The Rebellion of the New Testament Churches
The New Testament churches knowingly, ignorantly, or rebelliously rejected:
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God’s feast days to be holy convocations
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His Ten Commandments where the 7th day Sabbath is to be holy convocations
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The Lord’s blessing and hallowing of the Sabbath
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His New Year as the beginning of the year and first month for us
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His seal upon His churches to separate them from the evil world
God’s words stand forever (Psalm 119:89), and His Word is God Himself (John 1:1).
The Prophecy of Change in Times and Laws
God foresaw that the antichrists would tamper with His commandments:
Daniel 7:25:
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
For this reason, our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the Holy Spirit to know all truth in the Scriptures (John 16:7-15).
The Words of Christ Are Spirit and Life
John 6:63:
It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 17:17:
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
The Gravity of Our Sin
Knowing the weight, gravity, betrayal, perversion, and seriousness of our greatest sins against God and our Lord Jesus Christ, it is a shame that we have committed abominations upon abominations, sins upon sins, iniquities upon iniquities in our daily lives.
If we had listened to the Holy Spirit and the spoken words of Christ about His truth (John 8:32), we would have been freed from these sins long ago.
A Call for Deep Repentance
Romans 6:1-2:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
The New Testament churches need serious, profound confession, repentance, and forgiveness for:
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Making the first day of God’s creation our resting day or Sabbath
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Rejecting God’s spoken words about His feast days and Ten Commandments
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Ignoring His blessed and hallowed 7th day Sabbath
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Refusing His New Year as the beginning of the year
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Rejecting His seal to separate His churches from the world
Why have we done these evils before our Lord God and Jesus Christ? We have sinned above the number of the sands in the seas. We must repent sincerely, sorrowfully, shamelessly, and with deep regret.
And unto Jacob Genesis 28:14, And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And unto our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, according to Galatians 3:16, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Therefore we the New Testament churches, both Jews and Gentiles, are one in Christ Jesus and are the children of Israel according to the promise, as it is written in Galatians 3:29, And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Oh Lord Almighty and our Lord Jesus Christ, how greatly have we erred in not knowing or acknowledging these truths, and in our ignorance we have despised our own identity in You, and have turned away from the very covenant You established before the foundation of the world. We have rejected our place as Your chosen people, grafted into the olive tree according to Romans 11:17–18, and have instead clung to traditions and commandments of men that are not from You. We have forsaken the statutes, judgments, and ordinances that You commanded to be kept forever throughout our generations in all our dwellings.
We say again, we are very sorry, we are profoundly sorry, and we repent with all our hearts. We now willingly forsake the ways of men and return to the ways of the Lord Almighty and our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, to keep holy Your Sabbaths, to observe Your feasts in their appointed seasons, to honor Your Ten Commandments where the seventh-day Sabbath is blessed and hallowed, and to walk in Your truth as revealed in the scriptures by the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge that Your word is forever settled in heaven, and we will not add to it nor take away from it. We will no longer profane Your holy things, nor trample underfoot the blood of the covenant by which we were sanctified.
O Lord God Almighty and our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, blot out our transgressions according to Your mercy, and remember not the sins of our ignorance. Wash us thoroughly from our iniquities, and cleanse us from all our sins. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us, that we may walk in obedience to all Your commandments and ordinances without turning aside to the right hand or to the left. Let Your word dwell richly in us, and let Your seal be upon us, that the world may know that we are Yours, a peculiar people, a holy nation, called out of darkness into Your marvelous light.
We now take hold of Your covenant, O Lord, and we pledge before heaven and earth that we will no longer follow the traditions of men, but we will keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. For we know that blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city, according to Revelation 22:14.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth we pray, Amen.
The Blessing of Jacob
Genesis 27:28-29
27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
Jacob Becomes Israel
Genesis 32:24-29
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
The Almighty God made these three patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — fathers of many nations. We, the New Testament churches, have ignorantly forgotten that from the very day the man who wrestled with Jacob gave him the name Israel, until now, the present twelve tribes of the children of Israel are only one nation out of the many nations promised by God to these patriarchs.