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Chapter IV
A. Days of Worship
for the Christian Church during the Millennial Reign of Jesus
Christ.
We
have seen what the early Church of God in Jerusalem, and then
the Judeo-Christians were like in their worship practices.
This final chapter is contained in three links.
First, what days of worship will the Church keep when
Jesus and the resurrected saints return to earth and rule
from Jerusalem? That
is a good question, and amazingly enough, one the Bible provides
a clear answer to, if you are willing to believe the Bible
and what it has to say on this subject.
The answer to that question is provided by the article
in this link: http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg5.htm. This article ties together all the related prophecies
on this subject in a clear, honest and concise manner. This looks forward. Now a link that looks back.
B. Did A Remnant From These Sabbatarian Churches
of God Survive Constantine?
The
answer to that question is contained in a whole Church history
subsection on this website. To read an amazing history, a history put together
by this very group of Sabbatarian Churches of God, log onto
http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/revivals.htm. Now a link that looks to the present.
C. Resources:
"The Feast's
of the Lord" by Kevin Howard & Marvin Rosenthal,
$17.95, can be ordered by mailing to:
Zion's Hope, 1390 N. Hancock Road, Suite 201, Clermont,
Florida, 34711. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/Daniel-Neb7.htm.
"In The Shadow of The Temple" by Oskar Skarsaune
"The Rise of Christianity" by Rodney Stark
"A History of Christianity" by Paul Johnson
"Nazarene Jewish Christianity" by Ray Pritz
"The Text of the New Testament: It's Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration",
by Bart D. Ehrman
D. Sabbatarian
Churches of God:
Sabbatarian Churches of God: What Are the Doctrinal
Distinctives of a Sabbatarian Church of God?
This is an
article which has been written to help define what the basic
Sabbatarian Church of God is. I was born-again and drawn to Jesus in
one, and attended that same Sabbatarian Church of God for
over 27 years. So I know a little bit about them. First I am going to explain a couple Messianic
Jewish terms that defines these groups and how they differ
from the rest of Gentile Christianity. All
the Sabbatarian Church of God denominations fit into the
first of these two categories, while one did come into the
second category, but did not remain a non-Torah observant
Sabbatarian Church of God for more than five to six years,
before becoming a Sunday observing church. So
here goes with those two Messianic terms or categories:
Definitions
Torah-observant: Torah-observant
believers in Jesus believe the Ten Commandment Law of God
including seventh day Sabbath, Holy Days of Leviticus 23
and dietary laws of Leviticus 11 are in full force for the
believer. They
often look at other (Sunday observing) believers as “false
Christians” from strictly a doctrinal belief point
of view, and not out of any hatred or dislike for Sunday
observers. As
such their doctrinal beliefs have separated them out from
active joint participation within the rest of the body of
Christ. They
still perform an active and important role in witnessing
to the carnal world, as the Lord directs them. Romans
14 warns, “who art thou that judgest another man’s
servant? To his
own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is
able to make him stand” (vs. 4). That “man”
in “man’s servant” is Jesus Christ, in
context with Paul’s epistle here. Having spent 27 years in one of these
Sabbatarian Churches of God, and having fellowshipped with
several others from time to time, I have witnessed the indwelling
Holy Spirit in many if not most of their membership.
Non-Torah observant: Non-Torah
observant believers in Jesus or Yeshua believe the New Testament “Law
of Christ” (9 of the 10 Commandments) to be in full
force for the believer. They believe “Days of Worship” have
been made an optional choice under the legislation found
in the New Testament (cf. Romans 14 and Acts 15). That
means “days of worship” are an optional choice,
left up to the believer and the denomination he or she attends. If
one does not agree with the choice of his or her denomination,
the individual is free to go to the one that matches his
or her choice in days of worship. Gentile Christian believers for almost
1700 years have chosen Sunday/Christmas/Easter as their primary
days of worship. Messianic
Jewish believers who are non-Torah observant choose the Sabbath
and Holy Days to worship on, and most also observe the dietary
laws of Leviticus 11, mostly out of ethnic cultural choice. But
rest assured, their Messianic Jewish observance almost matches
the observance of the Torah observant Sabbatarian Churches
of God, those days being previously ingrained in their cultural
upbringing for millennia. Romans
14:1-23 defines these freedoms of choice over days of worship,
while the actual legislation of them is recorded in Acts
15.
I
prefer these Messianic terms over others, as they are totally
non-derogatory and lack the slanderous connotation of other
terms that define these two groups of believers.
Part I, Torah-observant Sabbatarian Churches of God
As you will
notice, it is the
“Days of Worship” which define the Sabbatarian
Churches of God. In their obedience to the biblical Christian
standards Christ gave to the Church, they are in more or
less harmony with the rest of Gentile Christianity. It
is in days of worship where they differ. Their
church life revolves around the Sabbath and Holy Days, especially
in what these days symbolically represent in Scripture. We
will see that what they believe in this area almost totally
matches what the Messianic Jewish believers believe. And
God has just restored the Jewish branch of the body of Christ
within 37 short years, so taking a closer look at our Sabbatarian
Church of God brothers wouldn’t be a bad idea. First
they base their belief in the Old Testament Law of God still
being in full force by a simple interpretation of Matthew
5:17-19, which states, “Think not that I am come to
destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfil. For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot
or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all
be fulfilled…” Now
here is an important point in their theology. Have heaven and earth passed? No they haven’t. Even though others argue that Christ fulfilled
them, it can be pointed out that he expects us to follow
his example, which was one of obedience to God’s law. Also,
in Scripture we can see when heaven and earth do pass away,
and that is in Revelation 20:14-15 and Revelation 21:1 “And
I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven
and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more
sea.” Also
see 2 Peter 3:10-13 where Peter graphically describes this
event. So “till heaven and earth pass” puts
a time element for the law of God remaining intact, a time
element which is often ignored by Gentile Christians who
try to use only part of this verse to prove their point. Continuing
in verse 19 of Matthew 5, “Whosoever therefore shall
break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men
to do so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of
heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall
be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Then
Jesus goes on in Matthew 5 to define the spirit of the 10
Commandment Law of God. So
this passage is the bedrock of the Sabbatarian Churches of
God’s belief in the Old Testament 10 Commandment Law
of God being for Christians. As
I stated before, the major difference is in the days of worship
they observe. But
it is important to also see what they see in these days. So
let’s take a look.
The Holy Days of Leviticus
To learn
the biblical historic and prophetic significance of God’s
Holy Days, believed by both the Sabbatarian Churches of God
and all Messianic Jewish believers in Yeshua, log onto the
following link and read the whole file: http://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/Holydayshadows.htm . The
Holy Days and what they represent, when properly understood,
appear to have far more significance in explaining the whole
of God’s redemptive plan of salvation for mankind than
the Gentile Christian days. Few
understand this important point, because few look beyond
the actual days and into what they represent. So
be very sure to log onto that link above and read that file
before continuing. There is tremendous meaning in the historic
and prophetic symbolism of the Holy Days of Leviticus 23
which most Sunday observing Christianity is almost totally
ignorant of.
The Sabbath: A careful
reading of Leviticus 23 will show the seventh day Sabbath
is also listed as a Holy Day (Leviticus 23:1-3). Hebrews
shows the actual physical Sabbath represents the spiritual
rest we have in Christ by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
within believers. This rest is experienced in reality 24/7. But
just because we are living the reality does not make it wrong
to observe the shadow of that reality. Read Hebrews 4:1-11. Verse 10 is a direct reference to God
taking rest in Genesis right after the creation, which created
the Sabbath by the very fact that God rested. The
Jews, Messianic believers and Sabbatarian Churches of God
feel this is significant in that the Sabbath wasn’t
created at the time of Moses, but predates the Law being
given to Moses right back in Genesis at the creation of man. Each group, Sunday and Sabbath observing
see the argument for their practice within this chapter. But the proofs lie elsewhere and are not
the subject of this article. It
is just important to see the significance of what they see
in the Sabbath. Another symbolic meaning which some say
can be seen in the Bible is that mankind has been allocated
6,000 years for his governments, and that after the 2nd coming
of Jesus Christ, God rules over mankind for one thousand
years of peaceful existence—and that the Sabbath typifies
or symbolizes the last 1,000 years of God’s redemptive
plan for mankind in Revelation 20, 1 Corinthians 15 and Ezekiel
37:1-14. This is a viable argument which does have
Scriptural backing, even though Jesus’ exact return
has gone beyond the actual 6,000 year allotment of time (but
didn’t Jesus say people would be saying “He delayeth
his coming”?). Irenaeus,
a disciple of Polycarp recorded in his works that this was
a held doctrine of the early apostolic Church. He
lived around 178AD.
Typical sermons given by a viable
Sabbatarian Church of God during the Days of Unleavened
Bread.
First, most
Sabbatarian Churches of God keep an ancient Christian Passover
that Polycarp and Policrates (disciples of John) kept in
Asia Minor (100’s AD through 250AD).
Passover service: This following link goes to an article showing
how this Christian Passover service is currently being observed
(and is the way we believe John, Polycarp and Policrates
observed it). Log onto: http://www.cbcg.org/passover_ceremony1.htm and http://www.cbcg.org/passover_ceremony2.htm . I
have an article on this website which shows the last six
days in the life of Jesus Christ before and going through
his crucifixion at this link. It
was taken from the Sabbatarian Church of God I spent 27 years
in, and many of you have been logging onto it and reading
it every year in the spring. It’s at: http://www.unityinchrist.com/lamb/lastsix.htm .
Typical sermon for the First and Last Days of Unleavened Bread
Log onto
the link below and see the significance of how these churches
use these days of worship to teach powerful biblically redemptive
themes about Christian growth and sanctification, using each
Holy Day to teach both New and Old Testament lessons of redemption
in Christ (and our part in the process). See http://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/Leaven.htm. The
Christian Biblical Church of God is a Torah-observant
Sabbatarian Church of God, as all Sabbatarian Churches of
God are. I used
them here, because they are the most grace oriented of all
the Sabbatarian Churches of God, with members who are for
the most part filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit. If
you desire to know more about this group of Sabbatarian Churches
of God, be sure to look them up and read further at http://www.cbcg.org and http://www.biblicaltruthministries.org . I
use these folks as an example, not because they are the best
organized or biggest and shiniest of the Sabbatarian Churches
of God, but in my personal estimation, they are the most
grace-oriented and spiritual of the groups, and as such deserve
mention. The best mention I could give them is
to use them as a central example of a Sabbatarian Church
of God. Another fairly large Torah observant Sabbatarian
Church of God is the United Church of God, which is a modern-day
version of the Torah observant Churches of God as they marched
through church history. Their
link is at: http://www.ucg.org. [The United Church of God’s Good News Magazine, although its slant on obedience to God’s Laws is
Torah-observant, is an excellent source for articles dealing
with prophecy, current events and the prophetic meaning of
God’s Holy Days. Back issues can be found at http://www.gnmagazine.org. Their series on Biblical archeology and
the Bible is amazing, and well worth the read.]
Some
might be led to think the Torah observant variety of Sabbatarian
Churches of God are sort of dying out after the massive split
in the Worldwide Church of God during the 1990s. Not
so. There are now over 374 separate
“denominations” of Torah observant Sabbatarian
Churches of God in existence right now.
Also,
many of you may be wondering at this point, especially since
most Messianic Jewish believers are non-Torah observant,
are there any non-Torah observant Sabbatarian Churches of
God? To answer
that, read through the next part of this article.
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