1. Vain worship is to worship God in accordance
to the customs and traditions of men
Detecting
vain worship from true worship is as easy as ABCD, since Jesus Christ our Lord
who ought to be honored and worshiped just as the Father is worshiped, defined
vain worship by two distinctive actions and true worship also by two
distinctive actions. This should be quite clear and simple to anyone with an
open mind and who trembles at God’s word. For thus says the LORD: “Thus says the
LORD: " Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house
that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things
My hand has made, and all those things exist," Says the LORD. "But on
this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who
trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:1-2).
The
meaning of vain worship cannot be made clearer than how it has already been
defined; it is to teach as doctrine the commandments of men and laying aside
the commandments of God and holding on to the traditions of men. And so we have
been admonished saying; “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be
dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the
customs of the peoples are futile.” Men´s traditions are an exchange or a
substitute of the truth of God for the lie (Satan), and they worship and serve
the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Additionally, the
Lord does not share His glory with no other, for thus says the Lord; “I am the
LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise
to carved images.” (Jeremiah 10:2-3; Romans 1:25; Isaiah
42:8).
There
should therefore be no apprehension in saying and believing that, those who
worship on Sunday as the weekly Sabbath instead of Saturday is both false and
vain. It is not that one cannot worship on a Sunday, because there are certain
days of worship that were ordained to be observed on a Sunday. For example, the
Feast of First fruits which is the Sunday that falls during the seven day of
Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Pentecost which is fifty days following the
Feast of First Fruits and sometimes during the Feast of Tabernacles.
But
to change the weekly Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday is a complete violation
and dishonor to the Creator who created the heavens, the earth the seas and the
springs of water for it is written;, “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the
host of them, were finished. And 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.
Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested
from all His work which God had created and made.” (Genesis 2:1-3).
In
inscribing the Ten Commandments the Lord wrote saying; “Remember the Sabbath
day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the
seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work:
you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female
servant, or your cattle, or your stranger who is within your gates. For in six
days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and
hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).
In
establishing the Sabbath law, the Lord said to Moses; “Speak also to the
children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a
sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I
am the LORD who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it
is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for
whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his
people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of
rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall
surely be put to death.
Therefore
the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath
throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me
and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens
and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” (Exodus
31:13-17).
Our
guarantee in entering God’s rest is by resting on the Sabbath day just as God
rested from His, for we have been admonished saying; “For He has spoken in a
certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh
day from all His works"; and again in this place: "They shall not
enter My rest."
Since
therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first
preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain
day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been
said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."
For
if Joshua had given them rest, and then He would not afterward have spoken of
another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who
has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from
His” (Hebrews
4:4-10).
The
same principle applies to the annual Sabbaths, if any annual festival is instituted
by man and not by God, like Christmas for example, it is also vain and sinful.
For thus says the Lord, “These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations
which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.” And these appointed times
are clearly defined in scriptures as a time which distinguishes God and His
people.
For
thus it is written; “And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments,
'which, if a man does, he shall live by them.' Moreover I also gave them My
Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the
LORD who sanctifies them.” Also, “I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep
My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between
Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God” (Ezekiel
20:11, 12, 19, 20).
The
Sabbaths as clearly stated in scriptures is a sign between God and His people
forever , they will continue to be observed in the future for thus says the Lord; “For as the new heavens and
the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me," says the LORD,
" So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to
pass that from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All
flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD. “And they shall go
forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me:
For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an
abhorrence to all flesh",(Isaiah 66:22-24).
Here
again we have the confirmation that the main objective for the Sabbaths is to
worship the one and only true God, so by disregarding these appointed times and substituting other days instituted by man
and following their customs and traditions is vain and idolatrous..
To be continued
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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