Jesus said to them, The Sabbath was made on account and
for the sake of man, not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is Lord even of
the Sabbath. Mark 2:27-28
Let
us examine more closely another primary adherence that God mentions in his
prophecy regarding eunuchs from Isaiah 56:1-8, as well as those Philip shared
with the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8:37, to help us understand as gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender people what He expects of us in return for
including us in His house of prayer for all people. While these are explained from the
perspective of what God seems to expect from LGBT believers, I think they will
reveal themselves to actually apply to all believers.
Isaiah 56
1 Thus says the Lord: Keep justice, do and use
righteousness (conformity to the will of God which brings salvation), for My
salvation is soon to come and My righteousness (My rightness and justice) to be
revealed.
2 Blessed, happy, and fortunate is the man who does this,
and the son of man who lays hold of it and binds himself fast to it, who keeps
sacred the Sabbath so as not to profane it, and keeps his hand from doing any
evil.
3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the
Lord say, The Lord will surely separate me from His people. And let not the eunuch say, Behold, I am a
dry tree.
4 For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep My
Sabbaths and choose the things which please Me and hold firmly My covenant—
5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a
memorial and a name better [and more enduring] than sons and daughters; I will
give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
6 Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to
minister to Him and to love the name of the Lord and to be His servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it and who holds fast My
covenant [by conscientious obedience]
7 All these I will bring to My holy mountain and make
them joyful in My house of prayer. Their
burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house
will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
8 Thus says the Lord God, Who gathers the outcasts of
Israel: I will gather yet others to [Israel] besides those already gathered.
Acts 8
Keep Justice
Do and use righteousness
Keep the Sabbath sacred
Keep our hand from doing any evil
Do not complain we are “dry trees”
Choose the things that please God
Hold firmly His Covenant (Jesus Christ)
Believe with all our heart that Jesus is the Messiah
Accept Jesus as the Author of our salvation
Give Jesus our obedience
Receive Baptism in the Name of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit
So
that’s quite a list, but in this chapter, I’d like to first explore keeping the
Sabbath sacred. What does that mean in today's society?
Fortunately,
we don't have to just ask someone's opinion. The Word of God has plenty to say
about it. But as we’ll see, it is
important to understand this in a balanced way, keeping in mind that Jesus
taught that the Sabbath was made for man, and man was not made for the Sabbath.
Most
of us are familiar with the origins of the Sabbath as God’s Day of Rest:
…on the seventh day
God ended His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all
His work which He had done.
And God blessed (spoke good of) the seventh day, set it
apart as His own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work
which He had created and done. Genesis 2:2-3
It's
important to realize that the Sabbath is made for man; man is not made for the
Sabbath. Jesus made this clear when He
healed the man with the shriveled hand, the bowed over woman, the crippled man
lying at the Pool of Bethesda, and cured the blind man—each on the Sabbath. And of course, Jesus rose from the dead on
the Christian Sabbath Day. We’ll look at
each of these events as they appear in Scripture, but let us first look at
Exodus 31:15-17 to learn what the Sabbath was originally for:
15 Six days may work be done, but the seventh is the
Sabbath of rest, sacred to the Lord; whoever does work on the Sabbath day shall
surely be put to death.
16 Wherefore the Israelites shall keep the Sabbath to
observe it throughout their generations, a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever;
for in six days the Lord made the heavens and earth, and on the seventh day He
ceased and was refreshed.
We’ll also
recall that keeping the Sabbath Holy is one of the Ten Commandments:
[Earnestly] remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
(withdrawn from common employment and dedicated to God). Exodus 20:8
One of my
favorite verses for explaining what the Sabbath is for is found in Ezekiel
20:20 which reads,
And hallow (separate
and keep holy) My Sabbaths, and
they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know, understand, and
realize that I am the Lord your God.
With
the ministry of Jesus, the Sabbath became even more clearly defined for
Christians, as we see how Jesus’ teaching about the Sabbath expanded the
spiritual aspect of it beyond the mere ritual observance of the Day within the
Jewish faith. We’ll learn that Jesus did
some things on the Sabbath Day that caused many Jewish priests at the time to
believe that in doing so, Jesus had profaned the Sabbath. Let’s take a look at Jesus’ response:
1 At that particular
time Jesus went through the fields of standing grain on the Sabbath; and His
disciples were hungry, and they began to pick off the spikes of grain and to
eat.
2 And when the
Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, See there!
Your disciples are doing what is unlawful and not permitted on the
Sabbath.
3 He said to them,
Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, and those who
accompanied him—
4 How he went into
the house of God and ate the loaves of the showbread--which was not lawful for
him to eat, nor for the men who accompanied him, but for the priests only?
5 Or have you never
read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the
sanctity of the Sabbath [breaking it] and yet are guiltless?
6 But I tell you, Something greater and more exalted and
more majestic than the temple is here!
7 And if you had only
known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare,
to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims, you would not
have condemned the guiltless. Matthew 12:1-7
NOTE: This is written in
Matthew 9:12-13 which says,
"But when Jesus heard it, He replied, Those who are strong
and well (healthy) have no need of a physician, but those who are weak and
sick. Go and learn what this means: I
desire mercy [that is, readiness to help those in trouble] and not sacrifice
and sacrificial victims. For I came
not to call and invite [to repentance] the righteous (those who are upright and
in right standing with God), but sinners (the erring ones and all those not
free from sin)."
8 For the Son of Man
is Lord [even] of the Sabbath.
9 And going on from
there, He went into their synagogue.
10 And behold, a man
was there with one withered hand. And they said to Him, Is it lawful or
allowable to cure people on the Sabbath days?--that they might accuse Him.
11 But He said to
them, What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a
pit or ditch on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
12 How much better
and of more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and allowable to do
good on the Sabbath days. Matthew 12:8-12
Now let us
examine some other healings Jesus performed on the Sabbath, and the reactions
of the people who witnessed them:
The Man Healed of a
Withered Hand on the Sabbath
7 And the scribes and the Pharisees kept watching Jesus
to see whether He would [actually] heal on the Sabbath, in order that they
might get [some ground for] accusation against Him.
8 But He was aware all along of their thoughts, and He
said to the man with the withered hand, Come and stand here in the midst. And he arose and stood there.
9 Then Jesus said to them, I ask you, is it lawful and
right on the Sabbath to do good [so that someone derives advantage from it] or
to do evil, to save a life [and make a soul safe] or to destroy it?
10 Then He glanced around at them all and said to the
man, Stretch out your hand! And he did
so, and his hand was fully restored like the other one.
11 But they were filled with lack of understanding and
senseless rage and discussed (consulted) with one another what they might do to
Jesus. Luke 6:6-11
The Bowed Over Woman
Healed on the Sabbath
10 Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the
Sabbath.
11 And there was a woman there who for eighteen years had
had an infirmity caused by a spirit (a demon of sickness). She was bent completely forward and utterly
unable to straighten herself up or to look upward.
12 And when Jesus saw her, He called [her to Him] and
said to her, Woman, you are released from your infirmity!
13 Then He laid [His] hands on her, and instantly she was
made straight, and she recognized and thanked and praised God.
14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because
Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, There are six days on which
work ought to be done; so come on those days and be cured, and not on the
Sabbath day.
15 But the Lord replied to him, saying, You playactors
(hypocrites)! Does not each one of you
on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it out to
water it?
16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom
Satan has kept bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the
Sabbath day?
17 Even as He said this, all His opponents were put to
shame, and all the people were rejoicing over all the glorious things that were
being done by Him. Luke 13:10-17
The Crippled Man Healed
on the Sabbath
2 Now there is in Jerusalem a pool near the Sheep Gate. This pool in the Hebrew is called Bethesda,
having five porches (alcoves, colonnades, doorways).
3 In these lay a great number of sick folk--some blind,
some crippled, and some paralyzed (shriveled up)--waiting for the bubbling up
of the water.
4 For an angel of the Lord went down at appointed seasons
into the pool and moved and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the
stirring up of the water, stepped in was cured of whatever disease with which
he was afflicted.
5 There was a certain man there who had suffered with a
deep-seated and lingering disorder for thirty-eight years.
6 When Jesus noticed him lying there [helpless], knowing
that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, Do you
want to become well? [Are you really in
earnest about getting well?]
7 The invalid answered, Sir, I have nobody when the water
is moving to put me into the pool; but while I am trying to come [into it]
myself, somebody else steps down ahead of me.
8 Jesus said to him, Get up! Pick up your bed (sleeping pad) and walk!
9 Instantly the man became well and recovered his strength
and picked up his bed and walked. But
that happened on the Sabbath.
10 So the Jews kept saying to the man who had been
healed, It is the Sabbath, and you have no right to pick up your bed [it is not
lawful].
11 He answered them, The Man Who healed me and gave me
back my strength, He Himself said to me, Pick up your bed and walk! John 5:1-11
The Blind Man Healed on
the Sabbath
10 Now it was on the Sabbath day that Jesus mixed the mud
and opened the man's eyes.
11 So now again the Pharisees asked him how he received
his sight. And he said to them, He smeared mud on my eyes, and I washed, and
now I see. John 9:13-15
Christ
Rose from the Dead One day after the Sabbath (Sunday)
2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other
disciple, whom Jesus [tenderly] loved, and said to them, They have taken away
the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him!
3 Upon this, Peter and the other disciple came out and
they went toward the tomb.
4 And they came running together, but the other disciple
outran Peter and arrived at the tomb first.
John
20:1-4
In
our modern society, most Christian believers worship at their House of Prayer
on the Sabbath, which some consider to be Saturday. But since Christ was raised from the dead on
the "First Day of the Week," (which would have been Sunday), we came to
change when we worship from Saturday to Sunday. Actually, Scriptures conveys this point even more specifically saying,
Now after the Sabbath, near dawn of the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to take a look at the tomb. Matthew 28:1
This would also explain why the Book of Genesis always listed days as "and the evening and the morning were the first day," rather than "and the morning and the evening were the first day." We know that even in modern times, the Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday evening and goes through until Saturday evening. To me, by worshiping on Sunday mornings, the Christian faith symbolically ends the evening of the Old Covenant on Saturday evening, and begins the morning of God's New Covenant with the Gentiles (non Jews), on Sunday morning.
But as explained by Paul, any day of the week we choose can be
designated by us individually as the Sabbath, or the day we stop to rest,
worship and restore our spirits with the Word of God. But of course, most modern Christians have
set aside Sunday for this most holy time with God and with fellowship with
fellow believers as we learn in Colossians 2:11-17:
11 In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision
not made with hands, but in a [spiritual] circumcision [performed by] Christ by
stripping off the body of the flesh (the whole corrupt, carnal nature with its
passions and lusts).
12 [Thus] you were circumcised when] you were buried with
Him in [your] baptism, in which you were also raised with Him [to a new life]
through [your] faith in the working of God [as displayed] when He raised Him up
from the dead.
13 And you who were dead in trespasses and in the
uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature),
[God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all
our transgressions,
14 Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the
handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in
force and stood against us (hostile to us).
This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and
cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.
15 [God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were
ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in
triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].
16 Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters
of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath.
17 Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are
to come, and they have only a symbolic value.
But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed,
the body of it) belongs to Christ.
So
if all these things, (including what day we observe the Sabbath) are only a
"shadow of things to come” what then does it mean to keep the Sabbath
Holy? We have seen that the Pharisees
thought Christ had violated the Sabbath by healing on that day. But if you think about it, most of us come to
Christ and make Him our Lord and Savior at church...on a Sunday, or a Sabbath. That means that as He cleanses us of our
sins, binds up our wounds, heals our broken hearts, and anoints us with His
Holy Spirit, He is still healing on
the Sabbath in churches all over the world, through His Holy Spirit working
through His ministers of the Gospel! Let's
look at some other important aspects of the Sabbath, especially in light of the
early Christian church.
Early Christian worship
services held on a Sabbath
13 Now Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and
came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John
[Mark] separated himself from them and went back to Jerusalem,
14 But they [themselves] came on from Perga and arrived
at Antioch in Pisidia. And on the
Sabbath day they went into the synagogue there and sat down.
15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the
leaders [of the worship] of the synagogue sent to them saying, Brethren, if you
have any word of exhortation or consolation or encouragement for the people,
say it. Acts 13:13-15
We
learned what the New Covenant was as we explored extensive amounts of Scripture
from the Book of Hebrews in Chapter 5 of The
Bed Keeper, we’ll see from this portion of the Book of Hebrews that the true
Sabbath does not come for believers until the great and final day when we enter
into His rest. But while we are on the
earth, we can enter His rest any day we are led to:
1 Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still
holds and is offered [today], let us be afraid [to distrust it], lest any of
you should think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it.
2 For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God]
proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good
news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did
not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with the leaning of the
entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power,
wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; neither were they united in faith
with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe).
3 For we who have believed (adhered to and trusted in and
relied on God) do enter that rest, in accordance with His declaration that
those [who did not believe] should not enter when He said, As I swore in My
wrath, They shall not enter My rest; and this He said although [His] works had
been completed and prepared [and waiting for all who would believe] from the
foundation of the world.
4 For in a certain place He has said this about the
seventh day: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.
5 And [they forfeited their part in it, for] in this
[passage] He said, They shall not enter My rest.
6 Seeing then that the promise remains over [from past
times] for some to enter that rest, and that those who formerly were given the
good news about it and the opportunity, failed to appropriate it and did not
enter because of disobedience,
7 Again He sets a definite day, [a new] Today, [and gives
another opportunity of securing that rest] saying through David after so long a
time in the words already quoted, Today, if you would hear His voice and when
you hear it, do not harden your hearts.
8 [This mention of a rest was not a reference to their
entering into Canaan.] For if Joshua had
given them rest, He [God] would not speak afterward about another day.
9 So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete
Sabbath-rest reserved for the [true] people of God;
10 For he who has once entered [God's] rest also has
ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors, just as God rested from
those labors peculiarly His own.
11 Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and
strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for
ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and
disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell].
12 For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of
power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper
than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of
life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest
parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very
thoughts and purposes of the heart.
13 And not a creature exists that is concealed from His
sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes
of Him with Whom we have to do.
14 Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has
[already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us
hold fast our confession [of faith in Him].
15 For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand
and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities
and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in
every respect as we are, yet without sinning.
16 Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw
near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us
sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help
in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just
when we need it]. Hebrews 4:1-16
So
we see that the purpose of the Sabbath is actually to enter into God's rest; to
bask in His glory, to worship Who He is, and to recognize and honor Him as
Master over our lives and destinies. And
according to the prophecy of Isaiah 56:1-8, it is something that is required of
us eunuchs, and foreigners in order to fully partake in the Holy Memorial He is
about to establish in His House of Prayer.
Why are we required? Well, it
would seem kind of insulting to God to go through all the trouble of opening up
the doors of His House of Prayer, only to have us not show up, don't you think? (See Chapter 20 of The Bed Keeper for an even
more detailed explanation).
Before
the first church services were held after Christ's ascension, there was the
most famous Sabbath of them all:
Pentecost
Pentecost (Greek: πεντηκοστή [‘ημέρα], pentekostē
[hēmera], "the fiftieth day") is one of the prominent feasts in the
Christian liturgical year, celebrated the fiftieth day after Easter Sunday (the
tenth day after Ascension Thursday). Historically
and symbolically related to the Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot, it
commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other
followers of Jesus as described in the Book of Acts Chapter 2:
1 When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all
assembled together in one place,
2 When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the
rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they
were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire,
which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled (diffused throughout their
souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign)
languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression
[in each tongue in appropriate words].
5 Now there were then residing in Jerusalem Jews, devout
and God-fearing men from every country under heaven.
6 And when this sound was heard, the multitude came
together and they were astonished and bewildered, because each one heard them
[the apostles] speaking in his own [particular] dialect.
7 And they were beside themselves with amazement, saying,
Are not all these who are talking Galileans?
8 Then how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own
(particular) dialect to which we were born?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and inhabitants of
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and [the province of] Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya
about Cyrene, and the transient residents from Rome, both Jews and the
proselytes [to Judaism from other religions],
11 Cretans and Arabians too--we all hear them speaking in
our own native tongues [and telling of] the mighty works of God!
12 And all were beside themselves with amazement and were
puzzled and bewildered, saying one to another, What can this mean?
13 But others made a joke of it and derisively said, They
are simply drunk and full of sweet [intoxicating] wine.
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice
and addressed them: You Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let this be
[explained] to you so that you will know and understand; listen closely to what
I have to say.
15 For these men are not drunk, as you imagine, for it is
[only] the third hour (about 9:00 a.m.) of the day;
16 But [instead] this is [the beginning of] what was
spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, God
declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels] and your
young men shall see visions (divinely granted appearances), and your old men
shall dream [divinely suggested] dreams.
18 Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants
in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [telling
forth the divine counsels and predicting future events pertaining especially to
God's kingdom].
19 And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on
the earth beneath, blood and fire and smoking vapor;
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon
into blood before the obvious day of the Lord comes--that great and notable and
conspicuous and renowned [day].
21 And it shall be that whoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord [invoking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord--Christ] shall be
saved.
22 You men of Israel, listen to what I have to say: Jesus
of Nazareth, a Man accredited and pointed out and shown forth and commended and
attested to you by God by the mighty works and [the power of performing]
wonders and signs which God worked through Him [right] in your midst, as you
yourselves know—
23 This Jesus, when delivered up according to the
definite and fixed purpose and settled plan and foreknowledge of God, you
crucified and put out of the way [killing Him] by the hands of lawless and
wicked men.
24 [But] God raised Him up, liberating Him from the pangs
of death, seeing that it was not possible for Him to continue to be controlled
or retained by it.
25 For David says in regard to Him, I saw the Lord
constantly before me, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken or
overthrown or cast down [from my secure and happy state].
26 Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue exulted
exceedingly; moreover, my flesh also will dwell in hope [will encamp, pitch its
tent, and dwell in hope in anticipation of the resurrection].
27 For You will not abandon my soul, leaving it helpless
in Hades (the state of departed spirits), nor let Your Holy One know decay or
see destruction [of the body after death].
28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will
enrapture me [diffusing my soul with joy] with and in Your presence.
29 Brethren, it is permitted me to tell you confidently
and with freedom concerning the patriarch David that he both died and was
buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 Being however a prophet, and knowing that God had
sealed to him with an oath that He would set one of his descendants on his
throne, [II Sam. 7:12-16; Ps. 132:11.]
31 He, foreseeing this, spoke [by foreknowledge] of the
resurrection of the Christ (the Messiah) that He was not deserted [in death]
and left in Hades (the state of departed spirits), nor did His body know decay
or see destruction.
32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that all we [His
disciples] are witnesses.
33 Being therefore lifted high by and to the right hand
of God, and having received from the Father the promised [blessing which is
the] Holy Spirit, He has made this outpouring which you yourselves both see and
hear.
34 For David did not ascend into the heavens; yet he
himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand and share My
throne
35 Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.
36 Therefore let the whole house of Israel recognize
beyond all doubt and acknowledge assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and
Christ (the Messiah)--this Jesus Whom you crucified.
37 Now when they heard this they were stung (cut) to the
heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles (special messengers),
Brethren, what shall we do?
38 And Peter answered them, Repent (change your views and
purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it)
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is to and for you
and your children, and to and for all that are far away, [even] to and for as
many as the Lord our God invites and bids to come to Himself.
40 And [Peter] solemnly and earnestly witnessed
(testified) and admonished (exhorted) with much more continuous speaking and
warned (reproved, advised, encouraged) them, saying, Be saved from this crooked
(perverse, wicked, unjust) generation.
41 Therefore those who accepted and welcomed his message
were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls.
42 And they steadfastly persevered, devoting themselves
constantly to the instruction and fellowship of the apostles, to the breaking
of bread [including the Lord's Supper] and prayers.
43 And a sense of awe (reverential fear) came upon every
soul, and many wonders and signs were performed through the apostles (the
special messengers).
44 And all who believed (who adhered to and trusted in
and relied on Jesus Christ) were united and [together] they had everything in
common;
45 And they sold their possessions (both their landed
property and their movable goods) and distributed the price among all,
according as any had need.
46 And day after day they regularly assembled in the
temple with united purpose, and in their homes they broke bread [including the
Lord's Supper]. They partook of their
food with gladness and simplicity and generous hearts,
47 Constantly praising God and being in favor and
goodwill with all the people; and the Lord kept adding [to their number] daily
those who were being saved [from spiritual death]. Acts 2:1-47
So
Pentecost was the beginning of what is now called the Christian Church. It was this foundational beginning of the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit that God wants us to keep holy not simply as gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, but as Christian believers. As we learned in Chapter 5 of The Bed Keeper, the “promise of Abraham,”
(which we learned was the Holy Spirit) was not just for Abraham, but for every
believer. We see Peter confirm in Acts 2
that the promise [of the
Holy Spirit] is to and for you and your children, and to and for all that are
far away, [even] to and for as many as the Lord our God invites and bids to
come to Himself (Acts 2:39). That means God wants gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender believer to receive His Holy Spirit as well!
While
this is not a requirement for salvation, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a
separate event after receiving Christ which the believer may partake of. But just as salvation, it too is simply a
gift offered to us by God for whosoever will receive it. And again, it’s a gift that anyone deciding
whether to receive it or not must be familiar with. So let’s take a look at what comes about in
the life of believers who receive the Holy Spirit. When you do, you will receive power, just
like Jesus said we would in Acts 1:1-8:
1 In the former account [which I prepared], O Theophilus,
I made [a continuous report] dealing with all the things which Jesus began to
do and to teach)
2 Until the day when He ascended, after He through the
Holy Spirit had instructed and commanded the apostles (special messengers) whom
He had chosen.
3 To them also He showed Himself alive after His passion
(His suffering in the garden and on the cross) by [a series of] many convincing
demonstrations [unquestionable evidences and infallible proofs], appearing to
them during forty days and talking [to them] about the things of the kingdom of
God.
4 And while being in their company and eating with them,
He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had
promised, Of which [He said] you have heard Me speak.
5 For John baptized with water, but not many days from
now you shall be baptized with (placed in, introduced into) the Holy Spirit.
6 So when they were assembled, they asked Him, Lord, is
this the time when You will reestablish the kingdom and restore it to Israel?
7 He said to them, It is not for you to become acquainted
with and know what time brings [the things and events of time and their
definite periods] or fixed years and seasons (their critical niche in time),
which the Father has appointed (fixed and reserved) by His own choice and
authority and personal power.
8 But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and
might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in
Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.
It's
important to understand that receiving the Holy Spirit is not just a gift for
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender believers, but is available for everyone
who will receive it. It’s also important
to note that there is a difference between “receiving the Holy Spirit” and
“being baptized in the Holy Spirit.” In
actuality, all believers actually “receive the Holy Spirit” before we can even make
the decision to become a follower of Jesus.
It is by the Holy Spirit’s own leadership by which we make that
decision, as Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 12:3, saying,
“Therefore I want you
to understand that no one speaking under the power and influence of the [Holy] Spirit of God can [ever] say, Jesus be cursed! And no
one can [really] say, Jesus is
[my] Lord, except by and under
the power and influence of the Holy
Spirit.”
In
fact, we’ll also see how Paul says the process of a believer making a decision
works:
…my language and my
message were not set forth in persuasive (enticing and plausible) words of
wisdom, but they were in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit and power [a proof
by the Spirit and power of God, operating on me and stirring in the minds of my
hearers the most holy emotions and thus persuading them], so that your faith
might not rest in the wisdom of men (human philosophy), but in the power of
God. 1
Corinthians 2:4-5
Let
us now recall again the account of the Baptism of the Eunuch from Chapter 3 of The Bed Keeper, and we’ll
see that’s exactly how it happened in his case as well. We remember that it was the Holy Spirit that
led Philip to not only locate, but to teach the eunuch about Jesus. Let’s look again at the chain of events that
happened between the eunuch deciding to believe that Jesus was the Son of God
and what transpires immediately after the eunuch’s water baptism:
If you believe with all your heart [if you
have a conviction, full of joyful trust, that Jesus is the Messiah and accept
Him as the Author of your salvation in the kingdom of God, giving Him your
obedience, then] you may. And he
replied, I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
And he ordered that the chariot be stopped;
and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and [Philip] baptized
him.
And when they came up out of the water, the
Spirit of the Lord [suddenly] caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no
more, and he went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip was found
at Azotus, and passing on he preached the good news (Gospel) to all the towns
until he reached Caesarea. Acts 8:37-40. (Also
be sure to see Chapter 20 of The Bed Keeper for even more details about this account).
Again,
receiving the Holy Spirit, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, are spiritual
gifts that are not exclusive to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people,
but are available for everyone who will receive these Spiritually empowering
blessings. Unfortunately, many LGBT
people have never heard about the Holy Spirit and these gifts, because so many
of us had been rejected by Christians or the Church--(or both)--prior to ever
hearing about the Holy Spirit. When I
received these gifts I was unaware of what they were, where they came from, of
for what purpose I had received them. I
simply started operating in one of them one day, and that event led me to
explore the Scriptures to find out what had happened. Once I did, I began to see the Scriptures in a
whole new way. I began to fellowship
with other believers in a whole new way. And I began to experience the Fruit of the
Spirit, and the Gifts of the Spirit, that led me to explore the Scriptures and share
the revelations from them that I share in the pages of The Bed Keeper. In short, I
have never been the same!
In
the next chapter of The Bed Keeper,
we will now explore these heavenly gifts and their purpose in more detail, so
we may understand better what God meant when He prophesied to gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender people in Isaiah 55:11-56:8 about “choosing the things
that please God.” Obviously, choosing
salvation and choosing to believe in Jesus as the Son of God are two things
that please God. But there is another
thing that pleases Him as well: The Holy Spirit.
So
let’s find out Who He is, what He does, and why God desires us to choose Him
and His powerful spiritual gifts!
***************************************************************
Part One:
UPDATE 10.27.12:
UPDATE 04.29.12:
Dear Valued Readers,
This blog is a work in progress. As events in the Church impact previously published posts, updates will be published at the end of each post in order to provide the utmost transparency and clarity to all concerned parties as this new move of God progresses. Readers may email thebedkeeper@gmail.com to discuss or comment on any posting. Please note that while all feedback is highly valued and appreciated, it may not be possible to reply to each email.
UPDATE 05.19.13: GREAT NEWS! Regarding the 04.29.12 UPDATE: After new considerations have come to light, I confidently continue my full personal endorsement of Lakewood Church as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship, and am pleased to encourage you to resume supporting this vibrant ministry financially. Details here.
UPDATE 03.05.13: GREAT NEWS! Regarding the 10.27.12 UPDATE: After new considerations have come to light, I confidently continue my full personal endorsement of Eagle Mountain International Church as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship, and am pleased to encourage you to resume supporting this vibrant ministry financially. Details here.
UPDATE 02.09.13: Listen in as Brian Anthony Bowen provides the NCK and Friends radio audience with valuable insights into Biblical support of Same Sex Marriage that the Church doesn't seem to want us to know!
UPDATE 05.19.13: GREAT NEWS! Regarding the 04.29.12 UPDATE: After new considerations have come to light, I confidently continue my full personal endorsement of Lakewood Church as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship, and am pleased to encourage you to resume supporting this vibrant ministry financially. Details here.
UPDATE 03.05.13: GREAT NEWS! Regarding the 10.27.12 UPDATE: After new considerations have come to light, I confidently continue my full personal endorsement of Eagle Mountain International Church as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship, and am pleased to encourage you to resume supporting this vibrant ministry financially. Details here.
UPDATE 02.09.13: Listen in as Brian Anthony Bowen provides the NCK and Friends radio audience with valuable insights into Biblical support of Same Sex Marriage that the Church doesn't seem to want us to know!
Part One:
Part Two:
UPDATE 10.27.12:
Eagle Mountain International Church took an official position on gay marriage in a sermon on 10.14.12. While not in support of gay marriage, Pastor George reminds his congregation that "those considered to be gay" are equally worthy of love and compassion. Pastor Terri continues to consider being gay as "being caught up in bondage." Several passages of Scripture were quoted to support their views, but no mention was made of any Scriptures that disprove their view, such as discussed in Chapter One: Born This Way and Chapter Two: God Sanctioned Gay Marriage. While I am not rescinding my endorsement of Eagle Mountain International Church as a safe space for LGBT people to worship, I am officially recommending we no longer support them financially. It is clear we have a long way to go in educating the Church, and I remain hopefully confident that after the 2012 elections are over, we will have more opportunities to walk further into the new revelations from God's Word shared throughout this blog. I encourage all LGBT people and our families to continue to hold Pastor George and Terri up in prayer, so that the eyes of their understanding may be flooded with light, and they come to more fully understand the prophetic role that LGBT people play in the spiritual life of the Christian Church, and the return of Jesus Christ.
UPDATE 04.29.12:
My previous endorsement of Lakewood Church is hereby retracted due to this interview: http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/04/29/473250/joel-osteen-gay-sin/?mobile=ncwherein Pastor Joel Osteen declares that "being gay" itself is a sin. That is NOT what the Bible says, and I cannot support it, nor ask anyone else to. I explained this in a previous letter to Pastor Joel in response to his interview with Piers Morgan, which can be reviewed here. I apologize for the mixed messages my own comments may tend to manifest themselves as in this case, but it is an unfortunate result of Pastor Joel's own mixed messages, and his decision to tailor his messages to the audience to whom he is speaking at the time. Should he publicly apologize for his unScriptural comments, and declare he has come to understand the difference between saying "being gay is a sin" and "homosexuality is a sin" (to reflect Scripture's own narrowly defined context of married men who engaged in adultery on their wives to be with men...which has nothing to do with LGBT people), I hope to renew my endorsement of Lakewood Church at some point in the future....but not until then.
UPDATE 01.15.12:
Lakewood Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
UPDATE 11.22.11:
Eagle Mountain International Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
UPDATE 12.16.11:
Please also review the response shared with a debate panel regarding the Bible's position on homosexuality, that reveals the unScriptural stance "ex-gay" theology manifests itself as here.
Lakewood Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
UPDATE 11.22.11:
Eagle Mountain International Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
UPDATE 12.16.11:
Please also review the response shared with a debate panel regarding the Bible's position on homosexuality, that reveals the unScriptural stance "ex-gay" theology manifests itself as here.
