THE FAITH OF JESUS
Lesson 20
Page 2 of
2
l page 1 l page 2 l
Satan has obscured the
importance of the first four
commandments from most of the world.
He has especially cloaked the fourth
commandment, which contains divine
instruction on worship, in darkness.
Satan’s purpose for doing this
quite simple. If people forget
their Creator, they will turn to
other gods, for man needs a god of
some kind. Man needs something
to look up to – something to
worship. We were created with
this need. And if man forgets
his Creator, he creates his own
god(s).
Satan has had enormous
success in displacing the creator
with man-made gods. The
trumpets correct this. People
all over the globe will be awakened
to the knowledge of the true, living
and omnipotent God! The
everlasting gospel will contain a
clarion call to worship the Creator
on His holy day.
Review the fourth
commandment on preceding page and
notice the following:
- The seventh
day of the week is holy
because Jesus rested on the
seventh day to commemorate
the creation of the world!
He made the seventh day
uniquely different from the
other six at creation!
See Genesis 2:2,3.
- The seventh
day alone is holy. The
other six days are for our
use and work.
- Knowing that
Satan would lead the world to
forget the Sabbath, Jesus
begins the fourth commandment
with, “Remember.”
But the law of God was
nailed to the cross
If you ask most
Christians about the Ten
Commandments, they will agree that
nine of the ten are valid and
important. It’s against
the law to steal, kill, commit
adultery, curse God or worship idols.
In fact, most of the Christian world
is comfortable with nine of the Ten
Commandments are readily acknowledge
that they are the basis of morality.
But ask most Christians about the
fourth commandment and you’ll
suddenly hear that the Ten
Commandments were nailed to the cross
and not binding.
It is the my opinion
that lawlessness abounds in America
for this simple reason. For two
hundred years Protestants clerics
have taught that the ten commandments
of God are not binding. If we
would reason from cause to effect, we
would recognize the hopeless state in
which our society finds itself is due
to the practice of this very
doctrine. Where there is no
law, there is no order, safety or
harmony. The alternative is
chaos, death, suffering and evil of
every sort.
Many Christians
can’t reconcile the simultaneous
harmony between law and grace. They,
however, do exist and harmoniously
relate. We need grace because
there is a law. If there were
no law, grace wouldn’t be
needed! In fact, if there is no
law, there can be no sin! See Roman
4:15 and I John 3:4-6. And
grace does not do away with the law
either! Romans 3:31
In practice, the
harmony of law and grace is easy to
understand if you are married. When
two people are united in love, there
are certain nonnegotiable rules that
must be followed. Faithfulness
is one such rule. So it is with
our Creator. If we love Him, we
will abide by His non-negotiable
rules. These are known as the
Ten Commandments.
Different people
People may be grouped
into a variety of categories
concerning the Law of God.
1.
There are people ignorant of the
requirements of God’s law.
These have not had sufficient reason
or opportunity to know and inquire
about God’s will.
2.
There are people who are negligent or
careless about God’s law. These
people know about God’s law, but
pursuit of earthly things make
religious interest and practice a low
priority.
3.
There are those who observe the law
as a final ritual necessary for
salvation. These people think they
keep the law and feel justified by
their assumed righteousness. Being
technically right is very important
to these people.
4.
There are people who believe there is
no defined or implicit law. These
people don’t believe the Ten
Commandments are necessary or binding
today. Many Christians hold
this to be true without realizing the
consequence of what they believe.
When pressed on this matter, most
Christians admit that nine of the Ten
Commandments should be lived by.
5.
There are people who openly and
defiantly rebel against God’s
law. These don’t want to
know God and don’t care what He
says.
6.
There are people seeking to know God
and sincerely want to live in harmony
with the principles of God’s
law. These are willing to go,
to be and do all that God asks.
This last group lives
by faith. They realize that the
law of God is based on two great
principles: love to God and
love to man. The first
commandments show our love to God and
the last six show our love to man.
These obey the commandments of Jesus
out of gratitude and love for his
salvation. They well know that
obedience does not merit or bring
salvation.
There is a two-step
process to harmonizing the life with
the law of God. First, a person
must realize that he cannot save
himself through obedience to the law
and that inherently, our nature is
attracted to sin or lawlessness.
This is why we need grace – for
all have sinned. Secondly,
those willing to live by faith
recognize that Jesus alone can
transform our sinful nature.
By opening our minds and hearts to
the sweet influence of the Holy
Spirit, we receive power to be over
comers. Sinners become saints
through this miraculous process!
Using an analogy, it means we must be
born again every day.
The final exam is a
test of faith
Jesus has carefully
designed the final exam of earth.
By allowing Satan and his forces to
gain control of the world for a short
time, He will see who has the faith
to be obedient!
Consider the issues
carefully. Circumstances will
be so desperate that obeying Jesus
will be impossible except by faith!
In other words, those who render
obedience to Jesus will only be able
to do so through faith in His
promises. This is why John
identified the remnant as follows,
“then the dragon was enraged at
the woman and went off to make was
against the rest of her offspring
– those who obey God’s
commandments and hold to the
testimony of Jesus.”
Revelation 12:17
The third angel
But, if you still have
doubts that John was talking about
the Ten Commandments when he
described the remnant, look at the
last message given to the world.
John says, “A third angel
followed them (the first two angels)
and said in a loud voice: ‘If
anyone worships the beast and his
image and receives his mark on the
forehead or on the hand, he, too,
will drink of the wine of God’s
fury, which has been poured full
strength into the cup of his wrath.
He will be tormented with burning
sulfur in the presence of the holy
angels and of the Lamb.’ This
calls for patient endurance on the
part of the saints who obey
God’s commandments and remain
faithful to Jesus.” Revelation
14:9-12
These verses contain
the most solemn threat ever presented
to the human race. The issue is
worship! This message will
sound when Satan appears on earth in
person. This message is
specifically focused on the lamb-like
beast. Notice the following
points:
- If any man
worships (submits to) the
beast that sets up the image,
(the lamb-like beast) he will
be tormented with burning
sulfur in the presence of the
Lamb of God!
- If anyone
receives the mark or permit
or worships the image (the
one-world confederation), he
will receive God’s wrath
full strength!
- Those refusing
to worship Satan must be
patient in their suffering.
They are identified as
obeying God’s
commandments and remaining
faithful to Jesus.
Of the Ten
Commandments, only one deals with
worship in an external way.
Satan knows this, and for this reason
he has lead the world into worshiping
on days other than the Lord’s
day. According to the Bible,
the Lord’s Day is Saturday.
Jesus said, “The Son of Man is
Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:28 Many Christians mistakenly
think that Sunday is the Lord’s
Day even though the Bible never says
the first day of the week is the
Lord’s Day.
Reasons to worship on
Sunday?
There is no scriptural
support for Sunday worship. When
Protestant America makes and enforces
laws regarding the sacredness of
Sunday to appease God, America will
quickly go from national apostasy to
national ruin. During the
trumpets, this nation will enact laws
enforcing worship on Sunday, a day
that is clearly and openly defiant to
the law of God Almighty! At
this time, clerics will use certain
scriptures to deceive people into
thinking that worship on Sunday is
scriptural. Here are the texts
they will use:
Some will refer to
Acts 20 for evidence that the
apostles practiced Sunday worship.
Notice, “On the first day of the
week we came together to break bread,
Paul spoke to the people and, because
he intended to leave the next day,
kept on talking until midnight.”
Acts 20:7
Note: In the
Bible, a day begins at evening and
ends in the evening. Since
creation this has been an unchanging
process. See Genesis 1:5.
The Jews also regarded a day from
evening to evening and kept the
Sabbath from Friday sundown to
Saturday sundown. See Luke 23:
50-56 and Leviticus 23:32
The timing described
in Acts 20:7 is as follow: Paul
stayed with the believers at Troas
for seven days (Acts 20:6). On
the evening of the first day of the
week, at suppertime, the believers
came together to eat supper with Paul
and to say good-bye. The first
day of the week in Paul’s time
began Saturday at sundown, or what we
now call Saturday evening. Paul
preached until midnight and then
journeyed to Assos the following
morning that was Sunday morning.
So Paul met with
believers on Saturday night to eat
supper and say good-bye. Does
this change or abrogate the fourth
commandment of God?
Some Christians argue
that Paul insists that offerings for
the poor be taken on the first day of
the week. Notice: “Now
about the collection for God’s
people: Do what I told the
Galatian churches to do. On the
first day of every week, each one of
you should set aside a sum of money
in keeping with his income, saving it
up, so that when I come no
collections will have to be made.
Then, when I arrive, I will give
letters of introduction to the men
you approve and send them with your
gift to Jerusalem.” I
Corinthians 16:1-3
In Paul’s day,
money was not a common medium of
exchange as it is today. Most
trading was done with barter; a
person traded a chicken or something
for cloth or pottery. Paul’s
instructed the Church in Corinth to
begin each week by setting aside a
sum of money so that when he came to
them, they would have the money to
send to the persecuted believers in
Jerusalem. Paul would not be
able to travel with roosters, goats,
pottery and other things of value.
Again, the question is asked,
“Does Paul’s instruction
change or abrogate the fourth
commandment of God?”
Some Christians
suggest that worship on Sunday is
proper because Jesus arose from the
dead on Sunday morning, the first day
of the week. Yes, the
resurrection is important, and the
Bible does provide a celebration of
the resurrection! Its called
baptism. Notice what Paul says,
“What shall we say, then? Shall
we go on sinning so that grace may
increase? By no means!
We died to sin; how can we live in it
any longer? Or don’t you
know that all of us who were baptized
into Christ Jesus were baptized into
his death? We were therefore
buried with him through baptism into
death in order that just as Christ
was raised from the dead through the
glory of the Father, we too may live
a new life.” Romans 6:1-4
Does baptism change or
abrogate the fourth commandment?
Not at all. In fact, only
eight texts in the New Testament
mentions the first day of the week
and not one of them say that the
sacredness of the seventh day was
transferred to Sunday!
What was nailed to the
cross?
Many Christians argue
that the Ten Commandments were nailed
to the cross. Yet, this
doesn’t solve the problem.
Whatever happens to the fourth
commandment happens to the other
nine! So what was nailed to the
cross? The key word here is
“shadow.” Notice what
Paul said to the believers in
Colosse. “For in Christ
all the fullness of the Deity lives
in bodily form, and you have been
given fullness in Christ, who is the
head over every power and authority.
When you were dead in your sins and
in the uncircumcision of your sinful
nature. God made you alive in
Christ. He forgave us all our
sins, having cancelled the written
code, with its regulations, that was
against us and that stood opposed to
us; he took it away, nailing it to
the cross. Therefore, do not
let anyone judge you by what you eat
or drink, or with regard to a
religious festival, a New Moon
celebration or a Sabbath day. These
are a shadow of the things that were
to come; the reality, however, is
found in Christ. Don’t let
anyone who delights in false humility
and worship of angels disqualify you
for the prize.”
Colossians 2:9-18
If you look at these
verses carefully, you’ll see
that Paul is talking about the
regulations regarding religious
feasts, New Moon observances and
Sabbath days. The Sabbath days
that Paul is talking about are not
found in the Ten Commandments. Rather,
the term Sabbath days here applies to
Sabbath “feast” days such
as the Passover or Day of Atonement.
See Leviticus 16:31, 23:26-32.
These feast days fell on different
days of the week (like our birthday)
because they occurred on the same
date each year. When a feast
day and the seventh day
simultaneously occurred, it was a
special holy day! The death of
Jesus incidentally, took place on
such an occasion. The Passover
in 31 A.D. occurred on the seventh
day Sabbath that year! See Mark
15:42-47 and John 19:14.
The Jews confused the
law of God with the law of Moses much
like we do today. Even though
one set of laws was written by the
finger of God, and the other, by the
hand of man, the Jews never did
understand the relationship between
the laws.
Note: The lesser
law of Moses, containing the
ceremonial rules, was kept in a
pocket on the side of the ark, while
the Ten Commandments were kept inside
the ark. See Deuteronomy
10:1,2, 31:26 After a permanent
temple was erected in Jerusalem, the
laws of Moses were not kept in the
pocket on the ark and consequently,
they were lost for awhile! See
II Kings 23:2
The Jews loved to
argue about the laws. An expert
lawyer even challenged Jesus with a
test to see which law was the
greatest! See Matthew 22:34-40.
As said before, the Jews
misunderstood the purpose of the laws
and as a result, spiritually
degenerated into a great legal system
of darkness. See Matthew
23:2-15.
When Paul began to
explain the purposes behind the laws,
and show distinction between them,
you can understand the Jewish
lawyers’ intense hatred for him.
When Paul claimed that ceremonial
laws were now meaningless, this was
too much! He was captured and
eventually died in prison for his
convictions. See Acts 21:27-36
Paul was very explicit. The
laws that were nailed to the cross
were shadows of the real thing. The
ceremonial laws requiring the
sacrifice of lambs was no longer
necessary because the Lamb of God had
died and the shadows was fulfilled.
In other words, ceremonial laws were
temporary until their meaning was
fulfilled. Consider Paul’s
dilemma. How could he get the
Jews to cease doing something they
had been doing for 1,800 years?
We have the same dilemma. How
do we get Christians to worship on
Saturday when Sunday observance has
been around going on 1,800 years?
Paul is very clear in
Hebrews 10 and Galatians 3 that the
ceremonies never brought salvation in
the first place; rather, they were
temporary and were designed to teach
us about salvation! Paul wrote
the book of Hebrews about 33 years
after Jesus returned to heaven and he
is very clear that the seventh day
Sabbath of the Ten Commandments is to
be observed. Paul says, “There
remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the
people of God for anyone who enters
God’s rest also rests from his
own work, just as God did from
his.” Hebrews 4:9,10 In
fact, all through his life, Paul
faithfully observes the seventh day
Sabbath. (See Acts 13:44,
16:13, 17:2, 18:4-11)
Can’t break one
commandment
If we take the
position that Jesus nailed the fourth
commandment to the cross, he nailed
the nine others there too. Whatever
we do with the fourth commandment, we
must do with the other nine. John
wrote the epistle bearing his name (1
John) about 70 years after the
ascension of Jesus. He
didn’t believe the Ten
Commandments had been done away with.
He says, “We know that we
have come to know him (Jesus) if we
obey his commands. The man who
says ‘I know him,’ but does
not do what he commands is a liar,
and the truth is not in him. But
if anyone obeys his word, God’s
love is truly made complete in him.
This is how we know we are in him.
Whoever claims to live in him must
walk as Jesus did.” I John
2:3-6
James wrote, “If
you really keep the royal law found
in Scripture, ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself,’ you are
doing right! But if you show
favoritism, you sin and are convicted
by the law as lawbreakers. For
whoever keeps the whole law and yet
stumbles at just one point is guilty
of breaking all of it. For he
who said, ‘Do not commit
adultery,’ also said, ‘Do
not murder’. If you do not
commit adultery but do commit murder,
you are a lawbreaker.” James
2:8-11
James brings us to an
important and fundamental conclusion
regarding the whole law, the ten
commandments of God. He says
we must obey all the commandments.
If we break one, we’re guilty of
breaking them all because the
King’s law is only fulfilled by
love. We must first love God
with all our heart, mind and soul and
then our fellowman as ourselves.
Keeping the Sabbath
will not save anyone. This is
why the final test is carefully
designed to test faith. Will
you have the faith to obey God?
Summary
Solomon summed up the
issues of life. He said,
“Now all has been heard: here
is the conclusion of the matter; Fear
God and keep his commandments, for
this is the whole duty of man. For
God will bring every deed into
judgment, including every hidden
thing, whether it is good or
evil.” Ecclesiastes
12:13,14
So here’s the
conclusion. Those who love
Jesus will obey Him and keep His
commandments even though Satan arrays
the whole world in opposition. The
observance of the seventh day Sabbath
will be the object through which the
supreme test of love and faith for
Jesus will come. This test will
expose those who love Jesus enough to
live by faith. This test will
separate the entire world into two
camps: Those worshiping the
lamb-like beast and those worshiping
the Lamb of God. This test puts
an entirely new meaning on the
concept that eternal life comes by
faith! Do you have enough faith
in God to obey Him at any cost?
Where will you stand?
Quiz:
1.
What is so spectacular about the
144,000?
2.
What does the first angel’s
message say?
3.
What does the second angel’s
message say?
4.
What does the third angel’s
message say?
5.
How are the remnant identified?
Memory Verse: Hebrews
4:9,10 “There remains,
then, a Sabbath-rest for the people
of God for anyone who enters Gods
rest also rests from his own work,
just as God did from his.”
Notes:
l page 1 l page 2 l
