Christians celebrate Christmas every year, and that year was no exception. But after that year’s Christmas, something unusual happened and every Christian had different opinions. Do you want to know what happened?
By Xiaoqi
The snow was very heavy during the Christmas that year. After a period of hard work, we brothers and sisters in the choir finally took first place in the town’s choir competition. At the first meeting after Christmas, brothers and sisters were still talking excitedly and endlessly about winning the competition. I recalled the scene of that day, we singing and dancing, which was very lively. But after the holiday I felt empty and there was no spiritual enjoyment. I could not feel the Lord’s presence, but very exhausted. Other brothers and sisters also had the same feeling. I could not figure out what on earth was going on.
At that moment, sister Wang Ke suddenly said, “We celebrate Christmas every year, and it always goes with a wing. But after that, we feel tired and painful, and cannot enjoy the joy of the Lord’s presence. Is it in accordance with the Lord’s will to celebrate Christmas? If so, why cannot we feel enjoyment in our spirits? Why are we still withered in our spirits after the holiday?”
Just as Sister Wang Ke finished speaking, we fell into a heated debate. Sister Xu said with disdain: “Why did you say that? How can it not be after the Lord’s heart? We are all His Children, so the Lord must be happy that we celebrate His birthday.”
Elder sister Hu echoed: “I have been a believer for decades and celebrate Christmas every year. The celebration becomes more and more lively. Isn’t this the blessing of the Lord?”
“The entire religious world celebrates Christmas and it is an important festival for us Christians. We celebrate it in memory of the Lord Jesus Christ crucified for us. How can this not be in line with the Lord’s will?” Everyone voiced their opinions.
Sister Wang looked at everyone and said deliberately: “If it were in accordance with the Lord’s will, there should be clear requirements of the Lord Jesus in the Bible. However, I studied the Bible and didn’t find any related records at all. So, on what basis can we say it is in line with the Lord’s will?” No one knew what to say. Some quickly opened the Bible, and others whispered.
At this time, Brother Shen, who had always been very cautious, said: “Sister Wang, I have never considered that before. The Lord Jesus did never say that people should celebrate His birthday. We believe in the Lord, so we should do things according to His words. Otherwise, it definitely comes from the will of man.” Some brothers and sisters nodded, agreeing with what Brother Shen said.
Surely, to believe in the Lord, we are supposed to listen to His words. But isn’t it in line with the Lord’s will to celebrate Christmas? At this time, sister Yang, who always spoke with insight, interrupted my thoughts: “If it comes from the will of man, isn’t it the teaching of men, the tradition of men? If so, what we do may go against the Lord’s will. The Lord Jesus once rebuked the Pharisees, saying: ‘He answered and said to them, Well has Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. However, in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men’(Mark7:6–8). We all know that the earliest Pharisees added many ancient traditions to the laws. They regarded the commandments of men as the law, but discarded the commandments of God. They taught people and found fault with the disciples of the Lord Jesus according to these ancient traditions, saying they ate without carefully washing their hands. Not only did these practices not gain the approval of the Lord Jesus, but they were condemned to be hypocrites by the Lord and their worship was in vain. It can be seen that when we follow the teachings of men, no matter how well and correctly we did, it didn’t conform to God’s will. According to the words of the Lord Jesus, I think we celebrate Christmas on the basis of men’s will instead of the Lord’s words. Don’t we hold the tradition of men? It cannot be in line with God’s will.”
The fellowship of sister Yang brightened me: The Lord Jesus clearly rebuked the Pharisees for keeping the traditions of men but discarding the commandments of God. Christmas is not on the basis of the Lord’s words. Isn’t it the tradition of men? All of a sudden, the meeting place was in an uproar after sister’s fellowship. Many people agreed with sister Yang’s point of view, saying such fellowship had the light. I noticed that sister Xu wanted to say something but did not say it.
At this moment, when I looked up and noticed that Sister Song, who came to our meeting for the first time today, hadn’t expressed her opinion, I said to her: “Sister Song, what’s your opinion?” Sister Song smiled and looked at us, saying, “Ok. Let me ask you a question first, does the Lord Jesus have a birthday?”
“Of course, everyone knows the Lord Jesus was born in a manger on December 25.” Sister Xu answered eagerly and proudly.
“Yes. Wasn’t the Lord born on December 25?” some brothers and sisters echoed.
After hearing the words, sister Song said, “Actually, in this regard, the Lord Jesus already fought back against our conception when He did His work. Let’s read these verses, ‘While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think you of Christ? whose son is he? They say to him, The son of David. He said to them, How then does David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit you on my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither dared any man from that day forth ask him any more questions (Matthew 22:41–46)’. ‘Then said the Jews to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:57–58)’. From the Lord Jesus’s words, we can see the Lord Jesus never admitted He was the son of David, the descendant of Abraham, because the substance of the Lord Jesus is the Spirit of God and He represents God Himself. He is the One from everlasting, the Lord of creation, the Lord of David and the God of Abraham. How can the Creator have an age? How can He have a birthday? Isn’t it too absurd for us to set a birthday for God according to our own will？ We regard the Lord Jesus as an ordinary person. Is this not a belittlement and blasphemy of God?” After listening to sister Song’s fellowship, I suddenly realized: Yep! The Lord Jesus is the incarnate Christ, the Creator. God is who He is. How could He have an age and a birthday? I often read these verses, but why didn’t I notice this before?
Sister Song went on fellowshiping, “The Bible records many feasts set by God, for example, God asked people to keep the Sabbath, observe the Feast of Tabernacles and Passover during the Old Testament age, while in the New Testament Jesus asked people to break bread, drink wine, be baptized, cover head and wash feet. All these feasts and rituals were made by God. They were all meaningful. Take Passover, people observed Passover in the Old Testament in honor of the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. God passed over the Jewish homes when killing the Egyptian firstborn son. In the New Testament, washing feet was to keep the commandment given by the Lord before the ascension, that all the brothers and sisters in the Lord should love one another. It is in line with God’s will to keep these commandments and we will receive His praise. However, if it comes from men’s will, it has nothing to do with God, and has nothing to do with the truth, because things coming from men’s will are not only meaningless, but have many deviations and absurdities, just as the Christmas we are talking about.” Brothers and sisters nodded: “According to the fellowship, this is a fact. We really did not think of it.”
Sister Song took out a spiritual book and said, “Brothers and sisters, I wanna read you one paragraph of words to you.” Then she opened and read, “…the festivals in the religious world, such as Easter, Baptism Day, and Christmas Day, all of these unjustifiable festivals have been arranged and handed down from olden times to today by many people, and are thoroughly incompatible with the human race that God created. It is humanity’s rich imagination and ingenious conception that have allowed them to be passed down to today. They appear to be free of flaws, but are in fact tricks Satan plays on humanity. The more a place is thronged with Satans, and the more obsolete and backward that place is, the more deeply entrenched are its feudal customs. These things bind people tight, allowing absolutely no room for movement. Many of the festivals in the religious world seem to display great originality and to create a bridge to the work of God, but they are actually the invisible ties with which Satan binds people from coming to know God — they are all Satan’s cunning stratagems. In fact, when a stage of God’s work is finished, He has already destroyed the tools and the style of that time, without leaving any trace. However, ‘devout believers’ continue to worship those tangible material objects; meanwhile they consign what God has to the back of their minds, studying it no further, seeming to be full of the love of God when they actually pushed Him out of the house long ago and placed Satan on the table to worship. Portraits of Jesus, the Cross, Mary, Jesus’ Baptism and the Last Supper — people venerate these as the Lord of Heaven, all the while repeatedly crying out ‘God the Father.’ Isn’t this all a joke? To this day, many similar sayings and practices that have been passed down amongst humanity are hateful to God; they seriously obstruct the way ahead for God and, furthermore, create huge setbacks to humanity’s entry” (“Work and Entry (3)”).
Sister Song said, “At face value, many of the festival in the religious world seem to have something to do with God’s work. Yet they’re neither according to God’s will nor on the basis of God’s words. All of these festivals have been arranged and handed down by people. They’re not God’s demands. But we believe that to keep these festivals and rituals and worship those tangible material objects is to worship God and be loyal to Him. Actually, these things are not only incapable of helping us know God or His will, but will become a hindrance to know God. Like Pharisees, they believed they were the ones who were after God’s heart and worshipped Him by rules and rituals. While the Lord Jesus came to work, neither did they seek the truth from His words, nor did they investigate the Lord Jesus’ work or the present work of Holy Spirit. Instead, they tried to find fault with Him for the excuse that He didn’t keep the laws, and ended up nailing Him to the cross by many charges. Nowadays, we rack our brains to get ready for these festivals. And these festivals and rituals turn into the God in our mind, and become the object of worship for us. As for what is God’s intention and what’s His requirements for us, we’re unwilling to seek. Those festivals and rituals have unknowingly taken the place of God in our heart. Isn’t it Satan’s scheme? If we carry on this way, aren’t we ever more distant from God?”
I was somewhat taken aback by sister’s words. It didn’t occur to me that these religious festivals and rituals we have kept many years not only go against God’s will, but have such serious consequences. If we don’t keep these festivals and rituals but keep those that the Lord demands, then are we after God’s heart? I spoke out my thought.
Sister Song said, “Indeed, many festivals and rituals that God demanded are recorded in the Bible. But, these demands are divided into phases and periods, not immutable. Just as Jehovah God said in the Old Testament age, ‘Truly my sabbaths you shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the LORD that does sanctify you. You shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy to you: every one that defiles it shall surely be put to death: for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people” (Exodus 31:13–14). At the age of New Testament, the Lord Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. Another, as Jehovah God’s covenant with Abraham, ‘This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you; Every man child among you shall be circumcised’ (Genesis 17:10). But after the Lord Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to heaven, Holy Spirit enlightened Peter to spread gospel to the uncircumcised Gentiles. The Bible recorded, ‘For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature’ (Galatians 6:15). From above we come to know, those covenants that was required to abide by in the age of Old Testament didn’t need to keep at the age of New Testament. For the Lord Jesus came, He had brought a new age and new work, so that He had new demands of man according to man’s needs. When people practiced the Lord’s words, they would gain the work of the Holy Spirit, enjoy the abundant grace, have a new understanding of God and be freed from old rules. By contrast, those, who still kept Jehovah God’s demands, seemed reverent from the outside, but adhered to religious ceremonies and rules. Not only were they incapable of gaining the work of the Holy Spirit, but also turned into the ones who resisted God.
Now, I’m gonna read another paragraph of words to you, ‘The greatest skill of religious figures is taking the words of God that were accepted in the past and checking them off against the words of God today. If, when serving the God of today, you cling to the things enlightened by the Holy Spirit in the past, then your service will cause an interruption, and your practice will be outdated and nothing more than religious ceremony. If you believe that those who serve God must be outwardly humble and patient…, and if you put this kind of knowledge into practice today, then such knowledge is religious conception, and such practice has become a hypocritical performance. “Religious conceptions” refers to things that are outmoded and obsolete (including the acceptance of words previously spoken by God and light directly revealed by the Holy Spirit), and if they are put into practice today, then they are the interruption of God’s work, and of no benefit to man.’ ‘God’s intention has always been for His work to be new and alive, not old and dead, and that which He makes man hold firm to is divided into ages and periods, not everlasting and immutable. That is because He is a God who causes man to live and be new’ (“Only Those Who Know the Work of God Today Can Serve God”). Everyone, do you know? God is the God who’s always new and never old, and likewise His work. None of His work is immutable; all is according to man’s needs. Like God’s name, He can be called not only Jehovah but Jesus. He can not only be the Spirit, but also become flesh to actually engage with man. Not only He can lead man to keep the laws and commandments, but can make demands that higher than laws and commandments. As created beings, our duty is to follow and obey God. Our obedience can only go as far as God’s work, and what we should practice is His realistic demands. Only this way, we can follow the footsteps of the Lamb. If we still stick to the old demands in the new age, doesn’t that go against God’s will? Just as Pharisees, they stuck to the laws, condemned the Lord Jesus, and caught the disciples. They committed a heinous crime and finally suffered God’s punishment. Therefore, if we don’t know the principles of the God’s work or keep pace with the steps of Him, only following a set of rules and taking the beaten path, it’s very easy for us to resist God. Do you agree with me?
Many nodded in agreement, saying, “There’s light in the fellowship. God makes different requirements of man in different age. What He demands man to keep is divided into ages. This is the first time I’ve listened to such practical sermon.”
I nodded and said, “I’m a bit clear. If we still hold onto old demands in God’s new work, there’s no doubt that we are performing religious ceremonies. It’s easy to resist God. Sister Song, am I right?”
Sister Song nodded happily, “You got that right. Brothers and sisters, we’re looking forward to the Lord to take us. Now, the prophecies of the Lord Jesus’ return have already been fulfilled. We’ve kept the Lord’s demands, as baptism, breaking bread, drinking wine, washing feet, but we can’t enjoy the work of Holy Spirit or feel God’s presence. Many believers grow cold in faith. Preachers have no message to preach. We’re all like the lost sheep groping around in the darkness without the guidance of God.” Her words touched a raw nerve in me. I thought: Yeah, I believe in the Lord for many years. Though paying the price and keeping the Lord’s words, I often felt weak and powerless deepest in my heart. I was just like the one abandoned by the Lord and didn’t know what to do. Then, I heard the sister keep saying, “In fact, not only one or two churches, but the entire religious world is in such a general situation. None of us can figure out a fix. This is indeed worthy of deep thought: Why does the Lord abandon us? What’s His intention?”
All of a sudden, we looked at each other and no one could answer. Sister Xu frowned as she read the Bible. Brother Shen said, “Just now, Sister Song’s fellowship accords with the Bible and makes me feel especially bright inside. We haven’t realized this in the past. We indeed lose the Lord’s presence and fall into darkness. Sister Song asked us what God’s intention is. It reminds me of the verses in the Bible’s Book of Amos, ‘And also I have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city: one piece was rained on, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered’ (Amos 4:7). The religious world has been desolate for a long time. No one can turn the tide. Is that not like the verse saying ‘caused it not to rain’? I wonder whether God has done His new work. Is God forcing us to search for His footsteps through the desolation?”
I was taken aback: What? New work?
“Um, you don’t say! That’s possible. Didn’t the temple become desolate when the Lord Jesus came? It would be possible that God has done new work somewhere.” Wang Ke said excitedly.
There was a lot of buzz in the meeting. “If the Lord comes, He will remind us. Read the Bible more, and the Lord will guide us.” Sister Xu stood up and exclaimed impatiently. She looked up at the clock on the wall, saying angrily, “Ten o’clock. Call it a night. Let’s go home!” Two or three wanted to leave, but most didn’t stand up. The more I listened, the more excited I was. If in the past, I would nod off. But I was wide awake this moment. Some said, “How can we leave when we come to the key point?” “we rarely listened to such a practical sermon, and our problems have been ironed out this time. Even the pastor at the seminary can’t preach like this.” “My thirsty heart received the watering. If possible, I wanna stay up to listen.” Xu looked at us and then left in a huff with three people.
After they left, we still went on with our topic. That night was unforgettable for me.
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