So my brothers &sisters, what does scripture teach us of Satans conflict against God?

[reddogs]

In Leviticus 26, God admonishes Israel to walk in His ways and then He proceeds to list the blessings that would flow from obedience and the calamities that would plague them should they decide to turn their back on Him. In the great conflict between good and evil, there are only two sides - those aligned under the pagan standard of Satan and those aligned under the blood stained banner of Jesus Christ. Paganism is Satan’s answer to the Gospel. It is pleasing to the senses, it is tangible and because it is a system of salvation by works, it appeals to the fallen nature of man. To see, to feel, to touch, to do, to experience elation, these are things that are real to the human psyche, and because of this, paganism is so alluring and dangerous. The introduction to God’s list of blessings and curses, recorded in Leviticus, is very revealing:
Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. Leviticus 26:1,2

First there is the warning against idolatry, then the admonishment to keep the Lord’s sabbaths and reverence His sanctuary. Idolatry is directly opposed to these ordinances of God. The Sabbath of the ten commandments and the sabbaths of the ceremonial law distinguished the people of God from all other nations and bound them to God as His covenant people. God called the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments a sign between them and Him forever, for He was the One that sanctified them. (Exodus 31:17) The sanctuary pointed the way to salvation by the blood of the lamb and not salvation by works. The sanctuary teaches us that salvation lies outside ourselves. It is a gift of God, and only through Jesus Christ can it be obtained. What a humbling thought to the unrenewed mind.

The ten commandments are a transcript of God’s character. The first four commandments pertain to our relationship with God and the last six commandments pertain to our relationship with our fellow man. Taken individually, there is an inescapable logic to each of these commandments. It is obvious why we should not kill, why we should not lie to each other or steal from each other. And coveting that which belongs to one’s neighbour has caused much misery in the history of mankind.
The Sabbath commandment is different. There is no implicit logic in this commandment. There is no specific reason why one should keep the seventh-day Sabbath, other than that God specifically commanded it. More than any other commandment, the Sabbath is thus a test of faith. The Sabbath commandment contains elements not contained in any of the other commandments. It states the name of the Lawgiver (Lord or YHWH), His territory (heaven and earth), and His title (Creator). These three components comprise what is known as a seal, and lend authority to the law. The ten commandments gain their validity only from the royal seal of the Creator God embodied in the Sabbath commandment.

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, nor thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord (name) made (Creator) the heavens and the earth (jurisdiction), the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20: 8-11

In ancient times, kings were required to ratify decrees or commands with the royal seal. (Daniel 6:8, 1 Kings 21:8) Without a royal seal, no law would be valid. Moreover, even with a royal seal, a law is only valid in the area of the king’s jurisdiction. (American law would not be applicable in Switzerland. Decrees issued by a president of any country would likewise not be applicable in another country.) So in a sense, it can be said that without a seal, no law would be valid anywhere. Likewise the ten commandments.

In order to understand the significance of the Sabbath, we have to turn to its very origins. The Sabbath was established at creation (Genesis 2:1-3). It is thus not a Jewish institution, but an institution deriving its origin from the very cradle of man. In the Sabbath commandment, the Sabbath serves as a reminder of God’s creative act. And in Deuteronomy 5:15, the Sabbath serves as a sign of God’s redemptive act:
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. NKJV

All human beings are slaves to sin, and God in Jesus Christ brought us out of sin with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. The Sabbath thus serves as a constant reminder of God’s redemptive act. The Bible teaches us that Christ Himself is the Creator. (Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2) The Sabbath was a test of obedience (Exodus 16:4,5) and a memorial that would stand forever (Exodus 31:16,17).

The significance of the Sabbath as a test cannot be overestimated. God could have chosen any memorial to His creative act, but He chose a memorial set in time. Time cannot be eradicated or eliminated in the same way that a physical memorial, such as a city or holy place, could be eradicated.

If Christ Himself, the Creator, instituted the Sabbath for man (Mark 2:27) , then one could well ask why would He change it? Jesus, in fact, kept the Sabbath day faithfully. He even used the Sabbath day to announce His mission on earth (Luke 4: 16,18,19, John 9:14, Matthew 12: 8,12, Luke 13:14-17). In Isaiah 42:21, the prophet predicts that the Messiah would come to magnify the law, not to change it or declare it null and void. And in Matthew 24:20, Jesus eludes to the Sabbath in connection with future generations. The disciples of Jesus likewise kept the Sabbath day.

 

[reddogs]

So some immeadiately post:

"So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. " Colossians 2: 16, 17 NKJV

The handwriting of ordinances refers to the ceremonial law or shadow laws which pointed to the ministry of Christ. The sabbaths referred to in verse 16 are mentioned together with food, drink, and festivals, none of which occur in the moral law. Paul is thus stating that the ceremonial law together with all the special sabbaths find their fulfilment in Christ. They were a “shadow of things to come” (Christ), as he states in verse 17. The Sabbath of the ten commandments is a memorial to creation and redemption, and are not a shadow of things to come. Christ did not abolish the law. Indeed, he states:
Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets, I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. Matthew 5:17 NKJV

If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15.

The Bible teaches us that the Lord does not change.
I am the Lord, I change not. Malachi 3:6

As one can readily see, God's law is a transcript of His character, it is an embodiment of His love. It can no more change or end than can the eternal God Himself.

Did Jesus change the law or the Sabbath? No. He kept His Father’s commandments, for He said:

...I have kept My Father’s commandment and abide in His love. John 15:10

He kept the Sabbath according to Luke 4:16:
He came to Nazareth . . . and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.

He also indicated that the Sabbath would be sacred forty years after the cross when, with reference to the coming fall of Jerusalem, He said:

Pray that your flight (from the city) be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. Matthew 24:20

Did Paul or the apostles change the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday? The inspired Word of God in the book of Acts, as written by Luke, records the keeping of 84 Sabbaths by Paul and his companions, as mentioned earlier. We note first in Acts 13:14:

But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day...

This event occurred in 45 A.D., fourteen years after the resurrection, and Paul and his associates were still observing the Sabbath. He did not go to church only to preach to the Jews, for verses 42 and 44 add:
And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. And the next Sabbath came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. Acts 13:42-44

The Gentiles also observed the Sabbath with Paul, and they heard the “word of God." No indication of a change is found. Besides worshipping in the synagogues, they also "on the Sabbath ... went out of the city by a river side." Acts 16:13 This was twenty-two years after the resurrection, in A.D. 53. Reading further, we come to Acts 17:2:

And Paul as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.

And finally:
...Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. Acts 18:1, 4

The eleventh verse adds:
And he continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them.

As this amounted to seventy-eight weeks in all, (he preached on 78 Sabbaths), which added to the above, makes 84 Sabbaths in which the Scriptures state that Paul and his companions worshipped.

Saturday, the seventh day Sabbath is taught and enjoined upon Christians throughout the Bible, while Sunday sacredness is not taught in a single text in all the Bible. If the Sabbath was not changed by God or Christ or the apostles, who changed it? We would have to go outside the Scriptures for that into another source not of God....

 

[reddogs]

The pure church of Christ taht he left in the hands fo the apostles gradually fell into apostasy. Even in the days of the apostles the great apostasy had begun to develop. Paul wrote,
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. 2 Thessalonians 2:7

He declared again:
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves, shall men arise speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:29,30

This departure from the faith would widen and grow to great proportions, said the apostle. A great “falling away”, or apostasy, would ultimately disclose “that man of sin”:
...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. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.

In Daniel chapter 2 we read of the destiny of history. In prophetic vision Daniel looks down the stream of time and sees four mighty world empires appear one after the other on the world scene. The fourth empire represents Rome, and the prophet sees that in the final stages of earth's history this empire will be divided (a mixture of iron and clay) and will be associated with ten components represented by the ten toes of the image. In the time of these kingdoms, the God of heaven, represented by the stone cut out without human hands, will destroy the image and the everlasting kingdom of God will take the place of the fallen idolatrous nations. The prophecy provides a broad sweep of historic events, is breathtakingly accurate, but does not provide much detail pertaining to the final events before the close of history.

The prophecy of Daniel chapter 7, however, colors in the rough outline provided in the first prophecy. It parallels that of Daniel chapter 2 using different symbols and provides such an accurate description of the principle apostate power at the end of time that the conscientious student is left without a doubt as to the identity of this mighty system that dares to defy the armies of the living God.

The little horn power is man rising up against God and speaking great words against God. It refers to a system that defies God directly and sets itself up in opposition to God. In ancient Babylon, the king of Babylon was referred to as the head of gold. All power was vested in the king. His word was law, and he was considered a god. Similarly, in the great antitype, all power will once again be vested in one man who as the spokesman for the system will utter blasphemies and claim a status not due to mortal man. The Bible identifies blasphemy in the New Testament. We read in the Gospel accounts that the Jews twice wanted to stone Jesus for blasphemy.

'..Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you.' And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, 'This Man blasphemes! ' Matthew 9:2,3 NKJV

'Son, your sins are forgiven you.'... 'Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?' Mark 2:5-7

'...For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.' John 10:33

Unlike Jesus, who is the Son of God and therefore can forgive sins, the little horn power is a power that claims to be able to forgive sins, and then has the effrontery to claim the position of God. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, reiterates this point with regard to the antichrist.

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. 2 Thessalonians 2:4

 

[reddogs]

It shall reign until the Ancient of Days comes:
... until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Daniel 7:22

This is one of the most direct prophecies concerning the antichrist. The antichrist was to arise before 538 AD and was to prevail until the Ancient of Days came - a reference to the second coming of Christ. No individual could therefore fulfill this prophecy, and only a power as one would fined in a government or Kingdom could achieve such longevity.

But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. Daniel 7:26

The good news is that God will triumph. When Christ returns, this power will be destroyed and God will set up His kingdom which will never be destroyed.

It is essential that we realize that the Bible is not here dealing with individuals, but with a system that for more than a hundreds of years has claimed the power to control conscience. Moreover, for a set time, it had power to enforce its decrees and to persecute all who chose to obey God and His Word rather than man. Christ died for all mankind and all have access to the grace of God through Him The Bible is here dealing with a power that is misusing its position, and is placing itself in God's place, presuming to take the very place of God. Individuals are responsible to God for the light they live up to. In condemning the false religious system, God is not condemning the individuals within the system who are living up to light they have and long to have a relationship with Him.

So what should a Christian do who finds himself in that system? Each person should prayerfully study the scriptures, asking guidance from God, and then, like Paul, ask the question:

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. Acts 9:6

 

[reddogs]

The last day events are about to take place on earth. While men are binding themselves together in confederacies with Babylon, the last message of warning is being proclaimed on earth. This message of warning swells to a loud cry depicted in Revelation 18 by another mighty angel repeating the message of Babylon's fall. The "Three Angels' Messages" will have done their work, but in his efforts to secure worldwide homage Satan will move the goverments and leaders to adopt the evil ones mark of allegiance and the Sabbath-Sunday issue will be brought into full view of the peoples of the earth. A choice will have to be made to, either worship God on his terms, or to worship the evil one on his terms.

We must study the scriptures & pray for understanding and the Holy Spirit will guide us in what we have to do, as we have been shown the light and have no excuse to be in Babylon. This final message of warning also gives power to the proclamation of the third angel's message:

"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:1-4.

This is the final warning and the choice we make will determine whether we receive the mark of the beast or the seal of God. Which lawgiver is paramount in our lives? When the human race has made its choice, probation will close and the following solemn announcement will be made in heaven:

"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, and I will give to every man according as his work shall be." Revelation 22:11,12

The door of probation is closed; there is no time to turn back. As in the days of Noah, the door of the ark was shut and probation for the antediluvians was closed; yet they knew it not. For one week the ark stood on dry ground whilst the people mocked not knowing that they had been judged and found wanting. Then the floodgates of heaven opened.

God bears long with human iniquity, but the time of His forbearance will eventually end and Jesus will no longer be the intercessor. He will put on His robes as a judge does before he comes into his court, and the final judgment will commence.

 

[reddogs]

I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues, for in them is filled the wrath of God. Revelation 15:1

Jesus had ceased His intercession, and John sees the heavenly temple fill with smoke, the heavenly temple service ends and probation is closed:

And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no man was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. Revelation 15:8

These events take place in heaven prior to the coming of Christ. Right before the second coming the plagues fall:

Then I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go your ways, pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth." And the first angel went and poured out his vial upon the earth, and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast and upon them which worshipped his image. Revelation 16:1,2

Jesus will come in His glory, His father's glory and the glory of all the holy angels:

Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Mark 8:38

Satan uses all his power to muster the forces of Babylon, and in a final effort sends forth his evil spirits to convince the world that the problem lies with those that keep the commandments of God and refuse to acknowledge his day of worship, Sunday. Then John sees Satans forces that uniting with Babylon:

Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief! Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Revelation 16:13-16

In this final conflict, these forces of Babylon unite against spiritual Israel, or Gods remnant. God, as in the past, intervenes for His people in the time of their extremity. When God's people are persecuted, it is tantamount to warring against God. An example of this is given in the account of the conversion of Paul. In Acts we read that Jesus is saying that Paul was persecuting Him whilst Paul was persecuting the Christians:

He fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, "Who art thou, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest."Acts 9:4,5

But this event of the forces uniting under the banner of Babylon to fight against and persecute Jesus and those who love and follow him is what brings things to a close, and brings about the final battle which we already know the outcome.

 

[reddogs]

Then they gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Revelation 16:16

The political powers of earth add their legislative powers to the deceptive power of Babylon and war against God by persecuting the saints. In this extremity, Christ intervenes to punish and convict the wicked:

Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Jude 14,15

Satan will induce a state of mind in the people of the world that will compel them to seek to persecute those who refuse to obey what these forces united under Babylon dictate. This will show the clear alignment between those who follow God and those who follow the evil one and there will be a time of trouble such as never was, but at that time Christ will intervene.


At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time, thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. Daniel 12:1

Now no one knows the time or the hour of Christ's return, so for anyone to think that they will change and discard the doctrines of Babylon and come out of her at their leisure, beware and be forewarned.

Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Matthew 25:13