Page 16 - SABBATH

Father. The Son is in complete agreement with the will of the Father, being fully
surrendered to the carrying out of His will. Likewise the Spirit is in complete agreement
with the Son, carrying out His will.

John 16:13
"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He
will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He
will disclose to you what is to come.”

Yahweh is looking for man to also enter into this place of rest where there is no
initiative anywhere in creation other than Yahweh’s own initiative. When the Father wills
one thing, and others will something else, no matter how noble or good it appears, this is
defined as striving. Striving is willing something that has not originated in the mind of the
Father.
Christianity is striving continuously. They are always willing things the Father is not
willing. They are continuously setting their hands to do things which they have not received
by the Spirit of God. It does not matter how noble or right it seems. A person can share the
gospel with another human being and be striving. A person can heal the sick and be striving.
A person can cast out a demon and be striving. A person can prophesy and be striving. A
person can perform all manner of miracles and be striving.
How can these things be? How could it be striving and sin to do any of these things?
The answer is revealed in the following words of Yahshua.

Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but
he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day,
'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons,
and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never
knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

The Lord reveals that on the day of judgment there will be many who will come to Him
thinking they will receive praise and honor, yet dishonor and punishment will be their
portion. What is the sin that these have committed? Their actions were that they were
prophesying in His name, they were casting out demons in His name, and they were
performing miracles in His name. What could possibly be wrong with these activities? Why
are these people condemned as those who practice lawlessness?
Yahshua is not speaking against adulterers, thieves, or murderers here. Such
transgressions were clearly forbidden in the ten commandments. If one has eyes to see,
however, they will realize that what is spoken of here is also in violation of one of the
commandments. The commandment is “remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.”
As we have already defined Sabbath, it is entering into the rest of God. Sabbath is only
doing that which the Father leads us to do. Whether one does an apparently good act, or an
evil act, it is still a violation of Sabbath if the Father is not the originator of it. Any activity
arising of man’s own initiative, even seemingly good deeds, is a violation of Sabbath.
Yahshua did all of the things He spoke of in this passage; He prophesied, He cast out
demons, and He performed miracles. However, He never did any of these things of His own
initiative. He only did that which the Father instructed Him to do.