December 1996
Vol. VI
To spread the true Gospel Light to all men
By Dr. Stanley R. Farrar
There is much said about the sabbath, and when the sabbath is. In the beginning God created all things and he took six days in that creation. Then on the seventh day He rested. Genesis chapter one tells of the creation and then in chapter two it then specifies the 7th day He rested. GENESIS 2:1-3 "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all his work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."
Again, in the law that God gave to the Israelites in the wilderness, He told them to keep the sabbath day holy. He said that they were to work six days and then to keep the 7th day holy and to do no work. EXODUS 20:8-11 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."
The things given to us in the Old Testament are a very vital part of the church today. They are symbols or, as the book of Hebrews puts it, shadow of things to come. They put forth things that will take place in the New Testament church. HEBREWS 10:1 "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect."
God does not do anything by chance and He did not set the sabbath by accident or by sheer arbitration. He knew exactly what He was doing when He set this into effect. He had a specific purpose in the day of rest. When you study the New Testament you will see where God intended for this symbol or shadow to be the perfect type. He never intended for it to be one certain day, for we are to keep each day holy and living in the holiness of God daily. Therefore, he had a plan in mind and it was not to celebrate a day nor was it to make that day more important than the others. Instead he has a special time of rest for those who will come to Jesus Christ and live in obedience to his commands.
HEBREWS 4:1-10 "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his."
The sabbath as given in the word of God is Saturday. But, the day of rest that is indicated by these scriptures is that perfect rest that we are given when we accept Jesus Christ as our own personal savior. He gives to us a rest that man can not receive except from the eternal God. He gives to us peace that surpasses all understanding. We cease from the struggles of this world and allow God to give us the rest in Him. The day of the week is not important. The important thing is to know Jesus Christ and let him have his way in our lives.
Those who make an issue about what day of the week we are to worship God, does not have an understanding of what God really wants from them. It seems as though they worship the day more than they do the almighty God. God wants of His children to worship Him each day and to keep each day holy. So, we need to be more concerned with the worship of God than we are the day. What the word of God is telling us is that when we come into Jesus Christ we are given that perfect rest. This perfect rest is being sanctified holy and filled with the Holy Spirit. That time when we have come to God for the second work of grace which is sanctification. When we have ask God to cleanse us from all of our sins, even the carnality, and to fill us with his spirit. Allowing our will to be totally eclipised by the will of God. In other words, letting God's will be our will. Then we will live holy each and every day and not just one day a week.
LEV. 11:45 "For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." 1 PETER 1:16 "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."
Many differing reasons can be given for the coming together on the first day of the week. But, none of them are as important as the understanding of the real day of rest. The one Jesus brought when he came and set up his kingdom, died on the cross to be our sacrifice and then arose from the dead. Then ascended back to the heavenly Father to be our great intercessor. Why do you come together, to worship God or to celebrate a day of the week? Which is more important the day or the true worship of Jesus Christ as lord and master of your life? Let us all join together in the worship of the one true God and not be drawn apart by differences of a day.
May God bless you as you worship Him. PSALMS 96: 9 "O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth."
by J. D. Woodard
(a layman)
Thanksgiving, is a celebration of thanks for all that has been done for us. We give thanks for everything we receive. But how often do we thank our Lord for tomorrow or even the next hour. About the only time that unsaved people pray is on Thanksgiving. They say grace, which is a prayer for the food. They thank God for the food, then devour it and afterward complain about a stomachache. It then turns for blessing to blame. What does Psalms 107:4-9 say? "They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." As we see in the above scripture that the Lord is good, and full of grace. He deserves thanks, too. Most people do not believe in the works of God, but does not the above scripture tell us otherwise. These men were crying out to God and He delivered them to a city. He fed their spiritual hunger with the goodness of His heart. Why not give Him credit?
It says in Colossians that we need to give thanks to God through Jesus. (Col. 3:17) "And
whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and
the Father by him." Everything we do in this world, we need to give thanks to the Father. (1
Thes. 5:18) "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you." We need to remember what the scriptures say about the last days. To be able to withstand
the deceiving spirits and demons we must not forget to go to God to keep the spirits away.
Through the use of the word, prayer, thanksgiving, and a willingness to obey God is the only way
to protect yourself. (1 Tim 4:1-5) "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry,
and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and
nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God
and prayer." God created all things. We need to be thankful for that, because if God had not, we
would not be here to be thankful. Well we are all here, Christians and sinners alike, but we all
need to be thankful to God for all things He has given us. Shouldn't we be thankful to Jesus?
The answer is definitely yes!
***
by Stanley Farrar II
We hear a lot today about the ever mounting public debt. But I would like to look at an even
greater debt. There is no greater debt owed by man then the one we owe to God. I know that
this is a debt that we ourselves can never pay but many live there lives as though they didn't have
a debt to God. They thus live their lives anyway they please, without any care or concern as to
how God would have us live. Is this how we should live or not? God commands us to be a
reliable people. Are we living reliable lives or are we living as the wind directs? For a moment
let us look at our debt to God.
(Isa 53:4-12) "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we
are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and
the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he
opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment:
and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the
transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with
the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet
it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an
offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD
shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because
he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." We see the extent of suffering that
Christ went through to bring salvation to man. I freely admit that we receive this salvation as a
free gift from God. But beyond any shadow of a doubt Christ paid the price for our sins. Thus
He paid a debt that He did not owe, being Himself without sin. (Heb 4:15) "For we have not an
high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin." He paid the debt for you and for me, for our sins He
suffered and died that we wouldn't have to suffer for all eternity. There is no greater love then
this. Anyone would have to admit that due to Christ's sacrifice we are eternally in His debt.
True, this is a debt that we cannot repay. Does this mean that we should forget about this debt
and live the way we please?
The answer to this question is no. We can not live anyway that we want to.(1 Cor 6:19-20)
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye
have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in
your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Cor 7:22-23) "For he that is called in the
Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's
servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." If we live for ourselves we
are not glorifying God, but ourselves. By doing this are we being the servants of Christ? (Eph
6:6-7) "Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God
from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:" To be Christ's
servant we must be doing His will from our hearts. If we are living our lives for ourselves then
we are our own servants and not God's. By doing so we elevate ourselves to the position of
being our own god. We thus spit on Christ's sacrifice. We become as one who wants the name
Christian but we wish to be servants of sin. (Isa 4:1) "And in that day seven women shall take
hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be
called by thy name, to take away our reproach." Just as these women wanted their reproach
removed but still wanted to live their own lives many today are trying to do this with God. Can
we be a servant of sin and a servant of God? (Rom 6:16) "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or
of obedience unto righteousness?" We can not be the servants of sin and the servants of God, it
is not possible to serve two masters. (Mat 6:24) "No man can serve two masters: for either he
will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serve God and mammon."
So we can not have sin reigning in our lives and still be a child of God. We have already seen
that sin leads to death. When we are living for Christ we are spiritually alive but when we sin
we die spiritually and are separated from God. (Hab 1:13) "Thou art of purer eyes than to
behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal
treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous
than he?" Christ can not look upon the sinner for his sin is a barrier between him and God. The
separation divides them for the loving gaze of God thus it is impossible to be a servant of sin
and a Christian. (1 John 2:1-5) "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is
the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And
hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know
him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso
keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in
him." (Also see Rom 6). We are not to sin, if we do we must come back and get saved all over
again or else the sin within us will send us to Hell.
Many today would have us to believe that we can (must) continue in sin after we have been
saved. This is negating God's power to protect us and eliminates a punishment for sin by once
being converted to God. To hear them you would believe that there is no wage for sin. (Rom
6:23) "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord." Through sin we have all earned the second death which is Hell (see Rev 21:8). We,
through our own sins, have earned this destruction. Many would have you believe that once
saved the fires of hell are eternally put out in your case. But is this true? (Heb 10:26-27) "For if
we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall
devour the adversaries." If we have no sacrifice for sin then our sins are not covered by the
blood and are open before the Lord. Thus we must fear the judgment of God only if we are
undone and unprepared for heaven. (Exo 32:33) "And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever
hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book." (Rev 3:5) "He that overcometh, the
same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life,
but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." We know well that those
found in the book of Life are the redeemed and those who are not in the book of Life are to be
destroyed in the lake of fire. We also now know that sin will blot our name out of the book and
that only those that overcome the sins of the world will remain in the book of Life.
Oh dear reader, don't be mislead, hell is real and sin is the access key to enter in. If sin is in
your life, no matter how good you appear, no matter how righteous you once were, it will not
save you now. (Ezek 18:24-30) "But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness,
and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth,
shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that
he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. Yet ye say, The way
of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways
unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity,
and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man
turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and
right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his
transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house
of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not
your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his
ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity
shall not be your ruin." If you have sinned, sin lies at your door and will destroy you unless you
turn to Christ and accept His gift of eternal life and live above sin. (Isa 59:2) "But your
iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you,
that he will not hear." Why let sin separate you from God, when Christ is willing to redeem you?
To be redeemed is a term used for buying someone's freedom. A slave is redeemed out of
slavery by someone buying them out or paying their debt. The payment of sin was paid by
Christ, all we have to do now is accept it and live for God and don't go back into the slavery of
sin. You have been liberated by Christ. Why turn back and become a slave again? (1 John
2:1-2) "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our
sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." If you have gone back into
sin don't stay there telling yourself that Jesus will understand. For Jesus told people to go and
sin no more (see John 8:11). We have been commanded to be Holy as the Father in heaven is
Holy (see Lev 11:45, Lev 19:2, 1 Peter 1:15-16). If you are not where you should be with God
now is the time to make things right for we are not promised a tomorrow. Let us make the most
of today, let us truly live our lives as a holy sacrifice to God for this is the bare minimum to be a
Christian. (Rom 12:1-2) "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Let us live
worthy of the great price that Christ paid for you and me.
***
We apologize for this issue of the Gospel Light being so late this issue. But, we would like to
wish you a very Happy New Year and all of God's blessings for the coming year.
Is published by the First Church of God, 818 4th st, Fairbury, Nebraska 68352, Chief Editor
Pastor Stanley Farrar II, Editor Michelle Farrar.
The Gospel Light is published to spread the true light of God's word to all men. We are
dedicated to the truths of the word of God. Such as salvation, holiness, sanctification, the unity
of all believers, etc... We are not responsible to return any articles submitted to The Gospel
Light. We reserve the right to hold the articles for future printing, and possible reprinting. All
articles submitted should be submitted to the First Church of God, 818 4th st Fairbury, NE
68352. Articles are not to be longer then two pages typed, because of space concerns. I hope
that the Gospel Light paper is a blessing to you, and may God bless those who read this paper.
To Return to Past Issues Index
The Public Debt to God
Happy New Year
***
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