Sabbath

     There is a great controversy occurring, which began with the entrance of sin into the universe.  It is a war between God and the Prince of Darkness.  It is a battle between right and wrong, good and evil, light and darkness, righteousness and sin, and between eternal life and eternal death.

     The Bible points out clearly where the great controversy began.  We read in Rev. 12:7-9, "And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angel, and prevailed not; neither was there place found any more in heaven.  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

     According to the inspired word the one who instigated war in heaven is now upon this earth and has deceived the whole world.  It is worthy to note that the method Satan uses to control is deception.  What could be more effective than for one to believe that they are all right when they in reality are all wrong?  What if Satan so worked his lying deceptions that the great masses of professed Christians thought that they were converted, covered, sanctified and saved, when in reality they were "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:17) being only the "synagogue of Satan." Rev. 2:9.  This is the great problem and deception in Christendom today, yet the whole professed Christian world according to Rev. 3:17 does not know it.  The master deception is people believing a lie while claiming to be saved; and in reality and truth they are lost-workers of iniquity.

     God declares that if we are born again, and He lives within us, we will by nature strive to, and desire to keep God's law of love.  We do this not in order to earn heaven, but rather we do this because the God who is love lives in us and we as a result live the law of love which is the revelation of the character of the God who lives within us.

     Beloved, genuine Christians keep the whole law of love, not just some parts that seems agreeable to them.  A thus saith the Lord on this matter is found in James 2:10-12, it clearly states "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."  Then the text goes on to call God's Ten Commandment Law, the law of liberty.  After all beloved, it is the embodiment and expression of love, which is the life of God, which sets us free from sin and death.  

     The enemy of mankind and God, has but one purpose towards mankind who was made in God's image.  And that is to cause all to rebel against God and eternal life, and thus receive the fruit of their disobedience-eternal death.  Satan knows that any willful deliberate sin, in the least particular will ultimately work our eternal ruin.  So while he may not tempt unbelievers to break all of God's commandments, he tempts through deception professed Christians to disobey just one or two points of God's law.

     The Bible declares in Rev. 13:3 that, "all the world wondered after the beast."  Here we see foretold a worldwide deception orchestrated by Satan through his chosen vehicle.  Note also beloved, over and over again in Rev. chapter 13 it plainly states, that all that dwell upon the earth are deceived by this false worship except the few chosen ones whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

     The truth is there are many points which the professed Christian world has deliberately discarded of God's law of liberty as unimportant.  But there is one point which has been disregarded above all others.  It is the point which God in His infinite foresight commanded all to "Remember" Ex 20:8.

     Any sincere seeker of truth can easily understand that when God commanded "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."  Ex. 20:8-11 it was not a new institution.  First of all God started with the word remember.  The holy record records in Gen. 2:1-3 that the Sabbath had its origin at creation.  God created different thing every day of creation week, and on the seventh-day God instituted the Sabbath.  It is a part of creation.  If one can change what occurred on any other day of creation week, then can they also change what was instituted on the 7th day of creation week.  This is impossible.

     Furthermore the Bible records in Ex. 20:10, "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God."  And when God in the flesh walked among men He declared ,"The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day" Matt 12:8.  So here is the relevance of these two texts.  The Sabbath is God's appointed rest time.  It was God who instituted the 7th day Sabbath.  It is the seventh day Sabbath of the Lord thy God.  Men do not appoint Sabbath days, God does.  Men can not sanctify any day and make it holy, only God can.  No day becomes holy simply because men decide that that is the day they choose to go to church on.  Man cannot change God's law, and to be certain, men can not change what occurred on creation week.  It is the Devil, who has worked through apostate religious bodies, who has presumed to change God's creation work and law.

     The system of Roman Catholicism has boldly dared to change what God has established.  This same Papal authority boldly declares that there is no Biblical authority for the change of the 7th day Sabbath.  They simply assert that the change was made by them - the church, and the fact that the whole Protestant world keeps a thus saith the church of Rome above a plain thus saith the Bible, proves that they had the authority to make the change.  Moreover, they declare that all of Protestanism are the daughters of Catholicism the mother church, because they keep the day holy that Papal Rome has instituted.  Catholicism declares that the Protestants who profess to follow the Bible and the Word of God alone, in reality follow the mother church by keeping holy the day of rest instituted by Papal Rome.

     Satan has stolen from professed Bible believing Protestant Christians loyalty to their Creator.  The lie that the Sabbath was instituted in the days of Moses is clearly falsehood to all who will but read God's account of creation.

     Beloved, if in you, a spirit of resentment and anger, intolerance and refusal to hear, arises when the truth concerning God's 7th day Sabbath is mentioned, then do you know that the spirit of enmity against God and truth is resident in your soul.  Many hate the subject and do not know why.  Beloved it is the spirit of the enemy of God, Satan influencing mankind to be guilty of one point so that they are guilty of all, and thus destined to share eternal death with the Devil and His demons.  And Satan works this deception while all Christendom believes that they are saved.  One day, for all who will not repent they will hear the words from Jesus "Depart from me I never knew you, ye that work iniquity" Matt 7:23.