Refuting Sunday-Keeping IV

I’m using for a guide this book, Sunday Facts and Sabbath Fiction, which is just the other way around. It’s Sunday fiction and Sabbath facts is what we’re going to bring out, and this book written by Dr. Russell K. Tardo, and last time we did number three which was where they claim there is no command in the New Testament to keep the Sabbath. We showed and proved, yes, there is absolutely a command to keep the Sabbath in the New Testament.Last time I did part of #3 and #19 and put those together. So this time I’m going to finish up with #3 in the book, but it will be #4 in the series. We’ll get the numbers matched up as we go along, a little later on.

So I want to pick it up here on pg 21, Sunday Facts and Sabbath Fiction. I’m going to read through it, and I want you to listen carefully to it. Before I read through, I want to cover just a couple of Scriptures which are very important to understand. Let’s first of all come to 2-Timothy 2 and let’s see what Paul told Timothy that he should do, how he should use the Scriptures, and the way that they should be taught.

Let’s also understand something else. This is very important. If you have a New International Version or an RSV or a New RSV translation, or a New American Standard Bible, or an American Standard Bible, or a Douay Version of the Bible, or a New World Bible by the Jehovah Witnesses, or a Bible put out by the Mormons, which then combines the King James Version of the Bible with their teachings, you have the wrong Bible. The only right Bible is based upon the Byzantine Text. Now all of those that I mentioned before are not based upon the Byzantine Text, but on a version of Westcott and Hort, and on a version of those two manuscripts called the Sinaicitus and the Vaticanus, from which the Catholic Vulgate came. There’s virtually no difference between the Catholic Vulgate and the New International Version of the Bible.

So in order to have the right Bible, you have to have the whole Truth. And those Bibles have had Truth removed. So therefore, you’re not able, with those Bibles, to come to the knowledge of the Truth. So you need a King James Version of the Bible. _{(Transcriber’s Note: Recommended is The Holy Bible In Its Original Order).}

What is very interesting, just in my own ministry is: I’ve always used the King James Version and I have studied the Greek now for some 26-years and I have finished translating the Bible—The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version—into a more modern English, but I use the same Greek text that was used by the translators of the King James Version of the Bible, which was the same text that was used by William Tyndale in 1534 with a few modifications to it by Stephens. So if you don’t have a King James Version [or The Holy Bible In Its Original Order] of the Bible, by all means get one, because that’s the only one that stays close to the Truth, even though it has an archaic English in it. It’s the only one that is based upon the proper Byzantine Text.

That’s very important, because as we’re going to see here what Paul told Timothy, 2-Timothy 2:14: “See that they remain mindful of these things, earnestly charging them in the sight of the Lord... [This is very important. This is an absolute charge by Paul in the name of the Lord—that is before the Lord—which means as if you were in the presence of the Lord.] ...not to argue over words... [A lot of this Sabbath-keeping problem is striving about words and twisting words, and so forth.] (Now notice what it does): ...that are not profitable in any way, but which lead to the subverting of those who hear.”

We’re going to see exactly how they have done this in this Refuting Sunday-Keeping IV. It’s very clever, it’s a sleight of hand. If you quote part of the Scriptures and build your case on part of the Scriptures, it looks like you’re getting your conclusions from the Bible, but the fact is you’re only using some of the Scriptures so you can bring your own conclusion. It’s like someone said, ‘How do historians write history?’ Well, always remember, the victor writes the history. And how do they write it? They bring out some facts, they emphasize other facts, they bear down on some facts, they ignore other facts, they bring out just a little bit of some of the other facts, and so what you have is a distorted picture of history.

This is what has happened with the Scriptures. Paul gave Timothy the instructions what he should do, v 15: “Diligently study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly diving the Word of the Truth…. [Because if you wrongly divide the Word of Truth, you can end up with error.] …Because avoid... [turn away from.] ...profane and vain babblings because they will only give rise to more ungodliness, And their words will eat away at the body like gangrene; of whom are Hymeneus and Philetus, Who have gone astray from the Truth, claiming that the resurrection has already taken place... [So they had problems with false doctrine during Paul’s day, preaching the wrong things, using Scripture, but using it wrongly.] ...and are destroying the faith of some” (vs 16-18).

Now let’s see what Peter said concerning some of the writings of the Apostle Paul, which is really quite profound what they do—2-Peter 3. This is something that we’re going to see today, exactly how they have done it. 2-Peter 3:15: “And bear in mind that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, exactly as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has also written to you; as he has also in all his epistles, speaking in them concerning these things; in which are some things that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant... [That is, they don’t know the Scriptures, they haven’t been taught the true doctrines.] ...which are ignorant and unstable...” (vs 15-16). Meaning that they want to have their own way. So therefore, they will go willy-nilly from doctrine-to-doctrine to suit their carnal purposes, and even using the Bible. That’s what makes it so damnable.

“...which the ignorant and unstable are twisting... [That means they twist, they have the wrong use of the Scriptures.] ...and distorting, as they also twist and distort the rest of the Scriptures...” (v 16). Now notice what this is saying then. This is saying that the epistles of Paul were considered at the time that Peter wrote this to be Scripture. You can know one thing for sure: Paul, Peter, and John canonized the New Testament and John finalized it. God did not leave it to semi-pagan priests 300-years later, which formed the basis of the Catholic Church, to write the New Testament or to canonize it. You have to read carefully what the history of the Catholic Church at that time shows, and it is that they just had a listing of the already canonized books of the New Testament.

“...as they also twist and distort the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, beloved, since you know this in advance, be on guard against such practices, lest you be led astray with the error of the lawless [wicked] ones... [‘the error of the wicked’ is to take part of the Scriptures and create their own story, which they’ve done with Sunday-keeping.] ...and you fall from your own steadfastness; Rather, be growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (vs 16-18).

So that’s what we’re going to do. Let’s come back here to 2-Corinthians 4, and let’s see how even earlier Paul had this. There were those coming around and they were using the Scriptures, but using them deceitfully. Now deceitfully means that they pre-determined how they were going to do it

• to avoid certain Scriptures
• to bear down on certain Scriptures
• to neglect other Scriptures
• to take Scriptures just a little bit out of context and then create what they want

Now that’s not the way we are to do it, we are ‘rightly divide the Word of Truth,’ as Paul charged Timothy to do.

2-Corinthians 4:1: “Therefore, having this ministry... [that’s the true ministry of Jesus Christ] ...according as we have received mercy, we are not fainthearted. For we have personally renounced the hidden things of dishonest gain, not walking in cunning craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the Truth, we are commending ourselves to every man’s conscience before God” (vs 1-2). That’s what we are going to do, because we are going to tackle some Scriptures, which I will expose and show you how they’ve done it, and just precisely where they have pressed down on certain Scriptures, where they have neglected other Scriptures, where they did not give you background of the Gospels to understand what was going on, where they have not presented the facts which are known in history to bring to bear on it so that it would be well known what was going on.

So let’s begin on page 21 (Sunday Facts and Sabbath Fiction)and it has to do with the Acts 15. It says:

Acts 15 addresses this very issue that there is no command in the New Testament to keep the Sabbath.

Well, we already proved from Heb. 4 there is. ‘Therefore, there remains Sabbath keeping for the people of God,’ who we proved from the Scriptures were both Jews and Gentiles.

When false teachers try to leaven the church with their law mentality...

This is getting at the heart and core of commandment-keeping, so they label it, they discredit it—law mentality.

A council was called to address the matter to end the confusion. The apostles and elders met to examine the teachings, these now converted former Pharisees who insisted that belief in Christ alone was insufficient for salvation. According to them, in order to obtain complete justification, it was necessary for them to be circumcised...

Now they’re bringing out part of the Truth.

...keep the Sabbath, observe the dietary restrictions prescribed in the law of Moses (Acts 15:1:5-6)

They don’t read them and quote them and the whole thing in context, which we’ll do.

...Isn’t this interesting that these are virtually the same arguments of modern Sabbatarians.

No, we do not preach circumcision in the flesh. We do preach keeping the law of clean and unclean meats, because God never rescinded that. We’ll cover that at the appropriate place. And we will see that 1-Tim. 4 where they claim that God gave license to eat unclean foods, it limits it only to the clean foods. We will see in Acts 10 that that has nothing to do whatsoever with eating unclean foods or giving permission to do so. Because they twist the Scriptures to their own destruction, so they can preach their own ideas of lawlessness. Now let’s go on.

Therefore the early church’s decision should be both interesting and enlightening...

And we will see it is interesting and it is enlightening, but the total opposite of what he’s trying to prove.

…the apostles who had travelled and ministered alongside the Master, however, found no merit in the legalist arguments.

Already discrediting. If you preach commandment-keeping you’re a legalist. Well, let’s understand something real clear: God is Lawgiver and it says so in James 4:12. If you keep not the law, you’re a judge of the law and you are judging God. So you see how they twist it.

And Peter articulated the Savior’s frown upon law-keeping by declaring...

Then he quotes Acts 15:7-11. So I’ll read what he has here:

...“Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago, God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, which knows the hearts, bear them witness giving the Holy Spirit unto them even as he did unto us and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you tempt God to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers, nor we, were able to bear. But believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

Now, this section of Scripture looks like it’s supporting what they are claiming, but, as we will see, it’s taking the Scripture out of context so it looks like it’s supporting it. We’ll go through it verse-by-verse, Acts 15, and see. Now here’s what he wrote on the comment of it:

The apostles considered a return to any aspect of the law a contradiction to salvation...

That is a contradictory statement right there because he will contradict himself, because things that are given here in the decree that was given come directly from the law of Moses and is an aspect of the law. Yet people read this and it is almost amazing, like they’re reading the Scriptures with blinders on, because they’re looking for what they want. After all, it’s very appealing to the carnal mind to say, ‘Well, you don’t have to keep any law.’ Please understand: if there’s no law, there’s no sin and if there’s no sin, there’s no repentance. And if there is no repentance required and no sin, then there’s no death, because the ‘wages of sin is death.’

...considered a return to any aspect of the law a contradiction to the salvation by grace through faith in Christ, as well as a yoke of bondage that God never intended New Testament disciples to bear. The decree of the unified voice of the apostolic council was...

“That we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God, but that we write unto them that they should abstain from pollutions of idols...

Which is the second commandment—is that not correct? Is that not an aspect of law? Yes!

...from fornication...

Meaning sexual immorality, which is all based upon the commandment, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ which is based upon Lev. 18 of all the prohibitions against incest, adultery, homosexuality and bestiality.

...and from things strangled...

That’s also in the law—isn’t it? You’re not to drink blood.

...and from blood. For Moses of old time has in every city them that preached him being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.”

Now, let me just stop here and make a comment. Where were the proselytes and the Gentiles that believed? Were they in the pagan temples or were they in the synagogues? In the synagogues! What did they hear read? Moses! When did they hear it read? Every Sabbath Day! Meaning they were keeping the Sabbath, not rejecting it.

It’s important to note two significant findings of the apostolic band from this passage:

1.      The Gentile church is not told to observe the Jewish Sabbath...

It’s not told not to and it’s not the ‘Jewish’ Sabbath. You see, that’s how they denigrate the Truth of God. It is the Lord’s Sabbath and as we saw, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. He didn’t give it just to the Jews. ‘The Sabbath was made for man,’ that means all mankind, ‘and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath’ (Mark 2:27-28). So that’s a wrong assumption. He gives a little documentation here:

...If an observance were required of them, this would have been the perfect opportunity to disclose it, because this discussion dealt exclusively with the Old Testament law bearing upon New Testament believers.

Now that’s a sweeping statement. It dealt exclusively with circumcision and certain aspects of the laws of God. But when was the decree read to these people? On the Sabbath day in the synagogues! Nowhere are they doing away with the Sabbath. They didn’t have to tell them to keep the Sabbath, because they were keeping the Sabbath. Furthermore, they didn’t tell them to keep Sunday either. That’s very interesting how they blind themselves, and they’re so set on their lawless agenda that they don’t even understand the contradiction right in their own writings from the quote of the Scripture, which I just showed in the things that he quoted, are from where? The law of Moses—aren’t they? And they are from the Old Testament—aren’t they? Yes!

But the apostolic conference determined that no aspect of the law was in force for the Christian.

Now that’s a blatant absolute lie and a blatant twisting of the facts! Why then do Sunday-keepers go back and pick up nine of the commandments, or eight of the commandments? They say, ‘Well, those are in the New Testament.’ Well, so is Sabbath-keeping.’ So is Sabbath-keeping! Now I want you to understand that we’re dealing with a liar. We need to understand that. They say no aspect of the law was in force for Christians. An absolute lie! Deceitfully handling the Scriptures! Their agenda is no commandment keeping, which is lawlessness. All lawless people are going into the Lake of Fire. If you want to follow them, why you go right ahead, but know God is going to judge you. You have to choose whether you love God. You have to choose whether you’re going to obey Him or not. But know this for sure, no lawless person is going to be in the Kingdom of God.

Not circumcision, not Jewish dietary laws, and certainly not the Sabbath. Dear Bible believer, if the early church removed itself from this obligation, how has the twentieth-century church inherited it?

Because there have always been true believers to come back and put it in your face, that’s why, to expose you for what you are.

2.      Why should the church preach Moses (Acts 15:21)?

That is, why should Christians preach laws, restrictions, diets, and day observations? That’s Moses. That’s Old Testament law. They concluded that there are enough Jews in the world preaching law, but we the church should preach grace through Christ Jesus.

Now that’s not what they determined at all, nor do they understand what law that it’s talking about. We’ll examine that in just a little bit.

Charles Hayden Spurgeon said, “I’m no preacher of the old, legal Sabbath...

Now there it is denigrating it again.

...I am a preacher of the gospel...

But the Gospel contains a command to keep the Sabbath, as we saw last time—didn’t we? (Heb. 4:9)

...The Sabbath of the Jews is to him a task...

But it’s not the Jews’ Sabbath, it is the Lord’s Sabbath, Old Testament and New Testament.

...The Lord’s day of the Christian, the first day of the week, is to Him a joy, a day of rest, of peace, and thanksgiving.”

Well, the seventh-day Sabbath is all of that and more for those who really understand the Truth and know how to rightly divide the Truth and obey God.

What do you mean the law of Moses? This finishes that section. What do you mean the law of Moses. Let’s come to Acts 15 and let’s read the first six verses, which he left out, so that we get the whole story. Now if you don’t have our booklet, The Fourteen Rules for Bible Study, write for it, because one of the most important things to understand is, if you don’t understand a Scripture read the verse before and then the verse after. And if you don’t understand it, then you read the chapter, all the way through and get it in context. If you still don’t understand it, then you read the chapter before and the chapter afterwards. And if you still don’t understand it, then you get out your handy-dandy concordance and you look up the words which you’re trying to understand, and look at the other Scriptures which come to bear on the same subject, and then you will begin to get a full understanding. But you can’t go piece-meal here, leave out six Scriptures, and then begin to make your case.

Let’s read it here now. Acts 15:1: “Now certain men who had come down from Judea... [Not necessarily of the Church.] ...were teaching the brethren, saying, ‘Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’…. [Now the Greek here is ‘ou dunateo,’ means there’s no power of salvation unless you have physical circumcision. Now why would they say that?] …Therefore, after a great deal of strife and arguing with them by Paul and Barnabas... [So it was a heated argument.] ...the brethren appointed Paul and Barnabas, and certain others from among them, to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this question. So then, after being sent on their way by the Church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, where they reported the conversion of the Gentiles. And they caused great joy to all the brethren. And when they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the Church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all the things that God had done with them” (vs 1-4).

“But there stood up certain of those who believed, who were of the sect of the Pharisees... [They accepted Christ and added that on to all of their other beliefs. We will see that this was the problem.] ...saying, ‘It is obligatory [needful]...” (v 5). We have two statements here:

• It’s impossible to be saved without circumcision.
• It’s obligatory to circumcise them and command them to keep the law of Moses.

Most people when they read that do not understand the Pharisees’ view of the Law of Moses. First of all we’re going to look into Scriptures about what Christ said the Pharisees’ view of the Law of Moses was, and how they practice it, and you will see that it includes all the oral tradition.

Now let’s begin to understand this, let’s go back to Matthew 16. What do you mean the Law of Moses? The Pharisees’ view of the law of Moses included all of the oral traditions. Now next time when we do Refuting Sunday-Keeping V, I’m going to have two books with me to back up what I say, but tonight I want to stick with the Scriptures, to show you what the Scriptures say, so that you will know and understand what God is telling us, what Christ has said.

Matthew 16:1: “Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Him, tempting Him and asking Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He answered and said to them, ‘When evening has come, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.” And in the morning, you say, “Today it will storm, for the sky is red and lowering.” Hypocrites!....’” (vs 1-3). Now let’s understand, Jesus Christ called the Pharisees and Sadducees ‘hypocrites.’ What is a hypocrite? A hypocrite is one who says and does not do! A hypocrite is one who applies it to others and not to himself! We’re going to see this hypocrisy is even worse. They claim that their laws and their doctrines are to be kept, and they call it the Law of Moses. So when the Pharisees back there in Acts 15 came and said, ‘It’s necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses,’ this is what they’re referring to, not the Law of Moses being the commandments of God, but the Law of Moses including all of the oral tradition.

Now let’s see what Jesus says about that here v 4: “‘A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet’.... [Meaning He was in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. We covered that in Refuting Sunday-Keeping I.] ...Then He left them and went away. Now when the His disciples came to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. And Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out, and be on guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ Then they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘It is because we did not take bread.’ But when Jesus knew this, He said to them, ‘O you of little faith, why are you reasoning among yourselves that it is because you did not bring bread?’” (vs 4-8).

“‘Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? How is it that you do not understand that I was not speaking of bread when I told you to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?’ Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (vs 9-12). What is the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees? Now we’ll see that in just a minute, but you need to understand that the Jews added all these oral laws to the commandments of God.

These were made to build a hedge and the Jews rightly tell you that they have built a hedge around it, and it’s going to keep you so busy thinking about all these laws that we added, so that you won’t sin. But in keeping your mind on all these laws that they have added, they are actually sinning, because they’re not keeping the laws and commandments of God. That’s what this gentleman does not understand here. That’s what Sunday-keepers who promulgate this same thing do not understand. They are wrongly dividing the Scriptures.

Let’s go to Mark 8, the parallel account. We’ll look at Mark, then we’ll look at Luke, then we will ask why they said that, that they have to be circumcised. Mark 8:14: “But they had forgotten to take bread; and they did not have any with them, except one loaf in the ship. Then He charged them, saying, ‘Watch out! Be on guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod’” (vs 14-15).

We’ve got another mix in here. Leaven in this case then is a type of sin. So what He’s saying, there is sin in the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Now He brings in Herod or the Herodians. What does that mean? Herod was the king, so it’s telling you, and telling them, ‘Don’t get involved in the politics of the day. You preach the Gospel, you teach the Truth, because if you get involved in politics, you’re dealing with liars.’ Have to be in order to be successful, but they’re going to fail because their success is shallow and will end in destruction. So that’s why we should not get involved in politics.

Verse 16: “And they were reasoning with one another, saying, ‘It is because we do not have any bread.’ But Jesus knew it and said to them, ‘Why do you reason that I said this because you do not have any bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts still hardened? Don’t you see with your eyes? Don’t you hear with your ears? And don’t you remember?’” (vs 16-18). Then He explains to them about taking up the extra. Remember, you go back, the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians are their teachings, doctrines—and in case of the Herodians—their politics.

Let’s go to Luke 12:1. Let’s see the parallel account here. All of these add a little bit to it. When you are doing a Bible study and putting things together, you have to understand a basic principle. The principle is this: you take the Scriptures and you put them together. Where there appears to be a contradiction, then you have to search out to understand why there appears to be a contradiction, because the Word of God does not contradict itself. Jesus said, ‘I came not to destroy the Law nor the Prophets, but to fulfill.’ Now then, the author of this book says He [Christ] did away with all aspects of law, yet quotes the Scripture which shows that law is to be kept. So he’s double-minded in what he’s saying. So the principle is this: You put all the Scriptures together, as we’re doing here, then you get the complete understanding. You can’t get the complete understanding from part of the Scriptures.

So here’s the parallel account in Luke 12:1: “During this time, an innumerable multitude was gathering, crowding so close together that they were stepping on one another. First of all He began to speak to His disciples, saying, ‘Guard yourselves from the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy… [So you have false teaching, twisting the Scriptures—hypocrisy.] …for there is nothing covered that shall not be uncovered, nor hidden that shall not be know. Therefore, whatever you have spoken in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and what you have spoken in the ear in closed rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops’” (vs 1-3). God is going to expose the hearts of men.

Let’s go to Mark 7, and let’s see: what do you mean the Law of Moses the way the Pharisees interpret it? I think this will be very instructive for you. Mark 7:1: “Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes from Jerusalem came together to Him... [So, this is an official entourage going down to find out what Jesus was teaching, and why they didn’t follow the oral traditions of the Pharisees and the scribes.] ...And when they saw some of His disciples eating with defiled hands (that is, unwashed hands), they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews... [That means all those who were, what we would call today, orthodox Jews.] ...holding fast to the tradition of the elders, do not eat unless they wash their hands thoroughly” (vs 1-3). That means vigorously with the fist.

So they were wondering why the disciples were not keeping the tradition of the elders, which they called the Law of Moses. When I read to you from The Code of Jewish Law next time, you will see exactly what I’m saying is true. But I want to get all the Scriptures together here, so that we have it all as we’re going first through the Scriptures, then I’ll bring the historical backup for it.

Verse 4: “Even when coming from the market, they do not eat unless they first wash themselves. And there were many [a multitude.] other things that they have received to observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and brass utensils and tables. For this reason, the Pharisees and the scribes questioned Him, saying, ‘Why don’t Your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?’” (vs 4-5). Because Christ never included in the Law of Moses, and the apostles never included in the Law of Moses, any of the traditions of the Jews. That’s why!

Now let’s see Christ’s condemnation of them; why they were hypocrites: “And He answered and said to them, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from Me.... [We have that today—don’t we? A lot of people honoring God. A lot of people going to church on Sunday. A lot of people taking the name of Jesus Christ. A lot of ads in the Saturday paper, ‘Come to this church. Go to that church, go to the other one.’ And you see a sign or placard right out in front of the church, sun-worship, because that’s what Sunday is, 10 a.m. or whatever time. Yes, they honor God with their lips.] ...but their hearts are far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men”’” (vs 6-7).

(go to the next track)

Now let’s read that v 7 again. I want you to read it and let it sink in. “But in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men”

• Is that not what they do in Sunday-keeping?
• Is that not what they do when they keep Easter instead of the Passover?
• Is that not what they do when they keep Christmas, instead of the Feast of Tabernacles?

Yes, they do! And it is their doctrine, which means teaching. And whose command is it by? Not of God! You can’t find those in the Bible anywhere. You can search the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you will not find one word commanding Sunday-keeping. Not one word! So how did it come about? We’ll have a little more historical documentation and we’ll show you, but it’s not in the Bible.

Verse 8: “‘For leaving the commandment of God... [Isn’t that what they do with the Sabbath? Now the commandment of God—any command of God is the commandment of God—whether it’s the first commandment, the second commandment, the third commandment, the fourth commandment, or the fifth commandment, or the sixth, or seventh, eighth, ninth or tenth, or any of the other commandments that we are to keep. They’re all the command of God.] (When you lay it aside): ...you hold fast the tradition of men, such as the washing of pots and cups; and you practice many other things like this.’ Then He said to them, ‘Full well do you reject the commandment of God...”

Now that’s precisely what they do with Sunday-keeping—isn’t it? I mean, come on, let’s be honest about it. Isn’t that what they do? Do you think that anyone is going to be in the Kingdom of God who rejects the commands of God? Do you think that God is going to give them eternal life, who end up with the lawless teachings that they have? Now let’s stop here and look at just a couple of other Scriptures.

Let’s go to the very last book of the Bible here, and the very last chapter, which tells us the thing that is most important. Revelation 22:12: “And behold, I am coming quickly... [And Christ is coming quickly in our day. You know that, has to be, if we understand the things that are taking place and the true understanding of prophecies, you know we’re getting closer and closer and closer.] ...behold, I am coming quickly and My reward is with Me, to render to each one according as his work shall be.”

• What if you’re a lawbreaker?
• What if you reject the commandments of God?
• What if you’re a Sunday-keeper and you hate the Sabbath?
• What if you keep the Eucharist and the mass and the Lord’s supper and communion and reject the Passover?
• What reward are you going to get?

Verse 13: “I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last…. [Showing that there’s a continuity, from the beginning to the end. That’s why Gen. 2 shows that God created the Sabbath. That’s why Mark 2 says it ‘was made for man.’] …‘Blessed are those who keep His commandments... [Some of these New Age Bible versions that I mentioned before, twist and turn that Scripture and make it say, ‘Blessed are they who have washed their robes,’ but that’s not what it says in the Byzantine Greek, which is the basis for the New Testament—not the Sinaiticus, not the Vaticanus, not any other version.] ...Blessed are those who keep [do (KJV)] His commandments... [‘do’ comes from the Greek ‘poieo,’ which means to practice—a way of life.] ...that they may have the right to eat of the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.” Now the opposite of this is this: Cursed are those who do not do His commandments. They shall not have right to the tree of life and they won’t enter into the city.

Come to Matthew 7. We need to understand exactly the whole teachings of Christ, not just a little bit that suits us, not the Scriptures that make us purr and feel warm and fuzzy. Like I was talking with a woman one time and she said, ‘You know, I go to church a couple times a year, so I get that warm and fuzzy feeling.’ I thought, ‘Yeah, lady, you really do—don’t you?’

Matthew 7:21, just talking about false prophets. Now notice what these false prophets do. “Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord”... [They use the Lord’s name. There are a lot of people saying that Christ is the Lord, using His name. But it’s not just saying it.] ...Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who is doing the will... [And ‘doing’ here is the same word that we read back there in Rev. 22:14, that practices the will] ...of My Father, Who is in heaven.”

Now then, that encompasses more than just certain commandments. The whole will of God is expressed in the whole Bible. If you are not practicing the will of God, let’s see what’s going to happen to you, even though you use the name of the Lord, even though you go to church on Sunday, and even though many people would consider you a good and a right and a fine and sincere person, which carnally in the flesh you may be. But that kind of standing before men has nothing to do with right standing before God. It’s two entirely different things.

Verse 22: “‘Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord... [‘I was in the ministry for thirty, forty years. My father was a preacher and oh, we had the best Sunday services imaginable. We had the greatest choir and we had a band and we had plays on Easter and on Christmas.’] ...Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy through Your name?.... [‘Oh, yes, every Sunday before I spoke from the pulpit, I had everyone bow their head and asked for Your blessing, Lord, and then I prophesied. I spoke in Your name.’] ...And did we not cast out demons through Your name?.... [Now if there’s any proof that you really belong to God, that is if you cast out demons? Huh? But what if you keep Sunday? What if you keep Christmas? What if you keep Easter? What if you reject the commands of God? Casting out demons means nothing.] ...And did we not perform many works of power through Your name?”’” (v 22).

‘Oh, we had buildings and churches and colleges and hospitals, and all of those things. We had thousands and thousands of them and we sent missionaries all over the world. We did many wonderful works in Your name, Lord.’

Verse 23: “‘And then I will confess to them, “I never knew you.... [And they’re going to be flabbergasted. ‘I never knew you,’ coming right from Christ’s lips.] ...Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness [iniquity].”’” Lawlessness is what we are talking about right here where Tabor says:

But the apostolic conference determined that no aspect of the law was in force for Christians.

That is a statement of lawlessness! The Apostle John defines that very clearly. ‘Sin is the transgression of the law.’ The Greek reads: ‘Sin is lawlessness.’ Because when you transgress the law, you are lawless, you’re rejecting the laws of God.

When you do it by throwing away the Sabbath and replacing it with Sunday, you fit lawlessness so well that you need to read those verses in Matt. 7 and maybe you start repenting. Maybe you better go to God and say, ‘Lord,’ in the right way and ask God to grant you forgiveness and repentance, and come out of that lawlessness and come out of that sin. God will forgive you, but you can’t continue in it. As I said last time, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t reject some of the commandments of God and claim other commandments of God, because then you are lawless for sure. It appears righteous, because you have some of the commandments of God, so people think that you doing good.

Let’s understand that’s exactly what the scribes and Pharisees did. We also need to understand that they really didn’t keep the law of Moses. Let’s see what Jesus said to the scribes and the Pharisees. This was during the Feast of Tabernacles when He went up to the temple and was teaching.

John 7:14: “But then, about the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and was teaching. And the Jews were amazed, saying, ‘How does this man know letters, having never been schooled?’” (vs 14-15). Now this means He was not taught in any of their rabbinic schools. And don’t you think that all of the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees conferred with each other saying, ‘Was this Man ever in your rabbinic school?’

If you don’t have the series, Prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament, you write for it, because I go through and show the Scriptures which show and prove absolutely for sure that Jesus Christ was taught by God the Father at a very early age and was awakened every morning to be taught of the Father. And that’s what Jesus said. ‘I have been taught of the Father.’

Verse 16: “Jesus answered them and said, ‘My doctrine is not Mine, but His Who sent Me. If anyone desires to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it is from God, or whether I speak from My own self.... [I challenge you to do that concerning the Sabbath. I challenge you to start keeping the Sabbath and ask God to open your mind to understanding concerning the Sabbath and get Sunday out of your system. And you will understand that that teaching and doctrine is from the Father.] ...he shall know of the doctrine, whether it is from God, or whether I speak from My own self. The one who speaks of himself is seeking his own glory; but He Who seeks the glory of Him Who sent Him... [That is, Christ was not seeking His own glory, that’s what He was saying, but other men are seeking their own glory and their own niche and whatever they want in their lives. But Christ is seeking the glory of the Father.] ...the glory of Him Who sent Him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Did not Moses give you the law, and not one of you is practicing the law?.... [Did you know that?] ...Why do you seek to kill Me?’” (vs 16-19). Why didn’t they keep the Law of Moses? Because they had their own version! Now we’re ready to come back to Mark 7. Now you’re going to understand this even more.

Mark 7:7: “‘But in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.’”

• Sunday is a commandment of men
• Christmas is a commandment of men
• Easter is a commandment of men

—and when you properly understand it, you will know that they are inspired of Satan the devil, not of God.

 “For leaving the commandment of God... [And they say, ‘Well, that’s not important. Put that aside, let’s go on to more important things.’] ...you hold fast the tradition of men, such as the washing of pots and cups; and you practice many other things like this.’ Then He said to them, ‘Full well do you reject the commandment of God, so that you may observe your own tradition’” (vs 8-9).

Now that can apply to anyone. Why did He not say that about the Sabbath? Because Pharisees and scribes kept the Sabbath—didn’t they? Yes! This is not about Sabbath-keeping here, but the principle applies, so therefore, He took the fifth commandment as an example. He shows, as we’ll see a little later on in Matt. 23, what they did concerning their so-called religious practices, which also included their Sabbath-keeping. And remember, Jesus went up to the Feast and He drove out the money changers and all the things that they were doing there, because they were merchandizing the people.

Verse 10: “‘For Moses said, “Honor your father and your mother”; and, “The one who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.” But you say...” (vs 10-11). A reinterpretation of it. Now you could substitute the Sabbath commandment for it and you’d be right on. God commanded, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy,’ but you say, ‘We’re going to do it on Sunday.’ Let me read Spurgeon’s words again here:

I am no preacher of the old legal Sabbath, I’m a preacher of the gospel. The Sabbath of the Jews is to him a task, the Lord’s day of the Christian, the first day of the week, is to him a joy, a day of rest, of peace, and of thanksgiving.

That is an absolute lie!“...But you say, ‘If a man shall say to his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might receive from me is corban’ (that is, set aside as a gift to God)”’” (vs 10-11). Now a gift to the temple.

If you take what you could help your mom and dad with and you go up to the Pharisees and scribes and say, ‘Now, look, I’m going to give this money into the treasury of God. It’s corban. It’s a gift.’ Now doesn’t that seem righteous, doesn’t that seem good? Would the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees accept it? But of course! Then they would give them a dispensation—wouldn’t they? And they would loose them, and say, ‘Bless you, brother, for putting the money in the treasury. Oh, did we need that’ when your mom and dad are over here and you have an obligation, and you are not taking care of them. So understand.

“‘…set aside as a gift to God), he is not obligated to help his parents’.... [In other words, by grace he’s free, no obligation.] ...And you excuse him from doing anything for his father or his mother, Nullifying the authority of the Word of God by your tradition which you have passed down; and you practice many traditions such as this’” (vs 11-13). And we can say that today, apply that to Sabbath, apply that to Sunday, and the things which we’ve already done.

Now we’ll cover the other part of Mark 7 when we come to the section on clean and unclean meats. We’ll get there in due time, but we’re going to take it step-by-step so we really know and understand what we are doing. Let’s come to Matthew 23 and let’s understand about proselytes. Let’s understand the function of the Pharisees and the scribes, and many people misapply vs 2 and 3. So we’re going to properly apply it.

Now let me just mention here, if you don’t have our series, Scripturalism vs Judaism, you need to write for it, because we go through in detailed account, and survey the whole book of Matthew and get on even into the book of Acts and other places,  because Scripturalism—which is keeping the Scriptures, understanding the Scriptures, living by the Scriptures—is what God wants. Judaism, as we saw, does not keep even the Law of Moses and they totally reject Christ.

Matthew 23:1: “Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, Saying, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees have sat down on Moses’ seat as judges’” (vs 1-2). Ahha! There we have it! What does it mean to sit in Moses’ seat? It means this—I explained thoroughly in the series, but I’ll just give you a summary here—when they sit in judgment and they use the Scriptures for the judgment. That’s what they did, even though they had all of these extra things they added to it, when it came time for a judgment, because they were the religious government and the civil government. When there was a dispute among different ones within the synagogue, then they would come to the scribes or the Pharisees and they would use the Word of God to resolve the dispute.

When they did that Jesus said, “Therefore, every judgment that they tell you to observe, observe and do. But do not do according to their works... [Which are all of these extra things that they did.] ...for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of men; but they will not move them with one of their own fingers’” (vs 3-4).

Now let’s see what they did. You need to understand something very important here. All of these condemnations of the Jews and the Pharisees and the scribes are profound and why does Jesus do it? Now we’re not going to read all of them. I want you to go through and read them and study them. When I read to you out of The Code of Jewish Law, I will read more of them and give you some examples of what they do. Then you’ll understand it even more. But I want to concentrate on the proselyte of Gentiles by the Jews, or that is Judaism, because that will help us understand what we’re dealing with in Acts 15. Unless you understand Jewish proselytism and what they required, you cannot understand Acts 15. The author of this book did not even consider it.

Verse 14_{[transcriber’s correction]}: “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven before men; for neither do you yourselves enter, nor do you allow those who are entering to enter…. [No, they don’t want them to come to Christ. They don’t want them to repent of their sins, but oh, they want them to do what they want. They want them to follow the traditions. They want them to follow the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees. Oh, you better believe it!] …But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretext you offer prayers of great length. Because of this, you shall receive the greater judgment. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when he has become one, you make him twofold more a son of Gehenna than yourselves” (vs 14-15). Now what did they require of the proselytes? What was it?

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is not binding; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is obligated to fulfill his oath.’…. [And those are all the arguments and traditional things that they had, concerning many, many different things.] …You fools and blind!... [Fools means idiots. Jesus was straightforward—wasn’t He? And ‘if the blind lead the blind, they’re both going to fall into the ditch.’ That’s what Jesus said—right? Yes!] ...For which is greater, the gold, or the temple which sanctifies the gold?’” (vs 16-17). And He goes on with the rest of it.

Now let’s come to Acts 13 and let’s where the proselytes attended. They attended synagogue. I’ll read a couple Scriptures here and then I’ll explain to you what a Jewish proselyte into Judaism really consisted of. Now he’s talking in the synagogue, and wherever Paul went and preached Christ, he created riots. Now he went there on the Sabbath, because he was keeping the Sabbath. Now this man says they only used the Sabbath for evangelizing, but that’s not true. They used every day for evangelizing, and they went to the synagogue on the Sabbath because it ‘was to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.’

Acts 13:38: “Therefore, be it known to you, men and brethren, that through this man the remission of sins is preached to you. And in Him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses” (vs 38-39)—through the animal sacrifices. No one even in the Old Covenant was justified by keeping Sabbath. That was required! Justification under the Law of Moses meant offering a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, for a trespass offering, for a burnt offering, or whatever it may be. Or if they had a sickness or disease, by following the prescription of the priests and bathing after seven days, or fifteen days, or forty days, then they were justified to the temple. None of those things can justify you to God in heaven above.

We’ll talk about a little more in detail justification. Now you need to write for our series that we have in the book of Galatians, covering justification. Also we have a whole series in the book of Romans, going through every difficult Scripture there,

• showing the Truth of God
• showing the faith and love of God
• showing that as Paul said, ‘By grace we establish law, not abolish it.’

So you need that. So if you’ve been taken away by some of the arguments that this man proposes here or by whatever Sunday-keeping church you’ve been going to, you better stop and pay attention! You better think! You better realize, God is not going to accept that. God is not going to be mocked by that kind of teaching and by those things. He just won’t be. You’ll end up being rejected, just like the Jews, though you keep Sunday.

Now v 40: “Take heed, therefore, lest that which is spoken in the Prophets come upon you: ‘Behold, you despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work that you will in no way believe, even if one declares it to you.’ And when the Jews had gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles entreated him that these words might be spoken to them on the next Sabbath” (vs 40-42).

So the Gentiles were Sabbath-keeping and they said, ‘Paul, preach to us next Sabbath.’ Since these were Gentiles, as we covered earlier, why didn’t Paul just say to them, ‘Look, folks, God’s going to change it to Sunday. So why don’t you come back tomorrow and we’ll go through it, because God is going to lift you from that heavy burden.’ Listen you need to understand something, the Sabbath was never a burden. The Sabbath is always a blessing. The Jews made everything a burden.

Verse 43: “Now after the synagogue had been dismissed... [So they said this right in the synagogue, when he was done, they all came up, rushing right up to him, ‘Oh, boy, we’re happy to hear those words. Tell us next Sabbath, tell us next Sabbath.’] ...many of the Jews and the proselytes... [Now who are the religious proselytes? They were the Gentiles who believed and were part of Judaism. They were Jewish proselytes. What is a Jewish proselyte? And then we can answer the question as to why the Pharisees said, ‘It’s obligatory for those Gentiles, which believe, to be circumcised.’ Because they were carrying over the practice of Jewish proselytism.] ...who worshiped there followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God... [So the grace of God was preached on the Sabbath. This man claims that if you keep the Sabbath, you’ve fallen from grace. No, if you keep the Sabbath, you are in grace. And grace is preached on the Sabbath.] ...And on the coming Sabbath, almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the Word of God” (vs 43-44). Then the Jews were filled with envy and anger.

What is it that the Jews did in proselytism? We need to understand, and I’ll just review it here, but I will read the documentation next time, that at this time with the apostles teaching, there was a man in Alexandria, Egypt, called Philo. Now Philo was a Hellenistic Jew, which means that they were Greek-speaking Jews. A Hellenistic Jew did not view things the way that the Scriptures tell us exactly. Philo’s main thing was going into the philosophies of the Greek to blend that with the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. His basic goal was to show that Moses was a greater philosopher than the philosophers of the Greeks.

So in doing so, what he did was this: He spiritualized many of the things away while combining it with Scriptures to make things appear really good. Then he even said, which I’ll read next week, that you don’t have to keep the Sabbath as long as your intent is good toward God. Now doesn’t that sound like a little bit of modern Protestantism today? Yes!

Let’s come back here to Deuteronomy 10:12 and let’s see something concerning circumcision: “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the LORD, and His statutes which I command you today for your good?…. [Now what they had, they had teachings for the proselytes and they had two categories of circumcision based upon the rest of the verse.] …Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the LORD your God, the earth also, with all that is in it. Only the LORD had a delight in your fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, you above all people, as it is today.... [v 16 was one of the favorite Scriptures of Philo to show how the proselytes were to behave]: ...Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stiff-necked” (vs 14-16).

So what the Hellenistic Jews would do, and, of course, this was promulgating through all the Jewish areas that were Greek-speaking, and all of the Greek proselytes. And they said this: What the Gentiles have to do is abandon their pagan behavior and start keeping the commandments of God and first have a circumcision of the heart. Now to them a circumcision of the heart was if you forsook the pagan ways and were keeping the commandments of God.

However, they were never a true ‘Jew’ until they finalized the circumcision of the heart with the circumcision of the flesh. That’s precisely what the Pharisees who believed were teaching. They were teaching Jewish proselytism and the Jewish method that was applied to proselytes, because to them, you had to belong to the Jewish nation, and you couldn’t belong to the Jewish nation even in the Diaspora unless you were physically circumcised.

So now when the truth of Jesus came along, they said, ‘Aha! Boy, this is right, we believe in Jesus, but it’s impossible for the Gentiles to be saved unless they finalize this proselytism with physical circumcision.’ That was the battle! Without knowing that bit of information, you don’t even have a clue as to what was going on in Acts 15, because that’s how the Jews proselytized. They said, ‘First put away your behavior and then when you have done that, if you want full entrance into the synagogue, and if you want to be a real citizen of the Jewish nation, you must physically circumcised to complete the circumcision of the heart.’ And that’s what was going on in Acts 15.

Now then, let’s come back and let’s look at some more things concerning Acts 15 and then we will see how it began with Peter and Cornelius. Now we might not have time to get all the way into the experience with Cornelius, but we will, we’ll continue on next time. As I said when I began this series, I don’t know how long it’s going to take, and I don’t know how many I’m going to do, because I want to cover this thoroughly. I want to cover and refute every single argument that is used by these lying, Scripture-twisting, self-righteous, Gnostic hypocrites who are lawless and destined to the lake of fire unless they repent, and so will you unless you repent.

Acts 15:5: “But there stood up certain of those who believed, who were of the sect of the Pharisees, saying, ‘It is obligatory to circumcise them... [They couldn’t be true Jewish proselytes in Judaism—the religion of Judaism. Please understand something, too. Judaism is not the Law of Moses. Judaism claims to be the Law of Moses, but it is not. Judaism has the Scriptures and the law of Moses buried under thousands of laws to fence it off. So when they said, ‘It is obligatory that they be circumcised,’ because that was the only way to complete the proselytizing process.] ...and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.’” Meaning all the oral traditions as well as the commandments of Moses.

Verse 6—we see something very interesting here—don’t we? “Then the apostles and the elders gathered together to see about this matter... [Who’s missing in this discussion? Pharisees. Even though they believed, they did not participate in this discussion. So this is strictly a church decision here.] ...And after much discussion had taken place, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘Men, brethren, you know that from the early days, God made the choice among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the Word of the Gospel, and believe. And God, Who knows the heart... [And in the Greek it really means ‘the heart knowing God.’] ...bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, even as He did to us, And made no difference between us and them, and has purified their hearts through faith. Now therefore, why do you tempt God... (vs 6-10)

• Do you tempt God by keeping His commandments?

No, you tempt God by adding all the traditions, as we saw there in Mark 7.

• Do you tempt God if you love Him? No!
• Do you tempt God if you follow the laws of God? No!
• Do you tempt God if you believe in the greater circumcision of the heart through Christ, and not the circumcision of the flesh? No! You agree with God.

They tempt God when they come along and try and impose their view of the law of Moses upon the new believers.

“...Now therefore, why do you tempt God by putting a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” (v 10). All the traditions, not just the circumcision.

Let’s understand something: The laws and commandments of God, even given by Moses to the people, was never a yoke, was never a bondage. God said He gave all these things to them for their good always! Always for their good! What was against them was sin and that was for their destruction. What was against them were all the traditions that they added, because that is sin, sin done in the name of God in a corporate organizational setting, which is precisely the same thing that is done with Sunday today. You need to understand. You need to have your eyes open.

Verse 11: “‘But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe we shall be saved in the same manner as they also.’” And so do we believe that, but we also believe that through grace you establish law, not eliminate it.

Scriptures from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

1. 2-Timothy 2:14-18
2. 2-Peter 3:15-18
3. 2-Corinthians 4:1-2
4. Acts 15:1-5
5. Matthew 16:1-12
6. Mark 8:14-18
7. Luke 12:1-3
8. Mark 7:1-8
9. Revelation 22:12-14
10. Matthew 7:21-23
11. John 7:14-19
12. Mark 7:7-13
13. Matthew 23:1-4, 14-17
14. Acts 13:38-44
15. Deuteronomy 10:12-16
16. Acts 15:5-11

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Hebrews 4
• 1-Timothy 4
• Acts 10
• James 4:12
• Leviticus 18
• Mark 2:27-28
• Genesis 2

Also referenced:

Sermon Series:

• Prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament
• cripturalism vs Judaism
• Galatians
• Romans

Books:

• Sunday Facts and Sabbath Fiction, 25 Reasons Why Christians Keep Sunday by Dr. Russell K. Tardo
• The Code of Jewish Law by Solomon Ganzfried & Hyman Goldin

Booklet: Fourteen Rules of Bible Study