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THE FINAL TEST IS COMING! - UNDER WHOSE AUTHORITY ARE YOU GOING TO PLACE YOURSELF? GOD'S AUTHORITY OR MAN'S?
Psalm 119:126 ...'It is time for thee, LORD, to work, for they have made void thy law.'
James 4:12 ...'There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.'
Isaiah 33:22 ...'For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.'
Please take careful note that we have 'one lawgiver' and that is 'the LORD.' He is the 'living God', the Father, who is 'judge of all' the earth, who has committed judgment unto His Son Jesus (Hebrews 12:22-23; Romans 2:16). And what is that one supreme law unto which the whole world is to place their allegiance to? Well, we have a warning in the Old Testament that is to be repeated in the end times for all mankind. Let's take a look.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ...'Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.'
Revelation 14:6-12 ...'And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'
Again ... "Fear God and give glory to Him ... Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
Did you notice in Ecclesiastes 12 that the 'keeping of the commandments of God' was not just for the Jews, but for MANKIND? Did you notice in Revelation 14 that the 'everlasting gospel', which includes the 'keeping of the commandments of God' is not just for the Jews, but for EVERY NATION, KINDRED, TONGUE AND PEOPLE? This has been God's message since day one in this world, and it has never changed. It is these commandments of God that Jesus said ... "till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law." (Matthew 5:18). Has heaven and earth passed away yet? Then what does that mean for God's commandments, those great ten moral precepts for all mankind? It means not one jot or tittle has passed from them!
Both Ecclesiastes 12 and Revelation 14 warns the world to 'fear God.' But what does it mean to fear God?
Proverbs 8:13 ...'The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.'
Psalm 34:11-14 ...'Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.'
So living in the fear of God is not to literally be afraid of God, but to hate the things that God hates - SIN. And if we are to 'hate sin', then what are we to do? Love righteousness! So to 'fear God' is really to love righteousness. And Psalm 119:172 says that 'God's commandments are righteousness'. So to fear God, as the end time warning in Revelation 14 says, is to place ourselves under the authority of our Creator, seeking His righteousness, the righteousness of His law and character, which will be fulfilled in us through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:3-4 ...'For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.'
The righteousness of the law CAN be fulfilled in us, in our lives, if we would submit ourselves to the authority of the Great Lawgiver and allow His Spirit to do that work in us, 'transforming us, by the renewing of our minds' (Romans 12:1-2). This can only be achieved through faith ... 'I will put my spirit within you, and CAUSE YOU TO WALK in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.' (Ezekiel 36:27)
But there is one particular 'seal' placed within the commandments of God that is a 'sign' between God and His people that they are placing themselves under His authority - the 7th day Sabbath.
Genesis 2:1-3 ...'Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.'
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.'
Remember what message Revelation 14:6 has to give to all the world? "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Is this not a call to the world to place themselves under the authority of our Creator, the one true God - THE FATHER (John 17:3, 1 Corinthians 8:6) and to keep His 7th day Sabbath as a sign of our allegiance and LOVE towards Him? Do you not see the clear connection? Do you not see that the 4th commandment points back to creation and calls the 7th day of creation 'THE SABBATH DAY'?
This is the ONLY day God has set apart for holy use, blessing it and sanctifying it. No other day has received that holy blessing from God. Not only that, the 7th day Sabbath was set up BEFORE there were any Jews and BEFORE there was any sin. So the 7th day Sabbath CANNOT be a 'shadow' of anything. The 'shadows,' priestly service, animal sacrifices, feast days, etc. were set up AFTER sin came in. The 7th day Sabbath was instituted BEFORE sin. So what was God's original plan for the 7th day Sabbath? For it to be kept for all eternity, and Isaiah 66 confirms this, look:
Isaiah 66:22-23 ...'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, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.'
A 'new moon' is basically the old Biblical term for a new month, and Revelation 22:2 says that every month the tree of life yields new fruit. So every month we will go to New Jerusalem on the new earth to eat of the tree of life and worship God. But look also what it says in Isaiah 66. From one Sabbath to another, every 7th day of the week we will go and worship God. So God instituted the 7th day Sabbath at creation, confirms it in His moral law of LOVE, the ten commandments and confirms in prophecy that it will be kept on the new earth for all eternity.
The Sabbath is not only a sign of original creation which was complete and perfect, it is also the sign of perfect and complete salvation. God said ... "I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." (Ezekiel 20:12) The 7th day Sabbath of the Lord is the sign and reminder of his power to save. But we can only be saved if we place ourselves under His authority!
Remember above that Ecclesiastes 12 said that the 'duty of MANKIND' is to keep the commandments of God? Well, what did Jesus say about the 7th day Sabbath? He said that "the Sabbath was made for man." (Mark 2:27) and that "the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." (Matthew 12:8). So the 7th day Sabbath is not only a sign of us giving our allegiance to God as our Creator and Lawgiver. It is also a sign that we are trusting in the salvation and sanctifying power of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Through whom God the Father has created all life, given the law of life and provided salvation.
Jesus said ... "If ye love me, keep my commandments ... He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." (John 14:15,21)
The Sabbath is the seal of God's authority and power as the "one lawgiver" (James 4:12). He is the only one who can save. Therefore to reject the 7th day Sabbath is to reject the authority of God, and His salvation!. And to substitute another day in the place of God's 7th day Sabbath is a most bold defiance against our Creator!
For Bible evidence concerning the true 7th day Sabbath of God, please see our following pages:
DID THE APOSTLES CHANGE THE SABBATH TO SUNDAY?
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE SHOWING THAT SATURDAY IS THE SABBATH
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE SHOWING THE POPE CHANGED THE SABBATH TO SUNDAY