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GOD'S FINAL WARNING TO ACCEPT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST AND KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD OR RECEIVE THE MARK OF THE BEAST
Isaiah 51:7 ...'Hearken unto me, ye
that KNOW RIGHTEOUSNESS, the people in whose heart is MY LAW.'
That's it! Do you see what God is saying here? To KNOW righteousness is to have God's law in our hearts. And what did God promise under the new covenant? That He would write His law in our hearts (Hebrews 8:10). To receive Christ is to receive His life. To receive His life is to receive His righteousness. To receive His righteousness is to have God's law upon our hearts and in our minds so that we KEEP God's commandments. To do away with ANY of God's commandments is to do away with His righteousness, which CANNOT be done! I care not what man may 'conjure' up. It is done! God has spoken it. It is declared forever! No matter what man might say or do. God's law stands forever, just as His righteousness stands forever.
Psalm 111:7-8 ...'The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.'
Man may try to change or abolish God's law, but God declares ... "My righteousness shall NOT be abolished" (Isaiah 51:6)
If you look at the context of Isaiah 51, verse 6 in particular, you will see it is pointing to the earth being destroyed at the end. So God is clearly making the point that although the earth will be destroyed and 'vanish away,' His law, His righteousness, will NOT be abolished or vanish away like the earth will. Read Isaiah 51:5-7 and you will see this. So again, no matter what man may try and do to change the law of God or do away with it, God's law, His righteousness will 'STAND FAST for ever and ever!' Now if you look at the prophecy in Isaiah and Revelation, you will see that New Jerusalem is to be 'clothed' with 'garments:'
Isaiah 52:1 ...'Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.'
Revelation 21:2 ...'And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride ADORNED for her husband.'
Revelation 19:7-8 ...'Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF SAINTS.'
What is the adorning of the New Jerusalem? The righteousness of the saints. Now let me be clear, our righteousness is of Christ, as we can never make ourselves righteous ... Isaiah 54:17 ...'This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.' But what did we learn above from God regarding righteousness? It means to have God's law upon our hearts and in our minds. But does that mean God simply writes His law upon our hearts and minds, but we still cannot keep it? No. There would be no point in God writing His law upon our hearts if we couldn't keep it. To 'know righteousness' and to have God's law in our hearts and minds, is to KEEP God's commandments, by the Spirit and power of Christ in us. We can do nothing without Christ (John 15:5), but with Christ we can do ALL things (Philippians 4:13).
When you look at the life of Jesus Christ, what do you see? A perfect, righteous life - the law of God KEPT in His heart and being LIVED OUT in His life. And the Word of God says that we are to RECEIVE that righteous life of Christ. Many people wrongly believe we just receive some sort of verbal or written 'statement' declaring that we are righteous in Christ and that is it. But the Word of God states that the true believers will not only be declared as righteous, but their lives will be MADE righteous, look:
2 Corinthians 5:21 ...'For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be MADE the righteousness of God in him.'
Romans 5:19 ...'For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be MADE righteous.'
Through Adam's disobedience, did we actually BECOME sinners, committing sin? Yes. So in like manner, as Paul says above, through Christ's obedience, and our faith in Him, we BECOME righteous, to LIVE righteously. That word 'made' in the above verses means TO BECOME, and what do these verses above tell us that we BECOME through faith in Christ Jesus? RIGHTEOUS! We BECOME righteous. Meaning we receive the very life, the righteous obedient life of Christ when we die to self, take up our cross and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23). And so as we become righteous in Christ, what is taking place? The new covenant promise is taking place, God's law being written upon our hearts and minds, so that we become KEEPERS of God's commandments.
Many people don't realise that both the old and new covenants are based upon the SAME LAW - God's ten commandments, look:
Jeremiah 31:31,33 ...'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah ... But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put MY LAW in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.'
Hebrews 8:10 ...'For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put MY LAWS into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:'
2 Corinthians 3:3 ...'Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; NOT IN TABLES OF STONE, but in fleshy tables of the heart.'
What was written 'in tables of stone'? The ten commandments. This, as Paul confirms above, is what is written upon our hearts and in our minds - God's law, the ten commandments. Not part of it, but ALL of it!
Did God say He would do away with or change His commandments under the new covenant? No. He said He would write His commandments upon our hearts and minds. So if the new covenant promise is God writing His commandments in our hearts and minds instead of just tables of stone, this means the new covenant is based upon the SAME LAW as the old covenant, God's ten commandments. The MINISTRATION of God's law changes from just the letter and sinful man ministering it unto us, to God's law being ministered to us by the Spirit of God, writing it upon our hearts and minds. But the commandments don't change. Do you see this? This shows that God's commandments CANNOT be changed or done away with under the new covenant. To change or do away with any of God's commandments, is to change or do away with His righteousness. This CANNOT be done.
Please understand this. If God confirmed the 7th day as the Sabbath in His law, written on stone tablets by the finger of God, under the old covenant, then it is the SAME law under the new covenant, but instead written upon our hearts. This is what God's Word is saying. Therefore, under the new covenant, the Sabbath CANNOT be changed or done away with. God transfers the SAME commandments from the stone tables to the 'tables of our heart' (2 Cor.3:3).
Now remember what we learned above, that New Jerusalem, the city of God where Jesus has gone to make a place for us, is adorned with the 'righteousness of the saints.' This righteousness we receive from Christ by faith, with God's law being written upon our hearts and put in our minds, to KEEP and LIVE BY when we yield our lives to Jesus. So only those who have been MADE righteous by Christ can enter in through the gates to the city of God. And this is confirmed clearly in the last chapter of Revelation, look:
Revelation 22:14 ...'Blessed are they that DO his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.'
Do you see? Only those who DO (keep) the commandments of God have a right to enter into the eternal city of God and to the tree of life. Thus it is only those who are truly living under the new covenant promise, receiving the righteousness of Christ and having God's law written upon their hearts and minds, so that they BECOME righteous and are DOERS of God's holy law, including the 4th commandent and every commandment.
This leads us to the final warning to the world, the three angels messages of Revelation 14 and the message of Revelation 18:1-4. A message not just for the Jews as many believe, but as Revelation 14:6 says, a message to ... 'them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.' A warning message for the whole world. And what is that message? The three angels messages are contained in Revelation 14:6-12. The first message warns the world to '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.' What does it mean to 'fear God'? Psalm 34:11-16, Proverbs 8:13 and Proverbs 16:6 tell us that the fear of God is to hate sin and depart from it. Well, what are you doing if you hate sin and depart from it? You will love righteousness and turn to righteousness.
Remember what God's people who 'KNOW righteousness' have written in their hearts and minds under the new covenant promise? God's commandments.
Now notice the reason for the warning to 'fear God' (to turn from sin and receive His righteousness, which is made manifest in obedience to God's commandments). It says 'for the hour of his judgment is come.' To know when the 'hour' of God's judgment is come, there must be a time prophecy that ties in with this. Is there one? Yes. The 2300 day prophecy of Daniel 8 to do with the 'cleansing of the sanctuary,' ties in perfectly with this. There is a link at the bottom of this page to a study on the 2300 day prophecy. But simply put, just as the high priest in the Old Testament type, on the day of atonement (judgment) went into the most holy place to 'cleanse' the sanctuary of the sins of God's people, Jesus, at the end of the 2300 day prophecy, went into the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary to cleanse our sins, not just from the record books, but from our very lives, as we are the 'temple of God' on earth (1 Cor.3:16). We have to go in by faith with Jesus into the most holy place, to receive His righteousness and have our sins cleansed and the commandments of God written upon our hearts and minds, so that we BECOME righteous DOERS of God's holy law.
This truth went forward from 1844, the fulfilling year of the 2300 day prophecy of Daniel, the year Christ went into the most holy place in heaven to begin 'the hour of judgment.' Sadly, most of professed Christendom rejected this truth and thus the proclamation of the second angel's message that 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen' was given to the various churches. The various churches which rejected this truth became fallen Babylon and were counted as one with their 'mother' - the 'mother of harlots,' the Roman Catholic Church, who seek to change the commandments of God so that they can keep their traditions. THUS THEY REJECT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST.
Remember! He who knows righteousness has God's law in his heart (Isaiah 51:7). So if we reject ANY of God's ten commandments, or seek to change any of them. We are rejecting the righteousness of Christ!
Thus we come to the third angel's message of Revelation 14:9-12 and the great conflict in the world. On the one side are those who reject the commandments of God in favor of the commandments and traditions of man, like Sunday keeping and the false trinity god, and thus they receive the mark of the beast and are lost. On the other side are those who have received the righteousness of Christ by faith and have God's law written in their hearts and minds and are thus KEEPING the commandments of God, just as Revelation 14:12 confirms:
Revelation 14:12 ...'Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, and the faith of Jesus.'
The true saints of God don't just 'know' about righteousness. They are LIVING it through the faith of Jesus Christ and this is made manifest by obedience to all of God's commandments. This truth the various churches have rejected in favor of holding onto the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. And have thus become part of 'fallen Babylon.' This is the reason for the final call from God in Revelation 18:4 for His people who have still not responded to this truth to 'COME OUT' of fallen Babylon (the fallen churches), so that they don't receive of her plagues and be forever lost!
Friends. God is the writer of the SAME LAW. Under the old covenant He wrote it on the tables of stone. Under the new covenant He writes it on the tables of our heart (2 Corinthians 3:3). But that law of ten commandments does NOT change. It is the ministration of that law that changes, and those who 'know righteousness' have that law of ten commandments written upon their hearts and in their minds (Isaiah 51:7). Not just the letter of the law, but the 'spirit' of the law, ie, even thinking wrong thoughts is sin, or not doing good to your neighbour is sin. ALL unrighteousness is sin as 1 John 5:17 confirms. Also knowing to do good and not doing it is sin as James 4:17 confirms. Jesus showed us all of this in His life and teachings on earth.
The final warnings are going out to the world. Will you receive the righteousness of Christ, by daily yielding your own life, denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus? If you do, then Jesus will MAKE your life righteous by writing God's commandments upon your heart, causing you to KEEP God's commandments. But if we reject any of God's ten commandments or seek to change them, then Christ cannot write the law upon our hearts and cannot make us righteous. All who do this will end up worshipping the beast, receive its mark and be forever lost. I pray you can see the truth of this.
For more important studies in connection with this, please see the following: