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This blog is meant to encourage you to do the good works, which were prepared beforehand for those who are saved by grace through faith.  It was for these good works that the Lord created us.

As the Scripture says:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:8-10)

Resting from Work	Keeping Sundays Holy	Christian Sabbath is Sunday, not Saturday
The Lord's Day	Keeping Sundays Holy - Part II	Famous Christian Sabbath Observers
Sabbath Period	The Origin of the Sabbath	Righteous Deeds and White Robes
Doing What is Right	Your Rewards Are Based on Your Practice	The Law Established Through Faith
Law of Love in the New Testament	Deleted Scriptures in the Bible?	Why Paul Lived Like a Jew Among the Jews
Is Obedience Optional?	The Cost of Discipleship	Obedience by the Spirit
The Law Fulfilled in Us	The New Covenant	Costly Grace
Partaking of the Divine Nature -- Part I	Partaking of the Divine Nature -- Part II	God Has Not Rejected His Jewish People, Has He?
Faith Works!	The Spirit's Law of Life	The Spirit of the Law
Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth?	Righteousness by Faith not Law	The Ebb and Flow of Ministry for the Lord
Compelled by Love	God's Idea of Work	What Then Must We Observe
The Law is Good if Used Lawfully	The Sale of Christian Music and Art -- A Robbers' Den?	Remember the Eternal Law of God
All Our Deeds Are Known to the Lord	Practicing Your Righteousness	The Righteous Will Shine Forth as the Sun
The Ways of Life	Followers of the Way	Judging with Righteous Judgment
Holding Fast the Faithful Word	Whatever You Do, Do All Like This	The Conditional Security of the Believer
No Flesh Will Be Justified by Works	Wesley's Sunday Sabbath Keeping	Running from God
Spiritual Do-It-Yourself	Life by the Spirit, Not Under the Law	Walking by Faith
Obedient to the Heavenly Vision	The One Another Commandments	When the Lord was Angry with Moses
What Shall We Say to These Things	Bearing Fruit in Every Good Work	House of Idleness
Leaving Your Family for the Love of Christ	Overcoming the Fear of Death	Equipped for Every Good Work
Wesley and Henry on the Gospel Law	Run with Endurance	Faith in Action
Seven Things That Accumulate Building Materials	Was Paul Speaking of His Past or Present Life in Romans 7?

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. The Good Samaritan by Dan Burr of Dan Burr Illustration copyright 2013 used by permission.

You may also access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Bearing Good Fruit in Every Good Work

In my article called Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit -- What's the Difference, I explained that the fruit of the Spirit includes the conduct, actions, words, attitudes, and demeanor that are produced in our lives by the indwelling Holy Spirit, as we remain connected to Christ the true grapevine. In other words, to put it more simply, our fruit and our works are very closely related.

Revealing the Nature of Good Works
When we take this into consideration, it opens up a whole new realm of understanding for us about the nature of our works. We know the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22,23). You may not have thought of these as works before, but that is the figurative meaning of the word "fruit" here in this verse. The Greek word for fruit is karpos, which literally means the produce of a tree, plant; or animal (i.e., offspring or young). In a figurative sense it also means production or that which is produced, as in conduct or actions. That is the sense in which the word karpos is used by the apostle Paul in Galatians 5. In other words, the fruit of the Spirit are the qualities that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives, which may be observed in our conduct, actions, words, attitudes, and demeanor.

The Reason We Were Created
Consider the way that many people choose to emphasize the fact that we are saved by grace and not by works, which is true, but they neglect to see the importance of our being created to do good works. They focus on the verses in which Paul the apostle said, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2:8-9). But they neglect to teach on the importance of the next verse, in which he states, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." (Eph 2:10). While we may not be saved as a result of our works, the very purpose for which we are created is to do good works, so let's not lose sight of that.

It is possible to do good works without bearing fruit. For example, you could help an elderly lady across the street without love. You could give all you have to the poor without love, and you could surrender your body to be burned without love, but it would be of no profit to you at all (1 Cor 13:3).

Instead, we should bear fruit in every good work that we were created to do, which means we should do them with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is the will of God "that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Col 1:10). Those who teach in such a way as to de-emphasize works are actually downplaying the importance of these fruit that are indispensable in our lives. Allow me to explain.

No Fruit? No Heaven!
If you don't have all of these fruit in your life, you will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. As I wrote in my article about brother Ezekiel Moses' testimony of heaven and hell, the Lord revealed to him the essential nature of the fruit of the Spirit. Brother Ezekiel said that if the fruit of the Spirit is not complete in your life – all nine fruit – forget about heaven.  They are completed in holiness, since they are the fruit of the HOLY Spirit.  He said, “You must have complete holiness!”  

You see, the only way we can produce these is by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives when we have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:22-24). If we are not producing the fruit of the Spirit, then we will be carrying out the acts of the flesh (Gal 5:19-21), and Paul said that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. You are either walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh; there is no other way to be living. Therefore, it is imperative that we crucify the flesh and walk by the Spirit if we hope to inherit the kingdom of heaven.

There are many Scriptures to support this, including Christ's own words that if anyone wishes to come after Jesus, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Jesus (Lk 9:23). Likewise, the apostle Paul taught that our new life and resurrection with Christ depends on our being united with Him in His death, so our eternal life with Him is contingent upon our having died with Him. Paul said, "For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection...Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him..." (Rom 6:5,8). The word "if" in these verses means that our resurrection life is conditional, based on whether we have been united with Christ in His death.

No Fruit Unless We Abide in Christ
The fruit of the Spirit is the result of a godly life that remains connected to Christ, abiding in Him. Our Lord said, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." (Joh 15:4-5). Therefore, we can only produce the fruit of the Spirit as we abide in Him, and we cannot produce any fruit apart from Him.

Abiding in Christ is not optional for salvation. We must remain in Him, and stay connected to Him. If you cut off a branch from a tree, it will not be able to produce any fruit by itself. Likewise, we cannot produce any fruit if we are separated from Christ. One can become unfruitful, if they do not remain in Christ (Jn 15:5). If you walk by the flesh, fulfilling its desires, you will reap destruction. If you walk by the Spirit, setting your mind on what He desires, you will reap eternal life.

The Flesh vs. The Spirit

The Spirit and the flesh are set in battle opposition to each other. "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please." (Gal 5:16-17). As long as you walk in the flesh, you cannot produce the fruit the Spirit desires, and as long as you walk in the Spirit, you cannot satisfy the desire of the flesh, since they are diametrically opposed to each other and mutually exclusive. Therefore, if one is not producing all nine fruit of the Spirit, then he is not continually walking in the Spirit, but walking in the flesh at least part of the time. For more on this please see The Flesh vs the Spirit.

Let Those Fruit Shine!

We can learn so many things about the kind of walk that the Lord is expecting of us once we realize that these fruit of the Spirit are closely related to the works we were created to do. It sheds light on other passages about works. For example, Jesus said, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Mat 5:16; cf. 1 Pe 2:12). At least part of what He meant here was to let those deeds characterized by the fruit of the Spirit shine before men like light, so that they may see your good works and glorify God.

The Fruit is the Essence of Love
We know that love is a fruit of the Spirit, and Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (Joh 13:35). Jesus also said, "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." (Joh 15:8). These verses taken together mean that our love, as well as the other fruit of the Spirit, are evidence to all men that we are Christ's disciples. Therefore, fruit prove that we are His disciples and glorify God.

If we don't have love, then we are not Christ's disciples and will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. If we don't have love, then we are nothing (1 Cor 13:1-3). Love is not an option, but a commandment (Jn 15:12). Just as all the Law and the Prophets are summed up in love (Mt 22:40), all of the fruit of the Spirit are summed up in love, so all the other fruit roll up under love and are an extension of love. For example, love is patient, love is kind, and love always perseveres (1 Cor 13:4-7). The fruit is the essence of love. Put differently, the fruit are all aspects of love, so what is true of love is also true of all the fruit of the Spirit.

The Anti-works Teachings are False
Let me show you how those who falsely teach against works are essentially teaching against bearing fruit. Keeping in mind that our good works must be characterized by the fruit of the Spirit, consider the fact that James said, "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone." (Jas 2:24). This proves that those who teach against works are not teaching correctly according to the Scriptures.

Our works, which include the fruit of the Spirit, are evidence of our genuine saving faith in Christ. In other words, works characterized by the fruit of the Spirit will follow true, saving faith. If the evidence of those fruit is absent, then it shows we are not truly His, and we do not have eternal life. If we lack the fruit of the Spirit, then either we were never justified in Christ in the first place, or we have fallen away from Him and disconnected from the Vine.

Words of Warning
The words of John the Baptist serve to warn us, even as the Holy Spirit said through him, "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (Mat 3:10)

Likewise, the apostle John had a lot to say to warn us about those who fail to produce the fruit. Bear with me while I share a few of those passages with you here.

That One Does Not Know Him
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (1Jn 4:7-8)

He Abides in Death

"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death." (1Jn 3:14)

If these verses make you feel uncomfortable, then you may need to repent. Then keep His commandments, keep His Word, walk in the same manner as Jesus walked, and produce the fruit of the Spirit. Produce the fruit of repentance (Mt 3:8). Then you will be comforted by those same verses that say you will know that you have passed out of death into life. You will know that you have come to know Him and that you are in Him.

Intentional Fruit Bearing
One could assume that trees do not need to make any effort to bear fruit, and simply bear fruit because they are a fruit tree. Based on this assumption, some teach incorrectly that since fruit trees and fruit bearing plants make no effort to bear fruit, then we as disciples of Christ should make no effort to bear the fruit of the Spirit. This is patently false.

First of all, a tree is not a human, and therefore we cannot speak of it as making an effort or not making an effort to bear fruit. Secondly, the fact is that not all fruit trees actually bear fruit. One example is the fig tree that Jesus once went to when He was hungry, looking for fruit on it. Because it had no fruit when He came looking for it, He cursed the tree so that it would never bear fruit again, and it immediately withered (Mk 11:12-25). The fig tree was a picture of Israel at that time, when the Lord came looking for good fruit and didn't find it (Jer 8:13). Since not all trees bear fruit, we should not assume that fruit bearing is completely "effortless" on the part of the tree.

Likewise, we should not assume that fruit bearing is effortless for the believer. It is not effortless. We cannot take a passive approach to fruit bearing and say that all we have to do is be in Christ and we will automatically bear fruit. If that were so, then there would be no need for the Lord to give us a commandment to love, since we would always love by default. There would be no need to command us to be patient or to be kind, since we would always be patient and kind. We would not need to be told to rejoice, since we would always be joyful just because we are in Christ. But that is not the case. We do need to make an effort (Mt 3:8). That's why self-control has the word "self" in it, because we do have an active part in bearing that fruit. For more on this, please see my article, Spiritual Do-It-Yourself.

Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, every believer has been enabled to bear fruit. We are no longer slaves to sin (Ro 6:6), but are slaves to righteousness (Ro 6:18).  "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Pe 1:4, NIV). Since we have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires, we may now participate in the divine nature (2 Pe 1:5).

We are free now to bear good fruit for God at all times (Gal 5:1). But rather than take a passive approach to it and wait for fruit to simply happen in our lives, we must take a proactive approach. We must intentionally bear fruit, applying all diligence to do so. We can decide at any moment to love, to be kind, to be patient, to be faithful. In fact, we are taught in Scripture to make this our way of life, continually doing all things this way, and not just randomly doing this part of the time. For more on this, see Fruit in Every Season and Whatever You Do, Do All Like This.

Inspired Summary
The point that I am making in this article could not be summarized more aptly than the Holy Spirit did when He inspired these words written by the apostle Peter about the fruit:

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins."

"Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Pe 1:5-11, NIV).

Peter could not have been more clear. You must make every effort to add the fruit to your life, so that you possess these qualities in increasing measure, because in doing so, you will keep from being ineffective and unproductive, you will confirm your calling and election, and you will receive a rich welcome into the kingdom of heaven. If you lack these qualities, then you are short-sighted and blind. As Matthew Henry said of the latter such people, "...how wretched is their condition who are thus blind as to the awfully great things of the other world, who cannot see any thing of the reality and certainty, the greatness and nearness, of the glorious rewards God will bestow on the righteous, and the dreadful punishment he will inflict on the ungodly!"

Closing Words
Therefore, the fruit of the Spirit is evidence that we are in Christ, that we have come to know Him, that we are disciples of His, that we have passed from death to life, that we have been born of God, that we know God, that we love God, that we belong to the truth. and that the Spirit of God is within us (Jn 13:35; 1 Cor 12:3; 1 Jn 2:2-5; 3:6, 14, 19; 4:7; 5:2-3). We must produce these qualities by living in the light, walking by the Spirit, and being led by the Spirit (Gal 5:16, 18; 1 Jn 2:10). We also produce them by keeping His commandments, keeping His Word, and walking in the same manner as Jesus walked.

We should bear fruit in every good work (Col 1:10). For we were created to do good works that are characterized by the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22,23). These were prepared beforehand by God so that we would walk in them (Eph 2:10).Without the fruit, one cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, but will be cut off and thrown into the fire (Mt 7:21; Jn 15:2, 6; 1 Cor 13:1-3; 1 Jn 1:6; 2:4-6, 9; 3:7-10; 4:7-8, 21).

I hope this has helped you to see the importance of the fruit of the Spirit and how it is part of the works we were created by God to do. Bearing the fruit of the Spirit is essential. So if we aren't bearing the fruit of the Spirit, but have been walking in the flesh, producing the deeds of the flesh, then our response should be to repent and ask His forgiveness, turn to Jesus, and be restored to the purpose for which we were created, so that we may have eternal life with Him.

Image credit: Culinary fruit. Picture by Bill Ebbesen. Courtesy Wikimedia.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, copyright Lockman Foundation, all rights reserved, used by permission. Other Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV (where noted), copyright Zondervan, all rights reserved, used by permission.

Author's note:  If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit -- What's the Difference, Fruit in Every Season, Partaking of the Divine Nature, The Wardrobe of the Saints, The Conditional Security of the Believer, Obedience by the Spirit, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Drifting Away, Is Obedience Optional?, The Apostasy Parables, Faith Works, Ezekiel Moses' Testimony of Heaven and Hell, Whatever You Do, Do All Like This, Pleasing the Lord, Led by the Spirit, Living a Life Worthy of the Lord, Multiplying Your Talents, No Flesh Will Be Justified by Works, and the other posts available through the links on the Home page. My daughter has written a poem called Fruit in Every Season, which is worth reading. You may also access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Him.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

______________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Lord's Day

I realize that a vast number of Christians today think the Sabbath has been repealed in the New Testament.  Here are some Scriptures about the Sabbath that I read this morning:





Lord of the Sabbath
Let's start with the basics. The fourth commandment says: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy." (Exo 20:8-11)

So what about the New Testament.  Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man...” (Mar 2:27).  In saying this, He did not repeal it, but affirmed the need for the Sabbath.  In fact, he declared, "So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." (Mar 2:28).  While Jesus taught that certain emergency situations may be necessary on a rare occasion on a Sabbath, and he taught that it is lawful to do good and to save life on the Sabbath, he never taught that it is an ordinary day like every other day.

Even in speaking about the last days, Jesus expected the Sabbath to be observed.  When he spoke about the time of great tribulation upon the earth, he said that His people would need to flee.  "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will." (Mat 24:20-21).  It's clear from this passage that His heart was for His people to keep the Sabbath day holy until the very end of the age when He returns.

The Lord's Holy Day
He says, "If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isa 58:13-14).  So through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord taught the following practices regarding ways to keep the Sabbath day holy:

1. Turn you foot from seeking and doing your own pleasure.  Desist from your own ways. This includes sports, fishing, hiking, shopping, television, internet surfing, Facebook, eating out, and anything else you might enjoy doing to please yourself on Sunday. 
2. Call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable.  Be careful not to speak disparagingly about the Lord’s holy day, but speak about it with delight and honor.
3. Honor it.  This means to hold it in high esteem, as the Lord’s holy day.  Here are the kinds of things that will honor the Lord on the Sabbath: evangelizing the lost, preaching the gospel, teaching the Word, assembling yourselves together for worship and service to the King, visiting the sick and imprisoned, praying for the sick and healing them.
4. Desist from speaking your own word. Be careful that your conversations are not about worldly things or mere idle talk.  Speak lovingly about the Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit with great honor.  Praise the Lord! Take delight in Him.  Encourage one another with Scriptures.  Share testimonies of His faithfulness and power in your life. Sing spiritual songs to one another and make melody in your hearts to the Lord.  Let your conversation be heavenly, from above, not earthly.

If you do these things, then the Lord will make you ride on the heights of the earth, and He will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.

Moody and Wesley upheld the Sabbath
I recently read portions of two articles by famous preachers about keeping the Sabbath holy, which upheld this teaching.  One was by D.L. Moody and the other was by John Wesley. They were among the many Famous Christian Sabbath Observers that I have written about elsewhere. By the way, these famous preachers both believed that the Christian Sabbath is on Sunday, not Saturday, as I have covered in my article by that title (see here).

Personal Testimonies
I'd also like to share a couple of personal testimonies.

1. The first one is in "Baptized by Blazing Fire," Book 5 (p. 213-216).  This testimony is given by a pastor, who had attended the all night prayer meeting at the Lord's Church and read the book.  Gok Sung, Mok Sa dong Full Gospel Church - Testimony by brother Gong, Tek Mo:

"After a short time, an unexpected accident occurred to one of our church members. It was on February 18th, 2007, Sunday, a Korean new year. This member was a high school student who had just graduated and was about to enter his freshman college. This student was a drummer on the worship team and he also served as a Sunday school teacher. On the day of the accident, he had played drums on the worship team for the service on Sunday. After the service, I went to look for him to have lunch with him but I could not find him. When I asked another member if he knew the where abouts of the student, he replied and told me that he had left during the middle of the sermon. The student had left to attend a student gathering with the other former high school classmates. I was perplexed and could not believe what I was hearing. Before this accident had occurred, I was emphasizing to the congregation of the seriousness to live a Holy life. Even after I had read the fire books, I was now emphasizing it to a greater degree. I was emphatic about keeping Sundays Holy and Christians living according to the Word of God. This student had violated the Sunday and got drunk at the student gathering. He was killed from his injuries in a vehicle accident. The other students were seriously injured as well. Once I was informed of the accident, I rushed to the emergency room at National University Hospital. When I arrived in the emergency room, the doctor was performing mouth to mouth resuscitation. It looked hopeless. As I was thinking, I knew if he died right now he would end up in hell. I felt like the world was falling apart. I left the emergency room and earnestly prayed. 'Lord, this is my fault. I did not teach and nurture him correctly. I could not lead him to live a righteous Holy life.'"

"Even though I prayed and beseeched the Lord to give him another chance, the student eventually died. I was in much mental suffering from this episode. As I got into the car to return to church, the Lord opened the spiritual eyes of Deacon Cho. God showed the deacon the path of the student in which he was walking forward to."

Brother Gong, Tek Mo later testifies that individuals in his church visited hell in the spirit and the Lord made sure to show them this young man suffering their in torment: "In our all night prayer service, the Lord granted the church members to experience hell. Of all the experiences, the most painful to experience is to witness the student who was in the car accident. He was a brother who had church with us not too long ago. Now, when I see him tormented in the fiery flames of hell, I am in pain and frightened myself. I was thinking that I must live a faithful Christian life. Whenever I witness the scenes of hell, I am not able to sleep and usually lose my appetite."

"Deacon Cho works at a company. Ever since he witnessed the sight of the souls being tormented in hell, he fiercely clings on to his job. He is now constantly reminded of the souls tormented in hell. He tries to forget what he has seen by intently focusing on his job. He said that he can not stop thinking about how he must live a faithful Christian life. This is reminded to him through the student who is now experiencing misery in hell. This is the brother/student who had only worshiped and had service with him several days ago. The deacon then had to witness the student in hell more than ten times even after his previous visitations. Even now, when he visits hell, the Lord will show the student to the deacon. The Lord's intention was to reinforce to the church members that hell was a serious place of torment and that they should not come to hell. When the deacon hears the student, the student would ask, 'Deacon Cho, I am thirsty, please give me some water.' The deacon's heart is torn up. As I even journalize all this, I write with streams of tears running down my face."

2. The second testimony was posted on the website of The Lord's Church, by a lady who identifies herself as "Sammy Sam."  She states:

"My husband owns his business so he thought that success meant working 7 days a week. He would rush to church on Sundays.. rush back.. eat his meal in a rush and then rush to work until sometimes 10 or 11 pm... I prayed and begged him not to work on Sundays because I wanted to keep the Sabbath day holy. He took me for granted to say the least.....but I continued in prayer and fasting. One day his friend asked him to use his truck to help him with moving some heavy equipment, he went to the company as as soon as he was about to go through the gate the gate slammed shut without any one closing it... everyone was in awe and they said that that has never happened before. He then told his friend that he does not think that he should be here on Sunday working."

"He kept the Sabbath a few times but he then got a huge job promising him BIG money and that he could not refuse so he decided to work that Sunday and I went to church without my husband. That morning his truck would not start for some reason he rushed to the store to purchase the parts that he thought was the problem but upon changing the part he realised that the issue was not what he thought. He went back to the store bought different parts, which helped him move his truck and headed to work. As he was heading to work.... he was involved in a minor accident with a fire truck. The police was called to the scene; that earned him some demerit points.... blah... blah.. blah... NOW he does not venture out on a Sunday... goes to church comes home and attempts to keep the Sabbath holy to the best of his ability."

"GOD is not mean. He hears the cry of the righteous and heeds those cries. If we seek him diligently about the Sabbath which is so dear to his heart, then he will make ways for us to keep it holy. He is a just GOD. We may just need to spend some more time on our knees."

Putting it All Together
It's my hope that this post on the Lord's Day has helped you to see the importance of keeping it holy.  The fourth commandment has not been abolished.  Sabbath observance was not repealed by Jesus.  Rather He upheld it! He's the Lord of the Sabbath, and it is His holy day.  We are commanded to remember it and keep it holy until He returns.  While that may have become unpopular today and faded from common practice among Christians, famous preachers during the 18th and 19th centuries, like D.L. Moody and John Wesley certainly taught it.  The testimonies given here are a stark reminder that God will not be mocked.  That includes the observance of the Sabbath.

If you are a pastor, I recommend you diligently search the Scriptures, pray and ask the Lord for guidance, and then be led by the Spirit in obedience to the Word.  If you are not a pastor, then submit to your leaders and honor the day they designate for worship.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Beautiful sun rise photo from HD Wallpapers

Author's note: I also recommend reading David Wilkerson's message, Honoring the Sabbath, which I discovered after writing this article, as well as Zipporah Mushala’s Second Testimony of Hell, in which she saw a man of God in hell for relying on His obedience to the Law to save him. If you enjoyed this post, you may also like my other posts in this blog available through the Home page, especially Resting from Work, Keeping Sundays Holy, Famous Christian Sabbath Observers, and Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth?  You can find more articles like this on the Home page for Working God's Way. You may also access a collection of my most popular blogs at "Writing for the Master."

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Resting from Work

IMPORTANT PREFACE:  Since writing this, I have since had my understanding clarified about keeping Sundays holy, as I have read Baptized by Blazing Fire, by brother Yong-Doo Kim. Please be sure to read my blog about that, called Keeping Sundays Holy!

If you're tired of working and need a rest, this is for you. If you feel like you're on the treadmill of life, running at a breakneck pace, and your about to get pulled under the spinning machine, you need to read this. You deserve a break today!

Many years ago, I was taught that the only one of the Ten Commandments that was not reinstated in the New Testament was the fourth commandment, which required us to honor the Sabbath. But is that true?

I believe that we are no longer under the Law. We are saved by grace alone, and we are free in Christ. But how do we apply that, especially as it relates to the Sabbath?

Due to the length of this post, I realize you may not have time to read it all in one sitting. So let me encourage you to plan reading it over the course of two or three weeks on your days off or whenever you can find the spare time. This is a key message for your life, it's not a minor side-point. So meditate on it and pray about it until the Lord reveals it to you, so that you can get it down into your spirit.

Now grab something to drink, and find a comfortable spot to relax while you read. Let's begin now and see what the Scripture teaches.

Jesus fulfills the Law and Prophets

Jesus did not abolish the Law, in other words, the Ten Commandments. "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” (Mat 5:17)

He fulfilled the many types and shadows of Him found in the Law. This included the temple and its furnishings, as well as the temple sacrifices. He fulfills what the prophets said, including every Messianic prophecy.

On the other hand, did the apostle Paul contradict Jesus in His teaching, by saying that Christ abolished the Law? No, he didn’t. Paul wrote, “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.” (Eph 2:14-16)

The two groups he referred to were the Jews and the Gentiles. In Himself through the cross, Jesus established peace for us with God, as well as between the Jews and Gentiles who are in Christ. He broke down the wall that divided the two groups and acted as a barrier between them. He made all who believe in Him from both groups into one new man or single group, which is His Body. And He did this by “abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances.” The enmity is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances. That is what He abolished. He abolished the ordinances and regulations that stood against us, which were opposed to us. These were the hundreds of ceremonial laws, including animal sacrifices that God required under the Law. But Paul never said that Jesus abolished the Ten Commandments.

Jesus upheld the Law and Prophets
Jesus upheld the Ten Commandments, whenever anyone spoke about them. He said to keep the commandments and teach them. "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat 5:19)

“And He said to him, ‘Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’” (Mat 19:17)

Here is yet another example, “As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'" (Mar 10:17-19). He always upheld the Law and never cast it aside.

But as He did with the religious leaders, He also taught this man that there was an even higher standard. The man had kept the Ten Commandments, and thought that by doing so he would inherit eternal life. And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up. Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.” (Mar 10:20-22). You see, while the Law is good, and we must obey it, no one can be justified before God by keeping the letter of the commandments. That’s why Jesus said this man needed to follow Him. He is our standard.

When you truly understand that God’s standard goes much higher than the letter of the law, you come to realize that every single one of us has failed to meet the standard. We can only be justified by faith in Christ.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;” (Rom 3:19-24)

First we must be forgiven for our sin and justified or made righteous by faith in Christ. Then we need to continue to follow Him, doing what He commanded and living as He lived. Everything Jesus commanded is in perfect harmony with the Ten Commandments.

The Letter of the Law vs. the Spirit
Paul said, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Co 3:6). So we always need to keep that in mind when we talk about keeping the commandments. So what is the difference between the spirit of the law and the letter?

When the religious leaders evaluated themselves, it was based upon the letter of the law. For example, they would know whether or not they had actually ever committed murder. If they had not, they would assume they had never broken the sixth commandment. However, Jesus taught them that the spirit of the law is a much higher standard. He said, "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” (Mat 5:21-22)

The religious leaders may have also considered upon self-evaluation that they had actually never committed adultery. In doing so, they would assume they had never broken the seventh commandment. However, once again Jesus taught them that the spirit of the law is a much higher standard. He said, "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Mat 5:27-28)

Whenever we consider the intent or spirit of God behind any of the commandments, we will see that He’s looking inside of us at our hearts. The Lord expects us to live according to the spirit of the law, which is a much higher standard than merely the letter.

And once we have a personal relationship with Jesus, His law will actually be written upon our hearts. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Heb 8:10). When the Law is written upon your heart, the Holy Spirit shows you what is pleasing to the Lord. And He will never lead you to violate the Ten Commandments.

Summing up the Law and the Prophets
Jesus summed up the entire Law and the Prophets in two commandments. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Mat 22:36-40)

It is interesting that He summed it up this way, since neither of these is explicitly stated in the Ten Commandments. Of course, the Hebrew Schema, taken from Deut. 6:4-9 and 11:13-22, and Num. 15:37-41, contained the part about loving God. "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deu 6:4-5). Yet on the surface, these summary statements from Jesus about love do not seem to be part of the Decalogue. So let me show you that, in fact, they are. The first four commandments relate to loving God, and the last six relate to loving your neighbor. So if you want an easy way to remember the commandments, just remember the way Jesus summarized them with regard to the Royal Law of Love (James 2:8; Mat 22:36-40). He also fulfilled this, as well.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
In the natural, the Sabbath day begins at sunset on Friday evening and ends at sunset on Saturday. It's an actual twenty-four hour period of rest. The Lord commanded that we "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exo 20:8-11). So it's basically giving God one-seventh of your time, because you are giving Him one entire day out of every seven. On that day, you should not be doing your own work, but keeping it holy and set apart for the Lord. That's what Jesus did.

As with the rest of the commandments, He also upheld the fourth commandment regarding the Sabbath. On the Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. But His teaching went beyond mere words. He used many demonstrations, and these made the religious leaders angry. He often healed people on the Sabbath, which the religious leaders considered work, something forbidden by God on the day of rest. In doing so, He demonstrated that there is no law against any act of love, such as healing someone (Gal 5:23). God’s Law never forbids you from committing acts of love, even on the Sabbath. While the religious leaders focused on the merits of making a sacrifice not to work on the Sabbath, Jesus taught that God desires compassion, not sacrifice (Mt 12:7).

When Jesus taught about the beginning of the great tribulation that would come upon us in these last days, He spoke of our need to immediately flee to a place of refuge provided by the Lord.  And even though He spoke of the end times, He still expected us to keep the Sabbath holy.  He said, "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath." (Mat 24:20).  Why else would he instruct us to pray beforehand that our flight would not occur on a Sabbath, unless He expected is to keep the Sabbath holy to the very end? 

Like Jesus, the apostle Paul remembered the Sabbath. He prayed and taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath (Ac 13:14-15; 17:17; 18:4, 19, 26; 19:18). So did the early Christians. In fact, before Paul came to know Christ, he used to pursue them in the synagogue, in order to imprison and beat anyone who followed Jesus (Ac 22:19).

So we must also remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. Those of us who know and follow Jesus must obey the fourth commandment, just as we do the rest of the commandments. But what does that exactly mean? How do we do so?

First, we must do so out of our love for God, in obedience to His command, not as a means to earn God's love. We must realize that it's God's way for us to live, and is primarily for our own good.  We must never do it to try and be justified.  No one can obtain righteousness by observing the Law.

Some people today teach that we must observe the Sabbath on the correct day of the week, which is known on our Roman calendars as Saturday. They point out that this is how Jesus, Paul, and the early disciples did so. After all, this is what the Law of Moses commanded. So let’s consider this in light of my previous points about the spirit of the law.

If someone wants to observe the Sabbath between sunset on Friday and sunset on Saturday, they are free to do so, but will be accountable to God for that decision.  The same goes for those who celebrate the Lord's Day on Sunday, which begins at sundown on Saturday and ends at sundown on Sunday.  But they should not judge others with regard to the Sabbath day. As Paul wrote, “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Col 2:16-17). According to him, the Sabbath day is a mere shadow of Christ, but the reality itself is found in Christ.

This is also what Jesus taught. He said, “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Mat 12:8). My friend, I don’t serve the Sabbath. I serve the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ. I don’t worship the Sabbath, but the Lord of the Sabbath. There’s a big difference. “Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.’” (Mar 2:27). You see, God made the Sabbath for me. It was to give me a break from my work, so that I could focus on Him. It’s meant to be a chance for me to worship, pray, fellowship, rest, and be restored. How kind of Him to create the Sabbath for me like that!

On the other hand, when people stress the importance of the day on which I observe the Sabbath, I think the focus is in the wrong place. Then their focus is on serving the Sabbath. But don’t forget that man was not made for the Sabbath.

If you belong to a loving church that worships Jesus in Spirit and in Truth, and the Lord has provided loving relationships there, as well as solid preaching of the full gospel and accurate teaching of the Word, then this is the most important thing.  It would be foolish to disconnect you from all your relationships with brethren in that church, who love the Lord, simply because they meet on Sunday, rather than Saturday, or vice versa.

When the Body of Christ is in unity, assembled together in one place in a given location, that is much more powerful than when individuals meet separately.  The assembling together gives it more power, so that's why the enemy works hard to keep us divided.  This is also why we must not forsake the assembling of ourselves. 

I think the Lord is more concerned that we be in unity and fellowship with the Body of Christ, taking communion with them, praying and worshiping together. This is more important to Him than whether we meet on Saturday rather than Sunday.  But if we cannot agree on which day Jesus considers the Lord's Day, or the Christian Sabbath, then we will remain divided and meet separately from one another.

Jesus had a similar discussion with the woman at the well. She was focused on the geographical location of our worship, which is the same type of pettiness. It was a focus on the outward ceremonial aspects of worship. Jesus didn’t care about that. He showed that the important thing the Father desires is that we worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

Jesus identified Himself as the Truth (Jn 14:6). So the Father is looking to see if we worship Him in a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s central! And when we do, we must worship in the Spirit, not just according to some man-made agenda. We must be led by the Spirit of God in our worship, not by man. Paul taught us a lot about worshiping in Spirit (1 Corinthians 12). Those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God (Rom 8:14).

It doesn’t matter what geographical location your worship meetings are located in. It doesn’t matter if it is a historical landmark of some significant biblical event. If you are not worshiping in Spirit and Truth, then your worship does not touch the heart of our Heavenly Father. The same goes for the day of the week on which you worship. What matters most is that you worship in Spirit and Truth, not whether you worship on Saturday or Sunday. In a separate post, I explain why I believe Sunday is the Christian Sabbath (see here), and in yet another post I explain when that day begins and ends (see here).

Entering His rest
Man is naturally a doer. It's normal to want to strive to get things done. Martha was like that when Jesus came to her home. She was all stressed out making preparations for Him and His disciples to eat there. She was distracted by that. In fact, she was upset that her sister Mary was not doing the same thing. Mary was not helping her sister. But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (Luk 10:41-42). You see, Mary did well to sit and relax at His feet. As far as Jesus was concerned, that was the one thing that was necessary.

Religion is a lot like that. It's hard work! The religious leaders of Jesus day were always stressing out about some thing that people should be doing. They were always putting more burdens on the backs of the people, making life more difficult. They got angry with Jesus, because on the Sabbath He healed people, and because His disciples picked heads of grain from the fields to satisfy their hunger (Mt 12:1, 10). What a heavy load it was for the people to carry all that these men put on them. And religious leaders are a lot like that today. They often use manipulation and psychological pressure to get people to do things. They make emotional pleas that can leave you feeling guilty if you are not part of their program or agenda. It's not just the leaders, but the whole religious system that does this. It drives people to do things supposedly for God, which the Lord has not required. It encourages you to strive in the flesh. It's really unfortunate and does a lot of damage!

But relationship with Jesus is not like that at all. Knowing Jesus is restful. Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Mat 11:28-30) Yokes are used for doing work. They are those wooden things that animals put their necks into when they labor in the fields. This is also how the animals pull burdens behind them, such as large stones or wagons loaded with cargo. Jesus wants us to labor with Him. But His yoke is light and his burden is easy. When you work with Him, it doesn't weigh you down like religion does. You find rest for your soul.

The writer of Hebrews explained that there is a Sabbath rest that we need to enter. We can only enter it by faith. “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” (Heb 4:9-11). In short, the Hebrews in the wilderness who failed to enter God’s rest did so because they did not combine the message of God’s Word that they heard with faith.

Faith is all about trust. Trust is all about relationship. In our relationship with Jesus, we demonstrate our trust in God. If you want to enter God’s rest, then stop trying to earn God’s love and acceptance by your performance and good works. Instead receive His love for you, His forgiveness, and His grace. Receive His gift of righteousness. You need to believe that Jesus died on the cross for you and rose from the dead, and confess with your mouth that He is Lord. Then you will be saved (Rom 10:9-13).

Anyone who knows the Lord this way will do the works of God. But the way to do the works of God is the same way to rest. It’s by faith. “Therefore they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’” (Joh 6:28-29). To do the works of God, believe on Jesus Christ. Everyone who ever did the works of God did so by faith, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David (Heb 11).

So whether we work or rest, we trust the Lord. We rest by faith and we work by faith. And we work from a place of rest. When you get to the place where you do that, then you are enjoying a continual Sabbath rest. It’s wonderful when you can trust the Lord while you are working, thanking and praising Him as you go about your business, singing in the Spirit with joy and making melody in your heart to Him. This is what pleases the Lord.

If you’re focus is on simply obeying the letter of the fourth commandment, then here’s how it plays out. You think to yourself, “All I have to do is give God one day each week. Once per week I need to pray, worship, visit God and hope He touches me.” Then the rest of the week is yours and you forget about the Lord, neglecting worship, prayer, fellowship, and communion. That’s human nature and it’s what happens when you live by the letter of the law.

But if you understand the heart of God and His intent in creating the Sabbath, you will not only honor Him once per week. Of course, you will take a day of rest and worship each week. But you will go beyond the letter of simply giving Him one day per week. You will live for Him every day. You will rest from your own work by ceasing from striving to make things happen. You will be led by the Spirit in everything. You will understand that He desires a habitation, not a visitation. He doesn’t just want a weekly visit. He wants to be God with us, Immanuel. That’s a twenty-four seven, non-stop, loving relationship.

Putting it all together
Jesus did not abolish the Law. He fulfilled it. And he upheld the Ten Commandments, teaching us to keep them and teach them.

But He taught us to live according to the spirit of the law, a much higher standard than the mere letter. The entire Law and Prophets are summed up in two commandments about loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself. James called it the Royal Law of love. Jesus lived that way. He is love, and He is our standard. We must follow Him.

But our works cannot justify us. No matter how we try to follow the Ten Commandments and live as Jesus did, we can never be good enough. We're not under Law, but under grace. It’s only through faith in Him that we are made righteous.

And once you have a personal relationship with Jesus, the law will be written upon your heart. The person who has such a relationship with Jesus will want to obey His commandments from the heart. Certainly we should do what He said, building our house on the rock. But our desire to obey Him comes from within, not from the outside, such as the tablets of stone.  Devoting a day each week to worship the Lord and rest is all about our relationship with Him, not a rule to keep. If you know that this pleases the Lord, you will gladly do it with joy.

The fourth commandment, which concerns the Sabbath, is no different than the other commandments. We need to obey it, honoring the Sabbath, keeping in mind that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, and that it was made for man. We are not created for the Sabbath. It's the Lord's day, so we must not do as we please on that day.  

The focus should always be on Trinity God. The main reason why it is so important for us to assemble ourselves together for worship on the same day -- the Lord's day -- is for the sake of unity.  When we assemble together in the Lord's name, there is greater power in the spirit than when we pray separately, and the enemy fears this.

I acknowledge that there are different opinions in the Body of Christ about which day is the Lord's Day or Christian Sabbath according to the Bible.  I have my opinion that Sunday is the Lord's Day, and you can read my explanation in the article called "the Christian Sabbath is Sunday, not Saturday" (see here).

As a believer in Christ, you have a great deal of freedom in this matter, but with that freedom comes a great responsibility.  You will be accountable to God for your decision, and subsequent actions, so make your decision wisely.  I recommend you diligently search the Scriptures, pray and ask the Lord for guidance, and then be led by the Spirit.

When we come to Him, we find rest for our souls. We trust the Lord and enter into His rest. We not only rest from work, but we even work from a place of rest. His yoke is light and His burden is easy. When you get to the place where you do that, then you are enjoying a continual Sabbath rest, thanking and praising Him as you go about your business. You enjoy making Him the center of all you do.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. 

Author's note: As I mentioned at the top of this post, I strongly urge you to read my follow up post about Keeping Sundays Holy, in order to more accurately understand what God expects of us.  I also recommend reading David Wilkerson's message, Honoring the Sabbath, which I discovered after writing this article. If you enjoyed this post, you may also consider Keeping Sundays Holy - Part II, Famous Christian Sabbath Observers, and Led by the Spirit. You may visit the Home page for this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  "Resting in His Arms" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist. You may visit the Danny Hahlbohm Gallery.  Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do you want to know Him?
If you want to know Jesus, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Him.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?" 

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.