Building on the Foundation

  How do you know who God’s people are? How do you know who your true brethren in Christ are — and who they are not? Are they members of a specific church or 501(c)(3) organization under the US tax code? Are they people who hold a specific set of beliefs? Are they people who simply believe in Jesus? Fortunately, we don’t have to guess or make up our own standards. We don’t have to lean on our own understanding (Prov. 3:5). God’s Word is the measuring stick. It gives us guidelines. In Mat. 7:15-20, Jesus Christ instructed us, 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “Therefore by thei...

  In Exodus 20:8-11, God said, 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. This, of course, is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. The Sabbath commandment. You’ve probably heard someone speak of the Sabbath as a “test commandment,” which it is, because it tests how much we truly want to follow God. Many of God’s other commandments, people have little or no issue with. No murder? No stealing? No adultery? No false accusations? Most people agree that these are great laws. But the Sabbath? Tell people God wants them to rest on...