Traditions of Men Nullify the Word of God | Ep. 104

What if the origins of our most beloved holidays aren't as wholesome as we think? In today's episode, we unravel the surprising connections between ancient pagan rituals and our modern celebrations. Listen closely, as we reveal the hidden past of Christmas and Halloween.

From the Roman festival of Saturnalia to the Persian religion of Mithraism, we examine the ancient traditions that have shaped our Christmas customs. With Halloween, we delve into the Celtic festival of Samhain and the eerie superstitions that still persist today. As we uncover the Catholic Church's role in blending pagan and Christian celebrations, you may be left questioning some of your favorite holiday traditions!

But fear not, for we also discuss the importance of honoring the Word of God above our customs and traditions. We explore the consequences of participating in pagan rituals and provide guidance on how to live a life that truly glorifies God. Let this episode be a starting point for you to reevaluate your own traditions and walk the path of righteousness.

Transcript

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 0:03

The vision received was that of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are spent, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose. Good morning, brothers and sisters. As the little ones have gone out in the back, if you want to come forward, please feel free. You're welcome to move from your very comfortable place, and here I am before you again, with great honor and a privilege to be before you. I think what I'd like to start out with is to bring a historical context as a kind of a diving board so that we can jump into these waters. But we have to have this, I think, first to have a better appreciation of what it is that we're reading in the scriptures, when the scriptures command us of some things. Several years ago, when my kids were still quite young, we went to the library and we looked into the history of some of the things that are celebrated in this day And as they took notes because they had a particular assignment I was basically taking notes on the things that we were finding, that we were researching and have where we got the information from. So I just want to share with you some of those notes as our diving board, so that when we get into the scriptures and read it, we can have a better understanding of why. This was even told to us In the World Book Encyclopedia, one printed for 2008. We were looking into this holiday we know is Christmas, and it said that no one knows the exact date of Christ's birth. It said that the origin of the word Christmas comes from Christes masse, and it's an English phrase that means the mass of Christ, and the first mention of December 25th as the birth date was not in the first century, not in the second century, it was not even in the third century. It was actually in the fourth century, in 336 AD, and it was in an early Roman calendar, according to the World Book Encycl opedia.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 2:58

And some of the things we also found out was that the ancient Romans held their year and harvest celebrations, and these year and harvest celebrations were to honor their God, Saturn, and the harvest God was Saturn for them. But they also, because Romans had overtaken the Greeks, who had overtaken the Persians, who had overtaken the Babylonians. They also celebrated or had a religion of worshiping the God, Mithras, and that was the God of light. Now, Mithra didn't start in Rome. That's why I kind of linked back, because biblically we know and historically we can confirm that the Romans took over the Greeks and the Greeks before that took over the Medes and the Persians and before that the Medes and the Persians took over Babylon. And we see that all throughout the scriptures. I mean, it was prophesied before it happened in Daniel And we see in history that that's exactly what took place.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 4:06

Now Mithras didn't start in Rome. It started not in Greece, it started in Persia, right after the Babylonian captivity, and the same God as Mithra appearing in the literature of Hinduism. And something else that the research brought forth was that the Persians celebrated Mithraism through Asia Minor. It became popular amongst the Roman soldiers And it was spread to Europe by 100 AD. And this rise of Mithraism, if you will, from Persia through Greece into Rome, was competing with what we call today Christianity. It was actually competing with Christ and the Apostles' doctrine, because that's all that was there in 100 AD. And the reason why I specify that is because Christianity that we know today is not the Christian religion that was practiced by the Apostles and the disciples that followed them. So I just want to mention that. But it competed with the rise of what we term today as Christianity to the 300, so to the 4th century.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 5:24

Then we went in to do some research and we left the world book and we kind of got a basis for where we can look elsewhere. And we looked into history. com And it said that the real story of Christmas, among some other things that they brought up that in Germany the people worshiped another God named Odin, and this God named Odin had nocturnal flights, that means night flights, and he was observed through the sky. What was he doing in the sky? He was observing people who would prosper or who would perish, and so the people stayed in their homes in fear of this Odin God who was scanning the earth for people that were going to die or who were going to live, and so he seems to have a few of the characteristics of some other fabled like creature known as Santee Claws.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 6:22

And we also learned in history. com of this festival called Saturnalia, and the Romans celebrated this when, in December And this harvest festival honoring Saturn, the masters and the slaves exchanged positions, so the slaves became the masters and the masters became the slaves. Schools and businesses they closed down and everyone had basically what was known. What we know today is a huge party and they were just parting. Now there were upper class of Romans and they celebrated Mithra. Maybe Saturnalia was for the lower people, but the upper class seemed to celebrate Mithra and he was called the God of the unconquerable son and he was celebrated on December 25th. Now, Mithra was an infant God born of rock, and for some Romans Mithra's birthday was the most sacred day of the year.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 7:22

In the fourth century we found out through this historycom that the church officials, meaning the Catholic church, instituted the birth of Jesus as a holiday And Pope Julius. I chose December 25th. It is common to believe that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. This is according to history. com By holding Christmas at the same time as the traditional winter solstice festivals, the church leaders felt like they were going to increase their chances that Christmas would be properly embraced And by the middle ages, Christianity or the Catholic church had for the most part replaced pagan religion.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 8:17

And then we learned of the evolution of Santa Claus and that there was a monk born into 80 AD And he was named Saint Nicholas And he was much admired because he was pious and he had kindness And he was the subject of many legends. Over the years He became a popular saint in Europe. In other words, saints were part of the Catholic church Even until the Protestant Reformation. This particular saint was known and his legend was known. Now the Dutch named Him Sinterklaas, and it was a shortened form of St Nicholas, and this is where Santa Claus was derived from and the notoriety of him grew in New York at the end of the 1700s. And then there was a man that you may all know From your high school years of literature, maybe Washington Irving. Okay, he popularized him and referred to him as the patron saint of New York.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 9:14

So that was kind of the research that we did and I just kind of compiled it, and it's important that we understand that some of the traditions that the world holds to don't really come from a Christian origin. They come from a pagan origin. They come from an origin where there were pagans that were worshiping other gods. It wasn't a hidden thing. They all did it because if you weren't a Jew, you worshiped other gods. Only Jews worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Everyone else around them that surrounded them were worshiping other gods and it was very well known that they did not fear or venerate the God of Israel. They venerated their own gods and the gods that came from a previous kingdom, such as Mithra, which didn't come from Rome or Greece, it came from Persia. Now some people have a hard time realizing Christmas's origins, or at least its true origins, and They fight to hold on to that tradition. And some Christians although there are many that still hold on to this particular tradition That we're going to look into they have an easier time maybe releasing Halloween. Now, when we looked into Halloween, the American Encyclopedia of 1990 Told us that the festival of us, it was a vessel of Scottish Irish origin and it was held on October 31st, which is also known as all hollows Eve, and the elements of customs can be traced back to Druid ceremonies.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 10:51

Druids were priests They were not priests of the Lord and They came. Druid priests came even before Christ was born. That leads, that's what we learned from there and the Druids were a religious order. They were like priests of. They were magicians, they were sages among the Celts of Gaul in Britain and, among other responsibilities that they had, they conducted divination, they conducted sacrifices of animals and humans, and The Irish Druids emphasized the powers of shape-shifting incantation trances. Druids dressed in animal flesh of birds and wings and it was very shamanistic, if you know anything of the shamanistic religion.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 11:37

It said also that the Celts had festivals celebrating the Sun, god and the God of the dead. The God of the dead was known as Samh ain. Samh ain was commemorated on November 1st, which is the new year for the Celts, and Later this was incorporated into Christian rituals. In the 9th century they began to have a feast in honor of all the saints. Who are the saints, the saints in the Catholic Church again. So there's that Catholic Church influence. In the 11th century they had a feast called all souls day and that was celebrated also on November 1st, and they were commemorating all those who had died in the previous year.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 12:19

Now in Europe in medieval times there were they believed in elves and fairies and witches which took the form of cats, and they were Superstitiously believed to fly around during all hollows East, which is what we know today as Halloween, and then there were bonfires lit up at that night. And what would their bonfires lit up to ward off all of the evil spirits and the ghosts that were walking about trying to, to You know, come back and haunt their own family members. And Halloween was involved. Rituals used to foretell the future, the traditions in Scotland, in Ireland, that came to America. One of them was the pumpkin. The pumpkin replaced the turnips that was carved for jack-o-lanterns. In the 19th century The Irish people believed that little people fairies Played pranks on Halloween, and if you remember Peter Pan, isn't that what the fairies kind of did? They just took that idea from there. The fairies were playing pranks, and so that's where it came from. So young boys and young men started to carry about practical jokes on that night In the 20th century. What did kids do? they dressed up in costumes, they traveled door to door. What were they saying? trick-or-treat. And all of this is coming not from any Christian origin, it's all pagan. Now the World Book Encyclopedia book of 1999, 1989, said that today children wear the costumes, they go trick-or-treating. The jack-o-lanterns are carved out of the pumpkins and the activities include fortune telling, storytelling about what ghosts and witches, and bobbing for apples in a D in the AD 800s The church, meaning the Catholic Church, established all Saints Day, November 1st, so that the people could continue the festival That they had celebrated before becoming quote-unquote Christian.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 14:21

See, that was the method of the Catholic Church. They incorporated the barbarians, the people that were looked down upon. Instead of conquering them militarily, they conquered them by religious Garb or camouflage to bring them in so that they would call themself Christian. And yet they continued celebrating whatever festivals they had before the Catholic Church came around. So the mass that was set on this day was called all-hollow mass. The evening before is called all Saints Day became all Halloween.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 14:57

Trick-or-treating is done by dressing in a costume and coming to a house to get candy fruit or money treats. And if they don't get candy fruit or money from a house, they then played a trick on the house. Maybe they toilet papered it, maybe they did some I don't know rotten eggs I that was one of the things that I remember, you know my friends were doing. They would bury like a Egg in the soil and they would get rotten, and then they would take that on the day of Halloween And if they didn't get, you know, they would crash the house. You know.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 15:27

So Jack-o-lanterns are used in America to do what they did to the turnips, that the potatoes and the beets in England and Ireland, and They were used as lanterns to light their way in the night. And the Irish legend says that a man named Jack could not enter into heaven Because he was a miser. He could not go into hell either because he was playing jokes on the devil, and The result was that he had to walk the earth with his lantern until judgment day. Now there was fortune telling that began in Europe hundreds of years ago and that they would bake a cake. They would put objects in the cake, such as a coin and a ring and a thimble, and whoever found the coin would supposedly become rich, whoever found the ring would get married and whoever found the thimble would never get married. That was their custom, that was their tradition, and today they practice what? card reading, psalmistry, in addition to any older methods. They still do the bobbing of apples, depending on where you go.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 16:21

Historically, people believe that the ghosts roam the earth on the night of Halloween. They also believe that witches on October 31st were worshiping the devil, and many don't believe that they do that to this day. But the ghosts and the witches remain symbols of Halloween, do they not? The Celts celebrated Samhain, the Celtic Lord of Death, on their New Year of November 1st. The Celtics believe that Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to visit their homes. This particular evening, the Druids were the priests and the teachers of the Celts. They told the people to put out those fires. They burn animals, crops and sometimes humans that night. Then each family would relight their fire with the fire of the Druids that they made, and people sometimes wore costumes of animal heads and skins.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 17:15

The Romans conquered the Celts in the first century and the two Roman autumn festivals were mixed with the Celtic festivals. Again, this was way, way, way to almost nearly 2000 years ago, and in the 1800s many converted to Christianity, even though they kept celebrating the Celtic pagan festivals. The church then incorporated the pagan Celtic festivals with the church rituals and they called it All Saints Day. The Catholic Church when I keep saying the church, I'm not talking about the church of the Bible, I'm talking about the Catholic Church Then honored the dead, and those of you that were involved in Catholicism could confirm this. On November 2nd, with All Souls Day, in Ireland they held the parade in which they honored a god named Mokkola. The leader of the parade wore all white and a mask made from the head of an animal. In Ireland they held the parade excuse me, in Scotland they lit the huge bonfires on the hillside, just like they did centuries earlier, to drive away what Witches and civil spirits.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 18:21

Halloween did not really become popular in America until the 1800s, because that was when America received a huge number of Scottish and Irish immigrants Who celebrated their ancestor's Celtic festivals. So I give all that to you because I believe we need to have some sort of historical basis for what I want to share today. I hope that that's convincing enough to at least get you to reconsider, What are some of the traditions that we are holding to that have no basis in any Christian origin. I could have talked about Easter, I could have talked about Halloween, but I didn't want to bore you with all of that. I wanted to get into the Bible, but I think I needed to start somewhere. So I want you to start in the scriptures, with Mark, chapter 7.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 19:10

The Pharisees were asking Jesus. The Pharisees and the scribes were asking Jesus why do your disciples not hold and this is what they said the tradition of the elders, but they eat bread with unwashed hands. That's probably a good idea to eat food, especially when you don't have utensils and you usually eat with your hands When they're washed. But that became a tradition of the elders that was held in higher esteem than other things that were more important. So let's continue reading in Mark, chapter 7, verse 6.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 19:44

Jesus answered and said to them well hath Esaias (Isaiah) hath prophesied of you hypocrites. As it is written, the people honor with me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. How be it? in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men, for laying aside the commandment of God. Ye hold the tradition of men as the washing of pots and cups and many others, such like things ye do. And he said to them full well, ye reject the commandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 20:22

For Moses said Honor thy father and thy mother, and whoso curses with father or mother, let him die the death. But you say, if a man shall say to his father or mother it is Corbin, that is to say a gift. By whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free, and ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother, making the word of God of none effect through your tradition which he have delivered and many such things like he do. So he gave a perfect example of what a tradition of the elder does to the word of God. The word of God says honor your father and mother that it may go well with you. Well, they were not honoring their father and mother, and as long as they gave a gift into the elders, it was absolved. It was overlooked. And so it negated what the word of God said, which is mean you need to honor your father and your mother.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 21:16

And so when I look at these scriptures, I see that the Pharisees willfully substituted their traditions over and above the commandments of men, excuse me, the commandments of God. They took the commandments of men and made it higher than the word of God, and in doing so, they made the word of God in the lives of people that they were trying to reach, supposedly, and minister to, of none effect. It didn't matter what the word of God said, just do what we say. Are you getting the connection now, kind of, with all of that history? This is what has been done for centuries in order to bring people into their little click, their little denomination, their little group. And it looks pretty on the outside, because they don't dress it up in demons and Halloween, do they with Christmas? But they were worshiping another God. But they were worshiping another God.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 22:13

And I, before I met my wife, I didn't have any issues with Christmas. It wasn't a big deal to me. I didn't celebrate it, but I was like I mean, I celebrated throughout my life. You know, my parents had a Christmas tree, had presents under the tree. It's not that I didn't know anything about it, I just, by the time I met her, it wasn't a big deal to me And she was very adamant about it because she had a conviction from the Lord. Well, I had never looked into myself until the year what was this 2008. That was only what nine years ago And we've been married for 18 years. So you know we didn't celebrate Christmas for the first nine years and it wasn't a big deal to me, but it's not something I actually looked into.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 23:01

So I say all that because we need to consider the word of God, we need to understand. Is it going to be our final authority on the decisions that we make in our life? Are we going to make the customs and the traditions that we hold to higher, up and above the word of God, and some of us come from very wide and dynamic traditions. We've got one with Japanese culture in it because she was raised there. We have many in different cultures of South America and some in different cultures in America. All of those things that we have been raised in, we have to, at some point in time, it that God is pleased with?

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 23:59

Because when I think about it, I say well, if Jesus was alive during the times where they were celebrating these festivals, would He have partaken in them? I mean, there was a nice tag 10, 15 years ago. What would Jesus do? What would He do? Well, if He was in that time, would He have been taking in those festivals? Because when He was here, He was surrounded by other nations and they were already celebrating those things. They were celebrating the sun god Mithra. They were celebrating Saturnalia when he was here, during the days of his flesh. Yet He never partook in them. As a matter of fact, the only things that He honored were the festivals of the Lord, the Feast of the Lord, and so there's a scripture that starts out there. Therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth, put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt and serve you. The Lord. Joshua said that to the people. So what is the real issue in all of this? And to me it's really about holiness.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 25:19

Peter said in 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 14 through 16. He said in his letter to the church, the true church, as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lust, as in your ignorance. The church in that time was not just Jews. The church in that time was Jews and Gentiles. And if they were a Gentile, then it's very likely that they were raised up in celebrating these feasts that I have just spoken of and some others that I didn't even mention Because that's where they came from. They were raised in that Their parents, their parents' parents For centuries back down the line. They were all celebrating Saturnalia and the sun, god, mithra and so many others that I haven't mentioned. But Peter says to them you're not conforming yourselves to the former things that you did in ignorance, but, as he who called you as holy, you also be holy in all of your conduct, because it is written be holy, for I am holy.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 26:32

So what is Peter saying? What is he advising the church? that they are not to walk in the previous lust, in the previous things that they did before they were born again in Jesus Christ. We're not ignorant anymore. That was our excuse. That was my excuse back then, even though I went to Christian schools all my life. But I mean, I did whatever my parents raised me in, and it was really just my mom. And so, yeah, there was Halloween in our life. Yeah, there was Christmas in our life. Yeah, there was Easter in our life. Yeah, there was all the other holidays that I haven't bothered to mention.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 27:04

But at some point in time, now that I'm born again, I need to verify whether the things that I was raised in were true or not, and if they weren't, I have got to make a decision. Am I going to go with the revelation of the light of the glory of God and the knowledge of in the face of Jesus Christ, or am I going to continue walking in the ways that I did before? We all have to come to that point, not just what I'm talking about today, but literally everything that we've experienced in our life. We did things wrong back then. We participated in these things out of plain ignorance, but it didn't take much for me to realize oh there's that. That's a red flag. All that stuff I just researched. that's a red flag to make me think again whether I should even continue walking in those things.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 27:53

But now we know that we are commanded to walk in a holy manner in all behavior, just as it was written in the days of old, in Leviticus 11:44 to 45. The Lord said, "I am the Lord, your God. You shall therefore what? Consecrate yourselves. That means set yourself apart, and you shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping things that creeps on the earth, for I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. See, from the old covenant to new covenant, there has always been a call for God's Ekklesia is called out once to be separate and apart from the world. It's always been there. That's never been a change. Word of the Lord. And in the same manner that he didn't want the is your light to participate in the spiritual idolatry of the other nations that surrounded them. He also expects his new covenant church to not participate in any of the pagan rituals and any of the practices that honored, that worshiped, that venerated other gods, no matter how old in human history they started out, as it's still considered spiritual idolatry.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 29:15

It says in Romans 12, to be not conformed to this world. Be transformed, how? by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. The new covenant church is to be transformed through what? Revelation. It is revelation that's brought to our minds and to our hearts, that causes us to think again about the things that we used to walk in. It renews our mind. It's I keep bringing up this scripture... What was going on on the first day of creation?

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 29:56

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and that was a picture of man without God. And what was the first thing that God did when he came to this earth that was formless and void and a wasteland. He said let there be light. So, within all that darkness, now there's light. and now you, as a man, are able to make a decision. Am I going to continue walking in my wasteland of darkness, in my own ignorance, or am I going to walk and follow the light?

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 30:32

It's a day of repentance. It is a day of, you get to make a choice. As our thinking changes because of the revelation, What happens to our walk? It changes. We start walking differently before the revelation came to us. When we walk according to the revelation, we prove what Roman says. We prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God, because our lives are changed. It's not walking in the way of the world anymore. But the problem is many Christians have is we don't really want to change. We want to stay walking in our traditions and think that it's okay to continue walking and then still call ourselves a Christian.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 31:20

But God is commanding be holy in all manner of behavior and godliness, which means it's a commandment. It's not an option, it's not a suggestion, it's a requirement. There's no doubt that he has separated us from the world. There isn't any doubt that we have overcome sin through him. There's no doubt that he has made us priests and kings to rule and reign with him. But we need to walk these truths out. He's declared them for his people.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 31:50

But how can I walk as a king if I won't dress in the garb as a king if I won't execute my authority as a king, how can I walk as a priest if I'm walking in traditions of other priests, that we're venerating and worshiping other gods? It doesn't work that way. There's a particular way that a priest of the Lord had to dress. There's a particular way that he had to come in to the Tabernacle. There's a particular way that he had to do his sacrifices, that he had to wash in the brazen labor or it says, lest he die. There's a particular way you had to come into the holy place. You couldn't just come in any old way you want any old way you dress, any old way you talk. And anybody that tried to come in with a different fragrant or incense and aroma, what did he do? What was the example the scriptures gave us? He dropped them dead right there. They were not allowed to enter into his presence. That way They died the moment they set foot and entered in with some strange incense.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 32:55

Well, why do we think there's anything going to be different in our lives? Why does our consequence different than what the consequences were for the saints of old, some of us calling ourselves Christian? we look no different than the world. We walked like them, we talk like them And I know some of you, a lot of you here, start realizing that when you mentioned that in your little group thing they're calling themselves Christian and they're cursing like sailors. What is that? No, king doesn't talk that way. A priest doesn't. A priest of the Lord doesn't talk that way.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 33:27

We must walk blameless. We must walk as if we're out without sin, because by the blood of Jesus we are without sin. Yet always we walk humbly and continually repenting. Should we stumble, should we fall? And then we ask for forgiveness. Because it says, if we stumble and fall, if we confess our sins, what is he faithful? and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But that's when we kind of, it's an unawful thing. But when we willfully walk in sin and ways that are aligned with the world and contrary to God, that's a different story, because you're willfully doing it.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 34:08

After coming into the knowledge of the Lord and his salvation, little by little, little, he conforms us. As we walk in the revelation that he gives us, we start, our way of thinking changes, our walk changes and little by little we're conformed. Day by day we're conformed into the image of his perfection. So we must walk as priests, not as pseudo prophets or false kings or pseudo apostles that hypocritically say and expect one thing but we do another. We must respond to the call of holiness. In 2 Corinthians 6: 17.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 34:48

In Second Corinthians 7: 1, as well, He said clearly wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate. saith the Lord, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. We can't continue to walk in the old ways and expect to be received. The condition to be received by him is that we be separate, that we not touch the unclean thing. It says in seven one. Having therefore these promises dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from the filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So if we do our part of repenting of not walking in the ways of the world, he is going to gladly receive us. But we must purify ourselves. How? by not walking in them anymore.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 35:47

There are scriptures that say put on Christ, put on the new man, and there are other services they put off and the put off in this are the ways of the world, the wicked things that you used to do, the wicked things that you used to say the things that you used to use to partake in. Put off that. Put off the old man that was buried in the waters of baptism because you supposed to walk in the new life or the newness of life. We must come out from among these things and be set apart, as he called us to be holy. And holy means separated from sin. Holy means separated from the things of the world. Holiness means separated from the things of the kingdom of darkness but at the same time, not just to be neutral but to be separated into the kingdom of light, which is a life that is consecrated, that is dedicated to God and the things of the kingdom of God.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 36:47

Why do we call ourselves born-again Christians if we're not willing to walk this way? We want to continue walking in the ways of the world which are contrary to God. We continue to participate in outrightly and some subtly ungodly religious practices and then call that which is evil, good, harmless and ineffectual against our spiritual lives. What does it say in Isaiah, chapter five, verse 20? Woe unto them that called evil good and good. Evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness. That put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. We who are supposedly priests and kings of the most high God can't continue to practice and involve ourselves in pagan rituals that are cleverly camouflaged, that were originally used to worship and venerate other gods.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 37:40

What did the scriptures say about drinking of the cup of demons and of the cup of the Lord? We read that in first Corinthians, 10, 20 through 22, and also in 31 through 32. Paul said I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God, and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? You see, that's what's going to happen if we continue to walk in ways that are contrary to the Lord Celebrations, festivals, feast that were venerating other gods. We can walk in them and then think that we're not going to provoke God to jealousy. That's exactly what the Israelites did. And what did it do? It provoked his anger and his wrath because he loved them And he desired them to be his own and not to worship others and love them.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 38:45

It says in 31, wherefore, whether, therefore, you eat or drink. Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God, give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God. And you know what He was speaking in reference to the communion that Christians partake in of the bread and the wine. You see, the apostles knew in their day and age about the rights and rituals of the nations around them. It wasn't unknown. They knew what they were doing, because they were doing the same evil things that they were doing when we were talking about the Israelites walking through the wilderness and coming into the Promised Land. They weren't. They weren't fearing the Lord, they were fearing other gods that they had made. So they preached against the apostles, preached against the Corinthians.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 39:34

Partaking in those things, in those practices. They knew God. They knew that it would incite Jesus to jealousy, just as the Israelites incited God to jealousy in the Old Covenant for partaking in the rights and rituals of the pagan nations around them. They knew that their celebrations contained sacrifices, not just merely to wood or stone idols. Who were they sacrificing to? Paul said they were sacrificing to demons, the adversary of the Lord. Paul said you can't partake of both Jesus and demons. It's one or the other. Choose you this day, whom you will serve.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 40:15

Paul, furthermore, commanded in Ephesians He said this to the Ephesians, not just to the Corinthians. He said I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, in Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 17 that ye henceforth walk not as the other Gentiles walk, flat out, total. Do not walk as the other Gentiles walk, because they walk in the vanity of their mind. Their understanding is darkened. So their walking in darkness is what he's saying. They're alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them. We were ignorant, but when revelation comes, we've got no excuse Because they can do new walking in that way. It's only going to excite Jesus to jealousy. They walk in the blindness of their heart, the Gentiles Who, being past, feeling feeling, have given themselves over to lasciveness, to work all uncleanness with greed in it. But you didn't learn Christ this way. He said if so, be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. And here's those words again that you put off.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 41:27

Concerning the former conversation of the old man, concerning the form of behavior and the conduct of the old man Put it off, get rid of it. It's not your clothing anymore. It's corrupt according to deceitful lusts of man. But be renewed See that word again. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you put on the new man which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. If we are new creatures in Christ, we are obligated to walk in the light as He is In the light. That's first, John one seven. We're not to no longer walk as the rest of the world, who walk in darkness. We've been translated from the kingdom of darkness into light. If you hear and you obey Jesus, you will not walk in the ways of the old man. The old man is deluded in its lust. According to the word, you will walk in the renewing of the spirit of your mind. You're going to put on the new creature that was created in righteousness and mercy when you were born- again.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 42:34

Now we know that the Jews believe and understand that there's only one God. Deuteronomy six, four. We know that the Jews believe there was no one else beside the Lord God. Isaiah 45 and verse five. We know that there are no other gods that can be compared to him in Isaiah 46, five and nine, and that he alone, alone, made all of creation. Isaiah 44, 24, 45, seven and 18.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 43:06

The Jews were explicitly taught what there's only one God. There's only one God here. There's only one God here. Explicitly, not two, not three, not not. What do you call it when there's many gods? Um, just blanked on that word Polytheistic? No, they were monotheistic. And that they should love him alone, that they should love him alone with all their heart, their soul, their mind, their strength, for this was the greatest commandments.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 43:43

But they knew that they were surrounded with neighboring nations that paid homage and worshiped a plethora of other gods. They had designated a schedule to celebrate holidays. That's what we call them today. They didn't call them holidays that big. They were their festivals, they were their feast, they were their parties. Well, here we call them holidays, but it is the same thing. And they were told then. They were told not to learn the way of the heathen, not to be dismayed at the signs of the heavens. Oh, they saw a shooting star. Oh, that must be the God of such and such. He's sending down something to give us a sign, and all of these things Superstitiously.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 44:27

They were commanded in Jeremiah 10 to not to follow along in their customs, for they were useless. So what is he saying? Don't walk like the rest of the nations, Jesus never, ever know, not once, took part in anything other than the feast that were held in Jerusalem. They were the ones. The feast of the Lord were the ones that were ordained by God The feast of Passover, the feast of Unleavened Bread, the feast of first fruits, the feast of Pentecost, the feast of trumpets, the feast of atonement and the feast of anybody know Tabernacles, and obviously they call the Sabbath day a feast as well. Those were the ones that he observed. He didn't go out of his way to go to another country because he was only going to minister to the Jews.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 45:25

First Judgment began in the house of the Lord. The preaching of the gospel began in the house of the Lord and then it spread out from there. But he didn't give us an example that we need to go partake in the customs and the traditions of the nations that were around him. Not a single apostle after him ever took part in those festivals of the nation surrounding them, the festivals that became known today as Christmas, halloween, easter, valentine's. That wasn't their names back then, please don't. I know that, but their celebrations were observed back then. The apostles knew, they just simply knew better than to mix and fellowship with those practices. They knew that light had no fellowship with darkness. And the light that they walked in exposed all of those lies and all of that deception that was contained in the darkness of the practices of other nations. And they commanded the Jews, they commanded the Gentiles, to abstain from these things in Acts, chapter 15, verse 20 and 29. They told the church don't take part in those things, don't take part in those meats that are sacrificed to idols. When were they sacrificing those meats to their idols? during their festivals, during their celebrations?

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 46:52

Two to three centuries after the apostles slept, there was a man named Constantine that rose to power in Rome and he needed a way. He needed a method because his army was dwindling, his power was reaching It's. You know how you say you stretch something too far, it gets too thin. That's what the Roman Empire was. He could not militarily conquer other nations and spread the empire. He had to find another method, and his method was to find a way to amalgamate and conform the nations and cultures and the barbarians to Rome. And the other way was to partner himself with the rising Catholic church and to Christianize the barbarians and their cultural practices, which were nothing other than celebrations of other gods.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 47:43

So, for instance, instead of them worshiping the sun, god named Mithra because Mithra died down. But why did Mithra die down? Because they continued celebrating the feast. They just said it's not Mithra, it's Jesus. He was the son of God. He was born on December 25th, not Mithra. You, i know. You know we'll keep that date. It had nothing to do with when Jesus was born. His name is Jesus. You just worship him as your God. Now They simply changed the names. They painted these gods, these demons, with different colors and they called it Christian holidays and celebrations. So, for the same reason that I don't celebrate Halloween because of its ungodly origins and venerations of evil, I don't celebrate Christmas, Easter, Valentine's or any other holiday for that matter, if I know that it was celebrated to worship other gods. It doesn't matter what color they paint it beautiful red and green, and white and blue.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 48:44

We, the church, should not be ignorant of the wiles of the devil because he wants you to compromise in any other area of your life, whether through ignorance or willfully, you don't care. You sin ignorant, he's happy. You sin willfully, he's happy too. It doesn't matter, as long as you're sinning, as long as you're separating yourself more and more from the Lord. And it says in 2nd Corinthians, 11, 14, he'll come to you as an angel of light.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 49:16

You may have heard that there is a way of holiness. It says in Isaiah 35, verses eight through 10. And in highway shall be there and away, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean thing shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those wayfaring men, though fools shall not enter therein. In other words, the unclean are not going to walk this way, the fools are not going to walk this way either.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 49:56

It says here, no lion shall be there, no ravenous beast shall go thereon. That means those that are walking in this way, this way of holiness. You don't need to worry, you don't need to fear anything, because there's not going to be a lion there. There's not going to be a ravenous beast there that's coming ready to pounce on you for walking in this way of holiness. But who is going to be found there? The redeemed. The redeemed shall walk there.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 50:23

The ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. And when they walk in this way, they shall obtain joy, they shall obtain gladness and sorrow and signs shall flee away, because that's the way of holiness for the wayfaring men, those that follow the way. And Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. And that way has already been established, because Jesus is the way. We take up our cross, we put aside the old man, we put up the old man, we take our cross and follow him. We are following in the way and we need not fear, we need not worry what the world may say or what we might be criticized or what we might be persecuted for doing such a thing or not doing such a thing. We're walking in the way of holiness. We don't want to have this way of the world in our lives.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 51:21

So I end with Joshua 24, what I started with in the beginning, 14 and 15. And if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord, amen, amen. Thus is the ministry of our father's heart through us. Our utmost desire is to be in the father's heart, to know the father's heart and express the father's heart to you.

Jesus M. Ruiz - j: 52:06

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