A Kingdom Divided ?

 This is the passage that brought this post to fruition, as disagreement arose in the Bible study I attend each week with someone I respect. 

Matthew 12
25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

I brought up the point that there are many that think that Christ somehow rescinded God's commands and made many of them obsolete- effectual abolishment.  I pointed out that if we think this of Christ, then this innately puts Christ as in division with the Father. It also causes problems if we hold to this notion as Christ states that He only does what the Father instructs. 

John 8:28 
28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.

 John 12:49
49 For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.

Furthermore there comes an even greater issue that arises if we were to believe that Christ is rendering the Law obsolete, because ...well... He's the one that gave it. 

 Colossians  2:9 
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form

But how do we know for certain that Christ DIDN'T in fact change Divine law? Well for starters He tells us directly to NOT think that He did that. 

Matthew 5:17-19
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

 Have heaven and earth passed away according to 2 Peter 3 or Revelation 21?

2 Peter 3:11-13
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Revelation 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

 They have not. They have not perished and melted away with intense heat, there is still a sea, people still die, not every tear has been yet wiped away. Since they have not, should we obey Christ and continue teaching people to obey God's Law in response to faith in Him as we ourselves obey it? Yeah, we probably should. When we see Christs words here in Matthew 5 that say "Not the smallest stroke of a pen/ jot or tittle shall disappear until all is accomplished" that means that when we classify certain parts of His Divine Law as being done away with/ abolished/ effectually abolished by redefining the word fulfilled as contradiction the command to do and teach them- then what we are saying is that those laws are the smallest strokes. When we say that they're done away with as the smallest strokes, it is in direct opposition to what Christ has said. We might not like it, it may not sit well with other doctrines we may hold, but we ARE to conform our beliefs the the fullness of God's word.  

Some object here. They might have an objection and state "sacrifices ended at the cross, Christ stopped all sacrifices- read Hebrews" and while I understand their objection and even see that there is much that people do not understand about sacrifices and the sacrificial system I must assure that I have read Hebrews. I have also reconciled various passages to the fullness of scripture with Christ at the center. One of the objections that I tried to make from the word of God to the idea that sacrifices in their entirety have ceased, is when I brought up the point that Paul performed them in Acts 21 for the EXPRESS PURPOSE of showing that the Law of God wasn't made as not to be observed. 

Acts 21
18 And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; 21 and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. 22 What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24 take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.

1. Paul is testifying of believers who are coming to faith and they are keeping the Law of God. That is important since before we were saved we were Law breakers and by God's grace through faith He's allowed repentance from sin which is Lawlessness - that once we are saved we might walk in obedience.  
2. The new believers that were obeying God's Law were being told that Paul for some reasons was teaching people to NOT be obedient to the commands of God 
3. a Vow as outlined in numbers 6 includes Sacrifices. 
4. Paul is instructed to combat the very idea that Paul is teaching people to NOT obey God's law. 
5. Paul is told to perform sacrifices to show everyone that the LIES ABOUT HIM TELLING PEOPLE NOT TO OBEY GODS COMMANDMENTS ARE FALSE

So, what does Paul do? 

Acts 21:26
26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

Paul obeyed the Law of God and offered sacrifices to prove that He is teaching people who are saved that they are still to be obedient to God.  This was James, the brother of Christs solution, and Paul followed it. Another matter we have to contend with in the full reasoning of scripture is the prophetic matters regarding the return of Christ 

Isaiah 56:4-8
For thus says the Lord, “To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. 6 “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; 7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” 8 The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”

If we were to surmise that this has occurred already then we would need to pinpoint when these gentiles were gathered to Israel and brought to His holy mountain to offer their sacrifices.  If we agree that it hasn't yet happened, then we must reason that the sacrificial attributes will likely resume in the Millennial reign. In fact, that's what This passages states 

Zechariah 14:3-21
3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5 You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! 6 In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light. 8 And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. 9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one. 10 All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. 11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security. 12 Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. 13 It will come about in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. 14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. 15 So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps. 16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 20 In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.

1. Christ will return and split the Mount of Olives - which hasn't happened yet. 
2. It is a unique day in which there will be no light - which hasn't happened yet.
3. we will be worshipping Christ during the Feast of Booths- not everyone is doing this yet
4. Jerusalem will live in security- we know that hasn't happened yet with rockets raining down every 20 minutes or so 
5. God sends plagues on those that don't worship at the Feast of Booths- I don't think this is happened yet 
6.  all the horses will have bells inscribed HOLY TO THE LORD- hasn't happened yet
7. There will be sacrifices boiled in that day - which hasn't happened yet. 

So, did the Sacrifices go away at the cross just to come back again in the millennial reign?
I don't think so.  Why don't we perform sacrifices? Because it would be a sin for us to do so outside the way that God commands them to be done, where they are to be done, who they are to be done by and how they to be done, what they were done for. Consider this passage about the End Times

Isaiah 66:20-24
20 Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the Lord. 22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. 23 “And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord. 24 “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

1. Isaiah 66 in speaking of the end times mentions the same elements of Zechariah 14, with the horses, the same gathering as isaiah 56 as gathering to His holy mountain
2. Christ takes people to be levites and priests. This should prove that the sacrifices will resume again as Priests and Levites will resume.  

So, what do we do with Hebrews and the verses that people interpret as being as Christ disregarding?
One element of the commands of God can be explained simply. 

If a priest has sin- then offer X

Hebrews 8 in speaking on priests ( and faulty priests) writes the example regardings offerings that priests need to offer if they have sin. But if a High Priest (in heaven) say didn't have sin then it would read this way

If priest has sin- then offer X
If a priest has no sin- then offering of X is not offered.  

Does this mean that the command for the offering of sin for the priests has been done away with or discarded? No.  It does mean that the clause provision of the offering has enacted. 

If I were to say, "If the tire pops, replace it with this new tire every year"  This condition is only for if that tire pops. If the tire never pops, did the instruction cease? Did it get discarded? No. Did the tire get replaced? No. I want you to read Hebrews 8 and note that the word "covenant" is not in verse 7 or 13 in the greek, but was added by translators. 

Hebrews 8
Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. 10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. 11 “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. 12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.” 13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

1. The subject is a Priesthood and a better High Priest
2. He is a minister in a better sanctuary 
3. If He was on earth He would not be a priest because on earth there are faulty Levites who struggle with sin.  This is not a statement that Christ has done away with the Law, its a statement that the Law still exists. 
4. Covenant is not in verse 7 so finding fault with them would be the priests who are sinful. 
5. the new covenant is different because  we don't break the new one like they did in egypt. 
6. God finds fault with these Priests because they didn't continue in His covenant. 
7. He didn't care for them because they didn't observe His laws and instead went astray. 
8. God writes His law on the hearts and minds of those in the New Covenant when we don't have sin anymore, and He takes us in a resurrection for priests and levites. He didn't discard or abolish the commands, He's making it so that we can keep them. He's not dismissing the jot or tittles or smalles strokes, He's finding fault with those that rebel against them. 
9. We wont have to say "know the Lord" in that time when we no longer struggle against sin because everyone will already. 
10. God won't hold our previous iniquities or our past sins against us. 
11. in verse 13, the word covenant isn't there and what is passing away is the priesthood that was faulty with priests that have sin. We're going to become the tire that doesn't pop. 

This context is what is said in

 Revelation 21:5-7
5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

God is making it so we're not going to struggle with sin, so that we can be priests and levites, overcoming and be children of God. 

Revelation 1:5-6 
 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

He's made us to be priests. 


1 Peter 2:3-9

3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. As Living Stones 4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” 8 and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

He has made us to be priests. 

Exodus 19:5-6
  5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

He made them to be a kingdom of priests but they rebelled and were faulty and chose sin

Isaiah 61:4-11
Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. 5 Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. 6 But you will be called the priests of the Lord; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast. 7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs. 8 For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed. 10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.

These priests, Us, we're going to be the ones in the everlasting covenant. That renewed covenant.  The ones who are ministering to God as His possessions and children. We will be these priests.  
SO, while there is much misunderstanding about sacrifices, the everlasting covenant/renewed covenant we see that WE are the priests who don't despise God and love sin more than Him 

Isaiah 24:1-6
Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants. 2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. 3 The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. 5 The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

 The earth is polluted. The priests don't love God nor His laws. They broke the EVERLASTING COVENANT. God's new covenant is better priests, and we don't break it. Its in the New heaven and New earth which haven't come yet.  Matthew 5:17-19 is Christ telling us that we're going to be wheels that don't pop, so don't think that He's getting rid of the whole car. 


The whole priesthood dynamic is even greater than this and if you want a video on Hebrews instead (which I have read many times friends) there are some Here , Here too, and also Here 

No Earthly Good

Last year I attended a beautiful wedding down in Texas of a friend of mine. Afterwards I wound up at something of an afterparty with a group of believers and people I knew from a million years ago in "church" that I attended.  We were sitting around discussing theology with other people in patio furniture between two hotels. There was one man with a professed faith in Christ, who was approached by one of the modest women who attended the wedding  and she offered a handshake with her introduction. He didn't move from his seat, looked at her hand, and then looked her in the eyes and said "I don't touch women."
That event has crossed my mind at least a dozen times since then and I think about that hyper sheltered impropriety mindset. I know some people who also will not be on a prayer call with someone of the opposite gender to pray because they have a hypervigilance to the supposition of scandal.  
While I know people have personal convictions and all, I've thought about the subject a few passages have come to my mind regarding this over implication of fencelaw. Starting in John 4

John 4 

 So He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.7 There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.”

Right off the bat what stands out to me is that Christ is talking to a woman. Not only is He talking to a woman, He's waiting alone for this woman to show up. Christ does not seemed concerned with what would be said or implied or twisted by waiting alone to talk to this woman. He just waits to speak to her. 

8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

His disciples left him alone and went to go get food, and Christ is alone waiting to talk to a woman and asks her for a drink.  He's alone and He's asking for her to share water with Him. There are some who would never even get this far without casting aspersion of nefarious motives on someone who is doing this. Christ, who is without sin is doing this- because there isn't anything about this exchange that is improper nor sinful. 

10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 She *said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.

They talk theology, alone.  This is not improper or sin. 

15 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Christ sat with a woman that was living with a man who was not her husband. HE knew what was going on when He chose to sit alone with her and discuss the things of God. There are people now, today that would cast judgements and condemnations on Christ Himself for these actions if He were in their church. 

23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Spirit and Truth. I wonder sometimes how the over emphasis of reputational anxiety fits within the context of Truth. Is it possible that the fear based scenarios and caring so much about how people MIGHT distort matters that are NOT sin into thinking that they ARE sin often times has a lot to do with ego rather than  "avoiding the appearance of evil"? 

27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”

The disciples DIDN'T look at the situation and say "What do you seek" or "Why are you speaking with her." They didn't come out and be like "oh the sin of speaking with a woman even though you are a full grown adult people!!!" Another passage that keeps coming to my mind is this dinner in Luke 7 but backing up a little bit we see Christ speaking about the generation He was with

Luke 7 

31 “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ 33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

He's stating outright that these grown people were acting like children.  Grown people with made up rules "you didn't do this thing" and "I don't like this and that." From this example of calling out the childishness of these people He goes right into the point about those who are too concerned with their reputation and how people will evil optics will find evil optics regardless as to if actual evil has occurred. John the Baptist preached and walked in the Spirit of Elijah proclaiming the Messiah, and they still chose to invent the "appearance of evil".  Christ who is without sin (even when sitting alone having a conversation with a woman) who ate and drank (of which some christians would deem is a sin in of itself) seems pretty self confident in His identity as He reminds them to grow up and be adults. 

 36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. 

Christ had PHYSICAL CONTACT with a woman who was KISSING His feet. While we ourselves should not accept worship as Christ alone is worthy of it, the point im making here is that He was touched by this woman.  A woman, a sinful one at that, was touching Him, and He did not rebuke it. Christ did not incur sin because this is not a sin. Who does object to such "obscenity"?

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”40 And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”

The Pharisees that are hyper-image and reputationally focused with man made customs and burdones redefinitions of what is proper or not are all standing around at this and they cast a collective judgement. This group that of ostracizations that is SUPPOSED to be the ones preaching repentance and embracing those that would return to the fellowship of God- get all smug in their pretensions exclusion. Pride, Ego, and childishness. This hard hearted obstruction of things that God is doing right in front of their faces because they're worried that someone might see it as "unclean" or "improper". These Pharisees were just as sinful as the woman that they were excluding, but they'd somehow convinced themselves in their own sense of self righteousness that they weren't, and that she didn't belong in the same group as they were.  

 44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” 49 Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” 50 And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Christ rebukes those Pharisees who have so many man made "holiness customs" and "righteous decrees" hyperfixate on their sense of purity culture. Yes, Purity is important. Yes we should avoid the appearance of evil, but No, two adults talking unsupervised because they're not children isn't the appearance of evil. Two people being interested in each other isn't sin. Two people shaking hands isn't improper. There is a saying of people who are overly religious in the sense that they confine and burden up their lives into practical ineffectuality. 

"They're so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good" 

What if Jonah was like "I'm to holy or righteous to be seen in Nineveh because that place is so exceedingly wicked and sinful" and refused to be around them?

.....oh wait 

Beast Mode or Feast mode?

Stick with me on this one, its going to be good. I know that some people are probably tired of me writing about Peter's vision regarding the Gentiles and their inclusion in Salvation. To those people I would say "But I found something else that its cool that pertains to the subject."  It used to be that every time I tried to read the book of Daniel, I would quite literally pass right out. For whatever reason I couldn't read more than a chapter without passing out and taking a nap. I wondered if there was some sort of spiritual significance of that, but here I am years later reading through it and staying awake. As I'm reading through it I'm seeing more in the parallel of God calling those who refuse Him and His commands- beasts.  I know we always start off with Peters vision and the sheet of all kinds of beasts and the voice telling Peter "Don't call unclean what I have called clean." 

Acts 10:10-17
But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; 11 and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. 13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate

You know this story. You know that many people are told that this is our Unchanging God who established what is and isn't food, and kicked us out of the garden for eating something that He commanded us not to eat- suddenly changed His mind, not about any of the many sins but just the one about eating pigs and lobsters. Now even though that interpretation doesn't make sense with MANY many many scriptures that show that God didn't do this very thing, people still believe it. For more on Peter, the Vision and Sheep see that post. 

What is happening in Acts 10 is that a Gentile is being accepted by God. Peter was refusing to accept Gentiles and eat with them.  God gives Peter a Vision regarding Gentiles. Why beasts? Why was Peter shown wild beasts?  To lay the framework for that, there are some things that I have to show to give context to the matter. God made Adam in Genesis. From Adam, all nations came to be. They spread out all over the world and settled and started tribes. When God said in the garden the promise that the Savior would crush the head of the serpent - that was a promise of Christ and that message was for all humanity that believed. Yet, as people spread out across the world, many rejected God and decided to engage in paganism and idol worship. Does that mean that God abandoned the promise that whomever should believe should be saved? Not at all.  

Adam was neither Jew or Gentile, and neither was Abraham 

Genesis 11:31
Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there

From Abraham is the promise of the line of Messiah that would come through Abraham's great grandson Judah. Abraham also had other sons after the death of his first wife. 

 Genesis 25:1-3
1 Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.

One of these descendants of Abraham was Midian, who fathered the Midianites and the men of the east. Job is a descendant of Abraham and Job is a gentile. This isn't about Job, this is about gentiles and the picture that arises in these parallels. Abrahams grandson had sons that became the tribes of Israel. 

Why does this matter? Because from one man came all men, and as men spread out and became proud and walked contrary to the ways of God and forgot God two things happened. 1. God humbles them 2. God keeps referring to them as wild beasts because they reason and act like animals.  Through Christ, He calls these Gentiles BACK to Him in repentance.  They go from people, to animals to people again once repentant. 

Daniel 4:24-26
24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: 25 that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. 26 And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules.

The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, is a Gentile who has knowledge of God through interactions with the Prophet Daniel of Judah.  This king looks over his empire and decided that he himself, not God has made everything he has established. This is the mindset of the gentiles that exclude God in pride, that they,not God have produced everything.

Daniel 4:30-32
30 The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ 31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, 32 and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’

He is cut off and driven away from mankind, lives like a wild beast- like cattle, until the recognition that the Most High is the ruler over all.  The kingdom will be given back to him once this gentile that has been excluded repents and returns to God's headship. He will go from being a wild beast, BACK to being a person in the kingdom. 

Daniel 5:20-21
20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him. 21 He was also driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes.

 His heart was lifted up, he was proud in spirit, behaved arrogantly. It wasn't until he was humbled and acknowledge God that he was restored. 

Daniel 4:37
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

Ecclesiastes makes mention of this pride, and men being wild beasts just like we have been looking at in Nebuchadnezzar's case 

Ecclesiastes 3:18-21
18 I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.” 19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. 20 All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. 21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?

Sons of men is an idiom meaning fleshly led, carnal reasoning rather than the idiomatic sons of God which is reference to obedience Spirit led men who walk in the honor and submission to God. 
God has never called Gentiles unclean. They went their way, they have been driven out from "mankind". They have walked in the pride of their heart, but God never called them unclean, 
God does call them wild beasts, and tells them to return to Him. 

Isaiah 56:6-9
6 “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; 7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” 8 The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.” 9 All you beasts of the field, All you beasts in the forest, Come to eat. 

NOW lets look at the story of the Prodigal son and how it relates to the Peter/ Gentile dynamic. I'm going to split the story into 2 parts as it pertains to Peter. 

Luke 15:11-32
11 And He said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. 13 And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. 14 Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 17 But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ 20 So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Is that not the parallel of Babylonian king? Is this not about the Gentiles who have returned God? Is this not Cornelius of the Italian Cohort who is recognized by God for his generosity and his fear of the Lord?  These wild beasts have returned from being driven out and become men again. This is spoken of by the Prophet Hosea 

Hosea 2:14-20

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Bring her into the wilderness And speak kindly to her. 15 “Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. 16 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord, “That you will call Me Ishi And will no longer call Me Baali. 17 “For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will be mentioned by their names no more. 18 “In that day I will also make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, The birds of the sky And the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, And will make them lie down in safety. 19 “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion, 20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord.

God restores the people who rejected His covenant and went out and invented false gods, once they have repented and been humbled He restores this people, He makes a covenant with these people whom He is still referring to as wild animals, and they are betrothed to Him as the Bridegroom.  What does that mean for Peter, The Pharisees, and and the older brother in the parable? 

Luke  15:25-32  “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. 29 But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

The older brother, the established Jewish order, refuses to enter the house where the "gentile brother" is rejoicing having returned to the Father. The passage in Isaiah 56 that is referring to God calling the Gentile beasts back home also parallels the ones who are supposed to be tending to the flock. 

Isaiah 56:10-12
10 His watchmen are blind, All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber; 11 And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied. And they are shepherds who have no understanding; They have all turned to their own way, Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one. 12 “Come,” they say, “let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; And tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”

Peter was being carried away with the Pharisees and becoming one of the hypocritical brothers that cared more about the opinions of others than the restoration of the lost brother from the dead. This is why Paul rebuked him to his face. 

Galatians 2:11-14
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

Peter was given the vision to not call gentiles unclean because he had forgotten the call that Christ had commissioned him. 

John 21:15-17
 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Feed My lambs.” 16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Feed My sheep.

Three times after Peter is restored Christ tells him to "Feed His sheep." Who are these sheep?

John 10:14-16
4 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 

These sheep are both Jews and Gentiles, that are to be gathered together into one flock: Israel 

Matthew 15:24
24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Going back to Acts 10 with the parallel of the Prodigal son in mind and the older brother that refused to enter the house we now have an even richer context for these passage. 

Acts 10:27-29
 As he talked with him, he entered and *found many people assembled. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. 29 That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”

Acts 10:34-35 
34 Opening his mouth, Peter said:  “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.

The vision is ENTIRELY about Gentiles. 

Acts 11:1
Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him, 3 saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

 Peter explained what God has showed them about salvation for the gentiles

Acts 11 

 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

For more information on the entire Judaizer Controversy, you can read this chapter for free of my book on The Dominion of God vs the Dominance of Man

Chrysostom Meme

 

Lets examine the opinions of this man in 395 A.D. as it pertains to obedience to God and His commandments. 
What are the objections being stated here? 

1. Sabbath observance 
2. Circumcision
3. Sacrifices 
4. Obedience to Gods law 

Should we hold to this man's opinions?  First we must ask are they of Christ, or are they anti-christ in nature. 

1 John 2 says this:

17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us

What does it mean to be anti-christ as 1 John is warning, as he states that many of these bad doctrined people present as being part of the Church but are "not really of us"



Lets look  the first objection:
 The Sabbath. 

Who instituted the Sabbath? 

Genesis 2

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. 

The Sabbath is made by Christ as Hebrews 1 shows us that it is Christ who made heaven and earth. 
Hebrews 1

But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. 9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions.” 10 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands

Christ is the one that created the Sabbath. He is the Lord of it. He set the example of resting on it.   As Christ led them out of Egypt He reminded them to keep the Sabbath, even before Moses went up on Sinai and received the writing of the 10 commandments. 

Exodus 16:24-26

24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.”

This was to the mixed multitude that left Egypt, the reminder that they are to be observing the Lords Sabbath. They didn't keep the Sabbath of God and it was an example of grief and rebellion. Hebrews 3 and 4 use this SAME example to tell us that there remains a Sabbath of God and that we are to rest as Christ did. 

Hebrews 4

 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. 

The people in the wilderness were examples of disobedience by NOT observing the command of God and resting on HIS Sabbath day. We have the Command issued in writing at Sinai 

Exodus 20:8-11

8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

We're told 

• Remember the Sabbath day 
• Keep it holy 
• Its God's Sabbath 
• Its the remembrance that God worked for 6 days and rested on the 7th. 
• He blessed it and made it Holy

Is there any indication like Mr. Chrysostom is suggesting that the Sabbath was a temporary thing ?

Exodus 31

13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16 So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ 17 It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”

• A sign throughout all the generations
• We are to observe the Sabbath 
• Everyone that prophanes it / Is disobedient like Hebrews 4 mention- is to be cut off from the people
• It's a perpetual/ Forever covenant with us and God. 

This is in contrast to the opinions of the man implying that we should not be observing the 4th commandment. 

Leviticus 23:1-3 shows that the Sabbath is an appointed time of God- not a something that men can change at a whim or dismiss. 

The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:

3 ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.

Is this something that has been dismissed or rendered not to be observed? Not according to what Heaven is going to be like as Isaiah 66 states

Isaiah 66:22-24

22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. 23 “And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath,  All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord. 24“Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me.  For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

Seems like those that reject the sabbath wouldn't have liked heaven anyway. Sounds a lot like what our unchanging God tells us in Jeremiah 

Jeremiah 17:22-27

22 You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers. 23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction. 24 “But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me,” declares the Lord, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, 25 then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched.”’”

Think critically for a moment here. Christ, the one who made the Sabbath, Who is God who commanded the Sabbath,  says that we are to have it be a perpetual statute forever. He is the Lord of the Sabbath- why would He render it not to be followed or abolished. 

Matthew 12:8

 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

This is not a statement of disregard, but Christs Divinity. When Pharisees tried to accuse Him according to Rabbinical law NOT GODS LAW ...

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” 

...Christ had been doing something that was permitted in the Law of God itself. 
Deuteronomy 23

“When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket. 25 “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.

None of this is a violation of the Sabbath or a nullification of its observance As Chrysostom might have insisted.  In that Same Matthew12  passage 

10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. 11 And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.

IF you scroll back up Christ when He commanded us to observe the 4th commandment did it not say that we are to have servants and cattle and livestock also observe the Sabbath of rest of God? 
Then by that standard that Christ cites here in reference to sheep- it would have likely been a violation of the Sabbath to just let the man suffer when Christ had the ability to heal His servant. This is keeping the Sabbath, not breaking it.Its the same matter in John-5:8-10.  Lets look toward the end times that Christ warns us against...

Matthew 24:20-21

20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.

If we are to take the implication of Chrysostom to heart and disregard the Sabbath's observance then these words of Christ are foolishness. They have no meaning because we don't keep the Sabbath like he's implied.  Why would we pray like Christ commands, that the tribulation not be in winter or the Sabbath- if we are not to observe the Sabbath? We wouldn't. 

Are we to be like Christ? Yes.  What is Christ's custom? Sabbath observance.
Luke 4:16

16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

Was the Sabbath still kept after the Cross? Yes. Nobody had any inclination that such an absurd notion that the Sabbath shouldn't be kept until the Catholic church decided that they wanted to make Sabbath observance illegal. 

Acts 13:42 -44

42 As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath. 43 Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God.44 The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

This wasn't a mistake. Everyone knew that obedience to God meant keeping the Sabbath. Paul post conversion still kept the Sabbath 

Acts 17:2

 And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures

...Also of note is that Paul, who had a direct encounter with God- appeals to people through the authority of the scriptures. 
Acts 18:4

4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Lets move on to the second point. 
Circumcision.

Did Paul preach against Circumcision or only against its means as conversion to rabbinical judaism?  If you're interested in the answer to that and the entire reason that the Book of Galatians is written, I do a breakdown of the entire Judaizer controversy in my book "The Dominion of God vs the Dominance of Man" or, if you're poor and don't want to buy the book- just read that chapter Here 

( I hope you either clicked and came back or bought the book) 
 Did Paul have any issue standing up to people and rebuking them to their faces on things that are wrong ? No. Did He conform to heretical practices just to win converts? No, as friendship with the world is hostility to God.
Acts 16 :3

 3 Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 

 DID PAUL DOOM TIMOTHY TO HELL BY TIMOTHY UNDERGOING CIRCUMCISION??? 

Galatians 5:2

2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

No.  Timothy didn't undergo it for ritual conversion or trying to earn his salvation. Circumcision is something that is commanded on the 8th day.  Paul isn't speaking against the act, but the motives behind the act.  He even says himself 

1 Corinthians 7:19

 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

That includes the command from God to remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy. 

Lets look at the third objection 

Sacrifices

I'm going to start slow here and tell you outright that sacrifices are one of the most widely misunderstood matters in all of scripture and there are many reasons that they were performed. In some matters they are for thanksgiving. In other matters they are to render the heart in recognition that we are the ones that should be dying and instead something else was dying in our place. Paul for example, POST CONVERSION, did some sacrifices to show the opposite of what Chrysostom was implying.  Paul did it to show there wasn't any truth to the false rumors that people still to this day spread- that Paul was teaching us to disregard God's commands and observance. 
Acts 21

17 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;

Paul is preaching to gentiles, and people are remarking that there are believers who are zealous for the Law... 

and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs

The lie here is that Paul was telling people to NOT circumcise their kids and to NOT obey God's commands. 

 22 What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24 take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law

THey are telling Paul to perform sacrifices to show that HE not only is keeping the Law, but teaching Jews and Gentiles to keep the Law of God also. Chrysostom's objections seem to be in agreement with the people saying false things about Paul rather than the truth about Paul. Lets see what Paul does:

 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

Paul is doing sacrifices after the death and resurrection of Christ. he is doing this while there is a standing temple with ordained priests in full obedience to how these things are to be done. These are not the actions of a man who is trying to show that we ARENT to keep the sabbath or obey God's commands. Lets look at Sabbaths and sacrifices and offerings according to this event spoken of in Isaiah 56

Isaiah 56

2 “How blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.” 3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from His people.” Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the Lord, “To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. 6 “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; 7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

You read that right, Gentiles who keep the Sabbath and hold to God's covenant will be brought to His holy mountain and their burn offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable. That means that they're not just for the jews. That means that all of that isn't only for some old and forgotten people. This is prophesy. Which brings us to the last point 

Obedience to God's Law 

2 Thessalonians 2 

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

Did Christ obey God's Law perfectly? Yes.  Is the anti-Christ the one that wants us to ignore God's Law? Yes.  
 . 

• A:We are to follow, obey and teach living and being like Christ
• B:Christ followed and obeyed and taught the Law of God ( If He didn't He's not the sinless perfect Lamb without blemish) 

How do we do A without doing B?

• A: We are to obey the Holy Spirit
• B: The Holy Spirit writes the Law of God on our hearts and minds that we may obey it 

How do we do A without doing B

• A: We are to crucify the flesh and obey the Spirit 
• B: The flesh is hostile to God's law, and the Law of God is Spiritual. 

How do we do A without B?

Look at Christs own commands in Matthew 5:18-19

Matthew 5:18-19

18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Have heaven and earth passed way? No.  Christ tells us to do and teach others to do the same. 

Matthew 7:21-23 21

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

 Matthew 13:41 -42 41

 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

Whose being gathered? Out of where? To where?

The stumbling blocks and those that do lawlessness,
are gathered OUT of the Kingdom of God ,
and thrown into the fire.


So in conclusion, based on this meme and this quote alone... it would appear that the doctrine being espoused is not of Christ but is the opinion of a man that is in line of the men that appeared to be one of us, but was not one of us. When we see these traditions of men that say things in their councils and canonns that are not in line with Scriptural authority as Paul used and presented, and that say things like 

The Church of Rome ( Catholics) made the following declarations in the city of Laodicea:  Council of Laodicea in 363 A.D....

Canon 29: Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord's Day [Sunday]; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found judaizers, let them be anathema (detestable) from Christ.

Canon 37-39: It is not lawful to receive portions sent from the feasts of Jews or heretics, nor to feast together with them. (God’s Holy Days) 

It is not lawful to receive unleavened bread from the Jews, nor to be partakers of their impiety.Thou shalt not keep feasts with Hebrews or heretics, nor receive festival offerings from them. Light hath no communion with darkness. Therefore no Christian should celebrate a feast with heretics or Jews, neither should he receive anything connected with these feasts such unleavened bread and the like."

Then the only thing that they prove true is the prophecy concerning them which states:

Jeremiah 16:19

O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,

And my refuge in the day of distress,

To You the nations will come

From the ends of the earth and say,

“Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood,

Futility and things of no profit.”

Babylon

Isaiah 14:22-23

22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, offspring and posterity,” declares the Lord. 23 “I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

 Jeremiah 51:37-39

37 “Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, 
An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
38 “They will roar together like young lions,
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
39 “When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet
And make them drunk, that they may become jubilant
And may sleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,” declares the Lord.

Isaiah 13:19-22

And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.21 But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there.22 Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come And her days will not be prolonged.

Revelation 18:1-3

18 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. 2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”

Ezekiel 23

13 I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took the same way. 14 So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, 15 girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. 16 When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 The Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their harlotry. And when she had been defiled by them, she became disgusted with them. 18 She uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then I became disgusted with her, as I had become disgusted with her sister. 19 Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 She lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth. 22 “Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. 25 I will set My jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors will be consumed by the fire. 26 They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 Thus I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ 28 For thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom you were alienated. 29 They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. 30 These things will be done to you because you have played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.’ 32 Thus says the Lord God, ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, Which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and held in derision; It contains much. 33 ‘You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria. 34 ‘You will drink it and drain it. Then you will gnaw its fragments And tear your breasts; for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God. 35 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.’”

Revelation 14:8

8 And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

Isaiah 21:9-10

9 “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.” 10 O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Jeremiah 25

12 ‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. 13 I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14 (For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’” 15 For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. 16 They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” 17 Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes and all his people; 20 and all the foreign people, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab and the sons of Ammon; 22 and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon and the kings of the coastlands which are beyond the sea; 23 and Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 and all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who dwell in the desert; 25 and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam and all the kings of Media; 26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. 27 “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.”’ 28 And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “You shall surely drink! 29 For behold, I am beginning to work calamity in this city which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares the Lord of hosts.’ 30 “Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them, ‘The Lord will roar from on high And utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 ‘A clamor has come to the end of the earth, Because the Lord has a controversy with the nations. He is entering into judgment with all flesh; As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares the Lord.” 32 Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, evil is going forth From nation to nation, And a great storm is being stirred up From the remotest parts of the earth. 33 “Those slain by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground. 34 “Wail, you shepherds, and cry; And wallow in ashes, you masters of the flock; For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions have come, And you will fall like a choice vessel. 35 “Flight will perish from the shepherds, And escape from the masters of the flock. 36 “Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds, And the wailing of the masters of the flock! For the Lord is destroying their pasture, 37 “And the peaceful folds are made silent Because of the fierce anger of the Lord. 38 “He has left His hiding place like the lion; For their land has become a horror Because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword And because of His fierce anger.”

Ezekiel 17:16-20

16 As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Surely in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall die. 17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in the war, when they cast up ramps and build siege walls to cut off many lives. 18 Now he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he pledged his allegiance, yet did all these things; he shall not escape.’” 19 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “As I live, surely My oath which he despised and My covenant which he broke, I will inflict on his head. 20 I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. Then I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me. 21 All the choice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Isaiah 43:14-21

14 Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And will bring them all down as fugitives, Even the Chaldeans, into the ships in which they rejoice. 15 “I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” 16 Thus says the Lord, Who makes a way through the sea And a path through the mighty waters, 17 Who brings forth the chariot and the horse, The army and the mighty man (They will lie down together and not rise again; They have been quenched and extinguished like a wick): 18 “Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. 19 “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert. 20 “The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My chosen people. 21 “The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise

Isaiah 48:14-22

“Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon, And His arm will be against the Chaldeans. 15 “I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him, I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful. 16 “Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit.” 17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go. 18 “If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. 19 “Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.” 20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, Send it out to the end of the earth; Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.” 21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts. He made the water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock and the water gushed forth. 22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 51:36 

36 Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am going to plead your case And exact full vengeance for you;And I will dry up her sea And make her fountain dry.

Revelation 21:1

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

Jeremiah 51:45

“Come forth from her midst, My people,  And each of you save yourselves  From the fierce anger of the Lord.

Revelation 18:4

I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;

Revelation 16:19-21

 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, *came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague *was extremely severe.

Jeremiah 51:24-26

 24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Lord. 25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord, “And I will stretch out My hand against you,  And roll you down from the crags,  And I will make you a burnt out mountain. 26 “They will not take from you even a stone for a corner Nor a stone for foundations, But you will be desolate forever,” declares the Lord.

Ezekiel 36:1-10

 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord God, “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,’ 3 therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “For good reason they have made you desolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have been taken up in the talk and the whispering of the people.”’” 4 Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about, 5 therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.” 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.’ 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults. 8 But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. 10 I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt. 

Revelation 17:5-9

5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. 7 And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. 9 Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 

Revelation 18:9-24

 9 “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’11 “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12 cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, 13 and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. 14 The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them. 15 The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,16 saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; 17 for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, 18 and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’ 19 And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’ 20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”21 Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer. 22 And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer; 23 and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.”

Catholic mirror citations.

 [From the Catholic Mirror of Sept. 2, 1893.]

Our attention has been called to the above subject in the past week by the receipt of a brochure of twenty-one pages published by the International Religious Liberty Association entitled, "Appeal and Remonstrance." embodying resolutions adopted by the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists (Feb. 24, 1893). The resolutions criticize and censure, with much acerbity, the action of the United States Congress, and of the Supreme Court, for invading the rights of the people by closing the World's Fair on Sunday.

The Adventists are the only body of Christians with the Bible as their teacher, who can find no warrant in its pages for the change of day from the seventh to the first. Hence their appellation, "Seventh-day Adventists". Their cardinal principle consists in setting apart Saturday for the exclusive worship of God, in conformity with the positive command of God Himself, repeatedly reiterated in the sacred books of the Old and New Testaments, literally obeyed by the children of Israel for thousands of years to this day and endorsed by the teaching and practice of the Son of God whilst on earth.

Per contra, the Protestants of the world, the Adventists excepted, with the same Bible as their cherished and sole infallible teacher, by their practice, since their appearance in the sixteenth century, with the time honored practice of the Jewish people before their eyes have rejected the day named for His worship by God and assumed in apparent contradiction of His command, a day for His worship never once referred to for that purpose, in the pages of that Sacred Volume.

What Protestant pulpit does not ring almost every Sunday with loud and impassioned invectives against Sabbath violation? Who can forget the fanatical clamor of the Protestant ministers throughout the length and breadth of the land against opening the gates of the World's Fair on Sunday? The thousands of petitions, signed by millions, to save the Lord's Day from desecration? Surely, such general and widespread excitement and noisy remonstrance could not have existed without the strongest grounds for such animated protests.

And when quarters were assigned at the World's Fair to the various sects of Protestantism for the exhibition of articles, who can forget the emphatic expression of virtuous and conscientious indignation exhibited by our Presbyterian brethren, as soon as they learned of the decision of the Supreme Court not to interfere in the Sunday opening? The newspapers informed us that they flatly refused to utilize the space accorded them, or open their boxes, demanding the right to withdraw the articles, in rigid adherence to their principles, and thus decline all contact with the sacrilegious and Sabbath-breaking Exhibition.

Doubtless, our Calvinistic brethren deserved and shared the sympathy of all the other sects, who, however, lost the opportunity of posing as martyrs in vindication of the Sabbath observance.

They thus became "a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men," although their Protestant brethren, who failed to share the monopoly, were uncharitably and enviously disposed to attribute their steadfast adherence to religious principle, to Pharisaical pride and dogged obstinacy.

Our purpose in throwing off this article, is to shed such light on this all important question (for were the Sabbath question to be removed from the Protestant pulpit, the sects would feel lost, and the preachers be deprived of their "Cheshire cheese".) that our readers may be able to comprehend the question in all its bearings, and thus reach a clear conviction.

The Christian world is, morally speaking, united on the question and practice of worshipping God on the first day of the week.

The Israelites, scattered all over the earth, keep the last day of the week sacred to the worship of the Deity. In this particular, the Seventh-day Adventists (a sect of Christians numerically few) have also selected the same day.

Israelites and Adventists both appeal to the Bible for the divine command, persistently obliging the strict observance of Saturday.

The Israelite respects the authority of the Old Testament only, but the Adventist, who is a Christian, accepts the New Testament on the same ground as the Old: viz..an inspired record also. He finds that the Bible, his teacher, is consistent in both parts, that the Redeemer, during His mortal life, never kept any other day than Saturday. The gospels plainly evince to him this fact; whilst, in the pages of the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, and the Apocalypse, not the vestige of an act canceling the Saturday arrangement can be found.

The Adventists, therefore, in common with the Israelites, derive their belief from the Old Testament, which position is confirmed by the New Testament, endorsing fully by the life and practice of the Redeemer and His apostles the teaching of the Sacred Word for nearly a century of the Christian era.

Numerically considered, the Seventh-day Adventists form an insignificant portion of the Protestant population of the earth, but, as the question is not one of numbers, but of truth, fact, and right, a strict sense of justice forbids the condemnation of this little sect without a calm and unbiased investigation: this is none of our funeral.

The Protestant world has been, from its infancy, in the sixteenth century, in thorough accord with the Catholic Church, in keeping "holy," not Saturday, but Sunday. The discussion of the grounds that led to this unanimity of sentiment and practice for over 300 years must help toward placing Protestantism on a solid basis in this particular, should the arguments in favor of its position overcome those furnished by the Israelites and Adventists, the Bible, the sole recognized teacher of both litigants, being the umpire and witness. If, however, on the other hand, the latter furnish arguments, incontrovertible by the great mass of Protestants, both classes of litigants, appealing to their common teacher, the Bible, the great body of Protestants so far from clamoring, as they do with vigorous pertinacity for the strict keeping of Sunday, have no other recourse left than the admission that they have been teaching and practicing what is Scripturally false for over three centuries, by adopting the teaching and practice of the what they have always pretended to believe an apostate church, contrary to every warrant and teaching of sacred Scripture. To add to the intensity of this Scriptural and unpardonable blunder, it involves one of the most positive and emphatic commands of God to His servant, man: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."

No Protestant living today has ever yet obeyed that command preferring to follow the apostate church referred to than his teacher, the Bible which from Genesis to Revelation, teaches no other doctrine, should the Israelites and Seventh-day Adventists be correct. Both sides appeal to the Bible as their "infallible" teacher. Let the Bible decide whether Saturday or Sunday be the day enjoined by God. One of the two bodies must be wrong, and , whereas a false position on this all-important question involves terrible penalties, threatened by God Himself, against the transgressor of this "perpetual covenant," we shall enter on the discussion of the merits of the arguments wielded by both sides. Neither is the discussion of this paramount subject above the capacity of ordinary minds, nor does it involve extraordinary study. It resolves itself into a few plain questions easy of solution:

1st. Which day of the week does the Bible enjoin to be kept holy?

2nd. Has the New Testament modified by precept or practice the original command?

3rd. Have Protestants, since the sixteenth century, obeyed the command of God

by keeping "holy" the day enjoined by their infallible guide and teacher, the Bible? and if not, why not?

To the above three questions, we pledge ourselves to furnish as many intelligent answers, which cannot fail to vindicate the truth and uphold the deformity of error.


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Gentiles are Israel

Romans 10:12-13 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved

Romans 11:13-18 But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you

Romans 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

Galatians 3:28-29 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

Ephesians 2:16-19 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; 18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household

Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Matthew 15:24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Acts 15:8-9 And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; 9 and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith

Jews and Gentiles are BOTH Israel in Christ with no distinction. This means that the New Covenant that Gentiles are a part of is for them 

Hebrews 8:10-12 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. 11 “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. 12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”

Hebrews 10:15-17   And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,”  He then says, 17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

If there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, then the New Covenant cannot be with only Jews or Only Gentiles.  The idea that Jews are saved by being Jewish is contrary to Christ. There is no Gentile covenant, only the Covenant with Israel -of which a mixed multitude always was comprised.