The Will of the Father
Do the will of the father; i.e. keep
His commandments.
Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
The Revelation of Jesus
Revelation, which is the revelation of Jesus, was given Him directly from God the Father and passed on to John the Revelator.
Seven times in Revelation 2 and Revelation 3, God, through Jesus, through John, calls for the churches to hear Him:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
And to the church of Laodicea, the last church age before the second coming:
Revelation 3:14-21
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
This is the same message Jesus gave during His ministry (Matthew 7:21-23; above) The last church age has some serious issues. God thought it important to make the statement, I think we need to take it seriously.
The Final Warning
In Revelation 22:12-16, Jesus points again to God the Father.
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
I [Jesus] am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Blessed are they that do his [God the Father] commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. [sinners]
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
God, through Jesus, through John, is telling us to come to obedience.
Perfection: What is Love?
(No, not Haddaway.)
Commandment keeping <-> Love
1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Can we be perfect? Yes. His commandments are not grievous.
1 John 4:12 ...If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Conclusions
Bullet points from this post and my previous:
- There was no "new" law of love, Jesus was quoting Old Testament scripture (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Leviticus 19:18). Jesus pointed to the commandments of the Father. The law and the prophets hang on love.
- It was made clear that the law was not done away with, but that love and the law are intertwined and cannot be separated.
- God the Father, through Jesus, through John, warned of lukewarm Christianity, of sin creeping into the church. Sin is transgression of the law.
- Prophecy states that the church falls away into apostasy. The tradition of men is put before the word of God, in place of the very commandments He gave.
- God sanctified the seventh day at creation and then wrote a commandment in stone twice with His own hand, telling us to remember it and keep it holy. He wrote nine other commandments along with it. All should be kept.
- The law issue will come to a head and a choice must be made by each of us. Follow man or follow God. Observe the traditions of men or the law of God. The wheat will be separated from the chaff.
The whole law
can be practiced today.
If the saints keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12, Revelation 12:17), then wouldn't you want to be a saint? If the law cannot be wholly kept, then how is it that those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus are considered saints?
It stands to reason, then, that obedience is the keeping of
all of the commandments of God and the faith (and testimony) of Jesus, which includes the spirit of prophecy that points to the very apostasy that has manifested itself in the churches, up to and including present-day.
Obey God, not men.
It doesn't matter what I say, or anyone else says. What matters is what scripture says.
