AUTHORITY- The FINAL TEST

 James 4:12 ...'There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.'

Isaiah 33:22 ...'For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.'

Please take careful note that we have 'one lawgiver' and that is 'the LORD.' He is the 'living God', the Father, who is 'judge of all' the earth, who has committed judgment unto His Son Jesus (Hebrews 12:22-23; Romans 2:16). And what is that one supreme law unto which the whole world is to place their allegiance to? Well, we have a warning in the Old Testament that is to be repeated in the end times for all mankind. Let's take a look.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ...'Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.'

Revelation 14:6-12 ...'And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, 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. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'

Again ... "Fear God and give glory to Him ... Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

Did you notice in Ecclesiastes 12 that the 'keeping of the commandments of God' was not just for the Jews, but for MANKIND? Did you notice in Revelation 14 that the 'everlasting gospel', which includes the 'keeping of the commandments of God' is not just for the Jews, but for EVERY NATION, KINDRED, TONGUE AND PEOPLE? This has been God's message since day one in this world, and it has never changed. It is these commandments of God that Jesus said ... "till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law." (Matthew 5:18). Has heaven and earth passed away yet? Then what does that mean for God's commandments, those great ten moral precepts for all mankind? It means not one jot or tittle has passed from them!

Both Ecclesiastes 12 and Revelation 14 warns the world to 'fear God.' But what does it mean to fear God?

Proverbs 8:13 ...'The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.'

Psalm 34:11-14 ...'Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.'

So living in the fear of God is not to literally be afraid of God, but to hate the things that God hates - SIN. And if we are to 'hate sin', then what are we to do? Love righteousness! So to 'fear God' is really to love righteousness. And Psalm 119:172 says that 'God's commandments are righteousness'. So to fear God, as the end time warning in Revelation 14 says, is to place ourselves under the authority of our Creator, seeking His righteousness, the righteousness of His law and character, which will be fulfilled in us through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:3-4 ...'For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.'

The righteousness of the law CAN be fulfilled in us, in our lives, if we would submit ourselves to the authority of the Great Lawgiver and allow His Spirit to do that work in us, 'transforming us, by the renewing of our minds' (Romans 12:1-2). This can only be achieved through faith ... 'I will put my spirit within you, and CAUSE YOU TO WALK in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.' (Ezekiel 36:27)

But there is one particular 'seal' placed within the commandments of God that is a 'sign' between God and His people that they are placing themselves under His authority - the 7th day Sabbath.

Genesis 2:1-3 ...'Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.'

Exodus 20:8-11 ...'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: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.'

Remember what message Revelation 14:6 has to give to all the world? "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." Is this not a call to the world to place themselves under the authority of our Creator, the one true God - THE FATHER (John 17:3, 1 Corinthians 8:6) and to keep His 7th day Sabbath as a sign of our allegiance and LOVE towards Him? Do you not see the clear connection? Do you not see that the 4th commandment points back to creation and calls the 7th day of creation 'THE SABBATH DAY'?

The Sabbath is not only a sign of original creation which was complete and perfect, it is also the sign of perfect and complete salvation. God said ... "I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." (Ezekiel 20:12) The 7th day Sabbath of the Lord is the sign and reminder of his power to save. But we can only be saved if we place ourselves under His authority!

Remember above that Ecclesiastes 12 said that the 'duty of MANKIND' is to keep the commandments of God? Well, what did Jesus say about the 7th day Sabbath? He said that "the Sabbath was made for man." (Mark 2:27) and that "the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." (Matthew 12:8). So the 7th day Sabbath is not only a sign of us giving our allegiance to God as our Creator and Lawgiver. It is also a sign that we are trusting in the salvation and sanctifying power of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Through whom God the Father has created all life, given the law of life and provided salvation.

Jesus said ... "If ye love me, keep my commandments ... He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." (John 14:15,21)

The Sabbath is the seal of God's authority and power as the "one lawgiver" (James 4:12). He is the only one who can save. Therefore to reject the 7th day Sabbath is to reject the authority of God, and His salvation!. And to substitute another day in the place of God's 7th day Sabbath is a most bold defiance against our Creator!

ENTER THE MAN OF SIN

There is a being known as 'Satan', who was once an angel of light in heaven, having the name Lucifer. The cause of his fall is described in Isaiah as follows:

Isaiah 14:12-14 ...'How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.'

It was the exaltation of self that caused the fall of Lucifer and his desire to 'be like the Most High.' But to be like God you would also be a 'lawgiver.' As we know, Satan became the 'god of this world' through deceiving man from his loyalty to God. And thus Satan now had his own 'subjects' through whom he could execute his own law in defiance of the one Great Lawgiver, our Creator JEHOVAH. The full development of this satanic spirit against the one true lawgiver is told by the apostle Paul as follows:

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 ...'Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.'

That name 'man of sin' literally means 'the LAWLESS one.' And what did the apostle John say is a definition of 'sin'? That "sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4). The man of sin is the 'lawless one' because he is the one whom Satan uses to set himself up against the authority of our Creator and His eternal law. And Daniel 7 prophesied of this coming 'lawless one' as follows:

Daniel 7:8,24-25 ...'I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things ... And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and THINK TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.'

What 'times and laws' would this little horn power think to change? The times and laws of our Creator. This 'little horn', which becomes the beast out of the sea in Revelation 13 is that very 'man of sin', the 'lawless one' whom Satan would use to deceive the world into rejecting the authority of their Creator, by substituting the 7th day Sabbath for another day - SUNday, and deceiving the churches into worshipping 'another god' - the Trinity. That little horn and man of sin who would 'think to change the times and laws' of our Creator, is the Papal Church of Rome.

- "Question. Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
Answer. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her.- she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority." (Doctrinal Catechism, Rev. Stephen Keenan (Kenedy, New York), p. 174 - source)

- "Question. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
Answer. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
Question. How prove you that?
Answer. Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin." (The Douay Catechism, Abridgment of Christian Doctrine (Kenedy, New York), p. 58 - source)

"The mystery of the Trinity is the central doctrine of the Catholic Faith. Upon it are based all the other teachings of the church." (Handbook for Today's Catholic, p. 11)

"Our opponents sometimes claim that no belief should be held dogmatically which is not explicitly stated in scripture. But the Protestant Churches have themselves accepted such dogmas, as the Trinity, for which there is no such precise authority in the Gospels." (Graham Greene, [celebrated Catholic Author], Life Magazine, 30 Oct. 1950, p.51 - source)

The Catholic Church is not so boastful today as she used to be, because she is now using deception, mixing truth with error to deceive. But the fact remains that it is by the 'authority' of the Catholic Church that the majority of churches keep the 1st day of the week and worship the false trinity god, NOT by the authority of our Creator, because if the world placed itself under the authority of God alone, then all would keep the 7th day Sabbath, and worship the Father (John 4:22-24) as the 'only true God', as a 'sign' of their allegiance to Him. Men might wrestle with the scriptures to support a change in the Sabbath and worship of a '3 in 1' trinity god, but they will find NO AUTHORITY from God for it. The authority for the change comes from the man of sin! That LAWLESS one who was prophesied to 'think to CHANGE times and laws.'

The Trinity god deception is even greater than the Sabbath deception! Not only has the Papacy deceived the world into changing the 4th commandment. She has also deceived the world into rejecting the first commandment, where God tells us to have "no other gods before Me." The scriptures tell us that God the Father is the "only true God" (John 17:1-3, 1 Corinthians 8:6). Yet the Papacy has deceived the world into changing the Father as the one true God, into a confusing '3 in 1' trinity god. And thus they also reject God's very own Son Jesus, whom He created all things by and through whom He has brought salvation to man.

So Satan has truly set himself up 'as God' in the hearts of men, through the Papal Church of Rome. Which is why God is giving the final warning to the world, to make their decision - acknowledge the Creator as the 'only lawgiver' and submit our lives under His authority, receiving the salvation of our souls, or acknowledge the man of sin as the lawgiver, submitting our lives under his authority, receiving the wrath of God and eternal death.

THE WARNING

This leads us onto the final warning from God to the world. Revelation 13 speaks of the beast out of the sea who's mark would be forced upon the world. And Revelation 14 warns of receiving that mark as follows:

Revelation 14:9-12 ...'And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'

That 'mark' is the 'mark of authority' of the Papacy, which is her claim to be able to change God's law, which strikes directly against the authority of JEHOVAH as 'the only lawgiver' (James 4:12). And that mark will be enforced upon the world one day soon through an enforced Sunday rest law, which will be set up through her 'image' (the image of the beast) in America. That image to the Papal beast is the uniting of church and state in America, through the fallen Protestant/Evangelical churches directing the affairs of the government. And one day soon the image will 'speak and cause' the world to pay homage to Papal authority through the Sunday rest law, in honor of her false trinity god.

And what is the ANSWER to the mark of the beast crisis? ... "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." (Revelation 14:12)

The answer is to place ourselves under the authority of our Creator, as the 'only lawgiver.' And by doing so, we receive the righteousness of God by faith through His Son Jesus, and the salvation of our souls. But those who place their authority upon the 'teachings of men', will end up receiving the mark of the beast and the wrath of God.

Jesus said ... "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." (John 15:10). Jesus came to teach us an exalted view of God's law, NOT to change or abolish it. And if we abide in Christ and He in us (John 15:5), then we too will keep the Father's commandments AND the faith of Jesus (Rev.14:12).

Matthew 5:17-19 ...'Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.'

Satan hates the law of God and all those who keep it through abiding in Christ, which is why we are told in Revelation 12:17 that the devil is seeking to make war with the remnant in the end times ... "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Rev.12:17). The 'dragon' is also a symbol of Rome, and it is PAPAL Rome who is seeking to destroy God's people in the end times.

The final test is coming soon friends! The mark of the beast crisis is soon upon us. Let us all place ourselves under the authority of the 'ONLY lawgiver', our Creator and keep His commandments, NOT the commandments and traditions of men ... "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men ... Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." (Mark 7:7,9)