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Christ's answer may surprise you!
[Darris McNeely] We really appreciate all of the comments we've had this week on the series we've done. We've talked about Lent, we've talked about Ash Wednesday and we've had a number of comments from viewers about some of the comments we've made as we put peoples' minds back on what God's Word says.
[Steve Myers] Right, one of the comments that we talked a little bit about yesterday deserved a little bit more attention than we gave it just in the few minutes that we talked about it yesterday. So we thought we'd come back to it for a moment today because the person wrote, "Get with it, guys. Look at the big picture. Don't worry what other people do if they love Christ, that's all that matters." And so we focused on that yesterday. But there is a bigger picture that they were addressing. And I think that's something that we should think about for a moment.
[Darris McNeely] Let's do focus for a moment on the bigger picture. In fact, let's look at what Jesus Christ said at one point when He was addressing an issue similar to this where people had their own traditions, their own ideas that they thought helped them to worship God, but they were nowhere near what God Himself had put within the Scripture. In Matthew chapter 15 and verses 7 through 9 as He was speaking to the Jews He said, He called them hypocrites, He said, "Isaiah the Prophet in prophesying about you said, ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. (Teaching and) in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'" (Matthew 15:7-9) It is possible Christ said to worship Him in vain—empty traditions, empty customs and ideas by their own human inventions. That's a possibility that quite frankly a lot of people are just not really comfortable examining.
[Steve Myers] Absolutely. I think when you really look at it, what is authentic worship? You know, is it anything that we want? Or is it biblical? And I think you've got to go to the Bible. You've got to look at how the New Testament Church worshipped. How did they follow Jesus Christ? And we've got to do those things. He said, "Follow Me." The Apostle Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ" or "Imitate me." And so we've got to know what authentic worship is so that we really are showing our love to God.
[Darris McNeely] In fact the traditions that human philosophy and religions have invented to worship God pale into insignificance compared to the Commandments, the actual festivals and Holy Days that God put within His Church and we find the example of Christ, the Apostles, and the New Testament Church keeping such as the Days of Unleavened Bread, The Feast of Tabernacles, Pentecost, those festivals, those Holy Days that God put in place.
[Steve Myers] And you talk about getting the big picture, the days that God tells us to worship on illustrate that family plan—the big picture that God has in mind, not just for Christians at this moment, for all mankind for all time.
[Darris McNeely] So let's get with it and get rid of the traditions that cause us to worship God in some empty, worthless fashion and let's get on God's plan and God purpose.
[Steve Myers] That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.