What about the old covenant practices like tithing, avoiding unclean meats, keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days.  Global is constantly accusing we’re going to do away with the Sabbath, Holy Days, unclean meats , and start observing Christmas, Easter and everything else.  Have I said anything about no longer meeting on the Sabbath??  Our desire ought to be greater to meet on the Sabbath because Christ sets the example and we shouldn’t condemn the Sunday keepers, if this is all they understand.  We’re not their judge.  And in all reality they might be better Christians than some of us, because that day does not make that much difference. 

Each of these points that I just mentioned is a separate example needing separate treatment, which you will be receiving.  Each has a different history.  The Sabbath for example is sanctified at creation long before the covenant began.  [Talks about unclean meets, circumcision, Passover, sacrifices]  Now all of these can be clarified if we are patient.  Am I encouraging anyone to eating unclean foods now?  I couldn’t even if Christ came down and told me like Peter.  And I don’t think any of you would either.  I look at that lobster. I never had a lobster even before I was converted.  I had certain standards as far as my rearing was concerned.  Who the heck could eat a lobster??? And if they’re happy, God bless them.

We’ll be discusses those in future articles.  Today I want to comment of Tithing and more on the Sabbath.

[Talks about Abraham and tithing--Mount Sinai]  It was strictly a volunteering thing that reflects the character of Abraham.  He wanted to glorify God.  God blessed him for his attitude.  Later it was a requirement.  Tithing was a requirement as a support for the old covenant ministers.  The hardhearted Israelites were required to give 10% just for a physical blessing.  If they were willing to abide by the requirement of giving 10% for a physical blessing, think for a minute, how much more should we be willing to give to God because of our attitude, our understanding and most of all along with the additional blessing that God gives us that far surpasses the physical that they received.  We who are in the New Covenant¹ have better blessings.  How much more willingly do you think we should be able to give in thankfulness for the spiritual eternal blessings we have in Jesus Christ?  [repeats similar context]  We’re living by the spirit of the Law.  No longer by the old covenant by 10%.  You’re all on your honor before God, we don’t check tithing records anyway unless we plan to ordain someone.  That was started long by Mr. Armstrong or other specific reasons that’s the only time.

Under the New Covenant the tithe is voluntary.  I can’t help it if people are planning to hold back their tithes.  There is a large group planning on holding back their tithes.  Luke 17.

We are obligated to go above and beyond the call of duty.  Don’t be ashamed to bring your friends to services.

We had a zeal and a desire to share that goodness that God was giving us but we didn’t know how to go about doing it.  We stood in horror when relatives would come and visit with us.  Can we come to church with you?  No you can’t come to church with us.  Like if we were come kind of exclusive club that they... you could imagine what they thought of us.  That we’re a cult!  And we used to think we’re unique.  When you’re ignorant, you don’t know that.  Hundreds of people have done this, based on the way they have interpreted from sermons, from articles and other things, which in many cases were eliminated but, nevertheless, no one did anything to rectify it either. [NO ONE?????]  We used to preach that it was a lack of faith if you had insurance.  And we had many of God’s people driving automobiles without insurance.  I didn’t do that, I had enough sense.  That didn’t take much.

So how much more should we be willing to give freely and generously to the work of God to be done, not by holding back your tithes.  Under the New Covenant the tithe is voluntary and you’re just as guilty of stealing if you don’t give anything voluntarily, as you were under the old covenant where you were commanded to give a tithe.  So under the New Covenant the tithe is voluntary done out of love and allegiance to Jesus Christ.  And isn’t that appropriate?  Shouldn’t our giving be done with the vision of God in our hearts?  That’s what separates us from the men from the boys.  The New Covenant expresses generosity more then the old did.  It doesn’t set a percentage but requires greater sacrifice.  A person who has faith in Jesus is not worried about whether tithing is commanded in New Testament or not, simply because Christ made reference to it in Matt., 23. 

A person who has faith in Jesus Christ does not worry if tithing is commanded.  A person who has faith wants to give all he can to Christ, within his means of course.  Christians should give generously to the church, but then again, giving is a result of the relationship with God and not a basis for it.

God can’t be bought off, but shouldn’t our attitude be willingness to give more then the minimum?

Some people think that Christ liberates us from the Law so that we could be more selfish.  That’s the way they respond?  That’s false.  He liberates us from the penalty of the Law so that we can be free to serve him more.

When it comes to tithing the real question is, are your hearts in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  Are you putting your money where your heart is?  Or maybe I could state it as a fact.  You can tell where you treasure is by where you’re putting your money.  Where your treasure is there will your heart be also, Matte., 6 vs. 21.

Now let’s move onto the topic of the Sabbath!  Is the Sabbath an old covenant Law?  Absolutely!  It is part of the ten commandments and the Ten Commandments form the core of the old covenant.  But so far have I said we are no longer required to observe the Sabbath?  No!  Did I say we aren’t going to?  No!  The question is, is the Sabbath required in the New Covenant, or as another possibility is transformed, to be kept in a different way, no longer saddled with those burdens that we had before?  We know the Bible doesn’t say it was changed to Sunday, but is it possible that Jesus Christ changed the way we ought to observe the Sabbath?  Absolutely, He did it by personal example and left the rest for us to be able to understand through His Spirit that would enable us to come to a greater understanding.  So the question is how does the Sabbath fit into the New Covenant?  The New Covenant is based on faith and not on law.  We know that faith produces good works; faith leads us to love God.  Faith leads us to love out neighbors.  Tithing again is an expression of love to God and love to our neighbors and all those who have not had a chance of hearing about God’s plan of salvation, or about Jesus Christ.  All who hear the gospel that our tithes help to support.  Faith leads us to love God and spend more time with him in prayer and in study.  One time Mr. Armstrong asked me, “Mr. Tkach, If God gave you the gift of healing, what would you do with it?”  Another one of those times I said, God, help! That’s all I said, because I didn’t understand the question, let alone the answer.  Certainly not the answer he wanted.  So I was stalling, which he was well aware of.  I said, “What do you mean, gift of healing and what would I do with it?”  Praying that God would put my brain in gear, what little I got there.  Then boom, an answer came to me. I said, “Well Mr. Armstrong...”  I spoke like an individual with confidence like he [I ] knew what he was doing and what he was saying.)  “If God gave me the gift of healing, I would come to you.”  Boom, he stops for me right there.  He says, “Well why would you come to me, He gave you the gift?”  I said, “Well, God is not the author of confusion, I says, and it could be conceivably that, ah, since He gave me the gift, I might think that He intended for me to establish a separate ministry, a ministry of healing.  And therefore in some respects it would come in conflict of where Christ is leading you!  I says and therefore I’d come to you and say, how would you direct me to use the gift that God is giving me so we can work [shouts loudly:] IN HARMONY!!!

He told me that flesh and blood did not reveal that answer to me.  I told him I knew that more then he did.  But apparently it was the right answer.  It is the same thing that Paul did with the matter of circumcision.[ talks briefly about Paul’s dealing with circumcision]

So the question is, how does the Sabbath fit into the New Covenant?  The New Covenant is based on faith and not on law.  But we know that faith produces good works, faith leads us to God, love God, love our neighbors-- tithing again is an expression of love to God and love to all who hear the Gospel that our tithes support.  Faith leads us to love God.  Faith should want us to spend more time with him in prayer and in study.  Faith and love leads us to want to spend more time with one another, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves but exhorting and encouraging one another in love and in good works.  Does the Sabbath give us spiritual benefits?  Hello!  Yes?  You all agree with that?  You bet it does!  The Sabbath gives us spiritual benefits, absolutely.  Not only do we benefit physically from the weekly rest, but we benefit spiritually.  From time to time if devoted to God should we forsake this spiritual benefit?  That’s ridiculous!  Should we use all our time for our own pleasures simply because now we don’t find the Sabbath under the under the New Covenant.  No!  A Christian should want more time devoted to God, not less.  So you see where the spiritual implication is required.  The Sabbath is a blessing, we rejoice in it.  We don’t want to give up a good thing.  But we do need to understand that there are changes in the way the Sabbath is presented in the New Testament from the role that it played in the old, that’s all.  We’re unshackling ourselves from some of the burdens that were required from the old covenant.  Now let’s look how Jesus taught us about the Sabbath by example.  First we note that Jesus kept the Sabbath.  He Himself was born under the old covenant, He kept the Law. He never sinned.  When Jesus lived, the old covenant was still in force, and so He lived by the terms of the old covenant.  That meant He did old covenant things like killing lambs at Passover time, supporting temple activities with His time, telling cleansed leopards to make offerings according to the Law of Moses.  He kept the Feast of Dedication and other Jewish customs and He was circumcised.  In other words He was perfect in all the laws of the old covenant, even the laws that the apostles came to see that were no longer binding after Jesus was crucified and was resurrected.  A New Covenant came in after Jesus’ death and resurrection and not before it.  Jesus did not argue with the Pharisees about whether to keep the Sabbath but He certainly argued about how to keep it or how to observe it.  It should not be a yoke of bondage due to our misunderstanding.  Compared to the Pharisees, Jesus was an extreme liberal.  The Pharisees have rules against healing on the Sabbath, but Jesus made a point of healing on the Sabbath specifically and for a specific purpose.  He could have easily have done His healing in any other way and could have easily promised the people they could be healed at sundown.  He didn’t chose to do it that way.  He healed them on the Sabbath for our benefit because that was a great day for liberating people from bondage, whether it was spiritual sin or physical bondage.  The old covenant told people not to collect food on the Sabbath, based on Exodus 20 vs.10, under Sabbath work under threat of being stoned to death.  Where do we see that under the New Covenant?  It’s not there.  But Jesus defended the right of His disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath.   Mark 2 vs. 23 [reads verse] 

Jesus did not deny that His apostles were working on the Sabbath.  Jesus did not deny that the disciples were working on the Sabbath.  He didn’t deny it; He didn’t make excuses.  Instead He pointed out that David himself had broken one of God's holiness laws and that it was okay to do it under certain circumstances.  Taking care of hunger was more important then keeping strict taboos that were forced on us due to our lack of understanding and spiritual ignorance.  The letter of the Law was broken, but that was okay because a more important principal of the Law was being kept, that’s what Christ was concerned about.  There was an more important human need.  David had an emergency but the disciples didn’t seem to have any such emergency.  His disciples were just a little hungry and that’s all but the point was is that they didn’t need to make a fetish about avoiding activity on the Sabbath. Vs. 27, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.  So the son of man is the Lord even of the Sabbath.  Jesus as God in the flesh had authority over the Sabbath.  He had the right to interpret what it meant and how it should be kept and observed.  And again, it imposes an awesome responsibility on the self, to see how we’re going to justify our excuses rather then legitimate reasons.  Here He said the Sabbath was given to benefit human beings, absolutely.  So we see this principal in action.  Humanitarian needs are more important that sticking to a strict interpretation of rules.  Just like one of our former ministers is preaching a sermon and many of these sorts of sermons were given over the years, in different church areas.  I JUST COULDN’T BELIEVE IT!!!

Giving a sermon on how the Sabbath is supposed to be observed He said, if someone has an accident in front of your house and is in need of emergency help and they come to your door, you should tell them politely that this is your Sabbath and go next door but if no one is home you can come back. What individual in his right mind is going to go back to that door?  Huh?

Jesus often healed on the Sabbath, there again the humanitarian need was more important than Sabbath rules.  That’s what He is showing us.  But we should know the difference and not justify our excuses.  They should be bona fide legitimate reasons and purposes.  In the past we have been too strict with this, sometimes we wouldn’t even allow someone to work on into the Sabbath as they were performing service toward other human beings.  There again, you need to evaluate the difference and you shouldn’t feel guilty to offer that kind of help and remain working.  They had to give up their jobs if they wanted to be members of the church. That’s not what God commanded, that’s not what He requires of us.  They aren’t healing like Jesus was but they are taking care of humanitarian needs.  That is greater in the eyes of God, an expression of real loving concern and service for your fellow human being.  Needs, that in many cases are more urgent then even hunger.  I know that our motives were good in what we did in the past.  We learned from these things.  Even in spite of the hardships.  All things worked for the good.  I’m not condemning anything, but I’m saying that we should use these as stepping stones to increase our understanding and our walk with God.  We want to uphold the importance of obeying God.  I’m not saying we’re looking for loopholes and excuses.  That puts every one of us on our honor before God, in a much greater way.  We took His commands seriously and that is good, but sometimes it seems that the Sabbath is more important then human lives.  Or the Sabbath was more important then expressing love and faith in Christ.  We looked at the external instead of the internal.  We meant well, but now we can change because God has led us to a deeper understanding of the covenant.  Have I said so far that we should make excuses to justify why we can’t be at Sabbath services?  We have church members who because of circumstances in some cases beyond our control other times because of negligence, carelessness of their part, and everything else, are so far in debt, that the church had to bail them out to the tune of 30 - 40 - 50 thousand dollars that they had charged up on their credit cards.  Had been out of work for two years.  Came to the church for financial assistance, received some and then was told this is far as you’re going to go.  If that man has to work on the Sabbath temporarily, to such a time to keep a roof over his family’s head, is that what God wants?  That shows how great a Christian we are, we allow our families to suffer needlessly and be kicked out from their homes?  The Sabbath was an old sign of the old covenant of Israel, faith in Christ and the Spirit of God, if you’re looking for a sign, is the sign between the servants of God today?  It is not the sign of the New Covenant of the blood of Christ.  The sign of the New Covenant is faith in Christ and the bread in wine, which are the symbols of that covenant.  Consequently, the way the Sabbath is to be observed under the New Covenant differs from the way it was to be observed under the old. 

We’re not doing away with it.  The Lord of the Sabbath has come and the reality has replaced the shadow.  Col 3 vs.17. The new testament Sabbath, the Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God.  Hebrews 4.  It’s the new life in Christ.  The life of faith in him and the life of the Spirit.  The way we observed the Sabbath in the past has been to apply the old covenant rules to the New Covenant Sabbath.  Like oil and water and thereby binding unnecessary burdens which like I said earlier [speaks softly] that the ministry did not have to experience.  We should respect and honor the Sabbath. [shouts loudly:] AM I DEGRADING IT IN ANY WAY DELIBERATELY?!!  NO!!!  It is the celebration of the new life in Christ.  That’s what the Sabbath means for us.  Of redemption, of sanctification, we have been given by God.  It’s an opportunity to devote time to God, especially for doing things He would have us do.  Worship services, acts of charity, service for the poor or the sick, personal and family study, prayer and so on.  But it is not correct to say that God demands a breadwinner to lose his job over the Sabbath.  But listen carefully. Nevertheless, he should work toward devoting the Sabbath to God eventually.  Using the noodle.  But for the church to demand that a person under all circumstances not work on the Sabbath – period - is to miss the point, and to apply old covenant rules to what is now a part of the New Covenant.  It doesn’t pass.  Jesus talked about the ox and the ditch.  We can take care of emergencies.  We recognize that emergencies come up on the Sabbath and it is not a sin to work on the Sabbath and to take care of those things.  We can fight fires perhaps for bad weather, take care of unexpected guests, etc., do otherwise as we have in the past is pharisaical and otherwise righteousness exceeds theirs, because the faith in Christ.  What one person calls an emergency may not be the same as what another person calls an emergency.  That’s going to happen, so we need to avoid judging one another, that’s not our responsibility.  Even today, we condemn one another the way we observe the Sabbath. [Talks about different interpretations on how to keep the Sabbath]  point is we need to avoid judging one another.  The attitude we need is this, I wouldn’t necessarily do what that guy is doing but I’m not going to condemn him for it. ....

The Sabbath should be a spiritual blessing, but I fear some of our members don’t get that much benefit out of it.  Sometimes we put too much emphasis on avoiding work and not enough on keeping the Sabbath holy.  Not enough on doing good.  The Sabbath was made for humans and if we don’t do anything at all on it, we are failing to use it for our intended purpose.  Some people are too worried about avoiding work and not concerned enough about living holy lives...Even Nehemiah tells his guards to work on the Sabbath, guarding his gates.  Did all these people who worked to feed you people on the Sabbath, those of you who partook of their Sabbath labors, did they commit a sin?  Absolutely not!  Ridiculous and shallow mindedness and ignorance that would draw any other conclusion. LIFE DOESN’T STOP ON THE SABBATH. MR. ARMSTRONG SAID, WHEN THIS WAS BROUGHT TO HIS ATTENTION, HE WAS NOT AWARE OF THIS [this issue] AGAIN NOW.

The guards were working on the Sabbath, that’s okay, it was part of their job...

Now if someone wants to be larcenists, that’s the way you can tell if you have any larceny left in you.  Especially in a couple of months.  Income tax time, how honest are you before God.  You know, all these other things you want to make a fetish out of.  How honest, how great of a Christian are you?  Mr. Armstrong always told us and I took it to heart and did it.  I’d rather be generous with the government and give an extra couple of percent instead of hold it all back for myself.  I receive many benefits from living in this great country of ours.  We have all kinds of blessings that we can’t even think of and number.  HE [HWA] SAYS,  DON’T TRY TO SQUEEZE IT ALL BACK!

We see a classic example in John 5.  Here is what we see Jesus did on the Sabbath. vs.3-6

[Reads John 5 vs.6]  On the surface it sounds like a stupid question, think about it!  [Talks about the Scripture]

When Christ said, do you really want to be healed, what that meant and how it has a spiritual  implication for us today!! [shouts loudly:] DO WE WANT TO BE HEALED OF THE STUPIDITY AND IGNORANCE WE HAD BECAUSE WE DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE WORD OF GOD THE WAY WE SHOULD?!!  That meant what He was saying to that poor crippled, do you really want to be healed?  Because when I heal you, your whole life is going to take on a different meaning.  Now from begging and doing mediocre things, your life is going to take on real purpose.  You’re now going to be involved in other things.  It’s going to be a greater challenge in every respect.  Now you want to apply that in a spiritual sense.  When God converts us, our lives are transformed and they take on greater meaning and significance.  No one is trying to water down the Law of God or what God commands and expects of us.  I always said we go above and beyond the call of duty.  We don’t impose hardships on people that God didn’t.  Are we more righteous then God, are we like the Pharisees which Christ took to task and said that if our righteousness doesn’t exceeds theirs, He says that we will in no way inherit the Kingdom of God...They had more confidence in the Law then the Lawgiver....[interprets Scriptures meaning regarding the Law and the Sabbath and the healing] vs. 16, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath the Jews persecuted him.  Jesus said to them, my Father is always at work to this very day and I too am working.  So here Jesus admits He was working on the Sabbath.  He was not sinning.  In the New Covenant we need to take a more flexible approach with work and humanitarian needs, not selfish pursuits or desires or benefits.  That’s what I say, you’re on your honor, you want to come up with those excuses, they’re lame excuses, God doesn’t accept them; He knows what’s in your heart.

First Tim. 5 vs.8 says that those who don’t provide for their families are worse then unbelievers and common sense says that too.  If the choice is between working on the Sabbath temporarily and providing food for your family, it is not a sin to work on the Sabbath.  Humanitarian needs come first, but once that’s been resolved that doesn’t give you the excuse to keep doing it.  Like I said, you should always work and strive toward wanting to maintain a relationship with God on that day and keep it as God would have us.  It’s not the ideal which we should strive for, but then again, we should not apply old covenant rules to the New Covenant Sabbath.  They aren’t doing it for selfish benefits, but to avoid hunger and putting their families out on the streets, that’s what it’s being done for.  Some people call it a lack of faith, but other people call it being sensible and it’s about time we became sensible Christians.  One person sees it as an ox in the ditch, or as holy bread that can be eaten by hungry people, and another person sees it differently, but I hope one person doesn’t judge the other because God himself puts a great deal of emphasis, judge not, unless you be judged.  Therefore we will not disfellowship a person who works to feed his family.  He is not worse then an unbeliever, rather I want to encourage that person to stay in the church to continue attending until he can devote the whole day to God’s service.  Does that sound like I’m encouraging to continue a way of life of taking advantage of the Sabbath?  Absolutely not!  If other people want to be stricter, they can be for themselves, but they should not judge their brother.  The New Covenant simply doesn’t require the Sabbath in the same way the old Covenant did.  And that’s why Jesus taught us by His personal example than saying anything else.  We see new testament examples of Sabbath keeping, but we don’t see demands like the Old Testament did...

[Repeats the above context]

If we need rules they are welcome as long as we do it to the glory of God.  That’s always the main thing.  As long as their faith is in Christ and not in their rules.  One group should not criticize the other.  The conservative shouldn’t condemn the actions of the others.   The liberals shouldn’t despise the rule keepers--and I hate to use conservative and liberals. There shouldn’t be any such animal in our midst.  We should all walk in each other based on faith in Christ.  The point is we should not sit in judgment of others on how they observe the Sabbath.  Some will be extra careful and be home by sundown; others will not.  Some will work on the Sabbath because of an ox in the ditch.

Yes, it doesn’t prohibit us from approaching them, but certainly not in a self-righteous way, but in a helpful way.  If you see them forced to work on the Sabbath, love would demand that you go to them and say, "I notice you’re having to work on the Sabbath, is there a special need?  Can I help you? [This may be interpreted as peer-pressure or shepherding. -ESN]  Maybe we could work something out.  That puts a greater responsibility on us individually."  [repeats the above]

There’s a time when our brother’s faith is weak and our job is to give encouragement like I said.  Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath...

This is not watering down of the Sabbath.

Some of us made sacrifices or were made to quit our jobs to attend the Feast of Tabernacles or to refrain from working on the Sabbath.  Making personal sacrifices to worship God is honorable and it is an expression of dedication and love toward God.  In fact this is a tremendous witness to others when we place our worship of God above our own desires. 

In conclusion, we are a New Covenant church.  Our relationship with God is based on faith with Christ and not on the old covenant.  Our faith leads us to obey God in different ways.  It doesn’t look for ways; it doesn’t look for ways to get out of what Christ would demand from us anyway.  Some laws remain the same, some are obsolete and some are applied in different ways.  It’s a New Covenant between God and His people, we have finally been liberalized, or liberated I should say, I hate the word liberalized.  We’ve been liberated.  The New Covenant is based on faith and there is nothing new, there is nothing in the New Covenant that says we keep the Sabbath according to the rules of the old covenant.  There is no example.  In the New Testament we see examples of people keeping the Sabbath and we see statements that tell us that the Sabbath is a shadow pointing to reality who is Christ.  That doesn’t mean that the Sabbath is done away with, but it means that the Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ.  It means Christ is more important than the Sabbath.  That’s what it means.  It means that the Sabbath rest for Christians in Hebrews 4 is the new life in Christ.  Not just the day of the week.  And Paul tells us in Romans 14 that we should not be involved in arguments or disputes over days.  Being Sabbath keepers does not make us more righteous then other Christians.  When we rightly observe it, it helps us to keep focused on the true source of our salvation.  And it reminds us that we have entered into the promise Sabbath rest in Hebrews 4, through faith in Jesus Christ.  In other words under the New Covenant the nature of the Sabbath observance, has also become new.  The new life in Christ is the true Sabbath rest.  The observance of the day itself is the shadow of reality, in the WCG we believe we should respect the Sabbath, but under the New Covenant.  We are not held to the identical form of observance that was required under the old covenant.  If some, even most Christians don’t keep the Sabbath, then it’s their loss.  They want to try and get out from having a more personal and close relationship with God, on this particular day on which Christ Himself… ah you know, established; then it’s their loss.  It is true that the Sabbath is not commanded in the New Covenant in the way it is under the old covenant.  Not keeping it for valid reasons doesn’t make them any less Christian and I try to make that plain.  But it is still their loss, nevertheless.  And they will continue, if that’s their motivation and that’s their desire, I think that identifies them for what they really are. [Tools of Satan????]  We know that the Sabbath has great spiritual benefits, we need special time dedicated to God, we should want to break from other jobs to worship our creator, we should want time with each other to encourage each other to love and do good works.  We should want to hear sermons that challenge us to think.  We should want to learn new things from the Bible, after all we’re commanded to grow in the grace and knowledge and God’s way.  We should want time in more prayer and study, we should want time to be with our families.  We should want to serve others in their physical needs.  That’s what the Sabbath can be for.  It was made for us and not for the Sabbath.  It’s for our physical and spiritual blessings, it is all the more important and meaningful in this modern secular society.  But it is not a yoke of bondage around our necks.  God does not expect our Christians to go into poverty cycle to keep it.  I am one who has put my job over the line too, just as many as you have.  Just as many. God respects our willingness to sacrifice to obey him even though our understanding wasn’t complete.  God doesn’t hold it against us.  But now God has called on the church to deeper understanding, to worship Christ and not the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was not made to be worshipped. Christ is to be worshipped.  Let’s thank God for the growth, let’s not get angry over it because again you’re just displaying what your attitude is.  The Sabbath is the celebration of good things of God, salvation of Jesus Christ, and it is a great blessing if we understand it in the right perspective as the New Testament teaches us.  We should hunger and thirst of the things of God, we should desire a better relationship with God and Jesus Christ.  That’s part of the law written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit under the New Covenant.  But that spiritual law demands that we take a less rigid approach as to how the Sabbath is observed.  It demands that we not condemn our brothers for their decisions that they make regarding their humanitarian needs and emergencies. 

It’s awfully easy to judge; some people will rejoice what I said today, some people will criticize.  I can’t let the potential for criticism prevent me from preaching and teaching about the New Covenant and understanding we have in Jesus Christ.  We are saved by faith, not by rules and certainly not by judging one another.  I’m sure that this is going to cause a lot of questions, and that’s good, it shows that your thinking.  Hopefully, it’s with a positive spirit and positive attitude.  I encourage you study this topic.  We will be sending out study papers and it will appear in the WWN.  These papers will be more extensive look at the covenants and a more in-depth look at our obligations under the New Covenant.  Faith causes us to be willing to obey our Lord and Savior in whatever He tells us to do.  We see some clear commands to love one another, how well are we accomplishing that.  There is no argument over it.  There can’t be.  To believe in the Son, to preach the gospel, to work toward unity in the faith, to meet together as a church, to build up one another in the faith, to do good works and services and to lead pure moral lives and to live peacefully and to forgive those who wrong us.  Here is where the emphasis is.  These New Covenant commands are demanding, they absorb all of our time, all of our days are dedicated toward serving Jesus Christ.  We need to be busy doing His work always and that is not an easy task.  So you have already proven to yourselves that you were willing to change, willing to believe Christ and to accept him as your savior.  I ask you to pray daily for him to continue to guide us in more truth and more understanding.  I thank you for your loyalty and support and cooperation.  Hopefully you will any dispel rumors that are flying around left and right that we’re doing such and such, that we’re no longer going to be meeting on the Sabbath, or anything else.  All I did through Jesus Christ was try and make it little plainer; it will be a challenge, I’m sure.

God Bless You!!!!!

[Video tapes transcribed by L. A. Stuhlman Exit & Support Network™]

Audio tapes of this transcript are available. Email us

Footnote by ESN:

¹ The New Covenant will have its primary fulfillment with Israel in the millennial kingdom.

Back to Part I of Video Sermon Transcript

Letter to author Janis Hutchinson from ESN (Vitally important letter with much exposé  regarding WCG's history and reasons for the changes; helpful in undoing the propaganda and misinformation) 

Outsider's Inside Update Newsletters (Looking behind the scenes at the real activities and associations pertaining to the "transformation" of the WCG; shows how doctrine was used as a massive propaganda tool. Important reading for those who would discern truth from deception.)

An Open Letter to Our Acquaintances in The Church of God (Very important letter which enabled many to question deception and to exit WCG and its authoritarian offshoots. One interesting part shows how WCG used thought reform in order to instigate their new changes.)

Transformed by Truth or Transformed by Lies??

The Earl Williams Factor (very interesting; reveals how Williams was preaching grace way before Tkach Sr. supposedly received his "truth about the New Covenant from God")

Deception Surrounding Worldwide Church of God Changes (covers how Tkach Sr. said the source of the changes were HWA himself and that he "changed his mind" in regard to what he previously taught before he died)

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