Honoring the Sabbath

Honoring the Sabbath is not about resting and having a day of leisure. It is about not doing your own work but doing the works of God. Hebrews 4:10 for he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. See Also: Matthew 11:28-30. We find true rest when we are in the Spirit and working for God.

Jesus and the Father work every day. Doing work and the will of God is resting in Christ when we as Christians are at work for God.

John 5:16: So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.

John 5:17: In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

John 5:18: For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

John 5:19: Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

John 5:20: For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

John 5:21: For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

Jesus talked with the woman at the well when He was thirsty and hungry and when His disciples came back with food, Jesus said that He had food that they did not know about and it was to do the work and will of God.

There are two reasons why Christians get tired when working for God. One is that they are in the flesh and not in the Spirit. You cannot do God’s work in your own strength. The Bible says that it is not by power and might but by my Spirt. The second reason that Christians get tired working for God is that they place themselves under the law. They come up with formulas, techniques, systems, principles and rules to do God’s work or to have a system of success to obtain something from God.

Example: Some Christian Leaders teach that you need to read your Bible every day and pray every day and speak the scriptures out loud in order to be healed of your disease, aliment or affliction or sickness. Mark 5:36 says that we need to “only believe”. Those who have the gift of healing just need to heal like Jesus did by speaking and laying on hands to heal. Anything else is legalism.

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What is the purpose of Sabbath?

Did God intend believer’s in Christ to take one day per week and basically do nothing and just rest? The Church today thinks God wants them to have a day where you put your feet up and fold your hands all day once a week. They want amusement, entertainment and relaxation or if you are religious then you will read the Bible and pray for most of the day and eat little once per week. Is this what the Sabbath is all about? NOT!

Who came up with the 9 to 5 work schedule Monday thru Friday and every weekend off? Why does the Church copy from the world? Has the Church become Legalistic?

Jesus said in John 4:34, 5:17 and 9:4 that He had work to do and to finish it. Jesus healed many people on the Sabbath and was frequently accused of breaking the Sabbath because He had done some work. Jesus worked every day when He was on earth and yet He fulfilled all righteousness and kept all of the law. How did He do this? Read Hebrews 4:10. We as Christians are to cease from our own works and do the work of God. This is what the Sabbath means: Cease from your own work and do the work of God.

Read Matthew chapter 11:28 come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

We as Christians find rest in working for God, so every day is a Sabbath. The word yoke mentioned here as to do with working with Jesus. Jesus found pleasure and rest working for the Father. He told the disciples that He had food that they did not know about when he talked with the woman at the well.

God wants us to have a relationship with Him. He speaks to us and we follow Him in everything we do. We do only the work and His will that He wants. He does this by the Holy Spirit.

Bill Naugle

https://christcrosscrucified.com/

Origin of Christmas

 Origin of Christmas

History tells us:

Christmas originated as a Christian holiday celebrating Jesus Christ's birth, formally set on December 25th by Pope Julius I in the 4th century, replacing or incorporating existing Roman pagan winter solstice festivals like Saturnalia and the birthday of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) to blend traditions and ease conversion, adopting customs like feasting, gift-giving, and evergreen decorations from these earlier celebrations, with its traditions evolving over centuries.

Christian Roots:

Jesus' Birth: Christmas (Christ's Mass) honors the birth of Jesus, though the Bible doesn't specify the date, notes History.com.

Official Date: The Roman Church established December 25th as the date in the 4th century (around 336 CE or AD).

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Why do Christians celebrate Christmas like the pagan world with feasting, decorating and gift-giving? Is not this giving homage to false gods? Does not the Bible teach that we should have no other gods before the Lord God Almighty? 1 John 5:21 states: Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Most Christians say that they are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas but the celebrating the birth of Christ does not date back to Christ’s birth. Where in the Bible do you see family or believers celebrating Jesus’s birthday? Can you find in the Bible where they celebrated Jesus’s first, tenth, sixteen or twenty first birthday or any of His birthdays?

Shouldn’t we be living by the Word of God? When it comes to celebrating and worship we should only do what the Bible teaches and nothing added to it. In Jesus day the pagan world celebrated birthdays, not believers in the Messiah. Look at the birth of Christ mentioned in the book of Matthew in the Bible. The Heavenly Host and the Shepherds praise God.

Many people believed that the Wise men were there but they did not show up until Jesus was about one year old. The Bible does not teach us to form a tradition of celebrating Jesus’s birth every year. Read Matthew 2:11 – The Wise men came into Joseph’s house and called Jesus a Young Child. The Wise men were not in the stable when Jesus was born.

Does the Church need to repent of her many sins? The first three chapters of Revelation in the Bible states that the Church needs to turn from false teaching and traditions that are not of God. If a teaching or tradition does not go back to Christ and the Bible then it is not of God.

Has the Church been deceived by the devil? Why would the devil want Christians to celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus? The devil wants the Church to focus their attention to baby Jesus because baby Jesus could not heal the sick, proclaim the Gospel and do many miracles to save the lost. Most of all, the devil wants our attention to be drawn away from the Cross. Focusing our attention on baby Jesus draws Christians away from our Salvation provided for us by the crucifixion. The Bible teaches us to remember the death of Christ, burial and resurrection, not the birth of Christ.

The Bible teaches us that we are being saved daily (Acts 2:46-47) by the work of the Cross and that is what our focus should be! Church Revival Prayer!

Bill Naugle

Is your Church under the law?

All things come to us by the work of the Cross when Jesus Christ was crucified. First Peter 2:24 tells us that Christ was put to death on the Cross and by His stripes we are healed. The price and the benefits of God are provided by the work of the Cross and the Gospel. Eternal life, provision, healing, peace, joy and all of the other benefits have been given to us freely. Jesus healed all people and all diseases whether they were believers in Him or not. This is a work of Grace and not of works. Jesus never told anyone that they had to do some kind of work like read this and pray this and you will have my promises.

Unfortunately there are many churches and ministries today that are teaching a works oriented gospel which is legalism. They have fallen from Grace and are trying to make perfect by using their flesh just like the Galatians. Paul warned them of their error and said that they were bewitched being deceived by the devil and doing the works of the law. These ministries began in the Spirit but now they are trying to make perfect by the flesh. The whole contrast in Galatians is not about law and grace (as to salvation) but being under laws instead of being in the Spirit and living by faith. You will limit your miracle power under the law. When you operate in the flesh then you are under the law and not the spirit. The flesh operates by rules and laws which void the Spirit. Those in the spirit follow Christ when He speaks and He produces miracles thru you.

For example: Jesus never taught His disciples how to obtain the blessings of God by using a system, principle, formula or technique. The disciples learned how to heal by simply watching how Jesus healed the sick. Jesus healed by speaking or by laying on His hands. Some people were healed by using their own faith but not by doing any works to get healed.

The Bible teaches us that God desires faith and not works for any of His promises. Teaching principles of any truth is coming under the law which brings a curse upon your ministry. The Gospel of Christ is not about us doing something to receive but all about what God has already done so that we receive as a free gift. All teaching should only be about what God has done for us and what He has given us, which comes by the way of the Cross because the Gospel is the Power of God and nothing else will save.

Jesus taught us a lifestyle of having a relationship with the Godhead. We follow God by listening to what He says. Salvation is by Grace thru Faith and not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9) this salvation covers the healing of our bodies. The only real requirement to receive anything from God is Faith (Mark 5:36). Our obedience to God comes out of our faith in what He tells us because we know that God loves us very much and wants us to have a blessed life. We believe that God loves us. God freely gives to us all things (John 8:32 & 1 COR 2:12). We ask God and receive because we believe in Him.

Preachers need to minister the work of the Cross to the individual and cease from works that put people in bondage. The Bible states that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Rom 11:29). Even if a minister of God falls into a sin or teaches something that is not scriptural accurate they will still be able to minister from their gift to others. Recommendation: Change and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage.

The Bible exhorts us to preach and teach the Word of God (2 Tim 4:2) and not our experiences because some of our experience may not reflect the truth of God’s Word. When people talk about their experience and tell their story, they may not have understanding of what it means. It will take someone who has the gift of discernment to explain the truth to the Church. Explaining what is truth and what is error. May God open our eyes to the truth!

Bill Naugle

Mansfield, Ohio

Contact: gospelofchristservant@gmail.com

Website: https://christcrosscrucified.com/