God's appointed time part 2
- 1. PART 2 ARE FEASTS OLD TESTAMENT? HOW WE BROKE OFF FROM GOD’S CYCLE
- 2. 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!
- 3. 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.
- 4. 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 Jesus NEW TESTAMENT • The ¼ of the Bible originally written in Greek • Describes the coming of Jesus and its results
- 5. 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”
- 6. ASSUMPTION: If it’s Old Testament, it’s wrong, out of date, and harmful!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!
- 7. 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
- 8. 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
- 9. TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS STOLEN To 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!
- 10. 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!
- 11. TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS STOLENJesus and the OLD Testament Jesus 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.”
- 12. 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.
- 13. TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS STOLENPaul and the OLD Testament 1 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.
- 14. TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS STOLENPaul and the OLD Testament 2 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!
- 15. TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS STOLENPaul and the OLD Testament II 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.
- 16. 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!"
- 17. 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!”
- 18. 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
- 19. 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 RELATIONSHIPS TABERNACLE OF DAVID Many areas of truth are mentioned in the New, but clearly explained in the Old!
- 20. WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT? 4. MORE TREASURES waiting to be revealed TORAH = “Teaching of God” = foundational Presence 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
- 21. WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT? Relating to the OLD Testament 2 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!
- 22. 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!
- 23. 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 TESTAMENT WE 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!
- 24. 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?
- 25. HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH LIFE DEATH RESURRECTION Early Church Dark Ages 325 500 150 0
- 26. HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE The LIFE of the EARLY CHURCH The Early Church was the most powerful institution the world had ever seen IT 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!
- 27. 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 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
- 28. 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
- 29. HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE MOST OF US HAVE NEVER IMAGINED A CHURCH LIKE THE EARLY CHURCH They had an entirely different picture of “CHURCH” No one in the early church had ever seen: a church building a stained glass window a hymnal a steeple a pulpit or pew a church bulletin They didn’t even have a video projector! WHAT WAS THE EARLY CHURCH LIKE?
- 30. 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.”
- 31. THE SPREAD OF THE CHURCH INDIA GERMAN Y 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 “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
- 32. 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.
- 33. THE DEATH OF THE CHURCH 32 5 50 0 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?
- 34. 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.
- 35. He saw a vision: “CONQUER by THIS” Constantine came to the throne with the announcement that he was now a follower of Christ.
- 36. 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.
- 37. 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 . . .
- 38. 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.”
- 39. The Emperor’s New Church 2. A Change in Worship Constantine 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
- 40. 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.”
- 41. 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.
- 42. 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
- 43. 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
- 44. 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!”
- 45. 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!
- 46. The Emperor’s New Church Constantine put a picture of Mithras on his coins. Coin dated 2 years after conversion On his triumphal arch, built to celebrate his victory over Maxentius, he put a picture of Mithras
- 47. 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 Rome Influx of pagan thinking affected the church in many ways
- 48. 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
- 49. Another New Holiday: Spring Fertility Festival Pagans held feast in spring to honor the goddess of fertility. Canaanites: ASHERAH Persians: AESTARTE Babylonians: ISHTAR Europe: 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
- 50. BY THE END OF 4TH CENTURY PAGAN SACRIFICE WAS OUTLAWED AND PAGAN TEMPLES TURNED INTO CHURCHES Pagan 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
- 51. 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. The Emperor’s New Church
- 52. 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!
- 53. Jn. 2:19,21 Jesus answered . . . “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Early Church Dark Ages 325 500 150 0
- 54. PART 2 ARE FEASTS OLD TESTAMENT? HOW WE BROKE OFF FROM GOD’S CYCLE