As the plague wreaks havoc on the human race, don’t lose sight of God’s warning to a world that has entirely rejected Him, who has created, maintained. and sustained us for His own purpose; and commanded us to worship Him for who He is, the creator, giver and sustained of all things. Thinking people are not content to be told that these strange happenings in the scientific, social and economic world are merely accidental and will soon disappear.
Is the bible the word of God, has He warned us that these things would overtake us if we failed to obey His instructions; do we have examples from which to draw? To all of these the bible answered yes, starting with Adam’s disobedience; and not Eve’s. According to Gen. 2: 15-17 after God created the man God put him in His Garden with a strict command that he could eat of every tree of the Garden except one, and the day he should eat of it “he would surely die”. In this command the man was given the power of choice, he recognizes the authority of his creator, the boundaries of his freedom and the severe penalties for disobeying (Eve was yet unborn); compare Deu.28 where God instructed Moses to pen, for our benefit, the prosperity associated with obeying His commands versus the disaster that accompanied disobedience.
Consider God’s Ten Commandments as stepping stones to Heaven. Miss one and we are sure to fall. Jam. 2:10 puts it like this, “Break one you break all”. This is where God’s justice is applied. (Giving you what you deserve). We break His law, we suffer the punishment. Yes, He will help us up to continue our heaven bound journey if we ask Him. This is His mercy (stopping us from getting that which we deserve – eternal death). Having lift us up to continue our journey, we receive grace. That’s why preachers shout, ” you are saved by grace alone” without telling their hearers that unless they fall, (breaking God’s commandments) they don’t need grace.
Paul argued that a sinner is under the law and its penalty until he/she receives grace. Then in Rom. 6/1 Paul asked, ”Shall we continue sinning that we may receive more grace; and in verse 15 he asked, “shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? In both questions the answer is no. Paul is saying that once we receive grace God does not expect us to continue in the same sin pattern. As result of this relationship between law and grace, it is safe to conclude that God has only one church, namely: All His children who strive to obey all of His commandments, without respect to race, colour or gender. If you believe this statement, then read on, if not, then stop reading before you commit sin.
The spiritual battle between good and evil (God and Satan) is over worship and worship alone. Any challenge to God or His words is evil, period. It started with Eve in the Garden of God. Why Eve? Because Satan’s objective was to control Adam, created in God’s image; but it was not possible since Adam possessed God’s nature, Gen. 1:27; 2:7, 2:19 and scripture clearly states that he that is born of God cannot sin because God’s seed remain in him., 1 Jn.3:9; Jn.1:13. Satan knew he could not trip Jesus in the wilderness, because, like Adam, Jesus bears the image of God. So, Satan’s only hope was through Eve (one with Adam’s DNA, see Gen. 2/22, 6:1-2, 1 Cor. 11:7). What a success? So Adam rebelled against God and Satan captured the human race and the battle rages on with Satan creating an opposite of whatever is good to the benefit of God and man.
Ponder for a moment the feeling of a merciful God, who, through the nation of Israel, gave the human race Ten specific commands, as a transcript of His character and His desire to reconcile man back to Himself after the fall. Among them He specified that man should remember to worship Him and rest from their labour on the 7th day of the week; because it is special to Him in that He too rested on the 7th day after completing His work of creating the universe, Gen. 2:2. To assist us in remembering the day, He set that day apart from the other six by ordaining it “Holy” and called it His Sabbath, Ex. 31:13 and His Holy Day Isa.58/13. Furthermore, He attached special blessings to its observance, Isa.58:13-14. Once again, man rebelled. No wonder He said that it grieved Him at the heart and He regretted that He made man, Gen.6/6.
But why would Satan want a rest day? Simple, because he wants to be like God, Ezk. 28:2-3; and God has one; the 7th day identifies God as the creator. To be like God, Satan must without fail, have a rest day and a church, being the prince of this world, Jn. 12:31, 14:30; it is necessary to confirm his earthly authority, Job 1:7. Then where is Satan’s church? Once we have identified God’s church as the one obedient to His will, then all else belong to Satan. There is no independent church, we are either campaigning for God or Satan, and we cannot campaign for God without obeying His commands, Jn.15:14. The question which arise naturally from this statement is whether a merciful God, who said that He does not wish that any should perish, accepts the worship of the Christian world of today that established its own day and reasons for their worship of Him?
There are only two kind of sinners in existence, represented by Adam or Eve. Adam showed no acknowledgment nor remorse according to scripture; instead, he cast blame and finger pointing exhibiting a rebellious and stubborn attitude, much like Trump. Sinners with Adams attitude surely will receive God’s justice. Eve appears to be more admissive and sorry for her wrong; ‘I was deceived’ she replied, (deception immediately rob us of our power of choice). To this type of sinner, God is calling to come out from amongst the world system including the false religious systems, (Babylon, Rev.18:1-3). “Come out of her my people that you be not partaker of her sins and receive not of her plagues” v.4. ” If you love me, obey my commandments”, Jesus said, Jn.14:15; Again He said: ’You are my friends if you do what I command you’, Jn. 15:14. for this is the love of God, that we obey His commandments, 1 Jn. 5:3; He that say I know Him and obey not His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him, 1 Jn. 2:4; Let us not love God in words neither in tongue but in deed and in truth, says 1 Jn.3:18; and David sums it up this way: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, Honour God and obey His commandments for this is the WHOLE duty of man”, Eccl. 12:13.
It would appear from the verses above that obedience to God’s commandments is a prerequisite to reaching heaven after obtaining grace; as Paul asked us, “do we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Rom. 6:15. How should I worship God then, according to His dictates or according to my own convenience, tradition or the commandments of man? You be my Judge.
Scripture record the story of king Saul whom God commanded to go and utterly destroy the Amalekite nation with their possesions. Saul went; but brought back from the battle the Amalekites’ king and choiced animals. When confronted by Samuel, he replied, ‘Yes, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord ………and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites’. Samuel then assured him that God was more interested in obedience rather than sacrifice, after Saul blamed his army for taking back the animals to sacrifice to the Lord. Samuel further explained that rebellion was like witchcraft and stubbornness was like idolatry, 1 Sam. 15:1-25. Would you not agree that this is a powerful lesson for us on the subject of strict obedience to God’s will ? Note too, that in his quest for mercy, Saul turned to Samuel instead of going to the Lord. Do we have Christians today who seek repentance through man?
Some say the commandments were given to ancient Israel only; some say it was nailed to the cross; some say it was changed by reason of Christ resurrection on a Sunday; some point to John’s statement in Rev.1/10 as proof of a Sabbath change. However, none of these statements are biblical and all are, without exception, the doctrines of man as agents of the devil in the creation of his own church.
Be not deceived. John, under inspiration by the Holy Spirit, could only be referring to the Sabbath day as the “Lord’s day” since he walked with the one who claimed lordship over the Sabbath, without any change from the original created in Gen. 2:2-3. This same John later in his vision declared that we should worship the creator of heaven and earth, Rev. 14:7. It seems almost impossible to truly and truthfully worship the creator without respecting the day He set apart as His memorial, Ex. 20: 10-11. Furthermore, in v.12 John, declared, “Here are the patience of the saints and they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus”, in what appears to be an identification of God’s true church. Let me hasten to say that I don’t believe that John here, was referring to the Seventh Day Adventist religionists or any other religious denomination
Allow me to say that I have yet to find where God asked us to be religious; but He said ‘Be holy as I am holy. In other words, be righteous, do the right thing. So, if I take hold of Isa. 58:13 refraining from doing my own work and delight myself in His Sabbath; accept that as a child of God, there is a rest day appointed for me, Heb.4/8; accept that His commandments speak individually to me; accept that the day was made for man to rest, as Jesus said, then I believe that I have fulfilled its requirements, devoid of any religious denomination or affiliation. True, iron sharpened iron; and we should not forsake the assembling of the brethren, says scripture, but do I sin by not going to church? Like Jesus said, ‘the Sabbath was made for man’ to enjoy its true benefits and blessings that flow from honoring its creator. In other words, none of the commandments dictate that I should identify with a religious organization.
My belief becomes more practical during this pandemic and will be more acceptable as technology increases and Satan continues to expand his one-world government system through governmental restrictions. Wait! Can you unravel the reasons behind the following events: Is God gradually withdrawing His Spirit from man? Gen. 6:3 – nature is rapidly changing. The European Union including Italy (Rome), and the Americas almost entirely controlled by the Roman Catholic religion and its daughters -the Sunday churches, Rev. 17:3- The removal of Hilary Clinton for an angel of the devil here in the U S. Even
the death of a liberal supreme court judge which triggers the appointment of a quasi religionist to complete a 6 to 3 split in favour of the devil’s plan. Check out the rapid growth of homo and same sex relationship internationally. In fact, just last week the Pope gave his blessing to this relationship; and this Monday the Media reported that Catholic church in France went to court to fight against the lockdown affecting the church; and you might have read about the Jewish church and the Catholic who went to court against the New York Governor who sought to limit their church attendance due to the pandemic, and won. Could these be God’s church I wondered?
Then this plague, which man labeled a virus, because they refuse to accept God’s definition. Through Satan’s deception, they believe it will go away soon and things will return to normal; despite the fact that there isn’t a single country that remains untouched by its ravages. Ponder the mask, the social distancing, the international restriction on travel and the economic fallout; not to mention the mental, physical, social and emotional damage. Watch this worldwide vaccine drive and its ID card in relation to Rev. 13:16-17. Could it be fake news when the media, reported that the UN warned that some fourteen countries are at high risk of experiencing ‘famine of biblical proportion’ starting in 2021 unless help starts flowing now? To believe that the worst is just around the corner is to understand bible prophecies.
May God help us through this time of trouble while we consider the call to worship our creator.