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以西结书 第二十章（英文）

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Meditating in the field

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Holy day, holi-day, holiday…

Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy (Ezekiel 20: 12)

In a conversation with a colleague’s wife, she explained he did not take a single day off in the pre-tenure years. He worked every single day. Holy day, holi-day, holiday… in my head I counted away the number of holi-days he missed. There are 52 Sabbaths per year. The pre-tenure years were 7 years. 52 times 7 makes 364 days. That’s 364 days (one day short of a year) of paid holi-days forfeited! To put it another way, for every 7 years, one would work for another year for free! Why would anyone want to do that?! Or, maybe we often would, or cannot help but, do exactly that?

What is so special about the holi-days?

It is the seventh day of the week, when God rested from His work of creating the world (Gen 2:3). Yet God rested not because He was tired. In the Book of Mark Jesus explained, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (2: 27, 28). Very curiously, in the Chinese lunar calendar, the seventh day of the first month is also designated the “human day” (人日). Ancient civilizations may be culturally distinct and yet conceptually similar. In other words, there is an interlocking relationship between God, humans, and the Sabbath. God is greater than the humans, who are greater than the Sabbath (God >humans>Sabbath). God designed and designated the Sabbath for the humans so they can lead a humane lifestyle. But it does not mean the humans can abolish or act freely on the Sabbath. After all, God is Lord of the Sabbath, not humans.  

Through the various bible passages, we understand the Sabbath is holy, solemn, and sanctified. To maintain the sanctity of this special day, humans rest from their labor ( Exo 20:8-11; Lev 23:3; Deu 5: 12-14). In the stillness that comes through resting, God wants all to know that He is God (Psa 46: 10) and He is the one that saves (Deu 5: 15). The Sabbath was made not to constrain or burden the humans, but rather to liberate, nurture, and heal (Mat 12:12; Luk 13: 10-17). God explicitly states in the Book of Isaiah: 

If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The mouth of the Lord has spoken (58: 13 and 14). 

Isn’t this something?! The Lord has spoken. If we keep His holi-days there will be blessing galore. Even a president cannot guarantee the citizens that they would be blessed if they rested on the National Day. I mean resting in itself is already a blessing. But God is saying on top of getting a good rest, there will be plenty other benefits (which we might not yet fully realise or comprehend). 

God’s foresight is immeasurable. He is the maker of time. Every single breath of ours keeps count of its passage. Right from day one of the world, God already knew one day the logic of capitalist economy would take over. Rest will be stolen. People will be busy making more of everything that they will not have time to rest. His people will be dehumanized. More is good, more is prosperous, more is successful. Within this logic, God has no place. The world spins fast and furious. Humans invent machines to increase product yield and convenience, and to save time (because time is money). Yet humans end up working like machines. Lethargy, fatigue, chronic physical sickness, mental ill health, broken personal relationships, exploitation subsequently ensue. Through the Sabbath, God mandates time for resting. He insists on us to slow down, pause, reflect and return to resist social forces that dehumanize. 

While God has shown us Sabbath keeping as the way towards a better life, it is also a reminder of our own mortality. Yes, sooner or later all of us, with no exception, will see death in the eyes. The Sabbath is a sign between God and observers of Sabbath that one day they will enter eternal rest (Heb 4:11). Limited by our own finite being, it is challenging for humans to fully understand what infinite rest means. Through Sabbath, God allows us to get a foretaste of what being still in His presence might be like. 

Mid-year resolution: go sleep by 10pm on Fridays…

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Can I Go To Any Church?

Can I Go To Any Church?

Christianity today is very divided and is vastly different from the church established by the apostles. There are many denominations, each interpreting the Bible in their own way. Yet to most Christians, many of these differences don’t matter and all churches still collectively belong to the body of Christ. As such, they believe that as long as one is Christian, they can be saved. I once invited a Christian friend to church. He was confused and said, “But… I already go to a church, why don’t you ask others who aren’t Christians?” Is it true that you can go to any church, and that you can be saved as long as you are Christian? Are all churches part of the body of Christ? Some Christians believe that, which is why it does not matter which church you go to. “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:22-23 NKJV “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” Colossians 1:18 NKJV It is a biblical concept that the church is the body of Christ, and Christ is head of the church. The bible goes on to say the following: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6 NKJV There is one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. Is this reflected by all of Christianity today? Can we say we have one baptism today? Different churches preach different things about baptism. Some are for infant baptism, some are against it. Different churches have different takes on how baptism is conducted and whether it pertains to salvation. Is this considered “One baptism”, as it should be in the body of Christ? This points us to the issue of one Spirit. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that the church was established on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). In the Acts of the Apostles, we also see clearly how the Holy Spirit guided the actions of the apostles (Acts 16:6). Moreover, the Holy Spirit was also referred to as the Spirit of Truth by the Lord Jesus Himself: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” John 16:13 NKJV If all churches are led by and established by the one Holy Spirit, how is it that there are so many versions of “truth”? As mentioned earlier, different churches have different takes on baptism. Other differences include tongue speaking. Some churches speak in tongues, while some don’t, who instead claim that tongues have ceased. Some churches hold services on the Sabbath and uphold it is a holy day, while most churches worship on a Sunday and claim that it is not important to worship on the Sabbath. Are all these contradictory pieces of information all from the same Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth? This brings me to my next point: One faith. Can we all say that we have the one same faith, if we have so many differences in our doctrines? Some Christians may argue that we can say we have the same faith, because we all believe in the same Lord Jesus who has given us salvation. These differences in doctrines do not matter. This, I think, is the fundamental reason most may give to justify why going to any church is fine. And they quote: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 NKJV Yes, as written above, it is through believing in Jesus that we can be saved. But is it right to say that nothing else matters? Is that all the Bible says about being saved? Did not Jesus also say, for example, that baptism is necessary for salvation in Mark 16:16? Can believing that baptism is necessary for salvation, and not believing that baptism is necessary for salvation, be considered to be the same faith, simply beacuse both parties believe in Jesus Christ? We can see how highly Paul esteems the oneness of the gospel in his warning to the Galatians, who were pressured to keep the Jewish law, including circumcision: “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:6-9 NKJV Let us look at what the Lord Jesus once said, which some may find shocking: ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV We see here that the Lord Jesus has denied salvation to these people, who clearly believed in Him! If we truly believe in what Jesus says here, we ought to realise that it is not a mere belief and confession in Jesus that saves. If we say we believe in Jesus, yet do not believe in what He says, for example, regarding baptism for salvation, can we really say we believe in Him? This brings us to the last point: One body. If all churches were established by the Holy Spirit, there will not be so many versions of doctrines. These different beliefs cannot all be considered to be one faith, grouped under the umbrella of “believing in Jesus Christ”. There is only one gospel, as Paul says. There is only one complete truth that saves. After all, doesn’t it make sense that Jesus has only one message of salvation for us in the Bible, that should not be open to human interpretation, but rather by revelation of the Holy Spirit? And the role of the church is to uphold the truth! As Paul writes: “but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” I Timothy 3:15 NKJV The church is meant to be the pillar and ground of the truth, that is, to uphold the truth. If these churches do not have the truth, how then can they be considered to be the church of God, the body of Christ, in the Bible? As mentioned in Ephesians 4, there is one faith and one body. That means there is one church with the one complete truth that saves. Do you think you can be saved if you go to a church that does not have the complete truth of salvation, and is not truly part of the body of Christ? Today the True Jesus Church believes that we are the one true church of God that preaches the complete truth, passed down by the apostles through the Bible. The True Jesus Church preaches that Baptism, Foot washing and Holy Communion are sacraments necessary for salvation. We also observe the Sabbath, and believe that receiving the Holy Spirit, evidenced by tongue speaking, is necessary for salvation. These doctrines, can all be substantiated by the Bible and it is the same one faith practiced by the Apostles in the Bible. These will not be discussed in detail in today’s article, but please do reach out to us if you are interested in the learning the truth of salvation.

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