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ã 1999, by P. Wells

1. Introduction
2. Be Not Deceived
3. Lies Told By Antichrist
4. Did Jesus Teach the Ten Commandments?

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The "New Age" or "The Age of Aquarius" is at hand, or so men and women are hearing on every hand, as if this is the best news that man has ever been told.

However, this so-called news is Satan’s last-ditch attempt to deceive man with the same old lie, "Ye are gods." Satan is planning his biggest deception yet, but his M.O. (Method of Operation or Modus Operandi) has not yet changed. Satan has absolutely no imagination, just a talent for lying. But then, why should he think up new lies? The weaknesses of men haven’t changed; therefore, the same old lies still work. Satan has just updated the vocabulary a little.

The oldest sin was committed by Satan himself, when he said to himself that he would be like the "Most High" (God, the father), and Satan appealed to that weakness-- pride--when he tempted man in the Garden of Eden. Satan deceived Eve by telling her that if she ate from the Tree of Knowledge, then she would be like God. He said that God lied when He said she would die, because He did not want anyone else to equal Him.

The basis of the "New Age" teachings is that all men are gods; they just need to be perfected through learning (eating of the Tree of Knowledge?), which they can attain through many incarnations. Satan would have you believe that you already have eternal life and can never die or be destroyed (just your bodies) and that a "good God" would not think of destroying your souls, because no one deserves to be treated like that. You can not deny that a philosophy like that would certainly appeal to a man’s pride.

Satan also raises the question, "Why would a good and merciful God want us to be servants and slaves and bow down to Him or worship Him?" A God like that, he mocks, is the one who is filled with pride! Incidentally, one of Satan’s names is "The Accuser" and his favorite target is God. You must keep in mind that Satan has an ax to grind, because when God heard of Satan’s plans to overthrow Him, He cast Satan and one-third of the angels who were deceived by Satan, out of Heaven and down to earth where Satan is still seeking revenge. God did not think Satan was qualified to take His place. I don’t either, but I admit that I am prejudiced. Satan’s main aim since that time has been to destroy God’s favorite creation, "MAN," AND MAN HAS BEEN HELPING SATAN TO DO JUST THAT EVER SINCE.

The name of the game is "Vanity", and the way it is played is by holding the Lord’s name in vain. Satan uses God’s name to deceive men and create religions in "His Name" to do it. The reason Satan does not use his own name is because I am not the only one who is prejudiced against Satan. Poor baby!

One of Satan’s lies is that man can save himself, and his M.O. does not change. One time he calls it "evolution," and another time he calls it, "incarnation," but he always calls it "enlightenment." I forgot to tell you that another name for Satan is "Flatterer," therefore, the weakness that makes men fall for Satan’s lies is the same, "pride." And the biggest fools are intellectuals--the ones who are "wise" in the ways of the world. The simple-minded among us can easily see that the world is not getting better and better, more peaceable, happier, healthier, more prosperous, and filled with love, forgiveness, and understanding. The fact is that mutations as well as worldly experiences (in one life or many) tend to lead to death and destruction of the species. However, only a fool can figure out something as obvious as that!

Men who believe that they can learn to be good through suffering alone have not observed that most sufferers become bitter and cynical without faith. The "good people" (self-righteous?) can easily be convinced that they can achieve Nirvana, or become worthy of being present with God in Heaven through their own efforts and many reincarnations, because--look how far mankind has come already? I hope all of you understand satirical remarks, when you read them but most pseudo-intellectuals do not! They really believe that we can make the world a better place and blindly think we are making progress! Satan has no trouble at all convincing them that they can be like the Master Teacher without calling Him "Master," because they think they have mastered so much already!

Keep in mind, Satan’s goal is to destroy us, and the only way he can do that is to keep us from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and being saved from our sins, which idea keeps us in bondage to Satan. We have no power to break free from Satan as long as we believe his lies instead of God’s love and truth. We cannot know the truth without the Spirit of Truth, which Jesus will share with us if we commit our lives to Him and ask Him to be Lord of our lives. Satan can only deceive us into hurting ourselves, because he was defeated and lost all his power over mankind the day Jesus Christ gave His life to save us on the cross. Nevertheless, Satan is god of this world until Jesus returns.

However, men can not say that Jesus is a great teacher and prophet and not believe what He said about Himself. Can they? Men cannot say that Jesus Christ is the greatest man who ever lived, and not believe that He surely must have been truthful and reasonably sane. I will expound in detail what Jesus said about Himself. You can count on it, especially in Part VI, in which I discuss the Deity of Jesus Christ.

My own parents, who were both exceptionally bright, had trouble believing the truth about Jesus, especially how he could be the "Only Begotten Son of God" and yet God himself. My dad asked, How could there be only one God, when the Bible suggests that there are three Gods. My parents studied with both the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons for a while, and became even more confused concerning the issue. Satan really is a devil, is he not?

I studied and prayed for two years for the Lord to open up the Scriptures so that I could explain these matters to my parents and other beloved members of my husband’s family. Parts V and VI of this work which follow, contain the results of that labor. Before anyone can believe in Jesus, they must know exactly who He is, or they end up believing in another Jesus manufactured by Satan. My parents finally understood and I hope that you will read and understand, too, if you have been troubled by these mysteries.

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A Warning Regarding Antichrists Who Are Already in the World

The average cult member that I have met over the years was a "good citizen" who probably had never committed any major sins, and who was relatively young, inexperienced, and virtually lacking in knowledge of the Scriptures before studying with their antichrist leaders. They often expressed contempt for alcoholics, drug addicts, and a whole list of "sinner types" such as hypocritical doctors, clergymen, lawyers, and politicians. Most professing Christians whom I have known would agree that these practices are sinful. Unfortunately, hypocrites among many religious leaders have driven young people straight into the arms of Satan.

The average cult member I have known has been good mannered, soft-spoken, and even "righteous" without any outward sign of having sin in his or her life except maybe a little pride and self-righteousness. Their downfall was from a tendency toward being critical, and even condemning of those who were in authority over them, even their teachers and parents.

One lady, when told that righteousness would not save any soul nor would keeping the law--that only the grace of God would save us--said, "Grace is just an excuse for license to sin." This pretty, sweet-faced lady had hard lines appear around her mouth as she made this statement, revealing an unforgiving and judgmental spirit. She was involved in a cult and was bitter because of hypocrisy in high places. She had been hurt.

I have always entertained the idea that cult members are attracted to their various sects by a mutual belief that all the world, particularly the government and religion are full of corruption--even though they act as if they are the only ones destined or deserving to be favored. Satan is quick to assure them that they are right!

Cultists base their attitudes toward the Christian Church mainly on two observations: (1) Hypocrites, as they call them, meet on Sunday and behave sinfully the rest of the week. (2) Also, Cult members see the need for money to carry on God’s work (particularly evangelizing the world) by the Church as sinful greed. Actually, they have confused hypocrisy with weakness and the fact that all of us, including sincere Christians, are sinners to one degree or another. We all are tempted and commit sins in weakness, but hypocrisy is criticizing or condemning others openly for that which we are doing in secret.

Committing sins that we confess openly is weakness and not necessarily hypocrisy. Therefore, attending church services for support in our weakness is an attempt to overcome destructive habits and replace them with good habits. The critics, who judge and condemn these sinners are the real hypocrites--not the Christians whom they despise. Actually, they are the ones who are vulnerable to the wiles of Satan who plays on their contempt and condemning spirit to prevent them from seeking Jesus Christ, the only one who can truly help them.

Antichrist leaders assure their followers that they are right in condemning Christianity by telling them fables such as: the evil mother Catholic Church and daughter Protestant Churches which they call Babylonish Religion (based on their interpretations of Revelations) are headed for total destruction.

For our own reasons, my husband and I separated ourselves from any and all organized religious denominations, and even had our memberships canceled, because we came to believe that membership in the Body of Christ by faith and making Him our Head was what we must do to be saved.

What we heard from various pulpits at that time seemed to be a serious threat to our faith. We also became political Independents at the same time--in our early twenties. We wanted to vote according to God’s Word, and not identify with political platforms. For those reasons, we could relate to the frustrations I have just described, but we never rejected Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because of false teachers

In fact, in our search for answers, we exposed ourselves to a few of these fringe Christian cults; however, their false doctrines filled me with terror for myself, friends, relatives, and all Christians whom I loved. I knew that most Christians were the best people I knew, and the worst people that I knew were definitely not Christians. Cult doctrines tempted me for a while because they presented man’s ideas of justice and his ideas concerning what a loving Father in Heaven had to be like. However, I knew these fanatics misquoted Scripture to prove their point and even condoned breaking the Commandments to support their distortions. Nevertheless, trying to sort all these things out led me to study God’s Word in a depth that I had never studied it before. I totally rejected the accusation that Christian Churches were Babylonish in nature.

I knew Babylonish religions engaged in occult practices such as astrology, palmistry, reading tea leaves, working ouiji boards, reading tarot cards, contacting the dead, performing black magic rituals, sexual orgies, and even human sacrifice. I rejected the idea that Catholic and other Christian Churches were the "Babylonish woman" mentioned in Revelations, because neither The Catholic Church nor Protestant Churches ever indulged in any of these pagan practices to my knowledge. At the time, many Christians regarded some of these practices as being harmless diversions that only uneducated heathens took seriously as a means to solve problems.

More and more, I have observed a definite rise in occult practices and Satanic worship taking place in this country with books on witchcraft in our schools and libraries. I even participated in some of these allegedly harmless party games.

However, my husband and I were not influenced by the accusations made by these cult leaders into discontinuing our membership in our denominations. We became disenchanted by the Christian churches’ increasing tendency to change from houses of worship into exclusive country clubs. Bottom line: They no longer were teaching the infallible Word of God that Jesus Christ was the only way to salvation. The shocker was that the cults did not teach that truth either. Humanism had crept into the Church, and was at the very core of many cults.

One preacher, who was very entertaining, admitted that he doubted the virgin birth. I believe that this heresy preached from many pulpits was and still is responsible for the rapid growth of cults that play games with God’s Word to deceive their proselytes. Everyone—including me—began searching for answers that everyone was too intimidated by science and humanistic philosophies to ask.

At the time, most denominations did engage in practices that evoked the disapproval of true believers, but few dogmatically denied the One Triune God in their psalms and rituals, while ALL cult members do. I finally realized that God had nothing to do with these cults, because their philosophies caused me to be afraid. The Word of God states in II Timothy 1: 7; "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind," so why was I so afraid?

God is not the source of the spirit of fear, yet fear pervades the thinking of all cult members who are conditioned to believe that they must earn their salvation. They believe that they must do good works and strictly adhere to rules and regulations based on distortions of Scripture that they impose on themselves and their members--a practice that is totally unscriptural and antichrist in origin. None of them teach that salvation is simply a matter of faith in Jesus Christ and receiving the free gift of eternal life by the Holy Spirit.

One of the most wonderful experiences I have ever had was in a Christian congregation we finally began attending about twenty years after our defection from alleged Christian fellowship.

I heard about kids who were involved with a group called, "Teen Challenge," organized to help kids who were drug addicts and alcoholics. They testified as to how finding the Lord set them free from drugs and gave them hope and salvation. They received salvation and testified that they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. They beautifully expressed their gratitude with tears in their eyes. One young man, led by the Holy Spirit, praised God for dying on the cross and saving him, recognizing Jesus as Lord.

We realized that this program was not just emotionalism, because eighty percent of those who became involved with Teen Challenge groups all over the country were completely set free from drugs--even heroin--while the expensive government and hospital programs had only two percent permanent success, if that. The difference between Teen Challenge young people and others is the conviction of the Holy Spirit in which they confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord (God), accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, received eternal life, and were permanently delivered from drugs by Him.

Cult members and government personnel are in the detoxification business, but they do not recognize Jesus as Lord, and cannot have permanent success, because they do not realize that addictions are related to sin, guilt, and fear--all of which bring men into bondage to Satan. Only faith in Jesus Christ can set us free from that bondage.

Although, this message was first researched and recorded to expose Satan’s lies through various cults begun many years ago to deceive men, I want to especially warn the readers against Satan’s latest and most ambitious movement, "THE NEW AGE."

Satan is promoting all aspects of this religion in every area of our lives: education, science, social and psychological studies, revised religions and philosophies, government programs, sub-conscious mind games by spin doctors, deterioration of moral values in the media, and by shedding so-called "new light" on age-old superstitions and beliefs. He is also distracting everyone from honest pursuits and studies with scare tactics concerning the dangerous environment and everything we eat. Not one aspect of worldly experience is exempt from Satanic manipulation, and the best testament of that fact is the burdensome backpacks that even pre-schoolers must wear to their day care facilities.

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(There is nothing new under the sun.)

1. The easily deceived are flattered into believing that they can understand the teachings of Jesus better than "dogmatic Christians who are blinded by their narrow-minded and conditioned beliefs." In fact, these non-Christians can more easily be deceived, because they have not previously been exposed to the truth, while those who know Scripture at all would immediately reject these false teachings. For that reason, antichrists prey on those who have little or no knowledge of the Word of God, even new Christians.

2. Antichrists are false teachers because they deny that Jesus is the Christ and that the Holy Spirit and Jesus are part of the Godhead. The Bible says in II Timothy 3: 5, 6, and 7 about men in the last days: "Having the form of godliness (They are very nice people), but denying the power thereof (power of the Holy Spirit), from such turn away. For all of this sort are those who make their way into households and lead captive silly women, burdened with sins and swayed by various lusts, EVER LEARNING AND NEVER ABLE TO COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH." This verse is an excellent description of the way certain cult members operate. The NEW-AGE, especially, invades our homes through the media--fiction that masquerades as reality.

3. Antichrists deny the power of the Holy Spirit to give Spiritual gifts to believers, or they deny that Jesus Christ arose from the dead and that He is Lord (Jehovah). If we do not believe in Jesus, that He is Christ or the Anointed Son of God, then we cannot be saved.

The false belief that Jesus is not Lord originated with Arius of Alexandria in the third Century. He taught that Jesus was only one of many sons and could not be God or the second person of the Godhead. He started the Arien cult. He was totally denounced by the early church, but those who do not have the Holy Spirit to teach them that Jesus Christ is Lord continually revive his ideas. Only "two persons" are ever called Lord in the Bible: Lord God Jehovah in the Old Testament and Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Both are the same Lord because Jesus says, "I and the Father are One, John 10: 30.

I lived next door to a Jewish Rabbi in Chicago when I was a child. He used to kid my Dad and accuse him of being a Jew because my Dad had a Semitic nose. One day, we were going to church on Sunday and the Rabbi stopped us (He attended synagogue on Saturday.) and said, "I see you are going to church to worship your God." My Dad whirled around saying, "Why, I thought we worshipped the same God." The Rabbi said, "I should have said your Messiah, because we do not believe the promised Savior has come." The Rabbi knew that the Hebrew Scriptures promised that God would come in the flesh to save us. He just did not believe that Jesus was that Savior.

Who knows the language in the Old Testament better than an orthodox Jewish Rabbi? His Hebrew was so thick that he could hardly speak English, yet this Rabbi believed from the prophecies in the Old Testament as He understood them, that the "Messiah" was Lord and Savior, and that the Lord God Jehovah Himself would come down in the flesh and save the Jews. He based this belief on his understanding of the prophecies in the Old Testament.

The only difference in his belief and ours was that he did not think Jesus was that "Messiah." Can you honestly believe any cult member is better qualified to judge? What the Jews do not believe is that Jesus fulfilled those prophecies in the Old Testament. Jews do not traditionally doubt that "the Christ" (the Anointed One) is God, Himself, but that Jesus did not fulfill all 500 prophecies (200 are to be fulfilled at his Second Coming to give the gentiles the opportunity to be saved.).

4. The antichrists belittle respected translations of the Bible. One cult used only the King James Version of the Bible at first, then they began making changes in it, saying that the original was false. They prophesied that Jesus would return in the flesh so that every eye would see him in 1914. They should have admitted their mistake and that they were false prophets, and then they would not have had to go to the trouble of altering one part of the Word of God after another--literally lie--to cover the fact that they had made false prophecies.

Each doctrine that they changed required that another doctrine had to be changed, because one lie always calls for another one. They finally rewrote the whole Bible and called it an original translation from the Greek and Hebrew Versions--A Lie! Yet none of the alleged scholars in this cult who re-wrote the King James Bible had ever studied Greek or Hebrew. (See last two pages of this discussion for documentation.)

5. Another lie that Satan promotes is that members of his cults must obey laws and believe doctrines that Jesus did not teach. Such cults include the Unification Church or Moonies, The Watchtower or Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Science by Mary Eddy Baker, Church of Latter Day Saints by Joseph Smith, The Fillmores, who started the Unity School of Thought, and the Fox sisters who brought back spiritualism in this country in 1848. Father Divine said he was God, and none recognized Jesus Christ as Lord.
6. Spiritualism is one of the oldest religions in the world and one of the fastest growing fads embraced by the so-called New-Age spiritual leaders. As I said, Satan has no imagination, and he just digs up the same old corpses, and countless others who were adept at tapping into the God-forbidden spirit world.

THE ONE LIE THAT ALL OF THE ABOVE-MENTIONED CULTS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE FATHER OF LIES IS THE DENIAL OF THE DEITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. THE BIBLE CLEARLY STATES THAT NO ONE CAN SAY THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD EXCEPT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THEREFORE, THE TRUE TEST OF WHETHER A RELIGIOUS LEADER IS OF SATAN OR OF GOD IS WHETHER HE RECOGNIZES THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST OR NOT. If you have doubts about the Deity of Christ, then please read Part VI which follows this discussion to learn of other lies that Satan tells to deceive men.

6. One of Satan’s favorite slanders is that Christians are hypocrites who do not understand the teachings of Christ, and he steadfastly accuses them of being guilty of breaking God’s laws, and falling short of obeying the teachings of Christ. In general,

Satan says that they do not practice what they preach. Unfortunately, Satan can always find examples to support this fact among us, which destroys confidence in the good that we do, and credibility in the truths that we speak. However, true Christians who fall prey to their weaknesses usually do not try to justify their behavior, but confess, and try to do better. Hypocrisy is hiding or denying one’s own sins while accusing and condemning others, which is exactly what the enemy does. Jesus condemned hypocrisy, but forgave sins, giving the sincere believers the Holy Spirit to cleanse them of their unrighteousness.

Satan also uses legalism to accuse us, and makes up a few rules and regulations of his own to sit in judgment to confuse us, quoting Scripture out of context or misquoting God’s Word to "prove" his point. Paul wrote two letters (Romans and Galatians) to counteract the evils of false teachers who used these methods to bring Christians under the Old Law and condemnation. Paul states in Romans 14: 14, "I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

Also, Romans 14: 2 says that he who is weak in faith esteemeth many things to be unclean, which is one of the ways Satan tries to undermine our faith, by putting a guilt-trip on us. Paul said that nothing on earth is declared off-limits to man, and declares that he is free to do all things in Christ. Paul states in Romans 14: 20, "All things indeed are pure," and in Titus 1: 15, "Unto the pure ALL things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." In Romans 14: 22, Paul says "Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth," and Romans 14: 23, says: "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

Now, we can find in the Word of God many times that WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY OUR FAITH AND NOT BY WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. The antichrist is most anxious to undermine our faith by making rules so that we condemn ourselves, because each thing we condemn ourselves for doing that Christ did not condemn, weakens our faith, especially when no one can obey them! We become more and more legalistic like the scribes and Pharisees, bound by rules and regulations, and having no freedom in Christ.

After all, Jesus gave only one new Commandment. "Love one another," which he said fulfills the whole law. We can not break any of God’s Laws, if we love others. In Colossians 2: 16, Paul writes, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a Holy Day (Holiday), or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days." Cult members who are steeped in legalism judge all Christendom in respect to Holidays even though Paul strictly forbids this kind of judging. For example, they call both Christmas and Easter pagan holidays despite their significance for Christians.

Paul wrote a letter to the Philippians 2: 16. He stated, "Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances (Touch not; Taste not; Handle not: which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?"

In summation, Paul is saying that all things are pure and good in the Earth, because they belong to God, including Christmas trees, eggs, rabbits, and other things condemned as pagan by cult members to make their members feel guilty for celebrating Holy Days to the glory of Jesus Christ. Men have always decorated to celebrate.

In Romans 10: 31, Paul states, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD."

I know of no Christian who could celebrate Our Lord’s birthday at Christmas or the fact that Jesus rose from the dead at Easter or say the pledge of allegiance to the flag "under God" without doing all to the Glory of God. That is the only qualification we need for doing all things. Paul said that nothing was unclean to him as long as he gave thanks to God and did all these things to the Glory of God.

These statements cover a multitude of things that are not mentioned in Scripture, like driving an automobile, watching the news, listening to records or the radio, attending a ballgame, playing golf, dancing, shouting, enjoying pets, going to the dentist, or whatever mundane activity we do. Satan can find an excuse for condemning us for doing them, yet none of these things are mentioned in the Word of God.

The antichrist condemns the things which are not mentioned in the Bible by making rules against them to put stumbling blocks in their followers’ paths, especially if the activity does bring Glory to Christ. Oh, how they hate to see us celebrate the Lord’s birthday so that the name of Jesus and his birth are on everyone’s lips, and his story is told over and over on TV and in song. And how Satan despises to hear at Easter that Jesus rose from the dead and now all can be saved.

Who rejoices the most if Christmas and Easter are done away? Who benefits the most? Jesus? Or Satan? How is God glorified by doing away with the Holy Days? Just because materialistic values--even idolatry--are manifested in these traditions, does not mean that these celebrations are evil. In any event, the Bible is much less intended as a guide for daily living, than it is intended to be a guide for daily LOVING unconditionally.

If you do anything in unselfish love, you cannot break the law. See Galatians

5: 14, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Keep in mind, that God’s love is an action, not a feeling, per se.

7. Antichrist organizations try to find any excuse to condemn true Christians. One cult makes a big issue of insisting that Jesus died on a tree and not a cross, which is just another excuse to condemn Christians for having or wearing crosses. They insist that Christians are mimicking pagans who wore T-crosses in worship of the pagan god, Tammuz. Therefore, they picture Jesus hanging from a single stake with his arms stretched out above his head and both hands nailed to the stake with a SINGLE NAIL. Historians and archaeologists alike have evidence that Romans crucified (CRUCIFIX- means cross) prisoners by the hundreds at the time of Jesus. The word "crucified" (meaning hanged on a cross) is used thirty-seven times, and the word crucify is used fourteen times in the New Testament, and all but twelve of those fifty-one times refer to the CRUCIFIXION of Jesus.

Do you want evidence that Jesus was crucified on a cross? Read John 20: 25, in which Thomas says, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the NAILS and stick my hand into the print of the NAILS and stick my hands into his side, I will certainly not believe." Jesus died on the cross because his hands were nailed with TWO NAILS on opposite ends of a crossbeam, not with ONE NAIL on a single stake.

The cross, which has been a symbol of Christianity from the earliest days may also be a pagan symbol. Satan is noted for being a counterfeiter and in his bumbling way he tries to imitate everything God does. However, we should not let Satan’s counterfeiting pagans wearing T-crosses to worship Tammuz to interfere with our pride in being Christians and our use of crosses to let the world know that we love the Lord. God knew about the cross before Satan did! See Encyclopaedia Brittanica, under "crucifixion" in Micropedia for a detailed description and illlustrations of the way CONVICTED CRIMINALS were crucified on stakes with crossbeams between the sixth century BC and the fourth century AD.

8. Another example of the antichrists’ trying to change the Word of God is their saying that Jesus did not become Christ until age thirty when he was baptized. Anything to cause confusion! In Luke 2: 11, Luke says; "For to you is born this day in the City of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord." Jesus was the Christ (The Anointed One) at birth. In Matthew 2: 4, we read: "And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people he (Herod) inquired of them where the Christ was to be born." (Jesus was "The Christ" BEFORE He was born!) Observe: Christ is not a surname, but a description of who Jesus was "The Anointed Son of God," "The Messiah," "The Savior," "Emmanuel," meaning "God With Us." No Hebrew would doubt the meaning of "Christ."

No one knew the name, "Jesus," but many were asking about "The Christ" before he was born, as prophesied in Scripture. See Luke 2: 26, "And it had been revealed to him (Simeon) by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ." Simeon saw "The Christ," when the parents of Jesus brought Him as a baby to the temple, and recognized Him at once. Simeon praised God with joy.

9. Antichrists always teach contrary to the Word of God, then quote half-truths to support their lies. One cult teaches that Jesus is a creation, the archangel, Michael. But Scripture makes it clear in Hebrews 1: 4-9, "Being made so much BETTER THAN THE ANGELS, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day I have begotten thee?" (God said this to none of the angels.)

"And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son? And again, He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, "And let ALL the angels of God worship Him." In verses eight and nine, Paul quotes God’s Word, "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever:" (Paul says, "O God" not "a god.") "A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of the kingdom. Thou has loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."

In verse l3, Paul quotes from Psalms a prophecy given to David, concerning the coming Messiah, "But which of the angels said He at any time, ‘sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool’?"

10. One antichrist society deceives by saying that Jesus Christ is not coming again physically--that He returned invisibly in 1914 when He set up His heavenly kingdom. First, this lie was told to save face because their prophecy that Jesus was returning in 1914 to set up an earthly (physical) kingdom did not come to pass. "An earthly kingdom" was described in the March 1880 issue of the Watchtower in an article headed "Kingdom" and sub-headed, "Earthly." In Studies in the Scriptures, Series II page 77, the Watchtower editors prophesied. They stated, "Firstly, at that date (1914) the Kingdom of God, for which our Lord taught us to pray, saying, ‘Thy Kingdom Come,’ will obtain Full, Universal Control, and that it will then be ‘set up,’ or firmly established, IN THE EARTH, on the ruins of present institutions." When this prophecy failed, this antichrist organization said they never prophesied an earthly kingdom and have always prophesied a heavenly kingdom, which they say was established in 1914.

The idea that Jesus was a spirit and had only a spiritual resurrection also came out of their aborted prophecy concerning 1914. Since Jesus did not return physically as these false prophets predicted, they circumvented the issue by explaining that he really did come, but was a spirit and could not be seen.

What does the Bible say? See Luke 21:27, "And then shall they SEE the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Acts 1: 11, "Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have SEEN him go into heaven." And Revelations 1: 7, "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall SEE him, and they also which pierced Him, and all kindred’s of the Earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen." (Even the dead shall be raised for this event.)

11. One so-called "beautiful idea" promoted by the antichrist organizations is that a loving God could never send anyone to Hell, a place of torment forever and ever. (Incidentally, this is the one idea that caught my attention and attracted me for a while to one cult.) I have only one rational argument for that line of reasoning, because I do not believe God does "send" sinners to Hell, per se; also, I do not believe every word translated as "hell" should be regarded as a place of eternal torment.

I do believe that His plan from the beginning was-- and still is--to save sinners from Hell (which is a separation from God) and came down to earth to die on the cross to do just that. But can a Holy God co-exist with rotten sinners? More to the point, should the righteous have to continue to forgive rotten sinners throughout all eternity. I know a good many folks who are already about out of seven times seventy "forgivings."

Actually, unbelievers are in Hell already--which is to say--they are separated from God, and they need the Lord Jesus Christ to reconcile them to God. We are separated from God because of our sinful nature and need the blood of Jesus Christ to wash us clean enough to stand in His presence. Fortunately for us all, The Lord wants to save ALL.

As I said I was repelled by the idea that any man--no matter how wicked--would suffer toment throughout all eternity, simply because he did not hear the Gospel, therefore would not know to believe in Jesus Christ. For that reason, I made an in depth study of the Greek and Hebrew words that were translated into "Hell," and learned that these words had decidedly different meanings in the original languages from "eternal damnation (torment), where the devil and all his angels would be cast. Gehenna is the word for that place, and is mentioned only three times in relation to Satan, his angels, and the hopelessly wicked. Gehenna is also the "Second Death."

The Hebrew word, sheol, translated as "Hell" in the Old Testament simply means "the grave." Some cults interpret that word as meaning complete annihilation of the soul as well as the body, which they claim were created as a unit. They deny the existence a hell altogether, and the existence of a soul separate from the body. But the Old Testament described "sheol as the place were bodies were buried. What happened to "souls" after death was open to speculation, and they apparently had no words for that.

"Hades" is a Greek word used in a great mass of Greek literature to refer to a two-part waiting place of the dead, and Hades is the word most often translated as "Hell" in the New Testament. One part is called Paradise, which is mentioned by Jesus to the thief on the cross as He said, "Today, you’ll be with me in Paradise." Jesus also told a story, confirming this definition of Hell (Hades). He described a Paradise where Lazarus went when he died and an underworld called Tartarus by the Greeks, which is the other part of Hades. According to the Greek definition, Tartarus must have been the part of Hades where the rich man went when he died (See story in Luke 16: 19-31).

Also, Hades, as defined by the Greeks would seem to conform to the Catholic doctrine of purgatory, as a waiting place for the dead rather than the final place of punishment for the souls not forgiven after judgment. Having a Protestant background, I have often heard Protestants debunk the Purgatory theory. However, I am inclined to believe that it may have more credence than many of the very harsh and even dangerous notions that I have heard from the more condemning and zealot Protestants in their eagerness to obtain commitments from potential converts.

The story of Lazarus seems to support the Greek definition of Hades, rather than the traditional Christian definition of Hell as a final place of eternal torment suffered by the unsaved immediately after death. I believe that those waiting in Tartarus do suffer as Jesus described in the story of Lazarus and the rich man--at least until Judgment Day.

However, "Gehenna" is no doubt the place where the devil and his angels, as well as all of the unforgiven wicked will be cast after judgment. I am persuaded that God is just and merciful, so that every opportunity to repent and be saved will be given ALL as the Lord said that He came to do, according to my understanding of Scripture. Jesus said that He came to save ALL, and that he came not to condemn, but to save.

It is inconceivable to me that ALL will not get a chance to choose between Jesus and the Enemy, but I also believe that it is my responsibility to witness to as many as possible concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what He has done for me. I believe God’s love casts out fear, and I have never met anyone that I would want to spend eternity in torment. Do you think that I love more than the Father? Don’t laugh! I have been accused of thinking just that! No, I do not pray for Satan to be saved. I despise him with a passion that I cannot describe!

In addition to "Hell" (including all of its meanings), Jesus refers to a place of outer darkness in Matthew 22:13; Luke 13: 24-28; Jude 13; and II Peter 2: 17. Jesus also describes without using any specific word for "Hell" where the wicked will finally be in Revelations 14: 10-11, "And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: And they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

Simply redefining the words for "Hell" does not--and cannot--discount this vivid description of everlasting torment, which is eternal separation from a Holy God, the source of our life, light, love, and joy. Do you really think a merciful God would continue to permit the wicked to persecute the truly righteous, meek, and gentle? How could God be merciful--or even a just God--to let that happen? Either men must repent and be justified, or they must eventually be separated from God, but my God came to save ALL, and I want to do ALL I can to help.

God did provide the means of escape, and I believe that all men will be given a choice. On the other hand, Satan tries--and has always tried--to do everything in his power to thwart this plan of God. And, Brother, have we ever been cooperative! Why? "We must protect our egos, maintain our pride, and we must at all costs obtain self-esteem, love ourselves, so that we can love others." Right, Boys and Girls? That is what we have been told or conditioned to believe, is it not? I hate those lies!

What appeals to our pride is secretly thinking one is "above" being taken in by Christianity, often called the "opiate of the masses," which allegedly keeps men from being a threat to the governments of the world. How clever of Satan to ridicule the only ones, Christians, who threaten to him. What a shrewd move to keep the sophisticated and pseudo-intellectuals from following their example. What is so funny, if it weren’t so tragic, is that it works, and the intellectuals are the ones who are most vulnerable.

The educated fools of the world have the most pride in their ability to use logic and reason, and they are the ones who think they have the most to lose if they accept an idea on faith--especially since they do not realize that faith is the "EVIDENCE of

things unseen" and is not blind at all.

What they do have to lose is all that useless knowledge and meaningless facts that they spent their lives studying, memorizing, teaching, and promoting at the cost of millions of dollars, which is based on the premise that there is no god.

Incidentally, the premise that God does not exist is just as much a presumption based on faith alone as the premise that there is a God. However, pseudo-scientists do not have one shred of evidence that God does not exist, and the whole order and mathematical precision of the universe and all that is in it is evidence that a Creative Mind must have planned it all.

12. Along with the idea that there is no Hell, goes the twin idea that there is no soul, separate from the body. After all, if there is no immortal soul, there can be no everlasting torment of the soul, and no Hell. Actually, the definition of death is the SEPARATION OF THE SOUL AND SPIRIT FROM THE BODY. Only the body is destroyed and returns to dust. Scripture supports that view as follows: In Luke 20: 37-38, Jesus explains, "Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him." Jesus is saying that these men are not dead--their souls are yet alive.

I Kings 17: 21, "And he (Elijah, the prophet) stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s SOUL COME UNTO HIM AGAIN. 22. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the SOUL OF THE CHILD CAME INTO HIM AGAIN, and he revived."

Also, see Matthew 10: 28, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the SOUL: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both SOUL and body in hell."

Revelations 6: 9, "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony that they held.

See Matthew 17: 3, "And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with Him (Jesus). Also, Luke 23: 43, "And Jesus said unto him (thief on the cross), "Verily I say unto thee, " Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Jesus was saying that the soul of the thief would go to Paradise that very day. (At no time did Jesus ever use the expression, "Verily I say unto thee today," as the Jehovah’s Witnesses insist in order to promote their false doctrine that the soul does not exist separately from the body. (In every other case that Jesus used the phrase, "Verily, I say unto thee," the comma was always placed after "thee.")

Paul recognizes the soul as separate from the body in I Thessalonians 5: 23;

"And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." And finally, in II Corinthians 5: 1-9; Paul says in verse 8, "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

13. Antichrists falsify the Word of God. The Watchtower Society could not get qualified Biblical scholars to compromise their integrity by translating original documents to conform with their erroneous ideas (denial of the Deity of Christ, bodily resurrection, existence of everlasting separation from God in Hell, and other distortions of exact translations).

For that reason, they changed the King James Version of the Bible themselves, because they had no qualified Greek or Hebrew scholars on their staff to translate directly from those languages, but in the Preface of their "official bible," New World Translation, they reiterate emphatically that their "bible" is a translation. At best, it is a paraphrase of the King’s James Version. (I have included documentation at the end of this discussion.)

Any Jehovah Witness can explain that the propaganda, which they have been conditioned to believe, is that the reason the very "spiritual" Watchtower leaders and authors never--no, never--reveal their identities is because that would be an act of pride, drawing attention to themselves instead of the Lord God Jehovah.

The practice also protects them from having their qualifications and credentials checked and prevents their followers from learning what they do with the money they collect or how they live in luxury.

It is no secret that the door-to-door Witnesses sell their literature for a pittance, but it is a secret that ALL Witnesses are volunteers and ALL labor is free--as well as the housing for the printing and publishing of their literature. A pittance and pennies can add up to millions, providing there is no overhead.

A young man ran an advertisement in a national publication requesting donations of pennies to finance his college education. He received enough donations to finance several college educations and pay for the expensive ad as well. Never underestimate the power of the widow’s mite!

So much for the alleged humility of the Watchtower authors! However, the witnesses would do well to consider that anonymity can be used to protect a lack of integrity and an inability to support what one writes or translates with facts as much as it can demonstrate "humility of spirit."

Incidentally, it is not impossible to find out who the authors of the NWT are, if you are determined to expose their alleged humility to hide their lack of credentials. The self appointed "scholars" on the committee who made the alleged translation were N. H. Knorr, F. W. Franz, A. D. Schroeder, C. D. Gangas and M. Henschel. None had any knowledge of Greek or Hebrew, and no academic credentials in either, except F. W. Franz, who reputedly had a little knowledge of Greek. I was never accused of skipping my homework and often saw, "Very thorough," at the top of my research papers while attending the University. I also suspected that some professors would have been more pleased with "less thorough" and fewer pages to grade. But I am not easily discouraged, and I cover as many questions that I can think of before anyone else thinks of them. Most folks never think of them! One professor admitted to me that he used my research as a basis for one of his publications!

Please consider a sentence to help prove how the Watchtower Society is promoting their monstrous lies. The sentence: "The two-year-old child said, "Abba." A translation of the word, "Abba" could possibly be "Papa," or "Daddy," or even "Father." A paraphrase of the sentence might correctly be "The two-year-old child greeted his male parent." The paraphrase is not a word-for-word translation but an explanation of what the word "Abba" means.

If we examine the word, "Abba" in context, we try to determine which is the best or most appropriate choice to use in an exact translation. "Papa" may not be the best translation because the word is out of date. We look at the whole sentence and realize that two-year-olds do not call their male parent, "Father." The most appropriate translation would probably be "Daddy"-- all things considered.

That is what translators mean when the speak of "interpreting out of context." They are saying that a translator has not chosen the most appropriate word out of several possible choices to express the original intention of the author. In some cases, the alleged translator has distorted the original intentions of the author by deliberately choosing an inappropriate but "possibly correct" translation of a given word. The Watchtower has disregarded many contextual clues in their "official translation" of the Bible. Very sloppy!

Another modern translation, regarded as being "most accurate" by the Unitarian denomination, because they also deny the Deity of Jesus Christ, yet call themselves "Christians," has translated the Greek word for "virgin" as "young girl."

They completely ignore the fact that Joseph was upset because he learned that Mary was pregnant and he decided not to marry her, but simply to put her away from himself without disgracing her name. However, an angel appeared to Joseph and told him that Mary’s pregnancy was the result of a miracle by the Holy Spirit of God and that he need not be afraid to take her to be his wife. The word, "virgin" is by far the most appropriate and accurate choice and totally indicative of God’s intentions concerning His Word, if it is considered in context.

The Watchtower calls their bible, New World Translation. They not only have paraphrased many passages in the King’s James Version, but they have added footnotes to their main text that are not even remotely related to the original text. For example, on page six of the New World Translation they admit that they added footnotes to explain why their "translation" is not "traditional." However, their alleged translation and explanations are just the opinions of men concerning the "Word of God." If a group of men tell a blatant lie by claiming to have made an exact translation, knowing that they have paraphrased a legitimate translation to promote their own philosophies, then those men would lie about anything! Shouldn’t that bother a proselyte of the J W’s?

So that you can check the NWT for yourself and compare it to the KJV, which no one would say is not an accurate translation of the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Holy Scriptures, I have included other examples of differences between the two texts. Some folks believe that the language in the KJV is obsolete and misleading, perhaps, and attempts have been made to correct the language without tampering with the translation. Others have chosen to trust it above all others, simply to avoid being deceived by possible distortions. Some of us just love the beauty of the language—the poetry--used in the KJV, as well as its accuracy and we have no problem with the "ye’s," "thee’s," and the "he’s" as applied to all mankind--and God Himself. I do not mean to imply that all other translations are inferior or superior to the KJV, but the KJV is the one that the Watchtower chose to paraphrase.

One example is Galatians 1: 4, "He gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from the (NWT version) "present wicked system of things." Unless you understand that the Watchtower includes all other denominations from Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Nazarene to Quaker, Amish, and Pentecostal as being a part of "the present wicked system of things," then you may not appreciate just how much of a distortion we see here. KJV states "from this evil world" (past, present, and future --not just the present) and defines the world as being Satan’s domain. All believers in Jesus Christ as being Lord (Jehovah) "come in the flesh" are admonished to come out of the world, but Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in that "Jesus" or that they should.

In any event NWT calls itself an exact translation, when it is a paraphrase, because "system of things" cannot be called a "translation" of the Greek word for "world." They lied, and any deliberate lie is of Satan and must be told for the purpose of deceiving to destroy souls, because that is Satan’s agenda.

Perhaps, the Witnesses would not be so easily deceived, if they were not warned that it was dangerous to listen to any other interpretations of Scripture or interpret it themselves without the guidance of their "unknown Watchtower leaders." These same "spiritual leaders" make it clear to their followers that so-called professing Christians of other denominations are sheep led to the slaughter, because they have been brain-washed by their leaders as to what Scripture means and were not permitted to interpret Scripture for themselves. Their hypocrisy would be funny (ironic), if it were not so tragic.

If the Watchtower’s claims were true, I would be the first to agree that reading for ourselves and trusting the Holy Spirit to teach us personally is not the way to go. But no one can have the Holy Ghost unless he/she believes in Jesus Christ as the Anointed Only Begotten Son of Jehovah, which the Witnesses deny. They deny the Deity of Jesus Christ, therefore, how can they know the truth? See I John 4: 1-4, for a clear definition of an anti-christ as one who refuses to confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.

In light of the evidence presented so far, concerning the Watchtower’s own New World Translation, I would like to direct the reader’s attention to the Watchtower’s Kingdom Interlinear Bible, which includes the New Testament in Greek, presented on the same pages with their interpretation for comparison. The Greek words are not in order, and can be interpreted only by a qualified interpreter who understands Greek grammar.

In the introductory pages of the Watchtowers Kingdom Interlinear Bible, the authors make the following claims, which I will show are totally unfounded. Page l0: "We offer no paraphrase of the Scriptures." (I will show that it is.)

Page l0: "As nearly as possible, word for word, the exact statement of the

original" (I will show that they added words and phrases and they

are not exact.)

Page 9: "Rendering the truth of God’s inspired word, as purely and as

consistently as our consecrated powers make possible." (These

authors are truly trying to palm off their opinions as the Word of God.)

Compare the following mentioned mistranslations with your Kingdom Interlinear Bible, if you are a Jehovah’s Witness and have one, and see for yourself that they do not even follow the original translation from the Greek that they have included along-side their interpretation.

Colossians 2:l1-l2

The Watchtower also made rules to follow that they chose to ignore, if following those rules supported the idea of the Deity of Jesus Christ. The exceptions they made to their own rules follow:

The forward of the aforementioned Kingdom Interlinear Translation (P. 18) tells how the Greek word "Kyrios" (Lord) and "Theos" (God) as referring to Jehovah should be translated into English in the New Testament.

The rule is that if the Christian writers have quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures, then "Kyrios (Lord) and "Theos" (God) are to be translated as, "Jehovah." The following verses are Hebrew Scriptures quoted by Christians in the Greek. They translated the above Hebrew names for Jehovah in the Old Testament as "Lord" or "God," and they applied them to Jesus in the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament. Did the Watchtower follow its own rule in the Kingdom Interlinear Translation?

Take Philippians 2: 11, for example. This verse is quoted from Isaiah 45: 23; "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto ME every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."

Paul says in Philippians 2:11, "Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD (Kyrios in the Greek) to the glory of God the Father." Did the Watchtower translate "Kyrios" as "Jehovah" according to their own rule? No! Nevertheless, that would be the proper translation.

You may want to investigate how the Watchtower did not follow their own rule in the following examples to determine that these alleged prophets deliberately distort Scripture to deny the Deity of Jesus Christ, which the earliest Christians recognized.

Psalms 110: 1, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Jesus quotes from that same Psalm in Matthew

22: 42-45, "Saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They answered him,

‘The son of David.’ He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call Him, Lord (Kyrios), saying, ‘The Lord (Kyrios) said unto my Lord (Kyrios), Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then called Him Lord (Kyrios), how is He his son?" The Watchtower translates one "Kyrios" as "Jehovah" but not the other one. How sloppy can you get? Read on!

If the Watchtower "prophets" answered the question honestly that Jesus asked the Pharisees, they would realize that Jesus is saying that David prophesied that Christ was Jehovah and was using a verse from the Hebrew Scriptures to prove it, but

this fact apparently went right over the top of their heads.

See II Timothy 4: 3; "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

Deuteronomy 10: 17; "For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward." That verse is referred to in Revelations 17: 14; (an angel is explaining to John) "These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful."

The Watchtower knows that the reference in Revelations must be to Jesus, the Lamb of God, but they do not recognize Him as Lord, ("Jehovah") in their translation. The Witnesses should take note of what happens to those who "take away" from the prophecy given to John in Revelations before they swallow the Watchtower’s translation without question, like "lambs led to the slaughter." The Lord expects us to think for ourselves and will hold us responsible if we have "itching ears" for false doctrine.

Isaiah 40: 3, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness (John the Baptist), Prepare ye the way of the Lord (Kyrios), make straight in the desert a highway for our God (Theos). In Matthew 3: 3, the apostle refers to that verse, when speaking of Jesus, "for this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness (John the Baptist), Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight." (Jesus must be Lord God Jehovah in Matthew, if He is Lord or Jehovah in Isaiah.)

Joel 2: 32; "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant who the Lord shall call." This verse is quoted in the New Testament in Acts 2: 21; "And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord ("Kyrios," referring to Jesus) shall be saved..."

Romans 10: 13-14; "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord (Kyrios) shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?" How, indeed! Since the message of the Gospel is that we should believe in Jesus CHRIST, we must recognize Jesus as being, "THE CHRIST", or we are not believing in "THE CHRIST." "The Christ" is "The Anointed One," The Only Begotten Son of God, born out of God’s own bosom--not a creation. If anyone does not believe who Jesus Christ really is must believe in another Jesus or an anti-christ.

Another important rule for translating from the Greek into English was formulated by Granville Sharp and is universally accepted by most Greek scholars. He said, "When the Greek word for "and" ("kai") connects two nouns of the SAME CASE, if the article precedes the first noun and is not repeated before the second noun, then both nouns refer to the SAME PERSON."

This rule can be applied to the following two verses: Titus 2: 13, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;" and II Peter 1:1; "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ." (Hoekema, pp. 336-337.) In both of the verses, God and our Savior Jesus Christ is the same person, according to the rule.

Competent translators recognize speech patterns, which they depend on to determine the placement of punctuation marks. They also use contextual clues to guide them in making accurate translations. Antichrist organizations completely ignore these carefully thought out interpretations and continually desecrate the Word of God by placing commas according to their personal biases rather than rules of accurate interpretation. They choose articles that do not fit the context of the rest of the passage or the original language being translated, or they choose words that do not fit the contextual clues. In general, they rewrite the whole Bible to conform to their ideas rather than accepting the Word of God, according to its most obvious interpretation.

An example: One cult who claims to be the only true prophet deliberately altered a comma from the traditional translations to support the lie that a man’s soul does not exist apart from his body. They contend that when he passes away, both his soul and body cease to exist. In Luke 23: 43, the traditional interpretation is: "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." But this cult placed the comma after "today" to support their false teaching that souls cannot go directly to Paradise. They teach that souls will be recreated to enjoy Paradise on earth. They do not recognize that a soul exists and/or goes anywhere until it is recreated after Judgment Day.

Traditional translators based their decision to place the comma after "you" on the fact that all the other times Jesus used the expression "Verily I say unto you," it would have been impossible to place the comma anywhere but after "you." At no time did Jesus ever say, "Verily I say unto you today." So, why would he use that expression in this one particular case? In all probability, He would not. God is not the author of confusion (See I Colossians 14: 33).

Incidentally, Jesus used the expression, "Verily I say unto you" seventy-three times and the comma always must be placed after the "you," because in all those cases the comma after the next word would not make any sense at all. A few examples from Matthew are: 6: 2, 5,16; 8: 10; 10: l5; 10: 42; 11: 11; l3: l7; and all through the Gospels, it is the same.

You owe it to yourself to check it out, because believing these lies can result in the soul you think will cease to exist to be separated from God forever which is the definition of "Hell." The thirst that Jesus describes as being unquenchable is a spiritual thirst that only Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit can supply. Those who do not believe in Him will be dry as a sandstorm in the desert.

14. Members of cults make up their own rules that are contrary to traditional Christianity, and contrary to the practices of the early Christians including the Apostles and Paul. The Jehovah Witnesses tell their followers that they should pray only to Jehovah, the One and only person in the Godhead. They do not recognize Jesus as part of the Godhead, even though the Apostles prayed directly to Jesus many times, and even baptized in Jesus name. They ignore the statement of Jesus that "No one cometh unto the Father but by me."

15. The antichrists deny the bodily resurrection. I Corinthians 15: 12-28; (Paul is speaking) "Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen, and if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." Anyone who denies the bodily resurrection might as well ignore all that is taught in the Word of God, because it is worthless and without any hope at all.

What does Scripture say about a bodily resurrection? Luke 24: 2-3; "And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. And they entered in, and found not the BODY of the Lord Jesus. (His BODY was resurrected.)

Matthew 27: 52; tells us that others were resurrected from the dead at the same time that Jesus was: "And the graves were opened; and many BODIES of the saints which slept arose."

In Luke 24: 36-43, Jesus appears to the Apostles and they are frightened because they think He is a spirit, but Jesus says in verse 39, "Behold my hands and feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see: for a SPIRIT HATH NOT FLESH AND BONES as ye see me have." And in verse 42 He showed them further proof by eating broiled fish and honeycomb. Jesus said that He did these things to show that prophecies concerning His resurrection were fulfilled.

The Jews asked Jesus for a sign and Jesus told them in John 2: 19-21; ..."Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But He spake of the Temple of his BODY." Jesus prophesied here that He would raise up His BODY.

Thomas, one of the Apostles, also doubted the physical resurrection of Jesus. He said in John 20: 25; "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe." Later, Jesus appeared to the Apostles again and said to Thomas in verse 27, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto Him, ‘My Lord (Kyrios) and My God (Theos)’." If Jesus were not Jehovah, why did He not rebuke Thomas for his worshipful response as Jesus Himself told Satan that only Jehovah was to be worshipped--unless Jesus Christ was Jehovah come in the flesh.

16. The antichrists say the resurrection is past already, as Jesus predicted they would do, and warned that no one should believe it, because all would see Him coming in the clouds just as He left, when He returns. II Timothy 2: 17-18; says "And their word will eat as doth a canker: of who is Hymenaeus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some."

Paul also warns in Thessalonians 2: 3-4, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

Since the temple has not yet been rebuilt, then the son of perdition has not yet sat in it and has not yet been revealed and therefore we have every reason to believe that the Second Coming of our Lord has not occurred--YET! But the Jews are discussing the rebuilding of that temple even as I write. Jesus is coming soon, and the prophecies in the Watchtower that say the resurrection is past, are false.

17. About recognizing other false teachers and false prophets: Most cultists, like the Gnostics of old, claim to have received special revelations from God to justify the changes they make in the Word of God. That is why their prophecies never come to pass even though they claim to be the only true prophets. Anyone who makes a prophecy that does not come to pass has not received it from God.

Satan has some powers to make predictions that do come to pass, but he deliberately falsifies the truth to destroy faith and promote cynicism and unbelief. If he can destroy faith or cause confusion so that no one knows what to believe, then he thinks he has won as he cackles, "Gotcha!" We must be wary, because Satan will agree to any teaching of Jesus except the one by which we can have eternal life--that Jehovah came down to earth in the person of His Only Begotten Son and sacrificed Himself so that we could ALL BE SAVED. Why would anyone doubt that?

18. Some cultists claim that because they are persecuted, they are the only ones who have the truth. That is somewhat amusing considering that everyone on earth at this time believes that they are being persecuted in one way or another--and from what any of us can observe first hand, we can believe that all men are truly being persecuted. Does Scripture support that idea? It must, or why does Scripture reassure us that with the persecution, God promises that those who really do have the truth can overcome.

See Revelations 12: 11-12; "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

Please read the above verses carefully and see that Satan is persecuting all men because he knows he has only a short time to accomplish his vengeance on all men--God’s favorite creation. But the good news is that those who believe in Jesus Christ and testify that He is Lord (Kyrios) or Jehovah Himself who came in the flesh will overcome the persecution of Satan. And all true believers said, "Amen!"

19. Fear and lack of hope is part of the lives of all cult members who believe they must earn their salvation by their works or by trying to be righteous under their own power, denying the power of the Holy Spirit to work in their lives unto their salvation. Scripture assures all believers that we are justified by faith--not by works--yet Jehovah’s Witnesses are deceived into believing that they must go out "two-by-two" and witness as to the doctrines taught them by the Watchtower leaders to earn a place in Paradise on earth.

SUMMARY: Antichrist organizations and cults have one thing in common. They all deny the Deity of Jesus Christ, which is all Satan has to make us believe to destroy anyone’s chance for eternal life and salvation. Naturally, they all have other false teachings to cause confusion and dissension among the brethren as well as unbelievers to keep as many as possible from coming to the "Truth," which is Jesus Christ’s middle name. Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty come in the flesh, who died on the cross, shed His blood to pay for our sins, rose from the dead in three days, and sits at the right hand of God the Father. However, He will return JUST AS HE LEFT any time now to establish the Kingdom of God in the earth.

If we do not know who Jesus really is, how can we believe? If we do not believe and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, how can we be saved and how can we receive eternal life? Of course, that old devil, Satan, the master deceiver, does not want us to be saved. That is why he is called the Destroyer and that is his plan--to destroy all men. He operates through his anti-christ organizations and he forms a new one every day. Fortunately, his Method of Operation (M. O.) never changes. He denies the Deity of Jesus Christ, and appeals to our pride to convince us that we can be gods without submitting to Jesus Christ (Jehovah), who came down to earth to save us. Is not that essentially the same thing he told Adam and Eve to deceive them?

...Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a "prophet" of God. It is another thing to prove it. The only way that this can be done is to review the record. What does it show? Watchtower, 4: 1-72, page l97.

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What did Jesus teach? He taught that the no one could or would be saved by the Law of Moses or by obeying The Ten Commandments. In Matthew 23: 23, Jesus accused the Pharisees of obeying the law even to paying their tithes. He did not commend them for obeying the letter of the Law of Moses. If you read chapter 23 carefully, you know that Jesus, who does not lie, is saying, "You obey the letter of the law, because you do not have the Spirit of the Law and cannot have it without me."

In Matthew 5: 20, Jesus states, "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Yet, Jesus never accused these leaders of not obeying the letter of the Law of Moses, only that they did not obey the Spirit of the Law and He knew they could not without Him. His purpose was to persuade them that they needed to believe Him and receive Him in order to receive salvation. His intention was not to condemn them, but to make them understand that they needed a change of heart that only He could give by His Holy Spirit.

Jesus was accusing the Pharisees of believing in the Law, and rejecting the Lawgiver, which is the reason Jesus had to go to the cross, according to Paul. Therefore, Jesus did not come to preach the Law of Moses, because under the Law we are under condemnation. Paul explained in the Book of Romans--in great detail--that the Law was given to show men that they needed a Savior. He called the Law a schoolmaster only to lead all men to Christ, the Anointed One, when He came. Paul warned the Galatians that having begun in the Spirit, they were in great danger, if they fell back on that which makes sense to men or satisfies our fleshly nature--obeying the Law.

An example of what Jesus did teach is contained in Mark 2: 27, in response to the Pharisees continual accusations that Jesus did not keep the Sabbath, "And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Paul stated in Romans 2: 1, "Therefore thou are inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself: for thou that judgest doest the same things." I will paraphrase the above statement more plainly. Those who judge others (calling them deliberate sinners or "ignorant," are judging them by the Law by which they themselves shall be judged and condemned, because men who judge are guilty of doing the same things that they are accusing others of doing. Psychologists have a word for that-- "projection"--or projecting one’s guilt on others.

Those Christians who choose to speak of the love and forgiveness of God and refuse to teach the Ten Commandments are doing exactly what they are commanded to do to win souls to Christ. Satan is defeated by our testimony--or our witness as to how Jesus delivered us from our sins--and the blood of Jesus that he shed to pay for our sins--not by our preaching, or quoting Bible verses and commandments to condemn others.

Satan condemns, which is why the Word of God tells us that he accuses the brethren all day long. If we are genuinely concerned for others as our Lord demonstrated that He was concerned for us, then others will trust us and believe our witness. We do not demonstrate that concern by pointing out the faults and failures of others.

However, that is by no means the last word on this subject. Jesus also said concerning the Sabbath (under the Law) in Matthew 12: 7-8, "But if ye had known what this meaneth, ‘I will have mercy and not sacrifice,’ ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." Jesus is speaking of a quality that only those who have been born in the Spirit as a result of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives--the quality of mercy. Only a change of heart--not by obeying the Law in our own strength, but by being taught by the Lord’s Spirit--can a man be merciful, loving, compassionate, and manifest the fruits of the Spirit.

Is it possible to teach a man to obey God’s laws without the Holy Spirit?

Of course not! Is it possible for man to obey God’s laws without the Holy Spirit? Of course not! Is it possible for man who has received the Holy Spirit to deliberately break God’s laws? The book of I John states that it is not possible. In Verse 3: 6 John states that whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

Therefore, that is the reason Jesus Christ did not waste his breath teaching the Commandments of Moses. Rather, He said, "I came to save, not to condemn." Under the Law, all men were--and still are--under condemnation.

No man was ever saved under the Law or by the Law--not even John the Baptist, whom Jesus declared was Elijah and the best man who ever lived, yet he was LESS THAN THE LEAST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. He was not saved, until after Jesus was crucified and descended into the depths of hell itself and preached the gospel to those who had not yet heard it. (This message will fall on deaf ears of those who choose not believe that Scriptural statement.)

I decided to write this message because I heard a Seventh Day Adventist say that those who did not observe the Sabbath on Saturday, as God commanded, and worshipped God on Sunday, are not necessarily "deliberately" committing a sin, but they are "ignorant" of the truth.

It is my belief that this man is passing judgment on many committed and dedicated Christians who have received more light on the subject than the Adventists. I did not reach that conclusion lightly or in ignorance, and I know by the Spirit of God that I am not deliberately sinning. I will continue to discuss my viewpoint in detail, and pray that I am not equally guilty of passing judgment. It is Scriptural not to permit others to judge us in holy days or the Sabbath, or in any case, for that matter.

Why did the earliest Christians choose to meet on the first day of the week to study Scripture and worship the Lord, if they believed they were to observe the Sabbath?

A better question might be, "If Jesus taught observing the Sabbath, why did they not do so?" I am sure the Adventists are familiar with the verse, Acts 20: 7, "And upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them ready to depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight (stopping before the second day of the week). Why?

The Adventist who accused other Christians also stated that the Jews were not commanded to worship on the Sabbath, but only to observe that day as a day of rest. He was attempting to "excuse" our "ignorance" by implying that worshipping on Sunday was harmless. That, of course, is unscriptural for God did command the Jews to observe all "Sabbath days" as days of worship.

Many Sabbaths were designated, including a whole year of Sabbaths-- the year of Jubilee--and the days of the New Moon--all of which the Jews were commanded to observe with many rituals, rules, and regulations that the Adventists have chosen to ignore. However, our accuser may not be aware that the Jews were commanded to worship on the Sabbath days, but why would he ignore all the other rituals?

The Word of God states emphatically that if we obey one part of the Law, we must observe the whole Law. Why do Adventists choose to obey one part of the Law, concerning the Sabbaths and holy days, and condemn all other Christians who choose not to be brought back under any part of the Law, per se?

I will quote a few other verses concerning the observation of Sabbath days, holy days, and the days of the new moon, but I am not writing this letter to put a stumbling block in the paths of those whose consciences would condemn them for not observing the Sabbath. For the same reason, Paul advised that anyone whose faith was weak must never do that which would cause him/her to believe that they would be condemned if they did it.

By all means, observe your Sabbath, but do not condemn those who do not, lest ye be condemned by the same measure. Most Christians have faith enough to believe that they are free to do all things in Christ Jesus--even eat meat sacrificed to idols--because they know that they would be eating unto the Lord--giving thanks unto the Lord

--not unto idols.

In Isaiah 66: 33, the word of God states, "And it shall come to pass that from one moon to another and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to WORSHIP BEFORE ME SAITH THE LORD." The Lord God Jehovah did command the Jews to WORSHIP Him on the Sabbath days and days of the new moon.

Yet, the Seventh Day Adventist who accused other Christians of being ignorant, said that no Scripture required anyone to worship the Lord on the Sabbath, because he was "excusing Christians" for worshipping on another day, which he very generously suggested was harmless. I believe that Jesus requires us to worship Him all the time on every day of the week--praying without ceasing--but then I am a hopeless zealot. Nevertheless, God did command the Jews to worship Him on the Sabbath days and holy days--all of them. The Adventist condemned Christians for not observing the Sabbath day as a day of rest, but not for meeting on the first day of the week.

On the other hand, if the Sabbath day was made for man as a day of rest, and not for God, does it matter which day of the week that a man chooses to rest? I fear for the Adventists for judging those of us who do not observe the law according to their interpretation, far more than I would even consider judging them for not observing the Sabbath, if their consciences are weak. Read what Paul says about that.

Paul stated emphatically in Romans 8: 4-7: "As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many and lords many,) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by who are all things, and we by Him. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with CONSCIENCE of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their CONSCIENCE being WEAK IS DEFILED."

Therefore, all who believe that they must worship on the Sabbath or keep the Sabbath are right to do so but those of us who believe that the Sabbath is a day of rest made for man, it is not required of us to observe the Sabbath. But I have much more support for my position than that.

In Romans 8: 15-16 Paul states, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to FEAR, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, ABBA, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."

As "His kids," we can go directly to His throne and ask Him to His face by saying, "Daddy, May I?" instead of constantly seeking to appease a God of wrath whom we cannot please no matter what we do. We have been set free of having to study the Law, but rather have the privilege of approaching Our Lord directly in faith and without fear.

We are not justified by the Law or any part of the Law, but by faith, which is another reason why Jesus did not teach the Law, even though He replaced the Law with a New Commandment that would be even more difficult to obey in our own strength. That is why He taught faith, love, and walking in His Spirit as free gifts and set us all free from the consequences of the disobedience to the Law.

We are covered by the blood of Jesus, and the book of I John assures us over and over that love is enough to fulfill the whole law. The love God has for us, the love we have for God, and the love we have for one another fulfills the whole Law, but no one can know that LOVE except by His Spirit. Furthermore, if we do know that love, then we have NO reason to study the Law, which could not save us, if we did.

In Galatians 2: 16, Paul states, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the Law. For by the WORKS OF THE LAW SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED."

My intention at this point is to take those who trust in the Law by the hand and lead them through Scripture step by step so that they will know why most committed Christians deliberately chose the first day of the week to worship God. Please stay with me, because the flesh loves the Law, and finds it difficult to go against its own nature by walking in the Spirit of God by faith.

I will quote the Adventist preacher again who quoted John Greenleaf Whittier,

"He who complies against his will is of his own opinion still." I am not so foolish as to think that man was not speaking of himself. Nevertheless, I hope others who read this message will not be so foolish as to fall for his arguments, without hearing and understanding what Jesus really taught.

Jesus died on the cross, which dissolved His covenant or symbolic marriage to Israel. He was then free to take or choose a "new bride" under The New Covenant. The Old Covenant was the agreement God had made with Israel. The New Covenant included all men who agreed to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Master, Savior, and Lord. Death is the only way a "marriage" can be legally dissolved. This is a mystery to some, but that is the explanation that Paul gave. Jesus "died" and was legally set free to take a "new bride" that included all men--even gentiles.

At this point, I shall quote the exact verses that justify the title of this message, "Why Jesus Did Not Teach the Commandments," because these verses demonstrate that He did not teach them. As a matter of fact He deliberately ignored the first four of the Ten Commandments: (l) We should have no other gods before him, (2) We should not make any graven images or worship them. (Having already quoted Paul on this subject, the reader should understand that Jesus did not teach this Commandment and why.)

(3) We should not take the Lord’s name in vain. (Contrary to what most preachers teach, this Commandment is taught by those who unwittingly do take the Lord’s name in vain by preaching vanities and speaking vain words without being filled with the Holy Spirit.)

After all, Jesus cursed a fig tree once by "damning" it in the name of the Lord, and He did teach that it was unnecessary to swear by anything else, by advising all to simply answer "yea" and "nay" and speak the truth. Jesus is the Truth, and the only Truth, and "swearing" by anyone or anything is not going to make a lie into the truth. The bottom-line is that cursing and swearing has little--if anything--to do with holding the Lord’s name in vain--except under the Law, without understanding. The Jews could only understand the letter of the Law, because they did not have the Holy Spirit living in them.

On the other hand, no one can preach that Truth without the Holy Spirit, or even say, "Jesus is Lord" with any understanding. Such men drive men out of the kingdom of God as the Scribes and Pharisees did, and naturally, that is why God forbids it. "Thou shalt not speak without the Holy Spirit" is the way that commandment under the New Covenant would read, because man can only speak vanities without the Holy Spirit.

Jesus also ignored the fourth Commandment that we are to keep the Sabbath holy, which I have been discussing in detail. Now, consider these verses in which Jesus actually did ignore the first four Commandments and one more, "Thou shalt not covet," but for an entirely different reason.

All Ten Commandments are contained in the ONLY Commandment that the Lord gave, which He prefaced with, "A New Commandment I give unto you,"-- John 13: 34-35, "That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

The account of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19: 16-22 demonstrates further,

"And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him Why callest thou me good? There is not good but One, and that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments. He saith unto him, Which? and Jesus said, "Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother: and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

I remind you that Jesus did not mention--or ignored the first four Commandments

and did not mention "Thou shalt not covet" for good reason. Continue reading to learn that reason.

"The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, "If thou wilt be PERFECT, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."

Jesus did not mention, "Thou shalt not covet," because He knew the man’s heart--that he was covetous--and He wanted to make the point that the young man would be PERFECT, if he obeyed all the Commandments that He mentioned, BUT he also must stop being covetous. The point of my mentioning this particular passage is that Jesus said the young man could have eternal life or be PERFECT by simply obeying the Commandments that He mentioned, which did include loving one’s neighbor. Jesus did not mention the first four. The reason is because they are included in the Commandment to love the Lord Thy God with all we have and to love thy neighbor as thyself.

Furthermore, the other six Commandments pertain to our relationship with others and are included in the only "New Commandment" that Jesus gave, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Do we need any more than these, if we have the Spirit of God living in us, reassuring us, guiding us, comforting us, and teaching us? A more significant question is: "Can any man obey any laws--God’s or man’s--without the Holy Spirit? For four thousand years of recorded history, the word of God proves the no man can, nor had any man ever done so--not even King David!

Paul also omitted the Commandments pertaining to man’s relationship to God under the Old Covenant in Romans 13: 8-10, "Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and IF THERE BE ANY OTHER COMMANDMENT, IT IS BRIEFLY COMPREHENDED IN THIS SAYING, NAMELY, "THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." ("Honor thy father and mother." would be included in that saying, even though Paul did not mention it specifically.)

One last word, concerning the keeping of the Sabbath which the Adventists insist on keeping, Paul in chapter 14 of Romans states in verses 5 and 6, "One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks, and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks." Skipping down to verse 20, Paul says.... "All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offense. "

I repeat that I am not writing this message to tempt anyone to go against his conscience or to "offend" anyone. But I fear for anyone who sits in judgment of others who have given the same matter a great deal of thought and has a clear conscience concerning that matter in Christ Jesus--lest we be judged by the same measure.

I cannot say it more clearly than Paul said in Galatians 4: 10-11, "Ye observe days and months and times and years. I AM AFRAID FOR YOU, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain." Also, Paul stated in Colossians 2: 16, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat (sacrificed to idols), or in drink, or in respect of a HOLY--DAY OR OF THE NEW MOON OR OF THE SABBATH DAY."

That is the reason that I saw fit to address the Seventh Day Adventist who accused Christians (or judged Christians) who did not observe the Sabbath as he saw fit to observe it. Certainly, the vast majority of Christians who observe the first day of the week instead of the seventh just may be making a statement: That they have been set free from the Old Law or Old Covenant by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The most important verses that the Seventh Day Adventists have ignored are located in Exodus 31: 13-17, because these verses definitely state that the keeping of the Sabbath is directly related to the sealing of the Old Covenant that God made with Israel. That covenant is not binding on the CHURCH under the New Covenant.

Verse 13 states, "Speak thou also unto the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: FOR IT IS A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS; THAT YE MAY KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD THAT DOTH SANCTIFY YOU. Skipping down to verse 17 in which the Lord states again, "It is a sign BETWEEN ME AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

I do not get the impression that the Sabbath or Sabbaths or other holy days apply to me, a born again Gentile Christian under The New Covenant. I pray that God save Israel and that all Jews be blessed for giving us the Lord Jesus Christ who set us free. I believe that Jews have paid a tremendous price for that privilege--one that no Gentile in history was qualified to pay. Jesus Christ is Lord and deserves all the Glory. Amen!

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