by GC LaMar
Only until God the Father calls you, places upon you the gift of repentance, properly
baptized, and has hands laid upon you ── receiving the glorious gift of God’s Spirit
── you will remain under Satan the Devil’s authority, regardless of your religious
claims.
The very words of our Savior, Jesus Christ ──
“’ Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My
word. 44) You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want
to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for
he is a liar and the father of it.’” – John 8:43-44.
Our Lord Jesus spoke those words to religious people who claimed to know God and that He is their Father. Yet, their outright incredulous disbelief and their
disobedience to the LORD God revealed their true father: Satan the Devil.
Again, speaking to those people who claim to be religious ── “’ Not everyone who
says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom [from] heaven, but he who does
the will of My Father in heaven. 22) Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many
wonders in Your name? 23) And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” – Matthew 7:21-23.
The Greek word for “iniquity” (from the King James Version) is anomia, which means “wickedness, lawlessness,
lawless deeds.”
Most who claim to be “Christian” will be rejected by our Lord Jesus Christ,
because they practice lawlessness. They are outright, or because of ignorance,
rejecting the LORD God’s commandments──including His Sabbaths and Holy
Days.
The Apostle Paul ── under divine inspiration, writing to his close companion, Titus
── “For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision [those that are Jewish], 11) whose mouths must be stopped,
who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake
of dishonest gain. … 16) They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him,
being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” – Titus 1:10
11, 16.
Again, the Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, speaks about people claiming to be
religious, yet in the end denying the very God they claim to worship ── they “[have]
a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” – 2
Timothy 3:5.
A great many have a form of godliness ── they have a religious appearance ── but
they deny the very power of God by either outright refusal, ignorance, or disobedience. In truth, they continue in their religiosity to remain spiritually dead,
“belonging” to Satan the Devil.
The LORD God’s People: Identified by Commandment Keeping
Our Lord Jesus Christ reveals to us in the Book of Revealing ── Revelation, the
identity of His people toward the end of this present evil age: by them having within
them the Spirit of God, and by their obedience to His commandments.
Romans 8:14 ── “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are [children]
of God.”
Revelation 12:17 ── “And the dragon [Satan the Devil] was enraged with the
woman [Judah – the nation today called Israel], and he went to make war with the
rest of her offspring [the Church of God], who keep the commandments of God
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 14:12 ── “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
The very nature of the universe is a pairing of positive and negative. Things are dual,
and so will be the final conflict: good vs evil. Our Lord Jesus Christ’s people are
clearly marked: ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of
God, along with those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.’
The two groups of people ── even today ── are clearly visible: those who obey the LORD God and those who do not, those who claim faith all the while rejecting
obedience to God and the keeping of His commandments.
Revelation 22:14 ── “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may
have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city [New
Jerusalem].”
The Seal of God
The Apostle John ── inspired by a vision while on the Isle of Patmos, was told to
write in a book that the LORD God would begin sealing, on their foreheads, their
people throughout these two thousand years of all the tribes of the children of Israel
── “Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living
God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels [more than likely the four
demons that are ‘bound’ at the great river Euphrates that are waiting for God to
release them, see Rev. 9:13-15] to whom it was granted [eventually] to harm the
earth and the sea, 3) saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have
sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.’” – Revelation 7:2-3.
The seal of God marks ownership and divine protection ── spiritually marking
throughout these last two thousand years 144,000 servants of God on their foreheads
of all the tribes of the children of Israel: From Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher,
Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph [Ephraim], and
Benjamin.
Notice that Dan is not in this group. Dan is most likely the people of Ireland. And,
they are sort of hard-headed, and sort of pugnacious – they want to fight, they want
to argue. And at the present time – and for a long time – they have been totally bound up in bondage to the Roman Catholic Church.
For two thousand years – even before Jesus Christ – were servants of God that are
going to be in the glorious kingdom of God – and quoting from the King James
Version – “ … These are they which [will come after] great tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Friends, these
are people who will come AFTER tribulation – after trouble, in this end time - and,
maybe not even in this end-time, maybe it had been in the Middle Ages (from the
5th to the 15th century), and the plagues which were all around–they were in
tribulation.
But to me, the implication is, ‘don’t do any of these terrible things to the earth and
the sea until we make sure they possess God’s Spirit.’ So, these people here ──
throughout these nearly two thousand years, and even before, have obeyed the LORD
God, have been in deep prayers before the LORD God, have properly repented and
been baptized, and have had hands laid upon them ── receiving the glorious Holy
Spirit of God, which is the seal upon their foreheads.
Revelation 9:1-12 ── “Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from
heaven [the atmosphere] to the earth. [Satan the Devil and his demons are being ejected
from the atmosphere and being confined only to the earth!]. To him was given the
key to the bottomless pit. 2) And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out
of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. Then the sun and the air were darkened
because of the smoke of the pit.
3) Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power,
as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4) They were commanded not to harm the
grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not
have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5) And they were not given authority to
kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment
of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6) In those days men will seek death and will
not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.”
The LORD God’s seal protects His people from harm and destruction. Without this
spiritual seal on your forehead ── the angels (more than likely the four demons that
are ‘bound’ at the great river Euphrates) will be given permission to torment people
for five months because they have been participating in outright disobedience to the
LORD God!
Our Lord Jesus Christ Fulfilled the Law & the Prophets ── Not Abolished
Our Lord Jesus plainly says ── “’ DO NOT THINK that I came to destroy the Law
or the Prophets [the first five Books of Moses and the Books of the Prophets]. I did
not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18) For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and
earth pass away [surely a reference to Revelation 21:1], one jot or one tittle will by
no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.’” – Matthew 5:17-18.
He came to fulfill the prophecies that were spoken concerning Him.
Also, He kept and observed His seventh-day Sabbath and kept and celebrated His
Holy Days ── providing for us His example.
Luke 4:16 ── “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His
custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbaths day, and stood up to read.”
John 7:2, 10, 14 ── “Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. …” – Minister
Leonard Johnson speaks concerning why this phrase was said in that way in “Let Us Observe the Feast of Tabernacles!” 10) But when His brothers had gone up, then He
also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. … 14) Now about the
middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.”
Our Lord Jesus kept His Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Day of
Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the ‘Last Great Day.’ He never suggested
that His feasts were only temporary or would be abolished.
Our Lord Jesus continued ── “’ Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these
commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom [from]
heaven; …’” – Matthew 5:19.
Our Lord Jesus came to fulfill (to complete, fill to the full, demonstrate the true
meaning of) the Law ── not to abolish it. Anyone who breaks even one of His
commandments has broken them all ── including the breaking of remembering and
keeping the Sabbath holy, and the keeping and celebrating the Holy Days ── they
will be called ‘least in the kingdom from heaven.’
Luke 16:17 ── “’ The law and the prophets were until John. …’” – The first five
books of Moses and the books of the Prophets were until John the Baptist. “ … ‘Since
that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.
17) And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law
to fail.’”
The Apostle Paul explains ── “Do we then make void the law through faith?
CERTAINLY NOT! On the contrary, we establish the law.” – Romans 3:31.
Faith does not nullify the Law of God ── it establishes it. Faith produces good
works ── obedience.
The Apostle James ── inspired by God’s Spirit, explains ── “For whoever shall
keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11) For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit
adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the [whole] law.” –
James 2:10-11.
We are all judged by the Law of God. Breaking any one point of the law ──
including the breaking of the seventh-day Sabbath ── makes you guilty of breaking
all of the commandments of God.
The Church of God Continued Observance After Christ’s Resurrection
Our Lord Jesus Christ’s apostles continued observing the holy Sabbath and keeping
and celebrating the Holy Days even after the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ ──
Acts 13:14 ── “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia,
and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.”
Acts 13:42, 44 ── “So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles
begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. … 44) On the
next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.”
So, the Gentiles of the city had asked the Apostle Paul if he would preach again the
following Sabbath ── in the first century, Saturday was referred to as “dies Sāturnī”
(Saturn’s Day), or rather in Greek, Ημέρα του Κρόνου “Imera tou Kronou” ── it
was not Ημέρα του Ήλιου “Imera tou Iliou” – Sun’s Day. If the LORD God’s holy
Sabbath had been changed to Sunday, the Apostle Paul had the perfect opportunity
here to say to the Gentiles that it had been. Instead, he met with them the following
Sabbath.
Acts 17:2 ── “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths
reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”
Acts 18:4 ── “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded
both Jews and Greeks [Gentiles].”
The Apostle Paul’s ── and to note: He was called “Saul” by our Lord Jesus in the
Hebrew language, and was born to a devout Jewish family that was living in
Tarsus, which is now a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey ──
custom was to keep and observe the holy Sabbath.
And even some 24 years after the death and glorious resurrection of our Savior, Jesus
Christ ── the Apostle Paul, writing to the saints in ancient Corinth ── “Therefore
purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are
unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. 8) Therefore let
us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” – 1 Corinthians 5:7-8.
Sincerity and truth, being our Lord Jesus Christ! The Apostle Paul instructs the
Gentile converts there in ancient Corinth to observe the feast ── speaking here of
the Feast of Unleavened Bread ── not with the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread (our Lord Jesus is the bread, the bread of life)
of sincerity and truth, for Jews and Gentiles alike.
Acts 20:6 ── “But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened
Bread, …”
The Church of God that was there in Philippi ── a predominantly Gentile
congregation ── observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread of the New Covenant,
demonstrating continued keeping and observance by the early Church. □
to be continued ....
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