"We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and, consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. (Charles Spurgeon, Sermon on Dec. 24, 1871)."
Far from being alone in this belief, please see that one most of you say is a giant in the church said the same thing! Don't you think it's time to really find out what the Word of the LORD says? Is there no fear of the LORD in the professing church today? This holiday, as with much of the practices of the holidays and rituals of the professing church are rooted in Babylonian and Egyptian paganism going all the way back to Nimrod, practiced along with Torah by Judaism, incorporated into the Roman Catholic Church, and handed down to the Protestant/Evangelical expression of church today! The cloud of confusion is thick, but it is removed when you look to Jesus - Yeshua for who HE really is, according the the Truth of HIS Word, all of it, and not according to men's commandments and doctrines. Paul said this in 2nd Corinthians 3, concerning the veil covering the eyes of the people whenever the "Old Testament" is read. Without turning to the LIVING TORAH, Yeshua, recognizing that HE is the embodiment of Torah and the Prophets, you are veiled from understanding the Truth of Torah. If you look through pagan filtered eyes, looking to a messiah that did away with the very substantiation for HIMSELF and HIS plan of redemption, you will never see the Truth and will remain in bondage. Jesus said, "You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free." HE said, in prayer to the Father, concerning us, "Sanctify them by YOUR Truth, Father. YOUR Word is Truth." The Word of the Father, spoken through HIS Son to the prophets, including Moses (1st Peter 1) remains the standard by which we know that the Messiah we profess as Savior is indeed the ONE who came from the Father, and by the same standard we know what is acceptable to HIM. Don't you want to know?
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15 comments:
Amein! Thank you for posting this, I hope it opens up many people's eyes.
Thanks Lina. Bless you. Please pass Torah Perspective along to others who could use it or be blessed or challenged by it to dig deeper in the Word to find Yeshua for who HE really is.
"When it can be proved that the observance of Christmas, Whitsuntide, and other Popish festivals was ever instituted by a divine statute, we also will attend to them, but not till then. It is as much our duty to reject the traditions of men, as to observe the ordinances of the Lord. We ask concerning every rite and rubric, "Is this a law of the God of Jacob?" and if it be not clearly so, it is of no authority with us, who walk in Christian liberty."
-Charles Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalm 81:4
Wonderful! I'm going to re-post your post on my facebook page.
Good post. Thanks for the information.
As a former Hoosier from central Indiana, I am happy to be reading your Torah perspective teachings-Thank you so much for the words of encouragement you recently posted and the last one about Charles Spurgeon. Your words give us all inspiration to "keep on keeping on".
Paula I'm blessed that you are blessed. To be used by HIM is the ultimate. May Abba bless and keep you, in Yeshua.
Thank you for this - I think Mr. Spurgeon has a lot of insightful things to say, and I am even more pleased with this!
I will link this on my recent post.
Shalom Alechiem in Yahushua!
Tzhala
Also in Holland were several great pastors who denied Christmas, like there was Jacobus Koelman. Because "it belongs to papacy".
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14
Tim, so are you saying that the doubtful things that Paul was talking about are the Word of God? How can that be? Do you mean that we have the sovereignty to overrule what God has established in Scripture, ignoring HIS Instruction and replacing it with our days? What day is Paul talking about.... and, is this really a food issue? Does your take on this portion of text overrule the rest of Scripture and the context of the entire Bible? Think about it in context..... unless Paul is in opposition to Yeshua and in the Father he has to agree with THEM. Yeshua, nor Paul could teach anything other than repentance to and obedience to the commandments of Torah or else Yeshua would have been disqualified from being Messiah and Paul from being a prophet who proclaims the Word.... Deuteronomy 13....
Deuteronomy 4 says clearly that we must not add to or take away from Torah... and Revelation 22 says the same thing..... This is the context that one must take into account when reading what Paul wrote and what Jesus (Yeshua) said and did.
Banner-Your response to Pastor Tim was a good one, but I believe the whole Romans 14 issue is about food and holy days-The complete chapter is to be read in context to the subject meat and vegetables compared to holy days in the light of the Greco/Roman culture. Shaul was writing to the believers in Rome who had been exposed to the pagan culture of that day. An excellent book to discuss Biblical food issues is On Health and Holiness by Hezekiyah Haas. He covers this chapter and others quite extensively on the Biblically clean foods of the Bible. To quote Mr. Haas, "And to identify the questions being asked, we must understand the Greco/Roman cultural influences of the time, and understand at what point these Greco/Roman influences were clashing with the teachings of Torah."
Paula, Thanks for your input. What I meant was that this has nothing to do with food as in doing away with the Torah commandments of eating only what Yah has called food, nor does it have to do with calling any day you want your Sabbath. There were lot's of things going on at the time. Jews believed gentiles had to join themselves to Israel and follow the sages oral tradtion (talmud now) to be saved and receive the promise. The concept that gentiles were unclean and common was not Torah and is what the LORD was dealing with Peter about in Acts 10. Food wasn't the issue. The issue was an elitist attitude that only an Israelite was clean and one had to be careful not to become contaminated by a gentile, even to the food sold in the marketplace.... But it was not an approval of eating, even clean food, when it is known that it is dedicated to idols. The key to Romans 14 is that it is dealing with doubtful things; those things that aren't clear in Scripture. That rules out Torah commandment because Torah commandment is clear and never doubtful. Blessings...
Banner - I agree that it's not possible that the holy days and clean/unclean food in itself were the "disputable things" Paul was talking about in Romans. In 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and 14 - concerning marriage and the liturgy of the local congregation Paul makes a clear distinction of what was his judgement and what was a directive from God. We cannot compromise what God spells out clearly. In verse 37 of chapter 14 he told them that you can't be "spiritual" or a "prophet" if you deny what God clearly commands (just like in Dueteronomy. He told them in the epistle to the Romans (ch. 7) as well when he said it's the law that is spiritual, holy, and good.
Hello!
Xmas is indeed forbidden to practise according to Torah.
This is a very important distinction to make: No one can follow two polar-opposite masters — the authentic, historical, PRO-Torah 1st-century Ribi from Nazareth and the 4th-century (post-135 C.E.), arch-antithesis ANTI-Torah apostasy developed by the Hellenists (namely the Sadducees and Roman pagans who conspired to kill Ribi YÓ™hoshua [ha-Mashiakh (the Messiah)], displaced his original followers and redacted the NT). [quote the above website; and one addition of mine]
Jesus and (le-havdil) Ribi Yehoshua ha-Mashiakh are not the same. The logical implications of the earliest first centuries documents (see research here: www.netzarim.co.il) implies that Ribi Yehoshua and his followers kept and taught Torah all their lives; and that implies that they didn’t regard NT as the (le-havdil) Word of the Creator.
Regards, Anders Branderud
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