Now, the part of the chapter I'd like to focus on is beginning there in verse number 7.
When the question asked, when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power
or by what name have ye done this?
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders
of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man by what
means he is made whole, be known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him did this man stand here before you whole.
This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head
of the corner, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."
And so here we see that there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved but by the name of Jesus Christ.
Now what I want to preach about this morning is a movement that is a very big movement,
a very popular movement.
It seems like not a day goes by that somebody doesn't email me about this.
And I have people, even flesh and blood, real human beings, you know, outside of the computer,
that are constantly bringing this up to me and talking about this.
And this is something that I had never even heard of growing up.
But in recent years it has just exploded in popularity and anybody who is surfing the
internet is just filled with this false doctrine and it's very indicative of just how ignorant
today Christians have become about basic Bible doctrines, that these type of doctrines could
spread this way.
But it seems like this is something that is gaining momentum and I feel like I need to
preach a sermon this morning to preach against this false doctrine, to make sure that no
one in our church would ever be deceived by this deception that's out there.
And that is this movement of this Hebrew roots movement amongst Christians.
You know, those that basically would say that, you know, Jesus is not really Jesus, he's
actually Yeshua and we need to keep the Sabbath and we're not supposed to eat pork and, you
know, we need to circumcise our children and we need to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles
and say Shabbat Shalom and wear a funny hat.
And you know what, I'm going to tell you something.
This doctrine is a wicked false doctrine.
It's not just a minor difference of opinion here.
This is not just something that, oh it's kind of cute, you know, using these Jewish terms.
No, this is wicked, satanic, false doctrine.
The Bible destroys it in chapter after chapter and I'm going to tell you something.
This is not something we want to be mixed up in and let me start out with the most important
part of this by establishing for you that the name that is above every name is the name
of Jesus.
Okay, go to Philippians chapter 2.
Philippians chapter 2.
This doctrine is a doctrine that is not biblical.
It does not come from the Bible and the people who subscribe to this doctrine do not use
the Bible as their final authority.
I'm going to prove that to you and I'm also going to prove to you why you should not listen
to anything that anyone has to say who subscribes to any of this doctrine.
I'm going to prove that to you from the Bible.
It says in Philippians chapter 2, the famous verse in verse 9, wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father.
The first error that I want to point out about this movement is referring to our Lord and
Savior as Yeshua instead of Jesus.
His name is Jesus, not Yeshua, okay?
Now people will say, oh Pastor Anderson, you poor ignorant English speaker, you're speaking
English and they'll say that English has just really bastardized the name of our Savior
by calling him Jesus.
It really should be Yeshua.
Well I've got news for you, the New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was not
written in Hebrew in the first place, it never was in Hebrew.
It was written in what language?
Greek.
The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was written in the language of Greek.
Do you know what the name of our Savior is in the Greek New Testament?
Jesus.
Look it up.
It's spelled I-E-S-O-U-S, Jesus, or as our Spanish speaking friends would say, Jesus,
or as my German wife would say, Jesus, Jesus.
That is his name and to say that there is something wrong with that name, to criticize
that name, and those that are calling him Yeshua will often say, oh Jesus is a pagan
name.
That's what they'll say.
I've heard them say that Jesus is related to the false god Isis, or to the pagan group
of people, Jebus, or even that Jesus means hail Zeus.
You know what?
Anybody who teaches that the name of Jesus is a pagan name or a false name is going to
split hell wide open.
I'll tell you that right now.
Anybody who has anything critical to say about the name of Jesus is not saved because the
Bible says no man speaking by the spirit of God calleth Jesus Christ accursed.
And the Bible clearly teaches that the name of Jesus is the only name under heaven given
amongst men whereby we must be saved.
And so to say that there's something wrong with that name, Jesus, is to blaspheme God.
Now you can say well, you know, there's no J sound in Hebrew.
Well so what?
We're speaking English.
That name is Jesus in English, it's Jesus in Spanish, it's Jesus in German, it's the
same name of the same person.
Now if you would go back to Judges chapter number 12, because there are those that would
say well, you know, Yeshua is the real way to say it and if you're saying anything else
you're pagan.
Well let me explain this.
The Bible never says Yeshua in it one time.
So are these people using the Bible as their authority?
Say well they're just going back to the original.
No, original Greek doesn't say Yeshua either.
So where are these people getting this?
In fact what is the word Yeshua?
What is that?
I'll tell you what it is, it is translating the name of Jesus into a language that was
invented in the 1800s and calling that the original.
Let me tell you something, modern Hebrew is a language that was invented in the 1800s.
Did you know that?
You say oh, people have always spoken Hebrew.
No, Hebrew was a dead language for almost 2,000 years.
Did you know that?
You see, as early as 200 AD no one was speaking Hebrew as their native language.
No one.
It was a dead language.
And it was a dead language all the way until the 1800s when the Zionist movement decided
to try to revive a dead language, the Hebrew language, and revived it and created modern
Hebrew and started teaching people.
And today there are about 5.4 million people in the world who speak Hebrew as their native
language.
But let me tell you something, that language was invented in the 1800s.
Now you say well no, it's a biblical language of the Old Testament.
Well hold on a second, does anybody have a tape recording of any of the Old Testament
prophets speaking?
Do we really know what their language sounded like?
Can I really look at a paper and see letters on that page and know how those words are
pronounced?
Absolutely not.
For example, even just within the United States, even in the same year, even in 2013, the thing
that lights up at a restaurant when your food's ready, I would call that the pager.
But when I was in Texas she said it's the pager.
So there's a pretty big difference between pager and pager.
And that's just a few hundred miles apart in the same year on the same continent in
the modern era.
People have pronounced things differently in different places in different ways for
thousands of years.
Let me tell you something, it is impossible to figure out exactly how ancient Hebrew was
pronounced thousands of years ago since it was a dead language for 1500 years.
And even if it weren't a dead language for over 1500 years, it would still be impossible
to figure out how they pronounced it back then because things change.
So to sit there and say oh it's Yeshua, well let me prove that false.
Go if you would to Judges chapter 12 verse 5.
The Bible reads in Judges 12 verse 5, and the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan
before the Ephraimites and it was so that when the Ephraimites which were escaped said
let me go over, that the men of Gilead said unto them, art thou an Ephraimite?
If he said nay, then said they unto him, say now Shibboleth.
And he said Sibboleth, for he could not frame to pronounce it right, then they took him
and slew him at the passages of Jordan and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites
40 and 2000.
This goes to show right here that way before Christ was born in the nation of Israel, we
have two groups of people that live very close together that are both part of the tribes
of Israel.
We have the Gileadites on one hand who they say, Shibboleth.
And then we have the Ephraimites, and by the way Ephraim, one of the biggest tribes in
the whole nation.
The word Ephraim means fruitful because they, you know, and they were one that God blessed
and they multiplied greatly.
Huge part of the nation of Israel could not even make a sh sound.
But we're told, oh yeah, I mean that's just the only way to pronounce the name of Jesus
is Yeshua.
Well I guess, you know, huge portions of the Israeli population can't even pronounce it
right according to this because they can't even make a sh sound.
So what I'm saying is that these doctrines are not the doctrines of the Bible.
These are the doctrines of men.
These are people who are taking the name of Jesus from the Greek New Testament, translating
it into a language that was invented in the 1800s and telling us we're pagans if we use
the real name of Jesus, the way it's written in the New Testament.
It's a false doctrine.
Now others will demand that we insist that we call God Yahweh, right?
Always heard that one.
They say, no, God is Yahweh.
And if you call him the Lord or God, they'll say that that's wrong.
Don't call him the Lord.
Call him Yahweh.
Okay, again, number one, impossible to know how this is pronounced in a dead language
thousands of years ago, that it was really even pronounced Yahweh.
But secondly and even more importantly, did you know that in the New Testament, okay,
which is the basis of our soul, faith, and practice, the New Testament never uses the
term Yahweh one time.
Did you know that?
But according to them, that's the only name that we should be referring to God by, even
though Jesus never used it one time.
Even though the apostles of Jesus Christ in the New Testament never used the term Yahweh
even once.
And when they quoted Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures, they used the term Jehovah, as
this English speaker will pronounce it.
Yahweh, whenever they quoted Scriptures, they used that term, you know how they translated
it?
The Lord.
Just like your King James Bible.
Because the Greek word that they used was kyrios, which means Lord, okay?
And that's what they called him.
That's why the King James Bible translates Jehovah or Yahweh as the Lord.
Because that's how Jesus translated it.
Because that's how the apostles translated it.
Because that's how the Holy Ghost, who is the author of the New Testament translated
it, my friend, do not be deceived by just anything that you read on the internet or
any video that you see on YouTube that tries to tell you that the Lord is not his name.
His name is the Lord.
His name is the Lord God.
And our Savior is known as the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the name above every name.
That is the name that is associated with salvation.
Do not be deceived by someone telling you, oh in the original it's Yeshua.
No it isn't.
That's a lie.
Never is that found.
But number two, go if you would to Matthew chapter 5.
Number one, we see this false doctrine that attacks the name of Jesus and seeks to call
him Yeshua instead of calling him Jesus.
And let me tell you something, if you're speaking and using the term Yeshua, you're speaking
a foreign language for no reason.
Because English is the language that we speak.
We should use English words.
And if we want to go back to an original, go back to the Greek, Jesus, Jesus.
But this Yeshua has no basis in reality, okay?
That's why anytime I ever hear, if I get an email and I see the word Yeshua, I just delete
it.
I'm done reading.
If I hear a preacher use the word Yeshua, I'm done listening.
If I'm talking to someone and I hear the word Yeshua come out of their mouth, I perceive
that the words of knowledge are not found in him.
I realize this person is deceived or a deceiver, one of the two.
This person is not using the Bible as their final authority.
This person does not have the New Testament as their final authority of all faith and
practice.
But number two, not only an attack on the name of Jesus, but number two, this doctrine
of being a Torah observing Christian is what they'll characterize this as.
Being a Torah observing Christian.
And often these same people in this Hebrew roots movement or Torah observing movement
or Yeshua movement, they will also teach that the Old Testament takes precedence over the
New Testament, okay?
That's what they'll teach.
Because they'll say, well, you know, the fruit is not greater than the root.
Well that rhymes, but it's a lie.
I'd rather eat an apple fruit than an apple root, you know?
I don't know about you, but anyway, they'll say, you know, the fruit's not greater than
the root.
The Old Testament, the Torah, and they will actually exalt and elevate the Torah.
You say, what's the Torah?
Yeah, good question.
It's not a Bible word.
But what they mean by that is the first five books of the Bible.
They will somehow elevate the first five books of the Bible above the rest of the Bible.
I've even heard some of these people say, well, the first five books of the Bible, the
Torah, that was the one that was directly out of the mouth of God.
On the mountaintop with Moses.
The rest of it was derived from just prophets and apostles.
No, no, no.
The Bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine.
The Bible says every word of God is pure.
The Bible says that the words of the Apostle Paul were the words of the Lord, were the
words of God.
And so we need to not give in to this thing of exalting the first five books of the Bible
above the rest of the Bible.
And they'll sometimes give precedence to those Old Testament scriptures above the New Testament.
And I've run into many that have taught that.
But they'll also say, well, we're Torah observing, and here's the scripture that they'll point
to.
Look at Matthew 5.17.
It says, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.
I am not come to destroy but to fulfill.
For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in
no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.
And they say, see, Jesus didn't come to destroy the law, he came to fulfill.
And I have to heartily agree with that.
Go to Romans chapter 3 if you would.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans.
Go to Romans chapter 3.
In Romans chapter 3 we'll see the Apostle Paul reiterate and reinforce what Jesus taught
in Matthew chapter 5 when he says in verse 31, do we then make void the law through faith?
God forbid.
Yea, we establish the law.
So the Bible is clear both out of the mouth of Jesus and out of the mouth of the Apostle
Paul that we do not make void the Old Testament law.
We do not reject the Old Testament law.
We do not throw out the Old Testament law.
But are we Torah observing Christians?
Well go to Hebrews chapter 7 if you would.
Hebrews is toward the end of the New Testament.
Hebrews chapter 7, and let me ask this of those who claim to be, and by the way, this
is the trendy thing right now.
This is huge.
I mean, it's not just on the internet.
I mean you get around homeschool groups and I mean this is the big thing amongst the homeschoolers.
You know, and I'm all for homeschooling.
You know, we homeschool our children, I'm a strong believer.
But you know, you get amongst the homeschooling groups, you get on the internet, you talk
to people out soul winning, people visit our church and they're inundated with this
Hebrew roots doctrine and this Yeshua and Torah observing and so forth.
There was even something, there was some kind of a homeschooling magazine or something that
my wife had that had an advertisement and it was this Raising Manly Men or something.
You know, some, I don't know, some book or something.
And the guy who wrote the book, instead of putting on a bar mitzvah for his kid at age
13, he's putting on like a Christian version of a bar mitzvah, the bar ha ha, or you know,
whatever it was.
And you know, they're just trying so hard to mix in this Judaism or mix in Hebrew culture.
It's not biblical.
It's wrong.
It's sin.
I'm going to prove it to you.
But look if you would at Hebrews chapter 7 verse 12.
It says in Hebrews 7, 12, for the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity
a change also of the law.
So let me ask this, is the law unchanged?
Is it unchanged?
No.
Because the Bible says the priesthood being changed in the New Testament, there's also
a change of the law.
So are we supposed to just observe the Torah unchanged?
Observe the laws of the Old Testament.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, just observe them unchanged.
Is that what the Bible teaches?
No, the Bible clearly teaches that there is also a change of the law.
Now even those that claim to be a Torah observing Christian, they're not sacrificing a blood
sacrifice.
They're not burning a lamb on the altar.
And so therefore they have observed a change in the law, have they not?
So the question is, where do we draw the line?
Now I don't believe in throwing out the whole Old Testament, that's a false doctrine, but
you know what the changes are?
The changes that God told us.
Now they want to just basically only stop the animal sacrifices and do everything else.
They want to do the new moons.
I mean I know a guy who blows a trumpet every time the new moon comes out.
I'm not kidding.
Yes I do.
I mean they want to blow a trumpet at the new moon, they want to celebrate the Feast
of Tabernacles, they want to celebrate the Sabbath, they want to drink some wine drink
on the Sabbath because that's what some Jewish rabbi said to do, they want to restrict their
diet from pork and things of that nature, and they want to observe things, but the question
is what are the changes?
Well here's the thing.
We have to let the Bible tell us what the changes are, and the book of Hebrews does
that very well as does the book of Colossians.
But if you would, look at Hebrews 7.22.
Tell me if the Torah is supreme to the New Testament.
What should we give precedence?
Let's say we have something being taught in the New Testament and something being taught
in the Old Testament, which one has precedence for us today?
Well look at verse 22, by so much was Jesus made a surety of a, oh what?
A what?
A better testament.
Ouch.
So we could also call the New Testament, you know what another term for the New Testament
is?
The better testament.
Did you hear me?
The better testament.
That is a biblical term.
Now if you would, go to chapter 8 verse 6.
This is comparing Jesus unto the Old Testament priesthood and unto the Old Testament law.
It says in Hebrews 8.6, but now if he obtained a more excellent ministry, isn't that like
a better testament?
By how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises.
I mean isn't the Bible clear here?
You see when you make the Bible your authority, you know what the final authority is in your
life in all matters of faith and practice?
The New Testament.
Now look, am I throwing out the Old Testament?
No.
Is every word of the Old Testament true?
Yes.
Is it the word of God?
Is it profitable for doctrine?
Yes, but there's been a change today in the observance of the Old Testament because now
Jesus has brought in a better testament, a better covenant.
I'm glad I live in the New Testament and not under the Old Testament.
You say why?
Because it's better.
That's why.
Now look if you would at verse 7.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for
the second.
Now you say wait a minute, is there something wrong with the Old Testament?
No, because look, he explains it in the next verse.
For finding fault with them, who's the them?
The children of Israel.
For finding fault with them he saith, behold the days come saith the Lord when I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
So the fault was not in God's word.
It's not that there's any error in the Torah.
There's no error in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, oh no.
There's no error, but because that Old Testament was made with a specific group of people,
the children of Israel, and those people continued not in his covenant, those people
broke the covenant of God, he found fault with them, that covenant could not endure
forever.
Did you hear me?
That covenant that he made with Israel could not endure forever because they failed to
keep that covenant.
They failed to walk in it, and that's why it had to be replaced with the new covenant,
the better covenant, the New Testament, which would be an everlasting covenant, an everlasting
testament.
Look if you would at verse 9, he said he made a new covenant with the house of Israel.
Verse 9, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued
not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
saith the Lord.
I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them
a God and they shall be to me a people.
Look at verse 13, in that he saith a new covenant he hath made the first old.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away, and he's explaining
that parts of the old covenant are done away with in Christ.
He says that which decayeth, meaning that part of the old covenant which decayeth and
waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
The next verse says, then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service
in a worldly sanctuary.
He begins to explain what it is that waxeth old and is ready to vanish away.
He begins to explain what parts of the Old Testament are not for us today.
They're not something that we observe or practice today.
He talks about the tabernacle.
He talks about animal sacrifices.
But then he goes on to talk about, let me find my place here in Hebrews 9, then he goes
on to talk about in verse 10, he said which stood only in meats and drinks and divers
washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation.
But Christ, being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle and on and on, he says right there that some of the things that are
done away are the meats, drinks, and divers washings and carnal ordinances.
That tells me that food, drink, physical ordinances, those are not things that we're
supposed to observe today.
So you can pontificate, well I'm a Torah observing Christian, well you're observing stuff that
God said we're not supposed to observe when you're observing that stuff.
And then one of the other things, I mean we'd have to read the whole chapter 9 to get it,
he talks about the Day of Atonement as one of the things that's done away, that has been
replaced by the sacrifice of Christ.
And yet Yom Kippur and Day of Atonement and all that stuff ends up on people's calendars
today and they're going to celebrate the feast.
They're going to celebrate the Jubilee and the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles
and they're going to not eat pork and they're going to do the drink offering and they're
going to drink the new moon in.
You know what?
This is not biblical.
The Bible is telling us, look these things are done away in Christ.
Welcome to a better covenant.
Welcome to the New Testament.
Now we could go on and on, I don't want to spend the whole sermon on that, this is probably
going to end up being a two-parter with tonight anyway, just because, go to Colossians chapter
2, just because of the fact that there's so much to cover here.
Colossians chapter 2, let me just give you a quick review, I want this all to make sense
to you.
Number one, we looked at the fact that the word Yeshua is a fraud.
Our Savior's name is Jesus because, let me ask you this, where do we get everything we
know about Jesus from?
The Bible.
Is Jesus mentioned by name in the Old Testament?
No.
So where do we get our teaching about the man Christ Jesus?
Where do we get it from?
The New Testament, right?
Isn't that where we get our teachings about the man Christ Jesus?
So let me ask you this, shouldn't everything we believe be about Jesus come from the New
Testament and if so, wouldn't we call him Jesus since that's the only thing that the
New Testament ever calls him?
And that any source from which we're deriving the term Yeshua is not a biblical source?
I mean think about that.
Let that sink in to your ears.
Anyone who's using the term Yeshua did not get it from reading the Bible in English or
in Greek or in any other, you know, legitimate translation of the New Testament because it's
just simply not there, okay?
So we saw that number one, the name of Jesus is being attacked by those who are blasphemous,
by those who are unbelievers, false prophets, false teachers.
They are deceived and being deceived.
The name of Jesus is a blessed name.
It's the name above all names.
What about this?
Yep, it's above that one.
It's above all names.
Okay, number two, we saw the error of the Torah observing Christian, quote unquote,
who wants to observe portions of the Torah that were specifically done away in Christ
and they want to give the Torah precedence over the New Testament.
Which one did the Bible tell us had precedence?
The better testament, right?
Okay, so the New Testament.
But if you would, look at Colossians 2 verse 14, it says, blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances.
This is Colossians 2, 14.
Get those first couple words.
Blotting out.
Everybody get that?
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us which was contrary to
us and took it out of the way.
But you want us to observe that today in the New Testament apparently.
He says, nailing it to his cross and having spoiled principalities and powers he made
a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Let no man therefore, so because of the fact that this stuff's been done away, because
of the fact that it's been blotted away, because of the fact that it was nailed to his cross,
let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of a holy day or of
the new moon or of the Sabbath days, which are a figure of things to come but the body
is of Christ.
Right there he's telling us, look, because this stuff's been done away, don't let anybody
judge you because of what you eat for meat.
Don't let anybody judge that pork sandwich.
Don't let anybody judge the fact that you don't wash your hands before you eat.
It's probably a good idea to wash your hands before you eat, but you know what?
Jesus and his disciples sometimes just went straight to the chow, okay?
And by the way, some people that are, I just saw a study this week that said people that
are overly sanitary and sterile, they get more sick.
Did you know that?
They actually get more sick.
It's actually good to be observed or to be exposed to a little bit of dirt.
You know what I mean?
Sometimes people live in such a sanitary, you know, boy in a bubble kind of lifestyle,
you know, getting out in the dirt a little bit is actually healthy for you.
You know, they're starting to discover that.
But anyway, it says, you know, don't let them judge you because you don't really give a
rip what phase the moon is in right now.
I don't know.
Does anybody even know?
I mean, it's somewhere near the half or something, but anyway, or the Sabbath days, but yet we
have people today telling you that you're not saved if you don't keep the Sabbath or
even just telling you, well, you're saved, but you're not right with God if you're not
keeping the Sabbath.
What does the Bible say?
Done away, not part of the New Covenant, not part of the New Testament.
The Bible's clear on that, but go to Matthew 23 if you would, Matthew chapter number 23.
Now look, let me say this.
I don't want you to misunderstand me.
I'm not saying reject the Old Testament.
I'm saying specifically only the specific changes because look, did God just change
things willy-nilly?
No, he specifically said the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change
also of the law.
He didn't say of caprice.
He didn't say we're changing the law just because we can.
He said we're changing it of necessity.
There are only necessary changes that were made.
Those necessary changes that were made involved the carnal ordinances, involved the new moons,
involved the holidays, involved the Sabbath days, involved the Levitical priesthood, the
blood sacrifices.
Those are the things that are done away.
What about in God's law where it tells you not to marry your sister?
Did he do away with that?
So we're not just going to throw out the whole Old Testament law.
Obviously there are many, you know, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt
not commit adultery, those are all still in force.
When the Bible tells a man not to put on a woman's garment and when the Bible tells a
woman not to wear that which pertains to a man, that's still in force.
God's still against cross-dressing and murder and adultery and rape and kidnapping and all
the things that he tells us are wrong in the Old Testament, lying, stealing, cheating,
defrauding, those things are all still wrong today.
God's not giving us a license to sin here, telling us, hey, forget the law, man, just
do what you want.
No, he said I'm here to establish the law, I'm here to fulfill the law, I'm not here
to destroy the law, but there is a necessity, a change made in the law.
And that change is a change away from the carnal ordinances which were imposed on them
until the time of reformation.
And you'll notice, it's very easy to observe which things are done away in Christ.
It's the same things that came in with Moses.
Because think about it, you know, before Moses, there was no restriction on what animals you
could eat and not eat.
And guess what?
Noah, when he got off the ark, was told every moving thing that breatheth shall be meat
for you.
Do pigs breathe?
Therefore, it's unto us, you know, for meat.
And he said I've freely given you all things for meat.
So we see that there was no dietary restriction before the Mosaic law because there's nothing
intrinsically wrong with eating pork.
It was only wrong because he told him it was wrong.
Because that specifically served a purpose for a specific time and God used that.
You say well what was the point of having these temporary dietary restrictions?
What was the point of it all?
Well I preached a whole sermon about chewing the cud and parting the hoof where I explained
some of the symbolic significance of those dietary restrictions.
I did a whole sermon on it, but a few years back.
But not only that, but God was going to use that as an illustration in the New Testament
between the difference of having the Old Covenant focus on a specific group of people, the nation
of Israel, and then the New Testament making his house a house of prayer for all nations.
Which one's better?
Open it up to all nations.
Now of course there were people of all nations who were saved in the Old Testament, but God's
house was not open to everybody.
You know, they had to be circumcised in order to become a Jew.
They had to go through that toward the end.
So basically what I'm saying here is that in the New Testament God was going to use
diet unto Peter to show Peter the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
Remember when Peter gets the vision about Cornelius and he's told to eat beasts that
were formerly unclean in the Old Covenant.
And that was an illustration of the fact that now the Gentiles were part of the body.
You know, they were part of the house of God in the New Testament.
And that's a whole other sermon of itself.
But let's look at something else.
Go to Matthew 23, because you'll notice that a lot of these Torah observing Christians
or Hebrews roots movement or whatever, sacred name movement, or whatever this manifests
itself as, this Yeshua teaching doctrine, you'll notice that a lot of the practitioners
of this call themselves Rabbi and call their spiritual leaders Rabbi.
Let's see what the Bible says about it.
Let me ask you this, is anybody who's calling themselves a Rabbi a Bible-believing Christian?
Well let's look at the Bible.
Matthew 23 verse 8 says, but be not ye called Rabbi.
So if a guy goes around being called Rabbi, is he walking in the teachings of Jesus Christ?
No.
Is the New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ his final authority?
No.
He's not looking at the words of Jesus saying, this is my authority.
He's looking at some unbelieving anti-Christ Jew who calls himself Rabbi and saying I want
to be like that guy.
Isn't that the truth?
I mean he's not looking at Jesus and saying I want to follow Christ, I want to follow
Jesus' teaching.
No, no, no.
He's looking at an unbelieving, unsaved guy who doesn't believe that Jesus is the Messiah,
who calls himself a Rabbi because Jewish Rabbis don't believe in Christ, newsflash.
But then the Messianic Jew is going to call himself a Rabbi.
Now is the Messianic Jew patterning himself after Christ, or is he patterning himself
after an unsaved, unbelieving Rabbi?
See what I mean?
So he says here, be not ye called Rabbi.
Well it doesn't matter what you call him.
Be not ye called Rabbi.
That's a Bible doctrine.
If it didn't matter then maybe we should all just take a Sharpie and cross that out.
Of course it matters.
It matters in the Bible.
It says, for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.
Now that goes to prove right there what the word Rabbi means.
Rabbi is Hebrew for master, right?
Now later on when Jesus appears unto Mary in the Garden of Gethsemane after his resurrection,
she comes to him and says, Rabboni.
And Rabboni means my master.
And Oni at the end, you know Rabbi means master, the Oni at the end means my master, Rabboni.
She comes to him and says Rabboni, which being interpreted is my master.
So we understand what the word Rabbi means, everybody?
Look at the next term.
It says call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father which is in heaven.
So tell that to the Roman Catholics.
But in verse 8 he says, don't be called Rabbi because one is your master, even Christ, and
all ye are brethren.
Now Jesus Christ is often called Rabbi in the Bible.
That's because he is the master, the only master.
Don't call yourself master, okay?
And then he says, don't be called father.
There's only one father, the father in heaven.
And then look at verse 10, neither, neither be ye called masters, for one is your master
even Christ.
You say, wait a minute Pastor Anderson, this is redundant.
You might look at this and say, this is redundant.
He already told us not to be called master in verse 8.
Why is he telling us in verse 10 not to be called, no it's not redundant.
It's three names you're not supposed to be called.
And by the way, this goes to show that Jesus was not speaking Biblical Hebrew when he walked
on this earth.
Jesus was most likely speaking Aramaic, or another dialect, or you know, he spoke the
language of the common man, which Biblical Old Testament Hebrew was not the language
of the common man when Jesus walked the earth.
And when he's preaching unto multitudes, you know, he's preaching in their language.
The common people heard him gladly, okay?
And by the way, that's why he often uses Aramaic words throughout the Gospels, you know, Talitha,
Cumai, and you know, all these different, Eli, Eli, Lama, Sabachthani, and Epitha, and
all that.
You know where it gives us exactly what he said in the original language?
But here, he's saying don't be called Rabbi, and he's explaining to them what Rabbi means.
Don't be called Rabbi because Rabbi means Master.
Also don't be called Father, also don't be called Master.
So he's saying don't be called by your, you know, English word Master, are you getting
this?
Because I know that they weren't speaking English, you know, he's talking to them in
Aramaic or whatever the language.
But let's apply this to us today, okay, as we read this.
God's telling us don't be called the Hebrew version of Master, and don't be called your
language's version of Master, everybody get that?
So that means I shouldn't be called Rabbi, I shouldn't be called Father, and I shouldn't
be called Master, okay?
That's why I'm not going to go to some college somewhere and try to get a degree that says
Master of Theology, because you know what?
That would prove that instead of patting myself after Jesus, now I'm patting myself after
the heathen school system.
And if I call myself Rabbi, now I'm patting myself after unbelieving anti-Christ Jewish
religion.
And if I call myself Father, now I'm patting myself after the Roman Catholic Church, okay?
But if I call myself neither Master, Rabbi, nor Father, I just might be following the
Bible and calling myself Pastor or Brother or Bishop or Elder, because that's what the
Bible teaches.
Go if you would to Galatians chapter 2, I'm almost out of time.
I'm going to either, I don't know, I might continue this tonight, there's just so much
material, there's so much, the Bible just really attacks this thing of, you know what
I call it is the Judaizers.
That's what it was called when I was a kid.
They warned us when I was a kid in church, there were sermons like this, and in sermons
like this, they warned us to beware of the Judaizers, the ones who will try to impose
Judaism or Jewish customs and Jewish fables upon the New Testament believer.
It says in Galatians 2 verse 11, but when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him
to the face because he was to be blamed.
So Paul here is pointing out some error in Peter's life.
It says in verse 12, for before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles.
Now let me ask this, was that the right thing to do for him to eat with the Gentiles?
God commanded him to eat with the Gentiles in Acts 10.
So it says before certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles, but when they
were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
And the other Jews dissembled likewise with them, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried
away with their dissimulation.
So get the picture, Paul's best buddy Barnabas, Paul's closest associate in the ministry Barnabas,
and the Apostle Peter, and all the other Jews, all do the wrong thing in this situation.
Paul's the only one who gets this right in this particular situation.
I mean Peter does wrong, all the rest of the Jews do wrong, because they're following the
crowd that's why.
Because they were doing right until people came from James, James was a little goofed
up on this doctrine apparently.
And so everybody starts following the crowd insomuch that even Barnabas, look at the end
of verse 13, was what?
Carried away with their dissimulation, what does that mean, carried away?
That means Barnabas was not thinking for himself, isn't that what that means?
That means Barnabas was just being carried with the crowd.
You know, it'd be kind of like if you walked into a group of people and everybody was moving
the same way and you just kind of just got caught up in the crowd, right?
Think about like, you ever picture like when people run marathons and there's like this
big crowd of people maybe at the very beginning of the race?
Just imagine getting in that crowd and just trying to go the other way.
You know what I mean?
It's not going to work, you're going to get carried along.
Or think about, you know, people just getting carried away with peer pressure in a school
situation, for example.
You know, they just, oh everybody's doing it.
Oh, everybody's sagging their pants, I'm going to sag my pants too.
Everybody is, you know, dressing like a queer, I'll do it too.
You know, everybody loves Britney Spears, I'm going to buy the CD too.
You know, it's just, the Bible says, thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil.
And often we as human beings have a tendency to wrongfully just follow the crowd, just
do what everybody else is doing around us.
And here we see that all these people are doing the wrong thing here.
Look what Peter says, and Peter had a lot of boldness, or I'm sorry, Paul, Paul had
a lot of boldness, Paul had a lot of guts, because Paul stood against everybody, stood
against every, even his own best friend, he stood against everybody, and he says in verse
14, but when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel, you
say, wait a minute, Paul, aren't you concerned what people think?
Aren't you trying to fit in with your buddy Barnabas?
No, he said, look, when I saw it didn't match up with the truth, if I stand alone, I'm still
going to stand.
And look what Peter, look what Paul said, but when I saw that they walked not uprightly
according to the truth of the Gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, so he says this
openly, publicly, loudly to everyone, if thou being a Jew liveth after the manner of Gentiles
and not as do the Jews, why compelest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
Now let me ask you this, did Paul and Peter, two of the greatest apostles of the New Testament,
one of them that focused on reaching the circumcision, you know, one that focused on reaching the
uncircumcision, but two of the greatest apostles, did either one of them live like a Jew?
No, no, no, you don't get it folks.
Jesus and all the, I'm sorry, Yeshua and all of his apostles, they all lived a Jewish culture
and a Jewish Torah, and if you're going to be a good Christian today, you have to follow
Jewish customs and live like a Jew.
Did Paul live like a Jew?
Did Peter live like a Jew?
Did Barnabas live like a Jew?
So why are we as Gentiles today being compelled to live as do the Jews?
When even Peter, who was a Jew, didn't even want to live like the Jews.
And even Paul, who was a Jew, did not live like the Jews.
You know why?
Because they're in the New Testament, that's why they're not living like the Jews.
And they knew that, and they believed that, and the only reason that they did this right
here was because of peer pressure, and because of fitting in with the crowd, because Peter
and Paul knew that the truth of the Gospel preached that we're not in the Old Testament,
we don't live like Jews, we don't follow the customs of the Jews, we don't go by the meats
and drinks and divers washings of the Jews, we don't keep the holidays of the Jews.
Look, it's not a part of the New Testament doctrine, Paul knew it, Peter knew it, and
it may even work, because some people will say this, well Pastor Anderson, because you
are Scandinavian and English, and I'm kind of a mix of English and Scandinavian, a little
bit of Irish mixed in, but I don't know how I ended up in this dry burning scorching desert,
because all of my ancestors were these seafaring northern Scandinavians and English, but whatever,
I'm in the middle of a dry desert, but anyway, they'll say well that's fine and dandy for
you to not observe the Torah, but those that are Jews, you know, they have to observe it.
Well hold on a second, didn't the Bible tell us to avoid genealogies?
So tell me how in the world do you even know who a Jew is 2,000 years later?
You know, just because somebody says they're a Jew, does that really make them a Jew?
No.
We don't really know without a genealogy, and we're told to avoid genealogies, and the
Bible says in Christ there's neither Jew nor Gentile.
There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
So there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek, and in Christ there's neither Jew
nor Gentile, and even in the Old Testament he said there's one law for the stranger as
well as him that's born in the land.
One law for you both, okay?
So to sit there and say it's different, no, this shows that even Peter and Paul, who were
blood-born Jews, hey, they're not living as do the Jews, except when they're trying
to put on a show in front of James.
Everybody getting this?
So why are we supposed to put on that hat?
Why are we supposed to dress, talk, and say shalom and say yeshua?
It's a false doctrine, my friend.
It's not biblical.
And let's turn to the last thing, Titus chapter 1, this is the last thing we'll cover this
morning.
Titus chapter 1, I'll cover the rest tonight because this is literally less than half of
my sermon, or about half of my sermon.
I'll cover the rest tonight, the other points of what's wrong with this Hebrew's roots or
sacred name movement or whatever you want to call it, all the different manifestations
of it, this Torah observing Christianity, this Jew worship, or whatever you want to
call it.
But look at Titus chapter 1, here's actually where we derive the name of our church.
Titus 1, 9 says, holding fast the what?
The faithful word, as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both
to exhort and to convince the gainsayers, for there are many unruly and vain talkers
and deceivers.
Now are there a lot of false teachers out there?
Okay, where do most of them come from?
Well it says there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of
the circumcision.
So God's just telling us right away, look, you want to know where the vast majority of
false teaching is coming from?
The Jews.
Now look, that's what the Bible says.
He says, look, this is where it's coming from, okay?
Now look, and again, people will say, oh you're against Jews or something, no no no, Peter
and Paul are Jews, nothing wrong with being Jewish in your nationality, but the nation
of Israel by and large rejected Jesus Christ and therefore there's a lot of false teaching
coming out of that quarter, a lot of wickedness coming out of that quarter.
And he says here, you know, especially they of the circumcision whose mouths must be stopped.
That's why I'm preaching this sermon this morning.
Who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretans are all way liars,
evil beasts, slow bellies, this witness is true, wherefore rebuke them sharply that they
may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men
that turn from the truth.
And you know what, we need to be careful today that we don't give any heed to Jewish fables.
You know what that means?
Any Jewish teaching that's not in the Bible, that's a Jewish fable, okay?
Because the teachings of the Bible are all I need to know about Jewishness, okay?
Any Jewish teaching, any rabbi or bar mitzvah or, you know, whatever teaching of the Torah
or the Mishnah or the Kabbalah, you know, whatever it is, anything that's Jewish that's
not in this Bible, God said don't give heed to it, because it's the commandments of men.
And Jesus said you're teaching the doctrines of men as commandments of God.
You're teaching for commandments, the doctrines of men.
And we need to not give any heed to the teachings of man, Jewish fables, and commandments of
men that turn from the truth.
Anybody who calls themselves rabbi is turning from the truth.
Anybody who's talking about Yeshua, turning from the truth.
Anybody who's talking about how we need to go back under the portions of the Torah that
have been done away in Christ, the Bible tells in Galatians they're bringing us under bondage.
They're not walking in the liberty of the New Testament, you know, and they're a false
teacher.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Lord, thank you so much for the clear teachings of the Bible.
Help us, Lord, not to be deceived.
There's so much deception out there in these last days.
It seems like in the last days the deception has really ramped up.
And it seems like with the Internet, the deception can really spread.
You know, the Internet can spread a lot of good information, but it also can just really
amplify this false teaching and just allow it to spread like wildfire amongst the ignorant.
Lord, help us not to be deceived.
Help everyone here to study, to show them self-approve, to read the entire Bible cover
to cover, but especially, especially to read every word of the New Testament and to know
that the New Testament is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice and in
Jesus' name we pray.