Bible Doctrine

The Spirit of the Lord has brought two scriptures to my mind that helps answer the above question, what about preachers who honestly believe the Good Friday-Easter Sunday myth is scriptural?  Here are the two scriptures the Holy Spirit brought to my mind: 1) “Then said Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’  And they (the Roman soldiers) parted His raiment, and cast lots” (Luke 23:34).  And, 2) “Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

Those who are blinded by Satan the devil regarding something they believe and teach, and who in all sincerity believe the course they have taken is in accordance with the truth of God fall into a separate category than those who knowingly, willfully practice deceit and spread errors.  Though what they are doing may be wrong or sinful, it is not charged against them as sin.    Still they will have to give account to God for failing to really “prove” all things, including any false doctrine they may have accepted as truth.  A preacher’s responsibility is a weighty one. This subject, the responsibility of a pastor or preacher, really demands the consideration of several other scripture texts found in both the Hebrew and Greek scriptures. 

Note well that those whom Jesus asked the Father to forgive were ignorant Roman soldiers, not supposedly converted men.  None of them had ever read even a scrap of scripture.  They had never performed the role of instructors in spiritual matters.  Of this type, Jesus asked the Father to forgive them for aiding and abetting in His execution.  They really did NOT know the good and right thing to do would have been to set Jesus free.  Preachers who have Bible college or seminary training, who have Bibles, who have read and gleaned much understanding from those sacred texts, are far more responsible if they fail to believe and teach God’s Word accurately.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

John 8:47 states, “He that is of God hears God’s words.”  Let’s see what He says about the Sabbath – the seventh day Sabbath.  Scripture always has reference to the seventh day when it mentions the Sabbath.  Many seem unaware that days in the scriptures did not begin and end at midnight.  The Romans gave us that novel way of beginning and ending a day.  How was someone to know it was midnight prior to the invention of clocks and watches?  God’s reckons time differently than man.  Scripturally a day began and ended at sunset.  That way all but the blind could easily tell a new day had begun – it got dark.  That’s why we read in Genesis 1, and the evening and the morning were the first day, etc.  Thus, God’s Sabbath, first mentioned in Genesis 2, begins at sundown Friday and ends at sundown Saturday.  Read the opening verses of Genesis 2.  God blessed and sanctified that period of time.  Now keep reading to the last verse of Revelation.  (You’ll have about 1800 more pages to go).  You’ll find that God nowhere, at no time, through no one de-sanctified HIS Sabbath.  (He calls the Sabbaths such in scripture).  Thus, it is still in 2025 sanctified, or holy, time.  You’ll notice something else: nowhere, at no time, through no one does God sanctify or bless Sunday, the first day of the week. 

Multitudes overlook the fact that at the very outset of His ministry on earth Jesus said, “Man (mankind, not just the Jew) shall live BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.” (See Matthew 4:4).  I have had more than one “Christian” tell me, “I don’t get my doctrine out of the Old Testament.”  Where on earth do they think the apostles and teachers in the early church got their doctrine?  There was no New Testament until hundreds of years after the death of the last apostle!  Do these believers think New Testaments were printed up by hand and distributed to the various assemblies shortly after the beginning of the Church Age?  I found out a long time ago that the average believer thinks about as deeply as my neighbor’s cat.  What do these mighty theologians do with Paul’s words to Timothy, a fellow minister of the Word: “ALL scripture (New AND Old Testaments) is given by inspiration of God, AND IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect (complete, well-rounded, spiritually mature), thoroughly furnished (equipped) unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)  Those who crow, “I don’t get my doctrine out of the Old Testament” are actually saying, “I don’t agree with the apostle Paul, nor do I agree with Jesus Christ” – remember, Christ said we are to live by EVERY WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God.  They are in total agreement with their pastors and preachers, of course.  That is where the average believer gets their doctrine – from fellow human beings – fallible, bickering, dissenting, disagreeing fellow human beings.  Pathetic, isn’t it? 

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Which day of the week does Christ Himself call the Lord’s day?  “Therefore the Son of man IS LORD ALSO OF THE SABBATH” (Mark 2:28).  Nowhere in all the Bible is Sunday, the first day of the week, ever called the Lord’s day – NOWHERE!  Is there any New Testament scripture that says the Sabbath is still valid today?  There certainly is: “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9).  New American Standard Version.  The King James Version MIStranslated the Greek word “sabbatismos” in Hebrews 4:9 to simply read “rest” when in actuality the word LITERALLY means “a sabbath rest.”  Those who think there are no errors in the King James translation of the scriptures are grossly mistaken in such matters.  (Compare Ezra 2 with Nehemiah 7.  You will find OVER TWENTY discrepancies). 

The King James translators did not want to offend their absolute monarch king, who also happened to be Head of the Church of England.  They knew the meaning of the Hebrew term “sabbatismos.”  They also knew their King was Head of a Sunday observing church and had the power to chop off their heads if they offended him.  So they translated, actually mistranslated that Hebrew word as “rest.”  That’s not the only time they showed their fear of the king.  They did the same thing with the Greek word “baptizo.”  They knew the king had never been immersed as a rite of water baptism.  They knew he had only been sprinkled, likewise with all the members of the royal family.  They also knew the Greek word baptizo literally meant “to immerse, to plunge totally in water.”  So, they anglicized the word baptizo to read baptize and left it up to the king, as well as any other reader of their translation, to determine whether to baptize meant to immerse or sprinkle.  They were clever men – but not always accurate. 

Those who think every English word in the King James Bible is the exact and true meaning of the Greek and Hebrew originals need to burn the midnight oil and study God’s Word a bit more carefully.  I could point out a couple more dramatic instances where these old boys showed their cleverness.  But I’ll save that for a future article. 

Should we participate in a custom, a tradition that has clearly and unarguably ABOLISHED AND REPLACED a commandment of the Most High God???  Do we not perpetuate ERROR in doing so?  Admittedly an infrequent first day of the week gathering would not threaten God’s holy Sabbath.  (Even the apostle Paul ONCE preached a sermon on this day due to the fact that he was departing the area never to return).  But a continual first day of the week service or observance quite literally sets aside God’s Sabbath COMMAND and allows human tradition to prevail.  Jesus Christ WARNED: Howbeit, 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…” (Mark 7:7-8).  Are YOU worshipping Jesus Christ in vain?  He Himself said it could and did happen.

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

What is the difference between worshiping God on a Saturday or a Sunday, or for that matter any other day of the week? What does time have to do with anything? Have you ever wondered how and why time got divided into seven day segments? Why not eight day segments? Or ten day segments? Why is time divided into seven day segments the world over? In China the year is 4722. In the Jewish calendar it is 5784. In Islam it is the year 1446. Yet all have weeks divided into seven days!!

The solar year is explained by the amount of time it takes for the earth to make one complete revolution around the sun. The length of a month is determined by the amount of time it takes for there to be two new, or full, moons. A day is computed by the length of time that elapses from one sunset to another sunset. But where and how did mankind get the idea of dividing time into seven day cycles. The answer: From the creation story alone! There is no astronomical reason for it as there is for determining a year or a month or the length of a day!

Genesis One gives us our first seven day week, and the fact that God rested on the seventh day points up the fact quite eloquently that God is the Creator of all that exists. God’s sabbath declares that God is the Creator. The keeping of His hallowed sabbath reminds mankind on a weekly basis that we do have a Creator, that evolution is a myth, and that the only true God is the God that created all things that exist. No other day of the week serves this purpose. Sunday does not serve this purpose but only commemorates the first day of God’s creative work, when God said, “Let there be light” and divided the light from the darkness. (See Genesis 1:3-5). (Many erroneously think Sunday commemorates Christ’s resurrection. But this, too, is error as when the women arrived at the tomb early Sunday morning while it was still dark they found that Christ had already arisen from the dead! See Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-9 and John 20:1-9. Jesus had arisen at the conclusion of the sabbath many hours before, the exact time He said He would come out of the tomb). To be continued…

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

What possible difference can it make when one decides to worship God, to cease work and to come together with other believers to learn and be instructed in the truths of God from the holy scriptures? If one is on a deserted island with a handful of others, none having a job dictating the hours of their activity, what is the difference between Saturday and Sunday. Nothing closes down on those days as there is nothing to close down. But on that island the man does have a calendar with him and a new watch with a battery that will keep his watch, which happens to be a calendar watch, operating for at least another year or two. The island is rather large with several kinds of trees, many of them producing fruit trees. He has with him many carpenter tools and is an expert carpenter and farmer. He also has with him a trunk full of various seeds and seed plants that will produce many edible vegetables. When his calendar watch reveals to him that the very next day is God’s sabbath day, does God really expect him to cease working and to meditate on the things of God during those subsequent 24 hours? (Let’s say he also has a Bible with him). And does God really care whether he ceases work on the seventh day of the week or on the first day of the week, Sunday? What possible difference could it make? Could he not even select Monday, or Wednesday or some other day as the day he will rest and commune with his Creator? Let’s say the few others with him agree to abide by whatever decision he makes in this matter.

In my next posting (What Does Time Have To Do With Anything – Part 2), I will give you GOD’S ANSWER to that honest and most reasonable question. And you may be a little bit surprised.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Think for a moment. Is Sunday observance reasonable? Would God, without any warning whatsoever, abolish His eternal sacred Sabbath, replacing it with observance of the day of the week honoring the mythical “sun” god, doing so in Jerusalem of all places?

In April of 1865, following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s vice-president assumed the presidency. The Civil War had ended. Now was the time for reconstruction. Now was the time for the rebuilding of the nation, for binding up the wounds of war, for bringing about a more perfect union. Come now, and let us reason together: Let’s say as President Johnson’s first executive order he had issued the following decree, “All southern states that had seceded from the union will henceforth be governed by freed black slaves. All white governors of said states shall surrender their offices and powers to presidentially appointed former slaves beginning at midnight, January 1, 1866.” Now let me ask you a question: Had Andrew Johnson, for whatever reason, issued such a proclamation, do you think it would have been well received by the South, or even by the North? Do you think such an act would have assisted and contributed to a rapid assimilation of the southern states back into an integrated union with the northern states? Or, do you think he would have had a major, far-reaching, gargantuan problem on his hands trying to effect such a drastic change with very little, if any, warning that such a change was coming? I believe the answer is obvious to any thinking person.

Now let me give you a scenario that is even more ridiculous, absolutely ludicrous, a scenario that if enacted would have instantly created a massive, far-reaching problem for the church that was founded shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What if God had issued an unwritten, unspoken decree that following the death and resurrection of His Son His eternal holy Sabbath would be forever abolished, set aside and replaced with Sunday observance, a day that had for centuries been the day of the sun god, a pagan “holy” day? And the observance of this new worship day would be inaugurated in the city of Jerusalem without fanfare, without explanation, without decree! Do you think the church would have had a major, far-reaching, gargantuan problem on its hands trying to effect such a drastic change with very little, if any, warning that such a change was coming? Again, I believe the answer is obvious to any thinking person.

Sunday observers seem to have no conception whatsoever as to why the Pharisees and Sadducees were so zealous about the sacredness of God’s holy Sabbath day and why they were instantly ready to condemn what they viewed as the slightest infraction in keeping that day holy. Any Bible student having but a cursory knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures – the Old Testament – should realize that defilement of the Sabbath day had strirred God’s anger to the point that He used the pagan Babylonians as His instrument to punish Judah, casting down David’s throne, destroying His own temple, and laying waste to the city of Jerusalem! In reference to Sabbath breaking, God said, “the sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond…” (See Jeremiah 17:1). It is the one sin God said, “I will not forget or overlook!” (Read the entire 17th chapter of Jeremiah to see just how God viewed Sabbath breaking).

The Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day knew quite well how greatly Israel had been punished for their Sabbath violations. Finally, after many long decades, even centuries, the sacredness of the Sabbath had been instilled once again in the consciousness of the nation. Finally, Israel had been brought to see how zealous God was of His eternal Sabbath day. Anything or anyone that even appeared to lessen the sacredness of that day was absolutely anathema to the people of God. No one, nothing could be allowed to tamper with the Sabbath in any way to the slightest degree.

You who observe Sunday as “the Lord’s Day,” let me ask you a reasonable question: “Have you ever really sought out the truth regarding the Sabbath issue? Or have you merely assumed that God indeed did change His holy Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to Sunday, the first day of the week? Now I know Sunday observers (I was once one myself) have in their minds a few verses of scripture that seemingly do show that this change indeed did occur, but have you ever really looked at all the evidence that closely and been irrevocably convinced that God indeed ordered or approved of such a colossal change?  I have, and that is why well over fifty years ago I became absolutely convinced that the prophet Isaiah was definitely inspired of God when he wrote, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.  And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another (month in and month out), and FROM ONE SABBATH TO ANOTHER shall ALL FLESH (Jew, Gentile – all humanity) come to worship before me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 66:22-23).  And there is your authority for that statement, “saith the Lord!”  GOD SAID THAT!  And God have mercy on you if you don’t believe it.

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

I fear for Donald Trump.  He’s making enemies of too many too quickly.  Also, the Chinese have much more in common with the North Koreans than with the American people.  The Chinese know that if America waged war with North Korea and won we would then establish military bases all over North Korea – right in China’s backyard.  Look at a map.  The Koreas are nothing more or less than a peninsula of China.  Geographically, the Koreas are to China what Florida is to the rest of this country.  Again, look at a map.

President Trump can insult Kim Jong-un till the cows come home, calling him “rocketman” or any other name he likes.  He had better tread lightly with Xi Jinping, China’s revered leader.  (Xi is pronounced like our word “she”.  Jinping is pronounced the way it looks Jin-ping). Xi Jinping has been president of China since 2013 when he became that nation’s seventh president.

You can well believe Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un’s hastily arranged meeting – a first – is in preparation for Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong-un.  Kim Jong-un is being told what to say and not to say.  What to concede and what not to concede, etc.

Trump’s administration is in a constant flux.  This is not good at all.  Many of America’s top politicians despise Donald Trump.  World leaders around the globe are well aware of this friction.  The American government is in a state of continual turmoil.  This isn’t just troubling.  It is grimly foreboding.

God’s hand and umbrella of protection may well have been removed from this great country.  We are a country whose people want to be entertained, not instructed in godliness.  We are a nation breeding murderers around the clock.  Since 2002 the United States has had the highest incarceration rate in the world.  We not only need our prisons, we need more of them.   We are as divided today as we were in the months immediately preceding the Civil War.  If we had a crystal ball in which to peer and see the future, we might exclaim, “Oh, no.  Oh, my God, NO!”

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

The obituary read: “August 31, 1998. Author/lecturer Dr. Leo Buscaglia – known internationally as “The Love Doctor” and “Doctor Hug” – died of a heart attack Thursday, June 11, at his home in Glenbrook, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. He was 74.”

I listened to several of Dr. Buscaglia’s lectures back in the early nineties, while he still lived and served as a professor of philosophy at UCLA. In one of those lectures he asked his students to write a love letter to someone they dearly loved, cautioning them to keep it clean. With the author’s permission he chose to read one of those letters aloud in class. Here was that letter:

“Dear Mike: Our professor in Philosophy 101 asked that we write someone we loved a letter – a love letter. This is mine and, of course, it’s written to you. I am sitting here in the corner bedroom that overlooks your house. I can see your Mom in the backyard, hanging out some laundry. It’ a beautiful day. Her lilacs are in full bloom.

“Do you remember when we were about eight years old you caught me helping myself to some of your Mom’s lovely flowers. My grandmother was in the hospital and I wanted to do something to cheer her up. When you stepped around the corner and saw me with a bunch of tulips in my hand, I just knew you would tell. But you didn’t. You picked a dozen more and told me how to keep them fresh till we got to the hospital that evening. Memories – how they come flooding back so easily!

“Do you remember our school prom? You had promised to take me, but then a month before the prom that girl from Boston transferred to our school. And, yes, even the girls had to admit she was beautiful. And, boy, did she ever make eyes at you. Linda Anderson overheard her telling a friend you were going to be her date for the prom. I just knew you were going to drop me and take her, but you didn’t. Anyway, Miss Teen America transferred again and left our school two weeks later.

“And then came graduation and your eighteenth birthday, and your parents bought you that new Mustang convertible. You let me drive it two weeks later and I backed into a lamppost and shattered one of the taillights. I just knew you would be mad. But you weren’t. You laughed and pointed to the big crack you had placed in the other taillight only a few days before.

“But then came Vietnam, and knowing you, I knew you would enlist – and you did. I wrote you every day – every single day, waiting for you to come back – but you didn’t………………..”

“You know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life. It is even a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14). Life can have its’ surprises and sometimes they are not too pleasant. We all need to remember that.

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

There is a Baptist church located in Louisville, Kentucky whose website I recently visited.  They have two co-pastors.  The first one listed is a lady named Andrea Woolley.  The second is a man named Jordan Conley.  In a brief descriptive paragraph by his photo, it says he lives with his husband, Patrick Allison, and their dog.

One might hope this is the only Baptist church in America that boasts of such pastors.  I fear that it is not, nor is it the only denominational assembly so corrupted.   To say America is the greatest country in the universe does not speak well of this universe, especially when you consider the millions of abortions that have been performed in this country, the movies Hollywood spews out endlessly, the same-sex marriages of many citizens, the transgender abomination, the ’round the clock murders and mass shootings, the mind altering drug epidemic, and I could go on and on and on.

This country is swiftly falling under the judgment of God.  When the last member of the generation that saved the world breathes his, or her, last, I hate to even think of what lies ahead for this “greatest country in the universe.”

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.  God does not see through our eyes, nor does He wear rose tinted glasses when looking at America.  He sees us exactly as we are, and I assure you He is not smiling at what He sees.  Once again I say, America, tighten your seat belt because you are in for a very rough ride.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley