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FEAR GOD THAT YE SIN NOT - A PRESENT TRUTH MESSAGE FOR THE WHOLE WORLD
If people could truly understand the very first of the three angels messages of
Revelation 14, then they would understand the rest of the messages, and the will of God for their lives. This truly is a vital message to understand and take heed of:
Revelation 14:6-7 ...'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.'
Everlasting gospel = "fear God and worship Him who created heaven and earth"
Is this message just for the Jews as some believe? No, of course not, it is for the WHOLE world as the verses clearly confirm. And according to the verses, this message is the "EVERLASTING gospel." Meaning the gospel hasn't just been around for 2000 years. It has been there from the beginning, as Revelation 13:8 and 1 Peter 1:20 confirm - "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." God has never changed the gospel or the requirements of the gospel between the old and new testaments, as some seem to believe. It is NOT called the everchanging gospel. God called it the everlasting gospel.
So, what is this worldwide "everlasting gospel" end time message in Revelation 14 for all the inhabitants of the earth saying? It tells the world to "fear God and give glory to him." Oh how little understanding of these few words there is in the world and the churches today! What does it mean to fear God? Well, it doesn't mean to live in actual fear of Him, as "there is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear" (1 John 4:18). Should a child live in fear of his father? Or love and respect him? Well, "behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1). So what is this "fear of God" pointing to? Did you know this message has been there from the beginning, way back in the old testament? Again, this is why it is called the "everlasting gospel." After God spoke the ten commandments to the Israelites, look what was said:
Exodus 20:18-20 ...'And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.'
Is there a contradiction here? Moses tells the Israelites to 'fear not' and then says that God wanted to prove them that 'His fear' may be before them. No, there is no contradiction if you correctly understand what the fear of God actually means. The Israelites were to approach God in love and reverence, not literal fear, which is why Moses told them to 'fear not.' So what does it mean that God wanted 'His fear' to be before them? The verse itself and other Bible verses explains it.
"his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not."
What did God just give the Israelites? The ten commandments. God's moral law of love that is an expression of the character of Jehovah and that which rules His and His Son's eternal kingdom. So this 'fear of God' must be connected with His moral law, the ten commandments; that His people sin not. Do you see this? There are many Bible verses which talk about the 'fear of God.' The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is "the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). The fear of the Lord is "a fountain of life" (Proverbs 14:27). The fear of the Lord "tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil" (Proverbs 19:23). The fear of the Lord is "clean, enduring forever" (Psalm 19:9). These are all true and connected with living in the fear of God when you properly understand it. But what does it mean and look like to actually fear God in our daily lives? Take a look at the following Bible verses which explains this in more detail:
Psalm 34:11-16 ...'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. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.'
Job 28:28 ...'And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to DEPART FROM EVIL is understanding.'
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.'
Proverbs 16:6 ...'By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men DEPART FROM EVIL.'
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.'
Wow! Do you see it? To fear God is to hate sin and turn away from it. Which means we turn to goodness and righteousness. So when God gave the ten commandments and Moses told the people that God wanted His fear to be before them that they sin not, it means God wanted His righteousness to be before them, that they sin not. This is what it means to "fear God and give glory unto Him." This is the end time message that is being proclaimed to the whole world in Revelation 14. To turn AWAY FROM ALL sin and evil and turn TO righteousness. Do we have a written code of what righteousness is? Yes, the ten commandments.
Psalm 119:172 ...'My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.'
But the ten commandments is just a summary of God's righteous ways. How can we know everything that is sin in this world today? 1 John 5:17 says that "all unrighteousness is sin." So simply ask yourself regarding anything. Is this thing righteous in God's eyes? If not, then it is UNrighteous, and therefore sin according to 1 John 5:17. And we must also bear in mind the following verses:
1 John 2:15-16 ...'Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.'
The things of this world are NOT of God. Therefore they must be of Satan. Now we are obviously not talking about nature. That was created by God to be enjoyed by mankind as work and pleasure. What we are talking about are all the things that were not created by God and do not fit with His perfect, righteous character. Let me give an example. Competitive sports. Is that in harmony with the character of God? Absolutely not. Competition is directly opposed to the righteous character of Jehovah. Competition is in line with the character of Satan. Thus partaking in such a thing is UNrighteous, and according to 1 John 5:17 is SIN. Same with worldly entertainment. It is in opposition to the righteous character of our Heavenly Father, thus it is SIN.
To hate and turn from sin, and to love and turn to righteousness, the righteousness of Jehovah, has always been the plan of God since the fall of Adam and Eve. And this could only be achieved through God's own Son, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sin. Jesus became sin for us, as 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, so that we may be "made the righteousness of God in Him. That word "made" in 2 Corinthians 5:21 means to actually 'become' righteous in Christ. Not just to be 'declared' righteous on our record. But to actually be 're-created' NOW and 'become' and LIVE the righteousness of God. This has been the WHOLE purpose and teaching of God with man from the fall. To restore us back into the righteousness of God.
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.'
This is the 'everlasting gospel' - to restore the righteousness of God in us. Now I hear some say "see, the law is no good, we don't need the law because it cannot do anything for us or save us. Only Jesus Christ can save us." Well, do you use a mirror? Why? It cannot DO anything about that dirt on your face, so why use one? Because you need to see that dirt or defect in order to do something about it. The mirror cannot do a thing about your messy hair or dirty face. But it CAN show you what needs to be changed. The same with God's law, as the apostle Paul said "by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). The law points out our defects and then we go to Christ for the remedy. Just as you will want to get rid of that dirt on your face which the mirror points out, you should want to get rid of that sin which the law points out. This is living in the 'fear of God.'
Exodus 20:20 ...'And Moses said unto the people, fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, THAT YE SIN NOT.'
John 5:14 ...'Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: SIN NO MORE, lest a worse thing come unto thee.'
John 8:11 ...'She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and SIN NO MORE.'
Do you see? There is no contradiction between the old and new testaments. This is the 'everlasting gospel' which has been preached since the beginning. The 'good news' of being FREED FROM sin in Christ, not bound by it. And this is the final warning message to the whole world in Revelation 14. Why is this so important? Because no-one who continues living in sin can enter heaven:
Revelation 21:27 ...'And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.'
Matthew 7:21-23 ...'Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.' [IN OTHER WORDS, DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO CONTINUE IN SIN]
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ...'Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.'
Do you get the picture? This is why this message from God is so important for us to take heed. Now you will also notice that the first angel's message of Revelation calls the world to "worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" (Revelation 14:7). Where do we also find the 'stamp' of our creator God? In the heart of His law, the 4th commandment:
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, the apostle Paul said that "by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). So the 4th commandment tells us that if we do NOT keep the 7th day (our Saturday) as a holy day of rest to Jehovah, then we are committing sin. And if we are true sons of God, then we will seek to do the will of God and to live according to HIS righteousness, not the false ideas of man. So to truly 'worship God' as the first angel's message warns us to, we MUST keep the day which God blessed as a holy day of rest, the 7th day (our Saturday), not the day (Sunday) which man chose himself.
I cannot stress this enough. Living in the 'fear of God' means to yield ourselves to God's righteous ways and laws.
This leads us on through the rest of the three angel's messages. The second message of Revelation 14:8 is a pronouncement of the FALL of Babylon. Why is Babylon (the apostate churches) fallen? Because she did not heed the FIRST angel's warning. She did not yield herself to God's righteous ways and laws. Instead she made her own 'sabbath' on the 1st day of the week (Sunday). She rejected the true righteousness by faith message by saying we cannot overcome all sin, thus rejecting Christ in us. She did not learn to live in the 'fear of God.' And thus God rejected her. The third angel's message is merely the result of the fall of Babylon. Due to the apostate churches losing the power of God, they unite with the state power to enforce her own laws, her own sabbath (Sunday) and false god (the trinity), which will be the mark of the beast. But God's true remnant people will be triumphant in the end, even though they will be persecuted by the apostate church-state power. And why will they be triumphant? Revelation 14:12 tells us:
Revelation 14:12 ...'Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that KEEP the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'
It is because they heeded the first angel's message to 'fear God and give glory unto him.' They worshipped the one true God the Father, who set His sign in the 4th commandment, the memorial of creation and redemption. They yielding their lives to Jesus Christ the Son of God the Father and allowed Him to IMPART His righteousness into their lives, overcoming ALL sin BY FAITH. And thus it is said of them in Revelation 15:
Revelation 15:2-3 ...'And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.'
I pray that we will all heed the first angel's message, learning to live in the 'fear of God,' turning away from all sin, all worldliness and turning to and loving the righteousness of Jesus Christ, walking in His ways. Thus we will be saved from the delusions of Satan that will soon engulf this world, and take our place in glory with Jesus.
WHICH HAS MORE POWER? GRACE OR SIN?