If I tell someone to start keeping the Sabbath, their first thought is “but how can I do that, if there are no Sabbath-keeping churches nearby??” It has become thoroughly ingrained in the mind of every Christian that keeping the Sabbath/Sunday holy means going to church. They believe that is the beginning and the end of the intent of God’s commandment on the subject.

And yet… it isn’t. Because God never said that. In fact, He never once commanded you to go to church, not in the entire Bible. Think about that! So why did God never command anyone to go to church? More importantly, if it’s not important enough to Him to say something about it… why is it SO important to you, and everyone else?

(Those of you who know your Bible will point to Hebrews 10:25, but that is a command not to stop going to church – not a command to go to church. You might think I’m splitting hairs, but there is actually a big difference in this case, as I’ll explain later.)

When I tell you to “keep the Sabbath”, you instantly think “right, go to church!”… but that isn’t what I said. The idea that you can do one without the other is inconceivable to everyone today. Yet it’s actually possible to do either one without the other – you can keep the Sabbath without going to church, and you can go to church without keeping the Sabbath – and nearly everyone does!

Let me explain how that’s possible, by starting, as always, with the first rule of Bible study “what exactly did God say?”

Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it, and said “he that goeth not to church shall perish in hellfire”.

That’s what you probably wish it said. That’s what you probably believe it meant. But that’s not what it said.

After the word “hallowed it”, there is a period. In the law to keep the Sabbath not one word was said about assembly, congregating, gathering, or any other word that implies “going to church”. The COMPLETE letter of the law was that “thou (yes, you, and him, and her, and them) shalt not work”.

Exodus 31:13-16 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

Over and over again, God commands them, on pain of death, to “keep the Sabbath”. To you, that means go to church. But it doesn’t say that here, does it? The ONLY definition given in this passage of “keeping the Sabbath”, is to make it a “Sabbath of rest”.

Exodus 35:2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.

Again, this odd phrase “Sabbath of rest”. In Hebrew, Sabbath means rest. The original Hebrew here is Shabbat Shabbaton, or “sabbathy sabbath”, or in modern English, a restful rest! Again I must point out that it does not mention church, assembly, prayer, or any of the other ideas that are bound up with the Sabbath today.

The Sabbath is mentioned 92 times in the Old Testament. The majority of those are commands not to work on it, or to “keep it”. There is only one in the OT that mentions an assembly on the weekly Sabbath day. Think about that – only 1 out of 92 verses talk about the thing that the world, and the churches of God, think is the absolute most important thing in the universe. Isn’t that significant?

Leviticus 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.

This is the only time the word “convocation” (assembly) was used in connection with the weekly Sabbath. It’s a generic, passing comment that says nothing about what “assembly” meant. Did everyone come to the tabernacle? Or only the men? For how long? What did they do? All it says is “an holy assembly”, after underlining three more times that this was a Sabbath of REST.

None of this proves we shouldn’t go to church. Nor is it intended to do so, contrary to what you might think. But it demonstrates the relative importance that “church” has, in comparison with “keeping the Sabbath”. We’ll come back to this verse again later.

WHAT IS THE CHURCH?

Hebrews 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

The word “church” is the Greek ekklesia, meaning “called out ones”. But we know from other scriptures that to be written in heaven, to be a part of the church of the firstborn, you have to be called, AND chosen, AND faithful!

All those who are called – even those truly called, not including tares and seat-warmers – are only at the FIRST STEP of salvation, and are not the “saints” to compare yourself to! The reality is that most of those in any physical group of people called a church are not going to be in the first resurrection. (Acts 20:30-31, 2 Timothy 1:15 give some indication of this.)

3 John 1:9-10 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

John still called this “the church”, yet the evidence shows that Diotrephes is a false minister, and casts the true brethren out of the church! Is this still a church of God? In name, yes! It is STILL a group of people who were once called! Thus it is still a “true church”, since they were TRULY CALLED once – therefore they are a group of “called out ones”, an ekklesia – a church!

But we have been conditioned to think of a church as a group of people who have been called, chosen, and faithful – and no such organization exists on Earth, nor has ever existed! Not even Jesus’ own disciples were all faithful!

More importantly, that’s not what the Greek word meant! It doesn’t mean a group of faultless saints; it doesn’t even mean a group of people who are “trying” to obey God! It simply means a group of people whom God offered a chance at salvation – a chance some or all of them may or may not have already rejected!

Because of this inherent weakness in classifying any group of physical beings, God refused to make the church the absolute arbiter of truth on this Earth. Churches don’t save you, God saves you. And God doesn’t save your church, God saves you.

The aforementioned “church of the firstborn”, who sleep now in heaven awaiting the resurrection, is the only body of people in the universe qualified to have the respect and admiration and obedience that you give to your own pale shadow of the true church of God.

THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH

A church, as in “the church at Corinth” or “the Living Church of God” means a physical group of possible saints, who might someday find salvation, who strive to overcome their carnal natures – mixed in with people who long ago decided they’d done enough and stopped growing… and those whom Satan deliberately put there to lead the rest of the church away (Matthew 13:24-30).

But that doesn’t mean such a flawed church has no function. It pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those, and only those, who believe (1 Corinthians 1:21). Churches are meant to be flawed, meant to teach heresy, again – so that those who are approved are made manifest (1 Corinthians 11:19).

Churches serve two functions simultaneously. First, they teach you truth; then they try to take it away again. And both of those functions are enormously helpful. First, the teaching; the church is a mother. Galatians 4:26 shows Jerusalem, as contrasted with Sinai, as mother of the New Covenant church. And in that role, she protects the infants, comforts them, feeds them on milk, and loves them.

These are all things a newborn Christian needs, desperately. It’s HARD to leave behind Babylon with all her customs, and learn about the laws, and keep them. The church provides a group of people, a protective herd who makes it easier – sharing their stories, showing you how to do things, and most importantly – proving to you that you can indeed overcome these problems.

And so the babe grows up on milk, as all babes do. And yet there is supposed to be a time when babies grow beyond that, and are weaned from the breast and start chewing solid food. There is supposed to be a time when children can face strangers without hiding in their mother’s skirts.

Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN YOUR CHURCH should be qualified to be teachers, and have long since outgrown milk! Yet how many are truly qualified to be teachers of the most basic doctrines, the “first principles of the oracles of God”?

Go to your church, and ask ten people to prove the most basic doctrines to you, and see if they are not still milkaholics! No one should say “I’m not a scholar”, because everyone is supposed to be “ready always to give an answer” (1 Peter 3:15). And that answer shouldn’t be “well, I can’t prove it but here’s a booklet!”

Hebrews 5:13-14 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

It’s FINE to only digest milk when you’re a baby! But at some point, when you see a child of seven suckling his mother’s teat, you start thinking the child is retarded. In the literal sense – he is “less advanced in mental, physical, or social development than is usual for one’s age”, and also in the insulting sense “your church is just a bunch of retards”, which is essentially what Paul said. And what I say.

BREAKING THE MILK ADDICTION

But let’s ask the obvious question – who provides them with milk? Their mother, obviously – the church. Who provides them meat? Just as obviously, the Father – God Himself. Even today, cooking slabs of meat is a man’s domain.

It is the mother who feeds them with comfortable rituals, with friendship and snuggling and support. But it is the father who kills the beasts and corrects their carnal nature. It is the father who gives them answers to hard questions their mother doesn’t know the answer to and dares not ask.

So strong meat comes from the father. Therefore, it is the mother’s job – the church’s job – to raise them up to such an age that they are capable of digesting meat and then let the father handle their education from there!

It’s one thing for a mother to help her young children cut up their meat for a few years, but eventually they’re supposed to be able to cut it and chew it themselves, processing and digesting the beast their father killed to give them. But how would YOU feel about a mother who does this for her 30-year-old?

But most mothers don’t want their children to grow up and leave them, because they are desperate for the validation their children give them. So they keep them dependent, shelter them from reality in every way they can, so they will never be able to leave the nest. They do this in the name of love, of protection, of wanting what’s best for them.

But what’s best for them is to grow up to be men who answer to God and no one else. Every church in history has taught her sons to fear her husband, and to trust only her. They are jealous of their father’s role, and want their children to learn only such meat as the mother has chewed, swallowed, vomited up again and fed them. Yes, I meant the metaphor to be gross because this is what churches do with God’s truth.

You need to learn directly from God; God will teach you the things you need to know, at the speed you can handle it – which is much faster than your church thinks. She is inevitably frightened by this and will tell you to slow down, trust them, believe only things the ministry has proven to be true. But this denies the fact that God teaches everyone in the congregation individually – and worse, seeks to prevent it!

God does not reveal things first to the apostle, then to the evangelist, then to the preacher, then to the deacon, then to the man, then to the woman. God reveals things to the hearts of people who have ears to hear, and respects no one’s office.

Because frankly, people screw things up. God Himself called it the “foolishness of preaching”. God said when you lift your tool upon the stones of His altar, you defile it – however good your intentions. This is why He feeds meat to His children in person, and not through their mother’s mammary glands – and yes, I just called your minister a boob.

God’s correction can be stern as only a father’s can be; sometimes it hurts, but it’s for your good (Hebrews 12:5-11). Because every time your father corrects you, he kills a little of your selfish beast. He offers up a sacrifice of red meat for a sweet savor, and your soul is fed thereby – making you more of a man.

THE PURPOSE OF THE SABBATH

Only once in the Bible is there a command to assemble on the weekly Sabbath day, in Leviticus 23:3. But look at how God qualified that…

Leviticus 23:1-2 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which YE shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.

These are God’s feasts… which MOSES commanded Israel to gather together for! It was not God who commanded an assembly on the Sabbath, it was Moses who proclaimed it to be a holy convocation! Do you realize what that means?? It means that these were things MOSES commanded Israel to gather for… which makes them a part of MOSES’ covenant!

The feasts themselves are God’s, they are binding, and they must be “kept” – just like the Sabbath must be “kept”. But the idea of going to church on these days is a law of Moses! That’s why it is only mentioned once in the Bible, and why “holy convocation” is not a part of the fourth commandment or any other spiritual law – because this was a law for the Old Covenant!

Think about it. Keeping the Sabbath requires that you rest – that’s all God ever said. But going to church requires that you physically go somewhere and try your best to stay awake. Thus going to church is, by definition, a work of the flesh, a physical work of the law!

Which is why the Jews had synagogues in every city all over the world! Because it was a part of their covenant! Choke that down, digest that meat – going to church is an Old Covenant institution! But why? Why would church be commanded only in the OC, and not in the NC? Because it’s what Israel asked for!

Deuteronomy 5:27 Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

The entire FUNCTION of your church, is to have a preacher who supposedly goes near to God, and hears what He has to say and then shares it with the church – who dutifully write it down in their notebooks, and go home knowing they have fulfilled the works of the law for that week!

But if you’ve been around the truth for more than a few years, and think of yourself as a New Covenant Christian, you’re expected to be able to chew meat – solid food dug directly out of the Bible, or revealed by the Father to you, without anyone else’s help!

Eating meat is about GOD teaching you, and correcting you, PERSONALLY! And for this to happen you don’t need a church! You don’t need a preacher, nor an apostle – you just need a heart willing to change, and obey God! Which is why a disappointed God went on to say…

Verses 28-29…they have well said all that they have spoken. [in demanding the OC; but…] O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

God wanted to speak to Israel directly, just as He did at first from Sinai. All Israel was supposed to be the temple of God, just as we are (Exodus 19:5-6, 1 Peter 2:5). So there was no reason to go to church every week to hear God’s words from Moses! God’s words were supposed to be their constant meditation, everywhere, every day.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

But Israel “did not like to retain God in their knowledge”, so they demanded Moses instead. So rather than speak to them daily, whenever the need arose, God turned His back on them and spoke to them only through Moses.

Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

And since they had to be together to hear Moses, He commanded them to gather into one place, to hear the letters of the law! But they could have been learning the spirit of those laws, if only they had trusted their father, and not their mother!

IS CHURCH REALLY RESTFUL?

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t “keep the Sabbath”. On the contrary, that was all God ever wanted. But what did He mean by it? The one and only stated purpose of the Sabbath was that you make it “a restful rest”. Now think about whether attending church as practiced today is in any way restful.

Finding your best clothes, getting the kids dressed, bathed, spanked, and bathed and dressed again, getting in the car, driving to church – struggling to get there on time, only to set up chairs, sing, pray, keep the kids on their best behavior – only to turn around and go home… this is by far the most stressful day of the week for any family with kids.

Even those who don’t have kids, because of the pressure to look perfect and show up on time, stay awake through the sermon on uncomfortable chairs, is anything but restful. Think about it – it’s hard to stay awake because you’re tired and NEED TO REST! (And because the sermon is boring, but mostly the other thing.)

It may be fun, you may enjoy it, and you may not even be lying to yourself when you say that… but it is not restful in any sense. It is stressful, and tiring, and even if you sleep all afternoon you’re poorly prepared for six more days of work just to do it all again.

Most people would say I don’t keep the Sabbath because I don’t go to church; but I keep the Sabbath without going to church. It is you who go to church without keeping the Sabbath, for you fail to make it a “day of rest”.

When you’ve had a hard week of work, and I say “you should take a rest”, is your first thought “yes! I want to go to church!”? No, your first thought is to take a nap, veg out on the couch with a book, binge-watch Netflix, or just sit on the porch and stare out at the weeds you didn’t get cut in time. Or maybe hang out with good friends and chill.

Going to church could be restful – but as I said, church as practiced is anything but. If churches cared more about substance and less about appearance, they wouldn’t have to have all their kids dressed in tight, uncomfortable suits; they wouldn’t have to dutifully sit there with a Bible in their laps for 2 boring, endless hours praying for a power outage.

Isaiah 1:12-14 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, …the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is INIQUITY, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

God calls their way of keeping the Sabbaths, in PARTICULAR the “calling of assemblies”, and the “solemn meeting” an “iniquity”! He HATED the way Israel was keeping the Sabbath and the feasts, and He demanded of them “who required you to do this??” Who commanded you to go to church this way, and make it such a soul-sucking experience?

Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

I went to church for many years, and I never, never called it a delight. It was hours of boredom, of uncomfortable clothes and depressing music – “solemn meeting” indeed! The Sabbath should be FUN. Talking about the Bible should be INTERESTING! If church is not exciting, you’re doing it wrong.

I don’t mean lots of hallelujahs and amens – I mean engagement and interaction. Church is not a time for a boring lecture – you can read Moses at home and should. And you’ll learn far more than you will following along with some pedantic minister from the pulpit!

To make the Sabbath a delight, a day of rest, “church” should be a time to hang out, in a comfortable environment, and talk about the Bible with brethren/friends. That can be restful, AND fun, AND educational. But no church on Earth practices that today.

This is a daring idea. It’s scary, and it’s different – and it’s offensive for people who love church. But set your opinion aside, and ask yourself an objective question – who makes the seventh day a “restful rest” better, me or you? Be honest, now.

NOT FORSAKING THE CHURCH

When you’re first learning the truth, there is value in church, even if it’s poorly done. No one is ready for algebra their first day in kindergarten. The church is a mother, and that mother is supposed to feed her infants and protect them from danger… when they’re young. But then she is supposed to help them face a world without her protection, a world where they are independent adults who no longer need to suckle her teat.

Churches teach you the truth and give you a comfortable environment to practice the basics of the law. But invariably, churches are insecure and need your absolute devotion – you can’t go to other churches, you can’t talk to people who aren’t of your flock – and some version of hell awaits those who leave the church!

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

As I said at the beginning, this doesn’t command you to go to church – and now you can see why. Rather, it commands that young Christian who has found flaws in his first mother not to slink away in the night, not to forsake those who helped him grow the first few years without first considering what’s wrong with his brethren and helping them do better!

He owes this group of people the benefit of the understanding God has shown him – the Golden Rule requires it. If he sees something wrong with the teachings, he has a responsibility to provoke them to do good works instead of the evil works they’re doing now!

And he has a responsibility to do this three times; after the first and second admonition, the heretic – whether member or minister, angel, or church – must be rejected (Titus 3:10-11, Galatians 1:8). “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” doesn’t mean accept their sins and live with it for the sake of fellowship, like everyone thinks it does!

It means if you’ve outgrown milk and are ready to be thought a man, ACT LIKE ONE and “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). If they help you find the door – and they will – then shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them in the day of judgment (Mark 6:11).

It doesn’t mean stay there “because you HAVE to go to church somewhere”, because no such command exists in the Bible. It means be a man and help these people who helped you to see their sins, and if they don’t, know that Hebrews 10:26-27 awaits them now that you have corrected them, and turned their sins of ignorance into willful sins of rebellion.

It’s easy to grow dependent on your mother, easy to become attached to your church. And God made sure the church is flawed precisely so that you will be faced with this choice, to see whether you love HIM or her more! Sadly, pretty much the whole world loves their mother more than their father.

INVISIBLE CHURCHES

Keeping the Sabbath is a test. It always was (Exodus 16:4). And the more people you have keeping it with you, the less of a test it is. “Keeping the Sabbath” – not working, but resting instead – requires faith. It could cost you money, jobs, friends, and so on.

But “going to church” requires no faith, it simply requires you to get in your car and show up. In fact, it makes “keeping the Sabbath” require less faith, making it less of a test! You are, in effect, crowd-sourcing Sabbath keeping. You get everyone to do it together, which means it’s easier for each of you to do as you share the burden, the fear, and the hardships of Sabbath keeping.

It is this matter of faith that makes this such an offensive doctrine to church-goers. Because they only know how to keep it with a group of like-minded people, and the idea of keeping it without a church is terrifying! It is frightening to be without the support of a mother, terrifying to be alone in the hands of God.

Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Why? Because they don’t trust God? Because they can’t believe He’s good? No, of course not. It’s because they can’t see God! So it’s harder to believe He’s there! But they CAN see the church, so it’s EASY to trust that it’s there, and that it cares about you!

Hebrews 12:18-19 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words…

Hebrews 12:22-23 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Week after week, every Christian on Earth attends a mount that can be touched. A present, visible symbol of divinity that they can worship at, with physical “men of God” to look up to. A family to comfort you in times of need and friends to rejoice with you in times of prosperity. This requires no faith, only sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

But the true Christian church is invisible, and your comfort must come from an innumerable company of invisible angels, and we “go to church” with an invisible “general assembly and church of the firstborn”, most of whom are dead.

It is the spirits of just men made perfect that welcome us as we keep the Sabbath, not because they are alive – but because we are one of their company, written in the same book as they are, worshipers of the same invisible God, who doesn’t trumpet words to us from a smoking, quaking mountain, but whom we believe in anyway!

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

It requires faith to reject flawed churches that can be touched on every street corner, even when they have “some truth” and “good people”. It requires faith to stand alone and believe that God’s true church of the firstborn is with you no matter where, how, or with whom you “keep the Sabbath”. In short, it takes faith to properly keep the Sabbath, and truly find rest for your souls.

BOTTOM LINE

You ask why I don’t attend your church, or at least SOME church; it’s not because it teaches false doctrines, though it does. It’s not because it tolerates sin in its midst, although it does. It’s not because the teachers are boring and the people in it are dullards, though they are.

It’s simply because your church, like all churches, is an Old Covenant church – and the people love to have it so. Which means there is simply nothing for me to do there – nothing to learn, no one to teach. Because I don’t drink milk anymore, and the people can’t eat meat unless their mother predigests it. And their mother hates me. She senses that I’m a threat to her control over her children, and I am.