Upload
butch-yulo
View
86
Download
2
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
APPOINTED TIMES OF GOD
PART 2ARE FEASTS OLD TESTAMENT?
HOW WE BROKE OFF FROM GOD’S CYCLE
MOST FREQUENT COMMENTS:“This is wonderful! It’s such a
blessing! Why haven’t we done this before?”
THE ANSER IS:“We’ve been ROBBED!”Satan has stolen many of the blessing
God intended us to have!
SATAN IS A LIAR AND A THIEF!Satan’s strategy is to weaken the church by
STEALING our resources.His method: He STEALS by LYING to us!
“Healing is not for today” - the church stays sick“Spiritual gifts ceased” - we abandon weapons“Women can’t minister” - half army sits down
His most effective attacks has been to steal away the WORD OF GOD (Mark 4:15)
And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
Satan has persuaded many to IGNORE most of their Bible!
One of first things a new Christian learns: Bible is divide into 2 parts: OT and NT
OLD TESTAMENT (Hebrew Bible, Torah)• The ¾ of the Bible originally written in
Hebrew• Describes 2000 years of preparation for the
coming of JesusNEW TESTAMENT• The ¼ of the Bible originally written in Greek• Describes the coming of Jesus and its results
It is often explained like this . . .“The Old Testament is written to Jews,
the New Testament is to Christians.”“OT has some good Sunday school stories, but
most of it is hard to understand and you shouldn’t spend much time there because it’s not for us.”
ATTITUDE: something inferior, substandard, or unchristian about Old Testament
Primary reason most Christians don’t understand appointed times: When subject is mentioned . . .
“That’s OLD Testament”
ASSUMPTION: If it’s Old Testament, it’s wrong, out of date, and harmful!
“If you are really a Christian you would never want to do something from the OT!”
“BEING DISLOYAL TO JESUS!”If you think that . . . You’re not just rejecting
OT, … You’re also rejecting the New Testament!Surprising Truth: The NT VALUES THE OT!“I thought we were New Testament Church!”“We ARE . . . But the BIBLE of the NT Church
was the Old Testament!
New Testament Church Used OT as BIBLE!Imagine you were 25 years old on the day of
Pentecost and got saved when Peter spoke.If you listened to the apostles, teaching every
day of your life . . .Almost 60 years old before you heard your first
sermon from the New Testament!For 30 years, EVERY sermon was from the OT!It’s a “New Testament” thing to STUDY the OT!It’s a “New Testament” thing to PRACTICE OT!For 3 centuries . . . Common to observe the
feasts!
Many Christians have allowed the devil to steal away ¾ of their BIBLE.
They don’t read it, teach it, or know it!IT’S BEEN STOLEN FROM THEM!God put a SWORD in our hands . . .
All some have left is a dagger!
God wants you to have a full sword . . .A COMPLETE BIBLE
TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS
STOLENTo do that, we want to get a
NEW Testament View of the OLD Testament
Jesus and the apostles did not view the Old Testament as inferior, rejected, or
out of date.
They embraced it as THE WORD OF GOD!
TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS
STOLENWhat the New Testament CALLED the OLD Testament
• It NEVER calls it the OLD Testament!• It just called it SCRIPTURE!
First to call Hebrew Bible “Old Testament”Melito of Sardis – AD 180
First to call the Greek Bible “New Testament”Irenaeus – AD 190
That distinction: 150 years after Pentecost!120 years after most of the NT were written!
TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS
STOLENJesus and the OLD TestamentJesus embraced the Old Testament as
God’s Word. He Continually quoted it!
• Jesus in the wilderness – 3 times He resisted the devil by quoting
Deuteronomy.• John 10:35, Jesus: “the SCRIPTURE
cannot be broken.”• Matt 5:18 “until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or
stroke shall pass away from the Torah.”
TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS
STOLEN“But the OT is Hard to Understand!”BOTH testaments have hard things!
Both OT and NT have MEAT and MILK!• In both is MILK to nourish young believers!• In both there is enough MEAT to keep a
mature Christian studying for a lifetime!GOSPEL OF JOHN
• First thing for New Christians! “easy read”• Yet there are profound and deep things we
still need to grasp and more years of study.
TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS
STOLENPaul and the OLD Testament1 Cor. 10:11 “Now these things (Old Testament Accounts) happened to
them as an example, and were written for OUR instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have
come.”
The Old Testament was written for our benefit! Don’t accept the lie that the
Old Testament was just for Jews.
TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS
STOLENPaul and the OLD Testament2 Cor 3:16-18 (Describes what it’s like when
a Christian studies the Old testament)“with unveiled face (we are ) beholding as in
a mirror the glory of the Lord . . .”Paul says when Christians study OT . . . It’s
like viewing the glory of God in a mirror!OT is reflection of God’s glory . . . And
through it we are transformed from glory to glory!
TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS
STOLENPaul and the OLD TestamentII Tim 3:14-17 – Value of OT for Christians:But as for you, continue in what you have
learned . . . How from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able
to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, rebuking correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work.
TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS
STOLENPaul and the OLD Testament“…continue in what you have learned . . . How from infancy you have known the holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus.”Jewish children began their study of TORAH
at age 3! “From Infancy” Timothy’s Jewish mother and grandmother would have
taught him the OT Scriptures.Paul is saying, “What Timothy has learned
will be of GREAT value to him as a Christian!"
WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT?
1. You can’t understand NT without the Old!
If you reject the OT you also miss out on NT!
Studying the NT . . . Need to reference the OT!
John the Baptist – “behold the Lamb of God!
“Trying to understand the Bible without studying the Old Testament is like reading the last fourth part of a good novel! You
may be reading the best parts of the book, but there will be a great deal you
don’t understand!”
WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT?2. The NT INSTRUCTS us to learn the
OT!If we don’t teach the OT, we are
disobeying NT!1 Cor 10:11 “These things (things recorded
in the OT) happened to them as an example, and were written for our
instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
Rom 15:4 “What was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that
through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we
might have hope.”
WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT?
3. RICH TREASURES waiting to be revealed
Through much of it’s history, church has neglected the OT! In the last 50
years . . .BIBLICAL PRAISE AND WORSHIP
COVENANT RELATIONSHIPSTABERNACLE OF DAVID
Many areas of truth are mentioned in the New, but clearly explained in the
Old!
WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT?4. MORE TREASURES waiting to be
revealedTORAH = “Teaching of God” =
foundationalPresence of God, Holiness,
Intercession . . .God doesn’t repeat everything, assumes
you have OT!
5. OT is full of God’s Promises, thousands!
2 Cor 1 – all “YES” in Jesus! What God wants for you.
6. In the OT, the Church is REDISCOVERING it’s LOST INHERITANCE!
God’s Appointed Times!We are RECLAIMING the stolen blessings!
WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT?
Relating to the OLD Testament2 Tim 3:16 “… profitable for doctrine, reproof,
correction and instruction in righteousness.”- DOCTRINE (Teaching) give us understanding of
the character and nature of God - FAITH- REPROOF - warn us when we are getting off
track- CORRECTION - Help get us back on track- INSTRUCTION in RIGHTEOUSNESS - shows us
the ways of God and how to please Him
OLD TESTAMENT Scriptures = precious GIFT from God!
WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT?
We are NOT under OT Rituals and Laws
But OT is far MORE than book of commandments
The OT is a WINDOW into the Heart of God!• Torah - (5 books) foundational teaching on God
• Historical books - definitive book on praise and worship.
• Proverbs - teaches to walk in God’s wisdom
• Prophets - greatest teaching on God ever given(Isaiah = “gospel” clearer teaching on Jesus than
NT)To REJECT the OT is to live in self-imposed
POVERTY, missing out on blessings God intended us to enjoy!
WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT?
Paul to Ephesians elders: Goal was to communicate “Whole Counsel of
God!”WE NEED IT ALL!
WE NEED THE NEW TESTAMENTWE NEED THE OLD TESTAMENT
It’s ALL one Book!It’s ALL God’s Word!
It’s ALL of eternal value!It’s ALL profitable . . . And it’s ALL for
us!
HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE
GOD GAVE US A CYCLE OF BLESSING!It’s a CYCLE of “appointed times”
designed to bring us into ever greater blessing!
• to draw us ever closer to God• to lead us into restoration and revival• and keep us secure from the enemy
God gave these as perpetual ordinances to be observed through all generations (Lev
23:31)But the church has abandoned them and
forfeited the blessing God intended.HOW DID WE LOSE THEM?
HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE
THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
LIFE DEATH RESURRECTION
Early Church
Dark Ages Revivals
325
500 1500
HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE
The LIFE of the EARLY CHURCHThe Early Church was the most powerful institution the world had
ever seenIT EXPLODED ONTO THE WORLD STAGE
IN ACTS 2, AND NOTHING HAD THE POWER TO STAND AGAINST IT!
Pagan religions could not compete with it.
Greek philosophy could not comprehend it.
Persecution only purified it and made it grow more rapidly!
HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE
On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit fell on 120 people
ACTS 2 ACTS 4 ACTS 7
120
3,000 10,000 20,000 100,000
THE GROWTH OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH
By the end of that day, God added more than 3,000 men and women to the church.
Within a year, the Jerusalem church tripled in size numbering more than 10,000
Some estimate by time Stephen was killed (Acts 6-7) the church had grown to 20,000
CHURCH MADE UP ½ OF POPULATION OF JERUSALEM!
HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE
Explosive growth was experienced in every city.ACTS 19 – The Church in Ephesus
•The Entire City Evangelized•All the Cities in the Surrounding Province Reached•The Church Grows so RAPIDLY the Economy is effected•Ultimately HALF the CITY saved and in the Church
By the Year A.D. 112 . . . “in the province of Asia Minor, temples to heathen gods are almost totally
forsaken and Christians are everywhere a multitude.” - Pliny
T W O Y E A R S
HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE
MOST OF US HAVE NEVER IMAGINED A CHURCH LIKE THE EARLY CHURCHThey had an entirely different picture of “CHURCH”No one in the early church had ever seen:
a church buildinga stained glass windowa hymnal
a steeplea pulpit or pewa church bulletin
They didn’t even have a video projector!
WHAT WAS THE EARLY CHURCH LIKE?
HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE
IT WAS A CHURCH FILLED WITH LOVE!
Every time they gathered, they had a love feast! They loved each other as family.
Even their enemies cried out in frustration, “Behold how they love one another.”
THE SPREAD OF THE CHURCH
INDIA
GERMANY
ENGLAND
AFRICA
120
Within the first 67 years, Christian missionaries like Paul took the Gospel to THE
ENTIRE KNOWN WORLD.Wherever the Gospel went, the church took
hold and grew rapidly. It was not unusual for a church to be planted in a city and quickly
grow to 20,000 or 30,000 members.The church literally CONQUERED the Roman
Empire
“You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching” Acts 5:28
“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” – Acts 17:6
Tartullian: “We have filled every place belonging to you – cities, islands, castles, towns, assemblies, your very camp, tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum! We leave you your temples only. We can count your armies; our numbers in a single province will be grater.”Philip Shaff: “It may be fairly asserted, that by the end of the 3rd century the name of Christ was known, revered, and persecuted in every province and every city of the empire. . . In all probability at the close of the 3rd century the church numbered ten million souls.”
Some estimate by the end of the 3rd century half the population of the Empire had
converted to Christianity.This took place within a totally pagan, occult,
immoral culture, in the midst of severe persecution.”
THE DEATH OF THE CHURCH
325
500
EARLY CHURCH BUT, in the year 325, something happened that
caused the church to DIE!
By the year 500, the early church had ceased to exist!
WHAT HAPPENED?
The death of the church was caused by something that seemed at first, like a great blessing!It was the “Conversion” of the Roman Emperor CONSTANTINE!
It was the year A.D. 312… a time of great turmoil in the Roman Empire.Two rivals, Constantine and Maxentius were struggling to seize the imperial throne.As he prepared for battle, Constantine prayed to his god, Mithras (Persian sun god). Constantine saw a vision.
He saw a vision:“CONQUER by THIS”
Constantine came to the throne with the announcement that he was now a follower of Christ.
PROBLEM: Constantine not only LEGALIZED Christianity,
he tried to IMPROVE it.
In return for his favor, Constantine demanded CONTROL
“PONTIFEX MAXIMUS” (HIGH PRIEST)In the year 325 Constantine called, and
presided over, the first general council of the church,
The Council of NICEA
Purpose: To reorganize the church and give it a new
image.
CONSTANTINE LITERALLY RE-
INVENTED CHRISTIANITY
CHRISTIANITY AFTER NICEA WAS A DIFFERENT RELIGION THAN
CHRISTIANITY BEFORE NICEA.
LET’S LOOK AT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT CHANGED . . .
The Emperor’s New Church
1. Death of House Church
St. John Lateran . . . A basilica.
Pattern: Imperial Palace
Basilica-type churches were built all over the empire.Constantine then enacted a law that “houses
of prayer” must be abolished, and forbidding Christians from holding church in private homes. Worded “to strike terror into the minds of his subjects.”
The Emperor’s New Church
2. A Change in WorshipConstantine decided to improve ways church
worshipped.Less than one year after his conversion: “I am
going to make plain to them what kind of worship is to be offered to God. . . What higher duty have I as emperor than to cause all to offer God true religion and due worship.”
To Constantine’s Roman mind, the highest expression of worship was found in the solemn rituals of the Roman Imperial Court:
Solemn ceremonies with fixed written forms of worship
Burning of incense and the carrying of candles
The Emperor’s New Church
3. Rejection of the Church’s Jewish (Hebraic) Roots
Like many Romans, Constantine hated Jews. “A Conquered People. Hostile to Rome”
Constantine decided to purge church of Jewish elements
Commanded the church to avoid following customs of the Jews . . . Outlawed biblical
feasts and Sabbaths.His Decree at NICEA (325) “Let us have nothing
in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries . . . This irregularity (observing
Passover) must be corrected.”Eusebius: “It appeared an unworthy thing that
we should follow practices of the Jews.. . Let us withdraw ourselves from all
participation in their baseness . . . All should unite in avoiding all participation in
the conduct of the Jews.”
The Emperor’s New Church
Bernard Lazare describes changes resultling from NICEA
“(before Nicea) Christians attended the synagogues, (and) celebrated the Jewish holidays . . . It required the action of the Nicean Council to free Christianity of this last bond by which it had still been tied to
its cradle.”
Those who observed biblical feasts were marked “ANATHEMA” (cut off or accursed). This eventually became a crime against the
state punishable by death.
The Emperor’s New Church
Church’s Attempt to Enforce NICEA’s Decree
THE COUNCIL OF ANTIOCH (A.D.365) – “If any bishop, presbyter or deacon will dare, after this decree, to celebrate Passover with the Jews, the council judges them to be anathema from the church. This council not only deposes them from ministry, but also any others who dare to communicate with them.”
THE COUNCIL OF LAODICEA (A.D.365) – “It is not permitted to receive festivals which are by Jews, nor to hold a festival together with them. Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day. . . But if any be found to be Judaizers let them be ANATHEMA from Christ.”
The Emperor’s New Church
Church’s Attempt to Enforce NICEA’s Decree
THE COUNCIL OF AGDE, FRANCE (506) – “Clerics must not take part in Jewish festivals.”
THE COUNCIL OF NICEA 2 (787) – “(Those who) openly or secretly keep the Sabbath and follow other practices in the manner of the Jews are not to be received into communion, nor into prayer, nor into the church.”
CONSTANTINE DIVORCED THE CHURCH FROM JUDAISM (Jews, Hebraic Roots)
But more than that . . . HE MARRIED THE CHURCH TO PAGANISM
The Emperor’s New Church
In 321 Constantine honored his newfound faith by making SUNDAY a
state holiday.
. . . But in his decree, Constantine designated this new holiday:
“The Venerable Day of the SUN”
Constantine claimed to be a Christian, but did not seem to understand who JESUS was!
Constantine was devoted follower of MITHRAS,The Persian sun god . . . “The Unconquered
Sun!”
The Emperor’s New Church
When Constantine saw his vision of the cross in the sky next
to the sun, he evidently assumed
JESUS was manifestation of
MITHRAS!
The Emperor’s New Church
Constantine put a picture of Mithras on
his coins.Coin dated 2 years after
conversionOn his triumphal arch, built to celebrate
his victory over Maxentius, he put a picture of Mithras
The Emperor’s New Church
Constantine’s confusion over the identity of Jesus seems to have infected many of the unconverted pagans now crowding
into the church.
Early Century depictions of Jesus as sun god.By the 5th Century, it became a common
practice for worshippers to turn and bow down to the rising sun before entering the basilica in
RomeInflux of pagan thinking affected the church in
many ways
CHURCH GAINED A NEW SET OF HOLIDAYS
Before Constantine, the holidays of the church were the BIBLICAL FEASTS.
The Church never had a celebration for the BIRTH of JESUS
But the Romans celebrated Dec 25 as the birth of MITHRAS. (In 274 emperor Aurelian had made it a state holiday)The unconverted pagans rushing into the church didn’t want to give up their
holiday. They declared December 25 to be the birthday of Christ, and gave the
Church a new holiday: CHRISTMAS
Another New Holiday: Spring Fertility Festival
Pagans held feast in spring to honor the goddess of fertility.Canaanites: ASHERAHPersians: AESTARTEBabylonians: ISHTAREurope: EASTRE
Constantine outlawed Passover and ordered Christians to celebrate Christ’s resurrection of the
time of the spring fertility festival.Christ’s resurrection was taken out of its biblical context and celebrated in the context of pagan
feast.In English-speaking world, did not even change
the name.
BY THE END OF 4TH CENTURY PAGAN SACRIFICE WAS OUTLAWED AND PAGAN
TEMPLES TURNED INTO CHURCHESPagan shrines were changed into Christian shrines. Some pagan priests even became
Christian priest.
Pagans were told that they lived in a Christian empire and it was their
responsibility to live as Christians.
The trouble is, they didn’t know Jesus!They were still PAGANS. Beliefs had not
changed!
They responded to the official decrees by giving “Christian” names to pagan gods and continuing to worship as they had
before.
By the year 600, paganism had inundated the church.
Many of the church’s leaders were unbelievers.
Those resisting were persecuted as enemies of the empire
By the middle ages, Bibles were written in a language people couldn’t understand and chained to the pulpit.
Superstition and idolatry were rampant. Salvation was by good works, pilgrimages, and financial contribution.
Church became powerful and wealthy political organization.
When Rome crumbled, the church stepped in to fill the vacuum, becoming a great military power but lost the supernatural power of God it had once known.
The Emperor’s New Church
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THESE THINGS?
MOST CHRISTIANS ASSUME IT WAS GOD’S WILL FOR CHURCH TO ABANDON GOD’S
APPOINTED TIMES.
THEY THINK THE APOSTLES REJECTED BIBLICAL FEASTS AS SOMEHOW
UNCHRISTIAN.BECAUSE OF THAT, MANY MISS OUT ON CYCLE OF BLESSING GOD WANTED THEM
TO HAVE.
God wants us to know: We have Lost something He intended us to have!
GOOD NEWS: GOD IS RESTORING HIS CHURCH!
THE THIRD DAY CHURCH
is ARISING!
Jn. 2:19,21 Jesus answered . . . “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
Early Church
Dark Ages Revivals
325
500 1500
APPOINTED TIMES OF GOD
PART 2ARE FEASTS OLD TESTAMENT?
HOW WE BROKE OFF FROM GOD’S CYCLE