“4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7.
God is God and He never changes. We do not have to resort to the statutes of the world to overcome the world…that is foolishness. Partaking in the ways of the world in order to win the approval of the world is forsaking God. We please God, not man.
God’s plan for victory was given to all, both Old Testament and New Testament Believers, and His Name is Jesus Christ Who came to die on Calvary’s Cross and pay the sin debt for all.
Somebody said what about the Saints that died before Jesus was born? Just as Abraham’s faith was in God and it was accounted to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6,Romans 4:1-22,Galatians 3:6-9,Hebrews 11:8-10,Hebrews 11:17-19), so to were all of the Old Testament Saints who believed God. When they died they did not go to the burning side of hell but to a place called paradise. Paradise, “Abraham’s bosom”, is where Lazarus remained separated by a large gulf from the rich man who was tormented daily and begging for a drop of water (Luke 16:20-31). Not only is eternity…well, eternity. It is also a conscious eternity. Sadly there are many today in hell crying out for someone to tell their loved ones hell is real. “And he (Abraham) said unto him (rich man), If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Luke 16:31. Even though Jesus Christ rose from the dead, many still will not believe.
The blood of bulls and goats atoned for the sin of the Old Testament Saints and restored fellowship with God but it could not take away sin from our account…only the Blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, could pay our sin debt. When Jesus Christ said “It is finished”, He meant “It is Finished”. The sin debt of man kind, whosoever will believe, was paid for past sinners who believed (i.e. Old Testament Saints), present sinners who have believed and future sinners who will believe. For this reason, the Jewish feasts and festivals are no longer necessary. Jesus fulfilled that which they symbolized, complete atonement and reconciliation with God. Jesus kept the feasts and festivals because He was Jewish. If he would have failed in any way to keep the Mosaic Law, He would not have been the perfect Lamb of God. The 4th Commandment is the only Commandment not mentioned in the New Testament because it is not a moral law but a ceremonial law. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, His Law are written upon our heart (Hebrews 10:16).
As religion does its dead level best to sway the Believer to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes down the pike, God is raising up a people…His people. A peculiar people who have come to declare ye the ways of the Lord. A people who no longer walk in the statutes of the world but through much prayer and supplication make their requests known unto God…their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They do not follow philosophy, even though is seems religious. Nor are they seduced by ancient Hebraic mysticism. These people are determined to know nothing else except Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the Source and the Means by which their Salvation AND their day to day victory is found.
God is God and He does not change. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is God’s plan for mankind to be reconciled to Him. He is standing at the door knocking church. When will you let Him in?
-Donna Clark Warren
Living in The Spirit 