In Exodus 16:4 we find God (the Word Who became Jesus of Nazareth–read The God of the Old Testament–key word: Old) having recently freed the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, telling Moses how His (God’s) people would thereafter be identified: “… behold, I will rain down bread (manna) from heaven for you and the people will go out and gather a certain amount every day that I may prove (test) them ….” God then instructed Moses concerning the seventh day “Holy Sabbath” (rest) He would set aside for the people (vs 23). Later, in chapter 31 God established a special covenant with Israel relative to the seventh day, thereby denoting its importance to Him and to His true people forever. Keeping the covenant would keep the people at one with Him forever. More on this covenant later. Notice that upon establishing the weekly Sabbath the Lord had “blessed” it and “sanctified” it (set it aside for holy use) as noted in Genesis 2:3. He then signified the importance of that day by placing His name in it, thereby denoting its special place in His heart by proclaiming it “MY HOLY DAY” as recorded in Isaiah 58:13.

When He gave His stone-based, finger-written Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Horeb) He condensed it into Ten Commandments which covers every sin man is able to commit. In fact, commandments one and two cover the entire Law–the Holy Bible from Genesis to Revelation (Mat. 22:40). Understand this: the Bible is one Book and should not be separated into the Old and New Testaments. Matthew picks up where Malichi ends as the coming of God’s Messiah is the next step in God’s plan for those who love Him. Matthew begins the written account of the fulfillment of the prophesies proclaimed by the prophets of old.

As the Apostle Paul stated, the church is founded on the writings of BOTH the prophets and the apostles (Eph. 2:20). He also noted that the prophetic proclamations were recorded and preserved to be used for teaching those in God’s end-time, last day Church (1 Cor. 10:11). The “last days” began on the Day of Pentecost 31 A.D. as Peter noted in Acts 2:17. That the ancient writings were equal to the writings of the apostles is noted in Second Timothy 3:14-16 where the Apostle Paul tells Timothy that ALL Scripture was recorded under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Another proof of God’s evaluation of the ancients’ writings is that the apostles taught the church out of the Old Testament for the first 70 years or so of her existence. The New Testament did not exist during their lifetimes and would not exist until all of them had been martyred except John, whom God used to put the writings of the prophets and the apostles together into what is called the Holy Bible (Heb.–Book). Note that God’s Word is always called the “Bible” (singular), not the “Bibles” (plural). There should be no break between the testaments in that they CONSTITUTE ONE SINGULAR MESSAGE.

The reason I often repeat certain Biblical Truths and repeatedly provide specific references is because I continually hear from people who have recently “found me” on the internet. Over the past dozen years or so I have written over 2000 postings. I want new readers to know the spiritual direction I take as soon as possible. Simply put, my direction is God’s direction which few people are accustomed to hearing or reading. I want there to be no doubt as to what I believe, what I teach, and why. I want new readers to understand from day one the type of information they are going to be receiving. What God teaches in His Holy Bible is designed to lead people into His true church and along His “My way or the highway” path they must walk in order to be His true disciples.

God rules His people by His Law (covenant). The “test” referred to in the title of this teaching involves His Law, specifically the fourth commandment of that Law. Satan uses various versions of God’s teachings to draw people into his counterfeit church system and onto his “any way is a good way” path. His different churches and paths are called denominations, faiths, etc. His goal is to cause people to reject God’s Law, thereby cutting them off from Him. God knew that Satan would use the fourth commandment to separate salvation seekers from the Lord. As the Apostle James tells us in 2:10, to break even one commandment in the Law means that one has broken the entire Law, thereby separating them from God (Isa. 59:2) and disqualifying them from receiving eternal life. As the Scriptures will reveal, Jesus equates the keeping of the whole Law to loving Him.

In the eighth chapter of the Apostle John’s letter to the church beginning with verse 20 we find Jesus speaking to the Jews in the Temple. After listening to Him briefly, some of them wanted to know Who He was (vs 25). He told them that He was the One whom His Father had sent to deliver a message to them (vss 26-29). Upon hearing this, “many believed in Him” (vs 30), meaning that they believed what He said about Himself. These were all Jews. Gentiles were not allowed inside the Temple where Jesus was speaking. Gentiles (Heb.–heathen) were allowed to gather outside in what was called Solomon’s Porch. This clearly showed that God’s people were (are) supposed to be separate from the worldly Gentiles in all things spiritual. Keep this in mind as we continue.

In verse 23 and 26 Jesus told the Jews–God’s chosen people–that they were OF THE WORLD. Recall that He told them and us that we were to be IN the world, but not OF the world. Here He is telling the Jews that they were OF the world–from “beneath.” As stated, many of them “believed in Him.” In verses 31 and 32 Jesus tells them that they would be His disciples “indeed” IF THEY BELIEVED HIS WORDS, WHICH HE CALLED “THE TRUTH.” The word “indeed” has great significance. It means that they would be His disciples in reality IF they “continued” (studying) His Words. Otherwise they would be His disciples in name only. Those who believed in Him but refused to obey His Law/Words/Gospel would be DINOs–Disciples In Name Only who would not receive salvation. Nothing has changed.

In John chapter eight we find Jesus addressing the same subject–God’s Law. In verses 31 and 32 He tells some Jews who “believed in Him” that they must “continue in My Word” in order to “know the Truth” and be “free” (of error). But knowing God’s Truth is not enough–one must obey it. The Scriptures tell us that if we know to do right but refuse to do it, to us it is sin. “Doing” equates to “WORKING.” We “Work” God’s Word by “doing” it. As the Apostle James tells us in 2:10,14,17,18,20,24,26, faith alone cannot save the soul. Here he makes clear that “faith without WORKS (DOING what we know to DO) is dead faith” which saves no one (vs 14). This brings us to the “test” mentioned in the series title. This test involves God’s Sabbath which involves proof of one’s love for Jesus Christ.

In His stone-etched Law given on Mt. Sinai, the Lord (Who became Jesus of Nazareth) gave Israel His Ten Commandment Law. In the fourth commandment–by far the longest and most explicit-He commands His people to “REMEMBER THE SABBATH” that He had created during creation week. He then commands them to “KEEP IT HOLY.” The Word “keep” in Hebrew is a military term which means to surround and protect. Note the Words “the” and “it” relative to His Sabbath–His “Holy Day.” The words “the” and “it” mean that there is no other option. The seventh day of the week was, is and will forever be His Holy Sabbath day of rest for man. At the beginning of the Great Tribulation the Sabbath will still be in effect (Mat. 24:20). A thousand years later it will still be observed as we are told in Isaiah 66:22 and 23 where the Lord is speaking of a time after He has created a new heaven and a new earth: “And it will come to pass, that from one new moon to another (the beginning of each month), and from one SABBATH to another (the final day of each week), all people will come to worship Me” (in Jerusalem–His universe headquarters). GOD’S SEVENTH DAY SABBATH WILL BE OBSERVED THROUGOUT ETERNITY.

In Exodus 20 the Lord goes into detail concerning what must and must not be done on THAT SPECIFIC DAY OF THE WEEK. So important is His fourth commandment that He created, not one but two additional Laws, one of which is mentioned in the first paragraph of this posting. As He made clear, the people were not to gather manna on the seventh day of the week. In this way He would “test them” to see if they would work on His Holy Sabbath Day. He still does. Man is commanded not to work (or play) on God’s eternal, blessed, sanctified and holy day. He said nothing about any other day of the week being His holy, blessed and sanctified day.

In Exodus 31:12 through 17 we find the Lord making another covenant with Israel relative to His seventh day Sabbath. Here one finds Him saying that the keeping of His Sabbath would be a SIGN that they were His people. Keeping that day would sanctify them (vs 13)–set them aside for holy use. God’s people must KEEP THAT DAY on which no work was to be done. All work must be done on the other six days (vs 15). THE Sabbath day was to be hallowed forever as a perpetual covenant (vs 16). THE SEVENTH DAY SABBATH was created to serve as a sign (bond) between God and His people for ever (vs 17).

The Apostle Paul proclaimed that the Law (commandments) is “holy, just and good” (Rom. 7:12), and that a man is under the Law as long as he lives (Rom. 7:1). So from whence came the Sunday Sabbath? From the Catholic Church. This is brought out in The Catholic Record, September 1, 1923 where it is written: “Sunday is our (the Catholic Church’s) MARK of authority. The (Catholic) Church IS ABOVE THE BIBLE, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of the fact.” The official transference of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday came about in 364 A.D. during the Counsel at Laodicea at which time Pope Sylvester I instituted the Sunday Sabbath as THE symbol of the church’s dominion over the God she claims to serve. Since then the whole of professing Christendom has paid homage to the devil each Sunday–the day sun worshipers gather to honor their god–the sun. The church faithfully joins them in honoring their god.

So how does the Saturday Sabbath relate to one’s love for Jesus Christ? In John 14:15 and 23 Jesus said: “If you LOVE ME, keep My commandments (vs 15) and My words” (vs 23). Read verse 24. In verse 21 He says: “He that has My commandments and keeps them is he that loves Me. He that loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him.” Then in John 15:10 He said: “If you keep My commandments you will abide in my love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and (therefore) abide in His love.” Do yourself a favor and read those passages again. The great deceiver has convinced salvation-seeking man that those commandments, along with the Law itself were “nailed to the cross.” What was nailed to the cross was the sacrificial law that Moses wrote in a “book” (scroll) which was nullified by the death of Jesus Christ as He noted during the Last Supper (Mat. 26:28). L.J.