God's appointed time part 2

APPOINTED TIMES OF GOD

PART 2ARE FEASTS OLD TESTAMENT?

HOW WE BROKE OFF FROM GOD’S CYCLE

MOST FREQUENT COMMENTS:“This is wonderful! It’s such a

blessing! Why haven’t we done this before?”

THE ANSER IS:“We’ve been ROBBED!”Satan has stolen many of the blessing

God intended us to have!

SATAN IS A LIAR AND A THIEF!Satan’s strategy is to weaken the church by

STEALING our resources.His method: He STEALS by LYING to us!

“Healing is not for today” - the church stays sick“Spiritual gifts ceased” - we abandon weapons“Women can’t minister” - half army sits down

His most effective attacks has been to steal away the WORD OF GOD (Mark 4:15)

And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

Satan has persuaded many to IGNORE most of their Bible!

One of first things a new Christian learns: Bible is divide into 2 parts: OT and NT

OLD TESTAMENT (Hebrew Bible, Torah)• The ¾ of the Bible originally written in

Hebrew• Describes 2000 years of preparation for the

coming of JesusNEW TESTAMENT• The ¼ of the Bible originally written in Greek• Describes the coming of Jesus and its results

It is often explained like this . . .“The Old Testament is written to Jews,

the New Testament is to Christians.”“OT has some good Sunday school stories, but

most of it is hard to understand and you shouldn’t spend much time there because it’s not for us.”

ATTITUDE: something inferior, substandard, or unchristian about Old Testament

Primary reason most Christians don’t understand appointed times: When subject is mentioned . . .

“That’s OLD Testament”

ASSUMPTION: If it’s Old Testament, it’s wrong, out of date, and harmful!

“If you are really a Christian you would never want to do something from the OT!”

“BEING DISLOYAL TO JESUS!”If you think that . . . You’re not just rejecting

OT, … You’re also rejecting the New Testament!Surprising Truth: The NT VALUES THE OT!“I thought we were New Testament Church!”“We ARE . . . But the BIBLE of the NT Church

was the Old Testament!

New Testament Church Used OT as BIBLE!Imagine you were 25 years old on the day of

Pentecost and got saved when Peter spoke.If you listened to the apostles, teaching every

day of your life . . .Almost 60 years old before you heard your first

sermon from the New Testament!For 30 years, EVERY sermon was from the OT!It’s a “New Testament” thing to STUDY the OT!It’s a “New Testament” thing to PRACTICE OT!For 3 centuries . . . Common to observe the

feasts!

Many Christians have allowed the devil to steal away ¾ of their BIBLE.

They don’t read it, teach it, or know it!IT’S BEEN STOLEN FROM THEM!God put a SWORD in our hands . . .

All some have left is a dagger!

God wants you to have a full sword . . .A COMPLETE BIBLE

TAKING BACK WHAT SATAN HAS

STOLENTo do that, we want to get a

NEW Testament View of the OLD Testament

Jesus and the apostles did not view the Old Testament as inferior, rejected, or

out of date.

They embraced it as THE WORD OF GOD!


STOLENWhat the New Testament CALLED the OLD Testament

• It NEVER calls it the OLD Testament!• It just called it SCRIPTURE!

First to call Hebrew Bible “Old Testament”Melito of Sardis – AD 180

First to call the Greek Bible “New Testament”Irenaeus – AD 190

That distinction: 150 years after Pentecost!120 years after most of the NT were written!


STOLENJesus and the OLD TestamentJesus embraced the Old Testament as

God’s Word. He Continually quoted it!

• Jesus in the wilderness – 3 times He resisted the devil by quoting

Deuteronomy.• John 10:35, Jesus: “the SCRIPTURE

cannot be broken.”• Matt 5:18 “until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or

stroke shall pass away from the Torah.”


STOLEN“But the OT is Hard to Understand!”BOTH testaments have hard things!

Both OT and NT have MEAT and MILK!• In both is MILK to nourish young believers!• In both there is enough MEAT to keep a

mature Christian studying for a lifetime!GOSPEL OF JOHN

• First thing for New Christians! “easy read”• Yet there are profound and deep things we

still need to grasp and more years of study.


STOLENPaul and the OLD Testament1 Cor. 10:11 “Now these things (Old Testament Accounts) happened to

them as an example, and were written for OUR instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have

come.”

The Old Testament was written for our benefit! Don’t accept the lie that the

Old Testament was just for Jews.


STOLENPaul and the OLD Testament2 Cor 3:16-18 (Describes what it’s like when

a Christian studies the Old testament)“with unveiled face (we are ) beholding as in

a mirror the glory of the Lord . . .”Paul says when Christians study OT . . . It’s

like viewing the glory of God in a mirror!OT is reflection of God’s glory . . . And

through it we are transformed from glory to glory!


STOLENPaul and the OLD TestamentII Tim 3:14-17 – Value of OT for Christians:But as for you, continue in what you have

learned . . . How from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able

to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, rebuking correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped

for every good work.


STOLENPaul and the OLD Testament“…continue in what you have learned . . . How from infancy you have known the holy

Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ

Jesus.”Jewish children began their study of TORAH

at age 3! “From Infancy” Timothy’s Jewish mother and grandmother would have

taught him the OT Scriptures.Paul is saying, “What Timothy has learned

will be of GREAT value to him as a Christian!"

WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT?

1. You can’t understand NT without the Old!

If you reject the OT you also miss out on NT!

Studying the NT . . . Need to reference the OT!

John the Baptist – “behold the Lamb of God!

“Trying to understand the Bible without studying the Old Testament is like reading the last fourth part of a good novel! You

may be reading the best parts of the book, but there will be a great deal you

don’t understand!”

WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT?2. The NT INSTRUCTS us to learn the

OT!If we don’t teach the OT, we are

disobeying NT!1 Cor 10:11 “These things (things recorded

in the OT) happened to them as an example, and were written for our

instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Rom 15:4 “What was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that

through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we

might have hope.”


3. RICH TREASURES waiting to be revealed

Through much of it’s history, church has neglected the OT! In the last 50

years . . .BIBLICAL PRAISE AND WORSHIP

COVENANT RELATIONSHIPSTABERNACLE OF DAVID

Many areas of truth are mentioned in the New, but clearly explained in the

Old!

WHY IS THE OLD TESTAMENT IMPORTANT?4. MORE TREASURES waiting to be

revealedTORAH = “Teaching of God” =

foundationalPresence of God, Holiness,

Intercession . . .God doesn’t repeat everything, assumes

you have OT!

5. OT is full of God’s Promises, thousands!

2 Cor 1 – all “YES” in Jesus! What God wants for you.

6. In the OT, the Church is REDISCOVERING it’s LOST INHERITANCE!

God’s Appointed Times!We are RECLAIMING the stolen blessings!


Relating to the OLD Testament2 Tim 3:16 “… profitable for doctrine, reproof,

correction and instruction in righteousness.”- DOCTRINE (Teaching) give us understanding of

the character and nature of God - FAITH- REPROOF - warn us when we are getting off

track- CORRECTION - Help get us back on track- INSTRUCTION in RIGHTEOUSNESS - shows us

the ways of God and how to please Him

OLD TESTAMENT Scriptures = precious GIFT from God!


We are NOT under OT Rituals and Laws

But OT is far MORE than book of commandments

The OT is a WINDOW into the Heart of God!• Torah - (5 books) foundational teaching on God

• Historical books - definitive book on praise and worship.

• Proverbs - teaches to walk in God’s wisdom

• Prophets - greatest teaching on God ever given(Isaiah = “gospel” clearer teaching on Jesus than

NT)To REJECT the OT is to live in self-imposed

POVERTY, missing out on blessings God intended us to enjoy!


Paul to Ephesians elders: Goal was to communicate “Whole Counsel of

God!”WE NEED IT ALL!

WE NEED THE NEW TESTAMENTWE NEED THE OLD TESTAMENT

It’s ALL one Book!It’s ALL God’s Word!

It’s ALL of eternal value!It’s ALL profitable . . . And it’s ALL for

us!

HOW WE BROKE OUT OF GOD’S CYCLE

GOD GAVE US A CYCLE OF BLESSING!It’s a CYCLE of “appointed times”

designed to bring us into ever greater blessing!

• to draw us ever closer to God• to lead us into restoration and revival• and keep us secure from the enemy

God gave these as perpetual ordinances to be observed through all generations (Lev

23:31)But the church has abandoned them and

forfeited the blessing God intended.HOW DID WE LOSE THEM?


THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

LIFE DEATH RESURRECTION

Early Church

Dark Ages Revivals

325

500 1500


The LIFE of the EARLY CHURCHThe Early Church was the most powerful institution the world had

ever seenIT EXPLODED ONTO THE WORLD STAGE

IN ACTS 2, AND NOTHING HAD THE POWER TO STAND AGAINST IT!

Pagan religions could not compete with it.

Greek philosophy could not comprehend it.

Persecution only purified it and made it grow more rapidly!


On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit fell on 120 people

ACTS 2 ACTS 4 ACTS 7

120

3,000 10,000 20,000 100,000

THE GROWTH OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH

By the end of that day, God added more than 3,000 men and women to the church.

Within a year, the Jerusalem church tripled in size numbering more than 10,000

Some estimate by time Stephen was killed (Acts 6-7) the church had grown to 20,000

CHURCH MADE UP ½ OF POPULATION OF JERUSALEM!


Explosive growth was experienced in every city.ACTS 19 – The Church in Ephesus

•The Entire City Evangelized•All the Cities in the Surrounding Province Reached•The Church Grows so RAPIDLY the Economy is effected•Ultimately HALF the CITY saved and in the Church

By the Year A.D. 112 . . . “in the province of Asia Minor, temples to heathen gods are almost totally

forsaken and Christians are everywhere a multitude.” - Pliny

T W O Y E A R S


MOST OF US HAVE NEVER IMAGINED A CHURCH LIKE THE EARLY CHURCHThey had an entirely different picture of “CHURCH”No one in the early church had ever seen:

a church buildinga stained glass windowa hymnal

a steeplea pulpit or pewa church bulletin

They didn’t even have a video projector!

WHAT WAS THE EARLY CHURCH LIKE?


IT WAS A CHURCH FILLED WITH LOVE!

Every time they gathered, they had a love feast! They loved each other as family.

Even their enemies cried out in frustration, “Behold how they love one another.”

THE SPREAD OF THE CHURCH

INDIA

GERMANY

ENGLAND

AFRICA

120

Within the first 67 years, Christian missionaries like Paul took the Gospel to THE

ENTIRE KNOWN WORLD.Wherever the Gospel went, the church took

hold and grew rapidly. It was not unusual for a church to be planted in a city and quickly

grow to 20,000 or 30,000 members.The church literally CONQUERED the Roman

Empire

“You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching” Acts 5:28

“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” – Acts 17:6

Tartullian: “We have filled every place belonging to you – cities, islands, castles, towns, assemblies, your very camp, tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum! We leave you your temples only. We can count your armies; our numbers in a single province will be grater.”Philip Shaff: “It may be fairly asserted, that by the end of the 3rd century the name of Christ was known, revered, and persecuted in every province and every city of the empire. . . In all probability at the close of the 3rd century the church numbered ten million souls.”

Some estimate by the end of the 3rd century half the population of the Empire had

converted to Christianity.This took place within a totally pagan, occult,

immoral culture, in the midst of severe persecution.”

THE DEATH OF THE CHURCH

325

500

EARLY CHURCH BUT, in the year 325, something happened that

caused the church to DIE!

By the year 500, the early church had ceased to exist!

WHAT HAPPENED?

The death of the church was caused by something that seemed at first, like a great blessing!It was the “Conversion” of the Roman Emperor CONSTANTINE!

It was the year A.D. 312… a time of great turmoil in the Roman Empire.Two rivals, Constantine and Maxentius were struggling to seize the imperial throne.As he prepared for battle, Constantine prayed to his god, Mithras (Persian sun god). Constantine saw a vision.

He saw a vision:“CONQUER by THIS”

Constantine came to the throne with the announcement that he was now a follower of Christ.

PROBLEM: Constantine not only LEGALIZED Christianity,

he tried to IMPROVE it.

In return for his favor, Constantine demanded CONTROL

“PONTIFEX MAXIMUS” (HIGH PRIEST)In the year 325 Constantine called, and

presided over, the first general council of the church,

The Council of NICEA

Purpose: To reorganize the church and give it a new

image.

CONSTANTINE LITERALLY RE-

INVENTED CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIANITY AFTER NICEA WAS A DIFFERENT RELIGION THAN

CHRISTIANITY BEFORE NICEA.

LET’S LOOK AT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT CHANGED . . .

The Emperor’s New Church

1. Death of House Church

St. John Lateran . . . A basilica.

Pattern: Imperial Palace

Basilica-type churches were built all over the empire.Constantine then enacted a law that “houses

of prayer” must be abolished, and forbidding Christians from holding church in private homes. Worded “to strike terror into the minds of his subjects.”


2. A Change in WorshipConstantine decided to improve ways church

worshipped.Less than one year after his conversion: “I am

going to make plain to them what kind of worship is to be offered to God. . . What higher duty have I as emperor than to cause all to offer God true religion and due worship.”

To Constantine’s Roman mind, the highest expression of worship was found in the solemn rituals of the Roman Imperial Court:

Solemn ceremonies with fixed written forms of worship

Burning of incense and the carrying of candles


3. Rejection of the Church’s Jewish (Hebraic) Roots

Like many Romans, Constantine hated Jews. “A Conquered People. Hostile to Rome”

Constantine decided to purge church of Jewish elements

Commanded the church to avoid following customs of the Jews . . . Outlawed biblical

feasts and Sabbaths.His Decree at NICEA (325) “Let us have nothing

in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries . . . This irregularity (observing

Passover) must be corrected.”Eusebius: “It appeared an unworthy thing that

we should follow practices of the Jews.. . Let us withdraw ourselves from all

participation in their baseness . . . All should unite in avoiding all participation in

the conduct of the Jews.”


Bernard Lazare describes changes resultling from NICEA

“(before Nicea) Christians attended the synagogues, (and) celebrated the Jewish holidays . . . It required the action of the Nicean Council to free Christianity of this last bond by which it had still been tied to

its cradle.”

Those who observed biblical feasts were marked “ANATHEMA” (cut off or accursed). This eventually became a crime against the

state punishable by death.


Church’s Attempt to Enforce NICEA’s Decree

THE COUNCIL OF ANTIOCH (A.D.365) – “If any bishop, presbyter or deacon will dare, after this decree, to celebrate Passover with the Jews, the council judges them to be anathema from the church. This council not only deposes them from ministry, but also any others who dare to communicate with them.”

THE COUNCIL OF LAODICEA (A.D.365) – “It is not permitted to receive festivals which are by Jews, nor to hold a festival together with them. Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day. . . But if any be found to be Judaizers let them be ANATHEMA from Christ.”


Church’s Attempt to Enforce NICEA’s Decree

THE COUNCIL OF AGDE, FRANCE (506) – “Clerics must not take part in Jewish festivals.”

THE COUNCIL OF NICEA 2 (787) – “(Those who) openly or secretly keep the Sabbath and follow other practices in the manner of the Jews are not to be received into communion, nor into prayer, nor into the church.”

CONSTANTINE DIVORCED THE CHURCH FROM JUDAISM (Jews, Hebraic Roots)

But more than that . . . HE MARRIED THE CHURCH TO PAGANISM


In 321 Constantine honored his newfound faith by making SUNDAY a

state holiday.

. . . But in his decree, Constantine designated this new holiday:

“The Venerable Day of the SUN”

Constantine claimed to be a Christian, but did not seem to understand who JESUS was!

Constantine was devoted follower of MITHRAS,The Persian sun god . . . “The Unconquered

Sun!”


When Constantine saw his vision of the cross in the sky next

to the sun, he evidently assumed

JESUS was manifestation of

MITHRAS!


Constantine put a picture of Mithras on

his coins.Coin dated 2 years after

conversionOn his triumphal arch, built to celebrate

his victory over Maxentius, he put a picture of Mithras


Constantine’s confusion over the identity of Jesus seems to have infected many of the unconverted pagans now crowding

into the church.

Early Century depictions of Jesus as sun god.By the 5th Century, it became a common

practice for worshippers to turn and bow down to the rising sun before entering the basilica in

RomeInflux of pagan thinking affected the church in

many ways

CHURCH GAINED A NEW SET OF HOLIDAYS

Before Constantine, the holidays of the church were the BIBLICAL FEASTS.

The Church never had a celebration for the BIRTH of JESUS

But the Romans celebrated Dec 25 as the birth of MITHRAS. (In 274 emperor Aurelian had made it a state holiday)The unconverted pagans rushing into the church didn’t want to give up their

holiday. They declared December 25 to be the birthday of Christ, and gave the

Church a new holiday: CHRISTMAS

Another New Holiday: Spring Fertility Festival

Pagans held feast in spring to honor the goddess of fertility.Canaanites: ASHERAHPersians: AESTARTEBabylonians: ISHTAREurope: EASTRE

Constantine outlawed Passover and ordered Christians to celebrate Christ’s resurrection of the

time of the spring fertility festival.Christ’s resurrection was taken out of its biblical context and celebrated in the context of pagan

feast.In English-speaking world, did not even change

the name.

BY THE END OF 4TH CENTURY PAGAN SACRIFICE WAS OUTLAWED AND PAGAN

TEMPLES TURNED INTO CHURCHESPagan shrines were changed into Christian shrines. Some pagan priests even became

Christian priest.

Pagans were told that they lived in a Christian empire and it was their

responsibility to live as Christians.

The trouble is, they didn’t know Jesus!They were still PAGANS. Beliefs had not

changed!

They responded to the official decrees by giving “Christian” names to pagan gods and continuing to worship as they had

before.

By the year 600, paganism had inundated the church.

Many of the church’s leaders were unbelievers.

Those resisting were persecuted as enemies of the empire

By the middle ages, Bibles were written in a language people couldn’t understand and chained to the pulpit.

Superstition and idolatry were rampant. Salvation was by good works, pilgrimages, and financial contribution.

Church became powerful and wealthy political organization.

When Rome crumbled, the church stepped in to fill the vacuum, becoming a great military power but lost the supernatural power of God it had once known.


WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THESE THINGS?

MOST CHRISTIANS ASSUME IT WAS GOD’S WILL FOR CHURCH TO ABANDON GOD’S

APPOINTED TIMES.

THEY THINK THE APOSTLES REJECTED BIBLICAL FEASTS AS SOMEHOW

UNCHRISTIAN.BECAUSE OF THAT, MANY MISS OUT ON CYCLE OF BLESSING GOD WANTED THEM

TO HAVE.

God wants us to know: We have Lost something He intended us to have!

GOOD NEWS: GOD IS RESTORING HIS CHURCH!

THE THIRD DAY CHURCH

is ARISING!

Jn. 2:19,21 Jesus answered . . . “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

Early Church

Dark Ages Revivals

325

500 1500

APPOINTED TIMES OF GOD

PART 2ARE FEASTS OLD TESTAMENT?

HOW WE BROKE OFF FROM GOD’S CYCLE

God's appointed time part 2

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