Holidays vs Holy Days: By Whose Authority? #2

Fred R. Coulter

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Why do people keep the holidays of this world, and yet, claim that they get their authority from the Bible? They readily admit that Christmas and Easter are of pagan origin, but they say because it does so much good and gets so many people involved that, therefore:

• it's good to do
• it's okay to do
• it's okay to teach your children lies
• it's okay to play make believe

One of the biggest so-called Christian Churches in the world has taken almost every pagan holiday and christened it with 'Christian' meaning.

We're going to see today exactly what kind of attitude this is. We're also going to see that every person in the world is judging God all the time and that God is also judging every person all the time. Here's an important and profound principle: When you judge the Law of God:

• Whose seat are you sitting in?
• Whose position are you taking?
• God's!

That's what most people do, because it looks good, because it feels good and even there's 'pleasure in sin for a season.' Therefore, people judge that what they are doing, though it's contrary to the Word of God, is okay.

Let me give you a famous, recent quotation by Ted Turner. In an interview he said, 'You know, they should remove the commandment, you shall not commit adultery from the Ten Commandments.' Let's see what James says, and let's see what Turner is doing. There are hundred of millions of people in the world that agree with him. All you have to do is just look at the morality of the world to understand that that is so.

James 4:11: "…But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law; rather, you are a judge. But there is only one Lawgiver, Who has power to save and to destroy" (vs 11-12). Let's analyze that for just a minute because this becomes very important and is the heart and core of human reasoning vs the Word of God and God.

We also have to understand that human reasoning is guided by not only carnality and self-will, but 'the god of this world' who is Satan the devil. He is 'deceiving the whole world' (Rev. 12:9). He is the one who first taught human beings to judge God, because he judged God. So, when you judge the Law you're judging the Lawgiver. If you make a substitutionary law for yourself, whatever that may be, you are making yourself a lawgiver and you are making yourself to be sitting in the seat of God. Very few people think of it that way because today lies pour forth from the pulpit, judging the Word of God concerning everything, especially the Sabbath and the Holy Days. One of the very first things that people are told when they go to church on Sunday is that the Sabbath has been done away. Nothing could be further from the truth! What's important to understand is this:

• the Word of God is eternal
• the Word of God is True
• the Word of God is righteous
• God is the One Who does the commanding

Anyone who usurps the Word of God or changes the Word of God or who makes claims in the name of God and Jesus Christ that thus and such is so, is a liar. We've already seen that. This is quite something. Let me give you an example of judging God:

Psalm 14:1 Proved, which says: "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" {found on Facebook: Christian Stories: Logic 101}

A college student was in a philosophy class, which had a discussion about God's existence. The professor presented the following logic:

All truth is logical, but not all logic is truth. Here's what the professor said:

"Has anyone in this class heard God?"
Nobody spoke.
"Has anyone in this class touched God?"
Again, nobody spoke.
"Has anyone in this class seen God?"
When nobody spoke for the third time, he simply stated, "Then there is no God."

One student thought for a second, and then asked for permission to reply. Curious to hear this bold student's response, the professor granted it, and the student stood up and asked the following questions of his classmates:

"Has anyone in this class heard our professor's brain?"
Silence.
"Has anyone in this class touched our professor's brain?"
Absolute silence.
"Has anyone in this class seen our professor's brain?"

When nobody in the class dared to speak, the student concluded, "Then, according to our professor's logic, it must be true that our professor has no brain!"

(...The student received an "A" in the class.)                                 author unknown

A perfect example of how men judge God.

Romans 3:1: "What then is the advantage of the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way…." (vs 1-2). Of course, that is dependant upon the fact of whether they believe God, love God and have circumcision of the heart.

"…Primarily, in that they were entrusted with the oracles of God…. [here's a basic, fundamental question]: …For what if some did not believe?" (vs 2-3). Let's understand that they had the Old Testament. They preserved the Old Testament. God had the power and made sure that it was preserved accurately. To this very day, we have the accurate Hebrew text preserved in the Ben Asher Masoretic Text. That backs up the statement that Jesus said, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall never pass away.'

You need to think about that and you need to understand that, especially in light of the fact that the One Who is the Lord God of the Old Testament was the One Who became the Lord of the New Testament: Jesus Christ. That's important to understand.

Having the Word of God is one thing. Believing the Word of God and believing God is an entirely different matter. Judging the Word of God and judging God as if you were God is the great fault of humanity. Everyone does it one way or the other.

Verse 3: "For what if some did not believe?" Do we have that today? Yes, indeed! You can probably go into any Sunday-keeping church, maybe even some Sabbath-keeping churches and they either ignore the Bible for ritual—mumbo jumbo as they bow down to idols and little wafer breads—or the preacher stands up there and says, 'We've been given liberty, we don't have to keep the commandments of God.'

• if there are no commandments then there's no sin
• if there's no sin you don't need a Savior
• if there's no sin you're perfect as you are

To ask those questions is insane, because that's not true! So, 'what if some did not believe' while:

• holding the Bible
• having the Word of God
• preaching from the Word of God

—but twisting and turning it to their own destruction—does that annul the faithfulness of God? No! That's what Paul says.
"…Shall their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? MAY IT NEVER BE!" (vs 3-4). The King James says, 'God forbid,' which is an interpretation. The Greek here is 'me genoito,' meaning: may that thought never come into existence, may it never be.

"…Rather, let God be true but every man a liar, exactly as it is written: 'That You [God] might be justified in Your words… [because God always is] …and might overcome when You are being judged by men'" (v 4). That's what the sense of it is.

Men always judge God. Do you judge God? If you don't believe the Bible and are willing to follow it and keep what is taught in the Bible, whatever excuse you may have, you are judging God! Whatever:

• minister
• rabbi
• priest
• imam
• shaman
• guru

says against the Word of God, is judging the Word of God and is rejecting it. Maybe you've never heard it put that way, but we'll see that that's a fact.

Verse 5: "But if our unrighteousness brings to reality God's righteousness…" It always does. God will judge you back according to what you have done.

"…what shall we say? Is God unrighteous to inflict His wrath?…." (v 5). When we had the tsunami come up and everyone was talking about it and you have all of these television news commentators, Larry King and his panel of five 'religious' experts, the first thing they said was, 'God didn't do this. God is a God of love.' Well, why did it happen? Time and chance happen to everyone! That's true, but the fact is, God did it!

What you have to do is listen to the sermon that we did on it, about how God did the judgment and the four things that God uses for judgment. The reasons why judgments comes upon men is because they judge God and judge His Word and His commandments as unworthy.

Paul says, "…Is God unrighteous to inflict His wrath?…." (v 5). No! We're going to look at Job in just a minute. Job is an interesting case because he judged God unrighteous in His wrath against him.

Paul says: "…(I am speaking according to man's view.) MAY IT NEVER BE! Otherwise, how shall God judge the world?" (vs 5-6). When he says, 'judge the world,' He judges the whole world.
To show you how the laws of God work, v 19: "Now then, we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law… [Who's under the law? Everyone!] …so that every mouth may be stopped…":

• in judging God
• in speaking against God
• in setting up your own self-righteous:
  • rules
  • regulations
  • dogmas
  • traditions

"…and all the world may become guilty before God." (v 19). The whole lesson of the book of Job is this:

• yes, Job was righteous in the letter of the law
• yes, he was sincere in what he was doing
• yes, God did use Satan to come against him to try and test him

The reason that was is because God knew the heart of Job. All that appeared on the surface did not reveal the heart of Job.

Let's see how Job's great sin was judging God. How did he judge God? He said, 'God is unfair! I've done all these good things. Why would God bring this trial upon me?' Job learned a lesson.

Job 31:33: "If I covered my transgressions like Adam… [he knew about the account of Adam and Eve] …by hiding my iniquity in my bosom." The greatest sin is the sin of self-righteousness and judging God. He's saying, 'I've always confessed my sins—haven't I?' He didn't see his sin.

If you want to know how that works, you go up to any Sunday-keeping preacher and tell him that he is sinning against God:

• by keeping Sunday
• by commanding people to do so
• by telling them that God says that it's okay

You'll get exactly the same answer in principle that Job gave. 'That's not so!' It's like Job, he was judging God; he didn't see his own sin.

Verse 34: "Then let me tremble before a great multitude, and be terrified by the scorn of families; and I will be silent and not go out the door. Oh, that I had one to hear me!…. [he's going to get his answer here pretty quick] …Behold, my desire is that the Almighty would answer me, and the indictment that my adversary had written" (vs 34-35). God fulfilled both!

Verse 36: "'Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and bind it like a crown upon my head. I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would come before Him…. [not as a humble, repentant sinner] …If my land cry against me, or its furrows weep together; if I have eaten its strength without paying for it, or have caused its owners to lose their life, let thorns come forth instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.' The words of Job are ended" (vs 36-40).

There was a young man there named Elihu. Elihu was young. He was sitting there listening to Job and his three friends and he was astonished that they had no wisdom. He was astonished that they couldn't answer Job. Just like today, a lot of people cannot answer the judging of God that ministers, priests and religious leaders give when they reject the commandments of God.

Job 32:1: "And these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. His wrath burned against Job, because he had justified himself rather than God" (vs 1-2). Whenever you judge the commandments of God, whenever you judge God you are justifying yourself rather than God.

Verse 3: "Also his wrath was kindled against his three friends, because they had found no answer and yet had condemned Job."

Elihu stood up and said, 'I'm young. I've observed you men here and I thought that the aged would have wisdom so I let you speak all this time, but now I understand that the aged don't necessarily have wisdom.'

Elihu says, v 18: "For I am full of the matter; the spirit within me constrains me. Behold, my inner being is as wine, which has no vent; it is ready to burst like new wineskins. I will speak so that I may be refreshed; I will open my lips and answer. Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person, neither let me give flattering titles unto man" (vs 18-21). Wow! What a condemnation of religious organizations! You can take these things and apply them in principle.

Verse 22: "For I do not know how to give flattering titles to any man, else my Maker would soon take me away." When you do, what are you doing? You're exalting the human rather than God!

Elihu asked, v 13: "Why do you fight against Him?…."

Job 34:1: "And Elihu answered and said, 'Hear my words, O you wise men; and give ear to me, you who have knowledge; for the ear tries words, as the palate tastes food. Let us choose for ourselves what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good. For Job has said, 'I am righteous; but God has denied me justice'" (vs 1-5).

• What in fact is that?
• Is that not a judgment against God?

In spite of all the judgments of men—anywhere, anytime—God is always righteous. What you will find in the book of Job is every religious philosophical argument that men have ever come up with concerning:

• the nature of man
• the nature of God
• the creation of God
• the order of things

In all of them, they leave out God!

Verse 35: "'Job has spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.' My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end… [there would be no cure for Job unless he were] …because his answers are like those of wicked men. For he adds rebellion to his sin…" (vs 35-37). Self-righteousness is the sin and rebellion when you demand. At one point Job said, 'I just wish that there was an umpire between me and God.' Well, he got his wish. Elihu was, but not in the way that he thought.

"…'he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God'" (v 37).

Job 35:1: "And Elihu answered and said, 'Do you think this to be right, you that say, "My righteousness is more than God's"?'" (vs 1-2). That's what people do when they reject the Word of God. When they judge the Word of God and especially when they judge the Word of God to say that they can:

• sanctify Christmas
• sanctify Easter
• sanctify all of the pagan holidays, contrary to the Word of God

They're declaring their righteousness greater than God's, because they are judging God's Word unholy!

We're going to talk about Christmas, Easter and those things a little later on, as shown from the Old Testament and it's not going to put it in a very pleasant light. God does have an awful lot to say about those things. But the Holy Days of God—beginning with the weekly Sabbath, which is Saturday today…

Appendix N in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:Rome's Challenge to the Protestants. You will see that just as Job bragged of his righteousness, the Roman Catholic Church brags of its righteousness, that it has the authority from God to change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, likewise to change all the Holy Days of God. God never gave that authority to anyone, anywhere, at any time—period!

We need to understand that. Maybe you've never heard it put that way before. Maybe you've never understood that that way before. You think about in your life:

• Are you judging God?
• Are you proclaiming these things to be unrighteous when God says they are?
• Are you proclaiming these things unworthy of your consideration and obedience when God commands that you do so?
• How about the Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day?

This may be the first time that some of you have ever heard those words. Those are the only things that God has commanded you to keep! We're in a time of great religious confusion. The only way to come out of the confusion is to have:

• straight talk
• plain talk
• true talk
• Biblical talk

—and to understand the Word of God the way that God wants us to have.

Job 35:1: "And Elihu answered and said, 'Do you think this to be right, you that say, "My righteousness is more than God's"? For you say, "What advantage will it be to You? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?" I will answer your words, and your companions with you'" (vs 1-4)…

• if you think you're so almighty smart
• if you think you're so almighty righteous
• if you think you're so almighty good and right

Verse 5: "Look to the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds; they are higher than you…. [start with the creation of God] …If you sin, what do you do against Him? Or if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him? If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?" (vs 5-7).

Let's see what happens to the world, and it's still ongoing. It's very interesting that if you really talk to true astronomers they all believe in God as Creator because they've seen the universe. It's very interesting. Not everyone who sees the universe believes in God. This is what Elihu is saying the you "…look to the heavens…"

Let's see how men have reacted instead of coming to repentance, to where today they cannot even put an attached label to the front of a science book that there is an alternative theory of Intelligent Design. That is unconstitutional! Know for sure that God's judgment is coming because of that. Here's the condemnation already given.

Romans 1:18: "Indeed, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the Truth in unrighteousness."

• Isn't that what they have done with the Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Atonement, Trumpets, Tabernacles and Last Great Day?
• Have they not suppressed it?
• Have they not exchanged it for the holidays of this world in their judgment against God?

So, God's judgment comes upon them.

Verse 19: "Because that which may be known of God is manifest among them, for God has manifested it to them; for the invisible things of Him are perceived from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that were made—both His eternal power and Godhead—so that they are without excuse" (vs 19-20). A witness from God is a witness from God and:

• if you reject that witness
• if you reject that testimony
• if you reject the Word of God

You are rejecting God and you "…are without excuse."

Verse 21: "Because when they knew God…" This comes clear back to the time of even before the Flood, but after the Flood. We have an example of it with Job and his three friends.

"…they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but they became vain in their own reasonings, and their foolish hearts were darkened. While professing themselves to be the wise ones, they became fools" (vs 21-22). I submit to you, all you have to do is look at the religious and education systems of this world and you see this fulfilled in its 'nth degree' today.

Verse 23: "And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed creatures, and creeping things…. [Look at all the religions of the world, is that not what they worship? Yes, indeed!] …For this cause…" (vs 23-24). There's an automatic judgment and penalty that comes. I want you to ask:

• Is this true?
• Has this happened?

"…God also abandoned them to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to disgrace their own bodies between themselves, who exchanged the Truth of God for the lie; and they worshiped and served the created thing more than the One Who is Creator, Who is blessed into the ages. Amen" (vs 24-25).

• Has that happened?
• Do we have that today?

Read the rest of Rom. 1, it is true!

What everyone needs to understand is that the Word of God is 'living, powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword' and is always active everywhere, all the time, for all people anywhere in the world, just exactly like the law of gravity and the physical earth. Like it says:

• Where are you going to run and hide from God?
• You going to go into the heavens? He's there!
• You going to go into the depths of the earth? He's there!
• Where are you going to go?

Because God has given free moral agency and choice and has given His laws, which are effective all the time, those actions of yours are automatically judged of God and you receive accordingly. It's what God says and God is no respecter of persons.

Let's understand another principle that God has, which is true: Not only does God judge the world but 'judgment begins with the house of God' and He always judges His people first! That's the whole lesson of the Prophets.

Job 35:10—this is in all their sin: "But none says, 'Where is God my Maker…'" The New Testament says, 'Seek and you will find. Knock and it shall be opened. Ask and it shall be given.' If you're sitting there and you're trying to decide what you're going to do, that's the promise to claim, and God will answer you.

"'…Who gives songs in the night; Who teaches us more than the animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?' There they cry, but He gives no answer, because of the pride of evildoers" (vs 10-12). God judges the evil, as we have seen—four sore judgments of God are false prophets, famine, sword, pestilence and evil beasts.

Verse 13: "Surely God will not hear vanity…" Let's understand something about men. The Bible says, 'Man at his very best state is altogether vanity.' God can rescue us from that vanity. God can forgive us and bring us out of it. By ourselves we're nothing but just a breath away from death. Like Solomon said, 'What if you live a thousand years twice over and die with no hope, is that not vanity?' Yes, it is! What I'm trying to say here is:

• What is your life?
• What do you want out of your life?
• How do you find God?
• How do you get your life squared around?

We'll see with the lesson of Job, it begins by:

• stop judging God
• believing in God
• deep and profound repentance

"…neither will the Almighty regard it. How much less when you say you do not see Him! The cause is before Him; you must wait for Him. And now because it is not so, He has visited in anger yet he does not understand even his great extremity" (vs 13-15). He's saying this of Job:

• Wasn't he in the great extremity of trial?
• Covered from head to toe with boils?

So much so that the flies were coming and swarming around him. He had to take a broken potshard and scrape the pussy boils so that the puss would ooze out and the flies would gather around to devour it. So, he had to take ashes and throw on himself. Yet, he's sitting there maintaining his own righteousness. He's the epitome of hardhearted carnality, human stupidity and vanity against God. A great lesson!

Verse 16: "Therefore, does Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplies his words without knowledge." You can read the rest of the chapters up to Job 40.

Let's see what God said to Job. Why was he in that extreme condition? We'll see it was because he judged God and when he judged God he blinded his own mind and heart so he couldn't see the reality of his own problems!

• Is that not where the world is today?
• Haven't they said that our theory of evolution is greater than the creation of God?
• Haven't they said that our knowledge is greater and wiser than what God has put in His Holy Word?
  • we are wise
  • we are intelligent
  • we reject everything that is in the Bible

Know for sure, God's judgment is coming!

I like this part in the movie Shawshank Redemption, which they show over and over again. When the warden was finally caught. One of the first things he did when the prisoners came in was to bring them into his office, talk to them and show them the sign on the wall which says: His [the Lord's] Judgment Cometh and That Right Soon. He would always tell the prisoners, 'Being here is God's judgment on you.'

So, after it was revealed—through one of the prisoners—there he is in his office, the District Attorney for the state and the police are coming up to arrest him and he gets out his gun as if he's going to shoot at them for coming into his office. Instead, he takes the gun, puts it in his mouth and blows off the top of his head. Then the camera goes right to the sign: His [the Lord's] Judgment Cometh and That Right Soon. That was God's judgment against him.

(go to the next track)

His way greater than God's? What happened to Job with God coming to speak to him in a whirlwind is also going to happen to this whole world when Jesus Christ comes back to this earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. You can read of His judgments in the book of Revelation. It's going to make the judgment against Job look like a little, teeny corner of a little teeny sandbox.

When Christ returns it's going to affect the whole world. The question for all of us is this: What are we going to do with our lives in relationship to God between now and then? We don't know how far down the road the second return of Christ is. Let me just assure you one thing, it is absolutely on schedule according to the timetable of God the Father. What happened here with Job is very important.

Job 40:1: "And the LORD answered Job and said, 'Shall he who contends with the Almighty instruct Him?…'" (vs 1-2).

• Are you going to say that your authority in changing My days, is greater than Mine?

Think about it!

• Are you going to instruct Him?
• Are you going to tell God that your way is greater and more righteous than His?

That's what all religionists do when they change the Word of God. When they exchange the Truth for a lie.

"…He who reproves God, let him answer it" (v 2).

• Do not people who declare that the law has been abolished, are they not reproving God?
• Do they not say, 'We don't have to keep those days'?
• Are they not reproving God when God absolutely commands that we should keep those days?

Verse 3: "And Job answered the LORD and said, 'Behold, I am vile!.…'" (vs 3-4). Here's the beginning of his repentance. That's where it has to begin with all of us. We have to repent to God for:

• our way
• our thoughts
• the way we have lived our lives
• the way that we have chosen:
  • the way of the world
  • the way of sin
  • to judge God

He finally says:

"…What shall I answer You? I will lay my hand on my mouth…. [you could say that it's about time] …Once I have spoken… [very great underestimation] …but I will not answer; yea, twice, but I will proceed no further" (vs 4-5). Here's God's answer to everyone who says, 'Our authority is greater than God's.' They are judging God. Here's God's answer.

Verse 6: "And the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 'Gird up your loins now like a man. I will demand of you, and you declare unto Me.'" (vs 6-7). God says, 'All right, if you believe that and teach that, stand up and be counted and show Me where you're right.'

• Can any man be more righteous than God?
• Can anything that men devise be greater than what God has planned, created and devised?

God forbid! May it never be!

Verse 8: "Will you even annul My judgment?…." That means set aside, abolish My judgment. God is Judge and Lawgiver. If you judge God, you're annulling God's judgment. If man, by his own authority usurp from God—we'll soon find out where that rebellious authority comes from—are you not annulling God's judgment?

"…Will you condemn Me so that you may be righteous?" (v 8). Is that not what everyone does when the look in the Bible and say, 'Oh well, you don't have to keep these things. These are all done away.' Oh, really? Jesus said, 'Heaven and earth will pass away but my Word shall not pass away.'

• Who are you going to believe, a man or God?
• Whose authority are you going to follow?
• A man's?

or

• God's?

Then He says, 'All right:

• let's see if you really have any power
• let's see if you really have any authority
• let's see if you are as great as God

Verse 9: "And have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His? Deck yourself now with majesty and excellency, and array yourself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of your wrath; and behold everyone who is proud, and abase him" (vs 9-11). 'Let's see your authority; let's see your power, Job. You say you're more righteous than Me.'

Let's say this of every religious leader in the world, beginning with the Dalai Lama and the pope. Is your authority greater than God's? No! You can't deck yourself with majesty and glory. You're going to die just like every other man. How can a man who is filled with vanity and sin ever produce anything that is righteous? Furthermore, righteous or not, to do away with the righteousness of God? It's just like the fool, he has no brain!

Verse 12: "'Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in darkness. Then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you'" (vs 12-14). There's no greater authority than the authority of God.

Matthew 28:18—Jesus said: "…All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me." That's why I ask the question:

• By whose authority, Job, do you say that you're more righteous than God?
• By whose authority do you keep the holidays—and Sunday, or if you're Muslim, Friday—of this world?
• Can their decrees nullify the judgment of God? Absolutely not!

What needs to be done is they all need to take the same course as Job. This is what you need to do in your life, especially if you are a 'religious hobbyist' and you hop:

• from one radio program to another
• from one television program to another
• from one website to another website

You're just like Job. What you have to do is to do like Job. God says, 'Repent.' Jesus says, 'Repent and believe the Gospel.' Isn't it interesting that He says 'repent' first? True belief cannot happen unless you repent first. You have to repent of your sins, which are the transgressions of Gods Holy, righteous and perfect laws. You have to repent of your vanity in choosing the way of the world and following Satan the devil.

Job said, Job 42:1: "And Job answered the LORD and said… [Job's answer after all of this]: …'I know that You can do all things, and that no thought can be withheld from You'" (vs 1-2). Pretty profound!

You see, the One Who is the Creator, the One, Jesus Christ, Who is our Savior—Who is the Lord God of the Old Testament before He became Jesus Christ of the New Testament—is called the 'heart-knowing God.'

• Does not God say, in the person of Jesus Christ, that at the resurrection everyone is going to 'give account for every idle word that he has spoken?'
• Yes, He does, that is unless you repent!
• Does He not say that we are 'worth far more than many sparrows' and that 'every hair on our head is numbered?'

The great Creator God Who spanned out with His command the heavens and 'calls all the stars and galaxies by name and knows them by number,' is it any great thing that He knows the thoughts of any human being at any time?

Just because God is gracious and merciful and does not execute the death penalty, but gives us space and time to choose His way or the way of the world, do not think that God doesn't know your heart; "…no thought can be withheld from You."

Verse 3: "You asked, 'Who is he who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore, I have spoken that which I did not understand…" In other words, he uttered things that he understood not:

• he didn't understand his own human nature
• he didn't understand that his righteousness could never be greater than God's

God is eternal! God is glorified! And Jesus Christ upholds the power of the universe by His very Word! We are dealing with a God:

• Who is wholly righteous!
• Who cannot lie!
• Who dwells in eternity!

"…things too wonderful for me; yea, which I did not know…. [part of his repentance]: …Hear, I beseech You, and I will speak; You said, 'I will ask of you, and you will declare to Me.' I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You'" (vs 3-5). This is the point where God wants every human being to come in relationship to Him.

Everyone has heard about God, one way or the other, whether in truth or in error. You've got to come to know the true God through the study of His Word and the power of His Holy Spirit being with you so that you can come to understand the Truth and that you follow God and be led to repentance. Then you can be baptized and receive the power of the Holy Spirit within you. "…now my eye sees…" God is the One Who opens our understanding.

Verse 6: "Therefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." God is merciful and kind and will forgive you upon true repentance, not the repentance of just being the sorrow of this world. God will forgive you and put those sins behind. Then you have to do as Jesus said, 'Walk in newness of life and go and sin no more.'

• How did all this get started?
• How did we end up in such a place?
• How did we end up in such a condition?

Gen. 1—This part of the Bible is not a myth or a fairy tale, as some people say. It's the actual account of what God did in creation in making man and giving him choice. God made man a little lower than Himself. He created him with such great abilities. He gave mankind—beginning with Adam and his wife Eve—choice! God doesn't want mindless robots. Let's see the uniqueness of man.

A lot of evolutionists look at the chimpanzees, gorillas, and genetic analysts can look at the genes and say, 'Ooo! They have as much as 95% of the same genes as human beings. Therefore, we must have come from them.' They're drawing the exact wrong conclusion.

Let me put it to you this way: What if you had to jump 100 feet across a 4,000-foot chasm? You reared back and had enough strength and you ran, you leaped and you made it 95%. Did you cross the chasm? No! You failed and crashed at the bottom! So, God made them similar to man to prove that man is unique and without the spirit of man, which God forms in every human being, he'd be just like the apes. They're run by instinct:

• yes, they have enough intelligence to do some things
• yes, they can recognize many things in sign language and so forth
• yes, they can have those communications, but:
  • they can't speak
  • they can't write
  • they can't give history
  • they have not been made in the image of God

That's what's unique about human beings.

Genesis 1:26: "And God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image… [God the Father and Jesus Christ] …after Our likeness…'" That's why we can:

• think
• choose
• build
• construct
• devise
• love
• create

God gave us the greatest power to share in His creation by being able to reproduce ourselves, by making us male and female, and creating the institution of marriage. God made us to be loving creatures and to receive love and that love directly from God.

"…and let them have dominion…" God gave dominion, rulership. He gave the whole world to Adam and Eve and subsequently to all mankind. What a great gift! What a tremendous thing!

"'…over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of heaven and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that crawls upon the earth.' And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female. And God blessed them…. [they started out in a state of blessing] …And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it…'" (vs 26-28).

You talk about a fantastic mission goal that God gave. We're going to see that not only did He create them this way, but here's something that's far more important in relationship to all the other animals and things that were created compared to man.

God wants to have an intimate relationship with His finest creation, man and woman. He did not command, and man came into being. He commanded and the apes came into being, but man is different!

Genesis 2:7: "Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Not only did God form and make Adam, the first man, but He put within him the reproductive power to recreate himself through his wife, who was made from his rib, and Eve became the mother of all living. Amazing!

However, since God did not want robots He made two trees: One the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the other the Tree of Life. He put man in the Garden of Eden where there was everything that he needed and all the trees that were good for fruit and so forth.

Verse 15: "And the LORD God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it." That's all a part of subduing, controlling, working. That's why God gave us things so that there's work, so that there are things that we can do and produce and work with the creation of God and enjoy the blessings of it.

Verse 16: "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'You may freely eat of every tree in the garden.'" That's God's judgment. Is that not God's command? Yes, it is!

When men judge God, they think they can command God, but God is the One Who commands men, because He's Creator and we are His creation. Then He gives this warning:

Verse 17: "But you shall not eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for in the day that you eat of it in dying you shall surely die." That doesn't mean that he would die instantly that day. Just like sin and transgress today, even though 'the wages of sin is death' they don't instantly die because of it. The Hebrew here means that 'in dying you shall die,' because he lived to be 830-years-old.

When God created him, He had Adam name all the animals. This tells us that H e created Adam with a language already programmed into his mind:

• he could think
• he could talk
• he could make decisions

That's why God gave him the choices. If you're going to create a full mature man, and from one of the ribs, create a full mature woman, then you have to give them the ability:

• to think
• to talk
• to speak
• to communicate

That's what God did!

Here enters the serpent, Satan the devil. Here comes the counter or anti-authority of God. You go back and study that Satan originally fell. He was the first sinner. He was cast down from heaven and one-third of the angels followed him and became demons for their rebellion.

Adam and Eve were told, they were instructed and they lived in the Garden with God. God was there with them all the time:

• there was no question as to Who was God
• there we no question as to Who their Creator was
• there was no one around to tell them about the theory of evolution

They knew that God had created and formed them. Here comes the counter authority.

Genesis 3:1: "Now, the serpent was more cunning than any creature of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Is it true that God has said, "You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?"'" A direct lie! God said, 'You may freely eat of all the trees of the Garden but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat.'

Was that not a judgment against God by Satan the devil? Yes, it was! Now he's going to begin to exert his authority. Let's see how that happened:

Verse 2: "And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may freely eat the fruit of the trees of the garden… [she didn't say all] …but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has indeed said, "You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die"'" (vs 2-3).

• Did they understand?
• Did they know what God had taught them?
• Yes, indeed! Without a doubt!

Verse 4: "And the serpent said to the woman, 'In dying, you shall not surely die!'" You can take this same principle: God said, 'You shall have no other god's before Me.' Go write down the Ten Commandments and in this, Holidays vs Holy Days, God said, 'Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy.' All through the Bible you find, beginning with the Passover, all the Holy Days of God are to be kept. But man comes along and says, 'Oh, no, no, no! By the authority of my ecclesiastical position and teacher, I decree that you don't have to keep those things. I decree that you're obligated to keep these things:

• Christmas
• Easter
• Lent
• Good Friday
• Easter Sunday

Whatever other holiday that they claim to be 'holy.'

That kind of judgment and usurpation of authority does not come from God. It comes from Satan the devil. That's why I ask: By whose authority do you keep the holidays? Not by God's!

That's why religions of the world, which were connived to replace the Truth of God, all believe in the 'immortality of the soul' because when the body dies, your soul goes to heaven. That is not from God! That's a lie from Satan the devil!

You're getting down to the truth of by whose authority? Either God's authority and His Word through His ministers or Satan's authority, his word through his ministers. That's a choice!

Verse 5: "For God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened…" Actually, closed, but you think they are open because you make the decision to decide what is good and evil, rather than looking at the Word of God to know what is good and evil! Adam and Eve, being in the Garden could ask God directly what is good and evil. They had first person authority!

"…and you shall be like God, deciding good and evil" (v 5). Here is the sleight of hand that is a lie. The ultimate destiny of human beings is to be born from the resurrection into the Kingdom of God to be a spirit being, to be in the likeness of God. That is after living a life in faithfulness.

Satan always does this; he says, 'You can have it now. You can have it all right now. You, if you eat of this fruit, will become gods now and you decide what is good and what is evil.' That's what the word knowing means; not just to be acquainted with it, you decide what is good and evil! They take that authority to themselves.

Verse 6: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. And the eyes of both of them were opened… [to see evil, closed to understanding righteousness] …and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves…" (vs 6-7).

An atheist wrote of this—when God was coming in the Garden, Adam and Eve hid themselves and God said, 'Adam, where are you?'—'Well, if God is all powerful and all knowledgeable, why didn't He know where Adam and Eve were, that they were hiding?'

Of course, He knew where they were. He wanted to find out what their answer would be. He said, 'Where are you?' When Adam said, 'I was afraid.' He ought to be afraid because he sinned against God! Was he afraid before? No!

We'll just summarize the rest of it: The penalty and judgment against Adam and Eve—because they rejected the authority of God and accepted the authority of Satan the devil—is a profound sin that has affected all mankind unto this very day!

Remember, whenever there is sin there is judgment. Did they not judge God and say that God was not right in forbidding them to eat of this tree and followed the authority of Satan the devil? Yes, indeed! The judgment of God comes upon them because anyone who judges God is going to be judged. So, here's the judgment:

Verse 11: "And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat?' And the man said…" (vs 11-12). This is the way that it happens with all human beings. This the heart and core of liberalism and the heart and core of evolution: someone else made me do it; it just happened.

"…The woman whom You gave to be with me… [God, it's Your fault!] …she gave me of the tree, and I ate" (vs 12).

• Did he have to eat?
• Could he not have refused?
• Could he not have taken the fruit out of her hand, thrown it on the ground, run to God, repent and ask for God's help?

Yes, he could have, but he didn't! He wanted the vanity of being as God, now to decide what is good and evil. Is that not a judgment against God? Yes, it is!

Verse 13: "And the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?'… [Oh, Lord!] …And the woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'" It's not my fault, that serpent You let go here in the Garden.

Verse 14: "And the LORD God said to the serpent… [whenever there is sin, there is judgment] …'Because you have done this you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed…'" (vs 14-15)—a prophecy of Jesus Christ and redemption to come to mankind. Right here with the very first sin, a prophecy of it.

"…He… [the 'Seed of the woman,' being Christ] …will bruise your head, and you [Satan] shall bruise His heel" (v 15)—a prophecy of the crucifixion.

Notice the judgment, v 16: "To the woman He said, 'I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception—in sorrow shall you bring forth children….'" That goes beyond just childbearing. That goes into the emotional attachment as your children grow into adults and as they make right and wrong decisions, and the emotional involvement that brings sorrow to women greater than it does to men because of how their children behave.

"…Your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you" (v 16). God never made woman equal to rule with man. I don't care about all of the satanic doctrine to the contrary, that is a living fact, rule and Law of God.

Verse 17: "And to Adam He said, 'Because you have hearkened to the voice of your wife…'"—who harkened unto Satan the devil. Whose voice was he to follow? Go through with a concordance study of the Bible and look up every word where it is:

• the voice of the Lord
• they are to obey My voice
• they did not obey My voice

What happened was that Adam obeyed the voice of his wife and Satan the devil instead of God. That's what the whole world does. That's what all human beings are doing.
Other than the few that God calls, God has given the world over to Satan the devil and he is called the 'god of this world'! That's why you do the things under his authority! That's why Satan has his way, and God has His way!

"…and have eaten of the tree—of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it!'—the ground is cursedfor your sake. In sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life. It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to you, and thus you shall eat the herbs of the field; in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (vs 17-19).

That tells us an awful lot. Right at the very beginning Adam and Eve chose:

• to reject the authority of God
• to reject the Word of God, in the person of God
• to follow the deceiver, the 'rebelor,' the father of lies

By whose authority? Now we've learned there are two authorities in the world:

• God and His Word and Truth
• Satan and his lies, his own religions and society

• Who is your God?
• By whose authority do you do the things that you do?

John 8:42: "Therefore, Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I proceeded forth and came from God. For I have not come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why don't you understand My speech? Because you cannot bear to hear My words'" (vs 42-43). I know that what I'm saying here is going to make some people upset, angry and hostile.

That's because you cannot bear to hear the Words of God. Yet, you want to be 'religious.' So, the question is: By whose authority?

Verse 44: "You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you desire to practice…." He's speaking this to the very Jews who held the Old Testament and the prophesies that He was the Messiah. Just like Satan wormed his way into the Garden of Eden, he also wormed his way in and controlled the religion of Judaism, just like he controlled the pagan religions of the world.

"…He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the Truth because there is no Truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he is speaking from his own self…" (v 44)—of his own authority.

God cannot lie and will not lie and His Word is Truth! His commandments are true! Everything that God says and does is true, and done in love!

"…for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I speak the Truth, you do not believe Me" (vs 44-45). I have spoken to you the Truth. Do you believe God?

Verse 46: "Which one of you can convict Me of sin? But if I speak the Truth, why don't you believe Me?" That's the goal we are to shoot for in our learning and understanding of the Word of God. Here's something very profound. I'll let this be a judgment you can bring upon yourself.

Verse 47: "The one who is of God hears the words of God…"

• Are you of God?
• By whose authority do you do what you do?

"…For this reason you do not hear, because you are not of God" (v 47). If it's not of the authority of God and the Word of God, it's of the authority of Satan the devil and human beings! The practices that they have which they claim that God gave, are the lying traditions of men, which reject the commandments of God!

• By whose authority do you live your life?
• Satan's?

or

• God's?

All Scripture from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• James 4:11-12
• Romans 3:1-6, 19
• Job 31:33-40
• Job 32:1-3, 18-22, 13
• Job 34:1-5, 35-37
• Job 35:1-7
• Romans 1:18-25
• Job 35:10-16
• Job 40:1-14
• Matthew 28:18
• Job 42:1-6
• Genesis 1:26-28
• Genesis 2:7, 15-17
• Genesis 3: 1-7, 11-19
• John 8:42-47

Scripture referenced, not quoted: Revelation 12:9

Also referenced:
from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version,Appendix N: Rome's Challenge to the Protestants

FRC: nfs
Transcribed: 04-15-16
Proofed: bo—6/1/16