Worship, the Great Issue of Revelation and Prophecy

The title of the sermon today is, Worship, the Great Issue of Revelation and Prophecy. Worship, the great issue of Revelation and Prophecy. What is the ultimate test humankind will face at the end of the age? The ultimate test will focus on the commandments of God, and who will you worship, and which day will you worship on? Who will you worship, and which day will you worship on? The word Sabbath doesn't even appear in the book of Revelation. So how could it be an issue? Today's world, the issue of which day one chooses to worship on, is of little consequences. The argument of Saturday or Sunday in today's world may seem irrelevant in this present age. After all, nominal Christians in the world believes you can worship God at any time and any way you choose. Yet the Bible specifies a specific way for approaching unto God. From the time of offering the offerings of Cain and Abel to the present day, there is a specific way to approach unto God. I have jokingly said the Sunday people are one of three places on Sunday. Walmart, Lowe's, Home Depot, the ball game, and those who aren't there on their way. So Sunday is of little consequence, even with nominal Christians today. Some are very fervent about the Sabbath, but some are not. Some are very fervent about keeping Sunday, and some are not. Do you know in 1888, Senator Blair of New Hampshire introduced a bill calling for a national Sunday law, the U.S. Senate. There was much opposition by various Sabbath-keeping groups that the bill was withdrawn and with edits re-introduced in 1890, two years later. Here is the preamble to the bill. Listen closely. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America and Congress assembled so both Senate and House that no person or corporation or agent, servant, or employee of any person or corporation or in the service of the United States in time of peace except in the necessary enforcement of the laws shall perform or authorize to be performed any secular work, labor, or business to the disturbance of others, works of necessary and necessity like mercy, humanity, are accepted. Nor shall any person engage in any play game or amusement or recreation to the disturbance of others on the first day of the week, commonly known as Sunday, or during any part thereof in any territory, district, vessel, or place subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, nor will be lawful for any person or corporation to receive pay for labor or service performed or rendered in violation of this section. That is the preamble. By the 1880s, most states had various laws regarding Sunday observance, similar to the one introduced by Senator Blair. However, the culture of the nation basically strongly favored observing Sunday and refraining from secular activities. So it switched from Seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday keeping, and it was almost the law of the land, and several states still had very strict requirements. And even to this day, even in Tyler, Texas, you cannot buy on hard liquor, I guess at any time, and you cannot buy hard liquor at a liquor store, hard liquor on Sunday, but you can on the Sabbath. So this culture faded away with the advent of the hippie movement and the amorality – amorality means no morality, basically – that has become the cultural norm of the day. Let's focus on the words worship and commandments of God. When we think of worship, we think of the day of worship, which is the Sabbath, but the word Sabbath does not appear in the book of Revelation.

So let's turn to Revelation 13 verses 12 through 15. I'm not going to read all of that, but we'll start in Revelation chapter 13 and verse 12. I'm not going to read all of that, but we'll start in Revelation 13.

Revelation 13 and 12.

Wherefore Jesus as Hebrews.

Revelation 12 and verse Revelation 13 verse 12. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell on earth.

Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, and of the seal of the devil, has come down unto you having great wrath, because he knows he has but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he was He persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. That's chapter 12. I'm on 13. Verse 13 of chapter. I keep doing that. Dyslexia, I guess.

Chapter 13 verse 12. He exercised all the power of the first beast before him and execute, and causes the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the beast. So there we have it. The word worship is used 14 times in the book of Revelation. To worship the beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he did great wonders so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And of course, there are a lot of places to talk about, the wonders that are created by the beast power. So the word worship is used 14 times in the book of Revelation. Note how worship and the Sabbath and the commandments of God are directly connected. Don't let this pass over you. Once again, note how the Sabbath and the commandments of God are directly connected. The commandments define for us what we must do to worship God. In the book of Revelation, the great issue of the end time centers on the first table of the law. Now the first table of the law are the first four commandments which tell us how that we should relate to God. And so, the first four commandments are called the first table of the law and define how we should relate to God.

The second table of the law, the last six commandments, tell us how we should relate to our neighbor or to others. So what do we mean by worship? We are to honor God, reverence Him, respect Him, praise Him, think on His name, and what it implies to obey Him, realize apart from Him, we would not even have life. We would not even exist apart from His plan, His purpose, and the providence of God. He will bring it to pass.

True Christians will be keeping the commandments of God in the Sabbath as revealed in the Bible is inextricably linked to the commandments of God. Once again, the Sabbath is inextricably linked to the commandments of God. So let's note three verses in the book of Revelation that link the commandments with true Christianity. So Revelation 12 in verse 17. Revelation 12 in verse 17. The dragon was mad with a 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. Now let's notice Revelation 14 in verse 12. Revelation 14 in verse 12.

Here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that have the faith of Jesus.

Now let's read Revelation 22. 14. Blessed are they that do His commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter into the gates of the city.

So we shall see how the Sabbath relates to the creation and God creating the Sabbath. The Bible links the creation of the physical universe with the creation of the Sabbath several times. The scriptures identify God with creation and it identifies the Sabbath with creation. So let's note first of all here now we are in Revelation 14 and verse 7. Revelation 14.

Sing with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to Him. Revelation 14. 7. Sing with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to Him for the honor for the hour of His judgment has come and worship Him that made heaven and earth and the sea of mountains of water. So let's note the creation of the Sabbath in Genesis 20.

In Genesis, I mean, I'm sorry, I don't know what happened to the computer but I had made a lot of mistakes. In Exodus 20, I'll have to do it by memory, not by notes. In Exodus 20 and verse 1, God thunders the Ten Commandments to the nation of Israel from Mount Sinai. And of course, Jesus Christ is the agent of God. He is the chief spokesman for God. So He spoke. You remember that Israel was so upset that they didn't want God to speak to them anymore. They said, let Moses speak to us.

In Exodus 20, God spoke all these words saying, I am the larger God which have brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. Very often, the identity of God in various verses of the Bible also mentioned the fact that He is the one that delivered Israel out of Egypt. And of course, He is the one that has delivered us out of sin. You shall not make unto you any, you shall have no other gods before Me. That's commandment number one. How do you relate to God you have no other commandments before Me, no other gods. You shall not make unto you any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down on yourself to serve them for I, the Lord God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and to the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me. Of course, if you obey God and worship Him, you won't have that iniquity visited upon you, but to those who hate God, they will. Of course, we will all be tried and tested. We will all be pruned, even though we're bearing fruit, as it says in John 15. He prunes the tree for everyone that He loves and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold Him guiltless that takes His name in vain. Well, you go back about 10 years and cursing in public really became the thing in England and Britain, and now it has come to the U.S. They're even using the intimate word very often and various other words, cursing words, and they're taking the name of God in vain so often.

For the Lord will not hold Him guiltless that takes His name in vain. And then, note this, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. I wonder if we really realize this, that we just gloss over this and realize that we are to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work, you nor your son or your daughter or your manservant or your maidservant, nor your cattle nor the stranger that is within your gates. Then see how it is linked to creation. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that end them is, and rested on the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. The Lord blessed the Sabbath day and he hallowed it. What it means to hallowed. So hallowed really means that he blessed it. It was a day for special honor. It was a day for special observance. It was a day to realize that he is both a physical and spiritual creator. Physically he created Adam and Eve, but then he began to create and set apart his spiritual law on the Sabbath day. Let's notice another place we see the beginning of the Sabbath in Genesis chapter 2. In Genesis chapter 2 and verse 1. Genesis 2 verse 1, thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them and on the seventh day God ended his work. So remember how the Sabbath was linked to the creation. It says, for God created the physical and then he rested on the seventh day. For 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, sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from his work which God created and made. The Sabbath is also linked to the millennium. In a sense, we have the duality in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 9, if you want to turn there. Hebrews 4 and chapter 9. Hebrews 4 chapter 4 verse 9. Hebrews 4 verse 9. There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work just as God did from his, as we read just now from Genesis 2. Let us therefore make every effort to enter into his rest. Well, we enter into that rest in a sense when we repent of our sins, exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, baptize and receive the laying on of hands. All the sins of the past are removed, as it says in Psalm 103, as far as the east is from the west, to be remembered no more. So we see these scriptures that we have noted, and many others show that true Christians will still be keeping the commandments of God in contrast to worshiping Satan and his system, and the seventh day is inexpressibly linked to God's immutable spiritual law. It is a part of the Ten Commandments.

The Sabbath is very important to God. I don't think we realize at times how important the Sabbath is to him because it reveals so many things about him. As we've already mentioned, the physical creation, the creation of humankind, and then the creation of the Sabbath, of setting it apart, and he himself resting on the Sabbath day. And we are to honor the Sabbath day.

We are to keep it. It is very important to him. If God so observes the Sabbath, he surely expects us to do the same. I don't think we even begin to realize how important the commandment is as we know it is the test commandment. Satan, on the other hand, offers a counterfeit worship that includes Satan and the false prophet.

We see the worship of what commentators call the unholy trinity in Revelation 13. So let's turn back to Revelation 13 and verse 4. We'll see three things that people worship as part of Satan's system in Revelation 13.4. And they worship the dragon, that old serpent Satan the devil, as it says in Revelation 12.9, Satan the devil, and they worship the dragon Satan the devil, which gave power unto the beast, and they worship the beast, that's number two, who is like unto the beast, who is able to make war with the beast, and there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, verse 5. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy to blaspheme against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven.

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and overcome them, and power was given unto him over all kindred tongues and nations. This is not a local thing. This is nationwide. It is nationally wide. It is internationally wide. It is not just local. And so all that dwell upon the earth shall worship, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And I saw another beast, verse 11, coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.

He exercised all the power of the first beast before him, and caused the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he, great wonders, made fire to come down from heaven, and he deceived those who dwell on the earth and the side of the beast.

And he made an image of the beast. So the image of the beast, and power was given unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many that would not worship the image of the beast.

So you have the third one. You have Satan the dragon, you have the beast, and you have an image of the beast. And they all worship the dragon, the beast, and the image of the beast. And everyone that would not worship it would be killed by a sword, should be killed, which had the wound by a sword and did live.

So one of the great things that we talked about with regard to identifying who God is, that only God can give true life. So here we see that this one who rises up, gives power, he makes an image of the beast, causes it to speak and to live. I don't know exactly how they're going to do that. Artificial intelligence now is taking the day they're saying that all these cuts that are being done by the Doge team, the Department of Government Efficiency, but it's because of artificial intelligence it would take humans days and weeks and months and years to sort out all of these various things of the various moneys that have been set aside to fund various activities that are unbelievable throughout the world.

But anyhow, even some say that they'll be able to feign the return of Jesus Christ using artificial intelligence and other means because, you know, it says in Revelation chapter 1 that every eye shall see him when he comes again. Just as he left and ascended into heaven he'll return the clouds of glory.

So they make an image to the beast and people worship him. Once again, that unholy triad, dragon, the beast, and the image of the beast.

Matter of note, the first four commandments bold pointedly refused Satan's system. We shall worship God alone. We shall not worship any other God. The beast will even say that he is God, as it says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4, sits in the temple of God, proclaiming that he is in God. Also, in Daniel chapter 11, it says the same thing, that he sits in the temple of God saying he is God. That's in Thessalonians. It's not quite as plain in Revelation chapter 11.

So you shall have no other gods before you, not Satan, not the beast, and you shall not bow down to any graven image. So the 10 commandments, and also the 10 commandments say you don't take the name of God in vain by worshiping some other image or the beast or the dragon, and you worship on the Sabbath day, whereas perhaps Sunday worship may be enforced. So the first four commandments, the first table of the law, pointedly refutes what Satan's system has to offer. Here is a quote from John Pauline, Pauline, I guess it's spelled P-A-U-L-I-E-N. A quote from Pauline, I guess. A quote from Pauline, chairman of the New Testament department, Andrews University Theological Seminary.

You'll want to pay close attention to this.

Andrews University is a Seventh-day Adventist university. In Deuteronomy it says to tie the commandments of symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. And of course, the beast power requires a mark on the hand and a stamp on the forehead. And it may be not literally a stamp, but in your mind, Chairman concludes his remark by stating clearly the mark of the beast is an intentional counterfeit of the first table of the law. No other gods before you don't bow down to any graven image, don't take the name of the Lord God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The first four commandments, the table, the first table of the law. Now I'm going to quote from a booklet written by Mr. Herbert Armstrong concerning the mark of the beast. This was written and written and published, I assume, it was written. It was published in 1952. For those of you old-timers, you remember those little white booklets? They were what? Five by eight booklets. They had two black lines on the left and the title about a third of the page down. And this one is, it's titled, The Mark of the Beast. Now you can find all of, basically all of Mr. Armstrong's sermons and what he wrote. Now, United Church of God took the position when it started that the doctrines of the past would be accepted except those that can be biblically proved to be incorrect. Now that may or may not be a good position, but that's the position that was taken. So here is the quote.

It's with the exclamation points, the hall caps, and all of that.

The mark plainly means the rejecting and breaking of God's commandments. And in James 2, verses 10 through 11, God says, if we break only one of the commandments, we're guilty of all.

Now the nominal professing Christian moral would say, oh, we believe in the first eight commandments, perhaps, with the exception of the Sabbath.

So of course the Sabbath and make it ninth, but we don't believe that.

We don't believe that observing the Sabbath is a part of the Ten Commandments. And the main reason why the nominal Christian world says Sunday is a day of worship is because they believe that Christ was crucified on a Friday afternoon, and that he was so part of Friday that he was in the grave on part of Friday, all of Saturday, and a part of Sunday morning. So the women rush to the tomb and find it's empty, so part of three days, they say, well, Sunday morning is the day on which Christ was resurrected. Well, when the women got to the tomb, they found it empty. He had already arisen. He'd already been resurrected by the Father. The Father raised Jesus from the dead. Remember, just before Jesus died, he said, Father, into your hands, command I you my spirit. So the Father had resurrected Jesus Christ, and he now sits at the right hand of the Father in the heavens, making intercession for us.

Now, the second quote from Mr. Armstrong's booklet, the Sabbath is God's sign. Remember what I read from the professor about a mark on the hand and a mark on the forehead. The Sabbath is God's sign standing more than any commandment for obedience. Read it again. The Sabbath is God's sign standing more than any commandment for obedience. It was symbolically on the hand and in the forehead, just as the mark of the beast, the pagan Sunday, was in the right hand and in the forehead, Sunday observance, Christmas, New Year's, Easter, etc. This is the mark of the beast. Now, I'm giving a—and the next time I speak, I'm willing to also give a more general coverage, not so much about the mark, but here today, the purpose mainly to show how the Sabbath is inextricably linked to the commandments and that God's Ten Commandments, especially first four, refute Satan's system, that you do not worship the dragon, you don't worship the beast, you don't worship the idol, the image of the beast.

Now, we're going to see what happens to those who worship Satan's system. Revelation 14 in verse 9. Revelation 14 in verse 9.

In Revelation 14 in verse 9, and the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast in his image and receive the mark in his forehead or in his hand, seems like he can be the one hand or forehand. Of course, hand is what you do work with, and work is forbidden on the Sabbath, according to what we read from the Ten Commandments.

The same shall drink, verse 10, the same shall drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture, into the cup of the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascended up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name.

It seems in this day and age that the Sabbath Sunday issue is a non-issue. Most people would say even nominal Christians, as we've already noted. It's irrelevant. Big deal. What does it mean? But believing Christians believe that you have to observe the Sabbath.

So, profession Christians believe that they can observe any day they want to, and they are zealous oftentimes, and so no problem with breaking the Sabbath commandment. They may go to church on Sunday, and the next Sunday they may be visiting a relative or off somewhere on vacation or attending a ballgame, and just someone goes. Some are zealous to keep Sunday, but they are increasingly fewer who hold that view of observing even Sunday. I think it's somewhere around 30 to 40 percent of Americans who are now churched in any kind of church. So, we see clearly from scripture that the Sabbath Sunday issue, once again, is inexorically linked to Sabbath observance and the law of God. It's inexorically linked, especially to the commandments. So, what does God expect of everyone who claims to be a true Christian? What does He expect them to do?

Here are a few of the characteristics of true Christians. They are patient. They endure. They keep the commandments. They are faithful to God and Christ, and they hold the testimony of Jesus Christ. See, Jesus came and bore witness of the Father and revealed the plan, the purpose, and the providence of God. But it seems that we have a veil over our face, over our minds, over our hearts, of taking things for granted.

We must remove the veil and fight the good fight of faith to the very end. As the day so rapidly approaches, let us heed the abonation of the Apostle Paul. So, let's turn now to Romans chapter 13. Paul closes his epistle to the Romans. Well, this is not the closing remark, but toward the end of the book, in Romans chapter 13, verse 12.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand.

You know, I have every minister that gets up here, tries to convey to us the very words of God. See, we're not up here just speaking our opinion. Sometimes we say, well, this is my opinion, or it's not clear, or something like that. But notice the admonition that, in the commendation that Paul gives to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5, 1 Thessalonians 5, and verse 13.

Well, I got to tell you the chapter. I think it's chapter 2.

1 Thessalonians 5 out of 2. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. 1 For this cause also think we God without ceasing, because you received the word of God as you heard it. You received it as the word of God and not from us. You received it not as from the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectively works also in you that believe. So it is the word of God that we are trying to convey. For this cause we thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God, when you heard what you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men. So how are you receiving the word of God today, or any day that the pastor or any elder stands here before you? We're receiving it, should be receiving it, as the word of God and not of men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectively works also in you that believe. So do we come to services, I remember way back in announcements or sermon or something, I brought this up, coming to services with expectation, anticipation, and participation.

Expectation, you're going to learn something today if you want to. You're going to anticipate being there, and you're going to participate by keenly listening, turning to the scriptures, following up on them. Or do you just gloss over everything when you hear something that sort of gains your attention. As we have said so often, we're in serious times, it is time to wake out of slumber. The speakers who stand before you each Sabbath are trying to communicate to you the words of life. We should be remembered of Revelation 3.2. We're going back to Romans 3 in just a moment, verse 11. But I thought I should say this and keep us in mind, beloved. In Revelation 3, I think it's 21, it says, Christ is knocking at the door. He desires to sup with you. He wants to share with you who he is and what he is, and share it with you. And he can share it with you if you walk with him and you sup with him. Now let's go back to this final admonition as we close today, in Romans chapter 3 and verse 11. In Romans 3 and verse 11.

And that knowing the time that now it is high time to wake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the work of darkness, the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and in being, but put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof.

So next time I speak, I will take a broader approach and cover more aspects regarding this topic and a few others.