Understanding the Truth of GOD 2 Corinthians 7:1 perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Vol. II, Number 5 May 2014 A Publication of the Independent Church of God 7 th Day Feast of Unleavened Bread 2014 Yellville, Arkansas The Independent Church of God, 7th day hosted the 2014 Feast of Unleavened Bread here in Yellville, Arkansas. Great sermons and bible studies, awesome food, refreshing fellowship and lots of fun were enjoyed by all! Some highlights of the occasion were special music, homemade ice cream, homemade pizza, hiking, floating the Buffalo River and even zip lining. Some were brave enough to give it a go, while others preferred to watch it from the ground! A special thanks to those who helped make this Spring Feast special for everyone: The Whites for bringing a huge variety of delicious gourmet food from Renee's very own recipes. The Layton's who provided an abundance of food fresh from their farm including beef, eggs and raw goat milk as well as the beautiful baskets of flowers. If you would like to see a few of the pictures from this Feast go to our website at www.icog7.org and click on Local Church News near the top of the Home Page. This Feast of Unleavened Bread was simply one of the most Holy, peaceful, and instructively helpful Spring Feasts that we have had yet. The knowledge we are gaining by keeping this Feast as God commanded it, is teaching us how to be without fault before the throne of God. We would like for all of God's people to understand that we do not have to settle for being the leavened loaves at Pentecost! There is a higher calling! We have been given a HOLY CALLING! Please do not settle for believing that you have been called to be part of the only offering that contained leaven! 1
In This Issue Feast of Unleavened Bread 2014 Page 1 The Holy and The Profane Page 3 Coming Soon The Meaning of Pentecost Time and Chance Gambling Is A Sin Where Is Your Food Going To Come From? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Live Services at 1:30 pm each Sabbath! Call (661) 673-8600 Access Code 598864# VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT www.icog7.org Contact Information Wayne Holmes (870) 613-4150 or wayne@icog7.org Independent Church of God 7 th Day P.O. Box 1328 7936 Hwy 14 S Yellville, AR 72687 2
The Holy and The Profane The Scriptures teach us that God is Holy. He has always been Holy, because it is one of His names. Since God is Holy, and He created His Law, His Law is also Holy. The Law defines what is Holy and what is Profane to God. Do you honor and keep that which God made Holy? Or have you been deceived into accepting that which is Profane? God's people are required to know the difference between the HOLY and PROFANE! The reason is because God is judging us by how we treat His Holy things! Does God consider you to be Holy, or has your indifference toward Holy things made you Profane to Almighty God? Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Since the God of Heaven is Holy, only He can make something Holy. IT IS HIS NAME. The scriptures also tell us that God's Law is Holy. Romans 7:12 & 14 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. If you have the Holy Spirit, you are being judged everyday how you treat God's Holy things. God judges everyday how we treat the things He has made HOLY. But the world we live in today places no value on the Holy things of God because they have been deceived into believing that the Holy things of God have been done away with. It does not matter if you are an Atheist, an Agnostic, a Protestant, or a believer in Islam, or you believe in the any of the eastern religions, the common denominator is that none of these systems of belief, honor and keep the Holy things of God. They are simply forms of deception that Satan the devil has used to turn man away from God. God is not mocked, what a man sows, that he shall also reap. We must believe the Bible, not a man's interpretation of the Bible. No one can ever do away with the Holy things of God any more than they can do away with the Holiness of God! Let's consider some of the Holy things of God: The Character and Nature of God, 3
The Law of God including the Sabbath, The Holy days and Feasts of God, Clean and Unclean Foods. Satan the devil places no value in obeying God. This of itself has rendered the world Profane to God because it follows Satan in rejecting that which God has made Holy! Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Satan is the god of this evil world and he has deceived the whole world into rejecting God on every level! Anyone that is a friend of this present evil world is an enemy of God. Galatians 1:4, James 4:4 Matthew 4:8-10 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Jesus Christ did not dispute that Satan controlled the kingdoms of this world. As a matter of fact Jesus said in John 18:36 My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Satan has engineered the various forms of government on this earth. For instance, America was founded as a Republic, but in truth acts more and more like a Democracy. Neither a Republic nor a Democracy is a Theocracy, therefore by definition, neither one of them is ruled by God. It is the same way with all man made governments; they are all controlled by man which is controlled by Satan the devil. Satan has deceived the whole world into believing that God's Holy things are obsolete and relics of an old forgotten Covenant. Sadly, it is necessary today to provide a witness even to the Churches of God concerning the lack of obedience to the Laws of God, because God's churches are getting away from the basic doctrines of God that require faith. The Churches of God today have a watered down version of the truth because they are not engaged in teaching God's people to obey God according to the Scriptures. Do you understand why God judges His people? Do you understand what He is looking for when He judges us? Very few today understand the depth of what God is 4
looking for when He judges His people. God is looking for His people, that He made Holy at baptism, to have the same heart He does. Please consider the parable of the Talents, in this light. (Matthew 25:14-30) We see in 1 John 3:4 that sin is the transgression of the law. When we sin we earn the death penalty. The law of God is an extension of the character and nature of God. It tells us how a Holy God thinks. God is Eternal. When we sin, we break that Holy, Eternal Law of God and we earn the death penalty. Those are the wages we earned because we have chosen to do evil, against the very character and nature of God Himself. Our calling is Holy, meaning we have been invited to become Holy and God is judging us daily to see if we are choosing to become as He is. If God sees us choosing sin, He judges us to be worthy of death because we have chosen an ungodly path. Without God there is no life. God is Holy. God has created Holy things. So God is looking for a people who want to become HOLY like He is. 1John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. God is looking for a heart in His people that no longer wants to sin. He is looking for people who treasure those things that are holy because those are His people that want to become Holy. Satan the devil has no life beyond what God has allowed him to have today. Because of sin he will be destroyed forever. So, can we understand that we must rid ourselves of sin so that we prove to God that we are worthy of eternal life? We must prove to God that we want to be just like He is with His character and nature in us, so that we think and reason just like He does. There is no middle ground concerning this subject. We are either like God or we are not. We are either Holy or we are Profane! Some are deceived about Grace. Grace does not keep us Holy when we sin. Rather Grace is what allows God to perfect us instead of reject us if we sin. We must always choose to be Holy! 1 Peter 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. This is a quote from Leviticus 19:2. God has ALWAYS required His people to be Holy. IS YOUR CONDUCT HOLY? Can you judge righteous judgment about yourself? How do you treat God's Holy things? HOW YOU APPROACH GOD means everything. How you approach God depends on your level of respect toward God. If God is not first in your life, the Scriptures guarantee you, that you will not approach God in a manner that pleases Him. Not one 5
of us are immune to haughtiness or arrogance. Human beings tend to believe that they can approach God as they are. As a matter of fact most people do not even consider their approach to God. How long has it been since you searched the Scriptures to find the difference God places between the Holy and the Profane? God views the Holy and the Profane very differently. Since the world does not understand this truth, it is not truthfully discussed through the media outlets. So unless you search for and seek this truth, it will remain a mystery to you. 2 Timothy 2:15-26 V.25 those that oppose themselves G475 meaning people that are at odds with themselves even though they don't know it. Who could this be? Obviously it's people that could have a relationship with God, but because of a lack of understanding and knowledge, they choose to live in a manner that God will have nothing to do with. That is why they oppose themselves because they refuse to repent of a sinful lifestyle that keeps them from ever understanding the truth. It is very simple! How they choose to live, keeps them from having what they want. Everyone likes to believe that if they repent of their sins, that God "is bound to" or "has to" forgive them. Verse 25 says "if God peradventure or perhaps will grant them repentance into the acknowledging of the truth"!!!! So can any of us dictate our terms of repentance to God and expect him to accept them? No!! Unless we have a thorough understanding of what God considers to be Holy and Profane, we simply cannot understand what to repent of. God has placed a great difference between what He has made Holy and what He considers to be Profane. Is there a clear distinction in the way you treat God's Holy things versus the Profane ways and thoughts of this world? Let's understand that God's viewpoint is the only one that matters on this subject. What we believe about the difference between and the Holy and the Profane does not matter unless we are in complete agreement with God. Peter tells us that God is putting together a royal priesthood that is going to rule with Jesus Christ forever. For that reason, God has given each of us a Holy calling. 2 Timothy 1:7-9 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our 6
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. The words holy calling actually mean that God has given us an invitation to become sacred, pure, and morally blameless just like He is. This invitation is not because of anything great or good that we have done, Scripture says that it's not according to our own works that we have done. The prophet Ezekiel was told, beginning in chapter 40, to measure God's temple to show the unrighteousness and rebelliousness of His people Israel. Ezekiel 44:4-14 Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face. And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations. AND YE HAVE NOT KEPT THE CHARGE OF MINE HOLY THINGS: (emphasis mine) but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves. Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel. And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity. And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein. But speaking of the sons of Zadok, because they continued to be righteous when others went astray, God used them to teach the difference between the Holy and Profane. 7
Ezekiel 44:15-16; 23-24 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge. And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. Israel never learned to put a difference between the Holy and the Profane. That's why they'll be in the second resurrection. But how does this teach us today how we should live and make a difference between the Holy and the Profane? Because God no longer dwells in temples made with hands. He dwells in His people through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The reason God dwelt in a building called a temple or tabernacle with Israel was because they resisted God's Holy Spirit, the vast majority never received the Holy Spirit, therefore He could not live in them! Through the Prophet Isaiah God lamented the fact that after building tabernacles and temples in Israel He still had no place to dwell. Isaiah 66:1-2 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. Stephen said this very thing to the rebellious Israelites of his day! Acts 7:48-51 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Let's consider some of the things God has made Holy to see if we are giving God a place to dwell spiritually. Exodus 20:8-11 8
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 seventh day it is consecrated and made sacred. It is set apart from all other days as Holy. Leviticus 11:42-47 Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 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. This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten. Deuteronomy 14:21 Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. Our food should never defile us. Leviticus 19:1-8 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God. And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will. It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire. And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted. Therefore every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 9
Leviticus 22:31-33 We are not to Profane God's Holy name. Before our conversion we had no knowledge of Holy things. That is one of the reasons unconverted people are not Holy. At baptism, You entered into a covenant with God. You in effect said, all that the Lord has said we will do. As a result, You have been bought and paid for through the blood of Jesus Christ. God the Father now owns you. Leviticus 20:1-8; 22-26 v.26 we are severed from other people, we cannot do as they do and expect to be Holy. How other people choose to live, simply has no bearing on how you must choose to live. Since God is Holy, you must be Holy. God places a great difference between those of his who are Holy, and those of the world that are Profane. When God calls you and puts His Spirit in you and converts you, you must become HOLY! You must be Holy, and everything about you must be Holy! You are severed from others, you are cut off from ever being like the world... SO BE HOLY!!! Do you understand this very deeply? Do you give thought to this regularly? We can never... ever resort to self-justification. We can never allow sin of any type to remain in our lives if we expect to be Holy! Let's look at some of the things that Israel did to become an abomination to God and go from being His Holy people to to those that became Profane before Him. Ezekiel 22:8-14; 23-31 God destroyed Jerusalem, because no one made up the hedge. God wanted someone to say, I'll go to Jerusalem and tell them to repent, I don't want to see anyone be hurt. We must look at Holy and Profane things as God does or we cannot stay Holy. Matthew 23:23-39 God's people Israel chose not to be Holy after God chose them to be His people. They chose to break God's Holy Law, therefore they became an abomination to Him. Once God chooses to allow someone to become Holy, they must choose to remain Holy. Just because God loves his people does not mean he will put them in the 1 st resurrection. Jesus, the God of the Old Testament, loved them, but they forced him to condemn them. We need to think about that the next time we are tempted to sin. The people in the Church of God today, really do not even realize that God has cursed and condemned much of the church, because they don't treat the Holy things of God with reverence. 1Corinthians 6:15-20 If God has called you, and then you repented of breaking God's Law, and were baptized and received the Holy Spirit through the Laying on of Hands, then God will let you go onto perfection. (Hebrews 6:1-3) Through the realization that God has chosen 10
to make you Holy, you understand that you have to be different from virtually every person you meet everyday. When you become joined to the Lord, you cannot become joined to anything that is yet Profane. No one will get into the Kingdom of God, in the 1 st resurrection, if they are not Holy. Revelation 14:1-5 These people are Holy. This can be us!! This is our calling! Do you love this truth? Do you love the truth even when it shows you that you can't have things the way you want them. Being HOLY in a Profane world is not easy. We must continually change and grow and overcome. It is required, for us to be Holy. John 15:16-19 Do you want relationship with God like that? The bringing forth of Godly fruit in our lives is how we prove that we love this truth. Greater obedience means more Godly fruit. We must learn the difference between the Holy and the Profane and embrace that which is Holy, so that in the Kingdom of God we can teach people how to be Godly. God has given us a Holy calling that requires is to love Holy things and hate and depart from the evil or Profane things of this world. Do you want God's protection at all times? Do you want God to live at your house? Let's look at what God told the Israelites. Deuteronomy 23:9-14 If there are no unclean things or Profane things with you, then God will be with you because you are Holy. 1 Corinthians 2:6-14 Holy behavior is foolishness to the world. Ephesians 4:11-32 True holiness is the choosing of that which is Holy every time!! God tells us what it takes to be Holy. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 We cannot be tied to this world. Let's separate from Profane behavior and be Holy because God is Holy. The way to eternal life is to be in character and nature, just like Him! THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HOLY AND THE PROFANE. GOD KNOWS HIS OWN PEOPLE THAT OBEY HIM. DOES HE KNOW YOU? 11
12 Independent Church of God 7 th Day P.O. Box 1328 7936 Hwy 14 South Yellville, AR 72687