Why I Warn You to Obey Gods Sabbaths I was raised as a Baptist and attended and ministered in a Baptist church and school for most of my life. Ive read through the Bible numerous times and have taught it for many years. As a Baptist I have attempted to interpret the Bible literally, and have been taught that Baptists believe ONLY the Word of God, “every word of it.” I have always maintained an interest in studying about Christs Millennial Kingdom (1000 Year Kingdom – Kingdom of God – Kingdom Age). Prior to that Kingdom Age all Christians will stand before Jesus at the Bema Seat judgment. There we will be judged for our works. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (Matt 16:27) If any mans work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1Cor 3:15) The question “suffer loss” has a long time plagued me. Suffer loss of what? The teaching Id received was that Christians were eligible for five rewards and the “loss” would be any or all of the five rewards. For a long time I accepted that at face value, but later in my own investigations I began to see a different picture. Not that the first was wrong, but that it did not go far enough. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (1Pet 1:9) hmm. I thought my soul was already saved. After all, I regularly went “soul winning” and had lead scores of people to pray the “sinners prayer” for salvation. In continuing to study I repeatedly saw that obedience to God was inextricably tied to salvation. 17 So also faith, if it is unaccompanied by obedience, is dead – so long as it stands alone. (Jas 2:17) Even a hymn we regularly sang speaks of that: “Trust and Obey.” And then, the question that began to burn in my soul was, “Obedience to God means to obey Gods commandments. What are Gods commandments?” Obviously, the Ten Commandments. I know scripture well enough to understand that nowhere in the New Testament is there a nullifying of Gods Ten Commandments. Id always attempted to obey nine of the ten, but the fourth commandment about keeping the Sabbath day holy was never on my radar. The short story of it is that the Holy Spirit began to convict my heart to obey all of Gods Commandments, even the fourth one. Why? Because I do not want to come under Gods judgment of missing Christs 1000 Year Kingdom. Yes, that is exactly what will happen if you deliberately disobey ANY of Gods Ten Commandments. The reason the Israelites in the Old Testament that God destroyed in the forty year wilderness travels was because they would not obey His Sabbaths. Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. (Ezek 20:21) For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek... (Rom 10:12) 28 Because a person is not a [true] Jew who is [only] one outwardly, nor is [true] circumcision something outward in the flesh;29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—in spirit, not letter—whose praise is not from men but from God. (Rom 2:28-29) Now all these things happened to them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the world are come. (1Cor 10:11) God encourages us to, Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (Heb 4:11) My friends, I truly believe that all who disobey Gods holy Sabbath day will suffer the loss of the Millennial Kingdom. That is the reason I continue to post on FaceBook and discuss and argue with some. I cannot put in a kinder way. Unless you willingly obey Gods Commandments He will not permit you into His Kingdom. 26 Because, if we deliberately keep on sinning after having received the real knowledge of the Truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,27 just a certain fearful anticipation of judgment and fierce fire that is ready to consume the hostiles.28 Anyone who rejected Moses’ law died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be deemed worthy who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has regarded as unholy the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?30 For we know Him who said, “‘Vengeance is up to me’, says the Lord, ‘I will repay’.” And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God! (Heb 10:26-31) Will we (Do I) fail? Of course we fail, but we must quickly repent and go on obeying. We cannot become guilty of deliberate disobedience and expect to receive THE great reward of the Millennial Kingdom. Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, always. (Deut 11:1) 13 Do thou also charge the children of Israel, saying, Take heed and keep my sabbaths; for they are a sign with me and among you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that sanctifies you.14 And ye shall keep the sabbaths, because this is holy to the Lord for you; he that profanes it shall surely be put to death: every one who shall do a work on it, that soul shall be destroyed from the midst of his people.15 Six days thou shalt do works, but the seventh day is the sabbath, a holy rest to the Lord; every one who shall do a work on the seventh day shall be put to death.16 And the children of Israel shall keep the sabbaths, to observe them throughout their generations.17 It is a perpetual covenant with me and the children of Israel, it is a perpetual sign with me; for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and on the seventh day he ceased, and rested. (Exod 31:13-17) One cannot read the New Testament with realizing that in Gods eyes there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile. (For those of you who believe that the loss is eternal I encourage you to read “The Dualism of Eternal Life” by Pastor S. S. Craig. He explains how the word translated “eternal” apparently really means “to the end of the age.”)
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 12:10:29 +0000
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