Why?
[01:34:03] Because the law kills.
[01:34:05] When Moses came down from the mountain
[01:34:07] and they were in sin,
[01:34:09] 3,000 people died that day
[01:34:13] because the law brought death.
[01:34:15] And he's saying the law had glory on it,
[01:34:18] but that glory was done away with
[01:34:22] because there is a new glory,
[01:34:26] a new righteousness that comes in.
[01:34:29] You can't have it both ways.
[01:34:31] Righteousness either comes by the Law of Moses
[01:34:33] or it comes by faith in Jesus Christ.
[01:34:36] Now let me ask you this.
[01:34:38] They say the law has not changed.
[01:34:40] Yet, Hebrews chapter 7 says what?
[01:34:45] The priesthood, the Levitical priesthood,
[01:34:47] was done away with.
[01:34:51] And now the priesthood we're under
[01:34:53] is the priesthood of Melchizedek.
[01:34:55] And he says in Hebrews 7
[01:34:58] that there was of necessity a change of the law.
[01:35:02] So the law was changed.
[01:35:04] Yet the Hebrews roots movement says
[01:35:06] that the law was not changed.
[01:35:08] Who are we going to believe?
[01:35:11] Them or this?
[01:35:14] Done away, changed,
[01:35:22] disannulled,
[01:35:24] nailed to the cross,
[01:35:26] blotted out.
[01:35:29] These are references to what Jesus did to the law.
[01:35:35] Not just to sin.
[01:35:40] So let me ask you this.
[01:35:43] And I'm going to ask you this, John.
[01:35:45] If it doesn't matter, if it's not required,
[01:35:47] if it's not required for me,
[01:35:51] or anyone else,
[01:35:52] because I know you agree
[01:35:55] that it's not a requirement,
[01:35:58] then why is it that important?
[01:36:30] But what I'm getting at too is,
[01:36:32] see, this is what I don't get.
[01:36:34] If it's not a requirement,
[01:36:39] and if God says if you go back under that,
[01:36:44] you're just putting a necessary burden upon yourself.
[01:37:05] But again,
[01:37:10] under, okay, but see what you're talking about, though,
[01:37:12] is apples and oranges.
[01:37:15] Because while under, okay,
[01:37:17] if God gives you a covenant,
[01:37:19] if God gives you a covenant,
[01:37:22] then that's the only one you got.
[01:37:24] That's it.
[01:37:25] So under the Old Testament,
[01:37:27] until the New Testament came into being,
[01:37:29] that's all they had.
[01:37:32] Right?
[01:37:33] So that's it.
[01:37:34] Right.
[01:37:36] That's all they had, though.
[01:37:38] But Hebrews 8, Hebrews 9 says,
[01:37:42] what?
[01:37:43] Well, we have a better covenant
[01:37:47] with better promises
[01:37:49] established in a completely different way.
[01:37:53] And so I just read in Acts,
[01:37:55] you said you didn't see what the Scripture said,
[01:37:57] but in Acts the Apostle said
[01:37:59] that if we tell the Gentiles, Christians,
[01:38:03] that they have to keep the law of Moses,
[01:38:05] we are putting a yoke upon their name.
[01:38:08] Again, I don't have a problem with the way you go about,
[01:38:24] but I'm talking about lots and lots and lots
[01:38:30] of people who tell me.
[01:38:33] Okay, I'll give you one.
[01:38:36] You know what?
[01:38:39] One of the famous ones teach,
[01:38:43] he teaches that 1 John chapter 2,
[01:38:50] verses 1 through 4,
[01:38:51] where he says there about,
[01:38:54] he talks about Jesus as our advocate,
[01:38:56] and it says if we keep his commandments,
[01:38:59] if we don't keep his commandments,
[01:39:00] we are liar and the truth is not in us.
[01:39:02] That individual, and you know who I'm talking about?
[01:39:06] Yeah, you do.
[01:39:10] He says it on his Facebook all the time,
[01:39:12] and he says it in his books and in his videos.
[01:39:14] But he says that those words,
[01:39:16] those commandments he's talking about,
[01:39:17] is the law of Moses.
[01:39:21] So what he's saying very clearly
[01:39:23] by using the term commandments in the New Testament
[01:39:27] and applying it and making it out
[01:39:29] to be the law of Moses,
[01:39:31] what he's saying is that you must keep the law of Moses
[01:39:33] or you are not saved.
[01:39:36] You are not a true believer.
[01:39:40] And he's one of the leaders of this whole thing.
[01:39:43] But when I read the threads on his page,
[01:39:47] do you know what I see?
[01:39:49] Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people
[01:39:52] agree with it.
[01:39:57] And because I have spoken up against it,
[01:39:59] they come at me like a battalion of Spartans.
[01:40:13] I mean, where are we to go with this?
[01:40:16] I mean, again, my friend, I've had a friend for years
[01:40:18] that's been in the messianic movement for years.
[01:40:22] I mean, we were like this.
[01:40:25] We did ministry together, we did prison ministry,
[01:40:27] we did all kind of things together.
[01:40:30] He never once said or implied or pushed
[01:40:34] or that you have to do this this way.
[01:40:37] I mean, he didn't care.
[01:40:38] He would go to church on Friday night, Saturday, Sunday.
[01:40:40] He never made it an issue.
[01:40:42] He just liked to do it.
[01:40:45] Am I fine? Go ahead.
[01:40:46] I would go with him sometimes.
[01:40:48] I would go. I've gone.
[01:40:50] Again, no problem.
[01:40:54] You want to meet on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Friday?
[01:40:56] I don't care.
[01:40:57] You're free.
[01:40:58] And that's the point.
[01:41:00] The point is that as New Testament believers,
[01:41:04] we have freedom in the sense of how we come together.
[01:41:10] When we come together, what days we come together,
[01:41:13] we have total freedom.
[01:41:15] According to 1 Timothy, I can eat anything I want.
[01:41:20] I mean, there are people out there saying
[01:41:23] if you eat pork, you're going to hell
[01:41:25] or you're an antinominate or you're lawless
[01:41:30] or you're a pagan.
[01:41:32] This is what I'm dealing with here.
[01:41:38] I'm not trying to...
[01:41:40] Again, if I told you you couldn't do it,
[01:41:43] I would be wrong because I shouldn't be able to tell you
[01:41:48] you can't do that.
[01:41:49] I mean, if that's the way you want to worship God,
[01:41:50] that's fine.
[01:41:51] But again, the point is freedom.
[01:41:54] Freedom.
[01:41:56] That's why he said, in Galatians 5.1,
[01:42:00] stand fast in the liberty.
[01:42:04] Liberty from what?
[01:42:07] I don't have to be circumcised if I don't want to.
[01:42:10] I don't have to keep the Sabbath on Saturday if I don't want to.
[01:42:13] I don't have to keep the feast if I don't want to.
[01:42:15] I don't have to be bound to the ordinances.
[01:42:19] I don't have to be compelled to be a Jew.
[01:42:22] But see, the moment people start saying,
[01:42:30] well, see, this is the problem.
[01:42:34] Because what happens is called coercion.
[01:42:36] You know what coercion is, right?
[01:42:38] It's indirect.
[01:42:40] I mean, the freaks went to a messianic,
[01:42:45] he-break-roots group.
[01:42:47] And it all starts out nice and slow and easy and subtle.
[01:42:51] But then it begins to grow.
[01:42:53] And if you don't, hey, you need to do this a little bit more
[01:42:56] and you need to do that a little bit more.
[01:42:58] Even if it's to the point of just being accepted by the group.
[01:43:05] And if you don't, then you start getting looked down upon.
[01:43:08] See, even those things, that's what I'm saying.
[01:43:11] A lot of people get into this innocently enough,
[01:43:14] but then they begin to look down their little self-righteous nose
[01:43:17] and think that because I keep the Sabbath or I keep the feast
[01:43:20] or because I do these things,
[01:43:23] I'm better than the Sunday churchgoer.
[01:43:28] This is even a problem.
[01:43:31] Not just the point of, is it a matter of salvation,
[01:43:35] but is it a matter of pride and self-righteousness?
[01:43:38] Is it a matter of coercion?
[01:43:40] Am I pushing people?
[01:43:42] Am I subtly controlling them, manipulating them,
[01:43:45] or putting fear in them if they don't do these things?
[01:43:49] And what I hear from these leaders,
[01:43:51] and I've listened to a bunch of them,
[01:43:53] I hear coercion.
[01:43:55] I hear requirement.
[01:43:57] I hear even for salvation.
[01:44:00] But even if they don't, they still imply,
[01:44:02] we got it better together better than you guys.
[01:44:05] So there's a pride level that's in there
[01:44:10] that is mind-boggling.
[01:44:12] And you know, I think about this.
[01:44:17] Look, I'm going to tell you, this is where I'm going to end today, right here.
[01:44:20] This is where I end.
[01:44:23] You go to Revelation 12, verse 11, one of my favorite verses.
[01:44:27] It talks about overcoming Satan.
[01:44:29] You know what he says there?
[01:44:31] He doesn't say you overcome Satan because you keep the Sabbath.
[01:44:33] He doesn't say you overcome Satan because you keep the feast.
[01:44:36] He doesn't say you overcome Satan because
[01:44:38] you lived a perfect sinless life or you didn't eat pork.
[01:44:41] He says we overcome Satan by the blood of the lamb
[01:44:46] and the word of our testimony
[01:44:48] and because we love not our lives and none to death.
[01:44:53] When we stand before God,
[01:44:55] the question, there will never be the question,
[01:44:58] did you keep the Sabbath?
[01:45:01] There's never going to be the question, did you keep the feast?
[01:45:04] There's never going to be the question,
[01:45:07] did you eat only acceptable Torah food, kosher food?
[01:45:13] No, the only question that's going to be looked upon,
[01:45:19] you're going to be looked at upon,
[01:45:21] are you covered by the blood of Jesus through faith
[01:45:24] because you chose to walk with Him
[01:45:27] according to a new covenant, not the old covenant?
[01:45:30] See, I can't, I can't.
[01:45:33] If anything, what this comes down to,
[01:45:35] when the Bible talks about rightly dividing the word of God,
[01:45:38] we know that passage in Timothy.
[01:45:41] We rightly divide the word of God with the division,
[01:45:44] when He's talking about one of the main issues,
[01:45:47] what is old covenant and what is new covenant?
[01:45:50] I'm not a Jew.
[01:45:57] I am not a physical Jew.
[01:46:00] And I got to deal with that.
[01:46:06] See, I got to deal with this,
[01:46:08] I got to deal with the Jew haters too.
[01:46:12] I got to deal with that in the days ahead.
[01:46:22] Christ is the end of the law for me.
[01:46:29] I mean, what the Bible says what the law could not do
[01:46:31] in that it was weak.
[01:46:32] I mean, as God said, if the old covenant,
[01:46:39] and here's another one for you,
[01:46:41] if the Old Testament law was perfect and complete,
[01:46:44] why was there need for a new?
[01:46:46] There wasn't need.
[01:46:47] If it was perfect, if it could make you righteous
[01:46:49] and it could make you perfect,
[01:46:51] there was no need for any more.
[01:46:54] But we have a new covenant because it wasn't perfect.
[01:46:57] And the Levitical priesthood was changed
[01:46:59] and the animal sacrifices was changed.
[01:47:01] And Jesus said,
[01:47:03] we're not stoning people anymore for adultery.
[01:47:05] We're not stoning homosexuals anymore.
[01:47:07] There's going to be a period of grace.
[01:47:11] And at the end of that, there will be a day of judgment.
[01:47:21] See, He took our sins on the cross,
[01:47:25] but He also took the law,
[01:47:27] and He took the punishment of the law.
[01:47:30] That's why the woman was at stone.
[01:47:32] Jesus took the punishment.
[01:47:34] He was just showing you a little preemptive story.
[01:47:37] The chastisement of our peace was upon Him.
[01:47:40] Meeting rebellious kids.
[01:47:42] You know in the Old Testament,
[01:47:44] if you backtalk your mom and dad,
[01:47:46] they drug you out of the tent and stoned you to death.
[01:47:52] Aren't you glad you're under a new covenant?
[01:47:54] Is that not a change?
[01:48:08] Thank God for the change.
[01:48:11] Because guess what?
[01:48:12] All of us, if we lived in the desert,
[01:48:14] in the wilderness,
[01:48:17] everyone sitting in this room would have been stoned.
[01:48:22] Except maybe the kids.
[01:48:28] Was that?
[01:48:29] Because you know what?
[01:48:31] I was a fornicator.
[01:48:35] I took the name of the Lord in vain before I was saved.
[01:48:39] I was an adulterer.
[01:48:44] I was a drunkard.
[01:48:45] I was a railer.
[01:48:46] I was an idolater.
[01:48:47] So what did I deserve?
[01:48:49] Death.
[01:48:52] And the law said,
[01:48:55] you were to be executed.
[01:48:57] A man had sex with another man in the Old Testament.
[01:49:00] He was to be, both were to be put to death.
[01:49:03] Put to death.
[01:49:09] And now, what?
[01:49:10] What do they have?
[01:49:13] Grace.
[01:49:14] Meaning, time.
[01:49:17] Time.
[01:49:19] Patience.
[01:49:20] Mercy.
[01:49:21] To come to the Messiah.
[01:49:26] To come to Jesus.
[01:49:27] To be forgiven.
[01:49:28] To be washed.
[01:49:29] See, people wonder why God's,
[01:49:33] God's let evil and sin continue in the world for so long.
[01:49:39] It's simply because His patience.
[01:49:41] He's allowing for people.
[01:49:46] But one day, it's over.
[01:49:51] That day's coming pretty quick.
[01:49:53] And when you die, it's over, for sure.
[01:49:57] Decisions made then.
[01:49:59] You made a decision of who you lived for.
[01:50:02] But there's much more we can get into this,
[01:50:06] but we can't today.
[01:50:08] Father, we thank You, Lord God.
[01:50:18] Lord, we know that grace is not a license to sin.
[01:50:21] You've spelled out in the New Covenant
[01:50:25] the works of the flesh,
[01:50:27] the sins that are unto death.
[01:50:29] We know what they are.
[01:50:30] They're spelled out in Galatians 5,
[01:50:31] Ephesians 5, 1 Corinthians 5 and 6.
[01:50:33] They're spelled out.
[01:50:34] We know what is required of us
[01:50:36] as New Testament believers.
[01:50:39] I pray, Lord, that You would just reveal
[01:50:44] both Your love and Your mercy
[01:50:46] and Your patience and Your grace.
[01:50:47] And Lord, especially those watching and listening
[01:50:49] out there today,
[01:50:51] that this would show them that, yes,
[01:50:56] under the law, under the justice of God,
[01:50:59] they deserve death and eternal damnation,
[01:51:03] but the offer under the New Covenant
[01:51:07] is grace and mercy and forgiveness.
[01:51:13] Jesus, we thank You that You
[01:51:15] were nailed to that cross for our sins,
[01:51:17] but also that You were whipped for our healing.
[01:51:20] You took the punishment for our sin.
[01:51:25] And that all we have to have in You is true faith
[01:51:32] and begin a life of seeking after You
[01:51:36] to know You intimately and in a real way.
[01:51:40] So, Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus
[01:51:46] that those out there that are watching
[01:51:48] and listening and anybody in here
[01:51:50] that might need to just know,
[01:51:53] hey, you're being patient
[01:51:56] because the price has been paid.
[01:52:01] And they just ask for faith and for repentance
[01:52:04] and a dedication of life.
[01:52:08] You know, we were singing a minute ago
[01:52:10] and I was thinking about the New Covenant
[01:52:14] and the New Testament law.
[01:52:15] And Jesus said, what?
[01:52:18] There's two commandments.
[01:52:20] Hang all the law and the prophets.
[01:52:21] Love the Lord with all your heart,
[01:52:25] all your mind and strength,
[01:52:26] and love your neighbors yourself.
[01:52:29] And I thought about that.
[01:52:33] Do we love the Lord?
[01:52:34] You know what I was thinking about?
[01:52:35] That was during worship
[01:52:36] and I was thinking,
[01:52:38] how many of us in here really love God enough?
[01:52:40] We want to love on Him during worship.
[01:52:43] We want to love on Him in our private time.
[01:52:47] We want to spend time with Him.
[01:52:53] You know?
[01:52:54] It's going to come down to you.
[01:52:57] You love God, you love the world.
[01:53:00] And I mean love the world.
[01:53:01] I'm talking about the lust of the world
[01:53:02] and the sins of the world
[01:53:03] and which one do you love more?
[01:53:07] That's what it comes down to.
[01:53:08] A lot of people are going to be good people
[01:53:15] and end up lost and in hell
[01:53:17] because they never walked in faith.
[01:53:21] They never walked in a relationship with the Lord Jesus.
[01:53:25] They never had the blood to wash their sin away.
[01:53:31] Father, I ask You, Lord, to make the truth clear.
[01:53:34] Make it clear.
[01:53:39] We pray this today in Jesus' name.
[01:53:42] Amen.