Four Difficult Scriptures

Matthew 19, Romans 9-10, Acts 15 and 1-Timothy 4

Fred R. Coulter—October 8, 2022

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services! If you're watching the news lately, you're wondering what has happening to America. Even Donald Trump says that 'we are a nation in decline!'

Remember: God judges all nations all the time! If we keep that in mind, that will help us understand the things that are going on.

We now have permission to print the book, The World's Greatest Throne by John Fox. I finally got in touch with the man who runs the website: {https://www.associationcovenantpeople.org/}: The Covenant People. You have to get The World's Greatest Throne, order now at truthofGod.org

This is something you should read and know along with our book: America and Britain: Two Nations that Changed the Word by Philip Neal, also at truthofGod.org That will help you understand what is happening!

When Britain joined the EU, a lot of people said, 'If they joined the EU then the prophecies in the Bible are not true. But what happened? They left! Look what has happened to Britain after they left. Now Queen Elizabeth is buried and Charles III is soon going to be king! So, we will have to see how that fits into the prophecies, as well.

Remember that the all the apostles thought that Christ was returning in their lifetimes. They didn't find out until the Apostolic Age was almost over. That's when Paul wrote 1st & 2nd Timothy, Titus and Philemon, and how Timothy was to setup and run a congregation.

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Today, we're going to tackle some difficult Scriptures. How do you understand difficult Scriptures? Here's a rule:

Always start with what you know! Then you build from there; checking back from where you started. Then taking another step and double back and check where you left.

It should all agree along the way!

So, we will eventually get to Matthew 19, Romans 10 and Acts 15, because these are areas where the Protestants read them and they say that 'we don't have to keep the Law.'

How do we understand it? Let's read what Jesus said! We will also understand that not everything in Scripture is lined up in a straight line. As Isaiah said, 'here a little, there a little, precept upon precept.'

Matthew 4:1—right after Jesus was baptized: "Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit…"

Let's hearken back to Atonement. Where was Azazel let go? In the wilderness! This is where Jesus was going, into the same wilderness. We will see who He met there!

Verse 2: "And when He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, afterwards He was famished. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread'" (vs 2-3).

Talk about a temptation. I don't know how Jesus was physically after 40 days and 40 nights, but He had to go through this temptation when He was absolutely the weakest He could be and still be alive.

When you find people who are starving, they're anxious to do anything! Just think about those poor people who starved to death. If they could make stones bread, they would have done it! Jesus could have, so He was being tested. Would He use the power that God gave Him to serve Himself or to serve God the Father and the reason why He came to the earth?

Verse 4: "But He answered and said, 'It is written…"

What did Jesus start out with? Scripture! That's the answer! You use the Scriptures properly. Where is this found? Deut. 8!

"'…"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God"'" (v 4).

• Did God speak the Ten Commandments? Yes!
• Did God speak to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Yes!
• Did He speak to the other prophets? Yes!
• What does it say in all the time of the Prophets? The Word of the Lord came to me saying… thus shall you say to the children of Israel!
• What Scripture tells us who and what Jesus was?

See what we're doing here? I want you to pay attention to what we are doing! What does it say about Jesus?

John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and the Word was God."

Verse 3: "All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him."

He's the Creator of what we find in what is called the Old Testament! So, that was not enough.

Matthew 4:5: "Then the devil took Him to the Holy city and set Him upon the edge of the temple, and said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down; for it is written…'" (vs 5-6).

Notice that Satan quotes Scripture, but misapplies it! There are a lot today reading Scripture!

"…'He shall give His angels charge concerning You, and they shall bear You up in their hands, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.' Jesus said to him, 'Again, it is written, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God"'" (vs 6-7).

What tempts God? When you do something on your own and expect God to rescue you!

Verse 8: "After that, the devil took Him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory."

Think about that! What Scriptures do we have that we quoted recently about Satan and his power?

• Revelation 12:9: "…the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world…"
• Revelation 13:4: "…they worshiped the dragon…"

This also helps answer the question about the Azazel goat. Human beings cannot tell the difference between the true Christ and the false Christ.

Notice that Satan was going to give Jesus control of the world if He would do one thing!

Matthew 4:9: "And said to Him, 'All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me.'"

How many people worship Satan? The whole world! It says in 1-John 5 that the world is in the power of the evil one!

• What do you think is going on in America? Those who are running the government are not led by God!
• If you're not led by God, who is leading you? Satan and the demons!
• What are they bringing in? Demonic practices!

Verse 10: "Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You…'"

You does not refer back to Satan, because he will never worship God! This is quoting the Scripture and referring to whomever reads it:

"…'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve.' Then the devil left Him…" (v 10-11).

Let's see what Jesus said, because this becomes important, and this is what the Protestants don't like. They think that if they say that little 'twiddle-dee, twiddle dum' prayer that everything is fine and they're going to go to heaven and be saved.

Now, remember Who Jesus was: the Lord God of the Old Testament Who came in the flesh!

John 14:15: "If you love Me…"

That's all that's preached by the Protestants! 'Love, love, love! God's love is unconditional.' Look at it; what's the first word? IF! That's conditional!

"…keep the commandments—namely, My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that it may be with you throughout the age: Even the Spirit of the Truth, which the world cannot receive because it perceives it not, nor knows it, but you know it because it dwells with you, and shall be within you" (vs 15-17).

That's an important thing! Within you is conversion! That's what God wants! This is Jesus speaking, but what we covered in Col. 2, the Protestants believe that the Laws were nailed to the cross. But they weren't!

Verse 21: "The one who has My commandments …

It's one thing to know them, one thing to recite them, it's another thing to have a plaque hanging on the wall like we do here, but they do you no good unless you do something else!

"…and is keeping them…" (v 21)—present tense participle! You can reverse this:

The one that does not love Me does not keep My commandments.

So, what is it with the Protestants? They have a false, hollow love, because they don't keep the commandments! It says in 1-John 5 that 'here is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome!

I want you to do some study either during the Feast, while you're at the Feast, or when you get home and read 1st, 2nd, & 3rd John. You need to understand what Jerome did to the order of the books in the Bible, because he was a Romanist and hated the Jews. That's how Sunday-keeping came about beginning in Rome about 65-68A.D., sometime after Paul left out of his first imprisonment, because the Romans were persecuting the Jews.

So, the Romans said they didn't want to suffer persecution with the Jews and the Romans hated them, so 'let's meet on Sunday.' Logically, that sounds like a good idea. Don't you want to avoid persecution, avoid being killed. Well, remember that all logic is not truth! We will talk about why that cannot be.

In v 23 we find conditions again; "Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone… [not restricted to anyone] …loves Me, he will keep My Word…'"

That's more than just the commandments. We will look at some of the things that Jesus said in just a minute. What will happen with that?

"…and My Father will love him…" (v 23).

And here's the greatest thing that can happen in our lives with the Holy Spirit of God:

"…and We will come to him and make Our abode… [dwelling place] …with him" (v 23).

Notice v 24, and if there are any Protestants out there, any Protestant ministers out there:

• Do you believe in the Word of God?
• Do you believe what Jesus said?

Listen up to this!

Verse 24: "The one who does not love Me does not keep My words, and the Word that you hear is not Mine, but the Father's, Who sent Me."

Jesus did everything that the Father instructed Him to do, and He spoke the words that the Father wanted Him to speak! Those are simple and easy to understand Scriptures. That's where we always start.

Now let's see something very important, and I don't hear this read at all on Day Star or TBN, or on any Protestant presentation of Scripture! Here's Jesus, a first person quote. Protestants say that they believe in Jesus; well, if you believe in the Jesus you will do what He says! If you don't do what He says, you don't believe Him and you're profession of belief is vain.

Matthew 5:17: "Do not think… [What does that mean? Don't let it even enter your mind!] …that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets…"

But that's exactly what they do think! You don't need to read the Old Testament because it's all fulfilled! Really? That's because they don't read it and don't understand it!

"…I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill" (v 17).

This fulfill means to complete! Make it full, which is that it's not in the letter, it's in the spirit!

They say that they did away with circumcision. No, He did not! He raised it to a higher level: circumcision of the heart is much more important than circumcision of the flesh! Circumcision of the flesh was to be done on the eighth-day and the poor little body had no idea what was going on!

God wants the converted mind, and that takes the circumcision of the heart! It takes away the stubbornness and self-willedness by yielding to God.

Verse 18: "For truly I say to you, until the heaven and the earth shall pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass from the Law until everything has been fulfilled."

• Is everything been fulfilled?
• Is the Kingdom of God on earth?
• Have all wars stopped?
• Have all crimes been eliminated?
• Do people love one another?
• Are the nations where they ought to be?

NO!

Verse 19: "Therefore, whoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven…"

• Do the Protestants teach that you don't have to keep the Sabbath?
• Do the Catholics teach that it's okay to have idols?

I was on a Bible program on the main radio station in Los Angeles about 1973-74 and it was on late at night and they had a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi and me for four Sundays in a row answering questions from the Bible. The question about the Sabbath always comes up.

"…whoever shall break one of these least commandments…"

• If you don't keep the Sabbath what are you doing? You're breaking it!
• If you eat unclean meats, what are you doing? You're breaking it!

"…and shall teach men so…"  That's what they do!

Now, as soon as the feast of Tabernacles is over, it's already starting, Halloween is going to be big-time! Satan starts out his day with death!

What do God's Holy Days start with, beginning with the Passover? Life! Quite a difference!

"…but whoever shall practice and teach them… [you live by them and teach them] …this one shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven" (v 19).

Now, here is the key to all the difficulties in the New Testament at that time. It's different than we have today. We have Catholicism, Protestantism and Judaism. But back then it was just Judaism.

Note our series on Judaism on Church At Home {churchathome.org} 

Verse 20: "For I say to you, unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way that you shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."

Why did Jesus say that? Protestants very rarely understand it! We will see why in Mark 7; this is important! This is the key to understanding Acts 15! When the Pharisees and the scribes talk about the Law of Moses, they're including all of their traditions in the whole bundle!

Mark 7:1: "Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes from Jerusalem came together to Him. And when they saw some of His disciples eating with defiled hands (that is, unwashed hands), they found fault" (vs 1-2).

You go to that series at Church at Home and you will see how they washed their hands. Think about this: when you read Code of Jewish Law by Ganzfried and Goldin, one of the things it says is that it's important to wash your hands first thing in the morning, because when you sleep at night demons come upon you and they reside in your fingers so, in the morning you must wash your hands before you do anything!

Think about this: if you have an urgent problem, what's going to happen if you have to stop and put water on your hands? Think about what's going to happen! It isn't going to work!

Verse 5: "For this reason, the Pharisees and the scribes questioned Him, saying, 'Why don't Your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?'"

Their traditions were above everything! Roy Assanti use to run a motel would have the Jews where he lived in Australia come over and they would keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread and their Passover at his motel. They would always send a rabbi to supervise all the cooking so it would good. If a rabbi supervises the work of a Gentile cooking the food, then it's okay to eat. But if the rabbi is not there to supervise it and bless it, you can't eat it.

So, through the years when they would come, one time Roy was talking with the leading rabbi and he said, 'You know, if you didn't have your traditions, you would be almost like us.' And the rabbi looked at him and said, 'if we don't have our traditions, we have nothing!' Which is true, because they don't have Christ!

Verse 6: "And He answered and said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you hypocrites…'"

Tie in Matt. 23; read what Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees. He called them hypocrites and morons! How do you think that goes over with all these highly educated rabbis?

"'…as it is written… [quoting Scripture] … "This people honors Me with their lips… [Isn't that what happens today?] …but their hearts are far away from Me."'"

Notice, this is crux of the problem in the New Testament, right here:

Verse 7: "But in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men…. [and taking this one-step further]: …For leaving the commandment of God, you hold fast the tradition of men, such as the washing of pots and cups; and you practice many other things like this" (vs 7-8).

This book of Code of Jewish Law is thick and it has thousands and thousands of laws. This is exactly what Protestants and Catholics do:

Verse 9: "Then He said to them, 'Full well do you reject the commandment of God, so that you may observe your own tradition.'"

Let's see the end result of all of this. Then we will look at some other Scriptures to understand how we are to look at the commandments of God the way that Jesus wants us to.

Matthew 7:13 doesn't sound too much like Protestantism: "Enter in through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction…"

That's what we're seeing, everyone doing things in their own eyes. They've made it a religion. They hate God, the Word of God and anyone who keeps the commandments of God. They hate anyone who says that 'you ought not teach all of these gender affirmative things' and what they do with all of their surgery is absolutely ghastly and satanic to the children to convince them that if you're a boy you can become a girl, and if you're a girl you can become a boy.

What they're doing is trying to produce a whole generation of perverts for the homosexual community. It leads to destruction!

"…and many… [the majority] …are those who enter through it; for narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life, and few are those who find it. But beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, for within they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits…." (vs 13-16)—and what they teach!

Verse 21: "Not everyone who says to Me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but the one who is doing the will of My Father, Who is in heaven."

That's why we have the New Testament! That's why we have the Old Testament! So that we know what the will of God is! Remember where we started. 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall man live!'

Verse 22: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy through Your name?….'"

Who do you think this applies to today? Protestants and Catholics!

"'…And did we not cast out demons through Your name? … [surely we're doing a great work] …And did we not perform many works of power through Your name?' And then I will confess to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness'" (vs 22-23).

Notice the contrast; v 24: "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and practices them, I will compare him to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock."

Let's zero in on the Sabbath, because the Sabbath is the main question, the main thing! What was happening was, they were walking along—the same account is in Mark 2—and the disciples were stripping off the grain from the stalks and eating it on the Sabbath. The Pharisees and scribes came along and said, 'You can't do that, you're harvesting!' So, Jesus told them:

Matthew 12:5: "Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbaths the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? But I say to you, there is One here Who is greater than the temple. Now, if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For [because] the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath Day" (vs 5-8).

In the Greek it's in the genitive case that means He owns it! That's important to understand! He is Lord of it! If you change anything that the Lord has said, what are you doing? You're making yourself greater than the Lord! Isn't that right? Yes!

Mark 2:27: "And He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; therefore, the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath" (vs 27-28).

That is absolutely clear! If you want a really great study, study Psa. 119 slowly and carefully. It's the longest Psa. of all; it's got 176 verses. Why, because there are 22 sections of 8 verses each, so that's 176.

What do the Protestants say of the Law of God? They say it's a curse, because Gal. 3 says that 'we are saved from the curse of the Law.' What is the curse of the Law?  The Law? or Breaking the Law? Breaking it is the curse of the Law! The Law is not a curse!

Psalm 119:1: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in… [within] …the Law of the LORD."

Look up every place where it says law when you do your study.

Verse 2: "Blessed are they who keep His testimonies and who seek Him with the whole heart." That's what we're trying to do!

Notice this attitude, and I think that many of these verses in here also are prophecies of how Jesus looks at the Law of God, or looked at it when He was in the flesh.

Verse 32: "I will run… [not just dilly-dally around and be ho-hum] …the way of Your commandments for You shall enlarge my heart."

That means He has given David understanding! That's what you have when you keep the Laws of God: understanding!

Verse 33: "Teach me, O LORD…"

John 6:45: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'…." When you read the Bible, Who is teaching you? God is!

Psa. 119:33: "Teach me, O LORD the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding…" (vs 33-34).

This ought to be our prayer when we're studying. Don't come to your own conclusions, let it be that you put the Scriptures together and God gives you the understanding of it.

Verse 34: "Give me understanding that I may keep Your Law and observe it with all my heart."

How are you going to do away with any of the Laws of God? 'God did away with the sacrifices and the priests!'

NO, He did not! He elevated it to a higher level!

• Christ is our sacrifice; is that not a higher level?
• Christ is our High Priest; is that not a higher level?
• We, receiving the Spirit of God area temple of God; is that not a higher level?

When we pray to God in heaven above, we're praying to the temple in heaven above, right where the incense comes (Rev. 8), Our prayers come up directly to God like incense!

Verse 74: "Those who fear You will be glad when they see me because I have hoped in Your Word. I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right, and that You have afflicted me in faithfulness" (vs 74-75).

So, when you're going through a trial understand that that's going to help you!

Verse 47: "And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I have loved. And I will lift up my hands unto Your commandments, which I have loved, and I will meditate on Your statutes" (vs 47-48).

Verse 97: "O how love I Your Law! It is my meditation all the day…. [notice what the commandments of God do]: …Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation" (vs 97-99).

Read the rest and all the things that God's Law does!

Verse 142: "Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your Law is the Truth."

What did Jesus say about that? I am the Way, the Truth and the Life! There it is right there!

Verse 151: "You are near, O LORD, and all Your commandments are Truth."

• IF you throw away the Sabbath, you're throwing away Truth
• IF you throw away the law of clean and unclean meats, you're throwing away Truth
• IF you throw away the Passover and Holy Days, you're throwing away Truth

What do they put in to substitute for it? Lies!

With all this said, now we're ready to look at these difficult Scriptures.

(break47:00)

Let's see what Israel does all the time. We've seen how they profess God with their lips, but their hearts are far away from Him.

Isaiah 43:21: "This people that I formed for Myself…"

That's an interesting statement! The only ones that God formed directly was Adam and Eve.

• What did He build into their system? To produce children!
• Who made the genes and chromosomes that started out with Adam and Eve? God did!

So, every child God forms! Think about that! It comes from the original forming of Adam and Eve with His own hands!

"…they shall declare My praise.… [the ultimate purpose] …Yet, you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; much less have you troubled yourself about Me, O Israel. You have not brought Me the lamb of your burnt offerings nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.… [even though they offered them] …I have not caused you to serve with a grain offering, nor wearied you with incense. You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have made Me serve with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities" (vs 21-24).

Even though God says that He's the One Who blots out your sins. How do they do that?

I saw a clip of Pat Robertson who said that Christmas is pagan, Halloween is pagan, New Years is pagan, Easter is pagan, but Jesus has made it possible for us to keep them! "…you have wearied Me with your iniquities"

Let's see how they do this and look at a Scripture that they always turn to and they read it, so we will read it:

Matthew 19—Why did Christ not mention the Sabbath?

Matthew 19:16: Now at that time, one came to Him and said, 'Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?' And He said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good except one—God. But if you desire to enter into life, keep the commandments'" (vs 16-17).

Why would He say that when He was God in the flesh? Because He had to carry the law of sin and death in Him and not sin! So, He could not be called 'good.' Only the father in heaven above was good at that time.

Verse 17: "…No one is good except one—God. But if you desire to enter into life, keep the commandments."

Verse 18: "Then he said to Him, 'Which?' And Jesus said, 'You shall not commit murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (vs 18-19).

Verse 20: "The young man said to Him, 'I have kept all these things from my youth. What do I yet lack?'"

They read that and say, 'See! He didn't mention the Sabbath! Therefore, we don't have to keep the Sabbath!'

Why didn't He mention the Sabbath? Because in the area of Galilee in Judea they kept the Sabbath! He didn't have to mention it. The absence of it does not mean that the Sabbath has been done away.

Romans 9 & 10—End of the Law?

Romans 10:4: (KJV): "For Christ is the end of the law…"

So they say, 'See, the Law has been done away! Paul did away with it!'

• Is that true?
• How do we find out what it really means?

Romans 9:30: "What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not follow after righteousness, have attained righteousness, even the righteousness that is by faith. But Israel, although they followed after a law of righteousness…" (vs 30-31).

This is not the Law of God! We read in Mark 7 that they kept their traditions! That was a law of righteousness of men!

"…although they followed after a law… [notice that it did say the law referring to God's Law] …of righteousness did not attain to a Law of righteousness" (v 31).

Because the traditions of men can never make you righteous! You can wash your hands 20 times a day, but if your heart is evil, what good is washing your hands. You need the Spirit of God to cleanse your mind!

Verse 32: "Why? Because they did not seek it by faith…"

What does that mean? Believe God and keep His commandments! That's faith!

We will see that commandment-keeping and faith go together, because it takes faith to keep the commandments of God. It takes faith to believe God.

Verse 32: "Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but by works of law…"

That phrase in the New Testament means the laws of Judaism! It has nothing to do with commandment-keeping. That's where the Protestants get it all mixed up!

"…for they stumbled at the Stone of Stumbling, exactly as it is written: 'Behold, I place in Sion a Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of offense, but everyone who believes in Him shall not be ashamed'" (vs 32-33).

Romans 10:1: "Brethren, the earnest desire of my heart and my supplication to God for Israel is for salvation. For I testify of them that they have a zeal for God… [which they do] …but not according to knowledge" (vs 1-2).

That means not according to the knowledge of God, but their own traditions!

Verse 3: "For they, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God… [tie in Isa. 432; you made Me to serve with your sins] …and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God."

Here is the correct translation of Rom. 10:4, because the end of the law doesn't mean God's Law, it means the works of law, their traditions! Had they really kept the Laws of God the way that they should have, they would have understood the righteousness of God. But with the laws of the Pharisees:

• What did they have? Their traditions!
• What did Jesus say that that did? That rejected the commandments of God so they could keep their traditions!

That's why they had a law of righteousness, but they never attained the righteousness that comes from God, because they weren't doing what they God said. They were doing what their traditions dictated!

Verse 4: "For Christ is the end of works of law for righteousness to everyone who believes."

IF you believe, THEN you love God! Where did we start? IF you love Me, KEEP My commandments! Jesus said that the Law is not going to be done away until never! Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Law and Prophets won't pass away!

Christ also said that 'unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees…'—that's what this is talking about! It's not talking about the Laws of God!

Acts 15—Circumcision of the Heart:

Boy o boy do the Protestants salivate over this one! Now, if you do not get all of the Scriptures and put them together, you will come to a wrong conclusion.

Think of it this way: If you have a safe and you were told that in there is a million dollars worth of gold, and here is the combination. But the one who gave it to you doesn't tell you that they left out a number. You go to all the numbers and it won't open. You do it again and again, but it won't open. You try other things, but it won't open.

You have to have all the numbers! Just like with a key. I've got a lot of keys and they open various offices and the restroom. If I get the wrong key and I put in the lock—and I did it this morning going into my office—it won't work.

Likewise, if you don't get all the Scriptures or if you don't understand what is happening, or you don't understand the commandments that are simple to understand, you're never going to understand these difficult Scriptures!

Acts 15:1: "Now, certain men who had come down from Judea were teaching the brethren, saying, 'Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'"

We will see who they are in must a minute. What kind of circumcision are we to have? Col. 2, of the heart! Today one of our biggest problems also are those Judaizers coming into the Churches of God and saying that 'you have to wear tassels, you have to have prayer shawls.'

Verse 2—think of this is Gentile society: "Therefore, after a great deal of strife and arguing with them by Paul and Barnabas, the brethren appointed Paul and Barnabas, and certain others from among them, to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this question. So then, after being sent on their way by the Church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, where they reported the conversion of the Gentiles. And they caused great joy to all the brethren" (vs 2-3).

They were telling about what they were doing in Paul's preaching and so forth.

Verse 4: "And when they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the Church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all the things that God had done with them. But there stood up certain of those who believed, who were of the sect of the Pharisees, saying…" (vs 4-5).

Remember what the Pharisees followed! The traditions of men, and misapplying circumcision! Remember what happened when certain from James came down (Gal. 2). Peter didn't want to be seen as not conforming, so he wouldn't eat with the Gentiles. Neither did Barnabas, that was quite a thing that happened and quite a thing that it's recorded in the Scriptures.

"…the Pharisees, saying 'It is obligatory to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses'" (v 5).

Footnote in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:

The believers who were Pharisees were demanding that the Gentile disciples be compelled to be circumcised as a requirement for salvation. In addition, they were demanding that the disciples keep the Law of Moses according to the Pharisaic traditions….

That means that all the Laws of Judaism! That's what we still have today!

Verse 6: "Then the apostles and the elders gathered together to see about this matter.… [notice that the Pharisees weren't there] …And after much discussion had taken place, Peter stood up and said to them, 'Men, brethren, you know that from the early days, God made the choice among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the Word of the Gospel, and believe. And God, Who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, even as He did to us, and made no difference between us and them, and has purified their hearts through the faith'" (vs 6-9).

Acts 13—Grace of God & Sabbath-keeping

Acts 13—Paul and Barnabas come into a synagogue and they were invited to speak. Paul preached Christ! So, he tells them about Christ, and this is in a synagogue. You have to understand how the synagogues were setup"

• the front part was for the men
• behind them were the women
• behind the women were the Gentiles who were circumcised, proselytes

So, he comes into this synagogue and preaches Christ!

Acts 13:38: "Therefore, be it known to you, men and brethren, that through this Man the remission of sins is preached to you. And in Him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses" (v 38-39).

You couldn't even with sacrifices! You couldn't even with the traditions of men! If you couldn't with the sacrifices of God that He commanded, how could you be justified by keeping works of law of men? That's even a lower standard for trying to get it!

Verse 40: "Take heed, therefore, lest that which is spoken in the Prophets come upon you: 'Behold, you despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work that you will in no way believe, even if one declares it to you.' And when the Jews had gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles entreated him that these words might be spoken to them on the next Sabbath" (vs 40-42). The Gentiles would keep the Sabbath!

Verse 43: "Now, after the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and the proselytes who worshiped there followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And on the coming Sabbath…" (vs 43-44).

I want you to connect this together. Grace of God and Sabbath-keeping go hand-in-hand. If Sunday were a day to keep, what would Jesus have to have said?

You have heard it said in ancient times that you shall keep the Sabbath, but now I tell you that we're going to keep Sunday, or the first day of the week!

Can you find that anywhere in the New Testament?

Verse 44: "And on the coming Sabbath… [after he told them to continue in the grace of God] …almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the Word of God. But when they saw the multitude, the Jews were filled with envy; and they spoke against the things proclaimed by Paul, and were contradicting and blaspheming" (vs 44-45).

What did Paul teach the Gentiles to do? Keep the Sabbath! When the Protestants come to Acts 15 they claim that the only thing that the Gentiles were to do was to avoid sexual immorality and idolatry.

Acts 15:10: "Now therefore, why do you tempt God by putting a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe we shall be saved in the same manner as they also" (vs 10-11).

The yoke was not the Laws of God. The Laws of God are the laws to free you from slavery!

Verse 12: "Then all the multitude kept silence and heard Barnabas and Paul relate what signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. … [we saw that it was Sabbath-keeping] …And after they were silent, James answered and said, 'Men, brethren, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take out a people for His name'" (vs 12-14)—tie in Acts 10!

What did God have to do to convince Peter to go to Cornelius' house and after dropping down that sheet filled with all kinds of unclean animals—it came down three times—the voice said, 'Peter, rise and eat'; Peter said, 'No, Lord, nothing ever common or unclean have I ever eaten.' He was an apostle for about ten years at that time, and he was down by Caesarea.

I wonder how many of the Gentiles were eating shrimp down there? Who knows, you don't know! But Peter says that he hasn't ever eaten it.

God was showing him that he was to go with the soldiers that Cornelius sent and go back and it was said of Cornelius that 'he was a righteous man.' But here he was a Centurion, and Italian uncircumcised!

Peter went down there to preach to them. You know what happened; God sent the Holy Spirit upon them. Peter said, 'Who can deny them water,' and they were all baptized.

God did that to show that He (God) was going to give the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles without being physically circumcised. Peter should known better (Gal. 2).

James continues, v 15: "And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written, 'after these things, I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David, which has fallen, and its ruins I will build again, and will set it up… [talking about building the Church] … so that the residue of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom My name is called, says the Lord, Who does all these things'" (vs 15-17).

Verse 18: "Known to God are all His works from the beginning of the world. Therefore, my judgment is that we do not trouble those of the Gentiles who have turned to God; but that we write to them to abstain from pollutions of idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled and from blood" (vs 18-20).

The Protestants read that and say, 'That's all God required of the Gentiles.' What did Paul say when he came into Athens? He preached the Unknown God! He said, 'I see that you're very reverent to demons.' They look at that and say, 'See! It doesn't say to keep the Sabbath! Doesn't say to keep the Holy Days!'

They say that if you try to do these things, 'you're trying to work out your own salvation and you're under works.' No, you're not!

• What are the 'works of law'? The traditions of men!
• Is not Sunday a work of man?
• Are they not trying to work out their own salvation on Sunday? Yes, indeed!

Why did he not mention that they have to keep the Sabbath and Holy Days and all of that sort of thing. Just like with Matt. 19, the absence of it does not mean that God has done away with it. Here in this setting, the absence of mentioning it is not because God is doing away with the Sabbath or the Holy Days.

Verse 21[transcriber's correction]: "For from the generations of old, Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him in the synagogues, being read every Sabbath Day."

Where did the churches start that Paul went to. He came in an sabotaged the synagogues. You show me one synagogue that kept Sunday! You're not going to find it! What did we read in Acts 13? That the whole city wanted to hear the Word of God the next Sabbath!

Why didn't Paul says, 'Don't you know that I am the Apostle to the Gentiles and there's no need to come next Sabbath. You don't need to do that, you come here to tomorrow, Sunday morning, and we'll have Sunday morning worship services.' NO!

Moses was read every Sabbath, the Law of God! Moses to the Pharisees means the Laws of God with all their traditions wrapped around it! That was the yoke!

Verse 21: "For from the generations of old, Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him in the synagogues, being read every Sabbath Day."

This shows that they were keeping the Sabbath. The question was, do you need to be physically circumcised? It was never about the rest of the Laws of God. So, they were keeping all the rest, and that's why they didn't mention that you have to keep the Sabbath, Holy Days, and not eat unclean foods and so forth.

Verse 22: "Then it pleased the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, to send chosen men from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas…"

Sabbath-keeping is not obliterated by anything that we find in Acts 15, but that's the one that they use to say that 'they didn't mention it, so anything that the Gentiles is okay.' That isn't what it says! That isn't what it means!

1-Timothy 4—Clean and Unclean Meats:

1-Tim. 4 is where the Protestants read that it's all right to eat unclean foods. This little restaurants down here on the corner is called The Three Queens! And there are three piggies right there and all they use is pork.

1-Timothy 4:1 (KJV): "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils."

We've seen that and experienced that, as well.

Verse 2 (KJV): "Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry… [Isn't that what the Catholics do?] …and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received… [Where does God command about meats? Deut. 14 & Lev. 11] …with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth…. [that pretty well defines it right there] …For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (vs 2-5).

So if you get a nice shoulder cut of pork and you pray over it, it's good to go! NO! That's not it!

Verse 1 (FV): "Now, the Spirit tells us explicitly that in the latter times some shall apostatize from the faith, and shall follow deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons."—not just in a religious sense, but in a political sense!

We were talking about an interview with Kanye West who says that the Democrats are being led by demons! That's what it is. If you don't believe that this so-called gender affirmation and all of the surgical operations that go on with it is not demonic, then you don't have a clue as to what is right and wrong.

Verse 2: "Speaking lies in hypocrisy, their consciences having been cauterized with a hot iron."

The President's press secretary cannot even speak on any topic unless it's written down. Do they not speak lies and hypocrisy? Politically? Religiously? Why? Because Satan has deceived the whole world!

Verse 3: "Forbidding to marry… [producing nothing] …and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, even by those who know the Truth."

Become vegetarians! There's a case for some people being vegetarians! But that's not a command of God.

Verse 4 (FV): "For every creature of God designated for human consumption is good…"

That's how I clarified it in The Faithful Version, because that's what it means. I clarified it that way because this is such a difficult Scripture.

"…and nothing to be refused, if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is sanctified… [made Holy] …by the Word of God… [which says you shall not eat pork, snakes, rabbits, bears, etc.] …and prayer" (vs 4-5).

If you watch those who live Below Zero they eat anything.

You don't eat shrimp, lobster… and there was a case of young woman who left the Church of God and she was in Florida and she ate raw oysters and she died! She probably would still be alive today if she hadn't done that!

We've covered those difficult Scriptures, and there are more difficult Scriptures that we can cover. Remember that just like when Jesus didn't mention the Sabbath, He didn't need to. Just like when the apostles didn't mention the Sabbath or anything else, they did mention it in the way that the Law of Moses is read every Sabbath.

That means they honored the Sabbath. But people and minister will do anything to do away with keeping the commandments of God.

All Scripture from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version (KJV where noted)

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 4:1-4
• John 1:1, 3
• Matthew 4:5-8
• Revelation 12:19
• Revelation 13:4
• Matthew 4:9-11
• John 14:15-17, 21, 23
• Matthew 5:17-20
• Mark 7:1-2, 5-9
• Matthew 7:13-16, 21-24
• Matthew 12:5-8
• Mark 2:27-28
• Psalm 119:1-2, 32-33,
• John 6:45
• Psalm 119:34, 74, 47-48, 97-99, 142, 151
• Isaiah 43:21-24
• Matthew 19:16-20
• Romans 10:4
• Romans 9:30-33
• Romans 10:1-4
• Acts 15:1-9
• Acts 13:38-45
• Acts 15:10-22
• 1 Timothy 4:1-5

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Deuteronomy 8
• 1 John 5
• Colossians 2
• 1st, 2nd, 3rd John
• Matthew 23
• Galatians 3
• Revelation 8
• Colossians 2
• Galatians 2
• Deuteronomy 14
• Leviticus 11

Also referenced:

Books:

• The World's Greatest Throne by John Fox
• America and Britain: Two Nations that Changed the World by Philip Neal
• Code of Jewish Law by Ganzfried and Goldin

Church At Home {churchathome.org} Judaism

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 10-24-22

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