Examine the Beatitudes. They are all about having a converted mindset in relation to the things being discussed by Him. He concludes this part of his preaching with this:
(Matthew 5:16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
The attributes mentioned are those of a converted person; not the attributes of those of evil people whom God described through Jeremiah as having deceitful and desperately wicked hearts.
As for those being referred to in the opening remarks of Matthew chapter 5, Jesus states that their works are good works, where men who witness them glorify their Father in Heaven.
What happens if these people, followers of Christ Jesus, were to carry out good works on the Sabbath?
Those with the deceitful and desperately wicked hearts, who are deceived by their own hearts who think themselves religious, would do to them what they did to Jesus: declare His works - His GOOD works - to be evil and sin on the Sabbath; opting for the law that commanded no one do “any” work on the Sabbath, not even so much as preparing a meal.
Verse 16 is being overlooked by the “religious” of today; obscured and overshadowed by those who constantly refer to verse 17, claiming the law remains inviolate down to jots and tittles.
An average man on the street, not so ‘obsessive’ over the law as were the Pharisees, might well have witnessed Jesus perform a miracle of healing - the alleviation of afflictions by Jesus on the Sabbath - resulting in that person glorifying the Father in Heaven, from awe and wonder of having witnessed events never seen by any of them or their forefathers, such as a man born blind made to see, and the resurrection of the dead back to life.
Not so with the Pharisees and others of like ‘mind’, who attributed Christ’s miracles to the ‘glory’ of the devil simply because such a wonderous miracle was done on the Sabbath day.
Paul wrote the law is not of faith. He also wrote that there exists now a law of faith; a law of the Spirit. Those under the old(er) blood covenant law were dealt with almost exclusively with laws, rites and rituals that were physical in nature; physically oriented for a physically, carnally-minded people. Now, with Christ, a spiritual aspect is revealed, non-corporeal, dealing entirely with the heart, mind, and soul of people (the inward man), in a condition foreign to the things the blood covenant law dealt with. The blood covenant law dealt with those possessed of a deceitful and desperately wicked heart; commanding them, for the most part, to refrain from doing evils through force of will in obedience to regulations. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t commit murder. Don’t bear false witness. Don’t steal. Don’t have other gods. Don’t even desire or lust after that which belongs to another.
What is fascinating is how easily a deceptive and desperately wicked heart will rationalize and circumvent these commandments, and more, from either direction.
An otherwise good work is condemned by them if performed on their Sabbath. After all, they rationalize, “any” work is forbidden.
Then it all flips with other laws, such as not to commit murder. First, let’s define murder. It is the unlawful taking of another’s life without due process of the law in order to determine if a killing was justified or not. Capital punishment is prescribed by the law and carried out by those duly charged with doing so. Some killings were and are justified due to defense of one’s self or family, or even a third party. Same as in conditions of war. However, it is all flipped over when it comes to the destruction of the most innocent of lives; something Jesus specifically related was evil, that has been happening in Adventist hospitals since the early 1970’s, beginning with the Adventist Hospital located in Kailua, Hawaii -- Castle Hospital.
The same Adventists who will turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the destruction of innocent life, an act which God calls evil, will revile you and charge you with sin for doing a good work, influenced by the Holy Spirit in you, if done on their Sabbath.
Can it get any more perverse than that?
But here’s the issue. They are mindful of the physical things at the expense of the spiritual.
They judge all based on the physical, grounded in being observational. They do not ‘see’ the Spirit or actions motivated by the Spirit. The motivation for all is the carnally-oriented law; not the law of the Spirit. They are blind to the Spirit and law of the Spirit, especially when it comes to the Sabbath commandment, which they embrace as the one thing they can rely on to keep up the outward appearance of obedience to the law, while behind closed doors the destruction of life takes place.
They judge all based on the physical, grounded in being observational. They do not ‘see’ the Spirit or actions motivated by the Spirit. The motivation for all is the carnally-oriented law; not the law of the Spirit. They are blind to the Spirit and law of the Spirit, especially when it comes to the Sabbath commandment, which they embrace as the one thing they can rely on to keep up the outward appearance of obedience to the law, while behind closed doors the destruction of life takes place.
They should all be ashamed ...but they are not.
They fall back on the Sabbath and their ‘dedication’ to it. Notice then the parallel with this passage, attributed to God speaking:
They fall back on the Sabbath and their ‘dedication’ to it. Notice then the parallel with this passage, attributed to God speaking:
(Amos 8:4-7) Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
The solution of those ancient people was to persecute and kill the prophets who exposed their hypocrisies. Note well their dedication to the Sabbath, suspending their evil works on that day. These are the same kind of people who later condemned Jesus for working on the Sabbath; doing good works He declared lawful.
They needed the Sabbath. It was the cloak for their deceitful and desperately wicked hearts, where all was judged by the letter of the law and the appearance that afforded them.
Tell an Adventist today that good works are lawful on their fake sabbath day, tell them that even Jesus worked on the Sabbath, and some will respond with an accusation against you for you claiming Jesus sinned! It is that perverse heart trying to desperately maintain its cover through an attempt at accusing you; bearing false witness against you, where in their own minds they believe themselves compliant; ‘obedient’ to that law that is not of faith.
The New Covenant in Christ is not like the Old. It is entirely different, designed for different people. The old(er) blood covenant dealt with evil-hearted people, sinful by nature, tripping them up in their own deceit and deceptions. The new is a law of life for those with the new spiritual heart provided to them by God; His Holy Spirit dwelling IN the believer, guiding and leading him or her, and not a law designed to condemn the guilty; the evil ones with the evil hearts of unbelief; the deceitful and desperately wicked hearts of stone, who were aptly given a law engraved in stone; the same law set elevated by Adventists, given the attributes of God, making it another god besides God.
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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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